Battle of Salamis and Miltiades

Miltiades biggest contribution was to the battle at Marathon which was considered a significant impact on the Persian wars. It was in the battle at Marathon where he showed both witt and skill against the Persian army. He was considered valuable to the athenians because of his former close relations with the Persian army, which meant he knew there tactics and there ways to which they fought in battle. The Athenians made Miltiades 10th Commander to which each day starting from commander one every commander would be given a chance to be in charge of the army.It was Miltiades who saw the fact that the Persian cavalary wasnt their as an advantage and to which could result in victory if the Athenian army attacked early. So Miltiades convinced Calimuchus the Polemarh to confront the Persian army and give him command. Miltiades battle tactics were both thoughtful and strategic as he used what he had learnt about the Persians against them with both ingenious and thoughful ideas.He made use o f the terrain by placing his army on the top of the hill so that they had the higher ground and the best spot for when they made there way down hill so they were less tired and exhausted. It was said to be Miltiades who convinced the generals not to use their customary tactics of which hoplites (soldiers of greek cities) normally marched in an evenly distributed phanlanx of shields and spears. Miltiades was the one who had this great idea of attacking while the cavalary was not around.He knew that the Persians had there flanks set out that the strongest soldiers where in the middle of th e flank and the weakest on the outer flanks, so Miltiades devised this cunning plan to swap it around for his army. He made the strongest soldiers as the outer flanks and the weakest in the middle, so when it came to the fight the strongest soldiers could encirle the persian flanks and cause them distress and penick.His other contribution in the battle at Marathon tactics was the fact that he knew t he Persians used arrow man. So miltiades had to think of a way to make it as if the Persian arrowman werent much help in inilation at all. This is the tactic i believe that sets him apart from every other commander; he made his army run into battle. as soon as miltiades army was in range of arrows he had them sprint and avoid the arrows, which this plan left the Persians dumbfounded.But as i write how genius he was i know that Munro points out that it was Miltiades who understood the Persian way of doing thins, it was Miltiades who understood his strengths and weaknesses, and Miltiades who proved to be the master of timing, waiting for just the right time to act. Miltiades was seen as the one to seize the best position and knew just when to take the offensive. But I see another person who was of even larger importance to the contribution of the Persian wars and his name is Themistocles.

Mary Prince Biography

After reading Mary Prince autobiography a West Indian slave, I was inspired by her story that I knew for it would be great for my final assignment paper.My thesis is even though, Mary Prince life improved when she moved to England – she made money, got her book published, received better treatment from an employer not a slave owner – She never achieved her goal to be a free person in the eyes of the law after she left her slave owner Mr. Wood, she didn’t gained her freedom and die a slave. Mary Prince was born in Brackish Pond, Bermuda in 1788, her mother was enslaved in the household of Mr. Charles Myners and father was a sawyer. She was bought along with her mother by old captain Darrel and given to his grandchild, little Betsey. After the death of her master she was sold several masters who mistreated her to the point that she had enough and decided to leave her slave owner Mr. Wood to seek help to gain her freedom in London with the Anti-Slavery society. Prince had earlier sought the help of the Anti-Slavery Society, who had obtained a lawyer's opinion that, while she was free in Britain, this would not affect her legal status as a slave if she were to return to Antigua. While she wished to be reunited with her husband, she was naturally reluctant to risk a return to slavery, particularly as she had ample reason to fear the vindictiveness and ill will of the Woods. Repeated efforts were made by Pringle and the Anti†Slavery Society to persuade John Wood to agree to sell Prince her freedom, but he persisted in his refusals. In 1829 Pringle also organized the submission of a petition from Prince to the British Parliament in an attempt to have her declared free.

Business Organistions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Organistions - Essay Example At the end of the day, the savings that comes from establishing good leadership skills could result to increasing revenue generation on the part of the company. In general, there is simply no ground or rules behind choosing the best leadership style. To become an effective leader, a manager should be able to search for the type of leadership approach that works best for them. Often times, choosing the best leadership style depends on the manager’s personality, working environment and the members of the team. To avoid wasting time, money, and effort associated with the need to go through the consequences of mismanagement, this study will discuss and elaborate the different leadership techniques used in today’s business organization. In the process of discussing each type of leadership approach, situational examples will be provided to give the readers a better understanding of each leadership techniques that will be discussed in the study. Transformational leadership style is unique in the sense that this approach has four components known as: (1) charisma or idealized influence; (2) inspirational motivation; (3) intellectual stimulation; (4) and individual consideration. (Bass, 1998; Bass et al., 1996; Bass, 1985) Personal charisma is a significant characteristic of a good leader since it is a form of referrent power which could enable a manager to effectively attract his/her subordinates to seriously cooperate with the leader in order to make the organizational goal attainable. (Palmer et al., 2001; Posakoff & Schriesheim, 1985) Considering that transformational leaders are intellectually inclined, this type of leaders tend to go beyond what is happening around his environment since they have the ability to implement new ideas whenever necessary (Johannsen, 2004) aside from being flexible with organizational changes that may

County analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

County analysis - Essay Example In carrying out business with parties from elevated power distance countries, the managers used or should have title at least on the same level as those they are negotiating with. On the other hand, cultures that have low power distance should have the inequalities reduced. Japan is ranked at 54 while the United States of America is ranked at 45. According to Hofstede, countries with low uncertainty avoidance index score have innovative approaches and risk investment tendencies. This are attributes found in entrepreneurs. Uncertainty avoidance is the reality that vagueness about the prospects of the future is a basic fact of human life with which we try to cope through the domain of technology, law and religion. Uncertainty avoidance is also the extent to which individuals feel endangered by situations. This leads to people creating institutions that deal with these. Hofstede used stress, employment stability and rule orientation to identify. Countries are then ranked as low or high concerning uncertainty avoidance. Squat uncertainty avoidance means that, there is a strong willingness to take a risk. On the other hand, high uncertainty implies a lower willingness to take risk. Hofstedes notes that, in societies where there is high uncertain avoidance, there tends to be a generational gap amid the old and the young. High unce rtain avoidance cultures are concerned with rituals and traditions and often follow exceedingly complex rules and regulations. Individualism refers to preference of closed surrounding environment, in which it is understood that, one must mind for themselves and their close relations as opposed to the entire cluster in which one is an associate. Individualism can be referred to as an appraisal of the emotional dependence and autonomy of a person. The culture of a country is scored high in this sense if there are favourable responses to items such as , having a satisfying job which leaves you with enough time for yourself and the family. In

Business structures and competitiveness of Canada Analysis using Essay

Business structures and competitiveness of Canada Analysis using Michael Porters Diamond Model of International Competitiveness - Essay Example Factor conditions 7 4.2 Demand conditions 8 4.3 Supplier industries in Canada 8 4.4 Business establishment, management and rivalry in the domestic market 9 5. Conclusions - Recommendations 10 6. References 12 7. Appendix 13 Executive Summary A series of criteria tends to be used for evaluating the performance of economies in the global market. Usually, the ability of countries to cover their debts and to respond to the needs of local population is considered as indication of economic strength. In practice, it has been proved that the competitiveness of countries refers to a variety of requirements; these requirements need to be met in order for a country to be characterized as highly competitive. The particular issue has been explored in the literature, due to its critical importance. The most common framework for evaluating the competitiveness of countries is the Diamond model of national competitiveness. This model promotes the view that national competitiveness can be related most ly to four elements (Figure 1, Appendix). The Porter’s Diamond model has been used in this paper in order to evaluate the competitiveness of Canada. Using the model for developing the above task a contradiction has been revealed: Canada seems to perform high in two of the model’s elements while its performance in the rest two elements is low (Figure 5, Appendix). This contradiction could be explained as follows: Canadian economy is quite strong and the development of business activity is highly promoted by the government. However, the measures taken are not adequate and gaps are unavoidable. Therefore, the competitiveness of the country seems to be high or low depending on the elements of the economy on which each part of the Diamond model is based. 1.0 Introduction The competitiveness of countries in the context of the international market is difficult to be measured, especially due to the instability in economies and the strong social conflicts worldwide. Porter has introduced a model that can be used as the basis for measuring and evaluating the national competitiveness; this is the Diamond model. The value of this model is high since no similar theoretical frameworks are available in the literature. At the same time, the effectiveness of the specific model has been already tested in practice leading to credible findings in regard to national competitiveness. A key advantage of Porter’s Diamond model is the following one: the model can be used for evaluating the competitiveness of countries with various cultural and social characteristics. Porter’s Diamond model has been used in this paper for measuring the national competitiveness of Canada, a country with a quite strong economy, at least as compared with other western countries. Porter’s Diamond model has verified the strength and the prospects of the Canadian economy; however, there are certain practices of the country’s government that should be alternated, a ne ed that has been revealed through Porter’s Diamond model. 2.0 National competitiveness – characteristics When referring to the competitiveness of a nation it is difficult to choose the criteria that would be most appropriate for taking a relevant decision (Porter 1990). Most commonly, national competitiveness is related to issues such as ‘exchange rates, interest rates and government deficits’ (Porter 1990, p.76), being related to macro-economy. The view that national competitiveness can be related mostly to the natural resources of a country has not been widely accepted (Porter 1990) as it could not respond to the following question: how countries such as Germany and Italy that

