The Modern Researcher

Both authors, Jacquez Barzun and Henry Grafff are historians and are faculty members of Columbia University. They finished this book by year 1969. THE BOOK- Summary and Purpose: This book is primarily intended to â€Å"guide and instruct students in the arts of research   and writing†(note on the revised edition), with special emphasis on historiography. The book is divided into three parts, with the titles: The First Principles, Research and Writing . The idea for the first principles is to lay down the necessary frame of thought, the attitudes and qualifications of a (modern) â€Å"researcher†- apparently, to distinguish him from an antiquated one. It combines both the technique of research and writing. Unlike common writing/research manuals that concentrate only on the â€Å"how to’s† ,   Barzun & Graff, offered all the necessary ingredients for excellent history writing that is based on fastidious effort to search for â€Å"the truth†. It is a book on historiography that develops the idea that â€Å"facts alone do not constitute history† but that these need to be interpreted and ably written. Writing   should consist an effort on the writer to communicate as close as possible his   own ideas to the reader. It gives a very convenient outline summary for all the great philosophical systems  Ã‚   that influenced historians and their writings. This background could further enhance an understanding of historians’ very human tendency to reduce patterns into ‘laws’ in order to make them coherent and unified. However, such laws overly simplify   phenomenon and , if possible, should be avoided by the writer. Barzun convincingly provides strong bases for his ‘principles’ through excellent  Ã‚  Ã‚   choice of examples. An anecdote on how a historian was able to establish the authorship of the â€Å"Diary of a Public Man† is such a good example on how   one investigates and verifies his data. This historian was able to come up with a  Ã‚  Ã‚   probable answer to his problem through trial and error that took him more than thirty years- visiting libraries, interviewing key people mentioned in the diary, verifying documents written during the period in question (Lincoln Administration). In the end the historian found out that the author employed both fact and fiction in his diary entry and therefore   this (diary)   would not be useful as a historical document. Another is about a researcher who investigated the origin of the motto: â€Å"In God We Trust† written on dollar currencies. He noticed that there was a period when such a motto was absent,   and he wanted to investigate, first -its origin and then,   the reason   for its absence; then, its revival in the present currencies. Through painstaking investigation he found out that it was Stuart Chase, the Secretary of Treasury who , being a clergyman, mandated its inclusion on all currencies during his incumbency. When his term expired, his successor had this motto deleted only to reappear later when the American Congress saw the wisdom of restoring it. Such examples on the process of research reinforces the idea that research is a worthy endeavor and   is indeed exciting. Moroever, the book stresses on the importance of having the proper perspective in writing history, i.e. â€Å"Book concentrates on principles of thought and analysis of difficulties and aims at imparting the fundamentals of informed exposition.† The authors repeatedly expounds on these throughout the book. Another important tenet which Barzun convinces his reader is that it is by way of probability that all scholars, including scientists can claim the truthfulness of their work. Thus, patterning in history is intended not to arrive at â€Å"laws† or generalizations that are â€Å"unbreakable† and immutable but rather to serve as guidepost that may give coherence to an ,otherwise, confusing motley of data. They are therefore made for convenience, just as periodizations in history are. The menacing issue on subjectivity and objectivity in historical writing was given adequate attention by Barzun. He avers that   these words apply â€Å"not to persons and opinions but rather to sensations and judgments† and are better avoided by historians and their critics. â€Å"An objective judgment is one made by testing in all ways possible one’s subjective impressions, so as to arrive at a knowledge of subjects.† A corollary principle will be that â€Å"competence, not majority opinion, is decisive. There have been collective hallucinations that deceived large majorities’† (p.166). This obviously happens, specially with political issues and with politicians who exploit public opinion to suit their ends. Analysis: Barzun & Graff’s Modern Researcher is, indeed, not an ordinary manual on research and writing. But I have only one comment, why did they entitle the book â€Å"The Modern Researcher†? Nowhere in this book did they explain the title. Does the word â€Å"modern† means a historical period? Or a frame of mind? I would assume that the work being about historiography may connote a historical period. But it could also be a frame of mind, i.e. progressive and liberal.

Audrey Hepburn and Personality Theories

Audrey Hepburn and Her Personality Theories Psy/300 Audrey Hepburn and Her Personality Theories Audrey Hepburn was born in 1929 in Brussels Belgium during a time of economic hardship and personal strife. Her life took an amazing twist from her once food deprived, fatherless, war frenzied, childhood and adolescent years by becoming a 20th century icon. She withheld perseverance for life that drove her into the Land of the Free and ironically into the luxurious world of film-making by becoming one of the most wanted actresses in Hollywood.Through her trials, tribulations, heredity and the surrounding environments this paper will explain how they contributed to molding her personality and what made her such a unique individual. Audrey had very little emotional support or family influence as a child. Her father left her, bother and mother when she was six years of age. Her mother was forced to raise two children on her own in a time of war with ample ways in which to concentrate on emoti onal ties or even fundamental ways to nurture the children. Audrey once quoted that after her father left that she was â€Å"devastated and had no one left to cuddle with. (Flonder, 1998) Being that it was such a difficult time in history Audrey and the influences around her where forced to work harder than the average person does in a life time. She was raised morally by her Mother in that they worked hard for what they needed in order to survive. Once the war was over her and her family even made geographical moves in order prosper and achieve their goals. It was also documented that during the war she was a messenger for her allies against the enemies reflecting that she was culturally influenced at an early age to fight for those that she trusted and believed in.Although there was opportunity to steal and pillage her and her, family and friends went so hungry at times that â€Å"they ate tulip bulbs in order to stay alive. † (Flonder, 1998) There are several theories in the study of psychology that suggest how a personality is formed and what creates it’s unique characteristics in which drive a person to act a particular way in certain environments and while interacting with others. In Audrey Hepburn’s case the Objective Relation Theory and the infamous Sigmund Freud theory of Psycho-dynamic best fit her characteristics and actions by what is recorded of her life history and personal quotes.Objective Relation Theorist focus on the ways in which people cope with their feelings (defenses) and adapt to reality while trying to fulfill their needs (ego-centric). (Kowalski & Weston, 2011) It also suggests that people whom develop their personality in this way by environment and life events have an extreme inability to trust relationships. It is a progressive movement toward a more mature relatedness to others. (Kowalski & Weston, 2011) The personality of Audrey Hepburn is reflected in this theory in several ways.Her two divorces might have stemmed from the desertion of her father or the result the enemies and horrors that she encountered during the war. The two divorces suggest signs of maladaptive interpersonal problems by having conflicts with others. The two divorces may also be the way that she coped with not having trust for the men in her life and a short lived childhood. She once mentioned that she had â€Å"very little youth, few friends in the usual teenage way and no security. Is it no wonder I became an interior sort of person? I think I was older in those days than I am now. (Flonder, 1998) As mentioned above the Objective Relation Theory also focuses on a person’s ego or how much one thinks of oneself. Audrey was a very giving person in the literal sense. She was said to be a fantastic mother of two boys and quoted â€Å"all that I ever really wanted to be was a mother†. (Flonder, 1998) As a way to pay it forward to those that helped feed her during the war she also gave tirelessly to child ren of other countries by becoming the Ambassador to the United Nations International Children’s Fund. Therefore, she could give to others effortlessly although she suffered from signs of ego-centrism and self- preoccupation.With the events of her past she yearned to be loved and even with great success by the worlds view as an Academy Award winner she continued to search for the truth behind true internal happiness. The Psycho-dynamic Theory concludes that people are motivated by wishes and fears which Audrey had many of and displayed openly that they both drove her in many ways. She actually changed her name to Audrey as to not face the name of her past as well as by wishing for a better life with her new identity. Audrey quoted â€Å"Edna had been through enough already. † (Flonder, 1998) This theory also places emphasis on how ne’s personality takes formation during early development and is highly affected by the role of their parents. (Burton & Davey, 2006) Audrey clearly had an early physical and loving attachment to her father to state that â€Å"she had no one to cuddle with† once he was gone. (Flonder, 1998) Without this early attachment achieved her recognition of autonomy and self conscious freedom would have been meaningless. (Kowalski & Weston 2011) At this early stage of her development with her father she was able to form such strong desires to love and care for her children beyond what her Mother could honestly provide.She also showed a strong desire to have close harmonious connections by being very socially active as well as caring for those in needs. As well, in her latter stages of life she did eventually fall in love and stay in a committed relationship up until her death in 1993. (Flonder, 1998) In all, the Psycho-dynamic Theory best describes the personality of Audrey Hepburn. Although she faced many challenges during her life in the face of adversity through the progression of her life she did overcome them i n healthy ways.And although the desertion of her father left her unable to trust and searching for love she was able to form some loving bonds with people throughout her life. To support this theory as well one of her most famous quotes is â€Å"people need to be loved, restored and redeemed. Never throw out anyone. † (Erwin & Diamond, 2006 ) Audrey Hepburn had a multifaceted personality due to the relationships that she had as child and established during adolescent but she stayed true to her morals and was striven for answers that would improve her as to overcome her past.She appeared to be kind and loving towards the people that meant the most to her in her life. Those that encounter her briefly also suggest that she was a â€Å"giving and elegant spirit† (Erwin & Diamond, 2006 ) simply working towards a better life for herself and mankind. References Kowalski, R. & Weston, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed. ) Hoboken, NJ: Whiley. 2004 Flonder, P. Biography. The Immorta l Audrey Hepburn Aug98, Vol. 2 Issue 8, p46. 8p. 19 Larsson, P. Counseling Psychology Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, March 2012 Erwin, E. , & Diamond, J. (2006). The Audrey Hepburn Treasures . New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, inc..

