Role in Enhancing International Trade Competitiveness free essay sample

Indias export import growth has grown around 24 per cent during 2002-07. Its impact on container traffic growth could be higher, since a greater share of trade is moving towards finished goods requiring containerization. Presently, containerized cargo represents about 30% by value of Indias external trade, and this proportion is likely to grow as containerization increasingly penetrates the general cargo trades and increases its share from the current 68 per cent to nearer international levels of around 75-80 per cent [World Bank, 2007]. Considering various growth scenarios and studies, it appears that international trade growth and penetration would result in 21 mTEUs by 2015-16. Looking at the container traffic growth in the past few years, there seems to be scope for hub operations in India, possibly one each on the east and west coast. As per the projections made by a study of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, 9 mTEUs of the Indian traffic of 21 mTEUs will be hubbed in 2015-16 [JNPT, 2006]. We will write a custom essay sample on Role in Enhancing International Trade Competitiveness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If 50 per cent hubbing were to take place in India, then 4. 5 mTEUs will be hubbed in India, implying transhipment handling of 9 mTEUs. This requires port handling capacity of 30 mTEUs, with 9mTEUs as transhipment at hub ports. Further, shipping trends will play an important role in deciding whether the Indian ports have potential for hub operations. Hinterland connectivity is a critical area to ensure a seamless flow of containers and improved port productivity. Currently, 30% of the traffic is expected to move hinterland by rail and the remaining is expected to move entirely by road, mostly to nearby CFSs, and some to the interior Inland Container Depots (ICD) [PC, 2006]. There are also issues with respect to evacuation of containers from ICDs. There is a lot of road based congestion due to insufficient infrastructure. Interfacing with customs is another issue. This paper focuses on issues in marine and port operations, hinterland connectivity, and ICDs; in short, the entire supply chain of container movement for building global trade competitiveness. 1. Introduction India has 12 major and 187 non major ports along its 7517 km coastline. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of container traffic in TEUs for the period 2001-06 was 15. %, which is higher than the worlds average for this period. Given the growing economy and international trade, a lot of future potential is seen in this sector. This however would be contingent on the maritime sector being equipped to take the challenges emerging from (i) large shipping vessels and deeper draft at ports (ii) hub and feeder operations at ports and along the coast respectively (iii) hinterland connectivi ty between port and Inland Container Depot (ICD)/Container Freight Station (CFS) and (iv) terminal development on ports and in the hinterland. Other issues relate to use of Information Technology (IT) and better systems to coordinate with bodies like customs and industrial location policy (especially with respect to Special Economic Zones (SEZs). 2. Objectives i. To understand and map the current and future trends of containerization in India’s international trade. ii. To correlate the growth of containerization with other variables i. e. , growth in International Trade (export-import) and growth in GDP 3. Hypothesis With the current growing economic growth rate of India which is second only to China, there has been consistent increase in foreign trade. In the absence of a hub port in India, a majority of the countrys containers are currently transshipped through other ports i. e. Colombo (just south of India), Singapore (east), Dubai and Salalah (west). Handling these through the Indian transshipment terminal would result in savings of between Rs 6,000 and Rs 16,000 per TEU for the Indian exporter. The reasons for a hub port not evolving in India are * insufficient traffic * cabotage law * insufficient infrastructure including draft requirement for a mainline ship Table 2 gives the container traffic and transshipment at Indian ports. As can be seen, the percentage of transshipment is a very small share of the total traffic, implying that Indian ports are really not providing hub services. Table 2: Container Traffic and Transshipment at Major Ports| Year| Total Container Traffic| Transshipment| | 000 TEUs| Growth (%)| 000 TEUs| %| 2000-01| 2468| 13. 0| 25| 1. 0| 2001-02| 2886| 16. 9| 169| 5. 9| 2002-03| 3366| 16. 6| 187| 5. 6| 2003-04| 3900| 15. 9| 208| 5. 3| 2004-05| 4233| 8. 5| 162| 3. 8| 2005-06| 4613| 9. 0| 181| 3. 9| 2006-07| 5437| 17. 9| | | [IPA, 2006]| Given the above three drivers of container growth, we can get an insight into the breakup of the traffic across various port clusters, as per a World Bank study. Relevant excerpts of this are given in Annexure 1. The ports in the western region (Mumbai and Gujarat) would handle at least 66% container throughputs in the country, followed by the ports in the southern region at 27% and the balance at the eastern region ports. 2) Potential of Container Traffic India handled 649 million tons (mt) (569 mt) of cargo traffic in 2006-07 (2005-06). The total container traffic in 2006-07 (2005-06) was 80. mt (67. 1 mt). In terms of Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), it was 6. 0 mTEUs (5. 0 mTEUs) in 2006-07 (2005-06). Growth rate of container traffic is outstripping the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate. Table 3 gives the growth trends of national GDP, total port and container traffic. Table 3: Port Traffic| Year| National GDP| Total| Major Ports| Non-Major Ports| Container| | | | | | Major Ports| Total| | US Sb1| Growth2 (%)| mt| Growth| mt| Growth (%)| mt| Growth (%)| mt| 000 TEUs| Share**| 000 TEUs| Growth| 2000-01| 409| 4. 4| 368| 10. | 281| 3. 3| 87| 39. 3| 32| 2468| 11. 5| 2468| 13. 0| 2001-02| 441| 4. 8| 384| 4. 3| 288| 2. 5| 96| 10. 3| 37| 2886| 12. 9| 2886| 16. 9| 2002-03| 467| 3. 8| 419| 9. 1| 314| 9. 0| 105| 9. 4| 44| 3366| 13. 9| 3366| 16. 6| 2003-04| 554| 8. 5| 466| 11. 2| 345| 9. 9| 121| 15. 2| 51| 3900| 14. 8| 3900| 15. 9| 2004-05| 633| 7. 5| 522| 12. 0| 384| 11. 3| 138| 14. 1| 55| 4233| 14. 3| 4502*| 15. 4| 2005-06| 725| 9. 0| 569| 9. 0| 423| 10. 2| 151| 9. 4| 62| 4613| 14. 6| 4998*| 11. 0| 2006-07| 827| 9. 3| 649| 14. 1| 464| 9. 7| 185#| 22. 5| 73| 5437| 15. 8| 5964*| 19. | [CMIE, 2007; IPA, 2006]1At current market prices2At factor cost (constant prices)#132 mt from GMB ports*Includes traffic from Mundra and Pipavav**Share of container traffic wrt total port traffic| 3) Shipping Trends Looking at the current as well as the future shippin g trends that are likely to emerge, it would be the era of large mother vessels, with a minimum of 6000-8000 TEU, and a few as big as 12,000-14,000 TEU. These ships would make only a few calls at mega hub ports to/from where cargo movement would be by transshipment and feedering through the present age ships of 4000 TEU and below. These future generation vessels would require drafts between 13-15. 5 mtrs. These ports would also need the infrastructural facilities like wide berthing, high crane handling capacity, quicker and safe loading and unloading capabilities, and direct shift of containers to the feeder vessels. Table 4, which gives the evolution of container shipping vessels in different periods, clearly indicates that the size of the vessels along with their draft requirement are on the increasing trend. Therefore, the ports should be geared up for deepening their draft for accommodating such types of vessels. Table 4: Evolution of Container Shipping Vessels| Generation| Period| Length (meter)| Draft (meter)| Size (TEU)| Post Suezmax| 2006-| 397| 15. 5| gt;12,000| Suezmax| 2005-06| | 15| 10,000-12,000| Post Panamax Plus| 2000-05| 335| 13-14| 5,000-10,000| Post Panamax| 1988-00| 275-305| 11-13| 4,000-5,000| Panamax class| 1980-88| 250-290| 11-12| 3,000-4,000| Cellular Containership| 1970-80| 215| 10| 1,000-2,500| Converted Cargo Vessel/Tanker| 1956-70| 135-200| lt;9| 500-800| [http://www. solentwaters. co. uk]| 4) Potential Hub Ports in India Given the reality of transshipment and feedering, it is important to focus on few ports on both the coasts with deep draft. The key requirements of a transshipment terminal are its strategic location, potential to reduce total transport cost using hub and spoke arrangement, financial savings in terms of lower land values, less need for dredging and the facility to receive higher-capacity vessels to reduce overall fleet costs. Table 5 shows the container traffic handled at ports (including the non-major ports of Mundra and Pipavav) in 2006-07 and 2005-06. Table 6 provides a comparative analysis of various ports in terms of their physical and efficiency parameters for hub operations. Table 5: Port-wise Container Traffic| | | | 2006-07| 2005-06| S No| Port| Operating Company| Total(000 TEUs)| %| Total(000 TEUs)| %| 1| JNPT| 1. Port2. DP World3. AP Moller/Concor| 3298| 55. 3| 2667| 53. 4| 2| Chennai| 1. DP World2. PSA International/SICAL| 798| 13. 4| 735| 14. 7| 3| Mundra* (MPSEZ)| DP World| 393| 6. 6| 299| 6. 0| 4| Tuticorin| PSA International/SICAL| 377| 6. 3| 321| 6. 4| 5| Kolkata| Port| 240| 4. 0| 203| 4. 1| | Cochin| DP World/Concor| 227| 3. 8| 203| 4. 1| 7| Kandla| ABG| 177| 3. 0| 148| 3. 0| 8| Pipavav*| AP Moller| 135| 2. 3| 86| 1. 7| 9| Mumbai| Port| 128| 2. 1| 156| 3. 1| 10| Haldia| Port| 110| 1. 8| 110| 2. 2| 11| Visakhapatnam| DP World| 50| 0. 8| 47| 0. 9| 12| New Mangalore| Port| 17| 0. 3| 10| 0. 2| 13| Mormugao| Port| 12| 0. 2| 9| 0. 2| 14| Paradip| Port| 2| 0. 0| 4| 0. 1| | Total| | 5964| 100. 0| 4998| 100. 0| [CI Magazine, 2007; Indian Infrastructure, 2007; IPA, 2006] *Non-major and private ports, both under GMB| Table 6: Hub Operation Readiness| Readiness Level| West| South| East| High| JNPT, Mundra, Pipavav| Cochin, Chennai| Visakhapatnam| Medium| Kandla, Mumbai| Tuticorin| | Low| | New Mangalore, Mormugao| Kolkata, Haldia, Paradip| [CRISIL, 2006]| The readiness level is based on the maximum vessel size at berth, high speed equipment, average turnaround time, average pre-berthing time and average parcel size. As per the CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory study, hub ports could be Mundra, Pipavav, JNPT, Cochin, Chennai and Visakhapatnam. About 50% of the containers exported through Indian ports are transshipped at some point prior to reaching their overseas destination. Approximately 30% of containers are transshipped in either Colombo or Singapore/Klang and another 5% in Dubai or Salalah. About 50% of the container traffic is not transshipped and moves on the same vessel to the final destination port. In the case of JNPT, this proportion is above 80%. Of Indian containers transshipped in Singapore/Klang, Chennai and Kolkata account for 68%, while for Colombo the eastern and southern ports account for 87% [World Bank, 2007]. Table 7 gives the share of direct and hub shipments for JNPT and the other ports in the country. Table 7: Direct and Hub Shipments Per cent | JNPT| Other Ports| Total| Share of Container Traffic| 55| 45| 100| Direct| 80| 13| 50| Through Hub| 20| 87| 50| It is useful to note that while 80% of JNPT traffic is direct, 87% of all the other ports is through a hub. Overall, water depths are low in Indian ports compared to those of neighbouring regional hubs. Table 9 gives the draft available in the various ports. In contrast, Colombo, for example, one of the main hubs for transshipping Indian container cargo, has a draft of 15 metres. This is proposed to be increased further to 17 metres and eventually 20 metres. JNPT, the largest container port in the country has a draft of only 12 metres. JNPT currently handles vessels of upto 4000 TEUs compared to 8500 TEUs at Colombo. Despite handling a higher volume of traffic than Colombo (Exhibit 3), JNPT is constrained by its deficient draft from offering cheaper and higher quality services, i. e. higher frequency and lower transit times. Other ports in the region like Singapore, Dubai, Port Klang etc have drafts of at least 15 meter and can accommodate vessels upto 11,000 TEUs. 5) Hinterland Connectivity Hinterland connectivity is probably the most critical area to ensure a seamless flow of containers and improved port productivity. It