Development from Conception to 16 Years Essay

E1- The age group I have chosen to describe is birth to 3 year olds on their physical development and communication and language development. In this age range the physical development changes from birth where they generally don’t do anything which develops as between 3 – 6 months the child can hold a rattle for a moment, reaching for a toy, putting toys in their mouth, lifting their head up, moving their arms to indicate wanting to be picked up and rolling over. This development changes much more as when the child is 9 – 18 months as they can grasp objects, can sit unsupported, can crawl , can point at objects, start to use a spoon and self-feed, start to walk, start to scribble and build a tower of three blocks. Then at 2 years the child can draw circles and dots, can use spoons to feed their self’s effectively, can run, climb on furniture and use sit and ride toys. At 3 years the child can do all the stuff from the ages before but also turn the pages of a book, wash and dry their own hands, run forwards and backwards, kick a stationary ball and throw a ball as this develop is done with the help of the child’s family as the encourage the child’s physical development. The communication and language development happens because at this age there co-operation from early motherese by asking them to show you objects and then learn to follow simple instructions but their communication and language develops as first all the can do is cry and make cooing noises which then turns to babbling at 6 – 10 months where they â€Å"goo† and â€Å"ma† as the child blends vowels and consonants together to make tuneful sounds. Then at around 12 months this develops to the child saying â€Å"momma† and â€Å"dada† as they start to show facial expressions and gestures but can now combine sounds. From 1 – 2 years they learn more words so they can make mini sentences when they speak and manage to name things when you point to something, and from 2 – 3 years they can communicate well and manage to ask questions and say full sentences as at this age there is a large increase in a child’s vocabulary combined with an increase in the use sentences. E2- The age group I have chosen to describe is 3 – 7 year olds on their physical development and communication and language development. In this age range the physical development changes from being 3 years and being able to just learning to walk and run, walk on their tiptoes, wash and dry their hands, put a coat on and off and use a spoon to feed them self’s without the  food spilling. To when they are 4 – 5 years where the child should start being able to button and unbutton their own clothing, cut simple shapes, put puzzles together specifically for their age range, write their name, form letters, draw recognisable pictures, cut out shapes with scissors, draw around a template, walk on a line, hop on one foot, skip with a rope, run quickly avoiding objects and use a variety of large equipment on their own (e.g. slide, swings†¦). Then at the age 6 – 7 years the child should be able to join handwriting, cut shapes out accurately, make detailed dra wings, tie and untie shoelaces, hop, skip and jump confidently, chase and dodge others, balance on a beam and use a bicycle. This is because in this age the child is helped through their physical development by their parents, family, teachers and peers as they encourage the child. Communication and language development happens very effectively in this age range as at 3 – 4 years they are able to ask questions and be fascinated with answers given to them by saying â€Å"if† to find out what happens, say their name age address and be more accurate in speaking how they pronounce words. At 4-7 years the child tries to understand the meaning of words, talk more confidently and begins to be more and more fluent, manages to add vocabulary all of the time in their speech, begin to share ideas, begin to realise different situations and define what objects are, this is because in this age range a child masters the basic skills of language and masters the reproduction of most sounds. E3- One theoretical perspective linking to E1 and E2 is Chomsky’s theory of language development. His theory is a nativist theory as he suggests that humans have a built in ability to learn a language. Chomsky states that children have a â€Å"Language Acquisition Device† (LAD) which encodes the major principles of a language into a child’s brain. Chomsky’s theory also states that children are able to use language so accurately from an early age because they only have to learn the new vocabulary and apply the structures from the LAD to form sentences. Chomsky believes that they cannot be learning the language purely through imitation as the speech around them is often broken and ungrammatical. Even with extremely complex languages children will become fluent in their native language by the age of 5 or 6. A second theoretical perspective linking to E1 and E2 is Skinner’s theory of language development. Skinner’s theory is a nurture or behaviouristic theory. According to Skinner’s theory a child initially  acquires through an operant process this means that the child learns voluntarily without any external force so learning of its own free will and without any sort of pressure. According to Skinner the whole process is based upon 4 elements as it is stated on slideshare.net which are â€Å"stimulus, response, reinforcement and repetition†. For example a child will make a sound if they want something. If the child gets the response it wants they will associate that sound with the act or response and will continue to use it to achieve that response. Skinner believes that learning language is no different from learning anything else and anything which is lodged in the mind of the child becomes part and parcel of the child’s life. E5- for my observations I have done a tick chart, time sample and written narrative on a child aged 3 years and 11 months E6- In order to maintain confidentiality throughout the observations each child is referred to as child A, B or X rather than their names being used so that other people do not recognise who we are observing should they know the child. Each setting is referred to in a general form such as primary school, pre-school and nursery. The information gathered is only accessible to the observer and in some cases the teacher or a high member of staff if something is noticed that is either of a concern or needs addressing. Also maintaining confidentiality is very important in a setting as it shows respect to people so then they can trust you so if they have any concerns then can come and tell you. But if a child is at risk confidentially may be broken if a practitioner thinks child protection should know. D1- The observations that I carried out show that child A struggles to recognise numbers and letters in general. This may be because they are a kinaesthetic learner and is more confident in absorbing information through practical methods rather than through visual methods. This suggests that child A needs more help with their numbers and writing so to help we could plan activities to help do these which are more appropriate to the child’s learning style and suggest at home they practise counting and writing to develop on this to get them up to the same or a similar level as the rest in their year. Also the observations show that child A is not yet confident about showing and talking to the rest of the class at show and tell, this may be because the child is very shy which could be because the child is not used to being at the school yet and doesn’t feel confident enough as they might still not know everyone and become shy because they  have never noticed or spoke to s ome of their peers. D2- the observations in E4 can help with planning to meet the child’s needs as from observing you can see the child’s interests and find the best way to help them reach the next level of development or ways to maintain a desirable behaviour. Doing observations also helps early years practioners learn more about the age group they are working with so then they will be able to plan activities to each individuals learning styles and individual needs. For example the child I observed in E4 is not very confident talking to the whole class at show and tell so from knowing that I would plan for them to do group work with friends at first then try and mix groups so she still has 2 friends with her so they can make new friends with the people in the class they haven’t spoken to, to try and gain confidence to talk to all other peer’s in the class. Also the child turned out to be a kinaesthetic learner so while planning I would make sure there are activities to just get on with and do so the child can do activities that are to their interest and learning style as well as trying things that are not their favourite learning style but my help them in some way. C- Confidentiality and objective observation are both subjects that are seen as important; this is because confidentiality is very important in teaching and for practioners to keep confidentiality which means they can only speak of things they have seen in the workplace to other members of the staff or supervisors if it is a concern, but no one else outside of the placement should be informed. By using confidentiality we are assuring the safety of the child and their family. Also we are able to make and keep a reputation for ourselves and the setting so we gain the trust of parents, guardians and the local community by protecting information and the children plus working to a child’s best interest. Each child and their family are diverse as they all have their own differences so if we include every child in an observation it shows to be unbiased. The issues which are essential to confidentiality are personal attitudes and values, sharing information, safe storage of information, working with parents, legal requirements and polices.

