Employe Search Process Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Employe Search Process - Assignment Example This approach increases the chances of drawing potential candidates from a wide pool of professionals. The vacancy’s details in advertisements will include the positions available, applicants educational requirements, and skill levels required from potential employees. Interested parties can then send in their applications by e-mail to reduce the potential candidates to those proficient with electronic communications. The company’s expansion process requires it to have an intricate knowledge of the current trends in the US welding industry. Demand for welding and welded products fell from $6.113 billion in 2006 to $6 billion in 2011, and this drop was attributed to reduced demand in the construction and repair and maintenance markets (League Park Advisors, 2013, p. 5). According to the League Park Advisors report (2013), demand is expected to rise to $8.067 billion by 2016 as companies increase their production capabilities to meet growing market demand (p. 5). The labor availability in the welding industry is set to increase as industry players such as the manufacturing sector adopt automation for repetitive and hazardous tasks, but the demand for welding specialists will increase due to the need to monitor and direct these automation processes (League Park Advisors, 2013, p. 5). Due to these changes in the market’s demands, labor availability will see a likely shift from the manufacturing industry as it increasingly adopts automation, towards sectors such as repair and maintenance and construction. Manufacturing services may also move from China as wages in that market increase, and this could increase demand for the US manufacturing market (League Park Advisors, 2013, p. 8). Projected annual growth rates of 6.8% and 11.8% for the repair and maintenance and construction markets respectively also dwarf the manufacturing market’s growth rate of 5.7% and also proposes reactionary shifts in the labor market (League

Doric,Ionic, Corinthian Essay Example for Free

Doric,Ionic, Corinthian Essay Essay Prompt:Define and describe the three architectural orders of ancient Greece noting when and where they were used and how they reflected the changes in Greece from the Archaic through the Hellenistic Period. Ancient Greece has brought about many methods of art that we see in our everyday lives. Many artists today even try to mimic artists in ancient Greece, but often fail to do so. One of the most important aspects to come out of Greek art is the architecture, most notable the three architectural orders of ancient Greece, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Each components of this order has a system of inter dependable parts whose proportions are based upon mathematical ratios. The basic components of all three orders are the column and entablature. Although most people do not know this order, they see it in their everyday lives. The history behind this order may take a lifetime to fully understand. The Doric order has shafts that composed of drums seated on top of a stylobate. The shafts do not have bases in the Doric order like they do in the others. At the top of the shaft lies an echinus and abacus respectively and the combination of shafts, echinus and abacus make up a column. At the top of each column lies an entablature and at the top of each entablature lies a pediment. The Doric order was mainly used in Greek and Rome and was the earliest of the three orders. The Doric order came about in a definite form in 7th century B.C, but it was not widely used until the 19th century during the Greek Revival which was an architectural movement that took place between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. There are many buildings that use the doric order, but the most famous example is the Parthenon. Overall the Doric order in ancient Greece has been used for many centuries now and it has led to the creation of buildings such as the Parthenon. The Ionic order has a shaft that lies on top of a base and unlike the Doric order its shafts are not composed of drums. At the top of the shaft lies a capital and the combination of a base, shaft and capital make up a column of the ionic order. The column of an ionic order is approximately nine times the diameter of its base. Above the column lies a architrave, frieze, cornice and pediment respectively. The Ionic order came about in 6th century B.C in Ionia. The use of the Ionic order was most prominent during the Archaic Period (750-480 BCE). Many ancient Greek buildings have used the Ionic order, but the most famous one is the Temple of Diana in Ephesus. The Parthenon has elements of the ionic order, but it conforms mainly to the Doric order. Ultimately, the Ionic order is a historic creation and its structure is still used in many buildings today. The Corinthian order is a variation of the ionic order and was originally created for interiors, bit it was eventually used in exteriors as well. The Corinthian order has all the basic components of the Ionic order, but it does not have a pediment. The pediment is removed completely while the capital is composed of an astragal, leaf, acanthus, rosette and volute. Arriving in full development at the middle of 4th century B.C, the Corinthian order was not used too often by the Greeks. The Greeks mainly just used the Corinthian order for the interior. The oldest known Corinthian temple is the Temple of Apollo Epicurius. Although the Corinthian order was not used as prominently as the Doric or Ionic it is still an important order and has helped create many ancient Greek buildings. The Doric, Ionic and Corinthian order were important features to come out of Greek architecture and many buildings today use these orders. The basic components of these orders were a column and entablature, but each of the three orders had specific characteristics that set them apart from the others. The creation of these orders has led to the many great Greek buildings such as the Parthenon. These orders were important elements to come out of Greek art and will probably be used for centuries to come.

Comparing Romanticism in Plymouth Plantation, Birthmark, and Rappaccini

  Ã‚     Puritanism and Romanticism differ in style, religious references, and plot content. Puritanism began to flourish with strict God-fearing Calvinists who had fled to America to escape religious persecution in Europe. With writers such as William Bradford and Edward Taylor, Puritan literature focuses on God's role in the lives of the people and adopts a simple religious style of writing. Romanticism was introduced to Americans in the nineteenth century, delivering a fresh literary and artistic style. This new literature pays more attention to the elements of tone, mood, and atmosphere, while also applying religion in the form of transcendentalism. These two types of literature are similar in the respect that they both encourage living simply. Puritan writers were concerned more with the message the literature portrayed than with form and dramatic elements. "Poetry was used to educated its reader, and was written using simple rhythm and common images" (Heimert 34). Puritan literature was plain in style. Much attention focused on God's will in the new world, man's relation to God, the nature of faith, and the history of New England. We can see these elements in the writings of William Bradford, the Governor of the Plymouth colony. "Of Plymouth Plantation" is considered to be New England's first literary achievement. It "is an historical account of the journey to the new world, and the hardships encountered upon arrival" (Fritscher 81). This poem was written to "preserve both the record and the fact of Plymouth's separate identity" (Heimert 51). Bradford's objective was to preach God's purpose in the founding of the Plymouth colony. "Of Plymouth Plantation" has two major themes: how Plymouth had failed the original goal of e... ...uestioning of reason and nature separated him from the Puritans. Yet both Romanticism and Puritanism are similar with their respect for simplicity, while they differ in many other ways.   Works Cited Boewe, Charles. "Rappaccini's Garden." American Literature. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1959. Fritscher, John. "The Sensibility and Conscious Style of Willaim Bradford." Bucknell Review. 1969. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories. New York: Dover Publications, INC. 1992. Heimer, Alan. The Puritans in America: A Narrative Anthology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985. Leone, Bruno, ed. Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne. San Diego: Greenhave Press, 1996. McPherson, Hugo. Hawthorne as a Myth-Maker: A Study in the Imagination. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989. Morison, Samuel. Of Plymouth Plantation. New York, Knopf, 1952.