is an essential part of a world class logistics system that India needs to develop with a strategic focus. JNPT is the most efficient container port in the country and is the preferred port for a majority of the countrys container traffic, presently accounting for about 55% of the total. Table 10 presents the distance, travel time and cost of moving a container from the Delhi area to JNPT and to alternate ports. As shown in the table, even though the Gujarat ports are located a little closer, they take almost twice as long to reach. The east coast ports not only take much longer, but also cost more than twice as much in inland haulage charges. These differences restrict competition, and JNPT therefore enjoys a dominant position on account of both its better overall shipping service offerings and its superior hinterland connectivity. The Gujarat ports on the other hand, continue to lose out to JNPT due to their relatively poor connectivity, despite enjoying a closer proximity to the north-western hinterland which generates a majority of the container traffic. Even cargo destined for China or other south east Asian countries prefers to be routed through JNPT, rather than ports like Chennai on the east coast which though closer to the destination offer poor connectivity to the northern hinterland [World Bank, 2007]. Table 8: Inland Haulage Costs for Delhi Container Traffic to JNPT vs Other Ports| Port| Distance from Delhi (Km)| Rail Transit Time (Hrs)| Haulage Costs(Rs/TEUs)| | | | Rail*| Road| JNPT| 1388| 48| 18750| 32000| Mundra| 1295| 80| 16650| 20000| Pipavav| 1333| 70| 17000| 24000| Visakhapatnam| 1700| 67| 22450| 66000| Chennai| 2100| 90| 30000| 70000| World Bank, 2007]*Excludes terminal charges of roughly 30%| Rail Evacuation Currently, 30% of the JNPT traffic is expected to move hinterland by rail and the remaining moves entirely by road, mostly to nearby CFSs, and some to interior ICDs. Rail capacity is barely sufficient for current demand. As per discussions in CENTRUM 2006, CONCOR monopoly has been a deterrent to quality service. Competition has now been permitted and 15 licenses have been issued, as listed in Table 9. However, many of the licensees have signed up with CONCOR to have access to their wagons and ICDs, as required by the license conditions. This has distorted the competition to an extent. Name of Company Associated with| Category I: Rs 50 Crore (can operate on all routes)| 1. | Adani Logistics| Adani Group| 2. | CWC (own ICD)*| | 3. | CONCOR (own ICD)*| | 4. | Dinesh/ETA| | 5. | Gateway Rail Freight (own ICD)*| Gateway Distriparks| 6. | Hind Terminals and MSC Agency*| Hind Terminals (subsidiary of Sharaf Group, UAE), Mediterranean Shipping Company (Geneva)| 7. | India Infrastructure and Logistics*| APL India (subsidiary of NOL, Singapore), Hindustan Infrastructure Project and Engineering| 8. Container Rail Road Services**| DP World| 9. | Reliance Infrastructure Leasing| Reliance (ADAG)| 10. | SICAL Logistics (own ICD)| | 11. | KRIBHCO| | Category II: Rs 10 Crore (can operate on all routes except JNPT/Mumbai NCR)| 1. | Delhi Assam Roadways| | 2. | Innovative B2B Logistics Solutions*| Bagadiya Shipping and Bothra Brothers| 3. | Boxtrans (India) Logistics Services*| JM Baxi amp; Co| 4. | Pipavav Rail Corporation| | Table 9: List of Players for Rail Container Operation *Out of the 15 licensed operators, seven have started operations **Will start in September, 2007 Presently, for instance, it is estimated that the transport cost of a container from Delhi to Mumbai Port is almost half the total logistics costs of delivering it to a destination in Europe. Inadequate capacities in the hinterland transport modes often lead to higher costs and delays on account of sub-optimal mode choices, circuitous routing and congestion in the hinterland transport links. The Tughlakabad-JNPT (Delhi-Mumbai) line, one of the most highly trafficked corridors in the country is a case in point (Figure 1). With an average line capacity of 50 trains per day, it has been handling over 67 trains per day, operating at a capacity utilization of 135%t, and several sections are being operated at 160% utilization levels. Roughly 40 trains on this corridor are passenger trains, leaving a limited capacity for freight trains, which have a lower priority. Congestion at the railways Tughlakabad ICD near Delhi and on the line itself has resulted in a poor reliability of service, and high value cargo such as containers, which form the majority of the traffic on this corridor, is increasingly shifting to road transport. Presently, less than one-third of the containerized cargo in this corridor is being carried by the Railways. On average, 9,000 loaded trucks move over this corridor everyday, aggregating around 30 mt annually of road freight traffic [World Bank, 2007]. Figure 1: Rail Connectivity Mumbai to North-Western Hinterland [World Bank, 2007] The overall data related to hinterland flows at JNPT in Table 10. JNPT faced an acute congestion in 2004. Since then, a third container terminal has been commissioned, bringing the total throughput capacity to 4 mTEUs. A fourth terminal being considered is likely to double the capacity. This will impose serious constraints on the facilities around the port, unless they are addressed concurrently [Raghuram, 2006]. Table 10: Hinterland Flows at JNPT| Per cent| Import| ICD by Rail| 33. 3| ICD by Road| 4. 0| En Bloc CFS| 59. 7| Green Channel| 3. 0| Export| ICD by Rail| 22. 6| ICD by Road| 7. 5| CFS by Road + Buffer Yard| 26. 5 + 7. 7| Factory Stuffed under Excise Seal RTS| 35. 7| [Chaudhuri, A, 2006] To provide for the rail based evacuation, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) has been set up in 2006, with its first phase being the JNPT to Tughlakabad/Dadri and Ludhiana to Son Nagar via Dadri corridors. The western corridor will have container trains as its driving traffic. Road Evacuation To provide for the road based evacuation, while the National Highways Development Programme is providing inter-regional connectivity with some success, not all port based connectivity projects have been successful. Three such project contracts were recently annulled. Beyond just the four laning of highways, expressway connectivity to the ports to service major flows would be essential. The currently envisaged future phases of NHDP do not provide for this. In terms of local road connectivity around ports and ICDs, there is no explicit planning for consequential trailer movements for empty containers and empty trailer movements. Recent studies show that these could be as high as six to seven movements per TEU [Raghuram, 2006]. Similarly, there is no planning for trailer parking, maintenance, facilities for drivers etc. These could lead to avoidable congestion and first/last mile problems. Coastal Shipping and Inland Waterways The potential of coastal shipping and inland waterways is untapped and needs to be developed to lessen the load on the railways and road networks and bring down the costs since cost of cargo movement by sea is significantly less than the cost by road and rail. Feedering from an Indian transshipment port would naturally be a coastal movement. The possibility of a dedicated sea corridor with inter-port connectivity needs to be explored. Integration with coastal and inland water transport for evacuation needs proactive consideration. ICD/CFS Infrastructure Given that ICD/CFS business is open to anybody, there would not be a concern regarding the supply. The concepts of SEZs and Free Trade Warehousing Zones would only further facilitate such infrastructure. The conditions imposed on the private rail container operators reinforce the same direction. However, the following would need intervention. Location and access, giving consideration to distance to manufacturing units, local connectivity with minimum traffic interference * Customs and bonded warehouse * Rail connection to gateway ports * Parking spaces and maintenance facility ) Other Issues Information Technology (IT) While IT use for container logistics would be commercially driven, policy and industry level interventions would be necessary to develop standards, networking and information sharing, and even knowledge products. Technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) and Global Positioning System (GPS) should be leveraged to achieve effectiveness and efficie ncy. Domestic Traffic While container movement has been primarily viewed in the context of international trade, domestic container movement is slowly picking up and needs focus for development. Most of the domestic container movement is expected to be by rail (Concor). During 2006-07, out of over 2 mTEUs moved by Concor, nearly 0. 4 mTEUs were for the domestic market (Table 11). Table 11: CONCOR TrafficIn TEU Year| International| Domestic| Total| Annual Growth (%)| 1996-97| 424,741| 278,801| 703,542| -| 1997-98| 491,481| 230,238| 721,719| 2. 6| 1998-99| 576,790| 225,156| 801,946| 11. 1| 1999-00| 664,490| 243,329| 907,819| 13. 2| 2000-01| 755,670| 291,304| 1,046,974| 15. 4| 2001-02| 905,058| 326,775| 1,231,833| 17. 7| 2002-03| 1,031,925| 351,238| 1,383,163| 12. 3| 003-04| 1,251,618| 350,501| 1,602,119| 15. 8| 2004-05| 1,376,516| 351,460| 1,727,976| 7. 9| 2005-06| 1,556,714| 373,848| 1,930,562| 11. 7| 2006-07| 1,715,661| 389,605| 2,105,266| 9. 0| [CI Magazine, 2007] This would also create an opportunity for customised containerization. For example, while the standard container does not permit double stacking under electric traction wires, specially designed lower height conta iners for automobiles have permitted double stacking under wire. Opportunities in customized containerization should be leveraged, as specific segment volumes increase. Leasing and Manufacture Availability of containers, wagons, tractor/trailers and cranes as support equipment is critical. India does not have enough manufacturing base for such equipment. China is currently the world leader in this domain. There is big opportunity for India to develop a manufacturing base, not only to cater to our requirement, but also for the export market. In the context of containers, leasing by non-shipping line owners has been leveraged internationally for efficient use of containers. However, the share of the leased fleet has dropped from 50% in 1981 to 40% in 2006 (Exhibit 6). With better IT for container tracking, the leased fleet has utilizations over 90%, with the cost of leasing showing a decreasing trend (Table 12). Table 12: Global Lease Fleet| Year| Fleet Size* (TEU)| Utilization (%)| Per Diem Rate** (US $)| 1966| 5,000| 95. 0| 1. 50| 1970| 120,000| 85. 0| 1. 50| 1974| 465,000| 78. 0| 1. 20| 1978| 1,030,000| 85. 0| 1. 80| 1982| 2,050,000| 80. 0| 1. 85| 1986| 2,315,000| 75. 0| 1. 40| 1990| 2,755,000| 90. 0| 1. 80| 1994| 4,350,000| 87. 0| 1. 35| 1998| 6,190,000| 81. 0| 0. 85| 2002| 8,010,000| 83. 5| 0. 60| 2006| 10,290,000| 92. 0| 0. 