Interpersonal communication paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Interpersonal communication paper - Assignment Example This makes the process difficult and complicated no matter how simple it appears to someone who is looking at a situation. Many conflicts arise during communications and the resolution or its becoming worse all depend on how the players act and react during the process. With the simplicity of communication that usually brings people in various complicated situations, many scholars are getting interested to the study of communication and propose concepts about the subject matter, supplement the information with suggestions on understanding and improving verbal and non-verbal communication to improve relationships. For instance, one of the foci of studies is the communication between husband and wife, which is very relevant to today’s world because of the seemingly dying image of marriages which are even more magnified with the news of celebrities marrying today and getting divorced tomorrow. However, saving marriages is not just the only reason for the intensive researches performed and being performed for further studies but also looks into other relationships like employers to their employees, businessmen to their customers, doctors to patients and the list goes on. The point is, communication does not just affect the rich, famous or a chos en few but largely impacts all ages regardless of sex and status and the effect could either be damaging or constructive and no one would like the former. Instead, everyone would like the constructive effect of communication that is why studies are given priority on communication to find what seems to be a secret only a few are able to find. With the rise in the number of researches, people are coming to a better understanding of the process and indeed, knowledge could become a powerful tool to a person if it is used wisely. A lot of people are now encouraged to work further on their communication skills and are trying their best to purposefully make the process a good experience

Film analysis on the movie Pulp Fiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Film analysis on the movie Pulp Fiction - Essay Example Thus, the movie is merely a cinematic rendition of a shapeless storyline about bad people acting out their roles in a most realistically cruel world. Pulp Fiction presents a story that connects the lives of different people with different evil agenda acting their roles in a society with no values. The film is partly a story of exoneration of evil in an evil society. The movie opens with a scene at the diner, where Pumpkin and Honey Bunny decide to rob the customers and the diner itself. The significance of this scene though can only be known at the end of the film where everything goes back to the diner. At the end, Vincent and Jules get involved in the robbery but when Pumpkin tried to seize the briefcase from him, it resulted in a matter of life and death where all four people were pointing a gun at the next one beside him. Eventually, Jules let go of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. The characters in the movie are a mixed breed, thus attesting to the senseless pulp fiction quality of the movie. The main characters of the movie include the hired killers Vincent and Jules, upon whom the bulk of the movie is based. Other major characters include Marsellus and Butch, since it was they who both concluded the movie and somehow added some humor to it because of the sodomy scene. Other minor characters include Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, and Brett and his friends. These minor characters, however, added much to the degree of senseless violence in this real pulp fiction. However, although it is pulp fiction, the setting is far from fictitious. It is in fact a setting that is very realistic. As the characters move around the city, they visit a diner, a bar, an apartment, a club, and a pawnshop. These are the major places in an urban area where violence wrought by the characters has transpired. These are the very places, however, where modern-day senseless violence may always take place. Thus, these places are perfect for a

One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

One - Essay Example The Government of Metropoliland continues with its controversial laws by raising taxes for non-alcoholic performance drinks that are not produced, following the country’s traditional method of production, regardless of the country of origin, or the final product’s composition. The Trips agreement with necessary circumspection and discretion does allow for valid use by Third Parties, as compulsory License or government use, without the consent of the patent owner in certain circumstances. Generally speaking, the main criteria could be in terms of voluntary licence on practical marketable specifications and that the compensation paid to the right holder shall be sufficient in such situation, taking into account the fiscal value of the licence held. The Agreement recognizes right of Members to take measures, consistent with its provisions against anti-competitive practices and provides more flexible conditions for the grant of compulsory licences, where a practice has been determined, after due process of law, to be anti-competitive. Trips: Drug Patents, Technical Note: Pharmaceutical patents and the TRIPS Agreement. (2006). According to provisions of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement 1995, member countries should not discriminate between domestic and foreign producers during course of trading. Thus all member countries should be provided equal status to domestic, or foreign trading partners or in other words practice favoured country treatment. (FCT) Metropoliland has sought domestic protection for its indigenous producers, initiated process of bureaucracy and retarded trade promotional efforts by adopting a protectionist policy towards its domestic growers, at the expense of competitive importers. This is against both the letter and spirit of various agreements that govern international trade, affecting potential trade between signatories to such agreements, including State of Metropoliland. If all member countries adopt a similar

Methodology and questionnaires Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Methodology and questionnaires - Essay Example This could be due to a plethora of reasons- like gender discrimination, perceived lack of female managerial qualifications/experience, bias shown towards women showing that they are emotionally not competent to occupy managerial positions, perceived threats of male colleagues during promotions, sexual harassment, need to devote time for household work, inability to work at odd hours and night hours, restricted mobility, etc, All these factors combine to create situations in which the situation of women may be marginalised or even threatened by the hierarchy or the work culture and ethos of the institution. There are several aspects for methodology to be carried out and they use the multiple data collection system. The multiple systems could entail both qualitative and quantitative surveys. The quantitative methodology invokes use of statistical and other measures of quantitative analysis whereas, the qualitative would be in terms of structured interviews. Structured interviews are of standard format which entail open ended or closed ended questionnaires. Open ended questions would give the respondents scope for expressing themselves more verbally than closed ends, in which the questions would respond with either Yes or No. This is important because in a study of this kind, in which both quantitative and qualitative data need to be gathered and expounded, qualitative data need to be structured, open ended and amenable to further research and interpretations. 1. Methodology to deal with Research Question No.1: This research question deals with the need to create new management part time jobs to accommodate women into these positions and make better and more productive use of the women work force’s This could be done though face-to-face interviews with the Top Directors and Senior Management Team of the company regarding the induction of newly created vacancies for women in management positions. The interviews with such executives would be able to throw light

History-failure of Italian Revolutionaries Essay Example for Free

History-failure of Italian Revolutionaries Essay There were several factors affecting the failure of the Italian revolutionaries in the years 1820-49. Although the lack of popular support was a contributing factor, it is far less significant when compared to other aspects of the failure such as the intervention and military strength of Austria, the lack of unity between various revolutionary factions and the lack of outside help from other countries. One of the key factors of the revolutionary’s failures was due to the repeated involvement by Austria and its imposing army, who were a major force in Europe and the world at the time. Led by Metternich, the Austrian’s quashed revolution after revolution. For example, in 1821, where King Ferdinand had granted his state, Naples, a constitution out of ‘fear’, he appealed to Metternich for help, who duly obliged as he opposed the revolutionaries because they ‘disturbed the peace’ in the whole region. Therefore, in March 1821, Austrian troops marched into Naples and easily overran the rebel forces with a superior army in strength, training and weaponry. This made it almost impossible for any revolutionary group, whether united or separate, to outmatch the Austrians, whose military strength was far greater than the revolutionaries. This also occurred in 1848, when Charles Albert, revolutionary king of the most powerful state, Piedmont was twice devastated by the Austrian’s. First, in June, he was defeated in Custoza and forced to sign an armistice withdrawing from Lombardy and again in March 1849 where he was heavily defeated in Novaro. This was a theme throughout the entire time period of 1820-49, with Metternich crushing revolutions in Piedmont, Lombardy and Sicily among others, with this trend only declining when revolutions arose in Vienna, forcing Metternich to focus on events closer to home. Therefore Austrian military might was an overwhelmingly strong factor in the failure of every revolution in this time period. Another reason for the failures was a distinct lack of unity in almost all of the revolution, with the groups from different states and areas refusing to cooperate with each other as they were in the main more concerned with local affairs than the bigger picture of a united Italy. For example, in 1832, Modena appealed for help from the  revolutionary government of Bologna for no particular reason other than they didn’t want to communicate or cooperate with one another. Another example is the Sicilian revolutions. They started a revolution in their capital city of Palermo and had soon ousted the previous regime to replace it with a revolutionary provisional government. However, when revolutions spread to the mainland of Naples a few days later, they had no plans of assisting them; instead making their policies clear by breaking away from Naples and becoming an independent state. Instead of national or regional unity, they instead, from the entire period of 1820-1848, wanted a free and sovereign country of their own. The fact that the different groups didn’t cooperate with one another, and in some cases, such as this, had entirely dissimilar aims for having a revolution, meant that they could easily be overridden one by one because individually they were very weak. A lack of outside help from other countries that were meant to be enemies with Austria did not help the revolutionaries cause. At the beginning of the revolutions in 1820, fresh off the back of the establishment of the new republic in France after the French revolutions, there was the hope that they would support the Italian revolutionaries in overthrowing their reactionary rulers, just as the French had done to their own monarchs less than 30 years before. In 1831 as well, despite appeals for French help, their pleas were ignored and Austria swept the isolated revolutions aside. In fact, instead of assisting the revolutionaries, in 1848 they instead intervened seemingly on the other side of the revolutions in order to assist the Pope, but in doing so they overpowered the Roman Republic, a revolutionary area headed by Giuseppe Mazzini. The French military brought hardship upon the people of the Rome after defeating Mazzini, seemingly in a hypocritical way as they themselves had fought to rid themselves of an iron grip previously but were instead now the iron grip rulers. On the Popes return, the repressive regime present before the Roman Republic returned. This shows that the French were far more against the revolutions than for them. They would’ve been the natural protector of the revolutions due to their recent history and their hatred of Austria, but it wasn’t to be and this was a key reason in why the uprisings ultimately all failed. Despite these reasons, the lack of popular support was no doubt a contributing  factor into the revolutions failure. The fact that in most states, around 90% of the population were peasants, but were not included in any decisions or contributed to the fighting effort meant that there was never likely to be popular support, because peasants views were not heard so their living conditions wouldn’t necessarily change no matter who was in charge. They would most likely have very little idea of what was even happening in their state. For example, in 1831 the peasants were deliberately excluded from taking part in any form of the revolutions, except for in Sicily where peasants were involved. This was due to the fact that the middle class professionals believed that the poorly educated peasants would end up being detrimental to the cause and would spark their own revolution fighting for their rights and eventually leading to the rule of the mob. Overall, there were several key factors in the failure of the revolutions between 1820 and 1849, such as the might of Austria, the distinct lack of unity between revolutionary divisions and the lack of allies from the international community. Despite the importance of these factors, the lack of popular support cannot be ignored as a factor, but the middle classes had a steadfast fear that if they permitted peasant help, they would turn the cause into riots. This was seen in Sicily where peasant assistance was encouraged, but ended in the masses destroying property, freeing prisoners and burning tax collection papers, as they had the sole intention of causing anarchy. Therefore, the lack of popular support was not a crucial factor but merely a side point in the revolutions failures.

