Introduction to Consumer Behavior Essay

The totality of an individual’s thoughts and feelings about oneself Lifestyle How one lives, including the products one buys, how one uses them, what one thinks about them, and how one feels about them Situations and Consumer Decisions Consumer decisions result from perceived problems and opportunities. Consumer problems arise in specific situations and the nature of the situation influences the resulting consumer behavior Perception The nature of Perception- pg 278-279, Figure 8-1 Information Processing is a series of activities by which stimuli are perceived, transformed into information, and stored. Exposure- pg 279-283 Exposure Occurs when a stimulus is placed within a person’s relevant environment and comes within range of their sensory receptor nerves. Exposure provides consumers with the opportunity to pay attention to available information but in no way guarantees it. Types of Exposure 1) Selective Exposure The highly selective nature of consumer exposure is a major concern for marketers, since failure to gain exposure results in lost of communication and sales opportunities. Responses to Selective Exposure Product Placement: Branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows or new programs. Ex) Transformers’ and LFO’s Summer girls music video. Pop-up Ads Outdoor Display. Ex) M&M’ painted on concrete steps and money inside a security glass on the side of the street. 2) Voluntary Exposure Although consumers often avoid commercials and other marketing stimuli, sometimes they actively seek them out for various reasons including purchase goals, entertainment, and information. Responses to Voluntary Exposure Permission-Based Marketing The Privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them. Banner Ads. Ex) ads that pop up on the side or top of a website Real-time Chat Service. Ex) J Crew has a chat service Providing Highly Entertaining Materials. Ex) guy doing flips into jeans Attention- pg 283-284 Attention Occurs when the stimulus activates one or more sensory receptor nerves, and is the resulting sensations go to the brain for processing Most consumers are bombarded by a large number of messages or stimuli Consumer attention is selective Attention is determined by three factors: Stimulus Factors- pg 284-290 Physical characteristics of the stimulus itself Size Intensity Attractive Visuals Color and Movement Position Isolation Format Contrast and Expectations Interestingness Information Quantity Color and Size Color and Size attract attention A brightly colored package or display is more likely to received attention Larger stimuli are more likely to be noticed than smaller ones Position Is the placement of an object in physical space or time In retail stores, items that are easy to find or stand out are more likely to attract attention, such as end-caps and kiosks High impact zones in print ads in the U.S. tend to be toward the top left portion of the ad. Contrast and Expectations Consumers pay more attention to stimuli that contrast with their background Expectations drive perceptions of contrast. Ads that differ from expectations for a product category often motivate more attention Adaption Level Theory Suggests that if a stimulus doesn’t change over time we habituate to it and begin to notice it less. Individual Factors- pg 290-291 Characteristics which distinguish one individual from another. Example: Heineken Ad Motivation: A drive state created by consumer interest and needs Ability: The capacity of individuals to attend to and process information Situational Factors- pg 291 Include stimuli in the environment other than the focal stimulus and temporary characteristics of the individual that are induced by the environment Clutter: the density of stimuli in the environment â€Å"Less is More† Program Involvement: Interest in the program or editorial content surrounding the ads. Subliminal Stimuli- pg 293 Non-focused Attention Subliminal Stimuli A message presented so fast, softly or masked by other messages that one is aware of hearing (Progressive Ad) A subliminal as â€Å"hides† key persuasive information within the ad by making it so weak that it is difficult or impossible for someone to physically detect. Subliminal advertising has been the focus of intense study and public concern Interpretation- pg 293-294 The assignment of meaning to sensations Three aspects of interpretation: 1) It is generally a relative process rather than absolute, referred to as perceptual relativity 2) It tends to be subjective and open to a host of psychological biases 3) It can be a cognitive â€Å"thinking† process or an affective â€Å"emotional† process. Ex) Bud light Ad Interpretation is determined by three factors: 1) Individual Characteristics Traits: inherent physiological and psychological traits Learning and Knowledge The meanings attached to such â€Å"natural† things as time, space, relationships, and colors are learned and vary widely across cultures. Expectations Expectation Bias: Interpretations tend to be consistent with expectations 2) Situational Characteristics The situation provides a context within which the focal stimulus is interpreted The context clues present in the situation play a role in the consumer interpretation independent of the actual stimulus 3) Stimulus Characteristics Traits: specific traits of the stimulus such as size, shape, color, etc. Organization Proximity Closure Figure-Ground Changes Sensory Discrimination The physiological ability of an individual to distinguish between similar stimuli JND (Just Noticeable Difference) The minimum amount that one brand can differ from another (or from its previous version) with the difference still being noticed. Figure-ground- pg 299 Involves presenting the stimulus in such a way that it is perceived as the focal object to be attended to and all other stimuli are perceived as the background. Consumer Inferences Inferences: Knowledge and belief that are not based on explicit information in the environment. Quality Signals- pg 300 Price-perceived quality, Advertising intensity, Warranties, Country of origin, Brand, etc. Interpreting Images Missing Information and Ethical Concerns Price-perceived Quality Bottled water vs. tap water Country of Origin Wine, cars, TV’s, rugs, cologne Perception and Marketing Strategy Retail Strategy Brand Name and Logo Development Linguistic Consideration Branding Strategies Logo Design and Typographics Media Strategy Advertisements Package Design and Labeling Learning and Memory Nature of Learning and Memory- pg 318-319 Learning Any change in the content or organization of long-term memory or behavior Memory The total accumulation of prior learning experiences Difference between short-term and long-term memory- pg 319-321 Short-term Memory (STM) or working memory Is that portion of total memory that is currently activated or in use Long-term memory (LTM) Is that portion of total memory devoted to permanent information storage STM is Short Lived Consumers must constantly refresh information through maintenance rehearsal or it will be lost STM has Limited Capacity Consumers can only hold so much information in current memory Elaborative Activities Occur in STM Elaborative activities serve to redefine or add new elements to memory and can involve both concepts and imagery LTM Semantic memory (AKA Schemas) Basic knowledge and feelings an individual has about a concept Episodic Memory The memory of a sequence of events in which a person participated Schematic Memory- pg 323 A pattern of such associations around a particular concept Retrieval from long-term memory- pg 324-325 The likelihood and ease with which information can be recalled from LTM is accessibility. Learning under high and low involvement – pg 324-326, Figure 9-3 Conditioning (mechanism, classical, and operant conditioning)- pg 326-330 Conditioning Theories Classical Conditioning The process of using an established relationship between one stimulus (music) and response (pleasant feelings) to bring about the learning of the same response (pleasant feelings) to a different stimulus (the brand) ex) LMFAO’s Sexy & I know it for M&M Chocolate Operant Conditioning (or instrumental learning) Rewarding desirable behaviors such as brand purchases with a positive outcome that serves to reinforce the behavior ex) free sampling, discount coupon, loyalty card Cognitive Learning (iconic rote learning, vicarious learning, and analytical reasoning)- pg 331-332 Ironic Rote Learning Learning a concept or the association between two or more concepts in the absence of conditioning ex) Head-on ad Vicarious Learning (aka Modeling) Observing the outcomes of others’ behaviors and adjust their own accordingly ex) Oral B Brush-ups Analytical Reasoning Individuals engage in creative thinking to restructure and recombine existing information as well as new information to form new associations and concepts Memory retrieval failure and influencing factors- pg 334-342 Brand Image- pg 342-343 Brand image Refers to the schematic memory of a brand Perceived Product Attributes Manufacturer Marketer Characteristics Users Usage Situations Benefits An important component of brand image is the appropriate usage situations for the product or brand Product Positioning- pg 344 Product Positioning Is a decision by a marketer to try to achieve a defined brand image relative to competition within a market segment Perceptual Mapping- pg 345 Perceptual Mapping Offers marketing managers a useful technique for measuring and developing a product’s position Brand Equity and brand leverage- pg 347 Brand Equity Is the value consumers assign to a brand above and beyond the functional characteristics of the product. Strong Brand Equity enables: 1) Brand Leverage Often termed family branding, brand extensions, or umbrella branding, refers to marketers capitalizing on brand equity by using existing brand name for new products 2) Sub-Branding Creating a secondary brand within a main brand that can help differentiate a product line to a desired target group Motivation, Personality, and Emotion Motivation- pg 360 Motivation Is the reason for behavior A motive is a construct representing an unobservable inner force that stimulates and compels a behavioral response and provides specific direction to that response Consumers buy motive satisfaction or problem resolution Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- pg 360-361, Table 10-1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs A macro theory designed to account for most human behavior in general terms Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is based on four premises 1) All humans acquire a similar set of motives through genetic endowment and social interaction 2) Some motives are more basic or critical than others 3) The more basic motives must be satisfied to a minimum level before other motives are activated 4) As the basic motive becomes satisfied, more advanced motives come into play Need for expression (one of the McGuire’s Psychological Motives)-pg 365 McGuire’s Psychological Motives A fairly detailed set of motives used to account for specific aspects of consumer behavior Need for expression (active, external) This motive deals with the need to express one’s identity to others. Discovering purchase motives (Manifest and latent motive)- pg 367-369, Figure 10-1 Manifest Motives Consumers recognize and will share these motives Latent Motives Consumers are unaware of these motives, or reluctant to admit them Substantially more complex than manifest motives Techniques to uncover latent motives 1) Projective techniques 2) Laddering (= means-end or benefit chain) Regulatory focus theory (Promotion and prevention-focused motives)- pg 372, figure 10-2 Promotion-focused motives Revolve around a desire for growth and development and are related to consumers’ hopes and aspirations Prevention-focused motives Revolve around a desire for safety and security and are related to consumers’ sense of duties and obligations Regulatory Focus Theory Suggests that consumers will react differently depending on which broad set of motives is most salient Personality- pg 373-374 Personality An individual’s characteristic response tendencies across similar situations Consumer ethnocentrism Reflects an individual difference in consumers’ propensity to be biased against the purchase of foreign products Need for cognition Reflects an individual difference in consumers’ propensity to engage in and enjoy thinking Consumer’s need for uniqueness Reflects an individual difference in consumers’ propensity to pursue differentness relative to other through the acquisition, utilization, and disposition of consumer goods Dimensions of brand personality and communication strategies- pg 375-378 Emotion and typology of consumer coping strategies- pg 379, 381 Attitudes Attitude and attitude components –pg. 392-398, Figure 11-1 Attitude An enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual, and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of our environment Attitude Components Cognitive component Consists of a consumer’s beliefs about an object Affective component Feelings or emotional reactions to an object Behavioral component Is one’s tendency to respond in a certain manner toward an object or activity Attitude component consistency –pg. 398-399 All three attitude components tend to be consistent. This means that a change in one attitude component tends to produce related changes in the other components Attitude change strategy for affective component-pg. 402-403 ELM model –pg. 404, Figure 11-3 Elaboration likelihood model A theory about how attitudes are formed and changed under varying conditions of involvement The ELM suggests that involvement is a key determinant of how information is processed and attitudes are changed Communication strategy for attitude formation and change Celebrity sources –pg. 408-409, Figure 11-4 Celebrity sources can be effective in enhancing attention, attitude toward the ad, trustworthiness, expertise, aspirational aspects, and meaning transfer. Effectiveness of celebrity sources enhanced when Marketer Match Endorser with Product and Target Audience Ex) Tiger Woods Comparative ads –pg. 412-413 Directly compare the features or benefits of two or more brands Value-expressive vs. Utilitarian appeals appeal-pg. 414-415 Value-expressive appeals Attempt to build a personality for the product or create an image of the product user. Utilitarian appeals Involve informing the consumer of one or more functional benefits that are important to the target market. Positive vs. Negative Framing-p. 415 Message framing Refers to presenting one of two equivalent value outcomes either in positive or gain terms (positive framing) or in negative or loss terms (negative framing) Self-Concept and Lifestyle Self-concept Defined as the totality of the individual’s thoughts and feelings having reference to himself or herself as an object. Its an individual’s perception of and feelings towards him or herself Interdependent/Independent self-concepts – pg. 428-429 Independent self-concept Emphasizes personal goals, characteristics, achievements, and desires. Individuals with an independent self-concept tend to be individualistic, egocentric, autonomous, self-reliant, and self-contained They define themselves in terms of what they have done, what they have, and their personal characteristics Interdependent self-concept Emphasizes family, cultural, professional, and social relationships. Individuals with an interdependent self-concept tend to be obedient, sociocentric, holistic, connected, and relation oriented. They define themselves in terms of social roles, family relationships, and commonalities with other members of their groups. Possessions and the Extended Self – pg. 429-430 Extended self Consists of the self plus possessions; that is, people tend to define themselves in part by their possessions. Our possessions reflect our beliefs, wants, and inner desires. Extended self = Self + Possessions Tattoos can become a part of one’s extended self Mere ownership effect (AKA the Endowment effect) The tendency of an owner to evaluate an object more favorably than a non-owner Using Self-Concept to Position Products – pg. 432-433 Lifestyle – pg. 434-435, Figure 12-2 Lifestyle How a person lives. It is how one enacts his or her self-concept Influences all aspects of one’s consumption behavior Is determined by the person’s past experiences, innate characteristics, and current situation Ex) Brett Favre’s Wrangler commercial and Tom Brady’s Smart Water commercial Measurement of Lifestyle – pg. 435-436 Psychographics Attempts to develop quantitative measures of lifestyle Measures include: Attitudes- Evaluative statements about other people, places, ideas, products, etc. Values- Widely held beliefs about what is acceptable or desirable Activities and Interests- Non-occupational behaviors to which consumers devote time and effort, such as hobbies, sports, public service, and church Demographics- Age, education, income, occupation, family structure, ethnic background Media Patterns- The specific media the consumers utilize Usage Rates- Measurements of consumption within a specified product category; often consumers are categorized as heavy, medium, or light users or as nonusers. VALS– pg. 439, Figure 12-3 VALS (Social Value and Lifestyle) Provides a systematic classification of U.S. adults into 8 distinct consumer segments Core premise: an individual’s primary motivation determines what in particular about the self or the world is the meaningful core that governs his or her activities. Three Primary Consumer Motivations: 1) Ideals Motivation These consumers are guided in their choices by their beliefs and principles rather than by feelings or desire for social approval. They purchase functionality and reliability. 2) Achievement Motivation These consumers strive for a clear social position and are strongly influenced by the actions, approval, and opinions of others. They purchase status symbols. 3) Self-Expression Motivation These action-oriented consumers strive to express their individuality through their choices. They purchase experiences. PRIZM – pg. 444 Define every household in the U.S. by distinct lifestyle types, called â€Å"segments†, to provide you with a comprehensive picture of who lives where and what they are like. The underlying logic: Geo-Demographic Segmentation People with similar cultural backgrounds, means and perspectives naturally gravitate toward one another. They choose to live amongst their peers in neighborhoods offering †¦compatible lifestyles. They exhibit shared patterns of consumer behavior toward products, services, media and promotions. 4 major social groups of PRIZM: Urban- Major cities with high population density Suburban- Moderately dense â€Å"suburban† areas surrounding metropolitan areas Second City- Smaller, less densely populated cities or satellites to major cities Town and Country- Low-density towns and rural communities

