Issue Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Issue Report - Essay Example Are they really people that the ordinary Joes and Janes can look up to in terms of what is right and wrong? What to believe in and what not to believe in? Jost was accurate in reporting that celebrities have the kind of star power that can move mountains and gain international support for their causes which range from everything from animal rights to using the right kind of shower gel. As he amply put it: More than 2,800 celebrities now support slightly more than 1,800 causes. In a celebrity-obsessed society, entertainers and athletes can help focus public attention on global trouble spots, raise funds for disaster relief or increase public awareness of little-known diseases or medical conditions. (Jost, â€Å"Celebrity Advocacy: Do Stars Influence Issue, Politics?†) Needless to say, these celebrities now have to be more than just pretty faces on camera that can repeat the words written by other people for them like the parrots they were once viewed to be. These days, they have to work hard to be taken seriously in their business and an in-depth knowledge of their advocacy usually strikes that cord. People like George Clooney and Bono have worked very hard in order to prove that they are more than just pretty faces and are capable of influencing world leaders into at least listening to the plight of those whose lives these celebrities feel so concerned about. They have become masters at this new game of publicity for advocacy (Dieter & Kumar, â€Å"The Downside of Celebrity Diplomacy: The Neglected Complexity of Development†). Theirs are now one of the the most important voices when politics and issues are discussed on a national and international level. Celebrities are more than just actors on screen now. They are the people who encourage others to learn more about issues that directly affect them at the moment, or could have a tremendous impact on them in the future (Casey,

The argument of whether God exists or not Essay Example for Free

The argument of whether God exists or not Essay The argument of whether God exists or not is a long debated argument spanning the centuries. In David Humes Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion this topic is addressed through a dialogue and debate between Humes fictional characters Cleanthes and Philo. Cleanthes presents the argument that Gods existence can be confirmed to man and presents this argument in the form of the Argument from Design. Philo then offers several objections as to why this argument fails. This paper will discuss Cleanthes Argument from Design and detail Philos criticism of Cleanthes stance. This criticism will include the analogy related to the inference of Gods existence based on observation of our universe as well as Philos criticism that spontaneous order found by generation and vegetation fail to support evidence of a creator. To lend further support to Philos argument, it is important to determine if the universe is, in fact, in a state of order, and whether or not God, being generally accepted as mysterious and unknowable by the religious, is absolutely knowable through inference as suggested by Cleanthes. These arguments presented by Philo lend support to why the Argument from Design fails. David Hume presents through his character, Cleanthes, the argument that the nature and existence of God can be proven through inference based on observation of our universe. Cleanthes attempts to prove this in his Argument from Design, which states that by witnessing the natural beauty and orderliness of the universe, its complexity and intricacy, that we can infer assuredly that a supreme designer created the universe. To further clarify, as found in the online encyclopedia concerning this argument, Wikipedia states, Although there are variations, the basic argument can be stated as follows: 1) Every design has a designer; 2) The universe has highly complex design; 3) Therefore, the universe has a Designer (Wikipedia, Section: Argument, par 4). Cleanthes stance is that the nature and existence of God can be confirmed through inference of our seemingly orderly universe. An analogy to attempt to solidify and prove this stance is often used by empirical theism by stating that similar machines invented by man are likewise often very complex and it therefore naturally follows that because man made machines are complex and have a designer then it is safe to conclude that because the universe is also complex it, too, has a designer. Empirical theism claims there is a designer and creator responsible for our environment and that the existence of God can be confirmed by reason through inference. These premises form the major points of the Argument from Design Hume relays in the text through his character Cleanthes position. Philo offers rebuttal arguments, one of which claims that the analogy of the orderly universe and machines is a weak one and it follows that any reasoning done based on the analogy will also be weak (Spark Notes, Par 4). For this analogy to be successfully used, the machine that is described must not be a part of the universe but exist outside of the universe. Both the universe and the machine must be mutually exclusive of each other and not one a part of the other for the analogy to work. The question lies in whether all things are created by a supreme creator. A machine is part of the universe and it is being suggested by Cleanthes that the universe was created by God. Granted a machine may have been created by a man but the man may or may not have been created by a supreme creator. The machine must exist independently and outside the boundaries of the universe to be a plausible analogy as to whether or not it was created by a supreme designer or not. Because of this fact, reason cannot be used to conclude with this analogy that inference will reveal absolute knowledge of Gods existence resulting in the Argument from Design being faulty. Along with this argument Philo makes against Cleanthes Argument from Design is that all order that we can witness is not necessarily the result of intelligent design and cannot be confirmed by inference or our senses. Philo states that some order, such as that found in organic bodies, is caused by generation and vegetation (Spark Notes, par 5). It is this argument that supports that the Argument from Design is incorrect. Exploring Philos argument, some apparent order as found among species and vegetation may be the result of the correct conditions to exist wherein the order has come about by the laws of the universe that dictate the processes. The Big Bang theory is one example of this. Evolution is another. Conditions existed naturally to bring about the chaotic explosion toward the formation of the solar system governed by the laws of the universe that exist. Earth conditions made it suitable for life to evolve. Science has long accepted the theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory and support is growing as science advances in support of these theories. These scientific theories lend support to Philos argument that order found among organic bodies is due to processes that naturally occur and not by any intentions of a designer. Cleanthes claims that inferences made when witnessing the universe and the Earth upon which we live and the processes that govern our existence such as the laws of nature and the universe confirm the existence of God. We can assume that the order we perceive is the result of a divine creator, but that inference is nothing more than a hunch and is not, therefore, absolute assuredness. It is what is known as an educated guess. Educated guesses are guesses based on inference. Sometimes they are correct. Other times they are not. Regardless, educated guesses are not absolute knowledge of something, and in this case it is not absolute knowledge of the existence of God and the Argument from Design fails. Philos argument that these natural processes that exist on our planet and throughout the universe do not lend absolute knowledge of a divine creator is correct. The key words are absolute knowledge. While there may have been a creator behind the processes of formation of the universe or the laws that govern the apparent orderliness of it, it is not absolute assuredness that that is so through inference alone and that is what the Argument of Design purports to claimThat absolute knowledge of Gods existence can be inferred. Thirdly, with regards to Philos argument that many processes are the result of generation and vegetation one can also question whether the earth, solar system, or universe is, in fact, a state of orderliness. It may be a mistake to assume that we live in an orderly universe or on a planet of order. It is possible that our solar system and planet are in a state of disorderliness and chaos. Because we exist and can survive in our environment, we assume that this is orderly. Humanity lives in a bubble or aquarium, the planet earth. Some order caused by generation and vegetation may very likely be the result of the correct conditions spontaneously being present for life to survive; however, we are susceptible to chaotic activity, the natural movements of the tectonic plates of the earth causing earthquakes, Tsunamis and tornadoes, outside influences in our solar system and the universe such as asteroids and comets, disorderly, random, chaotic events that threaten our own existence. Just because life exists and can survive on this planet does not constitute a state of order. For Cleanthes to be able to infer from orderliness that a divine creator was the cause of the order, one must first of all determine whether or not the universe, solar system, and our plant, in fact, are in a state of order. If these things are in a state of chaos and disorder, then no inference as to design can be made nor can the existence of a designer be inferred correctly or confirmed with absolute knowledge. Finally, in support of Philos argument against the Argument from Design, it is impossible to logically conclude by inference that a supreme creator is behind the creation of our universe or planet and this is evidenced by the general religious popular belief that God is mysterious. As defined by Dictionary. com, the word mysterious carries the meaning of Of obscure nature, meaning, origin, etc. , puzzling, inexplicable (Dictionary. com, par 3). To be mysterious is to not fully be knowable. If God works in mysterious ways as is commonly claimed, then the very nature of God and what he has or has not created is just that, mysterious and not fully knowable as defined. This also lends support to Philos argument that the Argument from Design fails. The argument of whether God exists or not is a long debated argument spanning the centuries. Philos argument that the analogy used by Cleanthes comparing a machine and the universe is weak lends support to the fact that inference is not absolute knowledge of a divine creator. The reason for this is that a machine is part of the universe or whole. For this analogy to work, they must be mutually exclusive. Secondly, Philo points out that some natural processes are the results of generation and vegetation, natural processes that are independent of any creator but happen naturally. If such phenomena occur spontaneously without intervention or creator, then it is possible the universe came about in a similar fashion. Thirdly, in order to be able to infer with absolute knowledge of a divine creator based on observation of an orderly environment, we must determine whether, in fact, the environment in which we live is in a state of orderliness or if we are part of a chaotic universe. If we are not part of an orderly universe but it, in fact, is chaotic and disorderly, then the question of whether a divine creator is involved is a moot point. Finally, popular religious belief agrees that the very nature of God is one of a mysterious nature. If God is mysterious, by definition he is unknowable and not fully comprehensible and the Argument from Design fails. Works Cited Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 2006. Spark Notes, LLC. Retrieved on April 11, 2007. http://www. sparknotes. com/philosophy/dialogues/summary. html Hume, David. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. 2006. David Banach. Retrieved on April 11, 2007. http://www. anselm. edu/homepage/dbanach/dnr. htm Mysterious. 2007. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Retrieved on April 11, 2007. http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/mysterious Teological Argument. 2007. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved on April 11, 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Teleological_argument

Like So Many Feathers In An Eagles Wings :: Personal Narrative Immigration America Papers

Like So Many Feathers In An Eagle's Wings My life as an American didn't really begin until I was five years old, had caught a fever, and almost died. About a week before, my parents had decided to clean out our small cottage home in Thatcham, England, and put our few lovely possessions into boxes stamped for America. My father had accepted a job in Indianapolis, which meant that my parents, sister, and I would be the first and only of our family to become American immigrants. Our relatives simply couldn't understand it, and to be quite honest, at the time neither could I. They thought my parents irresponsible for wanting to take my sister and me away from all we knew and all that could ever love us. "All for what?" They would protest. "To chase some silly dream? To call yourselves American?" I was young. I was confused and couldn't understand. I even thought my parents were selfish. Then began a time of heart wrenched good-byes, which in my case occurred while clasped between my nanny's large pale hands and soft chest. I didn't really know that I was about to be torn from her and that the rest of my life would be spent wanting to belong. I only knew that something horrible was about to happen, and I didn't want to face it alone. She said, "You be a good lad. Be brave, my sunshine. Don't you go forgetting your old Nan." My mother walked my sister and me out of her bungalow. As we climbed into the car, I could hear Nan let the tears flow. " Goodbye, my darlings," and as though Granddad had not died last spring, "Don't let them take my grandbabies, George." It was then that I realized I might never see my nanny again. I did what I promised my mother I would not. I cried. I had no previous knowledge of America, only what I had heard from Blaine Sutton. He lived next door, and said his armies of toy soldiers were blue because they were American Yanks.

