Free Essays on Personality Testing

Personality Testing Personality is defined in Webster’s as â€Å"The pattern of collective character, behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental traits of a person.† The construct in which I chose to do my test critique on was Personality. The three test which I selected all were personality tests that tested people ranging form ninth grade up to adults. Within all of these tests each test had a particular design to help those wanting to make a career-related assessment with their personality. Personality tests interest me because I have grown up around an aunt who administers personality tests, and I have been given quite a few of them. When researching this construct I wanted to be able to relate to the topic, and personality tests greatly interest me. I feel as if they can predict a lot about a person and how they normally interact with others, and how a person deals with things on a daily basis. In the three personality tests that I examined I found two of them to be very useful, but the other not so useful. The first test in which I examined was the called the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventory (Revised). Creating eight factors that deal with personality set up this test. The eight factors that consisted in this test were Ascendancy, Responsibility, Emotional Stability, Socialibility, Cautiousness, Original Thinking, Personal Relations, and Vigor. A ninth was added by the sums of the four scales and that was Self-Esteem. Each section measured the person’s personality by giving the test taker an option of two high preferences responses and two low preferences responses. Although this test seemed to be very reliable it did not seem to be as valid. Since the test was created such a long time ago, not much had been revised but the manual. Although it did measure a person’s personality, there seem to be better indictors then this test itself. The best personality test that I reviewed was the Hogan Perso... Free Essays on Personality Testing Free Essays on Personality Testing Personality Testing Personality is defined in Webster’s as â€Å"The pattern of collective character, behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental traits of a person.† The construct in which I chose to do my test critique on was Personality. The three test which I selected all were personality tests that tested people ranging form ninth grade up to adults. Within all of these tests each test had a particular design to help those wanting to make a career-related assessment with their personality. Personality tests interest me because I have grown up around an aunt who administers personality tests, and I have been given quite a few of them. When researching this construct I wanted to be able to relate to the topic, and personality tests greatly interest me. I feel as if they can predict a lot about a person and how they normally interact with others, and how a person deals with things on a daily basis. In the three personality tests that I examined I found two of them to be very useful, but the other not so useful. The first test in which I examined was the called the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventory (Revised). Creating eight factors that deal with personality set up this test. The eight factors that consisted in this test were Ascendancy, Responsibility, Emotional Stability, Socialibility, Cautiousness, Original Thinking, Personal Relations, and Vigor. A ninth was added by the sums of the four scales and that was Self-Esteem. Each section measured the person’s personality by giving the test taker an option of two high preferences responses and two low preferences responses. Although this test seemed to be very reliable it did not seem to be as valid. Since the test was created such a long time ago, not much had been revised but the manual. Although it did measure a person’s personality, there seem to be better indictors then this test itself. The best personality test that I reviewed was the Hogan Perso...

The Baroque Style in English Prose and Poetry

The Baroque Style in English Prose and Poetry In literary studies and rhetoric, a style of writing that is extravagant, heavily ornamented, and/or bizarre. A term more commonly used to characterize the visual arts and music, baroque (sometimes capitalized) can also refer to a highly ornate style of prose or poetry. Etymology From the  Portuguese  barroco  imperfect pearl Examples and Observations: Today the word [baroque] is applied to any creation that is exceedingly ornate, intricate, or elaborate. Saying a politician delivered a baroque speech wouldnt necessarily be a compliment.   (Elizabeth Webber and Mike Feinsilber, Merriam-Websters Dictionary of Allusions. Merriam-Webster, 1999) Characteristics of Baroque Literary Style Baroque literary style is generally marked by rhetorical sophistication, excess, and play. Self-consciously remaking and thus critiquing the rhetoric and poetics of the Petrarchan, pastoral, Senecan, and epic traditions, baroque writers challenge conventional notions of decorum by using and abusing such tropes and figures as metaphor, hyperbole, paradox, anaphora, hyperbaton, hypotaxis and parataxis, paronomasia, and oxymoron. Producing copia and variety (varietas) is valued, as is the cultivation of concordia discors and antithesisstrategies often culminating in allegory or the conceit.