Peace in Multicultural Society

A particular community of people living in a country or region, and having shared customs, laws, and organisations is called a society. In a society, people depend on each other for life. No society can exist without interdependence and this interdependence on each other has turned the world into a global village. Clashes start when there is differences in customs, laws and organisationswithin the same region or a country. Sometimes these differences become so severe that they become the cause of war and terror.Lack of tolerance, accommodation and patience lead a region and country toward devastation. Today there is great angst around the world and all peace-loving organisations, institutions, countries and human beings are unhappy because of increasing hatred and conflicts. Beside these, poverty, unemployment, insecurity and disasters both natural as well man made are the contributing factors to these problems. These all are because of cultural conflicts between human beings. Cultur e, supposed to flourish human life and provide entertainment, has become the cause of hatred by few extremists in society.We can never eliminate hatred, war and conflicts from our society. Human beings were created with war and conflicts as part of their nature but we can reduce these activities through sincere efforts and work on improving our society. For peace, the primary step is tolerance and accommodation and secondary is the exercise of great patience. This way one can ignore those who abuse your culture, religion or customs. All countries are contributing equally to the spread of hate and hatred. No religion on the surface of this Earth preaches hate.However, elements from all faiths are using grossly misinterpreted religious misinformation to spread extremism and terrorism. East is creating terrorists but the West is publishing offensive cartoons of Prophets. If someone in the East is disturbing the peace in this world, one should only punish the guilty not the whole societ y, region or country. The devilish elements should be blamed and punished for their wrong doings not the whole society or a particular culture or religion. Terrorism and torture of human beings are not allowed by any school of thought.Only a few elements in each society spread hate. Behind hate there are many reasons and here some are highlighted. Exercise of unwanted power of powerful countries against weak countries, clash between capitalism and labour, illegal confinement over other resources, supremacy of few nations and ineffectiveness of world organizations like UNO and others. Even well developed and civilized societies are involved in the disturbance of world peace. As a result, man on the one hand is proceeding toward globalization and on the other, he is creating distances between one another.Culture clash is the most dangerous and explosive reason for the destruction of World peace. For long time, we have claimed illiteracy behind the reason for war, terror and all evils in this world but today we have come to know and realise that in fact there is a serious lack of morality not lack of education behind the world's uncertainty. We torture human beings and in turn destroy their inner respect. The repercussions are retaliations, which are far more intense and inhumane.In third world countries like Pakistan there is feudal system operating in certain parts of the country and this system is inherited from the previous generations that cannot be eliminated easily because only these feudal lords can change the system but they would never want their supremacy to be demolished. Revolutions do not occur daily, they only come rarely, and without revolution, change in some societies is never possible. A common person in Third World countries cannot enter politics and only politicians can change the policies.The West needs work force and they want import of men as labour but they are not ready to share capitalism with labour. Trade of goods is liked by every co untry but countries are not ready for the exchange of art and technologies. If terrorist elements existed in Afghanistan what were the sin of all those innocent men, women and children who had been killed in war on terror? No rule and law of humanity allow us to ruin a nation and country because of one devil. There is great lack of justice, tolerance and accommodation around the world.As a result, the life of modest, peace loving and normal common person is disturbed. Peace is needed this time. Each country in this world is facing terrorism and world's approach toward terrorism is not advocated. If any incident takes place in India, it blames Pakistan for this and vice versa. West automatically blames Muslim countries for any terrorism that happens there. These baseless blames on each other not only increase rivalry between nations but also the real culprits take advantage of this situation and escape.Revival on policies over war on terror has become necessary. North and South, West and East are all suffering from these harsh elements and they should all untidily set a new policy to fight against terrorism. The killing of innocent people around the world has become a passion. It requires a very clear division of â€Å"What is private and what is public†. Religion is a private act of man and one must not interfere in any private matters. While public affairs, need to be handled at government level.If someone is bad in our surrounding, we must deal with those devils with an iron fist but within the circle of law. We must stop anyone in a society through dialogue from preaching hatred against any political party or school of thought and make them realise that they are doing wrong and disturbing the peace. This is not an easy job for any individual. Through local, national and international organisations, we can make this possible. In every society, there should be some organizations for the preaching of peace and love.Like in the tribal areas of Pakistan w here young children are brain-washed into becoming terrorist and suicide bombers so why can the government and national and international NGOs not make them civilized human being? What are they all doing and what are they spending those millions and billions of dollars on? As much as this world is spending on war on terror, if some of that money is spent on the preaching of peace we may be able to change the world in the coming years to some extent. Justice is the firmest pillar of a government.We must define public and private affairs and make sure that no one is allowed to interfere in the private activities of others. Among private activities, religion and traditions are of foremost importance at local, national as well as international level. The concept of minority and division of human beings on the bases of races, colours and tribes are unjust within people and society. In private activities we are always interdependent and this interdependence has made us rational and social animals. We cannot live without interacting with each other as well with our external environment.Interrelationship between people always depends on mutual benefits. Even though it should be a give and take relationship, we do tend to give less and take more. We become more sensitive when our rights are under siege but far less sensitive when someone else's rights are under attack. Honesty is the best policy for the stability of human interrelationship but we do not practise this policy often enough. We should be able to enjoy our freedom to the fullest within the limits of the laws of the land. These limits should be set and watched purely by governmental departments, institutions and agencies.If some things are disallowed in one region and allowed in another, both regions should respect each other's feelings and not impose their own rules upon others. The determination and limitation of freedom must be based upon law, culture, religion of any country or region keeping in view the rights of people of other religions living in minority. The United Nations should set limitations through comprehensive dialogue of all member nations keeping in view the demands, needs and interests of each nation. No country should be allowed to interfere in other country's private affairs.The West claims that they are the protector of human rights but recently they have taken the most actions against humanity by interfering in other countries' affairs and have labelled the loss of civilian lives as collateral damage. The freedom of everyone should be restricted within walls and these walls might be religion, culture, tradition and others. Within Eastern countries, there is another great drawback at grass root level. In most Eastern countries, hate is spread among children through textbooks.In their textbooks, there is great admiration for the personalities who had defeated rival countries, religions, invaders or plunderers and great hate for those who had fought with their ances tors centuries ago. As a result, children hate rival nations and this hatred gets stronger when they grow up and spoils the society. Our textbooks must carry lessons of enlightenment, moderation, respect and importance of others, honour of national and international laws, identification of wrongs and rights, good and evils, sense of responsibilities and interdependence of nations and collaboration with their own country.There is a constant competition among the countries for science and technology, industrial and energy enrichment. This is a good and positive phenomenon if the competition is positive. Above all, these said problems and causes are common at all national and international level and suggestions need to be implemented at both levels if we are seeking peace and love within our society as a whole around the world.

Supply Chain Innovations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Supply Chain Innovations - Essay Example IT can also be deemed to be a pull’ (demand) determined inventory system where sub-assemblies, support items, parts and materials are conveyed just when required and neither later or sooner. Its main goal is to eradicate product inventories from chain of supply. As much as an inventory system as a managerial system, JIT covers all activities needed to produce a final product beginning from engineering design onwards to the final manufacturing operation (Radhakrishnan, 2001). Materials requirement planning (MRP) on the other hand is a system of planning and control of inventory that is mostly utilized in the management of the manufacturing processes. Several MRP systems are usually soft-ware based even though MRP can also be performed by use of hand as well. The main aim of MRP system is; ensuring that materials are accessible for production and that products are accessible for transmission to customers, maintenance of lowest possible product and material level in store, planning manufacturing activities, purchasing activities and delivery schedules(Wisner,2012). Both MRP and JIT facilitate firms to make long term plans, which allow a manufacturer to make plans for facility and labor use more efficiently. Both systems assist in reduction of orders that are past-due and lead times (Rao, Krishna,

E-Commerce Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

E-Commerce Systems - Essay Example The direct financial service is advantageous in terms of efficiency in the achievement of needed services. This can be attributed to the fact that, a company or institution provides goal specific services. For example for a bank or a credit card company, one must be linked directly to the site of a specific company. Through the said system less complication can be met. For that matter, the clientele that can be attracted are those who know the discipline and are sure of what they need and want, and those who are not familiar with complicated online systems. For that matter, the said system of financial services can be considered advantageous to a wide variety of consumers. One disadvantage of the said system though is the danger of putting trust on a single entity as compared to the system with intermediaries which in the said case can be considered more secure (Carlon, Ryan and Weledniger, 2010). The financial services with intermediaries on the other hand can provide benefit such as the decrease in transaction costs due to the sharing of assets, goods and services of the different groups and companies that comprise one system. This structure also increases security based on the fact that risks that can be encountered are shared by the whole group. A disadvantage that can be cited though is the complex structure that can create certain problems in different transactions and financial services (Carlon, Ryan and Weledniger, 2010). Australian Government Treasury (1999) Financial Products, Service Provides and Markets – An Integrated Framework [online]. Available from: [Accessed 20 May 2010]. Carlon, M., Ryan, M. and Weledniger, R. (2010) The Five Golden Rules of Online Branding [online]. Available from Dynamic Logic, AdRelevance and 24/7 Media: [Accessed 20 May 2010]. Reverse auctions

Diverfsity in Small Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Diverfsity in Small Business - Research Paper Example One of the main reasons why people start small businesses and their advantages over large business is the fact that their start up requires lower capital than a large business; it can also function on a part time basis than a full time basis. Also small business can cater to niches more than large businesses and without being tied down to any beauracratic hierarchy. Lastly, independence is a factor that appeals to many; the ability to make their own decisions and be flexible in the workplace without looking up to anyone and relying on their decision making. However, small business do lag in some areas; such as the fact that their size makes it difficult for them to obtain loans and other means of capital as well, so there is a chance of bankruptcy or undercapitalization especially on the grounds against large business, small business lose out. Therefore, they need to sharpen their competitive edge in other areas, so that they can remain active and flourish even in competition with la rge businesses as well as small businesses such as them (Fox, 2004). Diversifying is one of the ways in which small business can get an edge over other businesses. Diversity can be taken in the context of workers being from different cultures, religions etc. however, broadly defined as differences between people, be it according to gender, culture, race etc. It brings greater perspective to an organization and fresher ideas to the table, and teaming up and working with different members of the society is beneficial for the organization as they learn to understand and be creative. Diversity is more than a social phenomenon to make an organization have a good feel and a more humane approach to it. It is a crucial aspect of a globalized world, where the world is becoming more and more interconnected every single day with speedier internet and other resources at the disposal of mankind. And since larger organizations can take better benefit of these resources considering their budgets a re usually much larger than those of smaller organizations, smaller organizations can at least become more adept at making themselves as diverse as possible. Consumers are also extremely diverse; and if the company is diverse, they can relate better and consume more consequentially than someone who feels disconnected with a company. Products are now made by a range of people; a product raw material could be bought from a person with a different background, made by someone else, and sold by someone else; and these are just a few basic functions managed by different people, whereas there a million process that go on in making a product. The world of organizations is also becoming more and more consumer oriented than before. Consumers possibly call most of the shots in the making and selling of products; companies cannot force them to buy their products, and they will not make something that doesn’t sell. One of the things that consumers will notice is the reputation of the comp any, what it believes in and projects. And if a company fails that test with consumers; then they have plenty of other companies at their disposal. Which also highlights another fact that consumers are not short of choices; so a company has to work hard and long to keep attracting them in the way that they would like to be wooed, and diversification is a key factor in attracting customers and making your products or services their preferences, over other companies. A big

