Reviewer Prelims Essay

Limitations to Economic Models Models: > an abstract generalization of how relevant facts actually relate to one another. > simplified pictures of reality 1. Liberal Use of Assumptions 2. Ceteris Paribus – Everything else remains constant 3. Short Run – Long Run > Short Run is a time range within which output can be adjusted only by changing the amounts of variable inputs remain unchanged. > Long run is a time period that is long enough to permit changes in all inputs both fixed & variable. ** Fixed – constant/doesn’t change ** Variable – varies 4. The Use of Graph > Visual representations of the relationship between 2 variables. ** Cartesian Plane – Rene Descartes Y axis – Independent|Cause X axis – Dependent|Effect Approaches 1. Positive based on facts use to describe an occurrence of an event objective answ. the question, What is? Or What will be? 2. Normative based on opinion subjective / judgmental predictive answ. the question, What ought to be? Or What should be? Branches of Economics MACRO – broad – birds eye view – aggregate demand and supply – contributions made by different sectors in the economy MICRO small / individual – particular / specific – demand and supply – detailed – close-up view – Implications of Scarcity 1. The need to make choice a. Opportunity b. Benefit or Punishment c. Value Judgment Opinion 2. Rationing Device 3. Competition Four Economic Resources Capital – physical or human capital Land – natural resources (surface | beneath) Labor – blue collar or white collar – is an effort – human skills Entrepreneur – 4 functions: > Initiative > Business Policy > Innovator > Risk Taker 1. Availability of Resources Products > Goods – tangible > Services – intangible Two Parties – producer – demanders (customers) 2. Level of Production Two Approaches – Mkt. Aggregation (macro) – Mkt. Segmentation (micro) 3. Manner, Methods and Techniques Procedure of Productions 3 Methods a. Capital – Intensive (capital > labor) b. Labor – Intensive (labor > capital) c. Intermediate – Production (capital = labor) 4. Target Clients / Customer 2 Methods a. Direct (modern) Networking and Direct Selling b. Indirect (traditional) Manufacturer ïÆ'   Advertiser ïÆ'   Wholesaler ïÆ'   Retailers ïÆ'   Consumer 5. Price – reasonable Profitable ïÆ'   Producers ïÆ'   Profit ïÆ'   Cost Affordable ïÆ'   Consumers ïÆ'   Cost Basic Economic Activities 1. Production Inputs ïÆ'   Procedures ïÆ'   Outputs Classification of Products 1. Basic 2. Luxury 3. Public 4. Free 5. Economic Needs 2. Distribution – Reach Two Methods of Distribution a. Non-conventional – cheapest but slowest b. Conventional – expensive but fast 3. Exchange Barter Sytem Medium of Exhange Legal Tender – Philippine peso Non-legal tender – Foreign currency COMMUNICATIONS Communication > Commun (oe) > Communis – common > Communicare – to share Communication Effectiveness Words – 7% Non-Verbal – 93% : Vocal – 38% | Visual – 55% Vocal > rate: phasing of voice > voice quality > voice pitch Visual > oculesics (sight) > haptics (touch) > kinetics (body movement) > accecories > chronemics > olfactics (hearing) > proxemics (special) ** Public Domain ** General Knowledge **Jargons – the technical terminology or characteristics idiom of a special activity or group. Communication Barrier 1. Poor word choice 2. Differing connotations 3. Inappropriate inferences (conclusions) 4. Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation and sentence structure 5. Wrong type of message 6. Poor appearance of the sender of the oral message 7. Poor appearance of written message 8. Distracting environmental factors 9. Receiver incapable of receiving message 10. Poor listening 11. Lack of interest 12. Lack of knowledge needed to understand 13. Different cultural perceptions 14. Language difficulty 15. Emotional state 16. Bias SOCIOLOGY Capacity to shift from one perspective to another Self-experience ïÆ'   wider society Self-centric views ïÆ'   acceptance and understanding of others History of Sociology 19th century French revolution * democratic views starts to sprung Industrialization * capitalist vs. laborers * rise of machinery * social-problems – Scientific revolution Pioneers of Sociology 1. Auguste Comte Father of sociology Coined the term socio(companion) and logy(study) 2. Herbert Spencer â€Å"Society is a product of evolution† Social Darwinism influenced him Sociobiologist were not accepted in modern society 3. Karl Marx Employed sociological inquiry with himself Conflict perspective History of the have and have nots 4. Emile Durkheim Father of Modern Sociology Social facts The degree of social integration 5. Max Weber Contradicting the political and economic ideas of Karl Marx Social interaction concept â€Å"rise of Protestantism was a major contributor to the progress of capitalism and industrialization† Culture – way of life Material and Non-material culture Beliefs and traditions Modern/popular culture – personality Social Perspectives: 1. Social Funtionalist Theory – Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole. 2. Social Interaction Theory (symbolic interactionalism – which focuses on how people act according to their interpretations of the meaning of their world. 3. Social Conflict theory – which focuses on the negative, conflicted, ever-changing nature of society. THEOLOGY Living Like Jesus The Jesus of history and of being human Living like Jesus is COMPLICATED and PROBLEMATIC because of his supernatural state It is a HUGE responsibility to live like him FOUR R’s 1. Rebel A non-conformist; who do not abide He was defiant He was extraordinary because of his differing beliefs 2. Reformist A person who goes for something better 3. Revolutionary A dreamer and an active worker Doesn’t leave anything to chance Never works alone 4. Radical Who do not think and act like the rest Someone who challenges a particular order Jesus was RADICAL-MINDED, LIBERAL-MINDED and PRACTICAL-MINDED Liberating A HERO who is DARING A carpenter Analytical Pragmatic Innovator Jesus’s time Gross injustice that was fed by monstrous greed Impoverished sufferings Patriarchal culture Jesus was BREAKTHROUGH-MINDED Broke away from the way people think during his time MORALITY – value Something that is important to us Actions are always a product of choices Exclusive to human actions Human beings are rational beings Reasoning is a product of intelligence 3 Font principles of Christian Morality 1. Person 2. Context 3. Acts and Consequences Order means survival Survival is everybody’s interest Society comes together to create a system of support If one’s freedom ends, somebody’s freedom begins Co-existence demands Respect Christianity is a success story Thought-fullness People find ways to co-exist with one another People make agreement and collective decisions to have ORDER in the community Order is beauty and beauty is life ** Schechems, Samaria At the well of Schechem he met a woman Ostrasize – excluded/isolated; nobody relates to you ** The Rational being is the Moral Being Base from FREEDOM A moral person is someone who is free to do what he/she likes(chooses to do) for as long as he/she does not infringe Infringe – violates the freedom of others Freedom is not absolute Responsible Freedom – freedom is a responsibility Penology â€Å"penal† ENGLISH Business English Communicative Competence Knowledge of the Language Ability to use the Language Writing Speaking Listening Reading Tasks: 1. Types of Letters 2. â€Å"Simulated Company† Name Logo Slogan/motto Nature of Business Vision/Mission 3. Business Application Letter Curriculum Vitae Bio-data Resume Standard Formal English No errors No contractions Correct tenses Diction Mechanics Spelling Abbreviations Capitalizations Syllabications Punctuations ** Simulation – business / company – Social Responsibility ** Figures of Speech = Tropes Parts of a Letter: 1. Date Line. – The month, day, and year the letter is typed. 2. Inside Address. – The name and address of the person to whom the letter is being sent. 3. Salutation. – An opening greeting such as Dear Ms. Jones. 4. Body. – The text of the letter. 5. Complimentary Closing. – A closing to the letter such as Sincerely or Yours truly. 6. Signature. – The writer’s signature. 7. Writer’s Identification. – The writer’s typed name and address. FILIPINO Masining / Malikhaing Pagpapahayag Inilipat sa GEC s2004 Dating Retorika na ayon sa CHED memo #59, s1996 Mga Paksa: 1. Kalikasan at simula ng Retorika 2. Masining na pagpapahayag (pasulat at pasalita) 3. Kritikal na pagbasa sa mga sulatin 4. Pagsulat ng 4 na uri ng pagpapahayag Pagsasalaysay Paglalarawan Paglalahad Pangangatwiran 2 uri ng Pagpapahayag: 1. Traditional 2. Conventional (makabago) Talambuhay: 1. Talambuhay ng sarili 2. Talambuhay ng ibang tao Paksa: 1. Paksa 2. Pagkalap ng impormasyon 3. Pagbabalangkas 4. Pagbasa 5. Muling pagsulat 6. Publikasyon/paglilimbay Paraan – istilo, wika , karakter, angkop sa bumabasa, angkop sa tema, paglalarawan ng karakter Dipinisyon 1. Maanyong Dipinisyon – uri/klase 2. Dipinisyong Pasanaysay – Kontrasyon ** Retorika – magaling na tagapagsalita Classical Greek Rethoric 1. Corax – Ama ng Greek Rhetoric Bahagi ng Talunmpati 1. Proem 2. Narrative/Narration 3. Statement of Argument 4. Refutation/opposing argument 5. Summary/Conclusion ** Proem – pagpapakilala sa nilalaman ng talumpati ** Summary – buong punto o buod ng paksa 2. Tisias – estudyante ni Corax Bahagi ng Talumpati 1. Prologue 2. Narrative 3. Argument 4. Epilogue ** Prologue – pagkuha sa atensyon ng takapakinig habang sinasabi ang introduksyon 3. Aristotle Bahagi ng Talumpati 1. Exordium 2. Narratio 3. Divisio (argument) 4. Confirmatio (affirmative) 5. Confutatio (refutation) 6. Conclusio ** Exordium – pagkakaroon ng interaksyon sa tagapagsalita at sa takapakinig mula sa introduksyon Medieval Rhetoric 1. Cicero 5 Canons of Rhetoric 1. Inventio (invention) 2. Despositio (arrangement) 3. Elocotiu (style) 4. Memoria (memory) 5. Action (delivery) ** Inventio – paksa, audience, sitwasyon ** Despositio – balangkas ** Elocotiu – figures of speech ** Memoria – kaisipan 2. Quintillian â€Å"Good man speaking well† Karakter ng isang speaker Tinaguriang Roman Wiseman 3. Tertullian Unang nagtranslate ng Holy Scripture Ama ng Latin Christianity Nagsulat ng Latin Christian Literature Nag-introduce sa Holy Trinity 4. Lucian Satirist Native speaker ng barbarian 5. Hermogenes Griyegong rhetoric Legal documents Ang retorika ay ang pagkakaroon ng mahusay na pagsasalita 6. Capella Prose Narrative Didactic method 7. St. Augustine 8. Cassiodorous Letter writing 9. Isidore Encyclopedia of Human Knowledge Dialectic approach 10. Al Quin Parliamentary Procedure Civic 11. Bede Poetry / poetic way of writing 12. Nother Labeo Latin ïÆ'   German Literature 13. Boethius

