BUSINESS Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BUSINESS Report - Essay Example Also we can observe that the management has redesigned the job of the workers. The hierarchical structure has been diminished and the teams hold more responsibility. Eventually, this will create new challenges for the members of the team. The jobs of the workers are enriched. The jobs of the team members are halved so that they can concentrate on the development of the team. Every fortnight the team members talk for 45 minutes to solve problems and to gather new ideas. The responsibility of the workers has been increased and the role played by the workers is changed. From mere assembly line work the job now involves various tasks such as planning, organizing, leading and directing. b) The management of BMW has taken the approach to motivate the employees as mentioned in theory Z. Theory Z mentions the major postulates of Japanese management practices and how these practices can be adopted to the environment of other countries. The major features of this theory are building trust, strong bond between the organization and employees, employee involvement and no formal structure. According to this approach, trust is the first primary factor for motivation. Trust between the members of the organization at various levels has to be built through integrity and transparency. At BMW, the work teams have been very effective in building the relationships between the employees across the organization. Another major aspect that has to be noted in this approach is the employee involvement. Any decision affecting the production practices is being done by the team members which increases the motivation of the members. Also this increases the commitment of the employees and gives due recognition to their role. Under this approach the formal structures in an organization are no longer adopted. Here, at BMW, the work teams resolve the issued irrespective of the formal hierarchical structures. The major advantages of

Children and adults Essay Example for Free

Children and adults Essay The Effective Early Learning Project based at Worcester University highlights two ways in which adults can help children progress; The first is the way the adult encourages the child to be autonomous, to get on and try new things; The second, is the way the adult offers experiences which are stimulating, challenging and interesting. Adults need to be a supporting factor when the child is in a risky environment. Children and adults alike enjoy climbing trees; adults know when they are too high as do children. This is a whole other debate in terms of nature or nurture debate. This is where we could explore the idea of children learning to be safe when risk taking or is it already there. Stephenson (2003) wrote about a child on a swing, Swinging was very popular with these younger children, but more often than the older children their reactions indicated that they felt unsafe and wanted the swing slowed down. Therefore the child has taken the risk, has agreed a boundary, enjoyed the activity and acknowledged the safety aspect. The adult was there to ensure the safety and also make the activity a positive one by being readily available. Children must face all different kinds of risks in order to support their development and learning. Stine (1997) wrote that to support their learning and development is a complex issue. There always has to be provision for a physical challenge. More and more educational settings are using outdoor play/activity to challenge the children. Although, what is an acceptable risk to one person, may be completely the opposite of another. Bruce and Meggitt (2002) write that outdoor space needs to be available most of the time; They continue that, safety is the only consideration for keeping children in doors. Children can feel safe in risk taking environments and activities in many ways. Initially the adult to child ratio, with a high number of adults children can be supported and helped to achieve. Secondly by minimising, if possible, the risk aspect. This could be ensuring the activity is a positive and acceptable environment. Thirdly by giving the children all the opportunities available for physical risk taking, children need a stimulating and challenging environment. And finally, a well maintained balance between the childs safety and the challenge of the activity. In an educational setting, an adult carer will go to the risk area and carry out an assessment. They will check the route to be taken, dangers in the area and also any area that poses extreme concern. An adult carer should also think about the child to adult ratio. A local nursery allows children to climb trees. Due to the child to adult ratio, the nursery feels that the level of risk posed can be curtailed by having by having the children supervised and supported through the activity by adults. The children are therefore enjoying the activity of risk taking, as well as feeling safe in knowing an adult is available to help at any time. Another factor that the adult carer should be aware of is the idea of making a childs environment completely hazard free. Therefore taking away any risk or danger. Walsh (1993) thought that children in an environment that is completely safe could become bored and this could lead to self initiated risk taking that could be dangerous. Durberry (2001) felt that children who grow up in an ultra safe environment would lack confidence in their own physical ability. This would be due to the poor opportunities for the children to build and extend upon their exiting knowledge. He continued that children had to be both confident and competent physically in order to feel competent emotionally. The ideals on risk taking vary from culture to culture. Although the main aim remains the same. The child needs to remain safe, but feel they are being challenged and stimulated. To minimise hazards there needs to be a high adult to child ratio. Children need opportunities to explore and do so independently. Over the last decade, the childs freedom of choice has been limited. Adult carers are sometimes over anxious about letting the child experiment with risk taking. The procedures and guidelines that are in place give the adult carer a frame work on which to base their activities upon. The adult carer should exploit and become fluent in the procedures and guidelines in place. This in turn will provide groundwork for safe risk taking. Bibliography Smith, P., Cowie, H. Blades, M. (2003) Understanding Childrens Development, London: Blackwell Publishing.  Bruce, T. Meggitt, C. (2002) Childcare Education, London: Hodder Stoughton.  DfEE (2003) Early Years (Volume 23, Number 1), London: Taylor Francis