Relationship Management in Dell Computers

Relationship Management in Dell Computers 1.0 Introduction The Dell Computers Company was founded by Michael Dell. The business started by selling various computer products by use of the direct business model when most companies at the time employed the services of dealers and distributors. At its inception, the company concentrated on the relationship management with customer focused marketing. At the time, according to Joan (2000, p.73) most companies for instance Compaq and IBM concentrated on being engineering centric. On the contrary, the Dell Company was selective in the production, focusing on the products that enhanced the relationship between the company and its customers, with Michael Dell adopting a direct business model in marketing. The model harnesses virtual integration which permits the business to specialize in products which satisfy on customers, present and future needs. In our case study of Dell Computers we shall look into the various aspects of relationship management that the company has applied in ensuring its success ful growth. 2.0 Key Account Management and Global Account Management Key account management (KAM) can be defined as the management of customer accounts which bring most profitability and are of strategic importance to the Company. In essence, this concept in relationship management seeks to analyze those key accounts of importance to the company, forecast on their needs, and give them premium services and value added products thus increasing on satisfaction and more customer retention. The key accounts management can also be referred to as strategic account management. This concept gets global with the company having key accounts all over the world. As such, the global account management (GAM) can be defined as a strategy in which a company selects on some customers globally with the capability to deliver on their needs. There are key reasons why the companies practice global accounts management but the main one is to get competitive advantage and gain more revenue while enjoying the difference in economies of scale. Key account management can also be defined as offering customers with large accounts products and services tailored to their needs to attract loyalty. In the first step the key accounts management entails identifying those accounts of strategic importance. Key accounts according to Jukka (2001, 202) are selected according to the volume of sale or the profitability the company intends to get from the customer relationship. In addition, the selection is based on the volume of the purchases from the customer and the period the relationship has been in existence. According to Michael dell, the Dell computers continue identifying on key accounts and this has helped the company in increasing the company by the fast cycle segmentation (Joan 2000, p.77). The company is able to grow on revenues w hile keeping down on the expenditure by focusing on profitable segments only. The next element in key account management is analyzing on the key accounts. The account is studied on the basis of the history of any relationship and more so the economic status of that account. In an interview Michael Dell agrees that dealings with big institutions and corporate companies which are profitable, easier to manage and are unlikely to default in making their payments is the core of the business at Dell Computers (Joan 2000, p.76). In addition, at this stage determining the switching cost which entails the cost of replacing the outgoing partner with a new one, is important incase the relationship ends (Jukka 2001, p.203). The Dell Company maintains a strategy on selection of key accounts and avoids taking on very powerful accounts which could bring huge switching costs and this keeps the demand of its products on level. As a matter of fact, the company does not serve customers with more than one percent to two percent of its revenue (Joan 2000, p.77). More over, the ability for the company to organize and respond to various needs of the customers holding the large accounts is very important. The organizational capabilities have been greatly improved in Dell computers with dedicated teams designated to run on the key accounts. Large accounts make up most of the business at Dell computers. It sells to them standardized products besides predicting on their demand and future needs through virtual integration. The company also monitors on the global accounts in different parts of the world. With very huge accounts the company deploys a team onsite to effectively manage on the customers needs. To ensure success in management of key accounts a company needs to have competent key account managers and other team members. In making the selection of the staff members of these teams it is imperative that members with wide experience and qualifications are chosen for the task. The evaluation of the account relationship could also be considered where the key manager is overburdened with his role and adapt a network of organizational relationships. In addition, for KAM to be effective there should be an efficient information exchange between the key account team and the partner. 3.0 Big customers, customer segmentation and marketing orientation 3.1 Big customers Customer value is an important aspect in relationship marketing at Dell Computers and we should thus study it. In value strategic models there are three types of value elements. The first one is esteem value and influences the customer to buy a product for the sake of just owning it. On the other hand, the utility value influences the need to have the product due to its characteristics in meeting the want of the consumer. Finally we also have the exchange value which influences on the worth of the customer with the product creating interest with time. Satisfaction among the customers is what makes them to make repurchases. As matter of fact, this feeling of satisfaction becomes extreme when the product performance exceeds the expectation. The loyalty among the customer is cultivated by giving value added products as compared to the other sellers. Indeed satisfaction is of great influence in maintaining customer loyalty, enhancing marketing by word of mouth and making the buyer come back to purchase more (Wolfgang Andreas 2006, p.313). According to a report by Azaddin Salem Khalifa (2004, p.646) customers who are extremely satisfied due to their value added products were 45% more likely to be loyal and were six times more likely to come back for more purchases than dissatisfied customers. At Dell they realized that in adding this value to the products and ensuring on customer satisfaction then more focus was to be made on the needs of the customers. As a result, the company has seventy percent of its customers comprising of large educational, governmental institutions and corporate companies. The company reduces the risk by handling accounts of these big customers. The company continues to target these big consumers to enhance profitability with its scalable business. Indeed, in maintaining these key accounts nationally and globally the company is able to increase on revenue while suppressing on expenditures. 3.2 Customer segmentation With the direct model and a very fine customer segmentation of big consumers the company is able to predict the needs of its few customers and order goods tailored towards this information. As such, a fast inventory velocity the Dell Computers maintains with the suppliers is important in providing more flexibility and speedy ordering of goods. According to the founder of the Dell Computers, a fast cycle segmentation involving big customers offers lesser managerial problems with the company being able to tailor programs to the needs of the customers (Joan 2000, p.78). This can be attested to by the variety of products the company produces with inventory being reviewed by more than thirty times in a year. Where value is an important component in forecasting demand, the Kanos model dictates that in order for a company to not only satisfy but make the customers delighted in using the products, it becomes imperative for such a company to pay less attention to the normal customer activity cycle but focus on the customers needs (Azaddin 2004, p.649). Indeed, innovative features which are unexpected by the customers do not cause any form of dissatisfaction but if included they lead to satisfaction and delight of the customers. On the other hand, the benefits and the costs ratio model defines value not only on the benefits the customer is able to get but on the sacrifices the customer incurs. Such sacrifices are categorized as time and effort required in obtaining the product. In same argument it then follows that the right values include a low price for the product delivered in time, a premium service and impeccable quality. We can also conclude that intangible costs decrease this value. The Dell Company ensures on timely delivery of its products to big consumers effortlessly. The big customers are not only able to order their products online but they are also able to access technological support information easily and a dedicated team of third party maintainers. Other than to respond and predict its customers needs in time, segmentation of its customer into big but fewer accounts greatly help the Dell Company to greatly reduce on costs. Indeed information on the needs of the customers at present and in future should be available for a more coordinated approach in designing the products, 3.3 Marketing Orientation. Marketing orientation can be defined as an implementation of a marketing concept with focus to customers. The term in detail entails coordination in marketing and focus in profit and customer orientation. Ajay and Bernard (1990, p.3) argues that a customer focused orientation entails implementing on market intelligence obtained and any other information obtained from the customers. This concern to the needs of the customer helps in customer delight at the end. We have already seen that Dell Company values on the satisfaction of its customers by virtual integration and segmentation to tailor products relevant to their needs. In marketing orientation, proper coordination between various departments is very imperative. The information on market intelligence should be utilized by all the departments in coming up with customized and need specific products. This concerted effort in dissemination of intelligences leads to a coordinated response. When applying customer focused marketing model a company also needs to focus on profitability. The Dell Company effectively increases on profitability by market segmentation and having a more coordinated and a fast products delivery system with its suppliers. 4.0 Suppliers The dell company only partners with only a few suppliers to ensure speedy implementation of the information relayed from the company in a virtual supply chain. Orders are made in a networked computing system. This further enhances in the improvement of speed and more so the quality of the products. Indeed in relationship marketing a level of trust with the supplier is important. For instance, the Dell Company does not require checking on the goods ordered from credible companies it works with and this further helps in increasing the inventory velocity and eliminating on warehousing expenses. The company integrates its suppliers to seem like they are the part of the company. In addition, the company cooperates with the suppliers in ensuring timely delivery of products and services to its customers which is attributed to this integration. The company, with advancement of technology has seen it forge more integration with the suppliers and other partners by sharing on databases. One of the intangible costs a customer incurs is time. As such for the company to gain on the customers loyalty products need to be delivered in time with less effort. This makes dell company partner with some few suppliers who share on same values of quality and are flexible in their ordering system. With its suppliers the Dell Company has been successful in reducing the risk associated with inventory by sourcing goods from credible suppliers who then supply them to the Dell customers thus helping the company to save on time and resources. The direct model the company utilizes helps in eliminating the problems that emanate from involving distributors and dealers. The company believes in speedy transactions with its suppliers and maintains very low levels of inventory with them. In essence the company maintains a very slim gap between the point of demand and point of supply. Indeed, with such concept the Dell Company has continued to ensure efficiency and is easily able to determine the units it needs. Indeed, we can conclude that by applying virtual supply chains, by sharing information and eliminating inter-company links with its suppliers Dell has been able to achieve speed-to-market for its products. 5.0 Competitors In customer focused marketing model, it becomes important to study on the competitor orientation as well. The exercise details on gaining more understanding on the potential of the main competitor and the current competitors. With direct selling method of its products and virtually integrating its customers the Dell Company is easily able to trample on its competitors. Virtual integration implies removal of boundaries where products are ordered in an informal way such as through the internet. Most of the Dell competitors still continue to use vertical integration system with focus on producing in volumes with products being experimental in nature. This virtual supply chain at Dell, with information being relayed through a network, compounded by a light inventory helps the company in beating of competition from its rivals. This value added relationship with its suppliers helps the Dell Company to work towards one cause. 6.0 Dells CRM (customer relationship management It can simply be defined as a strategy with focus in increasing the customer satisfaction and loyalty by offering innovative and customized products and services (Elaine Margret 2004, p.24). The company system that strives to observe CRM consolidates information which is available by all the members of the company, the customers and the suppliers being also virtually integrated inside Dells business. . The Dell computers forecast on the demand of its customers and then develop need specific products by involving the services of sales-account managers in virtually integrating with the customers. The needs and other products improvements which are contingent are then communicated to the company for implementation. The Dells CRM system also involves monitoring the purchases of its customers globally and this provides more insight on the operations of the company. In addition, the company employs the use of software in monitoring the assets of its buyers. Companies have various ways of gathering information. As such, some companies employ the use of loyalty schemes where customers are awarded points which can then be redeemed. In the process, the buying habits of the customers are studied using the information obtained and kept in the database. According to a research done on Tesco, the scheme was found to be beneficial in sustaining customer relationship and was effective in attracting loyalty due to the value that was being given to the Tescos customers (Jennifer 2005, p.195) In another research done by (Wolfgang Andreas 2006, p.313) the relationship value was found to influence on the commitment, satisfaction and more so the trust from the customers which can be defined as the relationship quality. The Dell Computer enhances on more consumer contact not only by direct sales model but also in other ways. For instance, information databases are shared between the customers and the management at the company. This helps the customer find technological solution and integrates him or her into Dells business. For instance, a customer at Dell is able to get to the various internal technical tools which saves on the customers time and helps the Dell Company in saving on costs. The customers segmentation of the company comprises of big customers hence their needs are easier to forecast and tailor the right products in time. The Dell Company continues to incorporate technology in the systems of the customers with some teams working onsite for better delivery of support services and maintenance of the products. In addition, Dell Computers organizes forums and meetings like platinum councils for these big consumers where information on the needs is gathered. Information on the planned products is also relayed to these customers (Joan 2000, p.81). CRM enables the company to maintain one on one relationship with the customers. It is worth noting that, in such meetings the ratio of the representation between the company and the customers is usually one to one. In essence, besides these meetings being informative they also help the company forecast on the demand of the customers. The company contracts with maintainers from other companies who make service calls on the behalf of the company which further enhances on the value to the customers. More over, the Dell computers have established intranet sites for mega customers which offer them convenience in buying and more so offer them useful technical information about various products. Indeed, such customized services integrate these customers into the Companys system. The Dell Company continues to employ technology in giving customer focused products and services. The company continues to offer premier services and even helps the customers to develop their own version of the dell website (Joan 2000, p.80). We can look CRM as a tool that in particular aids a company in identifying on the premium customers due to its interactive nature with them. In addition, a more coordinated marketing strategy is able to be formulated with sharing of information between the various departments and hence streamlining on the designing of the value added products. When developing the CRM, a company as we have already seen, needs to gather necessary information pertaining to its customers. This is done at various touch points and a general idea about the needs of that customer can then be determined. The benefits that come up with such a strategy are many. Besides helping in forecasting the demands of the customers such systems help improve on process management and customers information (Elaine Margret 2004, p.26). In addition, the CRM helps in increasing the sales volume and due to the accuracy of the information obtained the complaints by the customers are greatly reduced (Elaine Margret 2004, p.26). 7.0 Conclusion Indeed, the Dell Company can be said to practice relationship marketing. In this aspect the Company has abandoned on the traditional ways of vertical integration and distributorship and continues to relate with its customers in delivering specific need products. In addition, the Company has virtually integrated its suppliers and the customers in its business in its speed to market system. Employing technology in relationship management and ensuring information is available to all, the Company continues to make strides in new ways of marketing and customer focused delivery of products and services.

