The Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment is a very complex and controversial topic. It's hard to decide what is right and what is wrong when discussing how to discipline children. For those of you who are not familiar with the term corporal punishment it is the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child's behavior. I read a lot of definitions, but I think Murray Straus summed it up the best with that definition. Corporal punishment is sometimes called spanking. The more common types of corporal punishment are spanking, grabbing or shoving, and hitting a child with objects such as a hair brush, belt, or paddle (Straus, 4-5). In the following paragraphs such things as who uses corporal punishment, the short long term effects of corporal, and things to do instead of using corporal punishment will be discussed. To my surprise many people do in fact use corporal punishment. Many people believe that when their child†s behavior gets out of control that the only way to restore order is to paddle the ones that are causing problems. In the Gallup Monthly Poll of 1000 randomly selected American parents, â€Å"Over half of the parents said they administered minor physical punishment during the past year, while 22 percent said they use severe physical punishment. â€Å"(Daro 519). This physical punishment does not work as effectively as other types of punishment and strictly speaking is illegal. â€Å"It is much better to choose a punishment that will fit the action, for example if a child has a fight over the TV, take away TV privileges. Corporal punishment is usually administered when the parent is being brash and hasn't had time to cool down from the child's misbehavior. † (Maccoby 19). Recently the â€Å"No hitting-use words to express you feelings† method has been thought to resolve problems, but many people don't believe it is effective and they result to other methods, such as corporal punishment. A study conducted by Gelles in 1989 found that 84 per cent of 1,470 adults agreed that â€Å"It is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a hard spanking. † (20). What does this mean? It means that there are a lot of people out there who are using corporal punishment and that might be causing psychological problems within their children and may not even recognize it (Gelles 23). If you were to talk to parents and children of earlier generations you wouldn't believe the number of parents who spanked their children. Most parents spank their children because they believe it was for their own good (Straus 3). Research up to 1985 shows that more than 90% of parents used corporal punishment on toddlers and more than half continued to use it during the early teen years. Even this high figure represents a decrease from 99% in the 1950s and 97% in 1975. There have been further decreases since 1985, but almost all children continue to experience corporal punishment (White 12). These high prevalence rates and the high rates of approval of spanking may be interpreted as an indication that parents spank with little thought of possible side effects, such as later aggression and are learning to control this as time goes on (Daro 528). Talking with my parents and grandparents they said children back then were different. They respected their parents and followed directions. So why the change? Issues such as society, the increase in violence on TV, and the number of hours people spend watching TV may be leading factors in the change in children†s behavior. Now a day, there are children who enjoy being spanked because even though it was painful, it is quick and they didn't have to do any extra chores (Chmelynski 51). Out of the seven or eight articles I read there was only one that mentioned corporal punishment as a positive reinforcement. Most of the articles stated that it was either abuse or ineffective. Stuart Tolman, the Murtaugh school board chairman in Illonois, states that â€Å"Corporal punishment is effective†. He adopted corporal punishment to answer parent†s request of better discipline. He thinks, â€Å"suspensions just give kids a holiday. † He also said since they have been using corporal punishment there has been no suspensions that year (Chmelynski 51). Just because one out of seven or eight articles says that corporal punishment does work, does that mean it really does work? Of course not. Joy Cain states, â€Å"Abusing children directly affects their performance in school. â€Å"(101). According to a study published in Social Work Research, students who are abused consistently do worse on â€Å"CAT standardized tests, grade point averages, proportion who dropped out when eligible, mean annual absences, proportion of possible behavior problems and retention, and proportion with delinquency complaints† (Eron 172). Spanking a child will not stop them from doing the same thing later in life. According to research conducted, â€Å"Children who have been slapped or hit are usually so overwhelmed with anger and hurt feelings that they cannot remember what they were punished for. According to Susan Smith, the lesson that is being taught to a child that is being hit is that hitting is a solution to solving problems(1). Believe it or not there are short term and long term effects to corporal punishment. Obviously the short-term effect would be the stopping of the inappropriate behavior, but the long-term effect might not be so obvious. To determine definite results of long-term effects, many studies have to be conducted and many conclusions have to be drawn. Unfortunately, no types of studies have been done. The reason for this is that there would have to be an experimental group that would have to use corporal punishment and since many social scientists believe that harm will result in such studies, they don't want to conduct them. Even though there have been no studies reported, there have been some theories that have been supported by some research. These findings show that the more corporal punishment, the higher the rate of undesirable behaviors or thought later in life, such things as delinquency, approval of violence, alienation, depression, and lower earnings (Straus 196). Straus also believes that victims of corporal punishment have an increased chance of worse behavior and other problems, including impaired learning and as mentioned before, delinquency; and later in life, depression, child abuse, wife beating, and other crimes† (Straus 4). Although cultural norms supporting corporal punishment of children may be changing, there is abundant evidence that these norms are deeply rooted and pervasive (Yarrow 21). One of the most fundamental ways in which cultural norms supporting corporal punishment are expressed is in the Criminal law on assault. In every state of the U. S. hitting a child for purposes of correction or control is exempt from the crime of assault, usually with the proviso that it is limited to â€Å"reasonable force. † In practice, that includes the right to hit with belts and paddles, provided the child is not injured (Straus 12). In the 1960s every state in the United States passed legislation designed to protect children from physical abuse and to provide services for abused children. Ironically, in order to garner sufficient votes to pass the child abuse laws, it was typically necessary to include a provision declaring that parents continued to have the right to use corporal punishment. As a result, legislation intended to protect children from physical abuse contained provisions that further legitimated a practice that increases the risk of physical abuse (Giles 171). When reading about corporal punishment it is critical to know that it is an ethic and moral question to as if corporal punishment is right or wrong. It all comes down to what you believe in. It would be nice if everyone got along and didn't hit one another, but in reality everyone is not like that. Something can be done though to prevent the use of corporal punishment. Other types of discipline, without raising a hand to a child, can be taught and used by many parents. It may seem a lot easier to spank and be done, but here are some suggestions that are being used today: 1. Take a deep breath and remember you are the adult. 2. Count to twenty while you pressing your lips together tightly. 3. Go outside or take a walk. Get yourself away from the situation and clear your head (Smith 2). 4. Keep expectations in line with the child's age. 5. Think ahead, and anticipate problems and ways of avoiding them. 6. Offer choices. Don't bark commands. 7. Be consistent. 8. Follow through with consequence, not punishments. (Cain 101). Other steps can be taken to prevent the use of corporal punishment on children. Parents can create a home where it's easier for a child to be well behaved and productive, and where they are less tempted to resort to spanking (Larzelere 30). They can be clear that they are the parents who ultimately set the limits and enforce the rules. One step to doing this would be to teach children how to talk about their feelings, rather than act them out in misbehavior. Next, parents should try to anticipate stressful situations and develop ways of handling them before the child's behavior gets out of control. As long as parents monitor their own levels of anger and are aware of what may trigger angry responses, they can be patient and in control. Last, parents have to be consistent in their parenting, so that all confusion can be stopped between what punishments will be like, so that children can know what to expect if they disobey their parents (White 14). Spanking and other forms of physical punishment teach children that it is all right to hit people who are smaller and weaker. Physical punishment causes parents to lose an opportunity to teach children alternative behaviors, which are socially acceptable. Its use sometimes leads to physical abuse and it contributes to the cycle of child abuse. Other means of discipline are available to parents including time-out, rule setting, and consequences for misbehavior, explaining and reasoning and praise for good behavior. â€Å"Corporal punishment may provide immediate results, but it doesn't teach self-discipline. It teaches that aggression is the way to solve problems and that big people can bully little people† (Cain 121). Corporal punishment is wrong. It may cause problems in the future for the child being hit, and it is not fair to the child. With so many other choices, corporal punishment should be laid to rest.