Alcohol Abuse in Russia

Joe Bloe Professor I. B Smart BS 131 December XX, 2008 Alcohol Abuse in Russia Family Issues Russians drink more alcohol than any other nation in the world. (Halpin, 2007, p1) The Times of London reports that Russians are currently going on an alcoholic binge even by Russian standards. According to the country’s chief public health officer, Gennadi Onishenko, Russians are drinking nearly three times as much as they did sixteen years ago. Onishenko’s study was promulgated by the Russian equivalent of the consumer protection agency and it reported that at least 2. million people in Russia were alcoholics. The average Russian consumed 15 litres (26 pints) of pure alcohol per annum, up from 5. 4 litres in 1990, and this phenomena is blamed for a rising rate of mortality among men. This compares to 8. 4 litres for people in the United States and 7. 6 litres in Japan. (Halpin, 2007 p 1) Violent crime and alcohol consumption have increased throughout the Russian federation sin ce the fall of the Soviet Union. This has shown harmful consequences for families and communities, as heavy alcohol drinking is closely associated with violent behavior in Russia.The correlation between heavy drinking and violence is a complicated mixture of physiological, psychological, situational, social and cultural elements. Whenever measures to control alcohol production and consumption have been introduced, reduced violence has occurred in Russia and elsewhere. (WHO, 2006) Violence is a family’s worst enemy and may include physical and sexual assaults, mental or emotional abuse and neglect. It may also be categorized into interpersonal violence, child maltreatment or neglect, intimate partner violence within a relationship, sexual violence, abuse of the elderly or self-directed violence including suicide. WHO, 2006) There is ample evidence to support the relationship between heavy drinking and violence. In Russia, alcohol has been involved in three-quarters of homicide arrests. Families often bear the brunt of the violence that emanates from heavy drinking. In the Central Black-Earth Region of Russia, a study showed that 77% of violent crimes against family members involved drinking with 35% of these drinkers bingeing every day. Among male perpetrators of spousal homicide, 60–75% of offenders had been drinking before the incident. (WHO, 2006)Alcohol abuse affects physical and cognitive functioning resulting in reduced self-control and the ability to process incoming information. This makes drinkers more apt to resort to violence to resolve conflicts. (Rand Corp. , 2002) Heavy drinking can impair parents’ responsibilities toward themselves and their children. Drinking also reduces the amount of time and money spent on their children, often neglecting the children’s basic needs. Alcohol abuse by either the parent or the child increases the child’s vulnerability to sexual abuse.Sometimes children are made to drink alcohol to facilitate sexual acts or involve them in child pornography. (WHO, 2006) Alcohol abuse during pregnancy can result in children being born with fetal alcohol syndrome as well as health issues for the mother. Excessive drinking in a relationship can create problems with finances, childcare, infidelity or other stressors leading to potentially violent situations. (WHO, 2006) Health Issues Russians are suffering from a problem with demographic retention and a declining population base.Alcoholism is a leading cause in rising Russian mortality rates, particularly among males. Alcohol contributes to premature deaths involving accidents, injuries and violence particularly among males. Male mortality rates fell sharply during Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign of 1984 to 1987. This effort reduced state alcohol production, raised prices for liquor, mandated alcoholic treatments where needed and cracked down on homemade liquor. The program was highly unpopular and abandoned, after wh ich both consumption of alcohol and mortality rates for males increased dramatically once again. Rand Corp. , 2002) Russia’s population has dropped from 145 million in 2002 to 140,702,000 in July of 2008. The birth rate is slightly higher at 11. 3 births per 1,000; up from 9. 1 per 1,00 in 2002. Male life expectancy is only 59 years and for females it is 73 years. (Fitzgerald, 2003, CIA 2008) Statistics for children are not encouraging. In 2003, the number of healthy children in Russia dropped from 45. 5 percent to 33. 9 percent over ten years, and the number of disabled children doubled, according to the epidemiology section of the Health Ministry.According to information gathered form the 2002 census, one third of Russian children are born out of wedlock. (Fitzgerald, 2003) The Russian Ministry of Health did not blame alcoholic parents for substandard health environments or the usual culprits of drug abuse, or smoking and eating junk food but blamed an increase in the schoo l workload and less time for outdoor exercise. The Ministry claimed that an incredible 75% of children were said to have hypertension and related problems in the 2003 analysis of Russian health. (Fitzgerald, 2003)Beer is regarded in many areas as if it were soda pop. Children as young as 13 routinely drink beer in public in some areas and the national legal drinking age is currently 18 years. Vodka has traditionally been available nearly everywhere to nearly everybody in Russia and children have no problem finding it. As in America and elsewhere, heavy alcohol consumption in Russia impedes a family’s well being in a host of problematic ways. And Russians drink more alcohol per capita than any other national population in the world. (Halpin, 2007)Gorbachev’s attempt to limit alcohol abuse In 1985 President Gorbachev, who was then president of the USSR, began a campaign to limit alcohol abuse by raising the legal drinking age to 21 years and imposing tough legal sanction s on home production of alcohol. (Today, the drinking age is 18 years. ) During the period of 1984 through 1987 when the campaign was running, state sales of alcohol decreased by 61%. Statistically speaking, the effort was successful in that total violent deaths dropped 33% and alcohol-related violent deaths dropped by 51%.The program was not popular with the public, however, and was abandoned in 1987. By 1992, market reforms for alcohol were instituted that liberalized trade and dropped prices and the rates of violent deaths increased substantially. (WHO, 2006) These rising figures are subject to interpretation because this was the era of perestroika in Russia and increases in violent deaths cannot be solely attributed to increases in alcohol availability and consumption. The temporal correlations between the crackdown on alcohol and the drops in violence indicate that they are interconnected.Perestroika and glasnost were introduced to Russian society in response to President Gorba chev’s initiatives toward political reform and moral recovery. A cornerstone of his plan was a reduction in drinking which he saw not only as a health problem but a cause of economic inefficiency. (McKee, 1999) He adopted a heavy-handed approach to limiting alcohol production, distribution and use. All state agencies were ordered to develop departmental strategies to cut down alcohol consumption. Alcohol was banned at official functions and party officials who drank heavily were dismissed from their jobs.Liquor outlets were dramatically reduced and the media changed its attitude to one of intolerance for alcohol and organizations like the All-Union Voluntary Society for the Struggle for Sobriety sprang up. This association claimed 12 million members one year after organizing. (McKee, 1999) Within a few years, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the campaign faltered and was eventually replaced by a rapid rise in consumption, driven by widespread illicit production of homemade alcohol on a massive, national scale. Economic IssuesRussia's stock markets have lost about 70 percent of their value since peaks in May, and workers have been hard hit by lay-offs and wage arrears. The tepid global economy has left Russians hurting and they, like most of the world, have had to cut back on expenses. The result is less state-sanctioned vodka being sold and an increase in homemade spirits. Research by the National Alcohol Association showed that deaths from alcohol poisoning increased to 1,458 in September, presumably the result of Russians drinking dangerous substitutes for vodka as a cheaper way to get drunk. (Shuster, 2008)During Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign, the production of samogon (homemade spirits) had become a large-scale industry that provided cheap alcohol to Russians while depriving the state of tax revenue. When restrictions were eased in 1988, alcohol consumption quickly exceeded the pre-1985 level. A Russian study done in 1995 revealed that regular drunkenness affected between 25 and 65 percent of blue-collar workers and 21 percent of white-collar workers, particularly in rural areas. (Coutsoukis, 2005) Unemployed workers are particularly vulnerable to alcohol abuse problems.Being available in most places, day or night and being historically cheap people without occupations tend to drink more often and heavier. When vodka is unavailable or too expensive, they will often resort to dangerous substitutes. In 1994, the number of people who died of alcohol poisoning rose to about 53,000, a major increase from 36,000 in 1991. These are typically the result of drinking homemade alcohol substitutes. Bootlegging had become a widespread criminal activity by the mid 1990s. (Coutsoukis, 2005) Legal vodka is big business in Russia.The word â€Å"vodka† means â€Å"little water† in Russian, a term of endearment. (Tartakovsky, 2006) The brand â€Å"Stolichnaya† sells $2 billion a year worldwide and was privatize d in 1992. Soyuzplodimport, or SPI, has the exclusive rights to export Stolichnaya, which vodka lovers in the U. S. fondly refer to as â€Å"Stoli. † Some 50% of the company's export turnover comes from the United States, thanks mostly to its strategic alliance with Allied-Domecq for U. S. distribution rights. (Shuster, 2008) Alcohol and workers The Russian workplace has always been a place where vodka contributed to the socializing rituals.Before the Bolshevik Revolution the Russian tradition of prival'naia, a welcoming ceremony for new workers that included snacks and vodka. It was a socializing event where the new workers would become acquainted with their fellow workers. The new workers were expected to provide the snacks and vodka for the veterans in exchange for training in the new job. (Andreasen, 2006) The Revolution changed the way workers were hired. Prior to this era, workers were usually hired on the recommendation of an acquaintance and the ceremony of prival'nai a was part of the payback for getting the job.With the implementation of the communist trade unions, the hiring became an impersonal process and there was no payback necessary and it eliminated the worker’s obligation to train new employees. These changes brought about the practical end to prival'naia, although some workers and organizations still clung to the old tradition where they could get away with it. (Andreasen, 2006) Russian worker culture has always included vodka. The working class sees vodka as an essential element for surviving their brutal winters and poor economy.It is an escape that causes apathy among the work force and contributes to poor health and accidents that make Russia’s work force less productive and more costly. Productivity in Russia has always been known to suffer because of heavy drinking. That belief is one of the motivators behind Gorbachev’s plan to reduce drinking in the 1980s. It is difficult to gauge the true impact of worker drinking and productivity because the Russian economy is still in a state of flux as it transfers from a state-controlled, centralized economy to free-markets. It is inappropriate to make comparisons about worker utput and drinking since the two economies measure productivity in myriad different ways. (Kryzanek, 2004) Many Soviet patriots and party leaders recognized the need to curb alcohol to increase worker productivity.Pokhlebkin was one of these patriotic historians who published his extensive research in a book called â€Å"A History of Vodka† he included a chapter depicting what he determined to be Russia’s descent into rampant alcoholism. Drunkenness, he asserted, is incompatible with socialist principles in that it undermines worker morale and curtails industrial productivity. Tartakovsky, 2006) Russian workers have become complacent after seventy years of communism. Entire generations have grown up shirking work because private initiatives were always discour aged and sometimes even dangerous. Wage inversion led to high pay for lowliest work while job dissatisfaction created moonlighting and demoralized workers moved from job to job. Alcohol has always exacerbated this complacency and lack of motivation. (Kryzanek, 2004) Heavy drinking has a deeply rooted history in Russian culture and life.The problem seems so ingrained in their society that it would be impossible to completely eliminate drinking from the society. This heavy drinking behavior is exhibited in other northern cultures like the Finish or Polish societies without such devastating consequences. In Russia, however, there is historical evidence to suggest that the country’s governments from the Czars to the Soviets have helped to create this culture. (McKee, 1999) There are also several sub-cultures of the drinking population in Russia because of geographic, gender and socio-economic variations, making it difficult to generalize the problem.There are even some people amo ng these groups who actually abstain or drink in moderation. The state itself has contributed to the drinking problem throughout the country’s history by producing and distributing cheap vodka in the name of tradition and profit. It should be feasible for the government to take some kind of proactive measures to stop its population from killing themselves with even-more toxic substitutes for a toxic product. Apparently, it will take many generations of sober Russians to change the high-profile role alcohol plays in so many national traditions.The Russian people have gone through many changes throughout the ages. Hopefully, their resilience will help them change their love of vodka and allow them to become socially conscious drinkers. That’s a tradition easily passed on.

