Learning Preferences Essay

Describe your strongest dimension on the personality spectrum. My strongest dimension on the personality spectrum is a giver (32). Every word on the list of giver describes me. My honesty is probably one my strongest. As I get older and being the mother of two terrific boys, I just feel at this exact moment in my life there is no need to lie. Honesty is the key, but sometimes I feel I am a little too honest and may hurt someone’s feelings, but not intentionally. I just feel â€Å"it is what it is†. I love promoting peace whether it’s a world issue or family. I just think that everyone would be a lot happier in their lives if we can be honest with one another and promote positivity. I hate drama. 2. Describe how each practice activity reinforced or contradicted something about yourself. In the Personality Spectrum Assessment it contradicted me on being a visual learner. In the Multiple Pathways to Learning Assessment it resulted in me being under-developed, but in one of the activities in the Personality Spectrum it said that I was fine in this area. I must say it left me a little baffled, but at the same time I feel my answers can vary to certain situations that can me contradict myself in this case. I feel that I can adapt to different learning environments quite well, just like I’m learning the OLS. This is definitely an contradiction. The Barsch Learning Style Inventory activity made me realize that I am more proficient in the kinesthetic learning style than I am a visual learner. This activity made me think hard and deep about what my learning abilities are and what I thought they were. I definitely love working hands on and encouraging others. I am usually the one that normally starts dishing out ideas first when I am grouped up with others. .

How Personal Differences and Preference Can Impact Organizational Ethics Essay

1. Discuss how personal differences and preference can impact organizational ethics. Ethics norms for conduct are that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Also ethics is one of the important things in any kind of organization, and there are values and principles that help individuals distinguish right from wrong. Ethics depend on personality such as every single person has their own personality which based on culture and the way person was raised. Most of the human repeat their parents’ behavior. They watch how their parents act in this or another situation and the same thing they will do in the future. On the other hand, some people refused to respond this behavior and just fallow their own personality. In the broadest sense, ethics refers to the study of moral values, principles, and rules, including the determination of standards of conduct and obligations for individuals and organizations. Although most people acquire their sense of right and wrong during childhood, moral development occurs throughout life and human beings pass through different stages of growth as they mature. Personal differences and preference can impact organizational ethics no matter where you are going to work in the world you will come across a multitude of individual differences and preferences. An individual difference does not affect the individual alone, but everyone around them in an organization. In an organization, there is no way an individual can be treated the same way as the other employees because everyone’s personality is difference. Personal differences and preference in organizations also demonstrate the standard of ethics held by those shaping the culture — whether that standard is articulated in an ethics manual or deduced from behavior, or made visible in the gap between the two. Think of an organization as another ‘being’ with its own set of ethics, which may or may not coincide with each employee’s ethics. While it’s true that organizations are run by people, organizational cultures (and market standards) often seem to take on a life of their own, thus influencing or regulating the behavior of the vast majority of people in them. Interestingly, in an InformationWeek Research survey of 250 Information-Technology and business professionals, only 54-percent say they have a personal code for evaluating the ethical and moral implications of business decisions. Of those who do, 67-percent say it’s based on their company’s code of conduct; only personal experience polled higher (70%). Other studies show that more and more  companies are appointing ethics officers, while high percentages of their employees say they routinely observe unethical behavior at work and are fearful of reporting it. 2. Discuss how organizational policies and procedures can impact ethics. Organizational policies and procedures can impact ethics because good they should be developed and based on good moral ethics. It is an organizations expectation that its employees will know the policies and abide by them. Organizational policies and procedures are usually depending on a guide of company. A guide communicates to the employees witch considered right or wrong. He or she often plays a positive role to make a strong company in ethics and behavior. However, it can also have a negative effect on employees’ behavior which follows organizational ethics. For example, most of the companies create organizational policies and procedures which help employees to do the right decisions. This kind of companies which have organizational policies inspires their employees to do better work and as a result they get a higher position in performance and profits. Also this method make employees make there goals what they planned to rich however all these benefits strengthen the relationship between the organization and all those involved directly or indirectly to its activities. On the other hand, some time in companies you meet people who try to involved organizational politics and procedures, and this kind of personality is a problem for organization. It is because they think organizational politics and procedures of company don’t impact in their personality. Individuals like this can eventually bring a company to bankruptcy. For instance, an employee that does not agree with a company’s policy on property rights may decide to communicate confidential information to a competitor. In brief, organizational policies and procedures are important for any company. It will help managers to do the job and employees will make right decisions. 3. Discuss the ethical dilemmas that Valerie is facing. Valeria Young was a marketing manager at an international cosmetics and fragrance company Wisson. Valerie did not have a U.S. green card, only a special working visa, which allows non–U.S. citizens with unique skills to work in this country for a certain amount of time. Also, the company which she was work on it sponsored her for master degree in Chicago University. The ethical dilemma what Valeria had been facing in Wisson that while she was working there, and she discovered that her boss had been receiving kickbacks from the two fragrance companies around $35.000. This situation was stressful for her because she didn’t know what the right decision. She asked herself should she sacrifice her carrier, education, status, and her coworkers’ future for unethical behavior of her boss. The decision she made would influence her co-workers lives as well as her own. What about ethics? The manager of company Wisson Lionel Waters was a constant example of how not to be ethical in handling business and employees. Instead of being a leader who would help activate ethics mindfulness in others, he was the polar opposite. Some time he canceled meetings or did not show up at all, some of the company’s money was spent for his own good. Waters had never care about his employees or their jobs, all what was he care about it his own successes. To know all of this it was a hard decision for Valeria, she wished she had never seen those papers. It would have been much easier for her to continue her work as usual. 4. Recommend what Valerie should do. Valerie situation is reminding me of immigrants and international students like me. I consider myself to strong ethical person, but if I will in the same situation like she was, I probably will do the same thing. The ethical dilemmas that Valerie was facing were not only about right or wrong, but her decision would affect her job security, interpersonal relations at work, immigration status including her stay in the country, career development including education advancement, promotion, and economic conditions.

A Dolls House Reaction

Reaction Paper on A Dolls House There has never been a shortage of literature with gender roles as a main topic, and A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen is one of the premier works on the subject. Known for being startlingly ahead of its time, this play holds a firm spot in literary history and has been adapted in live theatre countless times over the past century. The dogma of what is proper and expected of both men and women for no other reason than their gender is questioned by Ibsen in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, and his whimsical haracters cause viewers and readers to think about how relevant the topic of gender roles are today; perhaps even more so than when this play was first written. Ibsen provokes questions as to the roles of men and women in both a social and domestic setting and leads audiences to believe there is more to this complex subject than what lies on the surface of the everyday man and woman couple. The title of the play is the first clue as to the content. Dolls are toys meant for little girls and are mainly meant to be spruced up and look pretty, which fits perfectly with how Torvald elieves his little lark or his little squirrel should be. Torvald hides his belittlement with these terms of endearment and this creates a false image of love, Just like one would see as a scene inside a doll house. Nora believes he loves her unquestioningly and completely, and her actions are motivated by this belief in his love. She says to Dr. Rank at one point: miou know how devotedly, how inexpressibly deeply Torvald loves me; he would never for a moment hesitate to give his life for me. (House pg. 795). But in reality, Torvald cares more about his own image and the false respect he gets from others than he does about the overall wellbeing of his family and wife. To Torvald, the appearance of the dolls and their house is more important than anything else. The social role of women in cultures across the world has varied greatly. Some cultures have had women leading them for many years; other more male-dominated cultures cringe at the very idea of being subservient to a woman. Torvald cannot stand the idea of owing anything of importance to a woman, even his wn wife, the one person he should be able to show vulnerability to rely on as a companion. His male-driven ego puts the import of his image above even his love for his wife, which should be paramount to all things. Torvald exposes himself as a weak and cowardly man, bankrupt of moral fiber and substance, which Nora proves to be so much more than how she is first viewed. She rises above the adversities of the play and proves to be intelligent, resourceful, and able to make difficult decisions because she believes them to be right and good even though they cause her uffering. These two characters show a complete flip in role as Nora being the truly complex and human character while Torvald is shallow, conceited, and Just an abysmal excuse for a person. Ibsen shows desirable character traits are not specific to gender, and even when the most terrible conflicts arise there is no telling for certain who will snow their true and radiant colors, regardless ot gender. Another thing to consider is Just how much Nora sacrifices by the end of the play, while Torvald Jumps ship when he is first made aware of trouble. Nora is motivated by true ove to give up fancy clothes, to risk her name and reputation, and even precious time spent with her children and husband in order to save Torvalds life even though she never thinks the time will come when he should be made aware of her efforts and sacrifices. She silently takes the extra work in stride and even manages to trick her husband to buy into her false image of being a spendthrift, all so she can save his life. She even gives up her children, whom she loves to no end, because she truly believes their caretaker will be able to raise them into better people. Nora is willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of her family throughout the entire play, and this shows incredible strength of character that any person, man or woman, should be Jealous of and strive to achieve. How many people would be able to deal with the kind of responsibility and burden she does without even the luxury of telling anyone about the situation for such a long time? By the end of the play, Ibsen has effectively flipped the typical role of man and woman even by todays cultures standards, though it is much more accepted now than it was in the past. Remembering the time frame in which this play was originally written speaks for itself in showing Just how ahead of its time this literary piece was. Nora walks out of her doll house and stakes her claim to independence as a woman and a human being, not with any malicious intent in her heart, but with the desire to pursue her own happiness. She considers these duties to herself Just as sacred as being a wife and a mother (House pg. 815). Her entire view of where her place in life is changes when she sees Torvald for how he is on the inside, and she begins to realize she is ot happy and never was. It comes time for her to take her life into her own hands and experience things without the tether of what a woman should be based on the declarations of a domineering male society. Ibsens genius seems like the normal views of todays standards, but the fact remains that he wrote this play back in 1879 when the roles of men and women were much more set in stone and had distinguished forms and etiquette. Women were seen as shallow, emotional, and incapable of dealing with serious issues while men were the true accomplishers and uilders of society.