Foreign Direct Investment: An Overview Essay

What is Foreign Direct Investment? Foreign direct investment (FDI) is defined as a long-term investment by a foreign direct investor in an enterprise resident in an economy other than that in which the foreign direct investor is based. The FDI relationship consists of a parent enterprise and a foreign affiliate which together form a transnational corporation (TNC). In order to qualify as FDI the investment must afford the parent enterprise control over its foreign affiliate. The UN defines control in this case as owning 10% or more of the ordinary shares or voting power of an incorporated firm or its equivalent for an unincorporated firm. Understanding Foreign Direct Investment Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an extraordinary and growing role in global business. It can provide a firm with new markets and marketing channels, cheaper production facilities, access to new technology, products, skills and financing. For a host country or the foreign firm which receives the investment, it can provide a source of new technologies, capital, processes, products, organizational technologies and management skills, and as such can provide a strong impetus to economic development. Foreign direct investment, in its classic definition, is defined as a company from one country making a physical investment into building a factory in another country. In recent years, given rapid growth and change in global investment patterns, the definition has been broadened to include the acquisition of a lasting management interest in a company or enterprise outside the investing firm’s home country. As such, it may take many forms, such as a direct acquisition of a foreign firm, construction of a facility, or investment in a joint venture or strategic alliance with a local firm with attendant input of technology, licensing of intellectual property, In the past decade, FDI has come to play a major role in the internationalization of business. Reacting to changes in technology, growing liberalization of the national regulatory framework governing investment in enterprises, and changes in capital markets profound changes have occurred in the size, scope and methods of FDI. New information technology systems, decline in global communication costs have made management of foreign investments far easier than in the past. The sea change in trade and investment policies and the regulatory environment globally in the past decade, including trade policy and tariff liberalization, easing of restrictions on foreign investment and acquisition in many nations, and the deregulation and privatization of many industries, has probably been the most significant catalyst for FDI’s expanded role. The most profound effect has been seen in developing countries, where yearly foreign direct investment flows have increased from an average of less than $10 billion in the 1970’s to a yearly average of less than $20 billion in the 1980’s, to explode in the 1990s from $26.7billion in 1990 to $179 billion in 1998 and $208 billion in 1999 and now comprise a large portion of global FDI. Proponents of foreign investment point out that the exchange of investment flows benefits both the home country (the country from which the investment originates) and the host country (the destination of the investment). The push factors indicate the benefits to the investors and the pull factors to the host countries. First, international flows of capital reduce the risk faced by owners of capital by allowing them to diversify their lending and investment. Second, FDI allows capital to seek out the highest rate of return. Third, FDI helps to expand market. For the host countries, it can contribute to the general development as well as to the poverty reduction objective in a variety of ways. Major benefits to host countries are as follows: †¢ FDI allows transfer of technology—particularly in the form of new varieties of capital inputs—that cannot be achieved through financial investments or trade in goods and services. FDI can also promote competition in the domestic input market. †¢ Recipients of FDI often gain employee training in the course of operating the new businesses, which contributes to human capital development in the host country. †¢ Profits generated by FDI contribute to corporate tax revenues in the host country. Thus, it contributes not only to the direct source of investment but also to the government revenue. †¢ FDI helps to integrate the host countries economy to the global economy. Determinants of FDI FDI is the investment decision of profit-maximising firms facing world-wide competition and where significant differences in cost structures (due to say, factor productivity, wage differential) justify cross-border investment and production. a. Institutional features of the host country: degree of political stability and government intervention in the economy; the existence of property law legislation; the property and tax system; adequate infrastructure, etc. b. Economic factors: trade and investment regime; the degree of â€Å"openness† of the host countries, the absorptive capacity and growth prospects of the host country; fix and variable costs of production relocation; the degree of monopolistic competition which prevents the entry of other (domestic and foreign firms; general macroeconomic performance (inflation, monetary and fiscal policy) etc. c. Policy related factors: Fiscal (tax rebates and exemptions) and financial incentives (subsidized loans), laws that restrict FDI in certain sectors on the ground of political sensitivity of certain industries (oil, broadcasting, etc.); policy that restricts the degree of foreign ownership, (temporal or permanent) the remittance of interest, dividends and fees for technology and the shares allowed to foreign -owned firms through limits on capital repatriation, minimum investment, etc. d. Characteristics of the labor force: education, skills, etc. Some features of world FDI activity a. The sharp increases in world FDI activities that started after 1985. b. Increased activity and concentration of FDI. Indeed, in the 1990s, FDI has become one of the most important sources of external finance in developing countries. USA has become the largest host country in international capital markets, receiving capital from both Japan and Europe. Japan has emerged as a major home country of FDI outflows. c. Developing countries have liberalized financial markets and offered special incentives (lower taxes, subsidies for infrastructure, etc) to attract FDI in the hope of acquiring technological transfer, know-how, and in general, positive externalities. Basic types of FDI  · Greenfield investment: direct investment in new facilities or the expansion of existing facilities. Greenfield investments are the primary target of a host nation’s promotional efforts because they create new production capacity and jobs, transfer technology and know-how, and can lead to linkages to the global marketplace. However, it often does this by crowding out local industry; multinationals are able to produce goods more cheaply (because of advanced technology and efficient processes) and uses up resources (labor, intermediate goods, etc). Another downside of greenfield investment is that profits from production do not feed back into the local economy, but instead to the multinational’s home economy. This is in contrast to local industries whose profits flow back into the domestic economy to promote growth.  · Mergers and Acquisitions: transfers of existing assets from local firms to foreign firms takes place; the primary type of FDI. Cross-border mergers occur when the assets and operation of firms from different countries are combined to establish a new legal entity. Cross-border acquisitions occur when the control of assets and operations is transferred from a local to a foreign company, with the local company becoming an affiliate of the foreign company. Unlike greenfield investment, acquisitions provide no long term benefits to the local economy– even in most deals the owners of the local firm are paid in stock from the acquiring firm, meaning that the money from the sale could never reach the local economy.  · Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment: investment in the same industry abroad as a firm operates in at home.  · Vertical Foreign Direct Investment: Takes two forms: 1) Backward vertical FDI: where an industry abroad provides inputs for a firm’s domestic production process. 2) Forward vertical FDI: in which an industry abroad sells the outputs of a firm’s domestic production. FDI based on the motives of the investing firm FDI can also be categorized based on the motive behind the investment from the perspective of the investing firm:  · Resource Seeking: Investments which seek to acquire factors of production that are more efficient than those obtainable in the home economy of the firm. In some cases, these resources may not be available in the home economy at all (e.g. cheap labor and natural resources). This typifies FDI into developing countries, for example seeking natural resources in the Middle East and Africa, or cheap labor in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.  · Market Seeking: Investments which aim at either penetrating new markets or maintaining existing ones. FDI of this kind may also be employed as defensive strategy; it is argued that businesses are more likely to be pushed towards this type of investment out of fear of losing a market rather than discovering a new one.  · Efficiency Seeking: Investments which firms hope will increase their efficiency by exploiting the benefits of economies of scale and scope, and also those of common ownership. It is suggested that this type of FDI comes after either resource or market seeking investments have been realized, with the expectation that it further increases the profitability of the firm. Importance of FDI Making a direct foreign investment allows companies to accomplish several tasks: Avoiding foreign government pressure for local production. Circumventing trade barriers, hidden and otherwise. Making the move from domestic export sales to a locally-based national sales office. Capability to increase total production capacity. Opportunities for co-production, joint ventures with local partners, joint marketing arrangements, licensing, etc. What do companies considering FDI require? Depending on the industry sector and type of business, a foreign direct investment may be an attractive and viable option. With rapid globalization of many industries and vertical integration rapidly taking place on a global level, at a minimum a firm needs to keep abreast of global trends in their industry. From a competitive standpoint, it is important to be aware of whether a company’s competitors are expanding into a foreign market and how they are doing that. At the same time, it also becomes important to monitor how globalization is affecting domestic clients. Often, it becomes imperative to follow the expansion of key clients overseas if an active business relationship is to be maintained. New market access is also another major reason to invest in a foreign country. At some stage, export of product or service reaches a critical mass of amount and cost where foreign production or location begins to be more cost effective. Any decision on investing is thus a combination of a number of key factors including: assessment of internal resources, competitiveness, market analysis market expectations. From an internal resources standpoint, does the firm have senior management support for the investment and the internal management and system capabilities to support the set up time as well as ongoing management of a foreign subsidiary? Has the company conducted extensive market research involving both the industry, product and local regulations governing foreign investment which will set the broad market parameters for any investment decision? Is there a realistic assessment in place of what resource utilization the investment will entail? Has information on local industry and foreign investment regulations, incentives, profit retention, financing, distribution, and other factors been completely analyzed to determine the most viable vehicle for entering the market (greenfield, acquisition, merger, joint venture, etc.)? Has a plan been drawn up with reasonable expectations for expansion into the market through that local vehicle? If the foreign economy, industry or foreign investment climate is characterized by government regulation, have the relevant government agencies been contacted and concurred? Have political risk and foreign exchange risk been factored into the business plan? Policies to attract Foreign Direct Investment There is keen competition among developed and developing countries to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).This drive to lure investment often extends to the sub national level, with different regional authorities pursuing their own strategies and assembling their own baskets of incentives to attract new investments. Various reforms and strategies have been implemented, with mixed results. Some are critical of the high costs of many of these initiatives, arguing that it would be more rewarding to improve a country’s general business environment. The many different methods used by policymakers to attract FDI and their effectiveness are as follows:  · providing targeted fiscal incentives, such as tax concessions, cash grants, and specific subsidies;  · improving domestic infrastructure;  · promoting local skills development to meet investor needs and expectations;  · establishing broad-reaching FDI promotion agencies;  · improving the regulatory environment and decreasing red tape; and  · engaging in international governing arrangements. Promotional efforts to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) have become the important point of competition among developed and developing countries. This competition is also maintained when countries are adopting economic integration at another level. While some countries lowering standards to attract FDI in a â€Å"race to the bottom,† others praise FDI for raising standards and welfare in recipient countries. Countries have adopted their respective policies for attracting more investment. Some countries rely on targeted financial concessions like tax concessions, cash grants and specific subsidies. Some countries focus on improving the infrastructure and skill parameter and creating a base meet the demands and expectations of foreign investors. Others try to improve the general business climate of a country by changing the administrative barriers and red tapism. Many governments have created state agencies to help investors through this administrative paperwork. Finally most of the countries have entered into international governing arrangements to increase their attractiveness for more investment. Sound investment climate is crucial for economic growth. Microeconomic reforms aimed at simplifying business regulations, strengthening property rights, improving labor market flexibility, and increasing firms’ access to finance are necessary for raising living standards and reducing poverty in a country. Reform is necessary for creating an investment-oriented climate. Reform management matters as investment climate reforms are done politically. They often favor unorganized over organized groups and the benefits tend to accrue only in the long term, while costs are felt up front. Political decisions play a significant role in this context. Each and every country over the globe is stepping forward to change the climate for attracting more investment. Opening up of doors by most of the nations have compelled them for adopting reforms. Relaxation of rules and regulations, of course, is an essential requirement but not sufficient on its own to bring in FDI. As the study points out, business rules in India still bar FDI in most sectors. It was only last February that the government there decided to allow FDI of upto 51 percent in the single brand retail sector, which is expected to trigger a new flurry of investment. As things stand, Pakistan is far ahead of India in terms of offering all kinds of incentives to foreign investors – although some administrative bottlenecks still remain to be removed. It also boasts a high economic growth rate and there exists a consensus among all political forces on following the market economy model. Still, it has failed to catch the fancy of foreign investors at the desired level. The designated target was to raise foreign investment from 1 billion dollars to 27 billion dollars during a five-year period. That target is nowhere near realization. The government claims to have brought foreign investment to the 3 billion dollars mark this year. But that is a fallacious claim since the money has come in on account of privatization of government-owned entities. There has only been a transfer of assets from the public sector into private hands; no new generation of activity in the retail or production sector, which is badly wanted to address the twin problems of poverty and unemployment. The situation underscores the need not only to remove administrative hurdles but also to create ease of operations vis-à  -vis law and order and the socially restrictive atmosphere.

