Public Relations Theory and Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Relations Theory and Practice - Essay Example Since the study of organizations is to a large extend theoretical in nature, it is inevitable that we consider the nature and function of theory. Public relations as an example of a theory play a key role in establishing how individuals in an organization communicate and relate to one another (Middleton, Kent & Chamberlin, Bill. 1994p.36). Public relations can be learnt in the context of real-world happenings for example through analysis of events that are happening and discussing them. It can also be learnt through consideration of stories that have been successful and also discussion of unethical practices. Leaning of public relations helps one to develop very good interpersonal relations and hence be able to grow very well in careers such as information and management. Press secretaries, communication specialists and information officers are the specialists of public relations of the government (Middleton, Kent & Chamberlin, Bill. 1994P.205). Their work is to provide the government with the information about the activities of its agencies as well as officials. For example a specialist in the public affairs or a specialist in communication seeks to provide information to the public on travel advisories. Public relations theory and practice has a process which involves four steps and it has a very critical role in ensuring that mass media messages are produced in plenty. Research is a very important tool in an attempt to know the programmes and as well as actions of public relations (Pinsdorf, Marion, 1986P.76). One must know the ethical, moral and legal considerations of public relations as well as understanding the opinions that the public has, bearing in mind the difference between persuasion and propaganda. The British perceive this practice of the EU of having few children due to use of family planning methods negatively over the age of 50s. In Britain, there is a coordinated and a more centralized way of implementing progressive retirements, something which the British over 50s have a negative attitude to. In the EU decentralized and sectoral agreements are used to implement progressive retirements, something which the British over 50s perceive negatively. Britain is very strong economically and has much job opportunities, as opposed to EU. Therefore, it has a negative attitude to enhancement of public relations since this means that the EU institutions will be benefiting from its' resources. Britain is very stable economically as opposed to the EU and EU institutions and hence promoting public relations among the British over 50s and the Europeans will mean that the British will be out-sourcing its' fund to the Europeans and the European institutions. This makes the British over 50s to have a negative attitude over the development of public relations between them and the Europeans. In addition, Britain enjoys a very strong defense system which the British over 50s don't like it to be shared with other countries and institutions outside for example the European and the European institutions. This is also a reason as to why the British over

Muscular and Fitness Project Essay Example for Free

Muscular and Fitness Project Essay My class participants have a good overall health. Many of them have strong upper body strength and a moderate strength on the legs. They lack a core body and abdominal strength and have very low levels of flexibility. They need the most amount of work in flexibility. Weekly Routine for Flexibility Workout Day Flex Exercises Muscle Stretched Reps Time Reps Time Reps Time Mon Lying Quad Stretch Quads 4 20 4 20 4 25 Mon Modified Hurdlers Stretch Hamstrings 4 20 4 20 4 25 Wed Upper Back/Torso Stretch Traps 2 20 2 20 2 25 Mon Calf Stretch Gastrocnemius 4 20 4 20 4 25 Wed Lower Back Stretch Latisimus Dorsi 2 20 2 20 2 25 Fri Chest/Bicep Stretch Pecs/Biceps 2 20 2 20 2 25 Fri Shoulder/Tricep Stretch Triceps/Deltoids 4 20 4 20 4 25 Wed Lying Abdominal Stretch Abdominal 1 60 1 60 1 70 Weekly Routine for Muscle Workout Day Muscle Exercises Muscle Stretched Sets Reps Resistance Sets Reps Resistance Mon Lunges Quads 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Wed Push Ups Pecs 3 10 None 1 15 None Mon Hamstring Curl Hamstrings 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Wed Dead Rows Latisimus Dorsi 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Mon Calf Rises Gastrocnemius 3 10 None 1 15 None Fri Tricep Dips Triceps 3 10 None 1 15 None Fri Shoulder Shrugs Traps 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Fri Bicep Curl Biceps 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Fri Lateral Rises Deltoids 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Wed Leg Lifts Abdominal 3 10 None 1 15 None *You need to vary your workouts and want to give time for your body to recover from the workout. * Safety Guidelines Never continue if you feel any pain Never exercise a certain muscle group every day, make sure you give your muscles time to rest Never lift more than you can safely Never wear clothes that restrict your movement Never overstretch or over lift, it will do more harm than help Always warm up with a light cardiovascular activity beforehand Always use proper lifting technique Always breathe correctly Always train to have muscle balance Always control the weight when lifting Research how to correctly do each exercise from a reliable source before starting and make sure you have proper body alignment at all times SPORT/FITT principles Specificity Training should be designed to meet a specific need. Increase Flexibility Example: You want to increase the range of motion in your shoulder muscles. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You want to improve your muscular endurance in your shoulder muscles. Progression Training should start slowly and gradually. Increase Flexibility Example: Your shoulder stretches will be performed slowly and gradually become more challenging. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You will perform shoulder shrugs as part of your muscular fitness routine and gradually increase the challenge of this activity. Overload Training should require you to do more than you normally do. Apply the principle of Overload by changing the Frequency, Intensity, Time and/or Type (FITT) of activity you perform: Frequency: How often you perform the activity. Increase Flexibility Example: In week one, you will stretch three times per week and gradually work up to stretching five days per week. Increase Muscular Condition Example: In week one, you do shoulder shrugs two times per week and gradually work up to three times per week over a four week period. Intensity: How intensely you perform the activity. Increase Flexibility Example: As your flexibility increases you will gently extend how far you hold your shoulder stretches. Increase Muscular Condition Example: In week one you will use three pound weights and gradually work up to eight pound weights over a four week period. Time: The duration of your activity. Increase Flexibility Example: You will start by holding your shoulder stretch for 20 seconds and gradually work your way up to 40 second holds over a four week period. Increase Muscular Condition Example: In week one, you will attempt to do eight repetitions and gradually work up to 12 to 18 repetitions over a four week period. Type: The type of activity you perform. Increase Flexibility Example: You will also perform some chest and back stretches to further enhance the flexibility in these related and connected  muscle groups. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You will also incorporate some push-ups into your routine. Reversibility Training should continue or you will reverse your improvement. Increase Flexibility Example: You must continue to stretch or your improvements will reverse. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You must continue to perform muscular training exercises or your improvements will reverse. Tedium Training should include a variety of activities to avoid boredom. Increase Flexibility Example: You will try some yoga poses that incorporate shoulder stretches. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You will also swim laps in the pool and use the water as resistance. Equipment Dumbbells: Dumbbells are good for a variety of exercise. They offer a great range of motion and have a compact size. Dumbbells are not expensive. The ones pictured are $7 each for a total of $14.They offer a resistance of 10 lbs. total. Leg Weights: They are mainly used to exercise leg muscles. They can add a small bit of resistance to an exercise (3 lbs. each). They would cost about $25 for a pair. Steps: Steps are used for calf exercises and for balancing while doing other exercises. They are compact and easy to use. The one pictured is way out of budget, $40, so it is not recommended to buy them. Rather you can use your own stairs if you have them.

House Of The Seven Gables :: essays research papers

How does an author’s personal history or cultural background influence what he or she writes about? Are history and literature related? I believe that many authors a very influenced by their own background and the subjects they write about. Authors write about what is familiar. Authors write about something that they feel strongly about or love. I also feel that history and literature are closely related. Many great novels of this world have their basis in stories of the past, true stories taken from history. For one thing, authors usually write about what they already know about or what they see, or what they experience in life. They often write about the history of their family, town, or whatever place they live in. Books where the author understands his subject and feels comfortable and passionate about it are the most interesting. When an author’s writing has been influenced by his or her personal history and cultural background, the writer understands it. It’s also much easier for an author to write about something having to do with their personal history or cultural background. If we are familiar with a subject it is much easier to convince our reader of the ‘experience’ or ‘story’ that is being written about. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory, The House of Seven Gables, was not entirely true, the incomparable part of it had to do with his personal history and his cultural background. His relation to the house was from his cousin Phoebe and the ideas about the witch trials were because he was living in the very time they were taking place. Therefore, I do think that the personal history and cultural background affect what the author writes about whether the book be fiction or non-fiction, but most of the time, non-fiction. An example of an author I can come up with where I strongly think their personal history and cultural background significantly influence what she writes about is Amy Tan. I have read two of her novels, The Joyluck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. She wrote about Chinese Americans living in San Francisco. A subject she knows much about and has lived through. Her books are so fascinating because she knows her subject well. They are novels yes, but we can trust that in many ways this is what a Chinese mother living in San Francisco may have behaved like or said. History and literature are also linked by way of story.

The Death Penalty: In The Name Of Justice? :: essays research papers

The state murdering people because of their crimes simply does not equate to justice. It is real easy to hear about how the government is doing this wrong or that, but the death penalty is abounded with so many injustices and faults that it’s an embarrassment to our entire due process of law. Supporters of capital punishment subscribe to religious and ethical points of view rather than facts, and when they do offer facts it’s always the same argument: â€Å"It’s a deterrent.† The death penalty is extreamly flawed, most notably it comes with a very high price tag to an already under-funded correctional institution in America; no stable argument has been installed to warrant it as a deterrent; and the moral decay it establishes creates among other things a feeling of revenge and spite within society. Many people for and against the death penalty are under the proposed belief that capital punishment is a deterrent for crime. No study can offer a clear explanation of this theory. Almost a dozen states don’t offer a death penalty, and a dozen more haven’t executed in over fifty years that have one. Are their first and second-degree murder rates head and shoulders above the other states? Of course not. Some of these states include large metropolis’ such as Minnesota’s twin cites. Detroit has a high crime rate (in actual number not on a per capita basis) in Michigan, which doesn’t offer a death penalty, but Birmingham has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation. What has Alabama’s electric chair not done in Birmingham that life in prison has done in St. Paul? Deter crime, particularly murder. Studies have shown that, all evidence in view, long prison terms punish just as effectively as capital sentences. The flaws of capital punishment become too many shortly after they total one. This is because of the focus of the death penalty that being human life. Innocent people being sent to death or being released within weeks of execution are becoming frequent stories on the nightly news. The legal system is disturbingly unable to correctly administer the death penalty. Every day individuals who can’t afford a lawyer have to have one appointed to them under the constitution. Almost thirty percent of Americans can’t afford health care, how are they supposed to afford a lawyer? These lawyers, who are on average paid 5 dollars an hour, have little to no incentive to gather all the precious materials to adequately support the accused.

