An Everything Bagel World Professor Ramos Blog

An Everything Bagel World I grew up in Southern California and describe it as a â€Å"everything bagel state,† it has different colors of people, different beliefs, and different sexual orientations, we have a little bit of everything. It was easy for me to except that we were all different, this is all I knew. At a Young age, around 6 or 7 I learned that sometimes guys like other guys and girls like other girls, â€Å"gay† and â€Å"lesbian†. This was something I didn’t put too much thought into, I just thought everyone likes what they like and that’s just how the world goes. Obviously, as I got older, I learned that some people don’t accept it as easily as I do. When I was about 20 years old, I received a phone call from my very close cousin whom I grew up with and was like a brother to be me. He told me â€Å"I love you, I wanted to tell you that I’m gay and I have a boyfriend. I don’t want you to think any different about me, I’m still your same cousin.† He started crying. I did not want him to feel bad, ashamed or embarrassed about being gay, that was who he was. So, right after, I said, â€Å"I had a feeling that you were! And I love you no matter what! He wasn’t that surprised that I knew, we are very close. He kept crying and said he told his Mom and his step-dad, and they were taking it really hard. His mom was sad about it and his step-dad thought it’s horrible that he likes guys and is something that he is not going to accept. Along with that, some of his best friends that he grew up with were shocked and had deleted him on social media and stopped talking to him. I could tell by his voice that It was killing him to have this kind of reaction from people that he was close to and loved. I told him that he was a great person and if his friends dont want to be friends with him than its their loss, this is who you are, if they stop talking to you because of this, they are not your true friends. Your mom and dad, on the other hand will hopefully get it, they probably just need time to process everything. I wanted to do everything in my power to let him know that there was nothing wrong with him or his feelings, and that he had someone to be there and accept him for him. That weekend I visited my cousin to show support, to let him be open about being gay and not have to hide it anymore while being around someone, especially family. I couldn’t imagine having to hide who you are from your loved ones, or really anyone. So it was a big deal that I made him comfortable in his own skin. We talked for hours about when he first started noticing he liked guys, his first â€Å"real† crush. I asked him about his boyfriend, and asked him if he was cute, we both laughed. I asked him normal questions that anyone would ask someone about a boyfriend or girlfriend. I told him I would love to be the first to meet him. I could tell that made him happy. Soon after, I met his boyfriend who was extremely nice, and I noticed right off the bat that he was perfect for my cousin. Around that time there was a family event, but my cousin couldn’t make it. I saw my Aunt (his mom), and she said â€Å"Im sure you heard about your cousin† in a disappointed way. The way she said it honestly bugged the CRAP out of me. So with a huge smile on my face I said, â€Å"Yes! I did, and I met his boyfriend, he was so nice, they’re such a cute couple.† She had a slightly shocked look on her face because she had no idea that I had met him, or what I would think about it all. I wanted her to know that there was someone who thinks that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and maybe it would sort of change her outlook. She told me about the hard time that she was having with it, I told her I understand, that was her little boy, but he seems really happy. And that was all I was really going to say about it. It wasn’t my place to try to convince her. His step-dad overheard us talking and said â€Å"I just I dont want to see it around me.â₠¬  There was really nothing I could say, that was how he felt and like I said, it wasn’t really my place. Time moved forward, about a year, mostly everyone accepted the fact he was gay including   his step-dad. See, his step-dad was black, and his mom was white. He told my cousin that there was a time where people didn’t accept them being together, and he didn’t want to do the same to him. His mom   became very close to his boyfriend. They both came to Christmas parties and other family events, and it became normal to everyone else, which made my cousin finally feel comfortable. A wedding ,on a beach, with our significant others, on a beautiful sunny afternoon, , with an amazing   bright red sunset sounds like a dream wedding to a lot of us.. This wedding was my cousins, he was as happy as could be. Our whole family sitting there watching was the greatest thing that he could’ve asked for. The reception was at a campground where everyone had their tents, we barbecued, played games, it was a â€Å"them† kind of ceremony. That night we briefly separated from the party and sat on the cliffs, watching the moon reflect off of the ocean. He thanked me for being there for him from the start, and that, that’s what he needed, was someone to be there for him. I told him I loved him I am happy that he is happy. Everyone is different, this whole world is and Everything Bagel, there are people going through different experiences then we are, that are trying to accept themselves and having other people accept them. Some of the time you see others putting people down, judging them and making them feel bad. Ive learned that being there for someone while they are going through a difficult time, just might be the best thing you could do for someone, because it is totally okay to be different.