Computer Virus and Prentice Hall Essay

Reports of computer security failures appear frequently in the daily new. Cite a reported failure that exemplified one (or more) of the principles listed in the chapter: easiest penetration, adequate protection, effectiveness, weakest link. There has been a lot of reports of security breaches in the news, for example the Sony Playstation Network, RSA Lockheed Martin compromise, Hyundai and so on, these have been of recent and these all show how vulnerable we are to security threats out there on the world wide web which has very little to do with borders of the country or state. The Internet is a gateway of information all over the word where people are connected and providing and absorbing information. Many of the security restrictions that apply in a physical sense do not in the cyber world. I have picked the Sony Playstation Network (PSN) compromise as my topic of discussion to show the areas covered in chapter one that talk about penetration, protection, effectiveness, weakest link. A successful penetration into the PSN by the attacker, has compromised peoples credit card information, birthdates, addresses, phone numbers and more. The successful penetration was delivered disguised in the form of a purchase as stated by Sony Chief Information Officer Shinji Hajesima (Ogg, 2011). The systems were unable to detect the attack going through as it went through has a purchase transaction. This show lack of adequate protection, in the article it also mentions that the vulnerability that was exploited by the hacker was also known. This shows that it is absolutely important to make sure that the patches for known vulnerabilities are deployed and the systems are patched accordingly, though one may argue if the patching introduces other forms of vulnerability. The successful exploitation of the system led to the loss of personal details of up to 70 million (Schreier, 2011) customers, this information could be used for identity theft, credit card theft, and besides that the down time for customers who are using the system that they have paid for. The effectiveness of this attack is shown by the shutdown of the PSN for a number of days. This shows that the effectiveness of the protection on this system was lacking, the inability to pickup on the intrusion as it happened and thus showing us a weak link in the system security. The article shows us the combination of things that have come into play that have led to the successful compromise of the PSN network. Starting with the vulnerability that was known by Sony with the systems and left unattended, secondly the inability of the intrusion detection system to pick up the actual attack or the delivery of the malformed data that exploited the vulnerability to permit access to the attacker, lastly the storage of data in an unencrypted but hashed form which is reversible to obtain the credentials and personal details of the PSN users or customers.

Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics - Research Paper Example This piece of research paper is an attempt to present a strategic analysis of US automotive industry by using Porter’s Five Forces model, which is one of the best strategic analysis widely used to measure and assess the competitive position of a company within its industry. This research paper presents a brief outline of the US automotive industry-profile and addresses five forces in detail, they are competition rivalry, threats of new-entrants and substitutes and bargaining power of suppliers and buyers. The US automotive industry includes all those firms and their activities involved in designing, developing and manufacturing of motor vehicles and major components like engines, bodies but excluding tires, batteries and fuels (Automotive Industry, 2010). The main US automotive marketers are Big-Three- (GM, Ford and Chrysler), Navistar International Corporation and Paccar Inc. There are currently many structural issues in the US automotive industry which in turn foreign auto-marketers have been able to take advantages and gain greater competitive advantages too. Datamonitor (2009) found that these issues include greater dependency on cheap oil, preference for building big cars, under-emphasis on fuel efficiency and excess capacity and legacy costs (p. 5). The recent economic turmoil and increasing oil price have eventually led the Big-Three to experience such structural issues. General Motors, one of the largest auto-manufacturer in the word, traces its root back to 1908, headquartered in Detroit. With various brands like Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC, it manufactures a wide range of cars, trucks and auto-parts (Company Profile, 2010). It employs more than 200,000 people throughout its businesses in more than 120 countries. in very recent years, GM has experienced significant financial crisis that has threatened its market feasibility (General Motors

Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hamlet - Essay Example Hamlet’s madness leads him to commit revenge for the death of the King who was his father. Hamlet’s crafts a scheme to force his uncle to accept that he murdered the King. In Act I scene V of the play, Hamlet’s father’s ghost encourages him to murder the current King who is his uncle as revenge for poisoning his father (Shakespeare 35). As part of his aim to make his uncle confess to the crime, he feigns madness. His first characteristics of madness appear when he encounters Ophelia, a woman who he had made countless presentations of his affection. He acts insane towards her before the opening of the tale. He acts mad by grabbing her hands, caressing her face, and by staring at her closely as he exits the room. Ophelia’s father Polonius attributes Hamlet’s madness as a result of his love for her. Through his madness, Hamlet alienates Ophelia by making it known that he never loved her at all. Hamlet further confuses her when he decides to sit next to her during the play within a play in Act III. Ophelia is unsure of his melancholy to ecstatic attitude change. Hamlet almost avenges his father’s death when he finds the king kneeling down in prayer. He contemplates upon this by questioning the morality of killing him when he is in prayer. In Act III scene IV, his father’s ghost visits him again to remind him that he has not avenged his murder (Shakespeare 95). In Act V scene II, he ultimately kills the king before he dies too. Hamlet’s feigned madness leads to him becoming obsessed with revenge for his father. In the play, Ophelia is daughter to Polonius, and Hamlet’s love interest. She gets trapped between Polonius and Hamlet’s world as she gets confused as to whether to become obedient towards his father or fall in love with Hamlet. This confusion results to her tragic end. Ophelia as demanded by society at the time is obedient towards his father. He lives by his father’s rules an d gets used by him as a catch to spy on Hamlet. Ophelia’s obedience towards men also leaves her at the mercies of Hamlet’s constant abuse of her. Hamlet accuses Ophelia of being a breeder of sinners and if she were to marry she would turn her husband into a monster as she would cheat on him. The constant barrage of criticism directed towards her by Hamlet crushes her. She gets crashed when Hamlet declares that he never loved her (Shakespeare 30). As a young woman, Ophelia is under too much pressure from both her father and Hamlet. She eventually cracks and goes mad. She sings of a girl who gets tricked into losing her virginity for a false promise on marriage. Her madness leads her to commit suicide by drowning. Her mental breakdown is real and as a result of the patriarchal pressure and abuse he receives from his father and Hamlet. Ophelia’s madness gets contributed by the overall state of confusion existent in the entire play. She gets confused as to whether t o surrender to Hamlet or her father. She gets caught in both worlds. It is this confusion that leads her to breakdown mentally. Ophelia’s madness can also get attributed to the misogynistic and gender themes existent in the play. As demanded by society at the time, women were to be obedient to every move by their male counterparts in society. Ophelia gets forced to obey the men in her lives. It is this submission to both her father and Hamlet that contribute to her state of confusion and apparent mental breakdown. She complies with his father’

Red Bull stratos PR Campaign Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Red Bull stratos PR Campaign - Assignment Example To ensure that consumers are aware of the various benefits of Red Bull, the company has established a user friendly website (www.redbullstratos.com). Through this website, the company does not only enhance consumer awareness, but also it indicates the extent to which technology can be used in marketing (Guiltinan et al, 1996). With a headline of world biggest jump, Red Bull website highlights the roles of Felix and the marketing team to portray Red Bull as the source of strength and wisdom. Red Bull Stratos PR Campaign is well displayed through Youtube. In this way, the brand has captured the attention of young consumers who regularly visit internet marketing sites. As a result, Red Bull became a major competitor in the soft drink industry whose leader is Coca-Cola Company. Red Bull Stratos PR Campaign took place on October 14, 2012 in US. Based on the confidence and daring nature of Felix Baumgartner, the brand gives an indication of the level at which brands can change consumer beh avior as well as improving their welfare. The major aim of this campaign was to attract new consumers and retain the trust of the existing customers. This goal was achieved through innovation an aspect that is used by most of the market leaders in the international market. Image of the Red Bull Stratos PR Campaign Publics targeted by Red Bull Stratos PR Campaign Young consumers-young people have wide range of responsibilities that require significant amount of energy. In this regard, the Red Bull campaign targeted young consumers who use internet and social sites to seek for brands that can give them energy to undertake their daily duties. Athletes-Based on the need to retain their titles in athletics, athletes require high level of energy. This makes them to be loyal and increase consumption of brands that provides adequate energy. Through the use of Felix, Red Bull targeted athletes and other participants in the sporting field (Menon, 1997). Investors-Red Bull used innovation to a ttract potential investors. This was an indication that the company can go to any extent to improve its sales an aspect that investors looks at when comparing investment portfolios. Executives-Red Bull campaign was initiated by experienced marketers and information technology experts thus targeting executives who are aimed at enhancing their energy to attain individual and corporate objectives. Success of the campaign One of the major reasons as to why Red Bull Stratos PR Campaign succeeded was the skills and wide experience of the team members. For example, the camping team comprised of experts in the fields of medicine, designing, engineering and science. In this way, each of the team members made a significant contribution towards the success of the campaign. In the same way, the campaign had a mission to advance discoveries in aerospace in order to improve the welfare on mankind (Davis and Blomstrom, 1975).Through this mission, the team was focused at succeeding in all the stage s of developing the campaign. The scientific research and innovation that is adopted by the US government was also a major factor that led to the success of the campaign. For instance, Joe Kittinger a famous US air force colonel motivated Felix during the campaign. It is worth to note that for any marketing strategy to succeed, a company must allocate adequate financial resources.