"Mariana" and "Long Distance"

Mariana and Long Distance Essay Mariana is a poem written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, based on a Shakespeare play. In the play, the character Mariana is in love with a man called Angelo. He then leaves her. This poem is about her waiting for him to come back. Also it is speculated that Tennyson wrote this poem because he had experienced something similar himself. Although this might not be true we do know that he liked writing stories about the past. In Long Distance, written by Tony Harrison, a man is waiting for his wife to return although we know she will not because she has died. These two poems follow the same theme, waiting for a loved one to return home, but they portray the theme very differently. In Mariana even from the first line it is suggested to us that her living area is decayed, dark and dull with the blackest moss the flower pots were thickly crusted. This is also suggests age because instead of saying black moss it says blackest moss which tells us that it has blackened over time. Also moss only grows on a surface, which is not often disturbed by footsteps. This suggests that Mariana doesnt go out of her house very often, if at all. The flower pots were thickly crusted . This means that they have not been tended to. All of which tells us that Mariana does not lead an active life or at least she does not care for her house and garden. In Long Distance the image portrayed is very different to the scene set in Mariana. Although both poems are dealing with a lost love, Long Distance deals with this theme in a much simpler way than Mariana. Long Distance uses a lot less onomatopoeia and alliteration. The first line of Long Distance, Though my mother was already two years dead has a very strong end of line. The word dead sounds very final. If it had ended with the word years it would have not been as shocking. Unlike Mariana there is a very regular rhyme pattern to this poem and this shows the calmness that the man feels because he pretends that his wife is still alive. In Mariana the rhyme pattern is not regular, this tells us that she is not calm and shows her anguish for her lost love. The father in Long Distance holds on to the memory of his wife because he loved her passionately, his still raw love. Mariana holds on to her raw love due to the same reasons, but she also has the hope that he might return someday. We learn much from the first verses of each poem. In Mariana we learn that to her, her environment is dark and full of despair, with the blackest moss the flower pots were thickly crusted The rusted nails fell from the knots that held the pear to the gable wall. The broken sheds Unlifted was the clinking latch. This all describes her life not moving from her house, just sitting in misery. In Long Distance we learn that the father stays in his home to be reminded of his wife who was warm and kind, slippers warming by the gas, put hot water bottles by the side of her bed and still went to re-knew her transport pass This gives us an insight into the fathers life. I believe he is kind as was his wife. This quote creates imagery of a warm kind household. It also makes us feel sympathy for his loss. There are two like quotes in Mariana and Long Distance which specifically tells us that they stay in their houses, Unlifted was the clinking latch and the rusted lock. READ: Compare 'Follower' and 'Death of a naturalist' EssayWhilst in Long Distance the father is embarrassed by his pretence, You couldnt just drop in. You had to phone, Mariana seems unaware of the world outside her house, All day within the dreamy house. Another difference between the two characters mindset is that the father pretends his wife never left, whereas, Mariana waits for her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to return. Although if the fathers wife had left him rather than died I believe he would have reacted in the same manner as Mariana. This is because both loves were very passionate and truly heartfelt. The third verse of Long Distance is extremely sad. It talks of the fathers self-denial; he believes that his wife has just popped to get the tea. This is not unlike Marianas self-denial in believing that her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ will return home. Both characters cannot admit to there not being any hope of their lovers returning. Another similarity is that both characters live in the past; for example, Old footsteps trod the upper floors, in Mariana. This is not so literal in Long Distance as he lives in the past by not letting go of his wifes memory. The endings to both poems are very moving, although in Mariana it is more dramatic, in the style of a Shakespearean play, and in Long Distance it is a very simple enclosed rhyme but it is quite thought provoking. At the end of Long Distance the writer tells us obliquely that his father has died now too. He also indicates that he thought his father was foolish for acting the way he did. He then changes the mood of the verse by saying that although he doesnt pretend that his parents have both gone shopping he has still added their phone number to his new phone book. He now understands the way his father felt. He uses the metaphor the disconnected number I still call to describe his feelings: he wants to keep in contact with his parents but cannot because they are gone. The ending to this poem is vital to the understanding of the title. At the very end of Mariana the four end lines, which are repeated loosely at the end of all verses, are significantly changed. This sums up the fact that she has now completely lost hope of her lovers return. This is like the writer in Long Distance coming to terms with the fact that both of his parents are now dead.

College Admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

College Admission - Essay Example So at the ripe age of six, I began with what would become a life-long pursuit of trying to be the best soccer player I could be. I tried my luck at baseball one year but found it too unexciting and dry. I also tried a year of football in order to meet my father’s wish for me to become as good a football player as he was, but it just was not meant to be. Soccer, it was! And I remember the awkwardness of stumbling onto the field as a young child. But I persevered and showed up for every practice determined to be the best player I could be. My parents have been super supportive of my soccer career and have taken me to those ungodly 8 am games to sometimes traveling hours to play in a tournament. One can say we made it a family affair. After many years of playing for our local recreational league I decided to try out for my high school soccer team. I was pretty confident knowing I would make a great addition to the team. After all I have been playing soccer longer than most of my team mates trying out. However what I did not count on was my lack of preparation. I had spent most of summer that year at home playing a lot of video games and hanging out with friends while my friends were preparing for soccer tryouts. My Dad strongly encouraged me to join the cross country team so I would be conditioned and get in shape for tryouts but I ignored his advice. So there I was again, staring at the list. How could this have happened? In the words of Abraham Lincoln, â€Å"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure†. I can assure you that I was not content with my failure that day. Success for me is defined as preparation, commitment and motivation to achieve my goals. I hope to apply this valuable lesson to my college experience. I know there will be successes as well as a few failures but as long as I remember that there is always something to be learned by both. May be I will not

Service Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Service Marketing - Research Paper Example Marketing challenges are a common issue for all service companies. The major focus of these companies is to highlight intangible or tangible element present within the service aspect. In this research study five different companies will be included belonging to different service sectors. The various service sectors chosen for this study are financial services, telecommunication services, airlines, hospitality and health care services. Financial services are usually provided by finance industry and are regarded as economic services. There is wide range of firms belonging to this industry like banks, insurance companies, real estate funds, credit unions, investment funds, accountancy companies, etc. Air transport services are another well-known service for travelling freight and passengers. Telecommunication service is all about enhancing transfer capabilities of user information through telecommunication systems. On the other hand, health care services are highly responsible for provi ding appropriate health care facilities to patients. Hospitality services are inclined towards providing guests accommodation facilities, travel, food, other amenities, etc. Etisalat is the brand name for Emirates Telecommunications Corporation. The company belongs to the telecommunication industry and was founded in 1976. Etisalat is a well-known telecommunication service provider based in UAE. In current scenario the company operates across 15 countries encompassing Asia, Africa and Middle East. The company is ranked as 12th largest operator of mobile network across the globe. Total customer base of the firm is about 150 million. Services being offered by the company are mobile and fixed line telephony, digital television and internet services. It can be stated that fixed line telephony and digital television is a form of tangible substance being offered by Etisalat. The company has even entered into approximately 150 roaming agreements, expanding across 186

Human resource performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human resource performance - Essay Example As coaching managers, they have to pay attention to the behaviors, values and skills that are linked to the desired outcomes by the organization. As the senior manager, I will emphasize on the need for listening as this aspect is counter-intuitive. For instance, I would ask the managers to meet with the employees or even the supervisors and managers so as they discuss the difficulties they encounter. Through sharing their points of view, these parties develop rapport; thus, accommodate each others point of view. Additionally, I will plan to focus on the behaviors that need to be changed. I will highlight these change areas in meetings. For instance, I will clearly highlight that use of unwanted language is unacceptable in the office, with specific examples that some employees or even supervisors used. Through explaining this out rightly to the employees will reduce chances of reoccurrence of the same as the particular individuals with these behaviors will know that have been identified from the crowd (Bacal 162). As the senior manager, I will focus on the need to explain the importance of interpersonal relationships in the workplace. As argued by Bacal, performance can only be attained in an organization only if another people’s interests are identified and respected (155). In this case, chances of verbal abuse will be minimal as the managers will instill the feeling of co-working in the entire workplace. None of the employees or supervisor will, therefore, take up a perfectionist role; thus, reduction of hostility and an increase in the employee relations (Weintraub & Hunt 112). In terms of increased turnover, I will train managers on the need to be more patient while hiring and not do it out of mere desperation. Gathering adequate information on an applicant is vital for the long term success of the company as the manager will hire the best person from the list of