Federal Government of the United States Essay

Introduction In the American political system Federalism is a basic Structural feature that has mostly generated a great deal of conflict throughout political history America. It involves the governments multiple layers with shared powers amongst them and the unique powers to varieties of the levels of the government (Wood Gordon, 1995). The most three important levels of American federalism are the federal or national government, the states, and the local governments (cities, counties, townships). In the world most of the political systems are unitary systems, but in the system of American it is system of divided government (Wood Gordon, 1995). In the history American Federalism it has evolved over the course. In the time at different points, the boundaries and balance between the state and national government have changed substantially. In the recent time, the main role of the national government dramatically expanded, and it always to expand in the twenty-first century. Provide three (3) examples of how federalism has evolved from its origins to the American political system in place today. In the American political system three examples of federalism that has evolved from its origins are federalism, unitary, and confederate. Federalism almost is a way of nations organizing so that two or more government levels will have formal authority over the people and same area.  In the Unitary system all the power resides in the central government in which most of the governments are today and confederate, most of the power is in the hands of it components and the national government is weak (Wood Gordon, 1995). Over the two centuries the federal system has changed and it’s why the American federalism system is at the center of important battles over the policy (John E. Finn, 2007). Mostly Federalism decentralizes our policies and politics. The powers of overlapping between the two levels government demonstrate the tension with national and states government over who should control the policy and power. Most of the American states are also policy innovators being responsible for new ideas, many reforms, and new policies that are why we stand by till today (John E. Finn, 2007). Examine three to five (3-5) factors that have allowed the concept of federalism to shape American political behavior. In federalism the political system respect to bureaucracy, based upon promoted enculturation of honor, democracy in government within the citizens, the political leaders, and the American society. By the awareness of the people the process increased and regularized by the liberty and civil rights. American citizens seek free will from the governments and Constitutional security of justice. In the American federal system the political parties free to have support conflicting political agenda, free will to voice out, ideas, and ideologies. While the liberals go with the democrats the group of conservative support the Republicans. The Democrats and Republicans represent the main political parties of American along with minor independent parties. The American governments cultivate federalism, by demanding of reforms the citizens of America also contribute in shaping up political changes. Although legislators look upon amendment of Constitution and creation of laws, the citizens have their voices heard and participate. In the whole time, the voting attitude of Americans demonstrated changes. For example, Solid South in the part of Southern states used to be solid supports of Democrats but it was politically divided over time (Maier, Pauline, 2010).In the maintain of consistency the Constitution of US obligate the state and federal governments. With the ruling of democratic, the American federal government also allows amendments of the Constitution as called by the political changes and condition. In the system of US  Constitution the State governments have powers to create and maintain policies but the federal government oversees any policy to ensure agreement. Some time the power conflicts of authority become foreseeable due to nationwide applicability of the Constitution of US. (Maier, Pauline, 2010). Discuss at least two (2) factors that illustrate how the relationship between the states and the U.S. federal government influences the creation of American policies overall. In making of policies of America, constitution amendments through popular vote of the people or state governments may seek ratification of the policy. Through congress the federal government may conclude if votes of American states will be needed on proposed amendments. Like the groups of special interest, state legislatures can also lobby the federal legislatures (Maier, Pauline, 2010). Federalism reflected in state judiciary systems and also reflected in national judiciary system. For example, the laws of state enforce driving safety and speed rules in conformity to policies of federal government to ensure not to lose the highway federal budget privileges (Maier, Pauline, 2010). The power of the State government are mainly geared on the dealings and working of the state but on the other side the power of federal government are mainly after the dealings of the nation in general so that that it may cover some states affairs. In the system of Constitution of US, the State governments have their own constitution but also it abide and obliged with the Constitution of US. Under the valuable concept of federalism system the state and federal governments work hand in hand for the USA (Maier, Pauline, 2010). References: 1. Wood, Gordon, (1995). The Republic of America, 1775-1786. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2. John E. Finn (2007). â€Å"Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties Part II: Lecture 5: The Constitutional and Court Interpretation†. The Teaching Company. pp. 51–60 3. Maier, Pauline (2010). Ratification : the Constitutional debate by the people 1787–1788. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 977-0-654-88844-76 p.22.

Aqualisa Quartz Case Study Essays

Aqualisa Quartz Case Study Essays Aqualisa Quartz Case Study Paper Aqualisa Quartz Case Study Paper 1. Aqualisa spent three years and â‚ ¬5.8 million developing the Quartz. Was the product worth the investment? Is Quartz a niche product or a mainstream product? What is the Quartz value proposition to plumbers? To consumers? Answer: In my personal opion, it was worth for the Aqualisa to spend three years and â‚ ¬5.8 million developing the Quartz because of the tremendous potential market demands. For 60% of families had shower with lot of mechanical problems and inconvenient use experiences, Quartz with it’s signigicate advantages were designed to feet their customer’s needs. The conventional shower can no longer satisigy the market demand, innovation and customer value delivery is the market trend since forever. As the result, the development of Quartz proved Aqualisa’s brand value in marketing base aspect by deliverying â€Å"cleverness† of the product and its â€Å"elegant design†. As for finance aspect, Quartz provide higher customer value products with considerable margin which even higher than core products-Aquavalve 609. Based on these factor, Quartz is worth the investment in the long run. Accurently, Quartz was accepted by limited market due to three factors. Fistly, the shower distribution mainly relays on plumbers (Exhibit 4 showcase 27% of consumer selects type and brand of shower without advice from plumber, the rest 73% of consumer are affected by plumbers by different extent.)who reluctant to accept new products with innovation especially involves electronics. Secondly, the sales channel and marketing activities are limited. According to Exhibit 7 Aqualisa Select Financial Statement, only 2.7 million euro was spent in marketing process, which indicate the insufficient marketing strategy or activities may contributed to Quartz’s limited market ratio. However, Quartz is a mainstream product, with its significant advantages which can resolves all issues and with its high customer value, will become the market trend in the future is only the Aqualisa will fit their appropriate marketing strategy and activities with certain market base. Consumers are currently relatively uninformed and there was little understanding of product options. The propositions of the product for plumbers were listed herein below: Firstly, easy to install. As for the traditional shower, the installing work is really tough and time-consuming. In addition, the installing job is really difficult so that there is a serious shortage at senior plumber who can install the shower perfectly. But the installing job of this product is easier and need less time so even the apprentice can make it. Secondly, Quartz guaranteed that this product would not break down easily or require sevicing. Thirdly, More profitable, because they can do more jobs in the same period of time due to huge market demand. The propositions of the product for customers were listed herein below: Firstly, Efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature. Secondly, looks great and eligent. Thirdly, easy to use (One touch control with red light indicator), especially for elderly and kids. The last but not the least, much easier to install for DIY sector Traditional shower buyers are always suffering in some problems such as the low pressure and unstable temperature of the shower. But Quartz’s new shower technology resolved all of these problems. 2. Aqualisa currently has three brands: Aqualisa, Gainsborough, and ShowerMax. What is the rationale behind this multiple brand strategy? Does it make sense? Answer: The market base has been cut into three segment by their purchase features. Direct cosumer, DIY market and Developer. The three brands are concertrated in these three segement separately so as to allow brand to penetrate different specialized markets. Aqualisa deliver higher end, range of different types of electric, mixer, and power showers; shown in show rooms and used my consumers/plumners, Aqualisa available in 40% of trade shops Gainsborough mainly for DIY market (sizeable) ; 70% of Gainsborough brand Shower Max for developers, which was available only through specialist contract outlets. Elements of the Aquavalve technology had been redesigned and re- branded for the ShowerMax product line and optimized for developers’ specific needs. The target customers of these three brands are totally different. So the reason of Aqualisa create three different brands is to highlight the difference between these three brands. As the matter of fact, customers can base on their needs and find the things really fulfill their requirements. 3. Why is the Quartz shower not selling? Answer: The reasons of Quartz shower not selling listed herein below: First of all, the shower distribution mainly relays on plumbers (Exhibit 4 showcase 27% of consumer selects type and brand of shower without advice from plumber, the rest 73% of consumer are affected by plumbers by different extent.)who reluctant to accept new products with innovation especially involves electronics. Secondly, the sales channel and marketing activities are limited. According to Exhibit 7 Aqualisa Select Financial Statement, only 2.7 million euro was spent in marketing process, which indicate the insufficient marketing strategy or activities may contributed to Quartz’s limited market ratio. The Quartz products were only gaining traction in the showrooms, the boarder were concern about cannibalism (and bringing down value) of other products. Thirdly, the price of Quartz may little bit higher than customer expected for they are currently relatively uninformed and there was little understanding of product options.

Congressional Profile essays

Congressional Profile essays In these troubling times we turn to Congress to answer much of the political uncertainty that is presented to us on our TV screens every night. In order for us to understand what Congress is doing we must first understand the people who represent us in Congress. The Congressional profile is extremely interesting. We have 100 Senators and 435 Representatives who come from all aspects of life. The Democratic Party is the majority party in the Senate and holds 50 seats. The Republican party is the minority in the Senate and holds 49 seats. The only other party represented in the Senate is the Independent party1. Out of all of the Democrats in the Senate 40 are men and 10 are women. And out of all of the Republicans in the Senate 45 are men and 3 are women2. This disproportionate number of male senators to female senators is amazing considering the number of women in politics. The one member of the Independent Party, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, caucuses with the Democratic Party, thus giving the Democrats the majority in the Senate3. Minorities in the senate are also underrepresented. There are three Asian-American senators: Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii). There is one Native American Senator, Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado)4. It is interesting to note that the only Asian American senators are from Hawaii. It also interesting to note that, despite the fact that they are the largest minorities in the US, there are no African American or Hispanics senators5. Women are also underrepresented in the Senate. There are 13 total senators, 3 Republican and 10 Democrat. The three Republican senators are Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Olympia Jean Snowe of Maine, and Susan Collins of Maine. The 10 Democratic senators are Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Boxer of California, Patty Murray of Washington, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of...

Vietnam war Essay examples

Vietnam war Essay examples Vietnam war Essay examples Eli Loewenstern Period 2 2/24/15 Military Innovations in the Vietnam War No Regard for Human Life The Vietnam War started on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975. In that time a shocking 1.3 million to 3.9 million people died. America got involved in the war because of its goal to stop the spread of communism, and it was willing to do anything to achieve its mission. It wasn’t just the large amount of people that died that made the war so horrific, but it was the manner in which they died. Due to the use of chemical warfare, the increased use of air strikes, and the use of advanced weaponry, the Vietnam War was the most brutal war and caused the most horrific deaths in American history (Vietnam War). When President Lyndon B. Johnson escalated American involvement in the war in 1965 the American military did not have any regards for the citizens, soldiers, or land of North Vietnam. This was shown through America’s use of chemicals during the war. The two most common chemical concoctions were Napalm and Agent Orange. Napalm is a mixture of plastic polystyrene, gasoline, and hydrocarbon benzene. This blend thickened the gasoline and was used in flamethrowers and firebombs. These devices were used to clear away the forests of Vietnam, and as weapons that would cause 3rd degree burns and would often lead to death (Napalm | Chemical Compound). Another chemical used during the war was Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a toxic herbicide used by the United States during Operation Ranch Hand. The goal of the operation was to cut off the Vietnamese farmers and soldiers from food and water as well to clear out the dense vegetation of the area. Agent Orange also had lots of side effects on the soldiers such as cancer and birth defects in newborn babies. The use of these chemicals showed the ruthless policies of the American army in their attempt to win the war (Napalm, Agent Orange). American commanders did not care what, or who was destroyed in their efforts to win the war, so the use of airstrikes became a common war tactic. The most used plane was the B-52 bomber. The bomber could carry more bombs than fighter planes and could fly from up to 30000 feet in the air. Which was effective because it put the plane out of range from gunfire and it was hard to spot. These bombers would often drop cluster bombs, which were bombs that would release seven million steel pellets. These pellets ripped through human flesh and were often inaccurate and killed innocent civilians (Hay). The use of these bombs showed that the United States had no regard for human life. Another symbol of the Vietnam War was the Huey Helicopter. It was known as a symbol of the war b ecause it changed modern day warfare and more than 7000 of them were used during

