Contemporary leadership issues Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Contemporary leadership issues - Research Paper Example Effective leaders are able to influence employees, organizational departments and teams to work towards an organizational goal of outperforming their competitors. Multinational companies operate under different external environmental factors and employ people from different regions across the globe. The leadership must therefore motivate and influence the diverse employees towards a collective organizational goal in different regions (Tayeb 14). Nestle company is among the most successful companies that has been able to influence its employees to forego their cultural diversity and goals to adopt the company’s cultural practices in a vibrant business environment across the globe. This paper will critically evaluate nestle company in regards to its products, operations, culture and leadership. Company Analysis Nestle is a leading international company dealing with dietary, health and well-being foods and beverages. It’s headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland and runs over 4 60 production plants in 83 nations across the globe and employs over 330,000 staff from all nationalities. The company’s history dates back to 1866 when Henri Nestle launched the first products to save a neighbor kid. Growth of the company is based on nutrition, corporate culture, flexibility and international diversity. In 1905 the company merged with Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company to form Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Milk Company (Zehnder). Over the years the company has launched different nutritional products. The company’s brand mainly consists of food and beverages for all individuals including those with specific health requirements and includes baby foods, nutritional cereals, water, chocolates, coffee, confectionary, dairy products, cold and hot drink products, ice-cream, foods, frozen foods, healthcare nutrition, and pet care among others (Nestle. com). The main objective of the company is to improve the quality of life of its customers by offering quality and n utritious food products as well as the lives of its employees and other stakeholders by adjusting to the dynamic environment whereas its basic values of integrity, fairness and appreciation of people’s health remains the same. The company has a management strategy that ensures diversity, accountability and professionalism across all levels of management. This is portrayed in their executive board of directors that consist of 13 members from nine different nationalities while its headquarters employs people from almost a hundred countries (Zehnder). CEO Bio Paul Bulcke is the current chief executive officer of Nestle Company (Annual Report 2012 6). He was choosing to this position in April 2008 after working in the company for thirty years. Paul Bulcke was born in the year 1954 and joined Nestle when he was 25 years after working for another company in the position of financial analyst (Zehnder). He served in various management in operations, marketing and management positions before being appointed to lead nationwide operations in Portugal in the year 1996, in the year 1998 he was the leader in Czech and Slovak regions and in the year 2000 he was moved to German. During his tenure in these regions the

United States South Korean Alliance Essay Example for Free

United States South Korean Alliance Essay About 55 years have been passed since the U. S. -R. O. K. alliance, a pillar of East Asia security indeed, which has been proven to be quite successful and beneficial to both the countries in the history of International Relations. For the Republic of Korea, the security guaranteed by this alliance has acted as a major instrument for its transformation. While on the other end, the United States expresses its gratified sentiments to have played a vital role in supporting the progression of democracy, human rights and in holding out its aid for the very survival of the population in the Republic of Korea. A set of mutually related policies of understanding and agreement exist in this alliance. There happens to be a series of goals, whose accomplishment has been a shared responsibility of both the partners. A strong foundation indeed, this firm security alliance has turned the very relationship into a more mature and inclusive partnership for both the countries. However, lately, this longstanding alliance has undergone an intricate time. There exist a number of challenges which seem to pose quite a concentrated threat to this collaboration. Concerns are growing at both ends, with experts and historians wondering over what the future would be for this alliance. Nonetheless, deep down, both the parties foresee the much feared atrophy as a terrible mistake. â€Å"Experts say friction in the U. S. -South Korean relationship is hardly new, but the alliance has managed to endure. † And for a continued survival, both the countries need to envision a renewed perspective towards the very many present and forthcoming challenges. The History Following the post-World War II splitting of the peninsula between the then occupying forces of the United States in the south and the now called Soviet Union in the north, as the promised national elections continued to pend, the United Nations in 1948 finally pronounced the Republic of Korea (R. O. K. ) as the only legal and rightful government on the peninsula. This assertion was highly rejected by the Soviets. In retaliation, the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) invaded South Korea in 1950. This was the time when the United States held out its support and reached to the rescue. Insuperable challenges had to be faced as the struggle continued till 1953, and an armistice finally took effect. It was in 1954, that the United States and South Korea approached and mutually signed the U. S. -R. O. K. Mutual Security Agreement. In this, they corresponded to protect each other in the episode of outside aggression. Present Challenges to the Alliance Society does change with time. For natives it may be acceptable as it is about their own country, but when it is in relation to some other country, even if it is a coalition partner, things get a little complicated. For both South Korea and United States, the issue of raising public awareness , of the changes taking place in each other’s society is the biggest challenge fronting their alliance. The impact of the September 11 attacks on America, and the resulting magnitude of its effect wasn’t and still isn’t fully appreciated. Similarly, on the part of Americans, it is also tough for them to cope with the radical changes evolving within Korea. For America, the September 11 attacks chiefly affected their foreign relations, as well as the political, domestic and economic landscape. If considered in some other context, rather than that of September 11 and the subsequent fundamental changes it brought to the American society, the U. S. policy of fighting against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and promoting the spread of autonomy and social equality as the best solution to extremist ideologies, creates unrest in the international community. Thereupon, the South Korean government unwaveringly and gallantly supported the war on terrorism, at the same time exposing itself as a fervent supporter of democracy around the world and playing an active role in encouraging constructive changes in the developing world. Such common interests of the two countries and next to no areas of conflict are a merit in their alliance. In 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung adopted the â€Å"sunshine policy,† an Asian variant of the â€Å"Ostpolitik† policies pursued by West Germany toward the Communist East during the Cold War. Kim extended his proposal of economic and altruistic support to North Korea. In return it asked the North Korean government to be humble in recouping the contacts between long-divided families and other cultural concession, under the intention to defrost the inter-Korean relations. However, a generational divide largely exists in South Korea over how to handle it. The abysmal memory of the 1950 war that frets the older generation about relations with the DPRK, while the younger generation’s empathy with the impoverished North Korea, and who instead, has powerful reminiscence of their own nation’s tyrannical rule, are indeed two opposite sides of the picture. Due to this generational fault line, a paradigm shift has been brought about in the foreign policy objectives, as many Koreans of today’s time, who grew up in a room knowing only democracy, independence, freedom and global impact, no longer see North Korea as an enemy. Instead, they consider it a partner in need of support and understanding. They expect to achieve genuine peace, settlement and reunion through augmented exchanges and collaboration with North Korea. Now here, the North Korea’s nuclear program appears in the limelight, being a big challenge to South Korea and its alliance with the U. S. In 1994, four countries consisting of North and South Korea, Japan and the United States arrived at â€Å"Agreed Framework† Pact whose purpose was to end the North’s nuclear weapons research in return for economic and political privileges. In order to carry out the terms of the pact, the â€Å"Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization† (KEDO) was established by the United States, Japan and North Korea. But it wasn’t far away when North Korea started violating the agreement and troubles started rising. The U. S. President Bush terminated diplomatic talks with North Korea in 2001. The relations kept on fraying, and in 2005 when North Korea claimed that it has nuclear weapons, followed by the July 2006 long-range missile tests that it carried out, operated to further aggravate tensions. This made the U. S. to hard-boil against the DPRK. Due to this, South Korea, on the other end, also had to cut the humanitarian aid to its northern neighbor. At the same time, however, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who did not want to lose ground on the progress that had been made so far in the inter-Korean relations, tried to give a lower profile to the July missile tests, being of the view that the weapons were not as much a bigger threat to the United States as they were for Seoul, the capital of South Korea. In reality, for South Korea, the North Korean nuclear weapons, is not a critical issue – it never was. In fact, its prime concern is how to settle the issue of national unification and incorporate North Korea back into the world’s most active region, whether or not there are nuclear weapons. In contrast, U. S. concerns are global and military. Being so over focused on the anti-terrorism issue, the United States has been emphasizing on denuclearizing the North, viewing this policy as a narrow addition to its anti-terrorism policy. Therefore, the attitude toward DPRK missile tests and the disapproval shown by the South Korean President towards such an increased authorization incensed the U. S. government. South Korea also, in return, objected the fact America is ignoring about all the gains it has made so far. Such beliefs and different strategic priorities have led to serious strains, resulting in the upsetting of the U. S. -South Korean alliance. Regarding the issue, the Six-Party talks among the United States, Russia, Japan, China, North and South Korea, was thought to act as a basis for a closer coordination between the two alliances, and also for the purpose of convincing North Korea to join the international community by giving up its nuclear weapons program, and getting out of its self-imposed remoteness.

Historical Narrative: Beacon In A Sea Of Darkness :: essays research papers fc

The day started as usual. I got out of bed. My eyes sore from lack of sleep. My feet hit the cold floor, sending a shudder through my spine. It's a shame. In the winter, the weatherman will tell you that tomorrow will be a warm one, but warm for winter in New York is still blisteringly cold (Weather 53). I looked at the clock. 7:50 AM. No time for breakfast. I had to get to work. In this business, either you were there on time to take someone's case or he went to another detective. I grabbed my coat and started running down the apartment stairs, trying to wave down a taxi. My landlord tried to nab me and complain about my late rent, but I had not time to trifle with him. I jumped into the first taxi I saw and told the driver to take me to the corner of 7th and Elm. Whin I got to the office, Rose, my secretary, was on the phone talking to her fiance ("Miss" 30). Her husband to be was a real sweet talker, but he was a Communist, which made my blood hot. Such a shame, a fine broad going to waste like that. She whispered goodbye to him and hung up the phone. "Any calls for me while I was out, Rose?" "No, Sam, the morning's been pretty quiet so far," she replied. "Here's the morning paper as you requested. The coffee should be hot and ready in just a few minutes." "You're a doll, you know that, Rose? I swear my morning would be a nightmare if it weren't for you. I've got a couple of tickets to the next Yankees game if you'd like to go out. I hear Mantle and Rizzuto are hitting pretty well" (Effrat 34). "Mr. Brock! Thank you very much, but I'm engaged. I can't go off on a weekend dating spree right before I get married. What would others think? They'd call me a floozy for sure!" "Well, I thought it was worth a try. Give me a holler if you change your mind. I'll be in my office if anything comes up." I walked into my office, about to shut the door, when I stopped myself. "Rose, what do you see in that guy anyway? Did he trick you into marriage or was he just the only guy left in the store?" "Despite what you may think of him, I find him very attractive.

