Monday, September 30, 2019
Crescent Case Essay
A. Segmentation and Targeting When Looking at what market should be targeted the thing that stuck out most was there is not a healthy alternative for energy drinks. Most of these drinks are full of high fructose corn syrup and loaded with extreme amounts of caffeine. Crescent give the consumers a healthy alternative to this option. The trend these days is towards more organic and healthier choices. Crescent is just that. It gives the option for a healthy version of an energy drink which is much needed. The Energy Drink market is growing at a much faster rate than the sport drink market as well as the fitting into a much better price point for marketing. With the market for these energy drink being on average $2.99 the price of $2.75 for crescent is below the market average as well as being a slight bit different by marketing a healthy alternative option to most other sport drinks on the market now. B. Positioning When Looking over the two perceptual Maps the thing noticed is that most of these products hit extremes of each category. For example a sport drink is high on the hydration level but low on the energy. As for the energy drink the case is the exact opposite. When looking at nutrition and taste the nutrition and taste are higher on sports drinks and energy drinks are low on nutrition but the 50/50 on the taste. When looking at crescents studies it would seem that they would be the best case for the average consumer as they would be better than average in all of these categories. The nutrition would be higher than the sports drinks and close to what swish and drip are pertaining to nutritional value and the taste would also fall higher similar to Drip or Razor. When looking at the Hydration and Energy Crescent would also be above average for both. With the equivalent of a cup of coffeeââ¬â¢s worth of caffeine Crescent would fall similar to where torque and Drip are for energy levels. As for looking at hydration; Crescent would be up closer to the sports drinks with is electrolytes and natural ingredients closer to where Glean and Watr+ are. Each marketing promotion has positiveââ¬â¢s and negativeââ¬â¢s. When marketed as an energy drink there is the Pros of being a drastically growing market which has grown by 40% already and is projected to hit 13.5 billion by 2018 as well as no single product being marketed as a healthy alternative energy drink. Another pro is that the cost of theà product is less than the market average. The con of an energy drink market would be that current news stories are highlighting the health risks of Energy drinks and the diminishing number of consumers who are now drinking them. The sports drink market have a much larger population of consumers ranging from younger ages of 12-24. Also with the average sports drink being much cheaper people may not be willing to pay the $2.75 for a sports drink. With Crescent being an all organic product being an alternative to high fructose corn drinks would increase their market audience. The threats would be the increase in childhood obesity who make up a large portion of the sport drink market the option of just proving water to children is easier and more economically sound for parents rather than continually paying for sports drinks. Lastly as an Organic Drink they are able to market it as a healthy sports/energy drink for the body continuous adult who wants to stay away from non-organic products. This also works as a con where if they market solely to this small group of people they may be losing a lot of consumers who may be avoiding the new fad of vegan, healthy organic products. C. Contribution Margin The contribution margin per case of Crescent would be $5.28 or 18%. This is figured by taking the selling price per can and minusing the cost per can. Which would bring the profit of 22 cents per can and a case of 24 would bring the profit to $5.28 per case. You would then take that number and divide it by the Price per case of $29.76 which would give you 18% profit. D. Breakeven To match the national level of marketing it would require putting in 6.66 times the budget that it took to market 15% which would be a total marketing budget of 5 million dollars. With a Total budget of 5 Million dollars it would take selling 946970 Cases of Crescent to break even on the National Level. To address the break-even market share for energy would be .07% of the Market Share. This is figured by taking the Market of 9.58 Billion dollars and dividing that by the Marketing budget of 5 Million Dollars. E. Recommendation The factors that should be used to determine positioning are, Similarities inà competitors, Forecast of market increase, pricing of products and marketability of product. I would Recommend Marketing Crescent as an organic energy drink. This would apply to a large number of people and would give a different option to the Energy Drinks that are currently on the market. This product could increase the consumers ideas of what energy drinks are; especially focusing on bringing up the areas of healthiness, hydration and natural. With these areaââ¬â¢s only having the highest percentage at 11% Crescent would be a great product to diversify the market. Having a below average market price for product pricing makes Crescent an even better market to explore. Crescent provides a great break from the normal high fructose high caffeine energy drinks while still hydrating and tasting great.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Marketing Skin Care Product Essay
Marketing Project Have you ever gone to the store to purchase a skin care product to help prevent acne and make your skin beautiful; all you find are products aimed towards older women stating something to do with wrinkles? I donââ¬â¢t know about you, but Iââ¬â¢m too young to even think about wrinkles at this point in my life. I just wanted something to make my skin look and feel good but at the same time help prevent break outs. The solution is ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠. The name says it all. It will give you radiant, clear skin. ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠skin cream is not a need, itââ¬â¢s a want. Therefore, we must stand out above the many other products on the shelves. Our target audience is teenagers through early thirty year old, middle class women who are looking for radiant, clear skin at an affordable price. The best way to market to these women is through the internet and magazines. Glow skin cream is different than other skin creams on the market for many reasons: After just one week of use your skin will look and feel healthier, more radiant, it provides light-weight coverage, hydrates and smoothens skin, visibly reduces redness, conceals flaws, itââ¬â¢s infused with minerals and antioxidants, and has SPF 15 protection all in one bottle. Some beauty products have enough chemicals to clean a toilet! ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠skin cream is all natural and helps your skin to look its best. ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠is targeted to attract teenagers to early thirty-year old females. Letââ¬â¢s face it; teens wonââ¬â¢t be purchasing this product on their own; parents will love the cost. The product is affordable enough that they will beà repeat buyers. If ordered online a discount will be given to buyers who purchase more than two at a time. According to the woman we surveyed they were happy with the way the product works as well as the reasonable price. ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠is available for all skin types and nationalities. Different woman require different needs depending on their skin type, their geographic location, and nationality. A woman located in Florida tends to need a product that protects against sun damage, where a woman located in Denver would need something to help with dry skin; ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠has different products featured towards these skin types. Packaging is aimed towards a younger crowd as well; hot pink with gold lettering. Itââ¬â¢s attractive and girly; young and fun looking, but also has a touch of elegance. It will stand out on the shelf or online. It wonââ¬â¢t be an eye sore, but it will grab your attention as you check out the shelf for a product. Teens these days are on social media sites all throughout the day. When they wake up in the morning they log in to Facebook; as if itââ¬â¢s the morning paper. I would advertise on this site; as well as many others. Twitter and YouTube, just to name a couple are great for targeting a certain market. Each site gives you options on whom youââ¬â¢d like these ads to pop up for based on the users demographics entered when they created their accounts. Google also offers an option similar to this. If a person were to enter in their search certain key words then your ad would be on the side of the page results. You choose the keywords that go along with your ad. For example, if someone were to search: face, cream, or skin care; then our ad for ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠would show up on the side of the search results. The Internet is a great resource to take advantage of for advertising. Most people are on the internet at least one time a day; as long as the ad is catchy, it will get someoneâ⠬â¢s attention. Another great place to advertise to the twenty to thirty year old woman would be magazines, such as Cosmopolitan. For a fee you are able to get product ads located throughout the magazine, I would utilize this option and put a coupon on the ad to get the product at a discounted price. Overall, I believe if we market the product correctly; packaging, prices, and attract the correct consumers ââ¬Å"Glowâ⬠will be very successful in theà tough skin cream market. All three of these are key focuses in having a successful product. References [Facebook Advertising]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/advertising/ [Google Advertising]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/ads/adwords2/ [Twitter Advertising]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://business.twitter.com/start-advertising [YouTube Advertising]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/yt/advertise/
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Lotus Same Time
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, THE INTERNET AND WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY Name: Miguel Angel Condor Colqui Q1 * Based on the video and text of the case, list and briefly describe five areas where either version of Sametime may increase employee productivity. What do you think will produce the greatest increase in employee productivity? 1. Improve communication ââ¬â Employees have a better communication through the lotus same time. Not only among them, they can also be linked with his /her boss, CEO, customer, etc. 2. Stress reduction ââ¬â There is no need to wait lots of time to get, receive or access to certain information.Employee will not get stress for this kind of problems. 3. Improve access to information ââ¬â Employees, bosses or whoever can upload certain information to a room, so allowed people will be able to get to them. It will be faster and restricted to the users. 