E. M. Flemings Model of Artifact Study and the Work Boot :: Sociology Society Culture

E. M. Fleming's "Model of Artifact Study" and the Work Boot The work boot has become a hot item for many girls and young women. This artifact of appearance may reveal a lot about American culture and society in the 1990's. By applying E. M. Fleming's "Model of Artifact Study", I will analyze this artifact in an attempt to shed some light on the values, priorities, and ideals of our society. Just like Fleming's model suggests, this paper will be broken down into four major sections: Identification, Evaluation, Cultural Analysis, and Interpretation. Identification The Eastland work boot that I am referring to in this paper is shown below. It was manufactured in Freeport, Maine. Click on the picture for a catalog description from JCPenney. This is a wheat-colored, waterproof, plain-toe (as opposed to steel-toe) boot made for women. The soft Nubuck leather feels almost velvety. It has a thick rubber sole which looks like a gum eraser with a complicated traction pattern. The boot seems to be put together mainly by stitching and in most places, only one row of stitching is used. The only area that looks as if it may have the additional help of glue, is where the sole meets the leather-upper. It is clearly stitched here as well, but the stitches are coated with glue (possibly to help keep these stitches dry). The shoe-strings, which look like yellow and brown cords, are laced through a total of twelve holes (called "eyes") on each boot. There are six "eyes" lined up vertically on each side of the tongue. In this way, the shoe-strings can be laced in the traditional criss-cross pattern forming five "X's", one above the next, up the front of the boot. These "X's" are located in front of the tongue. The ends of each shoe-string are tied in a bow which lies flush against the highest "X". At the top of the boot, there is padding built into the collar that wraps around the back of the calf, just above the Achilles' tendon. This area doesn't seem to be made entirely of leather. Instead, it seems as if this cushion is made from a very thin, darker brown, soft leather lining stuffed with foam. Overall, the boot is very light-weight, weighing only 2.8 lbs. Evaluation It is interesting to compare this boot, worn for fashion, to the ones worn by construction workers, for durability and foot protection. These real work boots, designed for men, are shown in the picture to the right.

A business proposal on direct marketing in social media Essay

This paper is a research proposal about direct marketing in the social media. With the involvement with the error of computers, ways of managing marketing have been increased. Each technique comes with its major benefits and constraints. This research proposal targets on evaluating the usefulness of social media in direct marketing. The development of social media as a direct channel is not without its challenges. According to the study, the top two constraints for marketers came down to looking for the most relevant tactics for gauging success and launching business objectives. Being able to measure success is important for any direct marketing work, and that is why it is significant not to disregard this vital step. With the correct trappings, marketers can produce viral social media operations that can be track, restrained, and improved to maximize access and return on investment (Ellsworth & Ellsworth, 1994, p. 386). This research paper targets to establish how effective is managing direct marketing in social Medias. (b) Scope of the study             Social media is a treasured new instrument in a direct marketer’s toolbox, nevertheless it desires to be improved and utilised properly to undertake the tasks. Creating it informal for clients to share newsletter or Web site content over social grids is just the start. Direct marketers ought to improve viral programs that completely exploit the system’s true capability. Finally, one needs to identify ways to measure their success, which will allow persons to fine-tune their exertions going onward. Leveraging social media as a direct system also allows fundamental tenure, which is crucial to capitalize on triumph across all sections. Eradicating many owners not only rationalizes the practice, but also accelerates having one unified approach that can house the business goals of multiple departments, such as public relations, customer service, and sales. Clumsy management by numerous sections can lead to varied communications that hinder the company’s ability to attract followers, fans, or other influencers. Social media marketers comprehend the value in directing targeted messages and gauging their success, which is why it is not astonishing that many companies are leveraging their email marketing departments to board on social media creativities. 2.0 How to conduct the study (a) Methodology: Research Philosophy, Approach, Strategy and Methods               There are various approaches of obtaining information while conducting research. These methods of obtaining information refer to as research methods. Research methods include personal interviews, literature searches, focus groups, and email surveys, telephone surveys, talking with people and mail surveys. Literature search entails going through already sourced materials to obtain information. Materials that are readily available with information are such as newspapers, magazines, relevant trade publications, company literature, online materials and any other relevant and already published materials. This method of conducting research is one of the cheapest methods for conducting research. Online data is a quick research process that lies under this category of information research methods. It is very fast in obtaining information. Talking with people is another good method of gathering information for a project. It is most relevant at initial stages of conduct ing research for a project. It is mostly preferred when looking for the information that is not publicly available (Cohen& Morrison, 2003, p. 179). To obtain adequate information on the effectiveness of directing marketing in social media chose to use various methods for sourcing the information, each strategy of obtaining the information is analysed below and its effectiveness and efficiency on information deliver. The information to be research will be too new again to be got in literature resources, therefore, preferring to look for it from real persons. For example, talking with people will be through seminars, association meetings, customers, suppliers, and all other types of business conversations. A focus group is concerned with a study to explore people’s attitudes and ideas. It will be used to obtain information about something new in the market and effectiveness of social media in promoting its awareness. Group focus method obtains the information from a selected group of the people called the sample. The information acquired could be based on the process of selecting a sample. The most preferred method for sample selection is a random selection; this is preferred because, all the characters stand an equal chance to be select. Email and internet analyses are comparatively original and few is available about the outcome of sampling bias on internet surveys. While it is noticeable that internet survey most regards effective and quickest way of dispensing a study, the demographic outline of the internet handler will not represent the general population, although this is changing. Before doing an email or internet study, One shall carefully consider the effect that this bias might have on the results. Social media include such as Facebook, twitter, eBay amongst many others. They are friendly in nature and this reduces the may processes of formalities needed. In social media, personal conduct with a client is ensured; a person can communicate directly to the client and hence reach him or her in a better way to explain him or her about his products. Personal interviews are a technique to get detailed and all-inclusive information. They engage one person interviewing another person for person or comprehensive information. Personal interviews are very costly because of the person-to-person nature of the interview. Normally, as an interviewer, I will ask questions from a documented questionnaire and list the answers word-perfect. Occasionally, a questionnaire is merely a list of topics that the study wants to confer with a business professional. Personal interviews because of their expense are on mostly used only when subjects are not probable to react to other survey techniques. This will allow the researcher to get information about the effectiveness of direct marketing from individuals that I would not have got through any other research method. Telephone surveys are the fastest method of collecting information from a comparatively bulky sample. As an assessor, I will track an organized writing that is fundamentally identical to a written questionnaire. However, different from a mail survey, a telephone survey would permit the chance for sure judgement searching. Telephone surveys usually last fewer than ten minutes. Typical charges are between four and six thousand dollars and they can be accomplished in two to four weeks. Mail surveys are a cost current way of collecting information. They are best for big sample amounts, or when the sample is sourced from a wide geographical area. They charge a little less than telephone interviews, but they take over double as long to complete normally, eight to twelve weeks. Since there is no interviewer, there is no likelihood of interviewer prejudice. The foremost shortcoming is the incapability to review respondents for more complete information. In conducting research on social media marketing, one needs to outline the target group well. The target group shall be outlined clearly, because the mode of advertising will be a framed in a way to suit it. By conducting good research, information that is the most basic for a set form of marketing will be acquired. It is good to note that even time and the way of marketing selected dictates the target group of managing the marketing. Social media marketing offers a wide geographical advertisement. Social Medias is the most necessary forums where a person can meet a very large number of people from different ethnic groups. It is very easy to capture the target group within a very short as opposed to all other channels of advertisement. 3.0 Why is there need to study this topic 3.1 Contribution to the field            While some companies perceive social Medias as mere channels for building knowledge on products, there is evidence that direct marketers are competing to possess huge demand generation potential. The assessment outlines the â€Å"land grab† that is going on in organizations over regulation of social media; with 29 per cent of respondents say social media is being shared by many departments. However, possession by direct marketing acquires the top with 36 per cent of respondents. As the setting of reference, solitary 9 percent of respondents suggest public relations sectors own that social media. That social media is a workable and influential direct channel is vibrant. Nevertheless, the review also exposes social media’s strong linking with email promoting. In fact, 66% of salespersons plan to assimilate the two channels in 2009. This move wholly makes logic: Email is a vital part of social media, as it is relied upon to keep members knowledgeable abo ut the up-to-date news and informs. Additionally, assimilating the two networks permits marketers to get a more opinions of the customer, which is necessary for conveying effective and relevant communications (Bird, 2000, p.126). Direct mail is a posted mail that publicizes one’s business and its goods and services. There are many different categories of direct mail. For example catalogues, postcards, envelope mailers. Direct mail operations are typically, sent to all delivery customers in a zone or to entirely customers on a marketing list. Telemarketing entails contacting viable customers through the phone to sell products or services. Telemarketing is skilful of generating new customer prospects in huge bulks. Nevertheless, a fruitful campaign involves scheduling and using correct and well-researched customer data to match customer profiles to product profiles. Email marketing is a cost-effective, simple, and measurable method of reaching consumers. It can include e-newsletters and promotional emails to create new leads or deals for existing clients, or ads that can perform in other business’s emails. 3.2 The significance of the study             The study is important, as it would study social media as a forum for conducting direct marketing. Through the study also one gets to know several contributions of different methods in giving information about social media. By researching on direct marketing and social media, one gets to appreciate its effort in increasing the knowledge of different products of a business. The study will allow marketers in choosing the most appropriate method of product promotion in the future. Social media can be used successfully as a marketing tool for business as it gives someone a chance to interact directly with his/her customers and often share significant product or service information. Consider developing a profile for a business firm that permits one to promote your products and services while also cheering customers to deliver feedback by leaving comments; this is the advice from one of the social network owners. It is of very great importance to adopt direct marketing in social media (Sheehan, 2010, p. 45). Taking a lesson from directing marketing, social media marketing is best served only by focusing on activities that result in measurable results. If persons believe that business page gathers fan with greater affinity to the brand, maybe researchers can also believe that we would not be able to measure the effects of that brand loyalty it in a way that is particularly satisfying. It is for more productive to think of social media as a direct marketing system, and create campaigns and track results in a manner that is related to direct marketing. Not all customers are created equal. Some customers fall into what marketers refer to as ‘heavy user’ category. These customers purchase products or services with the highest profit margin or simply frequent one’s business more often than the average. This important group is the most valuable asset and one probably wish you had more like them. A business grows due to trusted customers and well crediting policies. Through d irect marketing, it would be very easy to create awareness of the existence of your business establishment. Social media provides an environment to conduct direct marketing that help to improve on sales (Zarrella, 2010, p. 109). In direct marketing, we know that people tend to befriend with others who are similar to themselves; they live in the same neighbourhoods, engage in similar activities, and so on. This tendency makes targeting profitable customers much easier. Most customer databases are transactional in nature. They capture sales, product numbers, and customer names. They do not, however, help to create messages or track results. To make issues tracking efficiently, one will need to attach the national field to your customer records, which makes note of their social media affiliation. As new customers are acquired, it is helpful if coupons or specials that the new customer might use are tracked back to a social media outlet, allowing you to see results over time. In addition, one may be able track results that provide some substance to the real contribution that greater brand loyalty of social media followers provides to your business. This provides a glimpse of how direct marketing in a social medi a, is helpful in tracking customers (Kotler & Armstrong, 1991, p. 283). 4.0 Timeline of the study               When the goal is to produce a rapid reaction to a coupon or incentive, traditional direct marketing channels are the best. Coupons perform well online, but conventional media rules up better. Nevertheless, one can use social media to add importance to the customer interaction by lashing target customers to interactive and participative website or any other informational areas. This adds value to the usefulness of direct marketing in the social media, based on previous research proposal (Evans, 2008, p.19). 5.0 Effectiveness of accomplishing the task:                  The research proposal is set comprehensive enough to cater for demands for a marketer in conducting research. The different method employed would ensure every detail concerning directing in social media is realized by the research. This research methodology lacks discrimination of standards or organizations to ensure that it would source for the information from all groups and levels of people in the world. The speed and accuracy of obtaining the information are ensured in the research proposal through employing new technologies and electronic devices such as computers in the research. These electronic devices would ensure safe storage of data for reference reasons. It also provides a quick accessibility of information since the storage is convenient to retrieve quickly. This would assure researchers the confidence of accomplishing the task successfully. Whichever way one approaches it, the usage of business social networks is very likely an aspect in some side of your marketing plan (Sargeant & West, 2001, p 113). 6.0 Ethical issues in marketing and social media                   The benefit of business making the product and to their customers through the use of online support forums is evident. The difficulties are solved more often than not by other customers, reducing the overall support expenses. While product inventors do a decent profession of testing and anticipating issues, given the difficulty of real life, they just cannot match a span of application environments that are likely to exist. Unexpected errors occur. Proceeding to online support, the only real solution is a call to customer service. The difficulty is, though, that not only is direct and personal customer support crew is often unable to reproduce the issue for the precise reason it occurred in the first place: they fail to have a particular set up or environment that their products have been deployed in (Hofacker, 2001, p. 831). The extent to which direct marketing is useful to an organization expansion is very vital. The major contribution of social media is that it facilitates to bring awareness of products and services to people. Social media also serve to give a wide geographical coverage in advertising (Tuten, & Solomon, 2013, p 78). In the case of research on the business, social Medias also provide readily available information. Direct marketing is cost effective when done in the social media relatively to when conducted by other channels (Zimmerman, 2013, p. 311). It’s was free to create an advert in a social media page and the information reaches many individuals within less time. Direct marketing in social media would also help to improve on clearing the existing bias of a product. A bias about a product may amount from false information about a product mostly generated by the competitor. The list on usefulness of direct marketing in social media marketing cannot be depleting. For a successf ul growth in market size, direct marketing in social Medias is the most appropriate strategy (Raab, 2010, p. 99). References Bird,  D. (2000). Commonsense direct marketing. London: Kogan Page. Cohen,  L., Manion,  L., & Morrison,  K. (2003). Research methods in education. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Direct Marketing Design: The Graphics of Direct Mail and Direct Response Marketing. (1985). New York: PBC International Inc. Ellsworth,  J.  H., & Ellsworth,  M.  V. (1994). The Internet business book. New York: Wiley. Evans,  D. (2008). Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. Indianapolis, Ind: Wiley. Hofacker,  C.  F. (2001). Internet marketing. New York: Wiley. Journal of Direct Marketing. (1987). New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons., Inc. Kotler,  P., & Armstrong,  G. (1991). Principles of marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall. Raab,  G. (2010). The psychology of marketing: Cross-cultural perspectives. Burlington, VT: Gower. Sargeant,  A., & West,  D.  C. (2001). Direct & interactive marketing. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Shaw,  K., & Emily H. Davis Art Gallery (1978). Market research. Akron, Ohio: Emily H. Davis Art Gallery. Sheehan,  B. (2010). Online marketing. Lausanne: AVA Academia. Smith,  P. (1995). Direct Marketing. Hampton, Middlesex [England: Key Note Publications. Tuten,  T., & Solomon,  M. (2013). Social Media Marketing. Boston: Pearson. Zarrella,  D. (2010). The Social Media Marketing Book. Beijing: O’Reilly. Zimmerman,  J., & Ng,  D. (2013). Social Media Marketing All-in-One for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Source document

