Assignment International Business Management Essay

Instruction * Complete with your team (ca. 3 students) the assignments and case. Please use the answer form in doing so. * Please hand in your final version before the tutorial of 110 minutes (T3) by uploading it to the sharepoint site of the course Marketing. * Dont forget to bring a hardcopy version of your answer to class and prepare as a team how you will be presenting your answers. * N.B. This is a team exercise. Every group member is responsible for the work which is handed in at the deadline. Hence every group member may be asked by the instructor to clarify your team’s answers. Assignment & Case overview: Assignment # 1 (60 points: 10 per question, 20 points for questions 1 and 2) 1) Select an industry: IT and computers Examples of industries are: transport, energy, IT and computers, supermarkets, publishers, garden centres, travel agencies, employment agencies, etc. 1a) Please mention for your industry of choice at least 6 relevant developments in its macro-environment. (20 points) 2) Please select a company or brand which operates in your industry of choice. The company or brand of choice must have both consumer – and business clients. 2a) Please mention for your company or brand of choice at least 6 relevant developments in its micro-environment. (20 points) 3) From this company’s or brand’s perspective, do the developments you identified in the macro- and micro-environment, have a positive or negative impact for the particular company or brand? 4) Draw an organisational chart of your company of choice. Include all sister companies and SBU’s (Strategic Business Units). Case Week 1: Pegasus Airlines (40 points) Please read the case on page 36-37 and answer the following questions: Question 1:Give examples of the needs, wants and demands that Pegasus customers demonstrate, differentiating these 3 concepts. What are the implications of each for Pegasus’ practices? (10 points) Question 2: Describe in detail all the facets of Pegasus’ product. What is being exchanged in a Pegasus transaction? (10 points) Question 3: Which of the 5 marketing management concepts best applies to Pegasus? (5 points) Question 4: What value does Pegasus create for its customers? (10 points) Question 5: Is Pegasus likely to continue being successful in building customer relationships? Why or why not? (5 points) Answer FormMarketing Week 1(Total points to be earned: 100) Team #†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Class IBM12 Names:Jasper Henken Lam Le Danny Dikker Assignment # 1 (60 points: 10 per question, 20 points for questions 1 and 2) 1) Select an industry: (20 points) ————————————————- Industry: IT and computers ————————————————- 1a) Please mention for your industry of choice at least 6 relevant developments in its macro-environment. | 1a) Developments in the macro environment| (3) + or – impact| 1| Technological| +| 2| Economic| +| 3| Cultural| +| 4| Political| -| 5| Natural| +| 6| Demographic| +| ————————————————- Explanations: ————————————————- 1. There’s obviously been quite some innovations regarding the technology of computers, which also has a great impact on sales of computers and therefore is a positive impact on the macro environment. ————————————————- 2. The economy is more about communicating and working together. Every company nowadays runs on computer software and relies on computers to process the data. This obviously has a positive influence for IT. ————————————————- 3. There’s been developments cultural wise, people are more connect to each other by using a computer and therefore the cultural development has a positive influence on the macro environment ————————————————- 4. Governments are trying to spy on each other and their civilians by using IT technology. This basically scares away from IT in general. ————————————————- 5.The industry nowadays minimises its effect to the environment by limiting chemicals in its processes and minimising the electrical usage of their products and programmes. ————————————————- 6. Population is increasing and therefore the demand of computers will increase over time. ————————————————- 2) Please select a company or brand which operates in your industry of choice. The company or brand of choice must have both consumer – and business clients. (20 points) ————————————————- Company or brand: Microsoft ————————————————- ————————————————- 2a) Please mention for your company of choice at least 6 relevant developments in its micro-environment. | 2a) Developments in the micro environment| (3) + or – impact| 1| The Company| +| 2| Suppliers| +| 3| Marketing intermediaries| +| 4| Competitors| -| 5| Publics| +| 6| Customers| +| ————————————————- Explanations: ————————————————- 1. Microsoft is a big company therefore it should be logical that Microsoft has his own marketing department etc. ————————————————- 2. Suppliers have a positive impact because they deliver the goods that Microsoft needs to produce their product. ————————————————- 3. Microsoft has a lot of good relationships with other firms which allows them to expend in their production and possibilities. ————————————————- 4. Apple, linux are big competitors so Microsoft can struggle which means it has a negative impact. ————————————————- 5. Microsoft is well-known around the world, everyone that thinks about computers think about Microsoft. ————————————————- 6. Everyone uses a computer and since windows is one of the biggest in the market at the moment, Customers obviously have a positive impact. ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- 3) From this company’s or brand’s perspective, do the developments you identified in the macro- and micro-environment have a positive or negative impact for the particular company or brand? (See tables abover for questions 1a and 2a for indicating positive (+) or negative (-) impact and/or type an explanation here)(2 x 5 = 10 points) ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- 4) Draw an organisational chart of your company of choice. Include all sister companies and SBU’s (Strategic Business Units).(10 points) ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- ————————————————- Case Week 1: Pegasus Airlines (40 points) Please read the case on page 36-37 and answer the following questions: Question 1:Give examples of the needs, wants and demands that Pegasus customers demonstrate, differentiating these 3 concepts. What are the implications of each for Pegasus’ practices? (10 points) ————————————————- Needs: Low prices ————————————————- Wants: If a delay of more than 3 hours occur, they get a full refund. ————————————————- Demands: Innovative destination in offers. ————————————————- ————————————————- Question 2: Describe in detail all the facets of Pegasus’ product. What is being exchanged in a Pegasus transaction? (10 points) ————————————————- On-time departure, Information support by e-mail and SMS, Credit & Loyalty card, Refund in case of a 3+ hour delay, Fly Cafà ©, Opportunity to choose a seat, Discounts for early booking, Various destinations, customer service strategy lies regularly scheduled. ————————————————- ————————————————- Question 3: Which of the 5 marketing management concepts best applies to Pegasus? (5 points) ————————————————- The marketing concept. ————————————————- ————————————————- Question 4: What value does Pegasus create for its customers? (10 points) ————————————————- A flight experience with high quality and low cost. ————————————————- ————————————————- Question 5: Is Pegasus likely to continue being successful in building customer relationships? Why or why not? (5 points) ————————————————- Yes, if you deliver the customers’ needs and wants, they’ll pick you over competitors and you’ll be successful. ————————————————- ————————————————-

Geography Was the Primary Factor in Shaping the Development of the British Colonies in North America

Throughout the course of human history, geography has always played an essential role in the migration and development of various civilizations. It influenced the way people lived, the food they ate, and their entire life. For some colonies, the geography was perfect to live in, while others had to endure harsh conditions. When the Quakers first arrived to Pennsylvania, they were able to establish a successful colony through hard work, but their geography was what determined the success. The warm climate and fertile soil made it an excellent place to grow wheat, bread, and other profitable crops to supply more than enough for everyone. The Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware) did not only have fertile land, but they also had rivers and the sea for hunting fish and establishing ports. The ports made it accessible for the Middle Colonies to easily trade goods with Great Britain and other colonies, enticing foreigners such as the Germans and Scots Irish to settle down. On the other hand, the New England Colonies did not fare off as well as the Middle Colonies did, since the land wasn’t as fertile and the colonies was located on a rocky region, making it hard for plants to grow. When Jamestown was first established, the colonists faced a very difficult time because they were unprepared for the cold weather and lacked food to survive through the harsh climates. However, they were able to prevail and utilized the sea and abundance of trees, and eventually grew tobacco to become rich and successful. While geography played a significant factor in the development of colonies, one should also consider the influence of religion. People that wanted to escape religious persecution from the Anglican Church established colonies and soon, people flooded into the Americas. However, within these religious communities were those that had their own beliefs, and these people created their own colonies. For example, Roger Williams and Thomas Hooker had differentiating views of how the community should be run, and they were banished. Despite this banishment, Roger Williams eventually established Rhode Island, where he allowed complete religious tolerance and Thomas Hooker created Connecticut for much more lenient voting right requirements. Geography surely was a primary factor in the development of British colonies in North America as it determined the success or failure of the colonies, but religion also greatly influenced the development of the British colonies.