Exam 1 Study Guide – Marketing 360

Chapter 1 – Overview of Marketing * Inertia to Passion * * 80/20 Rule * â€Å"80% of profits come from 20% of consumers† * Economies of Scale * The more you make of something, the less it costs per unit * i. e. Microsoft Office 2014 * Wholesale – Costco * Understand Marketing Mix (4 P’s)/From Customer Perspective 4 Cs * Marketing Mix: A combination of the product itself, the price of the product, the place where it is made available, and the activities that introduce it to consumers that creates a desired response among a set f predefined consumers * Marketing Mix consists of;Marketer| Consumer| Product| Customer Solution| Price| Customer Cost| Promotion| Communication| Place| Convenience | * Exchange * Pg. 12 â€Å"Occurs when a person gives something and gets something else in return. The buyer receives an object, service, or idea that satisfies a need, and the seller receives something he or she feels is of equivalent value† * Trade currency * Tr ade services * Trade behaviors * Exchange Value * Criteria for a Market A market consists of all the consumers who share a common need that can be satisfied by a specific product and who have the resources, willingness, and authority to make a purchase * Utility – Time, Place, Possession, Form, Info * Utility: The usefulness or benefit consumers receive from a product * Time Utility: Storing products until they are needed * Place Utility: Making products available where customers want them * Possession Utility: Allowing the consumer to won, use, and enjoy the product * Form Utility: Transforming raw materials into finished products * What is Value?Components of Value * Value: Benefits a customer receives from buying a good or service * Value from the customer’s perspective: Price and benefits * Value from the seller’s perspective: Is the exchange profitable to them, has it made money * Build Value: Goal is to satisfy customer over and over again so that they can build a long-term relationship rather than just having a â€Å"one night stand† * Customers have value: Firms recognize that it can be very costly in terms of both money and human effort to do whatever it takes to keep some customers loyal to the company.Samsung Distribution ChannelVery often these actions pay off, but there are cases in which keeping a customer is a losing proposition * Lifetime value of a customer: How much profit they expect to make from a particular customer * Provide value through competitive advantage: Distinctive competency- a firm’s capability that is superior to that of its competition * Value from society’s perspective: * Customer Satisfaction Model * Customer Equity * Combined customer lifetime value of all customers Firing Customers * Sustainable Competitive Advantage * Competitive Advantage: Ability of firm to outperform competition, providing customers with benefit competition cant * Identify distinctive competency (firm’s capability superior to competition) * Turn distinctive competency into differential benefit (important to customers) * Sustainable Competitive Advantage * Distinctive Competencies; Differential Benefits * The Value Proposition * Philosophies (eras) Societal Marketing Orientation (New Era); Triple Bottom Line * Emphasis on satisfying broader needs of society (employees, stockholders, etc. ) This is like market orientation by there is a little something more * Being concerned with social issues†¦ doing things better for society and being genuinely concerned * Building long-term relationships * Also referred to as the â€Å"triple bottom line† * Environmental, social and financial bottom line * Building long-term relationships, not just satisfying a one time need * i. . McDonalds * Ronald McDonald House * Using paper hamburger cases vs. * If the bottoms (financial, social, environmental) become the norm, it becomes the marketing orientation * Marketing (customer) Orientatio n * A company that practices the marketing concept. Determining and then satisfying consumer needs and wants at a profit * Selling Orientation * Getting the product out the door! Reducing inventories.Product supply is greater than demand * Getting excess products out the door, the decisions you make will reflect on what orientation you will use * One time purchases, do not establish relationship with the customer * Competitor Orientation * Focus is on competitor intelligence. Learning and reacting to what the competition is doing * i. e. Lowe’s – Wherever there was a Home Depot, they would place a Lowe’s * Product Orientation * Emphasis is on making the product better, production efficiencies.Best when demand surpasses supply * How is this different from a marketing orientation? NOT asking what the customers want, making what they want. (It’s going to be cool and you’re going to want it) Chapter 2 – Strategic Planning * Mission, Marketing My opia * Mission statement describes organization’s overall purpose * How should we develop firm’s capabilities? * What products and benefits can we create for customers? * What business are we in? * What customers should we serve? Avoid marketing Myopia – Having a really narrow mission statement, or being short sided * SWOT ANALYSIS Assessment of Organization’s internal and external environment SWOT Analysis, SWOT interactions * * External Environment Identify opportunities and threats to firm from consumers, competitors, economy, etc. Internal Environment Identify strengths and weaknesses in firms employees, technologies, facilities, finances, etc. Leverage: Strengths + Opportunities * Vulnerability: Strengths + Threats * Constraint: Weaknesses + Opportunities * Problem: Weaknesses + Threats * Portfolio Analysis Portfolio Analysis – a management tools for evaluating a firm’s business mix and assessing the potential of its SBU’s * Indi vidual units within a company – Nike Swimming within Nike * SBU’s (Strategic Business Units)– Individual units within a firm, each having its own mission, objectives, resources, managers and competitors * BCG Matrix; Star, Dog, Question Mark, Cash Cow * Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Growth Matrix – Analyzes the potential of products to generate cash for a firm. Tells managers which products they should grow * i. . Different Products Owned by Larger Firm * Strategies for Each Portfolio * Business Portfolio: Stars * High industry growth * High relative market share * Consider potential to stay star * Requires much investment * Generates relatively high revenues * Cash Cows * Low industry growth * High relative market share * They are not spending a lot of money to communicate with consumers, they are just bringing in business * Economies of scale and high profit margins * Requires less investment * Generates relatively high revenues Helps you support other businesses and launch other business/ventures * Question Marks * High industry growth * Low relative market share * Consider potential to be star * Requires too much investment * Generates relatively low revenues * i. e. Samsung Galaxy – how to move it over to get more money? * Spending more money with less or a market share in comparison to other products * Dogs * Low industry growth * Low relative market share * Generates little profits * Fish or cut bait * Either get rid of it or reinvent it – determine a new use for it.Find a way that it has never been used before * **Exam Question** Selling cutting boards, more people are cooking at home, market for cutting boards (market growth rate) is high. Company makes bamboo cutting boards, has 10% market share * Relative to competition * Product-Market Growth Matrix * Marketers use the product-market growth matrix to analyze different growth strategies pg. 52 (the left of the table would read MARKET EMPHASIS with â€Å"New Markets† on the bottom left and â€Å"Existing Markets† on the top left) PRODUCT EMPHASIS Existing Products New ProductsMarket Penetration StrategySeek to increase sales of existing products to existing markets| Product Development StrategyCreate growth by selling new products in existing markets| Market Development StrategyIntroduce existing products to new markets| Diversification StrategyEmphasize both new products and new markets to achieve growth| * Strategic Alternatives – Market Penetration; Market Development; Product Development; Diversification * Market Penetration: Growth strategies designed to increase sales of existing products to current customers, nonusers, and users of competitive brands in served markets * Market Development: Introduce existing products to new markets (geographic area, or it may mean reaching new customer segments within an existing geographic area) * Product Development Strategies: Create growth by selling new products in exist ing markets.May mean extending the firm’s product line by developing new variations of the item, or it may mean altering or improving the product to provide enhanced performance * Diversification Strategies: Emphasize both new products and new markets to achieve growth. Chapter 3 – Marketing Environment * Economic Environment * Marketers must understand economy and business cycle * Level of Economic Environment; LDC, Developing Country, Developed Country * Level of economic environment: the broader economic picture of a country * Deciding whether or not a country will be a good prospect * LDC: Least Developed Country: A country at the lowest stage of economic development * In most cases, its economic base is agriculture * Africa and South Asia * Standard living is low and so are literacy levels * Developing Country When an economy shifts its emphasis from agriculture to industry, standards of living, education, and the use of technology rise * The future market for con sumer goods like skin care products and mobile phones * Developed Country * Boasts sophisticated marketing systems, strong private enterprise, and bountiful market potential for many goods and services * Economically advanced and they offer a wide rand of opportunities for international marketers * Competitive Environment Marketers must know what competitors are doing (Competitive Intelligence) * Micro vs. Macro Competition * Macro – Overall industry, big picture Monopoly – one seller controls market, some companies sued for owning a monopoly * Oligopoly – small number of sellers, each with large share of market, i. e. cars * Monopolistic Competition – (we often see this as consumers) Many different sellers each offering a different benefit and each having a small share of market, i. e. soaps * Perfect Competition – Many small firms all offering similar products, no influence (rare) * Micro environmental competition– Competition for $â€℠¢s with products in the same class, what product alternatives will consumers choose * Competes on 3 levels * For discretionary income – how are people spending disposable income * Product competition – different products meeting the same need, i. e. ravel * Brand competition – same product trying to meet the same need, i. e. treadmills * Competitive Market Structures; Perfect Competition, Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, Monopoly * See Competitive Environment * Levels of Competition – Brand (Direct), Product, Total Market Competition (Discretionary Income) * See Competitive Environment * Technological Environment; how does this change industry? * Understanding the impact of technology on all aspects of the business * Distribution * Inventory Control * Communication, etc. * Political/Legal Environment/Federal Legislation (Acts) * Legislation that influences business. Make sure people compete fairly. Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) – intended to eli minate monopolies by prohibiting price fixing or predatory pricing * Vertical price fixing: When a manufacturer tells a retailer to sell at a fixed price * Vertical price fixing overturned by supreme court 2007 * Horizontal price fixing: When companies get together at the same level and agree to sell a product at the same price (Illegal) * Predatory price fixing: setting prices low to drive others out of business (Illegal) * Clayton Act (1914) – Prohibits tying contacts, take one product must take others * Nike – Violation of this act, LeBron shoes – Florida sued Nike for not delivering the shoes on time for â€Å"withholding† * Federal Trade Commission Act (1914) * Created the Federal Trade Commission to monitor unfair practices * Sociocultural Environment * Refers to the characteristics of the society, the people who live in that society, and the culture that reflects the values and beliefs of the society * Whether at home or in global markets, marketer s need to understand and adapt to their customs, characteristics and practices * Ethnocentrism The belief that one’s own norms and the products made in one’s country are superior * Bias occurs because we tend to use our own cultural frame of reference to judge other people * Ethnography: Researcher lives with people they are studying * Demographics * Statistics that measure observable aspects of a population * Population size * Age * Gender * Ethnic Group * Income * Education * Occupation * Family structure * Social Norms * Specific rules dictating what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable * What ways to dress, how to speak, what to eat and how to behave * Cultural Values * Deeply held beliefs about right and wrong ways to live, that it imparts to it’s members * Talking about sex in public * Product Standardization vs. Localization Advocates of standardization argue that the world has become so small that basic needs and wants are the same everywhere * A focus on the similarities among cultures is certainly appealing * Realize large economies of scale because it could spread the costs of product development and promotional materials over many markets * Consistent exposure also helps create a global brand because it forges a strong, unified image all over the world * Advocates for localization feel that the world is not that small; you need to tailor products and promotional messages to local environments * Marketers feel that each culture is unique, with a distinctive set of behavioral and personality characteristics Chapter 4 – Market Information/Research * Steps in Conducting Market Research (this bullet will answer almost every bullet in this section, so just read over this one it’s in detail) 1.Define the Research Problem a. Specify the research objectives: i. Symptom or problem? ii. Selling the wine for too much money – symptom†¦ problem is the type of cap! What is the true issue? b. Identify your po pulation of interest: iii. Look at surrounding environment iv. What’s happening in the environment, is it a symptom or a problem? 2. Determining Research Design c. Research Design: Specifies what information will be collected and what type of study will be done d. Must determine if we are collecting primary or secondary data v. Primary: We collect data ourselves 1. Finding exactly what you want vi. Secondary: Someone else collects the data . Quality may be cheaper, but not as precise 3. Often outdated e. Determining Specific Information Needs vii. Primary information: Data specifically collected and organized for a particular marketing information need. Original viii. Secondary information: Data gathered for some purpose other than the current marketing information need (i. e. f. Primary Data – 3 types ix. Exploratory (problem identification) 4. Qualitative technique used to generate insights for future, more rigorous studies a. Interviews (1 on 1) b. Focus Groups (8-1 0) c. Ethnographies (researcher lives with people they are studying) d.Projective techniques (take yourself and â€Å"project† yourself into the situation based on information given) i. i. e. Folgers instant coffee – surveyed women ii. If you were making instant coffee you were â€Å"short-changing† your husbands iii. Benefits and features x. Descriptive (problem solving) 5. Quantitative technique that probes more systematically and with more respondents e. How to quantify a qualitative data – use a scale 6. Think frequencies f. Identifying numbers (how many people walk by the mall on campus) 7. Helps identify attitudes of consumers that buy the products g. Satisfaction survey xi. Casual (problem solving) 8.Quantitative techniques that attempt to understand the cause-and-effect relationships h. Test hypotheses i. Independent variable: manipulation j. Dependent variable: measureable outcome 9. Experiments: lab 10. Field Studies: real world 11. Causal Resea rch Example k. I work for Nestle and I believe that chocolate country of origin has an impact on satisfaction with the chocolate iv. Dependent = satisfaction v. Independent = country of origin vi. Independent variable with 5 choices (USA, Mexico, Canada, etc) 1. The more conditions you add, the more subjects you need to have vii. Let’s add an additional IV nuts or no nuts 2.Country of origin (5 choices) x Nuts (2 choices) = 10 conditions 12. You can have as many IV’s as you want, but this increases the number of subjects you need 13. To determine causality you look to see if there is a difference | Exploratory| Problem-Solving| Purpose| Investigation| Actionable information| Research Problem| Not well defined| Specific| Type of data| Qualitative | Quantitative| Sample| Small| Large| 3. Primary Data Collection Methods g. Communication, surveys xii. Mail questionnaires xiii. Telephone interviews xiv. Face-to-face interviews xv. Online questionnaires h. Observation xvi. P ersonal 14. Stores hire researchers to watch people xvii. Mechanical 15.Device that tracks behaviors (black strip that measures how many cars pass a street†¦) * Different Research Study Designs * A plan that specifies what information marketers will collect and what type of study they will do * Cross-sectional design: A type of descriptive technique that involves the systematic collection of quantitative information * Longitudinal Design: A technique that tracks the responses of the same sample of respondents over time * Types of Data: Qualitative, Primary, Secondary * Primary: We collect data ourselves * Finding exactly what you want * Secondary: Someone else collects the data * Quality may be cheaper, but not as precise Often outdated * Qualitative: You cannot put a number on it†¦ i. e. are you happy? Yes or no * Quantitative: You can put a value/scale number on it * Validity and Reliability * Validity: The extent to which research actually measures what it was intended to measure * Reliability: The extent to which research measurement techniques are free of errors * Construct – did we measure what we intended to measure? * Internal – can you identify the true causal relationship (most important) * External – generalizability; does this hold true for my population of interest? * Sampling * The process of selecting respondents for a study Probability sample: Each member of the population has some known chance of being included * Nonprobability sample: The use of personal judgment to select respondents (some cases, they just ask whoever they can find, some members of the population may not be included at all) * Convenience Sample: Nonprobability sample composed of individuals who just happen to be available when and where data is being collected * Independent/Dependent Variables * Independent – manipulation * Dependent – measureable outcome * Advantages/Disadvantages of Primary Data Collection Techniques * Advantage s of primary data collecting * Original * Gathering information for a particular need * Disadvantages of primary data collecting * Expensive * Advantages of secondary data collecting * Cheaper, saves time * Disadvantages of secondary data collecting * Outdated * Data Mining Process in which analysts sift through data to identify unique patterns of behavior among different customer groups * Data mining has 4 primary applications for marketers 1. Customer Acquisition: Many firms include demographic and other information about customers in their database 2. Customer Retention and Loyalty: Firm identifies big-spending customers and then targets them for special offers and inducements other customers won’t receive 3. Customer Abandonment: A firm wants customers to take their business elsewhere because servicing them actually costs the firm too much 4. Market Basket Analysis: Develop focused promotion strategies based on the records of which customers have bought certain products * Data Collection in Other Countries and Cultures Market conditions and consumer preferences vary worldwide and there are major differences in the sophistication of market research operations and the amount of data available to global marketers * Some countries may not have phones, literacy levels may affect mail surveys * Understanding local customs and cultural differences can affect the responses * Solve this problem by including local researchers in decisions about the design * Language: To overcome language barriers, researchers use the process of back-translation – the process of translating material to a foreign language and then back to the original language Additional Topics * Stealth Marketing * When you’re being marketed to, and you don’t realize you’re being marketed to * i. e.Camera phones – Nokia, having employees ask people to take pictures with their camera phones (w/o launching a campaign) * Guerilla Marketing * Doing something in a non-conventional, unique way * i. e. shooting someone from behind a tree†¦ * First time using QR codes * Buzz vs. Hype * What’s the difference? Guerilla marketing is all about creating buzz (goal is to get people to talk about us) * Buzz – people talking about it * As a consumer, we believe buzz over hype * Hype – comes from the company * i. e. television commercial * Hull’s drive theory * As humans, we are wired to know what we need which drives us * Homeostasis -> equilibrium * i. e. shivering when you’re cold Study in 70’s (rise of mini theories) claim there are many contributors to consumers * Darwin’s biological determinism * What motivates us * Cowbird; lays eggs in another species nest * When that egg hatches, it automatically knows the cowbird song * BORN with what motivates us * Cannibalization * When a new product takes sales away from original (existing) product * i. e. Apple 4S to 5, or Coca cola to diet coke * Can b e good and can be bad, depending on the situation * When you introduce a new product and it isn’t good†¦ It can motivate people to move away from the brand as a whole * Negative- having to sell what’s in inventory * Traditional vs. non-traditional media types * Traditional vs.Nontraditional * Subliminal messaging * Self-help cassette tapes * Lose weight label – people got the stop smoking message * Stop smoking – people got the lose weight message * Placebo * All of the Knuff’s Knuggets * Syphilis study – KNUGGET * Testing the spread of syphilis across the spread of African Americans * Infected some people with syphilis, some were given treatment, some were told they would be given treatment – but weren’t * Unethical, U. S. Government backed this study and eventually was sued for millions by families * Milgrim Shock Study * †¦Why we have the IRB * Institutional Review Boards * QR Codes Measures the effectiveness of th e ad * Allows a large amount of information to be displayed in a small space * Part of technological environment * Internal validity is necessary, but not sufficient for establishing external validity *KNUGGET * We have to have internal validity, otherwise its garbage * Just because we have internal validity, does not mean we can generalize or say that we have external validity * Heider’s Balance Theory is one explanation * Suggests that we need to keep triangle in balance * or NIKE GOLF TIGER WOODS YOU All positives around the outsides, or two negatives and one positive