Management and leadership Development Coursework

Management and leadership Development - Coursework Example Just like, organisation leaders, national leaders need to understand the role and responsibilities of effective managers. The need to understand some of the most essential concepts in leadership and management by professionals and business executives is facilitated by the changing nature of market and market dynamic in modern society (Day2001, p. 613). The need to cope with the current competition in local and international markets has as well enhanced the increased the demand of the knowledge on leadership and management (Cromwell & Kolb 2004, p. 471, Day, 2001, p. 91). At present, there are numerous researches that have been undertaken to understand some of the most complicated concepts of leadership and management development (Bass, 1999, p.31). However, researchers have universally defined the concepts leadership and management development as broad activities that facilitate and support one’s ability to lead and manage other people and professionals in a specified social s etting (Leithwood, Karen, Stephen and Kyla, 2010, p. 91, Reed, 2005, p. 163). In a good number of organisational structures, the interaction between leaders and managers has played a very essential role in their productivity and expansion (Collier, & Esteban, 2000, p.207, Palus & Horth, 2004, p439). Many researchers have attributed the development and expansion of most of the modern global corporations and institutions with effective interaction between leadership and management in their management and operations (Chappelow, 2004, p.81, Conger 1999, 179, Dering 1998, p. 32). As defined, managers in organisations are professionals who have the responsibility and ability of managing the organization through controlling all production processes. Managers have the responsibility of ensuring that, all activities and operations in an organisation are effectively managed and controlled (Martineau 2007, P.23, Procter 2002, p. 27). On the other hand, leadership is described as ability and sk ills of setting attainable goals in reference to the organisation goals and objectives. Leaders in any organization should therefore have the ability of communicating the set goals to others employees in a way that would enhance harmonious and voluntary teamwork in order to accomplish the established objectives and goals (Sankar 2003, p.45). To succeed in modern complicated corporate market, any organization ought to have effective and well-qualified managers and leaders. In any organisation, a manager has the responsibility of controlling, leading, organising and planning the organisation activities (Lukas, Holmes, 2007, p. 91). Therefore, some scholars have defined management as activities and functions that determine the manner in which organisation technical, human, informational and physical resources are coordinated and arranged to perform a specified responsibility that is designed to benefit the organization. Moreover, an effective leadership implies that, a qualified manage r must have the ability of influencing critical process and operations in an organisation. Leaders in an organization should be focused on facilitating creation of systems, methods and strategies for building capacities and knowledge (Burns, 1978, p. 17). Although leadership and management development are used interchangeably, some scholars have identified very specific differences between leadershi

Minimising the risk in shipping operation. A Case study comparing two Essay

Minimising the risk in shipping operation. A Case study comparing two shipping lines (Maersk and NYK) - Essay Example The risk of piracy has continued to dominate the list of shipping risks for most organisations, sometimes superseding other risks in terms of frequency of occurrence, and the intensity of loss or/and liability. As a direct result of piracy, the costs of operating shipping lines have significantly increased. Insurance costs for sea vessels, for example, have continuously soared to greater heights while vessels are required to install certain security features to help reduce the risk of loss resulting from piracy. Owing to the importance assigned to the shipping industry in international trade, and considering the risks it faces, it would only be wise to consider finding ways of mitigating the effects of such risks or altogether eliminating them. This work is dedicated to the analysis of piracy as a main shipping risk and is aimed at coming up with strategies and techniques for combating this specific risk. According to the International Maritime organisation (IMO), approximately 90 percent of the world’s trade is transported by the international shipping industry. Transportation of bulk raw materials and manufactured goods, and intercontinental trade would practically be impossible without international shipping. Better said, without the international shipping industry, one half of the world would ultimately freeze while the other half would starve. Under close analysis, ships are high value and sophisticated assets. Merchant ships in their annual operations generate income in excess of 380 billion USD dollars in freight rates alone. In reality, this accounts for about five percent of the world’s entire economy. This percentage no shows how vital the industry contributes to investors, governments, employees, organisations and by extension the global economy. In this sense, it is important for all stakeholders to join forces and

Applied Sports Coaching Science and Performance Essay

Applied Sports Coaching Science and Performance - Essay Example Sensor (2012) states research has shown that the expert coach performed well. One book, We Have Met the Enemy, And It Is Us, states that the coach plays an important role in training the table tennis learners. Research shows that there is a strong relationship between the coaching performance and the related academic references. Research states that the expert coach correctly meets the learners’ halfway to enhance cooperation, separating the training of the beginner learners from experts, and offering sport scholarship incentives to hasten learner’s mastery of the lessons. The Research shows that the novice coach never implemented the learning theories. The expert coach educator can be described as â€Å"a physical educator who is a highly trained, broad-based, experienced professional practitioner who can bring anatomical, physiological, mechanical, psychological, and maturational aspects of human movement together, and combine an extensive activity base with sound ph ilosophical and pedagogical principles†. Summarizing the above discussion, I saw the expert coach implement the three relevant learning theories to sports training, unlike the novice coach. I observed the expert coach built cooperation between the learners and the coach in the sports training, unlike the novice coach who just let the players play for two hours. Evidently, I observed the expert table tennis coach successfully implemented the relevant learning theories to win more sports tournaments. However, the novice coach unfavorably refused to implement the three learning theories.

Research Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Research Portfolio - Essay Example This signifies that for a similar product or service, if a firm contracts with the vendor for a specific volume because of rate fluctuations, then they will be paying extra. The customs duty structure is openly related to such rates that will have more impact (Taylor, 2004). Cash loss also enhances thereby damaging the working capital needs. In essence, this openly plunges the productivity of a business. Research Questions/Topics Some of the research questions that this paper seeks to answer include the causes, as well as effects of the global financial crisis (Evans & Lyons, 2003). Such a topic is extremely important as the global financial crisis are considered to have been brought about by miscalculations in the foreign exchange market. Another research topic is the assessment of changing patterns of global comparative advantage along with its policy implications. The third question includes how major world exporters and importers are dealing with the issues affecting foreign exch ange market. It would be interesting to know how major economies in the world are trying to deal with these issues affecting foreign exchange (Evans & Lyons, 2003). Fourthly, another question includes factors leading to the exchange rate volatility in major world economies. Finally, the fifth question would be how the issues affecting the foreign exchange market affect trade, productivity and employment. Data Required This study will incorporate nations such as the United States, United Kingdom, China, Germany, Brazil and other key world traders. The paper selected these nations because they are the ones who are always on the media discussing the issues in the foreign exchange market. Also, major companies will also be incorporated in this study, such as car exporting firms and food importing firms among others and the sample size will be nearly 50 respondents. The study will take place over two months, and some of the variables that will be studied in the survey include causes, as well as effects of the issues in the foreign exchange market, who are being affected and what is being done to deal with these issues. Proposed Methodology The study on foreign-exchange intervention is all about empirical research. The paper includes a wide range of experimental techniques and strategies. The various methodologies presented diverse types of problems about which anybody evaluating this paper’s results should be mindful. It is vital to include both primary and secondary sources effectively to come up with the information of the topic (Lothian & Dijk, 2006). Primary information could be gathered from business managers or owners of the business while secondary data could be gathered from already published sources of this topic. The overarching issue, which confronted this empirical survey, was the simultaneous determination of bureaucrat intervention, as well as exchange-rate changes. Since the study lacked an adequate amount of high frequency sources, I generall y did not apply standard numerical techniques to this issue. Question 2 Overview Market structure indicators like the number of banks, as well as banking concentration, usually have been regarded as the main determinants of business rivalry in the banking sector. However, critics argue that these variables have no important impact on market power (Angelini & Cetorelli, 2003). Firm rivalry in the ba

