Meeting the Needs of Students

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are a leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents, with an annual incidence estimated at 180 cases per 100,000 children between the ages of 1 and 15 in the United States (Yeates,2005). Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are defined in the special education law in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 1990) as being an â€Å"injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment† that affects a child's educational performance (Cave,2004). Knowing that, students learning needs are different from students with other exceptionalities (Spear,2005). General and special education teachers need to use a variety of specific strategies based on learning styles and certain resources, with students who have experienced a TBI, to promote learning in all subject areas. A TBI alters a child’s mind and changes the way he or she thinks. Teachers must be aware of this and know how to adapt in order to accommodate their needs in the classroom. TBI’s change cognition and behavior in students and no two students with traumatic brain injury will display the same characteristics (Spear,2005). Students who have sustained a head injury may experience problems in physical, cognitive, and psychosocial areas. Physical effects With regard to physical deficits, individuals with TBI may have an array of problems ranging from sensory deficits to difficulty with mobility. Headaches and fatigue are common, especially during the early stages of recovery (Bullock,2005). Their muscles may be â€Å"weak, hypotonic, or spastic,† which could interfere with learning activities such as writing and keyboarding. They may also experience seizures. In general, schools are more proficient at making physical accommodations for students. Cognitive Effects Cognitive difficulties are common following a brain injury and some may seem quite baffling to educators unfamiliar with TBI (New York State Education Dept. ,1997). For example, children with TBI may have short-term memory problems, yet, may be able to easily recall information learned prior to their injury. This has significant implications for assessment purposes. Furthermore, it is possible for a student to perform well on â€Å"some widely used standard assessments† using his or her prior knowledge. Such a â€Å"false indication† of the student's current level of functioning may prevent the individual from receiving the proper services. To avoid this drawback, several different methods of assessment should be used when attempting to determine the needs of a student recovering from TBI. Memory is only one aspect of cognition that is affected by TBI. It also commonly affects a student’s ability to attend to â€Å"instruction, mental processing speed, and thought formulation and reasoning†. These are only a few of the hardships faced by students who are affected by TBI and educators must be aware of these problems. Psychosocial Effects Difficulties that result from changes in the student's social, emotional, and behavioral functioning are known as psychosocial effects (Bullock,2005). The changes in the brain resulting from the injury, along with stress and anxiety brought on by rehabilitation and recovery, may cause children with TBI to exhibit unusual emotional states, such as dramatic mood swings. This emotional state can bring negative reactions from peers and teachers and makes it difficult to maintain positive relationships. When children with TBI return to school, their educational and emotional needs are often very different than before the injury. Remembering how they were prior to the brain injury may make injured students feel â€Å"embarrassed, ashamed, or frustrated† about their change in performance in the classroom (Bullock,2005). Of the various types of difficulties resulting from brain injury, the psychosocial effects have proven to be the most challenging for school personnel and parents to manage. Resources and Services Available The effects of a brain injury include a wide range of services and accommodations that may be needed. Highly individualized planning is also required (Zabel, 2005). Many students with mild to moderate TBI’s usually return to regular general education classes with some adaptations and modifications. Students with TBI who attend mainstream classes may also receive accommodations or related services under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504. Section 504 covers â€Å"all students who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limit one or more major life activities, including learning† (Zabel, 2005). Students with more significant impairments should be referred to special education evaluation to determine if specialized services are necessary to address any cognitive, communication, physical, or social limitations. What Educational Interventions Are Successful? Students who have a difficult time concentrating or completing tasks need strategies. Teachers should present information to these students based on their strengths. These students have to choose a way to strengthen their learning skills by practicing modalities such as learning visually, kinesthetically, or auditorily. It is important that teachers include prioritizing, structuring, and slowing down while instructing a lesson. This can simply mean talking slower, giving less information at a time, and answering questions more thoroughly(Cave,2004). ClassroomAccommodations Altering the classroom environment is essential when trying to meet the needs of a student with a TBI (Bowen, 2005). As an educator, you may want to provide external devices and cues, which the student can use to compensate for organization, memory, and motor deficits. Assistive devices can include technical equipment and materials such as â€Å"tape recorders, calculators, electronic spellers, computers or word processors, augmentative communication devices, timers,or equipment for mobility (e. g. , wheelchair or electric scooter)†. Other external cues used to remind students include â€Å"labels, maps, checklists, pictures or icons, photograph cues, post-it-notes, calendars, planners, and journals† (Bowen, 2005). Modifications to existing materials can assist students with TBI to learn and function in the classroom setting. Typical adjustments that allow students to participate at their grade level include providing â€Å"large print books, books on tape, and graphic organizers†. A similar approach involves â€Å"altering the expectations for student participation. † For example, teachers may choose to allow more time on tests, reduce the amount of written work required, provide exams in multiple choice format, or give pass/fail grades rather than letter grades. Researchers have found that modifying the educational environment and increasing the amount of structure and predictability in the child's school day facilitates learning† (Keyser-Marcus, 2002). We must consider each child's individual difficulties and circumstances when determining appropriate modifications. Therefore, we must assess the influence of the environment on the student's ability to focus and learn; and we need to explore a variety of modifications before we modify the educational surroundings. Due to the fact that many students with TBI experience difficulty with fatigue, a modified school day may be necessary for better performance. Scheduled breaks or a shortened school day may limit fatigue. Another strategy would be to schedule difficult subjects early because the student’s alertness level is higher. In addition to modifications to the school day, researchers have found â€Å"that altering the student's workload, extending deadlines, and breaking tasks into smaller components have all improved academic performance†. TBI Organizations The Brain Injury Association helps promote â€Å"awareness, understanding, and prevention of brain injury through education, advocacy, and community support services† (Monfore, 2005). Its web site has links to support groups and has a wealth of information on various aspects of brain injury. The Brain Injury Society is a non profit organization that works with clients, families, and caregivers to identify strategies and techniques to â€Å"maximize newfound potential for a stronger recovery† from brain injury. This organization sponsors events, as well as provides general information on TBI, a newsletter, links to other relevant sites, and important contact information â€Å"for government officials in a position to affect legislation†. Summary Children and youth with traumatic brain injury can pose a significant challenge to educators in educational planning, teaching methods, and monitoring of students' performance. For students who have experienced TBI, educators should be aware of the medical, neurological, and psychological issues which shape each individuals TBI case (Stevens, 1994). The educator must understand the relevance of these issues to plan effective educational programs. Regardless of the types of accommodations and strategies we use with these students, the most effective programs depend on our willingness to learn about the specific consequences of the injuries and our attempts to customize the instruction and curriculum to meet the needs of those students. Educators have a vital role in providing the widest range of opportunities available to these students.

Gideon’s Trumpet Strong point of the book Essay

Gideon’s Trumpet is the ‘story’ of an epic legal battle. I give full marks to this story. It depicts the will power, grit and determination of a simple prison inmate to take on the legal system of USA. He achieved his objective with a pencil and paper and his simple drafting skill. He proved that his knowledge about the law is much more than hundreds of legal luminaries of America put together. He was fighting the mighty force of the State, and it was no ordinary opposition. If a man suffers, he must have the support of a legal provision to redress his grievance. Otherwise the legal system is at fault, not the individual. This is the simple truth as seen by a common man, in the present case relating to Clarence Earl Gideon. I like this book for its important contribution to secure individual liberty and how one man successfully challenged the legal system. The story is the triumph of human spirit versus flaws in the system created and nurtured by human beings. It is the victory of the chair less power (common man) in the fight against powerful chairs (legal and political power). When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Anthony Lewis is well aware of this principle. His book proves the point. I need to heap additional praise on the contents of this book.   His book proves the great and important point. The improbable battle of Gideon leads the Court to give the ultimate decision in his favor. Lewis comes out of the Court Scene to project the human face of the story. Those who think that the legal system is the service tool for the rich and the politically well-connected need to take the appropriate lesson from Gideon. He set such a legal process in motion that would affect the entire legal system of USA. The effect of the case was precedent-shattering. Mr. Gideon is twice-blessed. He has provided a highly motivating case from legal as well as sociological aspects. Another strong point of the book is that it is free from political overtones. The author has confined himself to the legal aspect of the case only. But he has pointed out the limitations and difficulties of the Supreme Court functioning. Valuable lessons can be learnt from his observations. This case gave scope to several reference issues that set the American legal system to change for the better. It examined the question about safeguarding accused from escaping the judicial system due to arbitrary court violations. The second issue decided was, majority of the states supported the issue of providing proper defense.  Ã‚   Such a course of action would be cheaper to the exchequer in the long run instead court cases dismissed on account of legal inaccuracies. This position arose because many litigants in court could claim wrong trial due to improper representation. The third most important issue in the cited case, Adamson vs. California, in which the 14th Amendment was challenged, relates to the Bill of Rights application. Supreme Court ruled it as the violation of all Fundamental Rights within as a violation towards the litigant. Thus, this is a good book for the students of law, especially for those who intend to specialize in Constitutional Rights. Weak points of the case†¦ It is difficult to find weak points in he book from the legal aspect. For, Gideon’s case changed the concept of ultimate justice in USA. The common man got confidence that he too is listened to, and respected. But from the sociological angle, there is a weak point.   In the present case, we feel that it is the intelligence of the lawyer that secured a clean acquittal for Gideon, not his innocence. The outcome of the case may encourage the criminals. They will think to commit crime and then it is easy to get away by hiring a good counsel; if you have no means of hiring, the government will do it for you. Once his request to provide a lawyer was agreed by the Court, Gideon became very arrogant. His lawyer Fred Turner had to strictly tell him, â€Å"I’ll only represent you if you will stop trying to be the lawyer and let me handle the case.† Gideon agreed. Gideon was a stubborn prisoner. In spite of his crankiness, and eccentricities, the State spent a huge amount in engaging counsel for him and the precious time of the Supreme Court was used. The successful termination of the case sends a wrong signal to the society. The criminal gets the protection, and the safety of the law-abiding citizen is in trouble. I liked the book†¦. Mr. Gideon has made the remarkable judicial contribution by the simple handwritten application that he sent to Supreme Court. He had a new trial and in the end, he was acquitted. The legal defense, and the question of due process were entirely re-examined and good conclusions resulted. Any conflicting issue is an interesting topic for discussion. Gideon’s case leaves hardly anything for the opposition counsel to argue, unless it is opposition for the sake of opposition. This is a good book; it has the timeless appeal, for the students of sociology. All laws, just because they are the laws of the land, are not faultless. A difficult law implemented in a worst manner is the ultimate calamity for the common prisoner.   Such a law, if not amended or withdrawn quickly, can ruin the delicate social structure based on human relationships. It concerns fundamental rights and liberty of the individual. Embroiled in unfriendly system of jurisprudence, the poor class prisoners get physically, emotionally and economically crushed. One finds it extremely difficult to sustain one’s normal balance .In such circumstances one remains desperately in need of some consolation and permanent solution. That was the reason why Gideon sought the solution through his pencil-written application to the Supreme Court. Desperate situations need desperate remedies, and Gideon used one such remedy! It is a brilliant book for students of all streams, especially law students.   Fundamental rights offer the guarantee of legal protection to all the citizens, for which Gideon fought and won.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reference Cited: Book Review: Gideon’s Trumpet Lewis, Anthony (Author) Book: Gideon’s Trumpet (Paperback) Publisher: Vintage Books USA; Reissue edition (Feb 1989) Language English ISBN-10: 0679723129 ISBN-13: 978-0679723127

