Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Strategic Management Report on Toyota

Strategic Management Report on Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is the largest producer of automobiles in Japan and the worlds second largest automotive manufacturer based on production and sales. In 2010, Toyota sold 7.24 million units (Toyota, 2010). Toyota diversified operations include financial services, telecommunications, prefabricated housing and leisure boats. Besides its 12 plants and a number of manufacturing subsidiaries and affiliates in Japan, Toyota has 52 manufacturing companies in 27 countries that produce Lexus and Toyota brand vehicles and components. Toyota employs approximately 320,590 people worldwide, and markets vehicles in more than 170 countries. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and had an operating income of approximately 397.05 billion Yen (Toyota, 2011). And the main competitors of Toyota are General Motors, Honda Motors and Ford Motors (Daily Finance, 2011). 3. Analysis of Toyota Strategic Capabilities: 3.1 Company Capabilities Grant (2010) says about Lean production integrates capabilities relating to the manufacture of components and subassemblies, supply chain management, production scheduling, assembly, quality control procedures, systems for managing innovation and continuous improvement and inventory control. 3.1.1 Resources Innovation has always been a Toyota resource. In the 1970s Toyota began to produce smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, which customers desired after oil prices rocketed. Recently, it has used both diesel technology and the electric car. 3.1.2 Organizational Culture However, Toyotas main resource is the Toyota Way, the 14 principles behind the Toyota Production System (Combe, 2011). These originated in the post 1945 environment, when it was imperative to make the maximum use of scarce resources. Challenges, improvement, Kaisen, go and see (genchi genbutsu); respect and teamwork are the main tenets of these principles, which can be outlines as follows. Management decisions should be long term, as opposed to short term, although they should be arrived at consensually. Problems should be highlighted by continuous process, not hidden and resolved immediately so that a quality product is produced immediately. Only existing and trustworthy technology should be used and tasks need to be standardized so that the workload is leveled out and the workers are continually improving. Management should understand all aspects of the companys operations, and pass on their dedication to the companys goals to others. All workers, suppliers and affiliated should always be challenged to improve their performance. The latter means that Toyota becomes a leaning organization with workers being empowered to make changes as they perform their daily tasks. The Toyota Way has given Toyota a comparative advantage in both quality and reliability. 3.1.3 Supply Chain According to Winfield and Hay (1997) part of the strategic capabilities of Toyota includes the strategic capabilities of the supply chain. The pattern and organization of a supply chain is perceptibly a comprehensive topic, concerning inter dependencies between research and development, marketing and production roles, creating considerable courses of goods and technical, market and financial information. 3.2 Core Competencies Toyotas global competitive advantage is to build trust and confidence with customers by delivering outstanding quality products and services that add real value to their business. According to Drejer (2002), However, in recent years there has been a number of recalls of multiple models of Toyota, which are amazingly reliable. How could this possibly happen to the car company that was the undisputed leader in quality. 4. Evaluation of Possible Future Strategies for the Company: The main strategic issue for Toyota is maintaining its position as the worlds leading car manufacturer after the recent mass vehicle recall. 4.1 Future Strategies for Culture Change Based on the book titled 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis written by George (2009), Toyota needs a credible leader with a strong, cohesive plan (George, 2010). 4.1.1 Face reality, starting with yourself Toyota blamed the problems on stuck floor mats and panicky drivers. Instead, Toyota should acknowledge that its vaunted quality system failed. CEO Toyoda should take personal responsibility by saying that he pushed too hard for growth and neglected quality. 4.1.2 Dont be Atlas; Get the world off your shoulders Toyoda needs a crisis team reporting directly to him, working 24/7 to get problems fixed permanently. He should add the worlds top quality experts to his fix it team and listen carefully to their advice. 4.1.3 Dig deep for the root cause Management should have required its best engineers to get to the root cause of this problem and every other quality problem being reported. 4.1.4 Get ready for the long haul These problems wont just fade away. In fact, they are likely to get worst before getting better. Toyota must invest heavily in corrective actions while its sales shrink and profits implode, requiring major cash resources until its reputation can be restored. 4.1.5 Never waste a good crisis For all the pain Toyota is experiencing, this crisis provides a unique opportunity to make fundamental changes required to restore Toyota quality. Employees are ready for new direction, and they are willing to make radical changes to renew the company. With Toyodas leadership, Toyota automobiles can be restored to the worlds highest quality. 