Preparing a job structure Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Preparing a job structure - Research Paper Example A number of objectives and goals will guide this process of job evaluation. These objectives will be increasingly crucial in guiding the process of evaluating the jobs and ranking them according to their importance. These goals included: 1. To collect sufficient information and data in regards to the description of the job, specification of the job and specifications of employees for the different kinds of jobs in the deli. 2. To make a comparison between the responsibilities, duties and demands of a job with those of other job descriptions. 3. To determine the grades, ranks or positions of the jobs. 4. To find out the arrangement and position of jobs in the deli. In coming up with the job structure below, several principles were followed. First, the employee was not the one to be rated but the job. Based on the demands of the job, several elements were selected and rated. It was crucial to identify which jobs were to be evaluated first before commencing with the job evaluation proce ss. Nine different jobs were identified that had to be evaluated and ranked. There were two methods selected to evaluate the jobs. The first was the factor- comparison method, and the second is the point factor technique. It is crucial to note that two key goals of carrying out a job evaluation are to create internal principles of comparisons and to measure virtual significance or price of a job to a business. This evaluation focused on the above methods of evaluation and how to choose the compensable factors for determining the worth or value hierarchy of a job. When carrying out a quantitative job evaluation, it is crucial to choose the applicable compensable factors first. Compensable factors are the criteria used to provide a platform for judging the value of a job, the element utilized to measure the worth or a job or the intrinsic elements in jobs increase the worth or value of an organization. Four key compensable factors were used to evaluate jobs in this case. These include skill, responsibility, effort and work conditions. These compensable factors were chosen after identifying the internal values of the organization, after reviewing the content of the jobs of each work- group. The four compensable factors for job evaluation seemed useful after identifying several potential elements that show the internal value of the company. It was clear that the company values skills, knowledge, effort, ability to handle responsibilities and different working conditions. It was crucial for the evaluation that the compensable factors be developed. This was achieved by first identifying the lowest and highest levels of all factors of interest and then creating intermediate stages by identifying a rational progression that shows logical differences. After this, it was easy to create a hierarchy reflecting the worth of each job consistent with the perception of the management of the relative worth or value of the job. In constructing this job structure, it was also si gnificant that the compensable factors be weighed. This was done by first considering the nature of the job performed and ranked the elements or factors chosen according to their priority as perceived by the organization. The factor- comparison technique for evaluating jobs was crucial in constructing the job structure. The method allowed for the selection of several factors as reflected by the job

The life of Bobby Brown Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The life of Bobby Brown - Term Paper Example The life of Bobby Brown Born in February 5, 1969, the Bobby Brown had an objectionable lifestyle from the beginning. His birthplace was in Massachusetts, hardscrabble Orchard Park projects in the Roxbury, Boston area. His first name after birth was Robert Brown but later came to be known as Bobby Brown. Born to Herbert Brown, Bobby Brown was the second last among his seven siblings. Bobby Brown’s mother was Carol Brown, an elementary school teacher married to her husband, Herbert (a construction worker). Bobby Brown had undesirable experiences given the challenges of poverty during his early life, since his parents could hardly afford a high lifestyle status. This made Bobby Brown to adopt a thug life and turned to stealing with his colleagues of his age. His attempts to steal emanated from Bobby Brown’s desire to acquire what his parents could not provide him because of their low-income level. He desired to have attractive suits and nice pairs of shoes, which he stole from the store. Bobby Br own had a shot on his knees while stealing when he was ten years of age. The incidence occurred during violence breakout between Bobby Brown’s gang group and their rivals while they were attending a party. Bobby Brown also had a shoulder stabbing by knife from one of his acquaintances. The death of one of his friend, James Flint, after a stubbing, became a turning point of Bobby’s thug life. Flint died from the incidence during a party, an incidence that changed Bobby Brown’s life and made him quit his thug life and robbery. He gained determination, focused on his desires in life, and notably turned to hard work. He concentrated on making his lifetime dreams come true. Background From his tender age, Bobby Brown desired to be a musician. His role model was James Brown, whose performance thrilled Bobby Brown. In nurturing his dreams, Bobby Brown started singing in church and realized that he had a desirable voice for singing. Bobby Brown then formed a group with four comrades at the age of twelve, in which they began to sing. The group consisted of Ricky Bells and Ralph Tresvant. Present in the group, as well, were Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. They named the group as New Edition and performed winning many titles in talent shows (Hallenbeck-Huber, 2010). Maurice Starr, a producer identified the group, New Edition and sponsored it. Starr offered the group a recording contract in 1983. The group produced their first album known as Candy Girl, which gained dominance and fame. Other albums that the group produced while with Bobby Brown included, â€Å"Cool It Now† and the famous â€Å"Mr. Telephone Man†. The fall out of Bobby Brown with his friends came in 1986 after the others could no longer tolerate his rude antics while on stage. He then released his solo album, King of Stage, the same year of the fallout. The album later shined, courtesy of the song, Girlfriend. His next release, the 1988’s Don’t Be Cruel, el evated him to high levels. Data collection methods Collection of data on the life of Bobby will mainly involve the use of reviewed articles about his biography. Sources that outline the various albums produced by Bobby in his music career from 1983 shall serve as credible sources for data collection. Data collection on the life of Bobby would be accessible through interviews attended. The interview of Bobby and Oprah Winfrey would offer an important source for data collecti

History_of_middle_East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

History_of_middle_East - Essay Example The modern Afghanistan owes its beginning at the hands of a Pashtun king, Ahmad Shah Duranni who started ruling the region from 1747. Afghanistan is a country constituted of multiple ethnic and linguistic groups. Pashtun tribes contributing to 42 percent mainly cover the region. The Tajiks who contribute to 27 percent follow the Pashtuns. Following the Tajiks are the Hazaras and Ujbek tribes contributing to 9 percent respectively. The study of Afghanistan’s history has a strong linkage to the Soviet invasion over the region. Russia’s interference over the region of Afghanistan has its inception from the treaty of bilateral friendship made in December 1978. However, the ruler of Afghanistan during 1978, Hafizullah Amin reiterated against on Russia’s growing interference over their political matters, which led to the tarnishing of the relationships between Afghanistan and Russia. Subsequently as an act of revenge, Russia sent troops by air, which invaded Kabul on D ecember 24, 1979. The invasion started with the assassination of Hafizullah Amin and the rise of Babrak Karmal, an exiled Parcham leader. However, Russia’s intention of establishing a Communist government in Afghanistan started facing serious threats from the Afghan communities. The Mujahideens or the Afghan fighters started making life miserable for the Russians, as they were restricted only to the urban centers. These, Afghan fighters backed by American support started gaining grounds to combat the invading Russian troops. By the end of 1985, the Mujahideens formed a guerilla outfit to launch full-blown war against the Russian army. Finally, in May 1986 the Soviet troops were ousted with the fall of Babrak Karmal. The end of the Karmal regime gave rise to the chief of Afghanistan’s secret police, Muhammad Najibullah to become the next Afghan leader. (Background Note: Afghanistan, 2010). The Mujahideen or the Afghan fighters had

Course Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Course Work - Essay Example extremely important for several industries’ and as they have a huge amount of critical and sensitive information which is valuable to the organization and its stakeholders and the information is such that it can be easily manipulated or tampered with. While organizations have a reactive approach to such systems, that is they recognize the need for such systems only after they have incurred a loss of valuable information, smarter companies use a proactive approach and develop systems before hand to mitigate the damage that the company faces due to loss and corruption of such data. (Maybelline , 2010) For an organization to ensure that its objectives become a driver for its survival and profitability information is of paramount importance. It is the fundamental requirement and a business deeply depends on knowledge and information no matter how big or small a company is or what its information requirements are, all information or raw data lies in the organizations computer system which is highly prune to being violated and misused if proper security measures are not adopted. (Gabrielson,1994) For Example an Insurance Company’s can improve the quality of the products it provide to its customer if they have in depth information on the customer base that they are serving to. The more knowledgeable they are about an organization, the easier it will be for them to provide products that satisfy consumer needs. Information like the number of children within each household that the insurance company caters to can provide them with an idea to come up with insurances for college students, or savings funds for young children. The information that Insurance companies have is vital to their profitability. They hold important information such as social security numbers and other information of their customers which need to protect against infiltration and corruption as any leakages in such data can cause damage to the company’s reputation. We will discuss the case BIC

Critical reponse to a news event Research Paper

Critical reponse to a news event - Research Paper Example He also wonders why such insignificant issues are featured in the news, since such families do not add value to the economy of their country (Fogg WEB). Therefore, according to Fogg, the economy suffers when big families with unemployed parents, are given free housing by the government. However, I tend to disagree with Fogg on this. The woman might not be responsible for her situation. She might not have chosen to have a big family and be unemployed. Therefore, I believe it is morally right for big families with unemployed families to receive any kind of benefits and aid from their government. In this essay, I will therefore, give a critical explanation of the author’s argument, and counter that basing on my own convictions about the whole issue. Fogg is quite judgemental about this situation when Heather Frost is given free housing. He is opposed to this step by the government, and is opposed to the publicity the media gave this issue. According to Fogg, such a family is insi gnificant to the economy of a country. This is a heavy statement, which bears different meanings. Nonetheless, Fogg thinks the government took a wrong step by providing housing to this woman. This is a free world, where everyone is entitled to their opinion, and Fogg just gave his personal views about this case. Nonetheless, different people will view and judge this scenario differently. While some, like Fogg might be opposed to it, others will find reasons enough to justify this step by the government. When Fog claims that this woman and her family, and other families like this are insignificant to the economy, he meant different things. The first thing is that this woman and her partner are both unemployed. When a person is not employed, normally, they will not have salaries to be taxed by the government, except for the basic taxes on goods and services. Therefore, these are not as significant to the economy, as those people with employment. Secondly, people who are unemployed hav e a lower economic status in society. Therefore, this means that their financial capability is low, compared to those who have jobs. These people also have a lower social status in society. Therefore, it is impossible for these to do anything constructive in society. Most projects need finances, therefore, without a financial source; these are not able to engage in any developmental project. Therefore, these lack the power to make any kind of investments. This is why Fogg considers them insignificant and a burden to the economy. Another reason why Fogg considers Frost and her family as insignificant to the economy is because he thinks they are financially crippled, therefore, cannot afford important aspects of life, which lead to personal development, and the development of the society as a whole. For instance, with eleven children, and no job, it is possible that Frost and her husband could have a challenge raising these children. They could probably lack finances to cater for thei r education. Education is basic and core to an economy, therefore, lack of an education derails a country’s economy in different ways. Secondly, Frost and her partner could have difficulties feeding this big family, without a source of income. Nutrition and healthy eating relates to the quality of health of a person. Therefore, the eleven children could possibly be lacking an appropriate diet, considering the fact that their parents lack a source of incom

