Women and Unions

The reason why it represents the matter of crucial importance for the unions to seek into organizing the unorganized is that by doing it, unions increase the extent of their own bargaining power – hence, ensuring their continuous existence.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Women and Unions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even though that unorganized workers may appear utterly powerless and unprivileged, the fact that they are being represented in great numbers implies their potential to exert a powerful influence onto the very essence of socio-economic dynamics in a particular society. According to Lee (2007): â€Å"As working-class interests are organized and channeled into political arenas, citizens are provided more realistic sets of political alter ­natives, which drive heated contests between political forces seeking electoral power† (p. 592). Nowadays, the validity of an earlier statement ap pears particularly self-evident, because due to an ongoing introduction of technology into just about every sphere of industrial manufacturing and commerce, commonly referred to as ‘post-industrialization’, the representatives of a working class continue to grow progressively underpowered, in social sense of this word. Even as far back as in early eighties, Gorz (1982) was able to define the subtleties of such a tendency with perfect clarity: â€Å"Workers no longer ‘produce’ society through the mediation of the relations of production; instead the machinery of social production as a whole produces ‘work’ and imposes it in a random way upon random, interchangeable individuals† (p. 71). The reading of Reiter’s (1986) article, will confirm the full validity of Gorz’s insight. According to the author, the fact Burger King’s employment strategy is being closely associated with high turnover rate among workers does not ev en slightly undermine the extent of company’s overall competitiveness. On the contrary – it is namely because King Burger can well afford replacing employees with new ones, due to high standardization of work-related procedures (just about anyone can be trained to flip burgers within the matter of minutes) and due to the abundance of an unskilled workforce (newly arrived immigrants from Third World countries), which provides this company with the strong competitive edge: â€Å"Since the motion of the factory proceeds from the machinery and not from the worker, working personnel can continually be replaced.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Frequent change in workers will not disrupt the labor process – a shift in organization applauded† (p. 312). Just as it used to be the case during the era of ‘classical capitalism’, today’s large commercia l companies that feature high automatization of manufacturing processes, deliberately strive to ‘atomize’ employees so that they would not be able to unite, while pursuing some common professional agenda. And, an ongoing process of Western economies becoming increasingly technology-intensive and service-oriented (Globalization) helps corporate employers rather substantially in their attempts to disfranchise the very notion of workers’ solidarity. As it was pointed out by Ebbinghaus and Jelle Visser (1999): â€Å"The transition from an industrial to a service economy erodes the basis for union organization (p. 141). Given the fact that in very near future, the demand for low-skilled labor would virtually cease to exist, it will create objective preconditions for millions and millions of people to be left without even a formal source of income. Yet, once organized into unions, even low-skilled workers will realize themselves capable to effectively oppose corporate greediness. After all, it does not represent much of a challenge to break a single tree-branch. However, many of such branches, binded into a bundle, would prove quite impossible to break. One of the major challenges, experienced by women who seek unionizing, is the fact that very often; employers refuse to recognize them as professional employers, in full sense of this word. This especially appears to be the case in Third World countries, where there is an acute lack of legislations, meant to ensure women’s civil rights. In her article, Datta (2003) provides us with the example of how India’s governmental authorities brush aside the very idea that working women should be referred to as ‘workers’ per se:Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Women and Unions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"When†¦ 600 (female) garment workers approached the Labor Commissioner of Gujarat to regis ter the garment worker’s union, the Commissioner did not recognize them as workers; they were simply women, who stayed ‘home and stitched garments’† (p. 354). It goes without saying, of course, that governmental authorities resort to rationale-driven reasoning, while justifying their often strongly defined unwillingness to recognize that fact that women are being just as valuable of employees as men are. For example, it is being commonly suggested that, during the course of their menstrual periods, women become utterly irrational and therefore, unsuited for executing particularly demanding professional duties. This, however, does not conceal the fact that this kind of reasoning, behind women’s employment-related dehumanization, derives out of men’s deep-seated sense of sexism. In fact, this can be well referred to as another major obstacle, on the way of women’s union-movement. In her article, where she elaborates onto gradual transform ation of Justice for Janitors (J4J) union from essentially men-governed body into organization where women are being more or less equally represented among its policy-makers, Cranford (2007) points out to the fact that women-janitors never ceased experiencing subtle sexism, on the part of their male coworkers and simultaneously J4J members. According to the author, even though women played rather major role, while participating in J4J-sponsored rallies against an unfair treatment of janitors in L.A., they have been rarely given an opportunity to take part in designing union’s policies: â€Å"There was no overt exclusion of or direct discrimination toward women entering more formal positions (in J4J) but neither was there a concerted effort to bring (female) janitors into formal leadership positions and this absence of leadership development had gendered effects† (p. 367).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, it comes as not a particular surprise that, until recently, J4J paid little attention towards protecting the interests of women-janitors. Two other unionization-related major challenges, experienced by women, can be defined as unions’ reluctance to recognize childrearing as productive work and the lack of education, on the part of many informal female workers. As it was pointed out by Cranford in the article, from which we have already quoted: â€Å"Men’s wage earning in the public realm of production is valued and visibly contributes to the family’s reproduction while women’s reproductive work of caring for children and housework is unpaid† (p. 363). This is the reason why it is specifically socially underprivileged male workers (especially those temporarily unemployed), who benefit the most from social assistance programs. According to Glass and Beth (1997): â€Å"US welfare state has been fashioned around direct provision of services to families with heads unable to secure employment† (p. 291). As a result, low-skilled female employees are being put is clearly disadvantageous position, as compared to what it is being the case with their male counterparts. And, as it appears from Datta’s article, it is namely the fact that many such female employees in Third World countries lack even basic education, which contributes rather significantly towards their inability to realize a simple fact that, by indulging in childrearing activities, they prove themselves being quite as productive members of society as informal male workers. After all, the popular perception of employed mothers often implies that the fact that they have to take care of children undermines their professional adequacy. Nevertheless, as soon as such women attain basic literacy, they become increasingly aware of what constitutes their constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms at workplace, which naturally predisposes them towards a dopting an active stance, while addressing their unionization-related anxieties. There can be little doubt as to the fact that the experiences of organizing informal workers in India, or immigrant janitors in the United States, outlined in Cranford and Datta’s articles, do provide lessons as to how unions can adopt new strategies that will increase women’s trade union participation. For example, as it was shown by Cranford, although women often lack formal power to actively partake in unionizing, they nevertheless posses plenty of an informal one. The reason for this is simple – unlike what it is being the case with most men, women tend to assess unionization-related challenges as being closely related to what they perceive as ‘family issues’. And, given the fact that, when it comes to ensuring family’s well-being, it is women who end up wearing pants, in allegorical sense of this word, this provides them with an effective tool for leveraging dynamics within a particular union – thus, becoming active players in the process of low-skilled workers’ unionization. Another important lesson, learned from reading earlier mentioned articles, is the fact that, in order for more and more women to be willing to join trade unions and to be considered eligible for unions’ membership, they should never cease educating themselves about what the concept of empowerment stands for. The reason for this is simple – after having gained an awareness of this concept’s actual meaning, and after having affiliated themselves with empowerment-facilitating activities, women will be more like to adopt a proper stance, while dealing with work-related challenges. For example, as it was shown by Datta, Indian female street-vendors used to be initially harassed by police for bribes. And yet, after they joined Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA), and consequentially began exerting political influence, as the body of highly organized workers, the problem with police demanding bribes became substantially less acute: â€Å"SEWA organizers have surveyed women who were subjected to such extortion, held meetings in the presence of the police superintendent, and ensured that the women vendors were not harassed anymore† (p. 356). In other words, women workers are being more then capable of protecting their interests. However, in order for them to be able to do this, they would have to get rid of an inferiority complex, imposed by male-chauvinistic society. After all, the process of women’s empowerment is consistent with dialectically predetermined laws of history. As it was pointed out by Bergquist (1993): â€Å"The history of women workers’ struggle for control over the way they work is replete with clues to a different, more democratic and sustainable, vision of human progress† (p. 764). Therefore, even though that, while struggling to unionize, female workers continue to be opposed by the number of counter-progressive forces, there are good reasons to believe that eventually, working women will be able to reach the full spectrum of their objectives, in this respect. References Bergquist, C. (1993). Labor history and its challenges: Confessions of a Latin  Americanist. The American Historical Review, 98(3), 757-764. Cranford, C. J. (2007). Constructing union motherhood: Gender and social  reproduction in the Los Angeles ‘Justice for Janitors’ movement. Qualitative  Sociology, 30(4), 361-381. Datta, R. (2003). From development to empowerment: The self-employed  women’s association in India. International Journal of Politics, Culture and  Society, 16(3), 351-368. Ebbinghaus, B. Visser, J. (1999). When institutions matter: Union growth and  decline in Western Europe, 1950-1995. European Sociological Review, 15(2),  135-158. Glass, J. Beth, S. (1997). The family responsive workplace. Annual Review of  Sociology, 23, 289-313. Gorz, Andre. (1982). Farewell to the Working Class. Boston: Pluto Press. Lee, C. (2007). Labor unions and good governance: A cross-national,  comparative analysis. American Sociological Review, 72(4), 585-609. Reiter, E. (1986). Life in a fast-food factory. In C. Heron R. Storey (Eds.), On  the job: Confronting the labour process in Canada (pp. 309-326). Kingston  and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. This essay on Women and Unions was written and submitted by user Daken to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Portrayal Of Reality In Great Gatsby Essays - The Great Gatsby

