Marketing Plan for Langkawi

Executive summary Langkawi, such an amazing island, attracted a lot of people from all over the world. Unbalanced regional development, domestic and foreign tourism competition make Langkawi cannot get a development very well, that is the reason why Langkawi cannot be the world-wild attraction. A right marketing plan can make Langkawi give full play to its advantages and make up for weakness, and then get a good development of marketing. Setting marketing objectives, confirm target markets, use marketing strategies to develop a marketing plan for Langkawi is the focal point of this article.Introduction Langkawi, â€Å"The Island of Legend† is located 108 kilometers northwest of Peninsular Malaysia, the border of Malaysia and Thailand. Comprising a group of 104 islands, the biggest one is Langkawi, it is a place for those seeking tranquility and refuge from the hustle and bustle of city life. The area is about 526 square kilometers. The main island spans about 25 kilometers fro m north to south. Two-thirds of island covered forests, hills and natural vegetation. It’s a biggest cluster island in Malaysia, constitute of 99 limestone islands.Langkawi Island is richly blessed with a heritage of fabulous myths and legends. As a natural paradise, this island perhaps is incomparable anywhere else in Southeast Asia. The country beauty of the island makes itself a compelling attraction. Langkawi, a drooping part of Malaysia, attracted no tourists until 1987. In 1997, there are 1. 7million tourists visited Langkawi and the number reached 2. 38million in 2009. Most of the development is in the main town of Kuah and in isolated beach resorts around the coast.The airport is located on this island as well hotel resorts, restaurants and shops. The two main beaches, Pantai Cenang and Pantai Kok, are on the island's western coast, with Pantai Cenang being the most popular as the place for hotels and restaurants. Dotted along the northern coast are the more luxurious resorts. With the only intention to promote tourism, the island was granted a tax-free status. Government has come up with special developments to promote the tourism industry in Langkawi.Tourists are also requested not to bring any cars or other vehicles to go to this island, so it can save this city far from pollution and then make it as a green tourist destination. The Northern Corridor Economic Region development program is a Malaysia Government initiative to promote the economic growth in the north of Peninsular Malaysia . In order to improve the Langkawi’s position as a world-class tourist destination, the Northern Corridor Economic Region is trying hard to attract further world-class hotels and holiday resorts to this island.In the folk custom aspects, the entertainment service development in Langkawi is not a patch on Phuket Island, the rich of history and culture is not as good as Bali Island, but it has abundant natural and geological beauty, simplicity and peacefu l country life, leisurely and comfortable tourism atmosphere, it can be developed as an ecological, geological and leisure tourism island. That makes Langkawi not only have a unique style with neighboring famous islands, but also an intellectual tourism trend for satisfy tourists yearning at present.Langkawi is surrounded with many legends that could be used in the marketing of the island. In addition to the natural and social resources, Langkawi has many other resources that could be developed into visitor attractions such as rubber fields, factories, fishing villages and the Hindu temples. The change of the future is expected to the attentive planning and decision by Lembaga Pembangunan Langkawi (LADA). Marketing objectives Langkawi is a potential island for coastal tourism. Coastal tourism has been the world's largest tourism hot spots and important pillar.With the development of the economy and coastal tourism in the context of the global is developing quickly, coastal tourism d evelopment of real estate has become an important component. In order to develop coastal tourism reasonable, the marketing plan should be suitable for langkawi. Vision To become a world-class agency in the efficient and creative development of langkawi's infrastructure and tourism industry. Mission To develop langkawi's specialized attractions (such as theme park) objective 1. To protect natural resource in order to obtain sustainable development. 2. To improve entertainment facilities in langkawi. . To create a theme park for eco-tourism. 4. Promote Langkawi as an international tourist destination. The island has an abundance of potential, especially in eco-tourism. They could build a theme park that co-exists with the environment and encourages eco-awareness. (Jimmy Leong ). only focuses on ecological protection, and to obtain sustainable development. The international success coastal resorts all pay attention to ecological protection principle. Target markets From region, the fig ure shows that more than 70% of visitor in langkawi is from Malaysia, that means main visitor market in langkawi is domestic market.However, Thailand, Singapore is Langkawi's largest market for foreign tourist. And from demography, family and couple prefer to go langkawi. Because langkawi is a quite beautiful and reasonable coasts for destination. Couple choose langkawi as honeymoon destination. The family go vacation because of amazing landscape, and also duty free shop. According to statistics released by the Tourism Division of the Langkawi Development Authority, that there were 2,461,455 visitors stayed on the island during 2009 which nearly 25% were from overseas, All in all, Langkawi's target market is couples and families both in international and domestic.Marketing strategies Product pricing The price that tourism enterprises set need to conform to the certain standards, if the price is too low, customers may thought those products are not worth to buy, tourism enterprises a re hard to get a profit, and if the price is too high, customers have no ability to consumption, there will be no demand on it. In Langkawi, some luxury hotels, restaurants and entertainment industries can use high price strategy to approaching market and it is good for market positioning.Travel agency, local attractions and hotels can offer discount for visitors when they reaches a certain amount. Some hotels, motels or airlines can provide seasonal discount in rainy season, international flights can adjustment the price according to the size of demand, and the purpose is to attract customers, make sure they can get a profit. Pricing can be based on competitors, it is a kind of methods that pricing according to the price of competitors. Price variance remains unchanged and always be a little higher than competitors or a bit lower. So ompare to other islands, Langkawi can pricing according to its dominant position and give a higher price, for inferior position, we can give a discoun t for customers, in order to attract them to come. Promotion Promoting the tourism development of Langkawi is very necessary. Promotion can be used in various ways. Public relations is a good way to promote it, we can make people pay attention to the propaganda by special events or public service activities. There are a lot of people from all over the world, looking for the information of Langkawi on the Internet.These potential visitors want to know the interesting places in this island, where they can stay, which restaurant offers the best meal. We can build websites about Langkawi’s detailed information, shows the travel and accommodation arrangements and let people know what the suitable choice is for them. Hotels can offer special discount for attracting tourists to stay in Langkawi, whatever people come to Langkawi for business, vacation or conference, Langkawi has different kinds of accommodation types to serve customers, discount hotels can attract more tourists to st ay because most of them want to save money.Airlines can provide cheap flights, make everyone can travel by air. Travel agency can promote the preferential travel project, save money and time for visitors. We can also advertise Langkawi through media, newspaper, magazine, television or â€Å"giveaways† such as calendars and training packages, print and send out brochures, provide travel reservation service and use publicity to build a positive image of Langkawi, let people see them in their daily life. People Only find that demand can satisfy the demand. The process of finding demand needs to realize by employees.Tourism enterprises need to arouse the enthusiasm of the employees, let them seeking for potential customers according to the demand of them. The employees with high quality and comply with the requirements are very important. Training the industry professionals, make sure travel agency employees can let visitors have a good experience in Langkawi, and get satisfactor y services from hotels, restaurants and other entertainment industries, because their service attitude and level is one of the key factors which decided to customers on the tourism enterprises satisfaction, a not professional employee may be adly affect Langkawi’s image, leading to the loss of customers, reduce the economic income of travel enterprises, affect the development of tourism industry in Langkawi. â€Å"People† not only those of the employees, but also customers. The feeling of customers on the service quality may be affected by the opinion of other customers. The marketing goal is getting loyal customers those whom believe in tourism enterprises and think they are worth to spend, and they are also willing to recommend Langkawi to other customers, thus to improve the popularity and positive image of Langkawi. ProcessesWhile producing and service delivering at the same time, process management can guarantee the availability of service and stable quality. Othe rwise, it is very difficult to balance the supply and demand of service. We must find the way to handle the peak demands, seeking the method in different level to maximum satisfy the different needs of different customers. In the implementation process of Langkawi’s marketing planning, it might happened some accidents because of the change of the market, we must do our best for the supervision, regulate and control in the whole process, to achieve the best effect of marketing.To sum up, in the marketing strategies combinations of Langkawi, in addition to the human factors are uncontrolled, other factors are controllable. We should adapt to the external environment actively, give full play to Langkawi’s advantages and make up for weakness, and then get a good development of marketing. Physical evidence Physical evidence is making the invisible services of products as much as possible becoming visible products, let consumers fell that the service product is exists, and i mproving visitors enjoy the value of the service products process.Germany has a successful businessman said: a simple reception is better than a detailed manual. For example, the first time a visit goes to the langkawi restaurant, before entered the restaurant, the restaurant’s appearance and signs has made him an initial impression. If the impression is good, he will go into the restaurant, and then the internal decorate, how clean the desktop is and the waiters’ etiquette image will directly to decide he will repast here or not. If management and utilization t well, it can help customers experience the characteristic of langkawi, improve the service when you get to enjoy the benefit and contribute to create a good image for langkawi, to support the implementation of the marketing strategy. Conversely, it may send wrong message to customers, influence the customer's expectations and judgment to langkawi, it will damage the image of langkawi. Physical evidence should f ocus on object factors, human factors and atmosphere factors and it also can improve physical evidence from outdoor billboards, TV advertising and the promotion activities in public places.We can add the local customs and features to langkawi’s guideposts and signs, on the other hand, service personnel should dress the same uniform, intensify efforts to make slogan and publicity material. Conclusion Langkawi is a romantic, beautiful island which has richly natural resources, where nature itself also has many excellent conditions, making her a paradise in Southeast Asia. Walking on the main island of Langkawi, an oasis of Rubber Forest and paddy fields are in front of you, dotted with the traditional tall houses (Ganlan), coconut waves, two or three Islanders who make a living by fishing and farming pass by.All these form a very laid-back screen. On this island which is full of ancient legend, the earth fell asleep in a lullaby of insect croak piping. In addition to  the bea utiful  natural scenery, Langkawi also  has a long  history and  traditional culture. Langkawi  is a  duty-free island that you  can buy  a lot of  duty-free products. As the famous internationally archipelago of 99 tropical islands in Malaysia, Langkawi is the absolute holiday paradise which offers modern accommodation facilities and amenities set against the natural backdrop of sun-drenched beaches and ancient rainforests teeming with exotic plant and animal life.For its beautiful geological heritage of stunning landscapes, Langkawi is a really good place to go, it is absolute a fantastic travel destination. Experience the beautiful countryside and the peaceful landscape of paddy fields, pass by some small villages with wooden houses which build by palm trees, and children pedaling their old bicycles on the road. Beautiful scenery, great adventures, five-star conveniences and an international airport make Langkawi a great place for a holiday. An agro-based econom y of padi and rubber cultivation and fisheries is being ast overtaken by a tourism-driven economy, taking into consideration the natural, unspoiled, ecological beauty of the island and major governmental emphasis. The largest and most developed island – known as Langkawi – is the focal point for most visitors. Traditionally the islanders have relied upon the farming and fishing industries for their livelihood, but in 1987 they were awarded Duty Free status, and the subsequent increase in visitors has promoted tourism to the point of being the islands largest industry.Tourism is one of the most important industries in Malaysia's national economy, and it has an important effect on promoting national economic and social development. Malaysia is richly in natural tourism resources and culture tourism resources. Since the 1960s, tourism resource advantages are gradually translated into the real economic advantages. With the rapid development of Malaysian tourism industry, d uring the past 50 years, remarkable achievements have been made in the number of tourists to Malaysian, foreign exchange income, tourism infrastructure construction, the opening and protection of tourism resources, and some other aspects.Langkawi has rich tourism resources. Develop Langkawi tourism market is good for the local economy,it can provide more jobs for local people. So develop a good marketing plan for Langkawi is very necessary, it can promote the development of tourism industry, thus promote the development of entirety economic in Malaysia. References Jeremy, A. (2002), The rough guide to Southeast Asia, Rough Guides Ltd,Mohamed, Z. H. I. (2000), The legends of Langkawi, Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur. John, S. Michael, T. (1998), How to prepare a marketing plan: a guide to reaching the customer market, MPG Books Ltd, Great Britain. John, W. (2010), How to write a marketing plan, Replika Press Pvt Ltd, India. Malcolm, M. & Hugh, W. (2011), Mark eting Plans: How to prepare them, how to use them, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, United Kingdom. Simon, R. (2007), Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei, Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, Australia. Susan, B. (2001), Successful tourism marketing: a practical handbook, Kogan Page Limited, London.

