Dostoevsky s Notes Form The Underground - 1174 Words

INTRODUCTION: Fyodor Dostoevsky’s â€Å"Notes form the Underground† explores the suffering brought by isolation from society. Dostoevsky suggests that while it is impossible to escape the pain of isolation, he affirms it is necessary to save oneself from the modern society and the romantic self. The inevitably of suffering and the absence of consciousness is Dostoevsky’s example of the human condition of the ‘Enlightenment’ era that is tragic but rather truthful. He presents â€Å"The Underground Man† as a nihilist who is dissatisfied with his 19th century Russian context. The protagonist thus represents Dostoevsky’s worldview in his critique of the ‘Enlightenment’ project including its romantic alternative and so of the west as a whole. The notion of consciousness and mental suffering become apparent as the reason of â€Å"The Undergrounds Mans† desire to alienate himself from society who can never accept him. He is entrenched by his excessive conscious inertia that inhibits his action. This renders the fragmented protagonist to experience life in a vicarious manner with shame and depravity. Dostoevsky argues that while it is possible for ‘The Underground Man’ to indulge in his conscious thinking, the modern world does not encourage autonomy and authenticity Paragraph 1: Consciousness, reason/ rationale The values of the enlightenment lack reason and rationale, in a sense that individuals are not encouraged to ponder on their purpose, and ‘standardised belief’ system. This isShow MoreRelated The Pathological Protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground2598 Words   |  11 PagesThe Pathological Protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground Dostoevsky’s vision of the world is violent and his characters tortured; it is no wonder that many have viewed his work as prophetic of the 20th century. However, though Dostoevsky, in his unflinching portrayal of depravity, gives the Devil some of his best arguments, the Gospel often triumphs. Ivan Karamazov is at least offered the possibility of repentance when kissed by his saintly brother Alyosha. Raskolnikov, the nihilisticRead MoreThe Power And Punishment And Notes From The Underground1626 Words   |  7 Pagesthese buildings are still in existence today; their pictures engrained in textbooks and children’s minds as to how the Russians live. How could this possibly relate to a man who wrote stories like Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground? How could the mind of Dostoevsky burst in color when his writing is known for its decayed stance? Simply because of the way he was constructed, much like the towers were: with many different materials and condit ions put in place to craft what could be consideredRead MoreThe Underground Man By Fyodor Dostoevsky2839 Words   |  12 Pageswindow? In the novel, Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky talks about a scene where the underground man wanted to be thrown out of a tavern window after seeing another man get tossed out of it. The social control theory does a good job at explaining the underground man’s need to fit in with society. Do you want to be constantly in debt that you never have money and are a burden to your friends? The strain theory explains really well the scene in the book where the underground man does not get invitedRead MoreThe Societal Implications Of Free Will Versus Determinism1765 Words   |  8 Pagesultimately caused a thought or action or any change in the universe at all, would go back to far predate the existence of that final â€Å"actor.† This new viewpoint was called causal determinism. Dostoevsky s first delve into man’s psyche in the modern world features this modern form of determinism. Notes from Underground reads as one side of a conversation between the narrator and an enlightened, rationalist reader from the 19th century: â€Å"I suspect, gentlemen, that you look upon me with pity. You repeatRead MoreLiterature and Politics the Impact of Dostoevsky9582 Words   |  39 PagesLITERATURE AND POLITICS: THE IMPACT OF FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY Dostoevsky and the Legend of the Grand Inquisitor, by Vasily Rozanov. Translated and with an Afterword by Spencer E. Roberts. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1972. Pp. xi. 232. $12.50. Political Apocalypse. A Study of Dostoevskys Grand Inquisitor, by Ellis Sandoz. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971, Pp. xviii. 263. $13.50.* ostoevskys great novels have spawned a vast library of critical 1/literatureRead MoreEnglish Literature- an Episode in the Life of an Author5918 Words   |  24 Pagesthoughts†. Plays in the absurdist tradition attempts to show the irrational and illogical aspects of life through absurd characters, dialogues and situations. The plays of N.F. Simson, Harold Printer, Edward Albee fall within this category, but the form has been most popular in France because of its ties to existentialism and can be seen in the plays of Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Bucket. In Bucket’s waiting for ‘Godot’ two tramps waits interminably and in great uncertainty for someone who

University School Of Social Work - 1300 Words

The reason that I wish to apply to Rutgers University School of social work is that I want to further my education. I have worked very hard during my undergraduate year at Rutgers University, and I am proud of my achievements. I understand that a bachelor s degree is considered entry-level in the field of social work, and I would like to earn an MSW degree so that I can have a broader spectrum of career opportunities. I have worked as a social worker in the mentally ill population since achieving my undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, and currently I am working with geriatric population. If I am granted admission into the Rutgers school of social work, I will be overwhelmed with happiness, and I will work hard to achieve my†¦show more content†¦Thanksgiving and Christmas). I had fun bringing Christmas and Thanksgiving to the seniors. The events were always open to family and friends, which provided a sense of unity and made the holidays more personal. The Melv in Cottrell Center for Senior Citizens and the disabled has heightened my compassion for the geriatric population. In addition, as a young women-starting college I knew I wanted a career that will allow me to help others and make a difference in lives that I touch. My professional experience involves Bartley Health care, which is an assisted living for the geriatric population as I mentioned in the earlier paragraph. My duties are providing direct social services to residents and their families. Assisting residents and families with receiving services in the facility and or community, conducting family care conferences, completing initial social services assessments, assisting residents that are experiencing personal and environmental difficulties, inviting residents and or/families to care plan meetings, coordinate discharge planning, and providing support to residents that are in need. Bartley is one of the best nursing home facilities and I enjoy working with my co-workers who h ave been like family to me. I enjoy working my residents and putting a smile on their face. The values that affected my decisions were my appreciation for humanity and my love for helping others in need. I always

Effect of Landslipe Free Essays

Effects of Landslides Landslides are a major catastrophe the world as it is widespread andsignificant impact, including Malaysia. The effects of catastrophic landslides isdangerous to humans and to other living thingsFor example, the slope of the saturated with water to form debris flows or mudflows. Concentrated mixture of rock and mud may destroy the trees, houses, andcars and blocking the bridge. We will write a custom essay sample on Effect of Landslipe or any similar topic only for you Order Now Mud mixed with river flow can cause devastatingflooding along the route. Similarly, the ice floes formed in the river caused by ice clogging the rivers andflows more slowly. However, it can produce enough energy to destroy the bridge. Icemay accumulate on the edge or on top of weak layers of snow or unstable causescrash occurred. Pyroclastic flows (pyroclastic) arising from dust debris of ash, poisonous gasand hot rock from volcanic eruptions that spread quickly to eat anything that traveledto the effects of destruction and death. Among the social effects that can be described as: 1. Economic Decline Landslides are certainly cause damage to property. This brings losses to theeconomy of a country. Economic rehabilitation is also needed in the area that hasexperienced a landslide. This would cost a lot and some of the offending countryeconomy. Example:1. A average, these landslides caused loss of $ 1-2 billion U. S. dollars and 25disaster in the United States each year. 2. At Utah, U. S. , in 1983, the total cost to repair the landslide area of 500 milliondollars and it is financing the cost of the most expensive landslide in U. S. history3. Loss due to landslides in the United States is estimated at 1. 5 billion dollarsannually. 4. Earthquake the earth Loma Prieta in October 1989 caused thousands of landslides covering an area of 5400 square feet. Causing losses of at least $10 million dollars . 2 . Damage To Infrastructure. Landslides can lead to damage to property resulting from the force flow or mud. Infrastructure land such as buildings, roads, places of leisure and so on can bedestroyed by the landslide occurred. Example:1. Destruction a building and placement. 2. Land massive collapse can cause the destruction of a city. 3. Damage to roads4. Affect communication system of roads and communication systems. Loma prieta5. Earthquake the earth in October 1989 resulted in tens of thousands of experienced landslides with an area up to 5400 square feet. Cause affectedroad communication system, property damage and destruction of homes. 6. At Alpine Valley, as a result of the City causing damage to the bridge flows asa result of the power flow. 7. Slip Estate Park Hill View occur on 20 Nov 2002 destroyed a bungalow. 8. May 15, 1999, thousands of residents in housing estates and the InternationalBukit Wangsa Ukay in Jalan Hulu Klang trapped when a landslide occurred inthe 100 meter event 5:20 am that closed the only road out into theneighborhood 3. Loss Of Life. Loss of life is a dangerous effect upon the occurrence of a landslide and it isdifficult to avoid. Many lives will be lost upon the occurrence of landslidesExample:1. Landslide Estate Park Hill View occur on 20 November 2002 destroyed ahouse killing eight bungalows and family life. 2. Landslide in Highland Tower, Ulu Kelang cause of 48 people were killed andmany injured. 3. Landslide in Wales in the UK involves the rotation of the fine debris thatoccurs on hill slopes have been destroys a school causing 144 people werekilled, including 116 school children involved, aged 7 to 10 years. . Changes In The Surface Landscape. Landslide causes significant changes in the landscape of the earth’s surface. Pile of soil and mud from the landslide activity caused the high ground may be flatand settling sediment can become thick very quickly. Consequently, dam rivers or lakes become more shallow to hold a lot of water. Water level becomes higher andthe ground becomes waterlogged areas. Lan dslides can also cause soil or rock slope becomes increasingly steep andunstable. How to cite Effect of Landslipe, Papers