Miss Bridget

It has been stressed that, in the 19th Century, if any women, Irish, Chinese, Jew or Japanese, wanted to go to America, it would be best if they were married. Irish women in America were not as bent on marriage as much as other nationalities; in fact, Irish women preferred to stay single. A single Irish domestic servant then living in America was called a â€Å"Miss Bridget†. Irish women preferred being a domestic servant to being married because, as a servant, they would have shelter, food, and financial security and need nothing else. Marriage, therefore, was not the option for Irish women in the 19th Century. Nineteenth-century women, in general, were viewed as dependent on men for refuge, food, and economic support. Throughout their lives, women were being dependent, initially to their fathers and then to their husbands- raising this question: â€Å"Is there anyone who will depend on the women†? This is one reason why women want to get married, for them to experience how it feels like when someone, like their children, depend on them. Generally, for any culture or race, women primarily marry to start a new family. Other possible reasons include money, protection, and shelter. The Chinese were the first immigrants restricted by race and class to go to America. As a result, it was then very difficult for Chinese women to go there; however, almost all Chinese families still wanted to migrate to America for promises of better opportunities than China could offer. The Chinese families, therefore, influenced their women to get married in order to increase their chances of migration. Consequently, since Chinese women wanted to keep their families happy, like Wong Ah So, they would want to get married in order to obey their parents’ wishes. Southern Ladies (white women), however, did marry because who would not want to marry rich white men? The husband would have nannies/maids in the house who would take care of the kids, cook for the family, and clean the house. The only concern a wife then would have to deal with was making sure the servants were doing their work. After marriage, women were to find out that their marital situations were not in congruence with their expectations or not like the way they thought it would be, particularly because of their culture. When Rachel Calof lived with her Aunt, she met a young boy, a butcher who liked her very much, but her grandfather did not give that boy a chance to go out with her. â€Å"He stated that my marriage to a butcher would defame the family name forever† (Calof 8). Her family’s culture made it impossible for her to marry the butcher. For Irish women, their culture and status shaped their expectations of marriage. For instance, being from the lower echelons of society would mean having no expectations of marriage. The best option in this case would then be to become a nun since the Church provided shelter, protection, money, and food. They would even have the chance to help the Irish community. From the beginning, society viewed women as daughters of Eve, so as time progressed, it seemed like society and/or men molded women into beings it/they wanted them to be. For decades, women have been viewed negatively and no one expected or wanted women to take charge. All that women hoped for was for the time to come when they would earn society’s respect and acquire an equal treatment with men.   Since women’s social value was rooted on motherhood, if they wanted society to view them as perfect Americans, wives had to support the American Revolution, raise funds for the American soldiers, demonstrate loyalty, and teach their children loyalty to their country, especially the boys. To be â€Å"True Women† in the 19th Century, they had to be sexually pure, religious, domestic, and submissive.   It was a wife’s responsibility to her husband to be a â€Å"true woman† and to respect and not question the husband’s actions and decisions. In a typical home, the father was the head of the house and the provider of food, clothing, shelter, and protection. The child was supposed to obey and respect his/her father at all times.   Abigail Adams, John Adams’s wife, was involved behind the scenes in his political career and reminded him after the Declaration of Independence to acknowledge women’s role in the American Revolution. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, another woman, also tried to resolve these conflicts and wrote the Declaration of Sentiments. She spoke at the Seneca Falls Convention Center saying, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness† (Stanton 214). After Stanton delivered this speech, everyone was surprised for she modified a word from the Declaration of Independence. Had it not been for women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Lucretia Mott, today’s women would still be viewed as daughters of Eve. In conclusion, marriage in the 19th Century had its advantages and disadvantages. Women were better off being married because of their over-reliance on men and for better chances of survival. The advantages of being married then included having shelter, food, protection, financial support, and a family. The Japanese culture would be a good illustration here- when Japanese men wanted to get married, they had to prove to the Japanese Government that they were prepared to get married and financially ready to raise a family. A Japanese woman was never required to prove to the Government her financial capability; all a woman had to do was show up and get married. Even though women would not have a voice in the house after being married, having a place to stay when they grow old would be an ample consolation.            

Describe and Evaluate Psychological Research Into Obedience

Obedience results from pressure to comply with authority. Children are taught to obey from an early age by their care givers, in order for them to conform in society. The authoritarian rule continues through their education and working life, and is then passed on to the next generation. This essay will focus on the work of the American psychologist Stanley Milgram. It will also look at other studies into obedience that evolved from Milgram’s experiments from the early 1960s. Stanley Milgram is one of the leading researchers into the psychology of obedience.Rice et al (2008) and was interested why thousands of German soldiers blindly obeyed orders that resulted in the death of millions of Jewish people during World War II. However if a soldier is obeying orders from their superiors, then should responsibility for the consequences be held to those superiors? But evidence suggests that there was a mass willingness of tens of thousands of people to cooperate with the Nazi regime, even to the extent of shopping neighbours to the Gestapo. Rice et al (2008). The Allies saw the Germans as an authoritarian, militaristic and obedient nation.Suggesting an explanation for this extreme behaviour. Adorno et al (1950) claimed that it was the authoritarian personality that was responsible for the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Milgram was sceptical of this, believing that obedience was owed more to the situation than to the national character of a particular nation. So in the early 1960s Milgram conducted a series of experiments to support his theory. The aim of Milgram’s Study of Obedience (1963) was to investigate how far people would go in obeying an authority figure. He advertised in local newspapers.The ad was for participation in a study of learning at Yale University. Participants would be paid $4. 50 just for turning up. Through the ads, Milgram had signed up 40 males between the ages of 20 to 50 with various occupations, and all came from a ran ge of educational backgrounds. Believing they were participating in the effects of punishment on learning, the participants were brought to a laboratory setting at Yale, where they would be individually tested. Here they met with the experimenter, dressed in a grey laboratory coat, who appeared stern and impassive throughout the experiment (Class Handout 1).The other participant present would be a confederate to the experiment, and through a fixed lottery, would always be given the role of learner. The participant would then see his apparent peer be strapped to a chair and then the experimenter would attach electrodes to him. The participant was given an initial trail shock of 45 volts, then moved behind a partition. The experiment required the participant to ask the confederate questions on word pairs. For each mistake that was made, the participant was to administer an electric shock to the learner, gradually increasing the voltage from 15 volts up to a lethal 450 volts.The only c ontact with the learner was through an intercom. Throughout the test, the participant would be observed by the experimenter. During the experiment the learner would constantly make mistakes. As the voltage would increase with each incorrect answer, at specific levels, the learner would protest about the shocks. Beginning with moans and groans, begging to be released, kicking the wall and at 315 volts there would be no further responses (Class Handout 1. As the shocks, and responses, increased many of the participants became upset.Three of the participants had uncontrollable seizures, one being so severe that the experiment had to be halted Rice et al (2008). Any questions the participants asked the experimenter during the test, whether it be a request to stop the experiment or asking about the welfare of the learner, would result in the experimenter responding with four verbal prods to continue. Only after the fourth prod would the experiment would finish or when the maximum amount of shocks had been delivered. The results showed that 65% of the participants continued to the maximum level.The results of the first experiment are difficult to generalise to the whole population as Milgram only used American males as participants. Therefore, in a series of follow up experiments, Milgram (1974) investigated factors which may vary the level of obedience. Rice et al (2008). Depending on the variations to the original experiments, the results changed considerably – with 92% complete obedience with the two teacher condition. This would be were the participant would be paired with a second confederate also playing the role of teacher.It would be the confederate delivering the shocks while the participant would only read the questions (Class Handout 1). The allocation of responsibility had now shifted to the confederate who was administering the shocks. The other notable change would be the social support condition which showed a significant drop, with only 10% co mplete obedience. Two more confederates would join the participant as teachers, but soon refused to obey. Most subjects stopped very soon after the others (Class Handout 1).This would imply that disobedience, or obedience, is more likely to happen when there is social pressure present. To test the ecological validity of Milgram’s work Bickman (1974) used 3 male experimenters, dressed in one of three ways: a sports coat and tie, a milkman’s uniform or a security guard's uniform. The experimenters randomly gave 153 pedestrians one of three orders. (Class Handout 2). Bickman found that most people obeyed the experimenter dressed as the guard. This might explain how obedience can be related to perceived authority – thus supporting Milgram’s findings.On the other hand the orders, unlike Milgram’s were not so unreasonable – and so in a public setting, it would be down to attitudes and individual differences as to whether people would comply with a ny mundane requests, regardless of what they are wearing. Support is also shown by the results of Hofling et al (1966). In this experiment at a hospital, twenty-two nurses were called by an unknown doctor (a confederate), requesting they administer drugs to a patient. The order from the doctor, if they went through with it, would have the nurses disobey three hospital rules.First of all, they didn’t know the doctor that was calling them. Second, they didn’t have written authorization. And finally, the dose that was instructed to be given was twice as high as the maximum dosage allowed, this was also stated on the medicine bottle. Despite this twenty-one out of twenty-two nurses obeyed the telephoned instructions, before they were stopped and the situation explained to them. Rice et al (2008) Since being in a natural setting, the study was ecologically valid with the results supporting Milgram's theory.However on the other hand there are clear ethical issues with this s tudy in that the nurses were deceived, there was no consent given prior to the experiment and they had no right to withdraw. With Milgram’s original experiment being carried out in the 1960s, it may suggest that his results can no longer be justifiable in today’s modern society. With the ethical guidelines of today, a replication of the study would now seem impossible. Nevertheless, after making variations to some of Milgram’s procedures, Burger (2007) managed to replicate Milgram’s experiment.Going as far as using the same words in the memory test and the experimenter's lab coat. The most critical changes were made to the ethical treatment of the participants. The experiment was stopped at the 150 volt mark, this was also the point of the first vocal feedback from the learner. From looking at Milgram’s data, participants who continued past 150 volts, 79 percent went all the way to 450 volts. Burger (2007). This allowed them to estimate what the pa rticipants would do if they where allowed to continue. Deception was a criticism of the original experiment.To avoid this, participants were told at least three times that they had the right to withdraw and still receive the full payment. The results were similar to that of more than four decades ago. With 70% willing to continue after the 150 volts. With no significant differences between genders and even with the ethical restrictions, this Study supports Milgram’s original results of well over forty years ago. Another criticism of Milgram’s research is that it was only conducted with Americans and so lacks cross-cultural validity.The experiment has now been replicated across the globe, with the majority of studies showing high levels of obedience, with participants continuing to the maximum shock level. Ranging from 90% in Spain, 80% in Italy, Germany and Austria and 50% in the UK. Rice et al (2008). One exception to this would be in Australia, Kilham & Mann (1974) i n one variation of their experiments, their results showed a minor 16% obedience rate of the subjects, in comparison to Milgram’s original 65%.On the other hand, when looking at the methodology on this particular variation, there are a few notable changes. First of all the general population (male and female variations) that Milgram used had now been replaced by all female students. However the biggest difference is the confederate that was used in the Australian sample – they used a fellow female student. This may of impacted on the participants' willingness to cause pain to someone they saw as equal to themselves, thus resulting in the lower percentage of obedience.In general the results from the cultural and geographical variations continue to support Milgram’s findings. Throughout all the criticisms of Milgram’s early work, the general reliability and validity of these experiments from the early 1960s (as already discussed) have been continued through to modern times, across cultural variations and in and out of the laboratory setting. The results, although varying in some degrees (dependent upon the methodology used in the later studies) still show that people will obey authority even when it violates their core values and lead them to harm others.A criticism that persistently follows the Milgram experiment has been the ethical treatment of the participants in the experiment. Milgram's main defence centres on the debrief that all participants received afterwards. They all received a full report of the procedure and findings. They were also sent a questionnaire to complete which showed that a high percentage of participants stated they were happy they took part in the experiment. So although the experiment did breach today’s ethical guidelines, on the other hand Milgram did not breach these guidelines, since they did not exist at the time.

Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conclusion - Essay Example Diverse factors provide the impetus for the formation of gangs. As a call to relieve poor living conditions and to uplift the social and economic status of the members, gangs begun to be involved in various criminal activities ranging from stealing, destruction of public property, selling drugs, physical abuse, gang related violence leading to injuries and death. If one is to remunerate on the reasons for gang affiliations, there could be elements that could identify root causes which pinpoint lack of parental support and guidance, lack of proper education which focus on the enforcement of moral and ethical codes of behavior, and the ineffective governance of the public police force to ultimately identify these gangs and to put a stop to violent activities. The statistics on gang murders indicate the complexity of the gangs’ affiliations and difficulty in attesting to the reliability of data and information published on their existence. The fact that gangs notorious existence are hidden and not officially registered in any local, public or private institution, the number of members, purpose for formation, and activities could only be surmised. The data that is generally available in justice reports are almost always after the fact that crimes and murders have already been committed.

Room 4 Moms Ideas Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Room 4 Moms Ideas - Article Example The researcher states that nurses have to ensure that there is; respect for human dignity, the good relationship between nurses and patients respect for the nature of health problems of the patients, privacy, and confidentiality of the patients is maintained, and more so, there is a good healthy environment. Nurses cannot achieve all of this attributes unless they have a good philosophy that guides them. It is good to appreciate the efforts put in place by room 4 moms. â€Å"Thank you for the efforts that you have put in place to offer the best services to your patients.† Jean Watson in his notes about human caring highlights some factors that can help one in caring for their patients. This factors are; ‘formation of humanistic-altruistic system of value, instillation of faith-hope, cultivation of sensitivity to one’s self and to others, development of a help and trust, human caring relationship, promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive attitude, neg ative feelings, systematic use of a creative problem and solving caring process, promotion of transpersonal teaching and learning, provision for a supportive, protective, or corrective mental, Physical, societal, and spiritual environment, assistance with gratification of human needs and allowance for existential-phenomenological-spiritual forces’. With all this in place then nursing becomes more philosophical, ethical and intellectually outlined. The room 4 moms come in with the issue of involving one's family in their nursing fields. This gives both the patient and the nurse to have a caring moment with each other. They both come together and share their unique life histories. The coming together at any given moment becomes an inclination point in space and time. During this time, experience and perception take place, but the moment shared together has a significant impact on the patient. They feel encouraged, and they feel both loved and wanted in the society rather than c onsidering them as the liability. The mom`s in rooms 4 believes in Watson`s theory about human caring. Watson at one point in his theory names ‘caring or healing for consciousnesses.

Motivation Assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivation Assignment - Case Study Example These aspects can determine the level of motivation among employees (The Certified Accountant, â€Å"Expectancy Theory†). There are several disciplines in the field of motivation and one of them is the expectancy theory. This theory is devised by Victor Vroom. He assumed that motivating an employee requires making a connection between effort, performance and inspiration. The productivity of employees depends on aspects like employee behavior, ability, knowledge, experience and proficiency. Vroom’s expectancy theory is made on the basis of three attributes which are Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality (The Certified Accountant, â€Å"Expectancy Theory†). Valence: It is the emotional direction which employee embraces with respect. The desire of employee can be extrinsic benefits like higher income, job promotion, free leisure time or intrinsic benefits like job satisfaction. Organizations need to determine the acts that can make an employee more grateful. Expectancy: Expectancy deals with the faith of employee about his/her ability. Each employee possesses dissimilar expectations and degree of confidence about their capability. Expectation is illustrated as the strength of an employee’s faith if a particular task is achievable or not. Organization must find out the materials, training and administration requirement of employee for a particular task. Instrumentality: Instrumentality is the idea of gaining something after completing a task. An employee always thinks that if he/she performs well, a worthy result will be gained. Thus, it is the perception of employee that whether he/she will gain the expected result even it is assured by the organization. It is the responsibility of organization to make sure that promised compensations are realized. The following figure shows the relationship between Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality. The instrumentality is impacted by the belief among

