Monday, September 30, 2019

Discuss Pinters dramatic presentation of Ruth in The Homecoming

Surrealistically representing the pugilistic life of a pack of ‘Hackney predators', Pinter portrays the mounting conflict within the tribe as each male fights for the Alfa position, with the reward of the lone female, Ruth. Embroidered with elaborately hidden meanings, pregnant pauses and ellipses, this play strips the characters of the outside shell of etiquette and politesse associated with society and left with only language as an attempt to cover the nakedness of their animalistic cores. These characteristics are recognized through the ‘Pinteresque' themes of nameless menace, erotic fantasy, obsession and jealousy, family hatred, and mental disturbance. The plot follows the course of Teddy returning home with his wife, Ruth, and her journey in to ‘take on' the pack and eventually take over the role of Queen Bee. During the course of the drama, she exacts her revenge on Teddy in leaving him for his family of sexually screwed up ‘butchers'. Teddy and Ruth's arrival from America is symbolically representative of Teddy's homecoming after nine years away. He returns married with a ‘Doctorship of Philosophy' and supposedly father of three sons, although later questioned by Max, ‘all yours, Ted?', suggesting Ruth is, as ever, unfaithful and a prostitute. ‘Are you tired?' this passage opens with the estranged couple struggling to find coherence with the blatant discord, ‘No'. Ruth's replies are cold, quasi-monosyllabic and detached, perhaps in an attempt to undermine Teddy's ascension to authority as he blatantly refuses to listen and orders her around: ‘Go to bed. I'll show you the room' shows the reader that ultimately, Ruth's opinions are irrelevant as the subordinate member in a marriage. Like Joey is to Lenny, Teddy sees Ruth as merely an appendage, thus his patronizing condescendence, ‘You can help me with my lectures when we get back'. Teddy's long speeches reveal him as nervous despite his seeming attempts to reassure Ruth : ‘You'll be perfectly all right up there without me.' He uses excessive language to cover his vulnerability in face of the confident and controlling Ruth, whose short, sharp syntax displays her self-assured disposition. Similarly, Max and Lenny, who appear to feel her authority also go off into long, pre-rehearsed monologues, for example Lenny's encounter with ‘a certain lady' ‘with a certain proposal' ‘one night, not too long ago'. Ruth's presence evokes ambiguous emotions within Teddy's family: alternately revered and rebuked, she is perceived as both the absent mother-figure (Jessie) : ‘make the beds', ‘do the cooking', ‘scrub the place out a bit', ‘keep everyone company', and as a sexual object ‘in a dress in pale corded blue silk, heavily encrusted in pearls' and ‘pantaloons in lilac flowered taffeta'. Significantly mentioning the structure of the house, Pinter reminds the reader and the audience of the boneless, spineless family, now that Jessie, ‘the backbone' has died. Teddy, who wants to ‘stay up for a bit' and ‘walk about', provokes sub-textual connotations of the returning male reassuming his dominance as eldest son and marking his territory. However, giving Ruth the house key, having his cigar go out and going to bed prior to Ruth culminates into his eventual emasculation and loss of power among his brothers. Subtextually, Teddy's ‘You†¦need some rest, you know' is ambivalent in expressing Ruth's mental instability, or that Teddy is sending her away for doing something he doesn't approve of. The audience might relate this with ‘she's a very popular woman, she's got lots of friends', once again suggests Ruth's involvement with prostitution as a ‘photographic model for the body'. Stifled in her relationship with a British academic, Ruth's, ‘I think I'll have a breath of air' and ‘just a stroll' suggests she's out and about and ‘on the Game' even before Max and Lenny agree to sponsor her. Quintessentially, Ruth's confrontation with Lenny opens her ascension to power. If language is an attempt to cover nakedness, Ruth's short, direct syntax show her to be in a position of power over Lenny. Not dissimilar to courting males in the animal kingdom trying to hide their vulnerabilities from the females with bright colours or confrontational battles, Max and Lenny use long and decorously embroidered renditions of what have happened previously to appear intelligent and dominating. And yet, Lenny still seeks his absent mother, ‘Do you mind if I hold your hand?'. Psychoanalytically, Pinter portrays the mental decay of his characters as Lenny oscillates between the maternal craving and desire to punish women with ‘a belt in the nose and a couple of turns of the boot.' He expresses his assumed dominance in stating ‘I decided she was', referring to the irrelevance of whether or not the prostitute was diseased, but rather that his word_as a pimp and ‘escort'_is law. Even so, Ruth overrides his authority, threatening, ‘if you take the glass, I'll take you'. Proposals such as ‘sit on my lap' and ‘lie on the floor' have significantly provocative innuendoes, versus the maternal figure naming Lenny, ‘Leonard'. Pinter's intricate depiction of Ruth is her reminiscent, contemplative nature. She cunningly employs frequent ellipses ‘†¦' as a time of careful planning to put the angle of vision on her in a positive light. ‘I†¦move my leg', ‘I wear†¦underwear†¦which moves with me†¦it†¦captures your attention'. Employing this teasing, provocative language register, Ruth enacts a wordy striptease, seducing the men around her and putting herself in the spotlight. She describes America as ‘all rock. And sand', portentous of the ‘arid scimitar' in To the Lighthouse, while the ‘insects' metaphorically refers to her popularity amongst her ‘friends'. ‘once or twice †¦ cold buffet' insinuates Ruth is a high-class prostitute. Contrastingly with Max's diction, Ruth's language register is not full of expletives but rather strategically thought out. She applies legal diction to decide the conditions of her contract with Teddy's family: ‘All aspects of the agreement and conditions of employment would have to be clarified to our mutual satisfaction before we finalized to contract', showing she is able to take care of herself as an individual and will not let the ‘butchers' exploit her. This independence helps her stand out even more prominently than Teddy in all his aloofness, as she rises to position of Queen and orders Lenny , ‘I'd like something to eat', ‘I'd like a drink'. In noting how Lenny does not reject the subordinate role to Ruth, the reader might suspect he enjoys being told what to do by a woman and thus deduce that Pinter's own fantasies play a significant part in the play. He models Ruth on his wife, Vivien, embodying her as both saint and sinner, contrasting maternal and temptress. Biblically, Ruth, symbolic of ‘pity' but also a Moabite widow who left her own people to live with her mother-in-law Naomi. All assets of femininity are sewn into one character, exposing her to the male's sex drive and simultaneous desire for a mother presence. Ultimately, Pinter's presentation of Ruth significantly exposes her as the model female, simultaneously dominate and subordinate, maternal and temptress. Through his pack of Hackney predators, he depicts her as a tool for sexual enjoyment but the eventual Queen Bee with Joey ‘kneeling at her chair' in the final, still-life portrait.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Phoenix Rising Essay

The Young adult novel Phoenix Rising: or how to survive your life by Cynthia D. Grant is a candid sensitive story about the serious effects of seventeen-year-old Helen Castle’s death from cancer on her family. The story is told through the eyes of Jessie who has been traumatized by her older sister’s death. Jessie and the other members of her family begin a healing process, while Helen, whose world we see through Jessie comes to terms with a life that seems capricious and unjust to Jessie. She feels pain, anger, loneliness, confusion and withdrawal throughout the novel. The family is shattered. Its new dynamics are realistically revealed with the already strained relationship between Lucas, and the father that become explosive. Jessie reads on in the journal to learn Helen’s feelings as her cancer progresses, which ranges from morbid despair to soaring hope that is made more poignant to the readers reading along with her. The setting of the story is white, comfortably middle-class, California suburbia. The characters in Phoenix Rising are of average intelligence and are raised above being stereotypical characters by the pain, reflection, and eventual growth of Helen’s death forces upon them. They remain true to their backgrounds and natures throughout their trials and adjustments. It is the mark of Cynthia D. Grant’s talent that the reader never doubts they are reading this novel through believable teenage eyes. The central character of the novel is Jessie, and the one who is most dangerously affected by the older sister’s death. Jessie’s tendency is not only to idealize her sister making her feel worthless, and unattractive but she also feels that she has failed to reach Helen and talk to her about her illness making Jessie shut herself off from her father, mother, her friend Bambi, Helen’s boyfriend Bloomfield, and their next-door neighbor; little Sara Rose. Jessie not only stops eating toward the end of the novel, she also shuts herself off more ultimately refusing to leave her room. Jessie’s brother Lucas is the kind family philosopher. On the surface, however he plays a role of a rebellious youth whose love for loud rock music. He is an exceptionally good electric and acoustic guitarist and this puts him at odds with his father, whom he engages in arguments at the slightest opportunity. Jessie’s hard-working architect father seems fixated on his role as a family provider and Lucas as the antagonist. Jessie tells the reader â€Å"My father thinks he won’t cry as long as he keeps screaming. It is as if the father and the other members have been so traumatized by the Helen’s death that a kind of static role-playing is easier for them than facing their world and moving on with their lives. Jessie’s mother seems simply to have been bludgeoned into being a relatively passive person who can do little more than to keep up with the necessary household chores, to weep for her oldest daughter, Helen as well as the self destructive, Jessie and to drink several glasses of wine to dull her pain. Two more important characters round out the characters in this novel. One is Bloomfield, who is always called by his last name. He is Helen’s boyfriend and the other is Bambi. Bambi is both sister’s plump, loud mouthed, and mildly sex-crazed friend. Jessie reads further into the Helen’s journal and discovers Bloomfield is not the fair-weather friend she has criticized him as being. Similarly, she finds there is more to the tattooed, fake nailed Bambi than meets the eye. She is surprisingly admirable for her down-to-earth, her common sense ability to cut through the silliness that ordinarily surrounds her.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Managerial Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managerial Communications - Essay Example I will appreciate that everyone is bound to make mistakes. If I lose focus during the interview, the results may be negative. I am not supposed to allow anxiety to distort my voice. I will be calm and maintain the same degree of coolness and body communication.Focusing more on the current and the subsequent questions may help mitigate the effect of giving the wrong answer. Again, I should avoid interrupting the interviewer by trying to respond to an earlier question, which I believe I gave the wrong answer.   The time for the interview is limited and the time allocated to a particular question should strategically be utilized. Regularly, I can impress the interviewer by staying calm and confident, when a question is put to me than affording the right answer. Another thing to note is that there is often no distinct answer and the way I present myself is of much importance than the answers I give.It is also important to appreciate that an interview helps the employer to identify the person who can respond positively to different issues in the place of work. The answers are important, but other aspects that I portray in an interview are more significant, and they have more impact on the results of an interview.Sometimes, interactions with my colleagues in the workplace will not be always positive. Some of their response and reactions might make me angry. To hold the anger, I need to know that anger is a usual and healthy feeling, which aids us impulsively detect and react to a threatening circumstance. When anger is properly managed, it can remedy an apparent injustice. On the other hand, anger can be an emotion that can become uncontrollable and cause negative results.