The Great Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

The Great Depression - Essay Example As opposed to the belief of Keynes, Hayek had the belief that in order to recover from a booming crash the solution was not just adequate spending but also a return to the sustainable production at the same time. The production that had been purged by distortions in the boom era due to the availability of easy money needed to return to the level of sustainable levels so as to recover financially. The theory of Hayek was dismissed as many held the belief that he tried to liquidate labor, stocks and the farmers. However, it seems that the Hayek was right due to the fact that after there has been unsustainable boom period it is really required to liquidate the thinks so that the distortions can be removed. For instance, after the financial crisis of 2008, the recipe for straightforward revival would be to liquidate all the assets which led to the subprime bubble due to the easy monetary policy. In short, Keynes gave a recovery that seems painless for the economy by giving the economy ex tra money. The believers of Hayek’s theory understand that there is no painless recovery option that is available for recovering from an unsustainable boom. The only way an economy can recover from such a period is to try and avoid the boom itself. In light of the great depression, the two economists Keynes and Hayek held different views and options that could be used by the economy to recover from the recession. The views of the two economists differ substantially and offer different explanations for the cause of the economic crisis.

Womens ethical Priorities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Womens ethical Priorities - Essay Example However this does not mean that the notion of virtue or ethics is different in females. Their idea of virtue is same, but they think some things to be more important than the others. The difference is in the extent, not in the whole idea of virtue. Women actually go through many experiences in lives that change their perception of virtue. The feeling of motherhood is one such experience. Grimshaw argues that these experiences cause the difference in ethical priorities of woman (pg, 90). They may have a tendered approach in their decisions, but their perception of right and wrong will not change. They may have a tendency to look a matter with a different angle, but their ethical reasoning is not flawed. This argument of flawed reasoning actually has been used by many to deprive women from their rights. This is something that is not justified. The idea that gender differences can distort perception of reality is not rational or logical. The difference is in the ethical priorities of men and women, but not in the conception of virtue. This difference is due to the different social roles men and women play in their lives. This should not be used to defend any chauvinistic policy against women as it is the society that has inculcated this difference in

Financial risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial risk management - Essay Example man Sachs bank saw its profits decline due significant losses being realized from large subprime write downs which were followed by mortgage crisis meaning beneficiaries were unable to pay. The short selling of subprime mortgage securities to Lehman Brothers is blamed to have worsened the financial crisis to the detriment of both institutions. As a result, the bank approached the federal government for a bailout under the troubled asset relief programme (TARP). Since the loan came with high interest rates and short repayment period, the bank’s financial condition worsened and become highly geared. In summary, Goldman Sachs financial crisis can be classified as threefold, that is, financial malpractices among traders and top executives in trading mortgage securities (operational risk), mortgage industry crisis/ risks and high financial leverage. Risk management theories that can be used to explain the crisis an offer insights into possible solutions are discussed hereunder. Weinberg (2007) noted that the bank relied on incomes from trading to maintain its profit growth which was risky. Therefore, the bank should have maintained a prudent model to monitor the value at risk (VaR) for securities being traded. VaR model shows the maximum estimated loss for a portfolio factoring market related risks at a given time horizon (Esch, Kieffer and Lopez, 2005). Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) would also have helped the bank to understand the behavior of capital markets and possibilities of excess, negative and optimal return on a portfolio by analyzing the securities market line (Elton et al., 2010). Brownian motion model of financial risk management though highlights useful risk strategies useful under normal circumstances was found to fail in providing rational understanding of financial turmoil (Borma and Sharma, 2011). Boma, S. & Sharma, D. (2011). â€Å" How much trust should risk managers place on â€Å"Brownian Motions† of financial markets?† International Journal

Marting L. King JR Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marting L. King JR - Research Paper Example However, in recent age leadership concept is applied on the basis of intellect and not on intuition as well as on knowledge and expertise and not on power or wisdom. Due to which, maximum extent of the leaders in this age are extremely successful as compared to others. This research paper mainly highlights on the importance and definition of administrative leadership style along with its pitfalls. It also focuses the differences of administrative leadership styles followed by Martin L. King JR as compared to others. Apart from this, it also highlights the relationship between leadership and management in this recent age. Leadership is recognized as the concept of organizing and managing a group of individual in order to achieve the objective of the organization. It may also be described as the style with the help of which the followers or employees of an organization or group become motivated to attain the common goal or objective. However, according to varied researches or studies, it might be depicted that leaders comprise of varied traits such as promising behavior, power, vision, values, challenges, personality and intelligence so as to cope up with various situational interactions. Thus it might be stated that the employees or follower would follow only that individual who comprises the ability to guide or direct others. Leadership is directly proportional with the concepts and aspects of social power or administration. This is because administration is also described as the process to manage and control a specific group of individual within an organization. So it is also quite similar to the features of social power. Administrative leader is recognized as an individual who leads a team and also in-charge of the supervision of the duties and responsibilities of his or her team members. Apart from this, an administrative leader includes the power of communication and effective management of the ideas and

The Role that Trade Unions Play Iin Reducing Discrimination in the Research Paper

The Role that Trade Unions Play Iin Reducing Discrimination in the Workplace - Research Paper Example A trade union or a labor union is an organization of employees who work in a collective manner to attain specific common goals like the protection of the integrity of trade, the achievement of higher pay packages and other ancillary employment benefits like retirement benefits, medical and health benefits, ensuring safety standards, improved working conditions, bargaining regarding the working hours and increasing the number of labours that are assigned for a particular work completion. The trade unions perform a leadership role through which its bargains with the employer groups on the behalf of the employees, who are the union members to protect the interests of the employee groups, prevent any kind of employment exploitation and negotiate the work terms and labor contracts. Several real-life organizational examples are provided in order to support the arguments presented in the paper. Common terms inherently associated with trade unions like collective bargaining, equality and diversity issues, gender discrimination, racial discrimination etc. are also explained with an aim to develop a better understanding of the propositions established in the essay. The essay is concluded by highlighting the findings and providing an opinion regarding the contribution of the trade unions to the reduction of discriminatory practices in various types of organizations. The system of trade unions started at the beginning of the 19th century when trade association was formed as labor unions by the skilled male labors with the aim of protecting their employment terms and conditions.  Ã‚  

Ultrasound portfolio Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ultrasound portfolio - Research Paper Example Scientists have to scrutinize on the compression and decompression of ultrasound in the transmitting medium, such as water or air. This is only done successfully when the velocity of the traveling sound is constant while in the transmitting medium. Therefore, a simple explanation denotes that around is the epitome of longitudinal waves considered to be in an oscillating movement, which goes back and forth. The oscillation is considered to be in the same direction as the traveling sound waves, thereby encompassing successive zones of compression (Gent 1997). Similarly, the indulgence of successive zones of compression leads to rarefaction. Fig. 1 Courtesy of Hendrick, W., Hykes, D. and Stachman D. (2005) Ultrasound Physics and Instrumentation. New York: Elsevier-Mosby. In the figure above, it is evident that there is a consistent flow of waves, as reflected from the compression and transverse waves. In this figure above, the top waves denote the compression wave, while the bottom deno tes the transverse wave. This is a consistent flow of sound waves, used in the physical examination of the principles underlying sound waves. The audible frequency in this diagram is considered to be in a kind of consistent frequency, which is used as one of the physical principles of ultra sound. ... Movement in Doppler ultrasound is detected when there is a change in the sound frequency. The sound frequency change is evidently seen as the movement reflects visible change. When sound is exposed to different mediums, it is duly reflected, depending on the reflecting surface. After a reelection, the surface will detect the direction of the sound. In addition to this, the reflecting surface will dictate change in the frequency of sound, thereby changing its frequency over time. Transducers have the ability of generating electric charges when there is an applied mechanical stress or energy to their physics. Therefore, when there id a continuous operation mode in a transducer, then the voltage will have a directly proportional sound wave. However, this only depends on one principle. The basic principle in this part is that, the voltage should never be turned off. In the end, the voltage on a transducer will generate an equal sound wave. On the other hand, some transformers are not ope rated in a continuous mode. This is the pulsed mode, where the frequency has change over time. When the pulses are introduced to the transducer, it produces different wave lengths, depending on the pulsed frequency. In moist cases, the wavelength produced by ringing a transducer is doubled by the thickness. One physical principle underlying ultrasound is that, sound travels around corners. Evidently, human beings and animals have the ability to hear sounds, even when the sound is at a far distance and around corners. This evidently shows that the basic physical principle of sound is negotiating corners. This is scientifically referred to sound diffraction (Bates, 2004). However, there is a