(The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 4th ed., ed. by Roland Green et al. Princeton University Press, 2012) Cautionary Notes to Writers Very skilled writers will sometimes use baroque prose to good effect, but even among successful literary authors, the vast majority avoid flowery writing. Writing is not like figure skating, where flashier tricks are required to move up in competition. Ornate prose is an idiosyncrasy of certain writers rather than a pinnacle all writers are working toward. (Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman, How Not to Write a Novel. HarperCollins, 2008)[B]aroque prose demands tremendous rigor from the writer. If you stuff a sentence, you must know how to do so with complementary ingredientsideas that do not compete but play off one another. Above all, as you edit, concentrate on determining when enough is enough. (Susan Bell, The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself. W.W. Norton, 2007) Baroque Journalism When Walter Brookins flew a Wright plane from Chicago to Spingfield in 1910, a writer for the Chicago Record Herald reported that the plane drew out great crowds at every town along the way ... In baroque prose that captured the excitement of an era, he wrote: The sky-gazers looked on in astonishment as the great artificial bird bore down the heavens. . .   Wonderment, surprise, absorption were written on every visage . . . a machine of travel that combined the speed of the locomotive with the comfort of the automobile, and in addition, sped through an element until now navigated only by the feathered kind. It was, in truth, the poetry of motion, and its appeal to the imagination was evident in every upturned face. (Roger E. Bilstein, Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts, 3rd ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001) The Baroque Period Students of literature may encounter the term [baroque] (in its older English sense) applied unfavorably to a writers literary style; or they may read of the baroque period or Age of Baroque (late 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries); or they may find it applied descriptively and respectfully to certain stylistic features of the baroque period. Thus, the broken rhythms of [John] Donnes verse and the verbal subtleties of the English metaphysical poets have been called baroque elements. . . . Baroque Age is often used to designate the period between 1580 and 1680 in the literature of Western Europe, between the decline of the Renaissance and the rise of the Enlightenment.​  (William Harmon and Hugh Holman, A Handbook to Literature, 10th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006) Ren Wellek on Baroque Clichs One must, at least, admit that stylistic devices can be imitated very successfully and that their possible original expressive function can disappear. They can become, as they did frequently in the Baroque, mere empty husks, decorative tricks, craftsmans clichà ©s...If I seem to end on a negative note, unconvinced that we can define Baroque either in terms of stylistic devices or a particular worldview or even a peculiar relationship of style and belief, I would not like to be understood as offering a parallel to Arthur Lovejoys paper on the Discrimination of Romanticisms. I hope that baroque is not quite in the position of romantic and that we do not have to conclude that it has come to mean so many things, that by itself, it means nothing...Whatever the defects of the term baroque, it is a term which prepares for synthesis, draws our minds away from the mere accumulation of observations and facts, and paves the way for a future history of literature as a fine art.(Renà © Wellek, The Concept of Baroque in Literary Scholarship, 1946, rev. 1963; rpt. in Baroque New Worlds: Representation, Transculturation, Counterconquest, ed. by Lois Parkinson Zamora and Monika Kaup. Duke University Press, 2010) The Lighter Side of Baroque Mr. Schidtler: Now can anyone give me an example of a Baroque writer?Justin Cammy: Oh, sir.​​Mr. Schidtler: Mm-hm?Justin Cammy: I thought all writers were broke.(Literature. You Cant Do That on Television, 1985)

E-Commerce Website Development Using Component Technologies Essay

E-Commerce Website Development Using Component Technologies - Essay Example A major difference between the server side and client side is that when you are performing client side operations, you must always contact the server in some cases. For instance, when shifting codes based on an individual’s requirements, the code can be placed on the client side using Sencha or ExtJs and then a simple API coding on the server. On the server side, it is possible to stay completely inside without the need to access the client side if a user picks PHP UI framework. On the client side, the client code is visible to all users that are using the application, for instance, a web browser, but on the server side, the code is not visible to anyone viewing a webpage.The client side of computer programming interacts with temporary storage such as cookies and local storage while the server side of computer programming interacts with permanent storage such as SQL and files. The programming languages that these two sides use also differ; while client side uses programming language such as JavaScript, HTML, CSS or any language that runs in a client’s device and interacts with a remote service, server side uses programming languages such as PHP, ASP.Net in C++ or Visual Basic or any other language that is used in programming. Benefits of server side components One of the advantages of server side components is that they reduce the load on the user’s computer since it does not require any special or additional plug ins or browser scripting technology such as JavaScript. Secondly, with server side components website owners can create their own applications or use content management systems to maintain their websites without necessarily having to edit their code. Another advantage of server side components such as programming language is the ability for websites to provide dynamic content, which is contrary to the period before the server side languages when WebPages wee static. Server side