Rob and Pablo Experiential Marketing

Rob and Pablo Experiential Marketing Introduction Rob and Pablo, the co-proprietors of SNOG (a chain of UK based yogurt shops), mention that the secret behind their success lies not only in the type of product they sell but rather in the way in which they make each transaction an experience for their customers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rob and Pablo Experiential Marketing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More What these two entrepreneurs are referring to is the general ambiance and feel that permeates a particular store or shopping area. This particular concept can be defined as experiential marketing which relies on establishing an emotional and rational connection with a customer to convince them to buy a product or patronize a particular service. Experiential Marketing in Action Within the context of experiential marketing, the experience that Rob and Pablo are referring to is not just the quality of the product itself but what customers feel when they enter into a particular establishment1. In the case of Snog, all their outlets have a warm and friendly ambiance which is not only family friendly but actually promotes, in their words, a happy feeling for customers. For example, it can be seen that in the case of Apple Inc. that all their stores, no matter what country they are present in, have a stylish and ergonomic design that looks clean, modern and cutting edge which has come to exemplify the experience of buying products at an Apple store. Based on the popularity of not only Snog but of Apple itself, it can be seen that by making their store into an experience rather than just a store, this helps to encourage buying behaviour among their clientele and even repeat visits.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As such, for any business that wants to increase their customer base it is important to develop the ex perience their venue provides so as to better appeal to consumers and create repeat business. Components to Market Orientation There are three components within market orientation that need to be taken into consideration when it comes to examining experiential marketing, namely: a company’s competitor orientation, its customer orientation or whether it adheres to inter-functional coordination. When it comes to marketing strategies involving customer orientation, a company utilizes its available resources in gathering data on the needs and behaviours of the consumer segment that it is targeting. The same can be said for competitor orientation marketing strategies; however, in this case it focuses on competitors within the same market instead2. Either method has a distinct weakness; focusing too much on consumer orientation can actually blind a company to changes in the market or may actually stifle innovation since the company focuses too much on consumer satisfaction rather t han changing based on trends3. Focusing too much on competitor orientation on the other hand results in too much time and capital being placed on competitive activities which results in companies at times neglecting their consumer bases and focusing too much on getting ahead of the competition. In the case of IBM, what was done was to focus on a customer oriented strategy by providing solutions instead of merely software and hardware4.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rob and Pablo Experiential Marketing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Not only that, the company also avoided the potential pitfall of being blind to changes within the market by in effect taking itself out of the competitive direct to consumer PC market and instead focused on a niche market strategy involving multinational corporations, institutions and other such organizations. This strategy can be considered a stroke of genius since it enabled the co mpany to further enhance its reputation through better client services which in effect resulted in additional clients for IBM5. The end result of this particular marketing strategy enabled IBM to become the 2nd largest firm within the U.S. based on the number of employees it currently has as well as enabling it to reach the fourth highest position within the U.S. market in terms of the sheer amount of market capitalization it has at the present. Marketing and Customer Experiences This section argues that consumption is an embodied experience rather than consisting of mere business transactions and, as such, this is why experiences can be an economic offering. Space where consumers do their shopping is related to their bodies, sensations, feelings, emotions, and their actions6. The space where experiences are plotted, staged and consumed are the sites to offer the memorable events for consumers to immerse themselves in. These sites are thus defined as experiencescapes and can be cons idered the primary means by which products are marketed to people. It is within this context that the concept of experiential marketing is doubted since if the act of appealing to customers is through an experiencescape and is an inherent aspect of marketing in general, this means that experiential marketing is nothing more than a contemporary manifestation of already present marketing orientations.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is a well known fact that the presentation of anything that can be feasibly sold to a consumer is an important factor in whether or not a product is a success or a failure. Companies have gone so far as to invest millions on advertising campaigns, consumer focus groups, product viability testing as well as a variety of other factors in order to entice people to buy their product7. In hotels, restaurants and shopping malls, enticing a customer to come to their location is not just a matter of having the best product at the lowest cost but rather presenting a certain image, ambience, and experience. From this it can be understood that people are attracted to going to a certain location based what they see as being a pleasant experience for them which goes beyond mere shopping or eating8. When taking into account the numerous malls and shopping centres around the world such as the Dubai Shopping Centre in the United Arab Emirates or the Mall of Asia in the Philippines, ergonomically they can be considered a vast waste of space and electricity with large avenues that could have been occupied by shops yet are filled in with waiting areas, indoor fountains, fancy sculptures as well as expensive air conditioning systems. The justification behind such endeavours and its correlation with experiential marketing will be tackled in the next section. Case Example A systems analyst would tell you that the resources expended on malls hold little significance for selling goods to consumers and would best be used in a more productive fashion. However, following such advice would result in an architecturally benign structure that would be efficient in reducing costs and maximizing sales however such a location would probably not be frequented by customers at all9. The reason for such extravagances in a shopping mall is that people are attracted by presentation and desire a way in which they would be able to experience something beyond just shopping for goods and services10. The fact of the matter is the process of buying goods and services from a store is normally a tedious and boring experience. Having to drive or take public transportation to a shopping centre, finding the type of store that contains the articles of clothing in question and having to go back home consumes vast amounts of time and, as such, under ordinary circumstances most people would be rather hesitant to repeat this kind of behaviour11. Retailing works off continued consumer patronage and, as such, the more a person goes to a certain location to buy something the greater the resulting profits for the company in question. In order to encourage this type of behaviour, shopping centres and retailers have to make the experience of shopping an enjoyable one in order for consumers to continuously come back due to the enjoyed experience12. This process is called an experiencescape which can be described as the creation of an environment that creates an experience beyond that of the mere buying of goods, rather, it is a type of marketing that is meant to entice, delight and encourage repeat visits in order to get people to buy products at certain locations13. In the case of the Mall of Dubai, the Mall of Asia as well as numerous other global shopping centres, a trend has occurred leading to the creation of ever increasing building sizes with one mall becoming bigger than the next. Each succeeding mall tends to possess more amenities, luxuries as well as a plethora of various consumer oriented services meant to entice more visits in the future14. One clear example of an experiencescape in the shopping centres of today are the movie theatres15. Movies themselves are meant to enthral, entertain and otherwise provide an experience like no other, yet it is far easier and cheaper to merely wait for the DVD of a movie to come out, rent it at the fraction of the cost of a movie ticket and watch at home at the convenience of the renter. Thus, it must be questioned why then d o people spend money to watch movies in shopping centres? The fact is that watching movies on a large screen is a far better experience, combined with surround sound and the reactions of other audience members, it is an experiencescape meant to impress, entertain and otherwise captivate the attention of a moviegoer so as to encourage repeat visits16. People enjoy their senses being stimulated in one form or another which an experiencescape is able to provide and, as such, people are willing to pay ever increasing amounts of money or go to shopping centres with the best entertainment value just to stimulate their senses17. This is based on the fact that life in general for most of the population is rather benign and boring. With this in mind, ever increasing amounts of people are in search of methods to fill this boredom with something that would be able to captivate the senses18. Shopping centres, malls and mega complexes are able to provide this, hence the fact people have a tenden cy to congregate around such areas in order to experience the various experiecescapes that are available in them19. This of course results in greater sales for the numerous stalls, booths, and stores located within the mall itself since people are not only enticed to experience all that is available around them but are also encouraged to spend money by either eating at restaurants located within the shopping centre or by buying something through a spur of the moment purchase20. Taking all these factors into consideration, it can be seen that the creation of â€Å"customer experiences† is a normal part of marketing and doing business. While it may be true that experiential marketing has been gaining considerable ground as of late, the fact remains that it is merely a manifestation of the customer oriented marketing strategy that was described earlier on in this paper. As such, it is true that creating an experience to appeal to customers is important, however, it is erroneous to believe that experiential marketing is the process by which this primarily occurs since the examples of the malls and movie theatres all show that experience creation has been utilized for decades as a means to draw customers in so that they can buy products and patronize services21. Analyzing the Concept of Customer Experience If a person without any work experience whatsoever were to enter into the retail industry as a sales clerk, one of the first lessons that they would learn is the concept of the customer experience. This concept is based on the fact that a customer that experiences exemplary service, a professional work attitude from employees and is treated as a person and not just as a mere figure on an accounting sheet is more likely to come back and shop again at the same location22. It is due to this that the focus of most retail companies today is enhancing the customer service through store design, customer relations, rules and regulations as well as constant change in order to meet the needs of a variety of customers. The aspect of store design in a customers experience all deals with the aesthetic point of view that is perceived by the customer23. It is a well known fact that people are more likely to do business with an outlet if it looks aesthetically pleasing versus another outlet that may have cheaper prices but is aesthetically demeaning. The fact of the matter is humans, more often than not, choose aesthetics over any perceived savings they may accrue from purchasing from an aesthetically inappropriate location24. The basis for this trend in aesthetics is human psychology which has stated that people have a propensity to congregate around areas that are more aesthetically pleasing than those that are not. This is proven by the fact that most people prefer taking walks in a spacious well kept park rather the nearest junkyard or landfill. As such, based on aesthetics, the overall appearance of a shop is then created as a result of what de signers perceive to be an attractive design for a customer that compliments the type of product being sold25. Examples of such incidences are apparent in the state of the numerous stores at malls that each have their own unique design that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and are meant to draw customers in. Another aspect of customer relations involves the use of customer services skills in order to create an atmosphere wherein customers are assisted by employees in a friendly professional manner, assisting the customer with whatever it is they need help with and creating an atmosphere where the customer feels at ease26. Numerous retail outlets such as Gap, Levis, Dolce Gabanna as well as a variety of other brand name stores take it upon themselves to constantly train their employees in proper customer service skills in order to create better customers relations with their consumers27. The best result of such an action is patronage on the part of the customer towards the store for the great customer relations experience that the store was able to give28. Taking these factors into consideration, it can be seen that the domain of appealing to customer experience is not the sole property of experiential marketing; rather, it has been present through the development of aesthetic designs and proper customer service which have been the mainstay of product retailers for hundreds of years29. As such, based on all the examples given, it can be stated that appealing to a customer’s emotions and rational behaviour is nothing new and has been a part of marketing ever since its inception30. The concept of experiential marketing has merely been more adept at bringing to light what was already obvious to many marketing professionals. Conclusion Overall, it can be stated that there is a need to understand the buying experience from the consumer’s perspectives for future studies. This involves understanding how consumers react to and make sense of the buying experience and how they interact with the buying environment created by companies. The fact of the matter is buying experiences were created for the express purpose of making money off of consumers. If consumer attitudes towards them are properly understood, the more likely corporations are able to make money off of them. It is within this context that this paper concludes that experiential marketing is nothing more than a passing fad in the current realm of marketing literature. Bibliography Anggie, C, Haryanto, J, Analysis of the Effect of Olfactory, Approach Behavior, and Experiential Marketing toward Purchase Intention, Gadjah Mada International Journal Of Business, vol. 14, no. 1, 2012, pp. 85. (English), Marketing Review / Xing Xiao Ping Lun, vol. 9, no. 2, 2012, pp. 161. (English), Marketing Review / Xing Xiao Ping Lun, vol. 9, no. 2, 2012, pp. 161-179 10 S Srinivasan R Srivastava, Creating the futuristic retail experience through experiential marketing: Is it possible? An exploratory study, Journal Of Retail Leisure Property, vol. 9, no. 3, 2010, pp. 193-199 11 R Miller K Washington, Part XIII: Consumer marketing: Chapter 89: Event experiential marketing, Consumer Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 2, 2013, pp. 515-517 12 K Maddox, Survey shines spotlight on experiential marketing, B To B, vol. 91, no. 10, 2006, pp. 4-38 13 C Anggie J Haryanto, Analysis of the Effect of Olfactory, Approach Behavior, and Experiential Marketing toward Purchase Intention, Gadjah Mada International Journal Of Business, vol. 14, no. 1, 2012, pp. 85-101 14 T Sheng-Hshiung, C Yi-Ti W Chih-Hung, The Visitors Behavioral Consequences of Experiential Marketing: An Empirical Study on Taipei Zoo, Journal Of Travel Tourism Marketing, vol. 21, no. 1, 2006, pp. 47-64 15 Experiential marketing risks attracting the wrong crowd, Media: Asias Media Marketing Newspaper, vol. 2, no. 3, 2008, p. 14 16 N Zainuddin, J Previte R Russell-Bennett, A social marketing approach to value creation in a well-womens health service, Journal Of Marketing Management, vol. 27, no. 3/4, 2011, pp. 361-385 17 K Mehta, Experiential Marketing A radical new idea for the Indian Disability Sector, Aweshkar Research Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, 2013, p. 10 18 J Maher, Students attitudes toward the experiential marketing research project: An exploratory investigation of the impact of reality, AMA Winter Educators Conference Proceedings, vol. 14, 2003, p. 299 19 M Senthil, K Chandrasekar S Selvabaskar, ‘Experiential Retailing’ as a Strategic Tool for Retail Store Differentiation and Brand Association A Conceptual Approach, SIES Journal Of Management, vol. 8, no. 1, 2012, pp. 92-102 20 L Hart S Mrad, Student-led Consulting Projects Succeed as Experiential Learning Tool for MBA Marketing Strategy, Business Education Innovation Journal, vol. 5, no. 2, 2013, pp. 75-85 21 M Luo, J Chen, R Ching C Liu, An examination of the effects of virtual experiential marketing on online customer inte ntions and loyalty, Service Industries Journal, vol. 31, no. 13, 2011, pp. 2163-2191 22 D Leighton, Step back in time and live the legend: experiential marketing and the heritage sector, International Journal Of Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Marketing, vol. 12, no. 2, 2007, pp. 117-125 23 N Vila-Là ³pez M Rodrà ­guez-Molina, Event-brand transfer in an entertainment service: experiential marketing, Industrial Management Data Systems, vol. 113, no. 6, 2013, pp. 712-731 24 T Suh, M Bae, H Zhao, S Kim M Arnold, A multi-level investigation of international marketing projects: The roles of experiential knowledge and creativity on performance, Industrial Marketing Management, vol. 39, no. 2, 2010, pp. 211-220 25 L Ming-Shing, H Huey-Der Y Ming-Fen, The study of the relationships among experiential marketing, service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, International Journal Of Organizational Innovation, vol. 3, no. 2, 2010, pp. 352-378 26 WR Wynd, An Experiential Approa ch to Marketing Education, Journal Of Marketing Education, vol. 11, no. 2, 1989, p. 64 27 S Shobeiri, M Laroche E Mazaheri, Shaping e-retailer’s website personality: The importance of experiential marketing, Journal Of Retailing Consumer Services, vol. 20, no. 1, 2013, pp. 102-110 28 S Pathak, Its not just events anymore, Advertising Age, vol. 85, no. 5, 2014, p. 12 29 J Cannenterre, N Mou, S Moul, M Bernadac A Ghor, How do companies innovate and attract consumers through experiential marketing?, Scientific Research Education In The Air Force AFASES, vol. 1, 2012, pp. 29-38 30 B Schmitt, Experiential Marketing, Journal Of Marketing Management, vol. 15, no. 3, 1999, pp. 53-67