Business Level Strategy

Question: Decisions about which business metrics to track and how to calculate those metrics influence the behavior of operations teams. One criteria were interested in tracking is how many emailed replies (touches) it takes for support agents to resolve an inbound support ticket.Weve explored a few ways of addressing this question and have narrowed the suite of possible metrics down to a list of two:à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  % Single Touch Resolutionà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Calculated as: Count of tickets resolved with 1 touch / Count of resolved ticketsà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Average Touches Per Ticketà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Calculated as: Average count of touches for resolved tickets1. Explain the differences between these two metrics2. How might choosing one metric over the other influence behavior? Answer: % Single Touch Resolution In response to the number of tickets solved in a single touch, the Percentage Single Touch Resolution is referred to the ratio of the number of count of tickets solved with a single touch to the total number of resolved tickets in the help desk[1]. % Single Touch Resolution = (Number of tickets resolved with 1 touch)/ (Total number of resolved tickets) This estimation metric helps in determining the skills of the organization team in understanding the concerns of a particular ticket and providing quality solution to the customer of the concerned organization through its help desk such that the resolution satisfies the customer on a single touch. Average Touches per Ticket In response to the number of tickets solved in a single touch, the Average Touches per Ticket is referred to the average count of touches that are required in order to resolve the tickets that come in a healthy help desk of a particular organization[2]. Average Touches per Ticket = Total number of touches for resolving the tickets/ Total number of tickets resolved Thus, this estimation metric helps in determining the efficiency of the performance of the organization team in providing effective solution to the customers of the concerned organization through its help desk. 2. Influence of choosing one metric over the other As mentioned earlier, the Percentage Single Touch Resolution estimation metric helps in determining the skills of the organization team in understanding the concerns of a particular ticket and providing quality solution to the customer of the concerned organization through its help desk such that the resolution satisfies the customer on a single touch[3]. Thus, by implicating this metric in the business strategy, an organization could evaluate the knowledge capabilities of its employees and identify how efficient their resolutions are, which help in full satisfaction of the customers on a single touch. By estimating the Percentage Single Touch Resolution, the company could identify its quality of the resolutions being provided by its members and hence, act in encouraging the knowledge share in its business environment in order to enhance the knowledge and performance of the employees for providing quality resolutions in the future. Average Touches per Ticket, on the other hand, helps in measuring the touches (e-mail) required in order to satisfy a particular customer in respective of a particular ticket[4]. By implicating this metric within the business strategy, an organization could evaluate its resolving capabilities in respective of solving a particular ticket through its help desk. To conclude, choosing Percentage Single Touch Resolution over the Average Touches per Ticket would influence the organization to focus more on the quality of the resolution being provided to its customers. On the other hand, choosing Average Touches per Ticket would enable the organization to focus more on its resolving capabilities. Thus, Percentage Single Touch Resolution metrics display more of a qualitative approach whereas; the Average Touches per Ticket illustrates the quantitative approach of an organization in particular. References Jammalamadaka R, Mehrotra S and Venkatasubramanian N, "Protecting Personal Data From Untrusted Web-Based Data Services" (2011) 2011 Network Security Kuss O and Dickel H, "A Confidence Interval For The Difference Between Two Reaction Indices" (2011) 64 Contact Dermatitis Qiang Wang and Yingchao Shen, "Web-Based: A Data Warehouse On Osteoporosis Data Warehouse In The Osteoporosis Community Health Information Management System" (2013) 06 Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering. Wang Q and Shen Y, "Web-Based: A Data Warehouse On Osteoporosis Data Warehouse In The Osteoporosis Community Health Information Management System" (2013) 06 Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering [1] Bettina Forster and Helge Gillmeister, "ERP Investigation Of Transient Attentional Selection Of Single And Multiple Locations Within Touch" (2010) 48 Psychophysiology. [2] Ravi Chandra Jammalamadaka, Sharad Mehrotra and Nalini Venkatasubramanian, "Protecting Personal Data From Untrusted Web-Based Data Services" (2011) 2011 Network Security. [3] Qiang Wang and Yingchao Shen, "Web-Based: A Data Warehouse On Osteoporosis Data Warehouse In The Osteoporosis Community Health Information Management System" (2013) 06 Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering. [4] Oliver Kuss and Heinrich Dickel, "A Confidence Interval For The Difference Between Two Reaction Indices" (2011) 64 Contact Dermatitis.

National Health Services in UK

The Glass Menagerie, Tom Amanda Essays

The Glass Menagerie, Tom Amanda Essays The Glass Menagerie, Tom Amanda Paper The Glass Menagerie, Tom Amanda Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Glass Menagerie The statement itself is quite complex; and alike the play it has to be carefully de-constructed in order to gain deeper understanding. It is evident from the outset that Williams uses different approach to present his production; he has strayed away from the plastic theatre which he sees as tired and unrealistic. Instead he opts for a unique blend of expressionism -surrealism that supposedly connects with you on both your conscious and subconscious level to reveal the truth. Williams calls his drama a sculptural drama in which the main characters are presented as multi- defecated and three-dimensional l. However is this true? Our initial impression of Amanda is of a selfish melodramatic woman who cares primarily for self. This image depiction of Amanda is highlighted in Scene two, we see Amanda confronting Laura about not attending Rubicams Business College. Amanda: I felt so weak Fifty dollars tuition, all our plans-my hopes Pg. 14 It is comments such as this that give us these initial impressions of her. We observe her groaning over her lost ambitions her shattered plans without showing any empathy for her daughters physical and emotional disability, Ive told you never, never to use that word (We are also given the impression that Amanda is a women in denial. This view is exacerbated by her frequent tales of her gentlemen callers that become more fantastic with every account and her disbelief in regards to her Lauras disability. Likewise our initial impression of Tom is of a moody sicastic character of which the family is dependent. We watch him addressing his mother with immense hostility on one occasion calling her an old witch and even stating he how lucky dead people are to be relieved from her rise and shines However Williams manages to turn these impressions around, through his use of structure and Form. Tom the self-aware narrator who tells us his narrative in the form of his memory and alike the character Joe from Enduring love we have to read between the lines to gather the truth. It is from him we receive the social background and context of the play. Williams make us evermore aware of a memory with (possible embellishments) with his use of music, lighting and a screen device which may contradict what happening on the stage; but always highlight significant issues in the scene. For instance although we initially saw Amanda as a selfish and deluded after we are educated about her history we forced to sympathise. We learn that her husband and left to cope with a disabled daughter and a son, in a period when society did not understand or equipped to deal with such dilemmas abandoned her. It can therefore be argued that she has to be pioneering, bossy to survive and cope with everyday life. Therefore her selfishness can be perceived as her struggle to succeed. Her background can also be used to explain why she dwells in the past, as it can be argued that is a brief escape and relief from the hash reality of her life. Likewise the technical devices can be used to reveal the other dimensions of Toms character. For instance in scene six there is a screen image of a sailing vessel with the Jolly Roger. This highlights Toms dream of adventure and change and underlines his detest for the brain numbing warehouse. When we look at it in this respect we can understand and emphasise with Tom, who is working in an institution he absolutely loathes -Id rather someone battered out my brains to support his family. Can we really criticise Tom for being so moody? Even our impression of Laura the (foundation of the play) changes. We initially see her as a shy, disabled young woman who cannot fend for herself. However as the play progresses and we watch how Tom and Amanda are strangled by of Laura needy state, and we start to see her as manipulative and uncompromising force. To conclude Williams does manage to create multi-feacted characters through his innovative sculptural drama. We constantly hit with the sense of nostalgia are forced to connect with the characters on a conscious and subconscious level. It can be said that the method works so successfully because we consciously watch Toms memory meanwhile we equate what we are watching with society in on a subconscious level, which gives us a deeper understanding of not only the characters but also the whole play.

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Business - Essay Example The porter diamond factors of competitive advantages of a nation include; the government, factor conditions, port competition, related and supporting industry as well as the demand conditions that should be applied in all organizations so as to have high competitive advantages over their competitors. However, the framework may not be applied in most organization as it does not incorporate the multinational activities. The introduction of the generalized double diamond model has led to the significant changes within the organization. This framework takes into consideration the multinational activities whereas the porters’ original diamond model takes into account the traditional home-based activities. In addition the porter’s diamond framework makes an explicit connection between the geographical and the international industries therefore the industries can easily access raw materials for their company and can also market their products where they can get market for their produce. Companies gain competitive advantages through getting involved in the innovative processes within their organizations. The approaches of innovation involve use of the latest technology and gaining knowledge on how to carry out the activities of an organization effectively. The innovation processes are manifested through using new product designs, new production processes, having marketing approaches as well as conducting training campaigns within the organizations. The Porter Diamond framework was initiated by Michael Porter and is used in determining the competitive advantages of a country or a region. According to porter 1990, it states that the competitive advantage of a country is created and sustained by going through a highly localized process. However, the diamond framework determinants of countries or regions do not necessarily contribute to the success of a country. Porter analyzed the factors that

ACADEMIC WRITING Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ACADEMIC WRITING - Assignment Example Most of the best universities in the globe are either located in the United States of America or the United Kingdom. Both regions have higher education system that is rich and of greater quality. Research facilities are considered excellent. The countries possess a culture that promotes academic freedom and intellectualism. Despite a the number of similarities between the two countries, it takes a longer period of time to complete an undergraduate degree in the united states than in the united kingdom except in Scotland where a degree certificate is offered after 4 years of learning. A person with an undergraduate degree can move directly to a PHD in both systems, though it is common for a person to go through the master’s program in the United Kingdom before moving to the PHD. The United States system of education permit emphasizes on getting a range of knowledge from the various subjects that are different unlike in the United Kingdom that emphasized on depth and understandi ng of the subject of choice (Mahroum, 2010). Both regions experience differences in the structure of their education system. In the United Kingdom children have to attend primary and secondary education legally from the age of five to sixteen years. The system of education in the United Kingdom is divided into various key stages. The key stage one and two are done in the primary school from the age of 7 to 11 years whereas key stage three and four are offered in secondary school. Assessment is done at the end of each stage. The most essential assessment is carried out at the age of 16 years when learners sit for general certificate of secondary education (Plank, 2010). Once the students are through with their exams at this level, they may chose to further their education or move into the working world. The system in the United States of America is however different. Unlike the United Kingdom where

Principal of business Leadership Research Paper

Principal of business Leadership - Research Paper Example Business leadership is a process of organizational influence in which a single person or a group of people can enlist the support and aid of others in the business organization so as to accomplish its common goals and objectives. Leaders may not have formal authority but have the power to drive people to do something so as to achieve a common goal or task. Any business, no matter the size, requires effective leadership. For this reason, many scholars have come up with numerous principles to guide business leaders on how they can be effective in their leadership roles and responsibilities. This essay will discuss the principles of business leadership that effective business leaders should abide by. This paper will focus on how to be an effective business leader. There are very many scholarly and non-scholarly sources that talk about what makes an effective business leader (Frey, Kern, Snow & Curlette p 212). Most sources that are reviewed in this essay link the success and performance of a business organization with effective business leadership. The performance of a business organization is also closely associated to specific leaders of that particular organization. Hersey, Paul, Blanchard, Ken and Johnson (55) argue that the influence of effective business leaders is very powerful and can never be ignored. Business leadership requires individuals who have the capacity to influence others positively towards the realization (Kaiser, Hogan and Craig p 96). That is why effective business leaders are guided by business leadership principles as they execute their leadership roles. This principle calls for a business leader to be clear on what they want to ‘be’, ‘do’, ‘have’ and ‘know’. In being clear on what a business leader want to be, he or she should know what he/she is. This means that he/she should identify his/her beliefs and values so as to understand