Describe how Arthur Miller creates Essay

â€Å"Describe how Arthur Miller creates an exciting climax for both acts of ‘A View from the Bridge'† ‘A View from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller, is a play about obsession and betrayal. The main character, Eddie Carbone, becomes overprotective over his niece, Catherine, to the degree of infatuation. This obsession helps to cause the break down of Eddie’s marriage, as his wife, Beatrice realises the alarming nature of Eddie’s fixation. Eddie’s feelings for Catherine existed before Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rodolfo came, but their arrival intensifies the situation, as Eddie becomes more and more jealous of Rodolfo, and of Catherine’s love for him. This play is a tragedy and, like most tragedies, it is serious and ends with the death of the main character, Eddie. Eddie dies after betraying his wife’s cousins to the immigration bureau. As a result, Marco, who is filled with hatred and in need of justice, stabs him. Arthur Miller was a New Yorker who worked on the Brooklyn docks, for a time. His experience of the docks and of the people around them, led him to write this play, which is set there. During this coursework, my aim is to study the ends of the two acts in depth to see what techniques Miller uses to make them dramatically effective. The last scene of act one (from page 39 when Catherine puts ‘paper doll’ on the phonograph) portrays at first is one of a reasonably happy home but Arthur miller uses a combination of significant action and verbal nuances to show depth of characters and character emotions. The basic events of the scene are Rodolfo and Catherine dancing, Eddie showing Rodolfo how to box, and then Marco, challenging Eddie to lift a chair. These are three main parts of this last scene, which demonstrate symbolic changes in the character relationships, the first two build up to the final conflict between Marco and Eddie, which sets the tone for the second act. The first important section of the scene is the dancing between Rodolfo and Catherine. We see in this scene that Rodolfo feels uncomfortable because of Eddie he ‘Stiffly rises, feeling Eddie’s eyes on his back’ this shows that Rodolfo may realise how Eddie feels towards his niece, Rodolfo doesn’t want to upset him, we see the way Eddie feels about the dancing in the stage direction ‘EDDIE turns his head away. ‘ These few simple actions are very important to the play, they show Eddies feelings and the start or progression of the hatred Eddie feels towards Rodolfo and show a subtle conflict between Eddie and his niece. During we find out about a number of things in more depth, for example our understanding of the plays characters changes considerably. We find that Marco disapproves of the way Eddie is treating Rodolfo, this is quite a surprise since we, as an audience do not expect Marco who has previously been shy and quiet to make such a blatant challenge as he does in this scene. Twists and surprises in a plot tend to create suspense and tension so this is a very effective technique to use. The action in this scene Marcos action of holding up a chair triumphantly in front of Eddie is an interesting and significant action because the chair seems to be a symbolic weapon. Marco is threatening Eddie with it, this is analogous to the way he actually uses a weapon to kill Eddie in the final scene of the play. The way that Arthur Miller uses such an imposing action as lifting a chair above head height to make a defined, pointed change in Marco is effective because it is dramatic and startling in the way that it breaks from the tone of the rest of the scene. Although powerful and startling the action of lifting the chair is also subtle in that it states without using words, just how Marco feels and sets out his warning, it is succinct which is part of what makes it effective. I do not believe words would have worked as well at portraying the overall feelings, not just of Marco but also of the other characters. This is a major way that Arthur Miller creates an overall atmosphere. He uses actions that involve the audience reactions and opinions of all the characters and the aids the creation of a climax. Emotions of the audience towards characters are mixed. They may feel happy for Catherine and Rodolfo in that they have found each other and seem so happy. Some may speculate, however, about that, this relationship’s days are numbered due to Eddie’s obviously hostile feelings towards Rodolfo. They may also feel anxious as to how the conflict that has arisen between Marco and Eddie will be resolved. This emotional uncertainty is exciting and leaves the audience thinking because of the culmination of events. This last scene in act one is used very effectively by Arthur Miller to sow the seeds of events which are going to happen in the 2nd act of the play. It is only at this point in the play that we get true insight into the feelings of Marco, his stubbornness, his need to prove himself and his brother, which turn out at the end of the play to be fatally strong. It is also only now that we see any dislike of Marco from Eddie, it is this dislike and need for apology that causes the end scene to happen in such a tragic manner. The Characters in this scene are very interesting to observe on their own but it is also interesting to see how Arthur Miller has contrasted the actions of his characters in this scene. One such contrast is that between Marco and Eddie. Eddie uses Aggressive action, such as boxing to make his point whereas Marco’s subtle challenge with the chair is, non-aggressive but still makes the intended point. These contrasts between the two men’s actions are very interesting and are very effective in demonstrating the differences between their personalities; this makes it even more interesting at the very ending of the play how Marco has changed into a person willing to be violent to get revenge. This final scene leaves many questions unanswered. The conflicts between the characters in this scene could lead the audience to speculate as to how things will develop in the next act but although this scene gives the audience, some idea of how things turn out it does not tell them everything. They may ask themselves what is going to happen to Catherine and Rodolfo’s relationship since it seems plain that Eddie dislikes Rodolfo and disapproves of his relationship with his niece. And they may wonder about Beatrice and Eddie’s marriage since it appears to be weakening there is no way, however that at this point the audience realise the ending, they are left in suspense. This means that the ending of this act is all the more of a climax; the audience are left teetering on the edge of knowing more but are left to ruminate till the second act. That in itself is enough to explain the way Miller creates of a climax here. The situations that develop in this play would be difficult for anyone to deal with. Eddie finds the situation that he is in especially difficult and consequently he is seriously affected by it. In this play Eddie goes from being a popular man, respected in the community to being a man willing to betray his own family and, in the final scene one prepared to kill. Eddie started by just being over protective of Catherine, which developed into jealousy of Rodolfo because Catherine loved him and this, in turn developed into passionate hatred of both Marco and Rodolfo. Eddie hardly understands what he himself is feeling at the end of the play. These emotional changes are central to Arthur miller’s play since they help to cause the chain of events leading up to the final tragic end and are very important in creating interest and drama in the play. This is especially significant at the ends of the acts and creates a charged atmosphere. The changes in Eddie during the play also have consequences on the people around him, especially on Beatrice. Eddie spends less and less time throughout the play with Beatrice socially and more importantly, he spends less time with her intimately. There is evidence in other scenes that the sexual part of the Carbone’s marriage has already collapsed but that Beatrice desperately wants to save the marriage by sitting down and sorting things out.