Portrayal Of Reality In Great Gatsby Essays - The Great Gatsby Portrayal Of Reality In Great Gatsby Mr. Gordan, an esteemed English teacher, once said Literature is Life. I had not been able to grasp the reality of those words until I read The Great Gatsby . After reading The Great Gatsby, I understand that literature is written through inspiration from our daily lives. In this novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the themes of morality and life versus illusion. Through his excellent writing techniques, Fitzgerald reduces most of the characters of the novel as seemingly obsessed with material possessions, petty, and selfish. Theses characterizations are portrayed because of the realness of human nature. Fitzgerald uses contrasting morals and values of the characters to show the true disparity in human nature. Nicks characteristics are completely incompatible with Toms. Since Nick has a strong foundation and is honest, he is thus very faithful. His faithfulness and loyalty is apparent when he attends and organizes Gatsbys funeral. On the other hand, Tom is unfaithful and dishonest. He is dishonest with Daisy and Myrtle. He also shows his unfaithfulness when he is not present at the birth of his daughter. In addition, Fitzgerald also uses Tom and Gatsby to show the sentimental disparity. Gatsby is a dreamer and a romantic man, who by following his dreams, went from rags to riches. He is proud of the fact that he has been able to accumulate his wealth independently, despite the fact that it is hinted that much of his money was earned illegally. Tom, on the other hand, is a realist and a straightforward man. He does not dream, as Gatsby does; he merely acts on his instincts. He has not earned his great wealth: he has inherited it. In spite of the fact, that all of the main characters in The Great Gatsby have very different personalities; they are however all affected by money. Some characters, like Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, have money, and are very expressive with it. Other characters, such as Myrtle, lust for money. Essentially being of the middle class, Myrtle's attraction to Tom is not based on love or affection. Rather, Tom represents something that Myrtle has never had : endless wealth; and with this Myrtle correlates happiness. Fitzgerald uses the lust for money in his novel because it is one thing that almost everybody in the world lusts for. He also tries to use the prejudices against rich as being flamboyant and superficial to create a contempt against Tom Buchanan and Daisy. However, these prejudices might have some truth or reality to them as Fitzgerald shows it in the end through Nicks judgment. Fitzgerald also adds a dash of reality to his novel when Gatsby doesnt achieve his dream of winning Daisy back from Tom. In this case, the strong, bullying character of Tom represents reality, and with his powerful nature he easily squashes any hopes that Gatsby may have of a relationship with Daisy. This shows that sometimes dreams dont come true, as opposed to the fairy tale version of . and they lived happily everafter. Although, Fitzgerald may despise all that the American dream stands for, he more importantly illustrates that it is not always easy to obtain it. The novel ends with the death of Gatsby. This may seem surprising to the reader, as Fitzgerald seems to have built Gatsby up as being one of the true heroes of the novel. However, Fitzgerald understands that reality is often very harsh to dreamers, a central quality in Gatsby's character. The death of Gatsby, and the unaffected life of Tom after both Gatsby's and Myrtle's death is testament to the fact that illusion is often shattered when confronted with reality. Rather than this fact detracting from Gatsby's character; the reader, however, supports the image of Gatsby all the more: a man who has died while in pursuit of something worthy. This alternative is far better than any other solutions. If Gatsby had not died, then he would have been desperate and desolute. In addition, Tom would have had the upper hand and would have only enlarged his own ego. Fitzgerald ends the novel with another reality. He shows that Gatsbys life had no worth if measured with how many real friends

GPA Chart Conversion to 4.0 Scale

GPA Chart Conversion to 4.0 Scale SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you looking for an easy way to understand just how your final class grades become GPA decimals? If so, then you've come to the right article. In just two simple charts, I'll show you how this conversion works for both a weighted and unweighted GPA. Why Are Grades Converted to a 4.0 Scale? Typically the grades you get in high school are either letters or percents, but on your transcript that number will be converted into a GPA. The GPA is a quick, helpful way for a college admissions officers to get a sense of your skills, intelligence, and willingness to challenge yourself. And looking at one number beats having to go through each person’s transcript grade by grade, for thousands and thousands of applicants! Colleges typically use a 4.0 GPA scale so that all GPAs are standardized. Rather than trying to compare a bunch of letter grades, percentages, or different GPA scoring scales, colleges convert all those scores to the 4.0 scale. That makes it easy to accurately compare the grades of students from all over the country and world. // For example, say one student went to a school that uses letter grades on transcripts, another went to a school that uses percentages, and a third uses the 4.0 scale. Comparing, say an A- average to a 93% average to a 3.5 GPA is much more difficult than converting the grades and percentages to the 4.0 scale and having three numbers that are easily comparable. Going through grades one by one: probably like sorting these noodles in order of height and width. The Unweighted GPA Conversion Chart Most high schools will convert all your final grades into a scale ranging from 0.0 to 4.0. This unweighted GPA scale treats your grades the same, no matter whether they come from Standard, Honors, or AP/IB classes. Here’s how unweighted grades convert: Letter Grade Percentile Standard GPA A+ 97-100 4.0 A 93-96 4.0 A- 90-92 3.7 B+ 87-89 3.3 B 83-86 3.0 B- 80-82 2.7 C+ 77-79 2.3 C 73-76 2.0 C- 70-72 1.7 D+ 67-69 1.3 D 65-66 1.0 F Below 65 0.0 Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. // But my AP apples were way harder than your Honors oranges! The Weighted GPA Conversion Chart Many schools also calculate a weighted GPA, ending up with a scale that ranges from 0.0 to 5.0. The weighted GPA tries to account for the fact that different level classes have different degrees of difficulty. The way this scale differentiates between harder and easier classes is by adding .5 to Honors and adding 1 to AP grades. This would mean a B in an AP class is equal to an A in a regular-level class for your GPA. Here’s how weighted grades convert: Letter Grade Percentile Honors GPA AP/IB GPA A+ 97-100 4.5 5.0 A 93-96 4.5 5.0 A- 90-92 4.2 4.7 B+ 87-89 3.8 4.3 B 83-86 3.5 4.0 B- 80-82 3.2 3.7 C+ 77-79 2.8 3.3 C 73-76 2.5 3.0 C- 70-72 2.2 2.7 D+ 67-69 1.8 2.3 D 65-66 1.5 2.0 F Below 65 0.0 0.0 We're just happy weighted GPA doesn't require actual weights. Does your school report your GPA as weighted or unweighted? What would your GPA be, considered on a 4.0, 5.0, or 6.0 scale? Use our tool to calculate your unweighted and weighted GPA to figure out how you stack up against other college applicants. You'll also get our proprietary college core GPA calculation and advice on where to improve to be a better college applicant. // What’s Next? Ready to use these numbers to calculate your GPA? Check out how to calculate your unweighted GPA and yourweighted GPA. If you’re curious whether colleges look at your weighted or unweighted high school GPA, then check out our guide on weight vs. unweighted GPAs. Worried about what your converted GPA means? We explore what’s a good GPA, what’s a bad GPA, and what colleges think. Ready to work, work, work to get that GPA up?We've got four strategies for raising your GPA fast, and how to keep your GPA high over your whole high school career. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: //

The Qualities of a Superior Special Educator

The Qualities of a Superior Special Educator Special education is a field that will continue to need qualified candidates for at least the next decade. What makes the difference between an adequate and a great special educator?   Special Educators Are Highly Intelligent People often make the mistake of thinking that because children with disabilities are often cognitively disabled, that they dont need smart teachers. Incorrect. The era of babysitting is over. The demands on special educators intellectually are greater than on those who teach a single subject. Special educators need to: Know the general education well enough to adapt it to the ability of their students. In situations where they are co-teaching in inclusive settings, they need to understand how to make curricular information and skills (as in math and reading) accessible to their students with disabilities.Assess students both formally and informally, understanding their strengths as well as their needs. You also assess and understand your students strengths and weaknesses in terms of learning style: do they learn visually or auditorily? Do they need to move (kinetics) or are they easily distracted?Keep an open mind. Part of intelligence is natural curiosity. Great special educators always have their eyes open for new data driven strategies, materials and resources they can use to help their students succeed. This does not mean that special educators may not be disabled themselves: a person with dyslexia who has successfully completed the required college program for special education understand not only what their students need to learn, but have also built a strong repertoire of strategies to overcome the problems they have with text, or math, or long term memory. Special Educators Like Children You need to know if you really like children if you are going to teach special education. Seems like that should be assumed, but dont. There are people who thought they would like to teach and then found out that they did not like the messiness of children. You especially need to like boys, since boys represent 80 percent of all students with autism and more than half of children with other disabilities. Children often are dirty, they may smell bad at times, and they are not all cute. Be sure you like children in reality and not just in the abstract. Special Educators Are Anthropologists Temple Grandin, well-known for being both autistic and an articulate interpreter of autism (Thinking in Pictures, 2006) described her dealings with the typical world as being An Anthropologist on Mars. Its also an apt description of a great teacher of children, especially children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. An anthropologist studies the culture and communications of specific cultural groups. A great special educator also observes his or her students closely to understand them, both in order to address their needs and to use their strengths as well as their needs to design instruction. An anthropologist does not impose his or her prejudices on the subjects or the society he or she is studying. The same is true of a great special educator. A great special educator pays attention to what motivates his or her students and doesnt judge them when they dont conform to their expectations. Like children to be polite? Assume they have never been taught, rather than they are being rude. Children with disabilities have people judging them all day long. A superior special educator withholds judgment. Special Educators Create Safe Places. If you have a self-contained classroom or a resource room, you need to be sure you create a place where calm and order reign. It is not a matter of being loud enough to get their attention. It is actually counterproductive for most children with disabilities, especially students on the autism spectrum. Instead, special educators need to: Establish Routines: Creating structured routines is invaluable to having a quiet, orderly classroom. Routines dont restrict students, they create the framework that helps students succeed.Create Positive Behavior Support: A great teacher thinks ahead, and by putting positive behavior support in place, avoids all of the negatives that come with a reactive approach to behavior management. Special Educators Manage Themselves If you have a temper, like to have things your way, or otherwise take care of number one first, you are probably not a good candidate for teaching, let alone teaching special education children. You can be well paid and enjoy what you do in special education, but nobody promised you a rose garden. Keeping your cool in the face of behavioral challenges or difficult parents is critical for your success. Getting along with and supervising a classroom aide also require that you know what you need to succeed. It doesnt mean that you a pushover, it means that you can separate what is really important and what is negotiable. Other Attributes of a Successful Special Educator Attention to Detail: You will need to collect data, keep other records, and write a lot of reports. The ability to attend to those details while maintaining instruction is a big challenge.An Ability to Keep Deadlines: Keeping to deadlines is critical to avoiding due process: the legal assumption you know what youre talking about evaporates when you fail to follow Federal Law, and failure to meet timelines is one place too many special educators fail. Run to the Nearest Exit If you are fortunate enough to have good self-awareness, and you find that some of the things above dont match your strengths, you need to pursue something that will better match your skill set and your desires. If you find that you have these strengths, we hope you are enrolled in a special education program. We need you. We need intelligent, responsive and empathetic teachers to help students with disabilities succeed, and help all of us feel proud that we have chosen to serve children with special needs.