THE JOMTEIN AND DAKAR CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION FOR ALL FINAL Essays

THE JOMTEIN AND DAKAR CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION FOR ALL FINAL Essays The importance of education is obvious. It is a fundamental right and no country has succeeded without educating its people. Education is the key to sustaining growth and reducing poverty and helps to improve security, health, prosperity and ecological balance in the world. It encourages social, economic and cultural progress, tolerance and international cooperation. It is probably the single most effective means of curbing population growth, reducing child mortality, eradicating poverty and ensuring democracy, peace and sustainable development. This academic paper will, therefore, identify the themes or resolutions presented at the Jomtein conferences on education for all in 1990. It will further highlight how Zambia has performed in implementing these resolutions of educational development. The Jomtein conference on education for all took place in Thailand, in March 1990 in the small coastal town of Jomtien. Governments as well as representatives from varied organizations agreed to take the necessary steps to universalize primary education and massively reduce illiteracy before the end of the decade, as well as to expand early childhood education, improve learning achievement, reduce the male-female literacy gap, expand basic education opportunities for youth and adults and use all available communication channels to promote knowledge, skills and values for better living. The terms of reference of the Jomtein conferences on education for all in 1990 were recalling that education is a fundamental right for all people, women and men, of all ages, throughout our world; understanding that education can help ensure a safer, healthier, more prosperous and environmentally sound world, while simultaneously contributing to social, economic, and cultural progress, tolerance, and international cooperation; knowing that education is an indispensable key to, though not a sufficient condition for, personal and social improvement and recognizing that traditional knowledge and indigenous cultural heritage have a value and validity in their own right and a capacity to both define and promote development. Others included, acknowledging that, overall, the current provision of education is seriously deficient and that it must be made more relevant and qualitatively improved, and made universally available; recognizing that sound basic education is fundamental to the strengthening of higher levels of education and of scientific and technological literacy and capacity and thus to self-reliant development; and recognizing the necessity to give to present and coming generations an expanded vision of, and a renewed commitment to, basic education to address the scale and complexity of the challenge. In other words, the Jomtein conferences on education for all in 1990 focussed on the following areas of educational development of meeting basic learning needs, shaping the vision, universalizing access and promoting equity, focusing on learning, broadening the means and scope of basic education, enhancing the environment for learning strengthening partnerships, developing a supportive policy context, mobilizing resources and strengthening international solidarity. At the World Education Forum, held in Dakar in April 2000, the aim of EFA was reaffirmed and operationalized as six major goals; two of which were also adopted in the same year as constituting the Millennium Development Goals. These goals are: expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality; and ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes. Other goals were achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults; eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality; and improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills. Since the international community meet at Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 and agreed on the framework for provision of Education for All (EFA) by 2015, Zambia like many other countries took up the challenge almost

My Mom Essays

My Mom Essays My Mom Essay My Mom Essay It has taken me all of my 17 years of life to finally realize what an import person my mother has been to me, and how much of an influence she has had on my life. I have never noticed until I started to contemplate my essay topic. She is an extraordinary influence on my life, and also my best friend. My mom is such a great role model I feel lucky to have been raised and brought up by her. I aspire to grow into as great a person as she is today. My mom has sacrificed so much for my brother and I, she would drop everything and anything if it meant helping us in someway or just to make our day a little better. My moms love for my brother and I is most apparent in the way she wants us to experience our life. She wants to give us every opportunity she possibly can and especially the ones she never got; if that meant whether or not we wanted to or not. She always encourages us to do and try new things, stick with something all the way through and never quit. She pushed me to accomplish things I never would have done without her support and guidance. Although she gave it all her might sometimes my stubbornness outshone her persistence. I’ve been involved in so many different activities since I was able to walk I start to lose count. In most of my activities my mom was determined to make me stick with it and do my best, but eventually in every time, without fail, I wanted to quit. Piano, soccer, basketball, violin, dance, gymnastics, choir, every time I was convinced to â€Å"give it a try! †, and every time I quit for vast and vague reasons. This became a pattern up until the eighth grade. This is only a small example of how much my mother has been an important influence on my life, but made a big impact. I made countless friends and had a great time. Although I never got my desk I look back now as a member on the varsity dance team, and am grateful that my mom pushed to so hard to take the dance lessons. They were worth it and I love dance so much. I have improved so much since freshman year and look forward to possibly dancing in college. Now my brother is a freshman and he is faced with the same problem I had when I was his age, and now its up to my mom and I to help him fit in and find his way in high school!