How the Write the UC School Application Essays 2015-2016

The University of California (UC) system comprises many of America’s best public universities. Indeed, schools from the UC system are six of Admissions Hero’s top 20 public colleges. All of the major UC schools have strong programs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, and the flagship schools (UCLA and UC Berkeley) also have extremely competitive liberal arts, business, and arts majors. Luckily for high school seniors who already have ridiculous amounts of work on their plates, students can apply to every UC school with a single application consisting of only two essay questions (note that UCs don’t use the Common App). Because the application allows for 1000 shared words total between two prompts, there is a bit of strategy involved as to the length of each essay. If you have a stronger or more detailed answer for one of the prompts, it is okay to write more for that essay but ideally, you should devote roughly 550 words to that essay and 450 to the other one. Under no circumstances should you have one essay longer than 600 words and the other one shorter than 400 words—balance is key. Despite the fact that UC schools place a strong emphasis on students’ raw scores and quality of extracurricular activities, the essays are still important for students looking to study in the Golden State. Admissions Hero is here to help – let’s take a look at each prompt. Note: this year’s UC app is essentially identical to last year’s. We’ve updated this year’s post only slightly to reflect new trends in admissions. Read last year’s post here . Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. (1000 words for both prompts combined) This essay addresses many of the themes that the prompts for the Common App do, and since the UC schools do not use the Common App, you don’t have to worry about any overlap with those essays. This prompt is really asking you to talk about some of your major influences and your interactions within a group. You can certainly use your family as the base for your essay, but you should be careful to really dive deep down into your personal feelings and motivations (as opposed to getting caught up talking mostly about your family members). Many applicants choose to write about their family, though, which means that your essay will have to be extremely well written or delve deeply into your unique personality in order to separate from all of the other applicants covering similar themes. Writing about your school can be a good strategy if you attend a school that has an economically and racially diverse student body. However, if you attend a competitive school with mostly affluent students, it might be difficult to write an essay that will play well with admissions counselors. Writing about a more nuanced and specialized community, perhaps related to some sort of hobby or extracurricular passion, gives you an opportunity to really show off unique and distinctive elements of your personality. For example, you could write an essay about how your participation in the Model United Nations officer corps inspired you to pursue an education and career in international relations. Alternatively, you could discuss how your participation in several online forums for World of Warcraft inspired you to study computer programming so that you can build a â€Å"crowdsourced† video game in the future. So long as you are able to write a detailed and distinctive essay, pretty muc h any type of â€Å"world† that you come from is fair game. The only exceptions are communities that are defined simply by personal traits (and not interaction) such as race or sexual orientation. Since these are personal qualities, an essay on these topics is best saved for the second prompt. Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are? (1000 words for both prompts combined) Unlike the first prompt, this essay can be far more personal, and you really shouldn’t detail your participation or membership in a group or community unless it you have achieved something substantial in it (save such topics for the first essay). As we mentioned before, this prompt could be a place to address intrinsic qualities such as challenges dealing with your race or sexual orientation. You have some leeway as to how you want to approach the discussion of the quality, but be sure to discuss why it makes you proud. That pride can result directly from the quality itself, or indirectly from actions that you have taken or experiences you have had as a result of a personal trait (such as dealing with racism or experiencing gender discrimination). You can also discuss an achievement in an extracurricular activity, however ideally you should write about a different one if you used an extracurricular activity for the first prompt. The â€Å"achievement† doesn’t be some sort of award or high achievement; it just has to be something that provides a compelling platform to discuss yourself. In fact, the most personalized descriptive stories often can arise from seemingly mundane achievements. For example, an essay written about your victory at the state tennis championships can obviously be impressive, but an essay discussing your pride at working for three years to rise from fifth to fourth singles on the tennis team and how the work you put into that made you value persistence can be just as good. The key is to make sure that you can point to specific character developments that arose from your achievement, no matter how small. With these tips, you should be well on your way to writing the perfect UC Supplement. Best of luck from the Admissions Hero team! For more help, feel free to check out last year’s post on How to Tackle the UC Essays or reach out to work 1-on-1 with one of Admissions Hero’s trained college essay specialists .

Book Review of Robert Klitgaard's Tropical Gangsters Essay

Book Review of Robert Klitgaard's Tropical Gangsters - Essay Example The book tells the story of the author who, equipped with his surfboard and a $10-million-dollar loan from the World Bank, makes an attempt to rehabilitate the ruined economy of Equatorial Guinea, one of the most backward countries in the world. Robert Klitgaard, a Harvard-trained economist, in the story, deals with several important questions which are relevant to much of the world. "As in most other countries carrying out free market reforms, Equatorial Guinea's leaders have not always known quite how to make the new strategy work - or, in some cases, whether they should really try. This ignorance and reluctance, though extreme, are in many ways prototypical, and they raise general questions. How does one go about assessing an economy's strengths and weaknesses How does one go about developing the institutions needed to make free markets work And how can one help recalcitrant, inefficient, sometimes corrupt government move forward" (Klitgaard, ix-x) Apart from these essential quest ions, the author also deals with the important role of international aid which further gives rise to new questions. Thus, the author investigates the creative possibilities and inherent limitations of outside assistance, the tensions between aid and dependency, between benevolence and autonomy, and the possible ways of action in this context. In the context of economic and political changes taking place in Africa, Robert Klitgaard is engaged in a fascinating and compelling account of his two-and-a-half-year adventure in Equatorial Guinea and it provides an insightful explanation of why foreign aid often fails to achieve its goals. In the book Tropical Gangsters: One Man's Experience with Development and Decadence in Deepest Africa, Klitgaard, who is the former head of a multi-million dollar economic development program in the Equatorial Guinea, convincingly gives an account of his struggles against government corruption, capitalist adventures, and bankrupt economic theories. The narrator was sent as an economist-consultant to Equatorial Guinea, a small West African nation which is one of the poorest countries of the world, by the World Bank in 1985. Klitgaard has been highly effective in blending his personal reminiscence and economic analysis in his engaging memoir of his two-and-a-half-year struggle to rehabilitate the local economy. In the background of the modern tendency to move toward the free market across the world, the author suggests how the countries of Africa welcomed free market for economic development. "Africa has been the vanguard of a worldwide movement away from state-controlled economies and toward the free market. For years the prevailing wisdom concerning economic development advocated an interventionist state. Government should be the mobilizers and managers of resources. In contrast, the new movement says that the private sector is the key to economic growth, and downplays the state's role as mobilizer and manager." (Klitgaard, 7) Thus, the author deals with the various aspects of the backward economies of the African countries and he makes exceptional note of lethargy, corruption, and adventurism as the basic issues affecting the progress of these economies. In his analyses of the economic problems facing Equatorial Guinea, Klitgaard focuses on cogent and convincing issues such imports outstripping exports, lack

Concepts of Learning And the Factors That Affect Student Learning Essay

Concepts of Learning And the Factors That Affect Student Learning - Essay Example This report sresses that the humanistic approach by respecting the human undertone it recognizes the individual differences and in effect helps learners in performing well. The teachers are also motivated to perform in the same respect. This is a positive attribute of the approach which serves to underscore the importance of humanity. The school of humanism postulates that individuals have internal drives that push them to achieve their goals. In a learning environment it is understood that it is in the interest of the participants to succeed. Both the teachers and the students aspire to be successful in the pursuit of their goals. While the teaching staffs aspire to rise through the ranks in their careers, the student community desires to excel in their studies. The benefits of the theory have been transferred to other professions. These fields include theory, economics, or other business courses. This paper makes a conclusion that learning is an ongoing process in human lives. On the basis of humanity, the ‘feeling good’ effect is paramount in scaling greater heights in the learning cycle. Other schools like cognitive can also be useful in explaining the learning process. The acquisition of new knowledge is quite beneficial and it should be encouraged irrespective of the method employed. Through the use of both summative and formative assessments, the level of progression made in the learning experience can be determined.