4. Ease to create meetings ââ¬â In the same way, there will not be reason to no assist to a meeting. You wil l not have to be physically in the room, because a virtual room can be created to meet. 5. Reduce lose of time ââ¬â As we do not have to be physically at any place, people will not lose time moving.No buses, no cars, no traffic bottle will be a problem of everyday. * * Stress reduction will produce the greatest change. This disease is a big problem among employees and can cause a lot of problems inside the company. Not just in the production, it can cause conflicts, disagreements, misunderstandings, etc. A bad environment inside the company is not good for employeeââ¬â¢s productivity. So if a program can solve it, why not prove? Q2 * How does Lotus Sametime support collaboration? What are the additional benefits of the virtual environment? Lotus sametime is not just a program to maintain people in contact.This program can create a relation between employees inside the organization. Most of people can get easily in contact through programs than in real life. In the same way, i t can improve the communication between areas, information can be easily shared and customer will be highly satisfied. Some other additional benefits of this virtual environment are: * Employeeââ¬â¢s knowledge can be totally discovered. * Permanent communication between among areas. * Instant screen compartment. * Geo-location services. Q3 * What types of communication are integrated within Sametime's digital environment?What type of communication is missing? Does it make a difference? * Reciprocal ââ¬â it goes between two or more people changing rolls. * Linguistic and extra-linguistic ââ¬â People communicate through key board (chatting) or using some familiar codes. * Private and public ââ¬â The communication inside the company can be private when it occurs between two employees or public when it goes to everyone in the organization. (In fact, it is not totally private because the conversation can be followed for the database system. ) * Formal ââ¬â The messages use a formal code according to the organization policies. Horizontal and vertical ââ¬â It can occur in a same range people or from boss to assistant. What is missing here is the physical or interpersonal communication. It can make the difference because when people talk they express a lot of feelings. The main advantage is that employees will not realize if the other one is tired or in another bad situation. Q4 * Do you think that ââ¬Å"virtual collaborationâ⬠using avatars is more or less effective than traditional methods of collaboration (which include face-to-face, traveling to meetings, telephone conference calls, email, and instant messaging)?Compare it with the Cisco Telepresence technology and support your answer. In my opinion, the use of an avatar is a way to hide out real personality. I mean that people can hide and try to create a second personality to look in a good way to people in the company. However, the effectiveness of the program is totally ensured as we saw in the advantage. On the other hand, it is not sure that other one behind the monitor is really your co-worker. Accounts can be stolen; in fact passwords can be stolen by virtual hackers. So I think that this kind of virtual collaboration could be used in a real emergency or to get meeting.It is really useful for meetings. If we compare it with cisco telepresence technology I can say that offers a safer communication between people, because it is face to face. Of course the main disadvantage is that people must be at the same time in the meeting to start it. Further, using cisco you can see face expressions so it can help you to negotiate in a meeting. Lastly, cisco telepresence is a more formal way to communicate and if an organization need to have a more related company, it must organize the areas functions.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Business Communication Trends Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1
Business Communication Trends Paper - Essay Example The use of these communications is extremely important in creating strong business relationships between the business, the customer and company employees. Discussion Currently, as an Accounts Payable Manager (APM) for a real estate development company, all of the above communications and concepts are rendered. On a daily basis an APM position is required to act as the go between for the government, the company, and outsourced accountants. These daily tasks are accomplished by maintaining sources of information (i.e. policies and procedures, financial records, company information records, and incorporated accounting files) and later corresponded to expecting recipients. The ability for the APM to communicate effectively and efficiently within the organization is dire. For the most part an APM requires the availability of massive amounts of information to perform job duties. This position also has to be able to transmit information to individuals or parties that need it. Without proper job performance on behalf of the APM, the workplace environment will be deemed inadequate. This issue is derived from the acknowledgement that poor relationships in the workplace account for breakdowns in communication and inability to successfully exchange information within the organization (Smith, p. 1). Based on the ideals of workplace functions and exchanges there are several methods that can be used. An APM utilizes this method when hiring, selecting, training, evaluating, gratifying, and punishing company employees. The position also requires the APM to be readily available to respond to financial concerns for project managers and operations staff. When dealing with individuals on a more personal level in business specific communications are more suitable for utilizing personal interaction. This method is cited as person-to-person or in other words ââ¬Å"involving direct communication or contact between persons or parties ââ¬Å"person-to-person interviewâ⬠; ââ¬Å"per son-to-person telephone callsâ⬠â⬠(Person-to-person, p. 1). The correspondence in this situation gives the APM the benefit of reading social cues, comprehending the situation, and dissecting dialect. Person-to-person communication is recommended in the case of building positive workplace relationships. According to Margaret Morford, breaking undesirable news face-to-face leaves employees to have ââ¬Å"cultivated their respect for you because they will realize there was an easier way (voice mail or e-mail) that you refused to take,â⬠(p. 1). In this case and equally personal cases like these physical correspondence is socially acceptable and expected. APM job responsibilities and capability to readily use technology as a form of communication is necessary to avoid unfortunate outcomes. Based on effective workplace functions there is much to be respected from the use of technology. Organizations are capable of allocating managerial duties to lower level associates and o utsourcing companies while maintaining the structure of big business with the use of todayââ¬â¢s technologies. Using sms/mms, instant message, email, and all other available data transfer equipment (i.e. fax machines, etc.) companies are able to decentralize. More importantly these methods are less costly and present an APM with the ability to efficiently transfer any files or messages that
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Environment for the cigarette and tobacco industry Essay
Environment for the cigarette and tobacco industry - Essay Example One could actually associate these with the influential marketing environment for the decline of cigarette and tobacco industry. At this moment, it would be a good point for cigarette and tobacco industry to market its offerings by emphasizing benefits. If possible, the industry must contest the major negative health claims against smoking. If it seems this may impossible to initiate, social appeal might work best. Cigarette and tobacco industry has no other choice but to create a culture placing high value for smoking on a special case. For example, dynamic market segmentation may still apply for this. It might be possible to use renowned celebrities using bandwagon appeal just to be able to encourage certain or target market segments to smoke. The long-term prospects for the industry are those markets with substantial culture for smoking. This means it should target societies where smoking has become essential part of living. In this case, challenging strategy to prevent customer erosion is
Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 22
Personal Statement Example To me, the aspiration of becoming a well-educated person is one of the most monumental and highly valuable objectives a person can seek to achieve. Why is this? As the world becomes more standardised, in which cultural and professional values are becoming rather universally-accepted norms, businesses (and communities) require the input of individuals who are driven to think uniquely, outside of the proverbial box, as a means of eliciting positive change. I am reminded of a term once taught in one of my foundational classes known as groupthink, a form of psychological and sociological phenomenon where the inherent desire to conform to the beliefs and values of group members leads to dysfunctional decision-making outcomes. In the business environment, as a wide variety of empirical studies continue to iterate, this phenomenon is often detrimental to developing innovations and strategies that are important for achieving competitive advantages. It is through university education, as well as a product of being exposed to diverse and unique educational professionals, one learns to think abstractly and consider both life and career from multiple perspectives rather than being too conventional. My father, a person who I greatly admire, is a skilled and experienced business professional. I remember many evenings, whilst discussing his workday around a hearty family meal, where he had grown frustrated and, seemingly, a bit aggravated at the lack of ingenuity and resourcefulness from the people of which he was charged to manage and lead. My father rather regularly defended that these weaknesses were oppressive for the business in achieving its main goals and as a result it was quite difficult to introduce vital changes that served to make the business more successful in what was a very competitive and adaptable market environment. My primary understanding of real-world
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Risk And Project Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words
Risk And Project Management - Literature review Example Risk management is ââ¬Å"the process of identifying, analyzing, and responding to business and project risk in order to minimize the consequences of adverse risk-based eventsâ⬠(Barkley, 2004, p. 3). According to Silvers (2010), the management of events is complex and replete with responsibilities. The process of preparing plans and executing them requires the participation of a good number of personnel, equipment and expertise, all of which must be gathered at one location in order to accomplish the set of activities that would complete the planned project. Events may be small in scale and limited in their complexity; others would be substantially more challenging, taking a much longer time to complete, and requiring the collaboration of many other talents working in conjunction with each other, the setting (location, time, weather, etc.) and against the constraints of a budget. Because of the multitude of unknown factors, risks abound in the execution of a project, from the p lanning phase until the last clean-up operation. There are financial risks that pertain to the business side, implying the possibility that the expected returns may not be realized. There are also the real risks of physical injury due to fortuitous events that, despite all precautions, occur unexpectedly. The job of events management is to assess and take cognizance of all these risks, so as to allocate for the possibility that they may happen and to allow the project team to address them. The importance of this topic is attested to by a substantial number of articles and researches that have been undertaken on the topic of project. This chapter shall review the available literature on the subject. Below are two diagrams depicting the risk management process, sequentially and then functionally. Project definition and project life cycle The risks attendant to events management are of the same nature of risks to which all projects are subjected to. A project is ââ¬Å"an activity that has a beginning and an end which is carried out to achieve a particular purpose to a set quality within given time constraints and cost limitsâ⬠(Chartered Management Institute). Essentially, events are projects with a tangible beginning and end and dedicated to attain one result, and therefore follow the project life cycle development. The project life cycle is a representation of ââ¬Å"the linear progression of a project, from defining the project through making a plan, executing the work, and losing out the projectâ⬠(Verzuh, 2008, p. 23). There are numerous ways of depicting the life cycle of a project, one of which is presented in the following diagram. http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/century21/figure3.gif The risks of doing business There are many types of projects that have different objectives; whether they are philanthropic or for profit, there is certainly a cost factor involved that places a constraint on the manner the business is run. At best, the project s hould earn a decent return for the organizers where the aim is fund raising or the furtherance of a business. At the least, the costs incurred must be within the limits set by the sponsors. In any case, uncertainties in the events surrounding the projectââ¬â¢s execution may impact in the form of higher than expected costs or lower than expected revenues. According to Ibrahim (2010), it is possible to introduce some diversification in order for events
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
John Locke and property righs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