Robert Henri Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Robert Henri - Essay Example During summers, he could paint in Barbizon and Brittany, and visited Italy before gaining admission to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the year1891. Late that year, he went back to Philadelphia and in the year 1892, he went on with his studies in the academy. Moreover, he started his lengthy and great career as a teacher of art at the School of Design for Women and he taught here until the year 1895. While here, he came across the youthful newspaper illustrators who would later become famous affiliates of ‘The Eight’: Everett Shinn William Glackens, John Sloan and George Luks. Henri regularly visited Paris where Frans Hals, Diego Velazquez and Edouard Manet were his greatest source of inspiration. In the year 1899, one of his paintings was bought for the Musee National du Luxembourg. This was one year after having married Linda Craige (Margaret and Horowitz Raymond, para1). According to Adams, Henri’s painting portraits were often of different ethnic types such as Chi nese, Native American, African-American, and Irish. He also painted many pictures of dancers and when describing the principles of vital art, he often pointed to Isadora Duncan. In the year 1900, Henri decided to settle in New York and he got a teaching job at the New York School of Art where he worked from 1902-1908. Slowly, he started rejecting the academic painting as well as impressionism’s discreet traditions, turning his focus on urban realist themes produced in a bold, painterly style. In the year 1906, Henri was nominated to the National Academy of Design, and during that summer, he tutored in Spain. Following the academy’s refusal to exhibit works by Henri's circle during its annual show in 1907; he decided to arrange an independent show and in February 1908, he held the famous exhibition of ‘The Eight’ at the Macbeth Gallery. In the same year, he married Marjorie Organ the illustrator, as his second wife. In the year1910, he prepared the first â €˜Exhibition of Independent Artists’ and in 1913 played a peripheral role in the organization of the Armory Show by the Association of American Sculptors and Painters. Between the year 1911 and 1919, Henri also organized jury-free exhibitions at the MacDowell Club. Despite the fact that he kept on winning many awards, the influence that Henri had as a progressive creative leader started diminishing following the rise of American and European modernism and he came to be recognized only as part of the artistic enterprise. Nevertheless, his work during his visits to Southwest presented some of the most inventive and innovative of his career. The beginning of one of Henri’s most innovative eras began in the summer of 1914 when he took a trip to La Jolla, California (Margaret & Horowitz, para2, and Leeds, para9). Margaret & Horowitz explain that he lectured at the Art Students League from the year 1915 to 1927. Although personal expression underlines all the creative end eavors of Robert Henri, his portraiture, the painting mode for which he is infamous, explicitly manifest it. Henri’s work went by Thomas Eakins’ realist tradition, an artist for whom he had the utmost admiration. He believed that Eakins was America’s greatest painter of portrait. Henri’s paintings were principally single-figure masterpieces that directly confront the

Summary and critical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summary and critical analysis - Essay Example Experience significantly shapes expert progress. It adds to professional and educational qualifications to improve the abilities of the designer with time. Experience is attained through practical performance such as during internships. Internships offer chances for designers to carry out project work. If a student shows excellent ability during internships, employment can be secured from it. Education qualifications are tested through actual work and familiarity. Once education and experience required are obtained, a designer becomes eligible to sit examinations to certify that the minimum competencies to be a member of the profession have been met. Such exams are administered by selected bodies such as the NCDI. Passing the examination entitles one to be licensed to practice and issued with a practicing certificate. From then, an individual can continue professional advancement by joining relevant professional bodies such as the American Association of Interior Designers and the International Interior Design Association. Members enjoy benefits such as sharing of knowledge, prestige, and advocating for rights of designers. Finally, a designer can engage in social responsibility to give back to the profession and the society in contribution to professional development. It can be done in various ways such as training interns and participating in design competitions among other voluntary

An into to Business Studies End-of-Module Essay

An into to Business Studies End-of-Module - Essay Example ists Threats Low shelf life of cut flowers Highly competitive market Fluctuations in demand depending on various macroeconomic factors Competitors might seek the advantage of poaching the talented employees of Arena Flowers Seasonal business with low profit margin Tough to manage inventory levels efficiently The SWOT analysis of the company can be done taking into account each of the three key business areas as presented in the table shown above (Preston, 2012, p.30-31). It indicates that there are some of the concerning weaknesses of the company which it can improve upon to be able to run its business efficiently and increase its profitability, ultimately being successful in achieving the goals and objectives of the company. In addition to the weaknesses, the company can improve upon the identified threats to become proactive to the situations and add to its competitive advantage in the market. The primary threat identified for the company is from its competitors. Hence, the company can think of expanding its businesses in places where the competition and could easily win the market share there. The company needs to device a strong and diverse marketing strategy to promote and advertise its business which would ensure that it would be able to increase its brand significantly. Efficiency could be achieved in its business operations if the job responsibilities are delegated to all the employees in an effective manner. The company needs to use the latest technology available to design its inventory management system through effective future forecasting of the future sales demand of its products. In order to achieve its goal of becoming one of the largest companies in the industry it needs to have a competitive advantage which could be achieved through strengthening its core competencies and investing more on research and development to innovate new products that could attract large number of customers to buy its products. Focus should be on recording pre-tax prof its rather than after-tax profits to be able to attract prospective investors to invest in the company. All these initiatives can help the company to achieve its objectives and build up a sustainable business. Question 1 (b) Factors Influencing Organisational Culture Organisational culture is an important aspect of analysing a business organisation. In the context of Arena Flowers various factors can be identified which acts as a driving force in developing the cultural environment observable within the company and the business activities carried on by it. One of the major factors influencing the culture of Arena Flowers is the influence of its cofounder Mr. Wynne who is