Leaders in the making of Americas Revolution and Goverment Essay

Leaders in the making of Americas Revolution and Goverment - Essay Example One of the main causes that initiated the revolutionary war was the geographic distance that separated the colonies from Great Britain (Countryman 5). Many colonists migrated from Great Britain to gain independence and to seek their own personal freedoms that the King George III clearly neglected (Countryman 10). The desire to colonize the new world generally meant more liberation and strong urgency of independence. Another root cause the American Revolutionary War was the colonial legislatures that were enacted by the King (Countryman 13). The enactment of these laws meant that that the colonies continued to be pass laws and pay taxes to atone the sins of the Great Britain. Tom Paine’s in his literary work the â€Å"common sense† described King George as a â€Å"royal brute.† King George III can be considered an â€Å"unfit leader† in many aspects. First and foremost is the fact that he used the colonist’s tax money to fund his poor decisions as a King but also to pay for his son’s misfortunes. In essence, he utilized the tax money to fund another of his son’s illegal marriage (Brooks 45). Furthermore, he continued to useless acts such as the sugar and stamp act to fund his useless ventures. George III is often accused of consistently trying to keep Great Britain at war with America, despite the opinion of his cabinet. According to his perspective, the King wanted to "keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse"(â€Å"Boston Tea Party Facts†). King George III clearly had a safety net to protect himself when he was in trouble. In order to fund his financial burdens, the King would impose illogical taxes to the colonists. The colonists saw this as an oppression towards their liberty as their hard work was subjected to pointless tariffs (Brooks 26). Clearly, King George III was no t as noble as he seemed. He refuted to abolish slavery in the colonies and imposed his personal will at every given point (Brooks 22). The King dissolved many of the legislations that the colonies demanded. Undoubtedly, he would not allow new legislations to be enacted, which created an unsecure atmosphere with an unstable government that the colonists could not afford to possess. Lastly, the root cause of American Revolutionary was due to the salutary neglect that the colonists had to face. Salutary Neglect was an accumulation of different policies that the Great Britain implemented during the eighteenth century, which comprised of a relaxed and indifferent enforcement of the Navigation Acts in the colonies (Murray 15). Although the British had a strict policy in mercantilism, the British Prime Minister had no problem enforcing salutary neglect (Murray 15). From the King’s perspective, salutary neglect deemed necessary in order to mitigate the risk of a revolution and mainta ining his power in the throne (Murray 20). In addition, enforcing salutary neglect would no doubt diminish any chance of stimulating the economy of the colonies. As an effect of flaring tensions between the colonies and the new tariffs that were levied by the highness himself, many American leaders began to adopt Liberal and Republican ideals (Murray 55). John Locke, the famous historian, was a key figure who influenced the American leaders to adopt to the â€Å"

Case of analysis report TESCO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Case of analysis report TESCO - Essay Example It reveals the point where the company is capitalizing to succeed and possible lapses that may be costing the company. The paper also gives recommendations pertaining to the analysis, which leads to a concluding comment. Therefore, Tesco has to watch out on its environment (internal and external), PR actions, and strategic positioning to ensure that they are better placed to survive, grow and perform excellently in already saturated UK market and in its international operations as well. Tesco PLC is considered the one of the top ranking supermarket chain and the top ranking on online grocery in the UK and around the world, in terms of size, and revenue. It operates internationally in about 15 countries. In regard to the UK market, Tesco stands as the market leader enjoying a market share of approximately 30% (Tesco Corporation, 2014). The company uses the slogan ‘Every little helps’ to ensure their customers get the value of their money. In so doing, the company attempts to win and sustain their lifetime loyalty. This has the company grow, start operations in new markets, and earn remarkable profits international markets such as China, Hong Kong and Japan. Some of its efforts include Tesco Metro, club card and Express. In this report, an analysis is done of the external and internal environments, PR orientations, and alternative strategies are discussed and recommended. Due to its global presence Tesco is subject to political and legislative environments prevailing in concerned countries. For Instance, the UK government stipulates that the retailers offer equal opportunity employment that does not discriminate against anyone in terms of race, sex, ethnicity, age, and disability (Balchin, 1994, p. 43). This coupled with increased population calls at large retailers such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury to reconsider the way they treat

Nursing curricullum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing curricullum - Essay Example Despite there being a clear significance of the learning process to every person’s development, health, functioning, the well-being and health, debate about how learning takes place, the experiences that deem to hinder or facilitate learning, and the key elements that ensures learning becomes relatively vital has never ceased. Arguably, one such crucial elements pertains a learning theory. A learning theory is the coherent framework of some integrated principles and constructs that can be used for describing predicting or explaining how individuals learn. Education psychology has provided alternative theories alongside perspectives concerning how the process of learning takes place. The curriculum for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN's), has adopted a number of learning theories that have evidently been useful at boosting the training, as well as the learning processes of its staff (Fitzpatrick, & Whall, 2005).. ... They are more significant in influencing the pedagogical practice. More often than not, behaviourists tend to be of a view that all behaviour, no matter their complexity can easily be reduced to simple stimulus response association. In essence, behaviourists are emphasize on the measurable outcomes rather than imaginary thoughts and feelings (introspective processes). Ivan Pavlov, while conducting an experimental research with dogs, found out that dogs tend to salivate whenever the laboratory technician enters the room (McKenna, & Slevin, 2008). Research conducted over the same revealed that dogs had made the association between stimulus (food) and the technicians (neutral stimulus) thereby leading to the dog’s drooling response. This theory was termed as Pavlovian conditioning and was further developed by Watson who further demonstrated the classical conditioning among humans with the use of the young boys called Little Peter and Little Albert (McKenna & Slevin, 2008). Extend ing on this theory, Skinner used this theory to provide an explanation of the more complex forms of learning. Skinner believed that it was possible to utilize principles underpinning animal experimentation with children and infants. He went ahead coining the terminology Operant conditioning in explaining the influence negative and positive reinforcers have upon maintaining and shaping the behaviour of a child. The AACNs have adopted the Skinner’s theory as used in reward and punishment systems used by teachers in shaping and maintaining the behaviour of pupils. Praise, star charts, positive feedback, alongside circle time are crucial examples of the commonly used positive reinforcers, while

Two Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Two Questions - Essay Example One occasion in which Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" reiterates this famous ruler is when he asserts, â€Å"our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation.† (Boritt 1). Similarly, Pericles started his speech in this way when he claimed, â€Å"I shall began by speaking about our ancestors.† (Halsall 34). Another instance is when Lincoln claims, â€Å"we cannot consecrate -we cannot hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it.† (Boritt 1). This is also evident in Pericles speech when he argues that the people being honored have proved themselves valiant on the war zone, and that their victory shall not be illustrated through speech given by a single man, but by action (Halsall 34). In addition, in Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address", Lincoln also reiterates Pericles’ recognition and admiration of democracy. The famed conclusion of the speech, â€Å"government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,† exhibits Lincoln view on democracy (Boritt 1). Similarly, Pericles appears to embellish democracy when he claims, â€Å"power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people our political life is free and open† (Halsall 38). ... In conclusion, the purpose of both Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" To Thucydides' "Pericles' Funeral Oration" was to honor those who had perished in war Question 2 Friendship as comprehended by the most famous theologians, philosophers, and church illustrates an association in which there is a shared significance in attaining the good. Every participant is expected to assist the other in their development of virtue, or good behavior, in a true friendship (Sachs 14). This explanation aids in developing peaceful relations between people, thus serving the common good in an adequate way. This part addresses Machiavelli’s and Aristotle’s views on friendship (Marriott 52). Machiavelli: I would not want to observe fruitful, peaceful relations between people because an integrated populace is not easily dominated. Therefore, to me, friendship is an association in which the prudent member uses the other to ally with if in need, gain favors, and attain power. Aristotle: In my view, friendship lies squarely within the political arena. True friendship in a similar fashion as a political alliance, is an activity that is functional in the polis and depends on committed reciprocity. Friendship is part of righteous behavior whose conclusion is the goodness and happiness because it appears in a community of beings. Machiavelli: Friendship does not exist where there is nothing to be offered that could help in the search of power. It is essential to sometimes jeopardize the love of others so as to attain significant success. I believe that happiness and power do not necessary lie in being righteous but at least seeming to be righteous. Aristotle: In spite the community of beings, friendship is only probable with a