John Locke and property righs - Essay Example This position allowed Rawls to address two contemporary issues that are equally important but also tend oppose each otherââ¬â¢s views: freedom and equality. The Rawlsian theory of justice is influenced by Humeââ¬â¢s philosophy with its critique of justice, that which prioritizes conventions and universal meaning (Forbes, 1985, 68). Hume talked about artificial justice and Rawls coined the so-called artificial device or the ââ¬Å"original positionâ⬠, which is used to determine justice. It also takes inspiration from Kantian principles, which emphasize moral nobility and the complexity and richness of human life and experience. The beauty of Rawlsââ¬â¢ philosophy is its simplicity. The challenge of including the interests of the whole or the large number as well as those of the individualââ¬â¢s was addressed assuming a degree of ignorance in order to attain a desired fairness. It first rejects everything in order to get to the bottom of fairness, and justice is then d etermined. What this means is that similar crimes would have different resolutions because the conditions and parties in each crime are different. Also, there are crimes that in traditional justice could easily be punished because it fits a conventional mold. Let us suppose that a man is accused of racism because he calls someone a Negro, along with several derogatory remarks. Rawlsian philosophy does not jump into conclusion and, instead, tries to understand the situation according to several approaches and involves the reflection on several case-specific variables. The ââ¬Å"original positionâ⬠is the first of these and the second is what Rawls referred to as ââ¬Å"reflective equilibriumâ⬠. In explaining the concept, Rawls (1999) stated that ââ¬Å"justification is a matter of the mutual support of many considerations, of everything fitting together into one coherent viewâ⬠(19). This approach to justice is radically different from the current system used in most societies. However, it depicts a framework that indicate a highly effective process because it determines and metes out justice within the context of the circumstances of the parties involved. This aspect covers the many different conceptions and interpretations of justice. For instance, retributive justice emphasizes the proportionality of the punishment to the crime committed so that it is not greater or lesser than the harm perpetuated. There is also the case of restorative justice, which follows a more benign framework, focusing on ââ¬Å"healingâ⬠as the more preferable outcome for all stakeholders involved including the victim and the offender. Rawlsian philosophy breaks through the differences of these other theories by identifying the fundamental variable in determining justice and work its way from there. By focusing on fairness and the contexts behind actions, Rawls was able to develop a more inclusive model. While Rawlsian philosophy has earned accolades and recognit ion, it also has its share of criticisms. One of the most important is his focus on the individual. For example, if a system of justice will follow the ââ¬Å"reflective equlibrium modelâ⬠there are those who point out that it would involve several judgments and doctrines based on different backgrounds of those involved, resulting to an almost infinite number of equlibria (Maffettone, 2010, 139). The critics come from all philosophical inclinations. There are those coming from
Monday, September 23, 2019
The Relationship Between Health, Healing, and Religion Term Paper
The Relationship Between Health, Healing, and Religion - Term Paper Example Different religions utilize different ideas about the healing. Some utilize the spiritual activities while some utilize the scientific approach and give medicines to heal a sick person. The medicine might come from the plant source or might be a modern medicine. The modern scientific community has taking interest in all the healing techniques that are utilized from the religious point of view and some of the religious activities considering the health and healing got importance due to the positivism towards the society and religion. In general, illness is the phase of a body or mind where it is unable to work in its capacity or body or mind is unable to perform that it has the capacity of. However, different religions views illness differently. In the Voodoo religion, the believers have believed that an illness is caused due to the evil or bad sprits or sometimes sprits of the family members. Voodoo has concepts that ââ¬Å"lwaâ⬠are the sprits that make an interaction with the people and are able to cause bad thing to the people. In the Kung religion, illness is caused by the dead Kung, the dead ancestor of a person or sometimes gods penetrate the illness into the person (Kingsley 41). In this way, in this religion it is very important to cure and heal the sick to try best to make the person healthy. Shaman has also the similar conditions that consider illness a spiritual deal of the person. In the shamanism, people believe that there is an invisible world around us and invisible creatures are present around us that are sprits. The sprits are able to put illness in a person. Yoga involves the practices that are capable of making the disease away from the practitioner. The practitioners have the faith that certain forces that block the life can cause illness. How is it best addressed? In different religions the illness is expressed in different forms and sometimes it referred to as the spiritual illness. In the religion ââ¬ËKungââ¬â¢ people give spec ial important to the sick because they believe that if the person dies of illness (Kingsley 42), he will spread the illness or give it to the other person. In the Voodoo, illness is paid a significant attention and 60% of the activity in the religion is to heal the person. In the similar way the yoga also addresses the illness in a proper manner and to remove it from the personââ¬â¢s body and soul special attention is required. Yoga is all about the methods that increase the blood flow in the body, increase the brain function and make the body flexible and healthy. The practices utilized in the yoga can help maintain the blood pressure and reduce the cholesterol that helps maintain the health of the heart and the lungs. What kind of healer is needed? In almost all the religion, some of the persons of the society work significantly to preach and heal the persons like the priests, which make give their lives to the religion to protect and preach the religion and make people underst and what their religion is. In the similar way, in all the religion people consider then sacred and they are the person who work to heal the persons. In Voodoo, the priesthood presents both is man and women and these persons heal the ill persons with some rituals, herbal medicines and now a day the scientific medicines. Houngan is the word for the male priest and Mambo is the name of the female priest. Similarly, a healer is required in the Kung to make the illness away from the people and he can be able to fight with the gods to pull the illness away from the person, in this way, a healer should be strong both mentally and physical. In the similar way, in Curanderoââ¬â¢s healing mechanism, saints play the role of the healer. In
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Managing Change Essay Example for Free
Managing Change Essay An investor should be benefited from the construction project; the benefits include profits, business development, utilization of resources and jobs. The investors will be interested to invest in the project only when there are accurate forecasts that would provide long term benefits. The construction industry is highly uncertain, and there is a possibility of risk. As the risks influence the profits, it is important to anticipate the assumption of risks and be calculated into a feasibility analysis and this would avoid the risks for the benefit of the investor. Firmansyah, 2006). Construction industry has many problematic issues in the United Kingdom and majority of the problems have been the direct consequences of the decisions taken by the professionals of the construction industry, and the financial institutions. Project feasibility study enables optimization to provide the profits. The present study will suggest some changes to be adapted for the feasibility of the construction project. Problem statement Construction industry in the economic downturn has problems from the financial institutions and professionals. This constraint has reduced the profits and the constraints are largely associated with the decisions of the professionals. An effective planning requires the adoption of some changes that make the project feasible in order to get the profits. Zenith is a construction company is losing profits as the projects are not feasible due to the non-adoption of changes in decision making by the professionals and financial institutions. Present study The present study is a project feasibility study that analyses the problems associated with the construction industry and suggest the changes to be adopted by the management of the Zenith construction company for the project to be feasible. Problems and issues of the construction industry in UK House purchase credit facilities Owning a house is becoming increasingly difficult to various sectors in the society due to the lack of funds to invest on commercial development projects. Population size and demographics Population is increasing and also becoming older, and an important aspect is that there is no correlation between the population growth and the households. The growth of the households is disproportionate with the increasing population. Consequently there is also a significant change in the demographics. Density of the population United Kingdom has become one of the densely populated areas of Europe and this creates a lot of pressure that cannot be sustained. This pressure is mostly towards the countryside with limited natural resources. Brownfield development The Government has restricted the construction work on the green fields, and sixty percent of the construction work should be targeted on the brown fields. Environmental impact on buildings There are environmental concerns arising due to the unsustainability emanating from millions of buildings which are existing and the new building that are built every year. The activities of the construction industry such as demolition, maintenance, repair and conversion poses an immediate and long term problems to the environment. However, this has decreased relatively with reference to the construction industry. Brown field development The Government of UK introduced a planning policy that aims at increasing the use of Brown field sites for construction. This policy promotes greening and addresses the public fears on the spreading of the cities to the low density rural lands. There are certain empty lands left by the major manufacturing industries that incurred heavy losses and some areas of the city which require regeneration. The development of these areas may provide some solution at least to some extent to the demand for housing in the commercial market of UK. The target set out by the government to develop new houses was sixty percent by 2008, however, in the policy the term PPS3 means vacant lands and the lands which are in use and have potential for development. The percentage of the new homes built on the brown fields increased from 53 to 56 percent in ten years. If the refurbishments works included in the policy are considered there is an increase of 3 percent and it is not a difficult task to achieve. Some commentators argue that the target for brown field can be raised to 100 percent by taking up the development in north and mid lands. Another viable alternative includes the utilizing the existing lands and buildings, as the construction of new buildings is expensive. The forecast is that there may be a still more shortage of financial resources in future. Population density A high level of density placed a heavy pressure on the country side for its natural resources. Pressure has increased on utilization of the green belt and other open areas for housing to meet the demands in the commercial markets. There is a decrease in the percentage of green and pleasant land, as there is a 5 percent increase in the construction of home in the rural areas. (Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. 