Genre Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Genre Analysis - Essay Example This research paper will retrospectively place emphasis on the influence that political party websites play in a modern democracy in the confines of competitive politics and in a greater extend bring out their importance (Weller and Warren 230). In the exercise of democracy today political parties have been in the center stage as the main vehicles that help politicians climb into power. Various platforms have been adopted by these parties as they forge for their main agenda and one of them is adoption of modern technology in carrying out their political campaigns. It therefore becomes an important aspect to discuss and analyze, so that the various motives are unearthed and brought into light through a genre analysis perspective. The essence of political parties going digital and using websites and blog is to mobilize highest number of masses possible. Although it is the wish for political parties to be all inclusive and accommodating to everyone, it becomes very difficult to do so. P eople have different ideas and opinion about various matters and sometimes it could be difficult to come into terms with the various opinions that political leaders come up for nation building. Such disagreements and deviations in opinions bring a challenge of inclusion and therefore political parties and their websites cannot include everyone (Miller 165). These websites are only targeting like-minded persons and people who share common ideologies and values in relation to national matters. Political parties’ websites are a good reflection of how power, authority, hierarchy and leadership should be exercised more so if the agenda comes to pass. Within the website there is a clear cut off who is the flag bearer, the deputy and other representatives in a hierarchical manner. These ranks are usually disseminated depending on the roles, responsibilities and the voting rights that these individuals have within the confines of the political party. Many a times we have experienced wrangles within political parties regarding who takes what share and who does not. These are normal happenings in political divides and given that political parties bake politicians ranks call shorts to solve these matters. Sometimes it is difficult to realize these wrangles in the online political party websit

Pizza Hut in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Pizza Hut in the UK - Essay Example 2002 Tricon Global becomes YUM! Brands Inc. The Quad Pizza is launched in the UK. Pizza Hut opens its 500th restaurant. A & W and Long John Silver’s join the Yum brand. 2001 Pizza Hut begins a franchising programme with its delivery stores 2000 Pizza Hut introduces The Edge, a thin pizza with toppings all the way round the edge 1999 Pizza Hut has over 400 restaurants, employing 14000 people. The Italian Pizza is launched in the UK 1998 Pan Pizza is relaunched as Grand Pan in the UK 1997 PepsiCo decided to focus on their (sic) drinks business. As a result, Tricon Global Restaurants is born, creating the largest restaurant brand in the World. Tricon became the partner company with Whitbread. The Sicilian Pizza is launched in the UK. There are 277 restaurants and 100 delivery stores in the UK 1995 Stuffed Crust is launched in the UK 1994 10,000 Pizza Huts are open world-wide 1993 There are 300 restaurants and delivery stores in the UK 1992 There are 9000 restaurants in 84 countri es 1990 Pizza Hut reaches Russia. In the UK there are now 200 restaurants 1989 The first restaurant is converted into a Restaurant Based Delivery store 1988 The UK’s first delivery unit opens in Kingsbury, London 1987 An average of one restaurant opened each week in the UK 1986 100 restaurants in the UK and 5000 world wide 1984 50 restaurants so far in the UK 1982 UK joint venture commences between PepsiCo and Whitbread 1980 Pan Pizza Introduced 1977 PepsiCo buys Pizza Hut 1973 Pizza Hut goes international with restaurants in Japan, Canada & England. The first UK Pizza Hut opens in Islington, London 1972 1000 restaurants are open throughout the USA 1958 Frank and Dan Carney open the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (www.pizzahut.co.uk). As part of a consortium, Yum! Brands,... From this essay it is clear that  Pizza Hut began in 1958 when brothers, Frank and Dan Carney, established the first store in Wichita, Kansas. With room for only 25 seats, the first Pizza Hut restaurant was very small. For the origin of the name, Frank and Dan had a restaurant sign which only had space for nine letters, so they put ‘Pizza’ in the name, with the remaining space for 3 more letters. In addition, because the building resembled a hut, the name Pizza Hut was tagged. The first store in the United Kingdom opened fifteen years later. Now, the company has flourished to the extent that it is the largest pizza company in the world. As the dominant pizza and delivery chain in the UK, it has 697 outlets in the nation. It is part of Yum Restaurants International.As the paper highlights  brands, Inc., Pizza Hut constitutes one of the most successful restaurant franchises in the world with its famous pizza, pasta and wing dishes. It is an international company with o ver 6,000 restaurants in the United States and in excess in 5,600 restaurants in 94 other nations and regions across the globe. Yum!, its parent company, constitutes the biggest restaurant company in the world in regards to its over 37,000 locations in   120 countries and regions and its over one million associates.  The topic is investigated in the following steps: planning, organizing, and scheduling the project. In regards to the planning, several hours every day was spent researching and writing the project.

Literature review on Wind power Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

On Wind power - Literature review Example ; (3) the power in the wind is proportional to the density of the air (Park, 1982). According to history, the practical use of wind power began with the Egyptians around 2800 BC when slaves were made to row overseas using sails which were further employed in lifting water and operating grain-grinding stones even to within the period when Persians built panemones or vertical-shaft windmills in 700 AD. Some other civilizations of the Middle East followed the same tradition whereas the Crusaders of the West are believed to have improved the windmill concept that led the Dutch to put up propeller-type windmills structured with horizontal shafts or axes of propulsion. Technical developments continued during the Middle Ages and comparative studies show aspects of similarity among windmills founded in British colonies, New England, and Holland which altogether bore significant impact in the construction of the widely known ‘American Farm Windmill’ which was invented by Daniel H alliday who, in the mid-19th century, thought of creating a multi-bladed (Panemone Bladed Rotor Wind Energy Harvester with 8 Airfoils) windmill. At the turn of the century, wind-produced electricity as well as wind-charger technology became popular, especially to the farmers of the Great Plains who necessitated up to 1,000 Watts of DC-power in their mechanically run farming tasks. Eventually, a number of countries in Europe were inspired to create wind generators of enormous size and both the French and the Germans attempted to conduct feasibility experimentation on 100-kW and 300-kW wind generator units in the 50s and the 60s. Through the years, the continuous process of harnessing wind power made possible not only D. Halliday’s multi-bladed craft but even the succeeding advancements in the iron water-pump industry which heightened the demand for wind-powered deep well pumps in the past. While the energy derived from the wind had been discovered with other chief potentials a s in heating houses and barns, running sawmills and washing machines, several Midwest farmers who already possessed gasoline or kerosene generators to charge batteries still sought the aid of wind power in minimizing troubles with wear-and-tear generators and in reducing costs of fuels used. Such capacities, however, depend upon the quantities of wind power in acquisition. In his findings, P.C. Putnam illustrates a method to approximate the amount of power which can be extracted from the wind and the means to locate wind power with considerations to the periodic fluctuations in wind power as well as its reliability and short-term predictability. The author regards the concepts of kinetics hereafter necessarily pointing out that, like the kinetic energy of any particle, the kinetic energy of the wind may be computed via half of its mass multiplied by the square of the wind velocity and in terms of the volume V of air passing over an area A per unit time, the wind’s kinetic ene rgy equals the product between wind density and (1/2)*AV 3. This is nevertheless

IPod Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

IPod Marketing - Essay Example Points of difference (PODs) are attributes or benefits consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe that they could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand (Kotler p. 312-13). Points of difference for iPod were that the product was appearing as cool ,the consumer could listen music whenever and wherever s/he wanted and with the addition of the new features (video, photo and phone) it changed the way people interact with these media. Points of parity (POPs), on the other hand, are associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands. These types of associations come in two basic forms: category and competitive (Kotler p.313). When iPod was launched we would say that it followed a category point of parity and a competitive point of parity. Category points-of-parity are associations consumers view as essential to be a legitimate and credible offering within a certain product or service category (Kotler p. 313). The connections between different genres of music and that the consumer could listen to the DJ sets without commercial interruption created the category points-of parity. In the beginning the iPod was thought to be just a portable device for listening shuffled music. Today with its enhanced features, it replaced radio broadcasts without commercial interruption and it added new features of video, photo and phone which changed the way people interact. So this has definitely influenced iPod attractiveness since it makes it unique and it is also addressed to people that want to have the above features in a single device. Sony and iRiver have reacted by making larger storage devices, in particular iRiver is not tied to a software such as iTunes, it provides good sound and is durable beyond anything Apple can manage. However, although there are these technical differences, Apple reacted by having a decent device, strong advertising and focusing on this competitive advantage which is style. Question 2 A) Why did Apple change their distribution strategy from just selling iPod at their Apple stores to also including independent distributors And what kind of economic effects has such an expansion in general and what kind of economic effects had such an expansion for Apple's iPod Apple in the beginning was selling directly to the consumers through its retail shops but then it added some "mass electronic" retailers. This change was due to