Friday, September 27, 2019

The recruitment, selection and training methods of LVMH Essay - 3

The recruitment, selection and training methods of LVMH - Essay Example On the other hand, selection is a process where the managers select the best available person or applicant from the pool to work for the organization. The difference between both the processes has been outlined by Mondy and Noe (1993). According to them, recruitment is a process that aims to attract individuals from time to time that have appropriate qualification. Through recruitment, the firm tends to encourage individuals to apply for job. On the other hand, selection is a process that is used by organizations as a tool to measure the performance of an individual. This helps the organization to select the best available applicant in the talent pool that applied for the job. By measuring the potential and actual performance of employees, this process makes the most crucial contribution to the organization for the present and the future (Beardwell, Holden, and Claydon, 2003). The recruitment and selection function of the organization can be influenced with a mix of internal and external factors. Internal factors are those that can be controlled by the organization whereas, external factors are those that cannot be controlled by the organization. Each of the external and internal factors would be highlighted in the following paragraph. Recruitment policy plays an integral role in the recruitment and selection process as it specifies the objective of recruitment and can directly influence the program. Furthermore, the recruitment policy can be influenced by organizational objectives, policies of competitors and sources of recruitment (Aswathappa, 2005). The size of the firm is also an important internal factor that influences the recruitment and selection process. This factor can extensively influence the recruitment and selection process as when the organization plans to increase its operations; the organization will eventually enhance the recruitment and selection of potential employees to work for the organization so that it can

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Toxicity from Heavy Metals Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Toxicity from Heavy Metals - Dissertation Example Heavy metals occur naturally in the crust of the Earth. These metals depict remarkable stability, and resist any attempt at degradation or destruction. As a consequence, heavy metals accumulate in sediments and soils. Some of the heavy metals have undergone drastic change in their biochemical and geological cycles, due to human activity (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2008). Some of the primary man – made sources of heavy metals are the mines, smelters, foundries, traffic and by products of combustion. Heavy metals that are comparatively more volatile tend to be dispersed over vast areas through the atmosphere. In several cases, such heavy metals have been deposited thousands of miles from the site of their initial release into the atmosphere (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2008). The suspension in the atmosphere of heavy metal particles, in general, depends on their size and lightness. Thus, heavy metal particles that are larger than 10 micro meters (Â µm) in diameter settle to the ground, under the influence of gravity. This takes a few hours for completion. However, the heavy metal particles that are less than 1Â µm in diameter persist in the atmosphere for weeks. Such particles are usually removed from the atmosphere, by precipitation (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2008). ... However, the heavy metal particles that are less than 1Â µm in diameter persist in the atmosphere for weeks. Such particles are usually removed from the atmosphere, by precipitation (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2008). A useful definition of heavy metals is given below. Heavy metals are chemical elements that have a specific gravity that is ? 5 times the specific gravity of water. At 40C the specific gravity is deemed to be 1, by convention. As such, specific gravity is the ration of the density of a substance to the density of water (LifeExtension, 2013). Toxicity in Heavy Metals Some of the toxic metals, whose specific gravity exceeds 5 times that of water are; arsenic with a specific gravity of 5.7, cadmium with a specific gravity of 8.65, iron with a specific gravity of 7.9, lead with a specific gravity of 11.34, and mercury with a specific gravity of 13.546 (LifeExtension, 2013). Heavy metals that cannot be metabolised by the human body accumulate in the s oft tissues and become toxic. The entry of heavy metals into the human body is via air, food, water; and cutaneous absorption due to agricultural activity; exposure during manufacturing, industrial or pharmaceutical activity; or residential exposure (LifeExtension, 2013). With regard to adults, the entry of toxic heavy metals is frequently on account of industrial exposure to these substances. Among children, ingestion is the most common reason for the entry of toxic heavy metals. It has been determined that normal hand to mouth activity could lead to the development of toxic levels of heavy metals among children. The infrequent or rare routes of toxic heavy metal entry into the human body include radiological procedures, incorrect dosing or monitoring during intravenous nutrition, a

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

OPM300 - Intro. to Operations Mgmt. CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OPM300 - Intro. to Operations Mgmt. CA - Essay Example Here the restrictions of time and hours on the job are lifted and the online selling is very flexible. This is also an excellent method for smaller companies to reach out to a larger audience. Here in the case of Amazon, the company will gain higher benefits than the brick and mortar stores as this allows Amazon to provide newer offers which other competition cannot provide in the brick and mortar stores. There are however a few disadvantages of the online businesses as well. Companies here have added responsibilities and tasks that need to be considered for instance, the management of updates, website security, avoidance of fraudulent activities, costs of maintain the websites and also online marketing which is a different effort apart from the normal marketing of the business (Beynon-Davies). Downloadable Books and Amazon Business: Amazon has a wide range of products that the company deals with. One of the main elements here is the sales of books. The company has in addition to sel ling books online, also created the online eBook reader referred to as Kindle which is an electronic reader and allows customers to download books. Hence if books were to be completely downloadable in the future, the company has already taken the measures and developed the systems required for the same.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Talis Spa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Talis Spa - Essay Example Such circumstances has actually worked as a motivation for the study and the tourist destination in focus happens to be the Talise Spa situated in the city of Al Ain; which happens to be the fourth largest city in UAE. It is also known as the garden city because of the greenery; making it a unique location of for tourists. The study has been done in lieu to analyze the location in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Also a stake holder analysis has been conducted to identify the key stake holders and their impact on the business. Based on the analysis a strategic plan for the facility has been prepared which includes the preparation of a vision and mission statement, environmental impact analysis, developing a product development strategy and promotion or communication strategy (Kolb, 2008). Location Audit Location Description While describing the location in details it needs to mention that both Talise Spa as well as the city of Al Ain would be considered, simply because both the unique geographical elements and the infrastructure of the Talise Spa would play a major role in the overall strategic marketing and communications. The city of Al Ain is the fourth largest city in UAE and it is well known as the garden city due to the unique greenery. ... Due to such reasons Al Ain is one of the most popular tourist destinations for the people of UAE; especially during the summers. As a tourist location Al Ain is still a developing one. The city gets a lot of traffic in the summers; most of that are locals who have holiday houses in the city. However, as compared to its counterparts like Dubai, Al Ain gets very little foreign tourists. Talise Spa provides personalized treatments in all the thirteen private rooms of it. There are a range of experiences provided by the Talise Spa such as facials, body treatments and massages. To be a bit more detailed it provides body scrubs, aromatherapy, body wraps, full day packages, waxing, skin care treatments, etc. There is also availability of Food centres, play yards, food corner. The facilities provided by the authorities are excellent to say the least. However, there is still room for improvement as the authorities are looking to position the spa as a place to have fun; which also reflects the cultural heritage of the country. Reason for choice Again in this section, both Talise Spa and Al Ain have to be focused. The major reason for choice of Al Ain is the unique geographical conditions and rich cultural heritage. Also as compared to its counterparts like Dubai there is a lot of opportunity for development. Based on the initiatives of the government to develop Al Ain as a premier tourist location, it would most likely that slowly but surely the place would start to get traffics in the forms of foreign tourists and hence it would be impotent to have a facility like Talise Spa that provides an array of services under one roof reflecting the cultural heritage of UAE. Location SWOT Analysis Strengths Excellent location, infrastructure

Monday, September 23, 2019

Effects Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effects Research Paper - Essay Example Arnas (2006) used children in the age 3-8 years bracket with a total of 347 respondents. The study included the parents as well since some respondents were still young to comprehend the questions. Arnas found out that about 50% of the ads viewed by children during their TV exposure are food related. Because of this 40% of the respondents requested their parents to buy the foods shown in the ads and about 9% of them are even insistent. Arnas' concern is that most of these foods are high in fats and sugar which are associated with obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. Hitchings and Moynihan (1998) in the other hand used children within the 9-11 age brackets but used limited number of respondents. A total of 44 children across varying social class were involved. Their findings show that a relationship exist (r=0.58) between the type of ads observed by children from TV to the type of foods they eat. The more alarming fact is that most of these foods contain high sugar, fats, salt , and preservatives like crisps, softdrinks, and savoury snacks. The results of the two studies mention... But the result is enough to prove that eating habit of children between 9-11 is related to TV food ads they saw and recalled.. More intensive study with greater number of respondents could have shown higher positive relationship. This effect may not only be associated with food advertisements but also with other products as well. It has shown that the television medium is a good way to educate the viewers and a good means to present new ideas and programs to the target client. These findings can be a good start for private individuals, groups, or government institutions planning to launch programs, projects, or products. Opinion about the implications of the research for parents and society. In the context of parents and the society as a whole, the results of these studies can be both viewed as promising and alarming. They have both advantages and disadvantages. The findings are alarming in the sense that food manufacturers and food marketing firms are aware that the television medium is a good tool to push their products and that they are taking advantage of this potential in order that their products be recognized by their target sector. The worst thing is that several manufacturers are less concerned about the health effects of their product. In all cases, obviously, these ads do not mention negative aspects about consuming their products. Their primary concerns are the increase in sales the ads would bring the company. Since most ads do not include warning on over-consumption, children may think it is fine to eat them as they like thereby jeopardizing their health. The results' implication can be promising if government