2000) The situation can be improved if the existing buildings are used in an efficient way. Feasibility study The feasibility studies for any project are aimed at knowing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the business environment. The study is also carried out for knowing about the required resources, and the possibility of success. Feasibility study assesses the cost of project and the value attained from those costs and a good feasibility study provides a historical background of the product, accounts, operations and management, financial data, legal requirements and tax structures. (Justis,et,al, 1979). Five common factors of feasibility study Technology and system feasibility The aim of carrying out the technological feasibility study is to find out the technological capabilities of the company in terms of hard ware, software, expertise, and personnel to handle the project up to its completion. Economic feasibility The effectiveness of the new system is evaluated with economic analysis, and the expected benefits and savings are compared with the costs. The cost factors include the development costs and the operating costs and the analysis of these factors determines the deliverable benefits from the system. The economic analysis also considers a time based study to know about the time required to get returns from the investment. Legal feasibility The data processing system should comply with the local data protection act. Operational feasibility Operation feasibility determines the capability of the system to solve the problems. Schedule feasibility This measures how well reasonable the project time table is, and determines whether the deadlines are mandatory or desired. Adaptation With the problems and issues associated with the construction of households, it is proposed to alter or adjust the structure in an environment to suit the new conditions that includes alterations, extensions, improvement, and other works. The three main forms of adaptations include conversion, extension and refurbishment. In addition to this, alteration, conservation, modernization and maintenance also comprise adaptation. A lot of benefits are associated with the adaptation of the existing building instead of demolishing it and constructing a new building after clearing the site this is refurbishment. (Douglas,2002). Technical and operational feasibility A lot of factors favor refurbishment that include the â⬠¢ social factors : that conserve energy and resources, and preserve the historic monuments that avoids a social resistance to this change economic factors: shorter construction periods, keeping the business running, condition of the building, constraints in planning, insufficient funds, necessity to upgrade the structure, high land values, uncertainties such as long term value, loss of investment and constraints in development. (Kwayke, 1994) Economic feasibility Cost control was a problem followed by a variation and pricing of tenders, however, control of the dust and noise occupied the top position of the problem issues. (Egbu,1996). For the feasibility study of a refurbishment work it is important to allot sufficient time in the early stages of the project, in such a way that the design, procurement, and construction can be based on the findings of the feasibility studies. Most of the studies suggest that there are more benefits associated with the adaptation. The benefits are increase in the speed of construction, and when the time for the feasibility study for refurbishment is considered, it is 50 percent less than the time required for a fresh new construction. Adaptation projects have fewer chances for delay particularly from weather. When the refurbishment work begins, there will be external envelopes and the roof covering, and with the case of new construction time is required for demolition, removal of the resulting waste, and for the delivery of the new materials. There will be least disruption in the buildings of the neighbors, and cost to refill is reduced. Delay due to the delivery of material would be very less as most of the required materials already exist. With a thorough feasibility study, it is possible to control the costs with an effective forecasting. The duration of the project will be less; consequently the borrowings and the loss of earnings will be less. There will no problem for the savings for the site security, and the other costs associated with the site establishment and running costs. Other important issue to be considered for the feasibility for refurbishment includes least impact on the environment. The movement of vehicles will be less, least amount of materials that go to the landfill, reduction in the use of new materials and the energy as well as costs associated with it. In addition to this there will be preservation of the heritage as some people argue that some of the architectural features are better than the new erections. Change programme of the company Taking the advantages of adaptation into consideration, the company can take adaptation either as refurbishment, conversion, or alteration in order to make the project feasible. Considering the requirements of the client The surveyor should be in a position to advise the client on the viable alternatives to the new construction, and be able to present them. The total costs for a building project will include the cost of the land, cost of acquiring and preparing the site, cost of demolition and physical preparation, cost of building, professional fees for the whole project, cost of disposal, and the cost of financing. (Ferry and Brandon, 1984). Defining the problem After the details of the problem are clarified, the scope of the decision can be defined. The decision maker should focus the attention on the major aspects of the decision. The decision should be based on the financial situation of the client and a considerable amount of time should be allotted to this activity. Setting the objectives After knowing about the requirements of the client, it is important to consider what is hoped to achieve the decision and the aims to work. The client decision making should be directed towards specific objectives to be achieved within the allotted time and cost parameters. Determining the options This is a creative process, and it is the process of generating the alternatives, that would satisfy the requirements of the client. The thoughts should be focused on producing viable and suitable options, and for this the client, and in the present study adaptation is the viable and suitable option. Deployment phase It is the responsibility of the surveyor to develop an appropriate strategy for deployment. Developing a contingency plan is also required. Control phase The control is exercised upon the feedback of the information from the actual performance when compared with the predetermined plan. (Watson,2009) Feed forward phase This phase involves the critical analysis of the entire decision making activity, and this phase actually involves taking the experience obtained from the previous projects. (Cook and Slack,1984). The key issues to be addressed for building adaptation Suitability of the building â⬠¢ structure of the building â⬠¢ condition of the building â⬠¢ aesthetics â⬠¢ Project brief â⬠¢ sustainability â⬠¢ legal issues â⬠¢ change of use Conclusions Adaptation process can solve the problems and issues of household and commercial building of UK and it is also important to consider the environmental issues while taking a decision on the feasi bility of the construction work. When decision on construction is considered it is important to take decisions on costs and environmental issues. The due consideration should also be given to initial costs and future running costs. These factors should be incorporated into the decision making model. In the present study the project would be feasible when it is refurbished given the advantages associated with the adaptation rather than reconstruction. When all of the above facts are taken into consideration the project is feasible in deriving the profits and good will to the company for its sustainability. Decision making model [pic] References 1. Cook, S. and Slack, N. (1984) Making Management Decisions, Prentice-Hall International Inc, London, UK, ISBN 0-13-547837-5. 2. Douglas, J. 2002) Building Adaptation, Butterworth Heineman, Oxford, ISBN 0-7506-5085-0. 3. Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. (2000) Countryside Survey ââ¬â Accounting for Nature: Assessing Habitats in the UK Countryside [online], Retrieved from : http://www. defra. gov. uk/wildlife-countryside/cs2000/02/01. htm Accessed February 2007. 4. Egbu, C. (1996) Characteristics and Difficulties Associated with Refurbishment. Constructio n Papers No. 66, CIOB, Ascot. 5. Ferry, D. J. and Brandon, P. S. (1984) Cost Planning of Buildings, BSP Professional Books, London, UK, ISBN 0-632-02403-8 . Firmansyah . A,B et. al(2006) Risk analysis in feasibility study of building construction project: case study -Pt. Perusahaan Gas Negara Indonesia. The Tenth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction August 3-5, 2006, Bangkok, Thailand Retrieved from http://eprints. qut. edu. au/6551/1/Trigunarsyah_EASEC_10_5. pdf 7. Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. (2000) Countryside Survey ââ¬â Accounting for Nature: Assessing Habitats in the UK Countryside [online], Retrieved from : http://www. efra. gov. uk/wildlife-countryside/cs2000/02/01. htm Accessed February 2007. 8. Justis, R. T. Kreigsmann, B. (1979). The feasibility study as a tool for venture analysis. Business Journal 9. National Statistics Online. (2005) Population ââ¬â UK Population Grows to 59. 6 million [online], Retrieved fro m : http://www. statistics. gov. uk/cci/nugget. asp? id=760 Accessed February 2007. 10. Paul Watson (2009) The key issues when choosing adaptation of an existing building over new build Journal of Building Appraisal (2009) 4, 215ââ¬â223
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Features Of Connected Speech In English English Language Essay
Features Of Connected Speech In English English Language Essay Blurred boundaries, sounds and even words that are completely swallowed up, chewed and mangled words that force you to listen with all your acquired knowledge and a general sense of hopelessness that you are never going to manage this foreign tongue are but the most common frustrations expressed by the ESL learners I have taught. L2 users educated in a system that prides in teaching the most precise and appropriate pronunciation leaves them bewildered when they hear English (even snippets of conversation) as spoken by L1 users. They suffer a devastating diminution of phonetic information at the segmental level when they encounter normal speech (Brown, G.1990, p.60) Connected speech is not a familiar feature to even fluent speakers of English in India and so they tend to fully form the words even in informal situations, giving the impression to L1 speakers and other L2 speakers that, hes so arrogant about it all (Crystal and Davy 1975,p.8) In this essay I would analyse the features of connected speech in English, the problems they cause to L2 learners in India. In the first section I will examine the features of connected speech and move onto the challenges they cause to L2 speakers especially Indian ESL learners. I would also like to analyse my own and the prevailing attitude and practice towards learning and teaching connected speech. Finally I would like to identify the criteria that I would apply in deciding the different aspects of connected speech suitable to my learning/ teaching environment. Connected speech Underhill A (1994) defines connected speech as a flow of sounds which are modified by a system of simplifications through which phonemes are connected, grouped and modified This simplification is an unconscious process and most of the L1 speakers are often unaware of this as they practise it. (Collins B, and I. Mees 2008). The goal of connected speech is to reduce the articulatory effort required to send the message. Even though whole chunks of phonetic details are left out by the L1 speaker to maximise the ease of communication, native listener decodes these messages using the different types of support knowledge in his repertoire. This reduction often takes place within words or words in a stream of speech (Dalton C. and B. Seidlhofer, 1994), where word boundaries get blurred. Words flow seamlessly, allowing the L1 speaker to make use of the stress system to emphasise the content of the message. In this flow adjacent sounds are modified to resemble each other- Assimilation-; sounds are completely left out of words Elision-; and certain sounds maybe inserted between the words to fuse the words together at boundaries- Linking-. Features of connected speech Assimilation L1 speakers speak at a pace of 350 syllables per minute in formal speeches and 400- 450 words in informal speech. (Crystal.D 1992; 1999) When the tongue has to move from one articulating position to another at this pace, only an approximation of the phoneme can be produced. Thus all phonemes occurring within a word or in a stream of speech influence one another and adjust with the phonemes of their neighbours (Brown, G.1990). Underhill (1994) summarises assimilation as the natural result of the various speech organs cutting corners as they perform their complex sequence of movementsà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ Though any sound can influence any other sound theoretically assimilation is limited to a few phonemes (Dalton C. and B. Seidlhofer, 1994) Alveolar consonants /t/, /d/ and /n/ at the end of a word often assimilate to the place of articulation of the consonant at the beginning of the next word (Underhill, 2005, p.60) EÃâ°Ã ¡Ãâ¹Ã Great Britain / greÃâ°Ã ªtbritÃâ°Ã¢â ¢n / / greÃâ°Ã ªÃŠâ⬠pbrÃâ°Ã ªtÃâ°Ã¢â ¢n / Wont come / wÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ÃÅ Ã