History Essay Example for Free

History Essay 1.   In your opinion, who started the Cold War? Explain in 5 sentences. In one opinion, the Cold War was not started by one side or the other.   The Cold War was more of a culmination of political, cultural and ideological differences than anything else(Pierpaoli).   This being said, in fairness, both the West and the East provoked hostilities during the Cold War through various attempts to promote their respective political systems throughout the world.   Ultimately, the Cold War was not decisively won by the West; rather, the West was able to hold out longer than the East. 2.   List three major prolonged conflicts in the Cold War. During the Cold War, three major prolonged conflicts that erupted were the Korean War (1950–1953); the Vietnam War (1946–1975); and the war in Afghanistan (1979–1989)(Pierpaoli). 3.   How did the Cold War influence society and culture? 3 sentences The Cold War influenced society and culture in many ways.   Culturally, the Cold War gave birth to an entire genre of literature and motion pictures/television- the classic story of the â€Å"secret agent†.   In terms of society, the Cold War divided society in terms of whether people, in both the East and West, supported capitalism or communism, and the many facets that each system offered (Pierpaoli). 4.   Evaluate the role of technology on the Cold War. Technology also played a role in the Cold War.   It was through surveillance technology that the United States was able to protect itself from Soviet aggression, such as the detection of missile sites in Cuba, a mere 90 miles from the US mainland (Pierpaoli).   Technology also helped the Soviets to detect an American U2 spy plane within their airspace- an incident which almost sparked World War III.   Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the nuclear weapon technology which both the US and USSR possessed held the potential to destroy the planet. 5.What was Watergate and how did it influence the Vietnam War? Briefly describe. When one speaks of Watergate, they are usually referring to illegal actions taken by President Richard M. Nixon. Watergate is said to have begun when Nixon ordered one of his closest advisors, Henry Kissinger, to tap the telephone of a New York Time reporter in order to try to determine who was â€Å"leaking† information to the media about a secret bombing mission in Cambodia (Greene).   This influenced the Vietnam War in that the public learned of the many outrageous secret missions of the American military in Vietnam, raising public opposition to the war itself. 6.`A Short History of Terrorism,` write a paragraph explaining the difference in modern `terrorism` and its historical antecedents given in this article. The single most remarkable difference modern terrorism and its historical antecedents is the fact that modern terrorism is not meant to advance the agenda of a particular nation, but is driven by the belief by many Middle Eastern nations that the United States is an evil empire which God would like to see destroyed (Greenberg).   This type of religious zeal gives modern terrorism its sharp teeth and deadly venom. 7. Write a brief essay explaining your views on whether America should move beyond Affirmative Action at this time. Support your position. America should move beyond Affirmative Action for several key reasons; first, as we have seen in recent months, opportunities have opened up for minorities from the most powerful office in the United States to the areas of entertainment, the media, and the average job in any city in the nation.   Additionally, the increasing cultural diversity of America is transforming the demographic of the nation so that rather than minorities (Gryphon), there are any number of â€Å"mini-majorities† in place, thereby making favoritism for any given group both outdates and unnecessary. 8. Did women have a positive role in the progressive movement even before they had the right to vote? What was it? Describe briefly. Women most definitely had a positive role in the progressive movement even before they had the right to vote because it was the women in society which held families together as men worked outside of the home for long hours, making the woman the essential person who fed/mentored the children, etc.   It was in roles such as these that women were already asserting superiority before they could cast a ballot (Friedan). 9. Did the U.S. do everything it could to help the Jews in Europe? Is our current foreign policy a reaction to this situation? Briefly describe. In the final analysis, the US did not do everything it could to help the Jews in Europe, as there is evidence to suggest that the American government knew about the plight of Jews in Europe for several years before getting involved to protect the lives and interests of European Jews.   In a way, it can be said that our current foreign policy is a reaction to this past situation, as the US is both trying to prevent any aggression against the Jews of the magnitude of that of the past in Europe, and also compensating Jews for past injustices. 10. What were the roles of television and advertising in creating the consumer society of the post-World War II world? Briefly describe. Television and advertising created the consumer society of the post-World War II world, as they both shared with millions of war-weary Americans a wide variety of products that were now available after years of rationing and scarcity due to the war effort.   This led to a consumer society, as American people not only grabbed the items that they needed and could not get for many years, but also those new items that had not been available before.   All of this made the nation one of hardcore consumers, a trend that continues today.

Steps in a case study method Essay Example for Free

Steps in a case study method Essay All studies require that a research problem be identified and stated, and must be simple, concise, and in clear terms. Such problem will be the focus of a case study. IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM OF THE STUDY The General and specific objectives of the study must be categorically expressed. Such objectives will be the bases in conducting research activities. State the Objectives of the Study The research must identify his sources of data or information, how he is going to select his sources, what variables are to be included and excluded, and how these variables are to be selected  or determined. Determine the Sources of Data The researcher should identify the procedures of data gathering, the tools used in data gathering so that the researcher will be able to proceed smoothly with the research activities according to the time frame of the study. Determine the Procedures of Investigation After gathering the data, they are collated, arranged, and presented for easy analysis and interpretation. Collate, Analyze, and Interpret the Data 1. The researcher may select convenient cases, which are not typical for a case study. 2. The researcher may find difficulty  selecting the factors to be studied due to different environmental settings and sampling sizes. Limitations or Weaknesses of Case Study Method 3. Hypotheses cannot be tested due to small sampling size and limited number of variables. 4. Reliable and genuine data may not be obtained in some case studies due to limited primary sources. Experimental Methods of Research 1. To test the external validity of a laboratory ndings. 2. To improve conditions under which people live and work. Several Reasons For Conducting Experiments in a Natural Setting: Experiment also Involves†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Manipulation of One or More Variables which includes the: -Independent Variable -Dependent Variable Internal Validity -Reliabililty -Sensitivity -External Validity Characteristics of a Good Experiment -if the cause and e+ect is interpretable, that is by manipulating the independent variable, it can cause a change in dependent variable. Internal Validity An experiment is reliable if the obtained di+erence is likely to be found again and if the experiment is to be repeated. Reliability -an experiment is sensitive if such experiment is likely to detect the e+ect  of an independent variable even when that e+ect is a small one. Sensitivity -if the ndings can be generalized to individuals, settings,and conditions beyond the scope of the particular experiment. External Validity To provide empirical tests of hypotheses derived from theories. -experiments can be used to test the e+ectiveness of treatments and program. Purpose of Conducting Internship -Experimental Control -Random Assignment Two Conditions for an E$ective Experiment -Covariation -Time Order -Plausible Alternative Courses Three Conditions of Control:

Why Have Strategic Alliances Grown in Popularity?