White Fang :: essays research papers

White Fang by Jack London, was written in 1906. The story is about a half-wolf, half-dog who is born from a she-wolf. His name is White Fang he is the only survivor of the litter. He becomes a pet of some Indians and becomes a great fighter. A man named Beauty Smith buys White Fang for liquor. Beauty uses White Fang to make money. He arranges fights to let people bet on, White Fang wins them all. Except A pitbull who bites White Fang in the neck and grips on. Finally a man named Weedon Scott punches Beauty and pries the pitbull from White Fang's neck. Weedon and White Fang became best friends, they loved each other. White Fang gets away and the rest of the story is about their friendship. There were many turning points in the story, some are bigger than others. When Weedon first helps White Fang and they become friends is a big turning point in the story. When the Indians first taught White Fang how to fight also was a big turning point because it shows he is wild. Near the end of the story White Fang and Weedon were living in Sierra Vista with Weedon's dad who was a judge. A man named Jim Hall was after Judge Scott, Jim Hall one night broke into their house. White Fang sensed his presence and fought with Jim and killed him. White Fang suffered a gun shot wound but was ok and lived the rest of his days in Sierra Valley. White Fang didn't make me feel any special way, books never make me feel a certain way. Otherwise it reminded me of my Dogs (not that are like White Fang but the bond we have together.) When Weedon saved White Fang made me feel like I'm the same way. Also when White Fang protected the Scott's reminded me of how my dogs would probably do the same thing because they are very protective. My dogs are very important to me just like White Fang was to Weedon. The book was very descriptive and it involved dogs and dogfights and cool stuff like that. On the bad side the book was long (25 chapters long) and very, very boring in some parts. White Fang is for people with a lot of time on their hand they would like to spend reading a book and like outdoor-like books, if you liked Call Of The Wild you probably will like this book.