ntkÃÅ Ã
âm / / wÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ÃÅ Ã
nÊâ⬠kÃÅ Ã
âm / Down by law / daÃÅ Ã
nbaÃâ°Ã ªlÃâ°Ã¢â¬ : / / daÃÅ Ã
mbaÃâ°Ã ªlÃâ°Ã¢â¬ : / Good girl / gÃÅ Ã
dgÃâ°Ã
â:l / / gÃÅ Ã
ggÃâ°Ã
â:l / Elision When the speech effort is reduced for maximum efficiency, the articulation of individual phonemes gets weakened. When these phonemes are minimised markedly they are dropped from connected speech. Elision is the process of dropping a sound (a vowel or a consonant), from a word when it is uttered as part of connected speech. RP sounds short and clipped to L2 speakers and speakers of other varieties of English due to elision of the schwa (/Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢/) sound. The most commonly elided sounds in English are /t/, /d/ and /Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢/. The consonants that are elided almost as frequently as these are /v/ and /ÃÆ'à °/ /t/ First three fÃâ°Ã
âstÃŽà ¸ri fÃâ°Ã
âsÃŽà ¸ri Last year lÃâ°Ã¢â¬ËstjiÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ lasjiÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ à /d/ ground pressure Ãâ°Ã ¡raÃÅ Ã
ndpreÃÅ ÃâÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ Ãâ°Ã ¡raÃÅ Ã
mpreÃÅ ÃâÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ Banned for life Bà ¦ndfÃâ°Ã¢â ¢laÃâ°Ã ªf Bà ¦mfÃâ°Ã¢â ¢laÃâ°Ã ªf /Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢/ Chocolate tÃÅ ÃâÃâ°Ã¢â¬ kÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ lÃâ°Ã¢â ¢t tÃÅ ÃâÃâ°Ã¢â¬ k lÃâ°Ã¢â ¢t Vegetable vÃâ°Ã¢â¬ ºÃÅ Ã ¤Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ tÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ blÃÅ'à © vÃâ°Ã¢â¬ ºÃÅ Ã ¤ tÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ blÃÅ'à © /v/ Weve been considering WivbinkÃâ°Ã¢â ¢nsideriÃâ¦Ã¢â¬ ¹ WÃâ°Ã ªbÃâ°Ã ªnkÃâ°Ã¢â ¢nsideriÃâ¦Ã¢â¬ ¹ Needs of the NidzÃâ°Ã¢â ¢vÃÆ'à °Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ NidzÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ÃÆ'à °Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ /ÃÆ'à °/ I think that was aÃâ°Ã ªÃŽà ¸Ãâ°Ã ªÃâ¦Ã¢â¬ ¹kÃÆ'à °Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢twÃâ°Ã¢â ¢z ÃÅ Ã
âÃŽà ¸Ãâ°Ã ªÃâ¦Ã¢â¬ ¹kÃâ°Ã¢â ¢twÃâ°Ã¢â ¢z Went the way of the WentÃÆ'à °Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢weÃâ°Ã ªÃâ°Ã¢â ¢vÃÆ'à °Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ WentÃâ°Ã¢â ¢weÃâ°Ã ªÃâ¹Ã ÃÆ'à °Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ Vowel reduction Unstressed vowels in the stream of speech are shortened and are often centralized to a schwa (/Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢/) sound. An unaccented diphthong in a similar setting can lose the length of the vowel glide or could even be reduced to a monophthong. Must mÃÅ Ã
âst mÃâ°Ã¢â ¢s There ÃÆ'à °eÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ ÃÆ'à °ÃŠââ¬â¢Ãâ¹Ã Strong and weak forms Function class words in unaccented positions are reduced to their weak forms in connected speech. The degree of reduction depends on the rate of speech delivery; the faster the speech, the greater the reduction of vowel sounds. StronÃâ°Ã ¡ Weak And à ¦nd Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢n Of Ãâ°Ã¢â¬â¢v Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢v To tÊâ⬠¹ tÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ Linking Dalton C. and B. Seidlhofer (1994) describe linking as the consequence of two vowel sounds meeting at a vowel boundary. In such situations an extra sound is inserted to mark the transition between the two vowels. Linking / r/ In RP /r/ is not realised in pronunciation except when it is followed by a vowel. In connected speech /r/ is articulated when the following word starts with a vowel. Sooner suÃâ¹Ã nÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ sooner or later suÃâ¹Ã nÃâ°Ã¢â ¢rÃâ°Ã¢â¬ Ãâ¹Ã leÃâ°Ã ªtÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ Sure ÃÅ ÃâÃâ°Ã¢â¬ Ãâ¹Ã sure enough ÃÅ ÃâÃâ°Ã¢â¬ Ãâ¹Ã rÃâ°Ã ªnÃÅ Ã
âf Intrusive /r/ Some speakers insert a /r/ even when there is no /r/ in the spelling. Intrusive /r/ carries a certain social stigma and educated L1 speakers often deny having an intrusive /r/ in their connected speech. The presence of intrusive in connected speech is quite frequent among non-rhotic L1 speakers. Idea aÃâ°Ã ªdÃâ°Ã ªÃâ°Ã¢â ¢ idea of it aÃâ°Ã ªdÃâ°Ã ªÃâ°Ã¢â ¢rÃâ°Ã¢â¬â¢vÃâ°Ã ªt Intrusive /w/ and /j/ When a word ending in a vowel is followed by another vowel, L1 speakers insert a consonant sound that is nearer to the sound of the first vowel. Ãâ°Ã ¡o out Ãâ°Ã ¡Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ÃŠâ⬠¹waÊâ⬠¹t I am aÃâ°Ã ªjam She is ÃÅ ÃâiÃâ¹Ã jis Catenation In connected speech, L1 speakers tend to connect the last consonant sound in a word with the first vowel sound of the next word. Keep out kiÃâ¹Ã p aÊâ⬠¹t Key pout kiÃâ¹Ã paÊâ⬠¹t A name Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ neÃâ°Ã ªm An aim Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢n eÃâ°Ã ªm Connected speech- Teach Reception and or Production? Challenges to L2 learners and teachers An awareness of connected speech features is essential to facilitate listening comprehension in an ESL learner. A lack of these features does not affect intelligibility drastically and the decision of how much (the degree) and when to convert the declarative knowledge to procedural knowledge should be left to the L2 learners. Jennifer Jenkins (2000) argues that the assimilatory process will be acquired naturally if learners progress in their knowledge and control of the language is sufficient to enable them to speed up the rate of their speech. Thus we understand that a learners acquisition of knowledge in one area would positively affect his performance in another area, and that even though most if not all of this is eminently learnable with exposure to an L1 atmosphere, it is not always teachable. The criteria for teaching connected speech would be arrived at by observing the teachability- learnability scale. What the L2 learners need at this point could be a simulation of the mate rnal speech to children à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ mothers alternate between clarified and distorted forms and this seems to enable the children to develop rules of correspondence between the model and distorted forms they will normally encounter (Ratner 1984). Exposing the L2 learners to both careful colloquial speech and rapid colloquial speech could help them to understand these varieties at a declarative level and thereby position them for a procedural development at their own pace. Indian learners of English (ILE) are unfamiliar with the connected speech feature assimilation. In my anecdotal experience I have noticed that the educated speakers in India (for that matter even the uneducated speakers) utter each word in a sentence almost as though they are articulated in isolation. This syllable timed articulation is carried forward even when they speak a stress timed language like English. This trait becomes problematic at the reception level as ILE listeners expect the same vocal and phonemic clarity even when they are listening to English. Gillian Browns (1990) observation that an L2 listener suffers a devastating diminution of phonetic information, in such situations aptly summarises the confusion and panic they feel. So I believe that L2 learners of English should be made familiar with the assimilation features, so that they can understand the content of the discussion/ interaction without having to decode language features each and every time. In my teaching practices I think I have been unconsciously following the suggestions that Gillian Brown (1990) proposes: I have already suggested that I do not approve of teaching students to produce assimilated forms and elided forms. Sophisticated students who have been taught to be aware of these forms will introduce them into their own speech in a natural context when they feel able to control them Assimilation becomes a problem at the production level only when the L2 speakers interact with the L1 listeners, but then L1 listeners are mostly aware of this difficulty of the L2 speakers and make necessary adjustments to their linguistic and emotional responses. As an L2 user and as a teacher I believe that a few words uttered painfully slow to achieve connected speech would create more confusion to the L1 speaker than a total absence of assimilatory/ connected speech features. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ slower speech made to incorporate features of connected speech is reduced to gibberish (Crystal D. 1992;1999). One of the major arguments that exist against this stand is that an absence of assimilatory features would prevent the L2 speakers from using intonation patterns and rhythm and would lead to loss of fluency. (Underhill A. 1994) and he suggests exposing ESL learners to rapid colloquial speech as a useful activity for improving listening comprehension. Even though elision is a feature that is present in most Indian languages, the Indian ESL learner may struggle to understand and participate in a conversation with an L1 speaker employing rapid colloquial speech. This is because elision is not a feature that is taught in Indian classrooms. Moreover, elision carries a certain social stigma among educated Indians and so they might actively resist adopting elision in their speech practices as well. Dropping sounds is equated with a lower social class and could also be interpreted as a sign of poor education. As with assimilation, elision can cause confusion at the reception level for the L2 listener, if he has always been exposed to correct and fully articulated speech. An L2 speaker trying to include elision in a slow speech would confuse the L1 listener. As demonstrated by Crystal in his experiment the sentence I wouldnt have been able to in fluent speech may become /Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ wÃÅ Ã
bmpÃâ°Ã ªneÃâ°Ã ªblÃâ°Ã¢â ¢/. Spoken more slowly by a learner who is being encouraged to use the various features of connected speech, it could come across like this: /Ãâ°Ã¢â ¢ wÃÅ Ã
bÃâ°Ã¢â ¢m pÃâ°Ã ª neÃâ°Ã ª blÃâ°Ã¢â ¢/,with each syllable being carefully articulated. In this case it would at best sound ridiculous and at worst would be rendered completely incomprehensible. (Jennifer Jenkins, 2000) Another contentious area is the teaching of weak forms. As pointed out by David Brazil (1994) the contradiction of focusing in the classroom on a feature whose quality is precisely the result of speakers not focusing on it. This pedagogic focus may then, paradoxically, impede the later acquisition of weak forms in learning outside the classroomà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ (Jennifer Jenkins, 2000). Jennifer Jenkins challenges the notion of the need to weaken an unimportant sound to highlight an important one and points out that if the important sounds are stressed then the meaning would become clear to the listener. Reading about this approach and thinking further on it has convinced me that this is the way to go forward. The hours of drilling that I have been forcing on my students might have been counterproductive. I feel that this is another area where declarative knowledge should be allowed to mature to a procedural knowledge at the students own pace. Listening comprehension and thereby communication is enhanced by dissimilatory practices rather than assimilatory processes, as they give primary importance to the hearers needs by subordinating the speech strategies of a speaker. I would still like to believe that the assimilatory features are what give the English language its identity. But for learners at a transactional level with L1 speakers or with other L2 speakers conquering these features could be daunting and unnecessary for everyday communication. As David Crystal (1999) suggests The possibility of L2 learners becoming competent in both syllable and stress based speech and being able to shift effortlessly from one to other, depending on the need of the circumstance, either to proclaim a national identity or to improve international intelligibility, is not an improbability and that is what I would like to strive for and encourage my learners to aim for.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Exposing the Truth in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong Essay -- Things