Why Have Strategic Alliances Grown in Popularity? Who gains from strategic alliances? â€Å"Google and Lycos Europe Announce Strategic Alliance† (Google press center, 2003), â€Å"Bayer Healthcare and Intendis announce strategic alliance† (Wayne and Montville, 2007), â€Å"Fiat and Chrysler Announce Strategic Alliance† (Car News Gluckman and Kurcezski, 2009), â€Å"City Bank and American Express announce strategic alliance† (Dhaka, 2009). Alliances have become increasingly popular. Over the past years the number of firms forming strategic alliances has risen constantly. â€Å"According to Securities Data Corporation, the number of alliances has increased about 25% per year for the last decade.† In fact some eight out of ten electronics companies now have alliances or are negotiating new ones (Kolasky 1997). The above listed examples show that the trend of forming alliances not only concerns the electronics companies but all business sectors. This essay will critically evaluate on the basis of various examples why strategic alliances have grown in popularity and who gains. Therefore, it is necessary to understand what strategic alliances are and in which types they can appear. A uniform definition of strategic alliances does not exist. Porter (1990, p. ) defines strategic alliances as â€Å"long-term agreements between firms that go beyond normal market transactions but fall short of merger.† According to Dussauge and Garrette (1999, p. ) alliances can be defined as â€Å"a cooperative agreement or association between two or more independent enterprises, which will manage one specific project, with a determined duration †¦ in order to improve their competences. It is constituted to allow its partners to pool resources and coordinate efforts †¦ to achieve results that neither could obtain by acting alone. The key parameters surrounding alliances are opportunism, necessity and speed.† All in all alliances are partnerships, in which merit is combined in order to achieve a mutual goal and to increase sales volume without bearing all the risks. As there are many ways to define strategic alliances there are also many ways of classifying them. To tie in with Dussauge and Garrette (1999) strategic alliances can be divided into partnerships between non-competing firms and alliances between competitors, which are specified in the following. Partnerships between non-competing firms are relationships between companies from different industries, which therefore are not in direct competition with each other. They implicate international expansion joint venture, vertical partnerships and cross-industry agreements. International expansion joint venture opens a new market to the foreign partner and offers the local partner a product to distribute, e.g. Renault and Diesel Naciona, SA (DINA). Vertical partnership is collaboration at two successive working stages within the same production process, e.g. McDonalds and Coca Cola. Cooperations between completely different industries (cross-industry agreements) aspire the diversification of t he activities of companies through a leverage of their abilities, e.g. Philips and DuPont de Nemours produced surface coatings for data storage. Alliances between competitors are divided into three categories, which are shared-supply alliances, quasi-concentration alliances and complementary alliances. Within shared-supply alliances rivals come together to share elements when the display for a particular production process is much greater than for the whole product. The products remain within each company, e.g. Volkswagen and Renault produced jointly automatic gear boxes. In a quasi-concentration alliance just one common product is developed, produced and marketed by all allies, e.g. the collaboration of British Aerospace, DASA and Alenia in the case of the Tornado fighter plane. In the event of complementary alliances a product produced by one company is marketed with the help of the distribution network of another company, e.g. the distribution of Mitsubishi cars by Chrysler. Strategic alliances have gained popularity across many industries. The typification of alliances mentioned above show that alliances are not industry specific, but mostly cross-sectoral. They include amongst others automobile, pharmaceutical and aerospace industries. The reasons for the growing popularity of strategic alliances are quite evident. According to Segal-Horn and Faulkner (1999) one of the primary drivers of strategic alliances is the growing globalisation and regionalisation of markets. Several forces that resulted from the globalisation make the strategy of alliances very important. â€Å"The steady reduction of trade barriers has led to the dramatic growth of cross-border cooperation between companies† (Segal-Horn and Faulkner, 1999, p. 205). The blurring of industry boundaries forces companies to face new rivals. Alliances can provide the companies with capabilities that they need to front global competitors. â€Å"Alliances can provide firms with many benefits such as access to new knowledge, complementary resources, new markets and new technologiesto learn, exploit economies of scale and scope, share risks and outsource various activities along the value chain.† (Gulati et al. 2000 cited in Segal-Horn 2004, p. ) Gulati ´s statement shows that strategic alliances can offer many opportunities and advantages. In respect to technology development the companies can learn from each other as there is an exchange and sharing of technologies, know-how and expertise. This expertise and technology sharing allows the companies to achieve faster the joint aims. To cite Wagonor (2001) manager of GM, â€Å"leveraging on someone who does it better allows you to get there faster.† Canon and HP shared their technologies in copier business. Canon developed the technology for toner and toner cartridges and HP developed the software and computer chips to operate the cartridges (Acredula, 2001). Concerning the market development collaboration can facilitate international expansion and the companies can benefit from a faster entry to new markets. In the case of the alliance between Coca-Cola and Proctor and Gamble (PG), Coca-Cola benefited from a faster entry into the snack and non-carbonated beverage market (Acredula 2001). An alliance partner can also help a company that enters a foreign market with local knowledge, logistics and domestic behaviour as well as with the governmental requirements. Another advantage that an alliance offers the companies is maintenance of the market position and production at lowest cost locations which leads to a very important advantage, cost reduction. Allies in cooperation can for example share costs for advertising and marketing as well as the costs for research and development (RD). In the case of failure the partners of an alliance share the risk as it is spread between all allies and can therefore minimize their damage and losses. This makes the companies more willing to take a risk as they would be alone. Finally, the shrinking product life cycle which cause growing pressure for innovation and growth has forced companies to look outside their own borders for new ideas (Bannerman, 2005). To sum up, strategic alliances allow firms to share risks and resources, gain knowledge and technology, expand the existing product base, and obtain access to new markets. The named advantages of strategic alliances can help companies to keep pace with increasingly complex technologies and constantly changing global markets (Kolasky, 1997). Forming alliances seems to be a useful tool to adopt to the changing market conditions and to stay competitive in a global business world. According to Johnson and Scholes (2008) enterprises sometimes cannot cope with increasingly complex environments only with interior resources and competences. They may see the need to obtain materials, skills, innovation, finance or access to markets through other cooperation s. A single firm is unlikely to possess all the resources and capabilities to achieve global competitiveness† (Dussauge and Garrette 1999, p.). Collaboration is often necessary for the survival and growth of a company. Alliances are a useful strategy to pool competences, technology know-how, skills and resources together to create a new unit (De Wit and Meyer, 1998). Toshiba believes that â€Å"a sing le company cannot dominate any technology or business by itself†. That is why Toshiba chose the strategy of developing relationships with different partners (e.g. IBM, Siemens, GE, Ericsson, Microsoft, Samsung) for different technologies which helped the company to become one of the leading players in the global electronics industry. Toshiba is successful with that strategy because of a thorough alliance partner selection. Toshiba has chosen Apple Computers as a partner to develop multimedia computer. Toshibas manufacturing expertise combined with Apples software technology was an achievement because the alliance allowed both companies to gain from each others competences (Kotelnikov, 2001). However, not only companies come off as winners from strategic alliances but also suppliers, employees, consumers, the government as well as shareholders of the allied companies. It is obvious that companies gain higher sales and therefore higher profits, e.g. the collective revenue for the partnership of the Star Alliance is at more than $63 billion. Furthermore, suppliers gain new clients. The increasing number of clients leads to more orders that in turn lead to more turnovers and more profit. The exchange of know-how and expertise mentioned before benefit the employees. The special knowledge makes them more employable and can assure a safer workplace. As companies are able to produce their products at lowest cost locations, reduce costs and diversify their product range consumers can profit from a wider range of products to more favourable prices. The increasing consumptions and more exports than imports lead to a higher Gross National Product (GNP) in the country of the producin g company. As a positive side-effect the shareholders benefit from higher dividends because increased sales force leads to higher turnover and higher share prices (Acredula, 2001). The last two paragraphs show that strategic alliances present several potentially beneficial advantages. However, alliances also have been criticised. Their high failure rates – half of the alliances fail show the other side of the coin (Acredula, 2001 b). Some organisations may only have one option – namely going it alone. This can be in the case of â€Å"working in a field which is breaking new ground or where there are no other suitable partners available† (Johnson and Scholes, 1999, p. ). The risk of exposing competences and technical know-how to partners who can become future competitors and disputes as well as issues that result from working with other partners, sharing of profits and advantages, less autonomy and control are also significant points that have to be considered. For example, one partner may go into an alliance for short term learning gain, whereas the other partner may see the alliance as more strategic, long term and replacing one area of i ts value chain. Dutch KLM and Alitalia could not avoid the failure of their full merger as partners compatibility did not exist and Alitalia did not come up with arranged expectations. Like most alliances they have failed due to differing objectives or motives of the partners (Witt and Mayer 1998). The companies have to be aware that alliances require a clear strategy and hard work. Careful planning like a clear definition of core competencies, goals and objectives as well as a limitation of the partners role and relationship and a timeline – a deal structure with an exit plan are essential to eliminate or rather to avoid disadvantages as well as to succeed. â€Å"According to a survey of 455 CEOs, the most important factor in designing a strategic alliance is the selection of the right partner (chosen by 75% of the CEOs)† (Holohan, 1998). But one has also have to go beyond the visible peak of the iceberg and consider the main fundamentals of a successful alliance including communication, transparency and trust (Johnson, 2005). Although, alliances are often criticised for being a slower form of development and despite the high failure rate the constant growth of alliances will definitely continue in the future (Johnson and Scholes, 1999). References De Wit, B. and Meyer R.J.H. (1998), Strategy – Process, Content, Context: An International Perspective (2nd edn), London: International Thomson Publishing Dussauge, P. and Garrette, B. (1999), Cooperative Strategy: Competing successfully through strategic alliances, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Inc. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R. (2008), Exploring Corporate Strategy, Text and Cases (8th edn), London: FT Prentice Hall Porter, M. E. (1998), The competitive advantage of nations: with a new introduction by the author, London: Macmillan Press LTD Segal-Horn, S. (2004), The Strategy Reader (2nd edn)., London: Blackwell Publishing, , p 355-366. Segal-Horn, S. and Faulkner, D. (1999), The Dynamics of International Strategy, London: Thomson Business Press, , p 205-236. Aarons, R. (no date) ‘Ten Reasons to Create a Strategic Alliance, [online] Available from URL: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/strategic_alliances_main.html (accessed 10 November 2009). Acredula Newsletter (2001) `Strategic Alliances Gain Popularity Over Mergers and Acquisitions`, August 2001, Vol. II No.9, [online] Available from URL: http://www.bricker.com/Publications/articles/523.pdf (accessed 14 November 2009) Bannerman, P. (2005), `Strategic Alliances in Education and Training Services ,A Literature Review`, Joan Spiller CORDS Pty Ltd., Australian Graduate School of Management, The University of NSW and the University of Sydney , May 2005, [online] Available from URL: http://www.aei.gov.au/AEI/MIP/ItemsOfInterest/05Interest26b_pdf.pdf Car news Gluckman, D. and Kurczewski, N. (2009), `Fiat and chrysler announce strategic alliance`, January 2009, [online] Available from URL: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/09q1/fiat_and_chrysler_announce_strategic_alliance-car_news, accessed on 12 November 2009. Dhaka (2009), `City Bank and American Express announce strategic alliance`, 7 November 2009, [online] Available from URL: http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/pc/2009/citybank.asp, accessed on 15 November 2009. Google press center (2003), `Google and Lycos Europe Announce Strategic Alliance`, 5 June 2003, Mountain view, California/Gà ¼tersloh, Germany, [online] Available from URL: http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/lycos_de.html, accessed on 12 November 2009. Holohan, M. Paul (1998), `Business alliances: how to find a good partner`,International Journal of Business Performance Management 1998, Vol. 1, No.1, pp.79 – 89, [online] Available from URL: http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=recordrec_id=4546prevQuery=ps=10m=or Johnson, L. C. (2005) ‘Understanding the Role of Cross-Sector Strategic Alliances in The Age of corporate social responsibility, 12 April 2005, p47-55, [online] Available from URL: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/research/2005/Johnson.pdf, accessed on 10 November 2009 Kolasky, J., William Jr. (1997), `Antitrust enforcement guidelines for strategic alliances`, presented at the Federal Trade Commissions, Hearings on Joint Ventures, Washington, D.C. Kotelnikov, V. (2001) ‘Strategic Alliances: Why and how to build them, [online] Available from URL: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/strategic_alliances_main.html accessed on 10 November 2009 Wayne and Montville (2007), `Bayer healthcare and intendis announce strategic alliance to co promote yaz drospirenoneethinyl estradiol for treatment of moderate acne`, 7 May 2007, [online] Available from URL: http://www.intendis.com/scripts/pages/en/press_amp_media/news/bayer_healthcare_and_intendis_announce_strategic_alliance_to_copromote_yaz_drospirenoneethinyl_estradiol_for_treatment_of_moderate_acne.php, accessed on 12 November 2009. Acredula (2001), Newsletter,  ´Not All Strategic Alliances Are Successful ´, September 2001, Vol. II No. 10, [online] Available from URL: http://www.bricker.com/publications/articles/528.pdf accessed on 14 November 2009 Cartwright, S., Cooper, C. L. (1996) Managing mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances: integrating people, 2nd edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford Jarillo, J. C. (1995), Strategic networks: creating the borderless organization, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Velasquez, M. G. (2002) Business Ethics – Concepts and Cases, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, London. [emailprotected], University of Pennsylvania (2008) `Thought Leaders II: Collaborating To Compete: The Rise of Coopetition and Strategic Alliances, March 2008, http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/ebuzz/0803/thoughtleaders2.cfm, accessed on 10 November 2009. Segmentation: E-business market Segmentation: E-business market 1.0 Introduction This report will cover some outlines of segmentation and how to target the potential market for our new E-business in the market it is important that we understand what kind of requirements there are for effective segmentation. I would try to compare and contrast some of the important points give some examples. Also to keep our position safe in market and to keep running a successful business first we need to consider different segmentation processes and then I would define the business model according to our E-Business. 1.2 Identify the target markets for Complete Training Solutions intended expansion. The school will need to consider the demographic, geographical, psychographic, and consumer characteristics of there identified markets. For that school need to understand the market segments which are as follows. 