Bus/210 Week 8 Assignment Developing Good Business Sense

Name: Date: 04/28/2011 Course: BUS/210 Assignment: Developing Good Business Sense ? BUS/210 Week 8 Assignment Developing Good Business Sense There are three fast food restaurants that I chose as the businesses for this assignment; Sonic Drive-In, McDonalds, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. All three of these businesses are fast food restaurants. Sonic Drive-In is a curb side restaurant in which car hops bring the customer’s order to their car. McDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken are both dine-in sit down restaurants that also offer a drive-thru window in car service. The three businesses have similar operations involved in their inputs. The main goal of the employees is to make high quality fast food. While Sonic Drive-In prepares their menu items as they are ordered, McDonalds and KFC precook there items and use heat lamps to keep the food warm. McDonalds and KFC organize their employees in a very similar manner, while Sonic Drive-In is slightly different. McDonald’s and KFC utilizes the cook stay to prep and cook all the food items, the front counter and drive through staff run the registers, take order prepare drinks, and sack or tray customers’ orders. Assistant Managers and managers help out in all positions and oversee all operations of the restaurant. Sonic Drive organizes their cooks and Managers in a similar way, the difference is that Sonic Drive-In does not utilize a front customer counter and register. Sonic utilizes a curbside menu’s and speaker system for customers to place their orders. Carhops replace the counter help normal seen at traditional fast food restaurants. The carhops deliver the orders to the customer’s car. Sonic Drive-In allows their customers to custom order their menu items any way the customer wants. They also offer over 350,000 different drink combinations. That is something that is not offer by any other national fast food chain. The OMM costs of these three restaurants are very similar. The all three of them have operating costs such as rent, utilities, inventory, franchise fees, royalty fees and labor. I found it surprising that all three restaurants actually do not own the property that they are on. All three of them own the restaurants but rent the land that there restaurants operate on. With all three of these restaurants, the time of years and the weather have a huge effect on their sales volume. The lower their sales volume the higher percent of operating cost that they have. During the winter, sales are at their low and in the summer they are at their high. Each restaurant experiences high profits during the summer months and low profits during the winter months. Operating cost such as inventory and labor are the biggest monthly expense from all three restaurants. Since all three of these restaurants belong to national franchise chains they are required to pay franchise fees and royalty fees each month. The manager at Sonic Drive-In stated that their franchise and royalty fees are determine by their net sales each month. They are required to pay 15 percent of their net sales for franchise fees and 10 percent of their net sale for royalties. The manager at Sonic Drive-in also Stated that they are doing very good if they can profit 15 percent of their sales each month after paying all the expenses, and the best way to do that is by controlling the inventory and labor expenses. The managers of McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken were unwilling to release any of their business information to me. While the manger of sonic Drive-In was willing to answer some question, they were very restrictive of the information they did give. The way McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Sonic Drive-In all three conduct their business is very similar. They are designed to produce quality fast food at a price that is considered a value to the customer. They each use the small batch operating system to make customized products. In all three case their own customized food for individual customer orders. KFC makes small batches of fried chicken that is to be sold to individual customers. Because the time it takes to make the fried chicken, KFC cooks batches throughout the day so that it is ready when the customer orders it. This reduces the waiting time for the customer. McDonalds precooks their hamburgers and makes the sandwiches when the customer orders to reduce the waiting time for their customers. Sonic Drive-In cooks the customer’s food when it is ordered, but states that none of their menu items take more than three minute to cook, therefore the wait time for the customer should not exceed three minutes. All three of these businesses focus on delivering fast quality food at an affordable price to keep their customers satisfied and insure they maintain repeat business. This is what keeps their sales value up and allows them to be a profitable business.

Operating Systems and Networking Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operating Systems and Networking - Coursework Example In 2007, the college diversified its products by introducing legal studies as they opened a third campus in East London. In 2009, XYZ College launched its Open and Distance learning services to 5 study centres to cater for its student fraternity outside London. Currently, the college specialises in finance and law, has 3 campuses in Greater London and 5 study centres outside of London and has more than 200 staff members (including administration and academic staff) and over 2000 students in total across the country. The nature of business in the three campuses is the same. There are administration offices, lecture halls, a library, and a computer lab. There are several designated Wi-Fi hotspots for students with laptops. At each of the five study centres, there is an office, a small library, a computer lab, Wi-Fi hotspot, and several rooms that serve as reading areas for students and also as exam centres. XYZ College faces competition from similar colleges in London that offer course s in law and finance such London Business School, King’s College London, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Imperial College London amongst others. Requirement Analysis Keshav (2009) urges that networking involves providing a way of transmitting information from one point to another and providing a mechanism to share available resources. As networks are improved, there two things that change: The speeds of data transmission increases as current network technology is improved and as new technologies are invented in an organisation. New services and products take advantage of the improved network performance andprovide users in the organisation with exciting new applications. The new network design will bring the benefit to improve competitiveness of XYZ College in the following ways: There will be better utilisation of available resources such as printers whereby one central printer will serve the entire department instead of duplicating them in every offi ce. The logical grouping/subnetting of the overall network into smaller networks will optimize its efficiency and availability. This will result to high speeds of data transmission enabling all users to achieve more. It will enable XYZ College to implement new products for its clients. For example the network will have the quality of service required to stream lectures from the main campus and offer video conferencing sessions to students at the study centres. The realisation of this new network will require the following: Hardware: these are the physical devices that will act as nodes in the internetworking. These include: i) Computers - the college already has enough of them. Majority of students also come along with their laptops. ii) Servers – they will provide client stations with access to files, printers, and other shared resources in the  network iii) Routers – they will forward data packets between computer  networks iv) Switches - determine if data packet s should remain on a LAN and transfer them only to the connection that needs them v) VoIP phones – for making calls over the internet vi) Wireless Access Points – for providing wireless signal in Wi-Fi hotspots vii) Printers – they will be one of the shared resources Software: These are the applications that will be running on the hardware to make the network accessible and usable to the users. They include: i) Operating systems e.g. Windows XP, Vista, 7; Linux; Mac ii) Browsers – for browsing the internet e.g. Chrome, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer

Critically analyse why a business can fail during the early stages of Essay

Critically analyse why a business can fail during the early stages of operation in a context you are familiar with - Essay Example Below are a number of reasons why businesses may fail soon after inception. Before a business is started, proper planning should be done by the promoters of the business, who may also be the managers when the business has started operating. Prior planning is done using a business plan which looks into various aspects of the prospective business including the market, consumers, and the requirements of the business. A business plan should be prepared by a professional, and it should also show an extrapolated financial account of the business (Landstrom, 2007, p.57). Preparation of a business plan is essential because it gives the entrepreneur a feel of how the business will be. Most times when one is considering starting a business, the profit motive usually cloud a person’s judgment yet there could be telltale signs in the market which can show somebody that the business will actually not be prospective. Therefore, many businesses fail because the owners do not do a proper planning before they start operations, and some issues that would have been dis covered during business planning get the entrepreneur as a surprise. Another factor that may lead a business to fail within the initial stages of its operations is competition and barriers to entry. In well-established markets like the pharmaceutical industries and the hospitality sector in some countries, there is a stiff competition in the market and those who are already developed create barriers to entry for the upcoming businesses. A market example with barriers to entry in the hotel and hospitality sector is a market where Starbucks has a branch. Starbucks has been known to make market entrants face a difficult challenge which end up failing the business because of the competition practices it practices. Since the company is well established, with minimal operational costs due to its

Marketing and Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing and Promotion - Essay Example Because the product we sell is books, our aspirations must be consistent with the promise and the ideals of the volumes which line our shelves. To say that our mission exists independent of the product we sell is to demean the importance and the distinction of being booksellers.† This mission statement starts out well but contradicts itself towards the end. It is too long and becomes too broad as well as ambiguous with the mention of â€Å"regardless of the product we sell.† Southwest Airlines’ mission statement which reads â€Å"dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride and company spirit† is an example of a good mission statement. It is short, goes directly to what the company does and what it aspires as well as distinguishing the airline from the others in the business with specifics on its quality and services it