Summarising a Scientific Journal Literature review

Summarising a Scientific Journal - Literature review Example Theoretically, this complexity and variability in conclusions implies that parameters used in achieving mixing quality will not always be independent but inversely related to each other (Wolfgang et al., 1999). Practically, all laboratory experimenter are admonished to be very watchful in guiding the fluid mixers in order to achieve uniform outflow of micro channels. Major Findings: Results are in three sections though they all centre round mixing quality. On mixing quality and loss pressure, results revealed that in the presence of large range of volume flow, there is tendency of quality mixing can be achieved if the conditions of proper combination of slit and micro channels are adhered to. This implies that experimenters must be proactive in their choice of micro channel selection. Similarly, Hessel et al. (2005) point out that â€Å"quality mixing can be accomplished by time-pulsing flow owing to a periodical change of pumping.† On the parallelization of mixing elements, r esults showed that reactants achieve high volume flow when channel depths are increased in a single mixing unit. This implies that when using one single mixing unit, parallelization of mixing which ensures increased volume flow in specified regions of >700mL/h cannot be realized. On the actual volume flow as it relates to quality mixing, the results showed that there could be deviations on the volume flow depending on the mixer array. This assertion is however disagreed by Omega (1995) who posits that in a fully laminar system, there is supposed to be constant mixing quality whenever mixing is done over an entire flow range. Weaknesses and Strengths: In the methodology, what was supposed to be an experimentation ended up using too many secondary data and comparative assumptions. For instance instead of the researchers monitoring the mixing time, they stated, â€Å"the mixing time cannot be directly measured by the test reaction. Instead a comparison was made for mixing elements hav ing various channel widths.† It will be noted that any element of mixing is highly important in the results achieved in any micro-mixers experiment. However, the researchers choose comparative assumption. On the use of secondary data, it is admitted that secondary data helps in making qualitative analysis of data highly valid; however in the actual collection of data, it is important that there is a distinction drawn between primary data collection and secondary data collection. If for nothing at all, the researchers could have different sections of their project report, depicting these two variations. The research report has a number of strengths. For instance the presentation of data was very vivid amidst the use of diagrams and figures to elaborate all points. Again, the entire report was well segmented, making the use of the document very easy to follow. For instance the researchers used sub-topics to differentiate new ideas. Suggestions The beauty of all research work is that they are a continuous process. This means that there is always room for improvement and advancement. To this end, some few suggestions are made towards the future improvement of the research work. It is suggested that future researches should make clearer distinction on active and passive mixing principles. This suggestion is given against the backdrop that whenever active and passive principles are used, researchers always have the chance of considering expanded scopes of

External Environment Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

External Environment Analysis - Term Paper Example It previously operated using Boeing 727 airplanes but has recently updated their fleet to the more advanced airplanes to meet the demands of their customers. The newly purchased planes are more advanced, fast and are more comfortable than the older planes that were previously being utilized. The company has a very busy schedule as it operates over six flights on a daily basis (Southwest Airlines, 2012). The airline company has also made acquisitions of several other companies like Air Tran Airways in the year 2011 during the month of May. This has enabled them to increase their airplanes due to the expansions witnessed in their operations. In addition, the company has a large labor force that comprises of over thirty seven thousand workers who are qualified in different fields to aid the company in running their activities. The airline company runs its operations in over forty two states within the United States that cover over ninety five of their destinations. Their management adve rtises vigorously to help in reaching a wider market through several humorous adverts like, â€Å"Just Plane Smart† slogans that have become familiar to most travelers within the country. The company’s strategy of fighting off their competition involves their recruitment of very competent employees, their high productivity along with their offer of low prices for their products. Finally, the company currently has a market capital of over 6.2 billion dollars with a price to capital ratio of 23.49. Their earnings for every share stand at 0.35 whereas their dividend yields stand at 0.02% (Southwest Airlines, 2012). Section 2. Porter’s Forces and PEST Analysis According to the article titled â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces, Assessing the Balance Of Power in a Business Situation†, the forces are powerful that are used for determining where the power of a business lies. The article stipulates that the type of information required when each of the forces inclu des the powers of the businesses suppliers, their buyer powers, competitive rivalries encountered, threats posed by substitute goods along with the threats of new entrants coming into their market. It additionally suggests that the threats posed by new entrants could be further complicated through their specialized knowledge, the cost advantages they have along with issues such as economies of scale. The competition encountered is augmented when the number of competitors increases, there are quality differences, switching and departure costs along with other differences in the products offered. Supplier power is influenced by issues such as the amount of suppliers, their scope of operations, the distinctiveness and the businesses ability to obtain substitute products. The threats of substitution are aggravated by substitute performances being greater and the costs incurred in changing from a product to another. Finally, the buyer’s power is said to be influenced by the number of available customers, their order sizes and their sensitivity to the prices set. On the other hand, the article by Dagmar Recklies on ‘Porters 5 Forces’ states that the model is founded on the basis of an organization utilizing the opportunities availed and fighting off any threats it might encounter. The forces are said to include the bargaining powers of suppliers and customers, threats of new entrants along with substitute goods and the competition witnessed in their market. The article from Value Based Management.Com describes

Human Resource Manager Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resource Manager - Assignment Example pments in the field of Human Resource (HR), the companies emphasised the need of investing sufficient amount of funds in creation of a workforce that will allow it to maintain its edge in the industry (Truss & Gill, 2009). It is generally believed that personnel management and HRM are similar concepts and there is a minor difference between the two. On the other hand, the proponents of HRM are of the viewpoint that the role of HRM has widened by a considerable extent and it covers a wide range of aspects that were overlooked by personnel managers (`Marchington, 2008). Human Resource Management is given its due respect and importance in firms which was not the case usually observed under the role of personnel management. Generally, personnel management is referred to the set of activities that concern the workforce such as staffing, contractual obligations, payroll and various administrative responsibilities; it shows that it was more concerned with managing people as compared to the resources. On the other hand, HRM takes a holistic approach by ensuring that there is a proper fit and alignment between the organisation’s objectives and its long-term performance. In HRM, the employees are given utmost attention so that their goals are aligned with the business objectives; both people and resources are efficiently utilised (Armstrong, 2006). The personnel management is concerned more with meeting day-to-day activities and focuses on meeting the employees’ current needs. Whereas, in HRM, the main focus is on the employees’ long-term needs and providing them the opportunities to develop their skills and competencies so that they can be proactive and handle their responsibilities properly. In personnel management, employees were considered as a cost but in HRM, employees are valued as vital assets of the company (Srivastava, 2010). Since HRM takes into account all the mandatory aspects required by the organisations to enhance their performance in the market and

Annotated bibliography of sources Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Of sources - Annotated Bibliography Example Lastly, the author points out the contribution of growing population to greenhouse gas emissions. Tao, M., Chen, L., Wang, Z., Ma, P., Tao, J., & Jia, S. (2014). A study of urban pollution and haze clouds over northern China during the dusty season based on satellite and surface observations. Atmospheric Environment, 82183-192. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.10.010 Tao, M., Chen, L., Wang, Z., Ma, P., Tao, J., and Jia, S explain a large scale study carried on northern China during spring. The study, which was carried out using satellite and ground observations aimed to identify and evaluate the process of urban pollution. The study also explains the different types of haze clouds found in Beijing area. Therefore, the information found in this article is important in explaining formation hazy weather in China. China Daily is a newspaper published daily in the Peoples Republic of China. In addition, the newspaper is written in English language making it easy to be understood by many professionals in the world. Apart from the language used to print, the newspapers is resourceful and reliable in this research because newspaper information is highly regulated by the government and undergoes some vetting within the company to ensure it is from reliable sources before being printed. Therefore, the information concerning car pollution is verifiable and can be used in our study. Greenpeace International is a non-governmental organization that is concerned with environmental conditions in the world. The organization is keen on environmental developments and actively collects relevant data to ascertain environmental conditions in order to create awareness and give propositions on how the conditions can be dealt with. In this article, the organization points out the problems and impacts of air pollution in China. The organization further gives simple solutions that can be used to solve the problem of air pollution in China. Therefore,

Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay Example for Free

Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay Depression or â€Å"Unipolar depression is another name for Major Depressive disorder. It is a mood disorder characterized by depressed mood, it often manifests in lack of interest in family, school and social life, changes in eating and sleeping habits, emotional and medical disregard for the self, difficulty in concentrating, and loss of interest in life† (Rush, 2007).   Just like any other pathological disease, it has risk factors, signs and symptoms, and a natural course. Like any other disease it can be treated with proper medical and psychological therapy. Yet it is not perceived as such by the community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is remarkable lack of awareness about depression in the communities, in spite of the staggering statistics about the disorder. Unipolar depression affects 7-18% of the American population at least once before the age of 40 (Kassler, McGonagle Zhao, 1994). In the United States alone, the number of females are reported to be suffering from clinical depression (Murray, 1997). It has also been observed that 2.5 percent of children and 8.3 percent of adolescents are depressed at any given time. These rates are considerably higher than the figure of the past decades (Depression Statistics Information, Internet). Yet, it has been found that only 20 percent of depressed people undergo medical treatment (Depression Statistics Information). This is caused by numerous reasons with ignorance or lack of concern and awareness about the disorder considered as the biggest suspect.   In fact, a United States surgeon general report   in the Hispanic community states that less than 10 percent of the mentally ill people will ever approach a mental clinic (U.S. Department of Health, 2000). This is possibly the result of lack of concern on their part, or due to the fact that in the Hispanic communitys, non-medical methods of   treatment for the depressed. It is imperative that we find out whether other communities also show a similar of lack of awareness and concern about depression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Social Science medicine attempts to find cultural differences in the conceptual models of depression by an interviewed with North American immigrants and African Americans (Karasz, 2005) . His study demonstrated that Americans were more of the view that depression was a pathological disease of the body just like any other disease and required medical therapy. According to the author, the people from the African community were more likely to explain depression in terms of a social and moral problems and conformed to the belief that self management was the right way to deal with the issue of depression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Different communities have different perceptions about the disease, people of certain cultures prefer going to spiritual healers rather than seek medical attention (Nayem, 2005). Some cultures prefer to treat this ailment with alternative therapies to allopathic ones.   Depression, though a serious and debilitating disease, does not command the same attention as other medical disorders like heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, or even obesity. According to Pasacreta (2008) there has been little attention given to depression and its consequences when we compare it with other diseases. For example obesity has been associated with diabetes many times. Even though depression also has a similar association with type II diabetes, not many people are aware of this fact.   Since public concern is lacking in communities, many depressed people fail to come forward, and receive proper treatment. If this trend continues prevalence of depression will continue to rise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the attitudes of different cultures may vary toward the disease, it does not change the fact that â€Å"depression poses enormous costs for individual, family, and the society† (Nayem F, 2005). Depression is a severe disease with far reaching effects, starting from the patient, who may inflict self harm, leading to a family life, which cannot function in the same way as before (Scott, 2003). There has been research demonstrating depression as a burrden to people, communities, and health services as the treatment is long term and the patient has little or no productivity to society (Nayem, 2005). This research further highlights the need to conduct a survey to assess the perception of depression across various cultures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   People are unaware of the magnitude of the problem and its economic implications. In certain cultures, inability to diagnose the disease or disregard of its seriousness lead to delayed medical opinion and treatment. Through this study, we will try to substantiate the various levels of awareness that different cultures have about the disease. The severity of depression usually gets aggravated if it is not treated promptly after diagnosis. This leads to a greater burden on the country. Scott (2003) echoed this sentiment when he stated â€Å"In the National Health Service the cost of treating depression ( £887 million) exceeds the cost of treating both hypertension ( £439 million) and diabetes ( £300 million). However, here, the direct health care costs are dwarfed by the indirect costs (i.e. days lost from work owing to depression exceed all other disorders and the economic burden on family members and society is considerable).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     North American and African cultures both differ in there perceptions about depression as a disease. Different cultures may feel that depression is a problem but western cultures are more likely to view it as a disease which needs medical therapy just like any other, whereas the people from the non western culture will perceive depression as more of a social and moral problem which requires self-management. There will generally be a lack of knowledge about depression as a disease in the non western community.   The false beliefs and stigmas will be more present in non western cultures as compared to their western counterparts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How widespread is serious depression? According to Dr. Nathan S. Kline of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, â€Å"it has been estimated that 15 per cent of the adult population of the United States has some degree of depression which is serious enough to be in need of treatment. This amounts to about 20 million people, which makes it not only the most frequent psychological disorder but also one of the most common of all serious medical conditions.† Depression is so widespread that it has been called â€Å"the common cold of mental disturbances.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Studies report that women outstrip men in suffering from depression by a ratio of about 2 to 1, though some claim that this is because women are more willing to admit that they are depressed. Depression afflicts all races and every social and economic level. While the malady is most common between the ages of sixty and seventy, it strikes all age groups and has been rising among persons in their twenties. Why do so many millions of persons suffer from depression?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Much study has gone into uncovering the root causes of mental depression. Flaws in human society constitute one main source of the problem. Illustrating an aspect of this are comments by Dr. John Schwab, of the University of Florida College of Medicine: â€Å"We’re in an era of change right now. Old values such as the old work ethic are being rejected and people are caught in an ideological vacuum. Kids see that the fruits of four hundred years of scientific progress may be more bitter than sweet—but they don’t know what to put in its place, and consequently there is a sense of futility.† Because of this, many disillusioned youngsters seek â€Å"escape† through drugs and other means. â€Å"The search for highs among the young,† observes Dr. Schwab, â€Å"is often only a flight from the lows.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also contributing to the rise in depression is â€Å"supermobility.† Families that keep changing their places of residence, hopping about from house to house and city to city, do not stay in one place long enough to build solid relationships with other people. A psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center wrote: â€Å"Psychiatrists around Boston have been aware for some time of what is called ‘the Route 128 syndrome’ or in Florida ‘the Cape Kennedy syndrome.’ It is found in young families who have moved too much, and its components are a husband too centered in his career, a depressed wife and troubled children.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sometimes depression results when a person reaches a â€Å"plateau† in his life after many years of painstaking labor. A hard-driving business executive may finally achieve the top position in his company, only to realize that he no longer has a goal in life. Housewives in their forties and fifties often suffer from what psychiatrists call â€Å"empty nest syndrome.† By this time their children usually have grown up, their husbands are at work for most of each day and they must face lonely hours in houses devoid of people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What about the feelings of inferiority that often accompany depression? Here too the responsibility may rest with human society. How so? Because it is often at a tender age that children are made to feel unattractive. Their peers may ridicule them if they are unable to do what the majority consider the â€Å"in† thing. If a youngster tends to be clumsy and uncoordinated, schoolmates and playmates can influence the child to believe that he â€Å"can’t do anything right.† Children of this type often combine the generalization: â€Å"I am weak,† with the value judgment: â€Å"It’s disgusting to be weak.† Such youths are likely candidates for depression. Method    Participants   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Approximately 40 students (20 western, 20 international) students from a Midwest liberal arts college will participate in this study. All of them would be selected using randomized sampling. Participants will be offered candy for the completion of the survey. Materials    The survey questionnaire will consist of questions related to assessment of knowledge and attitudes towards depression and a demographic data form. The survey forms will contain closed ended questions only. It will consist of 3 parts.   The first section will consist of demographic questions to gather information about the participants: How long have they lived here. Have they adopted the western culture of living or not. The second part will consist of closed questions. The participants will have to choose from the given options in the questionnaires. There will be questions that ask whether they consider depression to be a serious disease. Whether they believe it is a disease of the mind, body, or mind and body. Questions related to stigma would also be included for example do they believe mentally ill people are more aggressive than others? Do they believe mental illnesses are not as severe as physical ones? Do they believe depressed people can be cured with drugs only, or do they require social and community help? Moreover, to support the validation of the results of the survey, the review of literature to be utilized within the research shall show a specific scale of measure that is used by psychologists to identify the behavior of humans with regards to depression from different cultures all over the world. Procedure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is imperative to find out exactly how different cultures perceive depression as a disease. The researcher plans on conducting this research. This research will deal with the perception of depression as a disease amongst western and non western cultures. The research will also look into the level of awareness in different cultures about the prevalence of disease in their societies. This research will try to substantiate if the perception of depression varies with different cultures.   To complete the said aim, the research will be conducted on campus.   Participants will be debriefed on the study being researched. The researcher would then have the participants sign a consent form before they participate in the study. After which, a survey kit would then be handed out to them and they would be given three days to return them back. Data analysis A one way ANOVA would be conducted to analyze the data. Since we have two independent sample populations and more than two variables. This will allow for the comparison of attitudes about depression for members of Western and non-Western cultures. Using the ANOVA we can calculate whether the stated answers have associations with either the western or non western societies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   References Depression Information and Fact Statistics (2008), Depression statistics and information, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/Depression/statistics.htm Haasen C, Levit O, Gelbert A, Foroutan N, Norovjav A, Sinaa M, et.al, (2007), Relationship between mental distress and acculturation among migrants, psychrische praxis,    retrieved on February 13, 2008, from the NCBI database on   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez Karasz, A. (2005), Cultural differences in conceptual models of depression, Social Science medicine, 60, 1625-35, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15652693?dopt=Abstractholding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn Kessler, R., McGonagle K,, Zhao S, et al. (1994) Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry;51:8-19. Murray, C., Lopez, A.D. (1997). Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 349 Neem F, Ayub M., Izhar N, Javed Z, et al (2005). Stigma and knowledge of depression, Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 21(2) 155-158. Pasacreta. J, (2008), Depression: Is society taking the wrong approach? , retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.helium.com/tm/646939/novel-approach-managing-depression Scott, J. (2003), Global burden of depression: the intersection of culture and medicine, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 183: 92-94, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/183/2/92 U.S. Department of Health Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. Mental Health: Culture, Race, Ethnicity Supplement, A Report of the Surgeon General 1999.from: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/default.asp.