Primary research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Primary research - Essay Example Though de Vaus (2002) distinguishes between a survey and questionnaire, but at the same time it is also emphasized by him that quite often questionnaire happens to be a part of the survey. Direction of the research is set depending upon how the data is analysed. To facilitate the results of this survey and ensure its usefulness to the researchers, the study aims at producing valid and reliable data. To this end, all answers will be listed; this includes those answers that were duplicated by multiple respondents. The tables will be formatted and designed to be read easily--ensuring that the information will be interpreted accurately. Vague answers with multiple possible interpretations will be further clarified to reduce the chances of misinterpretation. Simple frequency tables will be used to help draw out and sort the information gathered from the returned questionnaires. The number of responses reflecting each possible answer and the number of unique responses will be indicated on the accompanying tables. These findings will then be pulled together into a report format with preliminary notes and comments used to explain the presented information in detail. The research questionnaire is prepared to gain knowledge of the current HR scenario, acceptance level of such policies, working attitudes as well as practices that came in close relation with the effective management of companies. To this end, primary data will be collected through the responses of participants during the process. Similarly, an account will also be maintained of the people who do not wish to participate in the survey, when we approach them, for various reasons. This will be done purely for academic reasons, as it will also help in throwing some light on how the workers feel safe and secure enough while talking about the HR policies. To gain the responses of about 100 people we might have to approach more people (say about 125-140 professionals because 25-40 people might decline to participate in the survey. We need to prepare a table to keep the record of respondents. Table can be prepared as follows. Table-1 Number of Respondents Age groups Prompt in responses Declined to respond Upto 30 yrs 31-40 yrs 40+ Total Subsequently we can also enlist the reasons for saying 'no' to the survey. Some of the responses could be as written in the table below (but we will be tabulating different types of other responses as well). Table-2; Reasons for saying 'No' to respond Reason for not Responding Age

The impact of knowledge sharing on Hotel Industry effectiveness in UK Literature review

The impact of knowledge sharing on Hotel Industry effectiveness in UK - Literature review Example This, in turn, can have positive implications for London hotels, restaurants and the tour operators and increase their overall profitability. However, the number of hotels keeps increasing and the competition becomes tougher as the market share gets divided among a large number of players, which decreases profitability of individual hotels. From the current trend, it transpires that the hospitality market shows a mixed response and factors such as region and sector do exercise a crucial influence in determining the trends in profits. Similarly, the profitability in certain regions and sectors may be reflecting the impacts of certain temporary phenomenon such as some major events and the consequent surge in tourist flow rather than a sustainable change in market structure. On the other hand, the advent of computer and internet technologies has facilitated an environment where hotels have access to about â€Å"1000 times more data than a decade ago† and hotels can make use of it for furthering their business (Toedt 2013:15). In a market condition, which remains uncertain and volatile due to its dependence on a variety of variants, companies have to look for appropriate strategies to cushion the risks and set off possible failures in the market. Thus, they have to integrate all possible management concepts in their day to day functioning to ensure their smooth operation and optimizing their potential in the marketplace. This becomes especially relevant in the case of companies in the hospitality and hotel industries because of their unique characteristics that make them susceptible to seasonal fluctuations apart from conditions that apply to other industries. Similarly, some of the major management concepts that are being integrated to other industries are not being implemented in hospitality industry. A good example of this is Knowledge Management (KM), which emerged in the recent years as a management concept to enable companies to attain optimum efficien cy and â€Å"sustainable advantage† over their competitors (Isa et al 2008:103). Hotels need to explicitly manage their â€Å"intellectual capital† by incorporating knowledge management principles into their day to day functioning (103). With the advancement in information and communication technologies, major changes have occurred in all spheres of management, to stay compatible to the ever evolving technologies and to update employees with the emerging innovations. Similarly, there is an imperative requirement for employees engaged in the hospitality industry to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in technology and other fields so that they can understand the effects of such changes in different â€Å"elements of business† and easily adapt to the changes occurring the society around them (Carina Antonia Hallin & Einar Marnburg 2007). Christensen (2003) argues that in the recent years, knowledge has become the significant component of business op erations to achieve as well as â€Å"sustain competitive advantages† (2). He defines knowledge management as process that involves several â€Å"mechanisms and structures† necessary to handle knowledge as well as understanding various aspects and stakeholders of such knowledge that one pursues (3). In the backdrop of a dramatic

Communicating Expectations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communicating Expectations - Assignment Example The work involved scheduling work and filling worksheets. Based on the information contained in the worksheets, each worker would have a specific duty to attend to. Every worker would have a worksheet that detailed where they would be working, the specific type of work they would be doing, how much time they would need to perform the work, and the main procedure involved in completing the work. After the work had been done, each worker the supervisors would certify that the workers did all the work specified in the work sheets. Based on the worksheets, the employees working on contract would be paid. Because each day had different demands, the worksheets had to be prepared every morning based on the orders that the company received. While everything worked well when the company had few orders to deliver, there was a big problem whenever there were several orders. The process of filling worksheets was slow much as I tried hard to cope with the numerous worksheets to fill. Many times, workers idled around as they waited for their worksheets while in fact they should have been working. This meant that sometimes the company failed to deliver its orders within deadline which never went well with the management. Realizing where the problem was, the manager in charge of my department informed me that I had to find a way of ensuring that the worksheets were produced within a much shorter time. He emphasized that he believed that I could find a way of making the process faster and more efficient so that production would be improved. I took his word positively and tried even more to work faster. There was a slight improvement in production as I produced more worksheets within a shorter time within three days. However, the manager still insisted that he believed that I could do much more to realize real change. I knew I was putting my very best effort and could not see at that time how I could work even faster. I got into real thought

Ethics And Issues Essay Example for Free

Ethics And Issues Essay How should schools deal with Internet plagiarism? There are many ways as to how a school can deal with internet plagiarism. Firstly, they should teach their students the importance of writing a fair work and the worth of hard work it has. Students need to know that any piece written by them is their own accomplished hard work that is entirely original. In such a way, they have learned the essential elements of the work that the school teacher wanted them to work on. In other words, they have succeeded in meeting the requirements of the coursework, no matter what grade they get. Secondly, teachers should highly emphasize on the topic of ethics and ethical writing to the students. Apart from these, a school has to be up-to-date regarding the different ways as to how the students plagiarize. Keeping a track on the past papers of the previous is one way. The other is to use anti-plagiarism software today. The popular software used these days by the universities is Turnitin. com or Mydropbox. com. Students should be taught that plagiarism is a crime and is equivalent to stealing. Altering digital photos: Art or Fraud  Similar to plagiarizing, altering digital photos is fraud and can earn even legal consequences if used for financial or academic gains. Altering digital photos and stating it as your own work is like stealing someone else’s work, making some additions and stating it as your own. Just as the painting of Mona Lisa will always be the work of Leonardo Da Vinci, no matter how altered it is, any work done on anybody’s presently done work is a crime. In my opinion, altering digital photos can never be an art but a fraud because the original work is done by someone else. Photojournalism is mostly subjected to this fraud. If altering digital photos was to be considered as art, many people would misuse it to present as legal evidences. Since the natures of digital photos are, in a way, alterable, these pieces are never considered as a piece of legal evidence. Software have been developed where any alter in the digital images are spotted and traced that avoids altering of any digital piece as well (Pearson, 2006). Altering any image or piece for one’s own benefit in order to gain money is a crime, thus a fraud and not an art. Just as a re-mix music cannot be regarded as an original piece of art, altering digital photos, too cannot be regarded as an art.