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Operations Management - Essay Example The researcher states that in order to achieve and sustain a competitive edge in the market environment, every firm must attempt to achieve consistency in its manufacturing or service delivery in all aspects. Therefore, the firm must identify areas that are necessary for inclusion in the operations management plan; plan on the approach to take in order to achieve the stated objectives; implement the strategy in accordance to the guidelines formulated in the planning stage; monitor the process; and improve by making corrections and adjustments to the process. If a firm can succeed in maintaining the operations management cycle for a sustained long period, then the firm is likely to achieve long term success due to preparedness to keep up and cope with market changes. Market changes include both macroeconomic and microeconomic market changes, both of which have an effect on a firm’s operations. Macroeconomic factors include changes in the aggregate economy of a vast geographical region including political changes; economic changes; social changes; technological changes; ethical changes and legal changes. Economic factors include the effects of the economy on business; social factors include changes in beliefs and perceptions as they relate to the business; technological factors centre the changes that affect the production process. Ethical factors include changes in perceptions of the difference between moral rights or wrongs; and legal factors are aspects of policy and legislation that have direct or indirect effects on the market. Microeconomic factors are the changes that occur in the market or industry and involve stakeholders like customers, suppliers, competitors and the public (Wong and Wong, 2007). A company must endeavour to satisfy the needs of customers, who are the core source of revenue for business; and attract and retain the attention of the public, which is composed of potential customers and investors. In addition, a company should build i ts credit worth to increase the likelihood of obtaining credit from suppliers even in the absence of funds to make cash purchases (Grafton, Lillis and Widener, 2010). The general idea is that a company should strive to align its inner environment with the changes in the outer environment. According to Slack, Chambers and Johnston (2007), a company should identify its level of success in the five main performance indicators including price, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. This essay highlights the advantages and disadvantages of basing a performance management system on these five operations objectives. Implementation The first step towards implementation of a performance management system based on the five core performance indicators is an analysis of a company’s current performance against the expected performance. The aim of implementing such a system is to narrow down or close the gap between these two phenomena; the strategy being the use of these indicator s to achieve and retain a competitive edge in the face of a rapidly changing market. However, many scholars argue that the system should not be geared on achieving full functionality but a firm should focus on one aspect and do it to its best capacity. Specialisation enables a firm to perfect one aspect of its performance and uses it to outdo the competition in the market; especially by having a competitive edge derived from its effectiveness to achieve the optimal result in a performance indicator. However, using price, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility has merits and demerits (Zeydan and Colpan, 2009). Cost Optimisation of the performance indicator of cost has direct monetary benefits to a firm, as it enables the firm to reduce the cost of production by cutting down on inputs, mainly by adopting the use of cheaper alternatives or by reducing the quantity of input but maintaining the production output. In this case, the firm has the capacity to achieve high profit margi ns due to a higher difference between revenue and expenditure. Moreover, it has

Music assignments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music assignments - Assignment Example The introductory part of the prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun has prominent parts of the harp and wind instruments. A unique feeling is created by the chromatic note sequence of the wind instrument heard in the initial stages of the Prelude. Derived harmonies and derived chords of namely 7ths, 9ths, augmented and diminished are heard creating a spectacular feeling of peace and anticipation at the same time. The feeling of the time of the day i.e., Afternoon is uniquely and clearly brought out. The song through unusual note sequence and mood changing notes introduced at the demarcation point of the stanzas of the musical piece creates a journey on its own. The undulating tone and progression and regression of notes introduce the feeling of being close to nature and natural cycles. The Afternoon of a Faun represents many feelings, peace, satisfaction, relief, fear, quest, confusion and relaxation. Quite unique and characteristic to Claude Debussy, his work is in this piece is characterised by unconventional rise and fall of tempo, intensity and notes. It involves the waxing and waning of the overall mood that the composition tries to convey. A rhythmic variation is also noticed towards the middle for the composition where stringed instruments dominant for most of the part. Claude Debussy’s unexpected harmony of strings and thought provoking combination of notes are seen in the background sequences that fill up the musical piece. The signature line of the musical piece shows Debussy’s ability to skilfully blend discordant notes into a mystical harmony and give it a life like affect. The signature line has the alternating major and minor chords playing. Debussy’s sight variation of the opening material is revealed toward the end with sharp clarinet sequences, differing in tempo, rhythm, timbre and overall texture. It is

Charles Tangs Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Charles Tangs Leadership - Essay Example These theories seek to describe what makes a good leader and are formulated to determine characteristics that organizations should look out for while scouting for a leader. This study considers that it is only by incorporating several of these theories that an effective model can be built one capable of predicting an effective leader. In this study, an effective leader is considered as one capable of motivating and enabling others to attain organizationally relevant goals (Kerr & Jermier, 1978). Organizationally relevant goals refer to productivity, social integration, optimal levels of continuous learning as well as goals and ethical means to achieve. An effective leadership must have natural cues separate from the regular people. In this case, this model considers the dictates of the trait theory as well placed. The trait theory holds that individuals inherit certain qualities that spell their ability to be leaders (Judge, Bono, Ilies & Gerhardt, 2002.p.770). In this case, openness to experience is considered a relevant trait. Openness to experience includes active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, awareness of one’s feelings, accepting variety and willingness to learn. The other pertinent trait in defining an effective leader is interpersonal relations. ... The path-goal theory is a development of Robert House and holds that a leader’s conduct is contingent to the contentment, enthusiasm and performance of his/her subordinates (Wofford & Liska, 1993.p.865). In this regard, a leader must have the ability to determine subordinate’s abilities and needs and thence implore on ways and means of complementing the abilities and compensating for deficiencies (Mumford et al 2007). In this regard, the model identifies that an effective leader must be open to experience, develop interpersonal skills, be task oriented and engage in improving employees as defined by the task-goal theory. Putting your philosophy to a test, evaluate Charles Tang’s leadership. Charles Tang passes as an effective leader. This is arrived at by weighing his practice against the discussed model of effective leaderships. Firstly, Tang appears as a leader who is open to experience. Tang’s leadership approach has been informed by past experiences as a student in China and later a student and employee of Intel in the West (Barling et al 1996). Unlike most Chinese managers, Tang was more open, and encouraged employees to oppose his position as he believed it is through consensus that potent solutions can be attained (House et al 2004). Secondly, being â€Å"externally Chinese† made him aware of the likely pitfalls in being authoritative as he had grown up under this system or approach to leadership (Gerstner & Day, 1997). Besides openness to experience Tang demonstrates a strong orientation to tasks. At the moment, Tang is aware of the challenge ahead which is ensuring optimal performance of his employees. To ensure this, he tasks himself with