Heat Transfer Equipment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Heat Transfer Equipment - Essay Example Within the real environment, the operational requirements include flexibility and maintainability of the equipment, in an economically viable manner. Economic and operational viability considerations should ensure the sustainability of the equipment in the real environment. The operation of the equipment in the real environment relies heavily on the adaptability of the equipment to the environment, and the closeness of the idealized and real situations. The designing should consider the implications presented by the processes of transferring heat between different mediums. The heat-transfer coefficient could be utilized to calculate the changes expected during transferring of heat from the equipment to the environment. This coefficient could be utilized in establishing the heat losses experienced during transfer from heating elements to the required environment. The overall coefficients remain totally related to the specified film transfer coefficients and resistances. The coefficien ts of the materials sometimes contain a significant variance, and during designing, engineers should take care to ensure the variance does not become large. The engineers ought to utilize proper equations in establishing the coefficients and ensuring correctness of mean temperature difference. The mean temperature difference always varies between different points of the exchangers and correctness of these calculations remains fundamental in ensuring development of a properly, functioning heat-transfer equipment. Though engineers could make numerous assumptions when calculating the mean temperature difference, they should note that the accuracy of the figure in the real environment always varies following inclusion of assumptions when performing calculations. These assumptions only provide assistance in establishing a possible value fro mean temperature difference. The exchangers utilized in heat-transfer equipment have different flows ranging from countercurrent to concurrent flow, and a cross-flow combining both of these flows. In calculating the mean temperature difference in exchangers having cross-flow, a correction factor must be established to ensure accuracy of the calculation. The correction factor remains essential in establishing the functionality of equipment as measures compatibility of the exchanger flow. A correction factor below 0.8 remains unacceptable as it implies inefficiency of the chosen exchanger. Designing of the exchanger includes consideration of the requirements of the equipment in terms of quantity of heat transferred. The design of double-pipe heat exchangers remains simplified and reserved to natural-convection heat-transfer. These exchangers normally appear in complex series of pipes, running parallel to one another, either horizontally or vertically. On the other hand, baffled shell-and tube exchangers consist of a pipe inserted inside another, with the outer pipe acting as a shell to the inner pipe. This exchanger remains ideal for cross-flow situation within exchangers. The calculation of baffle spacing in these exchangers utilizes exact values and not estimates. This makes the functioning of these exchangers accurate from the calculations and deficiencies could be established during designing of the exchanger. The calculation of the various exchanger parameters remains accurate owing to the utilization of actual figures, as opposed to estimated figures. Thermal

E-books in relation to technology, science, and their impact on Research Paper

E-books in relation to technology, science, and their impact on society. Where will they be in 2060 - Research Paper Example According to a research study by Lyman and Hal in 2002, more than 93 percent of completely new information is being produced in digital format (as cited in Lee, Guttenberg, McCrary, 2002, p.227). In recent times, digital publishing has reached critical mass. Media coverage and future books fair reporting has made the consumer well-aware of eBooks and ereaders. Apple’s iPad cum ereader has changes the way ereaedrs are perceived. Ebooks market is in transition, it is evolving and restructuring itself for better (PwC,n.d.,pp.2-4).While suggesting the future of eBooks in 2060 based on research evidence, the paper briefly studies the EBooks’ impact on our society, technology, and science. 1. EBooks and Technology With the accelerated production of digital content, user interest is increasing in devices that are specifically designed to read electronic content (eBooks) such as, e-readers, PPCs, Smartphone, and tablets. From many aspects, eBooks are far more efficient than tra ditional paper books (pbooks), such as: storage, transfer, accessibility, and delivery. Due to compressing ability, storage devices for eBooks are much smaller in size as compared to pbooks. Unlike pbooks, eBooks allow readers to introduce multimedia and hypertext links into books. For instance, eBooks facilitates the readers experience by video clips, audio or sound narrations. Reader can easily jump to a location on Web through a simple click (Lee, Guttenberg, McCrary, 2002, p.227). With the arrival of Amazon Kindle and Apple’s iPad, e-reader technology has taken off. EBook readers are increasingly becoming part of our everyday life, readers are going to experience much more of e-readers and their competitors, such as, tablet computers in future libraries(Rotman Epps & McQuivey as cited in Aaltonen, Mannonen, Nieminen, & Nieminen,2011,p.16). 2. E-books and Society Accessibility is another major feature that can easily overcome pbooks in future. Online libraries provide valu able information in their public domains eBooks, for instance, netLibrary, Internet Public Library, and Project Gutenberg. EBooks provide people with a chance to access wealth of information just by having an internet connection. Despite all the convenience, eBooks may not completely take over pbooks. However, there is considerable number of predictions for the success of eBooks. Considering the limitation of eBooks, such as, slow acceptance of the innovation, user unwillingness to read from screen(Lee, Nicholas, & Victor, 2002, p.228) lacking display quality, cost, durability, and ease(Sottong as cited in Lee, Â  Guttenberg, McCrary, 2002, p.228) it can be inferred that eBooks are going to co-exist with pbooks in recent future. EBooks have great potential for providing enhanced learning opportunities for better engagement and control over content and activities. Quick access and portability is the feature that facilitate remote learning and save travel time and energy (Hernon et a l., as cited in Lam, Lam,& McNaught,2010,p.8).EBooks have potential to enhance the learning experience by improved relationship between student and educator while dealing with learning materials(Shiratuddin, Landoni, Gibb,& Hassan,2003).According to Robert, Slattery and Kardos, text-to-speech or Braille output programs are likely to increase information

Evaluate the social, cultural and political context of the Beatle's Essay

Evaluate the social, cultural and political context of the Beatle's WHITE ALBUM - Essay Example The hairstyle they wore in the first part of their musical career is normally known as the ‘beatle-hairstyle’ (Hecl 2006, p. 5). They also wore round-rimmed glasses, which are referred to as ‘lenonky’ in Czech Republic. It is the type of glasses, which their famous leader, John Lennon, used to wear through the last part of the group’s career and also afterwards. Allusions to their lives and songs are normally replicated in films and TV series and most likely, a number of individuals, who have learned English, have misspelled the phrase ‘beetle’ with an ‘a’ (Hecl 2006, p. 5). The Beatles are considered to have transcended pop music, which became an element of cultural history of the world then and today. In this thesis, I will dwell upon this legendary group as not just a musical, but a cultural phenomenon, as well. The paper will evaluate the social, cultural and political context of the Beatles White Album. In order to make the reader understand the full influence of this album, this paper will also explain their rise to fame against the background of their era and to confirm that their music had an extensive effect on culture generally both in and outside England. The legacy of the 60s has been undeniably very significant for the growth of culture and society in what is usually referred to as ‘civilised nations,’ and the transformations society went through make the 60s one of the most essential parts of the 20th century, as well as a milestone people have to pass by when they endeavour to study the years that came after (Hecl 2006, p. 6). The 60s were in lots of respects ground-breaking. The changes influenced not only the civilised nations (particularly Europe and the United States) but less developed countries in South America and Africa, as well (Keith 2009, p. 15). This paper, however, will dwell on the former. Thus, it is clear that the late 50s and 60s led to significant

British and American English in Hk Essay Example for Free

British and American English in Hk Essay Hong Kong was a colony of British in the past. Under a British education system, the English we learnt in school are supposed to be British English. But nowadays, more and more Hong Kong people start to use American English in their daily conversions. Some people think that using both British and American English may prove bad influences to English learning. Another group of people claim that it is good to familiar with the usage of both British and American English. Noah Webster Before we investigate on this case, we should first know what actually American English is and how can we recognize it. In 19th century, Noah Webster created The American Dictionary of the English Language. At that time, most of the schools in America had a bad learning environment with poor underpaid staff, no desks, and unsatisfactory textbooks that came from British. As a teacher in America, he wanted to improve the situation and advocated that American should learn from American textbooks. He wrote textbooks for the students and even created the American English system. The American Dictionary he created was integrated by new words, spellings and pronunciations. This the reason why the latter gave a separate identity to American English. Differences between British and American English: In order to distinguish British English and American English from each other, we can focus on the spellings, pronunciations, grammars and usage in vocabularies. Differences in Vocabulary Some words used in British and American are totally different. Focus on vocabularies used is the easiest way to know which kind of English the people are using. Here are some common examples. British English American English pants trousers crisp chips chips French fries fizzy drink soda lift elevator film movie pavement sidewalk Popular American entertainment in HK Although we learnt British English in school, we can easily get touch in some American entertainments in Hong Kong. American entertainments are everywhere, TV shows, films, songs, games etc. With no doubt, the English used in those entertainments is American English. This is reason why we learn many American English in our daily life.