70| CI Magazine, 2007]* Year-end**New build 20ft placed on five year term| Location Policy of Industries Including SEZs As part of evolving world class export and import logistics, the government has embarked on the policy of developing SEZs. As on July 31, 2007, 135 SEZs had been notified under the SEZ Act apart from the 19 that were operational prior to the SEZ Act of 2005. Of the 154 SEZs (Table 13), 67 are manufacturi ng driven while the rest are IT and IT enabled services based. Of the 67, 39 are coastal and the rest 28 are away from the coast and would hence require focus on connectivity. Table 13: Location of SEZs | Coastal| Non-Coastal| Total| Manufacturing| 39| 28| 67| IT/ITES| 24| 63| 87| Total| 63| 91| 154| As far as possible, it would be a good idea to locate SEZs near ports. The same would apply for industries, where a focus on appropriate zoning of industrial development to minimize connectivity requirements with planned linkages including by Inland Water Transport would be essential. Gujarat has been proactive in this through a policy of port led industrial development. Regulation It is important to ensure appropriate regulation for the following: Licensing Issues of ensuring sufficient competition, along with capability to deliver with appropriate national security would be key criteria in licensing. There have been debates on private sector monopoly, when Pamp;O Australia won the bids and operated many terminals in the South Asian region. Pamp;O Australia has now been taken over by DP World and the same issue continues. Exhibit 10 provides an insight into the concentration of terminals (62% of throughput in 2006) operated by the top five terminal operating companies. There are guidelines on there being at least two operators in a port and no more than two terminals per operator. These guidelines need to be reviewed and linked with TEU capacity and not number of terminals. Security Security was a matter of concern in the context of Hutchison bidding for Chennai Even DP World had to give up some of its US acquisitions due to perceived security concerns. Operational security at ports including screening of containers has gained significance after 9/11. Port Tariffs While India has a Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP), the question has often been raised as to whether we need the TAMP, and even if so, whether the regulation should be cost based. Recently the PSA International operated container terminal at Tuticorin port resisted the reduction in tariffs imposed by TAMP and consequently reduced their throughput. It would appear that with the number of terminals that India has and is developing, competition is increasing and the market itself can regulate the tariffs. Shipping Line Conferences In the container shipping business (which is a hangover of liner business), cartel like conferences of shipping lines operated in route based markets to control schedules and tariffs. While these were frowned upon, they were ever regulated. Recently, the Competition Commission of India raised the issue that such conferences were anti competitive and that shipping lines should set tariffs and compete independently. Independent of conferences, there is an increasing market concentration in the container shipping business. Table 14 gives a perspective on the concentration of container shipping among the top 20 carriers, which has increased from 38. 8% in 1990 to 72. 7% in 2006. This is reflective of the mergers and acquisitions, which seem to be a rather continuous activity of this business. Table 14: Top 20 Ocean Carriers| | Carrier Traffic (TEU)| Carrier Traffic (TEU)| | 1990| 2006| 1. | Evergreen| 130,916| AP Meller-Maersk [1]| 1,600,012| 2. | Sea-Land Service| 115,367| Mediterranean Shipping Co| 937,145| 3. | Maersk| 94,703| CMA CGM [2]| 597,677| 4. | NYK| 78,148| Evergreen [3]| 539,801| 5. | Mitsui OSK Lines| 70,338| Hapag-Lloyd| 448,840| 6. | APL| 66,380| Cosco| 385,368| 7. | OOCL| 58,117| China Shipping Container Lines| 339,545| 8. | K Line| 55,462| Hanjin Shipping [4]| 328,307| . | Cosco Shanghai| 54,505| APL| 323,319| 10. | Hapag-Lloyd| 53,178| NYK [5]| 313,049| 11. | Hanjin Shipping| 49,621| Mitsui OSK Lines| 284,848| 12. | P amp; O Containers| 49,368| OOCL| 268,502| 13. | Yangming| 46,817| CSAV [6]| 249,885| 14. | Zim Israel Navigation| 44,916| K Line| 241,772| 15. | Nedlloyd Lines| 40,335| Yangming| 223,192| 16. | Baltic Shipping Co| 36,760| Hamburg Sud [7]| 217,018| 17. | Neptune Orient Lines| 35,294| Zim Integrated Shipping Services| 213,795| 18. | ScanDutc h| 32,948| Hyundai Merchant Marine| 153,850| 19. CGM| 29,040| Pacific International Lines [8]| 141,391| 20. | Delmas Vieljeus| 31,204| Wan Hai Lines| 117,767| | Total| 1,173,413| Total| 7,925,083| | Top 20 Share| 38. 8%| Top 20 Share| 72. 7%| [CI Magazine, 2007]1 includes Portlink and Safmarine; 2 includes ANL, Delmas, FAS, MacAndrews, OT Africa Line; 3 includes Hatsu, Italia Marittima; 4 includes Senator Lines; 5 includes TSK; 6 includes CSAV Norasia, Libra, Montemar; 7 includes Alianca, Ybarra; 8 includes Advance Container Line| Customs Customs need to become more process friendly with increased usage of green channel. The data gathered by customs, especially with Electronic Data Interchange, can be used to create much required Origin Destination (OD) data for traffic profiling. Cabotage The cabotage rules of not allowing foreign flag vessels for coastal shipping need to be reviewed. The main trade of is between protection for Indian flags versus more competition and supply. In todays world of liberalization led growth, it would appear that cabotage must be lifted as a matter of long term policy. An attendant measure would be to provide the same concessions to coastal shipping as international shipping. As was voiced in CENTRUM 2006, cabotage should not become a sabotage! Other Areas of Regulation (which are not being elaborated) * Environment and conservation * Safety * Quality of service * Dispute resolution 6. Concluding Issues Based on the above analysis, the following issues need consideration: o Landlord port with privately operated terminals would be the way forward. Existing ports should be empowered for this There should be clear delineation of roles between landlord and operator. This does not exist at JNPT presently (JNPT vs JNPCT) o The public port authority will focus more on landlord function such as long-term planning, infrastructure development, asset management * regulatory function such as maritime safety, environment protection and fair competition, and * co-ordination function such as coordination among governmental agencies, maritime organizations, decision-making authorities and planners of the city, under the commonly shared long- range policy and planning * f acilitation/promotion function such as provision of port EDI, inter-port cooperation and strategic marketing o There is not enough focus on scale of container terminals. This is necessary to drive down costs. o Tendering and bidding should be done in a time definite manner. There should be a flexible framework in place for terminal development by private parties under a landlord port. There are significant beauracratic delays (eg second terminals in Tuticorin and Chennai). Labor is not always in favour and needs to be dealt with. o Global tendering would be essential to get the most competitive supply. Dredging is an example. o Acts governing ports and related activities need to be reviewed and liberalized (MS Act, IP Act, Maritime Trade Practices Act, etc). Training to bring in a supply chain and marketing mind set among executives of all stakeholders in this sector is critical. OD data on port traffic should be systematically gathered and published. IPA should drive this with support from Customs and Concor. EDI based data would help. o Top management stake holding, especially through the civil service, is not compatible with strategizing port deve lopment. Technocrats, with appropriate incentives and accountability should be brought in. The largest increases in container traffic are expected to occur in the western region, with the Mumbai and Gujarat port clusters together requiring capacity additions on the order of 10 mTEUs, from about 4 mTEUs now to over 14 mTEUs by 2015. Of this about 6 mTEUs of capacity is expected to be needed in the Mumbai cluster, and another 4 mTEUs in the Gujarat cluster. The other cluster where a large increase in container traffic is expected is in the Cochin/Tuticorin cluster where an additional 4 mTEUs of capacity will be needed. These three port clusters would then account for 14 mTEUs of the 16 mTEUs of additional capacity needed for container traffic through the year 2015. Achieving this level of capacity increases in the Mumbai, Gujarat and Cochin/Tutitcorin clusters would largely address the container traffic requirements through the year 2015. The 191 mt or 15 mTEUs capacity shortfall for container traffic projected for 2015 would only partially be filled by capacity expansions planned under the NMDP. The NMDP envisages the creation of an additional 11 mTEUs of container handling capacity in the near term. The remainder would need to be developed in the State ports sector primarily through private investments, and some of these are already being planned or under implementation such as at Mundra and Rewas. The investments proposed under the NMDP include large expansions of container handling capacity at Tuticorin, Cochin, JNPT and Mumbai port. This appears to fit well with the strategy of developing container facilities where the demand is greatest (the western and southern ports) and in the southern cluster which has proximity to international shipping routes [World Bank, 2007]. For 30 mTEUs per annum, as per normal international standards of 1000 TEUs per annum per mt of berth length, we need 30 km of berth length. By JNPT standards where demand is continuously available and productivity is high, this could be as low as 15 km. However, providing for a reasonable 70% occupancy, we need 21 km. At 300mts per berth, this translates to 70 berths. Currently we have 27 berths. An additional nine berths have been signed up as stated earlier in this paper. So there is a need for atleast 30 more berths. While this is a target, market forces will drive the actual berth development. The additional investment required could be of the order of US $7. 5 billion based on a 300 mts berth cost of US $250 million (Rs 1000 crore). With JNPT standards, and focusing on Suezmax vessels at hub ports, berth productivity can be doubled and the investment requirements brought down. A detailed cost benefit analysis, keeping in view the costs of accommodating large vessels and benefits of increased productivity including due to hubbing in India needs to be carried out. Indian infrastructure for logistics is poor compared to world class and at best reactive to demand. There is need for continued focus on quality infrastructure development with speed. Commercialization and private involvement through PPP contracts is the key for building global trade competitiveness through containerization. References 1. Chaudhuri, A (2006). De-regulation within the Rail Market, Presentation. 2. CI (2007). Containerization International, 40th Anniversary Issue, 2007. 3. CI (2007a). Containerization International, May, 2007. 4. CMIE (2007). Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy 5. CRISIL (2006). CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory Study. 6. Drewry (2006). Container Shipping Services from Asian Ports, Drewry Maritime Services, New Line, December 2006. 7. i-maritime and IPA (2006). India P ort Sector Strategy Demand and Capacity Assessment Study, Draft Final Presentation, May 08, 2006. . IPA (2006), Major Ports of India, Indian Ports Association, New Delhi. 9. Levinson, Marc (2006). The Box, Princeton University Press, New Jersey. 10. Raghuram, G (2006). A Diagnostic Study of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Working Paper No 2006-04-09, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, April 2006 11. World Bank (2007). India: Port Sector Development Possibilities for Accelerating Growth, June 26, 2007. 12. http://en. wikipedia. org 13. http://www. solentwaters. co. uk 14. http://www. public-freight. com

Social Media Images How To Make Them (With 128 Free Photos)