Exposing the Truth in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong à à "Dear Mom and Dad: The war that has taken my life, and many thousands of others before me, is immoral, unlawful, and an atrocity," (letter of anonymous soldier qtd. In Fussell 653). Tim O'Brien, a Vietnam war vet, had similar experiences as the soldier above. Even though O'Brien didn't die, the war still took away his life because a part of him will never be the same. Even in 1995, almost thirty years after the war, O'Brien wrote, "Last night suicide was on my mind. Not whether, but how. Tonight it will be on my mind again... I sit in my underwear at this unblinking fool of a computer and try to wrap words around a few horrid truths" (Vietnam 560). 1 think that O'Brien is still suffering from what he experienced in Vietnam and he uses his writing to help him deal with his conflicts. In order to deal with war or other traumatic experiences, you sometimes just have to relive the experiences over and over. This is what O'Brien does with his writing; he expresses his emotional truths even if it means he has to change the facts of the literal truth. The literal truth, or some of the things that happen during war, are so horrible that you don't want to believe that it could've actually have happened. For instance, "[o]ne colonel wanted the hearts cut out of the dead Vietcong to feed to his dog.... Ears were strung together like beads. Parts of Vietnamese bodies were kept as trophies; skulls were a favorite... The Twenty-fifth Infantry Division left a 'visiting card,' a torn off shoulder patch of the division's emblem, stuffed in the mouth of the Vietnamese they killed," (Fussell 655). While we don't want to believe these things because they sound too atrocious, soldi... ...e who sent the soldiers to war are just as responsible as the soldiers for any acts of war they committed. Works Cited Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology ofà Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6. O'Brien, Tim.à "How to Tell a True War Story." Writing asà Re-Vision. Eds. Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully.à Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing, 1996. 550-8. _________.à In the Lake of the Woods.à New York: Houghton à Mifflin, 1994. __________.à "The Lives ofà the Dead."à The Things Theyà Carried.à New York: Viking Penguin, 1990. 255-273. __________.à "The Vietnam in Me."à Writing as Re-Vision. 559-571. Schroeder, Eric James.à "Tim O'Brien: Maybe So."à Vietnam,à We've All Been There: Interviews with American Writers.à Ed. à Eric James Schroeder.à Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1992. 125-43.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
History of Ford Thunderbird :: essays research papers
The Ford Thunderbird, an American classic, is a car manufactured in the United States by Ford Motor Company. It was created only twenty months after Chevrolets Corvette as a comeback car and entered design for the 1955 model year as a two-seater resembling a sports car, which went on sale on October 22, 1954 (Wilson 116). As the Thunderbird was a better performer and cost four hundred and ninety six dollars less, no wonder it sold better. In fact, the sales figure for the first model was nearly four times that of the Corvette (Georgano 122). Through the development of the Ford Thunderbird it has evolved drastically in style and performance over its long history. Although none of this would have happened without the formation of the idea to create what is known as the Ford Thunderbird. There are two stylists credited with the creation of the Thunderbird: Lewis D. Crusoe and George Walker, who later became a chief stylist and a Ford vice-president. They took a trip to Paris, and while they were there they saw a sports car that got their attention. From that moment on, they knew they had to come up with something just like it. They went to work as soon as permission was given from headquarters. Their goal was to have a lightweight sports car with a V-8 engine that accelerated to speeds above 100 mph. They achieved this goal successfully, but they did not meet their projected weight for the car. Crusoe started a clay model of the car and finally gained the acceptance on it in May of 1953 (Wilson 116). Once the model was complete there came about the difficulty in deciding on a name. The designers were completely lost when it came to names but suggestions came pouring in by the thousands. Finally, the designers narrowed it down to just one name ââ¬Å"Whizzer,â⬠but Crusoe was just not satisfied with it. He devised a reward, a two hundred and fifty dollar suit, for anyone who could come up with a better name. It was not long before they received a submission from a designer named Alden Giberson. The name he came up with was ââ¬Å"Thunderbird.â⬠Crusoe approved it and the name was no longer negotiable. His idea for that name surprisingly did not come from the Native American symbol for ââ¬Å"Thunder-bird,â⬠but from a very prominent subdivision in Rancho Mirage, California.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Immigration to the United States :: Immigrants Culture Cultural Essays Papers
Immigration to the United States Immigration has always been in existence in the United States since the beginning of American History. At the turn of the 20th century immigration has been an issue for the people in this country. The ironic thing is that the majority of the population has evolved from some type of immigrant. In every journal that I was given to read or video to watch it always comes down to the same thing, people have a problem with other people because they are immigrants. I believe people carry a fear when it deals with people that they cannot understand. After reading the article Why Migration it made me realize that people don?t always migrate to another country for lack of jobs or food. Migrating to another country could be the cause of persecution or no jobs that are available for what the community of people know how to do. The jobs they have always performed their whole life may have just been eliminated or moved to different areas of the world. According to the article it states that countries including Mexico and South Korea had increasing rates of Gross National Product during the 70?s and yet their rate of emigration was the highest. This could be the cause of the jobs they were accustomed to where now residing in the United States or the jobs they once held were lost to industrial machines. In the 80?s America saw an increase of Salvadorians enter the country. This was not a problem until the war escalated in 1981. Most of the people could not work with the war going on and the chances of death during the war were not ignored as people fled the country. People leave for different reasons some for financial situations, persecution, jobs, and overpopulation. Laos experienced persecution after the Vietnam War. The people were tortured and murdered for their participation in resistance towards the northern Vietnamese. Americans complain about the existing problem of immigration but they need to look at their own participation in the problem. The wealth of the nation that demands service such as house cleaning, cooks, servers, dish washers, etc.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Evolution of Management Essay
From the Biblical times we find monarchies of the time use some form of management to lord over the great kingdoms such as the Egyptians who used hierarchy management to build the pyramids, Moses leading the Israelites through the desert to the promised land and King David when he was in charge of the kingdom of Israel. In Ancient civilizations, the Roman Empire made use of devolved government to manage the vast empires resources. This was done through governorsââ¬â¢ who were in charge of certain areas as we see in the bible during the birth of Jesus Christ. We can find artifacts that in old cities such as Jerusalem where we find aqueducts that give us an idea of how they managed the water resources. Modernization of the world led to cities and towns that brought about the need to manage the resources in order to provide services to the people living within them. We also find management in the church and military before the industrial revolution. The Roman Catholic Church is one example that has had an impact on management as we see in the catholic hierarchy led by the pope and includes cardinals, patriarchs, and bishops. The Military has greatly influenced management through power vested in positions in the chain of command. Management continued to evolve and we find individuals in history who have made contributions to the art of management as we know it; Luka Pacioli was an Italian mathematician considered the father of accounting. He invented the double entry accounting system. Adam Smith was a political economist whose concepts on economics at the beginning of the industrial revolution contributed greatly to management today. Robert Owens, Charles Babbage, Henry Vernum Poor and Henry Robinson Towne are other individuals who were influential to management in this era. With the onset of the industrial revolution, new ways of management came into play as new generations looked to increase productivity of organizations. Classical Era Scientific Management Scientific management was pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor a mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. He saw the need to have management design jobs properly and provide incentives to motivate workers to achieve higher productivity. His ideology was to find the best practice, decompose the task into its constituent elements and get rid of things that do not add value. Taylorââ¬â¢s scientific management gave way to specialization and is considered the basis to many other management systems that came after. Taylor was supported in this new way of management by Henry Gantt who is accredited with the Gantt chart that is widely used for project management. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were also early advocates of the scientific management system. Through the motion study, Frank sought to make the processes more efficient by reducing the motions while Lillianââ¬â¢s interest was on the human aspect of work. The human aspect of the scientific management principles seek to understand the workers personality and needs. Administrative Management Henri Fayol, was a French engineer and manager of the mines developed the administrative theory of management. He viewed management as an activity common to all human undertakings. He is credited to giving us the first comprehensive functions of management; 1.Planningà 2.Organizing 3.Command/Direct 4.Coordinate 5.Control He urged that management was an all encompassing activity that should be taught in schools, colleges and universities. This approach proposed that management is a skill which can be acquired if its principles are understood and rejected the idea that ââ¬Å"managers are born, not madeâ⬠. Bureaucratic Management A German Sociologist, Max Weberââ¬â¢s approach to management was by focusing on the organizational structure. His views divided organizations into hierarchies with clear lines of authority and control, divided labor such that authority and responsibility are clearly defined and legitimized, organizational officials are appointed and not elected, organization members are selected on the basis of their technical qualification obtained through formal education and training. Organizations are to treat all employees and customers equally and not be influenced by differences. Weberââ¬â¢s principles on organizing can create stable, organized and systematic organizations but make it difficult for the organization to adapt to changing environments and new challenges. Neo-Classical Era Operations Management (Research) Operations management, also known as quantitative management, gives a quantitative basis for decision making. It is characterised by the search for the optimal answer to a problem by using quantitative models. It specially deals with the development of mathematical models to aid in decision making and problem solving. This theory holds that managing is a logical and rationale process, so it can be expressed in terms of mathematical models.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Negative Impacts of Disney Speech