Modern Beliefs and Religion Essay

Children are influenced by the environment that they are subjected to. It is the responsibility of practitioners and other adults who are in contact with children to ensure that they are presented with positive ideas and images in order to support their moral and spiritual development. Task 1: A child’s spiritual development includes the development of their sense of self, their potential, their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their motivation to achieve. Their moral development involves children gaining an understanding of the difference between right and wrong, a concern for others and the will to do what is right. They begin to be able to reflect on the consequences of their actions and learn how to forgive others and themselves. Moral and spiritual development is taught through all subjects of the curriculum and in particular RE and PSHE. Early years care practitioners help to support children’s moral and spiritual development throughout their early development stages. Practitioners help to do this by using inclusion, this is where they provide children with the opportunity to learn and develop through activities and other types of school work. However, the practitioners may need to amend activities to meet all the different children’s needs and requirements; e.g. a child with special educational needs may need work sheets in a certain font size to enable them to read it with ease. Another way in which practitioners may help to meet each child’s aims is to provide ability appropriate activities. It is important for early year’s practitioners to do this as the children will then realise that everyone can join in activities even if they have specific needs. This will result in the children feeling valued and building on their self-esteem. An early year’s practitioners should behave morally correct for the children to follow and look up to as a role model/example as children imitate and learn behaviour from others who are significant to them. To support children’s moral and spiritual development it is essential for the early year’s practitioner to praise and encourage children’s healthy behaviour. Practitioners should encourage children to tell the truth, keep promises, respect others, care for the less fortunate, and to accept responsibility for their own actions. Behaviour like bullying, lying, cruelty, irresponsibility, and selfishness should be expressed to the children as morally wrong, and it could upset or hurt other individuals. How care practitioners support moral and spiritual development through; The learning environment: The school, but mainly the classroom provides a suitable environment for promoting and supporting moral and spiritual development. Children learn to lead, use their initiative, and become disciplined through learning what is right and wrong. It will help to create positive personal relationships between children and adults, and they should be encouraged based on the value of and respect for every individual. The learning environment will help the children to be knowledgeable about the different celebrations that take place in a diverse society e.g. Diwali, Christmas, Easter and so on. Sensitivity: Practitioners should emphasis to children that they should values themselves and others as everyone has a place and a role within society. Also, the preparation for life within a diverse society should be included into the children’s teaching to ensure they are aware that there are many different cultures and beliefs living in one society. Another role the practitioners need to take is to ensure children are aware of the role of the family in society. Inclusive behaviour: This involved promoting values, for example, explaining to the children that they should tell the truth and not lie to other children or adults. With this children should respect others and treat people the way in which they want to be treated. Practitioners should include all children within the day to day activities and plan for those with extra specific needs. Considering spirituality even without a structured belief system: Children should be able to explore their own beliefs and think about what they may belief without the practitioners putting bias views on them. Practitioners should encourage children to look more deeply into their own belief and explain it is okay to have a different belief compared to their other peers. Task 2: Early year Practitioners must make sure that they are keeping each individual safe so that they don’t victimize any child in the setting regarding their religion or beliefs or any other structure in their life such as culture as this will destroy the child’s self-esteem or may begin to lose their beliefs. At placement each practitioner values each child to making sure that that they are not picking on any child because of their religion or beliefs. Practitioners must make sure that they include all children to the activities making sure that the children are in a diverse atmosphere at all times so the children will be able to follow their beliefs. The practitioners should set up activities that relate to a religion introducing the children to different religious celebrations etc. so that the Children would be aware of other religions around them. Practitioners should read books that include different religions for the children to gain more knowledge about there and other religions. At placement spiritual development is promoted as we have many books about religious celebrations such as; Christmas, Ramadan, Easter and many more. This teaches the children to respect other beliefs as they are aware of other religious festivals. At early years settings practitioners must persuade children to tell the truth and also telling them what will happen if they were to be lying to one of the practitioners. For the practitioners to be able to encourage children to tell the truth practitioners should have activities like role play for the children to take part in as by this activity the practitioner can show the children that it is bad to lie. Practitioners should also encourage discipline to children, such as if a child is doing the wrong thing such as ripping a book the practitioners that see it must talk to the child immediately and let them know that ripping a book is wrong and explain in detail for the child to understand. This way children learn from their mistakes what they did was wrong, by punishing the child for instance putting the child in time out will persuade them not to do it again. Care practitioners also need to teach children about valuing themselves and others around them. This will in return build an atmosphere in which peers respect one another and also respect members of staff/adults. Practitioners can help children grasp a sense of valuing themselves by praising them if they have done something good, for example, if the child helped to tidy up, or doing something extra than what they normally would do, then praising the child will make them feel good about themselves. The child will feel as though they have achieved something good and will therefore be happy with themselves. However, the practitioner may find it hard to teach the children to value others around them as children find it difficult to empathize how others feel and respect others when they are young. This mainly comes with age, but a firm grounding from the practitioner will help. Teaching them things like the common saying of ‘treat people how you want to be treated’. When children have been unkind to one another the practitioner may want to ask them questions like ‘How would it make you feel if someone did that to you?’ This will allow the children to begin to value others as they will realize that unkind actions may hurt or upset others.

Bharti Airtel Mobile Services Marketing Essay

Bharti Airtel Mobile Services Marketing Essay Airtel is the 3rd largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscriber base. However, its revenue per subscriber is significantly lower as compared to American and European counterparts. However, Airtel has been facing pressures due to slowing revenue growth and slimming margins. While a lot of the factors are macroeconomic, this paper attempts to do a microeconomic analysis on Airtel and its environment. An Analysis of Bharti Airtel Mobile Services Ltd. Using Microeconomic Tools Bharti Airtel Limited, a part of Bharti Enterprises, is one of the leading providers of telecommunication services with significant presence in India. It has its operations spread over 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and Channel Islands. Profile Bharti Airtel has abou0074 194.183 million subscribers in India and South Asia and 55.855 million GSM Mobile customers in Africa as of the end of June 2012. The Proportionate Revenue of Bharti Airtel as on June 30, 2012 is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¹ 193,501 milli on (Overview). Currently, Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Bharti Airtel holds the maximum percentage of market share in wireless connections at 20.67%, Vodafone is at 16.96%, Reliance at 14.68%, Idea at 12.88% and BSNL is at 10.81% (News report – Medianama) The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU’s): Mobile services, Telemedia services (ATS) & Enterprise services (Carriers & Services to Corporates) Ownership and Organizational Structure: Bharti Airtel was established on July 7, 1995 as a public listed company headquartered in New Delhi, India. With effect from Jan 13, 2010, a new integrated organizational structure has emerged with an objective to enhance Airtel focus on expanding operations in international markets beyond India and South Asia and further consolidate its leadership position in India. The transformed organizational structure consi sts of two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments. Bharti Airtel’s B2C business unit comprehensively serves the retail consumers, homes and small offices, by combining business units such as Mobile, Telemedia, Digital TV and other emerging businesses (like M-commerce, M-health, M-advertising etc.). Figure 1: Airtel’s Organization Chart (Overview) The B2C organization encompasses Consumer Business and Market Operations. Bharti Airtel has understood the importance of its partners to remain competitive in a dynamic business environment. As a step in that direction, the Supply Chain (SCM) function has been created with a mandate to develop partner relationships to maximize mutual opportunities for growth and profitability. The SCM organization has a central core team of supply chain subject matter experts and execution teams operating under different business divisions across the country . Business Model Focus on core competencies and outsource the rest Airtel is probably one of the best run companies in India. It has advantages of both having a massive size and being in a very high growth industry. The secret of its enormous success owes a lot to its business model. Airtel focuses solely on two things: Customer acquisition & Servicing and business development/Expansion. The main focus of Airtel has been on Data IP solutions, conferencing and Video solutions and wants to grab the potential of market of these business sectors. The other functions such as hardware, network, backend applications (billing etc.), value added services and even telecom infrastructure are all outsourced. Airtel was the first player in India in pioneering such a business model. Airtel has outsourced its Network Management services to players like Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson, while its backend application is taken care by IBM. It was also the first to divest its hard assets, i.e. â₠¬â€œ its telecom towers – to a separate company and lease them back themselves as well as monetize surplus bandwidth by selling to other operators.