How to Take Both the SAT and ACT...and Who Should Take Both

How to Take Both the SAT and ACT...and Who Should Take Both SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The SAT and ACT may both be college entrance exams, but the way they test students on their college readiness is subtly different. Most students will do better on one test than the other, so why would you want to go through the hassle of taking both exams? And is it even feasible to do so? We’ll answer those questions in this article. Feature image credit: Double fisting at niosa!/used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped and color-adjusted from original. Why Take Both the SAT and ACT? First and foremost, it must be emphasized: the default should be to take eitherthe SAT orACT, not both. Students sometimes think the more the merrier, or that a consistent score across the tests is more impressive than a high score on just one. This is just plain wrong - taking both the SAT and ACT is usually unnecessary, and trying to do so can negatively affect your scores on both exams. Even though most students will only ever need to take one exam or the other, however, there are a few cases where it makes sense to take both the SAT and ACT. 1. You’re Applying to One Program That Favors the ACT and Another That Favors the SAT Colleges accept the two tests equally at this point, but different score thresholds may still be in play that make it more advantageous to use one test for one school and another test for another. If you compare percentile ranks of the scores of accepted students at School A, for instance, you may find that the middle 50% of students at School A have 90-99%ile ACT scores, but only 85-95%ile SAT scores. ACT percentiles may be skewed by the (comparatively) large number of students for whom the ACT is a high school graduation requirement (even for students not going on to four-year colleges), but this still means that you can get admitted to School A with a lower score, percentile-wise, on the SAT than on the ACT. Read more about this discrepancy and what it means for you with our article about what Ivy League schools think about the ACT. It should be noted that often the differences between admitted students' SAT and ACT percentiles at a school are not large enough to warrant taking both tests; any slight advantage you might get from having two scores will likely be cancelled out by your scoring lower on both tests than you would've had you taken only one or the other. As a good guideline, if the percentiles of a schools' middle 50% of ACT vs. SAT scores are less than 10 points apart, it's not worth taking a second test you weren't planning on taking in an attempt to game the system. 2. You’re Evenly Balanced in the Two Tests and Have an Excess of Time to Study This scenario applies if you’ve taken realistic SAT and ACT practice tests and gotten equivalent percentile scores. There is some score variation from between different test dates, so if you have a good day with one test and a bad day with the other, you could potentially score better on one on test day. This strategy is only useful if you have excess time to study, however; otherwise, the time you spend trying to keep up both your SAT and ACT scores could be better spent nudging your higher score towards perfection. African safari hunter holds up two ivory tusks, 1962/Copyright Atlanta Journal-Constitution/used for educational purposes. Don't worry about unevenness (in your test scores). 3. Your Score on One Test Has Plateaued and You Have a Lot More Time to Study Further score increases can be difficult for students who have managed to improve low ACT or SAT scores, but can't seem to move their scores up to the next level. Whether they want to accomplish this for specific college applications or just for their own personal satisfaction, it can be highly frustrated to get stuck with a score that won't seem to budge, no matter what you do. If you have plenty of time left to study, you might want to consider at least trying out a practice test for the exam you're not planning on taking. For example, if you’ve been studying for ACT but can’t seem to crack a 28 on ACT Science, taking the SAT may be to your advantage because of the differences in format between the two tests. How to Take Both the SAT and ACT Your first priority should be the test you’re better at, since you want to put in the most effort where you’ll get the most reward. We recommend against studying for the two tests at the same time, but given many students’ busy schedules this may be unavoidable. If that is the case, then you need to focus your studying. Spend 60-90% of your time on the test you’re better on, or an even higher percentage if you’re studying more overall. You should also allocate at least 20 hours of studying to your secondary test. Keep in mind that this includes taking full-length practice tests, which each eat up 3-4 hours of time, so this isn’t as daunting as it might appear. What’s Next? If the SAT and ACT are both the same as far as college admissions goes, then why take one over the other? Read our analysis on whether or not the ACT is easier than the SAT here. Want an overview of the ways in which the two tests differ? Then be sure to look over our complete breakdown of the new SAT vs. the ACT. Curious about the details of the differences between the SAT and ACT? We've got articles that cover the specific differences between SAT and ACT Math, SAT and ACT Reading, and SAT Writing vs. ACT English. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Higher education in Qatar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Higher education in Qatar - Research Paper Example Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa took over his father’s leadership in 1995 and since then, reforms have been instituted such as the suffrage of women and the establishment of a constitution with democratic elements. The dynamism of the Sheikh brought into the country Al-Jazeera, a renowned Arabic-language news network which is considered to be the biggest change brought about by the new leadership. This development was not looked upon with favour of the region’s autocratic states because it allowed foreign workers to outnumber native workers in the country (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2012). In his wisdom, the new emir created the Qatar Foundation in 1995 as he recognized the challenges of the country’s reliance on its oil and natural gas resources, and he realized the need for more specialized professionals to help his countrymen (Qatar Foundation, 2010). The primary mission of the Qatar Foundation is to build human capital through the programs and services it wi ll offer in education, community development and scientific research. The Qatar Foundation claims to bring world-class education, work experience and career opportunities to Qatar in the pursuit of a modern knowledge-based economy. Currently, the foundation has an extensive campus equipped with the latest state-of-the-art facilities serving nearly 4,000 students including multicultural students representing around 90 different nationalities, enrolled from preschool to university levels. It is a university which embraces cultural diversity that supports students’ professional and personal development (Qatar Foundation, 2012). Qatar’s Supreme Education Council (SEC) has appointed a Higher Education Institute (HEI) to supervise deserving youth in pursuing higher education to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills that will help them in a competitive and rapidly changing global world. Various scholarship programs are provided by the HEI to help the youth be pre pared for the challenges they will be undertaking in top colleges and universities worldwide so they get to achieve their own dreams as well as address the needs of the country’s labour market (SEC, 2012). The main objectives of the HEI are as follows: Provide opportunities to further develop the students’ language, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Provide opportunities for students to have more awareness and understanding of other cultures Provide opportunities for high achieving students to prepare themselves for future leadership roles. Meet workforce needs. Offer flexibility to outstanding Qatari students by allowing them to pursue interests in fields that directly benefit the society and economy. (SEC, 2012, para. 4) Among the guiding principles of the HEI is the promotion of the highest quality of education to help students become self-learners in institutions with the highest international standards. Another is flexibility for students to choose the ir preferred universities and course that suits their own abilities and interests to help them pursue a lucrative career after their schooling. The HEI also aims to develop accountability and competency in their students as they learn to be self-reliant in their learning, confident that they will be supported in their endeavours so they can concentrate on being better students. HEI gives students the assurance

Drugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Drugs - Research Paper Example Legislation was then passed and the creation of the FDA was created in order to oversee and regulate these drugs (Lowinson, Ruiz, Millman, & Langrod, 2005). One of the biggest debates in the United States regarding a specific kind of drug has been whether it should be deemed legalized or whether it should remain illegal. This drug, Cannabis, has sparked such a controversy that many people are ambivalent about whether it should be legalized or not. In order to make an informed decision as far as whether Marijuana should be legalized or not, there are some key notes and facts that must be noted about the drug. Marijuana is a drug which originates from the Cannabis plant. This is the first argument regarding the legalization of the drug is that it occurs in nature without human intervention or alteration. Marijuana originally is from Central and South Asia (ElSohly, 2007). Through trading and the expansion of humanity across the world, it was only a fact that the use of the drug would spread through trade. Its psychoactive properties are what made it such a valuable plant in that it was used in many rituals which involved the transcendence of the soul and allowed communication with other states of being (Booth, 2003). In the United States, the largest uses of marijuana have been from the so called â€Å"Hippie era† to even now. The use of marijuana was criminalized in the 1900s, but has recently leaded to some states wanting to make an exception for the use of marijuana for only medicinal purposes. Most notably, this controversy over some states making the use of marijuana for medic al purposes has lead to the issue of an old problem which plagued America even at the founding, the issue of the right’s of the states versus the power of the federal system. This was seen when California legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes and the federal government stepped in to

Criminal law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criminal law - Essay Example Moreover, there are instances where the concept of crime within a particular country changes as society adapts to the tides of time. What used to be a crime yesterday is now legal today. A classic example for the changing concept of crime over a period of time is the case of defamation which had been decriminalized through the amendment to the Coroners and Justice Act in 2009 (OSCE). UK lawmakers have decided to relax the definition of crime insofar as defamation is concerned to make more room for the right to freedom of speech. This will remain true until the parliament decides to make further changes to the law on defamation. On the matter of relativity of crime in different jurisdictions, a good example would be possession of cannabis. There is no common consensus among the governments of the world as to the dangers and benefits of the plant and its derivatives. The countries that see more benefits have already legalized it, under certain conditions, while those who insist that ca nnabis does more harm than good continue to make its possession and use as a crime punishable with penalties ranging from light to life imprisonment and even death penalty. In the UK, possession and use of cannabis in any form is a crime but in Peru, it is perfectly legal.

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

HRM - Essay Example At this point comes in the HR Audit, that refers to â€Å"the systematic verification of job analysis and design, recruitment and selection, orientation and placement, training and development, performance appraisal and job evaluation, employee and executive remuneration† and the other HR functions such as â€Å"motivation and morale, participative management, communication, welfare and social security, safety and health, industrial relations, trade unionism, and disputes and their resolution.† (citehr.com) In simpler terms, HR Audit, similar to a financial and accounting audit is the review of the employees of the organization that helps to review and assess the relationship between the employees and the organization in terms of their best contribution to achieve the goals, of both, the organization and each individual employee. HR Function in GS Plumbing To date, GS Plumbing hasn’t conducted an HR Audit for their employees. They have 18 plumbers working for the m, and the four members of the senior management – Greg Smith, Alan Arrowsmith, Jane Brown and Gail White. It would be recommended to the management of GS Plumbing to conduct an HR Audit of not just the plumbers but all the members of the management as well. An HR Audit will be beneficial to the organization in the following ways: The management will be able to identify the contribution of every employee to the organization and vice versa. It will help to identify problems that may be arising and nip them in the bud. Employees will feel motivated as the management is taking a personal interest in each of them. Also, the employees will get a chance to personally speak out any sort of concerns they have. An HR audit will give the management confidence about their employees. They will know where there are gaps and will be able to device systems to close them. (humanresources.hrvinet.com) In the case of GS Plumbing, everyone should be involved in the HR Audit, from Greg Smith and the rest of the management, right to the plumbers working on part time and job sharing basis. It will show the rest of the employees that they are all on the same ground and all of them are equally responsible and accountable to GS Plumbing as an organization. Also, everyone is not perfect and an HR Audit will find out mistakes that people might be making and will help them by giving them solutions to fix it. Unplanned Employee Absence Massive absenteeism and illnesses could impact negatively on many lost working hours and medical insurance expense (Charles and Kell 2006). Employees of GS Plumbing are calling in sick regularly and not planning their absence. This creates a lot of problems for GS Plumbing, such as: It affects the daily allocation of duties. It disrupts the work routine of the organization. It could lead to the employees feeling pressurizes and over worked when they have to cover for their absent colleagues. It could disrupt team based and training activities that ma y have been planned for the employees’ benefit. (Lingham 2007) Also, repeatedly taking unplanned leaves is not a very ethical practice. An employee may be genuinely sick but it is hard for the management not to have a little doubt about the employees’ real reason for having taken a leave of absence at the last minute. There are various reasons an employee might have to take leave from work at the last

Congressional Term Limits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Congressional Term Limits - Essay Example In a conservative, rural Republican district, term limits could force the retirement of a white male conservative Republican, but why assume that the new person will be any different (another white male conservative Republican) or vote any differently. So you need to explain why you think this argument for term limits is valid. It is indeed in the hands of the voters to elect the new candidate, thus they need to carefully study and understand their respective candidates before voting for them. Through the various campaigning and other public talks that have been given by the respective new candidates, the voters can understand whether the candidate they are going to elect will be just another white male conservative Republican or not. It is true that the American citizens need to be more active regarding the political sphere, that is try to understand more about the candidates before taking any decision. In case if the present person turns out to be just another white male conservative Republican, the term limit will ensure that he does not stay for long, and the voters can elect a candidate who is more than just a white male conservative Republican. This is exactly why there should be term limits.