From reading the selected pre-1914 Essay Example for Free

From reading the selected pre-1914 Essay The Return of the Native (pg 414 447) near end of novel From reading the above, what do you learn of Hardys use of vivid description, dramatic incident and reference to Nineteenth century customs and traditions? Which of the three pieces was your favourite and why? From reading the two extracts and the story, I can see that the main difference in the book is how life is in the book compared to our modern 21st century. People in the 19th century depended very heavily on agriculture and farming especially in Wessex, where nearly all of Hardys novels were set. Wages for agricultural labourers were the lowest in the country in Dorset, averaging out at the equivalent of 37p a week in 1840. Magic and superstition was rife in the 19th century, and many people believedin dark powers. Every village in Wessex was supposed to have their own witch. Magic play a big role in two of the stories which I am studying, The Withered Arm, and The Return of the Native. People who committed crimes in the 19th century were severely punished. Poachers were transported to Australia to do hard labour, night burglary was punishable by death. Hangings were still very popular in the 19th century and any hanging was an excuse for a holiday. Class systems in the 19th century were very rigid not many people succeeded in moving up to a higher class, but Thomas Hardy was one of the few people who managed to do this. Thomas Hardy uses vivid description in all of his novels and short stories, including the novels which I am studying, in particular The Mayor of Casterbridge. At the beginning of the chapter, we have an almost cinematic view, as if a camera is zooming in on the three travellers, describing them from afar at first, then in more detail as we begin to see them from closer up. We can almost feel the tension between the two adults, when Hardy says: What was really peculiar was the perfect silence they preserved. In The Withered Arm, Hardy uses vivid description very effectively when description Rhoda Brooks vision. He uses words such as: Peered cruelly and shockingy distorted to imply that Gertrude is mocking her for being cast aside and then Gertrude taking her place as Farmer Lodges wife. This vivid description is also linked to dramatic incident as it is a key chapter in the story, and Hardy uses adjectives to describe Rhodas dream, it makes us feel as though we are actually there, watching this distorted version of Gertrude attacking Rhoda, so Hardys descriptions are very effective in this chapter of the book. Also, at the beginning of the story, we learn a lot from the dairy workers in the farm, who gossip. They gossip about Farmer Lodges new wife and they try to guess how old Farmer Lodge is, all the while ignoring Rhoda Brook, Farmer Lodges ex-wife. In The Return of the Native, when the superstitious Susan creates a voodoo doll resembling Eustacia, Hardys use of vivid description is effective when Susan thrusts pins in the doll, and then puts it in the firem murmuring the Lords Prayer backwards which was a proceed which called for help against an enemy. Magic played a key part in this story; Susan believed that Eustacia was making her son ill, because at the exact moment that he said he was feeling unwell, Eustacias dark shadow crossed the light from her house, but this was just a coincidence. Also, in The Return of the Native, when Eustacia falls into the pool of water near weir, Hardy uses pathetic fallacy, which is when events in the natural world mirror what is going on in the human world. In this case, Eustacia is very depressed and unhappy, so the weather is atrochiously stormy, raining and windy. Because, it has rained so much, the pool has created a whirlpool, and Eustacia falls in. To describe the scene more effectively, Hardy uses metaphors such as: Boiling cauldron, referring to the whirpool, the current, and emphasising the amount of water in the pool. Hardys use of dramatic incident in all three of his stories manage to shape the whole story, especially in The Mayor of Casterbridge. In think amin the dramatic incident in the extract is when Michael Henchard sells his wife at auction when he becomes drunk. The day after, Michael realises how stupid he has been and vows never to touch another drop of alcohol for however many years as his age. I think this is very effective because the day after Michael sells his wife and baby, he realises that alcohol changed him into something he doesnt want to be. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, when Hardy uses dramatic incident, we learn that Hardy builds up suspension before the dramatic climax. When Michael Henchard is trying to sell his wife and baby at auction, nobody will bid the price that he is looking for, then just as Michael is going to withdraw: Yes. said a voice from the doorway. The man in the doorway was in fact, a sailor. He bought Michaels wife for five guineas, and she left, leaving us with the impression that she is glad that she has got away from her husband at last. Hardy uses lots of dialect to show exactly how Michael Henchard feels about his current state of affairs: The woman is no good to me. Who will have her? When Michael is trying to sell his wife, Hardy describes Michaels distaste for her effectively, and when he finally does sell her, even the rough country people in the tent are surprised that he let his wife and child go without a second glance. In The Withered Arm, I think there are two main dramatic incidents: Rhoda Brooks dream, and Gertrudes turning of her blood, when she sees that the young man who has been hanged is, in fact, Rhodas son. When Rhoda has a dream that Gertrude visits her to mock her, Gertrude looks ugly and old. Hardy used use of vivid description works effectively in making us understand that Gertrude has come to mock her because Rhoda has been replaced by her in Farmer Lodges affections. Hardys use of verbs work well in this incident, using words such as thrust, swung, and peered cruelly to create a feeling of hate between Rhoda and the figure come to visit her at night. The other dramatic incident in The Withered Arm is when Gertrude travels to get her arm cured by holding her arm against a newly hanged mans neck, who is in fact Rhodas son. Hardys use of dialect again gives and extra depth to the story, when Rhoda walks in when Gertrudes blood is in the process of being turned: This is the meaning of what Satan showed me in the vision! Rhoda shouts. Hardys use of the word Satan, emphasizes the hatred Rhoda has for Gertrude and perhaps jealousy, for stealing her husband although Gertrudes character is kind and gentle. In The Return of the Native, the main dramatic incident is when Eustacia falls into the whirlpool and Clym Yeobright and Wildeve try to save her, but fail. Three bodies are pulled out, and only one, Clym, survives. Referring again to pathetic fallacy, the weather is awful when Eustacia falls into the boiling cauldron. The slow realisation that Wildeve was actually holding on to Clym when Diggory Venn was seemingly just pulling Clym out creates images of horror. My favourite story is The Withered Arm, because I like Hardys use of magic in Rhodas vision, how Gertrudes arm became deformed because of this. Gertrude obviously has no idea how this happened. Hardys use of vivid description in the book is very effective throughout, but especially in Rhodas vision. Rhoda is obsessed with the idea of Farmer Lodge being with another woman, and sends her son to look at Gertrude and report back to her. When he says that Gertrude is shorter that Rhoda, she seems pleased and smug about herself. I like the way how Hardy has interlinked everything, e. g. Rhodas sons father is Farmer Lodge, the young man who was hanged was Rhodas son. I think it is a very clever story, and at the end, Gertrude dies at the fright of seeing Rhodas son dead, lying limp in the coffin. I think that the story shows that Rhoda is perhaps so obsessed about Farmer Lodge and Gertrude it is almost unhealthy, and because of this, maybe this is why she had the vision in the first place. I learn that Gertrude is forgiving, even though when she went to see Conjuror Trendle and he created the concoction of egg white and water, Rhodas image formed. Gertrude was surprised, but she doesnt question it because she had no idea that Rhoda had anything to do with her arm.