Globalisation have dramatically accelerated the pace of change in modern organisations

Globalisation have dramatically accelerated the pace of change in modern organisations Introduction: Technology explosion and globalisation have dramatically accelerated the pace of change in modern organisations (Prastacos 2002). Organisational Change has become a compulsion in order to maintain competitive edge or be successful in modern businesses and a difficult process to implement in practice due to its complex nature (Hamel et al, 1996) The objectives of this report are to look at the significance of change within an organisation, relation between bureaucracy and hierarchy, stakeholders, models for involving stakeholders, models for change and etc within Tesco. Tesco was founded in 1924 by Sir Jack Cohen and had earlier roots from selling groceries in Londons East End markets. The first store to be opened was in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgware. The first Tesco self-service store was opened in St Albans in 1948. In the 1960s, Tesco started to sell fresh food, clothing and household goods in addition to groceries and opened stores in high streets of towns across England. In the 1990s, Tesco started to expand its operations outside the UK into Eastern Europe. In 1992 Tesco opened its city center stores under the branding of Tesco Metro. In 1995 Tesco introduced the loyalty card and by the end of the 90s diversified further into banking. In the year 2000, Tesco is Britains leading food retailer with 845 stores. It prides itself on quality, customer service and a customer-friendly environment. Task-1: Question-1: Significant change within an organization: A description of the use of ICT for Internal External Communications of the business; Information and communication technology has totally transformed, over the last few years, which has led to a major change in the way communication flows through a business. This has had a massive affect on the way Tesco operates today, as they are a service-related organisation, as they dont produce their own goods. Some examples of changes in technology that have had an effect on the way Tesco communicates internally and externally are; Email- Is used to replace old methods such as faxes, telephone calls and letters, as e-mail is a lot quicker, especially if the message has to be sent to more than one person, it is more convenient than conventional methods, it is also used to correspond with suppliers. Internet- This allows Tesco to create a communication link with the global market; this allows better communication between staff and customers that are overseas. Tescos website allows its customers to see what they are doing externally (e.g.) how they help the local community, it also allows them to explore Tescos range of products and services. Customer can browse through 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world. Network Databases- Has allowed Tesco to replace the old traditional ways of filling and storing information. Customer Service-At Tesco any questions or complaints can be dealt with over the phone or through the Internet, this makes the communication process a lot quicker. Payment Methods- There are a number of ways in which Tescos customers can pay for their goods or services, some of the payment methods that are accepted at Tesco are; Cheque- Details can be printed out at the till, using the information given to produce a receipt. Cheques can be used to pay up to a given price. Debit Card- This allows the customer to pay for their goods or service without any cash, the transaction is automatically checked at the customers bank account, the payment is guaranteed once it has been checked if there is enough in the persons account. Credit Card- This is a similar process however, the money is not taken from the customers account, the sale is paid for at the time. Customers may also ask for up to £50 cash back. IT in store Operation- Information Technology is essential for any large organisation affectively, it is used for many in store operations, for example, monitoring sales, ordering stock etc. Tesco sell thousands of products, therefore they use computerised merchandising systems, to order the correct products to the correct place without these type of system it would be a very long process. Goods are no longer entered manually, which means accurate pricing is guaranteed, because Tesco sell thousands of products, each item has an individual barcode usually printed somewhere on the package, this allows Tesco to monitor their stock levels, which means that once a certain amount of a particular product is sold the computer will automatically re-order the product, this is known as the Sales Based Order. Home Shopping- Tesco has introduced a home shopping service with the use of information technology, this enables people to order their shopping from home using the internet, this is done through a computer programme, it allows its customers to order any of the products that the particular branch sells, orders can be placed 24 hours a day, orders are delivered to the customers home. These home shopper customers have to register and are given a personal ID number, payments for shopping can be made by debit and credit cards. Responsible some factors for significant change: The major sources of changes are the Environmental firstly, taking the shape of economic and political change where we had the rise of enterprise economy and market led economies. Moreover, new work patterns have emerged where more pat-time workers and permanent employees are used nowadays, and with the rise of competition from Europe, Japan or multinational corporations have made it difficult to cope correctly with employees. Finally, we must note the various and fast technological advancements which take place and the shortening of product life cycles that lead to short range strategies and increased flexibility. These factors are discussed as below: Competition in Marketplace: Since year 2004, Tesco, who considers to be a market leader as a Grocery retail sector in the UK not only faced first ever fall in its profit on sales but also faced fierce competition from existing new chains of food retailing market. It is true that falling sales and the first loss in the companys history have forced them to think about radical changes. The UK food retailing market is mature and highly competitive. In addition, the UK market has been affected by negative inflation in the food sector. This negative inflation has been driven by the so-called Wal-Mart effect i.e. downward pressure on prices from Asda / Wal-Marts aggressive Every Day Low Price strategy; it was the Wal-Mart effect that pressurized TESCO into a price war. Changes in Attitude of Customers: Due to high competition, company has faced a considerable change in attitude of customer towards its products. As a maneuver, Tesco has been making continuous attraction strategies for its customers to keep them in close intact in order to remain at top position. So, they always try to bring most attractive goods for the customers. The new option in the goods has been very well advertised nationwide as a result customers are very well attracted towards Tesco. Political factor:  ¨Ã‚  Ã‚   Public concern about the effect of out of town superstores on town centers has grown and both current and future planning policies will seriously hamper future development. Though conversions of existing stores allow some increase in selling space it is limited.  ¨Ã‚  Ã‚   Community organizations have since gained momentum consequent to the Competition Commissions ruling and have been lobbying neighborhoods to boycott supermarkets and large food manufacturers and instead support small independent suppliers, processors and retailers at the expense of large supermarkets like TESCO. Economic:   Businesses cannot control their environment however much they would wish to, instead they must react / adapt to changes within the environment, and this is particularly true in relation to the economy. In periods of recession, many businesses are forced to reduce staffing levels, whilst in boom periods of high growth businesses may seek to expand the size of their workforce to cater for increasing levels of demand for their goods / services. Whilst the UK economy has seen steady overall growth, there has for some time been a cycle of boom and slump within the economy, which has forced businesses to redefine their staffing needs. Social:  ¨Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The U.K population on a whole is far more health conscious than in previous years. There has been a trend away from genetically modified foods towards organic foods.  ¨Ã‚  Peoples wealth increases, with the decrease in time for shopping. Besides, people enjoy a busier lifestyle, fewer people cook everyday for themselves. Therefore, the ready meals have become welcome by consumers. Technology: The increasing dependency of businesses on technology to gain competitive advantage over competitors, and the subsequent need to keep pace with technological advances have resulted in increasing emphasis being placed on organisations ensuring that their staffs skill base is constantly re-assessed and developed, through training and recruitment to keep pace with the use of technology.  ¨Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Grocery retail sector is a major user of new technology. The increasing use of electronic data interchange, laser and self-scanning and other point-of-sale equipment has been a feature of recent innovations by retailers. The use of loyalty cards and the provision of financial and other services have also involved the introduction of sophisticated computer-based systems. Globalization: In the presence of globalization factor, Tesco also change its policies accordingly. This is considered to be one of the major changes in Tesco operations. Same trend has been showing in international regions also. By that company is working on a change to build strong reliable partners. Conclusion: Organisations are a vital part of our society and serve several important needs and demands.   How an organisation is managed in relation to actions of management and the decisions made have an impact on all concerned including other organisations, the community environment as well as individuals. As consumers plays the lifeblood role in Grocery Retail industry, TESCO approach remains Re-active, were it adopts low price strategy to attract customers. Also TESCO is often forced to change their strategy as the competition changes. Question-2: Relation between bureaucracy and hierarchy to the organisational structure and change: A bureaucracy is a type of organisational structure that is found in many large-scale organisations. It appears in both public and private organisations and is a structure that still exists in the majority of industrial organisations in the world, despite being around since the 18th century. Ideally bureaucracy is characterised by hierarchical authority relations, defined spheres of competence subject to impersonal rules, recruitment by competence, and fixed salaries. The main aims of a bureaucracy are to be rational, efficient, and professional. German sociologist, Max Weber was the most important student of bureaucracy, and he described bureaucracy as technically superior to all other forms of organization. Bureaucratic systems have a greater sense of direction and purpose than other types of organisation structure and this helped by the hierarchy of positions and well developed rule system that is consistent in a bureaucracy. Hierarchy structure is sometimes called the Pyramid structure. In this structure there are few people who working above others. These people such as Marketing Manager have more authority over their employees. In many businesses each part of the department is divided into specialists departments where they deal with different task but have the same overall aim. Management in this structure is led by Vertical Communication, which means that the communication goes from the top of the structure to the bottom of the structure. Advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracy and hierarchy organisational form: Weber stressed (Conley, 2002) both the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracies. Advantages of bureaucratic system: Bureaucratic system is a very effective way of structuring an organisation. So, it has some advantages like as below: Bureaucracies provide a hierarchical structure whereby workers can rise through the ranks to positions of relative power. Progression is based on technical expertise thereby increasing the professional management of organisations. The development of written rules offered protection to less powerful workers and provided a basis for trade union negotiation. Bureaucracies replaced nepotism and favouritism with impersonal social relations and the basis for equality of treatment. Disadvantages of bureaucratic system: Although, bureaucracy organisational form is very effective for an organisation but it also offer various drawbacks which are as below: Hierarchies and rules formalise power structures and status divides in workplaces Rules cannot cover every eventuality and are themselves subject to interpretation. Over-attention to a rigid set of rules can often hinder the smooth running of an organisation Bureaucracies can create iron cages which dehumanise work The advantages of hierarchy structure are: A leader or leadership team can give the business a direction A leader or team could make quick appropriate decisions on behalf of the organisation. Employees are clear about their position and Span of control within the organisation. Employees know who to report to in events of problems instead of going to the owner directly for irrelevant issues. Employees become motivated because they get a chance to become promoted to a higher tier. The disadvantages of hierarchy structure are: Decisions can often take time to follow the chain of command. Employees can be demotivated if there are considered as at the bottom of the hierarchy. Decisions may be made by a few that are not in the interest of everyone on the organisation. After researching I have found out that the main structure that Tesco operate in is Hierarchy I think that this is a good structure mainly this is because there are more advantages then drawbacks plus this is a good structure to operate in for a big company like Tesco. Question-3 Compare and contrast of bureaucracy and hierarchy organisational form: Bureaucracy can have a positive effect on the organisation it could also cause alienation and sense of purposelessness from workers within the system. Working in a large bureaucratic organisation may induce the feeling that they are mere cogs in a huge machine, and therefore lead to unmotivated staff and a decrease of efficiency. Communication through the hierarchy may well be slow in a bureaucratic system, due to the tendency towards centralisation, which would affect the initiative at the lower levels. Due to the bureaucratic systems being well suited to predictable and stable situations, they are not very flexible and therefore find it hard to deal with conditions of change. The rules of a bureaucracy are very rigid and are designed to achieve organisational objectives. However due to the rigidity it may obstruct the attainment of goals and lose sight of its overall organisational objectives. Although bureaucracy has proved its need in the current business environment, there are still several downsides, not only for the organisation, but also for the employee. Many argue that in the twenty-first century, a bureaucratic organisation will be too expensive to maintain. It will also be incapable of responding quickly to change and will not be using the innovative resource of its members. Due to the hierarchical system, problems are usually passed upwards, preventing employees contributing to decisions, which will not promote proactive behaviour and can be damaging to an organisation. Task-2 Question-1 Stakeholders: A stakeholder in an organization is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organizations objectives. (R. Edward Freeman, 46). In the changing business world, a wide range of stakeholders may have an involvement with an organization, such as shareholders, customers, investors, employees, the media, government and non-government organizations. Internal and connected stakeholders: Internal stakeholders include normal employees and managers of a business. In Tesco, the shareholders, the customers and other groups or individuals are involved in the business. These people are called connected stakeholders. All these are very important to Tesco. 