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

HRM - Essay Example At this point comes in the HR Audit, that refers to â€Å"the systematic verification of job analysis and design, recruitment and selection, orientation and placement, training and development, performance appraisal and job evaluation, employee and executive remuneration† and the other HR functions such as â€Å"motivation and morale, participative management, communication, welfare and social security, safety and health, industrial relations, trade unionism, and disputes and their resolution.† (citehr.com) In simpler terms, HR Audit, similar to a financial and accounting audit is the review of the employees of the organization that helps to review and assess the relationship between the employees and the organization in terms of their best contribution to achieve the goals, of both, the organization and each individual employee. HR Function in GS Plumbing To date, GS Plumbing hasn’t conducted an HR Audit for their employees. They have 18 plumbers working for the m, and the four members of the senior management – Greg Smith, Alan Arrowsmith, Jane Brown and Gail White. It would be recommended to the management of GS Plumbing to conduct an HR Audit of not just the plumbers but all the members of the management as well. An HR Audit will be beneficial to the organization in the following ways: The management will be able to identify the contribution of every employee to the organization and vice versa. It will help to identify problems that may be arising and nip them in the bud. Employees will feel motivated as the management is taking a personal interest in each of them. Also, the employees will get a chance to personally speak out any sort of concerns they have. An HR audit will give the management confidence about their employees. They will know where there are gaps and will be able to device systems to close them. (humanresources.hrvinet.com) In the case of GS Plumbing, everyone should be involved in the HR Audit, from Greg Smith and the rest of the management, right to the plumbers working on part time and job sharing basis. It will show the rest of the employees that they are all on the same ground and all of them are equally responsible and accountable to GS Plumbing as an organization. Also, everyone is not perfect and an HR Audit will find out mistakes that people might be making and will help them by giving them solutions to fix it. Unplanned Employee Absence Massive absenteeism and illnesses could impact negatively on many lost working hours and medical insurance expense (Charles and Kell 2006). Employees of GS Plumbing are calling in sick regularly and not planning their absence. This creates a lot of problems for GS Plumbing, such as: It affects the daily allocation of duties. It disrupts the work routine of the organization. It could lead to the employees feeling pressurizes and over worked when they have to cover for their absent colleagues. It could disrupt team based and training activities that ma y have been planned for the employees’ benefit. (Lingham 2007) Also, repeatedly taking unplanned leaves is not a very ethical practice. An employee may be genuinely sick but it is hard for the management not to have a little doubt about the employees’ real reason for having taken a leave of absence at the last minute. There are various reasons an employee might have to take leave from work at the last

Go tell it on the mountain by James Baldwin Essay

Go tell it on the mountain by James Baldwin - Essay Example â€Å"He awoke on this birthday morning with the feeling that there was a menace in the air around him’’ (Baldwin 1985, 19). The thought of sinning makes John depressed. John’s relationship with the father deteriorates because of his sin. He feels that obeying God requires submitting to his father. John tells Elisha that: â€Å"Elisha†¦ no matter what anybody says, you remember –please remember-I was saved. I was there.’’ This shows John depressed because of masturbating. â€Å"Then John knew that a curse was renewed from moment to moment, from father to son.†(Baldwin 1985, 288). This highlights John’s depressed state. Sinning is an innate behavior therefore should not cause depression. Instead, one should ask for forgiveness. The bitter relationship between John and Gabriel shows the theme of hatred. There is conflict between Gabriel and his son John. John did not understand the reason of Gabriel’s hate towards him. He tries all he could to appease Gabriel in vain. However, towards the end of the novel, John realizes that Gabriel hate could be because he was not his biological father but his stepfather. â€Å"He lived for the day when his father would be dying and he, John, would curse him on his death-bed.†(Baldwin 1985, 23) .This shows John’s hate for his father. â€Å"Satan, at the moment, stared out of John’s eyes while the spirit spoke.† This quote highlights Gabriel regarding John as a Satan. â€Å"And John did†¦to stare forever into the bottom of Gabriel’s soul.† This shows John disturbed looking for possible reason for Gabriel’s hate. The religious norms practiced by the community are hypocritical. Most of the church leaders and the congregation did not practice the Christian ideals they preached. The fact that Gabriel hated John despite the fact that he was a deacon shows religious hypocrisy. Gabriel does not seem pleased with John even after he became a saint. â€Å"They stood before each other in

The Complete Works of William Shakespear Essay Example for Free

The Complete Works of William Shakespear Essay A burn is an injury caused by excessive energy transferred to the body. There are four different kinds of burns. The first type of burn is a thermal burn. A thermal burn is caused by an external heat source that causes the temperature of the skin and tissue cells in the skin to rise which causes the cells to get damaged or die. Thermal burns are usually caused by coming in contact with open flames, hot metals, or scalding liquids. The second type of burns are radiation burns. Radiation burns are be caused by extended exposure to radiation, such as Ultra-Violet  radiation from the sun. The third type of burns are Chemical burns. Chemical burns are caused by coming in contact with strong acids or alkalies. The last type of burns are electrical burns. Electrical burns are burn from coming in contact with an electrical current. Along with the four types of burns, there are also three different classifications on the levels of the severity of the burn. The least severe level of burn is called a first-degree burn or a superficial burn. A first degree burn only affects the epidermis, the  outermost layer of skin. An example of a first-degree burn is a sun-burn. First degree burns do not usually have any long term affects but sun-burns have been known to cause skin cancer. First-degree burns are very minor an heal quite easily. In the area around the burn and undamaged skin cells in the basale, or deepest layer of the epidermis grow and begin to spread out over wound until it is covered. A hormone called epidermal growth factor causes the basale epidermal skin cells to multiply until the skin reaches it original thickness. The next level of burn is called a second degree burn or a partial thickness burn. Second degree burns involve the epidermis and the dermis, the layer under the epidermis. The burn will be red, blistered and may be swollen. Second degree burns are painful and may cause scarring. The worst level of burns is a third-degree burn. Third degree burns destroy both the epidermis and dermis and may even damage muscles, tendons, or bones under the dermis. The wound will appear white or charred. The victim will feel no pain because all of the nerve endings have been destroyed. Second and third degree burns have a much more complex way of healing. The healing process has four stages. The first is the inflammatory phase in which the blood clots and the wound gets inflamed to kill off microbes, foreign objects and dead skin. The next stage is the migratory phase in which the wound begins to scab. The cells around the scab begin to migrate under the scab to cover the wound. In third-degree burns skin cells need to be implanted to start cell growth. Also in this stage blood vessels and scar tissue begin to grow. The next stage is the  proliferative phase in which epidermal cells begin to grow rapidly under the scab and blood vessels continue to grow. The final stage is the maturation stage in which the scab falls off after the skin under the scab have grown to its original thickness. The process in which scar tissue is formed is called fibrosis. Scar tissue has fewer blood vessels than regular skin and will have a different structure than regular skin. Scar tissue is usually lighter than your normal skin because of the lack of blood vesselsMore scar tissue is needed in more severe wounds.