Hearing Sounds Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hearing Sounds - Assignment Example The outer ear is composed of three parts which are the pinna (or auricle), the external auditory canal (or external auditory meatus), and the tympanic membrane (or eardrum) (Net Industries and its Licensors ,par.2). The pinna is the organ on the side of our heads that we commonly call "the ear". The external auditory canal is a passageway in the temporal lobe of the skull that begins at the ear and extends inward and slightly upwards. The outer one-third portion of the canal is lined with a membrane containing ceruminous (ear wax producing) cells, and hair cells which protects the eardrum by trapping dirt and other foreign bodies. The purpose of the cerumen and hairs is to protect the eardrum by trapping dirt and to keep the canal moist. The tympanic membrane or eardrum is a thin, concave membrane stretched across the inner end of the external auditory canal and serves as a transmitter of sound by vibrating in response to sounds traveling down the external auditory canal, and beginni ng sound conduction in the middle ear. The middle ear starts from the inner surface of the eardrum. It is connected to a chain of three small bones called the ossicles, known as the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup). These bones conduct sound waves from the tympanic membrane to the inner ear.

Review the current and potential future treatments for Parkinsons Essay

Review the current and potential future treatments for Parkinsons Disease - Essay Example It is the second most common neurgenerative disorder that affects about 1 million people in America and about 50,000 people in United Kingdom (Jankovic, 2007). The disease is characterized by a gradual loss of the muscular functioning and controlling, resulting in trembling limbs, stiffness and impairment balance. In other words, the disease causes the disorder of movement, motor weakness, spasticity, sensory loss, and cerebellar ataxia (Waters, 2008). It causes slowness of the movement or abnormal involuntary movement (dyskinesia) such as, tremor, chorea, mycolonus, tics and dystopian (Driver-Dunckley et al., 2003). The disease immensely affects sub cortical brain structures (basal ganglia) causing movement disorders. Parkinson’s disease results from the malfunction and the death of the nerve muscle of the brain cells called neurons. It affects neurons present in the substantia nigra. This part of brain controls the movement and coordination of the body part with the brain (C haudhuri & Tolosa, 2009). Parkinson’s disease affects substantia nigra, eventually decrease production of dopamine in the brain causing individuals to lose control the movement normally (Olanow & Koller, 1998). Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are classified as Primary symptoms that are related to involuntary and voluntary motor functions usually occur on one side of the body. When the symptoms of the Parkinson appear they are mild that eventually progress with the time (Chaudhuri & Tolosa, 2009). According to the study of Waters (2008), by the time the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease appear, individuals would have already lost about 60 to 80 percent of the dopamine cells (cells that regulate and control the movement). The secondary symptoms appear when the Parkinson’s disease becomes progressive causing the loss and control of the body movement and damage of brain cell (Waters, 2008). The following is the list of

Business Proposal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Proposal - Case Study Example The trust that has been created at various departments of the company has helped Tata to establish several institutes like Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Tata Institute of Social Sciences among others. The employee welfare aspect of Tata is so strong that it had created various facilities for their employees. The employees have to work 8-hours during the day; provident fund and maternity leave are a few of the facilities that are provided to the employees of Tata Group. In the year 2010-2011, Tata Group had contributed around US$170 million towards the upliftment of social causes (Tata Sons Ltd, 2012). The main objective of the paper is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the leadership strategies implemented by Tata Group to facilitate its business in India and all around the world. Based on the analysis, business proposal will be presented to the company which can enable it to gain further benefits and ensure sustainability. Role of the Leader in Initiating and Managing Change Leadership in any organization plays a vital role to take it to newer heights. Similar scenario can be observed in case of Tata Group as well. It is recognized to transform its operations in recent years for initially operating as a slow-moving giant which is risk-averse to a conglomerate which is dynamic and aggressive in its decision making. In this turn-around of approach, the leadership standpoint of Mr. Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Group has been a major factor. He has taken certain remarkable initiatives that have led the organization to attain major growth and distinction. Thus, Mr. Ratan Tata, as a pioneering and diligent leader can be largely attributed to the ensuing growth of Tata Group (Prasad, Govind, & Sesha, 2008). The leaders of Tata have set up various strategies in order to get through the diverse competitive situations that took place at the organization. The leaders at Tata under the guidance of Ratan Tata have an immense sense towards directing the company at different directions depending on the demand of the company. The leaders of the company provide utmost significance to the employees of the organization and they gain a lot of importance in the company. The company shares five important principles like excellence, understanding, integrity, responsibility and unity (Prasad, Govind, & Sesha, 2008). The leaders of Tata utilize all the five principles to overcome all the changes that take place in the company. Tata Group has set up cost leadership approach for further expansion of the organization. The leaders had analyzed the position of Tata through the business model of the organization. The Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) has been the major driving force behind the transformation which has taken place in the organization. This business model has facilitated the company to ensure that business objectives of the company are attained keeping in consideration the due significance of r endering quality to the consumers (Prasad, Govind, & Sesha, 2008). The leaders at Tata finally decided that if the products of the company become more standardized then the cost of those products can be reduced quite easily. This strategy helped the company to develop a steel industry at Jamshedpur. Moreover, it has been viewed that the leaders at Tata has gained success