Impact of Recession on Movie Industry

Impact of Recession on Movie Industry Foreword Writing this dissertation was a long and exhausting process which included many setbacks and failures. Nevertheless it also was fulfilling and exciting as I was driven by my passion and interest in movies and cinemas in general. I always intended to work for the movie industry one day and hold well- grounded hopes of achieving this goal in the near future. Maybe this dissertation will help to convince the studios of my passion and capabilities. My thanks go to Mr Nick Bowen, who was an outstanding tutor and helped me through rough and inconvenient times with his competence and great sense of humour. I also would like to thank me interviewees Mr Arwed Fischer and Mr Jan Fantl, who provided me with many important information and an inside into the industry. Without them, a big part of the report would not have reached the standard it has now. Finally, I am very grateful for the help of my parents who made it possible for me to go to London and provided me with everything I needed in order to be successful and happy in the future. I do not want to forget to thank everybody else who supported me during this tough time and cheered me up after one of the occasional setbacks. Executive Summary Recently the film studios are experiencing a boost of attendances and ticket sales despite the financial crisis. This already happened in past recessions and therefore will be analysed in this report. One reason for that economical immunity seems to be the technological development such as sound and colour in the past or 3D cinema nowadays. Nevertheless there are some issues the industry has to deal with at the moment, e.g. piracy or substitution goods like videogames. Although 3D movies did fail continuously in the past in terms of economical success, the studios tried it again with an advanced technology and exceeded all expectations when Avatar was released. In this context factors such as rising ticket prices or the limited number of 3D capable cinemas play a big role as well in order to determine the future potential the 3D technology. A few companies already started to produce and sell 3D capable TVs which are supposed to the next economical success the movie landscape. IMAX cinemas suffered a long period of very low attendances and decreasing ticket sales until advanced 3D technology has been used to produce movies. Since then the IMAX group notes record breaking attendances and boosting profits. Two surveys have been analyzed and compared to each other. One, published in 2005 by Opinion Dynamics Corporation alre ady showed some curious facts on 3D cinema and its likely success in the future. The second one has been generated online by the author of this report in 2010 amongst a group of people from 10 countries. In terms of forecasting a success of 3D movies it is very hard for the studios to forecast the success of a single movie or even a whole new technology. They mostly try to find what is most appealing to the audience (unlike independent productions) and therefore have their analysts forecasting risks and returns. Nevertheless DisplaySearch 3D Display Technology conducted a forecast which is quite optimistic and expects increases in every sector of the movie industry (cinemas, home cinemas etc). The recommendations include the authors personal opinion of how the 3D technology will influence the cinema landscape and the options studios have to market it properly. By interviewing people from the movie industry the author gathered some inside knowledge which he tried to apply to his recommendations. Therefore it is expected that the boom of 3D movies will slow down slightly but continue to strengthen again. In the long term it is expected that the new technology will have a positive impac t on the movie industry. 1. Introduction According to Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, the upcoming 3D movie technology is the greatest innovation to occur in the movie business in 70 years. (CNN Online, 2008) This statement shows the hope of the whole industry for more attendances and a revolution in the movie market. An increasing amount of movie studios shift their productions towards the new technology. As a result this is discussed in a rising number of TV-shows, magazines and newspapers. Despite the fact that videogames are becoming more popular and the financial credit crisis has reduced average income, going to the movies still seems to be a big part of daily life all over the world. This happens even though the whole film industry seems to be in a crisis, as will be explained below. Initially 3D movies were produced using 2 separate projectors to produce one double image and running two separate rolls of film. Nowadays the technology is far more advanced which means that digital projectors are installed in cinemas producing sharper and steadier images. There also is a difference in production between real movies and animated ones. Animated movies are not produced with real cameras but use computers to create and render every single shot from two angles. Live action movies on the other hand are filmed by new dual lens digital cameras that are able to capture two points of view. (BBC news, 2009) Movie attendances in the United States decreased by 2, 6 %, falling to its lowest level since 1997, whereas revenues fell from $1,484 billion in 2004 to $1,364 billion in 2008. In the same period the amount of screens jumped from 35,993 to 39,476. To be able to show 3D movies, it is necessary to upgrade to digital screens; here the number increased from only 138 in 2004 to 4,576 in 2008, a rising trend. (Marche du film, 2009) Linking these data leads to the conclusion that the movie industry is keen to establish and invest in a new technology in order to make going to the cinema more attractive to its customers and increase attendances in the short and long-term. The following report analyses the current status of the movie industry and shows the likely economic impact in times of recession on the worldwide market. The industries main current issues and a forecast based on trends and profound market research are also examined. 2. Literature Review This chapter summarises and evaluates the related research of what has been written about the research topic. Opinions and data from many different people, working for the movie industry or being close enough to venture a forecast, have been taken into account and evaluated objectively. The chapter also defines and explains the new 3D movie technology, its history and its characteristics from different perspectives. Furthermore it covers several models and theories and talks about reports and how to estimate their importance. This is followed by an evaluation to point out weaknesses or gaps in the literature. The final part will consist of a link to the initial research question and what the plan for proceeding is. Overall, there are 3 main questions to be covered in this chapter: 1. How did big studios fight back in past recessions? 2. How have technical developments influenced business in the past in different markets? 3. What are current issues in the industry? It also is evident that due to the newness of the topic chosen, there are certain constraints in terms of what kind of literature is currently available. Therefore the main sources cited are websites as well as primary research. 2.1 Comebacks of the Studios in Past Recessions After the first big Wall Street Crash in 1929, admissions rose by 58% compared to the previous year. (Entertainment times online, 2008) According to John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners in America, this means that â€Å"In the past four decades there have been seven recession years in this country, and the box office has climbed strongly in five of those years,† (Entertainment times online, 2008) According to the Academy of Management Journal (1996), between 1936 -1950 property based resources such as long-term contracts with stars and theatres helped financial performance to stabilize. Contrary to the period of 1951-65, when knowledge- based resources such as coordination and production talent and budgets increased financial performance. (Academy of Management Journal, 1996, pp. 519-543) Asking some of the most important and powerful people in the U.S. and UK movie industry shows that the majority believes that the current recession either is an opportunity or even a reason for rising sales. But what is the reason for that surprising success in economic downturns? Besides new technologies, which unfortunately are not always released at the right time, the studios decide to publish more comedies and action movies, to help the audience to escape from their monetary problems. In the USA, three of the top-five movies in terms of gross profit of 2009 are comedies: Mall Cop, Hes Just Not That into You and Bride Wars. (CNN movies, 2009) This permits us to draw the conclusion that a recession does not necessarily lead to a break-down of sales in the movie industry. But did past recessions really have no impact or even a positive impact on the movie industry? Not everyone agrees with the theory of increasing sales in recessions though. Gerald Peary, a documentary filmmaker and critic in Boston, Massachusetts, believes that the market will be flooded with intellectually less challenging movies since they are the ones that are more likely to succeed on the audience with smaller budget. In his opinion The dumber the movie is, sometimes, the more money it makes, which states that Those movies are somehow both critic proof and depression proof. (CNN movies, 2009) Another point of view is represented by Basinger, the film historian who assumes that it is still too soon to predict any trends concerning the recession and movies. She points out that recessions leads to faster changes in the movie scene. Also for her, going to the movies is not highly affected by the crisis, as it still is [] the cheapest and fullest way to abandon your troubles and lose yourself in a story. (CNN movies, 2009) Even in some of the worst recessions, economy ever has experienced, the movie industry mostly has been of the few sectors that was able to maintain its position in the market or even increase admissions. This is due to peoples not changing consumer behaviour. Even though they got affected by economic downturns, most of them still wanted to escape from their misery for a few hours. It also is an opportunity for independent film makers to realize low-budget productions, as movie studios get more cost- conscious when their stocks fall during a crisis. Henceforth studios prefer to invest little money in innovative productions and directors hoping for a reasonable return of investment. 2.2 Technological influence on Business in the past Around 120 years ago, films were little more than drawings that seemed to come alive with motion. Then, in 1877 Emile Reynaud had patented a machine, the ‘Praxinoscope, which projected seemingly moving paintings onto a screen. An upgrade of his invention, the Projection Praxinoscope, which was a large-scale Praxinoscope, got patented in 1888 and was used for public projection. Reynaud started to screen his films, accompanied by music on a regular base. Yet that early atmosphere and technology were very similar to today screenings. (Kinogeschichte, 2009) Using spools to feed and take-up the extended picture band, sequences were no longer limited to short cyclic movements. This was the first and important step for commercial use which has been so essential for successful cinematography. (Exeter, 2000) Nevertheless, there were still many issues concerning films, amongst other things the length of them or the lack of sound. To compensate this problem, it was tried to create a more realistic, narrative and psychological atmosphere using on-screen text and a pianist accompanying the film. Back in 1927, after the introduction of movies with full sound, cinema attendances jumped up from 57 million to 90 million in 1930 (Shmoop statistics, 2009) and made them even more popular. This demonstrates that introducing a revolutionary technology can lead to soaring attendances and higher box office sales for the studios. Also the lack of colour on screen was tried to be compensated to improve the movie experience. One of the first ideas was to tint the film reels but later prising companies such as ‘Technicolor and ‘Eastmancolor, made it possible to use new ways of colouring and achieved the objective of a deeper and more intense atmosphere. (Inventors library) Nowadays black/white movies disappeared almost completely from the world of movies. Although, the success of films like ‘Schindlers List (Steven Spielberg, 1993) and ‘Clerks (Kevin Smith, 1994) shows that it is still possible to achieve commercial and critical success with monochrome. (David Parkinson 1995, pg 112) After releasing the first full-colour, La Cucaracha (1934), coloured movies became more and more popular. In the late 1930s, the films,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, Disney), were a huge success. Last one still is considered a milestone as it was thefirstfeature-length animated film. (Filmsite, 2007) Introducing new, revolutionary technologies and giving them the chance to go to maturity stage of the product lifecycle always has been very profitable for movie studios. Be it the implementation of sound or the introduction of colour, people loved to spend their money on being amused in cinemas. 2.3. Current issues in the industry There are more problems and issues the movie industry has to deal with besides the current substantial crisis and recessions. These will be examined in the following sections. 