Skills And Competencies To Be A Change Leader Management Essay

Skills And Competencies To Be A Change Leader Management Essay For the past two decades, the amount of significant change that the organizations faced in order to survive has tremendously increased, and many of the researchers argued that this situation will continue and demand more of future leaders (Wren Dulewicz, 2005; Senge et al., 2002). Leadership is such a crucial component for undergoing these changes, and identifying the key components of leadership is important for the success of these transformation efforts (Beer Nohria, 2000). Kotter (1996) considered that, leadership is the key to creating and sustaining the successful organization, because it helps the organization to shape its future and sustain its growth. To succeed consistently, good leaders need to be skilled not just in evaluating people but also in evaluating the abilities and disabilities of their firm as a whole. In addition, leadership competencies are also essential to lead the change processes in an effective way (Christensen Overdorf, 2000). According to Sanchez et al., (1996), leadership competencies have a cognitive aspect, with regard to knowledge and skills the leader possesses, and an action aspect that enables a leader to deploy their competencies in a coordinated manner. Leaders competencies and skills will influence the actions, structures and processes that enhance the change and it further strengthen the effectiveness in implementing change (Gilley et al., 2009). This essay will critically analyse whether anyone can adapt these leadership skills and competencies which is necessary to be a successful change leader. The analysis will be done based on the references of academic research that has been already conducted in this field. Necessary Skills and Competencies to be a change leader Leadership is different from management; leadership complements management but it does not replace it. Because management is about coping with complexity but the leadership is about coping with change (Kotter, 1990). The leadership-skill requirements will vary based on the leaders positions and their levels. The most important skills where the leaders need to be possessed are cognitive skills, business skills, strategic skills and interpersonal skills. Across all the leadership levels cognitive skills are founded to be more important. In addition, interpersonal skills are required for a leader in greater degree than business or strategic skills (Sparks Gentry, 2008). For example) during the group work on simulation game, the leaders of the successful teams had contributed a great part by understanding the views of the team members and through the organization of team meeting. This helped the team to bring out fruitful ideas and plans uniquely and also it helped the group leaders to emphasize their cognitive and interpersonal skills effectively. Compared to other skills, the significance of business and strategic skills is more required for the leaders in managerial level (Sparks Gentry, 2008). Possessing these leadership skills in change management has been linked to bringing about effective and successful organization change. Although, some of the factors are considered as the barriers for the success of the change, they are lack of understanding of change implementation techniques and the inability to alter ones leadership style or organization functions (Bossidy Charan, 2002; Gilley, 2005). The other barriers identified by the analysis include the inability of the leaders to motivate others to change, poor communication skills, and failure to reward or recognize the individuals who make the effort to change (Kotter, 1996). Hence the ability to understand and manage the change processes is valued as a necessary capability of change leaders. Many of the scholars defined this ability as a social intelligence skill, which is the ability to understand ones own and others feelings, behaviours and thoughts in interpersonal situations and to respond appropriately, which includ es emotional ability (Burke, 2002). Finally, leaders thoughts and skills are manifested through the actions of implementing change across the organization. In this stage, the leaders need to be aware about avoiding coordination issues when the different functional groups in an organization work on a common task. Because lack of coordination will raise conflicts in implementing change and it reduce its success (Kuhl et al., 2005). For example, while working for the multi-product task, the lack of coordination across the leaders from different departments affected the implementation of change. There were lot of conflicts aroused in allocating the budget across each department of the organization and hence it led to the ineffective change implementation. As per Zaccaro (2002), effective leadership requires social reasoning skills to understand, judge and diagnose social situations accurately, and relational competencies to respond to the change and manage them successfully. Since change implementation involves the understanding of multiple level of people (i.e., individual, group and organizational), social-emotional competency is regarded to have a direct impact on the capacity to lead change. It acts as a greater predictor of leading change than managing complexity. Social-emotional competency includes observing the employees views, providing constructive feedback, encouraging the cooperation among team members, maintaining effective interpersonal relationships with others and treating others with respect regardless of their position or rank (Mathew, 2009). For example) while working for the simulation game, in some of the groups, there was a long debate happened among the team members about the implementation of change strategies with different views and hence conflicts aroused. The leaders of those teams were also failed to maintain cooperation within the team. This led them to choose inappropriate change strategies and directed towards failure to reach their target. But while enquiring the teams who reached the target, I came to knew that the team leader had delegated the roles to each team members based on their knowledge about the game and by providing constructive feedback on their views. This helped them to maintain a good cooperation within the team without giving the ways for any conflicts and also it provided a way to reach their target within the time limit and budget. Within a change specific context Higgs and Rowland (2000, 2001) indicated a cluster of change leadership competencies associated with coaching and developing others. In addition Giglio et al. (1998) also emphasized the importance of leaders coaching role in the change process. Because a good leader should motivate their employees in order to make them aware of the change process. This will be done by providing appropriate coaching to them. According to Hudson (1999), coaching skills enable leaders to approach situations from new perspectives and to question the status quo. Moreover, the leaders who coach their employees can enhance their renewal capacity and resilience, which has significant influence on organizational success. Finally and more importantly it allows others to make and learn from mistakes. Huq (2006) argued that the leadership competencies can help to create the six sigma cadre in an organization. He argued that the personal and corporate competencies play a vital role in creating this six sigma cadre. Personal competencies include the technical knowledge and charisma of the leader. Whilst the corporate competencies include the combinations of skills and knowledge or experience that enable a leader to implement the change program successfully. But the available evidence shows that, even the experienced leaders were deviated from these competencies in some circumstances. The most recent examples of sudden corporate implosions (Enron, Lehman Brothers) have apparently raised concerns about the nature and influence of bad leadership. Higgs (2009) have identified that the causes of this leadership failure were due to combination of personal flaws and performance shortfalls. While exploring this concept, he also identified a range of causal factors for these implosions which are skill deficiencies, being insensitive to others, betraying trust, arrogance and being overly ambitious. He argued that the personal flaws were more vital than skill deficiencies as drivers of derailment.

Keyborading And Info Processing Pg 57 58 :: essays research papers

1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mindy left her coat here. Can she stop by for it? 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do you plan to go today? The game begins at four. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I wrote to Mr. Katz, but Miss Dixon sent the form 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do you know if Luic and lex Bauner are with br. Tu? 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Beau Monde Singers will perform at Music Hall. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lennox corp. now owns the Hyde Park athletic club. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Did you ask if the OEA contest is to be on Friday? 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dos FBLA meet on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  August was very hot, but September is rather cool. 10.they are to spend July and august at Myrtle Beach. Page 58 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Script is copy that is written with pen on paper 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Copy that is written poorly is often hard to read 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Read script a few words ahead of the keying point. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Doing so will help you produce copy free of error 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leave propend Page 59 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kacy and Zoà « may visit their parents on labor day 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gus asked if Memorial Day comes at the end of May. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Fourth of July horns the Americans Revolution. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bastille bay is in honor of the French revolution. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you were in Nevada, did you visit Hoover Dam? 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Did he see Paris from the top of the Eiffel tower? 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Val drove through the black hills in South Dakota. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We canoed down the Missouri river near Sioux City. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jemel lives at bay towers near Golden Gate Bridge. 10.our store is now in midtown plaza on Kenwood road. Page 63 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rough draft is keyed copy with handwritten changes. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Special marks are used to show changes to be made. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First read a sentence noting changes properly. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, check to see that you made. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If not correct your work or key the sentence again. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Read rough draft slightly ahead of the keying point. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Doing so will help you to make all the changes right. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You soon will key often from script and rough draft. Page 63 Straight Copy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No matter what form the copy tacks, keep the eyes on it as you key. If you look away from the copy, you will lose a second or two. If you look away too often your speed will drop by a word or two. Script Fix you eyes on the copy now and keep them there as you key this copy. Be quick to recognize looking away will drop you speed. Rough draft Read script and rough draft with real care to avoid a Major error in keying. Read a little ahead of where your keying The quiz on the 18th will be on pages 11 to 18 and 81 to 88. The quiz on the 18th will be on pages 11 to 18 and 81 to 88.