A word that connotes childhood enjoyment, its messages of love and happiness influencing us for the better. This is exactly what Disney would like us to believe. Despite what they say, there is a sinister side to this innocence. Its messages have been corrupting our poor, unsuspecting children. How beauty is imperative in order to succeed in life; how only the beautiful can achieve their own ââ¬Ëhappy ending; how people who are less than ââ¬Ëperfect' are dark and evil.How can anyone truly feel comfortable with themselves, when such horrifying messages have subconsciously consumed our minds? We are all being duped, being influenced into worshipping Disney; what child in this world can claim not to have watched or heard of Disney? But this corruption does not stop at DVDs. It continues to emerge in toys, clothes, furniture, even technology. It has taken over our lives.Young children are being preyed upon by scavenging eagles rampaging for money from our naive purses; Disneys annu al revenue for 2012 was $45 billion, insinuating how much a childhood depends on Disney's merchandise. With intellect such as yourselves, you must see the ulterior motives of Disney, but ost importantly, the detrimental effects this is having on our young children. Prejudice and sexist views are being embedded into the innocent minds of today, continuously influencing their thoughts and processes.Does this seem fair to you? To allow this company the right to poison young, ignorant minds is revolting. The protagonist from the childhood classic ââ¬ËCinderella', for example, is subliminally portrayed to have a lack of independence and aspirations for her life. According to Cinderella's creators, a women's main duty is to slave for people of higher class by erforming derogatory tasks. However can we expect sexist views to disappear when they are being promoted through children's television.When she at last breaks free of this ridiculous stereotype, she is not saved by her own perseve rance and determination, but rather by impressing a wealthy prince with her looks. Even for this she must be beautiful and ââ¬Ëperfect'- not in her usual attire of maid's clothes! Girls are being taught that masquerading their true identity is necessary for a better life. And people wonder why women from a young age overuse makeup. Young children are eing taught that a piece of cloth will make all their problems disappear. Does this sound like a fair representation of life to you?How can we expect to produce hardworking, independent women if they are constantly reminded that ââ¬Ëlooking nice' is all that matters? Disney always plays to the same stereotype: the beautiful woman has to be saved by ââ¬Ëprince charming for her life to get better. Does this seem realistic to you? Does this seem like a world striving for equality? The hypocrisy is sickening. Self-consciousness is also promoted by Disney's ââ¬Ëprincesses', which can lead to erious repercussions such as depressio n and eating-related disorders.From such a young age it is embedded into our minds that a sizeO body is needed to achieve happiness. How can the constant hopelessness felt by impressionable teenagers of pin-sized and hair not thick and glossy. What does this say about Disney: delusional, thoughtless and sexist. Stop this disgusting behavior on Disney's part now! Speak up and protect the children of the world from untrue stereotypes and plastic idols. As long as you speak up, we can abolish these sickening pressures put upon young women.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
A Formal Analysis of Statue of Liberty by Andy Warhol
A Formal Analysis of Statue of Liberty by Andy Warhol Andy Warhol created his painting Statue of Liberty in 1962. The paintingââ¬â¢s subject is, obviously, the Statue of Liberty, repeated twelve times in a 4 by 3 matrix. The painting belongs to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; however it is being auctioned on November 14th at Christieââ¬â¢s in New York. It is rather large at 80 by 61 inches. To be able to see the entirety of the painting, one must stand back several feet. The image that appears twelve times in the painting is the Statue of Liberty facing forward from her legs up.One can see most of the statue, including the torch, and the horizon behind her. The painting is composed mostly of a cool blue. In addition to the blue, a vibrant red is included, creating a contrast in the painting. Strangely enough, the painting is not centered, but rather aligned to the right, leaving a lot of unused space on the left. The repetition of the statue forms a harmony of sorts, but the individual coloring creates a small separation. The original image of the statue appears that it was not painted, though it contrast between the ocean and the sky makes it seem like the picture might have been altered.The sky in the background matches the color of the linen. The image shows the statue dead center with the ocean filling two thirds of it and the sky filling the other third. In a majority of the rectangles there is a splotch of darker blue than what is used on the statue that covers the statueââ¬â¢s torch and torch, keeping one from seeing everything completely. Only two of the images include red paint, excluding the images on the far right that are cut off. The grid of the images creates six or seven implied lines.There is also an implied line from the bottom of the left side of the statue to the tip of the torch. There is a line created along the horizon of the dark ocean and the bland sky. There are contrasted lines within the ocean to show wave s or motion using the linen as the background color. The face of the statue varies in visibility between each square. It varies between visible, somewhat visible, and not visible between the images. The appearance changes from square to square. Together, the squares show harmony since the statue is fixed in place. The variation occurs with the splotch on the statueââ¬â¢s face.It seems to move, or disappear, from the top left to the bottom right square, giving the painting its variation. The splotch that covers Lady Libertyââ¬â¢s face can possibly emphasize the face or the torch she holds. The important matter is possibly the face that she is, or isnââ¬â¢t, covered, though it is in an inconsistent way to induce speculation of the artwork. Symmetry has been used to show uniformity or order. Since the painting is aligned to the right it doesnââ¬â¢t show uniformity in that aspect. The image, on the other hand, is very uniform. The entirety of the painting expresses almost an ordered chaos.The squares show strange, jagged shapes that are indistinguishable across the painting. Each one of them is much lighter than the color in the square. The shapes are presented as shadows, and from square to square it seems as though they are moving as they would through a film strip. Even though the Statue of Liberty is enormous, it's seems to be shrunken in this artwork. The shrunken statue is then multiplied by twelve and fluidly placed on the linen canvas. The movement of the blue splotch and the white shadow overlay gives a sort of flow across the piece.The repetition of the image in the squares could possible represent the variety of ways that America is perceived by people. The variation of color and the distortion of the face/torch by the blue splotch could represent the different experiences of people in the country. The blank area on the left of the piece depicts the abundance of opportunity in America. The repetition of the same picture, on the other hand, c ould show a generic form of America, but with the variation of color could represent that it could differ with some very small details. The painting is somewhat ambiguous in this way, but is great nonetheless.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Counselorââ¬â¢s failure to connect with client
ââ¬Å"There is also some current there, you feel hurt because, in some ways youââ¬â¢re saying to me that you canââ¬â¢t love her as full as you really love her, you canââ¬â¢t show her. â⬠The counselor failed to connect with the client when the client is told thatââ¬Å"there is always going to be a conflict. â⬠The client was in the course of sharing her thoughts to which the counselor mutters the word ââ¬Å"anytimeâ⬠thrice. The client seems to be distracted by the constant response of ââ¬Å"anytimeâ⬠to which she simply said ââ¬Å"okayâ⬠. Then the counselor proceeds with periodic interruptions and said ââ¬Å"conflict in you so the relationship with the daughter can be as full as it can.â⬠The client wanted to state something but the therapist continues to elaborate on what she thinks the client wants to say. Another part that the counselor did not connect to the client is when counselor stated to add reinforcement schedules, or intellectu al, other intellectual strategies to start where the client is the strongest. The client replied by asking if her tears will control of the reinforcement schedules, or intellectual strategies which were ignored by the counselor. The counselor continues to advise the client to ââ¬Å"build her heart to your head and not from your head to your heart, thatââ¬â¢s a personalized view.â⬠It is clear that the session is not client-centered towards the end of the conversation. The client spoke in soft voice saying ââ¬Å"yeah yeah. â⬠While the counselor continues to elaborate her piece of advice by saying ââ¬Å"It would make sense and it would be an area of strength thereâ⬠and ââ¬Å"it makes sense. And itââ¬â¢s just that I had it in the wrongâ⬠without acknowledging the clientââ¬â¢s question. The counselor also finished the clientââ¬â¢s sentence when he or she said the word ââ¬Å"orderâ⬠indicating that the counselor did not let the patient say what she needs to say.It failed to promote understanding given the need for the client to reiterate what she heard from the counselor to confirm mutual understanding. Overview of the session The session was about the dilemma of the client on teaching her daughter to sleep in her separate bed. The mother reinforces this behavior but easily succumbs to the cries of her daughter to let her sleep beside her mother. The mother wants to teach her daughter how to be independent enough to sleep alone. There was a significant progress of this reinforcement when the daughter is promised to have rewards during birthdays and Christmas.The mother has frustrations on how she surrenders and let her daughter have her own way. In addition to, the mother has trouble sleeping when her daughter cries until she is transferred to her motherââ¬â¢s bed. The main issue of the client is that she feels angry with herself more than she feels angry toward her daughter. The client thinks that she is the one to bl ame for allowing her daughter to get some leeway thus allowing herself to be weak to stand by her own rules. A non-evaluative overview of what happens in the sessionThe session allowed the client to express her trouble and feelings with regards to reinforcing her daughter to sleep in her own bed. The client opened up her problem at the first half of the session while the counselor rendered her opinions and suggestions on how to view the disciplinary actions applied to the clientââ¬â¢s daughter as well as how to approach the issue by taking ââ¬Å"small, incrementâ⬠steps. How did you feel while reading about the session? (no more than half a page) While the reading the session, it struck me how important it is to share burdens or worries.Issues such as parenting or reinforcing good behavior of children can be a battle of emotions and will. Thus, a parent can be torn between following her motherââ¬â¢s instincts to let her child have her or his desires but at the same time should be a disciplinarian. After all, the role of parents is to rear their children to be responsible and productive individuals. I also realized that the conflict between being too lenient and strict when it comes to parenting is often a battle of emotions for most mothers.Motherly love often gets in the way on instilling discipline on the child as pity gets the better of a mother upon seeing her child showing signs of distress such as crying, throwing tantrums, or helplessness. Lastly, there is a need for making appropriate responses during counseling. The responses made should be oriented in a manner to further explore a clientââ¬â¢s feelings by expressing acknowledgment, accepting by letting the client talk, exploring with additional questions, and validating the clientââ¬â¢s responses by asking the client to further elaborate her or his thoughts.My opinion of this counseling session Based on what I read, the counseling session has its good and bad points. Counseling is c onsidered a good therapy for clients who need to talk their problems out. Thus, the client in one way or another expressed her pent up anger and frustrations. The counselor was able to listen and give suggestions to the client and her problem. Counseling skills that the counselor attempt to use and list some examples using your transcript.The counseling skills employed by the counselor are verbal attending behavior include things such as your tone of voice, rate of speech, sighs, and uhms. The classic ââ¬Å"uhumâ⬠is a verbal sign of interest that encourages a client to keep talking. What do you see as the counselorââ¬â¢s main strengths or good qualities? The main strength of the counselors is having the ability to form interpretations and use of empathetic comments. The counselor expressed his or her own interpretations when the client narrates her struggles on reinforcing her daughter and the need to sleep in her bed.The act of nodding your head or being silent while the client is talking serves as a powerful message to encourage the client to express his or her feelings. This therapeutic form of communication can only be used on specific instances thus should not be used all the time since it shows disinterest. The counselor made empathetic comments such as ââ¬Å"so, but, but youââ¬â¢re still left with a, holding your breath. â⬠and youââ¬â¢re really testing your own patience with the three days, four days, two weeks, then back. â⬠Thus it validates clientsââ¬â¢ reactions as acceptable, normal, or understandable.