Effect of Texting on Teens Essay Example for Free

Effect of Texting on Teens Essay Cell phones are becoming a modern day necessity, to the point that they are a must have for every teenager and adult. Human beings are growing increasingly attached to these devices, depending on them more and more for their communication with other people, job duties, and other daily activities that they must accomplish. One way that we are taking advantage of cell phone technology at a rapidly growing rate is through the use of text messaging. It seems that anywhere you are likely to see people glued to phones screen, fingers typing away. In schools, malls, and cars we see them. On sidewalks, streets, and in crosswalks we see them, heads down typing away. Sometimes we may be one of those people with our fingers glued to our phones keyboard or touchscreen. Does this really affect our day to day activities? This research paper, against contrary belief, concludes that texting does not affect teenagers adversely. Many people believe that texting affects teenagers in many ways. On the contrary, teenagers believe that they can keep a balance between texting and social interaction. They know when to use text language and when to use regular English (Edutopia). Noting that there are some negative aspects of texting, such as- phone addiction, social awkwardness e.t.c. It has many positive aspects to it also. Many would argue that texting has dampened their children’s ability to interact on a face-to-face level with their peers, but others would argue against that, and say that it allows people more freedom to contact those that they do not see regularly. Many teenagers have cell phones now and that is seen as a blessing and curse by both parents and children. Often, a child will get a cell phone as a means to communicate more easily with their guardians, which gives them some measure of freedom that they hadn’t had before. Teens appreciate that freedom and they also feel a sense of being connected to their parents, since they can be contacted at any time. Parents are thankful that they have that connection. When parents feel that their children are using their phone  too much, they may put restrictions on the usage of phones. This keeps, both the parents and the children happy. With the uprising of technology many are concerned about the social ramifications that texting holds, particularly on younger generations. Between teenagers and their friends â€Å"cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication† (Lenhart) and it’s becoming commonplace for children at younger and younger ages to communicate with their friends via text messaging as opposed to phone conversations or even face-to-face. A majority of modern teenagers, defined by the Pew Research Center as ages 12-17, will text their friends at least once a day. A smaller percentage call theirs friends daily and an even smaller number talk to friends face-to-face. Though texting might take some kids away from social interactions, it also opens the door for many other children to communicate with their peers through a way that makes them feel safer. Texting can be a good alternative for children that suffer from: * Social anxiety * Loneliness * Shyness As texting does not looking at the person you are talking to, directly, it boosts confidence of children and helps them to become socially active. â€Å"I think it’s possible to say that the electronic media is helping kids to be in touch much more and for longer. It is also helping lonely children to make more friends and making children feel socially involved† (Hilary Stout) After discussing several points raised above, one major question arises, does texting have any negative effect on literacy of teens? The answer to this question is very debatable, but using two studies, this research paper will prove that texting does not have any negative effect on literacy of teens. The first study, â€Å"The effect of text messaging on 9- and 10-year-old children’s reading, spelling and phonological processing skills† proves that there is no significant evidence that texting was good or bad when the researchers compared the two groups that were tested. However, it did find  that by using texting, children improved their spelling skills when compared to other children in the intervention group. It also found that the number of messages sent and received was positively correlated to lexical retrieval skill. (Wood, C) The second study, â€Å"Txt lang: Texting, textism use and literacy ability in adolescents with and without specific language impairment† Forty-seven typically developed (TD) and 47 adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI), all age 17, were used in the study. The adolescents with SLI had developmental problem in understanding and expressing language that were not related to other developmental disorders, such as mental retardation. The study was conducted by K. Durkin, A.J. Walker, and ContiRamsdent from the School of Psychological Sciences and Health. All adolescent completed tests that included the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence to test for their IO. To test their language ability the CELF-4 was used. Reading was assessed by the Test of Reading Efficiency test. And lastly, to test their reading and spelling abilities, the sub-tests of the Wide Range Achievement Test were used. Evaluation of texting frequency was done by asking how often the participants texted per week and marked on a five–point scale. The participants were also sent a text message asking them what they usually do on Saturdays. After receiving their response, it was coded for structural characteristics, such as number of messages. The study found that the adolescents sent fewer text messages than their typically developed peers. They also responded in lesser amounts. Sixty-eight of the SLI adolescents compared to 87% of the TD adolescents responded. The adolescents with SLI that responded scored higher in reading than the non-senders. The study also found that the senders and non-senders in the TD group were similar in language and literacy.(Durkin, K) Majority of people thought that text messaging would have a negative impact on students writing and literacy, however, the studies analyzed show a different story.If taken as a whole, these studies seem to indicate the opposite of the concern that text messaging is bad for literacy. Both the studies found a positive relationship between reading and spelling. The first study found that those who used texting had better spelling skills, and the number of text messages sent and received was related to the ability to retrieve words from memory. The second study found that those with specific language impairment sent less text messages. This suggests that in order to get into texting, you have to have better reading skills. In the end, these studies don’t support the concerns that texting is harmful to literacy. After scrutinizing the positive and the negative aspects of texting, It is very clear that the positives weigh more than the negatives. texting may not always make teens socially awkward, but can help any children to be socially more active and confident. If the amount of phone usage of children can be regulated to an extent where both the parents and the children are happy, it can be very helpful for the both of them. children can always stay connected with the parents and parents can know the whereabouts of their children. Texting is also very important as it does not disturb a person as much as a phone call would. Teens have to socialize, and phone calls are much more distracting than sending text messages, both for the children and the people around the children. Teens tell us how texting is more efficient, how they don’t have to go through the preamble and niceties of a phone conversation.(Lenhart) It is a very clear from the above discussion, that if texting can be regulated, it helps a lot. children do not feel unsafe while travelling alone as they can text their parents anytime, they do not get disturbed by phone calls, they can contact people they do not see regularly, texting also helps improve spellings, e.t.c. Against popular belief, texting does not harm teens adversely, rather, it helps teens in many ways mentioned above. So, if done in a regulated manner, texting is not bad for teens. Bibliography Internet sites: Hafner, Katie. â€Å"Texting may be taking a toll.† The New York Times, May 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?_r=0 Lambert, Victoria. â€Å"Docs’ fear for text mad teens.† The SUN, November 30, 2010 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/parenting/3251846/Studies-look-into-risks-and-effects-of-texting-for-children-and-teenagers.html â€Å"Teens, Cell phones and Texting.† pewresearch.org, Pew Research Centre, April 20, 2010 http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages Elyse,Toribio. â€Å"Textings effect on grammar.† NorthJersey.com, August 13, 2012 http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/tech_news/165943756_Texting_s_effect_on_grammar_is_debated.html â€Å"How has texting affected the social life of teens.† Livestrong.com, Livestrong, September 1, 2011 http://www.livestrong.com/article/532976-how-has-texting-affected-the-social-lives-of-teens/ Stout, Hilary. Antisocial Networking? The New Y ork Times 30 Apr. 2010: ST1. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/fashion/02BEST.html?. Does text messaging harm students’ writing skills, No publisher, edutopia.org http://www.edutopia.org/poll-text-messaging-writing-skills Lenhart, Amanda. Teens, Cell Phones, and Texting. Pew Research Center Publications. Pew Research Center, 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teenscell-phones-text-messages Studies/ Researches: Wood, C., et al. â€Å" The effect of text messaging on 9- and 10-year-old children’s reading, spelling and phonological processing skills.† Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (Feb. 2011): n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. Durkin, K., G. Conti-Ramsdent, and A.J. Walker. â€Å" Txt lang: Texting, textism use and literacy abilities in adolescents with and without specific language impairment.† Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (Feb. 2011): n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Feb. 2011