Use of Social Media in Promoting Stakeholder

USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PROMOTING STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR DEFINITION OF SOCIAL MEDIA Social media has rapidly integrated itself into our everyday lives, both personal and professional, and it’s perhaps had no greater impact than on the world of marketing, with consumers and brands seeing enormous benefits and changes. Social media literally means interactive platforms through which individuals and communities create and share user-generated contents. Social media are social software which mediates human communication.When the technologies are in place, social media is ubiquitously accessible and enabled by scalable communication techniques. In the year 2012, social media became one of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms such as Twitter and Facebook (Kietzmann et al. 2011). Social media technologies take on different forms including magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking.Social media can be classified into six different types: collaborative projects (for example, Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs (for example, Twitter), content communities (for example, YouTube), social networking sites (for example, Facebook), virtual game worlds (e. g. , World of War craft), and virtual social worlds (e. g. Second Life). Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms.Social media network websites include sites like Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Bebo and MySpace. Social media applications used on mobile devices are called mobile social media. In comparison to traditional social media running on computers, mobile social media display a higher location- and time -sensitivity. One can differentiate between four types of mobile social media applications (Kaplan, 2012), depending on whether the message takes account of the specific location of the user (location-sensitivity) and whether it is received and processed by the user instantaneously or with a time delay (time-sensitivity). . Space-timers (location and time sensitive): Exchange of messages with relevance for one specific location at one specific point-in time (e. g. , Facebook Places; Foursquare). 2. Space-locators (only location sensitive): Exchange of messages, with relevance for one specific location, which are tagged to a certain place and read later by others (e. g. , Yelp; Qype). 3. Quick-timers (only time sensitive): Transfer of traditional social media applications to mobile devices to increase immediacy (e. g. posting Twitter messages or Facebook status updates). 4. Slow-timers (neither location, nor time sensitive): Transfer of traditional social media applications to mobile devices (for example, watching a YouTube video or reading a Wikipedia entry). Mobile social media can also be used on the go when one is not near a personal computer, lap-top†¦ etc. With all the new devices that are arriving at our finger tips, gadgets such as tablets, ipods, phones, and many other new products, there is no use for sitting at home using ones PC.Mobile social media has made other sources of internet browsing obsolete and allows users to write, respond, and browse in real-time. A new medium of social networking – Instagram allow the world to interconnect and makes space and time much smaller than anyone can imagine. Instagram allows individuals to snap a photo wherever they may be and share it with the rest of the world instantly, delivering a social media site full of foreign accomplishments and strange scenarios.This feature was introduced by facebook and other existing social media sites, but instagram is the latest addition to the social media scene, and has made picture sharing an absolute must. Mobile social media is a relatively new function because it was just recently that mobile devices have access to the internet and the cloud (Kaplan, 2012). PURPOSES OF SOCIAL MEDIA The purpose of Social media can be explained its use in the area of businesses. Here, social media may be referred to as consumer-generated media (CGM).A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value. Generally, people obtain information, education, news and other data from electronic and print media. However, unlike industrial or traditional media, such as newspapers, television and film, social media shows its distinction as they are comparatively inexpensive and accessible to enable anyone, even private individuals to publish or access information. Industrial media on the other hand generally require significant resources o publish information. One characteristi c shared by both social and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach n people or millions of people. Some of the properties that help describe the differences between social and industrial media are in the aspect of reach, accessibility, usability, immediacy and permanence. (a) Reach: Both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and are capable of reaching a global audience.Industrial media, however, typically use a centralized framework for organization, production, and dissemination, whereas social media are by their very nature more decentralized, less hierarchical, and distinguished by multiple points of production and utility. (b) Accessibility: The means of production for industrial media are typically government and/or corporate (privately-owned). Social media tools are generally available to the public at little or no cost. (c) Usability: Industrial media production typ ically requires specialized skills and training.Conversely, most social media production requires only modest reinterpretation of existing skills; in theory, anyone with access can operate the means of social media production. (d) Immediacy: The time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses). However, as industrial media begins adopting aspects of production normally associated with social media tools, this feature may not prove distinctive over time. e) Permanence: Industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing (Kietzmann et al. , 2011). Community media constitute a hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radio, TV and newspape rs are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks. Social media has also been recognized for the way in which it has changed how public relations professionals conduct their jobs.It has provided an open arena where people are free to exchange ideas on companies, brands and products. Social media provides an environment where users and PR professionals can converse, where PR professionals can promote their brand and improve their company's image, by listening and responding to what the public is saying about their product. STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR The word- stakeholders simply means a person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies.Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the commu nity from which the business draws its resources (Clarkson, 1995). In the educational sector, the major stakeholders comprise of the students, the funding (and managerial) bodies, the industry employers, the academics and the general public. Universities and colleges increasingly are using new communication technologies to produce innovative teaching methods, thus improving relationships with staff and students.Much of this innovation is centered on social media spaces and concepts. Many of the most significant social media tools are still very young but the concepts of social networking, online video, and blogging go back to the earliest days of the Internet. Indeed, educators and library professionals were quick to see the value of blogs as they appeared, partly as a mechanism to bypass complex or slow institutional website-updating processes. They are also a way to reach out, to share news and reflections with colleagues and students both within and beyond institutional walls.As the first social networking sites emerged, combining the functionality of bulletin boards with personal profiles and instant messaging tools, students were early adopters using the sites like FriendsReunited to maintain existing friendships and to establish personal support networks. Friendster extended the idea of what these spaces could do, and by the time Facebook launched (for those with university email addresses), students were well prepared to experiment, socialize, and share their networks online.Some librarians and academics followed students into these spaces, sharing practical information and trying these new forms of engagement. Now with the widespread use of tools and technologies like YouTube, Twitter, blogs, wikis and Facebook, social media is used for teaching in higher education (Kent and Taylor, 1998). Students remain ahead of social media users in various higher education groups. While many attribute this to generational factors, it is also true that students are more highly motivated by the need to find and bond with new peers and potential social groups.Many find participating in a new online space a relatively low stakes issue of experimenting and exploring the spaces that work for them, or that their friends use. Academic staff have been slower to find their feet, but the success of pioneering colleagues in communicating and engaging students in their work, or gaining professional advantage through social media spaces, has helped drive change and, in some cases institutional leadership. Rolling out blogging tools and support across the university has led to a creative, thoughtful, and lively culture of blogging within the university including a rapid turnover of very high quality content.A key strength of social media is the distributed model of connection, posting, and activity feeds that enables building an ongoing relationship with stakeholders through low stakes participation (Christ, 2005). Indeed the most common use of social media in higher education is as a means of amplifying existing events, publications and websites. Social media resources are often provided for passive use as information sources or teaching resources—perhaps an alert to an upcoming event, a blog post that directs the reader to formal academic literature, or a video that demonstrates a key technique or concept.A single action, such as sharing a link or viewing a Facebook page or Twitter profile, allows an individual to casually participate in a relationship with a higher education institution. From there individuals can also take active steps of clicking the â€Å"like† or â€Å"follow† or â€Å"subscribe to feed† button to receive regular updates and alerts, showing their interest in further dialog. This simple sharing functionality is very valuable, but the real benefits for higher education often come from more integration of social media with teaching and student support.Social media also provides the oppo rtunity for communication, professional development and collaboration among members of teaching and research staff, information services staff and administrators. This communication can work well in closed institutional spaces (such as an intranet) but collaborating publicly on the web (for example, through blogs or Twitter) enables both local colleagues and broader peers to read and participate in discussions. The most important relationship for most educators and academic organizations is with their students, and social media can be a very active and responsive hannel for supporting and engaging with students. While email remains the key means of communication for most professionals in the education sector, students arrive into higher education with established social media presences and a culture of using Facebook Messages/Chat, text messages, and related tools (for example, InstantMessanger, BlackBerry Messenger, and Skype). These social media and mobile tools may be used by col leges and universities, but it is important to manage expectations: students need to know which channels they are required to use (likely to include email) and which channels are optional (such as a course Facebook group).They must also understand which spaces to use for official correspondence, assignment submission, or urgent queries. Staff cannot monitor all social media channels at all times, but endorsing spaces that enable peer support can help meet student needs outside of working hours. For part time and online courses, scheduling virtual evening tutorials or â€Å"office hours† can also provide a manageable and valued space for student support and participation. Social media can also enhance traditional in-person learning to great effect. For instance, the collaborative nature of wikis offers particular opportunities for innovative teaching practice.This process empowers students to take ownership and responsibility for their own learning and to build a productive pe er community. It also alters the relationship and expectations that exist between staff and students from one-way teaching to an ongoing two-way process in both challenging and highly rewarding ways. For those learning on a part-time, distance, or flexible basis, it can be difficult to feel part of the educational community, to connect with peers whom you may see rarely or not see at all, and to form the types of social groups that enable peer support and friendship.Social media can help create a sense of community, of being among real people and, in some spaces (including virtual worlds), a real sense of embodiment. Some students feel more able to express themselves fully and confidently in online contexts, and for these students, social media provides a way to tie their more confident online selves with their real world identities. For others, social media is simply a route to avoid isolation.The participation of teaching and support staff in these spaces provides the opportunity to build richer relationships with learners, and to notice concerns, issues, or misunderstandings. These issues may not be easily or comfortably articulated in other teaching spaces, such as a more formal classroom or e-learning space. The beneficial possibilities of social media also bring potential risk, partly because any increased visibility brings with it greater exposure to vulnerability and the possibility of embarrassment or failure in a very public space.From an organizational and management perspective, the most significant benefits and the most notable risks arise from the democratizing nature of social media: when anyone can potentially create content there will, of course, be risks associated with loss of control. This can be tricky to negotiate because much of the appeal of social media is its formality, often tied to a sense of fun, transgression, and enjoyable anarchy. Educational organizations have a moral and legal responsibility to look after both staff and studen ts, and to consider their safety and privacy.There are risks associated with encouraging staff and students to register for and share personal information with social media sites, particularly when requiring student participation as a course requirement. You must create a process for dealing with potential bullying or abusive behavior. Because social media necessitates faster, less formalized processes than traditional print or online media, it can be beneficial to create appropriate organizational policies, procedures, and guidelines.These policies must acknowledge both the risks and benefits of social media. It is important that the organization accepts and understands those guidelines. Outright bans on social media usage are rarely desirable or effective, and heavy restriction can push individuals – whether staff or student – to create more controversial or outspoken presences on a pseudonymous on anonymous basis. This reaction can both risk a negative impact on the organization, and mean that the organization misses officially recognized contributions from energized members of the community.The most successful social media guidelines and policies are encouraging and nurturing in tone, highlight good practice and clarify the appropriate use of these tools. They must also specify material that is not appropriate