Managerial Economics Essay Example for Free

Managerial Economics Essay 1) The elasticity of one variable with respect to another between two given points. It is used when there is no general function to define the relationship of the two variables. Arc elasticity is also defined as the elasticity between two points on a curve. The P arc elasticity of Q is calculated as The percentage is calculated differently from the normal manner of percent change. This percent change uses the average (or midpoint) of the points, in lieu of the original point as the base. 2) Definition of Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns A law of economics stating that, as the number of new employees increases, the marginal product of an additional employee will at some point be less than the marginal product of the previous employee. The law of diminishing marginal returns means that the productivity of a  variable input declines as more is used in short-run production, holding one or more inputs fixed. This law has a direct bearing on market supply, the supply price, and the law of supply. If the productivity of a variable input declines, then more is needed to produce a given quantity of output, which means the cost of production increases, and a higher supply price is needed. The direct relation between price and quantity produced is the essence of the law of supply. An economic theory that states as additional inputs are put into production, the additional return will be in successively smaller increments. This can be due to crowding, adding less appropriate resources or increasing inputs of lower quality. In More Laymen Terms As the saying goes, Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth, in any production there is a point of diminishing returns where just adding more inputs will not give the same income as it once did. Although many industrial firms strive to reach scale, where their size gives them a cost advantage at higher production levels, no matter what industry a firm finds itself there will always be a point where the additional gain from added input is reduced. 3) The prisoners dilemma is a canonical example of a game analyzed in game theory that shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W. Tucker formalized the game with prison sentence payoffs and gave it the prisoners dilemma name (Poundstone, 1992). A classic example of the prisoners dilemma (PD) is presented as follows: Two men are arrested, but the police do not possess enough information for a conviction. Following the separation of the two men, the police offer both a similar deal—if one testifies against his partner (defects/betrays), and the other remains silent (cooperates/assists), the betrayer goes free and the cooperator receives the full one-year sentence. If both remain silent, both are sentenced to only one month in jail for a minor charge. If  each rats out the other, each receives a three-month sentence. Each prisoner must choose either to betray or remain silent; the decision of each is kept quiet. What should they do? If it is supposed here that each player is only concerned with lessening his time in jail, the game becomes a non-zero sum game where the two players may either assist or betray the other. In the game, the sole worry of the prisoners seems to be increasing his own reward. The interesting symmetry of this problem is that the logical decision leads both to betray the other, even though their individual ‘prize’ would be greater if they cooperated. In the regular version of this game, collaboration is dominated by betraying, and as a result, the only possible outcome of the game is for both prisoners to betray the other. Regardless of what the other prisoner chooses, one will always gain a greater payoff by betraying the other. Because betraying is always more beneficial than cooperating, all objective prisoners would seemingly betray the other. In the extended form game, the game is played over and over, and consequently, both prisoners continuously have an opportunity to penalize the other for the previous decision. If the number of times the game will be played is known, the finite aspect of the game means that by backward induction, the two prisoners will betray each other repeatedly. 4) Third degree discrimination involves charging different prices to different segments of customers. This method of price discrimination is really an imperfect variation of the perfect type represented by first degree price discrimination. In this method different segments of customers are identified and each segment is charged price base on what price is most profitable for the company in each segment. The most common way of segmentation for this type of price discrimination is by geographic location. A very prominent example of this type price discrimination is charges for operations by surgeons. For the same type of operations surgeons and hospitals charge different fees depending on the type of hospital room and other facilities that the patient chooses during hospitalization for  operation. Other common forms of such price discrimination include discounts such as those for students or senior citizens. SECTION B: CASE LET 1 1) Demand theory indicates that the determinants of consumption are income (I), the price of the good in question ( pi ), the prices of other goods ( po ) and other variables such as tastes: i i q ï€ ½Ã¯â‚¬  q ( i o I, p , p , other variables). Consider the case of an illicit commodity such as marijuana. The consumption of marijuana involves risks of fines, in some cases imprisonment and, possibly, other costs associated with the shame of being caught. Consequently, the price of marijuana in its demand function ( p ) m should be interpreted as being made up of the conventional money cost ( p ) mï‚ ¢Ã¯â‚¬  plus the expected â€Å"other costs† per unit: 2) Legalization of marijuana would eliminate the criminal sanctions and penalties associated with its consumption. As this would decrease the â€Å"full† price, consumption would be expected to rise. Marijuana consumption is significantly higher amongst males than females – 60 percent of all males have consumed it, compared to 46 percent of all females. Consumption of marijuana is estimated to increase by about 4 percent if it were legalised; and by about 11 percent following both legalisation and a 50-percentfall in its price. Price is a significant determinant of marijuana consumption. Whilst marijuana consumption is estimated to be price inelastic, estimates of most of the price elasticities are significantly different from zero. Two types of price elasticities of demand for marijuana were estimated, gross and net. The gross price elasticity includes the effects of both legalisation and a price change, while the net version excludes the legalisation effect. The price elasticity of demand for marijuana differs significantly with the type of consumer. For more frequent users (daily, weekly and monthly), gross and net price elasticities are estimated to be  -.6 and -.4, respectively. Occasional smokers having a gross price elasticity of about -.3 and net elasticity of about -.1. Regarding those who are no longer users, they have gross and net price elasticities close to zero. For a given type of consumer, males and females share the same elasticity value. CASE LET 2: 1) In my opinion Yes, the Indian companies are running a major risk by not paying attention to cost cutting. To illustrate Comparing major Indian companies in key industries with their global competitors shows that Indian companies are running a major risk. They suffer from a profound bias for growth. The problem is most look more like Essar than Reliance. While they love the sweet of growth, they are unwilling to face the sour of productivity improvement. Nowhere is this more amply borne out than in the consumer goods industry where the Indian giant Hindustan Lever has consolidated to grow at over 50 per cent while its labour productivity declined by around 6 per cent per annum in the same period. Its strongest competitor, Nirma, also grew at over 25 per cent per annum in revenues but maintained its labour productivity relatively stable. Unfortunately, however, its return on capital employed (ROCE) suffered by over 17 per cent. In contrast, Coca Cola, worldwide, grew at around 7 per cent, improved its labour productivity by 20 per cent and its return on capital employed by 6.7 per cent. The story is very similar in the information technology sector where Infosys, NIIT and HCL achieve rates of growth of over 50 per cent which compares favorably with the worlds best companies that grew at around 30 per cent between 1994-95. NIIT, for example, strongly believes that growth is an impetus in itself. Its focus on growth has helped it double revenues every two years. Sustaining profitability in the face of such expansion is an extremely challenging task What makes this even worse is the Indian companies barely manage to cover their cost of capital, while their competitors worldwide such as Glaxo and Pfizer earn an average ROCE of 65 per cent. In the Indian textile industry, Arvind Mills was once the shining star. Like Reliance, it had learnt to cook sweet and sour. Between 1994 and 1996, it grew at an average of 30 per cent per annum to become the worlds  largest denim producer. At the same time, it also operated a tight ship, improving labour productivity by 20 per cent. Despite the excellent performance in the past, there are warning signals for Arvinds future. The excess over the WACC is only 1.5 per cent, implying it barely manages to satisfy its investor’s expectations of return and does not really have a surplus to re-invest in the business. Apparently, investors also think so, for Arvinds stock price has been falling since Q4 1994 despite such excellent results and, at the end of the first quarter of 1998, is less than Rs 70 compared to Rs 170 at the end of 1994. Unfortunately, Arvinds deteriorating financial returns over the last few years is also typical of the Indian textile industry. The top three Indian companies actually showed a decline in their return ratios in contrast to the international majors. 2 ) Fast moving consumer goods will become a Rs 400,000-crore industry by 2020. A Booz Company study finds out the trends that will shape its future Consider this. The anti-ageing skincare category grew five times between 2007 and 2008. It’s today the fastest-growing segment in the skincare market. Olay, Procter Gamble’s premium anti-ageing skincare brand, captured 20 per cent of the market within a year of its launch in 2007 and today dominates it with 37 per cent share. Who could have thought of ready acceptance for anti-ageing creams and lotions some ten years ago? For that matter, who could have thought Indian consumers would take oral hygiene so seriously? Mouth-rinsing seems to be picking up as a habit — mouthwash penetration is growing at 35 per cent a year. More so, who could have thought rural consumers would fall for shampoos? Rural penetration of shampoos increased to 46 per cent last year, way up from 16 per cent in 2001. Consumption patterns have evolved rapidly in the last five to ten years. The consumer is trading up to experience the new or what he hasn’t. He’s looking for products with better functionality, quality, value, and so on. What he ‘needs’ is fast getting replaced with what he ‘wants’ Categories are evolving at a brisk pace in the market for the middle and lower-income segments. With their rising economic status, these consumers are shifting from need- to want-based products. For instance, consumers have  moved from toothpowders to toothpastes and are now also demanding mouthwash within the same category. The trend towards mass-customization of products will intensify with FMCG players profiling the buyer by age, region, personal attributes, ethnic background and professional choices. Micro-segmentation will amplify the need for highly customized market research so as to capture the specific needs of the consumer segment targeted, before the actual product design phase gets underway. 3) Industies impressive growth in value added as observed in the previous sub section is not accompanied by a commensurate rise in the level of relative productivity in terms of the cross–country analysis. The fragmented nature of Indian pharmaceutical sector characterized by the operation of a very large number of players, estimated to be about 10,000 units of which just 300 units are medium and large sized7, may be a reason for low level of productivity. The other important factor for low productivity can be due to the nature of technological activities in the sector, which tends to rely more on process than product development. Further, it may be that Indian companies are focusing at the low end of value†chains in the pharmaceuticals like producing generics than opting for branded products or supply bulk drugs to global players than market formulations of their own. 4) The Indian textile industry has been one of the foremost contributors to the countrys employment, exports, and GDP. The industry has been rated as one of the key drivers of the Indian economy and a bold target of exports of $50 billion (currently it’s $22 billion) had been targeted by the year 2012 by the government after the dismantling of the quota regime in 2005. However we are still far away from that target. Though now it can be blamed on the worldwide recession, I think we need to do some soul searching as to was it anyways possible. Globally, the Indian industry is recognized for its competitive advantages, especially in the cotton segment. The government has set huge targets for the industry and expects to attract investments of about Rs 1.5 lakh crore during the eleventh Plan period. This would meet the export and domestic targets, while taking various initiatives like setting up textile parks, training centers, and ‘made in India label promotion’ to global markets. The Indian textile industry is facing tough competition in the US, as exporters from smaller countries like Bangladesh are cornering the lucrative market at a faster pace, a FICCI study said. In addition to China, countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh have managed to perform better than India in the US market in 2009, the study said. Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam managed to increase their share in the US textiles and apparel import in 2009 year on year at a faster rate than India. The Indian textile industry will no doubt survive and move along by the strengths of its traditional position and domestic market. However, the growth envisaged and it being re-classified as sunshine industry over the last three years from a sunset industry may turn out to be a myth Section C: 1) A vision of the impact of free trade can also be gleaned from Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Samuelson (1970) who confidently asserted that: Free trade promotes a mutually profitable division of labour, greatly enhances the potential real national product of all nations, and makes possible higher standards of living all over the globe. It promotes a regional division of labor this means that some regions of the world (or countries) will specialize in certain things. They will specialize in areas where they have a comparative advantage. It enhances national production this means that countries will be able to produce more things if there is trade. That is because they focus on producing things they are good at and do not waste resources on things that they are not good at. It allows higher standards of living because there is more production. If there is more production, there are more things available to be consumed. Another belief in the importance of free trade can be ascribed to its  perceived indirect effect on peace, security and the prevention of war. One of the first articulations of this is by Baron de Montesquieu, who writing in 1748, stated: Peace is the natural effect of trade. Two nations who traffic with each other become reciprocally dependent; for if one has an interest in buying, the other has an interest in selling, and thus their union is founded on their mutual necessities. This theory of mutual interdependence has been explored in some detail by authors such as Keohane and Nye67 and is echoed in attempts to build and protect the mandates of global institutions seeking such co-operation. However few attempts are made to track the results of policy activities on whole population of States, and as a result the overtly negative impact on some groups, usually minorities and indigenous 2) The Decision Trees, used to help with decision making in business ( and many other areas), are a form of diagrammatic analysis. They are used as a tool for helping managers to choose between several courses of action. They provide an effective and clear structure for presenting options and within decision trees the probabilities and financial outcomes of these options can be measured. They also help to form a balanced picture of the risks and potential financial rewards associated with each possible course of action. In many business decision making situations chance (or probability) plays an important role, and the use of decision trees helps build probability into the decision making process. Pictorial representation of a decision situation, normally found in discussions of decision-making under uncertainty or risk. It shows decision alternatives, states of nature, probabilities attached to the state of nature, and conditional benefits and losses. The tree approach is most useful in a sequential decision situation. For example, assume XYZ Corporation wishes to introduce one of two products to the market this year. The probabilities and present values (PV) of projected cash inflows follow: A decision tree analyzing the two products follows: Based on the expected net present value, the company should choose product A over product B.