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Communication excellence using technology in the work place Essay

Communication excellence using technology in the work place - Essay Example For instance, through the communication technology, services such as video conferencing are essential in revolutionizing the workplace Hinchcliffe (2014). Video conferencing allows for activities such as distance online meetings in which the leadership makes plans over their worker and manages its activities. Another role of technology within the workplace is its utilization for the procedures of communication between the workers and customers of the business or organization, as well as, the leadership at the workplace. By using technology for communication, the workplace relations between the customers, workers and leadership receive a significant boost. Thus, technology plays a remarkably essential role in the process of the workplace establishing its relations with the customers. Moreover, with better communication technology in use between the workplace and the customer base, technology facilitates better customer care services in the organization Hinchcliffe (2014). Thus, technology has a role in establishing and improving the customer care service within the workplace for the advantage of the workplace, as well as, the workers dealing directly with clients. Another notable role of technology in the workplace is the aspect of mobility while at work. Technology entails several aspects, which are mobile and allow mobility Hinchcliffe (2014). Such technological services allowing mobility at workplace include the utilization of portable devices such as the smartphones, tablets and laptops among others. These devices allow workers to work even from the comfort of their homes, a factor that influences the mobility within the workplace. This mobility results in improved service delivery as the worker capitalizes on the aspect of time saving. Additionally, the use of technology within the workplace increases the pace of accomplishing tasks. Technology incorporates the aspect of speed a factor that most organizations consider while selecting the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

High School Forever Essay Example for Free

High School Forever Essay After reading this article I thought to myself that this is exactly what high school sounds like it is just a social combat, some people are already on the top and do not have to try and others try to climb to the top but never make and some just stay on the bottom they do not even make an effort to climb. I know that in adolescence us teenager try to find out who we really are and to be able to define ourselves and according to the article high school is one of the hardest places to do that in. But I think that even though people experience social fear because they are sensitive towards what other people think and have the least amount of control I think that high school is beneficial because it prepares you if what is ahead. Because in life you will encounter these things so it is better to have experienced it before hand but the difference between life and high school is that in high school it is really easy to be judged and labeled where as in real life you do not really fear what others think because after high school you find who you really are, you bloom, and you become more confident in yourself and stand for what you truly believe in. So I think that even though high school can be hell sometimes it really prepares us for what is ahead, because life is not fair and we have to learn that the hard way. Well after reading the article I thought Holden Caulfield was like Kenji in the article; even though Kenji was not very popular in high school he became a very successful and became a very attractive person after high school. I think that, that will be the case with Holden because he does not really fit in anywhere. I think that he will grow out of his â€Å"not fitting in† phase and find who he really is and what matters most in his life. But I also think that he will still be judgmental and think everyone is a phony. I also think that he will realize that growing up and becoming an adult is not as scary as he presumes it may be. I think that it will take him a while after graduating high school, if he does not get kicked out of any more schools and he gets into another school. But when he does I think he will realize that maturing and being responsible is not hard. I think Caulfield is really confused when it comes to life because he does not have any grown up to really tell him what it is like to grow up, so I think that impacts his behavior towards people. I think that even though you are not the most popular and you may not have many friends in high school, it may not matter because if you know why you are there, to learn and become successful in your life, then it all works out in your favor in the end, but it is nice to have friends to not a lot just maybe a couple.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Analysis Of The Efficient Market Hypothesis

Analysis Of The Efficient Market Hypothesis The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), one of the most prominent conjectures in finance, emerged in the 1950s due to early application of computers in analysis of time-series behavior of economic variables. A vast body of research literature on this problem has been produced since the first studies attributed to Kendall (1953). The first articles dealing with market efficiency generally were supportive of the idea that securities are priced rationally and stock prices reflect all available at the moment information. However, with the development of advanced econometric techniques and powerful computers a new breed of literature emerged: researchers started to produce evidence debunking the EMH. Nevertheless, despite significant success in finding anomalies which clash with the EMH this great idea has remained to be a hypothesis since neither supporters nor opponents could produce reliable enough evidence to finally confirm or reject it. This essay elaborates on the question of validi ty of the EMH and shows that there is no simple answer which could end the debate about market efficiency. There are three forms of the EMH that are usually tested by researchers: weak form, semi-strong form and strong form. The main difference between them is contained in the information which can be used to predict future price movements of the stock. The weak form of market efficiency states that past prices do not have any influence on the current prices. In other words, it is impossible to use past price information to predict future prices since all this information is already reflected in the prices. The semi-strong form of market efficiency takes into account, besides past information about prices, publicly available information, i.e. financial reports, public announcements etc. And finally, the strong-form of market efficiency states that all available information, including that of insiders, is reflected in prices and, therefore, cannot be useful in price forecasting. Thus, usually researchers specify which type of market efficiency they test as the methods used are different. F ama (1991) presents a slightly different categorization of tests of market efficiency: tests for return predictability, event studies and tests for private information. However, all these tests have one purpose to find out if that is possible to develop profitable strategies based on the different kind of information which could produce significant abnormal returns. If the answer to this question is yes then opponents of the EMH obtain additional advantage in the debate about the EMH. On the other hand, the results testifying to validity of the EMH are generally regarded as common and do not get significant public attention. Before proceeding to critical evaluation of the particular anomalies which are supposed to refute the EMH it can be useful to consider general shortcomings of the tests employed in these procedures. First of all, all tests of market efficiency are based on a particular model which is used to predict normal returns. This leads to the joint-hypothesis problem, i.e. it is impossible to determine whether the obtained results are due to real market inefficiency or just reflect poorly specified model for normal returns. Second, the data-mining problem is especially pronounced in the tests of market efficiency. In other words, for every reported profitable strategy there can be dozens of unprofitable strategies which were not reported due to the fact that they did not produce any sensational result. And finally, all theoretical findings should be tested practically in order to determine the real income which can be generated on the basis of theoretical strategies. Otherwise, even very profi table strategy can be an artifact due to factors that remained unaccounted during the research. The strong form of market efficiency has become the weakest form in terms of the number of its supporters. It is generally believed that insiders can use their information to earn significant profits from trading. Jaffe (1974) finds that insiders have information that is not reflected in the stock prices. Moreover, he documents that outsiders can profit from the publicly available information on insiders trading up to 8 months after this information was released to the general public. However, Seyhun (1986), while confirming that insiders can use inside information to make significant profits, does not confirm that outsiders can earn significant abnormal returns using publicly available information on insiders trading. He argues that Jaffe used misspecified model for normal returns. Another type of studies of the strong form of market efficiency tests whether professional portfolio managers have access to private information. First evidence (Jensen 1969) testifies to the strong form of market efficiency and suggests that managers do not have access to private information as returns to investors in funds in 1945-1964 turn out to be 1% below the market line. On the other hand, Ippolito (1989) states that during 1965-1984 mutual funds outperformed the market line by 0.83% on average every year. This evidence, however, is not confirmed by the tests of the performance of pension funds and endowment funds. More recent evidence (Malkiel 2003) shows that for the twenty years ending December 31, 2001, the average actively managed large capitalization mutual fund performed worse than Standard Poors 500 large cap index by 2% annually. Therefore, it is not clear whether the EMH hypothesis can be refuted with respect to the strong form of market efficiency as various tests demonstrate different answers to this question. Tests of the semi-strong form of market efficiency are accomplished by means of event studies. This type of studies gives the cleanest picture of market efficiency since if the event date can be clearly specified and new information has a significant effect on prices, the models of normal returns do not influence the result to the extent observed in other forms of market efficiency studies. The opponents of the EMH believe that stock prices may underreact to new events. Therefore, purchasing (selling) stock when good (bad) information arrives at the market may produce significant abnormal returns (Gregory 1997). For instance, it is widely documented that companies accomplishing an IPO experience short-term overshooting and long-term negative performance. Another example is negative performance of bidding companies and positive performance of target companies during the process of mergers and acquisitions. These patterns, arguably, can be used to generate abnormal returns. However, as Fama (1998) demonstrates, the apparent underreaction to events is as common as overreaction and post-event continuation of abnormal returns is as frequent as post-event reversals. He also shows that the methods, long-term anomalies measured, play an important role since latter tend to disappear if reasonable changes are introduced in the test. Therefore, most of the anomalies discovered by researchers can be attributed to chance. It turns out that these anomalies do not allow investors to earn significant abnormal returns. The studies of the weak form of market efficiency generally test the Random Walk (RW) hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, stock prices exhibit unpredictable behavior and the best estimate of tomorrows price is todays price of the stock. Early studies in this area showed that prices indeed followed the RW and even if it were possible to find some predictability in price paths it would not be possible to exploit it in order to earn abnormal returns. Discovered patterns explained just up to 2% of the total variation of returns not enough taking into account bid-ask spreads. More recent studies started to use other variables (dividends, earnings per share, term-structure variables) to explain variation in returns. However, even these studies obtained positive first-order autocorrelations of weekly returns at the level of 0.3 (Lo and MacKinlay 1988). Apparently, such low predictability power could not be used to make significant profits. Nevertheless, further research led to revela tion of a number of anomalies. For instance, so-called January effect referred to the situation of abnormally generous returns on stocks of small companies during the first few days of January. Unfortunately, when transaction costs were taken into account (which are substantially higher for small companies than for large corporations) it turned out that this effect could not be exploitable by ordinary investors. Moreover, the January effect was not pronounced every year. A number of other effects were discovered during the course of research. They, however, also were non-dependable and disappeared when transaction costs were accounted for. Overall, it turns out that the idea of the EMH is still alive in spite of numerous facts that could refute it. The absence of the reliable theoretical model which could explain variation in normal returns does not allow one to be sure about discovered anomalies. Moreover, even anomalies which are strongly pronounced disappear as more and more market participants find out about them. This fact testifies to validity of the EMH. This means that even when information is not reflected in prices at the particular moment, as time passes arbitrageurs use the opportunity to earn risk-free profits and gradually correct market. This correction may take a long time (as, for instance, the Internet-bubble of the 2000s) but eventually all prices come to their fair level.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