To whom it may concern

I am writing this letter in hope of consideration to your fine academic institution.   I know there are some irregularities in my recent academic past and I hope this letter can clear some of those things up as well as reassure you that I take the responsibilities of my academic career very seriously and intend to maintain the academic standard of your institution.First, let me take the time to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to apply to your school.   I selected your school for its proud history in our area as well as the course curriculum that you offer.   Several friends have recommended the university positively as a great place to learn and succeed so I hope too to be able to thrive there.As you may be aware, the last semester at my previous institution was rather disastrous resulting in a 1.71 overall GPA for the term.   I am quite ashamed at such a low score, however I wish to assure you that it is the result of a very tragic and unusual situation and not aca demic negligence.My mother fell quite ill during the term and was unable to work and I had no choice but to take more hours at work to make up the slack.   I attempted to drop my classes per my university’s instructions, however they only dropped two of the total classes I was enlisted in, and the stress and worry from the extra work and assisting my ailing mother was simply too much, resulting in such poor grades.My mother passed away earlier this summer, and it’s clichà © to say that such a death makes you re-evaluate your life, but when you find yourself within the situation it’s quite true.   I thought of all the things my mother has done for me, and all the things she will never see me accomplish that she wanted to.Her death put fire to my spirits in a way and encouraged me to re-enroll as soon as I could to finish what I started, an education my mother always wanted me to have.I know university considerations are not often about sentiment, but rather about academic rigor, commitment and honesty.   However I do feel I possess these as well and feel I will be a positive addition to your student body.   I am a US Navy veteran, having spent four years in the service of our country with pride.My time in the Navy was often met with hardship and required a will to persevere and taught me to be a stronger and more resourceful human being.   Through your institution I hope to graduate and earn my commission to continue on with my career in the US Navy.In my application I have enclosed my naval evaluations.   These are evaluations done at regular intervals that serve as a kind of report card of our service.   While I understand my last academic term may have put a bad mark on my academic history I hope the spotless record of my naval service can help to put a bit of perspective on my long-term prospects as an academic student.   Should you require any additional documentation or assistance in reading said evaluations, please l et me know.In closing, again, thank you so much for the opportunity to continue my education and to make my mother and country proud.   I hope my admission to your university will be a fresh start for me on the road to my future career goals and happiness.