Portrayal Of Vampires In Literature

Portrayal Of Vampires In Literature His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth (Stoker, 1897). For many centuries this crude, bloodcurdling image prevailed what is now known to us as the blood sucking vampire. This description of Dracula, as illustrated by Bram Stoker in 1897, compares nowhere near the handsome, romantic, and charming figure vampires have become in modern day film and literature. Yet what is most interesting, in a rather peculiar way, is to see the irony of such a thoughtless creature becoming a prevalent reflection of modern culture; their unchanging, dead existence representing the ever-changing situations of our conscious and unconscious fears. This essay will seek to critically analyse two well known lit erary texts portraying vampires. Through the description of the vampires appearance, role, function and purpose and the several motifs and cultural myths such portrayals and images are drawn upon, this essay hopes to provide several reasons for the human fascination of such creatures and further suggest vampires represent several cultural beliefs and actions implemented by human society. An obscure sort of figure and a likely representation of both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). Yet, interestingly as times change it seems each age embraces the vampire it needs (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). Prior to the 1970s, the ideal vampire was a portrayal of Bram Stockers Dracula; the captivating, cultured, yet evil Eastern European Count. Since then, as a result of numerous novel publications, including Anne Rices Vampire Chronicles and Stephanie Meyers Twilight, the illustration of the vampire has changed, due to the ongoing transformations in the broader cultural and political mise-en-scene (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). It is mainly through certain motifs and cultural beliefs, both of the past and present, in which the figure of the vampire has transformed. As a prominent figure of time, vampires have represented metaphors for sex uality and power. As of late, while still powerful and appealing, vampires have become a symbol for alienation, choice, societys attitudes towards illness, their definition of evil, and can also act as representations for individual obsession, free agency, self-control, sacrifice and faith. Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire (1976) and Stephenie Meyers Twilight (2008), are just two texts incorporating the fascination of the vampire. However, the texts present several differences; each utilising contrasting ideas in the illustration, function, roles, and purpose of the vampire. Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire accounts the life of a 200-year-old vampire, Louis du Pointe du Pac. Turned into a vampire at the age of 25 by Lestat, Louis story gives audiences two representations of the vampire. Rice steers away from the old portrayal of the creature, captivating this through Louis and Claudia, while also using Lestat as an illustration of the evil, crude, and self-centred vampire. Lestat and Louis are two different vampires; in their appearance, their function, their roles, and their purpose. Louis is the good vampire; humane, genuine and honest. Depicted as beautiful, with utterly white and smooth(Rice,1976) skin, his face a seemingly inanimate as a statue, except fo r two brilliant green eyes( Rice,1976), his hair black, the waves combed back over the tips of the ears(Rice,1976), his shoulders broad(Rice,1976), his figure tall and slender (Rice,1976), his lips silken and delicately lined like any persons lips, only deadly white(Rice,1976), Louis is the image of a different vampire from the one normally envisioned. Lestat, on the other hand is described little in the novel. He is however the opposite to Louis. Illustrated in this book as being 6ft tall with curly blond hair and grey eyes, a short and narrow nose and a mouth that is slightly large for his face(Rice, 1976)), Lestat is charming, attractive and charismatic, but evil. Throughout the novel, Louis relives the moments of how he became indoctrinated, unwillingly, into the vampire way of life (Rice, 2010). He also describes his longing to not hurt but rather to comfort Claudia, who is his only friend and his life. He somewhat becomes a father figure to her, taking it upon himself to care and love her with the last breaths of humanity he has inside (Rice, 2010). Both Louis and Claudia struggle to understand themselves, their purpose, their hatred of Lestat and both become desperate to find somewhere they belong, to find others who understand (Rice, 2010). This is in contrast to Lestat who believes vampires are killers Predators. Whose all seeing eyes see a human life in its entirety, not with any mawkish sorrow but with a thrilling satisfaction in being the end of that life, in having a hand in the divine plan(Rice, 2010). He believes his life has no purpose, a least none that involves being honest and caring, but rather a killer and a monster. Similarly, Twilight, a novel written by Stephenie Meyer, further illustrates the idea set by Anne Rice in her novel. When Bella Swan moves back to her childhood home in order to be with her father, she discovers some things that she never thought were possible. She meets the very mysterious Edward Cullen, who while irresistible and charming, has a certain past which he would rather keep hidden. Determined to find out his dark secret, Bella befriends Edward and the two become close. What she does not realise is that the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk (Meyer, 2008). Although Edward warns her on several occasions that he is not the good guy he seems to be, soon Bella puts together the pieces and comes to the evident conclusion that is a vampire. Meyers vampires are in certain ways very different from Anne Rices image in Interview with the vampire. While chalky pale, palest of all the students(Meyer, 2008), with dark eyes(Meyer, 2008) yet all their features were straight, perfect and angular(Meyer, 2008), their faces all similar, yet different; devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful(Meyer, 2008), as Louis in Rices story, the Cullens are humanised with features most cannot resist. To add to the already humanistic vampire image, Meyer also gives her characters gifts above and beyond the norm (Meyer, 2008). In subtle ways these gifts represent their role and function, and as Edward explains their strongest human traits (Meyer, 2008). Each character brings their gift for good; Edward with his ability to read minds, Alice with her gift to see the future, Carlisle brings his compassion, Esme her ability to love, Emmett his strength, Rosalie her tenacity and Jasper his ability to control peoples feelings and emotions. As with the characteristics of the vampires, Meyer challenges the image of the old vampire by means of changing their purpose. Part of the story revolves around what is means to be a vampire. Constantly, Edwa rd is reluctant to befriend Bella as he still believes deep down he is not superhero, but rather the bad guy. He struggles with his existence, describing himself as the worlds best predator, dangerous (Meyer, 2008) and even at one point he confesses to Bella of his struggle to keep himself from killing, to control his thirst for blood. He does still however feel, as any human, revealing to Bella numerous times he cannot live with himself if he killed her(Meyer, 2008), sounding in a way confused and saddened at the prospect. It is important to also mention the Cullen philosophy. It is explained through Edwards father, Carlisle Cullen that their kind are not killers. Carlisle rebelled against being a vampire, he went to great lengths to destroy himself (Meyer, 2008), fighting hard to resist drinking other peoples blood and looking for an alternative to being the vile monster he feared(Meyer, 2008), finding a way to exist without being evil (Meyer, 2008). Both Interview with the Vampire and Twilight, utilise several motifs, metaphors, and cultural beliefs to illustrate the existence, images, and purpose of vampires. The vampire can in several ways, provide a metaphor for sexuality and power, but can also represent alienation inflicted by society, societys attitude towards illness, its definition of good and evil and can even reinforce individual feelings of obsession, free agency and choice, self-control, sacrifice and faith. Present in both texts, however more profoundly in Anne Rices novel, the original representation of the vampiric metaphors, images and purpose related to sexuality and societys attitudes towards illness are explored. It is interesting to see the close similarities between the idea of death from a vampires bite and the death by disease, associating to a vampires wasting, with paleness, with blood flow from the mouth, night restlessness and alternate burning and chills (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). Interview with the Vampire is of the two texts more inclined to present audiences with the vampire-as-a-disease metaphor, coincidently incorporating cultural events and beliefs present in America at the time. Rice utilises the metaphor to illustrated societys awareness of AIDS and homosexuality. This changing metaphor of sex and violence leads to the homoeroticism of Least and Louis' (Grey,2003) relationship, encouraging mainstream audiences to accept this new way of society and accept homoeroti c protagonists with fewer qualms that normally evincible (Grey,2003). It also uses sexuality to reinforce the image of the old vampires seduction, its ability to attract both men and women, and of the vampire taking the life of its victims. Twilight however, while describing Edward as attractive and mesmerising, it is important to note the metaphor of a vampire being a crude creature is not heavily present in this novel. Instead, Meyer uses the vampires as metaphors for kindness and sincerity, even in some respect using Edward as a figure of goodness and love. Their romance, cosmically disproportionate, is a parable or transparency of the inequalities and responsibilities of the divine-human synergy (Granger, 2009). Edwards love for Bella is forever unchanging and respectful, while Bellas love for him in return is selfless and sacrificial. Written from a religious point of view, the choices which both Edward and Bella make support the idea of free agency; the power for humans to mak e their own decisions and at the same time be responsible for these choices. Both of them pay the consequences for their choices, whether good or bad. In earlier vampire literature, it is important to note vampires were considered related to the Devil. Very few people befriended such creatures, rather using certain symbols to eliminate them. As a result, the belief of faith and religion can be related to the figure of the vampire. The most common for victory were few: armed with crucifixes, wooden stakes, holy water, garlic and occasionally fire and sunlight, good always prevailed (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). Before long anything capable to fend off the vampire, meant those against them possessed great faith. This implied that symbols of faith, when handled by those of less-than-perfect or non-existent faith, might prove ineffective. (Gordon Hollinger, 1997) As in the 1960s and 70s, culture took on a secular view of the world, victims died because of their lack of faith. But as society quickly confronted its loss of faith, vampires lost their ability of their magical arsenal (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). Little is seen of a vampires ab ility to transform into bats and wolves, to crawl on surfaces and disappear in a puff of smoke. And as Louis explains in Rices novel, no such myths exist any longer. The more contemporary vampire exhibits little of the metaphysical, magical, anti-Christian act, but rather his/her own acts are expressions of individual personality and condition (Gordon Hollinger, 1997). This decrease in focus on the vampires metaphysical and religious status supports a loss in the past folkloric characteristics of the vampire. The change from the metaphoric Anti-Christ to secular sinner, from magical to mundane permeates the appearance of and indeed, permits the existence of good as well as bad (Gordon Hollinger, 1997) vampires. And as Edward states in Twilight just because weve been dealt a certain hand it doesnt mean we cant choose to rise above- to conquer the boundaries of destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can. (Meyer, 2008) Many argue the contemporary vampire story often represents the very intriguing condition of what we now known as postmodernism, this idea of good and evil. And what better example than the most central motif present in Anne Rices novel. Lestat represents the vampire of the postmodern era; he dismisses any faith, except faith in himself. On the other hand, Louis is the vampire which struggles against becoming the postmodern, evil creature, taking his loss of faith as an illustration for his loss of humanity. The book also portrays Louis as being aware of the question of good and evil, of struggling to accept Lestats philosophy and belief. Claudia also finds herself in a situation where she is caught between two different examples of what a vampire could be and as a result becomes determined to find out the origin of her existence. Good and evil also appears a central theme within Twilight. Meyer uses the Cullens as the good vampires, who harm no one, and James and Victoria as the bloo dsuckers and murderers. On a more personal level, Edward battles between good (his human desire to not harm) and evil (the fact that he is a vampire) suggesting an example of a conscious and human thought process. Thus, it is not what you are born as or what you are made to be that defines your existence, but rather what choices you make based on your own ideas and identity. The vampire today has transformed from an figure of super evil to being simply an alien other, no longer embodying metaphysical evil, no longer a damned soul (Gordon Hollinger, 1997), but rather an metaphor for our awareness of multiculturalism merely ethnic, a victim of heredity (Zanger, 1997 in GH). Both Interview with the Vampire and Twilight depict vampires as outsiders. In Twilight Bella describes her feelings towards this alienation, feeling pity towards the Cullens, pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted (Meyer, 2008). The idea of being alone is also evident in Edwards distance from his family and his school friends. While his brothers and sisters have moved on and formed close relationships, he remained alone. Incidentally, vampires are forced to live away from society in order to keep their existence a secret. Interview with the Vampire also suggests Louis and Lestat are not accepted within society, constantly being illustrated as outcasts, needing acceptance from society but it seeming as if this acceptance can only be found in another of his kind. This theme speaks to almost every individual, as almost everyone has felt alone or alienated at some point in their lives and illustrates societys attitudes towards certain groups of people. Sacrifice, self-control and obsession are several other themes which vampires represent in both texts. Sacrifice is a dominant theme throughout Twilight. While Bella sacrifices everything to be with Edward, it is Edward who makes a decision to be with Bella, to trust her and her intention of keeping his secret. He sacrifices his secret to be with Bella, and while he may be at a loss, his sacrifice can be seen as acceptable when it may be a free choice to gain something greater. Again, the same takes place in Interview with the Vampire, when Louis makes a decision to leave Lestat and sacrifice his life to take care of Claudia and to find more of his existence. Self-control is equally evident in both of the texts. Self-control is very important in Twilight, as it is closely linked to free agency. In order to have free-agency, the Cullens must have self-control, and as a result self-control is in this case a way of overcoming their instinct and a way to create ones wanted life and princ iples. Vampires in both of the texts are not saints, but just like real people they have flaws. And just like real people, they are under the driving force of obsession. Bellas love for Edward, Louis cling to humanity and Lestats belief to kill goes beyond reason, beyond practically. In a way all of these attributes apply to society today, from the ways we make choices, to the sacrifices we make for those we love and our obsessions with love, humanity, and death. The literary vampire has entertained and captured audiences for many years, changing but never completely disappearing. For it is evident every ages does seem to embrace the vampire is needs (Gordon Hollinger, 1997), guiding us along our paths of socialisation, separations and individualisation. Whether the fears are personal, societal, internal, or external, the vampiric metaphor transforms as time passes. The themes of sexual desire, disease, political and social indifference, religion, alienation, good versus evil, and many more represent the vampire figure. All of the themes discussed mirror our current views of boundaries between individuals and society, between one group and the rest. How intriguing it is to see that such social anxieties and personal beliefs are represented through such a creature, one that breaks boundaries between life and death, good and evil, love and fear. And how interesting it is, that the vampire lives on in this modern society of constant conflict, b etween what is real and what is not, between what is private and what is public, in such a way as helping to dissolve the numerous conflicts and the fixed boundaries by means of representation and example. Vampires encourage creative thought and emotional stability, they act as beings we would all rather be, even examples of how we should be. Providing us with a desire to be good rather than evil, vampires have captured the imagination of the twenty-first century. Like flowers perfuming our dreams and beliefs, vampire will continue to capture us with anticipation and dread for years to come.