Sociocultural theory in collaborative learning Essay

Sociocultural theory in collaborative learning - Essay Example Sociocultural theory in collaborative learning It is a pedagogy that has at its centre the assumption that people make meaning together and that the process enriches and enlarges them†. The debate about the definition of term ‘collaborative’ as well as ongoing attempts to identify relevant criteria to determine whether learning is collaborative or not does not seem to have any major implications for the basics of collaborative learning. Almost every research study exploring collaborative learning environment comes to positive conclusions. Natasi and Clements (1991) summarize these conclusions in the following way: â€Å"Cognitive-academic and social-emotional benefits have been reported for students from early elementary through college level, from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and having a wide range of ability levels†¦ Furthermore, cooperative learning has been used effectively across a wide range of content areas, including mathematics, reading, language arts, social studies and science†. Initially, research in the realm of collaborative learning focused on functioning of an individual learner in a group: the theories which dominated cognitive psychology over the 1970s tended to emphasise the role of individual information processors in the process of cognition. The social context of this process was viewed as secondary to individual activity. The last decades of the 20th century were marked by increased attention to the social context, and, consequently, improved understanding of the process of cognition.

Minorities At Risk And Horizontal Inequality Assignment

Minorities At Risk And Horizontal Inequality - Assignment Example Multi-party politics has been introduced in many countries as a way of reforming and improving governance. The increased political competitiveness has however provoked animosity between communities. The minority group ends up being politically marginalized and a possibility of conflict is real. The situation has given rise to power-sharing arrangements in some countries after a violent confrontation prompted by multi-party elections. Addressing all the existing horizontal inequalities among the ethnic groups is important both in countries where violent conflicts have occurred and in potentially volatile regions. Three categories of approaches have been identified to address the social inequalities namely the direct, indirect and integrationist approaches. Direct approaches advocate for affirmative action where previously marginalized groups are given preferences in access to education, political representation, and employment. The approach, however, may elicit disquiet among communit ies not benefiting from such policies. To avoid a potential conflict such initiatives should be given a definite time frame within which they can be used to correct the disparity. Indirect approaches involve policies that indirectly promote inclusion of all communities in the economic, social and political systems. The may include devolution of both economic and political decision-making mechanism. Such policies are however slow in taking effects and may be inadequate in addressing all the horizontal inequalities existing.

The Benefits and Risks of Food Steroids, Antibiotics, and Sprays in Research Paper

The Benefits and Risks of Food Steroids, Antibiotics, and Sprays in the Eye of the Food Manufacturers and the Consumers - Research Paper Example Diseases that can be acquired from eating processed foods with food steroids, antibiotics, and sprays. 1. Cancer 2. Diabetes 3. Heart Diseases B. The routine use of antibiotics was a contributing factor in the surge of drug-resistant bacteria. C. Research of different scientists showing the risks of using food steroids, antibiotics, and sprays to humans. IV. The role of the government in the use of food steroids, antibiotics, and food sprays by food manufacturers. A. The research done by the National Research Council as commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). B. The regulations and guidelines issued by the government 1. The Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act 2. The Animal Drug Availability Act C. The recommendations of the government for the food manufacturing industry for the safety and health of consumers. I. Introduction Additives such as antibiotics, steroids and other s prays were created for food for a reason. Providing food quickly and cheaply to a rapidly expanding population was not an easy task for the food industry over the past century. The short shelf life of most products made storage costly, and adverse weather conditions, animal sickness, and other environmental challenges maintained a high risk of losses to the industry. A way out for combating these challenges was offered by scientific developments: the use of pesticides to kill pests that destroy farms, antibiotics to ensure the health of livestock, and steroids to make the livestock reproduce fast enough to meet the growing demand for meat. These interventions made food more affordable, accessible, and helped reduce losses (National Research Council). However, they also brought a new series of challenges to the table. As scientific knowledge grew, so did the concern about possible ways that additives in food could harm the people consuming them. In particular, were concerns of how th e chemical effects on food may promote obesity and lead to heart disease. Agricultural chemicals, pesticides, and veterinary drugs are now included among the most significant chemical hazards in food (Lawley, Curtis and Davis, 4). This paper will discuss the benefits, potential harmful effects, and governmental policies regarding the use of food steroids, antibiotics, and sprays in food manufacturing. It shall also discuss how the government can help resolve the conflict between health advocates and the food industry. The thesis for this paper is as follows. The government should implement strict guidelines on the use of food steroids, antibiotics, and sprays in the production process instead of banning their use in order to balance the claims of the food manufacturers as well as the advocates of public health of the benefits and risks of these food enhancers. II. The benefits derived by food manufactured in using food steroids, antibiotics, and sprays. D. Production cost is low. Ma thhew Perrone has reported that early studies on antibiotics in the 1940’s and 1950’s showed that adding antibiotics to animals’ diet reduced their feeding costs, and made them ready for consumption faster. Feeding takes up about 70 percent of the cost of raising animals, and the use of antibiotics was thus a windfall for farmers. This led the FDA to approve the use of antibiotics for farm animals in the 1950’s. No harmful effects of this policy were known until then. Since the

Human resources management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Human resources management - Essay Example The human resource management team looks after various functions starting from recruiting the right talent to the organization, to their compensation and retention. Moreover, they have to develop the human resource of an organization in such a way that it is able to meet the present and future goals of the organization. Effective HRM practices increases employee productivity as well as financial performance of an organization (Huselid, 1995). Such practices include: Microsoft, an American public multinational corporation, was developed in 1975. It offers a wide range of computing related products and services. Being one of the most successful companies in the world, Microsoft gives a great deal of importance to its human resource. It would be not wrong to say that Microsoft is an employee driven organization and therein lays the key to its success. The vision of Microsoft states that: ‘We recognize that leadership in today’s global marketplace requires that we create a corporate culture and an inclusive business environment where the best and brightest diverse minds—employees with varied perspectives, skills, and experiences--work together to meet global consumer demands.’ Practices: Bill Gates, the driving force behind Microsoft had one simple philosophy while hiring employees for his organization. He wanted extremely intelligent staff for his company and he gave preference to intelligence over experience. Starting from selecting the most-driven employees from the best universities, and taking them through an interview process, Microsoft hired employees who fared well not only in the knowledge department but also had great problem-solving and technical skills. Microsoft also followed the ‘n-1’ policy while hiring employees. According to this policy, the company believed in hiring the right person always rather than just filling a required position. Later, Microsoft also

Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Planning - Essay Example You are required to address all of the pointsin each of thesections. You may either answer each point individually or you may choose to respond to all points in the one discussion of paragraphs using appropriate headings and sub-headings. 1. Your Co-operative Education role –technical skills: including being knowledgeable in your major field(s) of studybydemonstrating the application of knowledge from your major(s) to your Co-operative Education Placement You are required to address all of the points below. You may include further comments or discussion that is relevant. You must integrate relevant concepts, models, frameworks, theories and/or technical competencies (use in text references) to support your discussion. 123 Ltd was established in 2001 and is the largest agency company in USA. We do immigration consultancy, international students’ recruitment, marketing and promotion NZ schools, and tutoring service. My CPO produced more than 1000 students over the last 10 years At the moment, I am working with an international student recruitment agency as an assistant. We recruit international students in addition to marketing and promoting NZ schools. My position is that of an assistant and therefore I am deeply involved in the day to day administrative functions of the organisation. This is a great opportunity for me as a student to get exposure to the corporate world, learn how to work with people and more importantly acquire more practical knowledge of economics in real life. Briefly describe each of your key tasks or activities that relate to your major(s). For each key task or activity, identify and briefly explain a comprehensive range of theories, concepts, models, frameworks and/or technical competencies from your major(s) and discuss how they could apply. Using the available historical data I applied regression models to predict future exchange rates between the KRW & NZD. Using regression analysis I was also able to predict the

The Introduction Of Billingual Education In Educational Institutions Essay

The Introduction Of Billingual Education In Educational Institutions Around America - Essay Example In many parts of educational development, bilingual education is treated as learning for non-American students. The use of their native language along with the inculcation of English to their vocabulary is the main aim of this program. According to educators, this is more likely an ESL program that would indeed assist foreign nationals living in the American territories to adapt to the society, especially with regards to children who are born in America. This would help the non-Americans to be ‘one’ with the American community in terms of language. To the educators, this is a way by which America could be able to overcome ethnic differences in the country. However, some language experts say that this is not an easy task for early childhood educators. The fact is that at times, some students come to the American region with a fluency on their native language already and thus may not have so much interest in knowing other languages more. Aside form this, according to some ‘English Only’ advocates, â€Å"bilingualism would only lead to an ethnic line of division between the nationalistic views of the natives of America† (Internet). Many educators are indeed amiable that bilingual education is an essential part of learning especially with children who are of different ethnic society in the United States. Many professional early child education experts consider that through the utilization of bilingualism in the educational systems, children would become more concern and highly, in connection with their language. ... However, some issues need to be addressed when bilingual education is being discussed. Scope of the Problem In many parts of educational development, bilingual education is treated as learning for non-American students. The use of their native language along with the inculcation of English to their vocabulary is the main aim of this program. According to educators, this is more likely an ESL program that would indeed assist foreign nationals living in the American territories to adapt to the society, especially with regards to children who are born in America. This would help the non-Americans to be 'one' with the American community in terms of language. To the educators, this is a way by which America could be able to overcome ethnic differences in the country. However, some language experts say that this is not an easy task for early childhood educators. The fact is that at times, some students come to the American region with a fluency on their native language already and thus may not have so much interest in knowing other languages more. Aside form this, according to some 'English Onl y' advocates, "bilingualism would only lead to an ethnic line of division between the nationalistic views of the natives of America" (Internet). The Pros of the Issue on Bilingual Education Implementation Many educators are indeed amiable that bilingual education is an essential part of learning especially with children who are of different ethnic society in the United States. Many professional early child education experts consider that through the utilization of bilingualism in the educational systems, children would become more concern and highly, in connection with their environment because of their