Person Centered Counseling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Person Centered Counseling - Essay Example His professional struggle against orthodox psychiatry has reminded a scholar of Martin Luther’s stand against the catholic church. Roger’s person centered approach (to psychotherapy; to education; to small encounter groups; and to larger groups assembled for the purpose of improving transitional understanding, exploring intergroup conflicts, and learning the nature of culture and its formation) has been committed to such contortions. For example, there is a proposal to wed the person-centered approach with Taoism’s technique of the â€Å"microcosmic orbit†, and no less serious, coupling the person-centered approach with a French Physician’s philosophy of human development based on the architecture of the human inner ear. Another past time is to construct elaborate arguments to show Rogers was in the Existentialist line of dissension and then scold him for not admitting his debt to his forbearers. The fact is what are called existential attitudes and behaviours in his approach developed independently of any contact with the philosophy of extentialism. It was while he was director of the counseling center at the University of Chicago and Roger’s major work on psychotherapy was well established that his intellectual trajectory intersected with the Extentionalists. His intention as a psychotherapist and his research methods concentrated on the phenomenon of effective therapy. Thus, one may find many examples of phenomenology in his work.. The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, while writing on the "collective unconscious", is said to have coined the term translated "transpersonal". Like most of psychology, transpersonal psychology intends to help individuals realize deeper self-understanding, improve the health of their minds and bodies and lead more effective lives. In working with individual clients, transpersonal psychologists are said to be dealing with more than just the mere persona. Thus, they focus their attention on the whole person: "Spirit, mind and body". Though this may be the goal of other psychotherapies, it is the means that transpersonal psychologists may differ from their colleagues. To accomplish their objectives, they may analyze dreams, explore "peak experiences", or delve into paranormal phenomena, such as revelations from "past lives". Other methods may involve provoking altered states of consciousness through the use of drugs, hypnosis, guided fantasies, breathing exercises, meditation, and other "spiritual" practices. It is unlikely that Rogers would have approved of some of these activities, particularly where the therapists exerts authoritarian control over the client. Certainly he could not be considered to be a transpersonal psychologist in an unqualified sense. Roger's world view and his practice of psychotherapy should be understood as a integrated approach that he cultivated over his entire life. His (person-centered) approach evolved over time out of a specific stance or way of being, which can be described as consisting not only of certain beliefs and attitudes, but also abilities that improved with

How did Nazi Germany deploy history to justify their involvement in Essay

How did Nazi Germany deploy history to justify their involvement in the World War II - Essay Example From that period, the economic global depression resulted in hyperinflation, mass unemployment, social unrest by which Hitler provided people like the Jews. He promised peace that was civil, economic radical policies and national pride restoration and unity. Rhetoric Nazi was a nationalist and the Jews who were submissive were seen to be responsible for all the ills of the Germans1. In September 1939, Germany attacked Poland, which led to the Second World War. Almost five to six million Germans died during the war. Most of them were victims of the political Nazi and two hundred thousand were killed in the euthanasia program of the Nazi. There were also many rapes of women from Germany. After Poland had been conquered, Hitler cantered attention on defeating France and Britain. As the war increased, the party of Nazi created an alliance with Italy and Japan in the Pact Tripartite of the year 1940. In the vicious fighting that, the troops of Nazi struggled to make real the goal of defeating the major communist power of the world that was long-held. Germany got itself fighting in France, Italy, North Africa and the Balkans. At the commencing of the Second World War, the party of Nazi and Hitler were fighting to conquer Europe and after five years they were struggling to exist2. In 1939, the month of September, the soldiers of Hitler attacked Poland. It followed six years with Hitler participating fully in the war. It also included the youth up to the youngest child. The Second World War was facilitated by two alliances which were in conflict with each other. The conflicting associations were the Allied side and the Axis nations. The powers that led were the Germany Nazi, the Italy kingdom, and the Japan Empire. On the other hand, France and the United Kingdom including their colonial empires, Soviet Union, China, and USA were the leading powers of the other alliance. The reason the Nazi participated in the

The Significance of Home as a Impotent Subject in Modern Architecture Essay

The Significance of Home as a Impotent Subject in Modern Architecture - Essay Example This paper aims to study and understand the focus of modern architecture towards housing designs and its importance. For this purpose, Le Corbusier has been selected as an individual architect of modern architecture who formed various principles for house designs. A number of factors have been added in the discussion paper to understand the intensity of significance given to house design by the modern architects. Before understanding the context of the modern architecture and housing design, it is important to understand the vision of Le Corbusier. The Swiss architect was famous for his urban designing and theories that were later worked upon by various writers. It comes visible from his theories that home needed a revamp as traditional homes had limits in providing relation and signatory style to its owner. Most importantly, the defensible space theory was also formulated in this context. It was noted that houses were no less than a sacred place for people to live in. They had a control over their spaces and everything that was in that space. It was for this reason that the modern architects had to come up with new features of house design. It was for this reason that the modern architecture experienced new features in the design and architecture of housing projects. These included the inclusion of pilotis, free plan, roof garden etc1. The addition of pilots in the house design in modern architecture allowed the mass to be held in elevation as it provided support. It can be marked that free plan was obtained with the help of separation of load-bearing columns. These columns rather worked as a base for creating walls to divide the free plan into different spaces. In addition, it should be noted that Le Corbusier made use of the free faà §ade that provided corollary which further created the vertical plane for house designing2. The material which was previously being used by the architects also changed to a great extent.

Training Need Analysis and Evaluation of Training Effectiveness Essay Example for Free

Training Need Analysis and Evaluation of Training Effectiveness Essay To assess how the organizational objectives will be realized through the delivery of a staff training programme that will focus on improved and/or changed skills, knowledge and/or attitudes of those directly involved or affected by the ‘change’ †¢To understand the process and importance of measuring training effectiveness in the organization †¢To measure the expressed needs of training effectiveness at work place from the individual †¢To find out the obstacles in the proper utilization and increase the effectiveness of Training programs and try to suggest remedial measures wherever possible. To decide what specific training each employee needs and what will improve their job performance. To differentiate between the need for training and organizational issues. Performing a training gap or needs analysis involves comparing what a person knows with what they need to know in the context of their particular job functions. Performing a gap analysis helps to eliminate over and under training and in so doing increases training effectiveness and efficiency. Measuring Training Effectiveness will help the organization Have a well-structured measuring system in place which can help the organization determine where the problem lies. This will provide the organization with an idea of where it sits in terms of training system effectiveness and in giving it the structure the administration need to construct a roadmap for improvement. This project will help in finding out the obstacles in the proper utilization and increase the effectiveness of Training programs and try to suggest remedial measures wherever possible. BHEL has always been ahead with their innovating HR practices. Thrust to develop and nurture the participative culture in the Company has continued since long. Human Resource Development has always been the focus area in BHEL. Workshops have been conducted from time to time for Supervisors and Executives on Enhancing Organisational Effectiveness. The objective of the workshop was to bring about better understanding and appreciation of the issues being faced both by the Company and the employees. The Training system at BHEL has always been exemplary. During 2002-03, 40466 participants were exposed to different training programs in various training Centers at Units as well as at apex level in NOIDA. Besides, 3700 Act Apprentices and 1300 Technician Apprentices were also provided with training at BHEL’s Units, as part of fulfillment of its social obligation towards the society. Also, towards its ongoing efforts for higher customer satisfaction, around 1100 customers personnel were provided training inputs on its products at Training Centers in the Units. Thus an opportunity to study at BHEL will be both enlightening and enriching. An organization either Business or Industrial Enterprises, needs many factors for its growth, further development and for its very survival. The most important factors are Capital, Materials, Machineries and Human Resources as the success or failure of any organization depends on the effective combination of these factors. Managing all other factors are comparatively easier than managing Human Resources. The Human Resources are most important and need to be handled carefully. Since all the other factors are handled by the human resources, they have to be trained in a effective manner to utilize the resources at optimal level to get the desired output and thereby to reach the organization goals. The effective combination of all these factors results to way for success. Training is defined as learning that is provided in order to improve performance on the present job. A persons performance is improved by showing her how to master a new or established technology. The technology may be a piece of heavy machinery, a computer, a procedure for creating a product, or a method of providing a service. Oliver Sheldon says ‘No industry can rendered efficient so long as the fact remains unrecognized that the in principally human – not a mass of machines and technical process but a body of men. If manpower is properly utilized it causes the industry to run at its maximum optimization getting results and also work for as an climax for industrial and group satisfaction in the relation to the work formed. Competitive advantage is therefore depend on the knowledge and skill possessed by employee more than the finance or market structure by organization. The employee training not only serves the purpose to develop their employers but also safe guard organizational objectives of survival and success through competitive advantages. The training function now popularly called as Human Resource In recent years, the scope of Training and Development has broadened from simply providing training programs to facilitating learning throughout the organization in a wide variety of ways. There is increasing recognition that employees can and should learn continuously, and that they can learn from experience and from each other as well as from formally structured training programs. Nevertheless, formal training is still essential for most organizations or teach them how to perform in their initial assignment, to improve the current performance of employees who may not be working as effectively as desired, to prepare employees for future promotions and increased responsibilities. The Computer Application Training and New Employee Training are most popular training topics. Various Management and supervisory skills such as leadership, performance appraisal, interviewing, and problem solving were also commonly taught. Many organization provide ‘Train-the trainer’ courses for superiors or peers who will in turn provide on-the-job training to others. Besides being one of the most important HRM functions, Training and Development is also one of the most expensive. Meaning and Definition: After an employee is selected, placed and introduced, he or she needs to be provided with training facilities. The training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skill of an employee for doing the particular job. Training is a short term educational process and utilizing systematic and organized procedure by which an employee is learned the technical knowledge. Definition: Staimez: defines ‘Training is a short term process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which non-managerial personnel to learn technical knowledge and skill† Mamoria: defines â€Å"Development covers not only the activities which improve job performance, but also those which b ring about growth of personality, helps individual in the process towards maturity and actualization of this potential capacities so that they become not only good employees but also both good men and women. S. P. Robbins: Defines â€Å"Training is a learning process which seeks a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. Dale Yoder: Defines â€Å"It is that deals with the effective control and use of manpower as a distinguished from other source of man power† Training is part of Human Resource Development. It is concerned with concerned with training, development, and education. Training has been defined as an organized learning experience, conducted in a definite time period, to increase the possibility of improving job performance and growth. Organized means that it is conducted in a systematic way. Although learning can be incidental, training is concerned with the worker learning clear and concise standards of performance or objectives. Training is the acquisition of technology which permits employees to perform their present job to standards. It improves human performance on the job the employee is presently doing or is being hired to do. Also, it is given when new technology in introduced into the workplace. Principle of Training: 1. Training Plan: This must be well planned, prescribed and ably executed effective implementation depends to great extend on planning. Organizational objectives: T D program must meet objectives of the Organization 3. Equity and fairness: T and D program must enjoy equal opportunity to drive benefit out of such training and must have equal chance to undergo such training. 4. Application specification: Training content is balanced between theory and practical. It must be ‘Application specification’/ 5. Upgrading information: T and D program is continuous reviewed at periodic interval as order to make them updated in terms of knowledge and skill. 6. Top Management support: Top management support is essential to make Training and Development effective. 7. Centralization: For economy of effective uniformity and efficiency, centralization of training department is found more common and useful. 8. Motivation – Training and Development have motivation aspects like better career opportunity, individuals skill development etc. , Importance of training in recent years: Recent changes in the environment of business have made the Training and Development function even more important in helping organization maintain competitiveness and prepare for the future. Technological innovations and the pressure of global competition have changed the ways organizations operate and the skills that their employee need. The tight labor market has increased the importance of training in several ways. First higher employee turnover means that more new employees need training. Second, it has been suggested that frequent and relevant development experiences are an effective way to gain employee loyalty and enhance retention of top-quality staff. Need for Training: Training must be tailored to fit the organization’s strategy and structure. It is seen as pivotal in implementing organization-wide culture-change efforts, such as developing a commitment to customer service, adopting total quality management, or making a transition to self-directed work teams. Pace-setting Human Resource Development departments have moved from simply providing training on demand to solving organizational problems. Trainers see themselves as internal consultants or performance improvement specialists rather than just instructional designers or classroom presenters. Training is only one of the remedies that may be applied by the new breed of Human Resource Development practitioners. In an age of network organizations, alliances, and long-term relationships with just-in-time suppliers, leading companies are finding that they need to train people other than their own employees. Some organization offer quality training to their suppliers to ensure the quality of critical inputs. Organisations with a strong focus on customer service may provide training for purchasers to their product.