languages provide an individual with security because in order to access a site one has to login using an ID and a password therefore a secure access to the site. This is done when the site sends a webpage known as a form where the user types his ID and password then submits them to the site. After verification that the user is an authenticated member, the server allows him secure access to the site. Application of component technologies in development of E-commerce website The electronic component commerce model comprises of both internet based transactions but also EDI based business to business activities that were used before commercialization of the internet. For development of technologies of e-commerce, there are three Meta levels that need to be c onsidered; infrastructure, services, and products and structures. Four pillars that include network, multimedia content, messaging and ordinary business services support infrastructure; these four pillars are contained in a complex web of technical, business and legal issues. The three meta-levels in e-commerce and their boundaries are determined by the business organisations, clients, service providers and other stakeholders that are involved in the transactions according to their specific and individual needs. Components that are contained in the e-commerce component models can be changed overtime, for instance, the WebPages that are used to display various business contents in the internet are bound to get outdated

Consumer behaviour analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Consumer behaviour analysis - Assignment Example One of the advantages of undertaking an analysis of consumer behavior is that it enables the business to produce goods and services that meet the specific needs of consumers. Businesses have to make a consideration of the buyers’ cultural determinants of their purchase patterns and other factors so that they address them in the product design and development (Kumra 32). In assessing the culture of the target market, consumes have to understand that some products can do well in certain places and not others. In this case, they have to ensure that they avoid those places that they do not stand to sell their products for various reasons. Alternatively, they can design products that fulfill the needs of those populations effectively. A marketing strategy refers to approach designed by a business to increase its sales and achieve a sustainable and reliable competitive advantage in the market place. The strategy comprises of all the fundamental short and long-term activities in the marketing field. A reliable marketing strategy in a company addresses the analysis of initial situations towards the process of formulating, evaluating and selecting market –oriented approaches in tandem with the laid down goals and objectives (Morphitou and Savvas 201). In designing this strategy, cultural considerations that will play a role include the beliefs and values of people pertaining the goods and services (Mooij 35). The company has to design a marketing approach that appeals to the market’s beliefs and practices. For instance, when people believe that smartphones are essential in enhancing the value of their personal and social services, the business has to use promotional tools and language the emphasize on this issues. Secondly, consumer behavior characteristics are also essential in designing the marketing strategies. Consumers’ preferences for certain brands

Primary School and Typical Young Kid Essay Example for Free

Primary School and Typical Young Kid Essay I can remember one event in my grade school days that I did not like. You could say it being one of my worst days of my life. I was in the fifth grade, in a school in Clovis, NM. This school believed in paddling if you got in trouble. The teacher I had, acted like he love to enforce this rule. He would tell us, every time we acted out, that he was going to paddle us as he waved his paddle in the air. We were told to do homework for the weekend and to bring it back on the next Monday. I didn’t want to do this long homework assignment, I wanted to go play with my friends and play video games. I was a typical young kid; I just wanted to have fun. That whole weekend I did not touch that assignment. I don’t even think I took my homework out from my backpack. The Moring of that Monday I completely forgot about my homework. When I got to school and sat down at my desk, the teacher asked â€Å"Who did their homework†? Most of the class raised their hands; I was not one of them. The teacher told for the ones that did not do their work have to stay in for recess and finish it. That just made me mad; I wasn’t allowed to go play with my friends. When recess time came and when my friends went out to play, I just stared out the window and refused to do my work. About the time recess was over and the class was coming in, the teacher walked in and told us to bring our work to his desk in front of the class. There was only two of use that gave him a blank assignment. He didn’t take that to well, as he grabbed both papers and directed us to follow him to the office. At the office he looked up for our parent’s numbers from the school records. When he called my step mom and told her what I did he asked if it was ok to discipline me, if he couldn’t do it than she was to come and do it herself. He hanged up the phone with only the word â€Å"Ok† and then he took both of us out in the hall and paddled us both with two swings each across our bottoms. I did not like that school day, I never saw that teacher the same way after that incident. It made me be aware of my actions. From that day I made sure I did all my work. I didn’t want to get paddle again. It was a very cruel way to punish but it was a very infected to make the kids listen.