2.3.1 Videogames as substitution goods Amongst many threats for the movie industry such as the highly developed internet, DVDs and an increasing amount of home activities, one of the main problems for the movie theatres and studios is the rising and durable success of videogames. First released in the 1980s, videogames have been designed for a significantly smaller target audience. This was attributed to the fact computers were still in the early stage of their product life cycle and thus the presence of computers in the average household was a much less common occurrence. The commercial use of computers was much more prominent during this period, than their household residential usage. Even with the introduction of platforms such as the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) in the 1990s, the Videogame industry was still viewed as a niche market. It was never anticipated to develop into a competitor of the movie industry as it is nowadays. Currently, the profit generated from videogames equates to that of their movie counterparts. Current trends indicate that consumers have a tendency to spend more on buying videogames as opposed to going to the movies which has been identified as a huge threat for the studios. Just recently, in the beginning of November 2009, Activision Blizzard Incs released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and anticipated more than $660 million in sales from 11-13 million sold units by the end of 2009. Also previous games were big hits in terms of sales as the table below shows. Top video games sales on their first day ( Reuters, 2009) Figure 1 These data can be compared to Top Hollywood worldwide opening weekends: ( Reuters, 2009) Figure 2 As aforementioned and illustrated by the tables (Figure 1 Figure 2) above, it is evident that data solidifies the trend that an increasing number of consumers are changing their consumer behaviour and purchasing videogames which they may enjoy at home. Another possibility for the rising success of videogames could be the fact of potential consumers rather staying home than spending money on transport for getting there and quite expensive snacks and drinks in the cinema. This data backs up the trend that more and more consumers tend to shift from going to the movies to buying videogames which they can enjoy at home. Even if they are more expensive (around $50/ unit depending on the platform) the duration of playing them is far higher than only two hours. This makes them a substitution good with which the studios have to deal with now and most likely even more in the future. On the other hand this also creates new opportunities for the movie and the game industry to work together and create profits by co-operating. This is already working in terms of converting movies to videogames but also the other way around. 2.3.2 Piracy Another very recent issue and problem for the movie industry is the rapid spread of illegal movie copies, also known as pirate copy. In 2007, downloads of movies rose by 50 % in Germany, mostly saved as digital copies. ( Welt online, 2009) According to The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), the cost of motion picture piracy is significant high and an essential threat to the studios and the whole industry. The loss for the movie industry was $6, 1 billion in 2006. Taking all industries into account that are related to the movies that number would add up to $20.5 billion annually. This means that not only the studios and related companies lose money. It also means that people are losing jobs. Piracy being absent, 141,030 new jobs would have been added to the U.S. economy in 2006 (IPI, 2006) Henceforth the studios are in an on-going war with the movie pirates trying to reduce losses. The enormous impact on U.S. and worldwide economy forced the industry to consider distinct strategie s to decrease or even stop piracy. Besides Ads, showing movie pirates chased by police and going to prison as for every other federal crime, the industry also adopted a hard line by suing them for compensation. This found its peak in sending four men to prison for one year and ordering them to pay $3.6 million of compensation to major film companies such as Warner Brothers, Columbia, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony BMG and EMI. (CNN Piracy, 2009) They operated a Swedish movie pirate website which has been judged of being illegal. In total, piracy and the recession have reduced DVD sales in the UK by around 10 % and in the US by even 13 %. The problem for the studios is that DVD sales are responsible for half a titles long-term profits and more than double the revenue than from tickets sold. (Independent Online 3D Revolution, 2010) Hence Hollywood always tries to find new ways of protecting their movies and anticipate copyright theft. Consequently they always need new technologies which cannot be hacked but according to Arwed Fischer (Fischer, 2010), it is almost impossible to find the perfect safety. Hackers are able to break any copy protection within days or hours. In fact, this made him quit the job as resources seem to be wasted on nothing. Critics on the other hand state that the way of how to calculate losses for the movie industry is neither transparent nor comprehensible. The studios claim that each single pirate copy is the same as one loss of attendance. This is one of the reasons why mentioned losses are extraordinary high. People that just downloaded the movie and never considered going to the cinema or buying it on DVD are not included in these statistics which makes them quite subjective. On the other hand, the new 3D technology makes studios feel quite safe at the moment as it yet is impossible to pirate 3D featured movies. Hence people who want to experience this new way of cinema must go to the m ovies and pay for their tickets. James Cameron also is aware of this unique selling point when he says: You can pirate a 3D movie but you cant pirate it in 3D, so you cant bottle that 3D experience. (New Yorker Online, 2009) Although this is a justifiable and legitimate objection, piracy remains one of the industries biggest problems. Even if not each ‘pirate can be considered a loss of attendance and ticket sales, it remains an act of stealing. The studios spend millions of Dollars to produce profitable movies which are linked to many jobs. That should not be undermined by downloading movies instead of going to see them in the cinemas and pay the entrance fee. 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction This chapter explains the approaches used to facilitate a precise and specific answer to the initial research question. In order to gather relevant and accurate information both, quantitative and qualitative data will be used. However the authors focus will be on qualitative data collection. The potential bias of primary is quite low due to a wide range of interview partners, all from different sides. Secondary data has been gathered under same criteria in order to minimise the risk of potential bias. Where, if possible, the author tried to look for alternative explanations and to show that he was aware of any potential bias. 3.2 Justification of Research Perspective Every research requires distinct methods recommended for structuring research programs. In this dissertation, it has been chosen to base all outcomes and results on actual data or professional forecasts like interviews, surveys and questionnaires. Copies of them can be found in the appendix. A high level of discipline was necessary and essential at the beginning of the research. Even though it got disappointing at some points, as the researcher took a wrong path, objectives from books by Mark Saunders (2009) helped the author to keep focused and motivated. According to Saunders * â€Å"Data are collected systematically * Data are interpreted systematically * There is a clear purpose; to find things out† (Saunders et al, 2009) 3.3 Primary Data Collection The author attempted to use all the important primary data collection methods such as interviews, networking and surveys in order to analyse the data objectively. This leads towards an accurate answer to the initial research question. Interviews with people from the movie industry such as former employees of copyright companies and cinema owners have given a deep insight into the topic. Interviewees are: * Arwed Fischer, former employee of X-Protect GmbH in Munich * Representative of the Kinopolis group, one of the biggest German cinema chains, who wants to stay anonymous. * Jan Fantl, producer, production manager and former director Several approaches for the interview structure have been considered and led to the following conclusion: Although unstructured interviews have the advantage of complete freedom in terms of content and structure ( Kumar R, 2005), the author of this report decided to mostly use structured or hybrid interviews for his research purposes. This represents a spot in-between the unstructured and structured interviews in Figure 3. That was given due to the fact that face-to face interview were not possible for a number of reasons such as travelling cost or lack of time of the interviewees. Nevertheless personal interviews would have given the author some advantages such as observing his interviewee as well as listening to him or the chance to gather the data more efficiently. (Hollwitz, J. Wilson, C.E. 41-52) Therefore it has been decided to make use of telephone interviews, which are far less costly than personal ones, and mail questionnaires which require accurate question design to match reading comprehension of the interviewees. (Using Structured Interviewing Techniques, 1991) Especially mail interviews have been proofed to be quite efficient because interviewees took their time to think about the questions before answering them. An online survey has been generated and distributed by the author of this report. 47 people aged 22- 50 and from 10 countries filled out this online survey which has been piloted before with 5 people in order to make it more precise and accurate for a wider audience. It was created on the 07.April 2010 and has been closed on the 07.May 2010 .To generate it the online platform www.surveymonkey.com has been used. The complete survey can be found in the appendix of this report. Due to easier access given times and resources it was not possible to have interviews in other countries like the USA or India. At a later point in this report it has been compared to another survey taken by Opinion Dynamics Corporation in 2005 before the 3D technology boomed yet. This will show the process and change of customers opinion on 3D movies. Also a questionnaire has been conducted by the author. It has been sent via to several people of the movie industry. The response rate was rather poor as asked peo ple seemed to be busy. Standard questions have been used in order to facilitate the collection of data and due to limitations in terms of time and resources. The questionnaire can be found in the appendices in section 8.1 As aforementioned, the potential bias has been considered in the evaluation process. Another option to be deemed is the use of a supervisor or mentor. He made sure that collected data was rather objective than subjective and could provide the author with constructive criticism. 3.4 Secondary Data Collection Thanks to a wider range of secondary data available, the author collected a lot of relevant information on the topic. He did this through a critical evaluation of literature, not only from the USA but also from Europe to accomplish a fair and accurate picture of the industry and its potential in the future. Parts of the research were also based on past and current trends and forecasts that justify arguments and recommendations. In order to sufficiently cut down the total amount of data, the author interpreted data sourced mainly from smaller subgroups rather than â€Å"all possible groups† (Saunders et al 2009, p 150 152)This method saves the author valuable time and also makes research and evaluation of data more efficient by using a smaller pool of information. As every other method, this one also has disadvantages, such as gathering the wrong kind of data or using irrelevant data which cannot answer the initial research question accurately. Also some academic literature such as the The Academy of Management Journal has been used to provide a different angle of the research question. A SWOT analysis on the current situation of the 3D Technology and outline possible threats and opportunities for the whole movie industry has been carried out. As a planning tool a SWOT analysis has many benefits like the simplicity of taking one. Nevertheless this can lead to problems like underestimating the value of a SWOT analysis or to an imprecise and weakly conducted analysis. (Ferrel Hardline, 2007, p. 119-120) More benefits can be seen in Figure 4: (Ferrel Hardline, 2007) Figure 4 3.5 Conclusion of Methodology Using all the aforementioned methods and approaches, the author attempted to find an accurate answer to the research question. Giving the reader a deep insight into the topic and a widespread view of the 3D Technology opportunities and risks has lead to a complete understanding of the subject. All data has been analyzed and evaluated neutrally so a conclusion has been objectively drawn. 4. Findings and Analysis This chapter starts with an explanation of the technical side of 3D technology used today followed by an overview of the history of 3D movies and a SWOT analysis. After that, the role of 3D movies in general and in combination with IMAX cinemas as well as the importance of Avatar will be discussed. The chapter will concluded with the comparison of two surveys (for further information please see research methodology) and a forecast. 4.1. How does 3D technology exactly work? First of all, the binocular vision system is based on the fact that the eyes of a human being are spaced 5 cm apart. Consequently each eye sees the picture from a different angle. At the same time the binocular vision system in a brain is using the difference to calculate the distance. The brain also has the ability to show a relationship between those images even though they are slightly different. The brain can choose objects in the two scenes and work out how far an object is between those images. (How Stuff works 3D glasses, 2010) The reason for wearing 3d glasses is to provide different images into your eyes. The movie screen in fact shows two different images and the glasses cause one of the images to go into one eye and the other one to enter the second eye. There are two widespread systems of doing it * Polarization: The majority of the big studios such as Disney or Universal the first choice are polarized lenses for the glasses because they allow colour viewing. Two synchronized projectors project two individual views onto the screen, each with a diverse polarization. The glasses only let one of the images to enter each eye because they hold lenses that are polarized as well. This is comparable with the polarization of sunglasses. (Filmindustry, 2009) * Red/Green or Red/ Blue. Since polarization cannot be used on a traditional TV screen (unlike on upcoming 3D TVs which will be dealt with later on in section 4.7) the red/green system is used. Again 2 images are displayed on the screen, one in red and one in blue/green. The filters of the glasses only allow one picture to enter each eye. The brain has to correlate those pictures as aforementioned. It is not really possible to use a nor