Evolution of the Modern Woman in Virginia Woolfs To the Lighthouse Ess

Evolution of the Modern Woman in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse examines the role of women or more specifically, the evolution of the modern woman. The two main female characters in the novel, Mrs Ramsay and Lily Briscoe, both represent different views on life and follow different paths on their search for meaning. Lily Briscoe transcends the traditional female gender roles embodied by Mrs Ramsay; by coming into her own as an independent and modern woman, she symbolises the advent of modernism and rejection of traditional Victorian values. The traditional female gender roles of passivity and submission are first reinforced by Mrs Ramsay's attitude and behaviour towards her husband and the guests at her house. Mrs Ramsay is not a helpless woman but she is not independent in the way that Lily Briscoe is. While she is perfectly capable of being the boss of trivial and "womanly" things such as dinner, the higher level decisions are always made by her husband. For example, in the beginning of the novel, Mrs Ramsay tells her son, James, that, weather permitting, they would go to the lighthouse the next day. Mr Ramsay insists that, "it won't be fine" (9). They do not go to the lighthouse. Mrs Ramsay submits to her husband's decision. Mrs Ramsay has the ability to "arrange people", both literally at the dinner table, and figuratively, as she plays match maker with her guests. However, her actions are either domestic and/or maternal. But what have I done with my life? thought Mrs Ramsay, taking her place at the head of the table . . . 'William, sit by me,' she said. 'Lily,' she said, wearily, 'over there.' . . . she [had] only this - an infinitely long table and plates and knives. At ... ...it is irrelevant because she is dead. By Lily's completion of her painting of Mrs Ramsay and the arrival at the lighthouse, Mrs Ramsay can also be "ended", in a sense. James, having forgiven his father, no longer has to Freudianly prefer his mother. Lily, having finished her painting, can now reject Mrs Ramsay as a model, both for the portrait and for her life. Lily is the embodiment of art in the novel; she strives for meaning in art. Mrs Ramsay, however, finds meaning in less abstract terms, she is fulfilled by her children and hopes to see them married. Lily finishes her painting but Mrs Ramsay does not live to see her children married. This is a statement on the validity of art and abstraction, as embodied by Lily Briscoe, and a negation of realist thought. Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1989. Evolution of the Modern Woman in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse Ess Evolution of the Modern Woman in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse examines the role of women or more specifically, the evolution of the modern woman. The two main female characters in the novel, Mrs Ramsay and Lily Briscoe, both represent different views on life and follow different paths on their search for meaning. Lily Briscoe transcends the traditional female gender roles embodied by Mrs Ramsay; by coming into her own as an independent and modern woman, she symbolises the advent of modernism and rejection of traditional Victorian values. The traditional female gender roles of passivity and submission are first reinforced by Mrs Ramsay's attitude and behaviour towards her husband and the guests at her house. Mrs Ramsay is not a helpless woman but she is not independent in the way that Lily Briscoe is. While she is perfectly capable of being the boss of trivial and "womanly" things such as dinner, the higher level decisions are always made by her husband. For example, in the beginning of the novel, Mrs Ramsay tells her son, James, that, weather permitting, they would go to the lighthouse the next day. Mr Ramsay insists that, "it won't be fine" (9). They do not go to the lighthouse. Mrs Ramsay submits to her husband's decision. Mrs Ramsay has the ability to "arrange people", both literally at the dinner table, and figuratively, as she plays match maker with her guests. However, her actions are either domestic and/or maternal. But what have I done with my life? thought Mrs Ramsay, taking her place at the head of the table . . . 'William, sit by me,' she said. 'Lily,' she said, wearily, 'over there.' . . . she [had] only this - an infinitely long table and plates and knives. At ... ...it is irrelevant because she is dead. By Lily's completion of her painting of Mrs Ramsay and the arrival at the lighthouse, Mrs Ramsay can also be "ended", in a sense. James, having forgiven his father, no longer has to Freudianly prefer his mother. Lily, having finished her painting, can now reject Mrs Ramsay as a model, both for the portrait and for her life. Lily is the embodiment of art in the novel; she strives for meaning in art. Mrs Ramsay, however, finds meaning in less abstract terms, she is fulfilled by her children and hopes to see them married. Lily finishes her painting but Mrs Ramsay does not live to see her children married. This is a statement on the validity of art and abstraction, as embodied by Lily Briscoe, and a negation of realist thought. Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1989.

The Effects Of The Wall Street Crash :: Free Essays

The effects of the Wall Street Crash were felt all around America as people starved, businesses became bankrupt and unemployment rose. This era was known as the Great Depression and would last for another ten to twenty years. In the short term, rich investors lost great deals of money. Whilst, poorer investors, who had borrowed ‘on the margin’, could not repay their loans and thus became bankrupt. After a while, these incidents began to affect the American public. Firstly, unemployment rose as industries sunk into decline. The 14 million unemployed was a stark contrast to the 1.5 million unemployed in the 1920’s. To make things worse, wages across the country began fall rapidly as people became more and more prepared to work for less. This led to many impoverished families being forced into homelessness, poverty and starvation. Every town had a so-called Hooverville, a shanty town of ramshackle huts where migrants lived, while they searched for work. In these Hoovervilles, conditions were unsanitary and disease spread easily. Many of these people lived on food provided by charities, but by 1932, the Red Cross, for example, could only give 75 cents a week to each family. A banking crisis then swept across America, as the confidence of the American public fell. In 1929, 659 banks failed due to unpaid loans. As a result people stopped trusting banks and withdrew their savings. This in turn led to more banks failing. People in agriculture were hardest hit by the Depression because the 1920’s had not been kind to them anyway. Many farmers had their land and homes repossessed, as they could not afford to pay back their mortgages and loans. Furthermore, since areas in the Southern States had been over cultivated, the land became less and less fertile and a Dust Bowl arose. Many of these ruined farmers travelled to California to find any labouring work.