Battle of Gen X and Gen Y Essay -- essays research papers

The Battle of Gen X and Gen Y There ¡Ã‚ ¦s no doubt about it, the newest diversity issue in the workplace is age diversity. Many organizations have finally figured out how to recruit young talent only to watch them drive down a collision course with seasoned employees over issues like work ethic, respect for authority, dress code and every work arrangement imaginable. And they're not sure what to do about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With this paper, I decided to take this concept because of the people that I have to work with on a continual basis. They are usually people from the Generation X trying to communicate with Generation Y. Just the other day I heard from someone I am working with,  ¡Ã‚ §Those god d*&# young kids don ¡Ã‚ ¦t want to work. Then they have to ask  ¡Ã‚ ¥Why do I have to learn this anyways? ¡Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ¨ I just sit back, smile, and think to myself there has to be an easier way in getting the information highway open to people no matter what the age. Good communication skills are essential to get any message across and there are many times our verbal and written messages are not received and interpreted as intended. That is why I chose to look at the Generations of X and Y. I first had to define what a generation is. A generation, loosely defined, is a group of people who can be demographically identified by biological trends and have shared experiences (Stephens Generation X Site, 2004). I did a little research first on the Generation Y babies (1980-1994). These young adults are in a league all their own. This generation has a hopeful outlook, a determined work ethic, and gets turned off by promiscuity (Mcai-mn.org, 2004). This generation also likes a direct communication approach. No surprise, they get along well with the over sixty generation. They have a global perspective, and this may be due to the pace of technological change in the last twenty years that promotes communication without barriers. When you look at this group closer, they are able to adapt rapidly, innovate constantly, accept others easily and rebound quickly. They have the time, tools, and the talent to create a better world and better results. Now those Generation X ¡Ã‚ ¦s have there own fond little quirks too! They were brought up on television, Atari 2600s and personal computers. They are the generation that was raised in the 1970s and 1980s, and saw this country undergo a selfish... ... 30 years of age. Considering that the average starting salary of a college graduate in 2000 hovered around $38,000, while more and more organizations are figuring out ways to flex schedules, work locations, and job descriptions, Gen Yers may be more realistic than those who scoff at their ambition. I haven ¡Ã‚ ¦t found out yet if it has worked or not. I am sure hoping it is because when researching this topic it brought me to my own realizations on what I expect. I need to place more value on asking people what they expect instead of placing my own biases on what I think they want. Reference Page Business Week Online Official Website. Managing Generation X ¡XPart One on September, 2001. Retrieved on March 5, 2004 from http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2001/sb20010928_113.htm Jennifer Jochim, Outpost Contributor. Reality shreds myths about Gen X. Retrieved on March 5, 2004 from http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost/specials/genx.overvw2.html MCIA official website. Retrieved on March 5, 2004 from http://www.mcai-mn.org/resources/articles_generations_0412.html Stephen ¡Ã‚ ¦s Generation X site. Retrieved on March 5, 2004 from http://users.metro2000.net/~stabbott/genxintro.htm.