The Classification And Description Of Speech Sounds English Language Essay

The Classification And Description Of Speech Sounds English Language Essay Speech sounds are broadly divided into two categories, namely, Vowels and Consonants. If we say the English word shoe, we realize that this word is made up of two sounds, one represented by the letter sh and the letter oe. When we produce the word represented the letter sh slowly, we realize that during the production this sound, the air escapes through the mouth freely and we do not hear any friction. The sound that is represented by the letter sh in the word shoe is a consonant and the sound represented by the letters oe in the word shoe is Vowel. (All sounds during the production of which we hear friction are consonants, but not all consonants are produced with friction). This will be discussed under the type of consonants in this chapter. If we say the words she, shoe, shy, show, ship and shout, we will realize that when we produce the sounds represented by the letters e, oe, y, ow,i and ou in these words, the air escapes through the mouth freely without any friction. All these sounds are therefore vowels but each one of them sounds different form the others. These sounds should therefore be sub-classified. Similarly, if we say the words shoe, see, zoo, and who, we will hear friction during production of the sounds represented by the letters sh, s, z and wh. All the se sounds are therefore consonants. But once again we will see that each of them sounds different from the others. The sounds that are called consonants also need to be sub-classified. In the chapter we will take up the classification and description of consonants. To describe a consonant sound, we need certain important pieces of information. We need to know the following regarding its production: the air stream mechanism; the state of the glottis; the position of the soft-palate; the active articulator; the passive articulator; the stricture involved. Let us discuss these in some detail. The air -stream mechanism: All English sounds (vowels as well as consonants) are produced with a pulmonic egressive air-stream mechanism, i.e., lung-air pushed out. The state of glottis; Speech sounds can be classified voiceless or voiced, depending upon whether the vocal cords are wide apart and the glottis is wide open (voiceless) or the vocal cords are kept loosely together and they vibrate (voiced). The position of the soft-palate; Speech sounds can be classified as oral or nasal, depending upon whether the soft-palate is raised so as to shut off the nasal passage of air (oral) or it is lowered to open the nasal passage of air simultaneously with an oral closure (nasal). Sounds can also be nasalized. And (e) The active and passive articulators: Of the various articulations described, at least two are required for the production of any speech sound; some articulators move during the production of speech sounds. These are termed active articulators. Certain other articulators remain passive and the active articulators move in the direction of these. These are termed passive articulator. The lower tip and the tongue are the active articulators. The upper lip and the entire roof of the mouth are the passive articulators. It should be remembered, however, that the upper lip and the soft palate are capable of independent movement; but when either of these is one of the articulators involved in the production of a sound, it is always the other articulator (the lower lip in the case of the upper lip and the back of the tongue in the case of the soft palate) that moves towards these. So the upper lip and the soft palate are considered passive articulators. The stricture involved: The term stricture refers to the way in which the passage of air is restricted by the various organs of speech. Let us study the various types of strictures in detail. Complete closure and sudden release: The stricture may be one of complete closure, i.e., the active articulators come into firm contact with each other, thus preventing the lung-air from escaping through the mouth. Simultaneously there is a velic closure, i.e., the soft palate is raised, thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. Thus the lung-air blocked in the mouth. When the oral closure is released, i.e., when the active articulator is suddenly removed from the passive articulator, the air escapes with a small explosive noise. Sounds produced with a stricture of complete closure and sudden releases are called Plosive. The initial sounds in the English word pin, bin, tin, din, kin, and gun are plosives. Complete closure and sudden release: If after blocking the oral and the nasal passages of air, the oral closure is removed slowly, i.e., if the active articulator is removed slowly from the passive articulator, instead of the explosive noise that is characteristic of plosive consonants, friction will be heard. Sounds that are produced with a stricture of complete closure and slow release are called Affricatives. The initial sounds in the English word chin and jam are affricate consonants. Complete oral closure: the active and passive articulators are in firm contact with each other, thereby blocking off the oral passage of air completely. But the soft palate is lowered so that there is a velic opening, i.e., the nasal passage of air is opened. The lung-air will then escape through the nostrils freely. Sounds that are articulated with a stricture of complete oral closure are called Nasals. The final sounds in the English words sum, sun, and sung are some examples of nasal consonants. Intermittent closure: The soft palate is raised, thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. The active articulator strikes against the passive articulator several times with the result that the air escapes between the active and passive articulators intermittently. Such a stricture is termed intermitted closure. Sounds that are articulated with a stricture of intermittent closure are called trills or rolled consonants. The letter r in English words like red and ran is pronounced as a trill by most Scottish people. For some consonants the active articulator strikes against the passive articulator just once and then quickly flaps forward. Such consonants are called taps or flaps. The letter r in very is pronounced as a tap by some English people. Close approximation: The active articulator is brought so close to the passive articulator that there is a very narrow gap between them. The soft palate is raised so as to shut off the nasal passage of air. The lung-air escapes through the narrow space between the active and passive articulators, producing audible friction. Sounds that are articulated with a stricture of close approximation are called Fricatives. The initial sounds in the English word five, vine, thin, then, sip, zip, sheep and hat are fricatives. Partial closure: the active and passive articulators are in firm contact with each other. The soft palate is raised, thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. If the sides of the tongue are lowered so that there is plenty of gap between the sides of the tongue and the upper molar teeth, the air will escape along the sides of the tongue without any friction. Sounds that are articulated with a stricture of complete closure in the centre of the vocal tract but with the air escaping along the sides of the tongue without any friction are called laterals. The initial sound in the English word love is a lateral. Open approximation: The soft palate is raised, thereby shutting off the nasal passage of air. If the active articulator is brought close to the passive articulator so that the gap between them is wide the air will escape through this gap without any friction. Sounds that are articulated with a stricture of open approximation are called frictionless continuants and semi vowels. In fact Peter Ladefoged uses the term approximants to refer to sounds that are articulated with a stricture of open approximation. Having looked in detail at the six points referred to at beginning of this chapter; let us describe some consonant sounds with reference to the six points. The sound represented by the letter p in the English word spy: The air stream mechanism is pulmonic egresssive. The vocal cords are drawn apart. The glottis is open. The sound is voiceless. The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage of air is shut off completely. The sound is oral. The active articulator is the upper lip. The passive articulator is the lower lip. The stricture is one of complete closure and sudden release the sound articulated is a plosive. The sound represented by the letter s in the English word spy: The air-stream mechanism is pulmonic egressive. The vocal cords are drawn apart. The glottis is wide open. The sound is voiceless. The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage of air is shut off completely. The sound is oral. The active articulator is the blade of the tongue. The passive articulator is the teeth ridge. The stricture is one of close approximation. The sound articulated is a fricative. The sound represented by the letter n in the English word finger: The air-stream mechanism is pulmonic egressive. The vocal cords are kept loosely together. They vibrate and the sound is voiced. The soft palate is lowered. The nasal passage of air is open. The sound is nasal. The active articulator is the back of the tongue. The passive articulator is the soft palate. The stricture is one of complete oral closure. The sound articulated is a nasal. The sound represented by the letter v in the English word vine: The air-stream mechanism is pulmonic egressive. The vocal cords are kept loosely together. They vibrate and the sound is voiced. The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage of air is shut off completely. The sound is oral. The active articulator is the lower lip. The passive articulators are the upper front teeth. The stricture is one of close approximation. The sound articulated is a fricative. Three-term labels: Consonants are described using three-term labels. The three term refer to (a ) the state of glottis, (b)the place of articulation and (c) the manner of articulation. The three terms should be arranged in the order in which they have been listed above. Some consonants are described below with three-term labels. The letter p in the English word spy represents a voiceless bilabial plosive. The letter d in the English word dear represents a voiced alveolar plosive. The letter k in the English word sky represents a voiceless velar plosive. The letter ch in the English word cheap represents a voiceless palate-alveolar affricative. The letter m in the English word mat represents a voiced bilabial nasal. The letter n in the English word finger represents a voiced velar nasal. The letter y in the English word yes represents a voiced palatal approximant. (Semi-vowel).

Helena Maria Viramontes’ The Moths Essay -- Moths Viramontes Essays

Helena Maria Viramontes’ â€Å"The Moths† I was initially drawn to Helena Maria Viramontes’ story â€Å"The Moths† due to the striking similarities between the narrator’s experience and my own experience with being thrust into the role of caretaker for a dying loved one. By tracking a young girl’s transformation through dealings with subjugation (by her culture), freedom (through her grandmother), death (of her grandmother) and grief, Viramontes successfully paints an endearing tale of change. â€Å"The Moths† emphasizes the narrator’s oppression by her household’s religion and by the social structures associated with it, juxtaposed by the freedom for development available within the native curandera custom taught by her grandmother. Through vivid yet subtle symbols, the author weaves a complex web with which to showcase the narrator's oppressive upbringing. Two literary critics whose methods/theories allow us to better comprehend Viramontes message are Jonathan Culler and Stephen Greenblatt. Culler points out that we read literature differently than we read anything else. According to the intertextual theory of how people read literature, readers make assumptions (based on details) that they would not make in real life. During these leaps within which we transform facts into values/themes, the reader creates â€Å"supplementary meaning† to the text by unconsciously setting up tension, also called binary opposition. Culler describes this process in his statement â€Å"The process of thematic interpretation requires us to move from facts towards values, so we can develop each thematic complex, retaining the opposition between them† (294). Though supplementary meaning created within the text can take many forms, within V... ...eedom was found and cultural boundaries were not shattered, simply battered, the narrator’s path was much preferable to that of her sisters (those who conformed to cultural boundaries). Through this story we can see how oppression in certain cultures changes individuals differently, creates tension between those who do not wish to be subjugated and those doing the subjugating, and we see the integral opposition between the path of Catholicism and that of curandismo. WORKS CITED: Contexts for Criticism. Ed. Donald Keesey. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. ________________. Jonathan Culler. â€Å"Structuralism and Literature. 288-297 ________________. Stephen Greenblatt. â€Å"Culture.† 436-441 The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Ed. Cassel & Bausch. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. Helena Maria Viramontes. â€Å"The Moth’s† 870-874