Role Of English As A Foreign Language Education Essay

Role Of English As A Foreign Language Education Essay Algeria is an African multilingual country with one official language called Modern Standard Arabic and more than two foreign languages French, English, Spanish, etc. It is a country whose contributions and all interests are now in how to improve foreign languages for specific purposes particularly English so as to prove its position as a powerful and important country across the world. Today, the role of English as a foreign language (henceforth EFL) in the world is influenced by many factors such as business, cultural, political and educational factors. The latter is the main factor which plays, now, strongly a major role to pull a lot of attention in the decision of the Algerian educational authorities to know how to deal with the positive qualities EFL has in undertaking methods and approaches as parts of reforms in order to improve English teaching and learning as it is in developed countries. Hence, the questions to be raised, here, are how to deal with the qualities EFL has with non-native speakers and what significant scientific contribution EFL gives to non-mother country (Algeria)? And what are the suggested approaches and methods the Algerian educational authorities make to improve and work with this language? Answering to the questions above, the Algerian educational leaders started to improve and hold tightly EFL by shifting from traditional methods to modern to say to the world that we are able, as a multilingual developing country, to make EFL as a second Language major and significant in our schools and university and then be present everywhere across the globe. This challenge remind us about some debate on teaching EFL in developing countries as an insignificant contribution, by African designers, to knowledge and production(Graddol 2006, Batibo 2007) and Phillipson (1996) who had observed, after the independence of some developing countries , that those who were first responsible for making English official, major, developed and significant are African leaders; For example, the case of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Algerian schools after independence. ELT in Algeria was denied and insignificant before the independence in comparison with French. Because the French language was taught in schools as SL (second language) due to the consequences of the French occupation in Algeria that was the longest period of colonization which took a long time from 1830 till 1962. Thus French became as an official language in the Algerian institutions. Andrew Freeman (1961:1) confirms what we are saying about French as SL in the following quotation  « The French, in Algeria, between 1830 and 1962; tried actively to suppress Arabic. The French influence resulted in many different levels and mainly the linguistic level. The latter reflected the impact of the French language on Algerians who were being forced to speak French and then obliged to learn it in schools, but prior to independence and after 1990s a new revolution came to the surface and the Algerian authoritarians started new relations with USA to give some importance to English as an essen tial medium to be integrated in the Algerian schools. In the beginning, English was taught in middle and secondary schools to students from the eight classes in the middle school to the third classes of the secondary school up to 2005. English at that time had not been being perfectly taught in Algeria in comparison with some developing countries. By the time, because English has become a lingua franca (henceforth ELF), which is defined functionally by its use in intercultural communication, English as a global language (e.g. Crystal 2003; Gnutvzmann 1999), English as a world language (e.g. Mair 2003) and World English (Brutt-Griffler 2002) English as an international language (EIL) becomes influencing force everywhere across the world. Due to these facts of the current situation of English, Algerian Government decides to go through changes in various fields to hold and improve this global language in higher studies. Among these changes are implementation of policies made in education related to new approaches and system were brought to Algerian institutions such as LMD System and competency based approach (henceforth CBA) in primary and secondary schools. CBA approach has been brought to the Algerian schools in 2002 as a new approach and a part of reform in the primary, middle and secondary school. It has been imposed as a primary part of reform and complimentary to LMD reform on EFL teacher. To make CBA approach successful, the education minister mobilized all responsible for schools (primary, middle and secondary) to follow the CBA implementation. Moreover, Algerian ministry contribute, morally and financially, to give all opportunities and provide all those who are responsible for helping teachers and students with materials needed and equipments to be familiar with CBA success in the classroom. Thus, inspectors spent much time and money for making seminars in all over the country to instruct and correct the teachers ways in the teaching of English language and following the planning of English curriculum. In addition to the CBA, the LMD reform is also brought to the Algerian university in 2003 to continue the correctness of the teaching of English. In this work, we shall focus on some changes of approaches and systems such as LMD to see whether it is towards a more communicative use of English as a second language and a more focus on English language teaching. ELT is not easy responsibility for EFL teachers to teaching all of the students assigned to a classroom in university. The latter becomes, now, the world question in holding English as an international language which becomes increasingly important and required in Algeria in the last decade. Nowadays, there are much debate on what is teaching and how it becomes in the twentieth century, some people say that teaching is a creative way to become joined with and support others to help all learners learn. Others say that without teaching learning is not a way to make teachers and students more efficient. McKay (2002) says, The teaching and learning of an international language must be based on an entirely different set of assumptions than the teaching and learning of any other second and foreign language. McKay (2002:1) This quotation makes us ask the following questions: 1-How should English be taught under LMD system as a challenging language in Algeria? (Our focus in this work). 2- What purpose of learning English should we achieve? (That is what we are looking for) 3- Can we be best English teachers? (This is our hypotheses to be proved) According to the questions above, we begin to analyze these issues regarding the role of English in our own lives and in our society. We first start by looking at EF L teachers role, i.e. how do they play a central role in the teaching of English language perfectly? How do they apply the instructions given to teach English and how to be responsible for motivating their students to learn? It is essential that teachers themselves are aware of the way they are following to go through the four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling all contribute to effective English communication. The much attention we give to each skill area is due to the teachers and learners competence and their needs. In addition, teachers should be adjusted in the light of the current status of English in the world. As Parker Palmer (1998: 308) points out, When I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students are. I will see them through a glass darkly, in the shadows of my unexamined life and when I cannot see them clearly, I cannot teach them well. Parker Palmer (1998: 308) It is clear to know how able we, as teachers, are to make our students understand and know ourselves in society as well as we can understand from P. Palmer the relative position and attention given to English has been considered and examined from ideological and cultural or political standpoints rather than pedagogical concerns. The latter is very important point to discuss in accordance with our situation as Algerian EFL teachers. Unfortunately, with the classical system we, cannot be adjusted in the light of the current status of English in Algeria because, up to 2005, there are many obstacles and factors make our EFL teachers incapable to make all students understand such as: 1-The number of students is overmuch in a class (40 50) 2- Insufficient communicative activities use for teaching English language skills such as reading, listening, writing, grammar, etc. 3- Inadequately equipped classrooms and the lack of ICTs use. 4- The impact of a social factor on EFL teachers as well as learners 5- Being authoritarian traditional teachers 6- Being passive traditional learners. 7- Being too shy to speak English in the classroom. 8-The impact of mother tongue (L1) on students and some teachers pronunciation too Due to some deficiencies mentioned above, the Algerian government started rebuilding the skeleton of university which is the image of the country abroad. So since 2OO1, the ministry of higher education has decided to diagnose the situation in order to provide immediate and sustainable solutions for university and here a new Algerian university system has imposed itself. Following the recommendations of the National Committee of the education reform, a reform plan was adopted by the Cabinet in April 30, 2002 and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has adopted a ten-year strategy to develop the sector for the period 2004-2013, one of whose main themes is The development and implementation of an overall and deep reform of higher education, the first step is the establishment of a new architectural educations, including an updating and upgrading of various educational programs, and a reorganization of the educational management. Thus, the choice goes towards the new BMD: Bachelor-Master-Doctorate system, or LMD ( Licence, Master and Doctorate) as it is known, to meet the expectations of society and also to be in conc ordance with the new guidelines and global trends in higher education. This system examines, evaluates and improves the way the teachers and learners are following now to better and develop their English. It also defines the ways and means to teach study and evaluate differently in higher education. It aims to motivating and enabling students across the world by allowing diplomas to be compared and become equivalent to European diplomas, developing the professionalization of higher education whilst preserving the general interest nature of the teaching, to strengthening the learning of transverse skills such as fluency in foreign modern languages and computer skills encouraging the students mobility and encouraging the students access to the world of work in Europe allowing the student to build up a personalized education plan gradually. Because