A Business Plan For Nivea For Men Marketing Essay

A Business Plan For Nivea For Men Marketing Essay Mens grooming industry is one of the fastest growing markets in recent years (Euromonitor International: Mens Grooming Products Thailand, 2009). This sector is dramatically booming in Asian countries, especially Thailand. One of the leading brands in mens grooming market in Thailand is NIVEA FOR MEN brand, operated by Beiersdorf Thailand, which is selected to be the case study in this research. To be the leading brand in this fast growing industry, NIVEA FOR MEN needs to create business plan with a very strong strategic marketing plan. In general, a business sets the overall direction for the company through a business plan. The business plan is created in order that the goals and objectives of the company are to be achieved. In other words, goals and objectives of a business are the underlying foundation of the business plan (The times 100, 2008). The marketing plan is certainly a vital part of the business plan and plays active roles to achieve the targets. The strategic marketing planning process flows from a mission and vision statement to the selection of target markets, and the formulation of specific marketing mix and brand or product positioning objective (RESTREPO, N.A.). Moreover, Kotler (1994) presents the organization as a value creation and delivery sequence. To choose the value, the strategist needs to proceed to segment the market, select an appropriate market target, and develop the offers value positioning, which is known as a vital strategy of Market-oriented perspective. It seems to be unavoidable that Beiersdorf Thailand has to come up with the marketing strategies to penetrate and to be the leader in mens grooming market by doing the right segmentation, selecting the best-suited target markets, and creating the competitive brand/product positioning. In sum, the formula of segmentation, targeting, positioning, STP strategies, is the heart of strategic marketing (Kotler, 1994). The literature review is divided into two main parts. The first part focuses on the previous work on market-oriented approach, as opposed to resource-base view perspective. The second part covers the relevant work on the process of segmentation, targeting, and positioning as well as implementation of the marketing strategy. Part 1: Market-oriented perspective and Resource-based view perspective Part 2: Three essentially related topics Market Segmentation Market Targeting Market Positioning Part 1: Market-oriented perspective and Resource-based perspective This part will specifically study on market-oriented perspective, which underlies a market power imperative, through previous academic research. There are many studies about the implication of resource-based view and market-oriented perspective for a company to be successful in terms of profitability. Also, there are discussions about what perspective is the appropriate one. According to Porter (1991), a successful company has to use market-oriented approach to study the external market and then apply to internal resources. Market orientation , according to Kohli and Jaworski (1990), requires various departments in an organization to engage in activities geared towards developing an understanding of customers needs, and then develop the products to meet target customers needs (Hooley et al., 2008). In addition, Porters (1991) work relies heavily on the pursuit of advantages which are determined by firms exogenous variables that require analysis of the competitors and opportunities in the market. In Porters (1991) theory of competition strategy, he stated that the competition strategy of a firm is to seek an advantageous competitive position in the marketplace or to build up a profitable market position by drawing on varieties of factors that are critical to being competitive in an industrial sector. Following the Porters work, a recent research from Ren, Xie, and Krabbendam (2010) also studied the sustainable competitive advantage with the market-oriented perspective, which covered market innovation. Their work strongly supported the use of market-oriented perspective, with the conclusion that market-oriented approach can lead companies to success and gain more profits. Additionally, they suggested that companies analyse various marketing factors to discover new competitive advantages in order to achieve marketing innovation. However, Prahalad and Hamel (1990) and Sharkie (2003) undertake different perspective by arguing that external focus, in the view of market orientation, which requires the company to concentrate on conditions and constraints in the external environment cannot create competitive advantage for a company. Nonetheless, the resource-based view approach is believed to somehow lead to competitive advantages as it suggests that a firms unique resources and capabilities provide the basis for a strategy. In a previous study, Grant (1991) proposed a practical framework for resource-based approach to strategy formulation. The organizing framework for his study is a five-stage procedure for strategy formulation which are 1) analysing the firms resource-base, 2) appraising the firms capabilities, 3) analysing the profit-earning potential of firms resources and capabilities, 4) selecting a strategy, and 5) extending and upgrading the firms pool of resources and capabilities. Ren, Xie, and Krabbendam, (2010) had a reservation on the use of resource-base view, explaining that resources would contribute to sustainable competitive advantage just when a firm possesses valuable, scarce, inimitable and irreplaceable resources. They stated that in the real world, not every company has the resources with all of those characteristics (Ren, Xie, and Krabbendam, 2010). Part 2: The Process of Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning 2.1 MARKET SEGMENTATION 2.1.1 Definition of Market Segmentation Market segmentation is defined as the division of a mass market into identifiable and distinct groups or segments, each of which have common characteristics and needs and display similar responses to marketing actions (Rosscraig, 2007). As the market consists of diverse types of products, customers, and personnel needs, the marketers should divide the market into distinct group of buyers in order to appropriately determine which market segment offers the best opportunity for achieving company objectives. Perner (2008) indicated that it is very unlikely that one product could meet the satisfaction of all consumers. In this perspective, a company which chose to focus on a specific group of consumers rather than customers in general would be more successful in terms of profitability. Dibb (1998) suggested that companies divide large markets into smaller segments in order to identify customers purchasing behaviors. Furthermore, Brassington and Pettitt (2003) also suggested that marketers find ways of breaking the market down into manageable parts, groups of customers with similar characteristics in terms of commonly used classifications to measure demographics, which include socio-economics, geographic and personality, and to concentrate their efforts on selecting one or more of these areas. While various literatures stated that it is essential to consider the market segmentation, MC Donald (1998) argued that market segmentation always faced the problem that many different types of customers used the same products in diverse markets. It meant that these different types of customers were in fact subsumed under the same category. Besides, Moschis (1997) also stated the problems of segmentation that the demographics change and the aging of the population change were significant factors that affected the age composition of the consumer market. Day and Wensley (1983) criticised that the market segmentation relating to the consumer market sector alone was not sufficient as it generally reflected the one-sidedness of marketing. The competitive structure was to be taken into account as it yielded the basic information on segment formation. The research from Day and Wensley (1983) concluded that the formation and selection of segments could be improved if theoretical aspects of competitor orientation are included. Dibb (1997) outlined three condition classifications which help identify potential consumers in each segment; those are as follows The expected benefits must be identifiable; Having identified these benefits, marketers must divide people into recognisable segments; One or more of the resulting segments must be accessible to the firms marketing efforts. 2.1.3 Segmentation Variables/ Market Segmentation in Consumer Markets To segment consumer markets, the market information, in terms of customer variables, product variables, and situation related variables, must be collected for further analysis. In the study of The Application of Social Class in Market Segmentation, Carman (1965) stated that social class was a major segmentation variable to divided customers into groups. However, later on in 1994, Raaij and Verhallen argued that social class cannot be used as a main segmentation variable as the society had become less vertically organised with more buying power across larger layer of society, and also concluded that social class concept had lost its unique segmentation value. They claimed that other demographic variables, such as age and education, and other psychological characteristics were more appropriate for segmentation. Raaij and Verhallen (1994)s research studied the market segments and types of people as target groups for marketing activities; market segmentation is then classified into three main levels according to the level of generality of the variables which were general, domain-specific, and brand-specific levels (figure [2-1]). Level of Variable Objective Subjective General (behavioural patterns: Person characteristics) Age Income Education Behavioural patterns General values Lifestyle Personality Domain-specific (product-class usage) Situation Frequency of use Substitution Behaviour Opinions Perception Attitude Domain-specific values Brand-specific (brand-usage) Brand loyalty (behavior) Frequency of use Action Brand Loyalty (attitude) Preference Evaluation Purchase intention Figure [2-1]: Classification of Segmentation Variables by Raaij and Verhallen (1994) However, in the late of 2000s, Rosscraig (2007) suggested that media usage and technology usage could be a concern of market segmentation approach (See Appendix [2-1]). He stated that the variables used in segmenting consumer markets could be broadly divided into three main classes including: Profile criteria: Background customer characteristics Psychological criteria: customer attitudes Behavioral criteria: Actual behavior in the market place (Figure [2-1]). Consumer Criteria Profile Psychological Behavioural Demographic Socio-economic Geographic Who and Where Lifestyle Personality Perceptions Attitudes Motives Benefit sought Why and Who Purchase/transaction Consumption/ usage Media usage Technology usage Who, How, Where, and When Figure [2-2]: Segmentation criteria in consumer markets Profile Criteria With respect to profile criteria, customer characteristics are to be examined with isolation from the specific market of interest. The profile segmentation criterion is used for identiflying the target consumers and in the consumer goods markets which are most suitable to them (Rosscraig, 2007). According to Rosscraig (2007), this simple segmentation variable includes using demographic method, socio-economic method, and geographic method. Demographic method can be determined by age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, family size, generation, and etc. This method is useful in assisting media planning and marketing communications as the media selection criteria have been developed around these variables. Socio-economic method can be shaped by occupation, income level, social class, and education. Socio-economic status determines whether a consumer will be able to afford a product. Geographic location method is shaped by geographical areas; markets can be considered by country or region, by town or size of city, by population density such as urban, suburban, or rural areas, or by postcode. This approach is useful when there are clear location differences in tastes, consumption, and preferences. Moreover, this method is widely applied with direct sales operations as they can use census information to develop better customer segmentation and predictive models. The profile segmentation approach is criticised in respect of uncertainly. While one segment is based on consumer background characteristics, members of each variable may behave differently in the marketplace for various reasons while members in the different segments may seek for the same things and have the same interest in a particular product/brand (Hooley et al., 2008). In shorts, this type of segmentation variable describes who and where the consumers are, but it does not explain the basic reasons why consumers behave so. Psychological Criteria The psychological criteria draw a casual relationship between customer profiles and marketing behavior (Hooley et al., 2008). The psychological variable includes the characteristics of attitude of the customers. Attitudes to the product class and attitudes toward brands in the market have both been used as productive bases for market segmentation (Hooley et al., 2008). According to Rosscraig (2007), psychological variables used for segmenting consumer product markets include using attitudes and perceptions, lifestyle of consumers, and the types of benefit sought by customers from products and brands and their consumption choices. The use of attitudes and perceptions aims at identifying segments of respondents who view the products on offer in a similar way (Green et al., 1989). Consumer lifestyles segmentation is based on the analysis of consumers activities, interactions with others, and opinions to understand consumers individual lifestyles and patterns of behavior (Hooley et al., 2008). In 2003, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) developed a UK Lifestyle Typology based on lifestyles and classified the following types of lifestyle categories which are belonger, survivor, experimentalist, conspicuous consumer, social resistor, self-explorer, and the aimless (Rosscraig, 2007). The most important benefits of consumer lifestyle research are for guiding the creative content of advertising (Hooley et al., 2008). The main idea of the benefit segmentation is that the company should provide customers with exactly what they want, based on the benefits that they derive from the products that they use, not based on how the company designs products for them (Rosscraig, 2007). According to Hooley et al. (2008) benefit segmentation tells the basic reasons why customers buy the products and why customers are attracted to the product offerings. Holley (1982) also suggested that the development in techniques of analysis make them particularly suitable for identifying benefit segments (Hooley, 1982). Overall, segmentation on the basis of psychological yields more useful basis for marketing strategy development than merely consumer profile characteristics (Hooley et al., 2008). It gets closer to the underlying reasons for behavior of consumers, so it should be used as the basis for segmenting the market (Hooley et al., 2008). However, there are some major drawbacks of Psychological segmentation techniques, one of which is that this techniques require often costly primary research and sophisticated data analysis techniques (Hooley et al., 2008). Behavioral criteria Doing segmentation on the basis of the behavior of consumers in the market is the most direct method of segmenting markets. Behavioral segmentation includes purchase behavior, consumption behavior, media usage and technology usage (Rosscraig, 2007). Purchase behavior approach concentrates on the time of purchase which is early or late in the products overall life cycle, and the patterns of purchase which is the identification of brand-loyal customers. This approach could concentrate on innovator segmentation, concerning with initial purchase. Marketers will pay high attention to innovator groups when new products are launched. Innovators as initial target segments can improve the products chances of acceptance on the market (Hooley et al., 2008). In addition, brand loyalty has been widely used as a basis for segmentation, concerning with the repeat purchasing (Hooley et al., 2008). A company may segment a market on the basis of how often a customer uses its products, categorizing these into high, medium, and low users, by usage rate (Rosscraig, 2007). The examination of usage patterns and volume consumed can pinpoint where to focus marketing activity and can be used to develop service specifications or marketing mixes for each of these groups of users (Hooley et al., 2008). Cook and Mindak (1984) have shown that product and brand usage has a major advantage over many other situation-specific segmentation variables as it can be obtained, in case of many consumer products, from secondary sources. It is very essential to understand and profile audience media usage in the process of communication planning (Chatterjee, Hoffman, and Novak (1998). Since 1950s the information of media consuming, such as television viewing, radio listening, and print reading, have been continuously collected. And in more recent years, web usage data has also been collected by market researchers to help profile web users, basing on usage characteristics (Rosscraig, 2007) (See Appendix [2-2]). Furthermore, according to Olney, Holbrook, and Batra (1991) and Holbrook and Gardners (1993), duration of use is critical measure of consumption experiences and is a useful behavioral indicator of advertising effects (See Appendix [2-3]). By following this method of segmenting, marketers can observe the behavior of consumers while utilising the products and media, and this segmentation can be used as an important source for new products ideas, new product design, and product development (Rosscraig, 2007). Additionally, marketers can then create appropriate communication themes for product promotion and can specify new markets for existing products after having the right behavioral segmentation. In recent years, behavioral segmentation has become more popular as marketers tend to study the consumers media usage and technology usage in order to further create successful advertising campaigns. To support this, it was asserted by Advertising.com(TM), Inc., a leading provider of results-based interactive marketing services to advertisers and publishers, (2004), that behavioral segmentation helped improve advertising campaign performance by revealing that targeting campaign delivery based on real-time user behaviour increases advertisers ROI by reaching the audience segments most likely to respond to an ad message. Moreover, Hallerman (2004), a senior analyst at e-Marketer, a New York-based research company, stated that the logic behind behavioural segmentation and targeting gets to the heart of the internets potential as an advertising medium. His opinion is hereby quoted: In todays world of audience fragmentation, its much more effective to reach individuals not by abstract demographics but through their actions online. 2.1.4 Segmentation in Male Grooming Products According to Mintel (1995), a study about mens toiletries industry, male grooming products and toiletries is a fast growing industry. In 1980s, the market of male grooming products started to be segmented with the development of products types, including male body spray and shower cream (Sturrock et al., 1998). According to Sturrock et al. (1998), in 1998, the market of mens products were divided into different categories of products based on consumers needs and uses, including body sprays, deodorants, mens shaving, fragrances, shampoo, shower cream, etc. Dunn (1995) and White (1995) studied characteristics of men who use male grooming products and concluded that men used grooming products as they want to increase self-care practice and self-concept. Moreover, Langer (1986) has prior stated that using mens grooming products helps encourage a concern to stay attractive. For consumer products, Milner and Fodness (1996) has done a research on product gender perception and concluded that specific gender of the products is critically important to the consumers when deciding to buy a particular product. In the segmentation process, Milner and Fodness (1996) claimed that gender is the first segmentation variable that most marketers apply for consumer products. The reason behind is that both men and women want to use the products that were specifically made for them. According to Milner and Fodness (1996), many consumers clearly are psychologically uncomfortable using products which do not seem made for them. Therefore, many companies, particularly manufacturers of consumer products, divided consumers into segments by using gender variables. In skin care industries, products are conventionally made for women. However, in the post modern era, a lot of skin care products are launched to serve male consumers (Sturrock et al., 1998). The products for male consumers are launched as a result of segmentation strategy which companies divide its consumer market into two broad categories, male and female markets. The benefit sought variable is also one of the best ways for companies to segment its market. This statement is supported by Kotler (1997) and Wedel and Kamakura (1998), stating that the real features of products have been considered the most actionable bases for segmentation. It is critically important that consumer products must offer real benefits to users to create product positioning (Blythe, 2005). In men face care market, companies and brands always divided consumers segments based on products features. For example, NIVEA FOR MEN offers wide ranges of facial cleansers with benefits of whitening, oil-control, wrinkle protection, refreshing skin, and moisturizing effects (Nivea Website, 2010). Loreal Men Expert offers benefits for facial cleansers which are whitening, anti-tightness, anti-fatigue, pure matte oil control, anti-regreasing (Loreal website, 2010). There are some researches showing that competitive brands have similar ways of segmentation (Dawes, 2006, and Fennell et al., 2003). In other words, competitive brands often appeal to consumers who have similar demographic or psychographic characteristics. Moreover, Ehrenberg et al. (2004) supported this statement by stating that different brands in the same product category tend to offer a similar range of product variants. 2.1.5 Loyalty Segmentation and Relationship Segmentation A focus on Loyalty segmentation provides strategic and tactic insights that will assist in building a strong brand (Aaker, 1996). It is necessary to build customer loyalty as it is a key success of growth for a business (Crosby et al., 2004). By having loyalty segmentation, a company can learn more about the profiles of loyal customers, and this leads to the focus at the highest value segment (Markey et al., 2007). Crosby et al. (2004) stated that the purpose of the loyalty-based segmentation is to seek to address the managerial questions as follows. Who are the most/least potential customers? How can customers be segmented according to the types of relationships they would like to have with the product/brand/company? Which loyalty segment should be targeted? What changes are required to instill the highest levels of loyalty among the targets? Crosby et al. (2004) affirm that loyalty-based segmentation is the complement of existing segmentation frameworks and it can also be used to discover new segmentation frameworks by starting with customer loyalty research. According to Aaker (1996), in focus of the loyalty segmentation, a market can be divided into the following groups. Non-customers: those who buy competitor brands or not product class users, Price switchers: those who are price sensitive, The passively loyal: those who buy out of habit rather than reasons, Fence sitters: those who are indifferent between two or more brands, and The committed: those who are committed to the brand, or a loyal customer. Loyalty segmentation can be very successful when the company can increase the number of customers who are not price switchers and who would pay more to use the brand while the fence sitter and the committed should be critically managed (Aaker, 1996). Especially in high competitive markets, companies should exercise best efforts to enhance the loyalty of the fence sitters and the committed by developing and strengthening the relationship between customers and the brand (Aaker, 1996 and Drypen, 2010). Research from Raaij and Verhallen (1994) indicates that the company should also segment its market by loyalty segmentation method. The results of the research shows that the company should move customers from the lowest level of loyalty pyramid which is overall total potential customers to the highest level which is the heavy buyers. The major marketing strategy is to increase the frequency and intensity of their purchases and to take measures to maintain customers for as long as possible (Raaij and Verhallen, 1994). This also highly relates to the relationship marketing which develop relationship between buyers and brand to stimulate purchasing. 2.2 MARKET TARGETING 2.2.1 Definition of Targeting The next step of the market segmentation in STP process is market targeting. It is the process of determining which segments should be targeted and made the focus of a comprehensive marketing programme. Moreover, in the process of market targeting, a group of customers are identified for whom the offering should be right, and to whom firms will direct the majority of its marketing resources, time, and attention (Cahill, 1997). Choosing the target market, before creating positioning and marketing mix, is a part of developing effective marketing strategy. In order to target the right group of customers, the firm has to study the needs and buying behaviours of customers in each segment. Then the firm will be able to develop marketing strategies that suit requirements of each segment. According to Cahill (1997), a target market is simply the market of submarket at which the firm aims its marketing messages. By specifying customer targets, the company will also know which segments are not the target groups so that the company will not make special effort to serve them. Cahill (1997) said that market targeting is essential because it forces the company to focus at the customers and the markets by determining the best fits between target customers and the product offerings. Kotler and Armstrong (2001) suggested that a firm make the decision how many and which segments to target in their market positioning and its decision should be based on a clear understanding of companys resources and capabilities, nature of the competition, and the characteristics of the market. The company should evaluate market segments by first collecting and analysing data on current segment sales, growth rates, and then determine which segment can constantly enable the company to receive the greatest opportunities in terms of profitability and market demands in order to target main customers. However, Wright (1996) denied statement of validity of market targeting by claiming that there was no logical reason to adopt target marketing. Wright and Esslemont (1994) studied the logical formulations of the target marketing argument and summarised that target marketing did not necessarily give the best overall market response and also does not constantly give superior return than other approaches such as mass marketing. The two main targeting strategies are suggested by Dibb (1997). They are concentration strategy, and multi-segment strategy. Concentration strategy is defined as a process that a company manages its marketing efforts towards a single target. When targeting to one single segment, a firm can better satisfy target customers needs and requirement. However, this strategy is not always effective and the company may face business failure if target customers demand for the products decline or shift to other segments Multi-segment strategy is described as a strategy that a company directs its market efforts towards two or more market targets. The company should then develop appropriate marketing mix to suit each type of target groups, by all together considering product diferrentiation, target price, distribution method, and promotional strategies. In brief, the step of the selection of the potential target market is very critical in creating and developing comprehensive marketing strategy. The robust competitive positioning will then be developed after the market targets are clearly identified and the requirements and motivations are fully examined. 2.2.3 Doing Targeting in Different Market Environment Marketers have to decide whether to target single segment or multiple segments in the product market; there are several factors affecting the managements targeting strategy decisions, including stage of maturity, industry structure, companys capabilities and resources, and opportunities for gaining competitive advantage (Cravens, and Piercy, 2009). The maturity is used as a basis for considering different targeting situations; the market target strategy will be varied in each market environment or stage of product-market maturity. Four different product-market stages, closely related to product life cycle (PLC) stages, include emerging product-market, growing product-market, mature product-market, and declining product-market. The strategists can use product life cycle model to analyse the maturity stage of the products and also industries in order to develop the strategies that should be implemented. Growing product-market Source: Spencer (2009) According to Cravens, and Piercy (2009), segments are likely to be found in the stage of growth in the product life cycle, as identifying customer segments with similar value requirements improves targeting. In growth stage of product life cycle, consumers tend to gain awareness of products and to understand the benefits of the product, and company will likely to expect a rapid sales growth and will also try to build brand loyalty and increase market share (Spencer, 2009). High growth markets is very attractive, therefore it can attract a lot of competitors who want to compete for market shares. Cravens, and Piercy (2009) revealed their finding about the market structure that at the growth stage, existing companies tend to enter new product-market as they have capabilities and resources to support the market entry,