Social Media Images How To Make Them (With 128 Free Photos) The idea is pretty simple: Lets combine two of your favorite, top-performing tools- social media and imagery- to produce the best  social media images thatll engage your audience. Unfortunately,  while the idea is simple, the application can be quite challenging since  the visual options seem to be endless. But, today we have good news! With the correct sizes, best colors, awesome imagery types, and social image helpers in , youll be well on your way to a successful social media image that will extend far beyond its initial post life. How To Make The Best Social Media Images Step By Step (+ Free Photoshop Action)Get Your Free Social Media Images + Photoshop CC Action Are you ready to save hours of time!? Rather than designing custom images for each social network, simply use this Photoshop CC action that will size and save them all for  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+! Not only that, but use  the social media images infographic for every day reference, and enjoy these 14 images already sized for every single network! 1. Size Your Images For Optimal Attention The very first step to creating  the best social media images is by producing the correct size for each social network. You're  only given a limited space to capture your audience's attention, so you'll  want to use every pixel you're  given. This can get quite tricky when each network has different ratios and proportions, but if you know the posting sizes for each one, you'll be off to a great start! Below you'll find all of the recommended sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ with the preferred size for  social posting. Keep in mind that all social platforms accept these three main file types: GIF, JPEG, and PNG. Alright, with that, here we go! Facebook Image Sizes Facebook is still the most popular social network today with over 1.6 billion active monthly users worldwide. With such a great audience, it's essential to optimize every single post for top engagement, especially for business. Facebook  image posts are known to get 39% more interaction  than that of a normal one, which is a perfectly great reason to start using social images for every single post. Plus, they've found that 87% of a Facebook Page's interaction comes solely from image posts, and that people remember the information better over a longer period of time. This study found that  information paired with an image  was 65% retained after a three day period. That's amazing! In recent news, Facebook now allows you to  post several images for one post, appearing as an album. There's been some discussion whether a single image or multiple images perform better, but  according to Convince and Convert, using multiple images can  increase clicks by 1,290%! Facebook's Three  Golden Rules: Use images in every single Facebook post and  multiple images whenever possible. Use the 1200 x 630px image dimensions. Post on the weekends at 12–1 p.m. for best performance. Facebook's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Photo: 180 x 180px Cover Photo: 828 x 315px Shared Image: 1200 px 630px Shared Link: 1200 x 630px Highlighted Image: 1200 x 717pxIncrease clicks by 1,290% when you use multiple images on #Facebook. #marketing Recommended Reading: 12 Effective Ways To Expand Your Facebook Engagement 10 Fundamental Ways To Boost Your Facebook Organic Reach By 193% Facebook Marketing Strategy: Why You Need One ( How To Build It) Twitter Image Sizes Twitter, one of my personal favorite networks,  sends out 500 million tweets per day. That's 6,000 tweets every second! Adding images to your tweets not only gets you 18% more clicks, but also 89% more favorites, and  150% more retweets.  Talk about an engagement boost! Plus, Twitter has kept their network posting consistent in proportion, so there's no question that a 440px by 220px image is the best size  to reach the most people. If you really want to make sure your resolution is clear, bump it up to 506 by 253px so desktop users have the highest clarity. Twitter's Three  Golden Rules: Use images in every  tweet. Use  images that are  506 x 253px for optimal resolution. Schedule your tweets for Wednesdays at  12–1 p.m. or 5–6 p.m. Twitter's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Photo: 400 x 400px Header Photo: 1500 x 500px In-Stream Photo: 506 x 253pxUse images on #Twitter  to  get 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, 150% more retweets. Recommended Reading: 15 Tactics To Boost Twitter Engagement Backed By Research How To Get Started With Twitter Video Marketing How to Expand Your Organic Growth on Facebook and Twitter for Free LinkedIn Image Sizes While LinkedIn is one of the older social networks, it has continued on throughout  the years and thrives  with its 414 million users. LinkedIn's focus on business professionals creates a perfect space for business-specific content to be seen and viewed across the world. Although, post with caution. According to Jeff Bullas, being 'too professional' without first creating a relationship can actually be a common mistake when using LinkedIn. This idea seems to  validate just how important using  images can be for establishing that desired connection and relatability. LinkedIn's Three Golden Rules: Make sure your images have a personal touch. Use  images that are 531px wide. Schedule your posts midweek at  or 5–6 p.m. LinkedIn's Recommended Image Sizes: Banner Image: 646 x 220px Standard Logo: 400 x 400px Square Logo: 60 x 60px Hero Photo: 974 x 330px Profile Picture: 400 x 400px Background Image: 1000 x 425px Regular Post Image: 531px wide Linked Image Post: 191 x 100px414 million #LinkedIn users engage best with images that are 531px wide.Pinterest Image Sizes The average time spent on Pinterest per visit is 14.2 minutes! Multiply that by the 110 million active  users, and you're looking at one very powerful source of information and inspiration. With all of that collective time spent on Pinterest, that also means it's one of the fastest growing websites, creating the  greatest opportunity  for your business to grow along with it. Similar to Instagram, Pinterest is  highly visual, but rather with an emphasis in sharing content with strangers and friends alike as 80% of pins are repins. In order to have the best Pinterest images, avoid using faces, use  red or orange, and rock a less distracting background. Pinterest's Three Golden Rules: Always link back to content on your blog or website wherever you can convert that traffic. Use  images that are 600 x 1102px for highest engagement. Schedule your pins on Saturday from 8–11 p.m. Pinterest's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Picture: 165 x 165px Pin Board Large Thumbnail: 222 x 150px Pin Board Small Thumbnail: 55 x 55px Pins On Main Page:  238px wide Pins Once Expanded: 600px wide Pins Enlarged Pin: 500px wide176 million Pinners spend 14.2 minutes a day on #Pinterest. Best image sizes here: Recommended Reading: How To Improve Your Pinterest Engagement With These 15 Tactics How To Get More Followers On Pinterest With 21+ Tactics That Will Grow Your Following The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Pinterest For Marketing Instagram Image Sizes Instagram is unique in that it solely allows photo-based posts. With an imagery-focused platform, it draws visual connections that make both a memorable and human impression. "Instagram’s per-follower engagement rate for top brands is 58 times higher than on Facebook and 120 times higher than on Twitter," according to Forrester, which might be why 85% of top brands are adopting it to grow their business. Just recently, Instagram opened their strict square ratio image size up to a variety of landscape and portrait options in addition to  increasing their resolution to 1080px for top clarity! Surely,  Instagram  is a great place for both connection and business. Instagram's Three Golden Rules: Always include a link back to your content in your profile. Use  images that are 1080px wide for highest resolution. Schedule your Instagrams for Monday at  2–3 p.m. or 8–9 p.m. Tip: Did you know that now schedules Instagram posts? Now you can schedule Instagram alongside all of your other social media marketing, making you more strategic and better organized. Instagram's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Picture: 110 x 110px Photo Thumbnails: 161 x 161px Photo Size in App: 1080 x 1080px Instagram's engagement rate is 120x higher than Twitter. Best #Instagram image sizes here: Recommended Reading: How To Improve Your Instagram Engagement With 15 Tips How To Get Way More Instagram Followers With 20 Easy Tactics The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Instagram For Business Google+ Image Sizes While Google+  may very well be slowly disappearing, it still has a lot to offer if used correctly. After all, its partner in crime, Google, is our greatest source of information across the internet, one of the highest sources of revenue  for a lot of businesses, and one of the greatest companies worldwide. Your Google+ account is directly tied to the search engine so your business information is carried over into helping your SEO. Win-win. Everyone knows and loves Google. For that reason alone, it's no surprise that Google+ has 300 million active members. With that large of an audience, it's best that your images are set up for optimal performance. Google+'s Three Golden Rules: Use the .png image format rather than .jpg format for highest clarity. Use  images that are 426 x 255px. Schedule your posts on workdays from 9–11 a.m. Google+'s Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Picture: 250 x 250px Cover Image: 1080 x 608px Shared Image: 518px wide   Shared Link Thumbnail: 150 x 150pxMake perfect images for #Google+ to reach 375 million active users.There you have it! A complete guide to the best social image sizes, with the most important recommendations  for each and every network. Find the size you're looking for, and use that when you begin the creation process with your images. Simply choosing the correct size at the beginning, will save you so much time when you're ready to save and export your images for the world to see! Recommended Design Tools: Check out these awesome tools to help you create the best social media images with the perfect sizes- Canva, Piktochart, Visage, and more  free design tools. 2. Use The Best Colors To Increase Your Engagement While several factors go into making an image its very best, color is one of the most  essential ingredients. Color psychology has proven time and time again that we can convey emotions simply by using a particular color! In May of 2015, I did a two-month study on the popularity of a given color in 's graphics. Since we typically use a three-color palette for our blog graphics, I was able to give appropriate rankings to each of the three colors used  to see how they each performed. I quickly realized that certain colors might be performing better  simply because we use them more often, so I then compared the popularity percentage to the usage percentage  to find an overall color grade. Basically, I nerded out super hard and used data to see what colors performed the best. Use a graph like this to review and test your color schemes. At the end of my study, we found that blue and green were our highest performing colors! If we look at color psychology, both of these colors reflect a calm, clean, comforting presence which seems to  be the perfect match to the experience we want our readers to have, especially if they're new to the blog. Blue is also one of our brand colors. The other two top-performing colors were none other then red and orange. While blue and green provide a safe, calm place for our readers, orange and red are perfect complements because  they grab our audience's attention and spark their  interest. Blue and green and orange and red are a dynamic set of colors that will help you succeed. #colorPsychology tells us that red and orange represent passion, energy, and success.  I couldn't imagine a better pair for blue and green's calm, comforting presence than the passion and success of orange and red. Together, they seemed to make  a dynamic duo, so I tried using those color pairs over the past year... Out of our top 10 posts, 8  of them have either blue or green as the main color. The remaining two blog posts have orange as their main color. Absolutely none of our top performing posts contain any other  main colors! By understanding which colors performed better, we were able to help  increase our page views by  833.76%! You can do this, too! Simply follow the steps below to see which colors work best for your brand: Review your blog post header graphics and write down the primary, secondary, and third colors. Define  a ranking to the most prevalent 3 colors in your graphics. (i.e. 3 points for the primary color, 2 for the secondary color, and 1 for the third most-used color.) Look at the total shares each  post received during a set amount of time. For more than  x amount of  shares (at , we did per 100 shares), give each color that set amount of ranked points that you decided on above. (e.g. If the color blue was the primary color in a post that received 300 shares, blue  would have 9  total points, 3+3+3. If red was the second most-used color  in the post with 300 shares, it would have 6  points, 2+2+2.) At the end of each week, track the overall totals and see which colors perform the highest. After 8 solid weeks, you should start to see trends stick out, revealing your top-performing colors. While everyone has different colors that match  their brand and audience demographics, it's essential to test out the waters and find the colors that work best for you! But when in doubt... use blue or green. Recommended Reading: What 20 Studies Say About the Best Times to Post on Social Media 3. Use The Types Of Social Media Images That Get The Most Attention Now that you know your target image size and top-performing colors, it's time to decide what type of image to  use. While almost anything can be an image- screenshots, illustrations, photos, quotes, GIFs- there are a few standout images you  can depend upon to receive the most engagement. Quotes Quotes come in all shapes and sizes. Maybe it's from a speaker, conference, or a book that you've recently read. Or, maybe it's from an article or blog  online.  