2.0 What are the market segments are? Market segmentation may be defined as Jobber says that â€Å"the identification of individuals or organistaions with similar characteristics that have significant implications for the determination of marketing strategy†. â€Å"Where segmentation is the first and one of the most important steps† (Yan, 2008). Where as according to Lancaster Reynolds market segmentation is defined as â€Å"the process of breaking down the total market for a product or service into distinct sub-groups or segments where each segment may conceivably represent a separate target market to be reached with a distinctive marketing mix. 2.1 Market segmentation A segment is a unique group of customers or potential customer who share some kind of common characteristic that make them different from other groups. Proctor thinks that different segments may have different needs, they may ask for different versions of the same product, pay different prices, buy in different places and they may be reached by different media. Every one has the own opinion and own choices. It is very important for us to keep a healthy relationship with the customers and to do this they need to understand their customers demand. According to Proctor in consumer markets customers and prospective customers can be grouped together or segmented by attitude, lifestyle, age, gender, stage in the family, lifecycle, job types, level of earnings and many others relevant variables. These things should be kept in mind whenever introducing any new brand because if we want to maintain our image in the market then we need to fully understands the logic of customers and their purchasing behaviours. It is very important for us to identify what each segment wants, what it can afford, whether it is loyal to a particular competitor and how it might respond to an offer is vital information. As mentioned by Proctor that market segmentation and accurate targeting keeps a firm close to the market. It reduces waste, finds the best customers and helps to keep them satisfied. Segmentation is very useful tool. But it is necessary for us to understand each and every sub-group in order to get the positive result from customers and to compete with competitors in the market. As mentioned by Croft the methods of separating the market according to similarities that exist among the various subgroups within the market. Characteristics, needs and desires may be the common similarities. Market segmentation comes about as a result of the observation that all potential users of a product are not alike, and that the same general appeal will not interest all prospects. Therefore, it is essential to develop different marketing tactics to effectively cover the entire market for a particular product. There are four basic market segmentation strategies: behaviour segmentation, demographic, geographic, and physiographic segmentation. 2.2 Demographic segmentation Involves dividing the market on the basis of statistical differences in personal characteristics, such as age, gender, race, income, life stage, occupation, and education level (Anon 2002) We could focus on customers age because user needs and wants change with their age although they still want to learn the same types of courses. In order to introduce the new ideas in market and we should look at the design of the courses and what will be the learning outcomes we could meet the user demands of different age group. Income is another popular basis of segmentation. Customers will be more attractive towards the less income. We need to understand this point that in marketing the courses that appeal directly to the customer is relatively low prices. So therefore other variables of demographic are as important as mentioned above and they should not be neglected. 2.3 Psychographic segmentation It is based on the assumption that the types of products and brands an individual purchases will reflect that person personality and patterns of living. Generally to promote the product marketers are using celebrities, such as football team. If we use this technique for her new courses then we could create a big image in front of users. As it mentioned in the definition that every one has different life style, they have there own opinions but it could be influenced by other people personalities. This is benefit for us because for example if David Becham is learning the team building strategies from our institute then the user influencing his fans to join in the same course. 2.4 Geographic segmentation Lancaster Reynolds said that geographic is consists of dividing a country into regions that normally represent an individual sales persons territory. This is mostly suitable for broad companies and these massive regions are then broken down into areas with separate regional manager controlling salespeople in distinct area. This will help only if we expand our company our institute international, so far there is need of geographic segmentation. The geographic segmentation method is useful where there are geographic locations differences in consumption patterns and preferences but in our case we need to think about that because our institute is more about online courses so we have to consider about that. 2.5 Behavioural segmentation As stated by Lancaster and Reynolds behavioural segmentation is based on actual customers behaviour towards products. It has the advantages of using variables that are closely related to the product itself. Such as: brand loyalty, benefits sought, occasions (holidays, events which stimulate point for marketing) etc. As Lancaster Reynolds stated that the customers that can be divided into number of groups according to their loyalty, or their propensity to repurchase brand again is called brand loyality. Actually we have to think about if we will provide the those learning facilities are those are enough for the learner requirement with that they can bring some more students for the reappearing in the same courses or tell others to participate in those courses those are good and according to the your standards this is some sort of the advertisement when any costumer tell other customer for the same product just we need to think about if, if the user doesnt like our learning style then what will be our next plan to satisfied the learner. 3.0 Effective segmentation The needs of customers should be central to all business decision making so therefore Effective segmentation can be achieved by solving the problems of users. The major dimensions are price, service, product and quality for example an image of institute. Therefore it is necessary to identify all the requirements of user so realistic segments could be targeted. Kotler said that, â€Å"A customer orientation toward marketing holds that success will come to organizations that best determine the perceptions, needs, and wants of target markets and satisfy them through the design, communication, pricing, and delivery of appropriate and competitive viable offerings†. According to Xu, Jianfeng â€Å"An accurate and effective segmentation technique is the basis of the ideal dynamic heart modeling†. One author state that effective segmentation is about customer needs, demands and other is telling the importance of effective segmentation. Each segment should be evaluated in terms of its overall size, projected rate of growth, actual and potential competition and customer needs. According to the targets we need to decide which criteria is appropriate for assessing different bases. 3.1 Measurable According to Recklies it has to be possible to determine the values of the variables used for segmentation with justifiable efforts. This is important especially for demographic and geographic variables. For an organisation with direct sales the own customer database could deliver valuable information on buying behaviour (frequency, volume, product groups, mode of payment etc. 3.2 Accessibility Lancaster Reynolds researched that accessibility base used should ideally lead to the company being able to reach selected market targets with their individual marketing efforts. 3.3 Validity Reynolds and Lancaster mentioned the extent to which the base is directly associated with the differences in needs and wants between the different segments. Given that segmentation is essentially concerned with identifying groups with different needs and wants, it is vital that the segmentation base is meaningful and that different preferences or needs show clear variations in market behaviour and response to individually designed marketing mixes. 3.4 Substantial According to Lancaster Reynolds substantial is the base used which lead to segments which are sufficiently enormous to economically and practically worthwhile serving as discrete market targets with a distinctive marketing mix. If we need to make segmentation effective it is important that we know that where and who we targeting. Segmentation is the basis for developing targeted and effective marketing plans. 4.0 Targeting Lancaster Reynolds mentioned that after market has been separated into its segments, the marketer will select a segment or series of segments and target them. Each segment has different tastes and demands unique marketing mix in order to make the product or service more attractive to those customers who occupy that market segment. The process of manipulating the marketing mix in terms of differentiating products, methods of communication and other marketing variables is known as ‘target marketing. After the process of segmentation the next step is for us to decide how it is going to target these particular group(s). There are three options Undifferentiated marketing Differentiated marketing strategy Concentrated Marketing We should use differentiated marketing because we can use several segments and develop distinct courses with separate mix strategies at the varying groups. Mr Jobber stated that â€Å"When market segmentation reveals several potential targets, specific marketing mixes can be developed o appeal to all or some of the segments†. As Siklos and Abel says that â€Å"Thegiving inflation targeting an additional credibilityboost many emerging markets†. Comparing these two definitions of different authors its becoming noticeable that targets play an important roll to achieve goals. It would allow us to identify specific customers groups with different needs and wants and also the unfilled gaps in a market can be apprised and then satisfied through unique product or promotional offering (Lancaster Reynolds 1999). Target marketing can thus be said to be the process of identifying market segments that will be the most likely purchasers of a companys products, and devising inventive marketing approaches to suit these specifically distinguished needs (Lancaster Reynolds 1999). After segmentation process has taken place as Lancaster and Reynolds mentioned that each segment should be identified and must be assessed in order to decide whether or not it is worthwhile serving as a potentially profitable target market with its own distinctive marketing mix. Where there is good sales and profit potential the favourable attributes of a target will include segments. If competition is not too intense and where the segment might have some previously identified requirements we should able to serve them. 5.0 Mix marketing As mentioned by Lancaster and Reynolds that the marketing mix describe the functional aspects of marketing over which the company has control. This includes what E Jerome McCarthy dubbed the ‘four Ps in 1960, namely, Product, Price, Promotion and Place. In addition to these four Ps, is sometimes added a fifth P People, which includes the people who mainly carry out the function of marketing and who interface with customers. These have been described as the key elements of the marketing function. There are two further Ps that specially relate to the service industry because of its tangible nature. These are Process and Physical evidence. These are called the seven Ps of service marketing. However we should understand the notions of four Ps which are still prevails in marketing litre. The elements of marketing mix are all related in terms of how they combine in the marketing planning process. Lancaster Reynolds pointed out that it is the skill of marketing management to ensure that the combination chosen is a successful one. â€Å"Marketing is seen as a strategic management activity aimed at developing customer relationships. Concepts such as the four Ps (product, price, place and promotion), marketing plans, the marketing mix, segmentation, promotion and evaluation are identified and discussed in relation† (Wakeham, Maurice 2004). According to these authors we can see that with marketing mix we could raise the strong relationship with users and with the concept of 4 Ps we can identified and evaluate the segmentation. Lets expand on these 4 Ps and see how we can link them with our new online learning facilities of Team Building, Assertiveness, Coaching Skills and Delegation Skills for the Busy Professional. Mission statement draft: A learning experience that prepare students to contribute in a dynamic, global, and diverse business environment. Our mission is to provide training to all level of the users who ever is connected with their business, Including team building, assertiveness, coaching skill and delegation skill for the busy professionals. Objectives Aim Our school of intelligent learners is for the users who wants to build up there extra qualities for to compete the new era requirements. And our aim is to provide them up to date training which is purely concerned for the business levels. Our school is one of the best schools in Bradford. Currently we are struggling for more students that is why we are moving online and we will provide online courses for the relevant business. That was the our main reason to be online but there is one more reason to be online is that before we were enable to mark the global market now we can mark the global market by choosing online learning facilities now we can provide our service across the glob where ever any one and any type of user can access us and learn what ever they want from our main courses. We will provide online video and audio conferencing which is the solution to save the cost of the booking hotels and halls. Our main concern is to think about the user from different back ground from any part of the world we can arrange there course in any language. Our basic and main aim is to provide them solution for their problems. Value proposition: For the learners satisfaction school has to think about the language, course compatibility, learning facilities for the disable people which we dont have at the moment so we have to concerned about those problems and we have to satisfy the learner needs by that as a distance training provider we will have to save their time and they can chose there own learning style and they can manage their staff as possible as they want they can call more people if they want they can organize big halls for more people and they can provide the requirements for the disable peoples as well by using the our video and audio libraries. Product and services: The school will provide Team Building, Assertiveness, Coaching Skills and Delegation Skills for the Busy Professional. That will be a complete training for the bingers as well as for the expert. Expert can learn new techniques and binger can develop some skill too for the requirements of the new era. School will also provide some extra courses as well whoever will join the school for instance, web development in visual basic oracle it is good for the companies for there advertisement and for account as well. Learning on internet is the best learning style then old time styles you can learn while sitting at home at your own pace. The school will provide you the services of all the documentation and applications with which the students and companies can enable to access the schools resources. Business models: There could have been taken several attempts to categorize all the business models emerging with the coming new economy in order to understand how e-companies are making money or not making money. Some of are the company see there business model highly exposed such as the reverse action model of Priceline or online grocery model of shield. But still, is at all so clear so far? For instance, ebay.com might be typical of an Agora B-web like in Chicago but all the same as ebay.com and the main function is to be a online merchandiser. All of them have the same object but the different perspectives. Is there any better or could be worse way to explain or justify the business models? Are those comparing with each other or allowing comparisons? Do they help customer to categories the different actors in the same category, for instance online grocery shop? Do they explain why some of them benefits from the financial figures? Nowadays new business models do not finish emerging in electronic c ommerce and can become a major stake in the e-business game ((Maitre and Aladjidi (1999), Kalakota (1999)). It is even possible to patent them in some countries (Pavento (1999)! Research issue is important to understand the new business for to helping to design but not covered so well until now. E-business modelling has similar as to enterprise modelling in general. Modelling helps the companies to develop their business visions and strategies, redesign and align business to operations, share knowledge about the business and its vision and ensure the acceptance of business decisions through committing stakeholders to the decisions made (Persson, Stirna , 2001). A business model is nothing else than the architecture of a firm and its network of partners for creating, marketing and delivering value and relationship capital to one or several segments of customers in order to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams. The E-Business Model framework is therefore divided into four principal components. The products and services a company offers, representing an ample value to a target customer (value proposition), and for which he is eager to pay. The relationship assets the firm creates and maintains with the customer, in order to suit him and to generate sustainable revenues. The communications and the network of partners that is necessary in order to create a good customer relationship. And last, but not least, The financial aspects that can be found throughout the three previous components, such as cost and revenue structures. If we think in depth how the school is related to the business models and how it will work to generate the more revenue. Basically the intelligent learners is associated with several business models. The main models include business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). B2B consists of companies and school doing a business with each other, whereas B2C involves selling directly to the end consumer (students). When intelligent learners first began, the B2C model was first to emerge. B2B transactions were more complex and came now. Conclusion: some of the benefits associated with online intelligent learners are include the availability of information 24/7. Students and companies can log onto the Internet and learn about products, as well as purchase them, at any hour. Intelligent learners can also save money because of a reduced need for a sales force. Overall, intelligent learners can help you to expand from a local market to both national and international marketplaces. And, in a way, it levels the playing field for big and small players. Unlike traditional marketing media (like print, radio and TV), entry into the realm of Internet marketing can be a lot less expensive and offers a greater sense of accountability for advertisers.