Introduction To Duty Of Care In Health Essay Example for Free

Introduction To Duty Of Care In Health Essay I heard you were thinking of working in the Care Profession which is excellent, I just wanted to fill you in on a few things which would help you. Health and Social Care work places have what is called a duty of care which means that you have a duty of care towards the people that you are looking after that means you must do everything you can to keep the individuals you look after safe from harm. It is not only the work place that has to prioritise the safety, welfare and interests of the individuals using the service but also the care staff. Care workers must also have a duty of care towards other staff members to ensure that all working conditions are safe and suitable to deliver the best service they can. It also means being a responsible care giver for other individuals who could be too ill or physically unable to care for themselves and requires another person to assist them on a daily basis, this could include assisting the individuals with their personal hygiene, safety, meal preparation or other medical and physical needs until they are met to the highest standards that the individual is happy with. Duty of Care affects the way people work as the employer provides policies and procedures and ways of being aware of any dangers by carrying out Risk Assessments. Social Care workers and Care organisations must do as much as possible to keep individuals safe from harm, we do these Risk Assessments by looking for either a hazard which is an actual or potential such as a chemical or process that may lead to an accident, also risks a situation that can lead to a hazard and carry the possibilities of something serious happening.

Alternative marketing strategies to increase market share

Alternative marketing strategies to increase market share The aim and objective of this report is to provide recommendations on ways for Natural Way Products to increase the brands market share. Based on NWPs current market share status the most effective strategies to implement incorporate a mix of market penetration and market development strategies. It is recommended that NWP maintain their current reputation in their current market as its a vital part and one of the businesses main strengths to their ongoing business. Recommendations for implementing the market penetration and market development strategies involve focusing on customer relationship management, looking for potential alliances with businesses already in the national market, using alternative media channels and look at product promotion via their current online distribution channels while tailoring the marketing campaigns to each target segment. NWP is a small, independently owned New Zealand company currently holding an estimated 10% market share in New Zealand aiming to achieve a 15% share within the next five years, and expand sales to the South Island and Australian market. The purpose and objectives of this report is to identify different market growth strategies and advise Jacqui Thompson of Natural Way Products (NWP) recommendations in order to achieve a greater market share in the New Zealand natural skincare market. This report outlines the recommended solutions for Jacqui to implement in order to achieve the companies objectives. These recommendations focus on how NWP can strive to achieve the desired growth in market share specifically using the market penetration and market development strategies using geographic expansion methods and product promotion. It is assumed that NWP have available funds to allocate to the marketing strategies recommended. With restricted access to current customer market feedback it is assumed that the points of difference stated by Jacqui are correct and therefore hold the advantage over competitors offerings. It is also assumed that the market share estimate is correct and current and that the brand Zaras is a reputable brand. 2. DISCUSSION Natural Way Products situation analysis: 2.1 Strengths: Successful established and reputable brand name and product line Current 10% market share Current experience, knowledge and resources already in place Quality and reliable products Uses some locally grown and entirely natural herbal ingredients Offers different channels of distribution through online sales and retail outlets. 2.2 Weaknesses: Currently limited to small market segment offering slower growth potential Products made in small batches risk with the more produced the less attention given as demand increases. 2.3 Opportunities: Create additional services to competitors by enhancing current features of online system Influential media awareness focus on natural-based products Look for low cost opportunities and ones that leverage current capabilities Product variants provide opportunity of selling more to the same market Opportunity for growth in new locations and underrepresented geographic markets Marketing costs are less in this digital age and easier to implement Partnerships or alliances with other businesses 2.4 Threats: Risk of retaliation from larger competitors Impact of global economy and environment on local business Little scope for using existing expertise if trying to sell completely different products or services to different customers Effect of increased market share on actual and perceived quality Alternative strategies for growth in market share: 2.5 Market Penetration NWP could gain additional market share with its current products and current markets by encouraging customers to purchase more. They would be able to utilise current experience, knowledge and resources making growth in existing product markets more cost effective and less of a risk. NWP could further advertise their products leaning on their points of difference from competitors offerings in order to encourage more customers in their existing market to use their product, or current customers to use more of it. NWP could do this by launching special promotions and offerings (Boaz, 2006, p.212); increase sales representatives; expand to department stores; and introduce a loyalty scheme to entice customers into the market. With the forever increasing use of online marketing NWP could use customised marketing through their current client database and focus on expanding the services provided through their online ordering tools. With extra features and additional offers that create a competitive advantage such as same day delivery, free gift wrapping service or free delivery; or discounted online offers. It has been argued by Gorton (2007, p.37) that maintaining the client database using customer relationship management is also important and could be used by NWP to create custom reminder responses based on previous buying patterns and as reminders on special occasions. NWPs current reputation is one of the most important assets they have. Market penetration will be a useful strategy for NWP, while maintaining expertise and experience in a market already well known to the company they are at less risk and losing reputation and upsetting product quality and service delivery. The downside to using this strategy is that this limits market share growth to current markets offering slower growth potential as opposed to developing products in new markets. 2.6 Market Development NWP should consider domestic geographic expansion as a way to improve sales volume and share position. Changing from a regional operation to a national operation (Walker, Orville C. Jr Mullins, John W. , c2011, p.251) could be best implemented by NWP through an alliance with a business already in the market and also assist in stronger buying power from suppliers. This move does create a risk of retaliation from larger national competition as well as from current regional competitors. NWP could look at targeting non-users who would be interested in using the products through advertising and media channels or offering free samples to first time users. By marketing to potential customers and making them aware of the products NWP could invest in television, internet and magazine advertising, for example in womens health magazines, or during prime television slots in which the target market are known to be viewers. Focusing on media advertising as shown by Boaz (2006, p.209) does run the risk of being costly and ineffective if not advertised correctly. NWP already offer two channels of distribution but could look at further promotion through online sales and expanding the reach of current retail stores in which their products are sold. NWP should look to open up alternative distribution channels such as direct marketing using a sales team; introducing products into department stores under another brand name, and expanding the number of retail outlets. NWP could also target different age groups of women by tailoring the advertising campaign and packaging to appeal more to each market segment. The same expertise currently used in the company can be applied with ease to the new segment therefore reducing cost and risk. Expanding products into further market segments will be an effective strategy for NWP, using geographic expansion, their current distribution channels, and further advertising. It is also recommended (Snyder, Tom Burns, Brian, 2010, p.173) that a potential alliance with major customers or with other national like-minded businesses is likely to be successful in achieving growth in market share. 2.7 Product development With 15 years of business and products already proving to be successful NWP could introduce more products to the market under their recognised brand name Zaras. Ideally NWP would need to offer a new product not currently offered by competitors and could make this offering more attractive than competitors by providing initial discount offers for first time users and then continuing at full price once theyve obtained repeat business. NWP would benefit from using their existing customer database to find out their preferences and to gain feedback for potential new products. If using this strategy NWP would benefit from integrating current users into the innovation process by asking for new product ideas from them and pursuing the most popular of those ideas. NWP could also look at packaging existing products in new ways to appeal more to the current target market. Or try promoting the current product in department or retail stores under an alternative brand name. Unless risk management is closely monitored this could be an ineffective strategy for NWP (Leithhead, 2011, para.3). Managing the risk involved in product development could put pressure on NWP as resources would need to be reallocated to the development of the new product. Product development could be costly and unrewarding for NWP. If resources are stretched to develop new products the quality of their existing offerings could suffer. Identifying critical resource limitations, recognises Gorton (2007, p.27), is essential to avoid a negative impact on the quality of current product lines. 2.8 Diversification Diversifying the current product range could help reduce NWPs overall business risk through offering products in different customer categories. NWP already have an established brand name under the name Zaras giving an advantage should the new product or target markets be unsuccessful NWPs other product lines are unlikely to be affected. Zaras would help in leveraging new products belonging to the same brand and help the company to spread their customer base while also helping the company develop its product portfolio through introduction of complimenting products in the market (Keller, Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane, 2009, p.28). NWP could introduce a diverse pricing strategy with lower quality, cheaper to produce products; however this would be going against the core values of the company which is not advisable. The huge risk with this strategy for NWP is there is often little scope for using existing expertise as it involves selling completely different products to a completely different market. This would make NWP vulnerable to a major reaction from competitors as they attempt to enter into other markets with products that could affect competition. Diversification strategy is similar to starting an entirely new business (Holden, Philip R., Wilde, Nick, 2007, p.75) also involving high risk and is not recommended for NWPs growth strategy at this time. 3. CONCLUSIONS Attempting to increase usage among current customers is less threatening to a competitor which avoids bigger competitor responses. The downside to using market penetration is that it limits market share growth to current markets offering slower growth potential as opposed to developing products in new markets. Using market development in similar segments the company can apply current expertise with ease to the new segment therefore reducing cost and risk. Domestic geographic expansion is an effective way to improve market share. Increasing use of online marketing makes a focus on expanding the services provided through current online ordering tools a useful avenue for growth in market share. An effective way of targeting non-users is through further advertising and media channels or offering samples of the products for first time users. NWP should consider the effect of increased market share on actual and perceived quality before pursuing increased market share too many customers can strain the firms resources, hurting product value and service delivery. Unless risk management is closely monitored product development and diversification could be ineffective strategies for NWP. Introduction of a diversified pricing strategy with lower quality, cheaper to produce products is an option for different markets and potential market growth; however this would be going against the core values of the company which is not advisable. Managing the risk involved in product development could put pressure on the companys resources. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS Inform current and valued clients of continuous delivery quality and services provided to build further customer satisfaction and maintain customer loyalty. Focus on developing products in new markets. Create/amend marketing budget to determine affordability of marketing techniques for tailored campaign targeting a younger/older generation specific to appeal to each target segment. Contact potential partners and retail outlets in the South Island and Australian markets for geographic market expansion. Create/amend marketing budget to determine affordability of marketing techniques for enhancements on NWP online ordering system with extra features and additional offers. Contact media channels such as womens health magazines and other media and advertising channels. Advertise offering samples of products either in-store or by online ordering in order to target non-users within the target market. Ensure NWPs increase in product sales will not impact firms resources through reallocation and reviewing of quality product and service delivery. Employ management to maintain specific target markets. Employ risk management specialist management and implement risk management plan to monitor changes in market and customer satisfaction. Focus existing expertise on market development and market penetration strategies.