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Toy store field trip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Toy store field trip - Essay Example established that ethnic and racial status has a deep impact on the future lives of children and it influences their thoughts, actions, beliefs and perceptions (Quintana 27; Harro 15). Toys play a significant role in shaping the childââ¬â¢s beliefs and attitudes related to their ethnicity and race. A visit to the local retail store that houses a large toy department was an eye opener in many ways. At first glance the toy store looked bright and colourful with various eye-catching gadgets, devices and playthings that trigger the desire to purchase. The toy store had toys for all age groups. However, a closer and more professional evaluation of the toy department at the local retail store revealed some disturbing aspects. The first and most distinguishable was the segregation of toys for boys and girls. Gender discrimination was most apparent with toys meant for boys in blue displaying action games, cars, building blocks, and aggressive games. The toys in the girls section coloured pink stocked dolls, soft toys, games and activities related to beauty (beads, fashion accessories for dolls) and domesticity. Some games are unisex and hence segregated according to age-groups. These included board games, puzzles, learning toys etc. Another distinctive aspect seen in the toy department was the ethnicity of dolls displayed on the shelves. Chinese Barbie dolls could be seen everywhere reflecting the local cultural influence on Barbie dolls. The dolls represented Chinese culture and their fashion accessories reflected the local lifestyles. The other segment of Barbie dolls had white complexion and were displayed attractively with their counterparts. The toys in the store were organized in two distinct segments ââ¬â blue and pink. The blue segment represented the boys and the pink for the girls. In the boys segment, action games and heroic figures were highly visible while in the girls segment, dolls and fashion accessories were more prominent. Toy guns, video gaming sets,
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Emoji in Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Emoji in Communication - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the word emoji derives its meaning from two words; emotions and a Japanese word kanji which means Japanese character. Emoji is defined as an image or an expressive face or cartoon that is used to convey emotions in writing on cell phones, texts or online chats. Over the past few years, emoji have gained popularity like never before. This can directly be associated with the rapid advance and the takeover of the social media as primary means of communication. With platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others, emoji have become a more relevant means of communication to most people. There are individuals who find it more efficient to express their emotions with the help of emoji other than the use of words. However, this can be misinterpreted by other people to mean that an individual is poor in writing or has little interest in a given conversation. The popularity of emoji is no doubt at its pick but there is a question ab out its sustainability in communication. Emoji has a setback of misinterpretation. In as much as they are universal, they can easily be misinterpreted and eventually render ineffective communication. Nonetheless, Wroclawski sees a high potential for emoji to go above this setback and unify global communication. The reason for this is that Emoji does not require special skills to interpret. The use of emoji has turned to be a new language on its own. With over 470 million joy emoji being used on twitter today, this might be the birth of a new language on its own.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Rewrite PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN papers based on tutor's feedbacks Essay
Rewrite PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN papers based on tutor's feedbacks for my course International Strategy Management. Writer MUST be ON TIME. Writer needs to s - Essay Example In today's rapidly changing business environment where competition is very fierce I realise that in order to succeed I need to discover and capitalize on his personal competencies in order to excel in his chosen field of career. I should improve my knowledge, talents and skills to stay in the competition or else I will be lagged behind. Once left behind, I will likely face termination not only from my present job, but also from my future career. Especially on my case that I am foreigner I should improve my not only in academic aspects but also my communication and interpersonal skills. My unique knowledge, skills, and talents are tools that I can use to improve not only to myself but also to humanity as a whole. Having these he should create a plan on what these are, how and when to use them. These are the critical issues that I discovered and worked on during the first parts of the course. I mapped up my personal development plan. As what Elliott said1, personal development planning provides us with access to bridge our dreams towards its realisation. In the first workshop, I found out the how important reflection is not just in personal development but also in learning in general. ... Before I had a notion that in order to learn something I just had to rely on the spoon-fed teachings and learning methods. Because of this learning theory, by way of concrete experience, observation and reflection, forming abstract concept, and testing in new situations; Kolb emphasised to us that learning is on immersing oneself in a real case scenario rather than simulating reality in a classroom4. With these realisations, I felt empowered by the first workshop. I also felt responsible for my personal development. I became confident that I would solve my problems in life particularly in my weaknesses that, I personally believe, will hamper my personal development. I realise that I should become proactive in my quest to improve myself, just as what Covey5 said in his Habit 1 "Be Proactive". The nature of personal development as I see it after finishing the course is to be proactive and to develop ourselves continually that will enable us to be competitive today and in the future. During the filling up of the personal learning style questionnaire conceptualised by Mumford6, I found out that I am activist learner. That reflected that I could learn better when I am exposed in concrete experience. This justified my interest in joining in hands-on activities that require teamwork. I also found out in Guirdham's conflict solving style questionnaire7 that my personality is inclined towards avoiding and competing. I found this interesting since it accurately reflected my own personality. According to Guirdham's questionnaire, my personality is not inclined to solve conflict. I have the tendency to compete with others instead of finding a solution to the
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Marketing Little Known destinations the island of Saaremaa, Estonia Essay
Marketing Little Known destinations the island of Saaremaa, Estonia - Essay Example One key question that needs to be addressed when thinking of the marketing efforts is whether to prioritize their marketing efforts at the established markets or look at newer markets such as distant European countries. As per the context established by the case, the tourism industry is changing very rapidly. The tourists are much more open to traveling to distant places to discover new and little known, but exotic destinations (Yong, 2006). Therefore, with regard to Saaremaa, the marketing efforts should be prioritized to build new markets. Europe is well known for exotic and small destinations and hence, the level of competition is high. Therefore, to attract customers from a new market, it is necessary to have a high focus on building the brand, ensuring sustainability as well as in targeting the right market segment. For example, Saaremaa is famous for its natural beauty, its rich history as well as the sweet-sour bread and beer. Hence, the brand Saaremaa for tourism should adequ ately encompass these different aspects. The initial marketing efforts can center on advertising Saaremaa to create awareness and the subsequent efforts can center on introducing specific theme related holidays such as an exotic theme that centers on the sweet-sour bread and beer in the food category or a historical theme holiday destination. Focusing on new markets will also make the destination popular among a wider set of customers who have various preferences of holidays and hence, it would open Saaremaaââ¬â¢s uniqueness to customers who prefer such destinations. However, it should be ensured that any steps of market expansion should not result in overcrowding. In addition, any word of mouth marketing may already work in the existing markets which will ensure that there is a steady flow of tourists from the already established markets. Therefore, prioritizing the new market will bring in customers from newer markets and at the same time, the customers from the existing market s will continue to visit because of the existing efforts and word of mouth (Holloway, 2004). 2. Should Saaremaa improve access by ferry or plan on the construction of a bridge to the mainland, as a means of expanding tourism? Or, conversely, should the island authorities aim to limit the appeal of the island in its existing isolation, by aiming to boost income from a smaller base of visitors to this island destination? One of the highlights of Saaremaa is how it is exotic and little known, but extremely beautiful and a perfect holiday get away. Therefore, on one hand it is important to build the tourism sector, it should be done in such a way that the pristine surroundings are not disturbed and the serenity of the place is not at risk because of overcrowding. Therefore, to sustain this exoticness and serenity, it is necessary to ensure that the place does not degrade in standard because of overcrowding. Overcrowding may mean more revenue because of increased crowd influx, but it als o can result in pollution, higher crime rates, more buildings and development (Doan, 2000). It can also mean that the natural beauty as well as tourist spots no longer provides peace and tranquility, thereby taking away the charm from the place. Hence, it is recommended that appeal of the island should be maintained by ensuring that there is some amount of isolation. In such cases, the challenge is how to improve the tourism industry without
U.S. Involvement in the military coup against Hugo Chavez Essay
U.S. Involvement in the military coup against Hugo Chavez - Essay Example The coup was later given up by Hugo Chavez which had taken 16 lives and resulted in injuring of 60 individuals. Chavez spent his life in jail for 2 years before being pardoned. He later reorganized his movement turning from a military officer into a Politician. [3] The opposition has been striving to oust the president through legal legislation methodology since 2002 accusing him of imitating the communist Cuban State but in 2004 it managed to secure a referendum on his leadership which only helped in Mr. Chavez getting more strength, winning the referendum won by a large majority and went on to win the 2006 presidential elections. Hugo Chavez has also been the first world leader who has attacked the US president on the floor of the United States; Nikita Khrushchev of the former Soviet Union, threatened the West in 1960, but he did not personally attack President Eisenhower. He said, "The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Mr. Bushs address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."[4] On 9th of April 2002, a two day strike was called by Carlos Ortega by CTV (Confederation of Workers of Venezuela) in which scored of hundred of thousands of strike suporters took to the street of the capital [5] and marched towards the headquarters of Vanezuelaââ¬â¢s State owned oil Company Petrà ³leos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) on the 11th of April 2002. The mob was supporting the recently fired management of the oil company. A demonstration in support of the President Chavez was also being staged at the presidential palace and the organizers of the strike supporters decided to re-direct the mob to the presidential palace which resulted in severe violence eruption between the supporters of the two demonstrations. While the action was on, the head of the venezuelan army Lucas Rincon Romero announced the resignation of the Chavez from the
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)