The Cherry Orchard :: essays research papers

In drama â€Å" The Cherry Orchard† , Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky are clashing individuals, who are not to be judged as either good or bad. Both characters are human, having honorable traits. Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky's characters are incompatible in the other's mind. Madame Ravensky is a member of the falling aristocracy who is a lost romantic trapped in a fantasy world on the orchard while forgetting her troubles in the "real" world. Lopakhin is a money driven, sometimes vulgar, and socially rising individual. Lopakhin is trying to make a future by overcoming his past, but remains genuine and practical in his offering help. The orchard is a focal piece in the play, hence the name "The Cherry Orchard." The orchard is to be sold in a month after Madame Ravensky's arrival. Lopakhin believes that the only way the orchard estate can be saved is by chopping down the cherry trees and breaking up the property, which he intends to do if he buys the orchard. Madame Ravensky would rather the orchard be lost completely than changed from how it will remain in her memories forever. The orchard haunts Madame Ravensky. The orchard is where her son died, which is the saddest thing in her life, but at the same time the orchard was where Madame Ravensky grew up. She remembers all the innocence she had at the orchard, and the orchard would not be the same if it changed. No one can bring back the orchard in her family and she won't save it because the orchard is merely a memory. She is dropping in class as seen in her fifth floor apartment, but will still put on a pitying facade shown by her tipping a rupel. She seems ignorant, yet confident in her impracticality, because she loves the orchard so much but does not want to save it. This is true because Madame Ravensky may not want to save it. Her son died on the orchard as well as the orchard is where she used to live prosperously and like a little girl in her innocence and no worries. It is conceivable that she may not want to save the orchard and just keep it in her memories as she moves back to France excepting her fall in society but still living, acting wealthy. She the orchard reminds Madame Ravensky of the romantic times of her life and wants to hold onto them one last time.

Love Conquers All in Eudora Weltys A Worn Path Essay -- Worn Path ess

Love Conquers All in A Worn Path      Ã‚  Ã‚   Love is a strong force. Love can make a person do strange and sometimes heroic things. Eudora Welty introduces us to Phoenix Jackson in "A Worn Path," a story about the love that a woman feels for her grandson. Through the actions of Phoenix Jackson, the reader learns that love can conquer anything. This theme is demonstrated through Phoenix's determination, her ability to overcome obstacles, and her reaction to the employees at the clinic.    Phoenix Jackson is an old woman. The politically correct term "elderly" does not accurately describe just how old she is. She does not see well anymore, she walks with a cane to assist her unsteady gait, and she occasionally imagines objects that are not truly there. Despite her age and the frailtie... ...strong. She makes this treacherous trip all the way into town to get his medicine so that he may live another six months, and she still has to make the journey in reverse to get it back home to him.    Work Cited Welty, Eudora.   "A Worn Path"   Literature and the Writing Process.   Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk.   5th ed.   Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1999.   363-368.