English is too challenging for us and becoming the most dominant and useful language among many European languages, our governments has adopted many systems (policies) that promote ELT in Algeria. At present, English is considered as a foreign language that is offered as a required subject at all levels of higher education in university. In order to understand and recognize that the introduction of English language into the Algerian educational system lead us to have part in the globalization, our government made huge effort to change the policies that have been being followed in 1900s. For instance, at the level of university, the LMD system is about a new approach based on the Communicative Approach that has been implemented in the Algerian university almost in all subjects and specialties, as we have already said above. LMD system has been introduced into our universities by August 2003 to make changes in syllabuses and curriculum development in order to reduce and overcome the difficulties and the obstacles cited (see page 5) and make English teaching and learning successful under the new system LMD. As well, to achieve good results, EFL university teachers must be ready to change from traditional teacher to modern changing the traditional approaches into more communicative innovative activities to teaching to what extent we pay much attention to the four skills perfectly. On the one hand, the changes made and brought to universities contribute to achieve success in teaching and learning languages. On the other hand, there are many different reasons for changes, so too are there many different kinds, or levels, of change that can take place in globalization. Interestingly, in Algeria there are changes towards teaching English more explicitly, and with more of a focus on form. Furthermore, nowadays, the emphasis is on to what extent do systems and approaches impact, positively, on ELT to improve EFL students levels in order to get much knowledge and then achieve perfect English to securing their jobs through acknowledged degrees and high levels of employment because the spread of joblessness across the world particularly in Algeria have upset authorities. From the various opinions of learners, even longer studies are not an end in themselves everyone now understands that schools and universities are the first starting point for everyone desires to realize any project. Aiming to get higher studies is simply a means to access better jobs likely to lead to higher social status (profession, security, wage, etc.). For that reason, English language becomes, for EFL students, a dominant subject, an international language and a means for getting job easily. It is now required, across the globe, and important for the Algerian learners and/or job seekers. The question then is what concrete roles does English development give to the EFL LMD students in the Algerian university? Coleman (2010) addresses a similar question by reviewing the functions of English as a foreign language in development. He refers to four areas where English has often been given a role to play: 1-for employability 2-for international mobility 3-for unlocking development opportunities and accessing information 4- as an impartial language. These four points must find an answer in the implementation of LMD systems results. Thus, the present work study is devoted to overcome the difficulties and problems Algerian teachers and learners are encountering in acquiring English language for specific purpose. The latter has been conducted by many researches to discuss the various problems that Arab universities encounter and mainly Algerian university. These kinds of problems refer to their ability as teachers or their competence in transmitting skills. Mukattash (1983) divides the problem that learners of English encounter into problems of pronunciation, spelling, morphology and syntax at the level of university as well students or learners unable to express themselves that what makes difficulties spread. For Mukattash the students major difficulties arise from the fact that they cannot use English correctly and appropriately in and out the classroom when required; he says: Comfortably and efficiently either when dealing with academic topics or common everyday topics (1983:169). What we can understand by the difficulty of English efficiency is related to the students deficiencies in communicative competence and self -confidence. Consequently, to face these kinds of problems of communicative competence, Ministry and educational experts run to find solutions to these problems by changing the strategies and encourage the training abroad that gives the learners a good knowledge and culture as well as make them confident. The queries to be raised here are how universities could be developed into places where advanced knowledge was disseminated and what are the strategies and the reforms are going to be followed. It is only recently that universities have become the almost systematic pragmatics, looking for motivation and aptitude for higher and perfect studies. As a main part of this work, we have also shed light on another part of reform which is called ICT (information, communication and technology). It also impacts on our understanding in the teaching and learning of English language through changes. According to many linguists, the use and integration of ICT might indeed provide students with much information in learning E L (henceforth English language) competency as well as make better and more attractive the quality of EFL teachers and students learning under LMD and CBA experience. They approve that the use of ICT becomes an effective medium to better and develop the English language. As well, ICT helps in the use of interactive lessons through the four skills to speed up the teaching and learning of English perfectly. Moreover, the impact of the use of ICT on teaching and learning is a promising scope of interest for researchers in various disciplines such as mathematics, informatics, education and sports, literature, English studies or teaching foreign languages and so forth. The latter becomes one area where ICTs influence is widely investigated. In a special report, (International Certificate Conference, 2002), devoted to the impact of Information and Communication Technologies on teaching foreign languages and on the role of foreign language teachers in Europe, the term ICT includes technologies in which the computer or laptop plays a central role, for example, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), the Internet, and a variety of generic computer applications. To reinforce what has been said in (2002), in (2003) Carmen et al say that integrating ICT tools in teaching can lead to increased students learning competencies and increased opportunities for communication and it is a rapid development in the learning and teaching of foreign languages more particularly English. Nowadays, the rapid developments and the frequent use of ICTS in Algerian society is not only impact on a quick computing discourse has generated linguistic convergence it is also the focus on the use of ICT in schools and universities. The latter now require much availability of computers provided with the net/ internet because they become a support for learning and teaching any discipline and mainly languages. Thus, the use of ICT in both education and higher education becomes an important element in the Algerian governments strategy to reinforce and ensure the effectiveness of systems implementation such as LMD in higher education. Higher education goes with the ICTs use which becoming more important to contribute to the growth and development of learning and teaching in the 21st century. In this part, we highlight the effectiveness of ICT in higher education and we seek to explore how it will impact on the way courses will be given to learners and delivered in the universities. Having spoken on the whole study work, generally, leads us to think of the following: Statement of the problem Through our experience of more than 5 years of teaching English under the new system LMD at the University of Mostaganem, we have noticed changes in the attitudes of our students and teachers towards LMD system. Students come to university with no idea about LMD; the only idea they have had in mind is the CBA approach which is implemented in 2002 in the secondary school. They have already been familiar with the competency based approach in undertaking all kind of new tasks, techniques and methods given to be applied. The questions to be raised here are as follows: Is there any relation between LMD and CBA reforms? To what extent can the LMD system contribute positively or negatively to teaching and learning foreign languages mainly the English language? Does ICT contribute to enhance ELT? If yes how? Are all teachers familiar with ICT? If yes or no why? Are all teachers familiar with ICT? If yes or no why? Pragmatically speaking how is the relationship between CBA, LMD and ICT in use? Hypotheses On the basis of what have been preceded, we are going to formulate the following hypotheses: 1. In relation to CBA, would LMD system respond to the students and teachers needs in mastering English? 2. Would curriculum development in the new implementation system such as LMD and CBA fit the world demand in education? 3. Must all teachers and leaders use ICT to enhance foreign languages/ English? The organization of the research Our doctoral research revolves around five chapters. The first chapter is devoted to talk about a broad review of the relevant literature relating to the fundamental concepts of teaching and learning theories, ending up with some clarifications about what is curriculum including the various systems that have been implemented in teaching languages such as LMD system and the CBA approach . In chapter two, research methodology, we are going to present first an introduction to what is qualitative research and then describe the steps of the techniques used, starting with the review of some definitions given about the qualitative research methodology, we have read and summarized, ending with our illustration of the experience we have undertaken during our investigation. .i.e. the discussion of the importance and objectives of qualitative research methods we have undergone. Chapter Three is devoted to the main changes, LMD system and CBA approach, which took place in the educational system in the Algerian university. Chapter Four is devoted to talk about the impact of the ICTS on these changes or reforms, LMD system and CBA approach. Chapter five presents the analysis of data collected from questionnaires and then discusses the results. Finally in the general conclusion, we try to summarize all what have been preceded and said before to suggest some solutions or hypothesis to avoid failure in education and give much importance and attention to LMD, ICT, CBA and curriculum development to make higher studies successful and effective in the teaching of the English language..