Background and history of intelligence testing

Background and history of intelligence testing The first intelligence test to be administered was in France in 1905 by Alfred Binet and Theophile Simon. The purpose of the first intelligence test was to identify mentally deficient children in French public Schools (Franklin 2007). Henry Goddard followed and, translated the intelligence test in 1910, and administered it to what he believed were four hundred children who lacked intellectuality and following year the number of students increased to two thousand white children considered normal. (Franklin 2007). In 1911 Goddard was to produce a range of scores that was to be compared to urban, native born foreign born, and others. Suggesting that children cannot learn beyond the scope of their grade of intelligence and was the first to suggest that intelligence tests measured the how much a child was capable of learning at a chronological age (Franklin 2007). Since these tests, an array of intelligence test has been administered to people in attempts to measure a person cognitive abi lity. Assessing students abilities through intelligence testing has questioned of the appropriateness of psychometric measures in regards to reliability and validity. Reliability regarding relies on consistency. For a test to be able to show consistency, error variance must be minimized. Test construction, test administration and test scoring and interpretation are the main three areas of error variance that can affect reliability (Cohen and Swerdilk 2010). It was argued , Simon Binets test needed to be revised in 1937 because the test originally administered in 1917 showed tasks not always as well chosen s those for ages from six to twelve and that upon retesting black students social scientist had shown that black students had received a higher intelligence score(Franklin 2007) . Regarding validity, in the early 1920s black social scientists debated what intelligence testing was measuring. Validity should be psychometrically sound to avoid test bias. Howard Longs research shows the Armys Alpha and Beta test yielded results that were greater in variation of individuals and groups within races than between races (Franklin 2007). Bond a director of Education at Langston University in Oklahoma also agreed explaining that the army intelligence score were a reflection of social and environmental impacts rather than innate intellectual abilities of those tested (Franklin 2007). The Brisbane Catholic Education, concentrated on refugees that seemed to be misrepresented as having an intellectual disability. The argument is that the validity of standardized cognitive tests is not able to measure peoples intelligence from a different background and implying that psychometric instruments had not yet been developed in their country (Fraine and Mcdade). Tests that were stan dardized to certain background schooling experience, level and quality of education and conceptions of behavior test taking experience would affect certain groups if taken the intelligence test(Fraine and Mcdade). There has been problem in intelligence testing and psychometric properties in relation to non- linguistics intelligence testing. In a study results show that although the Ravens Progressive Matrices is supposed to be a culture fair IQ test people from English speaking backgrounds did much better scoring 96.71 that people from Zimbabwean sample that scored 72.36 (Shuttleworth-Edwards, Kemp, Rust, Muirhead, Hartman, and Radloff 2004). Fairness is also a concern when a person takes an intelligence test. Controlling reliability and validity of a intelligence test shows a sound measurement, fairness aims at explaining the test and if it is used in a justifiable way. African refugees have been described as intellectually disable upon Australian schools. The Brisbane Catholic Education in Australia believes refugees from African backgrounds are labeled intellectually disabled upon completing intelligence test and other assessment of consideration such language barriers, culture difference acculturation trauma and previous experiences make it harder for psychologists to assess whether an African American is genuinely intellectually disabled(Fraine and Mcdade). Similar findings displayed that social conditions and low-test scores were highly correlated when measuring mental ability (Franklin 2007). When testing non -linguistic most children scored in the normal range, however these children were black and placed in a sch ool that separated white children from black children (Franklin 2007). The aim of this study is to check for sound psychometric measurements and culture bias when comparing different groups and the intelligence test taken. It is hypothesized that The PSYGAT will show good internal consistency and validity when tested against the Queendom Verbal. It is hypothesizes that the PSYGAT will show low when tested against the culture fair test. The Queendom tests are a verbal and a culture fair IQ test that are believed to have psychometric properties. The PSYGAT is a intelligence verbal test that was created by third year undergraduate psychology students. The PSYGAT was correlated well with the ACER AL a test that was designed by the Australian Council for Education for testing verbal abilities. Method Participants The sample consisted of three hundred and thirty seven undergraduate psychology students recruited from Monash University. Participants were recruited from campuses located at Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Clayton, and Caulfield. Participants were split into English speaking background and non-English speaking backgrounds. There were two hundred and sixty females and sixty-eight males. Two hundred and forty four participants were from an English Speaking background and ninety-three participants were from a Non English Speaking background. Materials Participants engaged in taking three intelligence tests. The tests were to be taken in their own time under no supervision. Participants used the computer to complete the three intelligence tests. Just before beginning the PSYGAT intelligence test a questionnaire asked the participants of the sex age and whether they were from an English or non- English speaking background. All participants results would be analyzed at a later stage regarding item analysis. Procedure Undergraduate monash psychology students were asked to complete three intelligence tests that would be administered via computer. Firstly, every participant found access to a computer to participate in the first intelligence test. The first test that was taken was the Queendom Verbal IQ test. Participants attempted the three tests it in their own time and were told that the test should take them approximately 30-35 minutes to complete. After Participants finished the test, they were asked to make sure to keep a track of their score, as they needed the results for later purposes. The second test was the Queendom Culture Fair IQ test. The test involved answering 20 items that participants were told there was no time limits on this test. After completion of this test, participants kept a record of their score. The third test was the PSYGAT. The PSYGAT was a verbal test constructed by third year undergraduate students. Participants were also asked to complete this test as the third and l ast test. Before beginning, the test participants were asked to enter the scores of the Queendom verbal and Queendom culture fair IQ test before continuing to be tested on the PSYGAT verbal IQ test. The test also asked participants of their age and gender and if they were of English or from a Non English background. Results Pearsons r investigated the relationship between the PSYGAT test, Queendom verbal IQ and the Queendom culture fair IQ for English and non-English speaking backgrounds. Pearsons r showed that that there was a significant result according to the relationship of the PSYGAT and Queendom verbal in both the English speaking background group ,r=.433,n=244,p0.05 but a small significant relationship between the PSYGAT and the Queendom culture fair for the non English speaking background group , r=.238,n 93,p0.05. Z scores were also used to determine if there was a significant difference in validity coefficients between the two groups regarding the PSYGAT and Queendom verbal and the PSYGAT and culture fair IQ. Pearsons r-values were transformed into Z scores to determine a statistical significance of the correlations between groups. Pearsons r-values were also transformed into z scores because of participant difference for each group. Results show that there was not a statistical significant d ifference in validity coefficients between the English and non English speaking background of the correlation between the PSYGAT and the Queendom verbal IQ z=-1.39,p>0.05. However a large statistical significance was shown in the correlation between the PSYGAT and the culture fair IQ z=3.73, p> 0.05. Discussion The aim of this study was to check for sound psychometric measurments and culture bias when comparing different groups and the intelligence test taken. It was hypothesized that the PSYGAT and the Queendom verbal would show no statistical significance in validity coefficients between the English speaking groups and non-English speaking groups. It was also hypothesized that there would be a statistical significance in validity coefficient between the PSYGAT verbal and the Queendom culture fair. The study showed that there was weak validity regarding the PSYGAT and Culture Fair IQ tests. Although there was The results of the study-undertaken reveal that intelligence tests can show bias of different groups. These biases from this study can be related to lack of understanding cultural backgrounds as well as using relevant psychometric measures, which can be linked to low validity in intelligence tests. Bonds argument that social and environmental differences in groups can affect test scores are may suggest similarities within this study in regards to the social setting and environment of participants that took the test. The Intelligence and School Achievement of Negro Children also showed that social conditions were highly correlated with low-test score (Franklin 2007). The results from this study show a significant statistical result between groups for the PSYGAT and culture fair test suggesting that social and environmental differences upon taking the test could have caused bias. In addition, The Brisbane Catholic Education argues that psychologists assessing refugees for intellectual abilities may show bias in their assessment due to lack of proper interpretation (Fraine and Mcdade). That is background-schooling experience, level and quality of education and conceptions of behavior test taking experience can reduce a test score for a certain type of group (Fraine and Mcdade). Th is Study could have affected one group more than another because of such factors. Suggestion of having psychometric instruments that can measure intelligence scores for different types of groups should also be developed in both countries to reduce bias in regards to cultural differences. In this case, Intelligence tests need to have psychometric properties that can be valid for analyzing score between different groups Cohen and Swerdilk 2010). Similar findings were found when people from English speaking background and non-English speaking backgrounds were tested on their IQ. Results show that although the Ravens Progressive Matrices is supposed to be a culture fair IQ test people from English speaking backgrounds did much better scoring 96.71 that people from Zimbabwean sample that scored 72.36 (Shuttleworth-Edwards, Kemp, Rust, Muirhead, Hartman, and Radloff 2004). Zindi also suggests that lack of westernized test sophistication may be the cause for lower scores (Shuttleworth-Edwards, Kemp, Rust, Muirhead, Hartman, and Radloff 2004). This study may have contribu ted to some cultural bias in regards to scores because of one of the test may not have been up to standards in regards to psychometric measures regarding content validity. The limitations in this study could have affected the results. Firstly, the way the three tests were administered could have yielded different intelligence scores for both the groups. Supervising the test takers making sure that the tests were taken without any aid of books or other people could change the results, which could have yielded different interpretation of the validity of the tests. In addition, although there was good internal reliability between the groups the large difference in participants could have changed the chronbachs alpha to either a higher or a lower value. Participant range could have also affected the statistical difference between the groups when assessing the PSYGAT and culture fair IQ component of the study. In addition item analyses should also be investigated to check whether the items begin tested are fair to all participants taking the intelligence test. That is one question could portray more than one meaning to different participants taking the test . Cole suggests item analyses is a difficult task because one must ensure that the item being used is relevant in construct therefore affecting bias (Cole 1989).

Macbeth is a Victim in Shakespeares Macbeth :: essays research papers

Victims are the unfortunate people who suffer from disadvantageous circumstances in their lives. They can also be perceived as those who are sacrificed, supposedly for the greater good of others, in an effort to restore the natural order of the world. This is what has become of the character Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Macbeth has become a victim of the women he encounters, such as his wife Lady Macbeth, and the witches who seek him out to use for their fiendish purposes. The Thanes Lennox, Ross and Angus forsake and desert him in his time of need, leaving him victim to the English army and the Scotsmen who have betrayed him. Macbeth's most trusted friend Banquo shows signs that he will deceive the new King of Scotland, leaving him with who to trust? Not even chance will soothe Macbeth's victimization as it too leads him through Hell and back before he meets his ultimate demise. Most of all, Macbeth is a victim to himself as his brutality and single-mindedness incite hi m to the utter destruction of the MacDuff family. Macbeth's deception leaves him in a state of vulnerability and alienation caused by almost everyone he comes into contact with. Women throughout history have plagued men in an attempt to gain pleasure and power for their own nefarious schemes. The idea of women being deceivers is first brought about in the first book of the Catholic Bible in the story of Adam and Eve: She took the fruit there of and she did eat it, and she gave it to her husband.?(Genesis 3.6) Even from the beginning of time, according to the Bible, men have been beguiled by woman kind?s clever traps which lead men to make careless decisions. If it were not for the women Macbeth comes into +contact with, he would have never been able to formulate a plot to kill Duncan which is the exact incident that sets his life into chaos in the first place. The witches, upon plotting to attack a sailor say that he ?shall sleep neither night nor day / Hang upon his penthouse lid / He shall live a man forbid.? (I.iii.18-20) Although they are not talking about Macbeth directly, the witches? prophecy causes Macbeth to kill Duncan at which point he hears a voice say Macbeth shall sleep no more. This line foreshadows the witches? malicious intents for Macbeth and how they plan on torturing his subconscious mind in the future.