Virgin Mobile Case Analysis

Virgin Mobile has strategically shaped its marketing mix to appropriately target the younger demographic. First, lets look at it’s the product element. The younger demographic is more open to new things like text messaging, downloading information from their phones, ring tones, faceplates, graphics, having access to popular entertainment on their phone, etc. For younger people, phones are less of a tool and more of a fashion accessory or personal statement. To appeal to these needs, Virgin Mobile created â€Å"VirginXtras,† which involve the delivery of popular content, features, and entertainment. They signed an exclusive, multi-year content and marketing agreement with MTV networks to deliver music, games, and other such content to Virgin Mobile subscribers. Consumers have access to branded accessories and phones, graphics, ring tones, text alerts, and voice mail. In addition to the MTV-branded content, Virgin Mobile also included the following VirginXtras: text messaging, online real-time billion, rescue ring (a prearranged â€Å"escape† call such as to avoid a bad date), wake up calls, fun audio clips, a hit list of top 10 songs in which subscribers can listen to and vote for, a music messenger that allows subscribers to shoot a message to their friends so that they listen to a song, and a movie application that provides descriptions, show times, and ticket purchases in advance. All of these features appeal to the youth market, and generate additional usage and loyalty. Next lets look at the elements of placement and distribution. Virgin Mobile adopted a channel strategy that was more closely aligned to its target-market segment. They decided to distribute their products in channels where youth shop, which means places like Target, Sam Goody, music stores, and Best Buy. These are the stores that kids usually buy consumer electronic products, such as CD players and MP3 players. Virgin Mobile decided to package their products in similar consumer electronics packaging so it would be familiar to these consumers. They created a clear, see through package where consumers can examine the phone without a salesperson helping them and purchase it like they would any other consumer electronics product they would normally buy. Virgin made a contract with the handset manufacturer Kyocera from which it buys different phone models with different features and functions. The first two basic models were bundled with interchangeable faceplates that would be decorated with eye-catching colors and patterns, bundled into a bright red starter pack. This starter pack would be easily visible on large point-of-sale displays, and available at all of the popular retailers that the younger demographic shops at. The younger demographic doesn’t want to be hassled with sales people and extra obstacles in purchasing a phone. They want fashionable, accessible, easily located, and conveniently located products. That is the exact aim Virgin Mobile was going for in its placement and distribution strategy. Another important element of the marketing mix is promotion. Virgin mobile had a much tighter focus and narrower target market than that of their competitors. This meant that they could target the youth demographic in a more direct, efficient, and less-cluttered way. As generally noted, the younger generation is more responsive to advertisement that is up-to-date, modern, fun, and relates to the â€Å"young and hip† attitude of their generation. Since younger consumers often view their phone as a personal statement, it was important for Virgin Mobile to reach this personal and youthful side. They devised an advertising that the company described as â€Å"quirky, offbeat, and completely different. The ads featured teens and made use of strange, quirky metaphors. They named their phone models â€Å"Party Animal† and â€Å"Super Model† to relate to pop culture and the younger generation’s lifestyle. Virgin Mobile used this unique promotional strategy to stand out from the rest of crowd and truly make a statement to the younger demographic with ads that are not boring and â€Å"run-of-the-mill. † They were a lot more unique, creative, and entertaining—all attributes that younger consumers value. Furthermore, the company worked with popular youth magazines to publish â€Å"advertorial† pieces. Virgin Mobile also executed numerous high-profile street marketing events that featured paid performers—dancers and gymnasts dressed in red from head to toe—who engaged in various stunts. Perhaps the most famous and attention grabbing promotional stint was for the launch of the Virgin Mobile USA service. The cast of The Full Monty—a popular Broadway show—appeared with Sir Richard Branson (Virgin founder) dangling from a building in NYC Time Square wearing nothing but a large Virgin Mobile red phone. It is events and promotional stints like these that truly reach out the younger aged consumers—bold, exciting, modern, and fun. Virgin Mobile Case Analysis Virgin Mobile has strategically shaped its marketing mix to appropriately target the younger demographic. First, lets look at it’s the product element. The younger demographic is more open to new things like text messaging, downloading information from their phones, ring tones, faceplates, graphics, having access to popular entertainment on their phone, etc. For younger people, phones are less of a tool and more of a fashion accessory or personal statement. To appeal to these needs, Virgin Mobile created â€Å"VirginXtras,† which involve the delivery of popular content, features, and entertainment. They signed an exclusive, multi-year content and marketing agreement with MTV networks to deliver music, games, and other such content to Virgin Mobile subscribers. Consumers have access to branded accessories and phones, graphics, ring tones, text alerts, and voice mail. In addition to the MTV-branded content, Virgin Mobile also included the following VirginXtras: text messaging, online real-time billion, rescue ring (a prearranged â€Å"escape† call such as to avoid a bad date), wake up calls, fun audio clips, a hit list of top 10 songs in which subscribers can listen to and vote for, a music messenger that allows subscribers to shoot a message to their friends so that they listen to a song, and a movie application that provides descriptions, show times, and ticket purchases in advance. All of these features appeal to the youth market, and generate additional usage and loyalty. Next lets look at the elements of placement and distribution. Virgin Mobile adopted a channel strategy that was more closely aligned to its target-market segment. They decided to distribute their products in channels where youth shop, which means places like Target, Sam Goody, music stores, and Best Buy. These are the stores that kids usually buy consumer electronic products, such as CD players and MP3 players. Virgin Mobile decided to package their products in similar consumer electronics packaging so it would be familiar to these consumers. They created a clear, see through package where consumers can examine the phone without a salesperson helping them and purchase it like they would any other consumer electronics product they would normally buy. Virgin made a contract with the handset manufacturer Kyocera from which it buys different phone models with different features and functions. The first two basic models were bundled with interchangeable faceplates that would be decorated with eye-catching colors and patterns, bundled into a bright red starter pack. This starter pack would be easily visible on large point-of-sale displays, and available at all of the popular retailers that the younger demographic shops at. The younger demographic doesn’t want to be hassled with sales people and extra obstacles in purchasing a phone. They want fashionable, accessible, easily located, and conveniently located products. That is the exact aim Virgin Mobile was going for in its placement and distribution strategy. Another important element of the marketing mix is promotion. Virgin mobile had a much tighter focus and narrower target market than that of their competitors. This meant that they could target the youth demographic in a more direct, efficient, and less-cluttered way. As generally noted, the younger generation is more responsive to advertisement that is up-to-date, modern, fun, and relates to the â€Å"young and hip† attitude of their generation. Since younger consumers often view their phone as a personal statement, it was important for Virgin Mobile to reach this personal and youthful side. They devised an advertising that the company described as â€Å"quirky, offbeat, and completely different. The ads featured teens and made use of strange, quirky metaphors. They named their phone models â€Å"Party Animal† and â€Å"Super Model† to relate to pop culture and the younger generation’s lifestyle. Virgin Mobile used this unique promotional strategy to stand out from the rest of crowd and truly make a statement to the younger demographic with ads that are not boring and â€Å"run-of-the-mill. † They were a lot more unique, creative, and entertaining—all attributes that younger consumers value. Furthermore, the company worked with popular youth magazines to publish â€Å"advertorial† pieces. Virgin Mobile also executed numerous high-profile street marketing events that featured paid performers—dancers and gymnasts dressed in red from head to toe—who engaged in various stunts. Perhaps the most famous and attention grabbing promotional stint was for the launch of the Virgin Mobile USA service. The cast of The Full Monty—a popular Broadway show—appeared with Sir Richard Branson (Virgin founder) dangling from a building in NYC Time Square wearing nothing but a large Virgin Mobile red phone. It is events and promotional stints like these that truly reach out the younger aged consumers—bold, exciting, modern, and fun.

The eNotes Blog New Student Aid Package How Can YouBenefit

New Student Aid Package How Can YouBenefit Reuters reports that President Obama will today sign into a law an overhaul of the nations student loan programs. The new rules cut banks out of the equation, which the President says will benefit students and taxpayers. From the article: The White House said the change would save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade. The money saved will help expand and strengthen the federal Pell Grant program for students. The change will cap college graduates annual student loan repayments at 10 percent of their income, spends more at community colleges and awards $2.55 billion to historically black colleges and universities. Obamas fellow Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives got the measure through Congress by tucking it into a package of changes approved last Thursday to the sweeping U.S. healthcare overhaul. So how can you benefit from the overhaul? Most of the benefit will come in greater availability of student loans and Pell Grants. Pell Grants are need-based grants made to low-income students and you can apply online. Also, if you have an existing student loan, you will benefit from only having pay a maximum 10% of your total income to service the loan payments.

Two approaches have been used to control pollution essays

Two approaches have been used to control pollution essays Two approaches have been used to control pollution? Government mandates and market incentives. Suggest how market incentives might be used to deal with a pollution problem in Las Vegas. I find this topic to be very interesting, not only because it concerns all of us living in Las Vegas, but because we are also part of the problem. Pollution is not a laughing matter, and it has been strongly fought, without much success, in Southern Nevada in the past several years. One thing that makes fight pollution harder, is the exponentially growth of the population. That increases the number of cars out on the street, which means more traffic, and also higher production of garbage, and that translates itself into pollution. A lot can be done to decrease the traffic, to clean the Las Vegas wash, or to purify the air, for an example. The problem is, programs take a lot of money and a lot of time. For a program to turn out with an effective result, first you need researchers, and you also need a lot time to research, and that takes capital. That is the main reason why so many programs go wrong. Trying to fight the air pollution is hard. One of the ways that the local government tried to make the air pollution decrease was to build more roads. That is supposed to work because traffic would move at higher speeds, resulting in less congestion and eventually less pollution. But in the other hand, the constructions the highways put in the air high levels of dust, anther way of pollution. Cheaper ways of reducing pollution are available. But for those to become effective we need the communitys and the governments help. Obviously we do need traffic improvements, but we need to provide greater incentives to employers to get them to stagger work hours, we need to provide greater incentives to get employers to allow people to work at home whenever possible, and we need more trails so people don't feel like they have to get int...

Best Practices for Network Security is the Topic Essay

Best Practices for Network Security is the Topic - Essay Example In the absence of security policy, the availability of network for individuals and organizations can be compromised. It is important for users of networks to develop a sound security strategy, which involves paying close attention to the reality of internet speed, changes in technology and other realities of the technology world. Users need to know how and what to ensure network security (Convery, 2004). Individuals and organizations ought to take security management, planning, the design of procedures, and policy development in order to protect themselves from compromised security. Due to rapid technological advancements, network security is faced with new challenges frequently and this can significantly compromise the privacy and security of users. Therefore, it is important for organizations and individuals to meet the challenges of network and computer security by adopting best practices (Pauzet, 2011). In order to have an understanding of network security, this paper will discus s the best practices for network security. The first best practice for network security is the creation of usage policy statements. It is important for organizations and other users to create usage policy statements outlining the roles and responsibilities of users with respect to security. The starting point should by the establishment of a general policy that covers all data and network systems within the company (Juels and Oprea, 2013). Such a policy should outline the general user community with the security policy understanding, its aims, and guidelines to improve their security practices, as well as the definitions of their responsibilities to security. Along with the creation of usage policy statements, a company should create a partner acceptable use statement providing partners with an understanding of the information that they have, the conduct of the company’s employees, and the expected disposition of the information available to them. It is important for the comp any to describe explicitly any particular acts that have been noted as security attacks and the punitive actions that will be meted in an event of detection of security attack (Pearce, Zeadally, and Hunt, 2013). The final aspect in this regard is the establishment of an administrator acceptable use statement in explaining the rules and procedures for privilege review, policy enforcement, and user account administration. In an event that a company has particular policies regarding the handling of data or user passwords, it should present those policies clearly (Dey et al, 2012). The second best practice for network security is delivering corporate security training and awareness. Since it is the responsibility of all employees to ensure network security is achieved, it is important that they should be educated about the acceptable and responsible usage of networks and other corporate resources. There is need to train them on network security including aspects of password policies. Th ey should be invited to training sessions on network security after a certain duration of time (Liska, 2003). During these sessions, employees should receive training about the do and don’ts of various network and computer usage that may compromise network security. For example, they can be taught about what they should do or not do in instant messaging.  