Tex Rickard :: essays research papers

Tex Rickard: the story of his life. The man who was known as Tex Rickard, was born on Jan 2, 1870 with the byname of George Lewis Rickard. He led a life of different jobs, I guess you could say he was a jack of all trades. His life, or the part of it that dealt with the gold rush, was what I would say as, short lived. After raising cattle in Texas, and ruling a little town as the town marshal he decided to move on to something different. He moved to a small city in Nevada called Goldfield. Goldfield was a boom town, which came about with the help of gold, and the fact the Rickard set up a casino. Now Tex didn't make his money by mining for gold in California or in Nevada, but instead he was a professional gambler, and fight promoter. It is his final profession that he decided to stick with, and to say the least, he was most prosperous in this final job. As a fight promoter his life was very active. To publicize the community he decided to promote the world lightweight title fight between Joe Gans and Oscar Nelson. The fight was a long one, not only was it more then the normal 12 rounds, but it was nearly 4 times the normal, being 42 rounds in length. This would be the start of something big for Rickard. In 1920 he gained control of Madison Square Garden, and in his new arena he would stage the first million dollar fight, this would be the first of five million dollar crowds. Rickards achievements didn't just come to him by luck. He made boxing a sport for all races and both the sexes. He appealed to the racism in people by posing a black against a white. He also aroused the patriots in the country by fighting a draft dodger and a war hero,