4.1.6 Youre in the spotlight: Follow True North Toyoda must come out of hiding, take personal responsibility, and subject himself to intense questioning by regulators and the media. Then he should make a personal commitment to every Toyota customer to repair the damage, including buying back defective cars. 4.1.7 Go on offense; focus on winning now Coming out of this crisis, the market will never look the same. Toyota cannot wait until all its quality problems are resolved. It must play defense and offense simultaneously. To win, Toyota has to offer advanced features and superior quality, better value for consumers, greater safety, and improved fuel efficiency. 4.2 Future Strategies for Innovation Like Volkswagen, Toyota could design cars for specific markets (Welch, 2010). Penetration of the price sensitive Indian market could be achieved by producing its low cost car soon (The Economic Times, 2010). Toyota needs to pay more attention to the Chinese market, which is the largest and fastest growing. As Chinese families are smaller than their Western equivalents, this could be an opportunity for increased sales of the smaller Camry model (Xinhua, 2010). Retracting in Europe could fund expansion into these blossoming Asian markets. Specific markets could also be entered by joint ventures with local manufacturers. Volkswagen is aiming to do this in India, by acquiring a stake in Suzuki, which is a market leader there through its subsidiary Maruti (Ran Kim and Hetzner, 2009). Another possible strategy for Toyota is to restore its benchmark for quality and reliability, which has been severely impaired with the second recall of 4.2 million vehicles in 2009 (Bunkley, 2010). Crucial to this strategy, is the introduction of twenty dedicated technology facilities to highlight defects as quickly as possible (Guardian, 2010). In addition, the new regional quality subcommittees have the power to make improvements without head office approval. This would eradicate defects quickly, and, in turn reassure customers. 5. Implementation of the Strategic Change: Recently, public criticism focuses on complaints of too much computerization, problems with global sourcing, and the effects of Toyotas single-minded pursuit of becoming the worlds largest automaker. In fact, the recent criticism of Toyota in these areas demonstrated how leadership holds the keys to success and failure to organizational transformation. New Technology and Leadership Toyotas recent strategy to become the worlds number one automaker has been underpinned by using new know-how, new technology and new materials to improve, perfect and break through auto design and manufacturing. However, the strategy also required that Toyota shifted its focus form manufacturing engineering and built-in-quality toward research and development product design. When a company shifts its focus form lean production to technology innovation, there is an embedded obstacle culture change. On one hand, the essence of lean production dictates the elimination of waste. On the other hand, the uncertainties in new product development require that the manufacturer build in redundancy to manage the risks of the unknown and unsure a high level of safety. Trying to balance lean production with the need for redundancy is a difficult act that requires the leadership to be instrumental in making key decisions as well as leading and managing the change. Global Sourcing and Leadership Toyotas decisions on strategic positioning impacts its cooperation with suppliers. The suppliers original alignment of competitive advantages, core capabilities and value propositions needs to change along with that of Toyotas. such changes, unavoidably, will be reflected in vehicle quality, customer satisfaction and even customer safety. Some would view this as a by-product of the vehicle makers strategic move directed by its leadership. Others think the leadership should consider such impact as part of the change management alongside strategic planning shifts. Whatever it is, the key is the alignment, especially with corporate culture, people capabilities, acceptance of stress and pressure, and the ability to coordinate and change. World No. 1 and Leadership The new leadership certainly has felt the pressure. It is the responsibility of the leaders to sort out the alignment and coordination between strategic direction and operating model. Hopefully, the recall crisis will be treated once more as an opportunity to align its lean production culture and its operation excellence capabilities with its desire to leverage new technology, to continue sourcing from the globe while continuing to stay on the No. 1 pedestal. A transformation already is apparent. Toyota has become less defensive and has responded quickly to new complaints of defects. Leadership is no longer absent and now appears to be leading from the front. In consideration of the various issues, Toyotas growth strategy for the continued realization of Genchi Genbutsu and high quality at affordable prices will centre on a thorough customer first perspective (Toyota, 2010). Specifically, Toyota will review their product lineups to match customer needs in each region and create a production system that responds to changes in market structure while optimally allocating resources in areas where Toyota want to advance. 