Far From First free essay sample

It’s far from something I can proudly show off to my friends, and I can’t brag about it to my family at dinner, but I need that award on display in my room. My beautiful, pink, cheaply-made eighth place ribbon serves as a daily reminder of my failure, and triumph. I learned that life moves on whether I win or lose, and so would I, even if only to improve myself. Four years ago, my mom threw me into the rigorous training sessions of the local swim club. I quickly realized I loved competitive swimming; however, my coach decided that I should swim the 100 butterfly for the upcoming swim meet that November. I remember thinking to myself, â€Å"What did I do to deserve this? I thought Coach Sean liked me.† I was too timid to inquire about maybe swimming a different event, one I knew I would excel at. We will write a custom essay sample on Far From First or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Instead, I struggled with negative thoughts and nervous butterflies all the way up until I jumped in to swim the 4 arduous laps. As expected, I finished last. I dejectedly pulled myself out of the pool, and slowly made my way to the warm-down pool expecting to be called a loser from someone any minute; however, the insult never came. My friends didn’t treat me any different when I met up with them, and my parents didn’t scold me for losing. It was then that I realized it wasn’t the end of the world, let alone my swimming career. Why should I let this loss hold me down when I could be practicing and improving for next time? After 3 years, I was bound to swim the 100 butterfly again. Turning my bitter memories of the ’09 incident into fuel for motivation, I took my mark, dove in, and came out, victorious. My coach was only mildly impressed by my result, and spent more of his enthusiasm in congratulating my teammate who had won 1st place. I, however, was elated. Being a high school swimmer meant that I was too old to receive ribbons as proof of my achievements, but that didn’t change the fact that I had finished 3rd. So despite its belittling implication of my skills as a swimmer, I proudly allow it to hang on my corkboard in my bedroom. Every day, the mocking congratulatory pink ribbon reminds me to accept my failures, and see them as room for improvement, and to learn from my mistakes, not regret them.

The eNotes Blog The Great American Teach-Off for2013!

The Great American Teach-Off for2013! Know a teacher who could use and deserves $10,000? Well, hurry, as it is almost last call for nominating an educator who shows innovation and dedication to their craft.   The $10,000 classroom grant will be awarded by GOOD Partnerships and the University of Phoenix. There will be twenty finalists selected from teachers of grades Kindergarten through Twelfth this  February 15, 2013 at noon PT.    Voting for the finalists begins March 4 and in a course of five weeks, the GOOD community will vote for their favorite teacher. At the end of the five weeks, the top voted K through 6 teacher and top voted 7 through 12 teacher will each receive a $10,000 classroom grant. What are the judge looking for? [T]eachers that are not only changing the lives of their students, but also their community. We want to hear all about the teachers that are integrating technology into the classroom, doing community outreach with their students, or pushing their students to learn and think in different ways so that they can graduate successfully and achieve beyond the classroom. For ideas and inspiration, you can watch videos of last years winners,  Terry Dougherty  and  Ã‚  Daryl Bilandzija.   Good luck to all the great candidates out there and dont forget: the deadline for applications is this Friday!