adam smith :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Trade is used as a means of full-filling one’s self interest in a certain commodity. Smith states that when there is nothing left that you need, trading becomes some what of a problem because you aren’t benefiting from it . Smith makes this seen when he talks about â€Å"how the butcher has more meat in his shop than he himself can consume, and the brewer and the baker would each of them be willing to purchase part of it†(WN I.ii.27), but have nothing to give the butcher in return because he doesn’t need any more beer or bread. Since â€Å"every man thus lives by exchanging, or becomes in some measure a merchant, and the society grows to be what is properly a commercial society†(WN I.iv.37) the lack in being able to trade will hurt the society. Money was developed so that the economy would prosper and competition would emerge from prices within the market. Trade of commodities among individuals is the basis of how the market in a nation works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Adam Smith goes on and talks about prices and values of goods and how they are established separately by individuals for their own commodities without causing chaos in the economy. Prices are regulated by labor according to the Wealth of Nations. Labor â€Å"is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities.†(WN I.v.47) Smith states that â€Å"the real price of everything, what everything really costs to the men who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.†(WN I.v.47) The real price of a commodity is determined by the labor put into making it without the inflation. The nominal price is the money value which includes the real price and wages. The market price of a good is â€Å"regulated by the proportion between the quantity which is actually brought to market, and the demand of those who are willing to pay the natural price of the commodity.†(WN I.vii.73) Adam Smith is able to show that the â€Å"labor bel ongs to the labouer; and the quantity of labour commonly employed in acquiring or producing any commodity, is the only circumstance which we can regulate the quantity of labour which it ought commonly to purchase, command, or exchange for.†(WN I.vi.65) Richard Cantillon, one of Smith’s precursors, also agrees that â€Å"prices are fixed by the proportion between the produce exposed for sale and the money offered for it.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Creating a simple and inexpensive network :: essays research papers

What type of network would you recommend and why? The very fist thing that must be taken into consideration in setting up your network is what capabilities do you want your network to have. The relative ease and low cost to set up a Peer-to-Peer networking system to form a small Local Area Network is the recommendation I am making for your company. Peer-to-Peer networks offer no centralized data storage and eliminate the control over sharing files from one main server. Each computer system connected can share resources that they deem necessary. (Bird, D., Harwood, M. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2003) While a server network does offer more security and centralized data, there is no need for a small network of four computers to tackle such an endeavor. The cost of setting up a server network is also much more expensive in that one computer would need significant upgrades to be able to handle software such as Windows 2000 or Linux Red Hat and also to provide data storage and backups for the entire network. As you are currently using Windows 98, the need for additional software is not required to benefit from basic network functions such as shared use of directories, drives, or printers and can extensively simplify internet access at each terminal. (Bird, D., Harwood, M. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2003) What type of upgrades might be needed? The only upgrades that you would need to purchase for the systems are network interface cards (NICs), cables and a hub, switch or router. Each machine on the network can be installed with a NIC that connects to the computerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s bus, and to either 10base-T (twisted pair) or coaxial cable. The Ethernet transmits data by means of packets and automatically adjusts to the addition of computers to a net. NICs all have a unique address built in at the factory to facilitate this. After you install the NIC in each system, you will then need to install the driver for the card by using the Windows 98 installation procedures and diskette supplied by the NIC manufacturer. NICà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s can cost as low as $3.00 for a 10/100 NIC PCI Card. (About.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2005/Pricewatch.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2005) To make the connection to each system, a hub is needed. The hub is a device that connects the cables from computers and other devices such as printers in the local area network. Traditionally, hubs are used for star topology networks, but they are often used with other configurations to make it easy to add and remove computers without bringing down the network.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Re-engineering

What is the Final Assignment? We will fire enthusiasm for learning – develop understanding of managing thereby change organizations. Preparation for the Final assignment Final Assignment How well positioned are you to complete? – and 1. Have you read the unit plan and are you clear about what you have to do for the final assignment and have you read past examples? 2. Have you understood the broad concepts and frameworks Introduced In the unit sufficiently to use them to Investigate your chosen case study? Duty? 4. Have you begun reflecting on yourself as a leader of change and begun to thing bout the areas you would like to develop your capability? 5. Have you explored all the materials available on blackboard – the assignment guide – the weekly notes, the powering slides and some articles to extend your knowledge and understanding of leading and managing change in organizations? 6. Have you reviewed the 33 key issues and thought about how they may be rele vant to your case study project? (they follow in this document) 7.Have you reviewed what we have covered in the unit so that you can make sure you have linked your case study to the concepts we have explored? (map of the unit follows in this document). . Have you arranged to have a couple of people read your final report a few days before you hand it in? 9. Have you started to reflect on what you have learned and need to learn for your personal review at the end of the assignment? A model you can follow for your final assignment report: First Take note of the advice given after your presentation and on your mark sheet for assignment 2.Read the advice on blackboard and make sure your plan covers what is asked for in the unit outline specification. Focus on the word count and work out how many words you have for each section. Abstract/intro 400 Lit/method – 300 Findings – 800 Analysis – 600 Conclusion – 300 Concentrate on the details of your data collection and the analysis. Use diagrams and models Do not put in data about the company unless it is critical to the context of the change process. Then†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Take your proposal, poster, powering and presentation script and write the first sections – Abstract/intro 400 – Lit/method – 300.Write an executive summary that includes what you did and how, and what you found. Tell the reader quickly the context of the company change and the purpose, research questions and method of your study – right up front and directly. Be brief on context – put some previous work in the appendix. Only introduce references to literature if they shaped how you approached your study or how you analyses the data – and explain how you used these concepts/ frameworks. Briefly explain what data you collected, from who/where and how with changes and limitations if necessary.Then to the main part†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Say what you collected, use the number and quotes and responses to indicate what the impact of the change was on stakeholders. Group the responses to indicate to the reader the climate at that time and the issues that were arising. Conclude by focusing on the main issues. Do not pass Judgment or interpret at this point – Just present what people have said/indicated. Then†¦. Begin the analysis and interpretation. What does the evidence you have collected say about the management of the change process? Explore these issues.Say why you are focusing on them, link them to issues in the literature if you can and then indicate what options the change process could have taken to improve the impact on stakeholders. Contrast the process with an existing change model if you wish. Then†¦.. Answer your research questions – what can you say from the evidence you have collected? Finally – critique the change rationale, the change processes and change outcomes of your case study, or focus on the area that is most ap propriate. What should they have Conclude by repeating the key issues coming from your investigation!Summaries and reinforce the key issues for the reader. Try to end with the key findings from your study. Try to emphasis what it is your study tells us about change management. What is the key learning from your study? Be explicit. Remember to make the final input about your personal development as an appendix – if in groups make sure there is one section on this for each group member – you ay put these personal accounts in the appendix. If you enjoyed the unit tell others! Model of Managing Change in Organizations What were your key issues of learning from the presentations? What have you learned that you did not know 13 weeks ago? . The forces producing change may be socio-cultural, economic, technological, political, legislative or environmental in nature. 2. Change disrupts the markets relations of competitors, suppliers and customers, dislocating the existing produ ct relations. 3. Change can be analyses in terms of speed, impact, control and predictability. 4. Change may be externally driven by social and market needs or internally resource driven to improve the company or change society. 5. Organizations are open systems that have specific characteristics that make them different from each other in structure, culture and systems. . Organizations are mediated by external forces, internal cultural shifts, and by the passage of social time. 7. Change in organizations may be to create capability to drive social change, to react to social change, or to generate fluidity to prepare of future change. 8. Strategy and change management are inextricably linked, each feeding the other. . Organizations can be ‘read' from their formal systems and from their informal shadow systems to understand their cultural, structural and system rigidity and fluidity. 10.Organizations can be understood from functional, interpretive, discursive and psychic paradi gms or perspectives. 12. Effective change management is about the rationale for changing, the direction of the change, and the implementation of that strategy. 13. Organizational change should be framed to drive current company strategy, and to be strategic, by reshaping operational capability and flexibility for future organizational strategies. 14. Mapping stakeholders indicates the risk involved in changing by accounting for the likely impact on different groups. 5. Mapping the organizational force-field reveals the forces for and against change. 16. The force-field indicates the political landscape of allies, resistance and conflict. 17. Mapping the leadership situation indicates the style and capability that is appropriate for the context and for the leader. 18. Change management actions span a continuum between hard and soft responses to meet concrete or messy problems. 19. Change proposals are context dependent and contingent upon the situation, the mime and the people involv ed. 20.Change management involves working with and politicking with the existing discourses around and within an organization. 21. Change recommendations may include structural, cultural or system change strategies so that organizational form, behaviors and processes, are better aligned with company goals. 22. Structural change may impact upon very different organizational structures such as bureaucracies, project-based, matrix, vertical networks, and virtual organizational forms. 23. Cultural change is about reshaping assumptions, values and behaviors through ramming the language and meaning within an organization, often for a new CEO. 4. Organizational learning produces conversations that build social capital, distribute knowledge and change systems. 25. System change may focus on customers, quality, re-engineering, benchmarking and performance monitoring to restructure the value chains for competitive 26. In knowledge work the mining, acquisition, storage and distribution of â₠¬Ëœlessons learned' becomes critical. 27. Leading change involves collaborative strategy formation and forming detailed communication policies. 28. Change processes must plan specific actions aimed at specific stakeholders. 9.Successful change processes include Joint diagnosis, shared visions, consensus, revitalization, modeling, and the adaptation of structures, systems and policies. 30. Change processes need continual monitoring and adjustment. 31 . Change ‘agents' can model behaviors, span boundaries and lead enabling technologies to generate productive reflection and changed behaviors within organizations. 32. Managing change processes involves building capability, and improving competencies through workshops, coaching and mentoring. 33. Managing change involves monitoring change performance through benchmarking and balanced scorecards.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Which Stakeholders Can Currently Be Considered to Be Part of the “the Company” for the Purpose of the Director’s Duty to Act in the Best Interests of the Corporation?