6. Conclusion Recommendations: Toyota seems to have abandoned one of its core competencies quality. Toyota is suffering from trying to get too big, too fast. Toyota sensed weakness from its auto rivals in the American market, and also noted opportunity in emerging markets such as China and India. So, it started enormous expansion around the world. In doing so, Toyota abandoned one of its core values, which is to never build a new product in a new factory with a new workforce. Toyota may have won the rights to brag as the worlds biggest car company, however, that appears to have come at a heavy cost to its reputation for quality and in turn customer dissatisfaction. Management needs to make sure that their projects and their goals are aligned with organizational values and core competencies. Understanding the importance of competencies and core values, and how they need to work in conjunction, is profoundly important for management success. Management should give thought and efforts towards developing both of these sets of attributes and remain focused on business goals. This is a challenging menu, and this crisis is the true test of Akio Toyodas leadership. Believe this is a great company that will resurrect its reputation and restore its leadership.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Microraptor Gui: The Dinosaur with Four Wings :: Anthropology Essays Paleontology Papers

Microraptor Gui: The Dinosaur with Four Wings Knowing that pterodactyls belong to a separate group of reptiles than dinosaurs, the thought of a dinosaur with wings may seem somewhat strange. But a fairly recent archeological find adds an extra detail to make this idea truly bizarre: a dinosaur with four wings. Microraptor gui, discovered by Xing Xu and colleagues, is believed to be a kind of missing link between strictly ground-dwelling dinosaurs and birds, namely Archaeopteryx, the earliest known creature to be considered a bird. While there can be no debate over the discovery itself, the implications made from its discovery haven’t been entirely accepted, with many arguing them altogether. Besides being an oddity, what makes this particular find so significant? What are these implications that have riled some scientists up, and what is it that these experts argue? Before any sort of discussion on the debate of what M. gui implies, however, the details of this odd reptile’s discovered fossils should be given. Through past research and findings, the leading theory on the origin of birds traces them back to dinosaurs, more specifically a type of bipedal dinosaur called theropods. Within this group of mostly carnivorous dinosaurs are the dromaeosaurids, and they specifically are believed to be the closest dinosaur ancestors of birds. The discovered fossils of the dramaeosaurid M. gui form of a nearly complete skeleton, and it’s been compared with a similar, previously discovered Microraptor skeleton. The place of M. gui’s discovery was Dapingfang, Chaoyang County in western Liaoning, China, also known as the Jiufotang Formation_. Xu and colleagues declare the fossils to be dated from the early Cretaceous period (about 124 - 128 million years ago_)_ through others’ radiometric dating and biostratagraphical correlations of that region_. Interestingly, the closest ancestors of many of the dinosaurs found within this area of China are believed to have lived not during the early Cretaceous, but the late Jurassic_. Paleogeographers have theorized that this area was thoroughly isolated during the very late Jurassic and into the early Cretaceous_. With paleontologists theorizing that Archaeopteryx came into existence 25 million years before the dated existence of these M. gui fossils_, M. gui i s still believed to be a basal dromaeosaurid, meaning that it’s one of the earliest of this type of theropod, maintaining that these fossils are of an ancestor to Archaeopteryx and all birds.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Alan Mulally, Ceo, Ford Motor Company

Describe what is motivating Jim Goodnight. Discuss how these factors are similar or different to what may motivate you if you worked at SAS. What motivates Jim goodnight is that he has assembled a company with loyal employees that enjoy working in the organization. Jim believes that† if you treat employees as if they make a difference to the company, they will make a difference† to the company. (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011) As stated in the case just having the ability to work in relax and stress free environment makes the job more productive which is a great factor in any job you work at. Jim offers great benefits to work at SAS. SAS has an on cite daycare center for kids is a great factor. Having the ability to have unlimited sick days to take off for family. Those are the most important factors when working because you never want to feel like you put your job in jeopardy for taking off a lot for sick days. Hellriegel, D. & Slocum, Jr. J. (2011). Organizational behavior. Mason, OH Cengage Learning publishing Describe ethical problems associated with performance-based reward programs. Ethical problems associated with based performance reward programs are for example with DIRECTV as a CSR are incentives are base upon our yearly performance which our supervisor gets a percentage of that. I feel that supervisors shouldn’t be able to get a certain percentage of the employee’s earnings. This has been implemented from the job as a offer or incentive to supervisor as a benefit for the job. In your experience, explain any abuses you have seen. An experience I have seen at a previous job where I have worked, an employee has trained another employee for a supervisor position and once trained the employee made less money than the other employee that was trained. I find that to be ethical. Recommend how leaders can correct such abuses. Leaders need to design a better management that can be the over sea to correct the loop holes in the issues that are occurring. Employees shouldn’t train management. There should be a team of management trainers that train the managers for their jobs.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Effects of Emotional Stress on Dental Health Research Proposal Examples