for sharing, and indicate some form of process for dealing with conflicts arising from social media interactions. Every higher education institution is different so it is important to both draw on others experience and tailor your guidelines or policies so that they are a good fit for your own organization's needs and audience.Remember that the speed of social media development is such that no set of guidelines or policies will be definitive: they will need to be iterated over time and updated to reflect the changing social media and legal environment. Embedding social media into normal working practices can take time and effort, so it is important to consider the goals and desired outcome of that activity, whether that is easily measured (such as new admissions, achievement of funding goals) or something more amorphous (improved good will, better morale within an educational institution).It is also useful to consider collecting metrics (counts of tweets, comments received or more complex information) so that activity can be considered, reflected upon, and developed or discontinued as appropriate. Local hosting or restricted/private cloud hosting of social media tools can be an effective way to bring together social media functionality in a protected and trusted institutional space. Tools including IBM Connections, which act as a hosted suite of social media and business software tools, can be useful.Whether using a hosted or web-based social media tool, it is always useful to try any tool for a few weeks with colleagues or peers to identify problems or concerns before committing to a public (whether to your staff and/or students or the open web) social media presence. Planning suitable staff time and processes to create, maintain, monitor, and reflect upon social media presences helps to ensure that the presences are taken seriously and that involved staff feel a sense of ownership and responsibility in these new spaces.Blogs have become a central tool for academic research and for teaching and learning over the last five years. Many programs require students to blog reflectively on their progress throughout a course and submit this as graded work. These blogs provide a great space for reflection, for recording progress with academic readings and developing ideas, and for discussion with peers from the wider world. In schools, there are greater risks to address in terms of privacy and access to resources but there is also huge potential for innovation. The award winning â€Å"I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! initiative (Pontin, 2010) used a talent show format to connect practici ng scientists with school children. Over the course of two weeks, social media tools such as YouTube and real-time chat tools enabled school children to ask any science question, which was then answered by a research scientist within 24 hours. The students voted for their favorite scientist throughout the show and the winning scientist won a small grant to further their research. It can be inspiring to look at what comparable schools, colleges, universities, or other educational organizations currently do.Increasingly, early adopters engaged teaching staff, and university marketing and communications departments are realizing the huge potential for the use of social media in education. There are substantial risks to consider, ones that require thoughtful management of expectations, the ongoing review of practice, and the surrounding legal and social context. Social media guidelines and policies are useful tools in supporting the use of social media in schools and colleges but these should not stifle creativity.Social media provides real opportunities for innovative and engaging practice with authenticity and informality, both notable features of successful social media in academia. YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA Yaba College of Technology, founded in 1947, is Nigeria's first higher educational institution. It is located in Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. The college is a center of culture and heritage. Currently it has a student enrollment of over 16,000. Today, Yaba College of Technology is made up of nine (9) academic units called Schools, headed by Deans, and thirty-four Departments headed by Heads of Departments.The main objective of the College, according to the decree that established it, is to provide full time and part-time courses of instruction and training in Technology, Commerce and Management. Also, the College provides training in other fields such as applied learning, relevant to the development of Nigeria especially in areas of Ind ustry, Agricultural production and distribution, Research and adaptation of techniques. In pursuit of these objectives, the College has continued to develop structurally, humanly and materially.One of the ways in which the college has been able to establish this development is in its adoption of technological advancement by the use of the social media. Generally, Schools are on a short list of organizations that have been notoriously slow to adopt emerging technology but within the last few years, as social media becomes more integral to students’ lives, educational institutions are finally catching on, and catching up. On speaking with the Heads and representatives of information (communications) technology unit of he Yaba College of Technology, they all shared their views on the extent to which the Social media has promoted stakeholder relations in the college. Dr. Oyeyinka, Director of Centre for Information and Technology Management (CITM) explained that the Social media is being used and has made a great impact in the institution. For further information, Dr. Oyeyinka directed us to Mr. Popoola Olusegun Lawrence, a representative of the Information Processing Department. This was because Mrs. Koyenikan, the Head of the Information processing Department, was currently on leave. According to Mr.Popoola Olusegun Lawrence, who is in charge of students’ result as well as communication amongst the students and management of the institution, there are three different departments or units under CITM and they are- Information Processing Department (IPD), Hardware Software development & Training (HST) and the Volumetrics unit, a unit in charge of managing the college networks. These three units work together to take care of both the staff and student information. Mr. Popoola further explained that the use of Facebook in the department is more frequent although in some cases, Yahoo Messenger is also made use of.This choice of Social media tool is m ade, depending on the target publics and even in those cases; communication must have reached a certain level before usage of the social media that is, some sort of agreement must have been reached first and you must have established some kind of relationship with the stakeholders. One cannot just wake up one day and start communicating with stakeholders in a project that requires millions of naira. Doing that would place one at a huge risk. Therefore, one’s level of awareness comes to the forefront.For example, when the College through the Information Processing Department (IPD) needed to contact an organization that supply equipments used for the marking of Post UTME results, the decisions made had to change at a particular time and further communication was made through Facebook and Yahoo messenger from time to time. Later, after the equipments had been supplied, the college realized they needed the organization’s support and the organization was contacted again. Th is communication process via the social media was very effective and successful.In communicating with students however, Mr. Popoola continued by saying, mobile phones was made use of because the department has access to the phone lines of all students in the college. Moreover, not all students are computer literates or have access to the internet and in order to make sure all students were brought into the picture when giving out information that pertains to them, mobile phones was used in sending out bulk SMS. Within the staff, official matters are communicated through Facebook and twitter. This started just about a year ago.When communicating with other departments and faculties like the School of management studies for instance, the IPD sends messages through the group on Facebook created by some of these faculties and departments. If the Director of CITM (Centre for Information and Technology Management) – Dr. Oyeyinka wants to pass information to the Deans of various dep artments, he doesn’t need to go through CITM except when every member of staff needed to be communicated with. This is because CITM has the means of communicating with every staff at once. In emergency situations however, the use of mobile phones are used within staff because according to Mr.Popoola, it gets the information across faster. For instance in November, 2011, there was emergency information that needed to be passed to every staff where some details of the staff absent on the department’s database were urgently needed. This information was requested by the Ministry of Education and every staff needed to be aware of the developments within 24 hours. The use of Facebook, yahoo messenger and mobile phones were employed in disseminating this information. At the end of the day, it was realized that mobile phones were more effective. As regards to the use of Social media in times of crisis, Mr.Popoola claimed they had never experienced crisis but if they did, they probably would make use of mobile phones in disseminating the necessary information. Mr. Popoola believes that in years to come, probably in two to three years, the social media would be more effective but presently it was not as Nigeria as a whole is just getting to know the benefits of the social media. He explained that a good number of people are unaware of the importance of social media and some think it’s just used to paste portrait pictures or pictures of fashionable items like shoes, bags, etc.One of the barriers in the effectiveness of social media is in language barrier and the abuse of social networks. If people can get to understand the proper use of the social media, its effectiveness would increase. In the Volumetrics unit, the Head of Department – Mrs. Oyeyinka was said to be unavailable and we were directed to her representatives- the Head of the Networking Unit- Mrs. Christiana Olayinka and a member of the Volumetrics unit- Mr. Tunde Oke. Mrs. Christia na Olayinka, explained that their stakeholders are made up of the management, students and prospective students of the college.Her unit is majorly responsible in ensuring that internet links and facilities are made available to the students of the college. She further stated that social media has been of great benefit to the college and asides having an advantage of saving cost, it also allows you get feedback from the students i. e. allows a two-way communication. In the Networking unit, Twitter and Facebook are frequently used in disseminating information to students. Where management of the college is concerned, LinkedIn is made use of especially during management meetings and conferences.Linked in also allows for teleconferencing where even management abroad can partake in meetings held in Nigeria by Network connection. One can also view participants live as you communicate and exchange information with them. Terms such as audio conferencing, telephone conferencing and phone con ferencing are sometimes used in teleconferencing. According to Mrs. Olayinka, the only crisis they have experienced thus far was some years back when there was a shift in the date of resumption at the college and the news had to be relayed.This information was then passed through Facebook, twitter and bulk SMS. Though twitter was fairly effective, Facebook was found to be more effective because of the larger number of students subscribed to it. Bulk SMS on the other hand, was found to be most effective. Mr. Tunde Oke, a member of the Volumetrics department stated that dissemination of information to stakeholders which comprise majorly of the students and staff of the college is carried out using the social media tools- Facebook, twitter and most recently, YouTube.In mid 2012, a group on Facebook was created by the Volumetrics department called YabaTechng and at the time checked, the group had over 9,052 likes. Through this medium on Facebook, information of interest to the college i s posted. Only a few weeks ago, the Volumetrics department created some sort of mini TV called YabaTechTV via YouTube, a video sharing site and through this medium, documentaries about the college are shared. Within the short space of time since they started, the department has been able to upload their first documentary which aims at showcasing talents and facilities within the EPE Campus of the college.The 12 minutes documentary is tagged- ‘Documentary on Yaba Tech (Epe Campus)’ and has over 50 views already. They are currently working on their second documentary which they also plan uploading via YouTube. In conclusion, it is safe to say that social media has come to stay. In less than five years of its existence, social media has made a great impact in promoting stakeholder relations in the educational sector. It has revolutionized the way people communicate today and has spawned a new generation of communication in higher institutions.Social media presents a huge o pportunity for schools, universities and other educational organizations to reach out and connect with students and prospective students. Now, the internet is no longer a one-way broadcast delivery system where the individual user downloads data, information and other resources produced by a relatively small number of content providers. Instead, the internet is now driven by and to some extent determined through the activities of its ordinary users—what has been described as many-to-many rather than one-to-many connectivity.The social web is therefore seen to be arranged along substantially different lines than the cyberspace-era internet of the 1990s and 2000s. This sense of internet use now being a participatory and collective activity is reflected in the language used to describe social media applications. Therefore, it is clear that social media gives more people a voice and provides a powerful tool for value creation and competitive differentiation. REFERENCES Christ, P. (2005). Internet technologies and trends transforming public relations.Journal of Website Promotion. 1(4): 3–14. Clarkson, M. B. E. 1995. A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review. 20: 65-91. Hill, L. and White, C. (2000). Public relations practitioners’ perception of the World Wide Web as a communications tool. Public Relations Review. 26(1): 31–51. Kaplan, A. (2012) If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile marketing and mobile social media 4Ãâ€"4, Business Horizons, 55(2): 129-139 Kaplan, A. and Haenlein, M. (2010). â€Å"Users of the world, unite!The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. † Business Horizons 53(1): 59–68. Kent, M. and Taylor, M. (1998). Building dialogic relationships through theWorldWideWeb. Public Relations Review. 24(3): 321–334. Kietzmann, J. , Hermkens, K. , McCarthy, I. , and Silvestre, B. (2011). â€Å"Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media† (PDF). Business Horizons 54 (3): 241–251. doi:10. 1016/j. bushor. 2011. 01. 005. Retrieved September 17, 2012. Pontin, K. (2010).I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! Evaluation Interim Report. Gallomanor Communications Limited. Available from http://project. imascientist. org. uk/wp–? content/uploads/2010/11/Im–? a–? Scientist–? Interim–? Evaluation–? Report. pdf. YabaTechTV. (2012). Documentary on Yaba Tech (Epe Campus). Available from http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=g3keWhvSEIA&feature=youtu. be&a. GROUP 3 MEMBERS- YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY (YABATECH) BABALOLA, ADEBUKUNOLA OLUWAYEMISI – 050803014 RAHEEM ADEFOLAYIGA . S. AKINDIPUPO AKINDELE ODUAH BALQIS OKAFOR EMEKA EDEMI JOY SISANMI AGUH OCHEZE