which stakeholders can currently be considered to be part of the â€Å"the company† for the purpose of the director’s duty to act in the best interests of the corporation? Company is a form of corporation and regulated by the Corporations Act. The legal significance of being as a company is it exists as a separate legal entity and dependent upon human beings to make decisions on their behalf. The person who makes or participates in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of the company’s business can be defined as a director. The legal definition of director is stated under section 9 of the Corporations Act[1] which indicates that, it is more appropriate to look at the function of the people rather than at the job title itself. Duties are imposed on the directors to regular illegal behavior and ensure that they act for the benefit of the company. All directors and officers of a corporation are bound by a number of general law and statutes which include that: a) act in good faith in the interests of the company; b) act for a proper purpose; c) avoid conflicts of interest; and ) retain discretion Moreover, care, skill and diligence in the performance of their duties must exercised by directors. Stakeholder can be defined as a party that affects or can be affected by the actions of the business[2], which may be include shareholder, creditors, employees, customer, supplier and government. Under the principle of the company law, directors and officers owe duties to the company as a whole but not to the other p erson or group rather that shareholder as they are the residual owners of the company’s assets. As a result, it can be said that a scope is limited by the statutory duties to the company’ director and officer is to act the best interest of shareholder, any benefit is acting on the other group of the stakeholder (such as the creditor) will beyond the scope of director’ power. In addition, an essential problem might be arisen between the director and the shareholder is known as â€Å"agency costs† that is the cost incurred by company to ensure that the director (who manages the company) is acting on the behalf of shareholders (who is the owner of the company) and make decisions onsist with their best interest. The duty will be breached by each director if there is no action done to avoid a conflict of interest[3]. A director can not use his or her power to profit personally interest at expense of the company. An action may be brought against the company where it has managed in an oppressive, unfairly prejudicial or unfairly discriminatory against shareholderà ¢â‚¬â„¢s interest. Therefore, it seems that the company (shareholder) is the only beneficiary by the regulation of director’s duties. In other words, the enforcement of director’s duties is for the benefit of the shareholders. 2) Should directors duties, and corporate responsibilities, be extended to a wider group of stakeholders? What are the lessons from the James Hardie and the Waterfront Dispute experience? It is a challenge for the current legal framework to consider a wider group of stakeholder’ interest, as in modern society that greater deal of business and activities conducted by a company. Elena suggests that balance between the different groups of stakeholders is essential to the long-term viability of the corporation and the long-term shareholder’s value can be increased by taking account of the other group of the stakeholder. 4] For example, an under market salary is paid to the employees or the employees are scheduled in an inefficient way w ill result in a decreasing of shareholder’s wealth as the productivity of the company is affected by the dissatisfied employees. Hence, according to the definition of the stakeholder, employee can be classified as a stakeholder who will maximize shareholder’ wealth in a long-term. As a result, the maximization of stakeholder’ value goal might not only be concentrated on the shareholder but the other group such as creditor and employee. The reasons why the director’s duty might be extended to the group of creditor can be stated as: creditor is a important stakeholder in the company and their interest should be taken into account; and also, based on the judgments of the decided case, it also indicates that there is a demand for director to regard the interest of creditor. Firstly, a company is a separate legal entity[5]. Therefore, the debt of the company is separated from its directors and shareholders. In addition, the money borrowed will be recorded under the name of the company and the creditor will sue the company if there is any unpaid account. However, creditor is playing an important role in providing funds to assist company to manage its cashflow and expansions. Hence, it can be said that creditor is the stakeholder and can effect the action of the business. Nevertheless, according to the passage Re New World Alliance Pty Ltd (1994) 122 ALR 531 at 550,[6] there is not direct duty owed by the director and officer to the creditors because their duties are owed to the company. However, in the situation when the directors of company consider a high risk project or it is in a financial distress, the creditor has to occupy a weakness position. This is because, if the project fails, shareholder will lose nothing but the money they have invested due to the limited liability then the risk of filature will shift to the creditor. Hence, it seems unfair for creditor who has not fiduciary protection and whose right is limited by the contract. On the other hands, according to the passage Re New World Alliance Pty Ltd (1994) 122 ALR 531 at 550,[7] there is not direct duty owed by the director and officer to the creditors because their duties are owed to the company. The only time that the director’ duties are owed to creditor is when company is insolvency[8] and during that time, the creditor is entitled to displace the power of the directors and shareholders to deal with the company’s assets[9]. It can be argued that it is riskless for the secured creditor who holds a charge over a part or all of the company's assets during the company’s insolvency. If the company is in financial distress, a receiver is appointed by the secured creditor to collect and look after the company’s asset in order to obtain money for them[10]. However, it is not easy for the creditor to claim all their money back according to: firstly, the money collected has to pay the certain priority claims, including employee entitlements (such as wages, superannuation contributions and leave payments) before paying to creditor; and secondly, director does not owe directly duty of care for the interest of creditor, this might result in a less consideration of managing and taking care of the asset that is held by the creditor. Therefore, creditor who provides fund for company to operate or expand is playing a significant role to a company and their weakness position should be taken in to account and redeemed by the director’s duty and the corporate responsibilities. In addition, duty has been referred to the judgments of the decided cases. The emergence of the issue to regard the creditor’ interest is from the leading judgment by Mason  J in Walker v Wimborne. 11] His statement has been acknowledged by the other courts such as in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Also, according to the obiter comments in the recent case Spies v The Queen, the court has again acknowledged that there is an existence of the duty to creditor. As a result, it seems that protection for creditor’s interest is required in some certain circumstances. [pic][pic][pic] ———————– [1] Section 9 defines a director as: a) a person who: ) is appointe d to the position of a director; or ii) is appointed to the position of an alternate director and is acting in that capacity; regardless of the name that is given to their position; and b) unless the contrary intention appears, a person who is not validly appointed as a director of: i) they act in the position of a director; or ii) the directors of the company or body are accustomed to act in accordance with the person’s instructions or wishes. [2] http://www. scu. edu. u/schools/gcm/ar/arp/stake. html [3] Relevant section under the Statue Law: Section 182(1) – Use of Position; Section 183(1) – Use of Information; Section 191(1) – Disclosure of Interest. Also, under the Common Law – Fiduciary Duties. [4] â€Å"Corporate governance: shareholders’ interest and other stakeholders’ interest. † http://www. virtusinterpress. com/additional_files/journ_coc/full-text-papers-open-access/Paper006. pdf [5] The principle is established in Salomon v Salomon & Co ? 1897? AC 22 [6] Harris, Hargovan and Adams: Australian Corporate Law, 1st ed, Page417. [7] Harris, Hargovan and Adams: Australian Corporate Law, 1st ed, Page417. [8] A company is insolvent if: 1. It is unable to pay its debts as they fall due. 2. Its assets are less than the amount of its liabilities, taking into account its contingent and prospective liabilities. [9] Kinsela v Russell Kinsela Pty. Ltd. (in liq. ) (1986) 4 NSWLR 722. [10] In some special circumstance, it may appointed by the court. Eg: where there is a dispute between the owners of the company or the property over which the receiver is appointed [11] His Honour said: In this respect it should be emphasised that the directors of a company in discharging their duty to the company must take account of the interest of its shareholders and its creditors. Any failure by the directors to take into account the interests of creditors will have adverse consequences for the company as well as for them.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Integrating Art in Elementary School Curriculum Essay