Costing Methods Pape Essay Example for Free

Costing Methods Pape Essay Write a paper of no more than 700 words addressing the following questions:  · What strategies did the management of Super Bakery, Inc. use?  · Why did Super Bakery’s management think it was necessary to install an ABC system? Do you agree with their reasoning? If you disagree, identify your recommended costing system, including your rationale, to management.  · Would a job order cost system or a process order cost system work for Super Bakery. Why or why not? Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. College is too important not to give it your all, no matter what you face throughout your collegiate career. Hopefully, this article has given you some very useful advice that will help make college life easier for you and getting to that all important graduation day with confidence a little less challenging. In this document ACC 561 Assignment Week 4 Costing Methods Paper there is a review of the following parts: Strategy ABC Installation Cost System Conclusion Business Accounting Resource: Accounting Read BYP17-5, titled Communication Activity, in the Ch. 17 â€Å"Broadening Your Perspective† section of Accounting . Write a paper of no more than 700 words addressing the following questions:  · What strategies did the management of Super Bakery, Inc. use?  · Why did Super Bakery’s management think it was necessary to install an ABC system? Do you agree with their reasoning? If you disagree, identify your recommended costing system, including your rationale, to management. To get more course tutorials visit https://bitly.com/12Binkm College is something that you want to make sure that youre ready for as much as possible. While you have to live into much of it, there are many things you have to do ahead of time in order to make sure youre successful. Make sure you continue reading in order to find out the information you need. Business Accounting

Homeless Youth targeted by violence and crime

Homeless Youth targeted by violence and crime About: This paper looks into how the homeless youth are at greater risk than other youth people as they are both victims of criminal activities and are potential targets of the state authorities such as the police. Hence it is argued that the homeless youth are at greater risk of been victimized and targeted by criminal activities due to the contextual and environmental factors involved in their daily lives and it is the responsibility of the authorities to make a change in those circumstances rather than targeting their criminal behaviors or punishing them as the homeless youth are caught in an economic and cultural trap. Introduction Youth can be viewed as a demographic category that is historically and culturally constructed (Wyn White,1997 in Mallett et al.2010). Terms such as young people and adolescence are related terms to the youth and how we think of these groups and their abilities, characteristics and nature varies across time, place, culture and social context they inhibit in. According to the academic and policy provision literature in Australia and in alliance with the World Health Organization, young people refer to people who are aged between 12 years to 25 years (Mallett et al. 2010). Our understandings of issues surrounding these young people such as youth delinquency and youth homelessness are shaped and constructed by the social context and discourse to which they have been assigned to (Mallett et al. 2010). Youth homelessness is one of the main concerns in many of the developed as well as some developing nations due to issues of power, violence and social control associated with the homeless youth (Milburn et al. 2007 Hatty et al. 1996). According to the World Health Organization (1993) there are approximately 100 million children living on the streets all over the world without proper care or shelter (WHO, 1993). There is a range of definition to homelessness with little agreement as to what constitutes the homelessness. The most common definition that dominates the publics view point is the rooflessness or the street homelessness, that defines homeless people as those who are sleeping rough and living on the streets (Hutson Liddiard, 1994). The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in their report defines homelessness as a lifestyle which includes insecurity and transiency of shelter. In its definition of homelessness, it further emphasised that homelessness is not merely li mited to the lack of shelter but also indicates a state of vulnerability to dangers such as abuse due to the detachment from family (Hatty et al. 1996). According to MacKenzie Chamberlain (2006), the basic idea underlying the cultural definition of homelessness is the shared community standards about the minimum level of accommodation people are expected to have in their community. This minimum level of accommodation acts as the basis for the categorization of homelessness as primary, secondary and tertiary categories of homelessness. The primary category includes those without conventional accommodation and are people living on the streets and the secondary homelessness includes those that move around temporary shelter such as boarding houses and short term stays with other households. The tertiary category of homelessness includes people who are in one particular shelter on a medium to long term basis which is defined as minimum 13 weeks (MacKenzie Chamberlain, 2006). This defi nition of homelessness however does not take into account or include all of the homeless population that are at risk and therefore the service providers often use a more broader definition that includes people who are at risk and are attempting to return to secure accommodation (MacKenzie Chamberlain, 2006). The discourse of at risk youth refers to how young people tend to risk their future by engaging in behaviors that would jeopardize a desirable future through engaging in problematic behaviors in the future. This discourse puts the individual at risk soles responsible for changing their behaviors by individualizing the problems and the solutions (Mallet et al. 2010). Therefore, the homeless youth can be viewed within this discourse when looking into their problematic behaviors such as substance abuse or unsafe sex which in turn labels these youth and stigmatizing them against other youth. WHY LEAVE HOME? GENDER RACE ETC Youth homelessness is a major political and social issue in contemporary Australia where a 50,000 homeless youth with approximately 2% aged between 15 24 years was reported by the year 1998 (Chamberlain MacKenzie, 1998, cited in Milburn et al. 2007). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, at year 2006, the homeless population in Australia totaled 105,000 with 16% accounting for absolute homelessness such as sleeping out on the streets or in improvised shelter and the number of homeless youth aged between 12 to 18 years was reported as 17,891 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). These groups of youth are often related with stigma that is associated with deviance and an economically and socially marginalized underclass that created social fears among the public and promote the vulnerability faced by these youth (Blackman, 1997). They are also three times more likely to be arrested for juvenile crimes due to their homelessness (Kaufman Spatz Wisdom, 1999 cited in Thra ne et al. 2008). In this essay I will argue that the groups of homeless youth are at greater risk than other groups of youth due to the greater vulnerability to deviant behaviors and that these deviant behaviors are social constructions that are mostly related to the public perceptions, space and place and as a result are targeted by the law enforcement authorities, mainly the police due to the contextual factors associated with their life style. Why at greater risk? Many studies have been published on the homeless youth and their involvement in the criminal activities (Miles Okamoto, 2008) and it is revealed that the homeless and runaway youth are at higher risks of offending and in engaging in deviant behavior (Thrane et al. 2008) as while on the streets they are always exposed to environments with criminal activity and violence (Miles Okamoto, 2008). Homeless young people are typically viewed as leading risky and chaotic lives with addictions and mental and other health problems that threaten their well-being (Mallett et al. 2010). They often have poor health and well-being due to high level of substance use and abuse and are at higher levels of risk in contracting sexually transmitted disease and experiencing victimization. The key areas of risk related behaviors among homeless youth include drug and alcohol use, physical and mental health issues, unsafe sexual practices and sexual health as well as violence (Mallett et al. 2010). Assaultin g behavior, shoplifting, drug dealing and prostitution to earn money for food are well known crimes among homeless youth (Thrane et al. 2008). Homeless youth are also represented as a high risk population with respect to HIV infections as a result of complex psychological and social forces they are exposed. With the freedom from parental and other social controls at young age, these youth has a greater ability to engage in deviant and risky behaviors which includes sexual risk activities which puts this vulnerable population at higher risk for HIV than their housed counter parts (Milburn et al. 2007). These behaviors can also be explained by their attitude towards their own bodies. With little or no option in life, these young people view their bodies as the last resort or personal capital they own. It is also the last thing they can exercise control or choice over as well as the only thing available for free. This can lead to regarding the body as the final resource for pleasure th at encourages them to extend the body to its limits by use of different substances and by other forms of self inflicted injuries and self abuse (Blackman, 1997). These criminal activities play a major role in constructing the image of homeless youth as dangerous and deviant (Miles Okamoto, 2008). These young people are further at risk of being victimized by criminal activity because of the unlikelihood of them reporting such crimes to the police and the lack of control they have over the environment they live in (Baron 1997; Kipke et al. 1997 cited in Miles Okamoto, 2008). However, it is important to understand the way the context of the street creates a complex set of issues for homeless youth due to negative peer affiliations, exposure to crime, violence and substance use that acts as part of the lived experience of the homeless youth (Miles Okamoto, 2008). According to Blackman (1997), the homeless youth groups has sunken themselves in a localized subculture where specific strategies are used for coping with the threats faced in their everyday lives which he calls the cultural immersion that often acts as an element of a culture of survival. Problems of hunger and shelter lead to offenses from theft of food to serious theft and together with these, problems of unemployment and shelter brings out prostitution (McCarthey Hagan, 1992). This reveals the situational context of the deviances and crimes related to the homeless youth. Therefore, we can suggest that much of the deviant behavior the homeless youth engages in were produced by the conditions they live in and hence in addressing these implications policy on changing the situation context of the streets plays a bigger role than simply focusing on punishment methods (Miles Okamoto, 2008). Why target by the police? Police forces have always had an implicit responsibility in maintaining surveillance on the activities of youth cultures and young people in public spaces in order to ensure their welfare as well as to maintain good order. With regards to homeless youth, the police have been responsible in taking action to remove young people from potentially dangerous and unsafe home environments and these contacts with homeless youth and the capacity of the police to caution with some level of discretion over the prosecution of offences is important in the way that police interacts with youth (Smith, 1995). These discretions and contacts may either be positive or negative depending on number of factors. According Mark Finnane from Griffiths University, the police have often shown some level of discretion over their responses to offences against good order with factors such as class, race, gender and ethnicity of the young person in offence carrying some influence on the manner the police would proc eed with the offence creating a difference in the way young people are treated for offences (Finnane cited in White Alder, 1994). This is particularly relevant in regards to the Aboriginal homeless youth in Australia with serious concerns raised on the relationship between Aboriginal young people and the juvenile justice system (Cunneen, 1995). Aboriginal homeless young people are often subjected to police surveillance with more aggressive police interventions, intimidations and harassments in their day to day lives (Smith, 1995). The Indigenous people were also over represented in all states of the homeless population in Australia (MacKenzie Chamberlain, 2008) as well as in public custody and juvenile detention centers (Cunneen, 1995). Unemployed and with little or no disposable income and with more time in hand, the spaces homeless young people inhabit are more likely to be of risk and violence and as a result they are continually exposed to aggressions which are far from their choosing (Blackman, 1997). Also due to the little social connections they have within the rest of the homeless youth, these young people tend to gather around in public spaces more often that other young people. Due to commercialization where more public space is been taken off for commercial purposes the young homeless youth tend to meet and socialize in shopping centers and other similar places where they become obvious targets of the law enforcement authorities (Smith, 1995). Therefore, need for negotiating public space is a main factor that attracts the police forces to homeless youth as the police carries the responsibility in maintaining good order where as the homeless youth are in search of claiming space of themselves for shelter a nd survival. The relationship between the police and homeless youth are also affected by the public perception of homeless young people (Finnane cited in Smith, 1995). The publics attitude that in return affects the local policies has the ability to increase or decrease the level of social control or strain for homeless youth (Miles Okamoto, 2008). The media portrayal of social problems like homelessness has a great impact on the formation of public attitudes as the media acts as the main source of information to many people (Hutson Lididard, 1994). For example, when the term juvenile delinquency was first presented in the media in the 1950s with a view of youth culture as deviant or delinquent, increasing policing measures were made in order to keep youth cultures under surveillance. Incidents as such provide evidence of a clear relationship between public perception, the media presentations and public policy (Smith, 1995). And these policies and attitudes could result in alienating and stigma tizing the homeless young people by acting as a barrier to achieve positive goals and forcing negative relationships with their communities and authorities (Miles Okamoto, 2008). Conclusion In conclusion, young people living on the streets have typically exited from households with conflict and violence into the streets where they experience threats and acts of violence by other homeless and street predators as well as by those in authority particularly the police (Davis, Hatty Burke, 1995). It is not surprising that these young people encounter more contacts with the police as much of the homeless people reported incidence of drug, alcohol and other substance abuse and minor petty crimes to major threats (Smith, 1995). These crimes associated with the homeless youth are not simply deviant behaviors that can be individualized but are products of the contextual and environmental factors surrounding these youth. Studies have revealed that many homeless young people (up to 55%) reported contact with the police as a consequence of their homelessness and majority of the respondents reported negative relationships with the police where they were distrustful and fearful of th e police (Thrane et al. 2008) while some mentioning of instances where the police helping them access services and help(Smith, 1995). Therefore, it is important that the authorities look more into the context of these homeless young people who are often disengaged from positive sources and are in need direction and assistance rather than control or punishment and criminalizing the homeless youth.