Missions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Missions - Essay Example also prevail in the communities under focus.2 Examinations of the service topic signify an association of the aforementioned problems with several areas of human geography such as settlement, population, development, economics, health and culture. Place: Assessments into the severe problems posed by the inaccessibility of water in squatter settlements reveal that collection of water for primarily drinking and other household purposes is conducted via limited means.3 Slum resident have to gather water either through public standpipes or travel considerable distances by feet in search of water that is brought back to their homes in containers.4 These findings indicate that the major obstacles to enhancing water accessibility to slum occupants are; a shortage of direct water supply through pipelines and dispersed locations of water sources, if any are available. To address these issues, the development of local infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs must be undertaken on a small sca le. However, the success of these proposals is highly dependent upon the active involvement of the residents themselves throughout the commencement of the project till its implementation.5 Effects of Monsoon Climate: While, the availability of water in slum, dweller and squatter settlements of Mumbai is scarce it is important to note that the limited quantity of water that is eventually consumed by occupants is contaminated. High water contamination levels in poor communities across Mumbai city are a ramification of problems that are associated with restricted and in some cases inexistent sewer, drainage and sanitation facilities.6 Furthermore, disease outbreaks following heavy monsoon rainfall are caused by the mixing of animal urine with drinking water.7 Health Geography: The grave inequality in the provision of healthcare to poor communities of Mumbai city must be addressed on an immediate basis. The strategy for resolving this aspect of the problem must focus on prevention rathe r than cure.8 Initial procedures to tackle with health issues prevalent in slums must focus on the establishment of medical clinics and units per community that must eventually be increased in quantity. These medical clinics should not only be assigned the task of treating ill residents but should also provide basic healthcare knowledge, awareness and information to residents. Awareness campaigns must be designed with the view of highlighting the importance of personal hygiene and individual initiatives to combat diseases. Human Population Control: Furthermore, community healthcare services should initiate a family planning program9 owing to increasing birth rates in slum and squatter sett

The Clinical Practice Council Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Clinical Practice Council - Essay Example The Clinical Practice Council In keeping with the present increasing development in the healthcare service of the modern healthcare institutions, it becomes more essential to develop the operations as well as to exploit advanced methods to provide an ultimate satisfaction to each patient. With regard to the responsibilities and services of these two groups, this paper intends to briefly describe the main groups’ functions and the roles of their leaders. Moreover, the paper will also focus on describing decision making process and identifying roles and responsibilities that are observed among the members of each group. In addition, the different roles of each individual member in each group have also been highlighted within the discussion. Purpose of Each Group The Clinical Practice Council focuses on providing evidence-based practice in clinical nursing activities in order to implement an advanced nursing practice for each client within the organization. The support group considerably engages to maintain an advanced clinical nursing practice as well as reliable patient care programs in keeping with American Nurses Association Scope and Standards of Practice. In contrast, A.A. is a relatively small support group which focuses on practising various effective ways preventing alcohol addiction. The group is a worldwide fellowship of men and women which is structured with around 25 members. ... The leader of this group has to make an effective decision of developing policies through depending upon the appropriate recommendations from the members of the group (Queensland Govt., 2012). In this context, the leader of the group provides a topic for discussion with the members and identifies the appropriate solutions of the raised issues. In the similar context, the role of the leader in A.A is to focus on the presentation of the members communicating in order to motivate and renounce alcohol addiction. In order to motivate the members, the leader of this group guides an effective method of communicating by encouraging the participants to talk freely and in an orderly way. The leaders also listen carefully to the problems of the participants and come up with proper solution and motivation for encouraging the participants to carry on their fights against alcohol addiction. Decision Making Process of Each Group The decision making process can be considered as one of the major step s for the leader in order to direct his/her team towards an effective and efficient way to achieve the goals and the objectives of the team. Moreover, the decision making process is also a crucial step for an organization in terms of identifying appropriate initiatives for the organization and enhancing performance of the team members in order to effectively achieve competitive advantage with the organizational offerings (Edwards & Elwyn, 2009). According to the observation of the case, it can be stated that the leaders of both the groups are significantly contributing by providing an effective support in order to enhance their performance to offer healthcare services to the patients. In the

Leadership - Does Gender Matter Essay Example for Free

Leadership Does Gender Matter Essay Does gender affect the ability of an individual to become an effective leader? Some researchers believe that effective leaders are just born while others believe that effective leadership can be learned. But few of these researchers discuss the difference that gender may make in becoming good leaders. When we take a look back through history, we can see that the evaluation of women leaders was slow. Today, only 2. 4 percent (Gettings, Johnson, Brunner, Frantz, 2009) of the Fortune 500 Companys are lead by women which is an increase from the 1. percent (www. money. cnn. com) of female Chief Executive Officers in 2002. The gender differences in the corporate world posses several issues for the Human Resource Managers such as management style differences, pay equity, promotion fairness, and work-life balance. Women began entering the workforce in the late 1800s. During that time, women were employed in what society considered female specific careers such as teachers, nurses, and seamstresses and women made up a very small portion of the workforce. This all changed with the on-set of World War II. While the men left to fulfill their military obligations, women stepped up to the plate and filled positions in industrial factories across the nation doing jobs typically performed by men. Following World War II, many females continued to work and over the decades have set career aspirations which have led them to the top. As time went on, it became obvious that the gender differences in the work place required Human Resource Management intervention. Historically, the workplace was predominantly masculine when it came to organizational theory. Organizations were structured on centralized authority, specialization and expertise, and division of labor. Aggressive and dominating leadership styles became less popular among organizations. The era of masculine leadership styles then gave way to the newly desired feminine way (Lowen, 2007) of leading. In the late 1900s, organizations became more feminine in nature utilizing concepts such as delegation of authority, collaboration, and empowerment. In addition, interpersonal relations became a focus for organizations and such things as trust, openness and concern for the whole person kicked off the feminization of leadership (Frankel, 2007) and in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was created which mandated equal pay, regardless of gender, for workers performing the same job. This became extremely important as women began to hold top level positions within organizations. Women possess many gender specific qualities and characteristics which enhance their leader effectiveness in todays feminized leadership. According to a study conducted by Caliper, a Princeton based management consulting group, women leaders are more empathic, flexible and possess stronger interpersonal skills. The strong interpersonal skills of women enable them to be objective in taking in information from all sides and then take this information and weighing the concerns and objectives of their people. Empathy and genuine concern make subordinates feel valued, supporte d, and understood. In addition, this same study noted that women were able to be more persuasive and assertive in taking risks as compared to their male counter parts. This often leads to women coming up with more innovative solutions to problems, and ultimately, getting things accomplished. Many studies conducted across the country within various businesses have concluded that women executives are rated higher than men in the areas of producing high quality work, setting and achieving goals, and mentoring subordinates (Sharpe, 2000). These studies also found that women were not as concerned with self-interest as men and did not accomplish tasks or achieve goals based on what was in it for them, but instead for the mere enjoyment of their success. It is this type of attitude which inspires companies to employee women in their executive positions. In addition, one of the areas in these studies showed that women excelled at teamwork and motivating teams in getting results. But these studies also included areas where men were stronger such as strategic and technical ability. Men also seemed to be better at giving punishment and were found to issue double the amount of punishments as compared to women. With so many differences in management styles between men and women, it was necessary for Human Resource Managers to design diversity programs which included education on gender differences, as well as, racism, discrimination, etc. Women are slowly making their way into the corporate ranks of Fortune 500 Companies. According to CNN Money, there are currently 13 female Chief Executive Officers in the Fortune 500 and 26 female Chief Executive Officers in the Fortune 1,000. Believe it or not, the number of female Chief Executive Officers has doubled compared to 5 years ago when there were only 6 female Chief Executive Officers in the Fortune 500. But, if women make equally effective leaders as compared to men, then why are there so few employed in top management positions? In Tischler’s article â€Å"Where are the Women? ,† she talks about how women â€Å"scale† back their work in exchange for a balanced personal life (Tischler, 2007). She also discusses the competiveness of men compared to women and how that might contribute to the larger number of men holding top executive level positions. Most often, women simply dont want to deal with the work-life balance. Top executives put in grueling long days and their lives are controlled by the companys success or failure. Women have a natural instinct to nurture and often put their family life before their career. When I read Morris’ article, â€Å"Trophy Husbands,† it made me stop and think how husbands could assist in helping their spouse to balance the work-life balance. In Morris’ article, she discusses how husbands have given up their careers to assist their female spouses in reaching the top (Morris, 2002). I think that this is a huge step in elevating women to the top ranks of the corporate world. These husbands stepped down for many reasons, but some stepped down because they knew their wives had the potential and determination to fill these top positions. They were supportive and wanted to assist by elevating any family related stress by ensuring that things on the home front were taken care of. In fact, although the number of female Chief Executive Officers appears to be low, the truth is women are successful leaders. There are over 9 million women-owned businesses in the United States and women hold over 45 percent of the managerial positions within large corporations. Indeed, women can and are successful at leading. Yet there is still a large difference in the pay scale of female and male executives. Is it simply a blatant decisions that these companies make, or is it a simply mistake because these organizations do not have an established pay scale system? Human Resource Managers need to be cognizant of pay differences and promotion bias. According to Stites article, one way to avoid this dilemma is to establish systematic pay systems, ensure equal access to promotions, and document discrepancies with legitimate business reasons (Stites, May 2005). So, does gender matter when considering leadership effectiveness? According to the text, men and women are equally effective at leading, but each gender utilizes different styles in their leadership abilities (Northouse, 2007). It is my position that gender is neutral. Males and females can both possess the skills necessary to be effective leaders and I believe that women can lead companies to success just as well as men. To be an effective leader, one must know how and when to apply the many different styles and characteristics to each unique situation. Both men and women have unique qualities about them, but the ability to learn from the opposite gender will enhance ones leadership abilities. I believe that men and women can combine and adapt their unique styles of leadership to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses within the workplace. Regardless of gender, developing a leadership style is a difficult and challenging feat for all managers. In researching the many definitions of leadership, I have determined that leaders are defined as those who inspire workers and develop their skills and creativity to achieve goals. Of the many definitions I read, not one referred to male or female gender when defining a leader. Male or female gender shouldnt matter when it comes to determining an individuals ability to lead. The Human Resource Manager must ensure that they are concerned and aware of the gender differences and difficulties which must be dealt with in the business world. Indeed, gender does matter, especially since women have become a large percentage of the work force and are now moving up the corporate ladder into top level positions. Gender differences create many issues that Human Resource Managers must be able to prevent, mitigate, and/or resolve. Today’s Human Resource Management education programs have increased the ability of individuals to fill these vital management positions. In order for Human Resource Managers to accomplish this task, they must be aware of gender specific management styles, pay equity, promotion fairness, and work-life balance.