Irelands Michael Collins And Emon De Valera :: essays research papers

Ireland's Michael Collins and Emon De Valera   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many conditions under which Ireland was divided into two nations. Two main men were the main leaders of this split, Emon de Valera and Michael Collins. Sinn Fein also played a large role. Their differing visions for an Ireland free of British rule was the root motivation for the split.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in New York City in 1882, Emon de Valera was described as a 'tall, spectacled, schoolmasterly, of Jewish cast' as Tim Healy said. Edward Norman, the author of A History of Modern Ireland, added that de Valera was an 'austere theoretician' (Norman, 265). Michael Collins was born in 1890 at Clonakilty, Co. Cork. Edward Norman said his personality was to be to the contrary of de Valera's; he said Collins was not an intellectual and was a man of violent impulses. He took that statement further when he said the Collins would go as far to tumble his colleagues on the floor and bite their ears in playful attention. Now that de Valera's and Collins' personalities have been established, we can now analyze the events and actual conditions under which Ireland was under that led ultimately to her freedom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All across Ireland people were repulsed by the executions which they considered to be needlessly brutal. What they lacked was new leadership to focus the restless energy of the Irish into effective political action, but it was not long in coming. At Christmas 1916 all rebel prisoners who had been interned without trial, those that the British had considered insignificant, were released as a goodwill gesture to the United States which had been very angry by British conduct regarding the rebels. This proved to be a costly mistake. Among those released was a cadre of IRB men who had spent their time in prison educating and organizing themselves into what came out to be a formidable political and military force. The leader of these efforts in prison was Michael Collins, who was still a little known Volunteer at the time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite martial law, Collins contacted the members of his secret organization throughout Ireland and set in motion a clever plan to obtain political power. Using Sinn Fein as cover, the IRB began to run its members as candidates for parliament. Their successes throughout 1917 against Redmond's Irish Parliamentary Party candidates shifted power to Sinn Fein and caused a turmoil of public support for the republican movement throughout Catholic Ireland. After Collins release in June, 1917,Eamon de Valera, the oldest of the surviving 1916 rebels, joined Collins. De Valera was lucky for he had been

Things Fall Apart :: essays research papers

Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. I t takes place in the middle of the twentieth century, in Umuofia Africa. It is based on the life of its main character Okonkwo and his village. Okonkwo was a well known, accomplished man in his village. He was a man of two titles and he earned every bit of it. Okonkwo’s family included eight children, six sons and two daughters. He also had three wives which was also a symbol of wealth in Umuofia because in their village it was their custom to have men pay a bride price for their wives. Okonkwo worked very hard to obtain everything he had because his father Unoka left him with nothing but debt. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father was a very lazy degenerate gambler of whom Okonkwo was ashamed of. Unoka was often referred to as an efulefu, or a man with of no worth . Okonkwo overcame these negative aspects of his childhood, started with a small loan of yam seeds, and worked to become a very wealthy man. Everything in Umuofia seemed normal and seemed to be going well for Okonkwo and his family until Okonkwo committed a fatal action. The story then takes another turn when Okonkwo, his village, and the eight villages surrounding his were affected by the new coming European customs and laws. . The village of Umuofia was located in the rainforest region Africa. The people of Umuofia were mainly farmers of root crops and herders of sheep and goat. Their farming and herding was very successful and it provided a surplus which made way for their market. Umuofia and the eight villages surrounding it were male dominated villages, yet women were also very important because of their abilty to give birth. The female’s ability to conceive children was the most important and beneficial thing for a woman to do in Umuofia. Women also helped in farming , but they were limited to farming beans, cassava, and things that required light duty farming. The men farmed the yam which was referred to as the king of crops because it required heavy labor and attentive care. The people of Umuofia were polytheistic, they had a long list of gods and goddesses such as Chukwu, who was believed to have created the world and the other gods, Ani, who was their earth goddess, Agbala, and many others. The Umuofians created carvings and other things that were symbolic of their gods. Things Fall Apart :: essays research papers Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. I t takes place in the middle of the twentieth century, in Umuofia Africa. It is based on the life of its main character Okonkwo and his village. Okonkwo was a well known, accomplished man in his village. He was a man of two titles and he earned every bit of it. Okonkwo’s family included eight children, six sons and two daughters. He also had three wives which was also a symbol of wealth in Umuofia because in their village it was their custom to have men pay a bride price for their wives. Okonkwo worked very hard to obtain everything he had because his father Unoka left him with nothing but debt. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father was a very lazy degenerate gambler of whom Okonkwo was ashamed of. Unoka was often referred to as an efulefu, or a man with of no worth . Okonkwo overcame these negative aspects of his childhood, started with a small loan of yam seeds, and worked to become a very wealthy man. Everything in Umuofia seemed normal and seemed to be going well for Okonkwo and his family until Okonkwo committed a fatal action. The story then takes another turn when Okonkwo, his village, and the eight villages surrounding his were affected by the new coming European customs and laws. . The village of Umuofia was located in the rainforest region Africa. The people of Umuofia were mainly farmers of root crops and herders of sheep and goat. Their farming and herding was very successful and it provided a surplus which made way for their market. Umuofia and the eight villages surrounding it were male dominated villages, yet women were also very important because of their abilty to give birth. The female’s ability to conceive children was the most important and beneficial thing for a woman to do in Umuofia. Women also helped in farming , but they were limited to farming beans, cassava, and things that required light duty farming. The men farmed the yam which was referred to as the king of crops because it required heavy labor and attentive care. The people of Umuofia were polytheistic, they had a long list of gods and goddesses such as Chukwu, who was believed to have created the world and the other gods, Ani, who was their earth goddess, Agbala, and many others. The Umuofians created carvings and other things that were symbolic of their gods.

Solutions to E- waste problem Essay -- Recycling Electronics

In the last decades, technology became more sophisticated in creating modern devices. Consequently, in our disposable age most apparatus turn into aged ones in a couple of years or even months. This is one of the reasons why electronic devices become waste. E-waste is discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electronic devices or apparatuses. Most environment protection organizations maintain that e-waste induces health and pollution problems. The primary reason for this view is that almost all of the electric devices contain hazardous substances which are toxic and are not biodegradable. There are mercury, lead, and chromium in parts like circuit boards, batteries, and color cathode tubes. These toxic components can easily enter the environment since they settle on the landfills. Hence, in order to protect our future life, we must determine the suitable solutions. The first solution to E-waste problem is to reduce the environmental impact with the help of recycling companies. The primary goal of these companies is to recycle dead electronics. Nowadays, recycling is a widely used solution as it can stop the pollution of environment. As well as environment pollution, greenhouse gas emissions could decrease. Materials which existed after recycling process can be reused in industry. â€Å"A company sometimes produces a byproduct that is useful to another company, and sells or gives it away. Such byproducts are sometimes advertised in order to find buyers† (Hill 2004, 285). By recycling people can minimize the use of raw materials. For instance, plastic, glass, steel and some precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium can be recycled and reused in industry(Electronics: A new opportunity for waste prevention, reuse, and... ... buy equipment that was made by using recycled materials. To solve the problem of e-waste pollution is not a simple one. It is also necessary, that is why resolution takes a big amount of time for thinking. Reference List: Electronics: A new opportunity for waste prevention, reuse, and recycling. 2001. Environmental protection agency. http://epa.gov (accessed November 8, 2010). Electronics reuse and recycling. 2000. Environmental protection agency. http://epa.gov (accessed November 8, 2010). Hill, M. K. 2004. Understanding environmental pollution: A Primer. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press. Krikke, J. 2008. Recycling e-waste: The sky is the limit. IT Professional 10(1): 50- 55. McCarthy, M. 2010. The bid question: How big is the problem of electronic waste, and can it be tackled. The Independent, February 24.