Cheyenne Autumn essays

Cheyenne Autumn essays Cheyenne Autumn is a film of contrasting viewpoints. On one hand it tries to sympathize with the Native Americans but at the same time it gives little value to their lives. The film shows how unfair they were treated but does so unfairly. It is important to view for our course because it shows how Hollywood can try to portray Native Americans in a light that is much better then the previous portrayals but still miss the mark. The opening scenes are meant to show how proud and noble the Native Americans are as a people. They wait on the government officials until the chief collapses and even then he refuses help. At the same time the two main American Indians carry around a piece pipe with them wherever they go and still speak with the Indian speak that is so prevalent in John Ford movies. The soldiers are made out to be unsavory characters because they show how little they car for the Indians. This is apparent by how the character Tom Archer refers to them as being, ...soldiers from their first slap on their ass. He is saying that they are savages from a young age on and he was trained into being a savage of sorts, a soldier. This seems to be a way of excusing his savagery. The American Indians, fed up with the no show by the government fat cats, decide that it is time they went back to their own land. The land the government has set aside for them is not good for much and they are dissatisfied by their treatment. The filmmakers were showing how the American Indians were being misled and treated poorly from the government. At one point the character, Little Wolf, portrayed by Ricardo Montalban says that the white mans words are poison. He says when he learned to speak the white mans language it was not filled with so much poison. He can speak with wisdom but not with proper English. Cheyenne Autumn is an interesting movie that shows a transitional period in movie making. The filmmakers tri...

Cavour essays

Cavour essays Of the three main figures of the Italian Risorgimento, Cavour best understood how to use nationalism to achieve his goal. Mazzini failed to gain support of the majority of the people, while Garibaldi merely provided military assistance. What neither man understood was the importance of Foreign aid. Mazzini even went as far as to oppose assistance from outside, thinking that if Italy were to gain independence on its own, the bonds within the country would be stronger. He failed to think of the consequences should they not succeed. Cavour however knew how to gain support of the people and recognized the importance of foreign aid. As stated by Geoffrey Bruun, To... work out a formula whereby the Italian people and their rulers could be united called for patience, insight, moderation, compromise and political realism. One man who combined these qualities in the requisite proportions was Camillo di Cavour. (Bruun 63) Cavour showed Nationalistic traits for most of his life. At the age of ten, he was enrolled in military school, but by age 18, his nationalism was already emerging and with it came complications which eventually led to imprisonment and later, his resignation. During his military career, he was transferred to Genoa where he met people with the same political views as himself. Many of them belonged to a rebel uprising group, the Carbonari. After the French Revolutions of 1830, Sardinian officials felt that Cavour showed too much interest in there outcomes and, thinking that he might want the same sort of situation in Piedmont, imprisoned him. Upon his release 8 months later, he promptly resigned. For the next sixteen years, he spent his time developing his fathers estate, but never forgetting his liberal and nationalistic ideas. He frequented the English House of Commons, and read many books concerning the British system of government which, eventually, became the foundation for the Italian system. In 1833, ...