The Search for Christian America: History’s Echo Essay -- Christianit

In The Search for Christian America historians Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch and George M. Marsden address the recent insurgence of desire to return to the American nation’s â€Å"Christian Heritage†; a call to revisit the solid and revered foundations of the colonial period (15). This premise frames the authors’ two-part thesis: first, that America was never a Christian nation and secondly, that the very concept of a Christian nation, after the time of Christ, can be harmful to Christian action and effectiveness within society (17). This assertion, and the evidence which surrounds it, proves that Christians find great value in elements of the founding. When considering the reason behind this assumption the authors suggest many possibilities: love of a glorious myth, preaching and identification with the Mosaic prophecy, a â€Å"city on the hill† mentality, and or nationalistic necessity (108-116). However, these points still with standing, the author s do not fully develop the possibility that Protestants doctrinally resonate with the ideals of the founding. The authors do assert that many use the past as a mirror simply reflecting one’s already established views: â€Å"by a subtle and often unconscious process we pick out . . . those strands which reinforce our point of view† (145, 148). This paper will attempt to bring these two concepts together: asserting that the ideals of the founding, mainly liberty, freedom and individualism, are mirrored in Protestant doctrine itself, providing an echo American Christians can identify with, allowing reverence to be felt toward the founding and urgency to drive the search for Christian America. Toward the end of the text the authors set out to explain the difficulties and the necessity of â€Å"openi... ...ce of similar values or familiar echo, only uphold â€Å" a high regard for our country and its heritage. But . . . not, in the words of the Psalmist (118:9), ‘put confidence in princes’ instead of taking ‘refuge in the Lord† (102). Bibliography Luther, Martin. â€Å"The Appeal to the German Nobility.† In Documents of the Christian Church, edited by Henry Bettenson, 192-197. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. --------------------Concerning Christian Liberty. Vol. XXXVI, Part 6. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14. Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/36/6/. (accessed Jan. 21, 2012). Calvin, John. "John Calvin: Institutes of Christian Religion." Translated by Henry Beveridge, Esq. Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. http://www.reformed.org/master/index.html?mainframe=/books/institutes/. (accessed Jan. 21, 2012).

The 20th centurys 3 greatest composers Essay -- Stravinsky Copland

The 20th century's 3 Greatest Composers The 20th century has watched many musicians break through their generation's bounds of normalcy to creat a completely new music. Musicians who initiated revolutions so grandiose that the impact—like an earthquake’s aftershocks—would reverberate for decades and influence scores of musicians to come. Such influences can be traced back to three specific composers. Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and Nadia Boulanger: the triumvirate of 20th century music. Igor Stravinsky, remains the century’s most shocking and versatile composer. Born in Russia in 1882, Stravinsky enjoyed a musically wealthy childhood. He was the son of a famous opera singer and well-educated in piano performance and harmony/counterpoint. His parents sent him to St. Petersburg University to obtain a Criminal Law/Legal Philosophy degree. While attending school, Stravinsky befriended a young man whose father, Rimsky-Korsokav, later developed a special affinity for Stravinksy’s music (Nousiainen). Because Stravinsky was not schooled in traditional techniques, Rimsky-Korsakov advised him to continue private harmony and counterpoint lessons, rather than attend a formal conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov, professor at such an institution, thought the rigorous atmosphere might overwhelm and discourage the young composer (Walsh). Despite this lack of formal training, Stravinsky created some of the 20th century's most profound pieces. The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky’s most notable music contribution, was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. For readers unfamiliar with the ballet, Rite choreographs the story of an ancient tribe’s sacrifice of an adolescent virgin whom, in order to save the Earth,... ... of you. What an impression you have left with the music-lovers around the world!† (â€Å"Letter†). This impact is Nadia Boulanger remains the most significant figure of 20th century music. FOOTNOTES [1] This abstract sketch was Stravinsky’s response when author, Robert Craft, asked him to draw his music.The drawing is comparable to the abstract nature of Stravinsky’s compositions (Craft). [2]The phrase â€Å"Appalachian Spring† was first coined by poet Hart Crane.Martha Graham copied his words for her ballet’s already-finished score, which, until then, Copland had modestly titled â€Å"Ballet for Martha† [3] Tanglewood is a premier music academy founded by Boston Symphony director, Serge Koussevitsky, in 1940.His goal was to provide a place for budding musicians to study with orchestra musicians and other world class artists