We are living in a world full of art. Everywhere we look, every shape, size and color represent art. From the films we watch to the cover of our books, from the interior of our house to the design of our clothes, art is present. In our modern times, art is usually described in its aesthetic sense. Art comes in drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, music, cinema, and in almost anything.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By definition, â€Å"art is any human effort to emulate, enhance, change, or neutralize the work of nature. It is also the conscious production of colors, sounds, forms, movements, and any other element in a manner that affects the sense of beauty and aesthetics. † (Art)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The elements of art, which can help us to understand better art’s aesthetic values are color, shape, line, value, space, form and texture. Color refers to the intensity of the colors used as well as with the brightness and darkness of colors. Shape refers to the â€Å"meeting of lines†. Lines are the primary element in any drawing. Value is the lightness and darkness or color, when it is combined with the hues. Lastly, form is the dimension of a shape. It can be a two or three dimensional shape.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, the principles of art can also help us to better understand our perception of art. When combined with the elements of art, to enhance the aesthetic value of art.   These are balance, proportion, contrast, emphasis, pattern, rhythm, harmony, unity, variety and movement. Balance is the principle of art wherein the other elements should not be overly done for the symmetry of a certain artwork. Contrast, on the other hand, is the idea of showing distinction by breaking repetitions in an artwork to draw focus in a certain area. Furthermore, proportion is the relative locations, shapes, and sizes of the objects or ideas in the artwork.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The term art also has something to do with visual experience or object which was created through by expressing a skill or by using the imagination. Art’s purposes also ranges from the aesthetic to the utilitarian point of view. (Art)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is what we call the â€Å"utility of art†. It is where the utility or use of art enters. Graffiti is a kind of art which is used as a medium of self-expression. In the social context, graffiti can be used as a means to calm the internal being and boost one’s morale. One the negative context, it can be a form of black propaganda, and thus deteriorating other people’s lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Knowing these, it can be concluded that it is of great importance for young people to appreciate art. It is also a common fact that because of the advent in technology nowadays, what with the computer games and other modern gadgets, kids find it hard to involve themselves in art. It is now a common problem for elementary school art teachers to find ways to help the children in the appreciation of art.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The concept of aesthetic is a very important consideration in teaching art especially to young children. Aesthetic is a philosophical branch that deals with the â€Å"criteria of artistic judgment†. Art’s classical conception was formulated by ancient art masters Plato and Aristotle, and developed by modern artists such as Benedetto, Croce, Kant, etc. (Art)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since art is the first thing that one observes, it is essential to focus on the aesthetic value of an art for the children to better appreciate it. There are different ways on how to improve the teaching of art (in particular with third graders).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Firstly, consider the modern technological advancement and use it as an advantage. Since it was concluded that most students are hooked with the computers, why not use it as a means to let them be interested. Use the computer to show them digital photography. Play games with the computer using famous computer games characters and relate it to art. Only if you make them interested in something will they’ll be able to learn, and this is one sure way to make them interested.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Second, change the ambiance of   your classroom. The environment is a very big factor to consider for the students to learn. Make it more vibrant, more colorful, and more appealing to Grade3 students.   Put some designs on the wall. Instead of using a normal chair, let the children play inside by putting a larger working space for them to interact with one another.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lastly, PLAY. Always remember that you are dealing with small kids. Always keep in mind that children needs time to play, and what else is the best way to make them learn that to integrate learning with playing. Information plus entertainment equals learning. Children love to play. They love interacting with one another. By doing this, it is a sure way to make them learn. Sources:    (Art) Retrieved on September 7, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art (Art) Retrieved on September 7, 2006 from http://www.answers.com/art&r=67 (Art) Retrieved on September 7, 2006 from http://www.Britannica.com

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Potato Osmolarity Lab Essay

Purpose: The purpose of the lab is to discover the osmolarity of the potato tissue. Background Information: Osmolarity is a concept similar to concentration, except it is the total number of solute particles per liter. In this lab we can show osmolarity by using sucrose solutions and potato ores. This experiment displays hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic solutions. A hypertonic solution is a solution with a relatively higher concentration, hypotonic cis relatively lower, and isotonic is the same. Variables: Constant = size of potato core Independent = sucrose molarity Dependent = mass percentage change Safety: Follow lab safety protocol and be careful with cork borer. Procedure: 1. With a cork borer, cut six cores from a potato. The cores should all be as close to the same length as possible: 30-50 mm cores are recommended. 2. Before continuing, produce a table that will show the volume and mass of the potato cores before and after being placed in solutions of 6 different sucrose molarities. 3. Determine mass of potato cores using a laboratory balance. Record in table. 4. Place each core in a different test tube labelled with the core’s identification letter and the molarity of the sucrose solution to be placed in the tube 5. Add a labelled molar solution to each test tube until core is covered. Place foil over each tube and store for 24 hours 6. On the next day, repeat step 3 Conclusion/Analysis: The osmolarity of the potato core is 0.4 M, I determined this by finding where on my graph the percentage change in mass was equivalent to 0. This meant that there was no change in mass, the tissue and solution were isotonic, and the molarity of the solution is the same as the osmolarity of the tissue. In this lab, and all experiments, an accurate measurement of mass was crucial to finding the correct results, trend, and osmolarity. The conclusion of this lab was based off of a negative trend on the graph which could have been skewed from inaccurate data. In order to attain more reliable data I could have done multiple trials in the procedure which would clarify my results and conclusions. Also to generate better data a more precise device for measuring the mass of the potato cores could have been used. Also the size of the potato cores could have been more constant to create more accurate data. Outside of this experiment osmolarity is used in urine tests to calculate the concentration of certain particles in urine. An osmolality test can also be used for the blood to see the number of solutes present. These tests are then helpful in diagnosing and treating patients.

Consumer Profiling for Zara Home USA

The Situation CUSTOMER PROFILING In 2010, eMarketer reported that 71% of Americans use the internet. They estimated that figure would grow to 78% by 20141. The latest figures by Internet World Stats show that, in 2012, 78% of Americans are already using the Internet2. Internet use is growing at breakneck speeds, and internet shopping is a big part of that use increase. As an exclusively e-commerce outlet in the United States, Zara Home could view every American internet user as a potential customer.However, Zara Home products are targeted toward women in the age group of 18-34. 27% of the total American population online falls in that age bracket3, almost evenly distributed between men (51%) and women (49%)4. The target audience for Zara Home can therefore, be narrowed down to approximately 13-14% of the American population – women who actively use the internet. The Zara Home target is extremely active online. Usage5 statistics show that they have very high awareness of digita l media beyond simply browsing, including social media, mobile and video.This high engagement and activity is an advantage for the brand. Zara Home must now identify which smaller targets within this group will be most open to the brand’s specific, timely and relevant information. It is extremely important to find niche targets that will integrate the brand into their digital experience. Keeping this insight in mind, two niche targets are suggested: Social Moms and Generation â€Å"Connected† Women.These niche targets add up to roughly 62 million potential customers for Zara Home,6 though there is bound to be overlap between the two groups. 1 2 http://www. emarketer. com/Article. aspx? R=1007519 http://www. internetworldstats. com/stats14. htm 3 http://www. emarketer. com/Article. aspx? R=1007519 4 http://www. emarketer. com/Article. aspx? R=1008382 5 http://www. emarketer. com/Article. aspx? R=1008382 6 http://www. emarketer. com/Article. aspx? R=1008085 4

Friday, September 13, 2019

Country with High Mortality Rates Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Country with High Mortality Rates - Term Paper Example Eventually, the introduction of the health insurance among the employees for most formal sectors is also explored (Malawi. Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. 2004). Coupled with such efforts, there will be reforms aiming at the improvement of the application of the financial resources through the improvement of locative and technical efficiencies. Documentation of sources of health financing (in terms of external, government cooperation and funding, firms as well as households) including their contribution to the total health spending is rather separate from the private and public health expenditures through the financing agents (MOH and NGOs) (Rosner, Leppert, Degens & Ouedraogo, 2012). There is a distinguishing factor between capital and recurrent expenditure through the provision of thorough breakdown based on the major line items of salaries and drugs maintenance. 2. Location/Geography Below is a summary of the physical environment of Malawi: the percentage of irrigat ed cropland land in Malawi is 0.0%; the percentage of arable land (in 2009) is 38.2% while the percentage of the forest area to the land area (in 2010) was 34.3%. malawi’s land area as at 2010 as at 94,280.0 square kilometers. The Ministry also intends to put up with the exploration process for purposes of ensuring feasible introduction of alternative sources in terms of financing health care in Malawi. At the central level, capacity is needed to be enhanced for purposes of reliably formulating and reviewing the policies, coordinating implementation and providing support to district health care management teams (Acton, 2012). 3. Population The total Population in 2010 was at 14,900,841.0, the 2010 Population growth (annual percentage) was at 3.1%, the 2010 Population density (persons for event square kilometer) was at 158.4 (Malawi. Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. 2004), the Rural population in 2010 was 11,950,474.5, the rural population per square kilometer of arable land (Rural population density) was 0.0% (Peters, 2009), the 2010 Rural population (percentage to total population) was 80.2%, the 2009 Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people) was 13.1%; the 2009 Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) was 44.2%; the 2010 Mortality rate, infant (for each 1,000 live births) was 58.1% (Peters, 2009); the 2010 Mortality rate, under-5 (for each 1,000) was 92.1% and the Labor force, total in 2009 was 6,005,705.8. the total years (Life expectancy at birth) in 2009 was 52.7% and the percentage of total labor force Labor force, female in 2009 was 49.2 (Malawi. Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. 2004). 4. Government Through the 1995 constitution, the president of Malawi is considered as chief of state as well as the head of government through the universal direct suffrage for each 5 years. Malawi is also ruled by a vice president who is a president electee (Ghodse, 2011). The president also has an option of appointing second vice presidents fro m different parties. This includes presidentially appointed cabinets. The cabinet members of Malawi are drawn from outside or within of the legislature(Peters, 2009). The legislature in involved in the overall overseeing of the implementation of the strategic steps in the long run by all means (Peters, 2009). 5. Economy The table below illustrates the poverty indicators in Malawi: The Income share upheld by the lowest 20% in 2004 was at 7.0%; at national