Course Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Course Work - Essay Example extremely important for several industries’ and as they have a huge amount of critical and sensitive information which is valuable to the organization and its stakeholders and the information is such that it can be easily manipulated or tampered with. While organizations have a reactive approach to such systems, that is they recognize the need for such systems only after they have incurred a loss of valuable information, smarter companies use a proactive approach and develop systems before hand to mitigate the damage that the company faces due to loss and corruption of such data. (Maybelline , 2010) For an organization to ensure that its objectives become a driver for its survival and profitability information is of paramount importance. It is the fundamental requirement and a business deeply depends on knowledge and information no matter how big or small a company is or what its information requirements are, all information or raw data lies in the organizations computer system which is highly prune to being violated and misused if proper security measures are not adopted. (Gabrielson,1994) For Example an Insurance Company’s can improve the quality of the products it provide to its customer if they have in depth information on the customer base that they are serving to. The more knowledgeable they are about an organization, the easier it will be for them to provide products that satisfy consumer needs. Information like the number of children within each household that the insurance company caters to can provide them with an idea to come up with insurances for college students, or savings funds for young children. The information that Insurance companies have is vital to their profitability. They hold important information such as social security numbers and other information of their customers which need to protect against infiltration and corruption as any leakages in such data can cause damage to the company’s reputation. We will discuss the case BIC

Work-Life Balance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Work-Life Balance - Research Paper Example Given the fact that we live in a world today that has fierce competitiveness as one of its main features, there remains no ambiguity in the ultimate work responsibilities one is rendered to fulfill along with fulfilling the family demands. Maintaining work-life balance is an issue which is hotly debated since the level of competitiveness has spiraled up with a blinding speed and many strategies have been presented by expert sociologists over the past many years for educating the novice people as to how they can stop all kinds of new and tiring problems from cropping up nearly everyday. Work and family relationships are more than often found at odds and highly conflicting which is why the reason I have chosen sharing the horrendous pressures I face everyday, personal sacrifices I make everyday to fulfill my family requirements, and the steps I take to frantically try to maintain a decent balance between my work and family. Considering the phenomenally engaging studies I have to contin ue in an order to establish a successful professional career, meeting up with the expectations of my wife and son presents a challenge fraught with difficulties and sacrifices. Struggling with competing family demands, especially when one has to spend countless hours in studying intricate subjects, raises a phenomenally tedious and grueling life situation which I have tried to picture in this paper. I happen to live in Canada with my wife and son and while I am doing my diploma from The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), my wife studies at University of Alberta. This is understandable that things take on a real different turn when not one but both partners have their own issues to deal with in life and not one of them has full time to spare for home and children. While both me and my wife are struggling really hard to complete our studies so that a better life standard could be established, I do not feel compelled to lie about the harsh realities of life and how many c ritically important things related to family are left at stake as hard battle for a secure future continues with seemingly no end to it. The battle for securing the basic necessities of life in Canada where earning significantly commendable feats at workplace is not an easy job is not fought by me alone, but my wife also has to deal with an extremely hectic study module due to which both of us are left with quite little time that we can share with each other and with our son. Had it been a situation where I already would have been working as a successful employee in some notable firm and earning respectable amount of money, I could have induced my wife to give up her busy schedule and devote her time to our son so that the incidence of gruel problems and fear of a broken family could be propelled down. But, considering the reality that not one of us are at the current time even at the beginning stage of our professional careers since we are in the process of making our way to that b eginning that grows over time to encompass a professional achievement, the looming prospect of a broken family seems quite hard to evade at times. This is also because of the factor that I find myriad examples of broken families around me nearly every single day of my life and the reason which lays the foundation for such tragic breakups could be more than often narrowed down to unavailability of time which happens to be a killing poison for even the type of couples who share phenomenal understanding. Considering my situation, I cannot rate my work and family according to the level of importance I allot each, rather both work and family are central to my life and finding a reasonable balance between the two is an issue I have gone through over and over again in my

According to Paul Cezanne Essay Example for Free

According to Paul Cezanne Essay Paul Cezanne’s paintings are regarded today as being of considerable importance to the development of modern art. Cezannes use of colour as tone and his heavy interest in the formal elements of composition paved the way for artists following on from him to question what they were perceiving and their ability to visually represent what they saw through painting. This essay will be examining the influence that Paul Cezanne had on Cubism and how this elevated the picture into an autonomous object rather than a mere representation of nature. The French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne, although heavily ignored by the mainstream art sphere centered within Paris, had a considerable impact on Cubism as he laid out the fundamental ideas from which the cubists would create their works. One of the main key points that was central to the cubists was faceting, this reduction of form within the external world and transforming them to geometrical facets, ‘Nature should be treated as cylinders, spheres and cones.’. See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay Cezanne’s manner of depicting reality with inaccuracy and multiple viewpoints divorced itself from the laws of perceptive construction and allowed him to interpret what he saw in a subjective way, he wasn’t interested in merely imitating what he saw onto the canvas but rather to re-think the conventions which restrict traditional painting. A clear departure from traditional painting as a representational phenomenon has taken place, it’s no longer mimetic of nature or reality but rather holds its own reality within itself and painting and art in general is made autonomous through Cezanne’s unique approach. Where other painters saw transient effects of light Cezanne had the ability to perceive geometric structures and thus from his search for underlying structure of composition came Cubism and then Abstraction. In the impressionist movement, and other predecessors to cubism and post-impressionism, artists weren’t concerned in dealing with matters of inner meaning within their paintings, they were simply responding to what they saw which in turn gave little for the viewer to think about. It is here that we see Cezanne’s more conceptual manner of depicting reality by breaking things into obscure shapes and abstracted form, he projects his inner emotion and consciousness onto the canvas to represent a state of mind, ‘The painter’s idea cannot be conceived apart from the means he uses, for it is meaningful only so far as it is embodied in those means, and the deeper his idea the more complete they must be. I am unable to distinguish between my feelings for life and my way of transposing it. A painting must carry all its meanings within itself, and impose it on the viewer before he identifies the subject matter.’. This parallel of representing nature and self by use of facets and high-keyed colour (colour as a subjective device) is something that’s echoed throughout the works of the cubists, specifically the initial stages of this movement. It seems from this point onwards the painting has become a picture object, it’s removed from the shallow confines of our perception and begins to contribute to reality by adding other aspects and elements, ‘ He was, in fact, the first Post-Impressionist to make, as did the Pointillists and eventually the cubists, as structural analysis of nature, producing an art of the mind concerned with emotional apprehension of formal qualities in mountains, women or onions and totally unconcerned with the evanescent effects of light, shade and atmosphere.’ . This manner of painting had seeped into the consciousness of Pablo Picasso and George Braque, although they had obviously added their own elements to form their own individual styles Ceza nne had laid out the basis from which the cubists could build upon. Although Cubism can be categorised into three key phases: Analytical, Hermetic and Synthetic, it is all somewhat representational of reality. Pushed and stretched to its very limits reality has been distorted and forms are no longer instantly apparent, the viewer must project apart of themselves in order to make sense of what is happening within the painting. From the painters view the cubists applied an aspect of analysis in their paintings by which forms became increasingly fragmented, this way of depicting objects, landscapes and people was similar to Cezanne’s work in the way he represented nature. He was looking beyond the mere surface and impressions which met his gaze and focussed on the inner structures that made up things around him, this of course implies careful consideration and a process of analysis. This is something which resonated with Picasso’s work and contributed to his painting Demoiselles d’ Avingon 1908, ‘He took his cue in this partly from Cezanne’s efforts to fashion a way of painting that would lay bare – or at least open up for exploration by the viewer – the complex process of pictorial representation’. Upon looking at the works of Picasso’s Demoiselles d’ Avingon 1908 and even George Braque’s Houses at L’Estaque 1908, we can indicate a clear influence that is derived from Cezanne’s style of this alignment of nature and the artist. In Braque’s painting we note a visible colour palette which has been simplified and the use of structure that has been used in order to re-create nature, all of which is comparable to Cezanne’s painting Mont Sainte-Victoire 1902-04. However, Braque has accentuated certain elements resulting in a more systematic , clean and simplified style, ‘Yet unlike Cezanne, Braque pushes the juxtaposition of different perspectives to the point of contradiction, and underscores it with a quite arbitrary distribution of light and shade; rooflines fail to meet walls, spaces and solids are elided, buildings are stacked up against one another like playing cards, and in the absence of a horizon the landscape is compress ed into the space of a low relief.’. (FOOTNOTE: Movements in Modern Art Cubism, David Cottington, pg. 22)We notice a clear direction towards further abstraction in terms of form and colour and as cubism progresses these abstractions are further emphasised until reality is barely visible and only signals and indications of things are implied to the viewer. In addition, Picasso’s painting held similar elements of Cezanne’s style and although his painting Demoiselles d’ Avingnon is regarded as more of a proto-cubist artwork in a way it planted the seeds of his style which would later blossom and carry the cubist movement. He is still referencing Cezanne in terms of geometric shapes, limited colours, the fusions between negative and positive shapes and also the arbitrary use of light as he sees fit. Moving away from Demoiselles d’ Avingnon and focussing on Cottage and Trees (La Rue-des-Bois) 1908, again we see a direct correlation in terms of style to Cezanne’s and even Braque’s painting Houses at L’Estaque, in terms of subject matter it’s quite similar; fragmented shapes are used to signify a landscape with houses and contorted trees, however this use of shapes is further abstracted from that of Cezanne’s and Braque’s and again we see the use of colour being completely redundant in terms of imitating the world. The painting has become a complex of invented forms, singular viewpoints, accurate proportions and visual representation are no longer necessary, ‘Picasso independently emphasises each elemnt – volume, line, plane, light and shade – even at the expense of compositional unity. The effect is to maximise the dynamic effect of the painting.’. The emancipation of pictorial elements of line and colour elevated the painting to the picture object, as these elements no longer needed to be used objectively to depict the reality in which we are all submitted to, rather the artists can form the basis of a painting from reality and meet it halfway through his use of representing the internal reality which he is mentally experiencing. Cezanne used a process of analysis and reflection in creating his work which then influenced the cubists to constitute their own individual reality and project it onto the canvas. The result being fragmented geometric shapes which accentuate certain elements of figures, subjective and limited use of colour and an overall less naturalistic representation of what is directly being observed, this in turn helped painters like the cubists to re think what they were painting and also to think of what painting in general could be.