jeff dahmer :: essays research papers

It's the first week of February and jury selection has begun. Nearly 450 press passes have been distributed to about 100 media outlets from around the world -- from Spain to England to Akron, Ohio. Even when psychologist Judith Becker recounts his lonely and sometimes tragic childhood, Dahmer doesn't show a moist eye. But Becker's anecdotes of the killer's pathetic youth seem to move the audience. She tells of how Dahmer, as a young boy, found a snake and took it to his garage to keep as a pet. The snake, though, wound itself around the spokes of Dahmer's bike and once he went for a ride, the new-found pet was killed. Becker says Dahmer wondered why, of all places, the snake had to go into the spokes and lose its life. A wave of sympathy for the boy Dahmer seems to pass over the spectator section. The audience is snapped out of any sympathetic mindset when the psychologist goes on to tell how young Jeffrey encouraged a childhood friend to put his hand in a hornet's nest. There are only ladybugs in there, Dahmer assured the boy. The friend did what he was told by Dahmer and, of course. was stung. The anecdote prompts Channel 12 reporter Angle Moreschi to let out the loudest guffaw of the courtroom. Even the families of the victims who pack the spectator seats seemed moved by Dahmer's childhood memories, as told by the psychologist. Their sympathy isn't for the killer, though, but for his parents. At day's end, many of them walk up to the Dahmers and talk briefly. As they leave, some of the victims' relatives grab Mr. and Mrs. Dahmer and hug. Lionel and Shari Dahmer sit in the back row, the husband in the aisle seat. They often hold hands during the trial; Mrs. Dahmer, though, sometimes takes notes. For what? Who knows. One afternoon, the defendant's stepmother decides to do her nails and it's enough of a routine change that television cameras capture the "event." The Dahmers try their best to avoid contact with the media and, surprisingly, the reporters oblige: Nobody hounds them for comment. "You could just see how pained his father felt about this," observes one reporter of Lionel Dahmer. While being taken from his cell to the courtroom each day, Dahmer says little to his escorts, if anything. In time, the deputies begin to carry on as if the prisoner is oblivious to their presence.

Of Mice and Men essay on Crooks character. :: English Literature

Of Mice and Men essay on Crooks character. Of Mice and Men essay ===================== I am doing my essay on Crooks the 'Stable buck' who is black, 'the nigger'. I have chosen to do Crooks as I feel he is a defined character, different to the rest so I thought it would be interesting to go into him with more detail. He has a crooked back, hence the name Crooks, he has a crooked back as a horse kicked him when he was younger. 'Stable buck' means he tends the horses on the ranch, and this is where he sleeps. He is not allowed to sleep in the bunkhouse with the rest of the ranch workers, as they are afraid that they might catch a disease off him, so instead he has to sleep in the barn with the animals. He lives a life of solitude, being alone in the barn with no-one coming in to talk to him, 'You got no right to come in my room', 'I aint wanted in the bunkhouse and you aint wanted in here'. Among his possessions, in his room he has some books, including "a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905" This tells him his rights as a black man, so he obviously does not want to get on the wrong side of the law, so he keeps to his limits. Him having books suggests to us that he may have been well educated as a child. When he was young boy he lived on a smallholding with his father, so he was probably treated with a bit of respect, however, now he is just a black man working on a ranch with a lot of white men, and now he is treated with no respect at all, he is an outcast which nobody wants to know, 'If I say something it's just a nigger talking'. So from having people liking him to no-one liking him at all is quite a big jump. The other ranch workers see him as entertainment, as you can easily win a fight against him if you were put up to it, when the boss comes along Crooks knows to get out of the way, "The boss gives him hell when he's mad" and he goes and finds something to do so he is not noticed. So if the ranch workers see the boss having a go at him they must think that it is right to push him around. At the time when this was set, black people were still seen as an inferior race to whites.

Consumer Buying Behavior Essay

Abstract: ‘Consumer is king’ –the statement carries profound truth in it. Today the success of any firm depends upon the satisfaction of consumers. For satisfying the consumers the firm should know about the behavior of the consumers. In these circumstances understanding consumer is a very difficult task because of the changing technology, innovation, and changes in life style. Researchers conducted many research in this area, and they given only few suggestion, but there is no final conclusion. As per the ideas given by the researchers, there are two factors influencing the consumers such as intrinsic and extrinsic factors. It is difficult to classify consumers by conventional demographic factors and unless their thought process and buying behavior are fully understood, decisions on product designs and packaging, branding and distribution channels are likely to be misplaced. With the inevitability of change looming large over the horizon, Indian companies must le arn from their western counterparts; not only to identify the sources, timing and direction of the changes likely to affect India, but also the new competencies and perspective that will enable them to respond to these changes, comprehensively and effectively. Look more:  the consumer buying process begins when essay This study mainly focus on understanding the external factors like demographic, social, cultural ,price, quality ,product attributes etc for buying toothpaste. The market share of any product is highly determined by the purchasing behavior of the consumers. Following study is conducted by the researcher to find out the behavior of the consumers, to analyze the preference of consumers, & consumer awareness. Descriptive research design was adopted and the data is collected through primary and secondary sources. The method adopted for conducting survey is questionnaire; Simple random sampling technique was adopted for selecting the consumers. Key words: Consumer behavior, Toothpaste buying pattern, Toothpaste awareness, Promotion impact, Attribute impact. 1. Introduction Consumer behavior is stated as the behavior that consumer display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products, services and ideas that they expect will satisfy their needs. The study of consumer behavior is concerned not only with what consumers buy, but also with why they buy it, when and how they buy it, and how often they buy it. It is concerned with learning the specific meanings that products hold for consumers. Consumer research takes places at every phase of consumption process, before the purchase, during the purchase and after the purchase. According to Philip Kotler defined consumer behavior as â€Å"all psychological, social and physical behavior of potential customers as they become aware of evaluate, purchase, consume and tell other about products and services†. The scope of consumer behavior includes not only the actual buyer and his act of buying but also various roles played by different individuals and the influence they exert on the final purchase decision . Individual consumer behavior is influenced by economic, social, cultural, psychological, and personal factors. 1.1 Consumer purchase decision A decision is the selection of an action from two or more alternative choices. Consumer decision to purchase the goods from the available alternative choice is known as â€Å"consumer purchase decision†. The various options of the consumer may be classified into five main types of decisions. They are what to buy, how much to buy, where to buy, when to buy, how to buy. The participants in the buying decisions may be classified as the initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and users. The marketing people should initiate the participants in the purchase decision to make the purchases of the product at different marketing strategies. There are number of reasons why the study of consumer behavior developed as separate discipline. Marketers had long noted that consumer did not always act or react, as marketing theory would suggest. The size of the consumer market in the country was vast and constantly expanding: millions of dollars were being spent on goods and services by millions of people. Consumer preferences were changing and becoming highly diversified. 1.2 Indian Oral Care Industry Many people in India still clean their teeth with traditional products like Neem twigs, salt, ash, tobacco or other herbal ingredients. Average all India per capita consumption of toothpaste is a dismal 82gms.The dentist to population ratio is a critically low 1:35000 in the country. This results in low oral hygiene consciousness and widespread dental diseases. Less than 15% of the Indian toothpaste users brush twice a day. Colgate and Hindustan Lever together account for over 85% of the organized toothpaste market. Red and Black toothpowder still accounts for 35% of the toothpowder market. In toothpowders, Colgate and Dabur are the leading players sharing between them 75% of the market 2. Review of literature 2.1 Consumer behavior Consumer behavior has been always of great interest to marketers. The knowledge of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand how consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products, brands and the like and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference groups, family, and salespersons and so on. A consumer’s buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Most of these factors are uncontrollable and beyond the hands of marketers but they have to be considered while trying to understand the complex behavior of the consumers. In this study, the researcher emphasizes the importance of lifestyle and its impact on the buyer behavior. 2.2 Consumer Personality Factors There are two factors mainly influencing the consumers for decision making: Risk aversion and innovativeness. Risk aversion is a measure of how much consumers need to be certain and sure of what they are purchasing (Donthu and Gilliland, 1996).Highly risk adverse consumers need to be very certain about what they are buying. Whereas less risk adverse consumers can tolerate some risk and uncertainty in their purchases. The second variable, innovativeness, is a global measure which captures the degree to which consumers are willing to take chances and experiment with new ways of doing things (Donthu and Gilliand, 1996).The shopping motivation literature is abound with various measures of individual characteristics (e.g., innovative, venturesome, cosmopolitan, variety seeking), therefore, innovativeness and risk aversion were included in this study to capture several of these traits. Measures by Donthu and Gilliland (1996) were used to measure innovativen ess and risk aversion. 2.3 Perception: Perception is a mental process, whereby an individual selects data or information from the environment, organizes it and then draws significance or meaning from it. 2.4 Perceived fit Perceived fit is an attitudinal measure of how appropriate a certain channel of distribution is for a specific product .Morrison and Roberts (1998) found that consumer’s perception of the fit between a service/product and a channel is very influential in determining whether they will consider using that channel for a specific service. In fact, perceived fit was found to be more important than consumer’s preferences for the distribution method or service. 2.5 Product Class knowledge Product class knowledge is a measure of consumers perceptions of how much they know about a specific class of products (eg.,cars)This type of measure is consistent with what Brucks(1985) called subjective knowledge, that is, consumers self-perceptions of knowledge levels. This is often contrasted with objective knowledge, which is what consumers actually know. Park and Lessing (1981) proposed that subjective knowledge provides a better understanding of consumers decision making processes because consumers level of confidence in their search and decision making behavior, independent of their objective knowledge. 2.6 Product type Past research indicates that consumers purchase and channel decisions might be influenced by the type of product being investigated (Cox and Rich 1964:Lumpkin and Hawes 1985;Morrison and Roberts 1998:Papadopoulos 1980:Prasad 1975:Sheth 1983: Thompson 1971). In particular ,these authors state that certain products might be more appropriate for one channel or another, which ultimately influences consumers channel preference and choice. 2.7 Quality It is our aim to provide the best product for the consumer and we believe that if the products have quality the consumer will pay the price, says Amal pramanic, regional business director .Oral-B 2.8 Packaging Packaging establishes a direct link with the consumers at the point of purchase as it can very well change the perceptions they have for a particular brand. A product has to draw the attention of the consumers through an outstanding packaging design. Earlier packaging was considered only a container to put a product in, but today, research in to the right packaging is beginning at the product development stage itself. Packaging innovation has been at the heart of Dabur’s attempt to rap with the urban consumers. It spends large sums annually on packaging research.-â€Å"We have been laying emphasis on aesthetics, shelf appeal and convenience for consumer’† says Deepak Manchandra, manager packaging development 2.9 Promotion The greatest challenge faced by companies today is holding and increasing their market share and value. This is always a strenuous exercise and one of the tools for the same is marketing. There is no specific game rule available for using these marketing tools .The reason is: each promotional tool has its own characteristics. 2.10 Familiarity with a channel Consumer’s familiarity with a channel is a measure of the general experience they have with purchasing products through specific channels (i.e.. catalog, internet, and bricks-and-mortar retailer). Through frequent use consumers should become accustomed to using the channel, which reduces their apprehension and anxiety in purchasing products through the channel. 2.11 Brand Awareness According to Rossiter and Prey (1987), brand awareness precedes all other steps in the buying process. A brand attitude cannot be performed, unless a consumer is aware of the brand. In memory theory, brand awareness is positioned as a vital first step in building the bundle of associations which are attached to the brand in memory (Stokes, 1985). 2.12 Family influence A family exerts a complex influence on the behaviors of its members. Prior family influence research has focused on intergenerational rather than intergenerational influence in consumer generationalisation. As has been compellingly demonstrated, parents influence children (Moore, Wilkie, and Lutz2002; Moschis 1987).Yet, consumption domains clearly exist where sibling efforts may also be exerted 2.13 Shopping motives Shopping motives are defined as consumer’s wants and needs as they relate to outlets at which to shop. Two groups of motives, functional and nonfunctional, have been proposed by Sheth (1983). Functional motives are associated with time, place, and possession needs and refer to rational aspects of channel choice. Whereas nonfunctional motives relate to social and emotional reasons for patronage. The functional motives included: convenience, price comparison, merchandise assortment. The nonfunctional motives entail: recreation.