No matter the  form or social network, quotes can be an excellent way to reach your audience with images. Simply find a quote you like and pair it with a color or simple background. The dynamic duo will allow your readers to ponder, identify with, and in return, share your quote. For example, at we started sharing quotes from our blog authors on Facebook, and we received 98% growth in engagements and 91% growth in clickthroughs. Facebook isn't alone! Here's another example from Twitter: 20 Ways To Be Creative When You Dont Feel Inspired https://t.co/JS5YcKZFoQ pic.twitter.com/hRaof4lPfV (@) January 16, 2016 This tweet received  2,107 impressions and 38 engagements because the quote had insight, intrigue, and direct application. It not only complemented the content topic of creativity, but gave further information that could be easily shared with their family and friends. Quote images are a perfect way to give something to your audience that they can share and be proud of, all the while giving your content more traction. Try them out! GIFs GIFs are one of the office's favorite things both in our work chats and on social media because they  perform well, all while bringing a smile. Even in challenging situations, GIFs can bring a delight to those who would rather be frustrated. Hook you audience, tell a story, and make their day. Here's an example: Uh, oh. #facebookdown In the meantime, enjoy a cat gif! pic.twitter.com/34o2LYk61a (@) September 28, 2015 By using a GIF and bringing a humorous moment to a normal circumstance, we received  15,953 impressions and 381 engagements! We've also found that tweets with GIFs tend to get 22.3% more engagement than tweets with plain images. Here's an example: Are You Excited? You Can Now Pin To Pinterest With https://t.co/014yRye9xG pic.twitter.com/uo6Kenojn6 (@) March 8, 2016 Just by turning a static image into a motion-filled GIF, the tweet received  1,328 impressions, 77 views, and 15 engagements! Plus, this tweet isn't alone! When tweets contain GIFs, they get 166.6% more clickthroughs. GIFs allow motion to make your social posts stand out, get even more attention, and bring delight. What are some of your favorite GIFs? Infographics At this point, it's no secret that infographics are one of the most popular and highest shared content types  in today's digital world. Not only do they get shared 3 times more often, but they're also 30 times more likely to be read than a purely textual article! If that  wasn't good enough, infographics are also the perfect pair for one of the top-performing visual bookmarking site: Pinterest. Infographics get a lot of attention on  Pinterest  because they tend to be longer in format, which fits Pinterest's 4:5 image ratio that receives 60% more Repins. Here's an example of our top-performing pin: Is it a surprise that it happens to be an infographic? I think not. Titles You  work really hard to find the perfect headline for your content. You  search for  keywords, words  filled with emotion,  then use the headline analyzer to find the precise, most-effective title. So why not take advantage of that in your social image? At , we reviewed some of our top-performing tweets, and found that they all included a title image.  Our top  tweet in March  received 5,043 impressions and 85 engagements, our top tweet in April  had 3,556 impressions and 35  engagements, and in May  our top tweet got a total of 7,951 impressions and 58  engagements all with title graphics. That's an average of 5,516  impressions and 59 engagements from using a title graphic within the tweet. March  Example:   How To Use The Right Content Marketing Tools For Every Job - https://t.co/TQesnglq9t pic.twitter.com/pX4UcGXKi5 (@) March 2, 2016 April Example: Want to write killer blog posts? Here is the ultimate process to awesome content. https://t.co/2HO8vmL4mA pic.twitter.com/OD0IGGccCI (@) March 30, 2016 May  Example: How to Triumph at Content Marketing On A Limited Budget https://t.co/nRe4lMv1jP pic.twitter.com/D6nlmVH2Q1 (@) May 8, 2016 As you can see, titles extend beyond the written context, and can certainly be effective within the graphic itself. Find the title of your blog, announcement, or event, and use that in the image to see the top performance. 4. Automate Your Images For Social Media To Save Time As the graphic designer on 's marketing team, I live and breathe images every, single, day, so although creating your graphics well is super important, so is making sure you're efficient when it comes to uploading  them to your social messages. After all, time is money, and money is time you could be spending on other projects. This is exactly where is a HUGE time saver for me. Let me introduce you to a magical thing called 'Social Helpers'. What Are Social Helpers in ? But First, I should probably back up and start with Social Templates. Social Templates is  a great way to reuse your social sharing schedule time and time again. That means that you can create a social campaign just one time (with the best times and right frequency), save it as a template, and then apply it to all other forms of content from there on out. Just one time! (That's hours of savings right there.) In case you'd like to see it in action, here's a live demo of social templates. If that wasn't awesome enough, there's three key components  of social templates that save  us even more time. Within each social template, you  can create an individual message 'template' using social helpers. Let me show you how it works: Within , Social Templates live to the left of your social campaign. 2. If you click on a Social Template, you can modify each and every single message within that template. This is a great way to personalize your messages for each network. 3. Do you see those blue things? Those are social helpers! There are text, image, and video helpers. 4. Here's where the magic comes in. Are you ready? You can add specific helpers to  your messages so whenever the template is applied, rather than writing that message 10x or uploading that same image 10x, you only have to do it once! Wherever that helper is located,  the content will auto-populate to all your messages at one time. What Does That Mean for Social Images? The brilliance of Social Image Helpers, is that I no longer have to upload images to every individual message for every piece of content. If your team is like ours, we have about 17 messages per piece of content, so before Social Image Helpers, I uploaded  the same image 17 times. That took a lot of time! Time spent I could be doing better things like image creation, design strategy, or connecting with our audience. With Social Helpers, I can now do what I had to do 17 times, just once. Once! This saves me so much time, and allows me to focus more time on what makes an image great, rather than worrying about how it'll publish across every single network. Social templates and social helpers take the guess-work out of it, and allow me to quickly place my images, moving onto the next thing. Now You Know How To Make Successful  Social Media Images From Beginning To End Social media images can take quite a few different forms, colors, and sizes- but with this data, you've found exactly what equation works best for each social network. If you happen to be in a rush or maybe you're just starting out, use a  2:1 ratio for your image size, incorporate blue or green with a pop of orange or red in your color scheme, stick to the four main image types: GIFs, quotes, titles, and infographics, and save time uploading with Social Image Helpers. Without much time at all, you'll be on your way to success! What colors, sizes, and image types have worked best for you? Share below! Social Media Images How To Make Them (With 128 Free Photos) The idea is pretty simple: Lets combine two of your favorite, top-performing tools- social media and imagery- to produce the best  social media images thatll engage your audience. Unfortunately,  while the idea is simple, the application can be quite challenging since  the visual options seem to be endless. But, today we have good news! With the correct sizes, best colors, awesome imagery types, and social image helpers in , youll be well on your way to a successful social media image that will extend far beyond its initial post life. How To Make The Best Social Media Images Step By Step (+ Free Photoshop Action)Get Your Free Social Media Images + Photoshop CC Action Are you ready to save hours of time!? Rather than designing custom images for each social network, simply use this Photoshop CC action that will size and save them all for  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+! Not only that, but use  the social media images infographic for every day reference, and enjoy these 14 images already sized for every single network! 1. Size Your Images For Optimal Attention The very first step to creating  the best social media images is by producing the correct size for each social network. You're  only given a limited space to capture your audience's attention, so you'll  want to use every pixel you're  given. This can get quite tricky when each network has different ratios and proportions, but if you know the posting sizes for each one, you'll be off to a great start! Below you'll find all of the recommended sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ with the preferred size for  social posting. Keep in mind that all social platforms accept these three main file types: GIF, JPEG, and PNG. Alright, with that, here we go! Facebook Image Sizes Facebook is still the most popular social network today with over 1.6 billion active monthly users worldwide. With such a great audience, it's essential to optimize every single post for top engagement, especially for business. Facebook  image posts are known to get 39% more interaction  than that of a normal one, which is a perfectly great reason to start using social images for every single post. Plus, they've found that 87% of a Facebook Page's interaction comes solely from image posts, and that people remember the information better over a longer period of time. This study found that  information paired with an image  was 65% retained after a three day period. That's amazing! In recent news, Facebook now allows you to  post several images for one post, appearing as an album. There's been some discussion whether a single image or multiple images perform better, but  according to Convince and Convert, using multiple images can  increase clicks by 1,290%! Facebook's Three  Golden Rules: Use images in every single Facebook post and  multiple images whenever possible. Use the 1200 x 630px image dimensions. Post on the weekends at 12–1 p.m. for best performance. Facebook's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Photo: 180 x 180px Cover Photo: 828 x 315px Shared Image: 1200 px 630px Shared Link: 1200 x 630px Highlighted Image: 1200 x 717pxIncrease clicks by 1,290% when you use multiple images on #Facebook. #marketing Recommended Reading: 12 Effective Ways To Expand Your Facebook Engagement 10 Fundamental Ways To Boost Your Facebook Organic Reach By 193% Facebook Marketing Strategy: Why You Need One ( How To Build It) Twitter Image Sizes Twitter, one of my personal favorite networks,  sends out 500 million tweets per day. That's 6,000 tweets every second! Adding images to your tweets not only gets you 18% more clicks, but also 89% more favorites, and  150% more retweets.  