To Save or Not To Save - That Is the Question Essay example -- Conserv

When you look at a bald eagle, you see how powerful and majestic this bird is, which is how many people feel about the United States; that’s why the bald eagle is our national emblem on our Great Seal. It would be a dishonor to our Nation to have such a worldwide-recognized symbol of The United States extinct, but in fact that’s exactly what almost happened. To help the bald eagle regain it’s numbers, on December 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed The Endangered Species Act. â€Å"The law established procedures for conserving plants and animals in danger of extinction and those that are threatened, or likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future (Cooper, â€Å"Endangered Species Act† 855). Since its establishment, the Endangered Species Act has been a topic of debate on whether the way the act is set up now has been worth the securing of land, including land that is privately owned, the time to research and the money that has been spent . Once species are listed as either threatened or endangered of becoming extinct the first move is to figure out what can be done to help them. What kind of habitat does it need to thrive? Is it isolated to only a few regions of the country or widely located? Could it be introduced into new regions, whether rural or urban, and still have a chance of survival? The lands that are being protected range from mountains to national parks to any neighborhood across the country, so that the smallest plant to the largest wild animal has an environment where they can continue to thrive. Some species have been reintroduced and their populations have recovered enough to bring them out of the endangered status and off of the Endangered Species Act listing. Wolfs and grizzly bears are two out of the nu... ...ecies Act have their valid points. The two sides need to work together discuss which animals are vital to the balance of the eco-system and which plants could help create medicine that fight illnesses like cancer. The laws need to reflect not only the time and money involved in saving the world’s species of plants and animals but also protect the livelihood of the populations of people who are involved in such areas. The balance between the two is possible as long as both sides work with each other not against each other. Works Cited Arrandale, Tom. "Disappearing Species." CQ Researcher 17.42 (2007): 985-1008. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. Cooper, Mary H. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 9.37 (1999): 849-64. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. ---. "Endangered Species Act." CQ Researcher 15.21 (2005): 493-516. CQ Researcher. Web. 24 Mar. 2012.

Bleikasten’s Literary Analysis of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury Ess

Bleikasten’s Literary Analysis of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury By focusing on the figure of Caddy, Bleikasten’s essay works to understand the ambiguous nature of modern literature, Faulkner’s personal interest in Caddy, and the role she plays as a fictional character in relation to both her fictional brothers and her actual readers. To Bleikasten, Caddy seems to function on multiple levels: as a desired creation; as a fulfillment of what was lacking in Faulkner’s life; and/or as a thematic, dichotomous absence/presence. The first section of the essay, â€Å"The Most Splendid Failure,† examines The Sound and the Fury as a(n) (ironic) modern recognition of the novel as a failed art form – if not language as a failed communicator. Bleikasten recognizes the novel as a reversal of reading, a realization of experience, adventure, and life. Because Faulkner was (apparently) not writing for the public, The Sound and the Fury acted as an â€Å"intranarcissistic† object, a â€Å"self-gratification,† which honestly makes me imagine the novel as a form of grandiose masturbation. And Bleikasten would have to admit that I am not too far off. He writes, â€Å" †¦ the aesthetic is made one with the erotic† (415). But then the essay takes an odd turn. This self-gratifying fulfillment becomes a replacement of either a missing sister or a dead daughter (the latter of which I don’t understand because Faulkner’s daughter did not die - was she perhaps very sick as an infant?) It seems that Bleikasten is now associating the erotic with the familial - not that incest is an inappropriate topic of conversation. However, Bleikasten does not acknowledge this connection and I cannot understand how Faulkner was implying an incestuous desire in his somewhat romanticized... ...age of the novel (neglecting to mention the same one at the end) that confuses and upsets Benjy: â€Å"caddie† versus â€Å"Caddy,† calling on the ambiguities and failing qualities of language, and seeming to draw his essay into a neat circular argument. But he then continues in a somewhat random discussion of Caddy as simultaneously nowhere and everywhere and as a symbol of/for water. He briefly looks at the role of memory in response to a disappeared, yet obsessed-upon figure, although the purpose of this discussion eludes me. Bleikasten ends by accepting Caddy’s elusiveness as necessary given her role in a modern novel and as a woman who cannot be grasped both by male characters and a male author – but what about us female readers? Can we grasp her by reading into Faulkner’s language, or has his failed storytelling blocked her off from any potential female understanding?

Hipaa Case Study

HIPAA Case Study Rasmussen College Author Note This research is being submitted on November 18, 2012 for Lashonda Crockett H340/HSA3422 Section 03 Regulation and Compliance in Health Care. How does HIPAA serve to protect patient rights? Answer in general terms, but then apply the question to the case study. (Who is HIPAA serving here in terms of patient rights? Explain. Should HIPAA be applied here at all? Why or why not? ) HIPAA is in place to protect patients and all their medical information. This was a direct violation.If they would not have mentioned names, ages or other identifying factors except for the issue at hand they would not be in violation. Since they spoke of names and other identifiers in a place where they can be overheard, the people who were referred to her for help can easily be searched and found and then be ridiculed for the issues at hand. What areas of HIPAA compliance impact the employer? This employer that employees these workers can be sued. If anyone had wanted to confront the people they spoke about, it could be a way for these individuals could lose their jobs, housing or worse.They can be charge with slander as well. This is just a horrible situation for the employer since they could have criminal charges they would have to fire these workers. Then those workers would have a hard time find another job. What actions should the ICMHA director take about the alleged HIPAA violation in the case? This would definitely be an issue of considering these employees work history to see if this has happened before. Even though the work load is heavy due to losing an employee, I would have to look into suspending these workers and do a check into their work history.There would be talks with this family and grandmother who overheard them. It would possibly come down to sending them to another place for help and paying for them to get that help. There would also be an audit should be done on the department to see if this is happening with anyon e else as well as have an employee meeting to state how a new internal regulation on this matter has been made and if this does happen by anyone that termination will happen immediately.