Result of learning behavior test

This class has taught me a lot about myself as a learner and what works best for me when it comes to how I study. EXP 105 has given me the ability to know how I learn and what my strengths are in my learning process. It has shown me that not everyone learns the same way by just reading and responding. That everyone is learning behavior is as unique as one’s fingerprint. My learning behavior is Sequence – 27, Precision – 26, Technical Reasoning 26 Confluence -23, and I am ranked as a Dynamic Learner. My strengths are in my organization skills as well as my ability to be able to plan.In everything I do I lead by planning things out as well as being very organized with list and time schedules. These techniques work very well for me and the more I have learned about them the better I have become in strengthening my learning behavior. I have learned that my LCI not only tells me how I learn but also how I do my discussions and my assignments. I FIT all of my learning behaviors in to everything I do in studying, learning, writing, note taking, and even in tests. I follow a format every time and have become more aware of this the further along I have come in this class and in the assignments.It is almost as if I follow the same exact pattern every time I begin to read or write. I am continuously learning more and more about myself as an intentional learner and will continue to do so thru out my collage experience. In all my assignments, I always begin with making an outline of what I want to cover in my discussions. I make a list of all points that I want to cover and bring up in my papers. I also like to take extensive notes when I read each chapter so that I can always look back and refresh my memory on what I have read.It also makes for an excellent study guide. By learning how I learn it has made it easier to understand the best way for me to write my papers or study in general. As I just get started in my online education, this class has help ed me in how I approach each assignment. I started this journey because I am a single mother of two and want to better our lives. Going to school online gives me the ability to do my class work and studies around my children’s schedules. It enables me to be there to take care of my children, be there for their school and for them in general.It was very important to me that I wanted to go back to school and better myself and my family, but I did not want my children to be neglected or feel pushed aside, and also for me to be able to study and work at my pace. Ashford University has allowed me to do all of this. The faculty has been so wonderful and beyond helpful that I have not felt alone or lost during this new start in my life. I am grateful for this new chapter in my life and all the help from advisors and teachers that I have received and am looking forward to continuing my education with this university.