Aging and Disability Worksheet Essay

Part I Identify 2 or 3 issues faced by the aging population. 1.Employment discrimination 2. Poverty 3. Inadequate care Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. †¢What is ageism? How does ageism influence the presence of diversity in society? According to Schaefer (2012), ageism is a term which refers to prejudice and discrimination against the elderly. â€Å"Ageism reflects a deep uneasiness among young and middle-aged people about growing old† (Schaefer, 2012, p. 395). Our society looks to youthfulness as successfulness; therefore, the elderly threaten those who want to be young and successful; thus influencing diversity in society. The elderly are seen as unessential, unneeded, and a constant reminder we one day will be old as well. So we shy away from associating with the elderly; so we do not have a constant reminder of our own ageing and immortality. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. †¢What is the Age Discriminitation in Employment Act (ADEA)? How does the ADEA address issues for the aging population? â€Å"The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) which went into effect in 1968, was passed to protect workers 40 years of age or older from being fired because of their age and replaced with younger workers who  presumably would receive lower salaries† (Schaefer, 2012, p. 396). The ADEA provides a resource when there are suspicions of age discrimination in the workplace when it comes to hiring or not promoting or training ageing workers. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. †¢What is being done to address the issues you identified? Many companies have been taken to court and charged with violating the ADEA. â€Å"According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, between 1999 and 2004, complaints of age discrimination rose more than 41 percent† (Schaefer, 2012, p. 396). Some studies suggest older workers are more of an asset to their employers, are absent less often and are more effective salespeople than their younger co-workers; therefore, diminishing the stereotype of the older employee is a less valuable employee. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. †¢Is the number of aging population expected to rise in numbers or decrease? The aging population is expected to increase significantly will into the twenty-first century. With the decline in mortality rates and the baby boomer generation aging the â€Å"proportion over age 65 increases from less than on in 10 in 1960 to almost one in four by 2050† (Schaefer, 2012, p. 395) Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. †¢What types of legislation may or may not be affected by the aging population? The ADEA is one type of legislation which has affected the aging population;  ensuring they have recourse if discriminated against in the workplace. Today the Affordable Care Act will affect the aging population; however, to what extent is still uncertain at this time. Legislation which concerns pension provisions is another area which will directly affect the ageing population. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. †¢How does poverty affect the aging population? â€Å"The aged who are most likely to experience poverty are the same people more likely to be poor earlier in their lives; female-headed households and racial and ethnic minorities. Although overall the aged are doing well economical, poverty remains a particularly difficult problem for the thousands of older adults who are impoverished annually by paying for long-term medical care† (Schaefer, 2012, p. 397). Will the Affordable Care Act ease the burden faced by the elderly who are impoverished by debilitating long-term diseases? Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Part II Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. †¢What does the ADA provide for people with disabilities? The ADA â€Å"prohibits bias in employment, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications against people with disabilities† (Schaefer, 2012, p. 401). The ADA is considered the most sweeping antidiscrimination legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964; thus, ensuring people with disabilities are no longer discriminated against. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall †¢How have people with disabilities been treated in the past? People with disabilities have been discriminated against in the past, unable to easily use public transportation, unable to easily enter public buildings, and basically treated as second class citizens. The Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted to level the playing field so to speak. Making the once inaccessible areas or participating life activities easier for them to maneuver. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall †¢How has the attitude toward people with disabilities changed over time? Attitudes towards people with disabilities have changes significantly over time. Those who were once shipped off to intuitions are now productive members of society. Many groups across the United States sprang up utilizing this demographic in meaningful employment positions. In my community we have a group who work with the disabled from collecting sensitive materials for shredding, managing thrift shops, to years ago sewing the scarfs Elvis Presley used while preforming. Today the opportunities for those with disabilities have come a long way; however, the fight is not over, there is still more work to be done to ensure equality for all. Reference: Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic groups (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall †¢What are some unique circumstances or issues encountered by people with disabilities? There are numerous circumstances or issues encountered by people with disabilities daily. The sheer task of accomplishing anything seems  insurmountable. Those with physical disabilities must depend on the help of others to simply exist let alone pursue a meaningful life. Public transportation can be difficult; sidewalks were not always wheelchair friendly, handicapped parking was non-existent which makes it extremely difficult to live. What about the being looked at as abnormal, those with disabilities must endure tremendous amounts of awkward moments daily from those who are not disabled. †¢What is being done to address those issues? The ADA has brought awareness to the plight of those with both mental and physical disabilities by ensuring there is no discrimination against this group. However I believe awareness is another step to address the prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities. We must be able to look past a person’s disabilities to see the true person they are, and not label them for their disability. †¢What types of legislation have been introduced to address issues faced by people with disabilities? The American’s with Disabilities Act is the most notable legislation address issues faced by people with disabilities. What type of legislation will the future hold? I believe the ADA has address all the concerns for this demographic; however, in the future there may be some revisions to the interpretation of the legislation ensuring everyone with disabilities is serviced fully.

s The Knight And The Squire

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is about twenty-nine pilgrims who join Chaucer on a pilgrimage to Canterbury to the shrine of Saint Thomas A. Becket. Two of the people on the journey are the Knight and the Squire. Although the Knight is the Squire’s father, their personalities, appearances, and reasons for going on the pilgrimage are completely opposite. The Knight is â€Å"a most distinguished man.† He fought and won many battles. His chivalry motivated him to do the best that he possibly could. On the other hand, the Squire had not been in many battles. He was not concerned with chivalry, but was more concerned with how this quality would make him look. He was more interested in impressing women than fighting. Along with their different feelings about knighthood, the two also differed in appearances. The Knight dressed humbly in a simple tunic which was â€Å"stained and dark† from battle. However, the Squire’s clothes were extravagant, and he had â€Å"locks as curly as if they had been pressed.† He spent the majority of his time on his appearance. Another difference in the two is their reasons for going on the pilgrimage. The Knight was on the pilgrimage for religious reasons and to â€Å"render thanks.† As much as this journey was religious to the Knight, to the Squire it was completely opposite. The Squire saw this pilgrimage as basically a vacation. Despite the fact that they are father and son, the Knight and the Squire are truly separate individuals. The Knight is modest and whole-hearted, whereas the Squire is cocky and self-centered. While the Knight is perfect and whole-hearted, the Squire is extremely hypocritical.... 's The Knight And The Squire Free Essays on Thje Canterbury Tale\'s The Knight And The Squire Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is about twenty-nine pilgrims who join Chaucer on a pilgrimage to Canterbury to the shrine of Saint Thomas A. Becket. Two of the people on the journey are the Knight and the Squire. Although the Knight is the Squire’s father, their personalities, appearances, and reasons for going on the pilgrimage are completely opposite. The Knight is â€Å"a most distinguished man.† He fought and won many battles. His chivalry motivated him to do the best that he possibly could. On the other hand, the Squire had not been in many battles. He was not concerned with chivalry, but was more concerned with how this quality would make him look. He was more interested in impressing women than fighting. Along with their different feelings about knighthood, the two also differed in appearances. The Knight dressed humbly in a simple tunic which was â€Å"stained and dark† from battle. However, the Squire’s clothes were extravagant, and he had â€Å"locks as curly as if they had been pressed.† He spent the majority of his time on his appearance. Another difference in the two is their reasons for going on the pilgrimage. The Knight was on the pilgrimage for religious reasons and to â€Å"render thanks.† As much as this journey was religious to the Knight, to the Squire it was completely opposite. The Squire saw this pilgrimage as basically a vacation. Despite the fact that they are father and son, the Knight and the Squire are truly separate individuals. The Knight is modest and whole-hearted, whereas the Squire is cocky and self-centered. While the Knight is perfect and whole-hearted, the Squire is extremely hypocritical....

Discuss how the film Schindlers List

Discuss how the film Schindlers List has effectively shaped your understanding of the meaning of aggression. Schindlers List, directed by Steven Spielberg is a probing film, which endeavours to show us the true meaning of aggression. There are many forms of aggression portrayed in this film: physical, psychological, abuse of power, and passive aggression. Spielberg chose to demonstrate these forms, in most cases, quite graphically, and some others in a subtly disturbing manner. Physical aggression is the most commonly depicted mode throughout the film. Physical aggression is, for the most part, equal to physical abuse. This can have serious effects upon a persons life. For example, it could leave their appearance significantly altered, thereby affecting the way they view themselves probably in a negative way. An example of physical aggression in Schindlers List would be the scene in which the womens hair is cut off at the Auschwitz camp. In this scene, the Jewish women are stripped of even their most basic feminine possession, a dehumanising act. The overbearing sounds of snipping scissors covers any minute murmuring to be heard. In our community, there are many couples existing where one partner physically abuses the other. That person can be cut, burned, or simply battered and bruised so badly that their physical appearance can be altered. This can leave a person with absolutely no self-esteem, making them feel worthless and unwanted. The form of physical aggression is definitely the most detrimental to a persons body and can even result in the extreme of the victims death. Schindlers List showed this form of aggression many times: each scene putting into perspective how much physical aggression can seriously break an individuals spirit. Psychological aggression is the next most common form portrayed in the film. Often teamed with physical aggression, it is ve...

Case Study - Sources of International Law, Non-binding agreements Treaties The WritePass Journal