Medical Tourism: Study Case of Ijn

Medical Tourism Sustainability through the Export Market Orientation Behaviours: The Case Study of Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) Ili-Salsabila Abd-Razak1 and Asmat Nizam Abdul Talib Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, MALAYSIA The inclusion of tourism sector as one of the 12 recognized national key economic areas (NKEA) for the 10th Malaysia Plan represent the sector’s prospect in not only driving the nation’s economy, but also transforming the country into a high-income economy by 2020. With approximately 10 years left, many concerned groups are keen to know how this will be achieved.This paper aims at exposing the prospects of medical tourism as an essential subsector of tourism which would offer a number of proven benefits, and hence contribute to accomplishing the government aspiration of transforming the nation’s economy via the said sector. In discussing the subject, the case study method is employed involving Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) as an emerging medi cal tourism provider in the country. Findings of the case study are presented herein. Key words: medical tourism, economy, Institut Jantung NegaraIntroduction The promising prospect of tourism as an economic stimulator has enabled it to be included in the list of 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEA), which has been specifically drafted to transform the Malaysian economy into high-income economy by year 2020. While there are tremendous numbers of tourism categories, ranging from environment, cultural, sports, and entertainment, to name a few, this paper intend to highlight on the prospects of medical tourism as a significant tourism-related economic contributor in this country. Connell (2006) defined medical tourism as health-related tourism involving specific medical intervention. Among the most popular medical tourism products are orthopaedic and cardiac surgery, which are very popular among Asian medical tourism providers, as well as executive health evaluations, cosmetic surgery , joint replacement, and similar complex medical, surgical and dental procedures (Horowitz and Rosensweig, 2007).Therefore this is a distinguished industry than that of the wider health tourism industry which involves tourists travelling to search for spas, yoga and meditation, or any other forms of health tourism (Connell, 2006; Garcia Altes, 2005). 1 Email: ili. [email  protected] com 169 In a relatively detailed account of medical tourism development which began in 1800s, Schroth and Khawaja (2007) proposed that the current phenomenon is different due to the unique combination of global demand and supply within the international medical market.As observed in the region, this proposition is regarded as well-founded. The present development of medical tourism in the international market is very unique, manifested by the escalating statistics of players, patients and revenues generated around the globe of late. How Malaysia is positioned within this backdrop, and how it would affe ct the development of this fast emerging economy, are among the focus of discussion of this paper. The Statistical Development of Medical Tourism Medical tourism has been a very significant industry over the years.By judging from its health travel umbrella, the sector is expected to generate some handsome revenue of RM240 billion (roughly USD73 billion) in 2010, with ASEAN contributing RM9. 6 billion (roughly USD3 billion) (PEMANDU, 2010). Specifically focusing on medical tourism industry, the anticipated revenue to be generated in Asia is RM14. 2 billion by 2012 (roughly USD4. 3 billion), with Malaysia is expected to bring in RM2. 1 billion (roughly USD64 million) from that amount (Ang, 2009).As a comparison, India, another top Asian medical tourism destination, expects to gain USD2 billion by the same year (Connell, 2006; Horowitz and Rosensweig, 2007). These statistics surely are translated by a growing number of medical tourists around the globe. The movement of medical tourists is another significant indicator of this trend. At the global stage, approximately 350 000 medical tourists moved from developed nations to less developed countries for treatment in 2003, while a year later 1. 18 million patients travelled to India alone and another 1. million to Thailand for the same reason (Horowitz and Rosensweig, 2007). Glancing at the local development, the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) has been projecting for a stable 30% growth of takings from foreign patients until 2010. This is apparent from the steady increase of foreign patients to Malaysia which recorded a total of 39 114 patients in 1998 and 374 063 patients ten years later (APHM; Liow, 2009). In terms of revenue, RM14. 1 million was documented in 1998 before jumped to RM299. million in 2008 (APHM; Liow, 2009), and is expected to contribute to another RM540 million in 2010 (Leonard, 2009). The revenue per patient has almost tripled from RM360 in 1998 to RM800 in 2008 (Choy, 2010). In the latest development, medical tourism is expected to generate RM4294. 