Case Study: Imaginative Staffing, Inc

Imaginative Staffing Inc, a temporary-services firm in New York was formed in 1990. Since then, it had grown to a total of $17 million in revenues. The company is composed of a minimal number of employees – the CEO and her assistant, a sales director, a chief financial officer, four sales representatives, an operations manager, 10 account managers, five administrative assistant and a receptionist. The CEO, Angie Roberts, came up with the idea of engaging into team selling for the reason that she was frustrated with the length of time the company closes a deal with a good prospect. In most cases, it took them 6 months before closing a deal with a good prospect. In one of their meetings, Roberts discussed the idea of team selling to the board. Among the members who attended the meeting, it was only Susan Borland, the sales director, who had an idea about team selling but she didn’t want to take the lead. Roberts asked her to prepare a plan for possible training and development of sales team. Since she didn’t want to take the lead and just wanted to focus on her assignment instead, she asked her assistant, Judy Morgan to the research. In one instance, Borland got the chance to talk to a friend about team selling. Her friend advised her not to put too much person on the team – it might only be a disaster. Also, the members of the team haven’t undergone training; hence, it is quite hard to work successfully. After the conversation, Susan already had in mind who would best become a member of the team. Of course, everybody needs to be trained. (B) – Should Imaginative Staffing adopt a team-selling system for selling to important accounts? Imaginative Staffing, Inc has practiced individual selling; but the result made the CEO a little dismayed. With this, the idea of Roberts to engage in team selling is one of the things the company has to respond quickly. Team selling is a good idea since more than one person can try to convince the other party – to close the deal or not. However, before each member starts working in the team, they must undergo extensive training to ensure they get the appropriate knowledge. Training is one good way so employees can become better and improve their skills. With this, the management must prepare a budget to cover the training expenses. The management must plan, together with the members of the team, about how to successfully implement the project and how to increase more their net income. Moreover, the management must be willing to support the training development programs to, also, improve their services to their clients. – If so, who should be on the team? The team must be composed of employees who are have passion in what they do and those who are willing to expose themselves to various trainings and workshops. The members of the team can be composed of a sales representative, 1 account manager and 1 administrative assistant. These 3 persons must undergo extensive training before they will go on a battle in the field. – What training would be needed by the team? To what extent should the team’s presentation be planned? The team must be exposed to the basic concept of team selling, including its advantages and disadvantages; how to engage successfully in team selling and how to easily convince a prospect to finally close the deal. Basically, the training may revolve in improving oneself in terms of establishing rapport with prospective customers. Before implementing such project, the management must carefully analyze the project and must undergo a systematic way of developing a training program. In addition, training on good communication skills must also conducted to establish a healthy relationship between and among company personnel. (C) Training people is important if an organization wants to achieve competitive advantage. Since the technology is ever-changing, everybody must be well-updated of what’s new in the market. In the process of selecting who can best qualify to become members of the team, the management must include in the program the training of some experienced sales reps; this may be done to further enhance their skills and to improve in areas which need improvement. It is also observed that the highest return on dollars is invested in training the middle managers. In addition, sales manager must also be trained in some managerial tasks. This may be done to develop the manager in all these five competencies – planning and business organization skills, strategic implementation ability, human resource management, leadership and team building and professional commitment. (D) Training Modality for initial training and recurrent training †¢ For initial training – it is best to include newly hired sales rep. This may be done to give them an overview of what it’s really like to work in the real-world. The newly hired sales reps may be exposed to case study analyses in the training; this is done to prepare them on how to attack when similar situations happen in the real-world scenario. In the conduct of an initial training, the management must carefully choose the topic – the one which is most useful for the newly hired sales reps. The management must carefully design the program to cater the needs of the newly hired personnel. In the program design, it must be clearly stated who will conduct the training. In the case of initial training, it may be conducted by an experienced sales rep which may either be an employee of the organization or an invited speaker who is willing to share his expertise in the field. Teaching methodologies may include lecture-discussion, case study analysis, demonstration and most importantly on-the job training. The latter may widen their horizon and let them experience what it’s like to be in the corporate world. This type of training may be done twice every year – January and June. This may also serve as an orientation for newly hired employees. †¢ For recurrent training – it is best to offer refresher course to the sales reps as well as to the administrative staffs and the sales workforce. This is to ensure that they get to know and be reminded constantly how to get customers attention and how to improve their satisfaction rating. In the design of the training program, refresher course in terms of the ideas and concepts in winning customers and in making them satisfied at all times. In addition, it may also be a good topic to include in the program ways on how to motivate themselves to do better in their assigned tasks. Most importantly, the program must include topics on the latest training tools available in the market such as web-based training. This is a good venue for the experienced sales reps to explore the web and find out what’s best in persuading clients. The methodologies which can be applied may be lecture-discussion, demonstrations and role-playing. Refresher course must be given once every quarter to refresh the memory of the employees. This may not only be regarded as a refresher course but an enhancement program as well. (E) To motivate a team, the members must spend some time once in a while to continue establishing an open communication link. This will also enable them to build a positive relationship with each team member. In addition, each member must be a colleague and a coach at the same time. Being a coach enables them to tell other team members about any feedback – positive or negative. And the member must be a believer and each member and leader must have the power of empowerment. The process of empowerment is basically about utilizing the skills, knowledge and experience of an employee. (Fairweather, 2009) In addition, to motivate employees on sales training, some financial methods may be applied such as bonus, commission, profit sharing and piece work. In piece work, the employees are paid according to the number of items they finish in a given time frame. Other than financial motivation, non-financial ones also exist such as job rotation/sharing or team working, consultation, quality circles and fringe benefits. http://www. hoddersamplepages. co. uk/pdfs/cceabus4. pdf) Employee Motivation may be quite a difficult to achieve since each individual may be satisfied in different areas. However, a common meeting for various individuals is through financial motivation. For Imaginative Staffing, it is best to consider giving bonus and rewards to those who can patiently attend the extensive training program. For Imaginative Staffing, it is best to apply some motiva tion methodologies so personnel can feel they are given importance. Borland must carefully prepare documentation regarding factors which can greatly affect the performance of the sales reps. Most importantly, the management of Imaginative Staffing must continue designing programs for the old employees as well as training programs for the newly hired sales reps so they can continue to achieve competitive advantage. Being in a the world where change is bound to happen most of the time, it is best to be updated with the latest trends as well as to keep informed of what’s happening. With this, the management must design a program to suit the needs of the market and the client as well.

American Involvement in Vietnam War

The novel â€Å"Morning Glories among the Peas† was written by James D. Seddon, a mechanic and expert surveillance personnel of the US army. He was one of the US soldiers who was involved in the Vietnam War. In this novel, he wrote some of his experiences albeit fighting and surviving in Vietnam. Nevertheless, he also offered some political issues that he thinks should be addressed by the US government. The Vietnam War was both a military and ideological war. When Vietnam was divided into two parts: North and South Vietnam, tensions were rising between the two nations.North Vietnam had a Communist government supported by both the Soviet Union and Red China. It was headed by Ho Chi Minh who defeated the French during the Vietnamese war of independence. South Vietnam was democratic in government. A duly constituted government was elected by the South Vietnamese under the terms of its constitution. South Vietnam was supported by the United States. When the North Vietnamese army i nvaded South Vietnam, call for its defense was alerted by the United States. Allied nations of the United States responded and began sending troops to South Vietnam.The United Nations Security Council called for the deployment of troops in South Vietnam to relieve the pressure from the South Vietnamese army trapped in the invasion. The United States, under the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson sent troops to Vietnam without the formal declaration of War. Hence, the Vietnam War came to its early phase of battle. The book was about a Vietnam War veteran who saw the horrible events in the war: the bloody massacre of villages by US troops suspected of hiding North Vietnamese, the frequent ambush of US marines in the jungles of Vietnam, and many other events narrated in the book.Since the book is non-fiction, it guarantees a wide range of historical discourse on policies on war and political ideological struggles. Nevertheless, the wide array of schematic dialogues and conjunctures bet weens characters provide the audience the atmosphere of intense conflict, of which, the most pervasive is the reality of war as politics and of politics as war. The Vietnam War was the longest war involving the United States (1961-1975), yet it was only the war in which the United States was defeated.The intense realities of the war which the author was trying to convey in his novel was a blanch or result of ideological struggle between the US and the Communist bloc. It was often argued that the United States fought a war of non-sense, but policy-makers at that time were not concerned of practicality, but only of necessity. Vietnam was strategic since it holds the key to the numerous bodies of water surrounding the newly-born democratic republics of Southeast Asia. If Southeast Asia fell to the Communists, what are then the chances for the United States to maintain its ideological dominance?The implication of the author’s argument may hold the key to the very purpose of sendi ng expeditions to South Vietnam. Soldiers were sent to a land where they have no affinities. They were serving a war that does not suit their interests. Added to that, the war seemed to be a reflection of their nation’s stance to maintain world leadership at all costs, by all means. Hence then, the experiences of the veteran in the novel were a reflection of the credulity of the insistence of the United States to maintain its ideological dominance in the form of a genuine â€Å"defense of democracy.† It was in many ways irresponsible, unconcerned, and strategic from the point of view of those who fought in the battle fronts. As for the author, his experiences of senseless massacres of villages, poisoning of wells, senseless killings of soldiers, indiscriminate bombings of cities and towns, were the direct results of this desire: the desire for ideological and military dominance. It was even implied in the title of the novel. Do morning glories really found among peas?D oes this serves as an allegory of the conflicting conditions in Vietnam and the United States? Or does this indicate a struggle for ideological dominance? Or simply a way of reiterating the realities of war brought by the things mentioned above? It seems that the novel covered these issues presented, although some of them may be highlighted and some cast aside. The realities presented by the author (who was a veteran of the war) were, in my interpretation, the embodiment of the war policies of the United States.These were policies that prioritize ideology rather than human dignity. The novel also presented the decay of human dignity brought about by the Vietnam War. Human dignity is generally found in the ability of humans to live comfortably without the interference of foreign powers, that is, free development under the term of a just legal standard. The intrusion of the United States into the lives of the South Vietnamese brought them anguish and despair.The United States also suf fered because it lost almost 500, 000 men in the war. Nevertheless, it lost the pride and status achieved decades ago. It was generally an unwarranted war. The novel is generally a good source of historical information about the war in Vietnam. It also gives a thorough and clear description of Vietnam; its people, goals, and achievements. Nevertheless, it should be noted that there are some form of biases in the novel; sometimes favoring the United States; sometimes attacking its war policies.For instance, to describe the North Vietnamese as â€Å"senseless killing machines† is generally unacceptable especially for educated men who view these people as freedom-loving. Nevertheless, it can also be argued that the book also suffered from the credulities of a simplistic master piece. Although it accurately describes reality, the author was unable to highlight his literary style in the novel (novice). Reference Seddon, James D. 1990. Morning Glories among the Peas: A Vietnam†™s Veteran Story. Iowa State. e-bay bookstore download. http://worldcat. org//22181821?