Coors key business strategies or “six planks” Essay

1/Link the Coors vision statement to Coors key business strategies or â€Å"six planks†. Are there any gaps? Post1:According to Coors Vision Statement, the vison can be come up with four fundamentals: (1)improving quality, (2)improving service, (3)boosting profitability, and (4)developing employee skills. And then to link with â€Å"six planks†so that to drive these fundamentals in the future. 1/baseline growth: we will profitably grow key brands and key markets – (3)boosting profitability 2/incremental growth: we will selectively invest to grow high potential markets, channels, demographics, and brands – (3)boosting profitability 3/product quality: we will continuously elevate consumer perceived quality by improving taste, freshness, package integrity, and package appearance at point of purchase – (1)improving quality 4/distributor service: we will significantly enhance distributor service as measured by improved freshness, less damage, increased o n-time arrivals, and accurate order fill at a lower cost to Coors – (1)improving service 5/productivity gains: we will continuously lower total company costs per barrel so Coors can balance improved profitability, investments to grow volume, market share, and revenues, and funding for the resources needed to drive long-term productivity and success – (1)improving quality, (2)improving service, (3)boosting profitability, (4)employee skills 6/people: we will continuously improve our business performance through engaging and developing our people – (4)employee skills I agree that analyze from macroscopic perspective, the strategies seem to match the visions here, which i sum up above. Each one corresponds to one or more of the fundamentals. However, I believe the gaps occur within the four fundamentals from the vision statement and the â€Å"six planks†due to their broad description and focus. In particular, the last one people mentioned in the â€Å"six planks†which does not cover the development of employee skills overall. Post 2:If the analysis of Coors Vison Statement as follows: at first, it shows two aspects 1) Tradition and history: has a proud history of visionary leadership, quality products and dedicated people; 2) Human, financial and physical: to bring great tasting beer, great brands and superior service to the distributors, retailers and consumers and to be a valued neighbor in the  communities. Then, it focuses on the 4 fundamentals: a) improving quality, b)improving service, c) boosting profitability, and d) developing employee skills. Corresponding to the â€Å"six planks†, we can find out: Basline Growth – boosting profitability Incremental Growth – boosting profitability Product Quality – improving quality Distributor Service – improving quality and service Productivity Gains – – boosting profitability People – employee skills Personally, from the aspect of financial management, Coors’ general business strategies seem to focus a bit more on financial measures than other aspect of the business such as how to become a valued neighbor in the communities. Post3: 回å ¤ Ã¢â‚¬â€œ I like your description way that combine the Vison Statement and â€Å"six planks†correspondently, making the comparison much clearer. So it inspired me to do it with the same way. Post4ï ¼Å¡ Another way to compare Coors vision statement and the business strategies is that we should understand what is the different between them. The Vision of a company is the way that it views its products, its markets, its customers and itself. The Vision answers the simple question â€Å"Why are we here?†. The Vision is a goal. It is not the same as a strategy; business strategy tells you how a company is going to achieve (or maintain) its Vision. The strategy is a plan, the tactics are how the plan will be executed and the Vision is the end-result. Post5: Additional explanation of the last one in â€Å"six planks†, in order to develope employee skills referred in Coors Vision Statement, we can not only improve our business performance through engaging but also, building up salaries rate regulation, developing training system and Providing opportunities for increased responsibility and career advancement 2/Link the Coors Operations and Technology (O&T) department vision statement to the O&T strategies or â€Å"supply chain guiding principles†. Are there any gaps? We can divide Coors Coors Operations and Technology (O&T) department vision  statement into 4 parts:1/process, 2/quality and innovation,3/information and technology, 4/learning and exercises a tenacious approach, and then compare each of one with the O&T strategies as following. 1/Well-defined and understandable processed is required to design, safely produce, and deliver greater tasting beer at its freshest, with superior packaging beer with superior packaging and competitive cost. (1) Simplify and stabilize the process (2) Balance and optimize the overall process 2/By the quality and innovation we employ in all enables Coors to be more competitive and notable. (3)Relentlessly purse continuous improvement (5) People doing the work are critical to lasting improvement (9) Know your customers’ expectations 3/Using accurate information and appropriate technology improve organization’s performance. (6)Short cycle time + reliability = flexibility (12)What gets measured gets done 4/By learning and exercising a tenacious approach, we can eliminate and reduce cost. (2)Eliminate non-value added time and waste (7)Find and fix the root cause (8)Know your costs (10)Make decisions where work is performed With above analysis, Coors O&T department vision statement is pretty much aligned with the its strategies. However, Inventory is a liability, not an asset – The vision statement doesn’t really capture the importance of this concept. Coors should stress the importance of getting inventory out the door and giving special attention to its inventory that sees the most demand from its customers. + è ¡ ¥Ã¥â€¦â€¦: Depending on the Operations and Technology (O&T) department of Coors’business strategy, the 4th one â€Å"Inventory is a liability, not an asset†doubtfully matches with the vision statement. From the stand of the O&T department, it may state that there exists risk when the inventory transfers into merchandises, so at this time, it is kind of reasonable to say that Inventory is a liability, not an asset. Another explanation of the business strategy from the O&T department listed â€Å"Inventory is a liability,  not an asset†is that the purpose of this department is to eliminate the cost of the production and then to increase the profit. Therefore, it kind of make sense to say the inventory is a liability instead of an asset. 3/Provide possible explanations for the performance gaps identified by Coors benchmarking analysis. From Table1 Benchmarking Analysis, it shows clearly that there are three gaps existing: Manufacturing cost per barrel; S,g & A cost per barrel; Net profit per barrel. With the general analysis, the domestic market share of A/B is more than twice that of Miller and more than four times that of Coors. A/B has the advantage in the beer industry as the price leader and has the power of setting the selling price. And Coors has the least attractive results out of the three major beer companies (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors). The manufacturing cost per barrel is the highest for Coors at $55.00. Anheuser-Busch on the other hand had the lowest at $48.00. The S, G & A cost per barrel was also the highest for Coors at $29.00 and Miller had the lowest at $27.00, which was only $0.50 better than Anheuser-Busch. Therefore, Coors can only make higher profit by cutting costs so that it can be the envy its two competitors. Besides, it can obtain more profits by building its key premium brands in key markets and strengthening its distributor network, with improved supply chain management. (1)The main reason on the gap in the manufacturing cost is because Coors often could not meet its goal to load beer product directly off the production line into waiting railroad cars. This disrupts the production plan and therefore contributes the increase of labor cost.Given Coors lack of production locations, one glaring reason for the gap in profitability is the distance of delivery required under Coors current supply chain. With only 3 domestic production locations and 21 satellite redistribution centers coors will have significantly longer than the 500 mile minimum production to distribution site A/B has established with 13 domestic production plants. (2) The main reason on the gap in the S,G&A cost is due to the distribution deficiency. Compare to the other two competitors, on average, Coors has had to ship its beer eight to nine times further than its competitors. Also, Coors only has a maximum warehouse capacity in Golden, Colorado of 600,000 cases of beer which is equivalent to one 8-hour production shift. Thus, Coors has had to load per week about 1,500 beer  trucks from 68 truck docks and about 400 railroad cars from 22 rail docks.† This distribution deficiency problem causes the variance of sales costs. To sum up, due to both the highest cost of manufacturing cost per barrel and S,G&A Cost per barrel of Coors among the other two competitors, the application of the balanced scorecard seems to the preferable one for Coors. For BSC tries to minimize information overload by providing a limited number of measures that focus on key business processes by level of management. That will help efficiently contribute S,G&A expe ndsure and eliminate these SG&A gaps. 4/Answer the frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) already raised by employees about the Coors BSC project. Which FAQ’s were critical to Coors successful implementation of its BSC over the last decade? First of all, allocating these fifteen questions into five parts will be more easily to understand. The first part is about some related questions of the balanced scoredcard: 1.Will the balanced scorecard be linked to any incentive plans? Yes, the project strategy was to implement a performance measure process that focused on continuous improvement, rewarded reasonable risk taking and learning to advance performance, and enable employees to understand the opportunity and reward for working productively. 2. What if a measure does not drive the correct behavior after implementation? What process will be used to evolve the scorecard? How will my input be heard? The BSC provides a basis for management to improve the company and align the directives to meet both short and long te rm goals. The employees are encouraged to participate in the dialogue surrounding the measurements and speak to their managers about any suggestions or opportunities they see for the Balanced Scorecard. 8. Will the balance scorecard be used to compare the performance of the three U.S. plants? Since each plant is different, how can we be expected to use the same scorecard? Yes. While each plant may be different, all three plants have the same goals. The balanced scorecard will highlight and evaluate how the company can work together to improve and achieve those goals. 10. There may be some important measures excluded from this scorecard. If so, will they eventually be added to the scorecard? Yes. The scorecard will be adapted to business needs and requirements. It will updated to include the relevant measures as required. 11. Will there be a throughput measure on the  scorecard? I cannot affect the number of barrels coming through my plant. That is determined by sales and scheduling that shifts production between my plants. The scorecard will include only those measurements that will help management evaluate the achievement of Coors’ vision and strategy. The purpose of the scorecard is to simplify information, not overload management with information that are not exactly necessary. 13.How often will the scorecard be updated? Non-monetary measures are reported more frequently than monetary measures. Balanced report cards can be updated as often as daily and as infrequent as annually. It depends on the level of the measurement. 14.Will the scorecard be used as a club? No. The scorecard is used to highlight improvements to the company and to be used to strategize how to continue improvements. The intention is not to use this to punish employees The second part refers to the question about load schedule and distributor. 3. Won’t the measures reduce our ability to be flexible with our distributors and make last minute changes for them? No, the balance scorecard includes non-monetary measures such as machine downtime, percentage of capacity used, and deviations from schedule. Part of the Coors vision and strategy is to allow its employees the freedom to continuously improve these measures, and be rewarded for doing so. 4. Why is the window on the Load Schedule Performance measure so tight? What difference does it make if we get a load out within plus or minus two hours? If we get it out the day it is scheduled, won’t the load arrive at the distributor as planned? The window is measured so tight to reduce production bottlenecks. Also, since Coors’ delivery trucks and rail cars have to travel such a distance, they need to be loaded within two hours of their scheduled time to ensure on time delivery. This will increase profitability, customer satisfaction, and the sense of teamwork among Coors’ employees. The third part can be regarded as the measure change: 5.We already have plant measurements that are working. Why would we want to  change them? The traditional, cost-based performance measures are outdated and are no longer an effective means of measuring performance. For example, direct labor variances were becoming less important due to the highly automated nature of the beer production lines. 7. Why would you base Production Stability, Load Schedule Performance, and Load Item Accuracy on the initial weekly schedule? The schedule changes constantly. Why measure me against a weekly schedule that has changed as a result of something I had no control over? Teamwork is critical to the success of Coors. All employees should be engaged whenever it is possible to ensure that the other goals and objectives of the company can be met. Again, production and demand should be homogeneous. The fourth part is about the production of Coors: 6. The Production Stability Measure does not incent the production lines to run ahead. Doesn’t it make sense to allow us to run ahead on major brands as a cushion for those times when we have problems? So what should we do when we are more than an hour ahead, shut the line down? With the viewpoint that inventory is a liability, we do not want to be running ahead as this increases our inventory on hand that is not moving out the door quickly. We do not want our inventory overflowing our limited warehousing space. By not running over, we can keep our storage costs down and increase profitability. The fifth part is about people who play a part in a measure: 12.How can you hold me responsible for a measure when I am not the only one who can affect it? Coors’ vision statement outlines the sense of teamwork that the company values. Every employee is working together for the same goals. No one person will be held responsible for a measurement. Also, the balanced scorecard is to incent improvement, not punish. 15.Who will put together this scorecard? Ken Rider and employees from supply chain management are responsible for putting together this scorecard. However, input from every employee is valued. In my opinion, the 1,3,4 questions are critical to to Coors successful implementation of its BSC over the last decade. 5/Considering the prior gap and benchmarking analyses, design specific performance measures with benchmarked targets (where feasible) and with reporting frequency to  create an operational and acceptable BSC for Coors. Which performance measures were critical to Coors successful implementation of its BSC over the last decade? Based on the Balanced Scorecard path an organization first must first know and understand: 1/The company’s mission statement 2/The company’s strategic plan/vision 3/ (1)the financial status of the organization (Financial Perspective) (2)How the organization is currently structured and operating (Internal Business Process) (3)The level of expertise of their employees (Learning & Growth) (4)Customer satisfaction level (Customer Perspective) For this case study, I have come up the following performance measures of BSC for Coors: 1) Improve productivity, Long-Term shareholder Value, Grow Revenue (Financial Perspective) 2) Satisfy Customer Needs, Gain Market Share, Improve reputation (Customer Perspective) 3) Manage operations, Product leadership (Internal Business Process) 4) Personnel development, Employee attitudes (Learning & Growth) I think the performance measures under Customer Perspective were critical to Coors successful implementation of its BSC. If customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers that will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good. The concept of having a balanced scorecard essentially discusses a management control system as a means of gathering and using information to aid and coordinate planning and control decisions throughout an organization. It is usually designed around the concept of the balanced scorecard, with financial and nonfinancial information in each of the four perspectives of the scorecard. These four perspectives are financial, customer, internal business process, and learning-growth. There are four perspectives and information from the case to create performance measures of a balanced scorecard: Financial perspective 1) Manufacturing cost – decrease cost per barrel $2, from $55 to $53 2) S, G & A cost – decrease cost per barrel $2, from $29 to $27 3) Net profit – increase net profit per barrel $2, from $4 to $6 Customer perspective 1) Customer satisfaction – Coors should strive to meet and exceed customer expectations 2) Repeat purchases – Coors should also focus on retaining customers and respecting their input as repeat customers Internal Business Process perspective 1) Load Schedule – improve load time by 40%, from 60% to 100% 2) Load Item Accuracy – improve item accuracy by 5%, from 95% to 100% 3) Production Stability – improve production at planned time by 50%, from 50% to 100% Learning and Growth perspective 1) Employee training – Coors can improve employee performance by continued training and learning opportunities 2) Decentralization – Coors can improve performance by giving employees more freedom to make decisions, especially when quick thinking is needed in a changing environment 6/Perform an economic value added (EVA) analysis to assess its potential as a BSC financial performance measure for Coors. Should EVA become part of Coors BSC? EVA= Net Operating Income (After taxes)- (Capital Invested* Weighted Average Cost of Capital) EVA= Net Operating Income (before taxes) * (1- Tax Rate)- (Capital Invested * Weighted Average Cost of Capital) Based on the given number: (1)EVA = EBIT (1-tax rate) – (Cost of Capital*WACC) EVA = 105(1-.44) – ((900+45+65+30) x 10%) EVA = 58.8 – (1040 x 10%) EVA = 58.8-104 EVA = (45.2 million) (2)Net operating profit – (Cost of capital*capital investment) (105 – (900*10%) = 105 – 90 = $15 million. But i can not make sure wich one is the right one. EVA= after tax operating income-[weighted average cost of capital*(total assets-current liabilities)] $82,543,440-[10%*($1,412,083,000-$359,146,000)] =$82,543,440-(10%*1,052,937,000) =$82,543,440-$105,293,700 =$22,750,260 EVA should be include as part of the BSC. $58,800,000-[10%*($1,400,000,000-$170,000,000)] =$58,800,000-(10%*$1,230,000,000) =$58,800,000-$123,000,000 =($64,200,000) 7/With all the industry changes, especially the recent mergers and acquisitions (M&As) involving Coors, what were lessons learned for Coors BSC project over the last decade? Strengths Molson-Coors benefits from their large market share in the beer industry in North America. Molson Coors is an innovative company, first by surviving prohibition in the US, when their product was deemed illegal; they began to bottle water to keep the company going. 1/Strong Financial Position 2/Alliances with NFL and NASCAR 3/Successful joint ventures 4/Growth in foreign markets 5/Strong brand image Weaknesses 1/Lower market share in the U.K 2/They rely on only a few popular brand names, which expose the company to vulnerability when sales and economic regions fluctuate. 3/They have dependencies on raw materials. 4/Don’t appeal to class of people with a lower- disposable income. 5/They rely considerably on a small number of suppliers to obtain their packaging. 6/Molson-Coors relies on 70% of its U.S. sales from Coors Light. Threats 1/Top competitors include: Anheuser- Busch & Heineken 2/Any significant increase in raw materials prices will negatively affect their margins. 3/Any significant decrease in the ability to obtain their raw materials will also affect their margins. 4/Perceptions that beer is not as healthy as other alcoholic beverages like wine. 5/Economic recession in the US increases the sales of beer at first, but as the recession continues over a longer period of time, it may cause sales to decrease ST Strategies 1: Use market share and alliances in North America to promote company. NASCAR and NFL are only big in the US, not other markets, so have to be smart in how they promote and market their products, but can use those sports to their advantage! 2: Expanding into other markets along with diversification of their brand, will help reduce the risk of sales in challenging financial times in the US. 3: Use company`s strong financial position, along with strong market share percentage and alliances to create a stronger/ potentially healthier brand image. WT Strategies 1: Coors`s low market share in other markets will suffer as a result of a recession. Expand into foreign markets! 2: Dependency on suppliers, will be influenced even more if there are any changes in raw material prices or during recession periods. The Balanced Scorecard is the preferable one fo Coors to implement. Over the last ten years Coors has not grown, instead they have held at 10% of the market even though they merged with another company during this time. However, the complexity of their distribution channels has required better management which the Balanced Scorecard did assist with. By tracking the production and shipping performance there were improvements. However, based on no growth within the sales/market share perhaps more focus needed to be placed in this area. In order to grow successfully they need to focus not just on costs but generating the sales to grow.