The Movie Romero essays

The Movie Romero essays The movie Romero is about the life of Oscar Romero, an archbishop of El Salvador. The movie illustrates the hardships and the sacrifices that Oscar Romero has done in order to help and serve the underprivileged people of El Salvador. The story unfolds as the church begins to see the discrimination and the unfair treatment of the government to its people. The poor people of El Salvador get treated badly and are deprived of their rights as a person belonging to that country. There are a lot of things that had caught my attention while watching the movie. I think that the whole plot of the story has struck me as important and significant as a Catholic and as a human being. One of the events that have transpired in the movie that stuck me the most was how some important powerful figure in the church are willing to close their senses as to what is going on around them. They close to remain ignorant and numb to the cries and the pleas of the people so that the government would protect them at all cost. Another one is when the people are still faithful to their church even though they know that the government is against them. Through this their faith in God is tested. The church began to help the people get their freedom back from the abusive government run bay the military after a lot of innocent people have been killed for not following the rules that the government wants to implement because they know that it would only cause them more pain and more sufferings in the future. They want to end the dictatorial kind of government that rules over their country once and for all. At first archbishop Romero does not believe on how the military abuses the people, but after his friend father Rutilio Grande got assassinated, Romero began to have second thoughts and tried to defend and help lessen, if not stop the sufferings of the people under the military junta that is happening tin their country. The church and the governmen...

How to Outline a Novel (Even If Outlining Makes You Sick)

How to Outline a Novel (Even If Outlining Makes You Sick) How to Outline a Novel (Even If You’re Not an Outliner) I know what you’re thinking: How does the author of nearly 190 books, two-thirds of them novels, get off telling me â€Å"How to Outline a Novel† when he’s on record as a non-outliner himself? Hey, not only that, but we non-outliners have a name! We call ourselves Pantsers. Okay, so it’s not that creative. It just means we write by the seat of our pants. We could just as easily be known as No-Netters, like high wire walkers or trapeze artists who work without safety nets. And it’s not like we’re some crazy offshoot, like the cousins you never talk about. We make up about half of all novelists, and there are some famous mega-bestselling types among us. Does the name Stephen King strike a familiar tone? Why couldn’t we just be known as members of the Stephen King School of Fiction Writing? Need help writing your novel?Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide. Which Are You- Outliner or Pantser? It’s a good thing to determine early, you know. You’ll save yourself a lot of agony, starts and stops, frustration. There’s enough of that in novel writing already. No sense adding more when you don’t have to. Now, trust me, whichever you are- Outliner or Pantser- you’re often going to wish you were the other. It’s just like people with curly or straight hair. The curlies are always trying to straighten theirs, and the straights are always trying to curl theirs. Human nature, I guess. When I hit the wall at the halfway to three-quarter mark for just about every novel, I yearn for a tidy outline that tells me where to go next. But down deep I know better. Story outlines just don’t work for me. Somehow, when I plot the story out in advance, things get predictable. Plus, the organic nature of a story always has its way with me and the characters wind up taking over. They’re cantankerous sorts and never let me put words in their mouths or take the fork in the road I think they ought to. Go Where the Process Takes You The aforementioned Mr. King says, â€Å"Try to put interesting characters in difficult situations and write to find out what happens.† How fun is that? I live for it. It’s writing by process of discovery, and for me- and any Pantser- it’s the only way that works. I grew up on television. Maybe that’s why I’m an intuitive plotter, and my stories tend to have beginnings, middles, and ends. It doesn’t always feel that way while it’s happening, and sometimes I wonder why things are happening the way they are, but things always seem to come together and work out. Be What You Are Now, if you’re an Outliner and you try writing by the seat of your pants, you’ll soon know you’ve made a mistake. If you’re not an intuitive plotter, your story will be all over the place, your rabbit trails will take you to parts of the forest you have no business in, and you’ll never find your way back. You’re one or the other, so decide and stake your claim. Neither is better, neither is right or wrong- unless you choose the opposite of what you are. Then you’re not going to be happy till you switch. The Ultimate Novel Outliner If you’re an Outliner and want to jump in with both feet or dive in headfirst or whatever clichà © you choose to apply, you can’t do better than to tap into the very strange and wonderful mind of my friend, Dr. Randy Ingermanson. Who’s he, you ask? Only the Sheldon Cooper of novelists. Literally (and I use that term literally). On The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon has a masters degree and two doctoral degrees. Randy got his M.A. and Ph.D. in physics, specializing in elementary particle theory. He also did two years of post-graduate work on superstring theory. Somehow he now applies his intellect to the science of novel writing and teaching novel writing, and he is the story outline extraordinaire. If you’re an Outliner, go to his site and check out his Snowflake Method of outlining your novel, and also invest in his Writing Fiction for Dummies. But You Said I know! I was going to tell you how to outline your novel even if you’re not an outliner. If you’re not an outliner, you need to stay at least 100 yards from Randy Ingermanson. He’d tell you that himself. He doesn’t even want my business! Randy agrees that Outliners are Outliners and Pantsers are Pantsers, and never the twain shall meet. If you’re a Pantser, don’t try to be an Outliner. Then How Am I Supposed to Okay, here’s how. No one’s saying that just because you’re not an Outliner you should simply sit at the keyboard and wait till magic happens. It doesn’t go that way. At least it never has for me- although some critics may disagree. Though you may not have an outline per se, obviously you must have an idea or you have no business in that chair. I repeat: don’t go to the keyboard with nothing to say. Come with an idea! Be able to state it in one sentence. Tell me what your story is about. My first novel was about a judge who tried a man for a murder that the judge had committed. I had to have at least that much or I would have sat there all day twiddling my thumbs. Now, if you’re an Outliner, Randy Ingermanson will have you inventing characters with names and backgrounds and virtually blueprinting your story before you keyboard â€Å"Chapter 1.† As a Pantser, my thought was, come up with a couple of character names, put ‘em on stage, and start telling the story of that judge. Let’s see what happens. It sure won’t be predictable to the reader, because I don’t even know what’s coming. And if a reader writes to demand why I killed off some favorite character, I can say, â€Å"Hey, I write by process of discovery. I didn’t kill them off, I found ‘em dead.† Then What Did You Mean by ‘Novel Outlining’? That there is a basic story structure that works whether you have a novel outline or you’re writing by the seat of your pants, and it looks like this, according to bestseller Dean Koontz: 1- Plunge your main character into terrible trouble as soon as possible. (That trouble will mean something different depending on your genre. For a thriller it might be life-threatening. For a romance it might mean choosing between two suitors.) 2- Everything your character does to try to get out of the trouble makes it only worse. 3- Eventually things appear hopeless. 4- Finally, everything your character has learned through all that trouble gives him what he needs to personally conquer the opposition. That’s a structure that will keep you- and your reader- engaged and insured against boredom. And that’s how to outline a novel, whether you’re an Outliner or a Pantser. Need help writing your novel?Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide. So, which are you, an Outliner or a Pantser, and what will you do next?