Talk about an engagement boost! Plus, Twitter has kept their network posting consistent in proportion, so there's no question that a 440px by 220px image is the best size  to reach the most people. If you really want to make sure your resolution is clear, bump it up to 506 by 253px so desktop users have the highest clarity. Twitter's Three  Golden Rules: Use images in every  tweet. Use  images that are  506 x 253px for optimal resolution. Schedule your tweets for Wednesdays at  12–1 p.m. or 5–6 p.m. Twitter's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Photo: 400 x 400px Header Photo: 1500 x 500px In-Stream Photo: 506 x 253pxUse images on #Twitter  to  get 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, 150% more retweets. Recommended Reading: 15 Tactics To Boost Twitter Engagement Backed By Research How To Get Started With Twitter Video Marketing How to Expand Your Organic Growth on Facebook and Twitter for Free LinkedIn Image Sizes While LinkedIn is one of the older social networks, it has continued on throughout  the years and thrives  with its 414 million users. LinkedIn's focus on business professionals creates a perfect space for business-specific content to be seen and viewed across the world. Although, post with caution. According to Jeff Bullas, being 'too professional' without first creating a relationship can actually be a common mistake when using LinkedIn. This idea seems to  validate just how important using  images can be for establishing that desired connection and relatability. LinkedIn's Three Golden Rules: Make sure your images have a personal touch. Use  images that are 531px wide. Schedule your posts midweek at  or 5–6 p.m. LinkedIn's Recommended Image Sizes: Banner Image: 646 x 220px Standard Logo: 400 x 400px Square Logo: 60 x 60px Hero Photo: 974 x 330px Profile Picture: 400 x 400px Background Image: 1000 x 425px Regular Post Image: 531px wide Linked Image Post: 191 x 100px414 million #LinkedIn users engage best with images that are 531px wide.Pinterest Image Sizes The average time spent on Pinterest per visit is 14.2 minutes! Multiply that by the 110 million active  users, and you're looking at one very powerful source of information and inspiration. With all of that collective time spent on Pinterest, that also means it's one of the fastest growing websites, creating the  greatest opportunity  for your business to grow along with it. Similar to Instagram, Pinterest is  highly visual, but rather with an emphasis in sharing content with strangers and friends alike as 80% of pins are repins. In order to have the best Pinterest images, avoid using faces, use  red or orange, and rock a less distracting background. Pinterest's Three Golden Rules: Always link back to content on your blog or website wherever you can convert that traffic. Use  images that are 600 x 1102px for highest engagement. Schedule your pins on Saturday from 8–11 p.m. Pinterest's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Picture: 165 x 165px Pin Board Large Thumbnail: 222 x 150px Pin Board Small Thumbnail: 55 x 55px Pins On Main Page:  238px wide Pins Once Expanded: 600px wide Pins Enlarged Pin: 500px wide176 million Pinners spend 14.2 minutes a day on #Pinterest. Best image sizes here: Recommended Reading: How To Improve Your Pinterest Engagement With These 15 Tactics How To Get More Followers On Pinterest With 21+ Tactics That Will Grow Your Following The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Pinterest For Marketing Instagram Image Sizes Instagram is unique in that it solely allows photo-based posts. With an imagery-focused platform, it draws visual connections that make both a memorable and human impression. "Instagram’s per-follower engagement rate for top brands is 58 times higher than on Facebook and 120 times higher than on Twitter," according to Forrester, which might be why 85% of top brands are adopting it to grow their business. Just recently, Instagram opened their strict square ratio image size up to a variety of landscape and portrait options in addition to  increasing their resolution to 1080px for top clarity! Surely,  Instagram  is a great place for both connection and business. Instagram's Three Golden Rules: Always include a link back to your content in your profile. Use  images that are 1080px wide for highest resolution. Schedule your Instagrams for Monday at  2–3 p.m. or 8–9 p.m. Tip: Did you know that now schedules Instagram posts? Now you can schedule Instagram alongside all of your other social media marketing, making you more strategic and better organized. Instagram's Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Picture: 110 x 110px Photo Thumbnails: 161 x 161px Photo Size in App: 1080 x 1080px Instagram's engagement rate is 120x higher than Twitter. Best #Instagram image sizes here: Recommended Reading: How To Improve Your Instagram Engagement With 15 Tips How To Get Way More Instagram Followers With 20 Easy Tactics The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Instagram For Business Google+ Image Sizes While Google+  may very well be slowly disappearing, it still has a lot to offer if used correctly. After all, its partner in crime, Google, is our greatest source of information across the internet, one of the highest sources of revenue  for a lot of businesses, and one of the greatest companies worldwide. Your Google+ account is directly tied to the search engine so your business information is carried over into helping your SEO. Win-win. Everyone knows and loves Google. For that reason alone, it's no surprise that Google+ has 300 million active members. With that large of an audience, it's best that your images are set up for optimal performance. Google+'s Three Golden Rules: Use the .png image format rather than .jpg format for highest clarity. Use  images that are 426 x 255px. Schedule your posts on workdays from 9–11 a.m. Google+'s Recommended Image Sizes: Profile Picture: 250 x 250px Cover Image: 1080 x 608px Shared Image: 518px wide   Shared Link Thumbnail: 150 x 150pxMake perfect images for #Google+ to reach 375 million active users.There you have it! A complete guide to the best social image sizes, with the most important recommendations  for each and every network. Find the size you're looking for, and use that when you begin the creation process with your images. Simply choosing the correct size at the beginning, will save you so much time when you're ready to save and export your images for the world to see! Recommended Design Tools: Check out these awesome tools to help you create the best social media images with the perfect sizes- Canva, Piktochart, Visage, and more  free design tools. 2. Use The Best Colors To Increase Your Engagement While several factors go into making an image its very best, color is one of the most  essential ingredients. Color psychology has proven time and time again that we can convey emotions simply by using a particular color! In May of 2015, I did a two-month study on the popularity of a given color in 's graphics. Since we typically use a three-color palette for our blog graphics, I was able to give appropriate rankings to each of the three colors used  to see how they each performed. I quickly realized that certain colors might be performing better  simply because we use them more often, so I then compared the popularity percentage to the usage percentage  to find an overall color grade. Basically, I nerded out super hard and used data to see what colors performed the best. Use a graph like this to review and test your color schemes. At the end of my study, we found that blue and green were our highest performing colors! If we look at color psychology, both of these colors reflect a calm, clean, comforting presence which seems to  be the perfect match to the experience we want our readers to have, especially if they're new to the blog. Blue is also one of our brand colors. The other two top-performing colors were none other then red and orange. While blue and green provide a safe, calm place for our readers, orange and red are perfect complements because  they grab our audience's attention and spark their  interest. Blue and green and orange and red are a dynamic set of colors that will help you succeed. #colorPsychology tells us that red and orange represent passion, energy, and success.  I couldn't imagine a better pair for blue and green's calm, comforting presence than the passion and success of orange and red. Together, they seemed to make  a dynamic duo, so I tried using those color pairs over the past year... Out of our top 10 posts, 8  of them have either blue or green as the main color. The remaining two blog posts have orange as their main color. Absolutely none of our top performing posts contain any other  main colors! By understanding which colors performed better, we were able to help  increase our page views by  833.76%! You can do this, too! Simply follow the steps below to see which colors work best for your brand: Review your blog post header graphics and write down the primary, secondary, and third colors. Define  a ranking to the most prevalent 3 colors in your graphics. (i.e. 3 points for the primary color, 2 for the secondary color, and 1 for the third most-used color.) Look at the total shares each  post received during a set amount of time. For more than  x amount of  shares (at , we did per 100 shares), give each color that set amount of ranked points that you decided on above. (e.g. If the color blue was the primary color in a post that received 300 shares, blue  would have 9  total points, 3+3+3. If red was the second most-used color  in the post with 300 shares, it would have 6  points, 2+2+2.) At the end of each week, track the overall totals and see which colors perform the highest. After 8 solid weeks, you should start to see trends stick out, revealing your top-performing colors. While everyone has different colors that match  their brand and audience demographics, it's essential to test out the waters and find the colors that work best for you! But when in doubt... use blue or green. Recommended Reading: What 20 Studies Say About the Best Times to Post on Social Media 3. Use The Types Of Social Media Images That Get The Most Attention Now that you know your target image size and top-performing colors, it's time to decide what type of image to  use. While almost anything can be an image- screenshots, illustrations, photos, quotes, GIFs- there are a few standout images you  can depend upon to receive the most engagement. Quotes Quotes come in all shapes and sizes. Maybe it's from a speaker, conference, or a book that you've recently read. Or, maybe it's from an article or blog  online.  No matter the  form or social network, quotes can be an excellent way to reach your audience with images. Simply find a quote you like and pair it with a color or simple background. The dynamic duo will allow your readers to ponder, identify with, and in return, share your quote. For example, at we started sharing quotes from our blog authors on Facebook, and we received 98% growth in engagements and 91% growth in clickthroughs. Facebook isn't alone! Here's another example from Twitter: 20 Ways To Be Creative When You Dont Feel Inspired https://t.co/JS5YcKZFoQ pic.twitter.com/hRaof4lPfV (@) January 16, 2016 This tweet received  2,107 impressions and 38 engagements because the quote had insight, intrigue, and direct application. It not only complemented the content topic of creativity, but gave further information that could be easily shared with their family and friends. Quote images are a perfect way to give something to your audience that they can share and be proud of, all the while giving your content more traction. Try them out! GIFs GIFs are one of the office's favorite things both in our work chats and on social media because they  perform well, all while bringing a smile. Even in challenging situations, GIFs can bring a delight to those who would rather be frustrated. Hook you audience, tell a story, and make their day. Here's an example: Uh, oh. #facebookdown In the meantime, enjoy a cat gif! pic.twitter.com/34o2LYk61a (@) September 28, 2015 By using a GIF and bringing a humorous moment to a normal circumstance, we received  15,953 impressions and 381 engagements! We've also found that tweets with GIFs tend to get 22.3% more engagement than tweets with plain images. Here's an example: Are You Excited? You Can Now Pin To Pinterest With https://t.co/014yRye9xG pic.twitter.com/uo6Kenojn6 (@) March 8, 2016 Just by turning a static image into a motion-filled GIF, the tweet received  1,328 impressions, 77 views, and 15 engagements! Plus, this tweet isn't alone! When tweets contain GIFs, they get 166.6% more clickthroughs. GIFs allow motion to make your social posts stand out, get even more attention, and bring delight. What are some of your favorite GIFs? Infographics At this point, it's no secret that infographics are one of the most popular and highest shared content types  in today's digital world. Not only do they get shared 3 times more often, but they're also 30 times more likely to be read than a purely textual article! If that  wasn't good enough, infographics are also the perfect pair for one of the top-performing visual bookmarking site: Pinterest. Infographics get a lot of attention on  Pinterest  because they tend to be longer in format, which fits Pinterest's 4:5 image ratio that receives 60% more Repins. Here's an example of our top-performing pin: Is it a surprise that it happens to be an infographic? I think not. Titles You  work really hard to find the perfect headline for your content. You  search for  keywords, words  filled with emotion,  then use the headline analyzer to find the precise, most-effective title. So why not take advantage of that in your social image? At , we reviewed some of our top-performing tweets, and found that they all included a title image.  