Economics for transport managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Economics for transport managers - Essay Example 637.25 Therefore, change in Real GDP between 2003-04 and 2004-05 will be given by; Change = 637.25 – 621.052 = 16.198 % change = (16.198/621.052)*100 = 2.6% (virtual.yosemite.cc.ca.us, 2011). Question 2 Consumer Price Index is largely used as a cost of living index, but in technical terms it is not. CPI measures average change over time in prices paid by consumers for a fixed basket of goods and/or services. Cost of living index would however measure all changes over time in the amount consumers need to spend to reach a certain level of utility or standard of living. CPI ignores vital changes in taxes, water and air quality, crime levels, consumer safety, and quality of education. Additionally, personal experiences may vary from what is indicated by the CPI, this is because an individual's purchasing pattern may differ from the standard market basket. Families which have children have different buying patterns than households of the elderly. The CPI also does not represent the experiences of rural dwellers. CPI measurement limitations fall into two broad categories. Sampling errors CPI only measures the prices of just a sample of items from a sample of shops in a sample of localities. Those items are chosen randomly by the using of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES). Non-sampling errors These are usually more significant than sampling errors. They bias the CPI upwards or downwards, so the CPI would normally tend to report higher inflation than what consumers are actually experiencing. a) Invention of LCD TVs will lead to lower level Substitution bias Consumers usually tend to respond to changes in price by substituting relatively cheaper goods for goods which have become more expensive. This is referred to as substitution bias. Substitution bias can either occur within item categories (lower level bias) or across item categories (higher level bias). b) Introduction of GPS units in cars will lead to Quality Change Bias If a product is 5% better than its pr edecessor, and its price rises by 10%, then the Bureau of Labor Statistics will record a price increase of only 5%.This reflects what is known as Quality Change Bias. c) Increased personal computer purchase in response to decline in their price will lead to New Outlet/Discount Bias. A discount outlet or price fall gives consumers the opportunity to purchase the same goods at a lower price. The current CPI ignores these price changes. Totally taking the price changes into account usually biases the CPI downwards. d) Greater use of bicycles after price levels increase will lead to high level substitution bias. Since consumers are switching from using cars to using bicycles, this is referred to as higher level substitution bias. e) Higher fuel taxes will lead to high level substitution bias. Since consumers will switch from fuel to using other energy sources, this will be a case of higher level substitution bias. Question 3 Factors that affect the rate of savings in an economy: A case study of Bangladesh Saving is defined as the process of setting aside a certain amount of current income for use in the future, or any resources that may be accumulated in this way over a certain period of time. How much individuals in an economy save is affected by their personal preferences for future over their present consumption and also their expectations of their future income. If people

Alcohol Effect on the Human Liver Research Paper

Alcohol Effect on the Human Liver - Research Paper Example The liver has often proven to possess the capability of regenerating itself, but the effects of alcohol eventually overpower and wear it down, resulting in Damages are difficult to reverse. The alcohol consumption has several immediate and some durable effects. Although it is true that moderate drinking is beneficial to an individual’s health, such as reduce the risk of heart problems, too much consumption of alcohol can be detrimental to an individual’s health. Alcoholism is probably the most prevalent drug abuse in the US currently. In 1995, research by the American Bureau of statistics exhibited that 67% of all population over the age of 12 admitted having drunk beers within the previous year. Surprisingly almost fifty percent of them admitted to having drunk alcohol beverages within the past month. It has been implied that the reason for the rise of alcohol users, is that the beverage is pleasant, relaxing and is regarded as a social beverage by many. Consuming of a lcohol beverages occasionally may not have serious damage, however, drinking alcohol in excess can seriously destroy a person’s liver, resulting to conditions that are dangerous and potentially fatal. When an individual takes alcohol, the person feels euphoric in that the individual experiences a rush in the body that causes them to be happy (Black, 2010). This effect of alcohol on the human body makes alcohol a popular drink among individuals in the society. The use of alcohol has long-term effects on a person’s health and one of the most affected organs in the body is the liver. The liver has a critical function in the body’s metabolism in that it processes the food that we take in the digestive system.

Engage in personal development in health Essay Example for Free

Engage in personal development in health Essay Outcome 1 1. Within my role as a support worker it is my duty to support an individual to complete everyday tasks. This can be activities such as food shopping, house chores, preparing food and drinks, making and attending appointments, attending college or day centre facilities, or participating in clubs for people with special needs. I have a responsibility to ensure the activity is achievable for the client and that I am providing the right support to achieve this. 2. As a support worker I have a duty to adhere to the codes of practice set out by my employers and also to ensure I adhere to the regulations set out by law. National Occupational Standards (NOS) ensure I give the appropriate support and care to an individual. Outcome 2 1. Reflective practice means thinking about and evaluating what I do and discussing any changes which could be made. Thinking about how I could have done something differently, what I did well and what I could have done better. It also means reflecting our own values, beliefs and experiences which shape our thoughts and ideas. By continuously evaluating my performance I am able to ensure I am providing the expected level of service set out within the companys guidelines. 3. Everyone has different values, beliefs and experiences. We are more likely to be friendly and welcoming to people that share the same values and beliefs as us and less friendly to those that do not. However within my role it is expected that I provide the same level of care to every individual. Identifying your own beliefs and values will enable you to be aware of your reactions to others and enable them not to impact on the way you work. This is an important part of personal and professional development. Outcome 3 1. Codes of practice are put in place to enable you to understand your role and your responsibilities. Care plans are in place for each individual and the support I am required to provide is person-centred. I have a duty to ensure I am aware of each individual’s needs and to highlight any area I believe needs refocusing. Training should be relevant to the needs of individuals and provided by the company to ensure I adhere to regulations set out by law and the policies and procedures in place adhere to the current NOS guidelines. Outcome 4 1. Planning and reviewing my development usually takes place during planned supervision with my manager and my yearly appraisal. However I can approach either of my team leaders if I believe I require further training that is relevant to my role, they will speak with management on my behalf. Outside sources of support such as care managers, learning disabilities team or CQC may also highlight areas they feel further training is required if it is relevant to an individual I am to provide support too. Outcome 5 1. Attending training courses has enabled me to provide a level of care that is specific to the needs of the individual I am providing support too. During team meetings we may discuss serivce users and their needs. If a colleague has found something that works for them they will highlight it and it may be something I can use when working with that individual.

Lolita: The Etymology of a Nymphet :: Essays Papers

Lolita: The Etymology of a Nymphet The novel Lolita concerns a relationship characterized by obsession by a middle aged man, Humbert, for a prepubescent girl, Lolita. This fictional relationship has been a source of many questions as to what the writer, Vladimir Nabokov, had in mind when he wrote the novel. Thus, the novel has been looked at from different aspects in attempting to come up with what it portrays. Humbert, in his flowery description of Lolita, uses the word "nymphet" to refer not only to her but also to other girls of her age and characteristics. Little girls that came his way before Lolita, he describes as nymphets too. The purpose of this analysis will be to discover what exactly Humbert refers to as a nymphet in the novel Lolita in relation to the type of image today's society sees as a nymphet with the goal of establishing whether or not the novel portrays the influence of a nymphet. It will attempt to find the similarities and differences between the image of a nymphet that Lolita portrays and the real life image of today. The history of the word "nymphet" in English does not go beyond 1955 when the novel Lolita was published because its first use is in the novel. It was introduced into English by Mr. Humbert Humbert himself. Through his unique sexual perception, Humbert describes the behavior or the sexually luring ability of little girls as unnatural or nymphic: "Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as "nymphets (16)" Nymphic is adjectival for the noun 'nymph' and the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia defines nymphs to be, in "Greek and Roman mythology, lesser divinities or spirits of nature, dwelling in groves and fountains, forests, meadows, streams, and the sea, represented as mortal and beautiful creatures that were sometimes love objects to olympian maidens, fond of music and dancing." They could also be "vengeful and destructive", a character that will be shown to work against Humbert, not physically, but emotionally. Humbert's image of a nymphet is enhanced by the thoughts and memories of Annabel that he harbors. He sees Lolita as a reincarnation of Annabel: "It was the same child - the same frail, honey-hued shoulders, the same silky supple bare back, the same chestnut head of hair" (39). Lolita: The Etymology of a Nymphet :: Essays Papers Lolita: The Etymology of a Nymphet The novel Lolita concerns a relationship characterized by obsession by a middle aged man, Humbert, for a prepubescent girl, Lolita. This fictional relationship has been a source of many questions as to what the writer, Vladimir Nabokov, had in mind when he wrote the novel. Thus, the novel has been looked at from different aspects in attempting to come up with what it portrays. Humbert, in his flowery description of Lolita, uses the word "nymphet" to refer not only to her but also to other girls of her age and characteristics. Little girls that came his way before Lolita, he describes as nymphets too. The purpose of this analysis will be to discover what exactly Humbert refers to as a nymphet in the novel Lolita in relation to the type of image today's society sees as a nymphet with the goal of establishing whether or not the novel portrays the influence of a nymphet. It will attempt to find the similarities and differences between the image of a nymphet that Lolita portrays and the real life image of today. The history of the word "nymphet" in English does not go beyond 1955 when the novel Lolita was published because its first use is in the novel. It was introduced into English by Mr. Humbert Humbert himself. Through his unique sexual perception, Humbert describes the behavior or the sexually luring ability of little girls as unnatural or nymphic: "Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as "nymphets (16)" Nymphic is adjectival for the noun 'nymph' and the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia defines nymphs to be, in "Greek and Roman mythology, lesser divinities or spirits of nature, dwelling in groves and fountains, forests, meadows, streams, and the sea, represented as mortal and beautiful creatures that were sometimes love objects to olympian maidens, fond of music and dancing." They could also be "vengeful and destructive", a character that will be shown to work against Humbert, not physically, but emotionally. Humbert's image of a nymphet is enhanced by the thoughts and memories of Annabel that he harbors. He sees Lolita as a reincarnation of Annabel: "It was the same child - the same frail, honey-hued shoulders, the same silky supple bare back, the same chestnut head of hair" (39).

Being a Muslim :: Papers

Being a Muslim Yes I think it is hard to be a Muslim in a country like England for example if you go to school or work you have to miss some of the prayers. Five Pillars of Islam Shahadah A Muslim expresses his/her faith in the following words: Ash-hadu anla ilaha illal-Lahu Wahdahu la Sharika Lahu wa-ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu The English translation of the Shahadah is as follows: " I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, the One, without any partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger." The declaration of faith consists of two different parts, i.e., the absolute belief in the Unity of Allah (God) and the belief in the Holy Prophet Muhammad as a mortal human being and the Messenger of Allah. A Muslim accepts Allah as the only God, and only Master, Lord and Ruler with no partner sharing in any way His Being, Powers and Attributes. He is One; He is Unique; He is not the father of any one, nor He has or had any father. He is Almighty and Self-Sustaining. He is there forever, and will be there forever. A Muslim believes in Allah as the Ruler and must not disobey Him. In fact everything that exists in the universe obeys Him. He is the Fashioner of all the Universes that may exist. This statement makes one to completely submit to the Will of Allah and that is why one who declares this belief is called a Muslim - one who completely submits to the will of Allah. Salat Salat is one of the five pillars of Islam, it is a most important element of the faith. It is prayer of a very high level. The Holy Quran repeatedly enjoins the offering of salat and indeed declares it to be a fundamental characteristic of a believer. The benefits of salat are countless. The Holy Quran says: "And enjoin Prayer on thy people, and be constant therein.