The Universes :: Semantics Language Essays

The Universes I can't tell you what I was just thinking. As in Augustine's view of intuition, the associations I registered were too free of any repeatable limitations for me to verbalize the experience. Perhaps these associations were of diverging thoughts that have not departed my mind. The most handy example of something similar is the simultaneity of sense perception. Each sense perception is specialized and in that respect removed from the whole and yet also registered in the same moment. In the thought I'm speaking of there were different concerns, we might even say a universe of concerns none of which I can fully express. This complex event might be considered incidental in regard to what I have learned to value. I am now attempting to acquire a greater appreciation of something I cannot verbalize, meaningful associations I can't excite a recurrence of through keying words into a computer. Semantic sensation is never original. It must always be familiar. Language does excite original sensations, as in the sound of a speaker's voice, but the semantic experience itself is never sound or vision, or any other sense perception of the material universe. Original experience of semantics would be like immediately comprehending a language we never heard before. This kind of appreciation is possible with music. Music we've never heard before can be immediately appreciated as music, but semantics, like memory, must always be a response to what is already familiar. My concern is how to proceed. If I can only register verbally what has already become familiar through cognitive means, my work with language is not directed toward spurring meaning for the first time. Has there ever been a first time in regard to comprehending language? Is anything we read utterly strange, or is it rather strangely familiar? We may read something and make no sense of it, and later return to it and find familiarity as if we always should have been able to comprehend this particular passage. This parallels how we initially acquire language through a growing familiarity with the effects of verbal expression. We learn to fortuitously repeat limited effects. We grow to appreciate what we had already experienced albeit as incidental and free of the constraints of communication. Infants can distinguish between phonemes their parents, having learned a particular language, can no longer tell apart (Pinker 264), and meaning is similar in this respect. To understand how this c an work we must put aside the notion that language makes meaning.

The Christian Position on Euthanasia :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

     Ã‚   This essay has chosen to study the largest Christian denomination's attitude toward euthanasia, in order to determine the basic Christian position in the current debate on euthanasia. It is interesting to note that, even within one Christian church like this, there are a host of considerations on the euthanasia question. The rights and values pertaining to the human person occupy an important place among the questions discussed throughout the world today. In this regard, the largest Christian denomination, the Catholic Church, solemnly reaffirmed the lofty dignity of the human person, and in a special way his or her right to life. The Second Vatican Council therefore condemned crimes against life "such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful suicide" (Pastoral) The progress of medical science in recent years has brought to the fore new aspects of the question of euthanasia, and these aspects, in the Church's view, call for further elucidation on the ethical level. In modern society, in which even the fundamental values of human life are often called into question, cultural change exercises an influence upon the way of looking at suffering and death; moreover, medicine has increased its capacity to cure and to prolong life in particular circumstances, which sometime give rise to moral problems. Thus people living in this situation experience no little anxiety about the meaning of advanced old age and death. They also begin to wonder whether they have the right to obtain for themselves or their fellowmen an "easy death," which would shorten suffering and which seems to them more in harmony with human dignity.    The considerations set forth here, concern in the first place all those who place their faith and hope in Christ, who, through His life, death and resurrection, has given a new meaning to existence and especially to the death of the Christian, as St. Paul says: "If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord" (Rom. 14:8; cf. Phil. 1:20). As for those who profess other religions, many will agree with us that faith in God the Creator, Provider and Lord of life--if they share this belief--confers a lofty dignity upon every human person and guarantees respect for him or her.    Human life is the basis of all goods, and is the necessary source and condition of every human activity and of all society.

media research :: essays research papers

Running Head: Discovering the World of Journals in Media Research Abstract This assignment consists of 4 journals, two of which were scholarly and the rest were trade journals. The objective of this assignment was to familiarize us on how to obtain and record data from different journals. This assignment will teach the class how to be efficient researchers in different media fields. Media Research assignment 3 Running Head: Discovering the World of Journals in Media Research Discovering the World of Journals in Media Research Class Since my related field is television production, I decided to use Broadcasting and Cable as my first scholarly journal. This journal is published by Reed Business Information (formerly Cahners Business Information) and is a leading provider of critical information and marketing solutions to business professionals in targeted industry sectors. Broadcasting and Cable is a great scholarly journal for anyone who works for a cable company on or off the production set of the business. The journal informs readers on the latest technology such as Cameras, tape decks, lighting and televisions. The journal also informs us on current events in the broadcasting industry, for example the journal reviews how many satellite companies made money last year. I chose to summarize an article called â€Å"News Corp.’s Carey moves on.† News Corp.’s Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey resigned because of a deal that went bad with Direct TV. News Corp was trying to make a deal with Direct TV in order to build a worldwide satellite distribution company. If the deal went through for News Corp, it would have made them one of the most powerful entertainment industries in the world. Unfortunately someone else beat Chase Carey to the punch in buying Direct TV. Chase feels handing in his resignation will prevent News Corp from blaming him for the unsuccessful deal. Media Research assignment 4 Running Head: Discovering the World of Journals in Media Research The last scholarly journal I decided to use was Educational Technology. This journal is published by FNO (For Now On) Press, which makes a philosophical commitment to engaged learning, problem-based learning and Information Literacy. I chose this particular journal because my girlfriend is studying to be a teacher and I wanted to learn some statistics about her field. The term Educational Technology refers to science-based knowledge. Its concerned about hardware and software systems that can help students learn in many different ways. Readers of this journal include anyone who interested in teaching children by using mechanical devices such as computers and video recorders rather then by using strictly lecture.