Biography of William Boss Tweed, American Politician

Biography of William 'Boss' Tweed, American Politician William M. â€Å"Boss† Tweed (April 3, 1823–April 12, 1878) was an American politician who, as the leader of the political organization Tammany Hall, controlled New York City politics in the years following the Civil War. Tweed leveraged his power as a landowner and corporate board member to extend his influence throughout the city. Along with other members of the â€Å"Tweed Ring,† he was suspected of siphoning untold millions from the city’s coffers before public outrage turned against him and he was finally prosecuted. Fast Facts: William M. 'Boss' Tweed Known For: Tweed commanded Tammany Hall, the 19th-century New York City political machine.Born: April 3, 1823 in New York CityDied: April 12, 1878 in New York CitySpouse: Jane Skaden (m. 1844) Early Life William M. Tweed was born on Cherry Street in lower Manhattan on April 3, 1823. There is a dispute about his middle name, which was often mistakenly given as Marcy, but which was actually Magear- his mothers maiden name. In newspaper accounts and official documents during his lifetime, his name is usually printed simply as William M. Tweed. As a boy, Tweed went to a local school and received a typical education for the time, and then apprenticed as a chair maker. During his teens, he developed a reputation for street fighting. Like many youths in the area, Tweed became attached to a local volunteer fire company. In that era, neighborhood fire companies were closely aligned with local politics. Fire companies had illustrious names, and Tweed became associated with Engine Company 33, whose nickname was â€Å"Black Joke.† The company had a reputation for brawling with other companies that would try to outrace them to fires. When Engine Company 33 disbanded, Tweed, then in his mid-20s, was one of the organizers of the new Americus Engine Company, which became known as Big Six. Tweed was credited with making the company’s mascot a roaring tiger, which was painted on the side of its engine. When Big Six would respond to a fire in the late 1840s, its members pulling the engine through the streets, Tweed could usually be seen running ahead, shouting commands through a brass trumpet. A fire company of the type led by young Boss Tweed. Library of Congress Early Political Career With his local fame as the foreman of Big Six and his gregarious personality, Tweed seemed a natural candidate for a political career. In 1852 he was elected the alderman of the Seventh Ward, an area in lower Manhattan. Tweed then ran for Congress and won, beginning his term in March 1853. However, he did not enjoy life in Washington, D.C., or his work in the House of Representatives. Though great national events were being debated on Capitol Hill, including the  Kansas-Nebraska Act, Tweed’s interests were back in New York. After his one term in Congress, he returned to New York City, though he did visit Washington for one event. In March 1857 the Big Six fire company marched in the inaugural parade for  President James Buchanan, led by former congressman Tweed in his fireman’s gear. Tammany Hall Boss Tweed depicted by Thomas Nast as a bag of money. Getty Images Picking up again in New York City politics, Tweed was elected to the city’s Board of Supervisors in 1857. It was not a highly noticeable position, though Tweed was perfectly positioned to begin corrupting the government. He would remain on the Board of Supervisors throughout the 1860s. Tweed eventually rose to the pinnacle of Tammany Hall, the New York political machine, and was elected the â€Å"Grand Sachem† of the organization. He was known to work closely with two particularly unscrupulous businessmen, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. Tweed was also elected as a state senator, and his name would occasionally appear in newspaper reports about mundane civic matters. When the funeral procession for Abraham Lincoln marched up Broadway in April 1865, Tweed was mentioned as one of many local dignitaries who followed the hearse. By the late 1860s, the finances of the city were essentially being overseen by Tweed, with a percentage of nearly every transaction being kicked back to him and his ring. Though he was never elected mayor, the public generally regarded him as the true leader of the city. Downfall By 1870, the newspapers were referring to Tweed as Boss Tweed, and his power over the city’s political apparatus was nearly absolute. Tweed, partly due to his personality and his penchant for charity, was very popular with the common people. Legal problems began to appear, however. Financial improprieties in city accounts came to the attention of newspapers, and on July 18, 1871, an accountant who worked for Tweeds ring delivered a ledger listing suspicious transactions to The New York Times. Within days, the details of Tweeds thievery appeared on the front page of the newspaper. A reform movement consisting of Tweeds political enemies, concerned businessmen, journalists, and the noted political cartoonist Thomas Nast began to  attack the Tweed ring. After complicated legal battles and a celebrated trial, Tweed was convicted and sentenced to jail in 1873. He managed to escape in 1876, fleeing first to Florida, then Cuba, and finally Spain. The Spanish authorities arrested him and turned him over to the Americans, who returned him to prison in New York City. Death Tweed died in prison, in lower Manhattan, on April 12, 1878. He was buried in an elegant family plot at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Legacy Tweed pioneered a certain system of politics that came to be known as bossism. Though seeming to exist at the outer fringe of New York City politics, Tweed actually wielded more political clout than anyone in the city. For years he managed to keep a low public profile, working behind the scenes to orchestrate victories for his political and business allies- those who were part of the Tammany Hall machine. During this time, Tweed was mentioned only in passing in the press as a fairly obscure political appointee. However, the highest officials in New York City, all the way up to the mayor, generally did what Tweed and The Ring directed. Sources Golway, Terry. Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics. Liveright, 2015.Sante, Luc. Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.

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

Discusion - Essay Example ient times there were many public policy issues to discuss, among the most important: where is the best place to education someone—in the city or the country. Two brother try to raise two brothers according to these different standards. Micio, the older brother, raises his nephew, Aeschinus, in the city. Micio is kind and genial and open-minded. You would probably describe him as a cosmopolitan who, because he lives in a city, knows he must be tolerant because cities are full of many different kinds of people. In a comparison between the two brothers most people would agree that Micio is the better man and provides a better education to his nephew than Demea does. He is a responsible individual and knows that it is important in life to keep one’s words to one’s fellows. He also knows that so much depends on how a person is raised: their whole life can be decided in their education. He is a liberal but responsible individual. Micio sometimes lies, but usually he is an honest person. He is patient and has an open-mind and he also leads an exciting life. I think many people would be happy to have him as an uncle. The contrast between him and his brother is so clear, that Micio often appears in a good light. By the end of this play and his eventual marriage I found I had a good deal of respect for Micio and wish he had educated

FASD Professional Handbook Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

FASD Professional Handbook - Research Paper Example FASD is an important preventable cause of intellectual; dysfunction and behavioral problems.This hand-book reviews amongst others current prevalence, clinical features, pathogenesis and differential diagnosis of FASD. It also highlights the need for social workers to beware of the condition. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), currently considered part of FASD, was first described in 1973.In spite of what has been learned since: a lot of challenges still remain in diagnosis and prevention. My goal is to explore fetal terminology, the effects, prevalence, and prevention of exposure, and identification. I will identify what is known about who is at risk, and with this knowledge social workers should better be able to identify risk pregnancies and alcohol affected individuals and thus identify fetal alcohol exposure early enough. FAS are diagnosed when characteristic facial dysmorphology, poor growth, and central nervous system abnormalities are present, with or without prenatal alcohol exposure. Of importance is the fact that it has been accepted that affected individuals may have some but not all of the FAS characteristics, research has not identified a reliable way of defining those individuals less affected. Fetal Alcohol effects (FAE), Prenatal Alcohol Effects (PAE), Alcohol Related Birth Defects(ARBD), and Alcohol-relate Neurodevelopment Disorder(ARND) have all been suggested as terms identifying those children with a spectrum of problems, but not necessarily FAS. The diagnosis of fetal alcohol effects or ARBD and the estimation of their incidence are more difficult than that of FAS. Importantly, the specifics of the FAS diagnosis for alcohol make it scientifically useful and meaningful. Significantly ARBD and ARND, however are not syndromes in the classic sense, but the presentation of FAS signs indiv idually associated with, but not specific to prenatal alcohol exposure (Kelly, 2000). They can be lower those manifestation of

Technology Description Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Technology Description - Essay Example The Clock button displays the real time that can be set and adjusted. The Reset button allows the Clock to reset depending on the user’s desired time settings. 2. These pre-determined cooking time buttons include the cooking according to the desired cooking manner including the weight of the food and defrosting. If Cook by Weight is desired, the need to key in the approximate weight of the food is necessary. The same applies when Defrost by Weight is preferred. Speed Defrost 5. The Timer button is used to set the desired cooking time. The Power Level sets the microwave cooking at 10 different levels at the time of cooking. Setting the level to 100% allows the device to emit radio waves to its full extent, thus allowing the cooking time faster. The Cook button automatically cooks food according to the length of time that it needs to be cooked. There are sensors in the cavity that allows the device to detect whether the food is already cooked or

Japan economy after the earthquake and tsunami Research Paper

Japan economy after the earthquake and tsunami - Research Paper Example The purpose of this paper is to describe the economic effects of the March 11th earthquake on Japan. The earthquake devastated the infrastructure of Japan. There are over 500,000 people homeless as a consequence of the earthquake. The overall property damage exceeds $300 billion (Huffingtonpost). The effect of having so many people homeless has destabilized the nation in social and economic terms. Despite all the humanitarian help that has come from the global community the Japanese government is finding it hard to feed and provide shelter to so many people. Due to the rising cost of petroleum and its derivative products is going more expensive than the $300 billion estimate to reconstruct Japan. A major problem that is hurting the economy of Japan is the damage that the earthquake caused to the power supply of the country. About ? of the electricity in Japan is produced by 4 nuclear reactors. The earthquake caused major damage to one of the plants. The nuclear accident in the Japane se Fukushima plant is considered the biggest nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Due to the immediate danger that the nuclear facility pose to the population the nuclear electricity infrastructure of Japan has been offline. There is a shortage of electricity across Japan. The lack of electricity throughout the entire country has negatively impacted the industrial activity in Japan. Manufacturing companies have been forced to temporarily shut down operations. This is affecting the ability of the country to export goods. The working class of Japan is losing valuable income everyday which is hurting the well-being of Japanese families. Another problem that companies are having in Japan is supply chain issues. The transportation system in Japan is in total chaos. The short term outlook for the Japanese economy is not too bright. The OECD had to recalculate the GDP growth forecast of Japan for 2011. The OECD GPD forecast for 2011 was lowered to 0.8% from the original metr ic of 1.7% (Euronews). There are major health concerns in Japan as a consequence of the earthquake. In the short term the quake caused injuries to thousands of people. The health system of Japan has been overloaded with work due to the massive amount of people requiring medical treatment. Another issue of major concern for the people of Japan was the nuclear accident in the Fukushima plant. Radiation has been already released into the population. An early study on the situation claimed that the 5.5% of the Japanese population living within 200 square kilometers of the damaged Fukushima plant would develop cancer in the long term (Youtube). This figure implies that 400,000 people would develop cancer. The only way to prevent such a horrible health forecast is to evacuate the entire area of 7.8 million inhabitants. Japan is still in a state of crisis six weeks after the earthquake. During the last month it is estimated that the Japanese economy has lost $297.8 billion (Theworldreporte r). Even a strong economy such as Japan’s cannot sustain these types of losses in such a short period of time. There a strong concerns that the Japanese economy will enter into a recession. The global economy will be hurt if Japan goes into a recession because Japan is considered one of the 8 most powerful countries in the world. Nobody could have image that such a strong earthquake would hit Japan. The people of Japan