The Ghost Essay -- Narrative Memoir Essays

The Ghost I clutched my cell phone tightly ready to call 911. I was so terrified lying there in my bed that I couldn't move. Previous nights while staying at my Grandma's house I had been scared, but nothing compared to the fear that ran through my veins on this unforgettable night. I remember how exciting the idea of living with my grandma and being independent from my parents for a whole summer while our new house was being built sounded to me. My grandma lives in a house that is over a 100 years old! I really don't believe it is haunted or anything, but I have definitely heard sounds in the night, some louder and scarier than other nights. My dad used to tease me that it was my Grandpa's ghost coming back for visits. My grandpa died in January of 2001. I don't believe in ghosts, but just my dad's suggestion of Grandpa's soul coming back made me feel uneasy. One particular night still haunts me and is one that I really wish I could forget. I went to bed that night up at my Grandma's house just like I did almost every night, a little apprehensive about what I might hear. At about 1:00 a.m., I was awakened by a loud bang on my window. I thought maybe it was just a dream, so I closed my eyes and started to fall back asleep. Just as I was almost back to sleep, I heard another loud bang followed by mysterious voices; this time I knew it wasn't a dream. At first, I was so scared that all I could do was lay in my bed motionless. I tried to rationalize what the noises I heard could have been, but I couldn't think of any logical explanation, except that someone was outside. My first instinct was to grab my cell phone and call 911. I quickly grabbed my phone off my headboard and held it close to me, still too scared to move, b... ... always tell her it was branches from the trees hitting the sides of the house. Well, old houses do creak I guess, but the sounds I heard that night were definite loud bangs on my window, which couldn't have possibly been caused by tree branches, since there weren't any tree branches that even touched the house anywhere near the room I slept in. I definitely got the independence that I wanted this past summer, but I wasn't quite as ready for it as I thought I was. I'll probably never have an explanation for what I heard that night, and honestly, I don't think that I really want one. I still don't like the idea of ghosts or souls of people who have died coming back to earth, but I do think that some things just can't be explained by my simple human logic. I'll never forget that night up at my grandma's when I was so scared that I couldn't move a muscle in my body.

Wounding More than just the Knee: The Development of the Ghost Dance in

Religion has always been an easy respite from the toils of daily life. Moreover, it has an intrinsic ability to help its followers make sense of matters during times of despair. For Native Americans, religion has long been an integral part of their culture. The Longhouse Religion, the Drummer-Dreamer Faith (which strongly foreshadowed the development of the Ghost Dance movement), and the Indian Shaker Church are all religions that originated deep within Native American culture. The white man, since his arrival in America, has always had extreme amounts of tension with Native Americans, often enacting laws in order to do what would make white society happy. As the United States government took away more and more of what Native Americans stood for, vast amounts of them turned to religion for reprieve from the pain and suffering instigated, in part, by the white man. The United States government, since its very foundation, has been hostile towards Native Americans, forcing them to comply with their needs. An early instance of Indian manipulation on the part of the United States government was the Indian Removal Act of 1830. During Andrew Jackson’s presidency, thousands of Native Americans were forced off of their land west of the Mississippi River. These Native Americans walked on what would later be known as the Trail of Tears. It was named this because of the acute anguish that countless numbers of them endured while on it. As they were forced further and further west, they were cramped onto smaller and less fertile lands. The Sioux Treaty of 1868 (also known as the Treaty of Fort Laramie) established the Great Sioux Reservation. This treaty drew boundaries as to where Native Americans could and could not settle, and attempt... ...ess, 2009. Meddaugh, J. E. American Indian Ghost Dance. Photograph. 1885. Photo Lot 90-1, number 391. National Anthropological Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Members of the Potomac Corral of the Westerners. Great Western Indian Fights. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1960. Mooney, James. The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. Washington DC: US Bureau of American Ethnology, 1896. Sandefur, Gary D. "American Indian Reservations: The First Underclass Areas?" Focus 12, no. 1 (1989): 37-41. Streissguth, Tom. Wounded Knee 1890: The End of the Plains Indian Wars. New York, NY: Facts on File, 1998. Thurman, Melbum D. "Wovoka." American National Biography Online. Last modified February 2000. Accessed October 15, 2013. http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01149.html. Wovoka. "The Messiah Letter." Speech transcript.

Justifying the Ways of God in Miltons Paradise Lost Essay -- Papers M

Justifying the Ways of God in Milton's Paradise Lost Through Paradise Lost, Milton ?justifies the ways of God to men?, he explains why man fell and how he is affected by the fall. He shows that although man had a fall it was a fortunate fall, ?felix culpa?. As a result of the fall there are bad outcomes that man and women will endure but it was a fulfillment of God?s purpose. In creating man, God gave him free will; he created him a perfect being but ?free to fall?. In God?s plan man will fall by his own fault. This allows God to show mercy on man and allow man to chose to be obedient and to love God by his own choice and to eventually end up in a better place. If man had not fallen then there would be no coming of Christ the savior, and no redemption, which are apart of God?s plan. When Christ dies for man, he begins the process of redemption leading to the Last Judgement Day and to a new earth and heaven. Although mankind will suffer consequences, they will find grace and mercy through God?s glory and through experience and k nowledge they will be able to express sincere love and know true happiness. Milton begins this epic poem by telling men what is going to happen to man through God?s prophecy. God speaks of the fall and the ultimate outcome. When God created mankind he gave them free will, this free will is what allowed them to fall. God gave them free will because without freedom there would be no evidence that man?s love is genuine: ? Not free, what proof could they have giv?n sincere? (III, 103). God allows Satan to rally his troops and continue on his battle against heaven: ?And high permission of all-ruling-Heaven/ Left him at large to his own dark designs? (I, 212-13). God does this because Sat... ...ghest victory? (XII, 568-69). Finally Adam expresses that he will never leave Paradise because he will always have it within him: ?but shalt possess/ A paradise within thee, happier far? (XII, 586-87). Adam takes what he can from the fall and makes it to his best ability, a fortunate one. Eve has had the pain of child birthing put on her as a punishment. She takes this a makes it a good thing: ?I carry hence; though all by me is lost,/Such favor I unworthy vouchsafed,/ By me the Promised Seed shall all restore? (XII 621-23). Eve is saying that isn?t even worthy of this gift, ?favor?, creating her own felix culpa out of herfall. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and for that there were punishments, however they both turned it around and made it the best as possible. Works Cited: Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Scott Elledge. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1975.