Health Leadership Theory

Leadership Midterm Chapter 1 Introduction 1. Leadership- a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. 2. Trait vs Process Leadership- innate characteristics that individuals are born with vs properties possessed that one is able to develop. 3. Assigned vs Emergent Leadership- based on occupying a position within an organization vs an individual perceived by others as most influential member of a group regardless of individuals title. 4. Power- capacity or potential to influence (beliefs, attitudes, & actions) 5. Bases of Power: . Referent power- follower’s identification and liking for the leader b. Expert- based on followers’ perceptions of the leader’s competence. c. Legitimate- having status or formal job authority. d. Reward- having the capacity to provide rewards to others. e. Coercive- having the capacity to punish others. Real, Expert, Leaders, Reward Compliance (1st two are personal power while the ladder thr ee are positional power) Chapter 2 Trait Approach * One of the first systematic attempts to study leadership. Early theories focused on innate qualities/characteristics. Major Leadership traits***: 1. Intelligence- verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities 2. Self-confidence- certainty about one’s competencies and skills 3. Determination- desire to get the job done 4. Integrity- quality of honesty and trustworthiness. 5. Sociability- Leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships. Israel’s, security, defense, is, strong * Big Five Personality factors: 1. Neuroticism- tendency to be depressed, anxious, insecure,†¦ (don’t want) 2. Extraversion**- tendency to be sociable and assertive with positive energy. . Openness- informed, creative, insightful, and curious. 4. Agreeableness 5. Conscientiousness- thorough, organized controlled, dependable, and decisive. * Emotional Intelligence- ability to perceive and apply emotions to lifeâ₠¬â„¢s tasks. The premise is that people who are more sensitive to emotions & their impacts will be more effective leaders. Chapter 3 Skills Approach * Leadership skills- ability to use one’s knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals and objectives. * Katz developed the Three-Skill Approach: 1.Technical- having knowledge about and being proficient in a specific type of work or activity. 2. Human skill- having knowledge about and being able to work with people. 3. Conceptual skill- the ability to do the mental work of shaping meaning of organizational policy or issues. Top management has high human and conceptual, but low technical. Middle management has high everything Supervisory management has high technical, high human, and low conceptual. * Chapter 4 Style Approach Style Approach emphasizes the behavior of the leader: 1. Task behaviors 2. Relationship behaviorsStudies: 1. Ohio state studies developed a leadership behavior description questionnaire (LBDQ) and it resulted in leaders with initiating structure and consideration. 2. University of Michigan-results in leaders with two type of behavior: employee oriented and production oriented. Blake & Mouton’s Managerial Leadership Grid focuses on concern for production and people. *Be able to draw this* Note that the first 4 chapters focused on the leader and his abilities. The next few chapters focus on the interaction with subordinates. Chapter 5 Situational ApproachLeaders must match their style to the competence and commitment of subordinates. Leaders need to diagnose the situation and then adapt their style. **** Chapter 6 Contingency Theory Leader Match Theory Fiedler developed the Contingency model High LPCs are effective in moderately favorable conditions while low LPCs are effective in extreme conditionis. Chapter 7 Path-Goal Theory Centers on how leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated goals. Leadership generates motivation when it: 1. Increases rewards (payof fs) 2. Increases assistance by leader- clarifies & defines goals 3.Removes obstacles 4. Makes work personally satisfying R,C&D,O,S Chapter 8 Leader-Member Exchange Theory High quality leader member exchanges between leaders and followers produced multiple positive outcomes (less employee turnover, greater commitment, promotions,.. ) Quint Studer Introduction Managers create the best possible plan to deal with the changing external environment. And they do this in a quick fashion. â€Å"We are only as strong as our weakest link. † Chapter 1 Alignment Healthcare organizations must be aligned to provide excellent medical care.The difficulty here is that most organizations don’t have a uniform or seamless organization. It takes significant amounts of time for information/procedures to flow down through the organization from C-Suite leaders to supervisory personnel and this process needs to speed up. Chapter 2 Action How quickly and effectively leaders can drive action dete rmines whether an organization lives or dies. As leaders we must be able to anticipate the outcome of changes in the external environment as they are occurring and respond appropriately. This is prohibited as the majority of leaders do need get prepared for their leadership role.Studer identifies that the training should cascade through an organization with leader taking ownership of training leaders below them. Chapter 3 Accountability Organizations require a system to be in place that holds people accountable for their actions. While top managers might say that their leaders are performing exceptionally when compared with yearly goals this doesn’t line up. The majority of time the managers results doesn’t match up with there reviews because there is a serious disconnect. Studer suggests that leaders take the lead in creating accountable organizations.Set specific goals, properly measure the data, and watch how results vary, act accordingly. Also, be able to change th e system quickly as the environment changes. Chapter 4 Leader Consistency & Best Practices All leaders in the organization need to be consistent with each other and adopt/implement best practices. Leaders often have difficult implementing best practices. Reasons for this include that leaders of one organization might not want their successful strategies being utilized in another company because they will no longer have the edge.. Current Events Hospital PartnershipsHospitals are now forming partnerships in an attempt to decrease expenses and increase quality of care. Understand what the term synergistic means. Ex. 1+ 1=3 Together something may be obtained, but individually this could never happen. Fraying Hospital Safety Nets While safety net hospitals receive less reimbursement for procedures they are still maintaining high quality of compare. This article demonstrated through studies that these less aesthetically pleasing hospitals have similar if not better readmission rates than others. Healthcare Reform Law Creates New Age of ConsumerismIf Obamacare gets implemented the 40 million uninsured individuals in the US will now have access to healthcare. This brings a new age of consumers accessing health services. Since a lot more people are coming into the system many companies are restructuring their services to make them more â€Å"digestible† said Karen ignangi CEO. Medi-cal recipients warned they could lose day healthcare benefit Medical recipients might loose ability to attend adult day healthcare center where they receive nursing care, social services, and meals. To continue receiving benefits these individuals must enroll in managed care programs.Cedars Sinai- UCLA cut from LA city health plan Because of increased cost cefars and ucla DOCTORS have been cut from anthem blue cross network. 60,000 employees are unable to attend these hospitals for future services. Because of research and public perception cost these hospitals are capable of charging higher rates. New system for patients to report medical mistakes â€Å"Currently there is no mechanism for consumers to report information about patient safety events. † Politicians and other officials state that it would be beneficial to implement a system where patients/consumers can give feedback regarding their experiences.This will increase the quality of care over time. Some officials are worried that patients may mischaracterize an outcome as an adverse event because they have a lack of medical knowledge. Patients would report these errors using a website and telephone interviews. What, when, where,.. Allergan drops bid for FDA approval to promote Lap-Band for teens The company sought permission from FDA to promote lap band for kids as young as 14. After a period of time they withdraw the permission and stopped asking for it. The company faces declining revenues and is likely trying to bring them up by getting into a new market of younger kids/adults.Allergan has yet to publish their clinical results which creates doubt in its effectiveness and may be the reason why they withdrew permission. Five people have died as a result of procedures and obesity is still a catastrophic problem in our society. We need to be pushing diet, exercise, and healthy eating habits rather than surgery.. Filipino nurses win language discrimination settlement $975,000 settlement was reached between the hospital and many philipino nurses that worked there and were prevented from speaking their native language. They claimed they were followed and harassed by security and other individuals.They were even threatened by the instillation of security cameras. All the while other individuals were aloud to speak their native languages like Spanish. Administrators don’t want them speaking other languages because it makes patients feel uncomfortable. Patients need to know what’s going on at all times since their health is at stake.. Doctor turns away obese patients Put staff at risk, office isn’t equipped to handle care of over weight patients, equipment costs are high. She is legally allowed to do this but ethically it is unsound. Where did Dr. Rubino go on vacation?St Petersberg, Russia KNOW THE TRENDS IN HEALTHCARE: 1. Cost cutting will be top of mind for CEOs: mergers/partnerships, outsourcing functions to less costly vendors,†¦ 2. IT will also be of importance; incorporating EMR, and health information exchange 3. Expect consolidation, mergers, and zcquisitions 4. Expect higher turnover in C-suite as redirection and early retirements occur. These positions are now more demanding and involve more conflict. KNOW THE CASE STUDIES WE DID IN CLASS (HINT) Study the case studies they will be reworded Introduction is included in Quint StuderWhen you permit you promote Draw the contingency model What would prevent a manger from preventing a best practice? Ego is one answer What word could you use to describe _______? Synergistic relati onships*** Exam question His own article on the amount of money that is being wasted in the medical field. The budget for medical services per year in the US is $2. 2 Trillion of which $750 billion is determined to be wasted. There is groups like administrative waste (working on projects and things that are not necessary), physicians suggesting services not contingent with evidence based medicine, fraud,†¦