Case Study - Sources of International Law, Non-binding agreements Treaties Abstract Case Study Sources of International Law, Non-binding agreements Treaties : 75). Nevertheless, the parties to the agreement must intend for it to be binding at international law (Villiger, 1985: 35). This does appear to be the case given that the agreement contains a unilateral Statement because as was confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Australia v France, New Zealand v France 1974 ICJ Rep 253;  unilateral statements of States are legally binding in appropriate circumstances. The legal status of this agreement is that it is therefore a Treaty and legally binding. As such, Iran will no longer be sanctioned for developing a nuclear programme, which they claim to be for peaceful purposes. Are Resolutions of the SC sources of International Law/Binding? Resolutions of the SC generally have binding effect; Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding SC Resolution 276 (1970) Advisory Opinion of 21 June 1971, although there has been some focus by the ICJ on their other effects, such as authorising effect and (dis)empowering effect (Basak, 1969: 385). The effect of the resolution will, nonetheless, depend entirely on its type . This is because a SC resolution may either be a recommendation or a decision, which are not clearly defined in the Charter. As a result, it is often difficult to determine the legal effects of such resolutions (Johnson, 1955: 107), however the Court generally refers to binding resolutions as decisions and non-binding resolutions as recommendations; Certain Expenses of the United Nations (Article 17, Paragraph 2 of the Charter) [1962] ICJ Rep 151, at 163. SC resolutions resolution are binding if they create obligations on its recipients and if they are made under Chapter VII (Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace and Acts of Agression). Since the Joint Action Plan agreement imposes obligations on its State parties and contains a threat to the peace, it is likely that this will again render it a binding resolution. However, it has been pointed out by Hollis that the agreement is not binding on the basis that it implies something aspirational rather than required.(Hollis, 2013: 1). This is evident from the wording; The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran’s nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful (Geneva, 2014: 1). Therefore, whilst it seems that the agreement is a legally binding resolution, the fact that only recommendations are being made may suggest that it is not and sceptics have   argued that the plan is just a false front for the Iranians in order to have sanctions lifted (Midwest Diplomacy, 2013: 1). Therefore, although SC sources of international law are binding, it has been questioned whether Iran should be provided with the ability to develop their nuclear programme even further as this could have disastrous effects (Zand, 2014: 1). In case of conflict between this agreement and previous SC Resolutions which one should prevail? The determination as to whether SC decisions possess an overriding binding effect will be determined on a case by case basis. However, it is usually the case that SC recommendations will not have an overriding binding effect; Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention Arising from the Aeriel Incident at Lockerbie (Libya v UK) Preliminary Objection [1998] ICJ Rep 9, at 26,   whilst SC decisions will; Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations [1949] ICJ Rep 174. Therefore, if the Joint Action Plan is merely a recommendation then this will not be binding and will therefore   not prevail over previous SC Resolutions. If the agreement is a decision, however, then it will be prevail as it will have a binding effect. In Lockbie, Provisional Measures [1992] ICJ Rep 3 it was held by the ICJ that pre-empting obligations that flow from traditional sources of international law can be overridden by the normative powers of the SC in order to ensure that peace and security is maintained, yet the binding effect of resolutions will depend on their language, the discussions leading up to it and the provisions of the Charter being invoked (Oberg, 2005: 879). In Application for Review of Judgment no. 273 of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal (‘Mortished affair’) [1982] ICJ Rep 325 Resolution 34/165 reversed the prior decision in Resolution 33/119 in order to avoid two incompatible legal effects co-existing. Therefore, because SC Resolutions 1696 (2006) of 21 July 2006 and 1737 (2006) of 26 December 2006 will be incompatible with the new agreement, they may be reversed if the new agreement has an overriding binding effect. This is highly beneficial for Iran since they deemed the previous resolutions unfair on the basis that they had received different treatment to other States. Comment on the parties of this agreement. What does it say about the equality of States in practice? The doctrine of equality of States covers both legal equality and political equality. Legal equality deals with the legal relations that exist between States, whilst political equality deals with the distribution of economic and military power between States. Because Iran appears to have been given exceptional powers under the new agreement, it is likely that these new powers will be considered contrary to this principle. This is because Iran is effectively being given additional powers to control its nuclear program and is also being protected from any sanctions imposed   by other States. As the doctrine   seeks to ensure that all States are treated equally under international law, States ought to have the same rights and responsibilities as each other (Kelsen, 1952: 156). As this is not being effectuated under this agreement, it is clear that this principle is being contravened. Nevertheless, there is an exception to the doctrine in cases where there has been a breach of the pe ace or an act of aggression that threatened international peace and security. Therefore, because Iran has stated that they aimed to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, the violation of this doctrine will be permitted (Nahar, 2005: 1). This agreement thereby illustrates that the equality of States doctrine may not actually be workable in practice since the doctrine may be contravened if the aim is to maintain international peace and security. Conclusion Overall, it appears as though Irans agreement with the SC and Germany is a Treaty and will therefore have binding effect. This is because the agreement has been made purely to maintain peace and security. Although Irans activities have been met with some suspicion over the years, they have continued to state that the peaceful nature of their activities merely aimed to develop nuclear energy. As this agreement does appear to be a Treaty, it is likely that it will be capable of prevailing over previous SC resolutions. This is welcoming for Iran who were subjected to unfairness as a result of resolutions 1696 and 1737, although   not all would agree with this decision. Hence, many would argued that the agreement conflicts with the equality of States doctrine. Nevertheless, because Iran have stated that they are acting in the interests of national security,  the doctrine will be capable of being breached. Accordingly, the Doctrine is therefore not always workable and in this instance , Iran are being treated more favourably than other States. References Basak, A. (1969) Decisions of the United Nations Organs in Judgements and Opinions of the International Court of Justice; Thierry, Resolutions of international bodies in the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, Collected Courses, Volume 167. Johnson, A. (1955) ‘The Effect of Resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations’, 32 British Year Book of International Law 97. Dixon, M. (2007) Textbook on International Law, London, Oxford University Press. Geneva. (2013) Joint Plan of Action [Online], Available: http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/d0fa3682-5523-11e3-86bc-00144feabdc0.pdf [15 January, 2014]. Fitzmaurice, M. and Elias, O. A. (2005) Contemporary Issues in the Law of Treaties, Netherlands, Eleven International Publishing. Hollis, D. B. (2012) The Oxford Guide to Treaties, London, Oxford University Press. Hollis, D. B. (2013) The New Iran Deal Doesn’t Look Legally Binding. Does It Matter? Opinio Juris, [Online], Available: http://opiniojuris.org/2013/11/24/new-us-iran-deal-doesnt-look-legally-binding-matter/ [14 January 2014]. Kelsen, H. (1952) Principles of International Law, London, The Lawbook Exchange. Kerr, P. K. (2013) Irans Nuclear Program: Tehrans Compliance with International Obligations Congressional Research Service, CRS Report, R40094. Oberg, M. D. (2005) The Legal Effects of Resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly in the Jurisprudence of the ICJ European Journal of International Law, Volume 16, Issue 5. Midwest Diplomacy. (2013) Understanding Iran and the Nuclear Joint Plan of Action [Online], Available: http://egiuliani.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/understanding-iran-and-the-nuclear-joint-plan-of-action/ [14 January 2014]. Nahar, S. (2005) Sovereign Equality Principle in International Law [Online], Available: globalpolitician.com/print.asp?id=4351 [14 January 2014]. (1968) Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Multilateral, [Online], Available: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20729/volume-729-I-10485-English.pdf [13 January, 2014]. Villiger, M. E. (1985) Customary International Law and Treaties: A Study of their interactions and interrelations, with special consideration of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, BRILL.   Ã‚   Zand, L. (2014) Organisations Warn Senate Against New Iran Sanctions Fellowship of Reconciliation, [Online], Available: http://forusa.org/blogs/leila-zand/62-organizations-warn-senate-against-new-iran-sanctions/12813 [20 January, 2014].

Provisional Measures Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Provisional Measures - Assignment Example Provisional measures in international arbitration can be dictated for the purpose of: a) Preserving the legitimate rights of the requesting party before the decision on the merits of the case (Interim Award ICC 8786). b) Ensuring the security of amount incurred in dispute in the arbitration process. c) To preserve or inspect any property that relates to rage dispute in the arbitration process. d) Provisional injection of a receiver. e) Any other provisional measure that the Court deem otherwise. Ordering a party to provide security (Charles Construction Co v Derderiamn). Question 24 In cases of urgency, the arbitral tribunal may, upon application of a party, order provisional measure, as it deem necessary. Such normally happens when preservation of evidence or assets is the primary goal. Ideally, arbitral tribunal has such provision to prevent other courts from supping the powers of arbitral teams. Lastly, tribunal always consults with parties before ordering interim measures but sometimes they may not if parties fail to agree. Question 25 a) In the Van Uden Case of 1998, European Court had to determine whether the provisional measure was necessary for Brussels Convention while arbitration was pending in Netherlands. b) Yes. The statement is relevant because it provides a platform that discourages courts from supping the powers of the arbitral tribunal, an occurrence that can significantly influence the outcome of the arbitration process. In other words, the courts can only issue provisional measures when the tribunal cannot do so.

Evolution of Modern Corporate Marketing Departments Essay

Evolution of Modern Corporate Marketing Departments - Essay Example In other words, we can say that last year at least, these top companies did a good job of marketing. â€Å"Marketing is so basic that it is not just enough to have a strong sales department and entrust marketing to it. Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise† (p. 36). Drucker predated Levitt (1960) in defining how the marketing function involves understanding and anticipating future customer needs while satisfying today’s customers who determine what a business is, what they consider â€Å"value† for which they are willing to pay the right price, and what the business should produce. In the over half a century since, marketing has evolved to be a highly, if not the most, important component of running a business successfully. Every profitable and sustainable business, from small enterprises to charities, has a marketing component tasked with finding out what sells (Gummesson, 2002). The American Marketing Association (AMA, 2004) defines marketing as â€Å"an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.† That most of the companies in the Fortune 500 list (though some like GM decreased their revenues and suffered a $10 billion loss) were able to sell products and services profitably showed that the organizational function of marketing delivered on its promise, helped the business fulfill its purpose, and satisfied its stakeholders. Higher record sales and