Ensuring Social Responsibility in Entreoreneurial Ventures Essay

Ensuring Social Responsibility in Entreoreneurial Ventures - Essay Example In fact, lately, the corporate world has been under so much pressure, criticism and scrutiny that being socially responsible, at least on paper, has become vital for the survival of almost all large and medium sized corporations. On the other hand, entrepreneurs who start a new company are less likely to have role models, well-defined principles, historical stories, and other such elements, which could help them, determine the ethical courses of action (Steyaert & Hjorth, 2004). It would be a huge mistake for the entrepreneur to assume that his or her social responsibility only is to maximize his or her own profits to the utmost level as dictated by Milton Freidman, Adam Smith and others. By focusing on the business, the entrepreneur would be able to produce more and sell more thus stimulating the local economy (Ziegler, 2011). The basic concepts of economics dictate that this will gradually increase the employment opportunities and any excess cash in the hands of the entrepreneur or its employees would be used for investment thus creating an upwards spiral of growth (Steyaert & Hjorth, 2006). ... The entire premise of entrepreneurial ventures is because entrepreneurs always find their window of opportunity when they fell that some stakeholder of the existing company is being exploited by the existing businesses (London & Morfopoulos, 2009; Ziegler, 2011). Therefore, the entrepreneur would decide to fill in gap to provide value and relief to those stakeholders and would make that particular aspect the competitive advantage of the business. The point here is that by having an unethical conduct or exploitation by the entrepreneur of any of the stakeholders of the business, whether its investors, suppliers, customers, distributors or others, the entrepreneur himself or herself will open up an opportunity for other risk takers to step up and fill that gap (Davidsson, 2005). For example, if an entrepreneur’s production and packaging of the product were harmful to the environment then it would be exploitation of the customers and the society. A bold risk taker who witnesses t he same will see this as on opportunity and jump in the business with the logo and mission of being more environmentally responsible and green (Steyaert & Hjorth, 2004). Obviously, he would charge a little premium for the same and take away all the customers, which are concerned with the environment thus putting a serious dent on the business of the first entrepreneur. Therefore, the point here is that any attempt towards being socially irresponsible or of the exploitation of the stakeholders will appear as an opportunity for other entrepreneurs who would quickly jump in and fill in the gap (Nicholls, 2006). As mentioned earlier that entrepreneurs usually operate under great stress and

Admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Admission - Essay Example As students, we were regularly tasked with coming up with project in groups of five or thereof, these tasks equipped me with the ability to tolerate and work with people of different natures and principles contrary to mine. The tasks also gave me valuable knowledge on how to ensure maximum productivity in groups and meet deadlines. I can actively employ these skills in my professional life where I am tasked with working with my colleagues. I can also use the skills to ensure that deadlines are met to ensure maximum productivity My undergraduate studies gave me valuable lessons on leadership. The coursework contained tenets on business management and how to ensure business success (Norman 35) .In the classroom I learnt how to lead and handle crisis situations. As a project leader, I gained valuable knowledge on how to motivate my group members to ensure maximum productivity. I also learnt how to cope with uncooperative members. The leadership skills would prove invaluable to public service especially if given a managerial position. The ability to motivate my colleagues in situations where an institution is making losses would be necessary. It would also help me to maintain the morale of the employees. My experience as a volunteer with the World Health Organization was pivotal in my learning experience. Among the many students who volunteered during the 2004 cholera outbreak, only a few of us remained by the end of the containment period (Geudens 36). This experience taught me the value of commitment to set goals and agendas. I learnt that without commitment, one would not achieve the desired results. This skillset would be useful in my public service especially as pertains quality service delivery. Commitment to my duties will be important in the achievement of institutional goals and objectives. My six months training as a cadet in the military taught me how to cope with

Haitian Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Haitian Culture - Essay Example This paper approves that the general findings with regard to Haitian family structure is that evolving from extended families that shared resources, work and which functioned as support units, the modern Haitian family is more nuclear in orientation, with the traditional extended families giving way to modern structures found in the west. In terms of education and language, as well as religion and health, Haiti’s problems relate to the use of Creole and French in classroom instruction, problems with inclusion and the use of Creole in intellectual discourse, the poor health prognoses of Haitians in general, and the role that language plays in stratifying and keeping class boundaries in place. This report makes a conclusion that education issues in Haiti are often linked back to language and to Creole in particular, and the role of language in education, with language policies being plagued by a lack of consistency historically. That inconsistency had negative impacts on Haiti education policy and outcomes. French was primary, and for a long time until the 1970’s the status of Creole was uncertain. Creole was eventually integrated as a primary language of instruction after that, but progress remained mixed, with issues remaining relating to spelling, and the use of Creole for primary school education as an elementary school instruction language. The bone of contention was with regard to the continued use of French to bolster the prospects of both the poor and rich families’ children and their economic prospects in life, with Creole being seen as detrimental to such prospects, when used solely as the language of instruction in place of French.

Mandarin Oriental Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Mandarin Oriental - Essay Example The company begun when it is opened its flagship property in Hong Kong in 1963. The property was known as The Mandarin and developed into a luxurious and reputable hotel. The Mandarin International hotels were formed in 1974. The group intended to spread to the entire Asia (Kotler & Bowen 2006). The strategy was to maintain or expand the standards that had been set by the pioneer branch at Hong Kong (Smith 2010). The company expanded further and acquired property in Bangkok. The Oriental property, which was already a legendary property, was acquired from Bangkok. The management had to facilitate the merger of two strong brands to come up with Mandarin Oriental in the year 1985. From 1990, the company expanded globally and now operation in many countries (Kotler & Bowen 2006). When MOHG was launched the company publicly in Hong Kong stock exchange, there was a need for the company come up with a symbol that represented the image of the company’s elegance (Smith 2010). The elega nce of the symbol would become crucial in representing the image and the charm of the group (Hiebing &Cooper 2004). The company came up with a logo through a recognized design house called Pentagram (Thompson & Martin 2005). The logo took the design of a fan. It is one of the most recognized logos in the world when it comes to the tourism industry (Thompson & Martin 2005). The company encourages all the Mandarin Oriental hotels to come up with their own unique fans to reflect their own individuality (Dobson & Starkey 1993). Each hotel is adjusted to the environment it is located and represents the goals of the company in the local environment. The company places value in originality and is keen to ensure that each branch established a connection with its local market (Smith 2010). Mission and vision The company has a vision of attaining acknowledgement as the world’s most excellent lodge grouping. It has an intention of satisfying and delight their customers (Kotler & Bowen 2 006). According to Ettdgui, the company aims at escalating the operational accommodation to 10,001. The company is committed to making difference continually (Kotler & Bowen 2006). The company aims at improving to maintain its market share and revenues. According to Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (2009), the company is committed to making a difference through employee development programs. The mission demonstrates the uniqueness of the company in terms of its approach to the target market and to remain competitive. Objectives and the Future of MOHGs The company is targeting to understand the guest’s needs by paying attention to their requests and responding with accuracy and precision (Smith 2010). MOHG hopes to be able to deliver products and services that meet the customer expectations (Thompson & Martin 2005). The company is emphasizing on accountability and sharing of responsibility in order to achieve its goals in an atmosphere of teamwork (Dobson & Starkey 1993). The fut ure of the company as indicated its goals is to remain a market leader through training and career development (Hiebing &Cooper 2004). The company has an interest in surpassing the customer expectation through creating an experience (Dobson & Starkey 1993). The company has singled out creativity and innovation as prerequisites to remaining at the helm of the hotel and tourism industry in the world (Thompson & Marti

The negative effects on children whose parents push them in sports Term Paper

The negative effects on children whose parents push them in sports - Term Paper Example 397). However, a child’s perception of parental support can greatly influence how or if the child obtains the benefits associated with sport (Lerner, Lerner and Finkelstein 2001, 706). Observable negative effects of parental pressure on children in sport include low self-esteem, increase fear of failing, an increase in physical complaints/illness/injury, feeling inadequate, feeling guilty, anxious and general discontent with sport participation (Lerner, Lerner and Finkelstein 2001, 706). In order to demonstrate the negative effects of parental pressure on children’s participation in sport an exploration and analysis of the literature on the importance of parental pressure and support in the child’s sport participation is conducted. A survey was distributed among 6th grade students at a local elementary school and their parents to compare their different perspectives on sports. The findings in both the literature review and the empirical research study are discussed with general suggestions for parents relative to how they approach parenting in terms of supporting their children’s participation in sports. This research study examines the negative effects of parents pushing their children’s participation in sport. As a lead into this study, it is important to underline the different perspectives parents and children have of sport participation. Studies suggest that children engage in sport for a variety of reasons. For some studies children sport participation is aligned with acceptance by peers (Horn 2008, 279). Other studies suggest that children engage in sport activities for the sheer excitement of winning and competing or to simply improve their social and physical skills (Grolnick 2003, 135). For younger children sport is merely a method for playing and having fun (Laker 2000, 29). Inevitably, studies agree for the most part that how