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Bringing Back Traditional Toys in the Technological Age Essay

Bringing Back Traditional Toys in the Technological Age - Essay Example As the study discusses in preschools where learning areas divide the classrooms, children gravitate to those areas where more possibilities in play are foreseen.   Usually, these are in the Make-believe area, filled with housekeeping toys like kitchen furniture, telephones, tea sets, cooking sets, tool sets, doctor kits, and the like which encourages creative imaginings.  From this research it is clear that one of the most popular areas in the classroom frequented by children is the Block Area where children spend time building their own constructions with wooden block pieces of many sizes and shapes.   During block play, children seem to get lost in their own imaginative world as they plan, design and build the structure one block at a time, carefully choosing the right block to stack on a particular place. This paper will thoroughly discuss the value of block play in the early childhood education setting.   Despite the widespread availability of new educational tools and te chnology, the traditional blocks developed nearly a century ago by Caroline Pratt, remain one of the most enduring mediums for early childhood education and even in the primary grades.  Unit blocks are those small hardwood blocks filled with potential for creative play.   These blocks are designed in a 1:2:4 size proportion emphasizing the size relationship among the different blocks.   Aside from rectangular and square-shaped blocks, there are cylinders, archs, half-circles, ramps, and many more shapes in the set.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Globalisation and Identity Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Globalisation and Identity Crisis - Essay Example However, according to me it has gained momentum in the past couple of decades due to the advancement of technology and evolution of the ways of communication especially the role of the media. Since its mere existence, it has provoked controversies and debates all across the world. Some people are true proponents of this philosophy and they have various reasons for their beliefs, for instance, they believe that it has accelerated the sharing of information and transfer of knowledge from one pole of the world to the other. On the other hand, there are people who view this phenomenon with suspicion and see it as a method by which the developed countries are reaping the poor ones of their valuable resources. Some claim that this is the modern form of barbarism that the British practiced in the subcontinent and many other parts of the world in the 19th century. This essay is written to discuss both sides of the coin and to evaluate the effects of globalization with facts and figures. We w ill separate on this work into three parts to see the holistic picture and be able to evaluate it in a better way. These three divisions will be as follows: Individual, micro level and macro level. Examples will also be given at each level to support the point of view presented. In the end, there will be a brief conclusion to sum up our finding and to express my own opinion this particular topic. Individual Level Under this heading, we will discuss both the advantages and disadvantages that are there for a simple citizen from the advance of globalization. I will also share some of my personal opinions and view points with regards to globalization and its influence on students such as me. The aspects of globalization are important to touch base with because these bring to surface the necessary pointers which will mean success for the sake of the business. My viewpoints are based on the understanding that customers need to move ahead with the passage of time, and for that their expans ion is a must (Harvey, 2005). This will ensure that they grow and develop their own selves and thus the organizations that they are reporting to, be it an institution of global repute or simply a street business that they have come to be a part of. 1. Individuals as Customers: Globalization has tremendously increased the options that an individual has. He can obtain any good from any part of the world. Online shopping is just an example of this aspect of globalization. Also as discussed later in this essay globalization also results in healthy competition which in turn provides the customers with improved product and services. For instance, when I go online I even have the option of purchasing from Monsoon which is a Bangladeshi brand. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to view what new products and brands are available online and how I am able to make the best use of these brands for my own benefit. 2. Knowledge Workers: All the universities’ curricula now include a course on global management and cultural diversity. This is due to the global challenges that the current workforce has to face inevitably. This is an interesting challenge for the global savvy individuals and a hurdle for ethnocentric ones. The outlook is made more global with each passing day which helps the people to grow beyond their means and gives them an opportunity to look at areas where they have still not paid any heed as such. The knowledge workers help the

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

How technology can affect the movie buessines in the future Essay - 1

How technology can affect the movie buessines in the future - Essay Example The movie industry has always supported and promoted new technological advancements even back in 1920’s when sound was first incorporated in a movie. (1) Digital revolution will be the landmark development made in the history of home entertainment. One of the best technological improvements made in the movie business is digital technology. The biggest transition in the movie industry is the evolution of digital technology. Digital technology is considered to be the revolution in every field of the film industry. One of the most important advantages of digital revolution is allowing people to download movies at any time through the internet broadband. Digital cinema provides clarity, high quality experience and greater flexibility in programming the details. Digital film making required the theaters to also adopt digital technology which would enhance the quality of film, provide the best visuals while being cost effective. (2) Audio programming, post production and exhibition continue to be digital and there is rapid progression towards digital technology in the movie industry. Visual effects, editing are also predominantly handled by digital technology. One can expect the actual film making process to become completely digitalized in the coming years .Moviemakers would be able to create movies and sell and distribute them on the internet. (2) Many movie directors and producers fear that the new technology can be a threat as people will easily download movies even before they are released rather than going to theaters.The movie and audio industry has already been negatively affected in the last few years. Since more people are listening to MP3’s and other digital formats, the use of CD’s are seldom and cassettes no longer used. The impact is more for the audio industry as music is downloaded free from many websites. With the introduction of Blu Ray technology, people can download movies and can watch them in excellent sound

Monday, September 9, 2019

A Comparison of Business Systems Between Japan and China Essay

A Comparison of Business Systems Between Japan and China - Essay Example Being a collectivist culture means that managers and employees in Japan tend to work cooperatively, with very minimal power distance tolerated. A recent empirical study of the Japanese business environment indicated that participative leadership is the most accepted form of management whereby decision-making generally occurs from the bottom-up rather than utilising strict hierarchies of executive control.4 It is through consultation between different ranking employees and managers that a negotiation-based management style thrives and prospers. It is a more balanced system within the business dynamic whereby the attitudes and opinions of workers are highly respected and considered when making important corporate decisions. China, on the other hand, maintains very high levels of power distance between different ranking members of the organisation. Geert Hofstede recognises that Chinese culture scores very highly on power distance scales, meaning that there is a culturally-driven tolera nce for power disparities that makes most business systems vertical rather than horizontal when it comes to decision-making. This is a stark contrast between the Japanese business environment. Unequal power means that employees in the organisational hierarchy are not consulted for their opinions and problem-solving ability, whereby employees are routinely sanctioned and the general belief is that employees should not maintain aspirations for improving their rank and status within the organisational dynamic.5 These disparate relationships between managers and employees are highly polarized, meaning significant division, and there are generally no defences... This paper illustrated that there are many differences and similarities between Chinese and Japanese business systems and internal corporate ideologies. It cannot be said, concretely, that one business system is superior to another, only that both countries operate and manage their business structures with varying philosophies and approaches to securing the future and performance of their respective organisations. Much contemporary literature on how to successfully manage businesses, today, shows that adaptability and flexibility are necessary to find competitive success. Under this premise, it would seem that China maintains the most probability for ensuring long-term business performance than that of Japan. Even though Japan has many strengths, such as high determination in a corporate context, Chinese business systems will be most likely to endure long-term if these systems continue to utilise their current, existing business ideology. This report makes a conclusion that Japanese workers tend to view the future as being opportunistic whereby high performance and profitability results from a business perspective can be attained through dedication and hard work. Chinese employees and managers, in opposite accord, seek to find personal fulfilment whenever possible as a primary lifestyle and cultural goal in the pursuit of finding social acceptance with like-status peers. Therefore, there is evidence that some dimensions of long-term-focused thinking will be abandoned in Chinese culture based on hedonistic consumerism that is becoming commonplace in the nation.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Locke and Descartes source of knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Locke and Descartes source of knowledge - Essay Example For this reason, the theory holds that metaphysics, ethics, and math principles are fundamentally true and that physical evidence and proof are not needed to ascertain knowledge. Due to this belief, the rationalism theory is in direct opposition to empiricism. Empiricism, of which Locke is an integral proponent, contends that knowledge can only be obtained via the experience of sense. It emphasizes that evidence and experience, particularly the experience of sense, plays a more fundamental role in idea formation than traditions and innate ideas (Scheibe & Falkenburg 2011). The theory also contends that these traditions also arise due to prior experience through the senses. The theory emphasizes evidence, contending that all theories and hypotheses need to be tested against natural world observations and not simply relying on intuition or reasoning. The empirical theory is a better theory in discussing the source of knowledge because all that man knows has its basis on experience, whi le innate knowledge can be corrected with time following observation. Comparison Locke’s notion in the empiricism theory of an idea was borrowed from, the discussions by Descartes. According to Locke, the mind is the immediate object of understanding, thought, or perception by the mind (Scheibe & Falkenburg 2011). This is similar to what Descartes considers an idea to be, contending that it is what the mind can perceive immediately. Locke also discusses external object qualities, differentiating between secondary and primary qualities. Secondary qualities are explained as those, which are absent in the objects, instead being sensed, or perceived, while primary qualities cannot be separated at any time from the object. This is also similar to Descartes’ distinction using the candle. According to him, one can perceive the duration, substance, and shape of the candle but cannot clearly perceive sound and color, corresponding to primary and secondary qualities by Locke res pectively (Scheibe & Falkenburg 2011). Both Locke and Descartes contend that man is different from other animals and machines. According to Descartes, this is because machines are unable to use signals or words to declare what they know to other machines (Scheibe & Falkenburg 2011). In addition, animals do not have any reasoning in interpreting knowledge. Locke, similarly, claims that animals cannot abstract or come up with general ideas because they cannot utilize words. In their arguments, it is clear to see that they believe animals have no use for knowledge or ideas. Locke and Descartes also discuss the role of free will in gaining knowledge, considering that man’s will can remain free and be directed, as well as the fact that free will in gathering knowledge, being both free and directed, is consistent with man’s ability to err in his ways (Scheibe & Falkenburg 2011). Descartes contends that when a person is inclined to lean to one side, he possesses more free wil l. In addition, he also argues that free will is greater than intellect and knowledge. Locke builds on these arguments by contending that the determination of man by his free will does not restrain his liberty, while also arguing that bad judgments from available knowledge leads to bad choices. Contrast Descartes believes that knowledge