Counseling gifted students

The child who is gifted has different sets of needs and challenges which are indeed complex ones. The bigger bulk of responsibility lies in the hands of the parents and then the school. A lot of studies have been conducted to establish what these needs are, how one gifted child differs from another, and the varying interventions that may be employed to enhance and meet the unique requirements of the gifted child. This paper attempts to explain in precis guidelines in counseling the gifted students according to how they conduct themselves within and outside the academe.This will include a discussion of some issues that address the parents’ roles and those that may be acquainted with the students. Discussion Giftedness comes in diverse ways, and educators, parents alike follow some hard and fast rules in determining students who fall into specific categories of giftedness. This definitely spells problems as findings in studies show. ~Background Terman brought the Binet intellige nce inventory to the United States in the early 1920s. This intelligence test became widely used for categorizations of giftedness as well.Eventually, other tools were developed to classify giftedness since the measurement of intelligence was no longer sufficient to put people or children into the categorizations. For instance, many who got average or below average scores in the tests possess creativity in other areas not just measured in the IQ tests. During Lewis Terman’s time, he succeeded to identify many with 130 and above IQs who faired and did well in professional work. Gone was the picture of a â€Å"puny, pasty-faced bookworm† (Papalia et al., 2001)which used to depict someone with high intelligence. What emerged were profiles of well-adjusted, vocationally superior students and adults. With this sample, there was not one who came out as a person as close to the intellectual capacity as that of Einstein. Einstein was thought to be described as possessing the i nsatiable drive and the â€Å"furious impulse to understand† (Papalia et al. , 2001 in Michelmore, 1962, p. 24). Today, many specialists look into the minds of a gifted student by defining and measuring creativity.This entails that a person possesses the ability to provide a novel idea or solution to a problem, make solutions which others have not discovered before, or finding very unusual solutions. It takes into consideration that high creativity may not be found with the high academic intelligence criterion. Classic researches by Anastasi and Schaefer 1971, Getzels in 1964, 1984, Getzels and Jackson in 1962, 1963, all reveal the â€Å"modest correlations† linking IQ and creativity (Papalia et al. , 2001).From this development, Guilford proposed the two kinds of thinking: the convergent and divergent. IQ tests measure convergent thinking which looks for accurate and single correct answer or solution. The tests for creativity seek divergent type of thinking (Papalia e t al. , 2001 in Guilford, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1967, 1986 & Torrance, 1966, 1974). ~Interventions and Enrichment Programs are varied depending on the institution in which the student/s is enrolled; however, most schools are mandated and are trained to identify or recognize children with gifted or exceptional abilities.The US Department of Education identifies the basic two approaches employed in meeting the complex needs of this oftentimes marginalized segment of students. Enrichment enlarges and intensifies skills and knowledge base by providing the student with additional classroom projects or activities; field trips can be very important to enhancing a student’s creativity and coaching by an expert in the child’s specific talent or interest. Another approach is acceleration which is oftentimes urged by experts and educators.Children skip a grade or take a placement test to be classified in a specific or particular subject or advanced courses. The counseling course then often takes a route along these two approaches. Once the child is identified as possessing some remarkable qualities that are unusual to his age or group, the parents are advised to provide the enrichment the child needs. In whatever the case, teachers often are placed in positions to identify these creative streaks and expected to make the necessary interventions to help the student make use of his talents.In most cases, children suffer some debilitating â€Å"handicaps† due to their unusual creativity; such as a combination of ADHD and the giftedness (they call it â€Å"twice exceptional) (Mahoney, 2007). This is where parents and especially teachers must be fully trained to spot complications that go with being gifted. ~What a teacher can do for gifted students One of the glaring realities of academics is that with normal schooling, majority of the school materials are based on developmental norms. This only means one important and relevant thing concerning the gifted st udent: they are highly inappropriate for him.Hence, even if many of these teachers may be willing to find ways to help them, the teachers may have deficiencies in handling their cases or the experience to know what efforts to pursue that are more applicable to these students. For instance, the regular manner of teaching is the reductionistic method; the taking of large chunks of information and breaking these into â€Å"bite sized† portions for schoolchildren. However, in stark contrast, the minds of the highly exceptional have the capacity to â€Å"swallow† large portions of these materials in a single time.They thrive on more complex and difficult subjects. Because of this scenario, students who receive â€Å"normal school† treatment may be forced to go at the slow pace and may appear incapable among their peers. Teachers must be made aware that alongside other difficulties, specific manifestations may be evident as symptoms of their difficulties; e. g. , havi ng messy school work because their hands cannot cope with the speed of their minds, or may even be poor spellers and poor performers in rote memorization. In other words, these students with their contrasting difficulties just don’t seem to fit.Students with exceptional abilities need the help of not only one or two people but if possible many individuals. It takes a concerted and coordinated effort from different entities for many students with giftedness to benefit from. There is first and foremost the contribution of the educational community as important and crucial partners to assure that the following outcomes be attained: 1) Every individual with exceptionalities be provided with individualized assistance and encouragement from a professionally competent as well as caring or empathic specialist.This means that students with exceptionalities are recipients of the expertise of teachers with the right trainings; school counselors with sufficient skills and knowledge in gu iding individual students with more than average capabilities; and an educational pool of experts within the community whose aims or goals are to keep on innovating the strategies to enhance the students’ abilities. 2) That the educator whose practice is geared towards giftedness be empowered and provided with the right opportunities for teaching and learning effective means of this specific profession.This implies that not only in the national, regional level, every teacher or instructor in each local institution both in the private and public arena be given the chance for the basics in detecting giftedness and guiding problems and challenges that exceptional students face. 3) That validated and effective instructional practice and training be used in the specialty ensuring the students of updated methods and processes in the field of giftedness (Coleman, 2000). ~The School Counselor’s roleThe rationale for laws that are put in place requiring every school employing t he services of a school counselor is well supported by researches for the special and constant needs of students who come with different degrees and measures of difficulties. Because the viewpoint of highly gifted students is definitely beyond what ordinary students may envision their circumstances, academics and life in general may be, this heightened perception always entail disadvantageous results in their manner of conducting their lives. At the outset, with this picture, children must have caring adults who see their world and the way they perceive things.What are the basic needs that children or students have with highly exceptional abilities? Two primary needs are important to examine: the need for these students to feel comfortable with their giftedness that create both immense possibilities as well as their corresponding difficulties, and the need to cultivate, expand, and utilize their potential. In addition, the powerful internal drive to highlight and build on these abil ities may be frustrated or blunted by several means with dire consequences resulting to a student’s paralyzing emotional injury.The goal then for the parents, teacher or school counselor is to magnify on the child becoming an asset rather than emphasizing on such possibilities as pursuing and achieving fame, high economic status or even a Nobel Prize. It is important that the goal for the educational community is for gifted students who will develop into an individual adult who will become comfortable with his innate capabilities and has used them productively. ~Issues of Confidentiality and the need to disclose Many problems are faced by students who are highly creative.This includes the need to conform to the majority, seemingly lacking in motivation, lack of insights into their asynchronicity, the parental lack in terms of knowledge or understanding into their child’s dilemmas, underachievement and a host of others. These are further complicated by lack of experts i n the local level. To be specific, school counselors will have to examine the eventualities when counselees are confronted with concerns such as confidentiality and the need to disclose. Psychotherapy or counseling with minors is quite a challenging work considering that its very nature poses many complications in many areas.There are ethical and legal issues to consider aside from protecting confidentiality for the minor client. The therapist must have acquired a comprehensive knowledge (a priori knowledge, as expected from a professional psychotherapist) with regards to the complexities involved in an issue/s he or she will be dealing with to steer clear further unnecessary complications. Applying ethical standards, to breach the confidentiality of things of which the counselor has become a privy to because of the client’s trust might be necessary considering the overall scenario.For one thing, the patient is still a minor. The parents must be involved in the whole process of counseling until emotional and mental healing is achieved (ASCA, A. 7. , A. 8. , and B. 1, 1998). In surveys conducted, there is a common sentiment by teens that eventually, when there is endangerment and/or threats that may be involved, they consent to having that confidentiality breached. They would still want their parents or caregivers to be finally involved and included in their dilemma (Isaacs & Stone, 1999).Based on this study, the minors expect that though their privacy ought to be respected, they also recognized that there are still certain limitations to this confidentiality. At the bottom of this problem is the premise of collaboration of parents, the child, the school with the teachers and school counselor in active roles and the other aspects of the society. What is crucial here is the time and effort expended to thoroughly explain the limitations of confidentiality and other provisions existing within the helping relationship (Isaacs & Stone, 1999).It is not foolpro of and perfect but so far the best approach in every situation where minors are the primary clients. Reference: American School Counselor Association. 1998. Ethical Standards for school counselors. Alexandria. VA: Author. Retrieved February 18, 2008. Bourg, Allison, 2007. Counseling the Gifted: Andy Mahoney puts talent, experience to good use. Retrieved February 28, 2008. Coleman, M. R. 2000. Conditions for special education training: CEC Commission Technical Report.Arlington, VA. Isaacs, M. L. , & C. Stone. 1999. School Counselors and confidentiality: Factors affecting professional choices. Professional School Counseling, 2(4). 258 -267. Accessed February 8, 2008. ProQuest Database. Isaacs, M. L. , & C. Stone. 2001. Confidentiality with minors: Mental Health Counselors’ attitudes toward breaching or preserving confidentiality. Journal of Mental Health Counseling. 23(4), 342-357; Accessed February 18, 2008. Papalia, Diane, Sally W. Olds &Ruth D. Feldman. 2001. Human develop ment, 8th ed. McGraw Hill. U. S. A.