Qualitative Study Review: Triggers for Self Abuse

Qualitative Study Review: Triggers for Self Abuse Title: executive summaries of specified papers Triggers for self abuse; A qualitative study, Mary T Weber, Archives of psychiatric nursing, Volume 16, Issue 3, June 2002, Pages 118-124. This paper is essentially a qualitative study of a small cohort of 9 self abusing women. It was constructed using an analysis of a total of 42 semistructured interviews and attempting to draw out common themes. It has to be observed that this is a very specific cohort and probably cannot be extrapolated to reflect the trends in the general population, as this particular group were all in a locked psychiatric ward in the USA. The paper is essentially divided into three sections. The first is a resume of the background to academic studies of self injury, the second is a justification and explanation of the methodology used in the study and the third is an analysis of the data which ends with a discussion of the findings. An analytical overview would have to observe that the observational viewpoint in this paper is that of the social constructionist feminist. Although the paper sets out to be semi structured in its intervention, it appears clear that the interviewer is overtly active and sets out the parameters of the topics to be discussed and observes the fact that the â€Å"reality †¦.is jointly constructed.† (Parker and Lawton 2003) The author clearly has an agenda in this paper and, to some extent this is presented in the discussion section. She believes that women who self harm are often considered to be manipulative and do not evoke sympathy from healthcare professionals. The author puts the point that it is by the examination of the aspect of â€Å"hope† in their lives that these women can be optimally helped. This is clearly not a quantitative examination of the issues and might reasonably be considered more of an essay on the subject rather than an investigation into it. Although the outcomes presented are probably both laudable and admirable, the use of this paper as an evidence base for practice is effectively limited to consideration of this particular author’s opinion. (Henriksen et al 2003) We could contrast this paper with the excellent monograph on the subject by Isacsson G and Rich CL (2001), two professors who offer their opinions (backed up with appropriate references to academia) on the management of the self harming patient. In essence their overview sums up their views that: Patients who deliberately harm themselves should be assessed as comprehensively and thoroughly as possible, including the risk for suicide A multidisciplinary team approach to assessment and management is optimal A psychiatrist should be involved in the evaluation Management should be individualised on the basis of the assessment; mostly treatment for associated psychiatric disorders and assistance with precipitating circumstances Patients accepting offers for help should be followed up quickly. We would suggest that this latter paper provides a much better evidence base for practice in the nursing profession. Psychosocial and pharmacological treatments for deliberate self harm {Review} Hawton k, Townsend E, Arensman E, Gunnell D, Hazell P, House A, van Heeringen KThe Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews 2005 Issue 4. This paper is effectively a meta analysis of 23 studies in the area of self harm. It takes a wide database of papers published prior to 1999 from as far back as 1966. This paper is completely at the other end of the spectrum to the first one considered. It is both valid and relevant to everyday clinical practice. The construction of the analysis is rigorous and methodical. It divides the various studies considered into 11 different subsets depending on the outcome variables declared. This reduces its ability to generalise, but equally increases its ability to be statistically valid. In terms of an evidence base. The first half of the paper is little more than an explanation of the search and inclusion strategy for the analysis The overriding finding of the paper is that there is still insufficient research on the subject of self harm to allow the healthcare professional to feel confident of a secure evidence base (Mohammed, D et al 2003) and it calls for more large and well constructed trials to be done in the area. It points to the fact that a great many of the trials published did not have a sufficiently large entry cohort to allow strong statistical analysis to be made. One of the benefits of a meta analysis is the fact that it can gain statistical validity from the assimilation of many smaller trials, but in this case, because the authors subdivided their considerations into 11 different subsets, this benefit is greatly reduced. (Grimes DA et al. 2002) As for conclusions, the authors make a very self effacing statement that even their meta analysis does not provide a sufficient evidence base for effective forms of treatment of deliberate self harm. The implication of this statement is that, if this analysis cannot add to the evidence base, then the smaller, less statistically significant trials that it considered cannot do so either. This view is echoed by another meta analysis paper (Healy D 2002) which we can present in support of this particular paper Cognitive-behavioural intervention in deliberate self-harm, Anthony Joseph Raj M, V Kumaraiah, Ajit V Bhide, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Volume 104, Issue 5, Page 340, November 2001. This paper is entirely different from the preceding two. It is a randomised controlled trial with a small entry cohort of 40 patients split into a treatment and a control group of 20 patients each. Clearly this is a very small sample and the site of the trial is in India so it may not have a great relevance to the UK culture. (Veitch RM 2002) The first part of the paper gives an excellent overview of the evolution of various treatment strategies together with an indication of their relative efficacy. A noticeable strength of this trial was its robust measurement strategy with ten different measurement scales being employed to minimise observer bias. (Cochran and Cox. 1957) A major shortcoming of this trial is that it attempted to contrast a number of different intervention strategies within the already small intervention cohort. The results therefore cannot really be seen as having any great generalisable significance. It may provide useful information, but as being suitable for inclusion in a firm evidence base, it could be considered sadly lacking. If we contrast this with the paper by Soomro, (Soomro GM 2004) which considers the efficacy of various aspects of cognitive behaviour therapy in the self harm group we can see that the latter’s entry cohort of nearly 500 has a much greater statistical significance and therefore a much greater relevance. Methodological issues in nursing research, Nurses attitudes towards clients who self-harm, McAllister A, Creedy D, Moyle W, Farrugia C, Journal of advanced nursing Volume 40, Issue 5, Page 578, December 2002. In many respects, this paper is a combination of many of the elements that we have discussed in the preceding three papers. It is designed to explore the attitude that receiving nurses have in the AE dept, when they deal with patients who have self harmed. Paper 1 (Weber M 2002) made the unsupported statement that nurses are less than empathetic when dealing with the self harm patient. This paper presents the evidence base behind this assumption. There is a section which reviews previous work in the area and comments on the rather counter intuitive fact that mental health professionals (who might be expected to me more empathetic and understanding) tend to be less tolerant and supportive as they typically see this type of patient as being primarily manipulative. (Anderson M 1997) The professed aim of this study was to allow the development of a suitable tool in the form of a questionnaire. It was structured with three distinct elements. Firstly was the literature review (which we have already alluded to). Secondly they canvassed the opinions of a group of 10 post graduate nurses to set the baseline of nursing attitudes. This was used as the basis for the third element which was the construction and evaluation of a questionnaire. This was drafted in the form of the ADSHQ questionnaire. We should note that only 35% of the questionnaires were returned which is a major source of bias, since one might assume that the few respondents were those that felt strongly enough to respond and therefore their views, by definition, may not be typical. A strong point in this survey’s favour was the fact that those who did respond had an average of 17 years of nursing experience. The results of the paper were rather disappointing with no significant correlation being found between attitudes and the many variables investigated. The only statistically significant finding was that staff in larger units tended to be less empathetic than those in smaller ones. It should be noted that a negative finding, although superficially disappointing, can be just as significant as a positive one as the implication here is that there was no discernible predictive factor in a nurses’ attitude towards self harming patients. This paper can be contrasted with findings in similar studies House A (et al. 2000) supports the findings of negative attitudes of staff but is more of a discussion document than a study of enquiry. Wilhelm K et al 2000) is primarily a paper which explores the efficacy of the interventions for self harming patients but makes considerable academic comment on the relevance of the nurses’ attitude to the efficacy of the treatment. We should also note that, like the original paper, it also originates from Australia. Mckinlay A (et al 2001) takes the issue and looks deeper into the reasoning and rationale behind the negative attitude and makes a number of positive suggestions relating to the mechanisms of corrective action to remedy the situation. References Anderson M 1997,  Nurses’ attitudes to suicidal behaviour,  Journal of advanced Nursing 25, 1283-1291 Cochran and Cox. 1957,  Experimental designs. New York: Wiley, 1957. Grimes DA, Schulz KF.2002,  Cohort studies: marching towards outcomes. Lancet 2002;359: 341-5 Healy D 2002,  SSRIs and deliberate self-harm,  The British Journal of Psychiatry (2002) 180: 547-548 Henriksen and Kaplan 2003 Hindsight bias, outcome knowledge and adaptive learning Qual. Saf. Health Care, Dec 2003; 12: 46 50. House A, Owens D, Patchett L,  Deliberate Self harm,  Qual. Health care 2000. 8: 137-143 Isacsson G, Rich CL 2001,  Management of patients who deliberately harm themselves,  BMJ. 2001 January 27; 322(7280): 213–215. Mohammed, D Braunholtz, and T P Hofer 2003 The measurement of active errors: methodological issues Qual. Saf. Health Care, Dec 2003; 12: 8 12. Mckinlay A Coulston M, Cowan S 2001,  Nurses behavioural intentions towards self-poisoning patients: a theory of reasoned action, comparison of attitudes and subjective norms as predictive variables,  Journal of Advanced Nursing Volume 34 Page 107 April 2001 Parker and Lawton 2003 Psychological contribution to the understanding of adverse events in health care Qual. Saf. Health Care, Dec 2003; 12: 453 457. Soomro GM 2004,  Deliberate self harm (and attempted suicide): Manual assisted cognitive behavioural therapy,  Psychol Med 2004;33:969–976. Veitch RM 2002,  Cross-cultural perspectives in medical ethics,  Jones Bartlett 2002 ISBN: 0763713325 Wilhelm K, Schneiden V, Kotze B 2000,  Selecting your options: A pilot study of short interventions with patients who deliberately self harm, Australasian Psychiatry. Volume 8 Page 349 December 2000 ############################################################# 13.2.06 PDG Word count 1,989