A Biography of Nelson Mandela :: Nelson Mandela Biography

A Biography of Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is judged to be one of the greatest political leaders of modern times. Among his many accomplishments are the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for his dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa and establishing democracy there and becoming the president of South Africa in 1994 following their first multiracial elections. Nelson was born as the foster son of a Thembu chief in Umtata (now the province of Eastern Cape) and raised in a traditional tribal culture within the grips of apartheid, a powerful system of black oppression that existed in South Africa. After years as a poor student and law clerk in Johannesburg, he assumed an important role in the African National Congress (ANC), a civil rights group. He also helped form the ANC Youth League in the 1950's. He was accused of treason in 1956 but was acquitted in 1961. From 1960-1962 Mandela led the NAC's para military wing known as Umkhonto we Sizwe which translate to "Spear of the Nation." He was arrested in August of 1962, sentenced to five years in prison and while incarcerated was again convicted of sabotage and treason and was sentenced to life imprisonment in june, 1964 at the famous Rivonia Trial. During his twenty-seven years in prison, Nelson Mandela became a symbol of resistance to the white-dominated country of South Africa throughout the world. After complex negotiation, Mandela was finally released from prison by President F.W. deKlerk in February, 1990, after lifting the long ban on the ANC. Mandela's release from prison marked the beginning of the end of apartheid in South Africa when he once again became the head of the ANC. He began the process to from a new constitution in South Africa which would allow political power to the black majority. Finally in 1991 the South African government repealed the laws that had upheld apartheid. In May, 1994 Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president after the country's first multiracial elections were held. His goal was to provide for economic and social growth for the black majority that had been oppressed for so long by the system of apartheid.

Little Albert

Assignment One – Mini Lit Review. The Little Albert Study. Not everyone believes that biology is our destiny. Many scientists whole-heartedly believe it is our experiences in life that count. They believe that it is our up-bringing, education, and our environment that form our behaviour, beliefs and characteristics. Chief among scientists in this field of thought is psychologist John Watson. Watson developed a theory that we are not restricted to our genetic make-up, but instead we arrive into the world as a blank slate and all our information is learned.There is continuous dispute over this theory with the nature nurture debate strongly in play (McLeod, 2007). On the nature side of the debate, it is believed that individual’s differences are determined by their unique genetic make-up. They argue that all other characteristics that develop later in life are caused by maturation (McLeod, 2007). The other side is nurture which John Watson strongly supports. This side says that we come into the world as a blank slate and through experiences our slate is gradually filled (McLeod, 2007).To support the theory that environment is more powerful than genetics, Watson designed an experiment on an infant commonly known as the Little Albert experiment. This experiment focused on Ivan Pavlov’s process of classical conditioning. Watson believed and wanted to prove that all human psychology can be explained by this process (McLeod, 2008). The other studies that I will be comparing the Little Albert experiment to will be â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditioned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et all, 2008) and the study of Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928).These studies will enable me to make a justified evaluation of the Little Albert study by making comparisons to these two other studies. The Little Albert experiment was conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner in 1920. They chose nine mo nth old Baby Albert for the study because Albert had been reared almost from birth in Harriet Lane home for Invalid Children where his mother was a wet nurse. Albert was deemed extremely stable and well developed which determined his suitability for the experiment (McLeod, 2007).The focus of their study was to continue on from Pavlov’s experiment involving the classical conditioning of dogs, and determine whether this empirical evidence was also evident in humans (Watson, 1924). More specifically, they were focusing on conditioned emotional responses. In determining these aspects they conducted a series of different tests involving a variation of stimulus. Before the experiment commenced, they gave Albert a sequence of baseline tests to determine his initial fear responses to stimuli.They presented him with burning paper, a monkey, a dog, cotton wool, a fur coat (seal), various masks and a white rat. During the baseline, Albert showed no initial fear to these items. Throughou t the study these items (fluffy white objects) served as the independent variables. The dependant variable was whether or not Albert cried or showed distress. During the study Albert was positioned on a mattress on a table. Albert was presented with a white rat and just as he reached out to touch it, a metal bar was struck with a hammer behind him.Albert jumped and fell forward, burring his head into the mattress, but did not cry. After these two stimuli were paired on several occasions, Albert was presented with only the white rat. As the rat appeared in front of him he became distressed and turned away, puckered his lips, began to cry and crawled away (Watson, 1924). From this, it became obvious that Albert’s fear had been conditioned. Albert had associated the white rat with a loud noise producing fear, thus having conditioned fear of the white rat. The experiment showed that Little Albert generalized his response from furry animals to anything furry.Albert showed the same reactions as the initial experiment when Watson presented him with a furry dog, seal-skin coat and even a Santa-Claus mask (Watson, 1924). The way in which Albert’s responses were measured was through the amount of distress to the stimuli he presented. The Little Albert study is a highly popular study especially across the field of Psychology. Although the study has provided valuable knowledge and understanding of learned behaviours and the development of phobias, it’s procedures considering ethics are questionable.The fact that Albert was only nine months old deems this study unethical. Albert’s mother was obviously desperate for money to support her son, so the bribe of money probably out-weighted the possible harm caused to her son. Albert’s mother probably wasn’t entirely aware of the potential risks involved. Albert’s fear was supposed to be extinguished at the end of the experiment, but he moved away. Other ethical codes that have bee n violated in this study are that of the distress that it caused.Little Albert was never desensitized from the conditioning undergone meaning that because he had a conditioned fear of white furry objects, he would forever be terrified of white furry objects (Watson, 1924). In today’s code of ethics, the welfare of the participant/s is the most important factor and under no circumstances should this protection be hindered, unless the participant has given consent to be put under this distress. It is also now deemed unethical to purposely cause distress to a participant in laboratory circumstances (Weiten, 2008).These unethical procedures could have been corrected quite simply. In the study of fear conditioning in people with social anxiety disorder, they conducted what called an extinction process where the participants were desensitized from any fear conditioning that took part throughout the experiment (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008). This experiment is clearly ethical as it was only conducted in 2008 and would have had to have been passed by the ethics board in order to be conducted. The Little Albert study is a valid study; however it was not measured effectively.The way in which Little Albert’s fear was measured was just whether or not he cried or showed distress. The way in which they measured this could have been improved in order to get more valid and reliable results. In this case, the studies operational definition was not valid. The Little Albert study could have used apparatus in order to get more valid results. For example, they could have measured Albert’s fear by assessing his skin conductivity. This would have measured Albert’s distress through measuring the arousals in his skin i. e. weat. They also could have used the blink-startle response measurement as used in â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditioned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008). T his method measures how much the participant blinks when presented with a stimuli. If the participant is startled (scared) by something, they will blink a lot more than if they are not startled. The reliability of the Little Albert study is not strong. If the same study was conducted today, the same results would not be found.Little Albert’s responses to the stimuli that he was presented with could have been a result of his general fear of animals, not that he conditioned a fear of white fluffy objects. Most people would agree with me when I say that if you were a nine month old baby and an animal was jumping up at your face, you would be scared and would become distressed. Being a nine month old baby, Albert also could have just been tired, bored, and hungry or just missed his Mother. None of these factors were accounted for during the trials.If the same study was conducted today, it would become extremely obvious that times have changed and so too should the design of the s tudy. The reliability of the experiment is hindered by the fact that the method of measurement is simply observation and there is no concrete evidence being analysed. For example if they were to measure brain activity or use the blink-startle reaction measurement, these results would be a lot more concrete and therefore the study would be classed a lot more reliable.In comparison, the 1928 study of Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928) is a lot more reliable even though it is only a few years newer than the Little Albert study. If Pavlov’s experiment was replicated today, very similar if not the same results would be found. The fact that Pavlov used concrete methods of measuring his data deemed his study a lot more reliable. If he was to measure the amount that the dogs salivate by just observing them, it would not be as valid.To conclude, through the evaluation of the Little Albert study and comparison to â€Å"â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditio ned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008) and Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928) it has come to my attention that the Little Albert study does not comply to today’s code of ethics, the reliability is not strong and could be improved on however it is a valid study, but the operational definition could be improved.I feel that the contributions to knowledge of conditioned fear are valuable to society and has proved useful in various situations and other studies. Future studies on this topic would prove extremely valuable to society and our understanding on fear conditioning. References McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Nature Nurture in Psychology. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/naturevsnurture. html McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Pavlov. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from http://www. implypsychology. org/pavlov. html McLeod, S. A. (2008). Simply Psychology; Classical Conditioning. Retrieved 3 A pril 2012, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/classical-conditioning. html Pavlov, I. P. (1928). Lectures On Conditioned Reflexes. (Translated by W. H. Gantt) London: Allen and Unwin. Watson, J. B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1, pp. 1–14. Weiten, W. (2011). Psychology: Themes and Variations. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.