New Media Implicated In The Globalization Of Culture Essay

The contemporary economics, culture and trade is becoming more and more global with each passing year. The diversity of services, goods and customs that could be spotted only a couple of decades ago in different countries, and even in different states have been becoming less and less noticeable during the last years. The same detergents, cat food, mobile phones etc can be found either on the shelves of the Canadian shops or on Russian and Indian markets. Some say that the process of globalization gave most of the world’s population the opportunity to use the qualitative and relatively inexpensive goods which were previously available only to the dwellers of the countries were they were produced, but the others presume that the process of globalization is destructive for the market, as due to the creation of corporations the smaller businesses go broke, and thus the competition, which leads to the improvement of quality of the goods produced, disappears. The influence of media on the contemporary culture is enormous. Media is what forms our tastes and preferences, it dictates us what to wear, to buy, and even how should be behave in different situations. It is the media that turned the American culture into the consumerist one, as nowadays it dictates that purchasing things is the most convenient and quick way to use the desired social status. Most of the media influences on people are performed through advertising, both direct and indirect one. Media is one of the main means of transferring information among people, and of forming their opinions that is why advertising is so powerful nowadays.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The specialists say it is media that makes the greatest impact on the globalization of culture and trade all over the world. It is through the media that the same goods are advertised all over the world, and, moreover, the same ideas are propagated. Media creates and sets the standards that are to be followed to be considered â€Å"up-to date† and fashionable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Of course, different people have various opinions on why the effect of advertising on globalization is so powerful. For example, Berger, who wrote Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture states advertising are a lottery, as it is still that nobody knows what advertisement will be effective and what will not. Berger adds that the advertisement executives believe that they waste half of money, spent on advertisements, but no one knows which half it is. (2000, p.2-3).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nowadays media is one of the most powerful instruments of forming the opinions of its consumers. Most of the marketing strategies that exist nowadays are built on the influences of the media. It is the irreplaceable instrument for selling things, the process, on which the globalization is based. Decades ago people bough what they needed and their needs were dictated by their life conditions and financial status. It is nowadays that at first media creates the need in the specific product or group of products in people, and than they purchase the advertised thing. Thanks to the media people no longer buy things they need; they rather buy the attributes of the desired social status. Hirschman (2003) states that core societal values have an important role on advertising production and reception. Thus, to become fashionable, a product has to be promoted emphasizing its contribution to those societal values.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today media dictates people not only what they should buy, but also how they should behave, and what should they long for, and those directions are actually the same all over the world. Lindner, the author of the study, which analyzes the images of women in general interest and fashion magazine advertisements, states that: â€Å"advertisements often contain very subtle clues about gender roles and may operate as socializing agents on several levels. Because advertisements are publicly broadcast, the men and women portrayed are often perceived to represent the whole population, and men and women in the advertisements seem to accept these portrayed behaviors, thereby validating the stereotyped roles.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Media encourages contemporary people to build a career, and get decent education. It is emphasized in the most contemporary movies, TV shows, and books that to get a decent and well-paid position one has to have all the attributes of the successful person, like luxurious car, expensive costume, and the smallest mobile phone possible. And, as we can note those attributes of wealth and success are the same in the ads and movies that are produced worldwide. In the movies and TV shows all of those accessories seem to spring out of nowhere, they just indicate the status of the personage portrayed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is wonderful how the media succeeds in making various products fashionable. It creates the impression of the product being fashionable by attaching a set of characteristics to it that are evaluated positively in the society. Let’s, for example, analyze the phenomenon of the popularity of the designers’ clothes. If we take a D&G dress, worth 10,000$, we will see, it is not much different from one we can buy in the department store for 100$. The designer’ dress is so expensive because media have been popularizing this trademark for many decades. We can read or hear that this or that movie star was wearing an outfit created by D&G, Prada, or Valentino on the Oscar award ceremony, which is broadcasted in most countries of the world, and thus conclude that clothes created by those trademarks are the attributes of rich and successful people, so that its high cost will be justified.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The advertisements published in the media create the feeling of identification. Jackie Stacey in Star Gazing; Hollywood Cinema and Female Spectatorship states that: â€Å"†¦the female spectator is addressed as a consumer of images of feminine beauty, and thus as an observer of other women, but also of herself.† (1994, p.5). The advertisements worldwide are built using the same principle: the potential buyer should be able to imagine himself or herself in the situation where the model that features the product that is promoted, is depicted in the advertisement. And it is obvious that this strategy is effective everywhere, where it is used.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William O’Barr, an advertising specialist who wrote Culture and the Ad: Exploring Otherness in the World of Advertising, presumes that advertising communicates subliminal messages regarding the social and economic dominance of its target audience. In his opinion advertising agencies are not culturally sensitive (1994. p.111). By   advertising campaign, the media creates an impression in the potential buyer that after purchasing the advertised product he or she will receive the social and economical status higher, than her present one. Media usually positions the advertised products as a compulsory attribute the members of customer’s present, or target social group possess.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In general all the advertising campaign pursue the goal of creating the ideal image of the person, who is a part of the target social group potential customers want to belong to. Thus the media portrays the person, using the advertised product in various situations and settings that the members of the customers’ target or present social group visit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The instruments the contemporary media use to make the products attractive for the customers are much more complicated than they were several decades ago. All of the advertisements that appeared in the newspapers, magazines or on TV forty or fifty years ago displayed the product advertised, and people who used them. Nowadays the situation has changed. Angela Goddard says it is not compulsory for the image to feature people in order to say something about them (2002, p.81). The advertisements shouldn’t feature a human all the time. They should rather picture the surroundings and the goals of the person, who is featured. This allows the consumers identification with the one, who uses the product advertised.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mechanism of group identification is one of the most effective instruments media uses in advertising, as people are used to the fact that every social group has its material attributes, and they often share the thought that it is enough to purchase those attributes to gain the membership in the target group. Media promotes this viewpoint by showing distinct differences between the representatives of different social groups. Let’s recall how the personages are displayed in the movies and TV shows. After looking at the hero for few minutes we can recognize his/her social status without paying much effort. The differences between social group and classes are hyperbolized by the media, and the material attributes are what indicate those differences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Social scientists presume that it is TV that makes one of the most powerful influences on the process of globalization worldwide. Almost every dweller of our country knows, that the TV appeared only several decades ago, and it’s only for forty or fifty years that almost every American family has a TV set at home. TV has become the greatest entertainment for the children and adults, an imaginary world we can drift to without even using the power of our imagination. The statistics says that television is on for almost 7 hours a day in an average American household.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No wonder that the appearance of television changed the world a lot, as the division of time in the global society has changed with the appearance of this talking hypnotizing box. Except for reading books, going out or simply talking with the friends and other family members millions of people worldwide just sit and watch TV. The stereotypes, ideals and goals that atr promoted by the TV programs worldwide, are almost the same, as the advertising techniques and goals are. As a result the life in different countries becomes more and more like the contemporary Western standard.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For now television has become a problem for the educators, parents, and employers. There is no statistics about the quantity of lessons and workdays missed because of the TV, but the numbers are surely, giant. Let’s try to see what exactly attracts the American children, teenager and adults to the TV screen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jerzy Kosinski in his book Being There provided a great interpretation for the facts listed. In his book he described the emotions of the person who had seen the outside world only through the glass of the TV screen. â€Å"By changing the channel he could change himself â€Å"-the author notes. â€Å"He could go through phases as garden plants went through phases, but he could change as rapidly, as he wished by twisting the dial backwards and forward. In some cases he could spread out into the screen without stopping. By turning the dial Chance could bring others inside his eyelids. Thus he cam to believe that it was he, Chance, who made himself be.† (p.5-6)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As you can note, switching on the TV set for Chance gave him the sense of power he didn’t have in his real life. Chance, like the millions of people worldwide identified himself with the moving figures on the screen, and he felt like he was capable to do something brave and smart, like the TV show and movie heroes did. There were times when people worked hard just for to feel themselves satisfied and valuable in any field they chose, but the TV screen brought an opportunity to get all the set of the positive emotions like love, affection, understanding and satisfaction for the price of one TV set.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The time that was spent before hand on working, studying, doing something for to provide positive emotions and the feeling of social realization is now spent in front of TV. The emotions, whether positive or negative brought by it became a drug for most of us, as we have unlearned to put the efforts for reaching those conditions and getting those emotions without the help of the blue screen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People have always had the archetypes inside their mind, on the subconscious levels, which had been dictating their view on the world and things and people that exist in it. With the appearance of the TV those archetypes had grown and enhanced, as we see a lot of examples of them there, much more than the average 19 century American would see during all of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The same thing is with stereotyping. Let’s recall the reasons for popularity of Chance, the protagonist of Being There. It was just the stereotype millions of Americans shared that the person who talks metaphors (and they took the Chance’s talking about his garden for metaphors) is clever, and hi/her words are worthy of being noticed. It is the phenomena we can see on the TV screen every day. People there are not very clever, not very attractive or intelligent, at least most of them, but we still take their words for granted they have the authority that makes us listen them and hear what they are saying. Today there are persons that are respected all over the world, and their words are able to change the lives of people in many countries. It became possible only with the development of the contemporary media, as without TV or the Web such a   direct and unaffected spread of information would not have been possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The purpose of this paper is not only examining the advertising techniques the big companies use for to lure more customers to their products. It is rather examining the influences media makes on the globalization of culture and trade that is taking place worldwide. The advertising techniques and strategies employed by the media can be used not only for promoting some products, but also for promoting the specific political regime, the specific lifestyles etc. Media is a very powerful instrument. Nowadays it forms the tastes and opinions of its consumers concerning the clothes, gadgetry, or food they buy, but using it much more meaningful and dangerous things can be promoted. This is a valid reason to put little more attention to the notional filling of the media images and slogans instead of consuming them irrecusably.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no doubt that the new media have a very powerful influence on globalization nowadays. Thanks to the TV and the Web the life of people in different parts of the world becomes more and more alike with each passing year. People develop same ideals, principles and norms, guided by TV shows, movies and ads, while the Internet lets them forget about the thousands of kilometers that separate New-York, Paris, Moscow and Deli.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People worldwide become more and more alike in all the senses of this word. There is no univocal answer for the question whether it is good or bad, as there are both positive and negative aspects of globalization. Nevertheless, this process is continuing, and it is enhancing with thee development of media. Bibliography KOSINSKI, J. Being There. Grove Press, 1999 QUART, A. Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. Basic Books, 2004 GODDARD, A. The language of Advertising, London: Routledge, 1998 BERGER A.S.A. Ads, Fads and consumer culture: advertisings impact on American character and society, Oxford: Roman and Littlefield, 2004 STACEY, J. Star-Gazing: Hollywood Cinema and female Spectatorship. London: Routledge, 1993 O’BARR, W. Culture and the ad: exploring otherness in the world of advertising. Oxford: Westview Press, 1994 LINDNER, K. â€Å"Images of Women in General Interest and Fashion Magazine Advertisements from 1955 to 2002†. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. 2004, p.409 – 421

I Believe That Every Thing Happens for a Reason Essay

But now I have learned that it is true. I can’t really explain how I came to realize, because I don’t really know. I guess it was just through my parents and through me becoming more mature and understanding as I grew older. I have learned through my own experiences and struggles of accepting things that happen in my life that I didn’t expect. In my opinion, there is no such thing as luck. Everything that God does has its own special purpose in each of our lives. Acceptance is a very difficult concept to gain. For people who have lost a loved one or had something tragic happen to them, they don’t want to go around saying that there is a good reason that happened, because it doesn’t make sense to them. They don’t understand how something good could come out of all of their trouble and heartache. But God doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe this struggle will help them to understand their purpose in life; something that they never would have realized any other way. He knows what is right for you, even if you don’t think its right for you at the time. Through our experiences and the things that we think go wrong in our life, God reveals things to us. He shows us our weaknesses and the things we need to work out in our lives. Sometimes, God puts us in these situations to bring us closer to Him; so when things don’t go the way we planned, even if we are upset at first, we will run to Him for comfort and strength to get us through it. A lot of times, we don’t see clearly God’s reasons for the things that he does. And we may never know! Maybe it was to create a relationship with someone that you would have never met, or maybe something bad, in your eyes, happens to create something better in the long run. The things that go on in your life create a chain reaction; everything that you say and do leads to something else, which leads to something else. Everything that God does in your life fits in to that process somewhere, even if you don’t understand why. You have to remember this when things do go the way you had planned, because there is probably a really good reason why things happened the way they did. It’s a lot easier to understand through smaller situations. If you don’t get accepted into the college that you were hoping to get in to, maybe it’s because you are going to meet your future husband/wife somewhere else. Sometimes you may think that just because your parents won’t let you go to a party or spend the night at your friend’s house, your life is ruined, but you are wrong. Maybe God laid that on your mom’s heart to avoid you from getting in trouble with the police or in a serious car accident. You will never really know the true reasons for why these things happen, but all you have to do is remember that he has a reason for everything and have trust. If you put your trust in the Lord, you don’t have to question things in your life. You just know that he will take care of everything. Every day, I apply this to my own life. I pray that things will go according to His plan and that I will accept the things that happen and learn from the experiences I have as a teenager, and even as I become an adult. Although my beliefs get me through my struggles, I still have problems with the acceptance of situations sometimes. Sometimes our selfish human nature makes us want to question God and ask him why things happen the way they do. But he is the one who knows what is best for us and his way will be a lot better for you in the long run.