Medicare Value Based Purchasing Program Research Paper

Medicare Value Based Purchasing Program - Research Paper Example The implementation of separate value based purchasing programs for each of the different Medicare providers requires more than just trumpeting the program. The program has different payment levels and efficiency measuring strategies for hospitals, physicians and other practitioners, home health agencies, ESRD providers and facilities, and skilled nursing facilities. (Reichard 2009). The Policy: The Medicare Value based purchasing programs have been formulated in an effort to facilitate the transformation of the Medicare system from a passive payer of claims to an active purchaser of care. The operational infrastructure of RHQDAPU as established by the CMS has been used as a base for the development of Medicare Value based purchasing programs which includes the following provisions: i. As specified by the President’s FY2006 and FY2007 budgets, the value based purchasing programs are budget neutral and are formulated in accordance with the policy recommendations of Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). ii. The existing Medicare performance measurements and reporting infrastructure together with RHQDAPU components have been used as a foundation for the structure of Value Based Purchasing Programs. iii. ... In accordance with the provisions of Patient Protection and Affordable Car Act of 2010, the data collected in the initial year would be utilized in informing the concerned medical individuals about their incentive payments. v. The implementation and coordination of VBP program would be undertaken by CMS, which will also monitor the effectiveness of the program through consensus processes such as Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), National Quality Forum (NQF), and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). vi. The reporting requirements specified in Division B, Title 1, Section 109 of Tax Relief and Healthcare Act will be utilized by VBP programs for the measurement of performance and the calculation of incentive payments. vii. The VBP programs will undertake the responsibility of eliminating existing disparities in the health care system. The enforcement of the Value based purchasing programs would not be undertaken without the consent of the concerned m edical personnel. viii. A withholding up to 2% of total payments pertaining to specific Medicare providers would be utilized in the evaluation of the incentive pool. All funds collected under the value based purchasing programs will be offered as incentive payments to the eligible participants will not be changed over time. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2007). Models of VPB Programs: The value based purchasing programs are composed of three models which are listed as follows: Model 1: Single Large Purchaser: This involves a large active Medicare supplier which is working collaboratively with other suppliers. If reward incentives are targeted at these individuals then inevitably the overall performance of the health care system as a whole will

Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian - Essay Example The novel can be called a â€Å"historical novel† without the aura of historical fiction, and not an â€Å"escapist Western† as it chronicles the expeditions of Glanton’s paramilitary gang sent out by both the Mexican and Texan authorities to murder and scalp as many Apaches as possible. Further encouraged by the bounty offered by a Mexican governor for Indian scalps, the Glanton gang takes to scalp hunting Apaches with a vengeance. However, this is not just a case of bloodthirsty whites slaughtering noble savages: the Apaches themselves commit horrendous atrocities of their own. Most of the action in the novel centers around Judge Holden, a massive 7-foot albino who towers over everyone else, yet seems pre-pubescent because of his total lack of hair and small hands and feet. (â€Å"He was bald as a stone and had no trace of beard and had no brows to his eyes nor lashes to them† {McCarthy 6}). Judge Holden manages to manipulate everyone with whom he comes into contact (even Glanton), and easily turns situations to his advantage. The Judge’s physical characteristics are used as comparison with other characters such as the Kid (the Kid is not big, but he has big wrists and hands {McCarthy 4} – unlike the Judge’s small hands) and the dead babies that the Kid finds, who â€Å"stare eyeless at the naked sky. Bald and pale and bloated†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy 57): a comparison with the Judge, who is bald and pale (being an albino). Judge Holden is a mystery from his very first appearance in the novel and remains so until the very end, when he is one of the few characters surviving. One mysterious aspect is his uncanny ability to move from place to place so swiftly and eerily that it seems he is in fact not one, but two persons (e.g. he escapes from the riot in Reverend Green’s tent to a salon where he is completely dry, even though it is heavily raining outside). His seeming â€Å"double

Art History Course Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art History Course - Assignment Example The study started with the in-depth analysis of the religions Islam, Christianity and Jewish relating them with the perceptions of East and West, referring to the texts by Jonathan Berkey, Maria Rosa Menocal, Nasser Rabbat, Jerilynn Dodds, Oleg Grabar, Rachel Milstein, William Tronzo, Annabel Jane Wharton and the likes. The referential books related to us the vibrant architectural and artifacts history of Islam, Christianity and other faiths; highlighting various central monuments and respective religious to political institutions and philosophical traditions based on economic networks, commodities and geographical stipulations. The chosen study areas based on geographical settings were the Levant where the age of the Crusades witness the Ayyubid metalwork and glassware elaborated by evident Christian iconography, in Asia Minor Armenian-Byzantine masons and artists working for Seljuk and Ottoman courts were observed, Egypt's religious and political learning delineate the Courtly Arts, representation of conduct and utilization and trade of Fatimid's. As the course progressed we were directed to Spain studying the Mudejar style synagogues and churches created by the Muslim masons and architects for Jewish and Christian patrons and the Iberian Peninsulas acknowledging the culture of Tolerance, the Golden Age of Judaism, the relation and conflicts among Christianity and Islam. The research work on regions such as Southern Italy, Norman Sicily where we interpreted a universal "language of luxury" that was intentionally created by ruling heads as well as the illustration on the tri-lingual artistic customs of the Norman, Islamic, and Byzantine civilizations. Greece cultivated in our minds the more elaborate architecture constitutions, the convoluted philosophical and religious interaction. Their individual sermons and preaching outlining the concept of their faith and believes were discussed in detail helping us to understand the encounters among such entities. These comprehensive readings enlighten the art history students on the subject of medieval Mediterranean era as the communal stage of artisans made richer by the interaction of the East and West, bearing in mind the socio-religious divergence among them all. Communication whether resultant of warfare or peaceful affability created that shared world of art and culture; the individualistic beliefs and skills can be manifested from each study. Thus regarding this, both the regions can be deemed as individually accomplished of structural design and rich customs. Class Critique: Keeping in view the purpose and high level design of the course, it comprised of a small group with classes held twice a week. This ensured that each theme based lecture and presentation helps the students to actually breathe in the medieval times of contrasting religions and beliefs. The lectures were conducted through related images and highly structured lectures on them. However I feel that printed handouts of the lectures or its important points would help students to understand the reading in a more efficient way. Each student was encouraged to conduct presentations and discussions

Political Parties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Parties - Essay Example As we may notice, Republicans and Democrats seem to uphold comparable ideals when the interest of the American population as a whole is concerned, only that they do not share the same opinion as to who are most appropriate to be bestowed the right of governance. Upon declaration of the winning candidates in an election, cries of deception are hardly evident unlike in some countries where political parties exist in multitude and demonstrate hostility against one another. There is more assurance to a majority consensus given the fact that there are only two options available and a â€Å"clear-cut choice between groups standing for opposing policies.†4 If there are other parties, then elected officials do not necessarily get majority of the votes; thus, what came about is not to be considered national unity. Another reason that gives favor to the two-party competition lies in the conviction that it is â€Å"the simplest and likeliest way to have an effective democratic governmen t.†5 In a country that upholds democracy, all citizens are granted equal share in the decisions that affect their lives. There is no point making a choice when there is no sufficient information to serve as a common ground. In the presence of many prospective governing groups, people can have a hard time monitoring qualifications, performances, and credibility among aspects that must be look into before a ballot is filled out. In a country as large and varied as the United States, a multi-party system would be likely to produce paralysis of government at the national level.†6 Similarly, the ruling party is openly held accountable for overseeing the government7; that should incumbent officials fail in their undertakings or rather fall short of expectations, they are bound to devise approaches that can ameliorate the situation. In this case, it is safe to assume that the general welfare is put on top priority and corruption, although not completely brought to an end, is at least kept to a minimal degree. People will simply go the other direction in the instance of dissatisfaction, and this is what the party in power works hard to avoid. The other party serving as its critic is compelled to instigate remonstrations when dishonesty in the service is observed. They keep a watchful eye on proceedings that do not coincide with the constitutional provisions, and needless to say, hope for a better political standing in the future. In result, power is dispersed accordingly, and any attempt to replace the democratic structure of the government is constantly impeded. The absence of monarchists and Marxists as real choices in most American elections seems an acceptable price for the advantages of the two-party system.†8 The United States is a country of liberalism—a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. A form of power that is vested upon a single person by birthright9, and the principle that actions and human institutions ar e economically determined10 will only lead to insurrections from the citizens who believe that

Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian - Essay Example The novel can be called a â€Å"historical novel† without the aura of historical fiction, and not an â€Å"escapist Western† as it chronicles the expeditions of Glanton’s paramilitary gang sent out by both the Mexican and Texan authorities to murder and scalp as many Apaches as possible. Further encouraged by the bounty offered by a Mexican governor for Indian scalps, the Glanton gang takes to scalp hunting Apaches with a vengeance. However, this is not just a case of bloodthirsty whites slaughtering noble savages: the Apaches themselves commit horrendous atrocities of their own. Most of the action in the novel centers around Judge Holden, a massive 7-foot albino who towers over everyone else, yet seems pre-pubescent because of his total lack of hair and small hands and feet. (â€Å"He was bald as a stone and had no trace of beard and had no brows to his eyes nor lashes to them† {McCarthy 6}). Judge Holden manages to manipulate everyone with whom he comes into contact (even Glanton), and easily turns situations to his advantage. The Judge’s physical characteristics are used as comparison with other characters such as the Kid (the Kid is not big, but he has big wrists and hands {McCarthy 4} – unlike the Judge’s small hands) and the dead babies that the Kid finds, who â€Å"stare eyeless at the naked sky. Bald and pale and bloated†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy 57): a comparison with the Judge, who is bald and pale (being an albino). Judge Holden is a mystery from his very first appearance in the novel and remains so until the very end, when he is one of the few characters surviving. One mysterious aspect is his uncanny ability to move from place to place so swiftly and eerily that it seems he is in fact not one, but two persons (e.g. he escapes from the riot in Reverend Green’s tent to a salon where he is completely dry, even though it is heavily raining outside). His seeming â€Å"double