4 million of Gross National Income, together with 5295 jobs in 2020 (PEMANDU, 2010). This occurrence has readily attracted a number of giant MNCs with diversified structure such as General Electric (GE) to invest further in the industry (Panjanadan, 2010). The Revolution of Medical TourismThe presented statistics did not appear by chance. The numbers occurred out of plausible factors. The development of medical tourism industry is indeed different (Horowitz and Rosensweig, 2007). As mentioned earlier, Schroth and Khawaja attributed the uniqueness of the industry’s current development to the forces of market’s demand and supply, which is in resonance with Horowitz and Rosensweig (2007) who ascribed it to the movement of patients from industrialized nations to less developed countries. Connell (2006) argued that medical tourism is a niche which 170 xperienced rapid growth and has become an indust ry. The said paper also enlisted several factors promoting the development of medical tourism, such as the low costs factor, the long waiting list, the relatively affordable international air travel and favourable exchange rate, plus the aging of the baby boomers generation. These factors are also often cited in a number of studies regarding medical tourism such as Hansen (2008), Herrich (2007), Horowitz and Rosensweig (2007), Garcia Altes (2005), Marlowe and Sullivan (2007), and Schroth and Khawaja (2007), to name a few.Apart from these popular factors, other notable factors motivating the development of the industry spotted in the literature extent are the use of internet and mobility of technology, the unavailability of certain procedures in the local market, and the reduced trade barriers encouraging the mobility of workforce. Hansen (2008) argued that the revolution in medical tourism today is consumer-driven. This is in line with Horowitz and Rosensweig (2007) who argued that the industry is market driven with complex involvement of multitude medical, economic, social and political factors.While the progress of the industry seems to be very promising, the general overview of Malaysia’s involvement at the international level is not very charming. Even though medical tourism experienced an astounding per annum growth of 22% from 2004 to 2009, the global share is still considered as small with RM350 million in 2010 (PEMANDU, 2010). Furthermore, PEMANDU also reported that while the global healthcare travel is a multi-million dollar industry, Malaysia is yet to get a sizeable share.The said industry is expected to generate USD75 billion of revenue in 2010 at the global level, while Malaysia is expected to make about USD0. 1 billion. The statistics provide a brief sight on the development in the country weighted against the global development. Malaysia should therefore be proactive enough to catch up with the global progress to stay competitive in the i ndustry. To enable this, the players and responsible parties must quickly recognize potential constraints that can hamper the development and address the issues well.The Required Expertise and the Potential Economic Opportunities Based on previous arguments, medical tourism offers bountiful opportunities and chances. In order to remain competitive at the global stage, marketing strategies should be revised against the present circumstances. Marketing the medical expertise and offerings should be distinctively conducted. The primary concern of assessing an excellent marketing strategy is the effectiveness of the strategies implemented.StuartKregor (2005) argued that defining marketing excellence for medical-related industry is different with that of the commercial-based industry. As customer is the centre of marketing excellent in the industry, the paper suggested that the effectiveness of marketing strategies should then be done by measuring the customer’s satisfaction over t he service provided. Therefore, all other marketing excellence measured by considering the profit, return on investment or sales as in any other commercial industries should be changed to be more customer-oriented rather than organizationaloriented. Building he strategies can be done by â€Å"developing, communicating and delivering the right emotional benefits to the targeted customers† (Stuart-Kregor, 2005, pp. 117). The right emotional benefit here is viewed as brand by Stuart-Kregor (2005). This paper is in agreement with the argument, which is to develop the marketing strategies by focusing on the emotional benefits (brands), and assess the effectiveness of the strategies by measuring the satisfactions of the customer. Further discussion on this is available in the next section. 171 The science of excellent marketing strategies would be wasted without a good delivery system.The state of local expertise, technologies and facilities must be attended to in order to assess t he quality of the service offered against the global level. This is where the industry should strive to be as similar as other excellent providers. The commodification of medical tourism (Chee, 2007) is an evident of this occurrence. Dunn (2007) argued that patients are making choices on medical tourism destinations based on how similar is the service delivered, especially concerning patients from industrialized nations, and the service is expected to come with much lower price.Consequently, it is observed that patients are not looking for low cost products at the expense of the quality in the industry. Successful players realize this and capitalize on the factors well. This explains the rapid movement of workforce and technologies across the four corners of the world. India as an example has been successful in luring its medical doctors who have been trained and worked abroad to return with their internationally recognized expertise and work in the country.Thailand and United Arab Emirates have been successful in rearranging for international collaboration in the industry (Schroth and Khawaja, 2007). Through these strategies, the countries have been able to keep their expertise, technologies and facilities up with the global standard. Proposed Strategies of Reviving and Sustaining Medical Tourism: The Case of IJN With the national governments’ involvement recently (Chee, 2007; Noor Hazilah, Roslan Johari and Kadar, 2010; PEMANDU, 2010), the industry has been attracting the interest of many