1.  Employees: All the employees are important stakeholder to Tesco. The reason for this, that employees are closely involved with organisation. They have a strong influence on the business and the way that the business runs. The expectations that the employees have on Tesco are: A clean and safe working environment Job security Competitive pay rates and benefits such as discounts on Tesco products Interesting and rewarding work Opportunities for promotion and career structure Bonuses 2. Managers: All mangers as well as the directors of the company are stakeholders. In Tesco the manager has a major say on how the business should be run. The expectations that the manager has on Tesco are: developing a local or national reputation as a successful manger working the business to make it bigger than it is now For example at Tescos, those with a high achievement need such as Duty managers or departmental managers tend to seek situations where they have personal responsibility for solving problems, managing projects or for overall performance. 3. Shareholders: This group of stakeholders are interested in the financial part of the Tesco. The expectations that the shareholders has on Tesco are: Shareholders of Tesco want to receive a large and increasing proportion if the companys profits They also hope the companys share price will rise 4. Customers: Tesco are mainly focused on customers. This means that Tesco has to fill the expectations of their customers. These include: Good quality products delivered on time Fair prices After sales service and support, especially for high- technology products. This shows how Tesco are influenced by their customers- Tesco, the UKs largest retailer, buys enormous amounts of products from suppliers and so has great influence. 5. Suppliers: They are expecting to be paid on time and receive regular orders from their customers. Tescos suppliers are interested in any development that might affect the number and size of the orders. Tesco buys its own brand products from suppliers. All products are supplied to Tesco in a finished state. 6. Bankers: Banks and other financial organisations lend money to Tesco and will be concerned that their money is saved. They want Tesco to run successfully and to earn profits. External stakeholders: External stakeholders include individuals or organisations that have interest in the business but do not do anything and have no relationship with that business. 1. Government agencies: The government has lots of reasons to be interested in Tesco: The Inland Revenue collects income tax and corporation tax for Tesco. It is interested in the financial affairs of Tesco Customs and Excise collects Tescos taxes. It collects value added tax (VAT) 2. Pressure groups: These organisations are groups of people who combine to promote a particular view or cause. Pressure groups attempt to influence Tesco by: Campaigning Taking direct action against some firms. Tesco responds to pressure group because they want to have a good public image. 3. Local communities and society: Businesses are an important part of the society. Local communities expect Tesco to: provide stable employment for the community Avoid causing environmentally pollution, noise or other problems that might offend the community. Question-2 Models to involve stakeholders: In recent years, two useful models -a) the Power/Interest Matrix (Mendelow cited in Johnson and Scholes, 2002:208) and b) Power/Urgency/Legitimacy Model (Mitchell, et al., 1997) have become popular. Brief Introduction of these Two Models: To assist the analysis, the introduction of the two models is briefly explained in this section. a) The Power/Interest Matrix (shown as Figure 1) implies the political priorities for managing stakeholder relationships by assessing the level of interest and power for each stakeholder (Johnson and Scholes, 2002: 208). High Low High Low PowerE:managing environmentStakeholder Management Publications Management Portal.filesimage004.gif C D A B Level of Interest A Figure 1 Stakeholder Mapping: the Power/Interest Matrix Source: Johnson and Scholes, 2002 Adapted from A. Mendelow, Preceedings of the Second International Conference on Information Systems, Cambridge, MA, 1991. Source: It can be seen from Figure 1; the stakeholders in Segment D have the most important role among other stakeholders in the success of the strategy. Due to their high power, organisations should give adequate emphasis on the stakeholders in Segment C and attempt to meet their expectations. As for stakeholders in Segment B, organisations need to provide enough information to satisfy their high interest in the strategies or issues. Under some circumstances, some stakeholders (Segment A) neither have power nor interest, so it is unnecessary to invest too much in this group. b) The Power/Urgency/Legitimacy Model, illustrated as Figure 2, divides stakeholders into seven types and uses them to reflect a different degree of stakeholders salience which is related to the three basic attributes power, legitimacy and urgency perceived by organisational managers (Mitchell, et al., 1997). Legitimacy Power Dormant Discretionary Definitive Dominant Dependent Dangerous Demanding Urgency Figure 2 Power/Urgency/Legitimacy Model Source: Based on Mitchell, Agle and Wood 1997 Mitchell, et al (1997) made detailed explanations for the three attributes. Power means the possibility for a stakeholder to influence the outcome, originating from coercive, legitimate, expert, referent and reward. Urgency indicates time sensitivity and criticality of the situation. Regarding Legitimacy, it refers to the desire of stakeholders to judge the properness of the issue, based on norms, values and beliefs. Both two models are helpful to managers in pursuing success in stakeholder management. However, it is important to realise the limitations that each model might have in order for effective utilization of them. Question-3 Stakeholder mapping in Power/interest matrix model: Stakeholder mapping identifies stakeholder expectations and power and helps in establishing political priorities (Johnson, G Scholes, K. 1999: 215). This mapping can be carried out by means of Power/Interest Matrix (Johnson, G Scholes, K. 1999: 215), which classifies stakeholders in relation to the power they hold and the degree of interest they show to the organisation (Refer to Figure 4). Low A Minimal Effort B Keep Informed High C Keep Satisfied D Key Players Power Level of Interest Low High Figure 4-Stakeholder mapping: Power/Interest Matrix (Johnson, G Scholes, K.) Apply Power/Interest Matrix to Tescos Stakeholders: Considering the comments of Power/Interest Matrix for each group, we can ignore Segment A because it only has minimal effort on Tesco. As to Segment C and D, they are all key stakeholders and their expectations should be satisfied continuously. While for Segment B, it has high interest in Tesco and should be properly addressed through informing information to it. Indeed, stakeholders of Segment D (Owners, Top Managers, and etc) have the expectations of good payback and dividends which require Tesco maintains its profit generation in its strength business Traditional Imaging. On the other hand, these stakeholders also seek for capital growth in somewhat more potential business such as Digital Imaging. Stakeholders of Segment C (Customers) always expect better value for money, and they also enjoy the alternatives and value-added products Tesco provided, which ask Tesco to integrate Traditional Imaging with Digital Imaging to generate more innovation. Conclusion: Generally, the expectations of stakeholders of Tesco are diversely and variously. It is clearly that we should find out the key stakeholders and balance their expectations. Here, Owners, Top Managers, Creditors and Customers are identified as key stakeholders of Tesco and in particular their expectations are assessed separately. Obviously, Power/Interest Matrix points out the type of relationship which the organisation need to establish with every stakeholders group. Thus it is helpful in assessing the political ease or difficulty of particular strategic as well as in planning the political dimension of strategic changes Task-3 Question-1: Models for change: There are various models of change are established over the period of time. Every organization can develop adapt any of those models in change process according to the individual circumstances. Two important models of change which can be used during change management are as follows: Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) Total Quality Management (TQM) I have shortlisted two organizations for the said topic in order to expedite a brief report about adaptation of different models of change as and when required by them. The first organization was Tesco, London, UK. I worked as Manager Administration with this company for two years. When I joined the organization, it was in a recession phase due to certain circumstances. In those situations, management of the company including me decided to develop adapt the Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) model of change.   1. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR):-    BPR has four basic key components: Business Processes, Management Measurements, Jobs Structures, and Values Beliefs. BPR is considered to be a much more top-down managed form of change. BPR is best defined as: The fundamental rethinking radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance.   For clarity, it is appropriate also to define what BPR is not. BPR is not automation, restructuring or reorganisation, or delivering although these may be consequences of a BPR exercise. It is also helpful to consider why Tesco contemplated BPR given its radical nature. There were three probable reasons: The business was failing there was no option but to invoke radical change. Business difficulties were foreseen pre-emptive measures were deemed necessary to avoid business failure. The organization, rather than resting on its laurels wished to build on its success invoked radical change to widen its lead over the competition. 2. Total Quality (TQ):- This model of change was developed adapted by the organization operating by the name of Integrated Business Services (IBS), London, UK. In said company I was worked as Manager Sales Marketing. The company is the top rated production manufacturer house of various technical products including aerospace materials. TQ change model was used by the company in January 2004. The Brief description of the model is as follows: TQ comprises change invoked through four key components: Systems, Processes, People Management. TQ is best defined as meeting customer requirements in a context in which every individual in the organization is a customer of the process preceding their own, a supplier to the process succeeding their own. Thus customers are internal to the organization as well as external. Additionally TQ is a competitive concept because it is concerned with being the best, where best is defined by the market place rather than by the product or service provider the best companies will achieve the level of superiority that is usually high. Customer focus is the essence of TQ. Question-2: Necessary steps for planning the implementation process of the Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) model:- The Four Cornices of BPR Considered by Tesco plc-   1.  Business Processes: The essence of BPR for Tesco plc lied in the adaption of a process orientation. The characteristics of such an orientation were: Multidimensional:  Cross-functional working in organization required combining many tasks into one job or process, in so doing, eliminated hand-offs, reduced administrative overheads associated with controlling the previous fragmented steps provided a single point of contact for process-related queries. Continuous Improvement: BPR recognized continuous improvement in the form of process maintenance continual re-examination redesign of processes which, with time, once more became fragmented. 2.   Management Measurements:- The achievement of a process orientation demanded: Process Mapping:  Existing processes were process-mapped to establish what currently happens why, that was, to develop an understanding of current process. Benchmarking: World-wide cross-industry process comparisons were then be used to establish best practice provided a possible basis for process re-design. 3. Jobs and Structures:- The results of BPR in this regard were typically the following: Flat Structure:  Flat structure was adapted, a process rather than functional orientation, which together with process-teams performed managerial functions, reduced bureaucracy the requirement for complex, multi layer managerial hierarchies. Job Specification:  Job descriptions became comprehensive included details of required level of key competencies such that increased objectivity accuracy could be applied to selection appointment processes. 4. Values Beliefs:- Creating sustaining a process orientation in the Tesco plc demanded: Living the Values:  Senior management lead by example in Tesco plc in this regard. For example: by demonstrating the notion of being customer-facing by spen