Not ablicable Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Not ablicable - Essay Example This not only increases the temperature on earth’s surface but also the temperature prevailing over the oceanic region of the world. This remarkable rise of temperature is on account of pollution occurring all over the world. The polluted atmospheric condition over the earth is capable to develop infrared radiation. The main gases present in the earth’s atmosphere are water content, Ozone, Carbon dioxide, Nitrous oxide and methane. These gases are termed as Green House Gases and have certain roles to increase the temperature on Earth’s crust. The industrial transformations and development have increased the production of greenhouse gases in the atmospheric air and is considered as one of the main reasons for the global warming. This phenomenon has observed from the middle of the twentieth century. The concentration of the gaseous media of the atmospheric air has great influence to increase global warming. This is affected in accordance with two principles. One is by the direct emission of infra red radiation from the gaseous constituents of atmospheric air and the other is indirectly through clouds. The solid and liquid particles present in the atmospheric air are responsible for the indirect process to develop the global temperature. These solid and liquid suspensions present in the atmospheric air are generally termed as ‘aerosols’. They are universally originated gases substances and the carriers of these substances to the atmosphere are wind. During their travel with wind the aerosol substances undergo tremendous chemical and physical changes naturally. The characteristic features such as Physical, Chemical and concentration of aerosols present in atmospheric air are also taken in to consideration while thinking about the indirect influence on global warming. The risk management Cycle The risk management cycle points out the volume of risk factor caused due to the nuclear emission occurred from the nuclear power plant

Japan economy after the earthquake and tsunami Research Paper

Japan economy after the earthquake and tsunami - Research Paper Example The purpose of this paper is to describe the economic effects of the March 11th earthquake on Japan. The earthquake devastated the infrastructure of Japan. There are over 500,000 people homeless as a consequence of the earthquake. The overall property damage exceeds $300 billion (Huffingtonpost). The effect of having so many people homeless has destabilized the nation in social and economic terms. Despite all the humanitarian help that has come from the global community the Japanese government is finding it hard to feed and provide shelter to so many people. Due to the rising cost of petroleum and its derivative products is going more expensive than the $300 billion estimate to reconstruct Japan. A major problem that is hurting the economy of Japan is the damage that the earthquake caused to the power supply of the country. About ? of the electricity in Japan is produced by 4 nuclear reactors. The earthquake caused major damage to one of the plants. The nuclear accident in the Japane se Fukushima plant is considered the biggest nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Due to the immediate danger that the nuclear facility pose to the population the nuclear electricity infrastructure of Japan has been offline. There is a shortage of electricity across Japan. The lack of electricity throughout the entire country has negatively impacted the industrial activity in Japan. Manufacturing companies have been forced to temporarily shut down operations. This is affecting the ability of the country to export goods. The working class of Japan is losing valuable income everyday which is hurting the well-being of Japanese families. Another problem that companies are having in Japan is supply chain issues. The transportation system in Japan is in total chaos. The short term outlook for the Japanese economy is not too bright. The OECD had to recalculate the GDP growth forecast of Japan for 2011. The OECD GPD forecast for 2011 was lowered to 0.8% from the original metr ic of 1.7% (Euronews). There are major health concerns in Japan as a consequence of the earthquake. In the short term the quake caused injuries to thousands of people. The health system of Japan has been overloaded with work due to the massive amount of people requiring medical treatment. Another issue of major concern for the people of Japan was the nuclear accident in the Fukushima plant. Radiation has been already released into the population. An early study on the situation claimed that the 5.5% of the Japanese population living within 200 square kilometers of the damaged Fukushima plant would develop cancer in the long term (Youtube). This figure implies that 400,000 people would develop cancer. The only way to prevent such a horrible health forecast is to evacuate the entire area of 7.8 million inhabitants. Japan is still in a state of crisis six weeks after the earthquake. During the last month it is estimated that the Japanese economy has lost $297.8 billion (Theworldreporte r). Even a strong economy such as Japan’s cannot sustain these types of losses in such a short period of time. There a strong concerns that the Japanese economy will enter into a recession. The global economy will be hurt if Japan goes into a recession because Japan is considered one of the 8 most powerful countries in the world. Nobody could have image that such a strong earthquake would hit Japan. The people of Japan

GOVT 480 DB7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

GOVT 480 DB7 - Essay Example nd especially those pertaining to terrorism started and even fusion centers were set up by the Department of Homeland Security to ensure this is taken with the seriousness it deserves. The purpose of the local law enforcers is to report to the state and fusion offices suspicious cases of terrorism activities or other national intelligence from the local level and then work together from there (Cordner and Scarborough, 2010). Not all information on the progress and the step by step measures to be taken should be shared with the local law enforcers by the state. This is so because there are some of the local enforcers who are supporters and followers of the terrorists and act as their moles hence providing them with important security and intelligence information and if this happens to be the case then it may jeopardize the intelligence and action to terminate the terrorism activities. In this regards therefore, national intelligence information provided to the local enforcers should be limited to the basics and not specifics in as much as their help is appreciated. Cordner, G. and Scarborough, K. (January, 2010). â€Å"Information Sharing: Exploring the Intersection of Policing with National and Military Intelligence.† Journal of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security, vol. VI (1). Retrieved from:

From the Middle Ages through the Renaissance Essay Example for Free

From the Middle Ages through the Renaissance Essay Artists bringing designs, paintings, choreography and music to life shapes the history of the Middle Ages. Middle Ages began from the very earliest single digit centuries. Middle Ages and Renaissance Age’s culture centered around religion. Religion was the purpose of all art. Artists living during the Middle and Renaissance ages created paintings, sculptures, music and other designs that were unique to their interpretations, relying on craft and communication. â€Å"We should not assume that our priorities necessarily match those of the original patrons. (Goffen, 1999, p. 207) Two memorable Renaissance artworks are Michelangelo’s Pieta and Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. The marbled Pieta sculpture design is Mary holding her son Jesus, who passed away. This image immediately shocks the viewer and is not easily forgotten. After really looking at the sculpture, the viewer does not have to be familiar with the story to realize an unusual message is coming through. â€Å"The point of the work was to engender empathic meditation and devotion on the part of the viewer. † (Kieran, 2004, p. 169) Mary’s facial expressions are calm, relaxed, untypical for a mother who lost her child. The fully grown adult child Mary is holding would be as big as her, if not bigger. To make the unexpected sculpture look realistic or proportioned, the artists relied on light colors and unusual sizing of objects. Mary’s body is bigger than the man’s body. (Kieran, 2004, P. 41) Further bringing the entire picture into perspective, the size of the arched window encasing Mary and Jesus, surrounding Mary’s upper body offsets illusions of sizes. http://enwikipedia. org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_(Michelangelo) Analyzations of Da Vinci’s art goes on indefinitely. His Virgin of the Rocks shows baby Christ and St John. â€Å"The picture is conceived in a mood of great solemnity. The children no longer play as equals (Clark, 1939, p. 45) Baby Jesus sits independently with two hands bringing focus that he is guided by higher beings invisible to human perceptions. St John is limited to human protection or guidance. (Clark, 1939). The artists used darkened tone colors enhancing mystical moods that are unknown to humans. Natural background content consists of nature made subjects. The setting is taking place in a miniature cave allowing the trees blending with the sky to be visible. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks All types of art influences and guides human behavior, within reason. Religion is the background purpose for the invention and creative experimenting with art. Creative art encouraging individualism began in the Middle ages, and lead us into the Renaissance ages. Today’s art, sculptures, plays and architect is modern reinventions of artwork originating during the middle ages. References Clark, K. (1939). Leonardo Da Vinci: An Account of His Development as an Artist. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=6598638 Goffen, R. (1999). Behind the Picture: Art and Evidence in the Italian Renaissance. Renaissance Quarterly, 52(1), 207. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5001255997 Kieran, M. (2004). Revealing Art. New York: Routledge. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst?a=od=108856090 Maes-Jelinek, H. (1997). Charting the Uncapturable in Wilson Harriss Writing. The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 17(2), 90+. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5000469960 OConnor, J. P. , Temple, V. A. (2005). Constraints and Facilitators for Physical Activity in Family Day Care. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 30(4), 1+. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5012125114 Osmond, S. F. (1998, December). The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in