Amazon Com An E Commerce Retailer Marketing Essay

Amazon Com An E Commerce Retailer Marketing Essay Aggressive competition, along with the external factors of a poor economy and possible repeal of the Internet sales tax exemption, has forced Amazon.com to reevaluate its current strategies and redevelop an effective differentiating strategy in order to make the company a consistent money maker in the short and long-term time frames, while still continuing to pursue corporate objectives of expanding at reasonable costs and staying ahead of the companys competition. 2. Summary statement of the recommended solution: Develop and implement a competitive business-to-business (B2B) exchange for suppliers, retailers, manufacturers and distributors. B. THE SITUATION Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and was , à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦considered to be the premier online retailer in the world (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 2, 2003) in 2003. The company originally only started with selling books, but later expanded into several other product lines such as: CDs, DVDs videos, electronics, toys, apparel, and home garden supplies. Amazon.com also offered services which included: online auctions, partnerships with retailers (i.e. The Gap Eddie Bauer,) Zshops (store hosting) and website management. In 2003 the company reported its first operating profit of $64.1 million, which was an 115.55% increase from 2001s $412.2 million operating loss, for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2002. Amazon continued to meet its internal goals, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦of focusing on increased market share, expanded product offerings, and overall sales growth, the company was still facing pressureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to produce consistent operating profits and t o prove that its business model worked financially over the long-term. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 3, 2003) The pressure the company was facing, combined with a decreasing consumer confidence, an increased unemployment rate, and competitive threats from other online companies, like eBay and Yahoo!, who had started to expand into Amazon.coms current markets, left Bezos à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with the task of developing an effective differentiating enterprise strategy if Amazon.com was to survive and prosper against aggressive competitionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 2, 2003) II. ANALYSIS A. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION 1. Management In Amazon.com first year as a company, they focused completely on increasing market share and superior customer service, but when the dotcom bubble burst happened and Amazon.coms stock prices fell Bezos and his management team struck a good balance between their goal of increasing market share and their goal of producing a profit. This shows that the management team for Amazon.com is rather flexible one and is willing to change strategies when the opportunities arise and the company is willing to modify its business model if it feels that an opportunity to expand in a new area will be profitable. 2. Operations Amazon.com has a corporate headquarters, which is located in Seattle, WA, and several distribution centers that are located in New Castle Delaware, Coffeyville Kansas, as well as in Campbellsville and Lexington Kentucky. Having these distribution centers allow for a better ability to regionally segment the United States, which allows for faster order fulfillment and higher customer satisfaction. Since they operate online, they have also expanded their website operations into several different countries including: Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. 3. Marketing Amazon.com, in 2002, was available in only five international geographic regions including: Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States. The company needed effective ways to reach out to its markets and in 1999 and 2000, Amazon.com spent a good amount of money, like many online retailers of the time, on advertising/marketing. They sacrificed short-term profits in order to acquire a greater chance of market share. At this time, online retailing was a fairly unfamiliar way of doing business, and the company felt that spending money on advertising/marketing its goods and services was the best way to give them a competitive edge. In the 2002 holiday season alone, Amazon.com spent about $5 million on TV and radio ads, but due to increased pressure of producing an operating profit while still being able to offer low prices combined with free shipping, the company was forced to cut advertising/marketing expenses and decided to suspend all of its TV an d radio advertisements. The company then invested in much more forms of online advertising/marketing (i.e. search engine ads and email ads), as well as direct mail and newspaper advertisements. This allowed for successful cutbacks in the budget. 4. Finance Amazon.coms first company goal was to gain market share, and the companys management team was willing to sacrifice potential profits in order to allow for potential growth. The company focused on this goal up until the dotcom burst and then switched gears and focused on controlling expenses in order to produce an operating profit according to general accounting principles. If one exams Amazons financial sheets from 2000 to 2003, one can clearly see how hard it is to sustain operating profitability and why the company is seeking to take a different course in several areas, including cutting costs. While Amazon had operating profits of $52 million in the third quarter of 2003-its first operating profit in a quarter that doesnt include the holiday season-it was a mute accomplishment. Once interest payments of $30 million are subtracted, Amazon is left with just $22 million in operating profits. With numbers like this, it makes for a rather weak financial portfolio. 5. Administration (Human Resources) A big part of Human Resources is customer service, which was a tremendous emphasis for the company, and because of that emphasis Amazon.com had outstanding customer service. This is one of the primary reasons the company become so successful. Their customer service allowed for the empowerment of the companys customers, and made maintaining a high level of customer service completely necessary, as well as pivotal to the companys survival. The company was able to accomplish such outstanding customer service in five ways: 1. Their customer service informed customers of predicted and actual shipping times, and gave the option of allowing customers to piece out large orders. 2. It allowed customers to review products. 3. Emails were sent to customers offering suggestions on other products based on past orders. 4. Numerous ways to search for products were offered making for an easy to use interface. 5. Using cutting edge technology, like 1 Click Ordering , making for an easy shopping experience. These reasons, along with things like Amazon.coms A to Z and Safe Shopping Guarantee (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 10, 2003), allowed them to differentiate themselves from their competition. 6. SWOT Analysis a. Strengths The companys strengths include: economies of scale, strategic alliances, broad customer base, internet storefront, variety of products and services, first mover advantage, customer loyalty, technological advantages, and distribution capabilities. b. Weaknesses The companys weaknesses include: difficulties of handling large number of customers, limited operating history, security awareness, and low margins in the sector. c. Opportunities The companys opportunities include: building alliances with other companies, concentrating on emerging segments, and concentrating on developing markets. d. Threats The companys threats include: the unknown future of online commerce, more offline companies becoming online companies (new competition) and heavy investments. 7. Products or Services Amazon.com doesnt actually manufacture any of the products that it sells; however, they do warehouse and ship books, videos, music/DVDs, electronics, home garden, apparel and toys. The company has several services that include: online auctions, Zshops, and Website Management. Zshops offer smaller business the opportunity to be able to sell on Amazon.coms interface. This increases the small businesss customer base as well as their product reach. This allows Amazon.com the ability of hosting and managing their websites. The companys website management service gives smaller businesses that dont have adequate websites to use Amazon.coms technology on their own web interfaces. B. PROBLEM DEFINITION 1. State the problem symptoms: The problem that Amazon.com is presenting is that the company, tremendous growth and increase in revenues, must grow and expand their business in innovative ways in order to stay ahead of their competitors, while maintaining the level of excellent customer service they have become so well known for. Due to the increase of competitors, along with the possibilities of taxes levied against online transactions, if Amazon.com cannot find a feasible and low cost expansion solution, the company might have to cut products or services they offer in order to maintain profitability. If this takes place the company could find itself with less global corporate positioning, a potentially tarnished reputation or they could even end up being the receiving end of a buyout from a competing company. 2. Define what is intended to be accomplished by correcting the problem: If Amazon.com successfully corrects their current problem, the company can continue to different themselves from their competition and hold onto the top spot of global online retailers. The company also will not have to make any reductions in their product or service offerings, allowing them to continue with their initial company mission of making book (as well as other products as this point) buying, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦into the fastest, easiest, and most enjoyable shopping experience possible. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 4, 2003) 3. Examine the causes of the problem: There are several possible causes to Amazon.coms dilemma. Aside from: economic downfalls, increasing unemployment rates, issues of diverse cultures and languages, legal and regulatory differences, localization issues, and technology and infrastructure expansion concerns. The markets are flooded with millions of products and various options are available for customers to switch their loyalties. Hence the product life cycles are considerably shorter. Shorter product life cycles have denied companies the sustained and reliable growth, as well as financial benefits, and posed a challenge of survival to many others in the same market as Amazon.com. III. SYNTHESIS A. ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS 1. The first alternative solution is to, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦expand Amazon.coms business in online auctions. Because of the continued need for an intermediary in these types of transactions, Amazon.com would be able to market this additional service to both its current customer base, through the use of personalized eà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœmails, and to new customers, through a general advertising campaign, including television and print ads. The benefit of this alternative was that Amazon.com would be expanding on an existing service offering and would not incur any developmental or startup expenses. An additional benefit would be that by aggressively promoting this service, Amazon.com would be able to attract new visitors to its web sites, and these customers might also purchase additional goods and services, such as new books and music that Amazon.com offered. This alternative was feasible because of the prior experience Amazon.com had developed in expanding and marketing other product lines and services. By learning from past mistakes and successes, Amazon.com would be able to formulate the correct marketing campaign to attract additional traffic to its web sites. The alternative could work because Amazon.com had become one of the premier online brands and had a large enough customer base to compete against eBay and other established online auction services such as Ubid.com and Yahoo! Auctions. In addition to its name recognition, Amazon.com would look to use its large number of customer service programs, such as Amazon Payments and Safe Shopping Guarantee, to address buyer and seller concerns about privacy, fraud, and security while also expanding the number of payment options available to both parties. The first drawback within this alternative was that Amazon.com would be competing against its own product offerings, as well as those of its retail partners. A second drawback was the fact that it was going headà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœhead with one of th e few other profitable online companies, eBay. eBay had built a considerably large base of loyal customers who would possibly be reluctant to go to a competitor. A way around the first drawback was to either set up the auction services in a separate and distinct section on the web site, away from the retail aspect, or set up a new web address for this service line. A way around the second drawback was for Amazon.com to market itself as a less expensive alternative to eBay, setting its pricing structure at a level that was lower than eBays. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 15, 2003) 2. The second possible alternative solution is to, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦develop and implement a businessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœbusiness (B2B) exchange for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to use. Because the largest percentage of eà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœcommerce sales resulted from transactions conducted on 13213 exchanges, this opened up a large potential market for Amazon.com to expand into. The benefit of this alternative was that Amazon.com could easily market this service to its large number of affiliates and partners that it conducted business with. Having its partners suppliers and distributors participate in this online exchange would allow their affiliates to achieve greater operational efficiencies in their supply chain. These efficiencies would translate into lower prices for Amazon.com. A second additional benefit for Amazon.com would be the steady cash flow it would receive through the charging of hosting fees and commissions on completed transac tions. This alternative was feasible because Amazon.com would use its past experiences and patented technology to develop a secure, easyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœuse platform that its customers would be comfortable with. It was also feasible because of the large number of midsize to small companies that did not have the necessary capital to develop or run their own exchanges but wished to participate in these auctions in order to increase their own sales and market coverage. This alternative could win against the competition because these additional offerings would be available to all companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœnot just companies from one specific industry, which most existing B2B exchanges did (for example, Covisint in the automotive industry). And because Amazon.com would only be acting as an intermediary with these exchanges, costs would be kept to a minimum because Amazon.com would only be the host of the exchange and would not have to hold any inventory. The drawbac k to this was that Amazon.com would be entering a business that would require more intense customer service than its other lines of business. This was due to the high dollar amounts of the transactions, as well as the issue of product specifications. An additional drawback would be the issue of payment processing and concerns with the shipping and receiving of goods. A way around the first drawback was to assign specific customer service personnel to each exchange category. By having an assigned customer service representative handle all aspects of the exchange transaction, Amazon.coms employees would be able to build an excellent relationship with the involved parties, which would help to address any issues that might occur. The way around the second drawback could be broken down into two categories. First, Amazon.com would use its escrow payment service to hold all movies until the goods were received and all parties were satisfied. To help address shipping concerns, Amazon.com, b ecause of its relationship with shipping companies, could negotiate discounted deals with them for their exchange partners to use. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 16, 2003) B. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION According to the evidence in this case study, the recommended solution is to seek growth through implementation of a business-to-business (B2B) exchange for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to use. Business-to-business (B2B) exchange is increasing rather rapidly and it will offer the chance to enter a new market. This solution can provide a number of benefits, including the fact that growing Internet technology allows for a level of collaboration between affiliated partners in the supply chain, which would have been difficult and/or rather expensive in the past for anyone but the biggest producers or retailers. Implementation of a business-to-business exchange would benefit Amazon.com by allowing the company to, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦easily market this service to its large number of affiliates and partners that it conducted business with. Having its partners suppliers and distributors participate in this online exchange would allow their affiliates to achieve greater operational efficiencies in their supply chain. These efficiencies would translate into lower prices for Amazon.com. A second additional benefit for Amazon.com would be the steady cash flow it would receive through the charging of hosting fees and commissions on completed transactions. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 16, 2003) It could also allow for additional functions that could be performed which have been previously unaddressed:       à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Providing a starting point where buyers and sellers enter the market either through a web browser/interface, or supply chain optimization solution.       à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gathering buyers and sellers of a specific industry in one centralized marketplace.       à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Facilitating and enabling transactions by building trust in the online market through credit verifications, reputation ratings and various decision making support tools.       à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Post-transaction customer service support such as: warranty and maintenance, asset management, etc. which would promote recurring participation. However, even though à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Amazon.com would be entering a business that would require more intense customer service than its other lines of business. This was due to the high dollar amounts of the transactions, as well as the issue of product specifications. An additional drawback would be the issue of payment processing and concerns with the shipping and receiving of goods. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 16, 2003) There is an easy way around this problem, which is to, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦assign specific customer service personnel to each exchange category. By having an assigned customer service representative handle all aspects of the exchange transaction, Amazon.coms employees would be able to build an excellent relationship with the involved parties, which would help to address any issues that might occur. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 16, 2003) In conclusion, implementing a business-to-business strategy would allow Amazon.com to remain competitive even in a, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦poor economic environment, and the possible repeal of the sales tax exemption afforded eà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœcommerce transactionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 16, 2003.) The benefits and advantages of this solution outweigh the disadvantages as, this alternative would win against the competition because these additional offerings would be available to all companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœnot just companies from one specific industry, which most existing B2B exchanges did (for example, Covisint in the automotive industry). And because Amazon.com would only be acting as an intermediary with these exchanges, costs would be kept to a minimum because Amazon.com would only be the host of the exchange and would not have to hold any inventory. (Collins, P., Mockler, R., Gartenfeld, M., p. 16, 2003)