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Wealth Inequality in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wealth Inequality in China - Essay Example For instance, as the People’s Republic of China releases new specific each and every year the show and increased average annual income, this figure is ultimately skewed as a result of the fact that extraordinarily wealthy individuals within Chinese society are impacting upon the way in which such measurements are made and revealing a situation that is not quite the case. As a function of seeking to understand the wealth gap China to a more effective degree, the following analysis will discuss some of them made and causal factors for this wealth disparity; as well as some of the recommended changes that could ultimately seek to promote economic well-being and sustainment of a greater number of individuals within Chinese society. One of the first, perhaps the most important, factor has to do with the fact that China is ultimately struggling to build a middle class. For decades, the People’s Republic of China has begun moving away from hard-line communist ideology is more was society. However, as a direct result of this shift, those individuals that are best positioned to reap the benefits of this change are necessarily those that have close connections to the government for those that were already wealthy at the time in which a level of privatization to be developed. Furthermore, individuals within the lower class of relatively little if any upward mobility that provide access to the middle class is the upper class at a later date. However, it should not be understood that nepotism and/4 corruption with respect to privatization is the largest reason for why China continues to exhibit a particularly horrific wealth gap. Another relevant issue is with respect to culture. Ultimately, Chinese culture is one that places a very high on saving. Accordingly, as money is half down from generation to generation, the compounding impact of this, especially with regard to wealthier families, is an economic dynamic by which the very wealthy leave extraordinarily

Friday, September 6, 2019

A Content Analysis of Internet Sites Essay Example for Free

A Content Analysis of Internet Sites Essay This study is an analysis of pornography of a violent nature on the internet. There were found to be varied definitions of pornography such as â€Å"sexually explicit material† and â€Å"material that combines sex and or exposure of genitals with abuse or degradation that appears to endorse, condone or encourage such behavior. † The purpose of this study is to explore the harmful effects of pornography on relationships between males and females and not so much the actual content of the sites. There was also a review of earlier research that was done. Prior analysis also included different mediums such as movies and printed magazines. The research design was specific to internet websites that marketed their sites specifically promoting violence and sex. The research included thirty-one such websites. The methods of research were various search engines, links on websites that provided links to other sites and pay for view sites through explicit advertising. Websites were compared by overall content and strong explicit images and text. The findings discovered repetitive themes and images as well as invitations to access interactive websites or programs. Research also found that the setting, type of force, instruments used, number of victims and perpetrators and race were clearly displayed. More details of the victims were revealed while little was revealed about the perpetrators. An Analysis of Intercollegiate Media Guide Cover Photographs The cover photographs marketed a pre-conceived definition of male and female athletes. The focus of this analysis was to determine how men and women athletes are portrayed on and off court based on the cover photographs. The findings were determined by asking the following questions. Was the photograph taken on or off court? Was the athlete in uniform and were they posed? Did the photograph reveal athleticism? Was there sexual suggestion of either femininity or masculinity? It found that media perpetuates inequalities between male and female athletes and influences the viewpoint of the public. Media also tends to promote the muscularity and superiority of men. The physical appearance and femininity of female athletes takes precedence over athletic abilities and performance. Getting Your Body Back This analysis was to determine how the magazine portrayed pregnancy and motherhood relative to fitness. Pregnant women have a great deal of anxiety and corporations take advantage of that and use it to market the importance of fitness before, during and after pregnancy. Fitness is portrayed as a form of empowerment and control in a woman’s life and being out of shape depicts excessiveness, lack of self-control and devalues the femininity of women even during pregnancy. It also portrays fit women as having the capacity to â€Å"do it all. † Works Cited Gill, Jugdeep Kaur. Tips on Summary Writing. 12 October 2008. The Star Online. 16 October 2008   http://www.thestar.com

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Marketing objectives and strategies for Special Shoes

Marketing objectives and strategies for Special Shoes EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Special Shoes is one of the most successful shoe shops in the country. Although it is quite popular, Special Shoes need an online based shopping site or a website to further enhance their position as one of the top shoe shops in the country. Currently, customers must travel to the actual shop to purchase their shoes. With the creation of the website, customer can easily browse through the selection of available shoes and products provided by the Special Shoes Company and even receive services and promotion in their member areas. As some people might not like an online store where shoes cannot be tried out before purchasing/ordering, Special Shoes will provide chiropody advice services to the customer to further enhance the customer satisfaction on the product and guide the customer to good foot health. To make both existing and potential customer aware of the new e-commerce site and in effort to encourage them to visit the website, comparative advertising will be used. With comparative advertising, it will be designed to highlight the advantages of the goods or services offered by Special Shoes Company compared to those of other shoe shops available in the country. For a successful comparative advertisement, the comparison between the goods or services must be shown by the objective and the message of the advertisement by describing their main characteristics. Marketing Strategy Part of Special Shoes marketing strategy will base solely on its products and services provided. Special Shoes will also use advertisement that will receive abundant attention by the existing and potential customer. The strategy of the marketing campaign is to increase the target customer awareness of Special Shoes. Mission Special Shoes mission is to provide a wide selection of shoes and outstanding customer service. It will exist to attract and maintain customers. Their services will exceed the expectation of the customers. Marketing Objectives The marketing objective of the new e-commerce site of Special Shoes is to build an effective pull campaign, bringing in new customer and keeping the loyalty of existing customers. Marketing Activities: Positioning Special Shoes will position itself as the premier outlet for online shoe shopping, providing the customer with the largest selection, rivaling some of the other shoe shops in the country. Special Shoes will leverage their competitive edge to achieve this desired positioning. To achieve a competitive edge, Special Shoes will provide as much selection of shoes as possible. Membership Membership can be introduced either to new or existing customer through online or offline means. With the registration of customers as members, they are entitled to special discount rates and privileges provided by the Special Shoes. The first 100 customers to register will get a one year membership for free with 12 monthly issues of Special Shoes magazine. Promotions and Discounts. Promotions and discounts of the products and services of the Special shoes can be made known to the customer through online or offline means. Through online means, customers can either be sent an email or text message to inform them of the ongoing promotion and discounts. Through offline means, advertisement can be used to attract new and existing customers. Media Advertisements To further attract new customers and to inform the existing customer of the new website, advertisements can be used to achieve this aim. Examples of media advertisements that can be used are television, radio and newspaper. Chiropody advice Special Shoes will also be able to provide chiropody advice services to the customer as Special Shoes recognize that their competitors did not offer this services. Addressing Existing Customer and New Customer Existing Customers To address the existing customer of the new Special Shoes website, encouragement and recommendation of online registration to the website can be made to get the transition of the existing customer from offline to online. New Customers Through advertisements, new customers can be made, therefore information of the website must be made clear and concise so that future customers can be attracted to become a member to the Special Shoes. Offline Marketing Requirements Offline marketing is also crucial in promoting the Special Shoes shop where examples of offline marketing techniques that can be use are outdoor signage such as billboards, press releases and including the website address on business cards or other printed marketable material. Target Market Special Shoes is targeting the population segments within a broad category of age, gender and needs. Since most of the customer will purchase shoes for the workplace as well as for leisure time. Special Shoes have targeted this broad selection of customer as they have the need for many different pairs of shoes for all of their different activities and needs. Strategies Special Shoes marketing strategy will seek to create customer awareness regarding the products that they offer, develop the customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The messages that Special Shoe will seek to communicate are that the offer the largest selection of shoes and provide chiropody advice services online. People no longer need to go to the actual shop to find what shoes are available. A method of communication is by advertisement in the local media which will be placed in newspapers, radio and televisions. Another method of communication will be through online advertisement such as emails, a system of communicating electronically where this will eliminate unneeded spending on postal fees to inform the customers of new products and services provided by Special Shoes. Another means of communication that can be used is the RSS feeds. What is the method to track visitors going to the website? Tracking visitors visiting the Special Shoes website may be beneficial where the data from the feedbacks of visitors can be extremely helpful in tweaking and fine-tuning your site. The more data that can be collected from the visitors, the more productive and effective the campaigns, contents, and services can be produced. There are many tools and application that is provided in the internet in order to track website visitors. Some examples of these tools are free website tracking software, analytic software and services that track and analyze data. In creating websites free website tracking software are available on the internet. In relation to this, website designer would probably have access to cpanel. Cpanel is an open-source GUI interface that administers to the websites and blogs. Cpanel also have the ability to view current and historical statistics regarding the domain. Most cpanel interface includes these two programs such as Webalizer and AwStats (Advanced Web Statistics). Webalizer is a tool that keeps track of specific types of data and shows it graphically on the web. Webalizer collects data such as the URL (shows the URL that was requested by the users browser), Hit (every single HTTP request that your visitors browser submits is counted as a hit), Visitor (each specific IP address or HTTP cookie), Visit (Each time a visitor accesses the website) and the User Agent (the web browser used by the visitor to access the website e.g. Firefox etc). 1172 words