The Difference Between Appositives and Descriptions

The Difference Between Appositives and Descriptions The Difference Between Appositives and Descriptions The Difference Between Appositives and Descriptions By Mark Nichol It is important for writers to distinguish between appositives and mere descriptions. A noun is said to be in apposition when it is set off from another noun that refers to the same idea. The phrase â€Å"set off† is significant, because a pair of commas separate the parenthetical apposition from its referent noun by a pair of commas. A description, however, needs no such bracketing. For example, take a look at this sentence: â€Å"Here’s what the CEO of Chrysler Sergio Marchionne said to his employees in a blog post.† â€Å"The CEO of Chrysler† and â€Å"Sergio Marchionne† are one and the same appositive so one or the other needs to be framed by commas. This can be accomplished in one of several ways: â€Å"Here’s what the CEO of Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, said to his employees in a blog post.† â€Å"Here’s what Sergio Marchionne, (the) CEO of Chrysler, said to his employees in a blog post.† (The optional the is often omitted in journalistic contexts and retained in more formal writing.) â€Å"Here’s what Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler’s CEO, said to his employees in a blog post.† (This is a less formal variant of the previous two options.) A description, meanwhile, such as the job title in this case, is followed directly by the name without intervening punctuation, and no comma should follow the name, either: â€Å"Here’s what Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said to his employees in a blog post.† The first sentence in each of the following pairs appeared in a printed or online publication with commas framing the name as if it was an appositive an error, and a distressingly common one. But notice below the differences between the statements labeled â€Å"Description† and the ones marked as â€Å"Apposition.† In a description, both the descriptive phrase and the name it applies to are essential; without either one, the sentence is incomplete. However, an apposition, being parenthetical, can be omitted without altering the integrity of the sentence. Description: â€Å"Ex-reservist and current war gamer Mike Brown admits his battle tactics may be a bit too aggressive for a real-life situation.† Apposition: â€Å"Mike Brown, an ex-reservist and current war gamer, admits his battle tactics may be a bit too aggressive for a real-life situation.† Description: â€Å"Kitchen queen Nigella Lawson comes to town, shops, chops, cooks, and raves about our produce.† Apposition: â€Å"Nigella Lawson, the kitchen queen, comes to town, shops, chops, cooks, and raves about our produce.† Description: â€Å"Conservative radio jock Michael Savage gets his own TV show.† Apposition: â€Å"A conservative radio jock, Michael Savage, gets his own TV show.† (The person’s name can come first, as in the previous examples, without a change in meaning, though the focus changes.) Description: â€Å"The San Francisco–based schooner C.A. Thayer begins a $9.6 million overhaul.† Apposition: â€Å"The C.A. Thayer, a San Francisco–based schooner, begins a $9.6 million overhaul.† (If the schooner has already been referenced generically, the sentence should read something like this: â€Å"The San Francisco–based schooner, the C.A. Thayer, begins a $9.6 million overhaul.†) Description: â€Å"The Emeryville studio Pixar hopes to cash in on its fish flick.† Apposition: â€Å"The Emeryville studio, Pixar, hopes to cash in on its fish flick.† (If two or more studios, each located in a different city, were previously mentioned, this sentence is correct. Otherwise, something like â€Å"Pixar, the Emeryville studio, hopes to cash in on its fish flick† would be appropriate.) Description: â€Å"Bryan Young is editor of the blog Big Shiny Robot.† Apposition: â€Å"Bryan Young is editor of the blog, Big Shiny Robot.† (The comma is necessary to indicate that the blog was already mentioned, but not by name. If not, the comma signals, fallaciously, that Big Shiny Robot is the only blog in existence.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Idioms About NumbersCapitalization Rules for Names of Historical Periods and MovementsPrepositions to Die With

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Competitive Advantage - Case Study Example A closer analysis of the case study of Whole Foods shows that it has adopted a differentiation strategy. According to Harasta & Hoffman (2010), differentiation is a business strategy that seeks to build competitive advantage with its product or service by having it different from the other alternative products. This entails that other competitors may find it difficult to offer the market offering. This is the strategy that has been adopted by Whole Foods explained below. The company has differentiated itself from the other competitors by focussing on quality as excellence and innovation that allows them to charge a premium price for premium products. For instance, health conscious people have begun to realise the importance of consuming organic and natural foods and these are mostly found at Whole Foods Market stores. Whole Foods is the world’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods and has 289 stores, 273 stores in 38 states in the US and 6 stores in Canada and 5 stores in UK (Harasta & Hoffman, 2010). All these stores have sustained a competitive advantage by virtue of being unique. Other retail outlets do not specifically focus on strictly organic and natural products like Whole Foods and this is the reason why it has managed to sustain its competitiveness. Essentially, differentiation strategy requires businesses to have sustainable advantages that enable them to provide the customers with something uniquely valuable to them (Harasta & Hoffman, 2010). In case of Whole Foods, this strategy is justifiable because the products it offers are perceived to be of high value by the buyers and this is the reason why they continue to buy them even though they have premium prices. In most cases, buyers purchase products that are believed to be of great value to them. It can also be seen that differentiated products in the market are unique and they can be hardly imitated by other

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Forum on Supreme Court - Essay Example The opinion delivered by the justice that the sale of private property for private development fitted within the concept of public use which was under the frame of meaning of the taking clause, was full of flaws. The exercise of the â€Å"eminent domain† powers by any government entity was unsubstantiated. The opinion delivered neglected the interest of the common men as a whole. For the well being of the nation one hopes that such a case and such a Court will meet shortly providing a better means of solution protecting the interest of the common mass. It produced a series of legislative correction in any number of states perhaps even at federal level. The opinion delivered required highly a strike of a better, more reasonable, and fairer balance between the rights of the private property on one side and the power of â€Å"eminent domain† on the other (Delogu, 2006, pp. 46-48). In light of the above discussion we can conclude that the incident marked loss of the human interest in the combat against the framed jurisdiction. As a learning of the discussed example we all should make an attempt in our own ways to make an amendment of such laws which solely ignore the interest of the mass as a whole rather than striking a

McDonaldization of Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

McDonaldization of Society - Essay Example Mcdonaldization of society is an explanation of a good society and is becoming more efficient. Max states that McDonald is the vehicle by which current civilization is becoming more proficient technique for people to go from an ailment of hunger to a state of satiety. However, McDonaldization and efficiency have negative effects (Ritzer 167). The Imminent side effects must be documented and appreciated in order to fully comprehend the effect that Mcdonaldization has on today’s culture. Max also believes that McDonaldization is a social logical thesis that reinforces the current trends of culture and society. Ritzier describes the rational spare of society and his procedures of routine and settled procedures for dealing with situations which can occur in an orderly fashion. I do agree with ritzier sociologist this is because the eating habits greatly influence the cultural behavior of people (Ritzer 200). People easy forget the past about their past practices and begins to follow the new way of eating which is more affordable at consumes less of our

Analysis of ethical dilemma that has been addressed by a professional Essay

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Internationalisation, Trade and Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internationalisation, Trade and Markets - Essay Example The amalgamation of economic policies among various states through the full or partial elimination of tariff and non-tariff restraints on trade that take place among them before their integration is known as Economic integration. It is an economic arrangement among various regions aiming at the elimination or reduction of trade barriers and the management of fiscal and monetary policies. The purposes of economic integration include reduction of costs for both producers and consumers, and to increase trade among the countries that take part in the contract. There are a variety of economic integration levels. They include free trade areas (FTA), preferential trade agreements (PTA), common markets, customs unions and monetary and economic unions. The trade barriers vanish with the economies becoming more and more integrated. Political and economic coordination among the member countries also surge due to economic integration.   Integration of economies of two or more states results in diminishing of short-term benefits arising due to tariffs and the other trade barriers. Simultaneously, the governments of the member countries become lesser and lesser powerful in making adjustments aimed to benefit themselves with the economies getting more integrated. Being integrated, a country can be lead to greeter long-term benefits in times of economic growth; however, an economy can get worse and worse while being integrated in times of poor growth. The North American trading bloc or the North American Free Trade Agreement originated as a free trade agreement among Canada and the United States. This Agreement created a free trade area extending to the Arctic Circle from the Rio Grande. This agreement is said to be the largest mutual trade relationship. The time when U.S. and Canada were shaping the U.S./Canada FTA, Mexico was restructuring its style to international trade. Thereafter, some major factors urged Mexico to join the General Agreement on Tariffs

Analysis of ethical dilemma that has been addressed by a professional Essay

Analysis of ethical dilemma that has been addressed by a professional journalist - Essay Example Why? c. What was the effect of the decision on the individuals involved and on the community in general? What would have been the effect of a different choice in addressing this ethical decision? d. Are there any relevant laws that influenced the journalist’s decision? If so, what does the law state, and how did it affect the decision? Are there any legal implications to the decision? Ethical Dilemma Addressed by a Professional Journalist Chosen Report The report chosen to be analyzed for this paper is entitled â€Å"The boy with a broker heart: special problems with juveniles are newsmakers† written by Richard Paxson (2011). Case facts revealed the story of a 14 year old boy, Jody Collins, who accidentally caused the death of a schoolmate when punched at the back. Apparently, the schoolmate, named Justin Charlie, was reported to have had a â€Å"plastic valve sewn into his heart a month before to fix a birth defect. When Jody hit Charlie, the blow ripped out stitches holding the valve in the aorta, according to the autopsy report. Charlie’s heart stopped beating† (Paxson, 2011, par. 3). Reporter Nick Lamberto investigated the facts behind the incident by pursuing Jody at his home and interviewing him without seeking prior consent from an adult. Subsequent news reports have identified Jody when he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault. Adding insult to injury, Jody, who was previously identified as a victim to a sexual abuse and testified in court during the uncle’s (perpetuator’s) trial, was concurrently reported and sensationalized. a. What is the ethical issue or dilemma? The ethical issue presented in the article encompassed violations of privacy, giving informed consent, competencies of children, environmental and social context, among others. Privacy issues have been clearly defined by the reporter’s lawyers, especially in cases involving juveniles who have allegedly committed some criminal offense but has not been charged as of the date of scheduled report. In addition, there were policies against naming sexual abuse victims to protect the identity and absolve them from social stigma. The ethical issue of getting consent from adults, not from the children, was likewise violated by the reported. The subject of seeking consent proves to be controversial in terms of who the journalists should seek consent from in addition to the children themselves, the subject of competence is more debatable due to the age by which competence in children is agreed on. In this case, despite the apparent intent of Jody to seek the presence and consent from his stepfather, the reported disregarded the ethical obligation to seek consent from the adult and proceeded on interviewing Jody alone. Competence was clearly depicted by Alderson (1995) as having 3 characteristics: understanding, wisdom, and freedom. At the age of 14, Jody is still considered a juvenile and as such, competence is stil l compromised. Ethical issues of the environment and society were eminent through the pressures and actions manifested by neighbors, to wit: â€Å"eggs already had been tossed at his home and at a van he was riding in† (Paxson, 2011, par. 17). Also comments from Jody’s neighbors have supposedly attested to the boy’s violent and aggressive behavior; seemingly rationalizing and justifying the reporter’s intention to publish his identity. What choices did the journalist have when reporting on the issue, and why did he or she decide the way he or she did?