Abstract Stress is a dynamic and interactional process involving intricate body systems with formulations and operationalisation of the components at different levels(1).There is growing evidence that there is a positive correlation between emotional stress and oral health. As will be demonstrated from the literature reviewed in this paper emotional stress can be implicated in oral problems such as ulcerative conditions, inflammatory conditions, dental decay, TMD, RAS and others that continue to be linked to stress. Stress has also been found to aggravate some oral conditions such as oral lichen planus. In some of these conditions the precise mechanisms by which stress causes or aggravates them is not clear though definite association has been demonstrated. However in most conditions stress modifies the local immunological responses, the microbial flora or results in behavioural choices such as excess alcohol consumption, tobacco taking and unhygienic practices that have been implicated in these conditions. Despite the plethora of research on this subject the association of stress and oral health is fairly ignored and very few people are aware of this association because it is not as publicized as the other conditions associated with stress It is therefore important evaluate the effects of emotional stress on dental health and to educate the population on the same particularly because of the impact of the oral disorders on the quality of life. This paper will explore the various oral disoreders that have strongly been associated with stress. The paper shall comprise of a review, though not exhaustive, of the available literature on the subject attempting (where possible) to asses the mechanisms involved. Introduction Background Information Stress is a naturally occurring phenomenon in the modern society due to the pressures of life. Stress is an interaction of psychological and physiological reactions of an individual encountering changes or demands that are difficult to handle. The demands of life accompanied by very little control or ability to meet those demand conspire to affect the mental state of an individual resulting in such effects as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, lack of sleep associated with irritability and stress. Several factors contribute to stress in the modern society and they include, solitary careers, strife for perfection, economic pressure, career pressure, personality complexes and time pressure(2). It has been established that most if not all people experience different forms and different levels of stress at some point occasioned by internal or/and external factors. From a biological view point stress, though the negative effects are over emphasized, can be a neutral, negative or positive experience.   It is important to not that our bodies respond differently to stress and a lot of research has been carried out to establish the pathological responses to stress. The behavioural changes and hormonal modifications induced by stress explain the relationship between stress and disease. Of particular interest to this research paper are the effects of emotional stress on oral health. A plethora of research has established that there is a significant link between emotional stress and oral health hence implicating anxiety and depression for development of certain oral disorders. Some of the most important oral conditions that have been associated with dental emotional health are bruxism (tooth grinding which may culminate into teeth damage, jaw or facial pain and headaches), canker sores also called aphthous ulcers, dry mouth, burning mouth syndrome, Lichen planus and temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ). In addition emotional stress has been implicated in contributing to susceptibility to various infections including gum infections (periodontitis)(3). The oral health of individuals with emotional stress is also affected by the fact that they tend to ignore personal hygiene and engage in destructive activities such as smocking and excessive alcohol consumption. Pharmacological studies have also established that some of the drugs administered to treat depression cause dryness of the mouth. Finally in patients with some of the above mentioned oral conditions stress has been shown to cause relapse after treatment. Research objective The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the emotional stress on dental health Justification All people encounter different forms and levels of stress in life. Stress can be subtle and not easy to identify but often stress manifests as anxiety disorders, depression, panic attacks and lack of sleep culminating in irritability and grogginess. Emotional stress has been recognized as a risk factor in the aetiology and pathogenesis of several diseases. Chronic inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease are some of the conditions initiated and exacerbated by emotional stress. A lot of attention has been given to these conditions and the cardiovascular effects of stress. However the association of stress and oral health is fairly ignored and very few people are aware of this association because it is not as publicized as the other conditions associated with stress. Unfortunately the mouth has as much of a probability of being affected by stress as any other part of the bodies and the mind. It is therefore import ant evaluate the effects of emotional stress on dental health and to educate the population on the same. Literature Review Stress is a dynamic and interactional process involving intricate body systems with formulations and operationalisation of the components at different levels(1). Currently stress is defined as physiological and metabolic perturbations brought about by various aggressive agents and the psycho-physiological response of an organism facing challenges or a threat or a perception of the same(1).   