Childhood Obesity in School Essay

Childhood obesity is a problem in the United States. It affects a child’s life tremendously. Childhood obesity in school is an important subject for one to learn about. People who have children or plan on having children need to know the risks that are involved in this disorder. Childhood obesity is a serious problem for children but it can be worse in schools. School life is hard enough for a child to adjust; it is even harder for a child to deal with school and obesity at the same time. There are many aspects to how childhood obesity affects children in schools: it affects their learning abilities, it affects their social skills and their psychological well-being, and it also affects their health. Childhood obesity is when a child has an excessive amount of body fat in relationship to lean body mass. Childhood obesity is sometimes a genetic disorder and sometimes an environmental situation issue. By genetics it means it can be given to the child by anyone in their family lineage. By environmental situation issues it means it is based on the foods a child eats, whether they exercise regularly, or by the habits they learn. Mass media also is a consideration in child obesity as advertisements can affect how a child wants to eat. Fast food companies attract many children just in their advertisements alone. The internet also affects children and they get to use the internet at school. They see advertisements online or play games online that make them not want to be active in everyday life. There are so many aspects to a child’s life that can lead to obesity and most of it starts at home but then overflows into the academic life of a child. Children who are obese tend to have more health issues and the health concerns can affect their everyday school life. The regularity of childhood obesity is a public health concern. Childhood obesity is connected to a variety of detrimental health conditions including diabetes, metabolic  syndrome, and heart disease (Freedman, Diets, Srinivasan, and Berenson, 1999). The more health issues a child has the more it affects school life. Children with health concerns from obesity end up missing a number of days for being sick and that puts them behind in their school work. The time away from school leads to missed assignments and also less socialization time with peers. Children who are obese tend to be sleepy and not be able to pay attention during classroom lectures. Overweight children also can have serious health issues now and as well in adult years; such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, bone and joint issues, and even sleep disorders which can affect every day routine (John, H., 2011). The problem of obesity is not contained than it will â€Å"surpass tobacco as the leading cause of death† (Bhattacharya 2004, p.1). Childhood obesity affects children with their learning abilities in the classroom. Occasionally how a child is affected educationally by childhood obesity is not as obvious as the health concerns that arise from the obesity. Children who are obese tend to have low self-esteem and do not participate as well in class discussions. As new clinical practice guidelines are being developed to address childhood obesity, the reduction of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem associated with being overweight should also be considered in developing the guidelines (Cornette, 2008). It has not really been studied accurately or in excess but one would wonder if obesity would affect the brain because of lack of blood flow or just lack of healthiness. If the brain is hindered in any way then learning is definitely impacted. Obese children have a hard time with the affects obesity has on their social skills and their psychological well-being. Being bullied is something that is a common occurrence with obese children. Obese children have a hard time socializing due to being picked on. They also get labeled with titles that sometimes do not fit them just because of their appearance: lazy, slouch, unattractive, and mean. Sometimes they actually get labeled as the bully because of their size when actually they are not. Obesity in children is also associated with an elevated risk of various psychosocial problems. Children who suffer from obesity are more likely to have behavioral problems  and emotional disturbances (Stradmeijer, Bosch, Koops, and Seidell, 2000). Obesity limits students’ ability to excel in social and psychological problems, such as being bullied and low self-esteem. Obese children that are bullied can be very emotional or very quiet and hold everything in and that can lead to other problems as well. Results from a small-scale study of 106 obese children, between the ages of 5 and 18, revealed that obese students were often subject to teasing and ostracism, and that they reported having trouble keeping up with their peers, both physically and academically the emotional and social stress from being obese can be very hard on a child (Browman, Darcia Harris, 2003). Both as a parent or a student, all should understand the emotional and physical impacts that can cause great danger to an overweight child. Children with an inactive lifestyle, large at birth, with high-risk family health behaviors, and from a family with low income or low education attainment, were more likely to be obese. Findings suggest that interventions targeting family and supporting people to implement lifestyle changes are promising to prevent childhood obesity (Brophy, Cooksey, Gravenor, Mistry, Thomas, Lyons & Williams, 2009). In addition, efforts appear to be focused on reducing weight, a small amount attention is directed to the psycho-socio-emotional effect that being overweight have on children. Studies are important because they show that childhood obesity is not only associated with health risk but also with problems in social interactions and relationships (Janssen, Craig, Boyce & Pickett, 2003). Children that are obese also have a hard time doing some of the activities in school. When interviewing two teachers at Tennessee Ridge Elementary School and asking them about the effects of childhood obesity in their classrooms both had somewhat of the same answer. â€Å"Obese children have a harder time playing most of the physical activities I have planned that involve them getting up and down a lot† (Moore, 2012). As well as Mrs. Tomlinson (2012) stated that â€Å"children who are overweight seem to have a hard time getting up and down during our rug times and seem to have difficulty sitting in the crisscross position for more than a few minutes†. These students end up feeling like they are left out or feeling different than other children. They are also less likely to be able to keep up with  the other children on the playground. This is where one runs into the situation of being picked last on the playground or just simply being left out. This leads to a lot of the other complications obese children face in schools. There are many ways that the school system tries to help children stay fit and not have to battle obesity. One of the ways the schools try to help is by serving healthy lunches and snacks. They have also taken vending machines out of schools as much as possible. Also the schools try to ensure every child gets plenty of physical activity time and recess time. Teachers add activities that involve moving and being active in their curriculums; such as allowing children to sit on exercise balls while doing desk work and doing learning drills with physical activities. Exercising actually makes children less stressed and makes them focused on learning. â€Å"Young children who exercise at school perform better in concentration tests, researchers have said after a study on pupils in Aberdeen† (Williams, 2010). Being active and watching what a child eats can significantly help children it also teaches them good habits that will benefit them later on in life as well. Another way children learn is by example and teachers can set an example for children as well as their parents can. For example, teachers are not allowed to carry soda cans around they have to put it in different containers if they are drinking soda at school. Even with the schools being involved it is important for parents to do the same at home. Most schools and communities offer health programs and exercise classes for parents and children. Children are at school as much as they are at home and so in order to help children with obesity it needs to be a joint effort. Obesity is a serious situation and in children it is more serious. Obesity can affect a child a lot more than an adult because of all the social and emotional situations that arise that obese children are not ready to handle. Sometimes children cannot handle situations as well as adults can. The effects of childhood obesity can be very overwhelming to a child especially in the school environment. It is important for people to be aware of the effects of obesity in children and in the school system. Having obesity affect so much of a child’s school life can also interfere with their  future. Obesity harmfully impacting academics should make parents, educators, and policy makers alike have an even greater incentive to curb the threat of obesity in this country. References Bhattacharya, S. (2004). Obesity to Surpass Tobacco as Top U.S. Killer. Retrieved fromwww.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4763. Boyce, W., PhD, Craig, W., PhD, Janssen, I., PhD, & Pickett, W., PhD (2003). Associations between overweight and obesity with bullying behaviors in school-aged children. PEDIATRICS , 113(1187), Retrieved from: pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/5/1187.full.html Brophy, S., Cooksey, R., Gravenor, M., Mistry, R., Thomas, N., Lyons, R., & Williams, R.(2009). Risk factors for childhood obesity at age 5: Analysis of the millennium Cohortstudy. BMC Public Health, 9(467), doi: 10.1 186/1471-2458-9-467 Browman, Darcia Harris, 2003. Child Obesity Hurts Emotional Health, Study Says. Education Week: Vol 22, Issue 32, p. 9. Cornette, R. (2008). The emotional impact of obesity on children. Worldviews on EvidenceBased Nursing, 5(3), 136-141. doi: 1545-102Ãâ€"1/08 Freedman, D. S., Dietz, W. H., Srinivasan, S. R., & Berenson, G. S. (1999). The relation ofobese to cardiovascular risk factors among children and adolescents: The BogalusaHeart Study. Pediatrics, 103, 1175-1182. John, H. (2011, 3 12). Retrieved from http://www.nsba.org/Board-Leadership/SchoolHealth/obesity-and-schools Moore, S. (2012, Decemeber, 01). Interview by B.A. Self [Personal Interview]. What effects do you see childhood obesity having in your classroom? Stradmeijer, M., Bosch, J., Koops, W., & Seidell, J. (2000). Family functioning and psychosocial adjustment in obese youngsters. International Journal of Eating Disorders,27, 110-114. Tomlinson, J. (2012, November, 29). Interview by B.A. Self [Personal Interview]. What effects do you see childhood obesity having in your classroom? Williams, J. (2010, April 19). Bbc world news. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/8629867.stm