Consumer Behavior – Chapter 1

Consumer behavior chapter 1 – introduction In our ever-increasing global market, attention needs to be paid to the global consumer in order to identify who they are. Marketers and consumer behaviour researchers are constantly attempting to determine the similarities and the differences of the multifaceted global consumer. Some general theory about the sociological and psychological influences on consumer behaviour may be common to all Western cultures, but there are still strong com/pricing-psychology-consumption/">regional consumption trends.Consumer behaviour as it pertains to the marketplace is concerned with the manner in which consumers purchase and use products and services, and how these goods are incorporated into their lives. Researchers use various techniques to determine the features of consumers. These techniques include categorisation by the use of descriptive characteristics, such as demographics and psychographics. Individual consumers are part of a larger socie ty with common cultural values and beliefs, which can be further segmented into smaller groups, or subcultures.There are regional differences between consumers from different European countries, despite their being part of the larger European community. Marketers use  market segmentation strategies  to adapt their communications to meet the varied needs of a diverse target market. Consumer behaviour is good business! Marketers who understand their customers' needs and wants do better than their competitors. The essential component is deciding who to target and how.Marketers do this by defining markets and then dividing these markets into smaller chunks, or segments. A segment is based upon the demographic and psychographic aspects of the targeted population. The consumer's response is the ultimate test of whether or not a marketing strategy will succeed. However, initial consumer testing is not an absolute science. Sometimes a product can fail its initial test marketing and stil l go on to be highly successful. Sony has responded to market and consumer changes with its latest MP3 player, a rival to the Apple iPod.In attempting to define accurate information about the traits, habits, likes and dislikes of consumers, effective market segmentation separates members of a population into smaller segments of consumers who share unique characteristics that set them apart from the main population. Market segmentation  can be described as ‘slicing up' the market into bit-sized chunks of information. It is essential that for effective segmentation the following criteria are met: Consumers within the identified segment share similar product needs that will be different to other consumers in other segments.Important differences between the segments can be clearly identified. The segment is large enough to be profitable. Consumers in the segment can be reached with an appropriate marketing mix. The consumers in the segment will respond in the desired way to the marketing mix. Two important segmentation tools are the use of demographics and psychographics to determine unique attributes of the targeted population. Demographic statistics measure the observable aspects of the population. Psychographics are far more subtle. They illustrate the differences in consumers' personalities and cannot be measured objectively.Demographic variables include: Age Different age groups have different needs and wants. Consumers in similar age groups often share similar values and cultural experiences. Gender The behaviours and tastes of men and women are constantly evolving. It is thought that gender segmentation is an unintended result of marketing strategy. Family structure Marital status and family are important demographic variables that often affect spending priorities. Social class and income People in the same social class often have similar occupations and may share values and interests.Income is a good determinant of buying power and market potential . Race and ethnicity Immigrants from Asia and Africa are the fastest growing ethnic groups in Europe. Increased multiculturalism creates new opportunities for marketers. Geography Cultural differences play an important role in consumption patterns. Within the European context, consumption is common across cultures, but it is also specific between different cultural groups. European segmentation factors include: Consumption traits that are common across different cultures. Consumption traits that are specific to cultural groups. Relationship Marketing: building bonds with consumers The more marketers understand their current and potential consumers, the more effective they will be. This concept has developed into the role of  relationship marketing, in which marketers build long-term relationships between the company and the consumer. Relationship marketing is seen as the big trend for marketers. In conjunction with relationship marketing, a major growth area has been the need to g ather and manage accurate information about customers. This has culminated in the formation of sophisticated  database marketing  that tracks consumer buying habits.However, this ‘big brother is watching you' concept intimidates some consumers. Database marketing is required to comply with respondent confidentiality restrictions. As global consumers, we are influenced significantly by marketers through a number of mechanisms centred upon building relationships with customers. Advertisements illustrate how we should act and define roles, as well as informing about the use of products. As of 2006, the majority of people will live in urban centres and the number of ‘megacities' will increase to 26 in 2015.A controversial effect of the sophisticated marketing strategies used to communicate with these large potential markets is the emergence of  global consumer culture, in which people are united by their common devotion to brand-name consumer products, film stars and m usic celebrities. 2 Virtual consumption and the power of crowds There is little doubt that the digital revolution is one of the most significant influences on consumer behaviour, and the impact of the Web will continue to expand as more and more people around the world log on. It is not all bout businesses selling to customers (B2C e-commerce).The cyberspace explosion has caused a revolution in consumer-to-consumer activity (C2C e-commerce): welcome to the new world of  virtual brand communities. A close cousin of the global consumer is the  Euro-consumer. Much research and marketing effort is focused upon determining the characteristics of this consumer. Findings indicate links between social class, culture and income, with consumers who expressed more positive attitudes towards cultural change being more likely to consume luxury goods, despite their demographics and social class. 2 Marketing EthicsThere is a constant battle between achievement of organisational profit goals an d the necessity to conduct business honestly and ethically. 1 Prescribing Ethical Standards of Conduct Organisations often devise codes of conduct for their employees, and marketing associations provide guidelines for conduct, such as the following: Disclosure of the substantial risks associated with a product or service. Identification of added features that will increase the cost. Avoidance of false or misleading advertising. Rejection of high-pressure selling. Prohibition of selling or fund-raising under the guise of market research. Socially Responsible Behaviour Some marketers continue to violate the bond of trust with the consumer with the use of ‘bait-and-switch' tactics and misleading claims. A critical barometer of ethical behaviour is the action taken by companies to rectify a problem with their advertising or products. Benetton discontinued their controversial advertisements that featured the depiction of an AIDS victim and which were deemed to be exploitative by co nsumers. Much criticism has been leveled at marketing techniques that influence consumers to purchase products that are not essential.Philosophers view this conundrum from the perspective of individuals exercising their free will and free action in coming to decisions. However, this clinical approach supports the argument so long as only informative advertising is used in the marketing communication. Any other type of advertising – such as ones with imagery and underlying motives – cannot be so clinically rationalized. The raging debate that marketing techniques manipulate customers continues. We explore this issue from three perspectives. 3 Do Marketers Create Artificial Needs?Some conservative traditionalists believe that advertising can lead to the moral decay of societies by the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure, while some liberals believe that the misleading promises of material pleasure function to buy off people who would otherwise be revolutionaries working to ch ange the system. Through advertising, then, the system creates demands that only its products can satisfy. Numerous responses to this criticism abound, including the argument that needs are a basic biological motive and that a want represents one way that society has taught us that the need can be satisfied.The primary objective of advertising is to create awareness of needs, rather than to create the needs themselves. Needs are thus something that we are socialized to have. Marketers must be cognisant of the fact that they contribute heavily to the socializing influence of individuals in modern society and, thus, influence needs. Some commentators believe that purchasing decisions are manipulated by marketers using their understanding of psychology and the social sciences. They claim that marketers devise advertising techniques that manipulate a majority of individuals. A sense of social responsibility should underpin all advertising.There is little doubt that advertising creates a nd changes patterns of consumer behaviour. The central issue is whether the audience is discerning enough to see through the marketing hype and still make a deliberative judgement. Have a look at the  PBS Frontline website on ‘The Persuaders', which explores the world of modern marketers and advertisers, and discusses the methods they use to decipher who we are and what we want. As powerful an influence as advertising is, in the majority of cases advertisers still do not know enough about their target audience to effectively manipulate them.This fact is supported by the high degree of product failures (40-80 per cent) that occur. 4 Interdisciplinary Influences on the Study of Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is a multidisciplinary field that integrates a vast array of disciplines, from psychophysiology to sociology and anthropology. Each discipline views the subject from their own perspective, which results in a rich sociological interpretation of a fascinating and dyna mic topic. The figure below illustrates the integrated and interconnected approach to consumer behaviour from both a macro and micro perspective.The macro perspective represents the social focus and the micro perspective represents the individual focus. [pic] pyramid of comsumer behavior Consumer research has adopted two popular forms of research paradigms, or sets of beliefs: Positivism Believes that human reason is supreme and that objective truth is only revealed by science. Structured and ordered. Stresses functionality. Celebrates technology. Regards the world as an ordered, rational place with a clearly defined past, present and future. Emphasizes material well-being, and is based predominantly on the homogenous views of a predominantly Western and male culture.Interpretivism Believes the social and cultural world in which we live is complex. Dislikes too much emphasis on science and technology. Emphasizes the importance of symbolic and subjective experiences. Believes individ uals construct meanings based on unique, shared cultural experiences, therefore there are no right or wrong references. Consumption is interpreted as a set of diverse experiences. Many consumer behaviour experts believe that the existing predominant positivistic paradigm of consumer behaviour is undergoing a paradigm shift, due to challenge from the competing paradigm of interpretivism.

Juran’s Triology

Juran's Trilogy Prepared By : Kareem Ahmed Daabees Under supervision of : Dr. Mahmmoud Mohammad EL-Damaty Managing for quality consists of three basic quality-oriented processes: quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. The role of quality planning is to design a process that will be able to meet established goals under operating conditions. The role of quality control is to operate and when necessary correct the process so that it performs with optimal effectiveness.The role of quality improvement is to devise ways to take the process to unprecedented levels of performance. 1. Quality Planning Quality planning stems from a unity of purpose that spans all functions of an organization. The subject of planning can be anything — an engineering process for designing new products, a production process for making goods, or a service process for responding to customer requests. Quality Planning involves: * Identifying customers, both internal and external * Determi ning their needs Specifying the product features that satisfy those needs at minimum cost. * Designing the processes that can reliably produce those features. * Proving that the process can achieve its goals under operating conditions. 2. Quality Control The process of managing operations to meet quality goals. The process of Quality Control involves: * Choosing control subjects * Choosing units of measurement * Establishing a measurement procedure * Measuring * Interpreting differences between measurement and goal. * Taking action to correct significant differences 3.Quality Improvement Assuming the process is under control, any waste that occurs must be inherent in the design of the process. The object of quality improvement is to reduce chronic waste to a much lower level. The steps in Quality Improvement: * Prove the need for improvement * Identify specific projects for improvement * Organize to guide the projects * Organize for diagnosis — discovery of causes * Diagnose the causes * Provide remedies * Prove that the remedies are effective under operating conditions * Provide for control to maintain the gains.

Lanier Corporation Operates on a Calendar

Lanier Corporation operates on a calendar-year basis. It begins the annual budgeting process in late August when the president establishes targets for the total dollar sales and net income before taxes for the next year. The sales target is given first to the marketing department. The marketing manager formulates a sales budget by product line in both units and dollars. From this budget, sales quotas by product line in units and dollars are established for each of the corporation’s sales districts. The marketing manager also estimates the cost of the marketing activities to support the target sales volume and prepares a tentative marketing expense budget. The executive vice president uses the sales and profit targets, the sales budget by product line, and the tentative marketing expense budget to determine the dollar amounts that can be devoted to manufacturing and corporate office expense. The executive vice president prepares the budget for corporate expenses. She then forwards to the production department the product-line sales budget in units and the total dollar amount that can be devoted to manufacturing. The production manager meets with the factory managers to develop a manufacturing plan that will produce the required units when needed within the cost constraints set by the executive vice president. The budgeting process usually comes to a halt at this point because the production department does not consider the financial resources allocated to be adequate. When this standstill occurs, the vice president to finance, the executive vice president, the marketing manager, and the production manager meet together to determine the final budget for each of the areas.This normally results in a modest increase in the total amount available for manufacturing costs and cuts in the marketing expense and corporate office expense budgets. The total sales and net income figures proposed by the president are seldom changed. Although the participants are seldom pleased with the compromise, these budgets are final. Each executive then develops a new detailed budget for the operations in his or her area. None of the areas has achieved its budget in recent years. Sales often run below the target. When budgeted sales are not achieved, each area is expected to cut costs so that the president’s profit target can be met. However, the profit target is seldom met because costs are not cut enough. In fact, costs often run above the original budget in all functional areas (marketing, production, and corporate office). The president is disturbed that Lanier has not been able to meet the sales and profit targets. He hired a consultant with considerable experience with companies in Lanier’s industry. The consultant reviewed the budgets for the past 4 years. He concluded that the product line sales budgets were reasonable and that the cost and expense budgets were adequate for the budgeted sales and production levels.