Solubilities Within a Family Lab Report

Purpose/Objective The purpose of this experiment is to identify the periodic trends in the solubility of the alkaline earth metals and compare the results to that of lead Materials 1. Pencil 2. Lab notebook 3. 5 small test tubes 4. Droppers Chemicals 1. 0. 2 M Mg(NO3)2 2. 0. 2 M Ca(NO3)2 3. 0. 2 M Sr(NO3)2 4. 0. 2 M Ba(NO3)2 5. 0. 2 M Pb(NO3)2 6. 1 M NaOH 7. 0. 2 M NaBr 8. 0. 2 M NaI 9. 0. 2 M Na2SO4 10. 0. 1 M Na2CO3 11. 0. 2 M Na2C2O4 12. 1 M NaCl Data and Results Mg(NO3)2Ca(NO3)2Sr(NO3)2Ba(NO3)2Pb(NO3)2 NaOHCloudyMilkyCloudyCloudyMilky NaClNo reactionNo reactionNo reactionNo reactionPowder NaBrNo reactionNo reactionNo reactionNo reactionCloudy NaINo reactionNo reactionNo reactionCloudyBright Yellow Na2SO4No reactionNo reactionWhite, yogurt-likeMilkyMilky Na2CO3MilkyMilkyPowderWhite, cotton-likePowder Na2C2O4No reactionMilkyMilkyPowderPowder Sample Calculations None ? Discussion and Comments This experiment tested the theory that the elements in the periodic table are arranged in a manner in which the elements of a group share similar chemical properties. The elements we used were the ones from the alkaline earth metal group. These elements tend to form 2+ cations and are very reactive. We also compared these elements to that of lead because lead also forms a 2+ cation. We used the chemical property of solubility to observe the periodic trends of the alkaline earth metals. As a general rule, reactivity increases as you move down a group in the periodic table. This means in regards to solubility that the more you farther you move down the group the more insoluble the element is when combined with hydroxides, chlorides, bromides, iodides, sulfates, carbonates, and oxalates. My results were consistent with this theory in that the mixtures went from no reaction to forming a precipitate or from forming a light precipitate to a heavy one as the elements moved down the periodic table. The precipitates that were formed gradually changed from a cloudy or milky mixture to a heavy solid precipitate that would settle on the bottom of the test tube. In some instances lead reacted very similarly with the alkaline earth metal but very different in the other reactions such as with iodide. This is due to lead’s position on the periodic table as compared to those of the alkaline earth metals. The position on the periodic table correlates to an element’s atomic radius, ionization energy, and electron affinity. All of these properties affect an element’s chemical properties such as solubility. A systematic error occurred during my experiment when I observed a reaction between barium and iodide. There should have been no reaction. This error is probably the result of using a test tube that was not cleaned properly prior to combining Ba(NO3)2 with NaI. This experiment reinforced the concepts introduced in Chapter 8 of our textbook. Pre-Lab Questions 1. The names and symbols of the alkaline earth metals encountered in this experiment are: a. Magnesium – Mg b. Barium – Ba c. Strontium – Sr d. Calcium – Ca 2. a. The general electron configuration of the alkaline earth metals is [Noble gas]ns2. b. The electron configuration for lead, Pb, is [Xe]6s25d104f146p2. c. All the formulas of the oxides formed by the alkaline earth metals and lead have the general formula of RO. 3. The general formulas for the following compounds with alkaline earth metals or lead: a. RSO4 b. RCl2 c. RCO3 d. RI2 e. RBr2 f. RC2O4 g. R(OH)2 h. R(NO3)2 i. RCrO4 4. The general method that was used to examine qualitative solubilities in this experiment is observation. Post Lab Questions 1. The solubility of the alkaline earth metals with hydroxides increases as you move down the group; soluble with halides; with sulfates, carbonates and oxalates decreases as you move down the group down the group. 2. The solubilities between alkaline earth metals and lead with NaOH are similar ecause all of the reactions were either cloudy or milky. The solubilities between alkaline earth metals and lead with NaCl are different because all of the alkaline earth metals are soluble but lead is not. The solubilities between alkaline earth metals and lead with NaBr are different because all of the alkaline earth metals are soluble but lead is not. The solubilities between alkaline earth metals and lead with iodide are different because all of the alkaline earth metals are soluble but lead is not soluble and formed a bright yellow precipitate. The solubilities of Mg and Ca with SO4 are different because they are soluble but lead is not and solubilities of Sr and Ba are similar to lead. The solubilities between alkaline earth metals and lead with CO3 are similar since all of compounds form some sort of a white precipitate. The solubility of Mg with C2O4 is different from lead because it is soluble but lead is not and solubilities of rest of alkaline earth metals are similar because they all form some sort of white precipitate. . The solubilities of the alkaline earth metals and that of lead may differ markedly due to their respective electron configurations. The alkaline earth metals like to give up two electrons from their outer shell and form cations because by doing so their electron configuration becomes isoelectronic with the closest noble gas. Lead looses its to electrons from the 6p suborbital. Resources Chang, R. (2010). Chemistry: 10th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Job Interview Guide and Practice for ESL Students

Job Interview Guide and Practice for ESL Students In this extended job interviewing listening selection, youll hear the first few moments of a job interview. Before you listen, there are a few things you should note about standard job interview behavior, speaking forms used, and more. Breaking the Ice Youll notice a few questions in the beginning of the interview that concerns how the job applicant arrived and the weather. This is commonly referred to as breaking the ice. Breaking the ice is an important way to begin the job interview, but it shouldnt take too long. Generally, job interviewers will break the ice to help you feel comfortable. Make sure to give positive, but not too detailed answers to these ice breakers. Give short, positive answers to questions.Dont go into too much detail.Expect questions about the weather or how you arrived at the job interview.Its a good idea to make a pleasant comment yourself to break the ice. Keep it short, positive and simple. Referrals Sometimes, you may have found about a job opportunity through a referral. If this is the case, make sure to use the referral to your best advantage by mentioning it at the beginning of the interview. Mention the name of the referral at the beginning of the interview. Ideally, this should be done when asked about how you found the job opening.Provide the name of the referral, but dont go into too much detail about the relationship, unless asked.Give the name of the referral only once. Dont continue to repeat the name during the interview.Dont assume the job interviewer knows the person you are mentioning. Language Relating your job experience and how it relates to the specific job for which you are applying are the two most important tasks during any job interview. Make sure to use lots of descriptive verbs and adjectives to describe your responsibilities. For example, instead of the following job description: I talked to customers about their problems. A more descriptive phrase with better vocabulary might be: I counseled customers documenting their concerns, and coordinating our response to their individual needs. In the listening selection, you will hear the present perfect, present perfect continuous and present simple used because the person is speaking about his current projects. Take some time to prepare descriptive sentences concerning your responsibilities.Use a dictionary, or this handy job interview vocabulary page to improve your vocabulary selection.Make sure to connect your past experience to the position by using lots of present perfect.Quickly review appropriate job interviewing tenses for describing experiences. Now that youve reviewed some basic interviewing technique, open this link in a new window and listen a few times to the job interview listening selection. If you have difficulties understanding, go to the next page to see a transcription of the job interview. Interviewer (Ms Hanford): (opens door, shakes hands) Good morning†¦Job Applicant (Mr. Anderson): Good morning, Joe Anderson, its a pleasure to meet you Ms Hanford. Hanford: How do you do? Please take a seat. (Joe sits) Its quite the rainy day outside, isnt it?Anderson: Yes, luckily, you have a nice underground parking lot that helped me avoid the worst of it. I must say this is an impressive building. Hanford: Thank you, we like working here... Now, lets see. Youve come to interview for the position of e-commerce manager, havent you?Anderson: Yes, Peter Smith encouraged me to apply, and I think Id be ideal for the position. Hanford: Oh. Peter†¦ hes a great sysadmin, we like him a lot †¦ Lets go over your resume. Could you begin by telling me about your qualifications?Anderson: Certainly. Ive been working as the regional assistant director of marketing at Simpco Northwest for the past year. Hanford: And what did you do before that?Anderson: Before that, I was a Simpco local branch manager in Tacoma. Hanford: Well, I see you have done well at Simpco. Can you give me some more detail about your responsibilities as assistant director?Anderson: Yes, Ive been in charge of in-house personnel training for our Internet customer service reps over the past six months. Hanford: Can you tell me a little bit about what youve been doing in your training?Anderson: Weve been working on improving customer satisfaction through an innovative e-commerce solution which provides real-time chat service help to visitors to the site. Hanford: Interesting. Is there anything in particular you feel would be useful here at Sanders Co.?Anderson: I understand that you have been expanding your e-commerce to include social networking features. Hanford: Yes, thats correct.Anderson: I think that my experience in customer relations via the Internet in real-time puts me in the unique position of understanding what works and what doesnt. Hanford: Yes, that does sound useful. What difficulties and challenges do you think we might run into?Anderson: Well, I think well continue to see consumers spend more of the shopping dollars online. Ive been studying how sales directly relates to customer satisfaction with online services. Hanford: Would you mind giving me a bit more detail on that?Anderson: Sure ... if customers arent satisfied with the service they receive online, they wont come back. Its much easier to lose customers online. Thats why you need to make sure that you get it right the first time round. Hanford: I can see youve learnt quite a lot in the short time youve been working in e-commerce.Anderson: Yes, its an exciting field to be working in †¦