BEIT 336 (Formal Report) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

BEIT 336 (Formal Report) - Essay Example BEIT 336 (Formal Report) As the array of available flexibility options broadens, contemporary companies are under immense pressure to evaluate how each scheduling program affects their performance in terms of employee performance, as well as, managers’ and supervisors’ perception or acceptance of the program. Understanding the association between flexible scheduling of work and consequent organizational performance is imperative in selecting the most appropriate flexible working technique. Such comprehension is also pertinent to development of flexible working policies that would, in turn, guarantee optimization of projected benefits like increase in employees’ productivity, elevation of morale, reduction of absenteeism and decline in turnover. In addition, understanding this relationship would go a long way towards challenging or confirming assumptions made in regard to flexible work hours and in quantifying the current state of an organization to determine its readiness for implementat ion of a flexible work schedule. Most importantly, outcomes of the employee and organizational performance measurement have implications vital to the future development of flexible work programs in a company. If there is a positive connection between flexible working and employee performance, as illustrated in this research, companies can utilize the information to facilitate change in working culture and plan more effective schedules in the future.

Adv & Disadvantages of Leadership Development Methods Essay Example for Free

Adv Disadvantages of Leadership Development Methods Essay Professional qualifications that require refreshing will be supported if they are an essential criteria for the post| * Trust induction * Trust Essential Update training * Manual Handling * Professional re-registration training * PRINCE2, MSP, LEAN| * Provides an understanding of how the Trust works * Provides health and safety training * Sends out a clear message that professional registration is recognised, important and is supported| * Trust induction training tends to be very generic and does not necessarily relate to the job role * Training for re-registration is not always timely * Is dependent on funding * Cost implications of ensuring that the training budget can cover training| Elective Learning| Courses that are not part of the essential criteria for the post will be deemed to be elective and will be subject to the trust policy on supported learning| * Courses identified as part of the personal development plan * Influencing skills * Negotiating skills * MS Project/Other IT Skills * Meets specific needs for the individual * Can be delivered by others in the team or by a generic course * Ensures that leaders are given requisite skills| * Some generic courses do not cover specific requirements * Is dependent on funding being available| Work Assignments| Work assignments will be seen as an opportunity to help leaders develop specific competencies or practice key behaviours. * Specific goals will be set as part of personal development plans * Feedback on progress will be done either via formal appraisal or by 1:1 feedback with line managers| * Reiterates the message that lessons can always be learned * Gives leaders the growth opportunities to put theories and models into practice * Learning by doing| * Unless well managed there is a tendency to concentrate on ‘getting the job done’ * Opportunities are not always recognised or used to the full advantage| Special Assignments/Initiatives| Involvement in short-term assignments or initiatives either generated from within the team or as part of a project team| * Attendance at programme or project board meetings * Involvement in assignments/initiatives