Our top  tweet in March  received 5,043 impressions and 85 engagements, our top tweet in April  had 3,556 impressions and 35  engagements, and in May  our top tweet got a total of 7,951 impressions and 58  engagements all with title graphics. That's an average of 5,516  impressions and 59 engagements from using a title graphic within the tweet. March  Example:   How To Use The Right Content Marketing Tools For Every Job - https://t.co/TQesnglq9t pic.twitter.com/pX4UcGXKi5 (@) March 2, 2016 April Example: Want to write killer blog posts? Here is the ultimate process to awesome content. https://t.co/2HO8vmL4mA pic.twitter.com/OD0IGGccCI (@) March 30, 2016 May  Example: How to Triumph at Content Marketing On A Limited Budget https://t.co/nRe4lMv1jP pic.twitter.com/D6nlmVH2Q1 (@) May 8, 2016 As you can see, titles extend beyond the written context, and can certainly be effective within the graphic itself. Find the title of your blog, announcement, or event, and use that in the image to see the top performance. 4. Automate Your Images For Social Media To Save Time As the graphic designer on 's marketing team, I live and breathe images every, single, day, so although creating your graphics well is super important, so is making sure you're efficient when it comes to uploading  them to your social messages. After all, time is money, and money is time you could be spending on other projects. This is exactly where is a HUGE time saver for me. Let me introduce you to a magical thing called 'Social Helpers'. What Are Social Helpers in ? But First, I should probably back up and start with Social Templates. Social Templates is  a great way to reuse your social sharing schedule time and time again. That means that you can create a social campaign just one time (with the best times and right frequency), save it as a template, and then apply it to all other forms of content from there on out. Just one time! (That's hours of savings right there.) In case you'd like to see it in action, here's a live demo of social templates. If that wasn't awesome enough, there's three key components  of social templates that save  us even more time. Within each social template, you  can create an individual message 'template' using social helpers. Let me show you how it works: Within , Social Templates live to the left of your social campaign. 2. If you click on a Social Template, you can modify each and every single message within that template. This is a great way to personalize your messages for each network. 3. Do you see those blue things? Those are social helpers! There are text, image, and video helpers. 4. Here's where the magic comes in. Are you ready? You can add specific helpers to  your messages so whenever the template is applied, rather than writing that message 10x or uploading that same image 10x, you only have to do it once! Wherever that helper is located,  the content will auto-populate to all your messages at one time. What Does That Mean for Social Images? The brilliance of Social Image Helpers, is that I no longer have to upload images to every individual message for every piece of content. If your team is like ours, we have about 17 messages per piece of content, so before Social Image Helpers, I uploaded  the same image 17 times. That took a lot of time! Time spent I could be doing better things like image creation, design strategy, or connecting with our audience. With Social Helpers, I can now do what I had to do 17 times, just once. Once! This saves me so much time, and allows me to focus more time on what makes an image great, rather than worrying about how it'll publish across every single network. Social templates and social helpers take the guess-work out of it, and allow me to quickly place my images, moving onto the next thing. Now You Know How To Make Successful  Social Media Images From Beginning To End Social media images can take quite a few different forms, colors, and sizes- but with this data, you've found exactly what equation works best for each social network. If you happen to be in a rush or maybe you're just starting out, use a  2:1 ratio for your image size, incorporate blue or green with a pop of orange or red in your color scheme, stick to the four main image types: GIFs, quotes, titles, and infographics, and save time uploading with Social Image Helpers. Without much time at all, you'll be on your way to success! What colors, sizes, and image types have worked best for you? Share below!

Work based learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Work based learning - Essay Example The sales function would include the buying and selling of derivatives and other financial products in bulk or minimal quantity (HSBC, 2013h).Proprietary trading like hedging and other financial exposure would be required for specific industries (ICICI Direct, 2013b).Equity research divisions would require the analyst to analyze the investment market trends and then make research reports. This report will help in active trading and providing credit, fixed income, macroeconomic and quantitative research. This internship report will constitute details about investment banking operations worldwide and the research conducted by myself about the present investment market scenario. A research was conducted to understand the importance of the financial instruments and the buying and selling procedure of the financial instruments in the Shanghai financial market. The internship project will be introduced with my work based learning experience in HSBC Investment Direct (Sales department). Fin ally the study would conclude with the outcome learned by me from the work based learning experience in HSBC Direct Investment. Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) is one of the most renowned British banking corporations headquartered in London (HSBC, 2013a). The financial corporation is regarded as one of the leading banking corporations, which were established in the year 1865 and the first branch was opened in the year 1991. Presently, the company has around 7200 offices located worldwide in 86 countries and a customer base of 89 million. The company offers finance and insurance, consumer, corporate, investment banking, investment mortgage and credit card. The company owns 45 equity brokerage houses which is listed in the stock exchanges and has more than 394 broking firms. The banking corporation owns more than 9000 brokers and 80 percent of the annual turnover is generated

Meniscus Injuries and MRI Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Meniscus Injuries and MRI - Research Paper Example This means that in some anatomical locations, some tear will heal quickly even spontaneously, and in some types of tears, healing would need surgical interventions (Ballas & Stillman, 2009). Therefore, prior diagnosis of the location, disposition, depth, orientation, and extent of the meniscal tear becomes of utmost importance, since this would facilitate the optimum treatment and outcomes within the shortest possible time. This specific dilemma has two parts, one questionable accuracy magnetic resonance imaging studies and failure of appropriate interpretation of the images to lead to a definitive diagnosis unequivocally (Luhmann, Schootman, Gordon, & Wright, 2005). On the other hand, delay for allowance of development of suggestive clinical signs or symptoms may lead to permanent damage. Before going into the details of these issues, it would thus be necessary to establish the facts that are known in each of these issues with an attempt to find relevance between these two, so the evidence base may be available for guiding practice. This issue has been dealt with in adequate detail in prior researches, and thus there is a need for extended literature review to glean what is known. Apart from establishing evidence from the known, it would also serve the purpose of identification of the gaps, so further research may be conducted on these suggestions. Rationale of the Literature Review Mesiha et al. (2006) indicated the tricky nature of human meniscal healing following injury. It has been observed that meniscus often fails to heal when the injury has caused a tear of more than 1 cm. similar phenomena have been observed when the tear involves the internal two-thirds of the meniscus (Mesiha, Zurakowski, Soriano, Nielson, Zarins, & Murray, 2006). Menetrey and colleagues (2002) reported failure of healing of peripheral meniscal tears. The failure of recognition of meniscal tears is so rife that, some authors suggested very high meniscal repair failure rates (Menetrey, Siegrist, & Fritschy, 2002). As Venkatachalam et al. (2001) indicated the healing failure may be very high since many patients remain asymptomatic even with an existing tear of the meniscus (Venkatachalam, Godsiff, & Harding, 2001) . It can be deduced from these studies that although magnetic resonance imaging is available as a diagnostic imaging modality for meniscal injuries, it is questionable whether routine magnetic resonance imaging would be advisable for all suspected cases of meniscal injury or whether in all such cases even after the imaging is done, it would be rational for a radiologist to interpret the image in order to arrive at a diagnosis. Research Question This leads to the research question for this study which is whether routine magnetic resonance imaging for all suspected cases of meniscal tears is optimal, appropriate, or necessary diagnostic modality If it

Two One page orders for a discussion post - not a paper just to be Essay - 2

Two One page orders for a discussion post - not a paper just to be done as a discussion board post - Essay Example The instincts of a child should be well noticed and taken to the past in order to evaluate them and this process is very important because the instincts of a child decide more things than one. The focus of the parents must be on the psychological as well as the social side because both these sides demand attention and neither one can be neglected. â€Å"In sum, I believe that the individual who is to be educated is a social individual and that society is an organic union of individuals. If we eliminate the social factor from the child we are left only with an abstraction; if we eliminate the individual factor from society, we are left only with an inert and lifeless mass. Education, therefore, must begin with a psychological insight into the childs capacities, interests, and habits. It must be controlled at every point by reference to these same considerations.† (John Dewey) The author is convinced that school is merely an institution and the author also feels that education is nothing but living and living in the future not in the past. â€Å"I believe that as such simplified social life, the school life should grow gradually out of the home life; that it should take up and continue the activities with which the child is already familiar in the home.† (John Dewey) The author feels that education feels these days because most schools fail to realize that school constitutes to community life, should all the schools realize this we will not have dropouts. The author also talks about discipline in school life and how it should be continued all through the life. To conclude it is very fair to say that the author provides perfect guidelines to succeed in life, having talked about childhood and how one must be only goes to show that good habits like being disciplined should be inculcated right from a very young age and the same also facilitates a person to succeed in the long

Example Reflective Essay using Rolfe Reflective Model