Application of Forensic Psychology within a trial: R vs. Golds

Introduction Before delving into the applications and relevant theories in Forensic Psychology in this case, it is first necessary to summarise the particulars of this case. This will allow for the evidence to be objectively assessed, and then broken down as the empirical evidence provided by the field of Forensic Psychology pertains to specific points. This will allow for the value of various aspects of the evidence on both sides to be assessed, which may result in a re-evaluation of the overall verdict. The psychological evidence will then be evaluated within the relevant theoretical framework, and these theories will in turn be critically analysed so that the degree to which the relevant findings and theories of forensic psychology can be used to interpret the meaning and weight of evidence in this case can be evaluated. The defendant was convicted of murdering his wife, but appealed against conviction on the grounds that he was suffering from a mental illness and therefore was impaired substa ntially enough to meet the criteria for manslaughter, not murder. The appeal was dismissed. Although the defendant admitted killing his wife he did not give evidence at the trial, stating that he was not in a fit mental state. A voir dire by a medical expert, B, attested to the fact that the defendant ought not to give evidence due to his mental state, and when recounting this to the jury the judge ruled that no adverse inference should be drawn from this. The judge did however not allow evidence from B to be given at the trial. The evidence in support of the defence was given by three expert medical witnesses all attesting to the deteriorating mental state of the defence and that the criteria for diminished responsibility were satisfied. No medical testimony disputed this. Evidence admitted by the judge against the defence came from the defendant’s daughter, S, who recounted a conversation in which the defendant admitted assaulting the victim on a prior occasion. This was ta ken as evidence of the defendant’s bad character. During the trial there was some discussion of the definition of the term ‘substantially impaired’; the defence counsel defined the term as anything ‘more than trivial[ly impaired]’ but the judge refused this definition and declined to give the jury any further guidance as to the legal definition of this term. A verdict of manslaughter would suggest that the defendant was not able to fully understand the nature of what he was doing, make a rational decision and exercise self-control (Morse, 2003). Of course the legal definition of ‘substantially impaired’ is also relevant; as it is defined by the English Homicide Act (1957) substantial impairment is constituted either by a ‘common sense’ standard or by any degree of impairment which is more than trivial but less than total (Prevezer, 1957). Whether the defendant reaches the threshold for these definitions of substantially impa ired will decide whether he is convicted of manslaughter or murder. One issue raised by the defendant in the appeal was that although the judge did explicitly state that the jury was not to draw any condemning inference from the defendant’s lack of testimony, he failed to remind the jury that S’s evidence should be considered with caution, because the defendant was not able to give any account of the alleged conversation. According to the literature in forensic psychology there could be valid grounds to this claim, however the claim itself could also be redundant entirely. This is because jurors do indeed evidently find it difficult to evaluate the weight of evidence and draw inferences appropriately (Thomas and Hogue, 1976). Thomas and Hogue (1976) developed a decision-making model for jurors, showing broadly that the weight jurors will ascribe to evidence varies across the population according to a variety of factors relevant to the characteristics of the jury. In th is model the decision threshold which defines whether the jury votes for the plaintiff or defendant varies little across the population but may vary between cases and be affected by factors such as instructions to jurors. This latter point is very important because it addresses the effect that instructions to the jury can have, even a small effect could have made a substantial difference to the way the jury regarded evidence. Evidence suggests that this is particularly the case with emotionally-charged evidence which is pertinent to this case, Cush and Delahunty (2006) found that mock jurors who received no pre-evidence instructions to consider emotionally evocative evidence (gruesome photographs) dispassionately or with caution gave more verdicts in favour of the victim and scored higher on measures of victim compassion and crime negativity than did jurors who did receive such instruction. Embedded within cognitive theory this evidence supports the defendant’s position on th is point; without all of the pertinent evidence with the appropriate weights the juror as a sense-making machine would not be able to reach an informed decision (Pennington and Hastie, 1991). The heuristics and biases approach (Griffin, Gonzalez and Varey, 2001) views decision-making, thought and perception as vulnerable to various cognitive biases and distortions from mental archetypes. One such source of bias has been dubbed ‘WYSIATI’, or ‘what you see is all there is’. This notion is important in a forensic context because the jury will naturally find it difficult to take into account evidence that is not readily presented to them (Neal and Grisso, 2014) especially when presented with material evidence which contradicts it. Another point to consider is the value of S’s evidence; factors which may be important to consider are the age of the witness (Ceci, Ross and Toglia, 1987), the power of hindsight and the nature of reconstructive memory (Leippe , 1980). According to a retrieval theory of memory, recognition and recall styles of memory are possible through a resonance-style spreading-activation pattern of retrieval attempts (Ratcliff, 1978). When a search of memory in this way is performed, certain archetypes or contextual information and assumptions about the objects in memory may fill in gaps or add meaning; depending on the age of the witness this may be even more important, because young children are more susceptible to such biases (Ceci, Ross and Toglia, 1987; Leippe, 1980). There may have been subtleties in the alleged conversation with the defendant which would reinterpret the meaning, especially in light of the defendant’s alleged mental illness which S could have missed in her memory of the conversation. Even if the judge had instructed the jury to treat S’s evidence with caution though, the question is what effect would this have had on the verdict. The answer would seem to be that even though it may have changed the jury’s perception of the evidence (Cush and Delahunty, 2006), this would not have substantially affected the verdict because the evidence of S was of limited significance in the first place because of the strength of other evidence that the defendant had abused the victim. A cognitive decision-makin framework would see people evaluating this evidence overall in favour of the victim (Pennington and Hastie, 1991). In addition to this it was made clear to the jury that the case of the defendant was that he had not abused the victim. This makes it a somewhat trivial point in the overall case. Cognitive theory is useful in the context of forensic psychology because it provides a framework for the decision-making process to be understood, and an opportunity for the value of evidence to be quantified. The theory does view human beings as rational agents who are able to objectively consider evidence, simply adding additional weight to emotional evidence. This could be seen as reductionist as it ignores a wealth of human experience and much of the cultural meaning inherent in cases such as this one. The spreading-activation theory of memory also has its opponents. Some memory researchers prefer to view memory errors as arising from consolidation or encoding errors (Squire and Alvarez, 1995). Both are useful in a forensic psychology context but it is important to remember that the evidence is interpreted theoretically, and there must still be a weight assigned to evidence based on theory. It must therefore be acknowledged that the interpretation of evidence is at least somewhat arbitrary based on these theories. A second point in the appeal was that the judge was supposedly wrong to not allow the evidence of B to go before the jury. The value of expert witnesses is debateable in the literature, assuming that their professional opinions within their fields are valid and reliable, the problem arises with the effect their testimony has on the jury. Expert testimony usually affects the credence that the jury gives to the testimony or stance of the individuals being evaluated, and in this case the evidence of B may well have contributed to the judge’s decision to instruct the jury to draw no condemning inference from the defendant’s lack of testimony. Due to certain cognitive biases, the message an expert tries to convey may not be received by the jury as intended, which may vindicate the judge’s decision to not allow B’s testimony. Jury members will often ascribe disproportionate impact to expert testimony (Krafka, Dunn, Johnson, Cecil et al., 2002), meaning the intended message is exaggerated or otherwise distorted resulting in jurors who may believe something contrary to what the literature on mental illness suggests. B had stated that the defendant was not in a fit state to give testimony, and attested to the reality of his mental illness and deteriorating mental state despite the usage of antips ychotic medication. This last point may be of particular importance because members of the general public may not have a full understanding of the research into the effects of antipsychotics (Jorm, Korten, Rodgers, Pollitt et al., 1997) which B presumably did have. If the jury believed that antipsychotics could cure the defendant’s mental illness then this could lead to them drawing a condemning inference. The weight that B’s evidence would have had is in question though because of the already substantial amount of evidence in support of the existence and chronic worsening of the defendant’s mental illness. This is an issue because if the jury was already convinced that the defendant was indeed mentally ill at the time of the killing and still voted to convict the defendant of murder then the impact B’s evidence may have had is a moot point. The only remaining question is whether B’s testimony would have added anything to the testimony of the other experts due to the voir dire examination. It does seem unlikely that the testimony of B would have differed significantly from the other experts, and due to the evidence suggesting that the individual persuasive ability of experts has more of an impact on jurors than the content of their message (Bank and Poythress, 1982) the judge was probably right to not allow the additional expert testimony. A criticism of most of this research is that it mostly uses mock jurors, and also the mock cases obviously involved different experts and circumstances to the one in question. This means that the effect may be more or less pronounced in this scenario, but the evidence is from a very relevant context and is extremely likely to still be useful. The only potential problem lies in the participants not taking the mock case as seriously as they would a real case. The general population may not have a good understanding of mental illness or mental capacity as these terms are defined in legal disco urse (Jorm, 2000) which did necessitate at least some expert testimony. Another point is that the judge did not give any contrasting definition for the term ‘substantially impaired’ when the defence counsel offered the definition of ‘anything impairment more than trivial’. Although this was submitted as grounds for appeal, the evidence suggests that if anything this point would have resulted in the jurors adopting a standard of impairment that was too liberal by legal standards. This is because jurors and indeed people in general are not as able to disregard presented information as readily as most people believe (Lieberman and Arndt, 2000). According to theories in social psychology, hindsight bias and belief perseverance can lead to jurors actually relying on inadmissible evidence more than other evidence (Lieberman and Arndt, 2000). This is very useful research in this context because it highlights the importance of presented information; the definition offered by the defence counsel will be given inappropriate attention. Since the verdict was still to convict, this suggests strongly that the court was right to dismiss the appeal. In light of the strength of the evidence and theory reviewed and the applications in this case, it is clear that the second and third points submitted by the defendant in the appeal were properly rebuffed by the judge, in fact the evidence suggests that these issues would have worked in the defendant’s favour if the judge had responded differently. As for the first point, it appears from the research that any effect on jury perception would be negligible, although there is some conflict in the literature as to the effect of instructions of limitation from the judge. References Morse, S. J. (2003). Diminished rationality, diminished responsibility. Ohio St. J. Crim. L., 1, 289. Prevezer, S. (1957). The English Homicide Act: A New Attempt to Revise the Law of Murder. Columbia Law Review, 624-652. Thomas, E. A., & Hogue, A. (1976). Apparent weight of evidence, decision criteria, and confidence ratings in juror decision making. Psychological Review,83(6), 442. Cush, R. K., & Delahunty, J. G. (2006). The influence of limiting instructions on processing and judgments of emotionally evocative evidence. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 13(1), 110-123. Griffin, D., Gonzalez, R., & Varey, C. (2001). The heuristics and biases approach to judgment under uncertainty. Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intraindividual processes, 1, 207-235. Neal, T., & Grisso, T. (2014). The cognitive underpinnings of bias in forensic mental health evaluations. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 20(2), 200. Pennington, N., & Hastie, R. (1991). Cognitive theory of juror decision ma king: The story model, A. Cardozo L. Rev., 13, 519. Ceci, S. J., Ross, D. F., & Toglia, M. P. (1987). Suggestibility of children’s memory: Psycholegal implications. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 116(1), 38. Leippe, M. R. (1980). Effects of integrative memorial and cognitive processes on the correspondence of eyewitness accuracy and confidence. Law and Human behavior, 4(4), 261. Ratcliff, R. (1978). A theory of memory retrieval. Psychological review, 85(2), 59. Alba, J. W., & Hasher, L. (1983). Is memory schematic?. Psychological Bulletin, 93(2), 203. Bank, S. C., & Poythress Jr, N. G. (1982). Elements of Persuasion in Expert Testimony, The. J. Psychiatry & L., 10, 173. Jorm, A. F. (2000). Mental health literacy Public knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 177(5), 396-401. Lieberman, J. D., & Arndt, J. (2000). Understanding the limits of limiting instructions: Social psychological explanations for the failures of instru ctions to disregard pretrial publicity and other inadmissible evidence. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 6(3), 677. Squire, L. R., & Alvarez, P. (1995). Retrograde amnesia and memory consolidation: a neurobiological perspective. Current opinion in neurobiology,5(2), 169-177. Jorm, A. F., Korten, A. E., Rodgers, B., Pollitt, P., Jacomb, P. A., Christensen, H., & Jiao, Z. (1997). Belief systems of the general public concerning the appropriate treatments for mental disorders. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 32(8), 468-473.