concerned parties.Since the medical tourism is fast becoming a commodity (Chee, 2007), its marketing strategies should be focusing more on brands and less on products to be distinctive than other providers. As in Malaysia, the country is capable of offering similar products with the rest of other players in the world. While Malaysia has been focusing on cost all this while, it is suggested then for the country to deliver a unique brand which is capable of attracting the interest of potential medical tourists, without desecrating the cost advantage.In order to do so, it is particularly important for the players to implement the export market orientation behaviours within their organization, which are generating, disseminating and responding to the export market intelligence (Cadogan, Diamantopoulos and de Mortanges, 1999). Consequently, Malaysia is expected to be able to woo medical tourism patients even more. Hazilah et al. (2010) reported that a medical tourist spends double than a regular tourist while they are in the country. This high buying power therefore is capable of generating more economic opportunities.The medical tourist needs are also offering a lot of opportunities for Malaysian. Apart from medical attention, they need to have accommodation for their accompanying family members. New jobs have been underway to better serve the medical tourists, such as the healthcare broker. A healthcare broker assists the patient to choose a medic al institute and arrange for the patient’s needs while in here, including visa, accommodation and holiday arrangement. Thanks to the internet, these can be arranged prior to the patient’s arrival in the country.To describe more of these strategies and opportunities, this paper choose to present the IJN as a case study merit the discussion. The National Heart Institute or Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) has been established in 1992. The privatization of the institute was done on many premises, especially concerning the potential it has to expand its expertise and to liberalize the 172 financial capabilities of the institute. IJN did not take long to materialize that. A year after its privatization the institute has been able to be financially liberalized and hence reduce the government intervention in its administration.By now, IJN has accomplished a great number of medical milestones recognized not only in the country and the region, but also internationally. To further advance ahead in medical industry, IJN is joining its local peer private institutions to take part in the global medical tourism industry. The previous mentioned factors of global medical tourism industry’s progressive development served as the basis for IJN to be a part of the industry. Besides, like Singapore, the medical tourism industry in Malaysia is receiving a lot of government’s assistants.Being a nationally structured industry, medical tourism therefore is regarded as a potential industry in which would be able to position IJN better. The Malaysian government has been playing an active role in developing the industry in Malaysia since 1998. The main driver of this is to revive the private medical industry after the 1997 Asian economic downturn which has affected the industry very badly. The success story of Thailand which managed to get the industry out of the crisis by focusing on delivering the service to foreign patients has prompt the government to encoura ge private players to do the same.Consequently, while Thailand has been restructuring the industry without much government involvement, Malaysia and Singapore has been leveraging the industry well with cooperation between the public and the private sectors. IJN has been viewing this very positively and has since become a significant player in the region. While being rapidly developing the industry, the players recognized several major constraints which are able to slow down the progress. Coordination is a key constraint. To increase coordination, the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) was formed to increase coordination between the private players.The steadily increasing number of foreign patients and revenues generated since 1998 as shown in Table 1 is an evident of the successful strategies implemented. However the industry, weighted against the global development, was still considered as insignificant. Resulting from the government’s enthusiasm towards med ical tourism as a prospective economic driver industry, and the intensity and potentials portrayed by private sectors, the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) was established in July 2009.The main purpose of the council is to coordinate promotional activities of medical and healthcare tourism industry in the country. As a part of the economic transformation program, the industry is expected to shift their attention to generate higher patients’ volume, expand the target market beyond Indonesia which is currently the main market of the industry, create alliance across border, and enhance customer experience in the first phase of the strategy. In the following phase, more attention is given on mproving the infrastructure and specialists capacity to attract the more profitable in-patient segment (PEMANDU, 2010). 173 Table 1. The Volume of Foreign Patients and Revenue Generated by Medical Tourism Industry in Malaysia Year 1998 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Medical Tourists/Foreign Patients 39,114 75,210 84,585 102,946 174,189 232,161 296,687 341,288 374,063 Revenue (RM million) 14. 1 n/a 35. 9 58. 9 105. 0 150. 9 203. 66 253. 84 299. 