Several factors contribute to stress in the modern society and they include, solitary careers, strife for perfection, economic pressure, career pressure, personality complexes and time pressure(2). Emotional stress has been recognized as a risk factor in the aetiology and pathogenesis of several diseases. Emotional stress has been implicated for negatively affecting the immune system and behaviour the two main means by which stress has been shown to affect health. Research on the effect of stress on mice demonstrated that stress affects the immune system by reducing the tumour necrosis factor and modifying leucocytes responses(4). Similarly human studies have shown that stressful events can affect immune response(5). Research has demonstrated that there is an intricate interaction of psychology, neurology, immunology and endocrinology emphasizing the significance of psychological and physiological vulnerability to face stress(6).   As early research by Ringsdorf and Cheraskin (1969) found that mental stress has an impact on lifestyle choice and dental hygiene habits. They showed that stress increases alcohol consumption and tobacco use as well as food habits, findings that have been confirmed by a recent research(7). Therefore there is evidence that stress affects health mainly by i nfluencing the immune system and behavioural choices. Current research indicates that emotional stress is a risk factor in the aetiology and pathogenesis of several diseases as explored in the subsequent sections. Stress and recurrent aphthus stomatitis Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is the commonest ulcerative disease of the oral mucosa that is associated with painful ulcers (McCullough, Abdel-Hafeth, Scully, 2007). Albeit its world wide occurrence and the extensive amount of research devoted to the disorder the aetiology of the RAS remains unclear. However multiple factors including nutritional, genetic, infectious and psychological factors have been associated with the condition(8). The disorder contributes to poor quality of life yet the available therapy is inadequate. As earlier stated psychological factors, including stress, have been associated with exacerbation of RAS. Psychological factors have an effect on the immune system and this effect could be implicated for the disorder(9). Stress and Temporomandibular disorders Temporomandibular disorder is a term that collectively describes several clinical syndromes involving the masticatory muscles and/or the temporomandibular joint(10). Symptomatically the condition is associated facial pain resulting from multiple factors including sleep bruxism and other risk factors associated with psychological status. Stress has been associated with TMD with some studies indicating that 50-75% of the TMD patients experienced stressful conditions prior to the onset of the TMD symptoms(11). Research has also implicate increased masticatory muscle activity, leading particularly prolonged and increased muscle tension, associated tor stress for the causation of TMD(12). There are also indications that stress exacerbates sleep bruxism and/or daytime clenching(13). Patients with TMD could benefit from psychotherapy as part of multidisciplinary pain management approach(14). Stress appears to activate various physiological responses involving the nervous system (both central and peripheral NS). Activation of the sympathetic nerves and release of epinephrine at the sympathetic terminals by stress and anxiety enhances acetylcholine activity at the motor endplate and triggers a cascade of events culminating in decreased threshold at muscle nociceptors and pain(10). There is evidence that psychological factors and physiological responses contribute to the pain but as to whether they actually cause TMD it is not known. However there are indications that some patients suffering from TMD are more anxious than can be explained by asymptomatic controls. Stress and orthodontics treatment A recent study showed that orthodontic tooth movement alone can evoke emotional stress and emotional stress results in increased cellular cementum resorption and particularly to decreased tooth movement(15). This study also demonstrated that progressive chronic emotional and physical stress leads to significant morphological changes in oral dental tissues in rats. The researchers therefore concluded that chronic stress can lead to periodontal pathology, exacerbate the exhaustion of protective immune responses, impair the functioning of the masticatory muscles and affect the growth and development of the dentomaxillomandibular system. The severity of these effects positively correlates with the strength of the stressor and negatively with the tolerance of the individual test animal. Psychological stress influences various immune functions in various ways. Stress and dental Caries Dental caries also called dental decay is a preventable infectious