Marketing 4p assigment Essay

INTRODUCTION 1. 0 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATIONS: Backed by more than 20 years of experience in Japan, Sushi Zanmai possesses extensive expertise for raw materials selection. Base on the nature of Business is classified as Food & Beverage industry. The purpose of their business is serves the best food and services to each customers. Genuine ingredients coupled with original recipes and original taste, they provide more than 100 assortments of sushi and 100 varieties of cooked food that are authentically Japanese. They now have 10 outlets in Malaysia which is at Sunway Pramid, One Utama, Garden Mall, Low Yat Plaza, Paradigm Mall, Fahrenheit 88 and 1 Month Kiara. They have their own wedsite for customers more easily to find out the most nearby location and know what is new on that month. The main selling product is sushi other that they also have sell noodles, rice set, desserts, and beverages. That sushi of colour plate starts from RM1. 80. 2. 0 THE PRODUCT OF SUSHI ZANMAI Sushi Zanmai is originated from Japan. They are offering the combination of tangible goods and services in their business. They provide traditional Japanese foods and services on their business. They business are on direct sell foods to customers. They have serves appetiser which the Japanese meal begins with a visual feast of chilled and warm appetisers, like: Salmon roe Japanese omelette Potato Mayonnaise Sushi Zanmai created own specialties featuring the freshest, handpicked ingredients provide a fresh, contemporary spin on much-loved favourites, exquisitely tailored to suit local taste preferences such as, Sanshoku Hana Salmon Caterpillar Roll Wasabillar Roll The traditional entree consists of expertly-sliced raw fish, shellfish or mollusks, complemented perfectly by the combination of wasabi and soy sauce, and often accompanied by pickled ginger, example Salmon sashimi Toro sashimi Maguro sashimi According to survey, most of the female prefer sushi salad that the reason Sushi Zanmai products include various types of Salad to let customers choose too. As you can see the three popular salad dishes are Sashimi Salad Salmon Salad Kaiso to Tofu Salad Rolled sushi in Japanese language is pronounces maki. It usually comprises of seafood which may or may not be raw, vinegared rice and paper-thin seaweed. For example, Salmon Maki Soft Shell Crab Maki Natto Maki Follow that, they do have Temaki. The â€Å"te† in Temaki means hand is Japanese language. The Temaki sushi is two- fold. It not only refers to a hand roll that is made entirely with the hand, without the traditional bamboo mat. The cone-shaped Temaki sushi is ofeten prepared as an appetizer. Soft Shell crab Temaki Ikura Temaki Unagi Temaki Other than that, noodles are also usually customers will order it. They have provide three types of noodles one is soba which is made from wheat flour, Udon made from wheat flour, Ramen made from Chinese wheat flour and served with a wide range of soup stocks such as soy-sauce base and salt base. Sansai Udon Niku Ramen Kakaiage soba Donburi a dishes consist of a deep bowl of rice topped off with chicken, beef or seafood cooked in a variety of styles and sauces. They have, Curry Rice Unadon Ebidon In beverages, they served many types of drinks like Green Tea, Calpis Smoothies, fine Japanese Sake, Soft Drinks, Japanese Plum Wine and others. Green Tea (unlimited refill) Ichigo Smoothies Choya Extreme A dessert to end the meals. It have multiple choice as well as, Macha & Macha Parfait Itachoco Monaka Stawberry Parfait For the level of the product and services, Sushi Zanmai is selling the product which is categories in actual product. They have their own brand name, design, packaging that deliver the core benefit to customers. They are selling high quality level product that most of the ingredients are import from Japan such as Salmon, tuna, sea bream, Eel and etc. Besides, Sushi Zanmai are selling the shopping product goods which is one of the important consumer goods in market. There have few reason because of Sushi Zanmai’s product is belong to shopping product. Sushi Zanmai of products is consumers purchase and consume on a less frequent schedule compared to convenience products. Normally, they opened their business inside the shopping mall and which is high class and crowded shopping mall. They will do more selective when choosing distribution outlets to sell their products. However, customers are willing to spend more time locating their products since they are relatively more expensive than convenience products and because these may process additional psychological benefits for the purchaser, such as raising customers status level within their social group. 3. 0 THE PRICING STRATEGY THAT USED BY SUSHI ZANMAI Sushi Zanmai has successfully follows the price skimming strategy when setting the price of its products. The price skimming strategy allows Sushi Zanmai to charge a price that is above the competition, but also promote frequent sales to lower the price below them. Different groups of customers are willing to pay different prices for the same product. Sushi Zanmai can sell â€Å"The Extreme† to the customers who will pay the higher price to be the first to buy and also to the bargain hunters. Finally, this strategy will emphasize the product and service quality. Sushi Zanmai sets a high initial price for its products to send a signal to customers that its products are quality and the service is excellent. Next, Sushi Zanmai also using price line and price bundle as the pricing strategies. Product Line Pricing They have selling same product of food but different categories. Every guest has different taste and love different type of cruise that the reason Sushi Zanmai has to classify as well. Certainly, different materiel of food sure is different price charging. For example: Sushi Name Ingredients Price Inari Sakura Shiitake & fish floss RM3. 80 Kaki Fry Roll Friend oyster sushi roll topped with mayonnaise RM9. 80 Dragon Roll Fried prawn sushi roll topped with avocado RM12. 80 Rice Name Ingredients Price Ebidon Deep fried prawn with egg on rice RM8. 80 Chiken Katsu Curry Chicken cutlet and rice with curry sauce RM10. 80 Unadon Roasted eel on rice RM15. 80 Noodles Name Ingredients Price Tsukimi Udon or ramen noddles with egg RM6. 80 Sansai Udon or soba noodle with vegetables RM8. 80 Curry Udon or ramen noodle with chicken curry RM10. 80 Product Bundle Pricing Sushi Zanmai has offering set promotion to attract more guests to purchase their products. Set promotion is type of bundle strategy. It can let guests feel the price is lower or cheaper but just have in certain and limited lime for it, like: Chicken Keraage Don and ice lemon tea for only RM7. 90 As manager will be considered in a few points when setting the bundle pricing strategy: Customer demands, sort out which is the product of the guests prefer or like it. Customers always pursue cheaper price, Target profit; make sure will reach the target. 4. 0 PLACE OF SUSHI ZANMAI Location is very important to those in Food and Beverage industry, as the product they sell is shopping product, the customers should not be able to take far complications to reach their shop. Normally, Sushi Zanmai chooses to open their new outlet inside the shopping mall that those people visit regularly. Below as those outlets of Sushi Zanmai in Malaysia : †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, SUNWAY PIRAMID †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, LOW YAT PLAZA †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, 1 UTAMA †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, THE GARDENS MALL †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, FAHRENHEIT 88 †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, 1 M ONT’KIARA †¢SUSHI ZANMAI, PARADIGM MALL One of the outlets of Sushi Zanmai in K. L Distribution Sushi Zanmai’s distribution channel is a direct channel as they are selling their product directly to the customers. Their distribution channel is considered as a direct channel, and it is the best suitable method to do for selling sushi, udon and beverage to the customers. As Sushi Zanmai are being in food and beverage industry, the best way to serve their customers is by serving them nicely and directly. The shopkeepers who are preparing meal in front of the customers 5. 0 PROMOTION OF SUSHI ZANMAI Sushi Zanmai are using promotion methods which are Advertising and Sales Promotion. For advertising promotion purpose, they have created a web page over the internet that those people could get the information which about them with visiting their web page. Other than that, for the reasons of nowadays most of the people are having an account on facebook, so that they have created a facebook web page to be distributed among the facebook page. The facebook users or customers might do a feedback or recommendations that about them through their facebook page. Web page of Sushi Zanmai Sales promotional sets will be made to promote their products to let the customers try and enjoy their product and to create strong customer relationships by promoting personally and friendly service. Their popular promotional methods are: Have 50 % discounts for only these 4 types of items. The duration of this promotion is just for one week. Sushi Zanmai have did the promotion that shown as above. The customers will get a Chicken Karaage Don for only RM 6. 80 after finish the steps that set by them. Free RM 20 Sushi Zanmai voucher for those customers whom spend RM100 or above in any of their outlets. The duration for this voucher is just for one month. 6. 0 Improvements in 4p’strategies of Sushi Zanmai Product Sushi Zanmai should activate the strategy of product development and come up with new products from time to time as it is important to maintain the preference of the customers with the new developed products. For example, the organization can come up with new type of rice and new sushi flavour or developing new menu items in single orders such as Udon and etc. Place Shopping mall actually is a not bad idea for open a restaurant but also need to careful about the visibility. A restaurant that is located on a crowded place has high visibility. Conversely, a restaurant nestled on a not crowded place will always battle a disadvantage simply based on its location. Pricing Sushi Zanmai should be try not setting too higher price to attract more other guests purchase your product and also can earn more profit. Promotion Sushi Zanmai can also be improved by creating more value sets that prompts the customers to try out the new products made for specific period as a special promotion during particular season such as Valentine’ Day and Merry Christmas or holiday season value sets for example Advertising on TV Sushi Zanmai shoud has advertising on TV. Television is the most powerful advertising medium available. The largest corporations around the world use it to build their brands, bring customers, add credibility, and grow their businesses. Delivery Services Add delivery services. It can help a company gaining popularity and becoming more available. 7. 0 Conclusion In conclusion, i would like conclude by listing the 4p’strategies that regarding of is price, place, promotion and product. They are offering the combination of tangible goods and services in their business. In setting pricing the Sushi Zanmai is using price skimming for their products. For the place and distribution, The Sushi Zanmai is use direct as their channel. Moreover, the Therefore, Sushi Zanmai should improve its product quality and take considered action in order to improve the sales as expected.

Black Holes Essays - Black Holes, Event Horizon, Rotating Black Hole

Black Holes Essays - Black Holes, Event Horizon, Rotating Black Hole Black Holes stence. The Search for Black Holes: Both As A Concept And An Understanding For ages people have been determined to explicate on everything. Our search for explanation rests only when there is a lack of questions. Our skies hold infinite quandaries, so the quest for answers will, as a result, also be infinite. Since its inception, Astronomy as a science speculated heavily upon discovery, and only came to concrete conclusions later with closer inspection. Aspects of the skies which at one time seemed like reasonable explanations are now laughed at as egotistical ventures. Time has shown that as better instrumentation was developed, more accurate understanding was attained. Now it seems, as we advance on scientific frontiers, the new quest of the heavens is to find and explain the phenomenom known as a black hole. The goal of this paper is to explain how the concept of a black hole came about, and give some insight on how black holes are formed and might be tracked down in our more technologically advanced future. Gaining an understanding of a black hole allows for a greater understanding of the concept of spacetime and maybe give us a grasp of both science fiction and science fact. Hopefully, all the clarification will come by the close of this essay. A black hole is probably one of the most misunderstood ideas among people outside of the astronomical and physical communities. Before an understanding of how it is formed can take place, a bit of an introduction to stars is necessary. This will shed light (no pun intended) on the black hole philosophy. A star is an enormous fire ball, fueled by a nuclear reaction at its core which produces massive amounts of heat and pressure. It is formed when two or more enormous gaseous clouds come together which forms the core, and as an aftereffect the conversion, due to that impact, of huge amounts of energy from the two clouds. The clouds come together with a great enough force, that a nuclear reaction ensues. This type of energy is created by fusion wherein the atoms are forced together to form a new one. In turn, heat in excess of millions of degrees farenheit are produced. This activity goes on for eons until the point at which the nuclear fuel is exhausted. Here is where things get interesting. For the entire life of the star, the nuclear reaction at its core produced an enormous outward force. Interestingly enough, an exactly equal force, namely gravity, was pushing inward toward the center. The equilibrium of the two forces allowed the star to maintain its shape and not break away nor collapse. Eventually, the fuel for the star runs out, and it this point, the outward force is overpowered by the gravitational force, and the object caves in on itself. This is a gigantic implosion. Depending on the original and final mass of the star, several things might occur. A usual result of such an implosion is a star known as a white dwarf. This star has been pressed together to form a much more massive object. It is said that a teaspoon of matter off a white dwarf would weigh 2-4 tons. Upon the first discovery of a white dwarf, a debate arose as to how far a star can collapse. And in the 1920s two leading astrophysicists, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekgar and Sir Arthur Eddington came up with different conclusions. Chandrasekhar looked at the relations of mass to radius of the star, and concluded an upper limit beyond which collapse would result in something called a neutron star. This limit of 1.4 solar masses was an accurate measurement and in 1983, the Nobel committee recognized his work and awarded him their prize in Physics. The white dwarf is massive, but not as massive as the next order of imploded star known as a neutron star. Often as the nuclear fuel is burned out, the star will begin to shed its matter in an explosion called a supernovae. When this occurs the star loses an enormous amount of mass, but that which is left behind, if greater than 1.4 solar masses, is a densely packed ball of neutrons. This star is so

The mountain and the valley essays

The mountain and the valley essays A sudden death of a loved one often needs to be followed with a time period of reflection and contemplation of one's past with, and future without, the deceased. Everyone has their own way to cope with the loss of someone they love. In The Mountain and the Valley, Effie's death causes David to reflect and regret his behaviour towards her. Ernest Buckler uses several different devices and techniques to magnify the effect of Effie's death on David's future, such as, David's behaviour towards Effie, the theme of David encountering new experiences during his coming of age, and also literary devices such as flashbacks which were apparent through out David's attempts to coupe with the loss. These devices cause Effie's death to be portrayed as a major turning point in David's life. Ernest Buckler's writing style and techniques enhanced the importance of Effie's death in David's life. As David reflected upon him and Effie's relationship prior to her death his immense amount of regrets make it apparent that his personality and behaviour is changed due to her death. Ernest Buckler portrays David and Effie as having a awkward relationship before she past away. David often found himself feeling as though he was betraying her. Yet his thoughts didn't stop him from pressuring her with his desires, even despite the fact the she noticeably ill. David used Effie as a object which he used flaunted and bragged about. "I bet you wish she was your girl" (143). He constantly made comments such as this one and bragged to Toby about what he and Effie had done. Effie's death caused David to come to the realization that his actions were those of betrayal. He quickly felt immense guilt. He tried to pretend that, by sheer will, he could go back in time and change the course of his actions. Ernest Buckler enhanced the importance of Effie's death due to its effect on the development of David's personality. ...