Red Bull and Beverage Industry Essay Example for Free

Red Bull and Beverage Industry Essay What are the underlying drivers of change and how might those forces individually or collectively make the industry more or less attractive? Now energy drink, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced is evolving. Energy drink, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced in the beverage market, external and internal environment under pressure, causing it to change. The energy drink, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced from 2009 began to develop, to grow from $1. 58 trillion in 2009 to nearly $1. 78 trillion in 2014. Market is very rapid. I feel the market underlying drivers the following: 1. The influence of Globalization: the global beverage industry was project to grow from $1. 58 trillion in 2009 to nearly $1. 78 trillion in 2014 as beverage producers entered new geographic markets, development new types of beverages and continued to create demand fir popular drink . These new products to market has generated new creativity and new applications, so as to increase the intensity of competition in the market, the beverage market is booming. Because globalization, lead to product innovation development, Each enterprise according to new market policy undertook a series of adjustment. . Buyers demand increases, resulting in the beverage industry development: Now many of the buyers to pay attention to nutritional balance and complement, so energy drink, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced have a more broad market. 4. What  does  your  strategic  group  map  of  the  energy  drink,  sports  drink,  and  vitamin-enhanced  beverage  industry  look  like? Which  strategic  groups  do  you  think  are  in  the  best  positions? The  worst  positions? The  Red  bull  energy  drinks  was  created  in  1966. It  became  the  one  of  the  first  energy  drinks  in  the  world. In the fast moving consumer goods, beverage industry belongs to the keen industry, but the huge demand, walk quantity is the most effective way to enlarge its profit, small profits but quick turnover is also the retailers general technique, so the enterprise sales also often in several hundred million, billions of above, but the investment funds is very big, so the new industry enterprise also often be some big corporations. Marketing force, marketing force, it refers to the marketing strategy and the marketing ability of organization. For example in china, , want to stand out in many products, must be competitive marketing strategy and a good marketing organization system. Channel force, it refers to the channel management ability, in the fast pin product, channel for the king, even if you have good products, put a great amount of expenses to do publicity without to channel intensive cultivation, or do bad market, can not reach walk quantity task, meager profit but high turnover pin link will break chain, will give enterprise to bring the serious loss. . What recommendations would you make to Coca-Cola to improve its competitiveness in the global alternative beverage industry? To PepsiCo? To Red Bull GmbH 1 internal Strengthen control of quality and learn more information about requirements for energy beverage in different nation. And I saw that lots of news about Red bull which include illegal composition in recent years. In 2009, Germany check out Red Bull Cola (Red Bull Cola) contains 0. PPM of cocaine 30 may 2 009, Taiwan police check out Austria import red bull energy drinks contain extremely trace level of drug cocaine 1 June 2009 Hong Kong, 11 February 2012 China, Negative news would significant impacted a company or industry, especially Drinking and food industry. Everything about eating. In addition, there are lots of new beverage brand in the world. If Negative news led to lose market, company would very hard to get market back