Principles of war essays

Principles of war essays The Liberation of Groningen - An Urban Battlefield April 1945 marked a significant date in history for the Canadian soldiers that were involved in a major urban battle during World War II, The Liberation of Groningen. This historic event was fought between an all Canadian Corps and a multi-element German force. The principles of war that were evident in this conflict was economy of effort and concentration of force. Both the Canadians and Germans used these principles to their advantage and disadvantage. Economy of effort was the principle of war that was misapplied by the Canadians during The Liberation of Groningen. Instructions were given to neither use airpower nor employ heavy artillery as they penetrated into the city. By substituting manpower for firepower the Canadians suffered 209 casualties, 43 were fatal.# Although heavy causalities were incurred for the Canadian corps, the commanders intent of leaving the city undamaged was achieved. There were very few civilian casualties and the citys infrastructures such as the railway station, hospital and natural gas plant remained intact. The Germans applied the principle of economy of effort effectively. They were very familiar with the city and had great knowledge of the surrounding terrain putting them in a strong defensive position. They employed males between 16 and 60 years to build a vast network of trenches, anti-tank ditches and weapons pits. Aerial photos revealed that these defensive works made Groningen a veritable fortress that would be heavily defended.# As a result of these defensive maneuvers by the Germans, the Canadian troops realized that they had to take a different approach to overtake the city. They would have to clear the streets going house by house. This type of urban warfare slowed the attackers progress and inflicted heavier casualties. The Germans applied the principle concentration of forc...

Document Analysis of Wittes Economic Policy Reform Essay Example

Document Analysis of Wittes Economic Policy Reform Essay Example Document Analysis of Wittes Economic Policy Reform Essay Document Analysis of Wittes Economic Policy Reform Essay Sergei Witte, the author of this document of economic policy reform was appointed to the position of Minister of Finance in 1893. He was appointed Minister of Finance during the reign of Alexander III to help Russias struggling economy. Witte was a very influential Minister of Finance achieving the ultimate goal of putting Russia on the gold standard in 1897. 1 This was one of the main reasons as to why this document was written in 1899, because Russia could now implement radical economic policies due to the foreign investment it received because it had the gold standard. Witte was an admirer of Western European style economies, and did not approve of Russias policy of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods. By halting the policy of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods, Witte believed that this would be a fundamental factor in the industrialisation of Russia. Lionel Kochan believed that Sergei Witte was one of the most important men in Russia in pioneering its eventual success to industrialise. Although Kochan was an admirer of Witte, many western European historians believed that Wittes reforms hindered and not helped Russias economy, such as domestic industries which did not benefit from contracts and subsides. 3 The document of economic reform was addressed to the Tsar, Nicholas II. This document is meant for the Tsar to read and is extremely secret. Witte hoped Nicholas II would give his approval to his ideas of economic reform for Russia. The style in which Witte wrote the document is to inform the Tsar of the flaws in Russian economy and almost to scare the Tsar into immediate and radical change in economic policy. However, in various parts of the document, Witte seems to be somewhat sycophantic towards the Tsar, possibly in an attempt to win the approval of the Tsar to implement his economic policies for Russia. Nicholas II has been described as an ineffective ruler4 and this may have influenced the way in which Witte wrote the document. Witte knew that Nicholas relied on senior politicians to help him run the country and used this to his advantage in this document by highlighting some of Russias shortfalls when pitted against major European powers. This was a major factor in the construction of this document with only two years previous to it being written Russia received gold standard status which meant their currency could now be exchanged for all other gold standard currencies in the Europe. This made it easier for foreign capital to be invested into Russia. The idea of foreign capital being invested into Russia was a new innovation because before this document was written Russia had adopted an isolationist economy, and believed that, unlimited free trade did not permit the economy to develop calmly. The reason set out by Witte about the drastic need of foreign investment needed is to speedily furnish our country with abundant and cheap goods. Witte believed that this would therefore lead to businesses in Russia to seek out new technological advances which will ultimately bring down the price of goods for the consumer. When Witte wrote the document the current economic system in Russia was poor. The economy was geared towards exporting raw materials and importing finished goods, and because Russia were not supplying there own economy with finished goods, it meant that the average consumer in Russia had to pay a lot more for products than countries in western Europe. An example of this was an Englishman pays 26 kopecks for a pood of pig iron, an American will pay 32 kopecks, but a Russian pays up to 90 kopecks. This shows that Russians had to pay almost three times what western Europeans and Americans paid for their goods. When this document was written the policy of protectionism was adopted in Russia. This meant that high tariffs were imposed on imported goods, to protect Russian businesses. Although this is an understandable approach to protecting a certain economy it meant that Russian businesses did not have to compete for trade and therefore the standard of goods could be low, with no technological advancements. With the new economic policy Witte was trying to implement it meant that Russian entrepreneurs had to develop their ideas and ways in which they make their goods, in order for them to be cheaper for the Russian people. Witte also points out in the document that Russia needs to develop mass production industries, widely dispersed. and where competition play has the dominant role. This shows Wittes admiration of western European economies by wanting to create mass production industries, and shows his vision that Russia could be a major economic power. However, Witte understands the drawbacks of relying on foreign trade to boost the economy. He describes it as very dangerous to rely on foreign trade for the lowering of our prices. In his conclusion of the economic policy for the empire, Witte sets out six main points as to how his new economic policy for Russia is going to work. In it he says that the tariff of 1891 will not amended until the renewal of the trade treaties. Witte here shows his understanding that sudden changes to the current Russian economy will cause shocks that will have unprecedented damage to the businesses in Russia. Witte also shows understanding of the importance of domestic industry to Russia, he shows that without domestic industry, the influx of foreign capital will not be as much as before the new economic policy was implemented. This document is very reliable as a historical source. Although it was translated from Russian to English. Overall, Witte knew that although foreign capital was important to the new economic policy, he also understood that the protectionist system of old was important Russia. Witte therefore recognised that with the balance of domestic industry and foreign capital Russia could have a prosperous economy.