Political Parties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Parties - Essay Example As we may notice, Republicans and Democrats seem to uphold comparable ideals when the interest of the American population as a whole is concerned, only that they do not share the same opinion as to who are most appropriate to be bestowed the right of governance. Upon declaration of the winning candidates in an election, cries of deception are hardly evident unlike in some countries where political parties exist in multitude and demonstrate hostility against one another. There is more assurance to a majority consensus given the fact that there are only two options available and a â€Å"clear-cut choice between groups standing for opposing policies.†4 If there are other parties, then elected officials do not necessarily get majority of the votes; thus, what came about is not to be considered national unity. Another reason that gives favor to the two-party competition lies in the conviction that it is â€Å"the simplest and likeliest way to have an effective democratic governmen t.†5 In a country that upholds democracy, all citizens are granted equal share in the decisions that affect their lives. There is no point making a choice when there is no sufficient information to serve as a common ground. In the presence of many prospective governing groups, people can have a hard time monitoring qualifications, performances, and credibility among aspects that must be look into before a ballot is filled out. In a country as large and varied as the United States, a multi-party system would be likely to produce paralysis of government at the national level.†6 Similarly, the ruling party is openly held accountable for overseeing the government7; that should incumbent officials fail in their undertakings or rather fall short of expectations, they are bound to devise approaches that can ameliorate the situation. In this case, it is safe to assume that the general welfare is put on top priority and corruption, although not completely brought to an end, is at least kept to a minimal degree. People will simply go the other direction in the instance of dissatisfaction, and this is what the party in power works hard to avoid. The other party serving as its critic is compelled to instigate remonstrations when dishonesty in the service is observed. They keep a watchful eye on proceedings that do not coincide with the constitutional provisions, and needless to say, hope for a better political standing in the future. In result, power is dispersed accordingly, and any attempt to replace the democratic structure of the government is constantly impeded. The absence of monarchists and Marxists as real choices in most American elections seems an acceptable price for the advantages of the two-party system.†8 The United States is a country of liberalism—a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. A form of power that is vested upon a single person by birthright9, and the principle that actions and human institutions ar e economically determined10 will only lead to insurrections from the citizens who believe that

Harley Davidson Essay Example for Free

Harley Davidson Essay The video case â€Å"Harley Davidson: More Than Just a Motorcycle† briefly explains how the company Harley Davidson, was able to reshape, recreate and expand their products while also encouraging, enlightening, and mentoring both female and male customers at the same time for the past 100 years. The Harley-Davidson company creates and designs motorcycles fit for any and everybody. Although the company uses special marketing variables in trying to reach a specific target market, they do not limit their products nor reject any other customers outside of that specific target market. Using psychographic variables, advertising in certain locations is an example of how Harley-Davidson reaches out to their target market. Psychographic segmentation variables mainly concentrate on its customers according to their personal attributes, motive, and lifestyle. The company also markets their magazines to both women and men; people overall who happen to be very independent and active individuals. With motorcycling being a hobby more so for a male, Harley-Davidson specifically establishes a way to show females who are also into riding motorcycles that they are too accepted into the bond for the open road. To show this, Harley-Davidson hires women in their establishments since women customers do often feel undermined and intimidated by male employees when in search of a new motorcycle. Events all over the nation are also held for the female motorcyclists where they are educated and mentored on the ways of Harley-Davidson and the road. The term quality has been used to differentiate products today in the Harley-Davidson company for years. It is one of the main factors this company has been using to satisfy the needs of both old and new customers. Quality is not only the distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute of a product, but it also benefits and satisfies the customers’ wishes. Sustaining and keeping up with the various products and the quality of them keeps customers certain that they are content with what they are paying for. Harley-Davidson carries on with the constant quality in their products to maintain the reputation and principles of the company itself. The company is well known for their popular heavyweight, chopper style design. Their motorcycles are fit for all purposes such as traveling long distances or just for the fun of being on the open road. These Harley-Davidson products all show liberation for the customers as well as giving ease and guaranteeing their safety. When it comes to the satisfying the customers, quality is kept constant within its products at the highest level it can be along with applying its products with the best premium quality. Harley-Davidson uses customer service to differentiate their products in a manner that emotionally connects the customers to their products while fulfilling their wants and needs through the impeccable quality of their products. The company’s mission is to instill a sense of freedom and liberation through their products so that they and their customers can build a lifetime relationship. To improve this, hiring female employees within their establishments happen to make women feel confident and positive when interested in purchasing and riding motorcycles. Harley-Davidson even has mentoring courses specifically for women in which old women riders encourage and give new women riders the confidence to ride safely on the open road. The company uses courses like this so all women riders can bond, teach and inform each other on the different wear and products to use when riding and inspire others to become a mentor by being positive and helpful. This course is very helpful to the women riders because it builds their self-confidence while also introducing to the many new women riders the different products Harley-Davidson hold, aside from their competition, and the quality their products hold. The Harley-Davidson Museum holds a great amount of influence on how consumers may perceive the company and their products. The museum exhibits motorcycles from when they were first built by the masterminds behind it all, William Harley and Arthur Davidson. Exhibiting bikes that go as far as the beginning of the 19th century show consumers how far they have come along and evolved to what they are today. The Harley-Davidson museum also gives consumers hands-on experiences and interactive workshops that can help turn consumers into Harley-Davidson customers and riders. It is the place where people would go and would want to learn more about Harley-Davidson, their products, history, and brand. Harley-Davidson and their product mix show a good example of an impressive marketing strategy that can easily attract any and everybody that would be interested in riding a motorcycle. Unlike any other motorcycle company, Harley-Davidson ventured out and made a huge variety of products of excellent quality fit for anyone and everyone, including pets!