How Computer Mediated Communication Affect Students English Language Essay

How Computer Mediated Communication Affect Students English Language Essay There are many genres in computer-mediated communication which are e-mails, chat-groups and the World Wide Web, etc. CMC is one of the popular forms of written language nowadays. CMC also changes peoples way of thinking. The CMC discourse affects students writing competence in a certain extent. This research discovers the occurrence of CMC discourse in students writing and how CMC affects their writing competence. Chapter 1 Introduction Since the rapid development of Internet and mass media, people are more rely on using Internet and mass media to obtain information. (Flanagin and Metzger, 2000) Internet covers almost all the topic that people know that is an ocean of information. It is much more quickly searching information though the Internet than reading entire books or collections. People exchange data and communicate thought different genres of Internet devices. Internet seems become an inevitable part in education and communication. Many new formats of media appear, like online forum, instant message program, short message service (SMS), etc. Language maintains social relationship between people, which is a sub-filed of linguistics called sociolinguistics. When new formats of communication appear, language patterns also change to distinguish whether people belongs to the group or not. The wording students use in the Internet will be different from the formal ones. Scholars like Crystal (2001) called the use of computer for communication computer mediated communication (CMC). There are asynchronous (delay) communication tools and synchronous (real-time) communication tools in CMC. Electronic mail systems (e-mail), newsgroups and bulletin board system (BBS) are the examples of asynchronous communication tools; instant messaging systems, like MSN Messenger and QQ, are the example of synchronous communication tool. One of the major advantages of such synchronous CMC is to bring together geographically dispersed students, and add immediacy and increase motivation. Teachers are encouraged to use CMC in their teaching, but the impact of CMC which is affect students writing competence negatively, especially second language (L2) learners. Computer equipments are essential in L2 classroom, no matter which level the students are. Writing competence shows students comprehensive language ability. Most importantly, students use the computer as a learning tool and entertainment in their leisure time. Teachers cannot measure the negative effect that CMC language brings. As students may think that using CMC language is trendy and more fashionable, they tend to use the wording in the Internet and this writing style may affect their formal writing unconsciously. This research paper investigates how computer-mediated communication affects students writing competence at Beijing Normal University- Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). UIC is the first university that cooperated by Mainland China and Hong Kong. It is a new liberal arts college to serve China and the world. Chapter 2 Literature Review The previous chapter has a brief introduction on this research paper. According to Qin (2010), CMC is multi-dimensional and takes many forms synchronous (participants are on-line at the same time and interactions occur at the same time) or asynchronous (participants need not to be on-line at the same time). CMC can be one-to-one or many-to-many communication. Consider the following figure: Figure 1 CMC features From the Figure 1, there are main types of CMC. The forms of CMC may then be classified depending on they are synchronous or not and on the number of participants who are involved in the interactions. The full name of IRC is internet relay chat. According to Jarkko and Darren (1993) it is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer. A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users (players) are connected at the same time. (Rawn, James, 1995) CMC also characterized of the structures of interaction: one-to-one interaction, one-to-many interaction, and many-to-many interaction. (Qin, 2010) For example, Lee (2002) suggested that a mailing list like the Linguist List would be and example of one-to-many CMC system, where a message is oftern sent to an unknown group of recipients. According to Beauvois Eledge (1996), CMC is a channel for synchronous or asynchronous written exchanges which is an excellent facilitator of communication. Swaffar (1998) also said that CMC engages learner more frequently, students have greater confidence and enthusiasm in communicative process. December (1996) suggested a more comprehensive definition of CMC: Internet based, computer-mediated communication involves information exchange that takes place on the global, cooperative collection of networks using the TCP/ IP protocol suite and the client-server model for the data communication. Messages may undergo a range of time and distribution manipulations and encode a variety of media types. The resulting information content exchanged can involve a wide range of symbols people use for communication. Language in Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) mentioned that CMC means communication between humans using the medium of the computer like e-mail, World-Wide Web, chat rooms (Crystal, 2001). Mobile phone text messaging can also be seen as a variety of CMC, although it does not use a computer as such. CMC also claimed that there are several notable linguistic features of CMC, such as orthography, vocabulary, grammar, discourse and text, paralinguistics and graphics. CMC demonstrates a mixture of features drawn from prototypically spoken and prototypically written media. Since CMC text-type is more informal, spoken style of writing, students may get used to write the informal forms in their assignments. There is a relationship between CMC and writing competence. According to Wang, CMC has played its irreplaceable role in language teaching classroom especially in collaborative writing. It also brings new challenges on language teaching. Beauvois (1997) found that LAN (local area network) does not only improve the students writing but also their confidence and general ability to express them. However, LAN is based on the synchronously interaction, it is thus basically a type of oral language rather than formal writing, which according to Beauvois, may also result in better spoken language. The discourse characteristics that commonly use in CMC language are orthography, vocabulary, grammar, discourse and text and paralinguistics and graphics (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002). Orthography means the informal (phonetic) spelling, speed-writing (especially with mobile phones) and absence of capitalization (even with pronoun I and proper names). For example, do wot I did; thx 4 ur txt; ill be over later on in the day. (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Vocabulary means informal wording, use of injections and use of in-terms and abbreviations, like ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), IMHO (in my humble opinion and LOL (laugh out loud). There are also formal abbreviations, for instances DNS (domain name system), BBS (bulletin board system and BBC (blind carbon copy). (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Grammar means telegraphic language and multiple coordination/ subordination in sequence. For example, Have forwarded the N e-mail. (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Discourse and text mean the use of interaction features (e.g. questions), stream of consciousness writing, message-comment structures in e-mail and hypertext. (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Paralinguistics and graphics mean spaced letters. Multiple letters, alternative markers for emphasis (!!!!!, $%^%$#), capitalization, little or excessive punctuation, emoticons (WOOOOOW, hahahaha). (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Research Question: How CMC language affects students writing competence? The next chapter outlines the methodology of data collection and analysis this research. Chapter 3 Methodology In the previous chapter, the literature review stated that there are different characters of computer mediated communication discourse, like lexicon, graphology and orthography. In this research, a quasi-experiment was used to investigate the possible characteristics of CMC in students writing. Achen (1986) stated that Quasi-experiments are something other than a random sample of the relevant population with random assignment to treatment and control groups. Although quasi-experiment is not a real experiment that can show the accurate result from control group and experimental group, it still has its necessity in this research. Achen (1986) pointed out that sue to randomization may be physically, economically or politically impossible and controlled field trials may be impossible, quasi-experiment is necessary used in research. Firstly, people sometimes cannot fully measure all the factors causing a result, so it is necessary to based on quasi-experimental evidence. Secondly, the assignment to experimental and control groups must be taken as fixed, and all hope of randomization abandoned. (Achen, 1986) Pretest and posttest are another methodology that used in this research, showing the relationship between students writing competence and computer-mediated communication discourse. Group TimeÆ’Â   Exp O X O Cnt O N O (O= observation or measure; X= treatment; N= no treatment) Firgure2: Pretest and Postest From Figure2 (Yan, 2012), if change from pre- to post-test for treatment group and not for control group (or not as much), change can be attributed to the treatment) assuming proper experimental controls) Teachers face difficulties in enhancing students writing competence, especially the vocabulary and grammar rules. New mass media, like mobile phones and the Internet, are used in communicate the messages through network and those media change the language style a lot for people to fit in the Internet needs. (Bennett, 2003) The Internet brings a huge freedom on writing for students (Liu, n.d.), students not only using CMC discourse in daily communication, but also in their works. Teachers take writing competence as the most seriously compare to other competence, however CMC discourse brings certain negative effect on students. (Liu, n.d.) According to Liu (n.d.), the Internet is a double edge sword. It brings a lot of convenience, but also traps those immature students. If students addicted on surfing the Net and chatting through different synchronic response tools (like ICQ, MSN), they neglect the classic readings since these readings are not as interesting as CMC discourse. Writing competence is not only including using correct grammar, right word choice, but also including the correct and healthy values that students express. It is an influential way to promote negative values through Internet. Students writing competence can not be improved if they keep influenced by CMC discourse. In the chapter of literature review, lexicon, graphology and orthography are the three main characters of CMC discourse. The research is based on these characters to analysis students writing competence when they start engaging with English CMC discourse. This research may help teacher to find out the relationship between writing and help them to figure out a balance between CMC discourse and writing competence. Some teachers may overuse the Internet in their teaching, and bring negative effects to their students. The findings of my study may also contribute to raising both teachers and students awareness of using computer mediated communication. 3.1 Background information of the targets There are eight targets in this research, who are all Year 1 students come from the major of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) in Beijing Normal University- Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). As the entrance requirements of English score is higher than other major in UIC, which requires 110 out of 150 in Chinas college entrance examination (Gaokao). All the targets scored the minimum marks in their English Gaokao, which illustrated their original English competence better than some other students in UIC. The researcher gives the subjects a list of selected CMC discourse that is commonly used in chat rooms, texting and BBS. (Appendix1) After they know CMC, they need to write a 100-word essay every week. There is not limitation on their writing topics. The whole experiment lasts about a month. This research also aims at helping them adapt a totally new learning environment which is using English as the medium of instruction. UIC is a liberal arts school and uses English as the medium of instruction. It is much difficult for TESL Year 1 students to adapt; due to there are many linguistics terms and higher requirements on writing competence. 3.2 Data collection The subjects were TESL Year 1 students who have little influence by the Internet, so the research finding will be more accurate. It is because the enclosed education system in China, students are not allowed to leave high schools except weekends. As the new and released, teacher is responsible for not only teaching but also for students personal safety. One of the researches said that the most effective ways to ensure students safety is not allowed them leave the campus without permission and abandon other extra curriculum activities. The only thing students can do in the campus is study hard so many of them do not have chance to surf the Net in Chinese, let alone English. There are eight participants joint this experiment. Both data from pre test and post test are also needed in the research. According to Dimitrov, and Rumrill (2003), pretest-posttest are widely used in behavioral research, which aim to comparing groups and/ or measuring changes from the experimental treatments. A quasi-experiment will be conducted because it is difficult to do a full experiment, since we cannot find a group of people who have never touch the Internet to be the control group. Also there are some other reasons that can affect students writing competence. Organize pretest-posttest control group design which allows researcher to control the variable of time and maturation. In most schools and classrooms, random selection is not possible. The groups of participants are nonequivalent, so their characteristics are different too. It is better to do quasi-experiment to avoid threat validity. Johnson (2008) mentioned that validity is the degree to which a thing measures what it reports to measure. 