Discuss the Motivation for International Strategic Alliances

Discuss the Motivation for International Strategic Alliances Discuss the motivation for international strategic alliances ABSTRACT: To establish traditional international business in the market, businessmen do apply different strategies and one of the most common and emerging strategies that are being used now is the international strategic alliance. To study the ‘motivation of international strategic alliance, it has been made to systematically define the term ‘motive. This paper argues those studies of motivation of international strategic alliance, their advantages and disadvantages and how they are becoming beneficial in the global market place. This paper is an initial step to understand the definition of motivation in terms of the international strategic alliance by using the firms that have used this strategy. INTRODUCTION: An alliance can be defined as a business to business collaboration. In an alliance two or more companies agree to work together to achieve a common goal while not losing their individuality. Strategic alliance helps the both parties to gain the complementary strengths. Companies form alliances for joint marketing, joint sales or distribution, joint production, design collaboration, technology licensing and research and development. Strategic alliances have different forms, Contractual (non-equity- based) alliances (Alliances which are based on contracts and which do not involve the sharing of equity), Equity-based alliances (Strategic alliances which involves the use of equity), Cross-shareholding (Both partners invest in each other). ( Peng Mike W. Global Strategic Management, Second Edition, page 219) One form of Equity-based strategic alliances is the joint venture. The formation of the alliance is rich and fragmented. One of the main reasons behind the collaboration is to gain the competitive advantages. According to Williamson â€Å"Intermediate asset specificity and low uncertainty are conditions that may lead to a preference for hybrid forms of governance structure over both arms length transactions and internalization† (Williamson, 1991). Increasing the strategic alliances is one of the fastest trends in the business today and it is becoming an essential driver to grow for every industry. One of the main goals to form a relationship with other companies is strategic alliance where they combine the skills and expertise of the both companies and gain the cooperative venture. Then they enter the international market and share their costs. MOTIVATION for STRATEGIC ALLIANCES in the INTERNATIONAL MARKET PLACE The growing international marketing is becoming the norm in this time and these partnerships are leveraging the growth through alliances with international partners, where the both companies merge and gain the competitive advantage. They do it by licensing agreements, cross shareholder deals, cooperative arrangement and joint ventures. Rather than taking risks and wasting their time and investing a huge amount on of money for gaining this competitive advantage in business, they are entering the international markets by finding an appropriate alliance which is operating in the same market in another country. So they enter the market that they desire to enter and the main reason behind this is to share the knowledge, skills and expertise and also to gain the marketing advantage in the world. And its becoming another strategy to defeat the monopoly business in the global business within fraction of time, for example collaboration of Sony and Ericson. In the view of traditional industry, firms are independent and emphasize on maximizing their own performance. As competition in the market shrinks the profits of firms, they do not rival always against one another. For instance, in 1983 Toyota and GM establish a horizontal alliance on a limited basis to accomplish different targets of manufacturing small cars in the US. The intention of Toyota was to gain knowledge of running business in the American market. On the other hand, Gms objective was to learn manufacturing small cars profitably. Sometimes high entry barriers discourage individual companies. In that circumstance companies can build strategic alliances and networks to level this fence. Firms convert the relationship with suppliers to a mutual assistance and knowledge sharing, previously which was based on hard-bargaining. This liaison is known as upstream vertical alliance. In this case companies do not consider suppliers as threats. In the same way, now, downstream vertical alliances can bind the central firms, buyers and distributors together rather than treating them as possible threats. The market potential pushes the firms on alternative products to establish strategic alliance and networks to materialize the commercial prospective of new products. According to Resource-based consideration firms can get benefited from the alliance through value creation. â€Å"First, alliances may reduce costs, risks and uncertainties. Second, Alliances allow firms to tap complementary assets of partners. Third, alliances facilitate opportunities to learn from partners. Finally, â€Å"real option† an option is the right, but not obligation, to take some action in the future.† Real option gives the opportunity to the firms when they are not sure whether they will do acquisition or merge. The companies just need to pay a tiny portion of their assets (known as deposit). Through this temporary alliance they will judge its future profitability. If they are not satisfied, they can easily leave. There is no obligation to go on with this alliance or take further actions. Institutional based consideration includes two categories Formal Institutional based consideration and Informal Institutional based consideration. According to Peng â€Å"Strategic alliances and networks function within formal regulatory and legal frameworks.† In some countries, Governments impose restriction on Whole Owned Subsidiaries. In that circumstance international firms have only one option, which is, to make an alliance with a local firm in order to enter that market. Peng says â€Å"Informal institutions centre on collective norms supported by a normative and cognitive pillar.† When a firm decides to move on its own, it faces pressures and criticisms from peer, analysts, investors, and the media. In that situation firms make collaboration with other firms to enhance or protect its image in the market place. The firms do choose the target market they want to enter. After choosing the target market they come up with a strategic plan which will suit in the international market. They use all resources of both companies to exploit the existing resources and explore the new opportunities; the main concern for this exploitation is to increase the productivity and efficiency using the current employed capital and assets thought standards. When the both companies are big in size their integration level is also high which, vise versa, makes the higher level the degree of control. The difference between the integration and degree of control is making motivation for forming this strategic alliance. The ADVANTAGES of STRATEGIC ALLIANCE Many start-up companies do focus on emerging into the market and gaining a competitive advantage in the international market to beat the monopoly business around the world for the same products and nowadays it is becoming the most useful strategy to gain this competitive advantage. By which a firm can enter the target market faster and with less risk on the investment. Businesses use strategic alliances to: scope and speed the business process achieve advantages of scale in international market increase market penetration among other companies increase the competitiveness in domestic and global markets enhance product development by sharing the skills, knowledge, technology develop new business opportunities through new products and services and make it more competitive in the world market expand market development fast increase exports diversify create new businesses gain completive advantage in cost diversification into new markets improve cash flow Ability to move quickly The motivation of forming the international strategy varies from one country to another country. The main focuses of the join venture of the companies are to represent the companies in the various countries. But as the days passed the definition has changed because of the activities which became more prevalent. Because the international market the alliance can impart to the company in a relative advantage in size or by the size which makes the process to go faster or in other words it provides compliments to the areas which they are lacking. The motive behind increasing the international strategic alliance is not only gaining profit. The other factor which motive them are the competition among the competitors the fast changing market place industry convergence For an example an alliance between Sony (which is Japanese company, it was an electronic consumer company) Ericson (a Swedish telecommunication company) both giant companies planned to get an advantage in production and development which will prove their marketing skills. So once the joint venture is done with a legal manner it is similar in nature to a partial acquisition in consideration for shares. Because this combination has created the transaction, combining the relative advantages of both parties and ties their future together. They stopped making their own phones. They started to share their expertise and they have a research development teams in United States, Sweden, China, Japan, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The both companies were profitable on the first year but they had to face huge loss because of lack of investment and strategic plan. Once they have injected the money into their joint venture and came up with new idea which was to launch the built-in-digit al camera and with high features they started to enter to the market back but it still were a huge loses for them. So having the same strategic plan this joint venture did not work. They were struggling for the first three years. But walkman phones made them successful and made the 4th position in the world again. So here it proves that the giant companies do merge to gain competitive advantage but it is not always threat to the other companies which are already leading. It totally depends on the strategy they follow and implement. The DISADVANTAGES of STRATEGIC ALLAINCE Alliances are risky in term of cost, the reason is not due to cash being involved with another company and its not being in the companys hands, but it is due to returns from which they will get. First of all the company is to go throw the join venture which involves the investment. When a proper set of contracts, various transfer prices and incentive schemes from the partners to the joint alliance resolve most conflicts, most of the joint venture manages to entirely avoid conflicts between its respective parties. Managing the managerial position of both companies and resolving the possible conflict from the both parties due to the location and other factors of international market, Financial blocking is one of the major disadvantages in the international strategic alliance. Because most of the companies do not want to disclose their financing operations. For example, an alliance with SonyEricsson in the area of cellular communications could reduce the likelihood of contracts with Nokia, thereby putting the company at risk that if Ericsson is weakened, so will be all the companies that depend upon it. Alliance between competitors can be risky. Firms can access to the information, technology, business strategy, and database of each other. Therefore they acquire the knowledge of another company. One firm can plan to excel other firm by achieving the knowledge and skills of other firms business tricks. And then it can drop the other firm and may use the strategy against this firm. Strategic partners are often led by the company which is stronger in the international market. But they should come up with something unique by merging the both companies rather than starting from a start-up. But this strategy dose actually work with the every company depending on the market and company, like SonyEricsson came up with mobile when they merge but it was a huge loss in the market . They started losing their shares rather then gaining it. And it affected the job market. So they later on came up with cyber shoot which was the turning point of their company and also the walking walkman, which was different product then they used to launch. Because their main focus was to make competitive cell phone. But by the cyber shoot they have entered the market and now they are one of the giant companies with 4th position rank in the world. Sharing profits is another disadvantage. The revenue is being divided and goes to different country which does not help the country to boom up. But it dose have a great impact on it The decision is to be made by the both parties so there are always barriers for future financing opportunities. The distraction is the main disadvantage. The top level management is to take decision on behave of the both countries so they are to keep all the time in mind thinking about their own country when ever they are making decision. The both parties do not think alike because of the distraction that they are around by the competitors. As two or more companies are joint in this alliance, the decision is to be taken jointly so there is always a headache from the other partner. Because of the way they want take the company may not agree. To keep this mutual decision, the companies are to go through all this unexpected disappointments. Conclusion: The strategic alliance is one of the most implemented strategies in the global competitive market. And it is one of the mostly common used strategies which have an effect in the market to boom up the economy of a country. It has created the bond between the geographical territories. Where they can share their competitive advantages and bring out new polices and products for the consumers and increase the job market in this world. The advantages for this alliance is more then the disadvantages. So people are coming up of new policies where they can hide the disadvantages compared to the advantage. According to Pekar and Margulis â€Å"The fundamental purpose of an alliance is to facilitate collaboration and varying degrees of integration between companies without necessitating a merger or an acquisition, though it can often lead to a merger or acquisition. Bibliography Hill, Charles (2005), â€Å"International Business Competing in the Global Marketplace† Peng Mike W. â€Å"Global Strategic Management†, Second Edition, (page 216-240) http://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v33y1996i3p301-332.html http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/operating/leadership/strategicalliances.html http://www.corporate-partnering.com/info/strategic-alliances-advantages-and-disadvantages.htm http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=ArticlehdAction=lnkhtmlcontentId=1515040 www.faqs.org/abstracts/Business-general/Strategic-motives-for-international-alliance-formation-The-limits-of-employee-involvement-profit-sha.html http://www.lotsofessays.com/essay_search/Conclusion_Strategic.html http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGK-4MBBYN6-1_user=10_rdoc=1_fmt=_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1123950549_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_userid=10md5=52af2b0a1c7e40ab036d752257b46fc1 http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/operating/leadership/strategicalliances.html illiamson, O.E. 1991. Strategizing, economizing, and economic organization. Strategic Management Journal, Winter Special Issue, 12: 75-94 Peng Mike WGlobal Strategic Management, Second Edition, page 213 Peng Mike W Global Strategic Management, Second Edition, page 227 Pekar Peter Jr. and. Margulis Marc S, Equity alliances take center stage: The emergence of a new corporate growth model, IVEY MANAGEMENT SERVICES †¢ May/June 2003

Kepler :: essays research papers

Kepler   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as people who are well versed in just about every aspect of life, Johannes Kepler was one of the great few. Unlike many of the great thinkers of his era, he was not skeptical about writing down his findings in his correspondence and, in turn getting them published so he would receive full credit for his ideas. At the time of Kepler there were no scientific journals that he could post his findings on. His work in developing the Planetary Laws of Motion supercede all findings in celestial mechanics. This is not to mention that the man is credited with originating the word satellite as well as several firsts in the field of optics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Johannes Kepler was born in Weil der Stadt, Wuttenberg on the 27th of December 1571. Wurttenberg was then part of the Holy Roman Empire, but now its borders lie in present day Germany. He died November 15th, 1630 in Regensburg which also currently lies in Germany. Kepler was the first child born to a mercenary soldier and the daughter of an innkeeper.# The very same inn that Johannes stayed for much of his childhood after the age of five when his father left the family to fight in the Netherlands. Kepler’s early work at a nearby seminary got him enough recognition to honor a scholarship to the University of Tubingen.1 It was there that he was first introduced to the ideas of Copernicus, which he seemed to take a strong liking to right away. In one of his first published works while earning his way as a Mathematics teacher in Graz he was the first to defend Copernicus and his Copernican system. The theory that the planets revolve around the sun not the Earth was still being refuted by some of the more prominent thinkers of the time. His school was undoubtedly Lutheran, which also was the religion of his family so the connection was strong. He held fast to the Augsburg Confession of Lutheranism, but refused to sign the Formula of Concord because of his disagreement with some of the values listed in it.# This did not sit well with those in authority and Kepler was excluded from the sacrament in the Lutheran Church. He also refused to convert to Catholicism during this time which left him no side to take in the Thirty-Years War. This did not deter him from his faith and belief in God.