Basic token economy

Basic token economy Abstract According to Martin and Pear (2007), a token economy is a system of behavior modification based on the principles of operant conditioning. The original proposal for such a system emphasized reinforcing positive behavior by awarding tokens for meeting positive behavioral goals. Token economies have also been implemented to decrease disruptive behaviors and increase appropriate behaviors. Tokens can then be redeemed for reinforcing objects or activities at a later point in time. Basic Token Economies According to Martin and Pear (2007), a token economy is a form of behavior modification program in which individuals can earn tokens for performing desirable behaviors, and can cash in their tokens for various backup reinforcers. Individuals receive tokens immediately after displaying desirable behavior. The tokens are collected and later exchanged for items or privileges (such as food or free time) and punishing undesirable behaviors by taking away tokens. Shapiro and Goldberg (1986) have provided research to show that the use of an individual contingency token system proves to be an effective method for increasing positive student behaviors History of Token Economies Kazdin (1982), reports that programs based upon the administration of rewards developed long before the emergence of behavior modification systems such as token economies. One such system from the 1800s has been discovered in England. According to Kazdin and Pulaski (2006), Joseph Lancaster posted a notice that read, All who will may send their children and have them educated freely, and those who do not wish to have education for nothing may pay for it if they please. When attendance rose to 1,000 students, Lancaster developed a system by which selected children served as helpers or monitors. The selected monitors would check other childrens work and tokens were given to the children and the monitors. The tokens could be exchanged later for various prizes. Risley and Wolf (1997) state that unlike the token economies used today, the 19th century system was not well defined in that it did not detail the responses that led to the delivery of tickets or give specific exchange rates. In addition, the delivery of back-up reinforcers could be delayed for exceedingly long periods, These rewards will be exchanged, three times a year, for objects of value and useful for the children. Risley Wolf state, Nevertheless, the basic elements of a token economy are clearly present in this classroom discipline system developed in the 19th century. Kazdin (1982) states that token economies with regard to motivating behavior were first formalized in studies performed by Ayllon and Azrin in the 1960s. Ayllon and Azrin worked with mental health institutions and prisons to test token economy systems. They found great success in motivating the change of behavior through token economies. Kazdin (1982) reports on a study performed by Rollins, Thompson, and their colleagues who developed token economies in several elementary school classrooms. These programs were very effective in raising the students academic achievement. When the researchers returned to evaluate the long-term effects they found that the school had discontinued the token economy system and behaviors returned to preprogram behavior. Description Martin and Pear (2007) list several elements that are necessary when developing a token economy. First, tokens can be anything that is visible and countable and can be exchanged for privileges or merchandise. It is best to have tokens that are attractive, easy to carry and dispense, and difficult to counterfeit. Commonly used items include poker chips, stickers, point tallies, or play money. Martin and Pear (2007) contend that tokens are to be administered in a positive manner. When an individual displays desirable behavior, he or she is immediately given a designated number of tokens. Tokens are not to have any value of their own. They are collected and later exchanged for meaningful objects, privileges or activities. In some programs individuals can also lose tokens (response cost) for displaying undesirable behavior. Clearly Defined Target Behavior Martin and Pear (2007) stated that individuals participating in a token economy needed to know exactly what they must do in order to receive tokens. Desirable and undesirable behavior is explained ahead of time in simple, specific terms. The number of tokens awarded or lost for each particular behavior is also specified. Back-up Reinforcers Back-up reinforcers are the meaningful objects, privileges, or activities that individuals receive in exchange for their tokens. Examples include food items, toys, extra free time, or outings. The success of a token economy depends on the appeal of the back-up reinforcers. Individuals will only be motivated to earn tokens if they anticipate the future reward represented by the tokens. A well-designed token economy will use back-up reinforcers chosen by individuals rather than by staff. Developing a system for exchanging tokens Martin and Pear (2007) have stated that a time and place for purchasing back-up reinforcers is necessary. The token value of each back-up reinforcer is pre-determined based on monetary value, demand, or therapeutic value. For example, if the reinforcer is expensive or highly attractive, the token value should be higher. If possession of or participation in the reinforcer would aid in the individuals acquisition of skills, the token value should be lower. If the token value is set too low, individuals will be less motivated to earn tokens. Conversely, if the value is set too high, individuals may become easily discouraged. It is important that each individual can earn at least some tokens. Consistent Implementation by the Staff Martin and Pear (2007) state that in order for a token economy to succeed, all involved members must reward the same behaviors, use the appropriate amount of tokens, avoid dispensing back-up reinforcers for free, and prevent tokens from being counterfeited, stolen, or otherwise unjustly obtained. Staff responsibilities and the rules of the token economy should be described in a written manual. Staff members should also be evaluated periodically and given the opportunity to raise questions or concerns. Initially tokens are awarded frequently and in higher amounts, but as individuals learn the desirable behavior, opportunities to earn tokens decrease. (The amount and frequency of token dispensing is called a reinforcement schedule.) For example, in a classroom, each student may earn 25 to 75 tokens the first day, so that they quickly learn the value of the tokens. Later, students may earn 15 to 30 tokens per day. By gradually decreasing the availability of tokens (fading), students should learn to display the desirable behavior independently, without the unnatural use of tokens. Reinforcers that individuals would normally encounter in society, such as verbal praise, should accompany the awarding of tokens to aid in the fading process. Efficacy Mathur (1996) states that many behavior management techniques, if applied correctly and consistently in a systematic fashion over an extended period-of-time, token economies can be a highly effective method for changing or controlling student behavior. Many factors make a token economy effective. One such factor is that tokens can be easily dispensed without disrupting the teaching/learning process. Another effective factor is that tokens can be exchanged for a variety of individualized backup reinforcers. Requirements for earning reinforcement can be adjusted as the needs of the students change. A token economy system may give the teacher flexibility in adjusting the relationship between certain behaviors and rewards, and may allow for continued pairing of tokens with more natural social reinforcers. Finally, token economies can be used to help the student acquire skills that will eventually lead to other more natural reinforcers such as good grades (Mathur, 1996). Limitations According to Martin and Pear (2007), some include a form of response cost in their token economy. This involves penalizing students for inappropriate behavior by taking away tokens they have earned. The ethics of taking away what a student has fairly earned is questionable. In addition, a threat to the student is implicit in response cost. Response cost may lead to a student behaving appropriately only out of fear or anxiety of losing points or tokens. Additionally, it may lead to power struggles that become setting events for undesired behaviors. Martin and Pear (2007) state some disadvantages of implementing a token economy include cost, effort, and extensive staff training and management. If staff members are inadequately trained or there is a shortage of staff, desirable behaviors may not be rewarded or undesirable behaviors may be inadvertently rewarded, resulting in an increase of negative behavior. Some professionals find token economies to be time-consuming and impractical. Conclusion A token economy, when used correctly, is an effective form of behavior modification that increase desirable behavior, and decrease undesirable behavior with the use of tokens and back up reinforcers. The tokens are collected and later exchanged for a meaningful object or privilege. According to Martin and Pear (2007) token economies have been used effectively in psychiatric wards, in institutions and classrooms for persons with developmental disabilities, in classrooms for children and teenagers with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, in normal classroom settings ranging from preschool to college university classes. References Ayllon, T. (1999). How to use token economy and point systems (2nd ed.). Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed. Kazdin, A. E. (1982). The token economy: A decade later. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 15, 431-445. Kazdin, A. E., Pulaski, J. L. (2006). Joseph Lancaster and behavior modification in education. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 13(3), 261-266. Martin, G., Pear, J. (2007). Token Economies. In Behavior modification: What it is and how to do it (pp. 323-334). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice-Hall. Mather, S. (1996). Why token reinforcement works. Teacher Mediator, 2, 10-14. Risley, T. R., Wolf, M. M. (1997). The origin of the dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 377-381. Shapiro, E. S., Goldberg, R. (1986). A comparison of group contingencies for increasing spelling performance among sixth grade students. School Psychology Review, 15, 546-557. Token Economy System Definition. In Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders [Web]. Advameg, Inc. Retrieved 4/9/2009, from http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Token-economy-system.html.

My Dream Place Essay -- Descriptive Essay, Descriptive Writing

My dream place would be a house on a Galapagos Island. My land will be located on the Isabella Island. It will be nice and relaxing because it has a constant weather all that time, perfect environment. Also I will have a nice 2 floor cabin. The cabins will look like the ones that you see in forest. My whole family will live there after I am 75. But before that I will spend my time gathering all the money to buy a piece of land, a plane, a boat, and some vegetable seed (lot of them). I want my dream place to be nice and relaxing where you can enjoy the environment and very peaceful weather. Since I am a vegetarian, I will own a farm with couple of horses, cows, chickens, couple of healthy, fully trained by me dogs, and the lands will be about 17 acres. The horses and the cows will have 15 flat acres of land. In this specific area, it will have a beautiful lake that surrounds 0.13 acres of land where there will be an oak tree. It will be a home to all the ducks, swan, and flamingos. And on this lake there will be couple of different types of fountains. Surrounding the lake will be s...

Comparing Bayard Sartoris of Faulkners The Unvanquished with the Cavem

Comparing Bayard Sartoris of Faulkner's The Unvanquished with the Caveman of Plato's Republic Bayard Sartoris in William Faulkner's The Unvanquished is enlightened from an ignorant boy unconcerned with the horrors of war to an intelligent young man who realizes murder is wrong no matter what the circumstances. His transformation is similar to the caveman's transformation in Plato's Republic. Bayard Sartoris journeys through Plato's cave and finds truth and goodness at the end of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Bayard was as ignorant as the caveman. Bayard heard only the stories of war, "the cannon and the flags and the anonymous yelling."1 He didn't consider the reality: death, bloodshed, and disease. His father's stories of war were just reflections of the reality, shadows on the wall. Bayard paid no attention to the reasons behind the war. Bayard just imagined what it would be like to be General Pemberton or General Grant. Faulkner's diction in the first chapter is full of descriptive references to shadows and darkness similar to the description of the wall in Plato's cave. Plato described the cave and its prisoners in the following way: Imagine human beings living in an underground, cavelike dwelling, with an entrance a long way up, which is both open to the light and as wide as the cave itself They've been there since childhood, fixed in the same place, with their necks and legs fettered, able to see only in front of them, because their bonds prevent them from taming their heads around. Light is provided by a fire burning far above and behind them. Also behind them, but on higher ground, there is a path stretching between them and the fire. Imagine that along this path a low wall has b... .... 5. Faulkner, 18. 6. Faulkner, 28. 7. Faulkner, 25. 8. Plato, 169. 9. Faulkner, 60-61. 10. Faulkner, 61. 11. Faulkner, 61. 12. Faulkner, 66. 13. Plato, 169. 14. Faulkner, 153. 15. Faulkner, 171. 16. James Hinkle and Robert McCoy, Reading Faulkner: The Unvanquished. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1995), 141. 17. Faulkner, 178. 18. Julia Annas, "Understanding and the Good: Sun, Line, and Cave," In Plato's Republic: Critical Essays, ed. Richard Kraut (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1997), 152-153. 19. Plato, 168. 20. Iris Murdoch, "The Sovereignty of Good," in Plato's Republic: Critical Essays, ed. Richard Kraut (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1997), 174.

About Me

My culture, Hinduism, and race, Indian, have been the most influential characteristics in my life. These two characteristics combined also influence my other characteristics such as my age and sex. In America, my age restricts me from doing many things; but coming from a Hindu background brings me many more responsibilities along with my age. My sex prohibits me from achieving many life goals that other people would have no problem achieving. My ethnicity and culture have had a very big impact on my social life. Learning that I was different from others was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I learned about one of my dominant characteristics in the second grade. One day in class, Steven Vogel cut out little red dots for me because I did not already have one on my forehead. He also howled like an American Indian and did a rain dance for me. That day, I realized that I was different and I would have to live with it for the rest of my life. I lived in a southern town of Florida near the border of Alabama where many people were not open to other races; so I would have to get used to the taunting. At that time, I realized that I am Indian. Growing up, everyone wants to be in the in-group. Being an Indian Hindu girl, I was told not to go out. I was not allowed to go to football games, school dances, or any other after-school functions. No matter how much we want to be in the popular group in high school, most Indian children belong in the group between the in-group and the nerds. Hindu parents usually do not let their children go out because they believe their children will be corrupted. For example, I really wanted to go to my senior prom, but I was not allowed to. I was not even allowed to get a job like a normal teenager. This summer I asked my parents if I could so that I could save up for college. My father did not let me get a job because I had to stay home to learn how to cook. Females have very little advantages in my culture. We are not allowed to be too educated. If a woman is too educated, she is basically considered to be no good, modern, too independent and an instigator of family problems after marriage. The belief that girls should not be allowed as much freedom and independence as men hinders other women, from achieving many of our life goals and me. With age I have many responsibilities and restrictions. Most of my restrictions come from living in America. I am not yet allowed to vote. I am not given many job opportunities: I went to the mall a week ago to find a job but most of the stores require their employees to be eighteen. Another restriction that my ethnicity, along with age and sex, brings is marriage. A good Indian girl is engaged by the age of twenty-one or twenty-two. I am only seventeen years old, but I am expected to know how to cook and clean because this is the prime age when the adult matchmakers observe me. I expect my life in the future to include being a housewife. I approve of the concept of housewives, but I would like to be more educated. The times have slowly been changing. I am a first generation Indian-American and I have more privileges than my parents did. Because of the changing times, I may be able to fulfill my dreams of becoming a doctor. The typical Indian, Hindu family instills the importance of respect and morals into their children. I have learned to appreciate all of the values that my parents have taught me while growing up. This is a big privilege because when I look out in the world, I see families who teach their children to hate or do not teach their children the significance of respect. I was taught also to especially respect my teachers. Many people, however, do not have that same respect. I am proud that I have had the chance to learn and grow up with the values and principles that are taught by Hinduism.