Wuthering Heights Essay - Is Heathcliff truly evil? -- English Literat

Wuthering Heights Essay - Is Heathcliff truly evil? I think with the modern understanding of the way childhood affects one's whole perception of life and the world, we would be arrogant to call Heathcliff evil. Without a doubt Heathcliff is an anomaly. Lockwood initially describes him as "a dark skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman". The first view we have of heathcliff is as dark, handsome, gentlemanly and morose. These qualities, coupled with his 'Lord of the manner' apparel may invoke in the reader popular evil characters such as 'Count Dracula'. We must investigate deeper the moody and mysterious Heatchliff in order to answer our question. In Nelly Dean's story, Mr. Earnshaw brings back a "dirty, ragged, black haired child" found abandoned. Although his origin remains mysterious, we can guess that it was not good. It also seems that he learned to manipulate the family early on. "Conscious he had only to speak and all the house would be obliged to bend to all his wishes" Nelly Dean says. We know now what sorts of behaviours are exhibited ...

To Kill a Mockingbird: An Appropriate Classic :: Free Essay Writer

Do you believe To Kill a Mockingbird is an unsuitable novel for teenagers to study? To be perfectly honest I don’t. After reading the book and having repeated class conversations on chapters day after day I don’t see the improper language, violence or situations as a teen. Many people deem Harper Lee’s classic novel to be a wonderful insight into a time of prejudice, religion and courage, these people are right and that is why we have been studying it. If our teachers had seen it as inappropriate they wouldn’t have let us read it, if this were inappropriate why it is an all time classic and Pulitzer Prize winning novel, I have no idea. We have studied it to learn about the notion of powerful and powerless, To Kill a Mockingbird is an ideal novel for that topic, with the character and situations we read about we have a clear understanding of life in the 30’s and how class changed people’s lives. To Kill A mockingbird does not only explore the tumultuous times of racism, loss of childhood innocence and morality but is a pure and simple love story. What is so inappropriate about a love story? The fact that the bad guy gets what he deserves? Or that the only violence is the shooting of a disease carrying dog? Teens live in a world of prejudice, ignorance and are faced with events that ultimately change them into being mature and caring. Studying this novel helps teens discover what the worlds past is like and what makes our life and the people around it how we are now. By reading To Kill A Mockingbird we can learn what we could do right in the present, changing our attitude about life can come from a life experience but reading a novel which gives us specific ideas like ‘have moral standards and stick to them no matter what’ appears loud and clear from scouts experiences of sticking up for Atticus, to Atticus’ own courage in standing up for Tom Robinson against most of May comb County. We learn the principles of respect for law and justice, for fairness and rules and the need for integrity, honesty and compassion. Harper Lee suggests people can’t stand against the pressures that come along without a commitment to such principles. Learning life lessons through an enforced novel for English we are positively influenced and inspired. Atticus who in many ways, the novel is built around is recognisably human, not a hero as such but idealised enough to be a convincing model of right behaviour.

Elegy, Written With His Own Hand In the Tower Before His Execution and

Comparing Metaphors in Chidiock Tichborne's Elegy, Written With His Own Hand In the Tower Before His Execution and William Blake's To See A World In A Grain Of Sand Chidiock Tichborne's "Elegy, Written With His Own Hand In the Tower Before His Execution" and William Blake's "To See A World In A Grain Of Sand" contain several fascinating metaphors that produce two impressive verses that capture our imagination. Both of these elegies deal with life and the contrasting ways it surfaces from within the poet's mind. These metaphors (an analogy between two things that give us insight into the unrevealed part) create an image within our minds that maintain our attention throughout the verse. In Blake's, "To See A World In A Grain Of Sand," every line is a metaphor that secures our attention and blazes our imagination. Blake expresses a metaphor wisely when he asserts "†¦Hold infinity in the palm of your hand†¦" (Blake 125, line 3). Humans have always grasped onto time, as if by gripping it tightly, we can control its outcome: multiply time, making time stand still, and so forth. Blake...