Analyzing Garret Harding’s Article Essay

This paper seeks to analyze the article â€Å"The Tragedy of the Commons† by Hardin (1968). The first part summarizes the main thesis by identifying the principle or principles that Hardin used to explain the Tragedy as he defines it. The second part describes how Hardin’s thesis would apply to production of smog pollutants in California. 2. Summary and Application 2. 1. Summary The paper article talks about the tragedy of the commons which has contradicted the â€Å"invisible hand† that was described by Adam Smith that would managed things for people by just allowing man’s selfishness to keep on profiting without realizing that the same could be helping people in the process. The tragedy of the commons is therefore preventing the operation of the market or certain individuals from fully attaining what is good for these individuals because of the inevitable overpopulation. However the author has also acknowledged ways or factors under which the tragedy of commons could be neutralized such the existence of private property in support of that man’s selfishness in accordance with Smith’s theory. He also mentioned other factors that may have either supported to weaken the tragedy of commons. He therefore still sees a solution to the tragedy, which is the relinquishment of freedom to breed by the commons. Such can be done by some intervention of those who have the power like the state. The thesis of the Hardin (1968) further asserts that the problem on overpopulation has no technical solution for there is nothing to maximize. He noted the fact the people are concerned about the problem of overpopulation and that the same people would try the ways to avoid the evils of such situation but without giving up the pleasure that they have now. The author asserted the fact the people would want to make everything possible where plans could be growing or developing any source of food that will solve the problem caused by the overpopulation. Hardin asserted about the absence of technical solution to the problem as in winning the game of tick-tack-toe. He concluded that the simplest summary of the analysis of man’s problem in population is that the commons could justify their existence only under conditions of low-population density. Thus he argued that given the fact the population has increased, these commons have to be abandoned in one aspect. According to Hardin, the first way to abandon them can be done food gathering, enclosing farm land, restricting pastures and in hunting and fishing areas. He also saw the commons as a place for waste disposal that would justify their abandonment. Since the author also values human freedom preservation, it was his position that to preserve and nurture the more important kinds of freedom, the solution is to give up the freedom to breed from these commons as soon as possible. 2. 2 Application to the Production of Smog Pollutants in California This part of the paper will define â€Å"Commons† in the case of the smog pollutants in California as those people that may be part of the creating the problems of smog pollution in California, who may or may not be aware of the solution or cause of the problem. Individuals or non-commons may be those that are not part of the common which could be exemplified by the group described by Hardin which espouses the relinquishment of freedom to breed in order to arrest the tragedy of overpopulation caused and who believes that there are no technical solutions to problem. Since the case of pollution is related to overpopulation which according to Hardin has caused the problem, the non-commons extends their argument in this part that opt to give up still the freedom to breed for commons. This part describes also the problem in terms of the different view from the commons, the non-commons or individual In terms of the commons, the problem of smog Production is a problem that could be technologically solved. Hence these commons would argue for the need for the production of cars that would be equipment of the capability of reduced or smog pollutants (Vannijnatten and Lambright, 2001; Dooley, 2002)). This could be evident in the case of what is being required now of new cars from California. Newer cars starting with 2009 model will be required to have label that contains a level as to tier ranks in terms of environmental impact. The information is designed to provide consumers with the practical information that could contribute to their being responsible decision makers in the use of environment friendly vehicles while satisfying or meeting the needs of these people to move around (Environment News Service, 2009). The label used for environmental performance will include a scale of 1-10 for global warming scores and smog score. The higher score on both scales will show that the car is more environment friendly car. With average normal score of 5 on both scales, the values of the decision makers will also show how they will value the environment will also be reflective of scores recorded (Environment News Service, 2009). Electric cars are noted to earn higher ratings than non-electric cars on both score thereby indicating the role of technology (Environment News Service, 2009). This would provide a strong argument against that of Hardin (1968) that there is no technical solution to the problem. It could be argued that electric cars evolved from gasoline cars and therefore consumers may be deemed to have become more responsible to the environment. In terms of the individual interests, as espoused by Garrett Hardin (1968), the solution is non-technical that one can never minimized or maximized that point where there could acceptable smog pollutant level. From this view, the problem comes from the commons in the case of production of smog pollutants and not from non-commons which do not see themselves as part of the problem. Hardin’s viewed that there are indeed people causing smog pollutants in California which may not be prevented from having better cars due to the bias that there is no technical solution to the problem. The solution could not be found therefore under the principle developed as viewed by commons that more efficient cars could be produced but rather in stopping the freedom to breed commons which will prevent the problem created in the production of smog pollutant in California. Hardin under his own view would rather therefore go for stopping the breeding of the commons who keep on violating the rights of individuals because of the enclosures or certain advantages or favors given to these commons. The solution could include calling for government actions to deny seeming shout for more rights and liberties by the commons. In the article on Tragedy of the commons, Hardin (2008) also attacked the fact that every favor given to the commons is a deprivation of somebody’s personal liberty. He argued that while infringements made in the past could be accepted by him and the believers of his cause, he could only now see the abuse of infringement made because of the cries for rights and freedom are made by commons. He saw the benefits given to the commons are a way of robbing against the non-commons. He further saw only universal ruin if the logic of the commons would continue to be upheld. For this purpose the author saw only the need for true freedom that is based on recognition of necessity. If this principle is applied to the smog pollutants in California, Hardin would see hopeless of having smog free cars and that the cost of regulation for smog free cars could only be caused by the commons. If Hardin’s position is to be sustained, this would amount to prohibiting rather the commons to not having cars any more by government actions since these non-commons would not want to share life with the commons who will eventually cause overpopulation. Hardin (1968) also argued in the article that the most important aspect of necessity is the present need to recognize the necessity of abandoning the commons in breeding. Since he saw the absence of technical solution to the problem the misery of overpopulation would necessarily come along with all related evils. He posited that freedom to breed will bring ruin to all. In effect, Hardin would want to address still the issue of overpopulation since all the issue of pollution according to him is also cause by population. In terms of collective interest, people need to co-exist together whether commons or non-commons because they only live in one land surface — the earth which provides life for everybody. The right of co-existence happens because the ethical theory of social justice demands that one must practice what is just and fair to everybody concerned. To have peaceful-coexistence, there must be an intention of each of the commons or the individuals to sacrifice some of their rights for the survival of both. The resulting conflict, if not solved, will put humans into a level of what is contentious as instinctively, the instinct for survival is as old as life itself (Fikes, 2001). Each person whether common or non-common has rights and obligations to discharge if each is to live together harmoniously. While it is true that smog production would be dangerous to the environment and the common may occupy a bigger share in the total number of the population, it could be easily accepted that they could be wipe out on earth so that only the non-common shall live. To determine whether indeed a technical solution is possible, there is a need to understand the nature of smog which is a kind of air pollution caused them the petrochemical reaction of sunlight with volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen when released into the atmosphere. The same is therefore normally observed in automobile operation. To attain smog free objective, California used smog score by ranking each vehicles pollutant’s levels in terms of non-methane organic gases and oxides of nitrogen in relation to other vehicles within the current model year. Within the scale of 1 to 10, the California scale assigns 10 to be the cleanest while the average score 5 (Environment News Service, 2009). This could therefore testify to the creation of technical solutions that would solve the problem of smog production in California. This again will provide strong argument against the position taken by the Hardin (1968) on the absence of technical solution. Another proof of this evolution in technology is in the light of the belief that car model before 2006 would fall below the smog score of one. An action for more stringent standards must be viewed as a way of creating solution that would satisfy the collective interest of both commons and non-commons. The fact of smog inspection involves knowing whether Hydrocarbons, Nitrous Oxides or Carbon Monoxides (SmogTips, Inc, 2009) are present since these chemicals are identified for the production of smog. The fact the human knowledge has identified these chemicals from a long list of other known chemicals must speak further as evidence of technical solution to the problem of pollution. 3. Conclusion This paper concludes that the thesis of Hardin (1968) on lack of technical solution to the problem of smog pollutants in California is not rue. This paper has found moves in California to control the production of smog pollutants. The thesis may have raised some points that consider in effect the tragedy caused by the commons where the author has even attacked the theory of universal human rights. The view of the author is in favor individualist orientation and subscribes to the ideal of selfish genes. However, as society has evolved, the individualists have lived together with the commons for centuries and although the position of Hardin may be logical at some points, this paper takes exception to the assertion that there is no technical solution to problems. There is a solution because humanity is forever looking for ways to solve its problems whether the scientist may come from commons or not. References: Dooley, E. (2002) Fifty Years Later: Clearing the Air over the London Smog; Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110 Environment News Service (2009) New California Cars Display Smog, Global Warming Scores, {www document} URL, http://www. ens-newswire. com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-02-092. asp, Accessed January 29, 2009 Fikes, T. (2001) Evolutionary Psychology as Computational Theory in the Cognitive Sciences; Journal of Psychology and Theology, Vol. 29 Hardin, Garrett (1968) â€Å"The Tragedy of the Commons†, {www document} URL http://www. sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243, Accessed January 29, 2009 SmogTips, Inc (2009) How to pass the California emissions test. 3-Part Test. , {www document} URL http://www. smogtips. com/passing_inspection. cfm, Accessed January 29, 2009 Vannijnatten and Lambright (2001); North American Smog: Science-Policy Linkages across Multiple Boundaries Canadian-American Public Policy