Buying a Laptop

There are many things to consider when making any large purchase. It is very important to have an understanding of the product you wish to purchase, as well as a realistic estimate of how much you are willing to spend. I have recently been doing research about notebook computers, and have visited many websites to weigh the pros and cons of different brands. Ultimately, I am looking for a computer that is the best value for what I need. Since I like to play games and watch movies, I need a computer with specific features. However, given that I am a student, I have limited funds available.I approached this endeavor with an expectation of spending about $1,300 before tax. The most important features that I need are a fast processor, a lot of memory, and a good graphics card. All three components are essential to both gaming and watching DVDs. Portability is not really an issue for me, since I do not intend to carry it around too often. Given this fact, I am able to get a larger screen, which is a great for the purposes I need the computer for. My first inclination was to try discount websites, mostly because I anticipated lower prices.I first visited www. tigerdirect. com and viewed some of their portable computers. Before I started to get approximate costs, I decided to view the customer service section of their website. I was immediately concerned with their 15% restocking fee for returns. I don't like the idea of losing money if the product doesn't work out. I also briefly entertained the idea of purchasing a computer from e-Bay. However, I decided against that since there is not much recourse if a product turns out to be misrepresented or has issues.I then turned to www. walmart. com, and looked at what they had to offer. I like the idea of being able to go into my local store to physically see what the computers look like. Also, they carry a range of brands. Upon further examination, I discovered that the only 17†³ portables available were made by HP. I looked at the HP Pavilion DV9005US; it has an AMD processor, which I am not particularly fond of. However, I am very impressed with the 1 GB of memory, as well as the 100 GB hard drive. It also has a great graphics card. It has a 17†³ LCD monitor.The price with a 3 year warranty was about $1,200 before tax, which is certainly within my budget. However, since accidental damage is not covered I was a little leery. Next, I tried www. dell. com. I enjoyed being able to customize my own computer. The model that really caught my attention was the Inspiron E1705. The computer I configured has a Intel Duo processor, which I would prefer over the AMD, 1 GB of memory and an 80 GB hard drive. I am not concerned by the slightly smaller hard drive because I can always use the CD-RW to store data.It also has a 17†³ monitor. What really pleased me was the 3 year warranty-which includes accidental damage! It is slightly over my original budget though. Before tax, the total is $1,386. The overage is of course, less than $100. So, after careful consideration, I have decided that the Dell computer offers me a better value for my money. Even though it is more expensive, the accidental damage insurance means that I can properly protect my investment. I hope to never need it, but it is nice to know that if something does happen to it I can have it repaired.Another big factor in my decision is the fact that Dell is a reputable company. I know people who have Dell computers, and they seem very satisfied. I also like the fact that I can return the computer if I decide I don't like it, which makes up for not actually being able to see the computer before I buy it. Works CitedElectronics: Laptop Computers. Walmart. 18 November 2006. < http:// www. walmart. com/catalog/catalog. gsp? cat=4070&fromPageCatId=3951&catNavI d=3951>Home Page. Dell. 18 November 2006. Home Page. Tiger Direct. 18 November 2006.

My Sociology Paper Essay

Today’s generation is equipped with highly advanced and sophisticated technology that are very useful in many ways particularly in keeping and obtaining information. The internet serves not only as stock files of information but also for commercial advertisement, and for publication of all sorts of both scholarly and worthless articles as well as biased and non-biased piece of writings. This sort of complexity however, gives as a wide range of option and choices as to what one intends to do. For those who seek quality information scholarly and journal articles provides a strong references. The only thing that needs to do is evaluate the source whether its content are scholarly. In view of these, this paper will attempt to evaluate the articles listed above whether they are biased or non-biased sources by discussing the main issues raised by these sources. At the end the paper will conclude whether these sources are biased or not, based on the careful analysis of the content of each of these articles. Discussion of the articles In the first article, the main issue is the mandatory minimum sentence imposed on persons convicted of possessing half a kilogram of cocaine powder or more to at least five years imprisonment. The authors cited that this mandatory minimum have a strong bipartisan support from elected representatives and even from presidential candidates. While there are pros and cons in this issue, in view of the authors the mandatory minimum sentence can be viewed as means of attaining the country’s drug control objectives (Caulkins, J. P. ; Rydell, P. ; Schwabe, W. L. ; & Chiesa, J. 1997, par. 3). Controlling drug use in the country could be a welcome objective as often times; guns and violence are linked with drug use. According to Scott Newark in his article entitled â€Å"The 2006 Crime Stats Analysis- Time for the Truth† drugs like cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth are astoundingly 21% up over the past five years (Newark, par. 17). While the authors discussed and considered other available alternatives on easing drug problems, their opinion were focused on reducing drug consumption rather than its impact on the society. Thus, they put more emphasis on treating heavy users than on the criminal offenses associated with the use of illegal drugs. The Second Article, written by Steven Levitt, primarily deals with the decline of crimes in America. Levitt pointed out that while most experts are predicting an explosion of crime during the early and middle of the 1990s, crime rates plunged precisely at this expected period and authorities were not anticipating it to happen. Levitt refused to attribute this decline to the popular perceptions like increased imprisonment, tougher gun control laws, strong economy, and so forth. Levitt was not surprised by this turn of events rather he questioned why the decline of criminality did not happen earlier.  (p. 164). According to Levitt, what is remarkable with the decline of crimes in the USA during this period was it magnitude from the 1950 to 2001. Of all the criminal offenses, Levitt identified homicide as the most serious crime that had experienced the biggest drop between 1991 and 2000, from 9. 8 to 5. 5 or a drop of forty-four percent. While Levitt focus in his article was to identify the real causes of the decline of criminal offenses in the US during the period from 1991 to 2001, he seemed to have to fail to categorically identify the real causes of such decline. Instead he shifted his emphasis on the remarkable aspect of this decline. He noted that this decline appeared unusual compared with other countries in the world, in which most of the most common criminal offenses such as homicide, robbery, and burglary experienced sharp decline from 1991 to 2000. The author also discussed the universality of this drop in crime citing decline in each subgroups for all crime categories (p. 167). However, at the end of the article, the author recognizes six factors namely, the strong economy, the changing demographics, better policing strategies, gun control laws, laws allowing the carrying of cancelled weapons, and increased of capital punishment that according to Levitt, played little or no role in the crime drop. He also acknowledge the four factors that explained the decline of crime such as the increase in number of police, the rising prison population, the receding crack epidemic and the legalization of abortion. The last article, by Scott Newark, deals with crime statistics which was accordingly â€Å"disappointing without critical analysis by the media† (par. 3). Contrary to the article by Steven Levitt, Newark’s Crime Stat Analysis reveals the other side of police records of criminal offenses. While Newark was talking of the crime rates in Canada, he noted indirectly that recorded crimes are only the most serious ones suggesting that there are more crimes unreported, aside from those that were not recorded by the statistic gatherer. This means that Levitt’s account of crime drop in the United States is clouded with doubts, indeed, according to the United States Crime Rates 1960-2007, in 2000 United States was ranked as â€Å"22nd having highest Criminal Index† (United States Crime Rates). From the way it looks, Newark’s article was a fair assessment of the reality of criminal offenses and offenders. He emphasized that it is unrealistic to spend billions of dollars with the rehabilitation of serious offenders who when released, will commit the same crime again. Conclusion The three articles discussed in this paper provided basic ideas about criminal offenses. Although the paper did not give a clear stand in each of the articles discussed, it leaves the paper a debatable issue regarding the seemingly contradicting views between the reality of crimes and offenses in Canada and the United States as revealed by Levitt and Newark respectively. However, while the three authors have different views and emphasized on different aspects of criminal offenses, it was clear that their common objective is to shed light on issues that they deemed needed to be pointed out to the public. Quality of Sources The first article entitled Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences: Throwing Away the Key or the Taxpayers’ Money by Jonathan P. Caulkins, C. Peter Rydell. William L. Schwabe and James Chiesa, was biased in the sense that the authors appeared to one sided in their opinion. They seemed to focus merely on reducing drug consumption without giving due consideration to the implication of drug related offenses. This seemed to promote sympathy of the heavy user, rather on the consequence of violating the law. This is quite tantamount to tolerating the use of illegal drugs and then rehabilitates the users later on. The second article, Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Deadline and Six that Do not by Steven Levitt is not biased article in view of its critical and balanced presentation of facts and evidences. Although The article appeared surprising given the sharp decline of crimes in the US amidst the proliferation drugs in the inner cities of America as cited in an internet article entitled â€Å"Operation SOS. † The article noted the proliferation of drugs in the city causing violent crimes in the neighborhood (Operation SOS) yet the author was able to shed lights on all sides affecting the issues being discussed. The third article The 2006 Crime Stats Analysis-Time for the Truth by Scott Newark is also not biased article on the ground that this source was a realistic point of view. With out pretense, the author reveals the other side of the crime statistics release by law enforcers which in view of the author, is often selective and statistic gatherer are watering down their statistics to include only the most serious offense. The source is not bias because the writer was very objective and open minded in perception of the realities behind the law enforcements records of criminal offenses. References Caulkins, J. ; Rydell, P. ; Schwabe, W. L. & Chiesa, J. Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences: Throwing Away the Key or the Taxpayers Moneyhttp://www. fathom. com/media/PDF/2172_ss. pdf Levitt, S. (2004) â€Å"Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Deadline and Six that Do not† Journal Of Economic Perspectives—Vlume 18,Number1http://pricetheory.uchicago. edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004. pdf Newark, S. The 2006 Crime Stat Analysis- Time for the Truth Prime Time Crime July 23, 2007http://www. primetimecrime. com/contributing/2007/20070723newark. htm United States Crime rates 1960 – 200 http://www. disastercenter. com/crime/uscrime. htm â€Å"The Operation SOS† Division of Citizen Services City of Buffalo 2001- 2008http://www. ci. buffalo. ny. us/Home/City_Departments/Special_Programs_and_Agencies/Save_Our_Streets/OperationSOS