3.3 Data Coding Scheme and Instrumentation A coding scheme was created from the literature review of CMC language characteristics, which stating the categories of CMC. The scheme included three different levels; they are lexicon level, graphology level and orthography level. On the lexicon level, there are neologisms (new words), abbreviations (short forms), acronyms (formal short forms) and rebuses (combination with numbers and letters). (Crytal, 2001) On the graphology level, there are change words to numbers (use 1 instead of one) and punctuation (use more than one punctuation marks to express emotions). On the orthography level, there are paralinguistics cues (for example hahaha) The research is based on these characters to analysis students writing. There is a evaluate sheet (Appendix 3) that used to count how many times does these properties appear in students writings. Marking the maximum frequency of each properties exit in the writings, finding out the mean and standard deviation of the frequency are the ways to show the data. Mean has three related meanings in statistics, the arithmetic means of a sample, the expected value of a random variable and the mean of a probability distribution. (Feller, 1950) The mean on the evaluation sheet is the arithmetic mean, which is equal to the sum of the values divided by the number of values. (Feller, 1950) Standard deviation shows how much variation exists from the mean. A high standard deviation illustrates the data points spreading out over a large range of values; a low standard deviation illustrates the data points are very close to the mean. In other words, higher standard deviation the category has the more effect on that category from CMC discourse. 3.4 Data Analysis The research question explored how CMC discourse affected students writing competence. The subjects should write one free writing a week, and last a month (they should write four writings in total). There are no topic restricts, they can write any topic they like. The first step is to find out the actual CMC discourse occurrence in their first writing. Then giving subjects some selected CMC discourse, those words are commonly use in chat room, texting and BBS. Asking subjects to write a 100-word essay in the following four weeks, aim at observe how CMC affect writing competence. The aim of the writing is looking into are there any CMC discourse occur in their writing after the researcher give the material to them. Find out the relationship between CMC and students writing competence. Some of the subjects were interviewed in an informal way, like chatting through QQ (a famous synchronic chatting tool in China). The first step was reading and rereading students writings. During the reading and revising the metacommunicative vocabulary should be paid attention to, which indicated how CMC discourse affects their writing competence. According to Xia (2006), the metacommunicative vocabulary is the language that subjects used to talk about their language use in communication. For example, subjects used different short forms in their writing that stated out the importance of shorten their writing time. In their point of view, short forms are their metacommunication vocabulary. 3.5 Result After coding, all occurrences of CMC discourse have been calculated according to subjects writings. Each subject included one pretest writing and three posttest writings, in total was four. Due to it took time to wait for the effect; the quasi-experiment lasted about a month. Table 1 is the summary of frequencies of CMC discourse in subjects writings in week 1, which is the pretest. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 6 0.75 2.12 Acronyms 1 0.125 0.35 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 0 0 Punctuation 0 0 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 1 0.125 0.35 Table 1: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 1 (N=8) From Table 1, the highest maximum frequency was using abbreviations in one subjects writing. Neologisms, rebuses, change words to numbers and punctuation were not found in subjects writing. It was the subjects writing from Week 1. The result was not out of exception, since the eight subjects have no understanding about CMC discourse. In most of the writings from Week 1, there was no CMC discourse. Correspond with their past lifestyle that they said in informal interview through QQ that lived in an enclosed education system. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 5 2.5 1.92 Acronyms 0 0 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 1 0.125 0.35 Punctuation 4 1 1.41 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 0 0 Table 2: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 2 (N=8) From Table 2, the highest maximum frequency was using abbreviations in one subjects writing. Neologisms, acronyms, rebuses, punctuation and paralinguistic cues were not found in subjects writing. For the subjects, abbreviation is the easiest category to handle and reduce their time on dropping notes during the class. Therefore, the category of abbreviation has the maximum frequency in Week 2. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 7 2.63 2.97 Acronyms 1 0.25 0.46 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 8 1 2.83 Punctuation 6 1.75 2.55 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 0 0 Table 3: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 3 (N=8) From Table 3, the highest maximum frequency was changing words to numbers in one subjects writing. Neologisms, rebuses and paralinguistic cues were not found in subjects writing. In Week 3, the data has a little bit different with Week 2. The maximum frequency in subjects writings still was abbreviations. As mentioned in the literature review, abbreviations mean the informal short form, like BTW (by the way). Since using abbreviations can shorten their time in writing, the subjects preferred abbreviations. Some of the abbreviations are not on the list; they searched for extra abbreviations on themselves. CMC discourse was a totally new issue for the Year 1 students in TESL. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 10 3.63 3.07 Acronyms 2 0.25 0.71 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 2 0.25 0.71 Punctuation 3 1.25 1.49 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 0 0 Table 4: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 4 (N=8) From Table 4, the highest maximum frequency was using abbreviations in one subjects writing. Neologisms, rebuses and paralinguistic cues were not found in subjects writing. This was the last posttest writing for the subjects. The subjects adapted the formal writing style in their English class, so their writing became more academic than the first week. Some of them would create their own CMC discourses, which was not on the list that the researcher gave them. The subjects started to handle the rules of CMC discourse. The research question explored how CMC discourse affected students writing competence. This question is related to whether CMC discourse occurred in their writings. Analysis of the informal interview data discovered different ways that CMC discourse affected students writing competence, such as use abbreviation of everything in writing and peer pressure. Use abbreviation of everything in writing. Most of the subjects said that the most direct effect on CMC discourse was started to use abbreviation. Since when they were in high school, their English teacher told them to remember as much vocabulary as they can. If they recite more vocabulary than others, they had the advantage to enter university. Therefore, they had never experienced using abbreviation before, and surely did not understand the situation in UICspelling is not the most important issue in study. In UIC, students who could handle the academic knowledge and express their own constructive opinion would be success. Note dropping is one of the key elements to absorb academic knowledge through the lectures, so the category of abbreviation has been used at maximum frequency in three weeks out of four. There is a Chinese saying Once you form a habit, it becomes natural to you. All subjects realized the difference between CMC discourse and academic, however they cannot avoid of u sing CMC discourse when they write. They write their heart by their hands directly, without the second thought and double check before handed the writing in. One of the subjects explained the situation that using abbreviation in the writing, It seems that using abbreviation become my habit, no matter on writing drafts or drop notes. The short form of the words comes out naturally. Peer pressure is another reason cause CMC discourse affects students writing competence. The eight subjects in this research paper would communicate with each other, and discuss how much CMC discourse they used in the writing. They take this research as a competition in a certain extend. As the researcher interviewed them in informal way, the subjects showed a sense of competitiveness toward others. They thought that the one who could utilize CMC discourse well would be the winner in the competition they have imagine. One of the subjects said that I can lose my face on using CMC discourse. I can defeat the others, as my English is better than others. The data indicated that the effect of CMC discourse nearly became their writing habit. The data also figured out that peer pressure also affect the frequency of using CMC discourse. The most directly effect of CMC discourse in students writing competence was abbreviations, for instance using informal short forms, like govt. (government) and edu. (education). The next chapter will discuss some limitations of this research and suggest some ways to improve this research. Chapter 4 Discussion The research explored how CMC discourse affects students writing competence. According to the informal interview, CMC discourse had a big impact on their writings. The language transforms with the technology development and ways of thinking in different cultural stages. (Ong, 1967, 1982) According to Ong (1967), there are three stages in the development of cultures: oral-aural, script and electronic stage. All these stages showed the transformation of language. Ong noticed that when language transforms, it will change the way of thinking. Therefore, the ways of thinking changed were reflected in the use of language when people communicate to each other. CMC discourse, as a new format of communication, changes the way of thinking and traditional communication. Form the result of this research, the frequency of using abbreviation affects the subjects writing competence. Due the existence of CMC discourse brought a great impact in their thinking ways, which is a totally new concept to t he subjects. There are two controversial arguments in CMC; (i) CMC has brought negative effects and challenges to standard of language, which affect students writing competence indirectly; (ii) CMC existed as a new form of language and literacy. (Crystal, 2001) If one can handle both languages which use in daily life and standard language, this would be the best situation. No one would worry about how CMC affect students writing competence, but it is impossible for the one unacted on CMC. The problem is the gap between standard language and language change. New form of a language would be standardizing if most people evolving and changing the usage in this way. Due to the limitation of time and resources, this research may not reflect the true effect that CMC language brings to students writing. In their work, it was hard to examine precisely the effect of CMC language. Their original writing competence and English ability may also affect the performance in the writing. Different subjects have vary ability of absorb information, so some subjects may not accept new knowledge in a short period of time. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the English ability of the eight subjects is quite good when they enter UIC. Before they enter the university, they would have a three-month-holiday; most of them would not pay attention to the academic knowledge. Especially, languages, like English, Chinese, need an environment and time to improve. They need time to catch up the language skills and adapt to a difference learning environment. Using students writings may not get the precise result on how CMC affect their writing competence. The result would be more persuasive if comparing their free-style writing than academic writing, sees how much CMC exists in their works. Since the subjects know the researcher expect from them, they would pretend they have influenced by CMC. In the future research, students free writing would have more significant results on the research question. On the other hand, this research just focused on linguistics aspects. If it is possible, the research could include different aspects, like the level of meaning and social interaction. The research would be more all-rounded if there are different aspects. The research lasted about a month, which was too short for getting a persuasive result. If the research could last longer, maybe last for a semester, the result would be more convictive. In future study, the experiment should last longer to show more accurate result. The next chapter summaries findings reported in the thesis and discuss possible implications of this research. Chapter 5 Conclusion The previous chapter has discussed some limitations of this research and suggested some ways to improve this research. This section summarized the findings of this research. The research question is How CMC affect students writing competence in UIC. The tables in Chapter 3 shows the changes of use CMC before and after the subjects receive the list of CMC. The frequency of using CMC has increased obviously, especially in using abbreviations. Since using abbreviations in their note could shorten their time and easier for them to catch up what the teachers talking about during the lectures. There is a negative effect on students writing competence after they engage to CMC language. They can use those selected CMC to drop notes in the future. The ability of drop notes has enhanced. The research also found out that students English competence also affect their writing competence. Chapter 6 Reference Achen, C.H. (1986). The Statistical Analysis of Quasi-Experiments. London, England: University of California Press, Ltd. Beauvois MH. (1997). Technology-enhanced Language Learning. Lincoinwood, IL: National Textbook. Beauvois, M. Eledge, J. (1996). Personality types and megabytes: Student attitudes toward Computer -Mediated Communication (CMC) in the language classroom [J]. CALICO Journal, Vol.13(2-3) Bennett, W. L. (2003). New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism. University of Washingto