Different Ideas of Beauty

Exploring the different ideas of Beauty. Within a span of four months, we have explored the idea of beauty and the various definitions of it. We have learned that beauty can be interpreted in various way and found in anything. Like the saying goes â€Å"beauty is the eye of the beholder,† the notion of what is beautiful can be very subjective depending on the ones personal preferences at the same time we can have a collective evaluation and agree on something that every one considers to have some sense of artistic feel to it.In Edmund Burke’s book the philosophical enquiry, he share his ideas on â€Å"what is beautiful,† when explaining the traits of the sublime. In his philosophical work on the sublime and the beautiful, he tries to explain the distinctive qualities of the two categories, thus giving a new idea of beauty to explore apart from the conventional kind. He explores the sense of beauty one finds in the vastness of things. Beauty in the fear of the unk nown and greatness.Burke’s philosophy shakes the conventional aesthetic attitudes of the people. For example, normally when we think of beauty, we associate it with things that provide us pleasure, however, burke forces us to get in touch with our other senses. He claims that the â€Å"Awe† moments created by things with great magnitudes and power, enforcing fear and excitement, the sense of an overwhelming feeling of astonishment can also be considered to be beautiful.Additionally, studying the shock of the new, I personally have learned to appreciate and for a aesthetic attitude towards the visual art. Art is a means of communication for the artist to their audience. I learned that the notion of beauty can id different within this field as well, that not all art works are pleasing in to the eye.Apart from the collaboration of the colors, brush strokes, and frames, it is also the messages and the context the painting was created in that draws the people to it, regardl ess of if the painting is something anything that has a grotesque attribute. This leads to the poems of Mary Oliver, we read. Here she talks about beauty in nature, even in death, which is very peculiar. From this course, and the reading materials, I have learned that finding beauty in things, associating the term with anything is a difficult task.

Niccolo Machiavelli: About Liberal Countries

Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli in Chapter V of his writing speculates upon political backgrounds of governing the empires and expresses his opinion about the most effective way to rule such parts of the empire, which previously were living under own system of laws and regulations. In Machiavelli’s opinion, the best political strategy to govern such principalities or cities would be establishing the system of strict control of the ruler and making new colonies obey the laws which were already existing in the empire. In case if by some reason it is impossible to hold the new colonies in bondage, the best and the safest way, according to Machiavelli, would be destroying such former liberal regions. He supports this idea with a number of specific historical examples that illustrate the truthfulness of his hypothesis. Ancient city of Sparta gained control of several colonies, including the cities of Thebes and Athens, but could not dominate there for some long period of time and eventually lost these cities, because the old order and laws were not abolished. However, the Roman Empire was following another tactic: in such colonies of the Romans as Numantia, Capua and Carthage the old system of laws and social order were dismantled and new regions were totally placed under the command of the Emperor. That is how the Romans succeeded in keeping those colonies under control for centuries. According to Machiavelli, this phenomenon can be explained by the necessity to suppress liberal thoughts and love to freedom of newly acquired colonies, because otherwise the spirit of liberty will cause the attempts to obtain independence or revenge. The philosopher also points on some advantages and benefits of being governed by some ruler for the colonies. First of all, the experienced head of the empire can establish political and economic order in a colony much easier and more effectively. Besides, the ruler can provide higher national security and protect the nation from possible civil misunderstandings, rebellions or military attacks, and so on.

Caveman Wanderer

Mr.. Swell Press Pause Play The demagnification of technology Is truly transforming the way we take a look at things. When the first computer was invented in February of 1946, who would have known how Innovated it would have come to be. We live in an age where It is close to impossible to put your phone down. The revolution of technology is at the peak and Is constantly getting better. By the end of 2014 there will be eye glasses that make It easier to view things In a digital standpoint.Artists have transformed the world In every aspect. They have changed and inspired the world in a musical and video aspect. With that being said, Press Pause Play is a great film because it shows the opinion of artists and their take on how technology has revolutionized the world. The film also shows the contradiction between the artists as well. The demagnification of technology is showing the world how to communicate, share, and combine the works as one. Communication is the biggest key when It com es to today's world of digitization.In the time before the 20th century the way people communicated was by messengers. The mail sometimes took months to get delivered and was often times axed up and unrecognized. In our time, in order to communicate, we use our phones to do so. Nowadays, it takes seconds depending on our broadband connection to send messages. There are many diverse types of communication. People communicate through music, videos, pictures, and even personal experience. Artists can communicate through music by genre and having a feel of how it is being played.Another way is by having a connection with someone while it is being played. In addition to communicating through music, artists link through videos too. One example of videos are Youth. People have shared millions of videos through Youth and is continuously going up every day. Youth gives a chance for amateur artists to get known. This also means that there is competition now because the unprofessional artists are teaming up showing that they can converse their art lust as well as the professionals.Communication also occurs through picture. This one app on smoothness titled Mainstream has really allowed people to post pictures of just about everything. The best about that is, anyone can see it. It is an amazing way to communicate and it to get your photos viral for professionals to see it. The next aspect of the demagnification of technology Is sharing. Sharing happens In a few ways such as, video games and music. Sharing takes place through video games by gaming producers sharing their ideas with one another.For example, the game Call of Duty Modern Warfare was produced by Infinity Ward in 2007. It was an amazing game and sold millions of copies because of It. This caused another company called Tetrarch to create a series of Call of Duty. In order for the success of these two gaming companies to succeed, they need to share ideas so it can cause an 1 OFF f the biggest ways it actually tak es place is through music production. There are many programs out for public use that anyone can use. Let's say a rookie to a platform named Fruity Loops wanted to start making beats.Where would he/she get the instruments and sound kits from? This is where sharing takes place. Many artists make their own sounds and publish them on the internet. Sharing is constantly occurring and gives anyone the chance to combine technology and innovate it. This leads up to the last aspect of the demagnification of technology. The last aspect of the demagnification of technology is combination. Combination plays a role in technology because combination lets artists chain their work together and make something they never thought they could have.It allows artists to open up their minds and use all three aspects of technology; communication, sharing, and combination. Combination gives artists something to look forward to as well. They can look forward to it because there is an infinite amount of ideas and can always come up with something original and creative. So, with all this being said, how is the demagnification of technology affecting the way people create and share their work? Technology is moving the way people create ND share their work in a few ways.Artists share their work through social media and that is a huge reason on why the demagnification of technology is so advanced. Artists also create their work by using online resources and taking advantage of what the internet has to offer. One way is getting through to the audience. The world and the people are the audience. Artists are creating their work by getting an opinion of the audience. Artists run trials of their artwork and have the world try it out. Technology is constantly changing and without the use of it and the three aspects, we would have no clue on what would be going on.