Comparing the Movies A Time to Kill, by John Grisham and To Kill a Mock

The movie based on John Grisham's A Time to Kill is a Hollywoodized, modern-day version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Both movies employ many of the same themes and plot elements; but the former movie is one-dimensional and predictable while the latter is innovative and purposeful. The movie version of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is considered a classic film, whereas John Grisham?s adapted novel is merely another example of the money making efforts of Hollywood. Some of the movies' more prominent themes are the same. Both focus on the family, particularly the role of the father. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Attacus, who is based on the father of author Harper Lee, is an upstanding parent. Not only is he an excellent role model for his children, but he takes time to talk to his children. He respects them as growing individuals, allowing them to call him Attacus, and explains important issues rather than discounting them. Jake cherishes his daughter more than ever when he compares her hypothetically to his client?s victimized daughter Tonya. The power of the family institution is reiterated when Carl takes revenge upon the offenders who raped Tonya. These ties drive an otherwise socially conforming man into violating the sanctity of human life in cold blood without regret. Another motivation that inspires his action is the personal degradation he must have experienced as a black man in a racist community that includes backwoods deviants, who look down upon the blacks in the community. Hate crimes appear in both movies, including hate-fueled riots, attempted lynchings, and the reappearance of the Ku Klux Klan. Other manifestations of racism were realized as well, such as injustice in the court system and the school system, where, in both movies, the protagonists? children are continually taunted for being the progeny of a ?nigger lover.? The classic figure of the hero is at the forefront of the plot in each movie. Both lawyers put their lives on the line for the liberty of a client without expecting compensation. Attacus does so because he believes in justice and knows it?s the right thing to do, whereas Jake simply empathizes with his client, especially by projecting his daughter into Tonya?s experience. Either way, these men sacrifice themselves for the sake of others, a defining characteristic of heroes. Attacus especially is... ...e intriguing. Most modern movies fail to explore issues that are controversial or simply thought-provoking. Racism was a very serious problem in the South when To Kill a Mockingbird was written. Many people tried to ignore or forget about this problem rather than face it, but the book boldly confronts it and provokes the viewer to do the same. Since A Time to Kill came out after society as a whole stopped tolerating racism for the most part, this issue is almost a clichà ©, certainly no longer eye-opening. The closest this movie comes to an interesting thought is when Carl tells Jake in prison that they cannot be friends because Jake looks at him and sees a black man, rather than just a man. This is an interesting aspect of racism which asserts that as long as whites view blacks as the other, they can never connect on the same level. Unfortunately, this idea is left completely undeveloped. Jake does bring it up at the end, but only to tell Carl that he was totally wrong about him. A Time to Kill does have a few intense and touching scenes, but in the end it is only another money-making cheap entertainment movie, whereas To Kill a Mockingbird is an immortal classic.

Using the Google Search Engine :: Computer Science

Using the Google Search Engine find two internet sites that provide internet resources for the study of Australian Literature. -http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/lit.html -http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozlit/ ii. Write a detailed summary in no more than 600 words of what kind of information and services the sites provide. Give examples as necessary. The first of the two websites that I looked at was www.middlemiss.org/lit/lit.html, it is constructed by Perry Middlemiss who is a lover of books, and who wishes to pay credit to those 'forgotten' Australian writers on the Web. Middlemiss begins by naming 70 Australian authors, and also provides links to those authors, and those who do not have links to other sites a promise is made that they will be provided in the future. By simply clicking on one of the authors, for example Miles Franklin, you are led to a web page that gives a brief biography of the author, and also a list of her works, some of which also have links that give a brief insight. The site also provides listings of the winners of literary prizes, and in particular The Miles Franklin Award, and The Australian/Vogel Award. Again by clicking on these we are lead to a page that provides the winners of these awards, and also those that were shortlisted. A page that provides a short description on the authors and the books that are listed are available by clicking on the links. Another form of Australian Literature that is provided is poems. Middlemiss offers his favourite poet, Victor Daley on the site, and lists some of his poems, which are all accessible. He also lists other Australian poets, all of which have further links. By clicking on the poet's name we are lead to a site that offers a short biography of the poet, for example Adam Lindsay Gordon, the site also offers a list of his poetry collections and biographies, some of which have further links that discuss that particular item. Links are also available to full texts of the poems that are listed. For example by clicking on The Trenches by Frederic Manning we are lead to the full version of the poem. Also available are links to different Australian novels, which have been segregated under different topic headings, these include fiction, drama, art, food, histories, and others. Ozlit (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozlit/) offers more than 500 pages of Australian Literary information, and more than 1100 entries in their Books and Writers database, which is also fully searchable. A search engine is available that allows you to search the whole Ozlit site for information. There is also a links database available that allows you to search for references on writers.

The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Manipulation of Perception in Othello This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall. When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend. Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona. Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true. The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeare's Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework The Manipulation of Perception in Othello This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall. When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend. Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona. Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true.