Stephen King Essay -- essays research papers

The Master Of Malice   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around† states Stephen King in his book On Writing (94). Stephen King is a world-renowned author for his works in horror fiction, fiction, cinema and television. He has published more than forty novels and written nine screenplays (Adams 1). Stephen King draws a great deal of his inspiration from his surroundings, his job and his life experiences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. Stephen came as a surprise to his parents, Nellie Ruth and Pillsbury King. Mrs. King was told she would never conceive. The couple had adopted a son, David, Stephen’s older brother. When Stephen was just a toddler his parents divorced. Nellie moved Stephen and David to Indiana for a short time then to Connecticut. At the age of twelve, Stephen’s small family moved back to Maine (Stephen King.com 1-2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen showed an interest in writing at a young age. When he was growing up his brother would allow Stephen to write articles for â€Å"Dave’s Rag†, his brothers independently published newspaper (Full Biography 2). Throughout his childhood he would read articles from horror comics and become inspired. He began to write short stories and sell them to his mother’s friends for a nickel (King On Writing 15). Stephen graduated from Lisbon Falls High School where he was sought after to be on the newspaper staff. Stephen sold his first professional story to Starting Mystery Stories in 1967 (Stephen King.com 1-2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen King met his wife, Tabitha, while attending the University of Maine at Orono. Tabitha and Stephen were married in January of 1971. The couple lived in a small apartment; their only source of income was Stephen’s salary as a laborer at an industrial laundry. In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching sophomore English in Hampden Maine and working on short stories on the evenings and weekends. In 1973, his first novel Carrie was published. Not long after that his second novel ‘Salam’s Lot was published. With the money made from the two novels Stephen and Tabith... ...e natural talent (Adams 2-3). King believes that a strong desire to write is what fuels brilliant story telling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex and work† (King On Writing 157). Stephen King is the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He is also the world’s best selling novelist (Stephen King.com 2). When Stephen is not writing he spends his time playing guitar in a rock band called â€Å"Rock Bottom Remainders† (Full Biography 5). The way King parallels his life with his writing without making it seem like every story is a biography is amazing. His stories are compelling and inspiring. â€Å"These are just interests which have grown out of my life and thoughts, out of my experiences as a boy and a man, out of my roles as a husband, a father, a writer and a lover† (King 208). Stephen King is a phenomenal author who has written many classics of the twenty-first century. He has cleverly told the world about himself and his life through his immortal words.

Criticism of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay -- Romeo and

Criticism of Romeo and Juliet In Romeo and Juliet, love serves as the tragedy. According to critic Denton J. Snider, "love, the emotion of the Family, in its excess destroys the Family; though it be the origin and bond of the domestic institution, it now assails and annihilates that institution." The love of Romeo and Juliet for one another, not only destroys their families, but ultimately destroys them as well. Their love and devotion for one another causes them to rebel against the institution of family. All in all, "love, which is the emotional ground of the Family, is here destroying the Family itself" (Snider). Among the Capulet and Montague families, why does the persistent rebellion among the children exist? Supposedly, the feud is fueled solely by their parent’s strife; however, it is clear that the children are brought into the picture and are victims of Verona’s violent social climate. Shakespeare critic, Coppelia Kahn places emphasis on the parent’s lack of direction in their children: Instead of providing social channels and moral guidance by which the energies of the youth can be rendered beneficial to themselves and society, the Montagues and the Capulets make weak gestures toward civil peace while participating emotionally in the feud as much as their children do. While they fail to exercise authority over the younger generation in the streets, they wield selfishly and stubbornly in the home. As in Shakespeare’s England, Verona was a very patriarchal society, and women had little place there, but to tend to the home. Men must bear and fight for their family name, while women bear the children and see to the men. Kahn points out that "Verona’s daughters have, in effect, no adoles... ...w York. Copyright 1969. Reiff, Phillip. â€Å"Politics and the Individual†. Freud: The Mind of the Moralist. www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/502/rieff.html,. Chapter 7. 1959. Snider, Denton J. " ‘Romeo and Juliet’," in his The Shakespeare Drama, a Commentary: The Tragedies, Sigma Publishing Co., 1887, pp. 36-78. Reprinted in Shakespearean Criticism, Vol.5. Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1977. Simpson, JA and ESC Weiner (prep by). Oxford English Dictionary: Volume V, Second Edition.Clarendon Press. Oxford. Copyright 1989. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, P20-515 â€Å"Household and family characteristics: March 1998 (Update)† and earlier reports. www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/htabHH-1.txt, and www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/htabFM-1.txt.