Soldier X

Jacob Fair Mrs. Hazen English 3 2 December 2011 â€Å"Soldier X† Book Report The book I read is Soldier X by Don Wulffson. The book is set in Germany and Russia during World War II. The story is told in first person from the point of view of Erik Brandt. The main character, Erik Brandt, is the protagonist and there isn’t an antagonist because the book is about Erik’s journey during World War II. The conflict throughout the book is Erik vs. society as an external conflict. I believe the conflict is resolved when Erik and Tamara are injured by allied soldiers.I think this because Erik and Tamara were both injured and put in a hospital together outside the war. They are able to make up and run away to America and start a new life there together. I think one theme that was expressed in this book was that most success in life depends on keeping your mind open to opportunity and seizing it when it happens. I think this is one theme of the book because Erik takes advant age of several Situations throughout the book. During the beginning of the book he states that since he can speak fluent Russian he is able to interrogate prisoners of war, which allows him to spend less time on the battlefield.He also takes advantage of his situation when he is wounded on the battlefield and knows he will be killed if he is found, so he takes a dead Russian soldier’s uniform and puts it on. Then when he is found they will send him to the hospital because they will think he’s a Russian soldier. Toward the end of the book Erik and Tamara take advantage of the fact that they’re injured, from the fire fight they got caught in the middle of, and they are able to escape to America because of it.Yes, I would recommend this book because it’s an exciting action book but also because it shows how Nazi soldiers were brain-washed into their way of thinking but that they didn’t always agree with what they were fighting for and if it was their own decision they might choose to leave. I liked this book very much because it’s good if you look at it from an action stand point and an educational stand point as well. I would recommend this book for male teens and adults because I think teens would be interested in it for the action but adults would be more interested in the history part of it.

Interview Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Interview - Assignment Example 363). The main domains covered in the interview included; From the response got from the respondent after the interview process, it came out that the respondent had a strong love for the brand of the product. It is therefore, an assumption that the brand had taste of feeling coupled with demand in the market structure following the respondents answer. The brand according to the respondent was nutritious since it contains fruits with it. According to the respondent, the proteins in milk in general are of advantageous to him since they help in body and development (Beckley et al, 365). Milk is also nutritious from the study. Milk, therefore is good for health since it makes an individual to remains grower healthy and also sober all the time. Through being sober most of the time, an individual is active throughout. He or she from the study, will be able to carry on with his or normal duties consciously. It is evident that customers may be influenced by the price value of the commodity (Beckley et al, 363). The respondent maintains that he won’t leave the qq skimmed milk brand of milk since it is relatively cheap as compared to other brands in the market. Other factors that made the respondent to n stick with the brand include the composition of the brand. All these items made the respondent to prefer the brand to other since it was good for his health. Qq skimmed milk is that type of wine that costs less in the market. It only costs Qatar’s Qr 85 per liter (See Appendix 2 on the Milk Brands’’ Price list). Since, it is cheap in the market; it was preferred by the respondent mostly as his drink. A manager therefore from this perspective may reduce the consumption that price of the commodity since it is its greatest determinant in the market. Tastes and composition also influences the demand of a commodity in the market (Beckley et al, 368). The respondent maintained that he won’t change

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Human Resource Management - Essay Example First of all, an international human resource management system ensures that positions are filled by appropriately qualified persons if there are no local nationals available. Secondly, it enables management development across borders. Thirdly, human resource management in multinational companies allow the building of linkages between the parent company and the international subsidiaries. This paper examines the critical factors that shape managers' choice in transferring the parent company's human rights management (HRM) to overseas subsidiaries. It identifies the influential forces that shape such choices and illustrates them with practical examples. To this end, the paper tries to fulfil the following objectives: 1. Identification of business strategy and structure that affects the choice of HRM systems for foreign branches of a business. 2. Analysis of external factors that affect a business' choice of human resource management transfer systems for an international business in it s overseas operations 3. Examination of implementation issues that affect the type of choices that HR managers of parent companies can make about the transfer of human resource management systems to overseas branches. Business Strategy & Structure & International Human Resource Management Choices Every MNC has to draw a balance between globalisation and localisation. Meier (2009) calls it a balance between standardisation and customisation. In other words, a business will have to either prescribe a set of uniform standards for all the international branches or allow international branches to develop their own local standards. In real life, a UK business that has international subsidiaries will have to decide whether the subsidiaries around the world will operate according to standards in the UK or create their own systems and methods. In the case of PriceWaterHouse Coopers, there is an international application of standards that exist in the UK head office. This is a globalised enti ty. On the other hand, KPMG exists as a group of independent accounting firm. Each national branch operates independent of the Swiss headquarters. According to Meier, the way this discourse exists in relation to human resource management transfer can best be examined on three fundamental levels. The strategy of a business in relation to whether it wants to go according to globalisation or localisation determines the policies of the business (Tempel, 2001 p115). In other words, the strategy determined by the top-level management set the tone for functional managers of strategic business units to come up with a policy. The policies determine the practice in the department. Thus, for the Human Resource department, the main determinant of the transfer of practices is the overall strategy of the business. The strategy determines the HRM activities of the business. This goes a long way to influence the transfer and other practices related to the overall tone of human resource management a nd its transfer. Strategy refers to the overall plans for a business determined by top level management with a view of guiding a company between the medium and long term (Cook, 2008 p76). Strategy is a critical element that affects the Human Resource Manager's choice of transferring company Human Resource Management to overseas management because it sets the framework between which the HR Manager operates. As such, the manager needs to remain within the scope of the

First Step in Creating an Ad Campaign-Exploring Target Audience Assignment

First Step in Creating an Ad Campaign-Exploring Target Audience - Assignment Example Taking into account that they represent about 33 million people, then roughly 7.59 million teens live in the Midwest. Supposing that the teen population matches the overall demographics for gender, then 3.8 million are male. The data covered 13-19, so accounting for five parts of seven, then 2,71 million are within our target audience. The average spending power of this group is $40 per week from all sources, including jobs, equaling an annual market of 2080 per capita, for a grand total of about 4 billion dollars annually, when adjusted for low income groups in the demographic profile. They also influence about 19% of all household spending in addition to their personal buying power. Convergence is the trend. Most teens now own a cellular phone, a music player and a personal computer. The trend is moving toward smartphones which enable all of these functions or a smart phone and a tablet, such as the Ipad. However, the girls are way ahead of the boy in this age group with only 23% of the boys owning smartphones. All of the group is connected in one way or another, and they share information. Most boys (and girls) belong to at least one social networking site and one online gaming site that includes forum functions. TitleSmartphone Ownership by Teens and By Sex | Text Message Blog Volume2011Issue10/7/2011Editionhttp://www.textmessageblog.mobi/2011/01/14/smartphones-female-teens/Ref TypeWeb PageRetrieved Date10/7/2011Source

Investigate a precolonial African polity in terms of its key Research Paper

Investigate a precolonial African polity in terms of its key constituent institutions - Research Paper Example Political centralization was the key component of pre-colonial institutions. Pre-colonial African polities have been in existence in the earlier years as a broad ground for the provision archeological research of the civil compatibility and the country. Much of the twentieth century, pre-colonial African countries were misunderstood because of the outward encouragement. Archaeological research is done on these states, however, shows the native origin of the social compatibilities and the countries in Africa, putting in place valuable new ideas for the provisional research in the earlier years on the formation of a state. It tries to analyze how the archaeologists have handled the state of pre-colonial in Africa, starting with listing of the colonial-era based on the state of the country and the advancement in Africa. Then followed by showing how insights into the political processes across the continent are provided by power through a discussion of archaeologist. Major illustrations are made within wide elaborated divisions; at the end of this review, (a) Driving state formation across the continent, because of the agency of indigenous political entrepreneurs. (b) How the pre-colonial African countries political contours were well shaped through having alternatives modes of power. The countries that were in place even before the colonial rule progresses to mould its recent advancement, pre-colonial countries control is attained with the recent cross country distinction in attainment of school, literacy, roads being paved, and immunization. Most of the countries in the West Africa rejected the French settlement as they had centralized form of government. Similar parts of the west Africa were among the states that received low investments in the colonial period. The pre-colonial states in Africa had all it takes to have full control of the people instead of the land. Below are the several factors that led to this: †¢ Agriculture, this demanded a