Analysis of Beloved Essay examples -- essays papers

Analysis of Beloved Beloved is actually a quintessentially American story. Its topic slavery however may not seem to be a traditional one in American literature. The novel written by Toni Morrison is an American survivor’s tale, which depicts the collective experience of slavery defined by the identity of the black community in America for years. The topic of slavery continues to be a vital part of the American consciousness today,in addition, slavery as an institution was a part of American culture as a whole until the Civil War, and its repercussions on race relations are still being felt today. The genre of the survivor's tale is one way that contemporary authors can depict and discuss this formative American experience. ‘Beloved’ is the tale of Sethe, a survivor of slavery, and her family. Sethe is an escaped slave who made the split second decision to kill her daughter, rather than have her return to a life of enslavement. The entire novel revolves around this horrific act; the entire story is slowly unraveled through the remembrances of Sethe and others. These memories and "re-memories" do not follow chronological order. However, when they are all pieced together, the whole picture of slavery, Sethe's act, and its aftermath emerges. A universal characteristic of the survivor's tale is the subjectivity and incompleteness of the survivor's knowledge. The author works to provide a more objective view of events by including several storytellers. ...

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Essay

Fender is an American manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. The privately held company was founded by Clarence Leonidas â€Å"Leo† Fender in Clifornia in 1946. The company specializes in solid body electric guitars such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, and solid body electric bass guitars such as the Precision and Jazz models. Fender instruments are widely considered to be the standard to which most other electric guitars are measured. As marketing manager, I have been asked to develop a brand extension within Fender, in this case, we have decided to move into percussion instruments, specifically drum kits. We will be developing 3 new models of Fender drum kits, a six, seven and eight piece kit. The six piece kit will be made up of a snare drum, four tom toms and a bass drum. The seven piece kit will be similar, with the addition of another tom tom, and finally the eight piece will be similar to the seven piece, with the addition of a second bass drum. All drums will be sold without cymbals and hi-hats; however all will include a kick pedal for the base drum. The objective of this extension is to begin moving Fender into new instruments, especially to develop a line of percussion instruments, with the future goal of developing a percussion department within the company, which will in turn lead to the manufacturing and sale of bongo drums, conga drums and tambourines. We feel that this area of the market for musical instruments has a clear niche gap within it that Fender can fill. With our excellent reputation within the industry, we feel customers will have the brand loyalty to purchase Fender drums. We also feel that with our world class team of developers and creators, and having the resources to use only the finest wood, we can create a drum kit that will be used by the most influential and talented drummers in the world. This will of course lead to worldwide sales of Fender drums, increasing sales to unprecedented levels, which in turn will give us the chance to employee a greater number of people, all while creating a whole new division within the organization, greatly adding to the legacy of Fender instruments. Our target market is the total number of potential buyers for our product. Among this broad group, we have our primary and secondary target markets. Our primary market in this case will be those most likely to buy our new product. This will mainly be drummers and musical institutions, for example music schools, colleges and workshops. Our secondary market, those who have the next greatest potential to buy now or in the future, will be musicians of all instruments; non-musicians who we hope will to purchase a kit and learn to play; and advertisement companies or agencies. Our primary market is simple, drummers drum. They need a drum kit, and if we can convince them of the superior quality and craftsmanship of Fender drums, we hope they will use Fender exclusively. A similar approach is being taken when marketing towards musical institutions. Our secondary market however will be more difficult. Despite the fact that drums are used in many forms of music, musicians in general who we will target will specifically be guitarists, bass players and singers. We feel these players might be interested as many will already be playing music in a similar style to heavier, drum-orientated sound, as opposed to a classical trumpet player for example. We also feel that these players will very likely be familiar with the Fender brand, again as opposed to a musician playing an instrument in which Fender does not specialize. They will therefore be familiar with our high quality level of workmanship and reliability. We will have many well established brands to compete with within the marketplace. Companies such as Pearl, Tama, Evans and C&C are highly regarded within the drumming community and have spent years building u brand loyalty among their customers. Of these companies, Pearl and Tama will be our strongest competitors. Pearl is a multinational company, founded in 1952, specializing in percussion instruments. They cover a huge range of kits, including six, seven, and eight piece kits similar to the kits we will be producing. Their Vision, Masters and Session models are widely popular and well prices. Tama is a sub division of the Hoshino Gakko Group, a company specializing in Tama drums and Ibenez guitars. Like Pearl, Tama produces well crafted, highly priced drum kits and have a great reputation worldwide for quality. Fender Drums – Marketing Strategy Price We will be selling our three kits (six, seven and eight piece) directly from our Fender stores worldwide for $1499, $1799 and $2199 respectively. We have spent many months analyzing our competitors’ marketing prices and feel that these prices offer a great deal for customers. For example, Pearl and Tama sell their six piece kits for $1599 and $1649 respectively. This places our product at a lower price range than both. We have also reached a deal with Sabian (manufacturer of hi-hats and cymbals) to sell our six piece kit with four of their cymbals as a bundle deal. Regarding this deal, we will receive $50 less per kit than when sold separately, however we feel Sabian to be a highly regarded company who customers have built up a great relationship with and therefore we hope to garner some of their brand loyalty to introduce new players to our product. Our seven and eight piece kits will be sold individually only for the foreseeable future. Our seven piece kit is being sold at the same price as those offered by Pearl and Tama, while our eight piece kit is $100 cheaper than Tama’s eight piece kit. Ours is $50 more expensive than Pearl’s eight piece kit; however we feel our product to be vastly superior to theirs, and therefore do not anticipate this slight difference as being problematic. We will also be offering out 100 kits initially to established artists as endorsements. These kits will be distributed, free of charge, to 42 pre-selected musicians, in the hope that by being used by these artists, other musicians who are influenced by these drummers will be eager to also purchase a kit. In addition, our seven piece will contain a 13 x 10 tom tom and our eight piece will include a 20 x 16 bass drum. We will offer a range of spin off products which can be attached onto each kit, including a cowbell, tambourine and jam block. Each kit will be available in three colors (red, green and black) and will be sold with safety casing as an additional extra. They will be branded with the Fender logo on the top right portion of the front of the bass drum. Our products will vary to competitors’ products in many ways. Our drums are different sizes, therefore giving out a slightly different tone and sound. All drums a headed with smooth emperor drum skins, which resonate for longer and give a crisper, more accurate tone. Only the finest maple and rosewood will be used to ensure the most satisfying sound and timbre. Place Our products will be available from all Fender stores throughout Australia, Europe and America. We hope, over the next 12 months, to establish a relationship with stores throughout Asia and South America to sell Fender drums. Our products will also be available from our online store, as well as through third party sellers such as Amazon and EBay. Our products will also be available for both use and purchase at many trade fairs throughout America and Australia over the next six months. Promotion We have many options when considering methods of promotion. As the leader in musical instruments worldwide, with 312 stores, this gives us a great starting point. All stores will stock our kits, displaying them front and center within their stores, to be sure customers will be quickly aware of them. We regularly host trade fairs across the world, which will also give us another means of advertising. We will be taking our advertising in many of the world’s most read magazines (such as Rolling Stone, News and Time), newspapers (NY Post, Sydney Morning Herald and British Times) and websites (BBC, Dailymail, and TMZ). We will advertise and promote through television and radio also. I feel our greatest promotion will be through Sponsorship. We have signed 42 of the greatest drummers currently playing to use our kits. Drummers like Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails) and Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon) all have huge fan bases of drummers, who we hope will be eager to try and purchase our kits once they realize their influences are also using them. Our competitors also use many of these means of advertising, however we feel with our larger budget, and many more stores internationally, we have a much larger platform to promote from. We will begin promotion as of September 2014, hoping to garner enough attention to our product before the Christmas rush of product purchasing begins. While our product is not a ‘seasonal’ product, we feel it would be a good time to release these kits. In closing, regarding which of the 4Ps will be the most influential initially on our product, I believe it will be our product itself. Our price is very competitive; we feel strongly this will not be a problem. Our promotion will be huge, using magazines, radio, TV, internet, billboards, instore advertising, sponsorship and trade shows among other means. Our placement options are huge. With our worldwide brand, we can sell our product worldwide. However, our product itself, with its world class development, beautiful tone, ease of use, gorgeous design and competitive price will stand up for itself as a leader in drumming products, and over time, we hope will be the number one drum kit on the market. Sources http://www.smarta.com/advice/sales-and-marketing/advertising-and-marketing/how-to-develop-a-marketing-strategy/ View as multi-pages