Wal-Mart Essay -- Chain Stores Wal-Mart Sam Walton Essays

Wal-Mart Wal-Mart started out as a five and dime store by Sam Walton back in the 1950’s in Rogers, Arkansas. From those humble beginnings, Wal-Mart is now the world’s largest corporation passing the likes of U.S. Steel & GM with over $256 Billion in sales for one year announced at an annual stockholders meeting. What makes Wal-Mart so successful? The rise of technology and the explosion of the global economy, coupled with the effort of keeping prices as low as possible has propelled the conglomerate into becoming the world leader in logistics. They were one of the first to understand the power of the barcode. They also shifted the industry from ‘Push’ to ‘Pull’ production, meaning retailers would decide what and how much a manufacturer should produce. Due to the power possessed by Wal-Mart, other companies and suppliers have set up satellite offices around their corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Rubbermaid, stationed in Wooster, Ohio, wasn’t well known until their variety of products donned the shelves of Wal-Mart. In 1994, they were voted as the most admired company in America for its quality due largely to its partnership with Wal-Mart. Raw materials among other materials of production increased for Rubbermaid which meant a price increase to all of its retailers. Wal-Mart wouldn’t accept the price increase and subsequently dropped a number of Rubbermaid products, which began the decline for the company. Newell, a rival, bought out Rubbermaid for...