Marketing Analysis and Planning at HSBC

Marketing Analysis and Planning at HSBC This report highlights the market segmentation of the HSBC credit card in India. The organisation segments the market on the basis of geographic locations and in view of income, lifestyle and behavioural traits. The product has been majorly targeted to the existing customers of the bank and the shopaholics at the Westside store. The bank also emphasises on increasing credit card-spends and customer satisfaction by offering distinct product types and elite additional benefits unlike its industry rivals. The brand image and service excellence of the organisation has positioned its credit card at an elevation. The marketing mix strategy executed by the bank coils strength to the market position of its credit card. HSBC has designed its credit card to satisfy the needs of every individual in the respective market segment by offering six different card types. The demand for credit card is increasing in the country as more people prefer plastic money over hard cash. Hence, they are willing to pay the optimum price for the card usage. The massive presence of the entity gives an advantage over the competitors and provides convenience to the customers. The report also emphasises on the success of cobrand association with the Westside store and the effective marketing strategies implemented by HSBC. The consumer engages in complex buying behaviour due to numerous similar product options. The effective and efficient marketing mix implemented by the bank echoes positivity on the buyers behaviour towards the credit card. The product satisfies the consumer needs and wants, cost, convenience and communication aspect enhancing the buyers inclination towards the product. Finally, the report critiques the marketing strategy executed by the organisation. It also sketches the key marketing facts and suggests future marketing plans which might help in accelerating growth. 1.1 Description of the Organisation The HSBC group in India was founded in October 1853 when the Mercantile Bank of India, China and London was established in Mumbai. With the authorised capital of INR 5 million, the mercantile bank opened branches in Chennai, London, Colombo and Kandy. By 1855, the bank expanded operations in Kolkata, Canton, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The HSBC Group serves around 100 million customers worldwide through around 8,000 offices in 87 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of some USD 2,418 billion at 30 June 2010, HSBC is one of the worlds largest banking and financial services organisation. HSBC is marketed worldwide as the worlds local bank. (About us, www.hsbc.co.in) The HSBC Group is committed to the five core business principles of outstanding customer service: effective and efficient operations, strong capital and liquidity, prudent lending policy and strict expense discipline. 2. The market segment of HSBC credit card HSBC isolates the various broad segments within the market and follows segmented marketing. The company divides the market on the basis of creditability. It offers several card types to different market segment adopting clustered preferences. The chart below illustrates HSBCs bases for segmenting: C:UsersPrashantDesktopUntitledaa.jpg The consumer market has been classified on the grounds of different geographical units i.e. states, cities and regions. The main focus is to target urban and sub-urban markets needs and preferences. With the economic growth in the country, double income has become a common scenario in most families resulting in high spending power. HSBC divides the market on the basis of their income and the purchasing power, occupation and social class. Buyer under the common segment group may have different psychographic profiles bases personality and lifestyle. HSBC and Westside offer the cobranded card that is designed to supplement the lifestyle and is regarded as mark of prestige and recognition. The consumer market has further been segmented on the basis of the buyers attitude, knowledge, usage and response to the product. 2.1 Product Targeting HSBC targets the existing customers of the bank from Personal Banking, Assets and Investments and Personal Finance Services (PLB, AIQ PFS) through open market acquisition bases their creditability. HSBC amalgamates its customer base, while amplifying revenue from within the existing customers by majorly increasing their spending on the card instead of hunting for new prospects. The bank can afford new cards, but not at the expense of non-performing assets (NPA). The bank majorly engages in cleaning-up on credit card portfolio and emphasis on retained growth. The bank also considers the credit cards for upgradation to superior card types bases the income criteria. The chart below shows the income eligibility criteria (GBP) for its card types: Source- www.hsbc.co.in There is no income eligibility criterion for HSBC Premier credit card as the existing cards are upgraded to Premier bases card performance and creditability. Furthermore, HSBC targets the Westside store shoppers covering the entire age group in the market. With the acceleration in urbanisation, the rise in customer density area is evident thus enabling efficient utilisation of resources by reaching same number of consumers with minimum number of store outlets. The consumers are in the middle to high range income groups as the products in the store are moderately priced. HSBC Credit card operations, which keep a hawks eye on demographics, are swooping down on shopaholic consumers through the cobrand association with the Westside store. 2.2 Market Positioning and Major Competitors HSBC has a competitive advantage over its counterparts as it engages in offering better, cheaper and newer products and services. It incorporates the customer-benefit approach and product-class approach in order to position its product overcoming the industry rivals. Major Competitors: Citibank Credit Card Standard Chartered Credit Card SBI Credit Card ICICI Credit Card Axis Bank Credit Card HSBC differentiates its credit card from its competitors bases four dimensions: Product Differentiation The HSBC credit card provides special features like fuel surcharge waiver and exclusive rewards programme. The petrol fuel surcharge waiver is an elite feature on HSBC credit card which undermines the similar product offered by the market competitors. The rewards programme on HSBC credit card gives bonus points to the cardholder on every purchase that can be redeemed for annual fees, gifts, gift vouchers, charities and JPmiles (Jet Airways Jet privilege account). Along with these features, HSBC Westside Co-branded card is packed with benefits from both the HSBC and Westside. The card offers privileges and superior savings for a memorable shopping experience unlike its competitors. The HSBC credit card is globally accepted at over 18 million establishments worldwide and over 1 lakh establishments in India. The card has access to cash, round the clock, at over 700000 ATMs worldwide. HSBC endeavours password protected payment facility on the Internet at no additional cost. Moreover, the card comes with the zero lost card liability after the loss of card has been reported to the HSBC. Service Differentiation The cardholder is provided with the usage and service guide along with the credit card to safeguard consumer from any misuse of the product. Moreover, HSBCs international connectivity gives it competitive advantage over a similar product available in the market. The post-sale service is also an integral aspect that a consumer looks for before buying a product. HSBCs preamble is to ensure that the customer get the best of service. The cardholder may contact the customer service channels i.e. phone banking service, email or visit the nearest HSBC branch for any probes. The quality of service offered by HSBC provides a brink to its credit cards market position over the industry rivals in the market. Image Differentiation An established brand name is the result of HSBCs continuous identity building programs and service excellence. The logo of the bank signifies that the doors of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation are open for business. The symbol of hexagon representing the six quadrants has an instant recognition and bagged a distinct place in the target customers mind. The same has also worked into brand advertisements in conveying the company personality. At the same time, the banks focus is to create a professional and elegant unified ambience across establishments. There is an exclusive Premier Service desk in selected branches to ensure extra comfort and convenience for its valued customer. The organisation has always believed in playing an active role in the community it serves. At HSBC, corporate sustainability is not mere generosity. It takes its Corporate Sustainability (CS) role seriously and helps create an environment where business and nature can flourish hand in hand. Its MicroFinance lending initiative launched in April 2005 has already benefited almost 9000 poor households in Andhra Pradesh giving them the hope of a sustainable livelihood. (HSBC, www.superbrandsindia.com) Majorly, all the banks offer similar offers and features in the product though; it is HSBCs brand name that creates a difference. Personnel Differentiation HSBC has a strong competitive advantage through hiring and training the better individual that its competitors do. The market segment by HSBC is commendable and targeting market bases financial stability is opt for the industry type as there is huge risk involved. Since, the Indian economy to an extent has recovered from the recession; the bank can initiate offering credit cards to new customer bases. The New to Business (NTB) consumer group can be arbitrated bases their credit history and financial stability within formulated limitations using forecast based risk management. Otherwise, the bank ensures service excellence, local presence and strong market position that undermines its rivals. 3. Marketing Mix Developed by HSBC Supports Its Market Position for Credit Card HSBC devises marketing activities and instils the marketing-mix strategies to influence its business partners along with the prospect consumer. Marketing activities are aimed to create awareness, communication and deliver value to the consumer. 3.1 Product The bank offers different product types for every consumer with different needs and wants. The core product benefit of the credit card is the 52 days free credit period for repayment of purchases. The credit card also comes with the cash advance facility wherein the customer can withdraw cash within the specified cash credit limit. The HSBC credit card types currently in the market are as follows: HSBC Classic credit card HSBC Gold credit card HSBC Platinum credit card HSBC Premier credit card HSBC Westside Cobrand Classic credit card HSBC Westside Cobrand Gold credit card With the HSBC Credit Card the consumers can avail the Balance Transfer which allows them to transfer other credit card outstanding dues for repayment at lower interest rates. Furthermore, the HSBC credit card comes with the Loan on Phone facility to convert the purchase into easy instalments. The bank also has cobrand association with CPP Assistance Services Private Limited to safeguard the cardholders interest in event of card loss, theft and related fraud. The CPP (Card Protection Plan) shields the loss of important cards valuable documents including the other credit, debit, ATM, membership or loyalty cards. Furthermore, the role shoppers can also apply upto three additional credit cards for their spouse, parents, siblings and children. 3.2 Price The HSBC credit card has been priced high compared to the most of the competitors in the market. The consumer does not hesitate to opt for the card at offered price considering the brand name and the additional features of the product. The bank charges annual fee towards the card usage which is levied to the cardholders account in the anniversary month and a joining fee on some card types that is levied at point of sale. From time to time, the bank offer cards with no joining fee and cards free from annual fee for life to select customers. The bank may offer 50% discount on the fee bases the creditability of the prospect and the existing customer. 3.3 Place The enormous International presence of the bank ascertains to be a marketing advantage. It endeavours ease of access to bank services to the cardholder even on an international travel. The existing customers of the bank (PLB, AIQ, and PFS) can directly approach any of the branches for credit card application. However, the bank has also established various distribution channels across country i.e. Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) who generates business for the bank under a mutual agreement. Moreover, the banks cobrand association with Westside store has concentrated the target prospect of the bank and enriched its local presence. The consumer can apply for HSBC Westside credit card by visiting any of the Westside store in the region. The Westside store has an enormous presence in the country that ensures that prospect consumers are at ease to reach the product. 3.4 Promotion HSBC focuses on establishing sound communication with the consumer and implement Direct Marketing strategies. The bank advertises the credit card through various marketing means like Email Telemarketing, trade magazine advertising, hoardings, brochures and cobranding. The bank also attempts to create a positive image of the product to ensure word of mouth strategy works for the product. The Westside association has proved propitious for the bank in conquering the target market base. The card is being majorly marketed by cobranding with other business partners (e.g. pizza hut, movie theatres) in form of discounts and coupons to existing cardholders. From time to time, the bank launches the cash back scheme on card usage or on purchases with associated business partners to retain the existing cardholders and lure the prospect. E.g. the bank is offering 5% -10% cash back on purchase using HSBC credit card with the merchant MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Travel Agency). The strategy of offering different product types expands HSBCs market horizons and also ensures convenience and sound communication. HSBC views email marketing as a vital component of their overall marketing mix, enabling them to communicate with their customers in a highly targeted way.CPP insurance offered by the bank safeguards the consumer liability for misuse before reporting the card as lost. However, the bank can also offer a card type that requires a passcode on manual swipes like it offers secure pay for online purchases. This will enhance security and the bank would expand its customer base by attracting the consumer group who do not opt for credit card due to the risks involved. 4. Marketing Mix implemented by HSBC influences Buying Behaviour for its Credit Card As the product is one time buy and is long-term association, the consumer engages in complex buying behaviour. The studies show that similar social class exhibit similar buying behaviour. The banks strategy to offer different product types influences the buyers behaviour to opt for the respective product types. The basic core product is identical to the similar product being offered by the industry rivals. However, the distinct product type and additional exclusive features associated with HSBC credit card allures the esteem-seekers who look for class, brand and snootiness. CPP insurance on the credit card safeguards the buyer from the perceived financial risk. Also, the EMI facility towards purchase is more likely to generate magnetizing effect on the buyer. This is also a well-known fact that in spite of increased interest rate and annual fee levied, the demand for credit card is rising. In the last decade in India, the usage of plastic money encouraged the young middle class to defy the Hindi adage Dont stretch your feet beyond your sheet which is another way of saying, Live within your means. (The swipe and spend economy, p.4) Hence, the pricing strategy opted by HSBC has been quite successful to attract the target consumer who associate the product with prestige and reputation. The bank might fail to allure the consumers who look for cost benefit and whose interest is only in the cashless purchase and credit facility. However, the bank should offer a card type without any joining or annual fee with the core product benefit for full market coverage. Many people have a psychology to correlate the price of the product with its quality and brand name the costlier the better. Such consumers are likely to have positive approach while making a purchase decision. C:UsersPrashantDesktopaaa.jpg The 4 Cs associated with the 4 Ps As the HSBCs tagline goes the Worlds Local Bank the bank ensures the same substantiates to be true with its massive presence in the country and worldwide. The Marketing Mix variable Place has been designed by the bank as such it delivers customer benefit effectively. It provides ease of access to the consumers unlike any of the competitors in the Indian market. Hence, the contended comforters who ponder the convenience and service would consider the product over its substitutes. Thereafter, as the credit cardholders need continuous association and post-sale services, the self-actualizers would understand the benefit of massive presence of the entity. HSBC engages in personalized promotion through direct marketing that enhances effective communication with the consumer and develops loyalty and trust towards the brand. The Email and Telemarketing adopted by HSBC has been the wisest strategy to approach the existing customers of the bank. HSBC is a big brand name and a buyer will have a tendency to buy the HSBC credit card if the reference group or the influencer is currently using the same. The word of mouth strategy works well for these buyers. The family members or friends of the existing customers are likely to choose HSBC credit card over its rivals. The bank emphasises on associating with brands that is most popular by all in the target consumer group to expand its market horizon. There will be no market for product that everybody likes a little, only for products that somebody likes a lot. (Kotler.P, Marketing Management p.251) HSBCs association with popular brand develops a positive image for its product and the consumer having preference for the associated brand would develop positive image towards HSBC. 5. Conclusion HSBC credit cards are among the most popular and top-rated credit cards in India. The product has been designed as per the market requirement and caters to the needs and wants of every individual with different product attributes, brand image and additional benefits. Furthermore, the bank focuses on operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership to enhance its market position over its industry rivals. The product is moderately priced and ensures convenience to the buyer. HSBCs cobrand association with Westside and collaboration with strong business partners creates positive buyers approach towards the product.