Example Reflective Essay using Rolfe Reflective Model This reflective essay will adopt Rolfes model of reflection, (Rolfe, G et al. 2001) which was derived from Bortons developmental model. (Boyd E et al. 1983) The scenario is presented as Appendix 1 and the patient has been anonymised as Lee in accordance with the NMC guidelines (NMC 2008) What? When analysed in overview, one can note that the main issues contained in this scenario are that a schizophrenic patient, who may therefore be psychotic, who is certainly confused due to his metabolic disturbances (hyponatraemia) and possibly idiopathic confusion, has made an allegation of physical assault against another staff member. The patient is also forgetful and the event happened three days ago. Clearly the incident cannot be confidently verified at this stage and there is a question as to whether the patient is reliable in making this allegation. Analysis revolves around my reflection on the actions that I took and whether they could be considered appropriate or capable of improvement. My role in the situation was that I was the recipient of the allegation. Having heard the allegation, I tried to make sense of it. On the one hand I was aware of the seriousness of the allegation if it were true, and therefore I was also aware of the potential harm that an untrue allegation could cause to the professional integrity of the ‘Special‘ who was involved. I was obviously aware of Lees potential for confusion and psychosis, but I was also impressed by the apparent veracity of his recollection and also by the fact that he started to cry when he was recounting it. (Nicol M N et al. 2004) On balance, I did believe his account of the situation. I therefore felt that I had a moral and professional duty to escalate the complaint to the Senior Ward Sister. After a period of discussion with the Ward Sister, I filled in an Incident Report Form (IR1), which was then forwarded to the hospital management. After the event, I experienced a period of prolonged self-examination. I was concerned in case I had inadvertently been party to a false allegation and considered further the consequences for the ‘Special involved. After a period of intense reflection, I concluded that I was right to take the action that I did, both because of my professional duty to ‘do my best for the patient but also because I was acting as the patients advocate in these circumstances, which seemed entirely appropriate. (Brooke C et al. 2007) The response of the Ward Sister seemed entirely appropriate. I believe that she went and spoke to Lee herself and determined that there was sufficient evidence to make the reporting of the incident (IR1) appropriate. This reassured me greatly. The Ward Sister also discussed the ethics and implications of the situation with me, which was both professionally helpful and considerate, as she could see that I was unclear about what I should do in these circumstances. In any reflective process, one also has to consider the feelings of the patient. In this case Lee did appear to be pleased that he was being taken seriously, but his fluctuating lucidity meant that further questioning did not clarify the situation any further. He certainly appeared to be pleased when he was told that the ‘special would not be assigned to him again. So what? The theoretical elements of the analysis of this situation are straightforward. Jasper, in his erudite series of analyses (Jasper M 2007), acknowledges that part of the responsibility of being a professional practitioner is to ensure that you give the best care possible to your patients or clients. In an analysis of a similar situation, the author is unequivocal in his assessment that the professional duty of the nurse is to share such reports of possible patient abuse with their immediate superior. Even if the patient is ‘of reduced capacity or ‘of questionable reliability (Jasper M 2007 Pg 36), they should therefore considered ‘vulnerable in the professional sense, and offered greater, not less, protection. An ethical analysis would suggest that the nurse should invoke the Principle of Non-Malificence, which was derived from the often quoted dictum of Hippocrates, which stated that one should â€Å"first do no harm†. (Carrick P 2000). This Principle stated that healthcare professionals must ensure that their patients are not harmed, nor will come to harm. (van Uffelen J G Z et al. 2008). I did consider the possibility of speaking to the ‘Special in an unofficial capacity, but came to the conclusion, that there was nothing that they could say which would change the proper course of action. This concurs with the opinion of Tschudin who analyses a number of similar situations. (Tschudin, V 2003). This level of analysis gave me a deeper insight into the situation and reinforced my initial conclusions relating to the proper and appropriate course of action. Now what? Given the fact that Lee had reported a possible episode of abuse, it seems entirely appropriate that it would be properly investigated. The action of the Sister in removing the ‘Special from caring for Lee also seemed appropriate and proportionate. It may have been considered more appropriate to suspend the ‘Special from work, but in circumstances when one is dealing with a confused and psychotic patient and there is a significant element of uncertainty about the veracity of the allegations, this might be considered inappropriate and unduly prejudicial to the ‘Special. (McMillan J 2005) At the time of the reporting of the incident, I apologised to Lee myself and reassured him that such a situation would not be allowed to occur again. I feel that this was also a professionally appropriate course of action, as it not only communicated a professional sense of responsibility to Lee, but also it demonstrated the fact that I was taking his complaint seriously and was sorry that it had happened. (Kozier, B et al. 2008) When analysed in overview, I effectively had two possible potential outcomes of the situation. Either I believed that Lee‘s story was probably true, or I didnt. This gives rise to a deeper analysis and, in the words of Cruess Cruess, the evolution of a student into an expert practitioner is judged by the ability to operate from a deep and holistic understanding of the total situation, a concept that is often referred to as ‘professional intuition. (Baillie L 2005). Cruess et al. suggest that this ‘professional intuition is better considered as ‘professional expertise, which is generally built up and gained over years of experience and which, when tested in the clinical environment, can become an altogether more robust concept. (Cruess S R et al. 2007). Reflection on this situation, together with the guidance received from the Ward Sister, has helped me to fully understand the main elements of this situation. If I were to encounter such a situation again I wou ld feel more confident in dealing with the situation rather than having to reflect at length after the event. Such analysis has helped me to realise that, to cite Schon, it is one of the ways professionals evolve and move beyond rule-bound behaviour and which enables them to function in a world of uncertainty and see problems in a holistic way and act appropriately. (Schà ¶n, D A (1987) Appendix Scenario: A 78 year old gentleman called Lee was admitted to my Ward with schizophrenia and other medical conditions, one of which includes confusion and hyponatremia. It has been explained to the patient and his next of kin that due to the dangerously low sodium level Lee is on a fluid restriction of 750 mls per day, however due to the patients mental statue, he constantly demands fluids and if not given he will start screaming and disturb other patient and can be very aggressive a time. For this reason the Senior Sister requested a special in order to provide a one to one care for Lee. I supported the patient with personal hygiene care one morning, Lee began to cry, when I asked what is the matter Lee? he said, three days ago a special slapped my arm and pinched me. And he said I was waiting for her to finish her shift to inform a staff nurse, by then I had forgotten. I hope when my son will visit me, I will remember to tell him what has happened. I reassured him that this will not happen again and I also apologised on her behalf and told Lee that particular specialist will not be caring for him any more. I reported the incident to the Ward Senior Sister and together we filled in an Incident Report Form (IR1). References Boyd E Fales A (1983) reflective learning: the key to learning from experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 23 (2): 99-117 Brooke C; Waugh A Eds (2007) Foundations of Nursing Practice, Fundamentals of Holistic Care. Lond Mosby Elsevier. Carrick P (2000) Medical Ethics in the Ancient World. Georgetown University press : Philadelphia Jasper M. (2007) Professional Development, Reflection and Decision – Making. Blackwell Publishing, Singapore. Kozier, B, et al. (2008) Fundamentals of Nursing: Concepts, Process and Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education. Nicol M N, Bavin B C, Bedford-Turner S B, Cronin P C Rawlings-Anderson K R (2004) â€Å"Essential Nursing Skills† 2nd ed. Churchill Livingstone, Mosby NMC (2008) Nurse Midwifery Council: Code of professional conduct: Standards for conduct, performance and Ethics (2008) London : Chatto Windus 2008 Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical Reflection in Nursing and the Helping Professions: a Users Guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Schà ¶n, D A: (1987), Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco. Tschudin, V (2003). Ethics in Nursing: the caring relationship (3rd ed.). Edinburgh: Butterworth-Heinemann. van Uffelen J G Z, Chinapaw M J M, van Mechelen W, Hopman-Rock M (2008) Walking or vitamin B for cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment? A randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2008; 42 : 344 351

Invisible Man Essay: Search for True Identity :: Invisible Man Essays

Search for True Identity in Invisible Man      Ã‚   "Who the hell am I?" (Ellison 386) This question puzzled the invisible man, the unidentified, anonymous narrator of Ralph Ellison's acclaimed novel Invisible Man. Throughout the story, the narrator embarks on a mental and physical journey to seek what the narrator believes is "true identity," a belief quite mistaken, for he, although unaware of it, had already been inhabiting true identities all along.    The narrator's life is filled with constant eruptions of mental traumas. The biggest psychological burden he has is his identity, or rather his misidentity. He feels "wearing on the nerves" (Ellison 3) for people to see him as what they like to believe he is and not see him as what he really is. Throughout his life, he takes on several different identities and none, he thinks, adequately represents his true self, until his final one, as an invisible man.    The narrator thinks the many identities he possesses does not reflect himself, but he fails to recognize that identity is simply a mirror that reflects the surrounding and the person who looks into it. It is only in this reflection of the immediate surrounding can the viewers relate the narrator's identity to. The viewers see only the part of the narrator that is apparently connected to the viewer's own world. The part obscured is unknown and therefore insignificant. Lucius Brockway, an old operator of the paint factory, saw the narrator only as an existence threatening his job, despite that the narrator is sent there to merely assist him. Brockway repeatedly question the narrator of his purpose there and his mechanical credentials but never even bother to inquire his name. Because to the old fellow, who the narrator is as a person is uninterested. What he is as an object, and what that object's relationship is to Lucius Brockway's engine room is important. The narrator's identity is derived from this relationship, and this relationship suggests to Brockway that his identity is a "threat". However the viewer decides to see someone is the identity they assign to that person. The Closing of The American Mind, by Allan Bloom, explains this identity phenomenon by comparing two "ships of states" (Bloom 113). If one ship "is to be forever at sea, [and]  ¡K another is to reach port and the passengers go their separate ways, they think about one another and their relationships on the ship very differently in the two cases" (Bloom 113).