Mci Worldcom Essays - Verizon Communications, MCI Communications

Mci Worldcom Essays - Verizon Communications, MCI Communications Mci Worldcom Introduction MCI Worldcom new CEO Bernard Ebbers is changing MCI's old ways. The problem is that MCI before merging spent too much money on accommodations for senior management. The second problem is that MCI Worldcom is ignoring the wireless industry boom. Recommendation I recommend that MCI Worldcom should try to acquire a wireless company like Nextel or Airtouch to gain entry to the booming market. The company would become a better telecommunications business and establish significant market presence that would generate profitability. If MCI Worldcom doesn't acquire a wireless company, they should consolidate. Consolidating with GSM would provide MCI Worldcom with an almost nationwide wireless network. It would also give MCI Worldcom a clear advantage since it is a year and a half ahead than other companies in digital standards. MCI Worldcom must also reduce high costs. To cut costs, the company must first identify where costs can be eliminated or replaced with more economical substitutions. I would also recommend that if the company wants to reduce costs that the CEO should demonstrate his commitment to lowering costs by making himself as an example. I would not invest on MCI Worldcom stock. The company's market price has been trickling down lately. I think that if MCI Worldcom were part of the wireless market then it would improve revenues. Since they have ignored this opportunity, I feel that the company will fall behind because of failure to remain responsive to its customers and to changing market conditions. Current Strategy MCI Worldcom's new CEO Bernard Ebbers philosophy of slashing expenses and consolidating all traffic on a single network has been proved 67 times after buying 67 phone companies. He is now trying to do the same after merging with MCI by reducing carefree spending and avoiding leasing links from other companies for their phone and internet networks. He has reduced the company's workforce by laying off 2215 workers and plans to continue. He also has downgraded luxuries for executives such as corporate jets, first class seating and stays at expensive hotels. These luxurious accommodations have been substituted with low cost carriers, coach class and staying at Inns. Mr. Ebbers has also eliminated company cars for all executives except for himself and Chairman Bert C. Roberts Jr. He is also trying to change the organizational structure of MCI Worldcom by using the appropriate control and incentive systems to motivate employee behavior. The new CEO has offered all employees stock options. Stock options give employees the incentive to help improve company performance and to share in the profits that result. He is also implementing a control system that monitors spending by asking executives to submit monthly revenue statements. Bernard Ebbers personal lifestyle and down to earth attitude has also helped project the company's new culture by popping in employee offices to say hello, and wearing jeans and cowboy boots has made him popular among workers. Mr. Ebbers likes to eat in casual restaurants and currently lives in a double wide trailer home on his soybean farm. Ebbers ways of doing business have given results, MCI Worldcom reported fourth quarter revenues surged 14 %, to $8 billion for the combined companies, while net earnings hit $428 million after a loss in the year earlier period. The stock soared to 5.5 % that day, to $80.44. Ebber believes he can bring more results like this in the future and that this is only the beginning. MCI Worldcom currently wants to focus on the data and international services segments. MCI Worldcom's data business is expected to triple to $23.2 billion, by 2002. The company also plans to build its own communication networks overseas and boost international sales by 40 % to take market share. ANALYSIS OF MCI WORLDCOM The benefit of MCI Worldcom joining the wireless business segment is that it would become a stronger competitor for AT&T. The number of U.S. wireless customers has risen 25% in the past year to 69 million. By 2003 wireless will account for 15% of total communication minutes in the U.S. AT&T is planning to introduce a new bundle of services for corporate customers designed strategically to take advantage of MCI Worldcom's weak point in the wireless segment. The head of AT&T's corporate unit says that under the new plan they would be able

Equation for Reaction Between Baking Soda and Vinegar

Equation for Reaction Between Baking Soda and Vinegar The reaction between baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (dilute acetic acid) generates carbon dioxide gas, which is used in chemical volcanoes and other projects. Here is a look at the reaction between baking soda and vinegar and the equation for the reaction. How the Reaction Works The reaction between baking soda and vinegar actually occurs in two steps, but the overall process can be summarized by the following word equation: baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) plus vinegar (acetic acid) yields carbon dioxide plus water plus sodium ion plus acetate ion The chemical equation for the overall reaction is: NaHCO3(s) CH3COOH(l) → CO2(g) H2O(l) Na(aq) CH3COO-(aq) with s solid, l liquid, g gas, aq aqueous or in water solution Another common way to write this reaction is: NaHCO3 HC2H3O2 → NaC2H3O2 H2O CO2 The above reaction, while technically correct, does not account for the dissociation of the sodium acetate in water. The chemical reaction actually occurs in two steps. First, there is a double displacement reaction in which acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with sodium bicarbonate to form sodium acetate and carbonic acid: NaHCO3 HC2H3O2 → NaC2H3O2 H2CO3 Carbonic acid is unstable and undergoes a decomposition reaction to produce the carbon dioxide gas: H2CO3 → H2O CO2 The carbon dioxide escapes the solution as bubbles. The bubbles are heavier than air, so the carbon dioxide collects at the surface of the container or overflows it. In a baking soda volcano, detergent usually is added to collect the gas and form bubbles that flow somewhat like lava down the side of the volcano. A dilute sodium acetate solution remains after the reaction. If the water is boiled off of this solution, a supersaturated solution of sodium acetate forms. This hot ice will spontaneously crystallize, releasing heat and forming a solid that resembles water ice. The carbon dioxide released by the baking soda and vinegar reaction has other uses besides making a chemical volcano. It can be collected and used as a simple chemical fire extinguisher. Because carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it displaces it. This starves a fire of the oxygen needed for combustion.

Commodum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Commodum - Essay Example In 2008 Blair Connolly, Inc. was issued U.S. Patent Number 7,413,250 for the utility of a back support design. â€Å"Commodum† Latin for â€Å"comfort† is the first ergonomic office chair created that utilizes the patented back support design. The patent gives the company a competitive advantage over competitors because they have a novel design that cannot be imitated in the United States. The product will be strategically positioned as a high-end ergonomic office chair and promotional methods will highlight emotional benefits including: comfort, relaxation, vitality, status, and luxury. Commodum will be introduced using a skimming pricing strategy and consumers’ will most likely consider the product a high involvement purchase. Direct marketing will highlight important attributes such as service, quality and warrantee to help reduce cognitive dissonance often associated with high-involvement purchases. The ergonomic furniture giants in the U.S. primary consist o f two companies Herman Miller and Steelcase and have the two best ergonomic chairs on the market. The Herman Miller â€Å"Aeron† is considered the â€Å"gold standard† in ergonomic seating, which everything else is compared to it. The Steelcase â€Å"Leap† is more luxurious than the Aeron and has a slightly higher price. These companies have targeted the business office furniture segment and have been very successful. It would be more difficult for Commodum to penetrate the business office furniture market and would be impossible to compete in terms of price. Also, with the current economic environment businesses will be less likely to make major purchases on a new product that do not have a brand reputation established. However, home furnishings consumers are less aware of brand name and are a better market segment for Commodum to target. More specifically, Generation Xers and Baby-boomers are the best target market for the company because they spend more on ho me furnishings than any other generations. Baby-boomers and Xers are more likely to have discretionary income and home furniture purchases have been found to be discretionary in nature. Throughout history, there has been a correlation between furniture purchases and life stages, including: getting married, buying a house, children moving out and retiring. Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are experiencing life a stage associated with home furnishings consumption and makes them a powerful target market for Commodum. Additionally, recent socio-economic trends have created a growing home office furniture market and many Baby Boomers will be working longer than expected and will be using home offices more frequently. Technological advancements have led to a â€Å"hiving trend† and consumers are using their home as hub for communication. In conclusion, there is great opportunity for Commodum to succeed in the growing home office furniture Market, but will not be without barriers. H erman Miller and Steelcase may focus more promotional efforts on the home furniture consumer and may be hard to compete with. However, the novelty of the patented design makes the product unique and is the key component to strategy. With strategic positioning and promotion efforts San Diego should be a good market to launch Commodum. Historically, the housing market has been a market driver for home furnishing consumption and if the company can time the launch of Commodum with the housing market recovery it could lead to a lucrative business opportunity. 2. Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1 2. Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 3. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 3.1 Background of the Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