Hillcrest Medical Essay

Chief Complaint: Tightness in the chest, shortness of breath, fast heart rate. HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLINESS: Mr. Barua is a 42 year old gentleman from Bangladesh who presents with chest tightness, shortness of breath, and tachycardia. Dr. J.K McClean of cardiology is evaluating his heart condition. The patient has had the recent onset of hemoptysis. He was treated for tuberculosis in Bangladesh 15 years ago. This has prompted the concern of weather his treatment of tuberculosis was adequate or if weather there is another cause of his hemoptysis. The duration of his tuberculosis treatment was apparently adequate, according to his wife. But no records are available. In addition, the patient had thrombosis of the axially artery treated last year at Hillcrest. He had an embolectomy and has been on Coumadin since. INR is significantly elevated at 16. None the less, because of the cavitary lesions that are seen in the right and left upper lobes, the possibility of tuberculosis has been raised. Ancillary history was been given by the wife, Nupaul, with the patient translating for her from the Indie language. PAST HISTORY: Tuberculosis is the past. Embolectomy at Hillcrest last year. SOCIAL HISTORY: Married with two daughters. Patient has been in the USA for 10 years. The patient has no recent history of smoking he smoked in the past. But the amount is unclear. He is a restaurant manager for the Marriot hotel chain. FAMILY HISTORY: No known family history of diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. Mother died of a stroke and father was killed in a MVA in Bangladesh. REVIEW OF SYSTEMS: Negative other than as stated in HPI. PHYSCIAL EXAMINATION: Vital signs are WNL. Apparently he has had no fever, chills or night sweats. Generalized malaise and the lack of energy has been the main concern. HEART: Regular rate a rhythm with S1 and S2. No S3 or S4 is heard at this time. LUNGS: Bilateral bronchi. No significant euphoric sounds were noted. ABDOMEN: Soft non tender. No hepatosplenomegagaly detected. RESTAL: Prostate smooth and firm, no stool present of Hemoccult test. DIAGNOSIS: Hemoptysis with history of tuberculosis. PLAN: I have reviewed the chest x-rays available here and agree with the finding of bleb formation in the right and left upper lobes. Despite the patient has had a high INR, because of his history of hempotysis and tuberculosis I believe obtaining sputum for TB is very, very important. We should rule out any other endobronchial lesions are the cause of his bleeding. I have discussed this matter with the patient and his wife. I told them that there is a possibility of observing the condition via x-rays and repeated tested of sputum. They understand that this is an option However, they have decided because of the concern regarding of his repeating hemoptysis, they would consent to bronchoscopy. We will arrange for the patient to have a bronchoscopy done. The patient is off Coumadin. We will recheck the prothrombin time and INR tomorrow. Depending on those results we will proceed with bronchoscopy and further evaluation.

Process of Problem Solving and Decision Making

Teamwork is important to organizations in this entire world nowadays to be successful and to have control in the market. Teamwork is basically defined as problem solving group of people who have a variety of skills and strengths to obtain the most perfect solution. Teamwork is one of the main goals for organizations to make sure that they are on the right track in obtaining their visions. There are many ways that organizations put their contributions in increasing the power of teamwork such as team building where it helps the employees to work in groups rather than individuals. Teamwork will help the organizations in the process of problem solving and decision making where it consists of several process that is cause analysis, creative problem solving, decision making and anticipate and plan. Firstly, find and analyse the cause to configure which errors or problems to be corrected or to be improvised. Teamwork is important in this process where it is more effective where it will save the cost and time in finding the cause to the problem. Each members of the team can concentrate in sectors where there they could possibly find the problem that they are searching. There are methods that practiced in some organizations such as the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) where it believes that the optimum solution only can be found if they discovered the root cause. By having the solution with RCA, it can also be used for identifying the immediately obvious symptoms for the future errors. After the cause of the problems have been discovered, the team can proceed to the next step that is creative problem solving. Creative problem solving is founded by Alex Osborn and Dr. Sidney J. Parnes in the 1950s where they made the process of finding and generating creative solutions to produce great ideas in solving problems. Despite that, to generate more ideas in solving the problems, teamwork is needed because generating many ideas must come from more brains and minds. Brainstorming can be practiced in this process where each of the group members in the team who have personal skills and abilities can give their own ideas and thus more ideas can be generated in solving the problem. These may help in having more alternatives to obtain an optimal solution regarding the problem faced. After the team has acquired a number of solutions, the decision making process will start where the team will now select the best alternatives in solving the problem. Decision making can be defined as an outcome of mental process which will lead to selecting the best solution among other alternatives. In order to obtain the optimal solution, the objectives must be reviewed first and the alternative chosen must be evaluated by those objectives. Moreover, a good decision making is essential for the success of the organization where they usually involve in some issues where it makes decision making difficult such as uncertainty, complexity, high risk consequences and also interpersonal issues. The last step in the process of problem solving and decision making is anticipating and plan to assure success. This is important after the alternative has been chosen because the team must further plan to make sure that the alternative goes well while facing the problem. It is a waste of time in the process of decision making when they do not plan on how to use the alternative effectively. After making plans for the alternative, the team can now anticipate the future effects of the alternative to make sure whether it is successful or not. If it does not work out, the team must fall back to the decision making process where they will choose another best alternative to be used. Last but not least, teamwork is a very useful in the process of problem solving and decision making because it helps much in saving the organization’s time and money as there will be more people can use their own point of view based on their abilities and skills in order to find the root of the problem, generating ideas in finding solutions, making decisions on the ideas and anticipate and plan the chosen ideas. Organizations should implement the mutuality among the members because it is very useful to assure their success and to work effectively although it is essential that team members acquire communication skills and use effective communication channels between one another to help in improving their interaction between one and another.

Group Communication Memo Essay

The current management team has prepared this memo to assist you in your new position with the company. We understand that you have limited experience in group formation and communication, and these skills will prove vital in your new position. We would like to share some fundamental information on group learning and communication along with experiences we have encountered collectively. Combine this information with your own group learning experiences and you will increase your success with the organization. In our organization we work with others in teams to complete tasks and solve issues that might arise. On occasion it will be necessary to ask people to be part of the group or to form a new group to address topics and issues. This will help you in understanding how teams come together and work as one unit. When people are asked to form a group, the first stage they experience is the forming stage. In this stage people come together and expectations and the purpose of the group is clouded in uncertainty. No one is really considered the leader of the group at this point. Behavior is greatly observed between team members to determine what is acceptable. This stage will be relatively short because soon the group will begin to function and devise ideas and suggestion for attacking the problem or task. Storming is the next stage the team will experience. This stage does cause some conflict within the team because there is no real chosen leader. In this stage the members of the team will accept the group and start to function within the team. However, the members of the team will show some resistance because groups or teams limit individuality and require unity to work efficiently. Within a short period of time there will be a leadership established with in the group and the members of the team will follow the chosen spokesperson. The third subsequent step in the group development process is the norming stage when the group begins to solidify. At this point the group will have established some acceptable standards of behaviors or â€Å"norms†. Once the group has established these norms, certain barriers can be eliminated. Groups can now focus more on collectively carrying out goals and less on establishing parameters for the group. These norms will now establish expectations of group behavior. At this point in the process, group structure has been established and accepted, and the group may begin focusing on performing which is the fourth step in group development. This is the point of action where organizational goals are carried out and performance is evaluated. From personal group experience we agree that during this stage it is imperative that groups have the tools necessary to complete their tasks. If teams are not distracted by trivial conflicts that can be easily remedied, then they will be able to maintain creativity and focus. The fifth and final step in group development is the adjourning stage. Depending on the purpose of the group and time span of the group, this stage will vary. Some groups form for the purpose of completing short-term tasks, while others carry out long-term initiatives. Regardless of the time frame, groups should be commended on their areas of success and constructively identify areas that need improvement. It is our experience that different individuals can be grouped together on several different tasks. If the adjourning stage is handled properly, these individuals will carry a good attitude and level of camaraderie into their next group project. (Daynette’s part discussing barriers of communication insert here) As you can see there are many barriers that face group communication, however, there are always ways to overcome those barriers. One barrier that is easy to overcome is premature evaluation of ideas. We believe the best way of overcoming this is by using the nominal-group technique. This technique does not utilize verbal idea sharing but rather every group member brainstorms and writes down their ideas, then goes around and shares them. By proceeding this way it stops anyone from ridiculing an idea and lets everyone’s ideas be heard so no one feels like they had a dumb idea and stops sharing with the group. You want to create a climate of freedom, by having more ideas in the open, the better chance you have of getting the best conclusion. Another barrier previously mentioned was poor physical surrounding. The best way to overcome this is to find a meeting location that works well for everyone. Make sure it is quiet like in a library, not in an apartment with noisy roommates or younger brothers and sisters. Make sure there are lots of lights, comfy chairs, and plenty of table space to work on the project. If you are uncomfortable you will be thinking about that the whole time instead of focusing on the group problem at hand. A third barrier to group communication was there being too many people. By having too many people, this makes the group less creative by not having every group member able to share their ideas. This can also cause social loafing where some members sit back and let everyone else do the work while they still get the credit. A good way to overcome this is by splitting the larger group into smaller groups and by either giving them the same topic to see all the different ways each group comes up with or splitting the topics if there is a lot to get done. This works well because you can draw in group members who are less talkative or shy in large group settings, thus creating more ideas. Another barrier is always not having enough time. No matter how far ahead you plan on any project there never seems like there is enough time to complete it. It is known that it takes a group a lot longer to work on a project than it does an individual because you have to comply with the group norms and rules. Here the only real thing you can do is to make sure you get down to business and split up the group work as soon as possible so that each member can get started. Also, make sure to finish everything a few days ahead so that way if someone is running behind you all have time to go back and fix any issues or to make sure it is all complete on time. Lastly, â€Å"stinking thinking† should try to be avoided when evaluating ideas. Try not to jump on other people’s ideas when they come up with them and wait till they are all heard. Use positive enforcement like â€Å"great idea but let’s here all of the other ideas first then we can go back and look at each one.† With every barrier that comes up there is always a better way to overcome it so that it doesn’t offend another group member. Remember teams only work well if all participants are on the same page. We have provided you with these tools and experiences for you to draw from when needed. When starting a new team or group it may be beneficial for all team members to review this memo prior to starting a new project. This will allow the team to start to understand why conflicts may arise and where to start in resolving these conflicts. We have great confidence in your ability to be a great leader and look forward to the success that your team will provide for our company in the future.