1 Another strategy to improve the medical tourism performance is through focusing on specific players.There are approximately 223 private hospitals operating in the country in 2008 (Frost & Sullivan, 2009). Of this number, the government has decided to focus on 35 private hospitals to capitalize on the industry with several characteristics outlined. The characteristics include being a member of APHM, has obtained the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH), ISO or other international accreditations, offers major specialties and/or some sub-specialties, provides for a minimum 50 beds, and has its own websites.IJN has been one of the selected 35. The commitment demonstrated by IJN towards the industry is paramount. In order to be internationally recognized, the institute has been striving hard to be in the s ame par with the other international organizations. IJN has been accredited by JCI in 2009, which is a recognition of the strong culture of safety and quality within the organization. The internationally recognized accreditation is expected to improve IJN’s international positioning in the future.IJN realizes that in order to make the most of the industry, it needs to build a customer-oriented system. Beginning in 2006, the institute has been conducting the Customer Focused Program. The program was aimed at transforming IJN into a global centre of excellence by ensuring customers’ satisfaction. In 2008, the institute launched what was designed as the second phase of the program, called Customer Focused Culture. While the CFP was initiated to increase awareness of ensuring customers’ satisfaction, the CFC aimed at internalizing the institute’s shared values across the rganization. IJN also comprehend its capacity constraint which is becoming the largest hi ndrance from going big in the global medical tourism industry. Apart from improving on its culture system, the institute has been adamant in enhancing its infrastructure capabilities. A major extension work has been carried out at IJN to expand its capacities from 270 beds to 432, eight wards to 13, 23 outpatient clinic rooms to 59, and an international patient centre, to improve its service for customers.This is in line with numerous governments’ incentives offered to the private hospitals embarking on medical tourism industry to expand their infrastructure capacities. In August 2009, IJN has its new wing officiated by the Malaysian Prime Minister, who acknowledged that the institute has undergone RM230 million expansion program since 2005. In the same ceremony, the Prime Minister has also announced the proposal for IJN to become a research and development institute, measuring itself against the international best heart institute such as the Cleveland Clinic Heart Centre in the US.These are all evidences of how IJN has been greatly employing the export market orientation behaviors within its organization. In commenting the current development of the industry, IJN has expressed its concern for the country to be more progressive towards promoting medical tourism. 174 The IJN Holdings Group Managing Director, Datuk Mohd. Radzif Mohd. Yunus mentioned that the failure for Malaysia to capitalize on its capabilities in the industry would result to the loss of human capital as they will migrate to other countries with better offers.This is also reiterated by Datuk Syed Hussien Al-Habshee, the Secretary General of National Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (NCCIM) who said that the country need to step up its marketing efforts of medical tourism if it wants to catch up with Thailand and Singapore. PEMANDU (2010) has confirmed the assertion by reporting on the stronger growth of the industry by neighboring Thailand and Singapore. The set up of MHTC and several other initiatives are therefore deemed as timely to help Malaysia to rise in the industry at the global stage.Conclusion and Recommendation As exemplified in the discussion, medical tourism offers a lot of economic opportunities and hence is indeed a potential contributor to economic growth. However, Malaysia, while has been enjoying the growth of the industry vehemently over the pass few years, has not been capitalizing the industry well compared to the other global players. Therefore, the Malaysian players need to revise their marketing strategies and delivery system, as represented by IJN.The cooperative efforts between the public (government) and the private sectors too must be further carried on, especially for the sake of protecting the interests of the local society and the survival of the medical tourism players. It is strongly suggested for medical tourism players in the country to leverage on their expertise by focusing the marketing strategies on brands rather tha n on products, as well as enhancing on their infrastructure and culture systems to be more export market-oriented. In doing so, however, the players must not disregard the country’s current edge, which is the competitive cost.In terms of theoretical development, this paper is believed to be able to expose the medical tourism niche and its economic opportunities, as well as the marketing strategies fitting the industry. Quite a number of studies involving Malaysian medical tourism industry have been conducted. Nonetheless, this paper presents the scenario from the view of a single case study. It is highly suggested for similar studies to be conducted with the presence of empirical data to see the quantifiable aspects of the industry in the future.With such studies, it is expected that further theoretical contributions can be made, and hence the progress of the industry can then be expedited even more. Reference Ang, Elaine. Malaysian Medical Tourism Growing. The Star, February 14, 2009. Cadogan, J. W. , Diamantopoulos, A. , & de Mortanges, C. P. (1999). 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