disease characterised by erosion of the mineral tissues of teeth caused by organic acids produced by bacterial fermentation of dietary carbohydrates ((16)). It has been rated the most common childhood chronic disease affecting up to 40-50% of British and USA children(17) and 60-90% children in the world in the age bracket of 2 to 11 years(18). Early childhood caries (ECC) is associated with an interaction of multiple factors including psychological, biological and behavioural factors. Though the association between this condition and stress remain amorphous studies have been conducted to establish the link. One such study investigated psychological stress as a risk factor in the aetiology of ECC by determining and comparing the salivary cortisol levels as a response to stress related events in children with ECC and those without. The study also compared the adaptability of children with ECC and those without to different dental procedures(19). Research indicates that psychological and biological factors seem to interact in two distinct and interactive ways to influence dental decay. Children from lower SES families appeared to acquire higher levels of cariogenic oral bacterial than their peers from higher SES families. This indicated a strong correlation between SES and counts of Lactobacilli (LB) and oral mutans streptococci (MS) which were therefore implicated for mediating the SES-caries association. Secondly cortisol reactivity to stress and higher production of salivary cortisol undermines local defences and protective microanatomical structures thus compromising dental health. The presence of cariogenic bacteria as well as elevated basal HPA activation was linked to dentition while increased cortisol reactivity was associated with changes in the physical characteristics of dental enamel. The association of cortisol and bacteria with caries agrees with earlier findings that chronic stress can affect sIgA (secretory Ig A) secretion(20), that cortisol can affect local mucosal immunity and oral microflora, and that the compromising of the mucosal immunity encourages bacterial colonization and growth (21). It is important to note that sIgA plays a vital role in regulating the oral microflora and that gluco-corticoids suppress the immune responses through such mechanisms as reducing lymphocytes in circulation, inhibiting the aggregation of immune cells,reducing chemotaxis and degranulation and reducing production of cytokines such as IL-1, IL-2, interferon gamma and tumour necrosis factor.   These reports lead to the conclusion that socioeconomic categorization of ECC is a culmination of stress related elevation of cortisol production and the increase in the population of cariogenic bacteria(22). Stress and Oral lichen planus Oral lichen planus is a condition that involves the inflammation of the oral mucosa and is characterized by red swollen tissues, open sores and white lacy patches(23). It begins as a small raised swelling that progressively turns into white lacy patches that eventually spread through out the mouth. It is also accompanied by moth pain, sores and blisters, a burning sensation in the mouth, a feeling of rough texture in the mouth and sore gums. The patient may also bleed when brushing his/her teeth and have a metallic taste in the mouth(24). The precise aetiology of oral lichen planus remains unknown but it seems to be an autoimmune response in which the immune system attacks the oral epithelial cells leading to necrosis. In most cases it occurs unexpectedly thus referred to as idiopathic oral lichen planus. It may also occur due to certain drugs, mechanical trauma, viral infection and contact with allergens. The exact association of oral lichen planus with stress has not been identified because unlike other stress related oral disorders that have been shown to be caused by suppression of the immune system by stress oral lichen planus is associated with n over reactive immune system. However there is overwhelming evidence that psychological stress exacerbates oral lichen planus by unknown mechanisms(25). Periodontitis, inflammation of the tissues supporting the teeth, is another inflammatory disorder that has been associated with stress. Unlike oral lichen planus, the cause of periodontitis is well known. Periodontitis i s caused infectious bacteria. Research indicate that stress modify the microbial flora of the mouth as well as the local immunity thus leading to periodontitis(3). Conclusion There is growing evidence that there is a positive correlation between emotional stress and oral health. As has been demonstrated from the literature reviewed in this paper emotional stress can be implicated in oral problems such as ulcerative conditions, inflammatory conditions, dental decay, TMD, RAS and others that continue to be linked to stress. Stress has also been found to aggravate some oral conditions such as oral lichen planus. In some of these conditions the precise mechanisms by which stress causes or aggravates them is not clear though definite association has been demonstrated. However in most conditions stress modifies the local immunological responses, the microbial flora or results in behavioural choices such as excess alcohol consumption, tobacco taking and unhygienic practices that have been implicated in these conditions. It is therefore advisable to reduce stressful encounters as much as possible and to manage stress effectively. References Reners M, Brecx M.   Stress and periodontal disease. Int J Dent Hyg. 2007; 12 (3):   532-543. Lang S, Randy M. 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