A Survey Of Student Attitudes To Alien Life Essay

A Survey Of Student Attitudes To Alien Life - Essay Example According to a research conducted by the an organization called The Third Millennium, almost forty six percent of students believe that aliens or UFOs actually exist as compared to only twenty eight percent of them who believe the provision of social security will exist by the time they retire. This study simply goes on to show how strongly students believe on the existence of a thing they haven’t ever even seen in their life! Goes on to show what an impact media has created on the minds of young people through its depictions about aliens in shows and magazines. A survey from college going students about aliens and other like creatures resulted in somewhat a very expected outcome. When asked if they believe in the true existence of aliens or extra-terrestrials, forty nine percent of students replied in the affirmative, twelve percent of them said they did not whereas the remaining thirty nine percent â€Å"weren’t sure†. However one thing that to which almost all of them agreed to was the fact that aliens are unable to abduct human beings. Interestingly enough, many students believe that aliens can survive without any form of food and water. They believe they gain energy from sun rays and the light given out by the stars and meteors. This factor pretty much seems to make sense as a recent American movie, a massive international hit on the box office, â€Å"ET – Extra Terrestrial† showed a human friendly alien on earth. Apparently, he was left behind on earth as he failed to reach on his UFO on time. The movie showed how ET gained his energy from the rays of the sun and used his magical powers to help people who spotted and took care of him on earth. That movie created a very sharp image of aliens by showing them as friendly creatures who love being with nice people and are against evil of all kinds. When the students were asked if they think the US government had a hidden hand behind the UFO matters, the bulk of the students, almost fifty three percent said they believed the government did possess knowledge relating to UFOs and their sightings and that such information was kept away from the public. Twelve percent of them disagreed to any such idea while the rest, as usual, came under the â€Å"no idea† category. The survey also came up with some very interesting answers. Some students held aliens responsible for the Stonehenge while other believed that they are responsible for crop circles. Another discovery which was much unexpected was that thirty eight percent of the students surveyed believed that aliens were involved in the construction / designing of the pyramids! There were differing views when students were asked since when have aliens existed. Almost thirty three percent of the lot was of the view that they have existed ever since there has been life on earth. Seventeen percent said they didn’t agree to the former’s view, thirty percent were of different views including the fact that aliens exited even before there was any sign of life on earth whereas the final forty percent of the sample believe that aliens developed with the â€Å"science age† and are relatively new on earth compared to various other forms of life. A great split was noticed in student’s views when they were asked if aliens have been monitoring or are in any case aware of human activities. Twenty one percent replied in the affirmative and were

Customer Service in the Blackshop Restaurant Case Study

Customer Service in the Blackshop Restaurant - Case Study Example Faced with the challenge of abandoning the manual system of managing reservations for the electronic one Alec Cerny had quite a tough decision to make. Â  The CHG was handling a good number of customers on a daily basis and in terms of operational efficiency, this required a very sophisticated system of managing reservations. The main problem to be tackled by the management at HCG was having a very efficient way of managing reservations in order not to lose customers while at the same time avoiding piling of pressure on available resources. The Backshop restaurant and affiliates were still using the manual way for making reservations where the customer could make phone calls and negotiate check on time and table choices with managers. One disadvantage of the manual system was that the information captured was inconsistent and was not easily transferable from day to day. Its transferability required extra labor and as such often was not done. another disadvantage arose especially when there were many customers calling in that anyone could step in and assist the managers; staff taking the reservations sometimes could bow to the press ure of customer when fixing check-in times causing bottlenecks to the bar& kitchen and limiting the restaurant's ability to turn the tables an extra time. Â  Procuring the reservations management software from OpenTable would assure consistency in customer information captured. Going electronic also meant keeping up to date with trends in business and customer service management as the future lies in technology. More people will do their things online in the future and as such it a worthy course. The system will assist the restaurant to save on time, cut costs, improve service, increase efficiency and ultimately attract repeat customers. The software also presents a unique opportunity to develop a good customer database, and allow sharing information between the restaurants.

Legal and Practical Aspects of Islamic Securitisation Essay

Legal and Practical Aspects of Islamic Securitisation - Essay Example The term â€Å"Islamic finance† is a recent invention having only appeared in the middle of the 1980s. Previously, any commercial activities that complied with Islam was referred to as â€Å"interest free† or â€Å"Islamic banking†. The impetus for establishing Islamic financial systems grew out of perceptions on the part of many Muslims that they existed in an essentially hostile â€Å"non-Muslim environment.† Spurred by the increase in rich oil resources during the 1973 – 1974 after a global oil crisis, oil producing Muslim countries were encouraged to implement innovative financial tools that closely resembled those used by Western businesses. In more recent times, Islamic Banking and Finance initiatives have expanded at a rapid rate throughout Muslim countries and in non-Muslim countries with large Muslim populations. As a result, Islamic Banking and Finance is gaining currency in significant Western businesses. This is an interesting and unique development given that Islamic finance is governed by the Shariah and as such is not a universal concept. The fact is the Shariah or Islamic law governs all daily activities of Muslims. From a financial perspective, the Shariah governs not only how capital can be acquired but also how it can be discharged. While wealth may be acquired, it may only be acquired by methods that are fair to all participants.

Business informal report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business informal report - Essay Example The society has experienced great loss to the fact that the museum presently does not have a section for Greek mythology. This is due to the fact that the foundation of modern society is mainly based on the Ancient Greek civilization (Dowden 46). The civilization includes Greek literature and mythology (Hard 131). A section on Greek mythology particularly Pelops should be opened. It is true from my analysis that the knowledge about the history of Greek help to realize the need for opening a section of the museum. With the knowledge in history about the Greek mythology the manager will be convinced that Greek mythology is important for the museum. The manager will be convinced that the Greek mythology and its traditions are relevant in today’s time (Dowden 48). Greek mythology at the museum can be presented by the case for Pelops (Edinger & Deborah 152). Many visitors will be interested to know much in Pelop’s life. The birth of Pelop, his apprenticeship to Poseidon, his being served to the gods by his father, his fatal curse, his love among others can be presented in the museum (Edinger & Deborah 153). One of my recommendations that I derived after the study is that the manager should undertake performance and plan for the development of the museum. Besides, the executive manager will regularly need ideas that will attract more visitors to the museum (Hard 129). The knowledgeable about history, geography and science equips individuals on the importance and ways of opening a section of the museum. The manager should also be attentive to suggestions that are put forward logically in order to develop fruitful ideas. Evidently, the creation of a section of the museum can be made possible when the executive manager take an action. The manager should gather more ideas and information on the various ways of creating up the section. I will be very happy to realize that the section

The Handwashing Techniques Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Handwashing Techniques - Assignment Example Using the literature I will look at and explore the factors that may have influenced the learner and their performance in Scenario One (hand washing). I will then, with reference to the literature, identify one of these contributory factors and critically discuss and analyse the mentor's role in addressing the identified factor. I will then identify recommendations for best practice. There are many definitions of assessment in the literature. According to Rowntree (1987) "assessment occurs whenever one person in some kind of interaction, direct or in direct, with another is conscious of obtaining and interpreting information about the knowledge and understanding of the abilities and attitudes of this person". Curzon (1990) defines assessment as the process of: "collection, measuring and interpreting information relating to students' responses to the process of instruction". Ewan and White (1996) define assessment as "the process by which teachers attempt to gauge student' progress and learning". Quinn (2000), states that through assessment in practice judgement is made on the quality of the learners' work, as a way of supporting the learner and of appraising their achievement of their set of outcomes. The common theme of the above mentioned definitions is measurement and progression or competence and outcome Flanagan et al (1999). From the scenario we see that t he student is being assessed formatively. It is important that the mentor is aware of the difference between formative and summative assessments. Price (2005) discusses the two purposes of assessment: Formative assessment in which the mentor is the advisor. The formative assessment is to advise the student of progress towards the goal. Summative assessment is in order to judge the learning. The purpose of the assessment in the given scenario is to observe the maintenance of asepsis. Medical Asepsis is defined as, "the procedures used to reduce the number of microorganisms and prevent their spread." [Mosby 2009]. One of the basic principles of health care that is drilled into the minds of all health care professionals from a very early stage in their training is the importance of maintaining strict asepsis in their handling of patients. The lesson is repeated so often as to become second nature for health care professionals. The reason that maintenance of asepsis is stressed upon so often in medical practice is that significant benefits can accrue from following a few simple rules. The rate of transmission of infection from on patient to another in wards and OPDs can be reduced significantly. Asepsis can also be productive towards decreasing the incidence of illness among health care workers themselves by reducing transmission of pathogenic bacteria from patients to carers. A number of rules are in practice for the maintenance of asepsis. These include specific techniques for handwashing and use of sterilization procedures for the sheets, instruments and apparatus used in relation with patients. In the chosen scenario, the student follows the instructions taught to the letter, but forgets to apply simple sense to the situation and soils her hand without even realizing what she has done. There can be a number of