Blackberry Right Strategy Essay Example

Blackberry Right Strategy Essay Example Blackberry Right Strategy Essay Blackberry Right Strategy Essay The implementation of correct strategy in an organization is of vital importance. The reason for this is that strategy helps an organization to reach goals and it helps an organization to prosper. The correct Strategy and implementation also helps an organization to have a competitive advantage over its rivals. An organization with a competitive advantage can dictate terms to its rivals and can buy of niche markets supplying similar products. The aim of this assignment is to form an analysis of the strategic positioning of blackberry’s firm. This assignment will compare blackberry to its arch rivals and will review if blackberry’s performance is better than its rivals or not. We will also explain the reason behind the rebranding phase from the change of Research in motion to Blackberry. We will assess if we agree with the current strategies or not, and give a reason to why we think so. RESEARCH IN MOTION REBRANDS ITSELF AS BLACKBERRY CEO Thorsten Heins announced that his company will no longer be known as Research in Motion at a Blackberry event. He stated that it will be rebranded as â€Å"BLACKBERRY†. We have reinvented the company, and we want to represent this in our brand, Heins said. One brand. One promise. Our customers use a BlackBerry, our employees work for BlackBerry, and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry. (Website 1). Blackberry is also changing its stock symbols to reflect the change. It will be listed as BBRY in NASDAQ and BB in TSX. * It’s out with the old and in with the new as RIM rebrands itself with a new name, a new operating system and a new phone. It’s a bold step for a company that made several missteps after ruling the smartphone segment and believes it must start over from scratch with new products and a new brand. By changing its name and launching an excellent operating system that runs on impressive phones, BlackBerry is doing more than writing a new chapter. It’s starting a new book. The importance of this cannot be overstated as the company that once defined the smartphone segment struggles to remain relevant in the era of Google and Apple. Even though Blackberry is turning this new leaf through Rebranding they must not forget that whilst they were regrouping their competitors were constantly improving. Samsung and Apple in particular have become so dominant in the mobile industry. They managed to get into the cell phone industry through their Brand names Samsung and Apple which are world renown and very reliable products. Once in they took the world by storm by releasing A grade products in the Smartphone industry and have just made their Brands stronger. Blackberry needs to recognize their presence and start becoming much more innovative than they have been in the past. They need to ensure that they build a strong brand to compete and become better than the likes of Samsung and Apple. STRATEGIC POSITIONING OF BLACKBERRY Strategic positioning is the overall intended objectives and approach to a situation. Most business managers will carefully develop a well thought out strategic position and take considerable steps to communicate it to staff clearly so that all parts of the business can be operating towards the firms stated goals. Blackberry has to realise that they are competing in a high velocity market which is turbulent. What this means is that the technology is improving at such a rapid pace that they have to keep up to the pace otherwise they will fall back in the race to supremacy in the phenomenon of Smartphones. Short product life cycle poses a huge threat to Blackberry therefor in order to eliminate this demon they need to ensure that they constantly invest aggressively in Ramp;D to stay on the leading of technological know how (Corporate Strategy Notes, Tailoring Strategy to Fit Specific Industry and Company Situations, Page 4 of 8). At Present Blackberry is not doing so therefore their strategic position is unstable and they face the problem of falling behind their current rivals and new rivals. A case in point is Blackberry. Not so long ago, it was arguably the standard corporate accessory. If you were working for a blue chip multinational, chances are that a Blackberry phone was your standard issue kit. Now it’s very different. Apple’s iPhone has successfully made the transition from niche to mainstream use, while Samsung and other android mobile providers have developed feature-rich devices for non-Apple users. Blackberry got squeezed from both sides, and is now struggling to define its relevance. It recently launched its new product, the Z10, which at first glance could be mistaken for the iPhone. While it’s not easy for a brand to create a strong and differentiated competitive position in a crowded marketplace, that’s a more sustainable strategic alternative than either a) copying your competition or b) ignoring your competition in the hope that it will go away. As competitive positioning strategies go, this â€Å"head in the sand† approach is not only wishful thinking, but does nothing to build a brand’s credibility. Effective competitive positioning demands that you understand not only the real benefits your product offers to your customer base, but that you also understand and can articulate how those measure up against your competitors. Pretending they don’t exist gets you nowhere. The strategy chosen by Blackberry is dependent on situational factors and the direction the organizations owners wish to take. At present the situational factors include the threat and competition posed by Apple and Samsung in particular as they are emerging and improving day by day therefore Blackberry has to have the right strategy in order to keep up with them. Blackberry’s strategic position in the market is unstable at present because of the several external and internal forces being presented. The reason that we say it is unstable is because internally Blackberry is carrying out their strategies efficiently. That doesn’t mean that they are in a good place, because you can have Great Strategies, but they could be implemented poorly and in this case you can have mediocre strategies which are being implemented brilliantly. The efficient implementation masks that the strategy is mediocre but as we see in the performance of the product on a financial and technological level it does not live up to the standards in the competing smartphone industry. Therefore this is our core reason for saying that Blackberry’s strategic position is unstable. IF they don’t change their strategic position from being unstable to stable it may cause them to falter in years to come. If Blackberry releases a new line of Smartphones and they are a flop in the industry they will go from bad to worse and the consequence of that will result in the company losing lots of profit. If they do decide to formulate new strategies and implement them with efficiency it will result in them being able to compete in the market more fiercely and they would become much more financially and technologically stable. Whilst it is very easy of the tongue to say we are just going to adopt new strategies and succeed, we need to ensure we carry out Research and Development actions to ensure we obtain vital information to devise a plan of how we are going to go forward. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Research and Development departments are common in many larger companies, especially those working with newer products or technologies subject to important shifts. While research and development work can be instrumental in creating new products or adding features to old products, the work that the department does is more complex than simple innovation. Ramp;D is connected to marketing, cost management and other parts of business strategy. (Website 2) Blackberry has made a valiant effort with their Ramp;D department however it isn’t fully up to the standards of their competitors in the ndustry. This doesn’t mean that they are bad, their competitors are just on another level at present. More efficient Research and Development will ensure they get on par or even surpass the performance of their competitors. Blackberry has been good in the development phase as they have had their set norms being the Curve, Bold and Torch which they have developed and upgraded really well ov er the years. The curve has had the 8900 which was primarily 2G, however through development they now offer the 9380 which has a 2G-3G option and that is just focusing on one aspect. Others may include a slimmer phone, more user friendly buttons, variety of different colour options etc. This shows us that the Smartphone is constantly improving however it isn’t going that extra mile to ensure that they get a larger market share. A possible reason for this is that Blackberry is content with their profit as it stands and they do not want to risk investment being lost if they have a new proposition being a flop. The consequences of Risks are Rewards or Punishment and there is a very fine line between them. Blackberry has come out their shell in recent months with their release of the Q10 and Z10 Smartphones however it hasn’t really lifted off the ground very well. Sales are low and there consumers prefer the Apple iPhone or the Samsung S3 because they feel it is much easier to use and it has more to offer. The new release looks somewhat identical to the iPhone, some begin to think that Blackberry has adopted the strategy of copying the competition thinking that it may benefit them however the technology also has to match that of the iPhone, and so far it isn’t living up to those standards. Therefore Blackberry needs to go back to the drawing board and carry out thorough Research and Development programmes on how they really want to move forward because the Q10 and Z10 is more of a flop then a success as it stands. Even though the overall outlook on the new release is good, it still falls short of the standards of its competitors. Blackberry needs to find that cutting edge and decisive new form of technology that will allow them to compete up there with the likes of Samsung and Apple or even better them. For now they are just playing second fiddle and trying to catch up to the rapid pace that their competitors are moving at. The External Environment PORTER Porter’s 5 force analysis plays a vital role in how Blackberry goes about working around competition, and how they isolate competitive advantage or disadvantage of the company. It will also enable Blackberry to strategize accordingly to ensure they are up to standards in the market. 1. Competitive pressures associated with the market maneuvering and jockeying for buyer patronage that goes on among rival sellers in the industry†. The 1st Force enables for Blackberry to distinguish their Rival sellers in the industry and be able to release new cutting edge technology that is better than theirs in order for them to keep up to speed and stay ahead of the competition. 2. â€Å"Competitive pressures associated with the threat of new entrants into the market†. This Force enables Blackberry to realise that there is alwa ys the threat of new entrants in the market. To eliminate this pressure Blackberry always needs to have the latest technology to ensure that if new entrants emerge in the market with good technology they can compete with them or eliminate them instead of losing market share. 3. â€Å"Competitive pressures coming from the attempts of companies in other industries to win buyers over to their own substitute products†. The 3rd Force shows Blackberry that companies like Samsung and Apple who are generally associated with Tv’s and Ipod’s respectively in a totally different industry can come into the market with substitute products and compete with them. At present Samsung and Apple have first class products with the best technology and Blackberry is falling back very fast. This is a major area of concern and is an area where Blackberry needs to catch up with very fast or it will result in them soon being a midget in the market. 4. â€Å"Competitive pressures stemming from buyer bargaining power and seller-buyer collaboration†. From the 4th force Blackberry realise that it must have a good customer relationship in order for them to gain a bigger market share. Blackberry must allow the buyer some bargaining power otherwise the buyer will feel hard done by and may seek elsewhere. There must be a good level of collaboration between buyer and supplier that will ensure that Blackberry moves forward smoothly in the market. 5. â€Å"Competitive pressure stemming from supplier bargaining power and supplier-seller collaboration†. The 5th force shows Blackberry that they must have a good relationship with their suppliers in order to obtain their materials at good low prices. If the collaboration is good the result would be low production cost and higher profits. (Corporate Strategy Notes, Analysing the External Environment, Page 2 0f 6) GENERAL INDIRECT ENVIRONMENT (PESTEL) There are some factors that Blackberry has no control of in the external environment and they have to work around these problems. On the Political Sphere they are affected by the taxation policy which may ultimately affect their returns therefore they need to ensure that their profits are good and their tax is up to date which will enable them to be in the safe zone with the tax man. They have to also come to terms with the foreign tax regulations. The Economic sector is probably one of the most delicate. Changes in the economic sector have to be acted upon stealthily because it can affect the Blackberry in a big way. Inflation poses a big threat because with inflation comes higher cost for everything. Interest rates also play a major role. Social influence is a sector which Blackberry thrives on. The social sector includes lifestyle changes, levels of education, social mobility etc. The aim of Blackberry is to attract the masses with their product which will enable them to become more connected socially. Their Blackberry Messenger service does wonders in regard to this because it allows people to network at a high pace. The technological environment poses one of the biggest threats to Blackberry. As technology is rapidly improving it will be up to Blackberry to keep up with the pace, if not then they will lag behind and may suffer losses. They have no control over how fast technology improves therefore they will have to be on the ball. The Environmental sector includes waste disposal and energy consumption in connection with Blackberry. Blackberry needs to find the most efficient and green methods in manufacturing their product in order for them to save money and be safe in regard to the protection laws. Blackberry has to ensure at all times that they do not violate any labour laws and Employment laws. They must also make sure that they are keeping up to scratch with the Health and Safety Standards to ensure they don’t obtain any fines that would cause them loss of profit. (Strategic and Operations Management, Module 5, External Environment Assessment, General Indirect Environment, Page 23) SWOT ANALYSIS The purpose of the Swot analysis for Blackberry is to clearly identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is important for Blackberry to know where they stand and where they need to improve. Blackberry has various strengths in the industry. Their social networks are among the best out there and this is probably the only reason that Blackberry is surviving in the market. They need to continue using this as their major advantage over their rivals. At present Blackberry has a large consumer base because of its social network BBM, it enables people to network socially and for business. Blackberry need to continue enhancing the technology in this sphere to ensure they keep the market interested with the product. Another Strength of Blackberry is that they offer you a variety of phones to choose from, it isn’t as limited as to the likes of Samsung and Apple. This offers the customer a choice as to what they prefer, many may not like a specific design so they opt for something else and Blackberry has many choices to offer therefore this is a major strength for them. Blackberry has many weaknesses which they need to rectify in order to keep up to the likes of Samsung and Apple in the industry. Blackberry does not advertise as much as Samsung and Apple, this means that their rivals are getting much more exposure than them. They need to rectify this matter otherwise they will quickly lose market share and consumer base. They need to advertise on platforms like television, radio and billboards in busy areas in order to make customers aware of their product. Blackberry has a lot of software problems which need to be rectified. They don’t have many features as to the likes of Samsung and Apple, this means that they begin to lag behind the likes of their competitors. Therefore Blackberry needs to carry out Ramp;D programmes in order for them to come up to standards. There will always be opportunities for Blackberry in the market and they need to pounce on them in order to move forward consistently. Blackberry Applications are constantly improving and this forms a major opportunity for them as customers like good applications and with the improvement they can lure more customers in. Blackberry Pricing is becoming more and more affordable for the average man and this is a good opportunity for Blackberry to cut profits and lower prices in order to get a large customer. Threats are the major concern of Blackberry because this is what dictates how they perform in the market based on the performance of their competitors. The major threat comes from the likes of Samsung and Apple because of their ability to be innovative to the extremes and release cutting edge technology on a regular basis. This will cause Blackberry to seriously lag behind therefore it poses a major threat. RECCOMENDATIONS We recommend that Blackberry develops new strategies in order to compete strongly in the market again because as it stands with their current strategies they are fairly unstable and in huge trouble if they mess up the slightest bit. Blackberry needs to do more advertising compared to Samsung and Apple to ensure that they are able to compete in the industry strongly. They need to implement long term corporate strategies in order to better their strategic positions. They need to have excellent strategies and implement them accordingly in order to become a better company. Blackberry needs to do more market research on the external environment. As we know the external environment is uncontrollable however Blackberry must develop back up plans that will enable them to adapt to change accordingly in the external environment. They need to research and monitor the progress of their competitors in order to keep up to par or keep ahead of them in the technology sphere in order to claim a larger consumer base. Blackberry needs to carry out more thorough Ramp;D programmes in order for them to develop new cutting edge technology which they can offer to their consumers, they further need to incorporate many more features in the phone which will make consumers much more interested in the product. The prime reason that we do not agree with the current strategies of Blackberry is because with their current strategies their strategic position is very weak. In order to change this Blackberry needs to adopt all of the above in order to come up to scratch with their rivals. CONCLUSION We have come to a collective agreement that Blackberry is still a major force in the smartphone industry however they are beginning to fade because of the competition in the industry. Blackberry lacks a good decisive strategy in order to compete on the levels of Samsung and Blackberry. Their technology is good but it’s not the best. They are not able to keep up to the speed that technology is improving and this is causing them to fall behind very fast. More thorough Ramp;D programmes and better strategies will enable them to fight their way back into the market and will give them the opportunity to get on par with their competitors and even surpass them. If they decide to keep their current strategies they will face the consequence of losing their large consumer base which they have achieved with great difficulty. They will lose a massive market share to the likes of their rivals and new entrants into the smartphone industry. Their stock shares have dropped drastically over the last few months because their sales have dropped substantially and the release of their new phone Z10 has not lived up to their expectations. Therefore this will result in them further falling behind in the industry. Now it is up to their corporates to formulate and devise new strategies and implement them with efficiency in order to move forward.