Greater Autonomy Over The Content Of The Curriculum

The being of some signifier of relationship between course of study policy and instructor professionalism would look to be an established premise. This is apparent in claims that course of study reform is frequently regarded as a menace to teacher professionalism ( Al-Hinei 2003 ; Apple 2009 ; Locke et Al. 2005 ) . Most notably, it is frequently claimed that the degree of prescription in the English National Curriculum, along with the associated demand to run into the prescribed results, reflects a decrease of instructor liberty in favor of answerability ( Walsh 2006 ) . It would look, at this degree so, possible to reason that a decrease in cardinal prescription equates to an addition in teacher liberty which in bend equates to an sweetening of instructor professionalism. To an extent this would look to be an purpose of recent course of study reform in Scotland in the signifier of the Curriculum for Excellence ( CfE ) . The first page of the first ‘Building the Curriculum â₠¬Ëœ papers claims that ‘teachers will hold greater range and infinite for professional determinations about what and how they should learn ‘ ( Scots Executive 2006:1 ) . However, such a straightforward relationship between course of study policy and instructor professionalism would, pulling on Evans ( 2008 ) , be an over-simplification. Evans suggests that professionalism can non be understood entirely, through analyzing instructors ‘ ‘remit and duties ‘ ( p.23 ) , and instead we must see the ways in which teachers themselves understand their professional duties. To an extent this would look to be recognised in Scotland ‘s course of study reform, in for illustration claims that the reform requires a ‘culture alteration ‘ ( Scots Government 2009a:5 ) and the accent on the demand for professional development ( Scots Executive 2006:2 ) . This suggests acknowledgment that a alteration of instructors ‘ remit and duties entirely may non hold a important impact upon professionalism. In this sense, the CfE may possibly be regarded as stand foring, but besides necessitating, a alteration in our apprehension of teacher professionalism. In visible radiation of this, it becomes pertinent to see exactly the nature of this implied alteration in apprehension of teacher professionalism. This essay will research peculiarly the deductions of greater instructor liberty in choosing the content of the course of study. This entails sing: what is meant by teacher professionalism, issues that arise in relation to choosing course of study content, and the impact of these issues on our construct of instructor professionalism. Professionalism In order to research the impact of the CfE upon teacher professionalism it is necessary to hold an apprehension as to what precisely ‘professionalism ‘ agencies. This poses some trouble as the term would look to miss a clear definition, and seems to be understood rather otherwise by different people ( Al-Hinei 2003:41 ; Evans 2008 ) . In a general sense nevertheless, it can possibly be regarded as a description of the nature of the function and demands of a member of a profession ( Goodson 2003:126 ; Evans 2008:25 ) . This of class begs the inquiry as to what a ‘profession ‘ is. Harmonizing to Carr ( 2000:22 ) the term ‘profession ‘ may be regarded as bespeaking a distinguishable ‘class or class of business ‘ consisting of occupations such as ‘doctor ‘ or ‘lawyer ‘ , and sometimes ‘teacher ‘ . It is in sing those characteristics that distinguish a ‘profession ‘ from other businesss that the cardinal issues associated with ‘professionalism ‘ come to the bow. Some regard the construct of ‘profession ‘ to be a socially constructed agencies of continuing power with a certain group of people by confering a particular position upon certain businesss ( described in Locke et Al. 2005:558 ) . Carr ( 2006:173 ) suggests it refers to those businesss that are indispensable in continuing civil society ( wellness, justness and instruction ) . Others suggest that there are certain specifying features which mark out an business as carry throughing the standard for ‘profession ‘ ( Locke et al 2005:558 ; Christie 2003:845 ) . However, despite this diverseness it would look possible to place certain recurrent subjects in relation to those businesss classed as professions: they have some distinguishable cognition base or expertness ; they provide some signifier of service to society ; and, as alluded to in the debut, members of a profession have autonomy to do professional opinions ( Carr 2000 ; Christie 2003 ; Goodson 2003 ; Locke et Al. 2005 ) . Professionalism, so, may possibly be regarded as describing: the demands of a member of a profession in footings of their cognition and expertness ; their range for independent determination devising ; and a definition of their function in its service to wider society. If we consider teacher professionalism straight, Menter et Al. ( 2010:17 ) , place ‘four theoretical accounts ‘ of professionalism ( ‘effective ‘ , ‘reflective ‘ , ‘enquiring ‘ and ‘transformative ‘ ) , each of which conceives of the professional cognition base and range for teacher determination doing otherwise. The ‘transformative ‘ theoretical account besides defines the societal function of learning otherwise – as ‘contributing to societal alteration ‘ , instead than conveying societal norms ( Menter et al. 2010:24 ) . Therefore, the relationship between course of study policy and professionalism would look to lie in the manner in which the course of study defines a instructors ‘ function in footings of the cognition that is required and the degree of liberty for professional determination devising afforded by the course of study. Whilst Evans ( 2008:27 ) argues that we can non understand the true nature of instructor professionalism by mention to the policy that defines it, pulling on Locke et Al ( 2005 ) , it would surely look just to propose that the manner in which a instructors ‘ function is perceived officially does hold affect instructors ‘ positions as to the nature of their functions and duties. As has been mentioned antecedently in relation to the English National Curriculum, the issue of instructors ‘ liberty and range for doing professional opinions would look to be a peculiarly combative issue. Menter et Al ( 2010:22 ) suggest that a normative course of study, in which there is less range for professional opinion, would look to associate readily to a theoretical account of professionalism which emphasises ‘technical achievement ‘ . It would look that cut downing instructors ‘ liberty narrows the cognition and expertness that is expected of a instructor. Goodson ( 2003 ) suggests that a focal point on the proficient facets of learning can take to a position that instructors ‘ expertness lies strictly in the accomplishments of twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours planning and behaviour direction. Carr ( 2000:15 ) refers to this as ‘restricted professionalism ‘ . Through analyzing the grounds for the being of a course of study which possibly restricts teacher professionalism in this manner we come to see the ‘tension ‘ that Locke et Al ( 2005:564 ) point to as bing between instructor liberty and answerability. Further, through understanding the possibly alone answerability faced by the instruction profession ( Carr 2003 ) , we can get down to understand the issues involved in course of study content choice. Education, or instead schooling, is basically concerned with ‘the sort of society we want to be ‘ ( White 2004a:2 ) and as such in concerned non merely with single development but besides the development of society. This is apparent in the claim that the ‘Curriculum for Excellence can play a important function ‘ in accomplishing the Scots Governments purpose ‘to make Scotland smarter, safer and stronger, wealthier and fairer, greener and healthier ‘ ( Scots Government 2008:3 ) . It is from this impression of schooling as helping, and potentially formative, society as a whole that it is suggested that schools and instructors are accountable in ways that other professions are non ( Carr 2000:44 ) . Further, instructors are besides more accountable to parents and must accept the legitimacy of the positions of ‘non-professionals ‘ in a manner that attorneies or physicians do non ( Carr 2003:64 ) . As such, it is argued that there are some d eterminations in instruction that should non be made by the instructor as they are ‘essentially political ‘ ( White 2004b:20 ) . In trying to guarantee therefore that instructors are run intoing the wants of both the province in footings of its desire for society – such as economic growing – instructors ‘ infinite for professional opinion can go squeezed. This leads us to see more closely the nature of course of study policy itself, and the function it plays in interceding between the desires of the province and instructor professional liberty. Course of study This requires an understanding as to what is meant by â€Å" course of study † itself. As with ‘professionalism ‘ , it would look to be a term which is notoriously difficult to specify, with a battalion of potentially conflicting definitions ( Dillon 2009 ) . By and large it can be suggested that ‘curriculum ‘ does non mention to a list, or patterned advance, of points to be taught. The course of study addresses non merely what is taught, but why and how instruction and larning takes topographic point. As such, curricula reflect and advance beliefs about the purposes and nature of instruction ( Flinders & A ; Thornton 2009:8 ) . Different course of study reflect different epistemic and pedagogical beliefs – beliefs about the nature of cognition and nature of acquisition and learning – in, for illustration, their administration of ‘knowledge ‘ ( Carr 1988 ) . For illustration those that emphasise the separation of cognition into topics, and those that favour integrating of capable countries. However it should possibly be noted that Carr ( 1988 ) argues that the epistemic and pedagogical bases of much course of study policy is non wholly coherent. It should besides be noted that the current treatment is centred on the construct of ‘explicit ‘ course of study ( Moore 2004:61 ) – an expressed statement of intended acquisition such as the CfE. However in sing a broader definition, course of study is besides used to mention to those experiences which lead to larning approximately, for illustration, societal norms which are non explicitly planned for. This is termed the ‘implicit ‘ ( Moore 2004:61 ) or ‘hidden ‘ ( Anyon 2006 ) course of study. However, notwithstanding the scope of attacks to understanding and making course of study, course of study design needfully entails a choice of what is to be taught. Different course of study theoretical accounts may differ in both when and by whom this procedure of choice takes topographic point. As mentioned earlier, within a normative, centralised, curriculum much of the choice is being made at a national degree by policy shapers. If we consider the CfF itself in footings of those who are doing the determinations, it is rather clear that the pick as to what to learn is non being topographic point entirely in the custodies of the instructors. Priestley ( 2010:23 ) suggests that it reflects a tendency in course of study development in general, in which there is an effort to pull on both ‘top-down and bottom-up attacks to curriculum be aftering ‘ . A procedure of choice has already occurred at the national degree. The purposes of the course of study have been set out in the signifier of the ‘four capacities ‘ – statements as to the type of individual the course of study seeks to develop ( Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010 ) . As mentioned earlier, the course of study besides aims to run into the Scots Governments desire to make a ‘wealthier ‘ and ‘healthier ‘ Scotland ( Scots Government 2008:3 ) . Therefore instructors are doing their determinations within a ‘framework of national outlooks ‘ ( Scots Executive 2006:1 ) . Decisions, possibly ideological, have been made as to the ‘skills ‘ that are deemed of import have been defined ( ‘skills for acquisition, accomplishments for life and accomplishments for work ‘ ( Scots Government 2009b ) ) . The chief countries of acquisition, possibly reflecting epistemic beliefs, have besides been decided in the signifier of the course of study countries ( such as Mathematicss ) . At a more elaborate degree, the ‘experiences and results†¦ describe the outlooks for larning and patterned advance for each of the eight course of study countries ‘ ( Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010 ) . Even within this ‘clear instructors do non hold exclusive duty for course of study content choice. In the pledge, ‘all kids and immature people should see personalisation and pick†¦ ‘ ( Scots Government 2008:17 ) , there is an outlook that students will, to a certain extent, besides be doing determinations about course of study content. Further, there is a strong accent upon collegiality, with instructors working together on course of study development ( Scots Government 2009a ) . This essay does non hold the range to see the reviews of the curricular determinations made at a national degree ( e.g. Royal Society of Edinburgh 2008 ) . Whilst recognizing that these unfavorable judgments may good hold of import deductions for the function of the instructor, this essay will see more by and large the deductions for teacher professionalism of liberty to choose content within a wide model. Through sing course of study content choice, two cardinal issues related to teacher professionalism will be raised. The first considers the consequence of sing content choice as a pedagogical accomplishment or competency as Hansen ( 1998 ) appears to make. The 2nd explores the deductions of sing a course of study as a ‘selection of civilization ‘ ( Giroux 1980:228 ) . Contented choice as pedagogical accomplishment As it would look that the major ‘political ‘ determinations have been made in the course of study in footings of its purposes and general administration of cognition, it is possible to see the instructors function as that of ‘deciding what specific purposes and what student experiences best suit the peculiar kids ‘ ( White 2004b:20 ) . In this sense the instructor is pulling on expertness as