Functionalism Functionalist Perspective and Theory

Functionalism Functionalist Perspective and Theory The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It has its origins in the works of Emile Durkheim, who was especially interested in how social order is possible or how society remains relatively stable. As such, it is a theory that focuses on the macro-level of social structure, rather than the micro-level of everyday life. Notable theorists include Herbert Spencer,  Talcott Parsons, and Robert K. Merton. Emile Durkheim The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness. The Division of Labour (1893) Theory Overview Functionalism interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society. Society is more than the sum of its parts; rather, each part of society is functional for the stability of the whole. Durkheim actually envisioned society as an organism, and just like within an organism, each component plays a necessary part, but none can function alone, and one experiences a crisis or fails, other parts must adapt to fill the void in some way. Within functionalist theory, the different parts of society are primarily composed of social institutions, each of which is designed to fill different needs, and each of which has particular consequences for the form and shape of society. The parts all depend on each other. The core institutions defined by sociology and which are important to understanding for this theory include family, government, economy, media, education, and religion. According to functionalism, an institution only exists because it serves a vital role in the functioning of society. If it no longer serves a role, an institution will die away. When new needs evolve or emerge, new institutions will be created to meet them. Lets consider the relationships between and functions of some core institutions. In most societies, the government, or state, provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. The family is dependent upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, who in turn support the state. From the functionalist perspective, if all goes well, the parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, the parts of society then must adapt to produce new forms of order, stability, and productivity. Functionalism emphasizes the consensus and order that exist in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values. From this perspective, disorganization in the system, such as deviant behavior, leads to change because societal components must adjust to achieve stability. When one part of the system is not working or is dysfunctional, it affects all other parts and creates social problems, which leads to social change. Functionalist Perspective in American Sociology The functionalist perspective achieved its greatest popularity among American sociologists in the 1940s and 50s. While European functionalists originally focused on explaining the inner workings of social order, American functionalists focused on discovering the functions of human behavior. Among these American functionalist sociologists is Robert K. Merton, who divided human functions into two types: manifest functions, which are intentional and obvious, and latent functions, which are unintentional and not obvious. The manifest function of attending a church or synagogue, for instance, is to worship as part of a religious community, but its latent function may be to help members learn to discern personal from institutional values. With common sense, manifest functions become easily apparent. Yet this is not necessarily the case for latent functions, which often demand a sociological approach to be revealed. Antonio Gramsci. Hulton Archive/Getty Images Critiques of the Theory Functionalism has been critiqued by many sociologists for its neglect of the often negative implications of social order. Some critics, like Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci, claim that the perspective justifies the status quo and the process of cultural hegemony which maintains it. Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when doing so may benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees agitating for social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate in a seemingly  natural way  for any problems that may arise. Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Innovative Approaches to Managerial Development Research Paper - 1

Innovative Approaches to Managerial Development - Research Paper Example Such innovations are required more because of the growing competition in the world of business. When innovations are included as part of the managerial development in organizations, they become capable of producing new products, develop new processes and systems, that in turn enable the organizations to cope with the changing conditions of markets, introduction and use of new technologies, and competition. Innovations in organizational and managerial development are practical concerns of the managers of an organization, and thus several theories have also been developed to support the innovative approaches to managerial development (Lawson & Samson, 2001). While considering different approaches within an organization, leaders give confidence, look forward to and recompense innovation from every sphere within the organization that are beyond the only fields of research and development. In this way, organizational learning and knowledge may be associated with the products, processes, technologies and conventional competencies. Innovations in the recent times are not used by organizations as any means for inadequate resources for indecisive results. Rather, managements incorporate innovations in order to use them as means for generating new understanding and competitive advantage. â€Å"They recognize that business units producing profits today may not represent the best opportunities for business tomorrow. Mainstream factors and innovation are therefore managed integratively so that the two work in harmony† (Lawson & Samson, 2001). Organizations that are adaptive focus on innovations by maintaining open and dynamic network relationships, thereby making organizations capable of handling situations that not usual. In this way, networks and ideas are exchanged among different organizations through which cultural changes are promoted that assist in modification of such networks and organizational relationships that are

London Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

London - Case Study Example Project managers should ensure they select tactics, which will work in favor of the organizations’ goals and objectives. During the 2012 London Olympic Games, the challenge was to ensure maximum participation and revenue for the organizations responsible for managing the events (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1). A good pricing strategy enables organizations to utilize their resources effectively. The organizations are able to achieve this by ensuring that all available capacity is utilized effectively without unnecessary wastage. This reduces the operation cost since the fixed cost decreases with the increase in units of output. In 2012 London Olympic Games, organizers of the event were able to ensure that all capacity was utilized by selling all tickets for available seats to interested individuals and that no seats were left vacant (According to President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2. The sales of tickets accounts for twenty percents of total revenue for Olympic Games organization. When setting prices for the company’s products, marketers should ensure that their products are accessible to as many people as possible. This will help to make the products and services popular and enable them maximize their market share. They should target clients from different classes by setting different prices for different groups’ people. In 2012 London Olympic Games, the organization responsible for coordinating the games tickets at affordable prices to ensure as many people as possible attended the games (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 3). They had estimated a total of 7.9 million people would attend the function, and so they prepared tickets for the estimated group. Setting prices for the products also requires the company to ensure that their target groups are not locked out of the organizations products. During the London Olympic Games in 2012, organization which was