Character Analysis: Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood

Grace Marks being the protagonist of the historical novel Alias Grace matures and grows as most protagonist do. Grace goes through many stages in her life where she needs to adapt to the situation in order to not be taken advantage of. She Is either too naive, too deep in self-pity or too self-aware. She Is a dynamic character who goes from being a scared little girl Into a convicted murderess. The stereotype surrounding her being a woman – making her too fragile to take part In such a crime actually helps her and saves her from the noose.Like every proper girl Grace was very naive when It came to things of the sexual nature. When she observes Nancy dress to have some Ink-Sis snuff stains she tells herself â€Å"she most likely slipped and fallen down† (262) She TLD understand where the stains could've came from, besides getting dirty doing house work. Throughout her story Grace speaks a lot about Mary Whitney and all she taught her regarding men such as ‘not sitt ing where a man just sat' and how street whore's made money. Unfortunately Mary died while going through an abortion, which ironically Grace did not understand at the time.All of this new information did scare Grace, until she finally realized how naive she really was when she was informed about Mr†¦ Skinner and Nancy relationship as to which she remarked â€Å"l was much surprised , and said so; â€Å"l was not so knowing as I thought myself, and could scarcely see the nose before my face†. (295-296) Grace started losing luck as soon as she decided to work for Mr†¦ Skinner. Chapter 23 in the novel is named â€Å"Snake Fence† hinting Grace is walking into danger. Immediately after she enters the town she is confronted by a stranger before being saved by Jeremiah (239).Once she began working in the new village she felt very isolated † . It struck me at once how very solitary I was, as I had no friends here except Nancy, if she could be called a friend . . .1 did not know where my family was, which was the same as having none†. (301-2), she also confesses tootsie Walsh, â€Å"l felt would cry again, and said simply, I have no friends here. † (303). Unfortunately Grace soon finds out that that sort of loneliness is nothing compared to what was waiting for her in solitary confinement, where she would soon have to learn how to entertain herself â€Å"l sing a song, Just to hear a voice and keep myself company†. 37) By the end of the novel grace becomes very self-aware of how people view her, she knows people view her as a type of romantic notion and tells Lydia â€Å"But If I laughed out loud I might not be able to stop; and also It would spoil their romantic notion of me. Romantic people are not supposed to laugh, I know that much from looking at the pictures†. (27) And later admits â€Å"l look at him stupidly. I have a good stupid look which I have practiced†. (43).Her role playing seems to throw ma ny off when It comes to her being guilty or not, because she is so deep into her role of playing the â€Å"Lady of complete truth to Doctor Jordan it would never be known, with all the role playing she admits to doing. Grace's character and Tattoo's feminist views play a big part in how Grace is portrayed throughout the book. Just analyzing Grace acutely one cannot miss how her traits and situations make her seem to usually be the victim. But then again, if this wasn't the case, her story wouldn't be so interesting to the masses.

Effectiveness Of Monetary Policy Essay

Monetary policy is basically a stabilization policy adopted by a country to deal with various kinds of economic imbalances that occur in the country. It’s a flexible instrument which allows authorities to move quickly to achieve stabilization, since it deals with the monetary aspect of the general economic policy. It controls the supply of money and often targets a rate of interest and also controls exchange rate and influence credit conditions for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. It is often termed to be as an expansionary or contractionary. It basically deals in open market operations, and basically controlling the money supply through buying and selling various financial instruments such as T-Bills, bonds etc. Control of money supply through an appropriate monetary policy is greatly effective in controlling inflation. Objectives: The main objective of the project is to understand the effectiveness of the RBI monetary policy for: * It is well used in stabilizing inflation in a country under the CPI index * Maintaining price stability i.e. a targeted price level can be reached over time * Maintaining desired growth rate over a period of time  * Understanding various monetary policy tools and its impact in short term as well as in long term. * Achieving a stable foreign exchange rate Issues or problems to be studied: High inflation usually has an adverse effect on grow. Distortion of relative prices which lowers economic efficiency, redistribution of wealth between debtors and creditors etc. are all factors that affect high inflation. There is always thrift as to increasing the financial stability of the country, but the main priority should be maintaining stability in the banking system. There is always a tradeoff between inflation and growth of the country so which policy should be implemented by RBI to curb inflation without hampering the growth rate of the country and the main issue is whether RBI is capable of controlling inflation while maintaining economic stability. Sources of Data: The data collected will be from the following secondary sources: * Books * RBI circulars from RBI website * Journals and publications * Other sources from internet Expected out-come of the project: The outcome of the project will be highlighted in the following areas: * How well the RBI has been successful in taming inflation * How all the different rates of interest i.e. the bank rate, CRR, SLR etc. is managed as to achieve a desired growth rate of the economy * Providing an in-depth analysis so as to how different monetary tools are used in short term as well as long term basis

Continuing Academic Success Essay

It is a big step for someone who has been out of school for so long, to have the courage to begin the journey of higher education. Personally, it took me several years of contemplating if going back to school was the right move for me. I postponed it until I realized this was the only way I could provide my family with the life I’ve always dreamed of. I’ve came to realize that even though this will be a very challenging 4 years of my life, I will persevere as long as I keep my eyes on the price and stay motivated. There are many components to ensure success in my educational and career endeavors; such as, personal responsibility, use of the resources provided by the University, and have self-awareness. I’m sure to succeed as long as I apply myself and take advantage of the resources that are designed to assist in my academic life, subsequently into my professional life. It takes personal responsibility to succeed in any aspect of your life but it’s especia lly so in your educational path. It is up to you, to abide by the school rules and to complete the course work with integrity. You have to hold yourself accountable for your actions and thrive to be a better person. This is especially true in the online school environment as there’s no set time for class, it is up to the student to make time for class work as well as setting up study time. Time-management is an essential tool which will help make a student’s school experience a productive one because you will have time to digest the information being provided to you instead of rushing to get the work done just for the sake of getting it done. Making a schedule and abiding to it is your personal choice and if you want to succeed, you will have to master the skill of time-management and ask for your support systems help when needed. To succeed in school you need to have academic integrity. Academic integrity has a big influence in your academic success  as plagiarism has drastic consequences and can result in expulsion. Academic integrity shows your knowledge of the topic at hand, which is the goal in higher education. To understand some complex topics you might need more time and you need to schedule study time accordingly. Having strong personal responsibility is part of your everyday life as a student and it’s vital to academic success. Setting goals is a good way to stay motivated and work for a specific result within a certain amount of time. Having goals will help you map out the path you will be taking and the steps on how to get there. For effective goal setting, think of the things and/or experiences you want to have by a specific year or age. â€Å"Goal setting requires assessment and problem-solving skills as well as application and organization.† (Rader, 2005). As stated by Rader, goal-setting requires a lot of different skills and it is important to master them to achieve success in life. What has held me from returning was the college-level writing and the huge amount of research I will have to do. By the time I earn my Bachelor’s Degree, I want to be comfortable with the writing process and have confidence in my researching skills. This is one of the reasons I went bac k to school, for ones and for all get rid of the anxiety and fear of writing college-level papers. Setting goals in all aspects of your life will assist in keeping you accountable of your own actions. For example, once I’ve earned my degree I want to work for a hotel, in a large hotel chain, where I could be a part of the management team, preferably in the customer relations, customer service, or event planning departments. Another key tool for academic success is self-awareness. Periodically is it beneficial to do some self-exploration and get in touch with your basic ethical values. In essence every decision we make is made from a set of ethics we follow. A set of strong ethics is valuable in both your personal and professional life. I live by a set codes that keep me honest, fair and accountable of my own actions. Having a strong set of ethics prepares you with the tools you need to be a critical thinker and make proper decisions. Being aware of how you learn best is important as you want to use your time effectively and use platforms in which you know you will retain the information better. It is important to be able to reflect on our life and find ways of fixing what i s not working effective. Learning is not just academic but also personal. Critical thinking is one of the main objectives in higher education. A critical thinker analyzes all  options and makes an argument based on facts. To be a critical thinker you have to be able to look at different points of view openly and explore them as possibilities. You also have to able to think logically and analyze the information and find evidence to back it up. When all information is collected and analyzed, a critical thinker could create an argument with confidence. To become a better critical thinker I will work on mastering Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy of learning which states that for maximize learning we need to master this 6 levels of thinking: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. When I’m studying and going through course work I will keep this 3 levels in mind and will practice each level. The goal is to think all the way to level 6 which is creating an idea from the information learned. Mastering critical thinking will make the writing process easier and less chaotic. â€Å"The writing process is how you show your understanding of the course information and form your own opinion and are able to find supporting research for your ideas†(Kellogg, 2007). Personally the writing process is very intimidating and has stopped me for reaching my full potentials. Doing research here will give me a piece of mind that the information found here is factual and correct. Research papers will be a bit easier. Writing is the preferred communication by educational institution and the professional world. It is important when writing to be aware of grammar mistakes and also plagiarism. Being able to write a cohesive paper or extended text will take you further and is necessary for your academic success. University of Phoenix wants their students to success and has made available amazing resources to ensure that students are well equipped with the tools that will help them move forward towards their goals. The University Library will be the most useful tool for when doing research. Doing research here will give me a piece of mind that the information found is factual and correct. Research papers will be a bit easier to write. The Center of Writing Exc ellence has everything you need to be able to perfect your writing skills which will make the writing process simpler. The Life Resource Center is helpful when you have personal issues you need to work on from time-management to career and life coaching.When I need to focus on my future after school I could rely on the Phoenix Career Service where I could research job markets and also set up a career plan. Taking advantage of these all the resources the University has  to offer will ensure I don’t feel alone in this journey. It takes your full commitment to achieve continuing academic success. It’s a challenging adventure but a well worth one. The benefits of being able to become a life learner will open up your mind and it will provide a sense of drive. We are in charge of our own future and it important to try to achieve excellence. No one is responsible for my well-being but I, and I will do everything possible to succeed. References Lasley, T. (2010). Bloom’s taxonomy. In T. Hunt, J. Carper, T. Lasley, & C. Raisch (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational reform and dissent. (pp. 107-110). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.4135/9781412957403.n5 Rader, L. A. (2005). Goal Setting for Students and Teachers: Six steps to success. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196863407?accuntid=458 References Kellogg, R. T., & Raulerson, Bascom A., I.,II. (2007). Improving the writing skills of college students. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (Pre-2011), 14(2), 237-42. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204931203?accountid=458 Lasley, T. (2010). Bloom’s taxonomy. In T. Hunt, J. Carper, T. Lasley, & C. Raisch (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational reform and dissent. (pp. 107-110). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.4135/9781412957403.n5 Rader, L. A. (2005). Goal Setting for Students and Teachers: Six steps to success. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196863407?accuntid=458