to how best move the kid onto the following phase of development, in this instance as defined by the CfE ‘s experiences and results. This demand to make up one's mind upon the particular aims, and choosing the content to enable the student to accomplish those purposes would surely look to indicate to a construct of a more enhanced professionalism than a more normative course of study. The nature of expected teacher professional cognition and expertness would surely look to be regarded as more than organizational and twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours routine. Official certification seems to propose that instructors must, for illustration ‘reflect on their pattern ‘ ( Scots Government 2009a:2 ) and have a scope of expert cognition in the signifier of ‘content cognition†¦ general pedagogical cognition†¦ .knowledge about how scholars learn ‘ ( Scots Government 2009a:4 ) . This would look to indicate to theoretical accounts such as the ‘reflective instructor ‘ ( Moore 2004:4 ) . Such a theoretical account respects learning to affect more than practical cognition and pr oficient accomplishment, instead it requires instructors to reflect on their pattern possibly pulling on their theoretical apprehension with a position to bettering and developing their instruction ( Moore 2004 ) . Menter et Al ( 2010:23 ) suggest that the demand for instructors to be involved in course of study development makes the construct of ‘the asking instructor ‘ a really relevant theoretical account. This theoretical account regards instructors ‘ professional expertness in lying non merely in the application of theoretical cognition, but besides in its coevals through action research, once more with the purpose to better their pattern ( Menter et al 2010:23 ) . These theoretical accounts would surely look to widen the construct of instructor professionalism beyond that of the sensed technicism of the ‘competent ‘ instructor. As such they may supply suited theoretical accounts for instructors who are involved in the choice of course of study content, puting an accent on instructors ‘ pedagogical expertness. However, if we turn to the 2nd construct, an apprehension of course of study content as a ‘selection of civilization ‘ ( Giroux 1980:228 ) , understanding teacher professionalism strictly in footings of pedagogical expertness may get down to look inadequate. Curriculum content as a choice of civilization In order to see the deductions of sing course of study as a choice of civilization it is necessary to find precisely what this means. Culture, in its broadest sense, may be regarded ‘as a whole manner of life ‘ , embracing all facets of society including the cognition, accomplishments and activities, such as athletics and ‘recreation ‘ , of that society ( Entwistle 1977:111 ) . As such, whatever is included in the course of study is a choice from the huge array of cognition, accomplishments, attitudes and activities which make up ‘culture ‘ . We must see so on what footing we choose what to include. If we regard instruction as being, in some manner, involved with ‘betterment ‘ , the facets of civilization we choose to include in a course of study must be those which we regard as being contributing to the ‘improvement of the person or group ‘ ( Entwistle 1977:111 ) . As such, cultural choice clearly implies a procedure of rating, separating between those things which we regard as ‘desirable or unwanted ‘ facets of civilization ( Entwistle 1977:110 ) . As White ( 2004a:3 ) argues that choice of content can merely sanely be carried out in relation to the purposes of the course of study, it would look just to propose that concerns about the choice of civilization could originate in relation to the overall purposes of the course of study and in relation to the standards by which facets of civilization are deemed worthy of inclusion. Concerns that rise in relation to the purposes of the course of study are possibly best exemplified by the unfavorable judgments of a course of study whose purpose is, for illustration to increase employability accomplishments. Those who regard cognition acquisition as holding value in its ain right would see such an instrumental attack to content choice as an poverty of instruction, restricting entree to many signifiers of civilization which may non hold direct instrumental value ( pulling on Carr et Al. 2006:17 ) . In this manner so, we can see that the choice of content is in some manner impacted upon by our beliefs about the intent of instruction. However, as has been discussed it the purposes of the CfE have been decided at a national degree, and as such possibly in world instructors have small function to play in choosing ‘desirable ‘ civilization. To a certain extent this may be true, and points once more to the ‘tension ‘ between answerability to the province, and instructors ‘ beliefs and professional opinions as to what is best ( Locke et al 2005 ) . Further, it would surely look just to propose that within the model, instructors do hold to do determinations as to what to learn in order to accomplish the ‘experiences and results ‘ . In this manner they must do opinions as to what is worthwhile, what they regard as of import or valuable cognition or accomplishments, or suited literature. It is possibly in relation to the rating as to the comparative worth of facets of civilization that the most complex issues originate. It is in sing the relationship between cognition and power that cultural choice becomes debatable. This becomes apparent when we draw on Bourdieu ‘s ( 1986:106 ) construct of ‘cultural capital ‘ . Bourdieu ( 1986:106 ) suggests that different signifiers of ‘culture ‘ are invested with value which can be drawn on for pecuniary addition, or an addition in societal position. If we consider this in footings of ‘knowledge ‘ as a signifier of civilization, so acquisition of certain signifiers of cognition by an person can be utilised in bring forthing income and increasing societal position. For illustration, geting specific biological and medical cognition can enable one to derive both the income and position conferred upon a physician. However, it is non merely the acquisition of the cognition per Se. which is valuable, but instead gaining institutional acknowledgment – in the signifier of an academic making – of possessing a peculi ar signifier of civilization ( Bourdieu 1986:110 ) . In this sense, certain signifiers of cognition, certain signifiers of civilization, have greater value by virtuousness of being ‘institutionalised ‘ in the signifier of a making ( Bourdieu 1986:109 ) . This would propose hence, that schools are involved in both the transportation of signifiers of civilization which enable an person to derive economic capital or societal position, but besides in some manner specify what signifiers of civilization are of value. Such an averment is supported by Giroux ‘s ( 1980:228 ) statement that the civilization that is selected to organize the course of study becomes ‘legitimised ‘ by the really fact of its inclusion in the course of study. Further as Moore ( 2004:61 ) points out, in choosing what to include, there is besides a determination as to what to except from the course of study. Moore ( 2004 ) suggests that through such a procedure the comparative value of different signifiers of civilization are communicated to students, with those things that are excluded regarded as unwanted. Some suggest that the footing on which such choice is carried out is based on ‘middle category ‘ values as to what should be regarde d as worthwhile ( Reay 2006 ) . An interesting illustration of such a claim is provided in Moore ‘s review of portraitures in movie of instructors who are regarded as ‘saviours and non-conformists ‘ ( Moore 2004:58 ) , such as ‘Ms Johnson ‘ in the movie Dangerous Minds. He argues that whilst the attack they take to instruction may be extraordinary, the content of that instruction is non. Moore ( 2004:58 ) contends that the cultural choice made by these instructors represents in-between category values and as such ‘may be read as lending to and corroborating societal and cultural prejudices ‘ ( p.58 ) It is in this sense that Young ( 2006:734 ) argues that ‘social involvements are ever involved in course of study design ‘ : those with the power to choose what is included in the course of study have, to an extent, the power to legalize certain signifiers of cognition and certain patterns. It is suggested that through this procedure of advancing and legalizing in-between category values schools are implicated in intrenching inequalities of societal category ( Reay 2006 ) . Such a claim requires closer consideration if we are to understand the possible connexion between cultural choice and societal justness. One manner in which it is suggested that this is the instance is that persons from a in-between category background have greater entree and exposure to the signifiers of cognition that are regarded as valuable by schools ( Reay 2006 ) . In this manner, Reay ( 2006 ) suggests, kids from in-between category backgrounds are at an advantage, able to pull on the cultural capital they already possess in order to execute good at schools, deriving institutionalized acknowledgment through academic makings, and therefore addition position in society. This would look to foreground a tenseness for those involved in choosing the content of a course of study. On the one manus, it is suggested that if schools do non supply the ‘high position cultural capital that academic and economic success requires ‘ so kids from working category backgrounds are potentially deprived of the ability to raise their societal position ( Anyon 2006:44 ) . However in making so, they are possibly complicit in reproducing prejudice as to what is regarded as legitimate and valuable cognition. Further, Young ( 2006 ) suggests that it is non sensible to see cultural choice as strictly a affair of enforcing the values of an elitist group, and that there is a legitimacy in sing some accomplishments, facets of cognition, and activities as more valuable than others. However, precisely how a instructor should make up one's mind what is worthwhile and what is non is non wholly clear. Possibly it can be based upon the ‘normative ‘ ( Entwistle 1977:111 ) , societal position as to what is worthwhile. However, this is debatable even if there is a clear consensus as to what is ‘worthwhile ‘ . As Carr ( 2003:72 ) argues, the most widespread beliefs are non needfully the ‘right ‘ beliefs. Aside from raising the complex philosophical inquiry as to what ‘right ‘ agencies, this raises the inquiry as to the societal function of teacher professionalism. Are they at that place to go through on the values that exit or should they be ‘transformative ‘ , ‘contributing to societal alteration ‘ ( Menter et al 2010:24 ) . It is from these observations upon the relationship between cultural choice and values, and the possible nexus to issues of societal justness, that it possibly seems unequal to understand instructors ‘ professionalism strictly in footings of practical accomplishments or even in footings of professional opinions based upon pedagogical cognition. Rather it would look to propose, as many ( e.g. Goodson 2003 ; Campbell 2003 ; Carr 2006 ) do, that as instruction is implicated in organizing scholars ‘ universe positions and values, it is inherently concerned with ethical considerations. These writers suggest that it is these ethical concerns and opinions that instructors have to do, that Markss learning out as a profession. Carr ( 2006:172 ) argues that whilst all businesss are in some manner concerned with ethical issues, these by and large play a ‘regulative ‘ function – they indicate criterions for good pattern. However he suggests that ethical considerations are ‘constitutive ‘ of learning. This is possibly more clear in Campbell ‘s ( 2008:604 ) averment that it is: ‘ †¦ disputing to extricate the moralss of learning from the really procedure, pattern and content of teachingaˆÂ ¦ ‘ This would look to propose that the determinations and actions made by instructors involve opinions as to what is right and incorrect non simply in a proficient sense, but instead in a moral sense. As it is suggested that ethical issues are inbuilt into the very nature of instruction, Campbell ( 2008:605 ) argues that ‘ethical codifications ‘ are deficient to turn to the issues faced by instructors. Rather she suggests that instructors requires an understanding by instructors of the complex moral issues they must turn to ( Campbell 2008:605 ) . Carr ( 2006:178 ) suggests that it is about instructors ‘taking moral issues and inquiries earnestly ‘ . It should be noted that this does non propose that instructors do non presently take moral and ethical considerations earnestly ; Campbell ( 2003:2 ) argues that many instructors are cognizant of the moral deductions of their opinions. However, Locke et Al. ( 2005:570 ) do suggest that when instructors are capable to high degrees of answerability it can take instructors ‘doing things right ‘ instead than ‘doing the right thing ‘ . Potentially, hence, the CfE ‘s focal point on greater liberty could supply greater flexibleness for instructors to do the determinations they regard to be ethically sound. At the same clip, by increasing instructors ‘ range for taking what to learn the ethical nature of instructor opinion possibly becomes even more outstanding. However, pulling upon the suggestion that the framing of instructor professionalism in policy is important to pattern, it would look of import that the ethical nature of professionalism is present in official discourse if instructors are to be afforded the clip and infinite to earnestly prosecute with these issues. The CfE may good be regarded as affording instructors greater liberty to do professional determinations as to what they teach. There besides appears to be acknowledgment ( e.g. Scots Government 2009a ) of the importance of instructors ‘ professional cognition and expertness. However, in sing the issues involved in choosing course of study content it seems just to reason that the professional function of instructors can non be framed strictly in footings of pedagogical cognition and expertness. Rather it would look that any consideration of teacher professionalism must earnestly see the ethical dimension of instruction.