Field Trip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Field Trip - Essay Example It plays an important part in the conservation of the Indian tiger. Open from the middle of November till mid of June, visitors can stay at Dhikala, which is located inside the Corbett National Park. Jeeps can be hired from Ramnagar, which travel to the Park and Dhikala. Buses also travel to Dhikala from the Ramnagar station. Alternately the route from Delhi - Moradabad, through Kashipur and finally Ramnagar, Corbett can be taken. The estimated distance is 280km, and the journey approximately takes 7 hours. [Jim Corbett National Park, 2002]. The reserve encompasses a total area of 1318.54 sq km. The area is divided into the Jim Corbett National Park, which constitutes about 520 sq km of the core area. The buffer region, covering 797.72 sq km of the total area is the reserve forest region. Elephant Safaris are the best way to explore the huge area of the reserve. Jim Corbett tiger reserve and National park geologically falls in the Outer and Shivalik foothills of the Himalayas. The park was known as the Ramganga National Park, after the tributary of Ganga that flows through the reserve from East till West, post India's independence in 1947. It was renamed as Jim Corbett National Park in 1956, to commemorate the memory of Jim Corbett. The "Project Tiger," conservation project to save the Indian Tiger and its habitat, was launched in 1973 from this park. The special attract Project Tiger The special attraction of the park is the Bengal Tiger, which is an endangered species. In fact the name of the park - Corbett, is after the famous hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett, who was known for the initiatives he took to save the tiger from extinction. "Project Tiger" was started with support from the World Wide Fund for Nature by Indian conservationist. The main objective was to protect the tiger from extinction. Corbett with its thick forest cover and plenty of "food" for the tigers - the number of animal species present and also replenished by the Ramganga acted as an apt destination for a natural habitat of the endangered species. [Riley 208] Geology The Chinji Stage and Kamlial Stage are the two types of geological formations that can be found in the Jim Corbett National Park. Red and maroon shades sandstones, sandstones of grey, purple and grey hues comprise the geological formations of the Park. The Chinji stage that characterizes the uppermost stage of the lower Siwalik geological formations consists of bright colored sandstones. The sandstones of the area are characterized by intercalations of siltstones. Geologists have estimated these to date back to the Miocene (varying between upper and mid) age. [Negi 50 - 51] The Garhwal group's lowermost formation is Rudraprayag. Black and grey colored slates and cherts; grey quartzite; compact, medium grained, grayish white and white quartzite comprise the Rudraprayag formation. Over the Rudraprayag formations are the Lameri formation. Divided into Lameri A, Lameri B and Lameri C these are mainly dolomite bands, slates and phyllites.

History of Eastern United States coast barrier islands land change Research Proposal

History of Eastern United States coast barrier islands land change - Research Proposal Example They also connected many people with the shore. Pleasure and comfort was on the peak in the island making investments to be on the rise (Jones and Mike 2011, 15-16). Hotels and cottages came into place on the coast. The vegetation around was not the same all over as most of it would be destroyed by the sea water (Parry 2007, 35-36; Goudie, and Cuff 2008, 25). The long island beaches are barren with no vegetation while the other side of the island is covered with a dense forest of trees   (Gray 2008, p57). Most of the beaches are sandy in nature hence the need for the barriers to reduce soil erosion (Robinson 2005, p57; MacCracken and Frances 2008, 76). The coastal zone has been home to almost two thirds of the population in America. Along it are the slender and fragile silvers of sand that act as the barriers. They have been maintained for a longer period as a result of the frequent hurricanes and tides that affect the area often (Pilkey, and Rob 2008 ). The people in the area started building the barriers at the end of the last ice age. During this period, there was a steady rise in the sea level and it went ahead to flood the coastal river valleys claiming several lives. They went ahead to form the first barrier on the higher grounds in areas that were non-drowned and near river valleys (Pilkey and Pilkey 2007, 25). Barriers have over the years been considered to be young geologically and will always shift and slide with response to the ocean currents and winds available (Rice, Pilkey and Tracy 2004, 103). However, currently the barriers have been built and maintained by considering the interaction of rivers which is a complex phenomenon. The river now brings sediments from the inland areas and deposits it along the coast (Mirko 2006, 8). The wind then builds the deposited material and they become dunes. In case the dunes become stronger, there are plants that grow on it and therefore help

Ethical Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Behavior - Essay Example All these factors work together in determining the ethical behavior of individuals and groups in organizations (Research(ICMR)). There is a great deal of controversy regarding the nature of ethical behavior. Even though some persons may consider their behavior ethical, their peers in the organization and people from other places of the world i.e. their counterparts may disagree. An employee may consider the use of office stationery like pens, envelops etc. for personal use as unethical, whereas his colleagues may feel that since these things are not very costly, using them for personal reasons is not wrong. The meaning of ethical behavior differs from individual to individual and from group to group. A research study in which business executives and business faculty members were asked to give their opinion on the unauthorized copying of microcomputer software revealed that while executives considered this behavior unethical, faculty members did not. Ethics, in philosophy, is the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a particular society requires of its members ((ICMR)). Ethics has developed as people have reflected on the intenti... Intuitionists, moral-sense theorists, and sentimentalists postulated an innate moral sense, which serves as the ground of ethical decision. Empiricists deny any such innate principle and consider conscience a power of discrimination acquired by experience. In the one case conscience is the originator of moral behavior, and in the other it is the result of moralizing. Between these extremes there have been many compromises. The Nature of the Good Another major difference in the approach to ethical problems revolves around the question of absolute good as opposed to relative good. Throughout the history of philosophy thinkers have sought an absolute criterion of ethics. Frequently moral codes have been based on religious absolutes. All varying methods of building an ethical system pose the question of the degree to which morality is authoritative (i.e., imposed by a power outside the individual). If the criterion of morality is the welfare of the state, the state is supreme arbiter (Arckatty). If the authority is a religion, then that religion is the ethical teacher. Professional Ethics What is Professional Ethics Professional Ethics concerns one's conduct of behavior and practice when carrying out professional work. Such work may include consulting, researching, teaching and writing (Research(ICMR)). The institutionalization of Codes of Conduct and Codes of Practice is common with many professional bodies for their members to observe. Any code may be considered to be a formalization of experience into a set of rules. A code is adopted by a community because its members accept the adherence to these rules, including the restrictions that apply. Good ethics and good business Why should a company consider ethics in directing

Pop Culture Women's Voices Discussion Coursework

Pop Culture Women's Voices Discussion - Coursework Example It was the coming of age of a few older favorites like Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, and one of the best girl groups of all time, TLC. There was barely a song out about women â€Å"talking to† men that wasnt about real life, as if musical artists have a great deal of insight into the way men chase and women (supposedly) run, or play hard to get. The song â€Å"No Scrubs† by TLC was phenomenal because of its theme about pride and not giving your girl power to a â€Å"scrub,† or a man who â€Å"hangs out the passenger side of his best friends ride.† The hidden meaning of a scrub is that he is so lame, or unimportant or non-committal, that he cant even manage a car of his own. The song is not dedicated to men, but to women, about belittling themselves to get into a bad relationship that is not true to them or their futures. Women had come a long way, but were also far-removed from the Womens Lib movement of the 1960s. Women were still struggling with sexual and gender identity approximations in the 90s, or how far they could go to be themselves without being left completely alone. The universal answer to a scrub is â€Å"No.† Deadbeats – men who live with others and mothers and own nothing theyve earned speaks to the widely held ideas of the 90s woman, her independence and simultaneous self-initiated sexual exploitation, as if its okay to tease a man and not go all the way. Horizons expand with â€Å"lady music† aimed directly at men about their behaviors and hard-held beliefs about the place of women in

'The SYMPHONY WAL-MART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

'The SYMPHONY WAL-MART - Essay Example In fact, with â€Å"supply-chaining†, competition between companies is replaced with competition between supply chains. Thomas Friedman (2005) aptly stated that â€Å"the more these supply chains grow and proliferate, the more they force the adoption of common standard between companies (so that every link of every supply chain can interface with the next), the more they eliminate points of friction at borders, the more the efficiencies of one company get adopted by the others, and the more they encourage global collaboration†. Question 2 At Wal-Mart, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year (24/7/365), suppliers deliver their goods to Wal-Mart distributions centers. The sorting, packing, and distribution of these goods to Wal-Mart stores and shelving in Wal-Mart stores are also carried out 24/7/365. Once a particular goods is purchased by a customer and scanned by the cashier, a signal is generated, which is relayed to the manufacturer of the product, notwith standing the global location of the manufacturer. The generated signal is sent to the manufacturer and he is prompted to produce another of that product. Once the product is produced by the manufacturer, the cycle is repeated. The cycle, according to Thomas Friedman (2005) is on a global scale â€Å"in multiple movements – with no finale† and designated as â€Å"Wal-Mart Symphony†. Question 3 Heavy and early investment on cutting-edge IT infrastructure to identify and track sales on the individual level afforded Wal-Mart a competitive edge over its competitors. Wal-Mart is also smarter and faster in adopting new technologies and innovations than its competitors. Another element of competitive advantage is the culture of buying in large volume directly from the manufacturers at the deepest discount possible and shipping to distribution centers at the lowest possible cost. Furthermore, collaborating with manufacturers to lower cost as much as possible, improving i ts supply chain to be as low-cost and frictionless as possible and improving the information system in order to know customer’s taste and need and feeding this information to the manufacturers also offers Wal-Mart an edge over its competitors. Besides, Wal-Mart also broadens the scope and scale of its supply chain in order to lower price thereby capturing more market than its competitors. Based on Porter five forces, Wal-Mart is considerable competitive advantage. For instance, its low prices favor the bargaining power of its customers over that of its competitor. Though Wal-Mart faces competition from smaller dollar stores and online giant retailers, its ability to secure low prices from its suppliers still enhance its competitive advantage. Furthermore, Table 1 shows SWOT analysis which also supports Wal-Mart competitive advantage in the consumer market. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Worldwide reputation as low price retailer Poor reputation with respect to worker benefits, gender issues Good investment in IT infrastructure and good bargaining power with suppliers Several dollar stores and creating a formidable niche in the consumer market Ambitious managers and cooperate leaders Difficulty in exporting its brand outside the US Adapting its service to the taste and demand of its customers Online retailer such as Amazon makes shopping fun and easy. Question 4 Wal-Mart started