the history of the internet :: essays research papers

Where would we find ourselves without the Web today? It provides us with a vast amount of information and communication. The world is accessible to us with a click of a button. Maps, stocks, chat and news can all be found in a matter of seconds. Things have greatly evolved from the home PC of the 1980’s - Commodore 64’s and IBM 8088’s, and a life of direct dialing into BBSs at all hours of the night. Every small town of the USA has Internet access; the world is interconnected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Upon dialing into your Internet service and launching your browser, you open up a gateway to a variety of information resources. One resource available to you is the portal, Yahoo!. Found at http://www.yahoo.com, this web site includes a plethora of selections, including chat. There are different ways of communicating with this feature. You may download Yahoo! Messenger, an application that works in conjunction with Yahoo! Chat web page. In chat, you can enter rooms of topics of your interest, such as sports, music, or business and speak with people all over the world. You don’t need to download any web browser plug-ins to access chat. You may still converse with people using the Yahoo! Messenger program.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yahoo! Messenger is one of many different instant-messaging programs out there. Similar applications such as ICQ or EGN can be used, but they are independent of any web portal, like Yahoo!. There are advantages and disadvantages to each program. No instant messaging service can communicate with any other. You have to have an account with the same service, as who you want to speak with. But incase you don’t know someone on the service, you can make friends by meeting people in chat rooms or random chat, set up by that particular service. Random chat gives you the ability to meet people, by random, based on what their interests are. Once you have acquired people on your contacts/friends lists, with multiple services (i.e.: friends on AOL/IM and friends on ICQ), you may want to look into downloading Universal Messenger. This program combines your lists of people, from the most popular programs you may have. These include ICQ, AOL/IM, Yahoo!, PowWow, and MSN Me ssenger. This saves on memory (RAM), so you don’t have to run each individual program on your home computer. You must know your logins and passwords for each service, when you first set up Universal Messenger.

Causes and Effects Essay the Effects of Noise Pollution

Generally, Sound is very much important to our daily live, but noise is not. Noise is used as an annoying sound. Most of us every time hear the sounds in everyday life, likewise the traffic, the television, , Loud music, people talking on their phone and even pets are also shouting in the middle of the night.The whole things of these have come to a part of the culture and hardly annoy us. Moreover, noise is made by big trucks, household gadgets, vehicles, motorbikes on the road, loud speakers and jet planes and helicopters’ flying over cites, etc.Health effects of noise contain stress and reaction also in dangerous cases fright. The physiological appearances are headaches, feeling of fatigue, nervousness and irritability, and losses work effectiveness. Noise raises the risks of occurrence of sicknesses such as heart failure, blood pressure, headache, etc.For instance, the siren of police, fire fighters or ambulance in your urban all night daily leave people (specially old peop le) anxiety and stresses in the morning. Stress, Blood pressure levels, and cardio-vascular disease connected heart problems are on the rise.Studies propose that high strength noise causes high blood pressure and increases heart beat rate as it disturbs the standard blood flow. Carrying them to a controllable level rest on our thoughtful noise pollution and how we challenge it. These in opportunity can cause further simple and continuing health issues later in life.Any annoying sound that our ears have not been assembled to filter can affect problems within the body. Our ears can take in a definite variety of sounds without accomplishment injured. Man made noises such as horns, jackhammers, airplanes, machinery, and even automobiles can be moreover loud for our hearing variety.Continuous experiences to loud levels of noise can simply consequence in the injury of our ear drums and loss of hearing. Noise also decreases our understanding to sounds that our ears pick up automatically to regulate our body’s beat.As you know that there do not occur several solutions to decrease sound pollution. On an individual level, everyone can help decreasing the noise in their homes by pull down the volume of the music system, radio and the television. Some people listen to music lacking headphones is similarly a good step forward. Exclusion of public loudspeakers is additional way in which the pollution can be disputed.

Causes and Effects of Illegal Loan Sharks Essay

llegal moneylender is the party offering illegal loans by charging higher interest rates. Doubled profits allow their business to continue operating despite the global economic recession. Oriented services such as shark’s need to combat. Illegal moneylender promote their services with attractive offers such as instant and convenient loan without collateral while legitimate financial companies impose strict conditions and take a long time to approve the loan. In Indian society, illegal moneylender known as Chettiar, and was called the â€Å"Tai Ee Long† in Chinese and â€Å"loan sharks† in the Malay community. Statistics show that the number of illegal borrow from loan sharks is increasing from time to time. Because of these activities brought many disadvantages, the cause of this phenomenon must be identified and effective measures should be taken to overcome them. There are several causes that make illegal moneylender services received. Among them is as easy approved loans illegal loan sharks. This is because borrowing money from the bank require complicated procedures and strict conditions. Someone who borrow from illegal loan sharks will get loan approval within a few hours compared with a bank that requires a long time to consider the eligibility of the borrower. Illegal moneylender also mendediakan loans to anyone regardless of whether the money can be borrowed, from RM1000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. They also know how to win borrowers and allow lenders to require collateral. More and more loan money from illegal loan sharks will only increase KADA interest on the borrower. Rising interest rates cause borrowers everyday mampumemulangkan not borrowed money and eventually there will be a further tragedy case. The next factor is the urgent need of money or suffered by the borrower to make a living for not having a salaried job. This is due to the borrower is experiencing problems or obstacles when working. In addition, borrowers may also poorly educated and do not have a certificate of excellence and consequently difficult to get high income pekarjaan. Therefore, borrowers will face problems such as dismissal, unemployment and so on. This causes the borrower to borrow the money from illegal loan sharks for a living. In addition, the problem of financing children’s education and the need to start or expand their businesses is also one. The cause of the moneylender loans illegal. One example of business if someone wishes start or expand a business, he will require a sum of money sufficient to achieve the desire. It can not be dinifikan that source can also cause illegal moneylender services received in the community. With this effective measures should be taken as soon as possible in order to overcome problems related to illegal loan sharks. Measures that can be implemented to combat the problem of illegal loan sharks are law enforcement tight, Moneylenders Act Amendments of 1951 to authorize the police to do the investigation, seize documents and search premises and arrest any person engaged in illegal loan sharks without a warrant so that no one cried foul. The authorities should regulate advertising publications involving illegal lending by loan sharks of the tyrant. Amendments to the Money Lenders Act 1951 to increase the maximum fine and imprisonment and caning for pesalah. Contohnya, they should be charged fines included a sum of RM10000 or five years imprisonment or both at once. For illegal loan sharks who hurt borrowers should be severe punishment, such as whipping. Therefore, the police in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) should work together to limit the production and penguatkuasaa. In this way the problem of illegal loan sharks can dibanteraskan effectively. In addition, financial firms and banks also play an important role in activities membanteraskan illegal loan sharks. Finance companies and banks can provide various forms of loans to low-income and sederhana. Contohnya, the bank can extend the time frame to return the money borrowed by the borrower with low income or facing kwwangan. Tambahan about the bank can offer interest rates less applicable to low-income borrowers. Banks and finance companies have to provide a more simple procedure and does not require collateral and the many and strict conditions for the easy way to make loans. In addition, they also have to accelerate lending to people who are desperate and facing serious financial problems. Awareness of the adverse effects of borrowing money from illegal loan sharks should also be increased in the community. The government should launch a massive campaign to make people aware of the dire consequences of borrowing money from illegal loan sharks. Awareness activities can be disseminated through print media. As a member of society, we also have a responsibility to report to the authorities if they have information about illegal lending activities. Therefore, public pengduan centers should be set up in setap area to facilitate community Assemblywoman pimp report illegal activity to activity can be reduced illegal activities pimp. (Tzyy Shyang) In conclusion, people should avoid getting involved in illegal money lenders from the loan sharks so dapt live in peace and quiet for being involved in this activity will not get any benefits even cause byawa themselves and family members at risk. By the community today needs to join forces together deangan authorities to menganangi this activity from excessive fragmentation. The authorities should take stern action against the recipient and the giver and illegal loan sharks lender and provide various altertif so people can borrow money from financial institutions of which is recognized as the banks and other financial companies so there is no issue we do not get away from illegal loan sharks cenkagaman by we are in financial difficulties. However, awareness of the importance of smart money management should also be vaccinated in the community so that they do not face financial problems in mengadapi uncertain economic development.