Post Modernism And Globalization Cultural Studies Essay

Post Modernism And Globalization Cultural Studies Essay Postmodernism is a very key word in our times; its not just another buzz word. Postmodernism conditions our thoughts as well as our politics, it conditions our art as well as our architecture, it conditions our frames of entertainment, and it conditions and shapes our economic, social, and cultural activities. In this post modern world, all that we do is expected to be in line with the current dictates of postmodernism. We can watch postmodernism, hear it, feel it, experience it, read it, be awe- struck by its activities, shop in its precincts live and even breathe it. Its certain that slowly but surely that postmodernism is taking over the control of the world and its inhabitants; in fact postmodernism has taken over our being, and inculcated its traits into our system, where its yet, its hurriedly taking that direction. Postmodernism transcends modernity and traditions which includes culture and identity. Globalization is a notion of postmodernism and dictates channel without allow ing for a position of different opinion (FAV, 2000). David Harvey, while looking at the condition of post modernity, explained how the extraction of the surplus profits since the inception of post modernism from the productivity of multinational companies as well as the completion between them as opposed to territorial natural differences. He pointed out that now territories are forced to compete amongst themselves so as to attract transnational capital investment. He argues that cities region and/ or organizations are required to make themselves attractive if they have to attract into their territories the manufacturers, tourists, services or convections which given their nature of mobility can potentially be placed at any position in the globe. The strategies of differentiation of spaces are defined by Harvey as active Production of Places having some special qualities. This production fabricates the characteristics making a place idiosyncratic and peculiar which is a very significant in drawing investors to a city (Harvey, 1992). The issue of constructing and selling a citys or regions image has become vital in the new urban politics and the current market strategies in most of the post-industrial regions and cities. The characterization of Herveys development of city marketing and/ or place making that is often accompanied by a change to postmodern styles of urban design and architecture as novel urban entrepreneurialism. Harvey argues that the active production of places with special qualities becomes an important stake in spatial competition between localities, regions and nations (Harvey, 1989, p. 295). At this point its good to mention that the consequences on the population (city, region dwellers) remain somewhat unclear. The effects of identity formation and the changes associated with the marketing strategies remain unclear. The question of whether they will alienate some parts via social and cultural strategies or integrate the population is also not clear. The issue of the identity that would be found most suitable for the entire city or region is hard to decipher. The question of the segment of the population that is represented is also found to be hard to answer. The redefinition of a citys identity may keep taking place as more postmodernism and globalization continues to take place (Heidenreich, n.d). Case Study: Batam The citizens of Indonesia perceive Batam Island as aheaven of opportunities. Its one of the three thousand islands making up the Riau Archipelago. This island has a rapid growing population. The island over the last few years has been experiencing development into a major tourist and industrial area attracting many investors and business people from the other Indonesian islands. The area has changed from the traditionally fishing community to the current business status. The history of this island took a new direction from 1969 when it was made the support base PERTAMINA Oil Company (State owned) In 197, the region was declared as an industrial area through a prudential decree and after four years Batam authority was formulated. All this changes took place as a result of industrialization and globalization (Good Hyde, 2008). The growth of Batam Island led to many changes in the initial cultural and economic life, consequently the identity of the region and of the individuals. The transformation of Singapore resulted to a profound change on Batam Island. The island was just a mare fisherman and coconut growers land by 1960, with very few people knowing anything about it; by then it had only three thousand fishermen and farmers. There was an immense growth with a population of about 700, 000 by year 2005. Its believed that many of the immigrants had been lured by rumors of a booming economy in the island. The culture of the residents have completely changes with very little farming and fishing taking place, to day the islanders are associated with golf courses, gated community coexistence, marinas, karaoke bars, squatter communities, brothels and prostitution business because of the booming hotels and tourism industry. The island is also renown today for its Batam/Riau entertainments Web site that is known for its fantasy, all this changes are as a result of postmodernism and globalization impact in the society (Good Hyde, 2008, p. 223). The culture of the working class has also fallen victim of active production of places that aims at making Batam island an investment land. The working-class has been increasingly marginalized in this new culture and economy. Most of Indonesian men lead conspicuous consumption lifestyles, with the availability of drugs and sex at lowered prices depending on an individuals economic power. On the other hand the women labor for the rapidly increasing middle class, catering for the desires of Singapore men. Its has been observed that gender roles and identities have changed with the changes in this island, women are found to be managing well in the formal as well as informal roles as opposed to years back prior to the newly developed active production of places (Good Hyde, 2008). Manila in Philippines: The city of Manila has a unique position in the countys political geography. The city has over the years defied the law common to governance of the other cities forcing the administration to formulate special laws as well as government systems from the 16th century during the Spanish rule. Its a metropolitan city. The establishment of the city was for merchants and trade center between the Chinese and South East Asian merchants. The colonialism of the Chinese living here by the Spanish forcing them to pay tax and denying them free trade led to a number of conflicts between the Chinese and the Spanish (Chacko, 2004). Globalization and postmodernism did not bypass Manila city residents in the endeavor to make all the cities productive and attract investors from without. Creative destruction argues that if evolution is to take place, new ways of doing things must emerge and be proven superior to the old systems. Globalization of any city or region is reflected through variety of hotels, restaurants, clothing worn, and language spoken among many other traits. The city architecture is also a clear depiction of globalization effect within a region. The city has over the years made efforts to embrace the new economy while struggling to maintain her traditional and cultural traits. The sky scrappers within the city that stand parallel to traditional building are a clear reflection of the struggle. There are some citizens who have refused to sacrifice their cultures for economic prosperity while others argue that the cost is worth it. This has led to many of the citizens adopting the contemporary approac hes to accommodate the development and to attract more investors into the city while there are some few communities and individuals who continue to uphold to old traditions, identities and cultures (Chacko, 2004). In the endeavor to provide a better environment that will attract more investors, the cities and regions authorities have formulated policies that are meant to protect the immigrants and to enable them to be uttermost productive. There are new concepts that are been adopted by countries and cities that will facilitate human rights of the labor force so as to avoid their being treated as tradable commodities. Many of the states have institutionalized the human rights via the United Nations Human Rights Charter. This has led to doing away with some traditional cultures that violate such rights, consequently altering cultures of some people. Some of the issues that the people in the international bodies that are established takes care of is like trafficking, gender violation, protection of children rights among other major factors that affect the immigrant labor force (Piper, n.d.). The protection of human rights have shifted from the local bodies to the international human rights bodies such as the United Nations, International labor Organizations, KFSB, CATW, GAAT just to mention but a few. All these bodies have policies that they inculcate in their member countries that force the governments of those nations to adopt them renouncing any local policy that contradicts those policies. For example, there were some nations where traditional commercial sex was permitted as a right of a right of a woman to sell her body as any other product that she may be taking to the market place. Such rights contradict with the policies of STV which is a foundation of women against trafficking. The implication of any nation accepting STV is that some of the rights that can create loopholes opening women to violation have to be withdrawn, whether traditionally acceptable or not (Piper, n.d.). Conclusion Postmodernism has become an inseparable component of the contemporary world. Everything is done in line with the demand of the postmodern world. Postmodernism has brought about the concept of globalization with every region adopting it as a means of keeping at par with development. Cities, regions and nations have over the years been changing in the endeavor to attract investors, for their growth. The changes as shown in the two case studies: Batam city and Manila the capita city of Philippines have led to changes in some traditional cultures and traditions. In todays world all the systems have become global in an attempt to attract more investors consequently changing their cultures and traditions to accommodate the international investment-climate.

Philosophy in Mathematics Essay -- essays papers

Philosophy in Mathematics Mathematics has contributed to the alteration of technology over many years. The most noticeable mathematical technology is the evolution of the abacus to the many variations of the calculator. Some people argue that the changes in technology have been for the better while others argue they have been for the worse. While this paper does not address specifically technology, this paper rather addresses influential persons in philosophy to the field of mathematics. In order to understand the impact of mathematics, this paper will delve into the three philosophers of the past who have contributed to this academic. In this paper, I will cover the views of three philosophers of mathematics encompassing their history, views and effects on technology. Rene Descartes (1596-1650), G. W. Leibniz (1646-1716), and Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) (Ebersole, S. (#5)) are the three philosophers. Though all three of these philosophers contributed their own reviews on the subject of mathematical phil osophy, they all saw the world and thus it‘s mechanical contributions â€Å"as being controlled by mathematical principles.† (Ebersole, S.). Rene Descartes was born, March 31, 1596 near Tours, France (Weisstein, E.), to an important family; Descartes’ father held a position as â€Å"Councilor† in the local parliament. Rene was the 2nd of four children in his family, and suffered chronic illness’ (Wilkins, D.). At the young age of 8 years old, Descartes attended a school for which he would hold indubitable regard, the Jesuit School at La Flà ªche. Descartes would continue at this school for eight years until 1612 at which point the encountered the influential (on his life) Mydorge and Mersenne. Together Descartes would devot... ...d November 16, 2003, from ‘A Short Account of the History of Mathematics’ (4th edition, 1908) by W.W. Rouse Ball. Website: http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Pascal/RouseBall/RB_Pascal.html 7.) Zalta, E. (2003). Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Retrieved November 16, 2003, from The Metaphysics Research Lab. Website: http://mally.stanford.edu/leibniz.html 8.) C.& G. Merriam Co. (1913) Definition. Retrieved November 16, 2003, from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary Version, Website:www.dictionary.com 9.) Garber, D. (1995). Review of G.W. Leibniz: Critical Assessments,' by Roger Woolhouse ISIS: Journal of History of Science in Society, Dec 95, Vol. 86 p. 651-53. 10.) Stephanos, S. (1977). Elaboration of the Psychosomatic Phenomenon: Observations on the Biography of Blaise Pascal. High Wire January 1,1977, Vol. 20 (2-3) p. 168-79

Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development Essay

Sigmund Freud, born in 1856 was an Austrian neurologist who would later go on to found the discipline of psychoanalysis. He is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and repression and his concept of the dynamic unconscious suggesting that it is our unconscious mind that determines how we as individuals behave, Freud also believed that the unconscious mind established sexual drives as the dominant motivation of human life. He considered the unconscious mind as being the source of mental energy which determined behaviour, basing his findings on the results of his use of hypnosis where he found that he was able to produce and remove symptoms of hysteria. There have been numerous approaches in the field of psychology that have put forward the belief that behaviour is directed by an individual’s goals but the idea behind a goal-directed unconscious is an original Freudian concept. The main underlying belief of this theory is that any individuals’ behaviour is the direct result of the influences that prior experiences have had on them where these influences have an even greater effect if they are from our childhood. Freud believed that our early experiences formed the solid foundations on which we would build the structure of our life and that the adult personality is indeed formed in childhood according to the situations, treatment and feelings experienced as a child. Freud defined the human psyche as comprising of three parts, the unconscious or sub-conscious containing material that we are unable to bring into our conscious awareness and therefore unknowable. The preconscious which consists of information that is not at the present moment in our conscious awareness but is stored in our memory and can if need be easily recalled to the conscious level; and the conscious part of our mind which is where all current and new incoming content is processed. Within these parts operate the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego that work together to create complex human behaviours. The Id is the only part of our personality that is present from birth and is entirely unconscious, seeking instant gratification and fulfilling instinctive human needs. The Id is governed by the pleasure principle desiring the fulfilment of all desires, needs and wants. If these are not immediately satisfied this results in a state of anxiety or tension. The Id serves of great importance early on in life, a child will cry as a  result of their Id if they are hungry or in discomfort and ensures that their needs are met. Later on in life it is not always realistic or indeed possible to immediately satisfy such needs, it would be morally and socially unacceptable for us to just help ourselves to other people’s things in order to satisfy our own needs and wants and so later in childhood our Ego comes in to play. The Ego is responsible for dealing with reality and acts to ensure that the impulses of the Id are satisfied in a way that is acceptable to the real world and functions in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious parts of our mind. The reality principle weighs up the pro’s and con’s of an action before deciding whether or not to act upon the impulse. Often the impulses of the Id can be satisfied but through delayed gratification with the Ego allowing the behaviour at an appropriate time and place. The Eg o is a part of the Id that has been somewhat modified and rounded by external factors in the environment in which we live. Freud originally used the word Ego to mean a sense of self but later revised it to represent a set of psychic functions such as judgement, control, intellectual functioning and memory. Finally we develop our Super Ego. The Super Ego is the part of our personality that holds our morals and ideals that we have acquired from our parents and environment and acts as a voice for right and wrong. As with the Ego it is present in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious parts of our mind. The Super Ego consists of two parts, the Ego ideal which sets out the rules and standards for good behaviour. Conformity to behaviours that are approved of by our parents and people in positions of authority give us feelings of pride and accomplishment. The second part of the Ego is the Conscience which holds information on all the things that are viewed as being bad by our parents and the society in which we live. Behaviours that are forbidden or at the very least frowned upon and fill us with feelings of guilt and remorse. The perfection principle of the Super Ego strives to suppress any unacceptable desires of the Id and to make our Ego act upon idealistic rather than realistic standards. One of Freud’s better known theories and also one of the most controversial is that of psycho-sexual development. He proposed that an instinctual libido is present in all of us from birth and develops in five stages. First is the oral stage which occurs from birth up until around the age of eighteen months. The main focus here being the  gratification and pleasures the infant receives through feeding. Children in this stage place objects into their mouths in order to orally explore their environment. At this young age the child is entirely dependent on their carers and thus develops a sense of trust and comfort in relation to those carers. This stage is dominated by the Id as at this point the Ego and Superego have not yet fully developed and all actions are based on the â€Å"Pleasure Principle†. The key experience for a child in the oral stage of development is weaning, allowing the child to become less dependent on their caretakers. Freud said that too much or too little gratification may lead to an oral fixation, which Freud claimed could result in them developing a passive, immature, manipulative personality. This fixation could present in an adult as issues with eating, smoking, nail biting and aggression. The second stage of psycho-sexual development is the anal stage taking place between around 18 months to three years old. Freud believed at this stage that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. Toilet training is the key experience here which brings into conflict the Id that demands immediate gratification and the Ego that demands delayed gratification. The resulting outcome of this conflict is heavily influenced by the parenting style that a child receives during toilet training. The ideal resolution of this conflict is a gradual adjustment whereby the child adjusts to moderate parental demands, learning the values of physical cleanliness and self control. Freud suggested that if parents over-emphasized toilet training or punished accidents then the child may develop what we term as an anally retentive personality, with the potential to become obsessively concerned with neatness and order. On the other hand if the parents were too lenient then the child may develop an anally expulsive and destructive personality whereby they are self-indulgent, messy and wasteful. Faeces and money are often linked in psychodynamic literature and according to Freudian theory; attitudes to money can reveal what the individual experienced during toilet training. The third stage of psycho-sexual development is the phallic stage taking place between the ages of three and six. During this time a child begins to gain awareness of its body and also the bodies of their parents and other  children, in particular genitalia. They begin to explore their genitals and learn the physical differences between male and female. During this stage boys experience what Freud termed as the Oedipus complex whereby the child wishes to remove his father in order to gain full attention of his mother’s affections. This urge to eliminate the father is controlled by what he termed as castration anxiety and so instead the child learns to imitate the father. Girls experience what Carl Jung in 1913 termed as the Electra complex where instead she wishes to remove the mother in order to gain full possession of her father. Freud however rejected this term as being psycho-analytically inaccurate believing that the reasoning behind the Oedipus complex applied only to male children and that it was wrong to share this analogy between the two sexes. He did however believe that girls experienced what he termed as penis envy and that initially the child experiences a lot of anger towards their mother for not sharing the same appendage as their father but in time they learn to identify with their mother in order to possess their father. Freud was very much influenced by the death of his father in 1896. In the three years following the death of his father, Freud became preoccupied with self-analysis where he realised that he had repressed feelings of anger and resentment against his father. He believed that as a small boy he had been in love with his mother and was jealous of his father. Freud based his theory of early sexual development on personal theory instead of exploring further using empirical methods. The fourth stage of psycho-sexual development is the latency stage taking place from around the age of six up until puberty. During this stage the child enters into a sexually dormant period, consolidating the habits of the previous three stages. The Ego and Superego take precedence over the Id due to the child’s defence mechanisms repressing its instinctual drives during the phallic stage. Now that gratification is delayed, the child is driven to derive pleasure from external activities such as friendships, education and hobbies. Any neuroses established during this fourth stage of psycho-sexual development may be due to the unresolved issues of the Oedipus complex or the Ego’s failure to focus on socially acceptable activities. The fifth and final stage of psycho-sexual development is the genital stage  that spans from puberty throughout the remainder of adult life. As with the phallic stage the genital stage is focussed upon genitalia but in this instance the sexuality is consensual and more often involving another adult in the form of a relationship rather than being solitary and infantile. This is due to the establishment of the Ego which shifts attention away from primary-drive gratification to secondary process thinking and to satisfy desire in a more symbolic and intellectual way through loving relationships, friendships and family. The genital stage is the time when a person is able to resolve any psycho-sexual childhood conflicts that they may have and allows psychological detachment and independence from their parents. In previous stages focus was placed solely on individual needs, now the welfare of others comes strongly into play and if all stages have been completed successfully then Freud believed that the individual should be a well-balanced and fully functioning person. Unfortunately it isn’t all that simple and the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego continuously come into conflict with one another. The Ego has to work to control the demands of the Id whilst at the same time having regard for the restrictions placed upon it by the Super Ego. At times these desires and constraints cause conflict that our Ego is unable to deal with resulting in anxiety and stress. Freud identified three types of anxiety, firstly neurotic anxiety which occurs through fear that we will lose control of the Id’s urges and the resulting punishment for inappropriate behaviour. Secondly reality anxiety which is a fear of external events often culminating in phobias, we are able to reduce such anxiety by avoiding the threatening object or situation. Thirdly is moral anxiety from a fear of violating our own moral principles and values that have been set down by our Super Ego. Neurosis also figured heavily in Freud’s psycho-analytical theory. He proposed that neurosis occurs when the Ego is unable to deal with desires that produce feelings of guilt and a sense of wrong. Through repression these thoughts manifest themselves through symptoms that have no physical dysfunction. The mental illness acts as a replacement for the guilt ridden desires of the Id allowing the Ego to avoid the conflict between itself and the Id. Such symptoms however are worse than the conflict they set out to hide, not only stopping the individual from being accepting of their repressed desires but  also causing them to become socially incapable of enjoying a happy and healthy life. He also believed that neurosis can be triggered by a traumatic childhood event that the individual is unable to handle. Often such experiences give rise to feelings of guilt that we seek to repress through use of various displacement mechanisms. Sometimes these repressed memories make their way back into our conscious minds in a different form producing a great amount of anxiety in turn triggering psychological disorders that seek to block out the real cause. Psychoanalytical therapy has proved productive in being able to help a client uncover unconscious defence mechanisms and help them find better ways of dealing with their anxiety or removing it all together. Psycho-analysis opened up a new view regarding the treatment of mental illness, suggesting that psychological distress could be reduced through talking about their problems with a therapist. The work of Freud was responsible for bringing about a greater understanding of behaviour that was unusual and differences were no longer automatically equated as unacceptable, with understanding comes greater tolerance. He radically changed the view of sexuality making it an acceptable topic of conversation and a natural part of a healthy, happy life. The approach is also credited with highlighting the importance of childhood and our unconscious mind. Despite the influential effect of his theories Freud is open to numerous criticisms. Many psychologists have adopted his ideas but there has been a great deal of modernisation on his original views. Carl Jung who was a pupil of Freud’s even disagreed with certain aspects of his theories; in particular Freud’s reliance on sex as the answer to many problems. Jung went on to develop his own theories known as Analytical Psychology. Erich Fromm rejected Freud’s view that the drives of the human being are solely biological, believing instead that it was down to our freedom of choice and ability to choose our own destiny. He believed any conflict arose as a result of the fear or uncertainty which that freedom entailed. Feminists are particularly critical of the work of Freud due to the sexist nature of many of his ideas. Neo-Freudian Karen Horney proposed that instead of penis envy girls in fact developed power envy and that in their inability to bear  children men develop womb and vagina envy. Scientifically the validity of Freud’s theory of psycho-sexual development is brought in to question due to his perceived personal fixation on human sexuality and the phallic stage of development proved controversial for being based upon clinical observations of the Oedipus complex. Many were critical of the fact that a lot of Freud’s ideas were based on case studies or clinical observations rather than empirical, scientific research. Contemporary criticism questions the universality of Freud’s theory of personality and psycho-sexual development. Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski studied the matriarchal society of the Trobriand where young boys are punished by their maternal uncles not their fathers and thus suggested that in this case power is the source of Oedipal conflict not sexual jealousy. Contemporary research has also confirmed that although personality traits corresponding to the oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital stages are observable they are not necessarily fixed stages of childhood or indeed adult personality traits that were derived from childhood. While there is no denying that Freud is of great historical significance and he developed many ground breaking theories and ideas some of which still hold relevance today although many over time have been discredited. It must then be said that Freud’s theory of psychosexual development may in some cases offer us a limited understanding of a client’s issue it would not be ethical practice to rely entirely on this theory when working with a client. Due to its lack of credibility in many areas, Freud’s theory cannot be implemented as a full explanation or means with which to begin the process of understanding and healing. Bibliography Frankland, A. and Sanders, P. 1995. Next steps in counselling. Manchester: PCCS Books. pp.70-76 Hough, M. 2006. Counselling Skills and Theory. 2nd ed. London: Hodder Arnold, pp. 59-86. Malinowski, B. 1927. Sex and repression in savage society. [e-book] London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. http://openlibrary.org/books/OL17967917M/Sex_and_repression_in_savage_society [Accessed: 1st July 2013]. Cherry, K. n.d.. Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development. [online] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/psychosexualdev.htm [Accessed: 19 Jun 2013]. Copperwiki.org. 1950. Human Centred Psychotherapy – CopperWiki. [online] Available at: http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php?title=Human_Centred_Psychotherapy [Accessed: 01 Jul 2013] En.wikipedia.org. 2013. Psychosexual development – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosexual_development [Accessed: 01 Jul 2013]. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072969806/286620/fei69806_ch02