Knowledge Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Knowledge Assessment - Essay Example These scholars also argued that a creative person is able to develop a new process even from ordinary setting and able to evolve a new process in accordance with the macro-environmental requirements. However, Kafetsios and Zampetakis (44; 710-20) argued that it is not possible to achieve innovation for organizations without taking help of creative minds. George and Zhou (87; 687-97) showed doubt over the mechanistic definition of organizational learning and they pointed out that an organization cannot learn by itself hence creativity in organization is sole function of individual personality trait of leaders and organizational members. Organization is a living thing and organizational members are integrated part of this living system. Hence, it can be surmised that creative personality trait of organizational members create the scope for knowledge sharing, learning from mistakes and ultimately achieve innovation. In such context, four different personality traits which can bring crea tivity can be identified in the following manner; Figure 1: Personality Trait (Source: Zampetakis, Kafetsios, Bouranta, Dewett and Moustakis 597) According to figure 1, personal traits such as proactive mentality, emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship intensions and assertive intellectual drive can help a person to perform creative behavior in the workplace. For example, proactive mentality helps the person to take responsibility in contingent situation and show the drive for thinking in new way, entrepreneurship intensions help the person to show the penchant for building new enterprise or new process, emotional intelligence helps the person to understand and respect the suggestion of team members formulating a new process and assertive intellectual drive helps the individual to solve emerging problems by deploying skill and talent. Developing a new idea in organizations by using creativity instinct is a systematic and stepwise process and these steps can be defined as, 1- ident ifying the problem by discussing with team members, 2- collecting information related to the solution of the problem from internal and external environment using both primary and secondary sources, 3- organizing brainstorming session with team members regarding the potential solution for the problem and selecting the optimal solution by using knowledge sources and 4- implementing the solution in order to bring creativity in the organizational. For example, an oil company can innovate or integrate its upstream and downstream activities in order to reduce the cost of operation. Hence, it can be said that organizational creativity is an inside-out approach which depends heavily on personality trait of organizational members. Question 2 (Option B-Mindfulness) Weick and Sutcliffe (17.4; 514-24) defined mindfulness as the inherent capability of an individual and organization to generate rich awareness regarding the details of the ongoing events and decide plausible actions to correct prob able errors in the decision making. Hence, mindfulness can be defined as mixture of cognitive processes such as, giving attention to the detail, relying on past categories to assess the present situation and eying one single perspective of the

Shakespeare in the Bush Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Shakespeare in the Bush - Essay Example The tribal head, in the end, points out that the story has some loopholes and advises her that they should get guidance from them or their own elders to make the story of Hamlet more meaningful. Laura, a professor of anthropology is living among the people an Africa tribe for some research project. The people there remained busy in their ceremonies while the writer spent time in reading Hamlet. The writer used to go to their huts and drank beer with them and talked to them. Once the old man of the tribe showed curiosity in the â€Å" papers† read by the writer and asked them to tell the story she was reading. The writer told them the story of the Hamlet and during the rendition of the story it dawned upon Laura that it was difficult to communicate some concepts to these tribesmen as the concepts of â€Å" King† and â€Å" ghost† were alien to them and they were satisfied instead with the their own terms like â€Å" chief† and â€Å" witch† to interpret these concepts. Although the writer knew that the use of these words may change the connotations of the story but she had no other way. Furthermore, Hamlet’s reaction at the remarriag e of his mother was strange to them as in their culture it was a common practice and they saw no wickedness in Claudius’ acceding to throne and marrying Gertrude. Old man also thought that Ophelia must have killed by Laertes as a result of some witchcraft and they were also surprised at the fact that Polonius did not reveal his identity while hiding behind the arras. The Old man without embarrassing the writer makes her realize that there were certain flaws in the story and she should take the advice of the elders of her community to access to the true meaning of the story. Thus in the end the writer comes to know that the idea of universality of literature is somewhat baseless as every culture has its own ways of interpretation of stories and there could be more than one meaning to a story like

Teaching of Maths in Primary Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teaching of Maths in Primary Schools - Essay Example Mike Askew et al in their study on effectiveness in the teaching of numeracy isolated three belief systems that were characteristic of the approaches teachers took in teaching numeracy. They were the connectionist, transmission and discovery models. An in-depth look at their respective characteristics, relative merits and overall efficacy is given below. The Connectionist Model: In the words of Askew et al (1997, p.341) it includes "beliefs based around both valuing pupils' methods and teaching effective strategies with an emphasis on establishing connections within mathematics." The stress here is on efficiency as well as effectiveness. The keyword is "connection" as connectionist oriented teachers seek to teach students to establish links between the numbers, methods and concepts in mathematics in order to facilitate a deeper understanding of the subject. Students are expected to be aware of the available methods and to demonstrate skill in selecting the appropriate method. "The connectionist orientation places a strong emphasis on developing reasoning, justification and, eventually, proof within the teaching of number."(Askew et al, 1997, p.343) These teachers believe that students come equipped with mental strategies and it is possible for anyone to achieve proficiency in mathematics with the help of effective teaching. Misunder standings are seen as a way to clarify matters and enhance understanding. An important tool for the connectionist oriented teacher is the use of dialogue as the basis of imparting knowledge. The Transmission Model: According to Askew et al (1997, p.341) it is the "beliefs based around the primacy of teaching and a view of mathematics as a collection of separate routines and procedures." Teachers of this orientation set much store by routine and paper and pencil methods. They teach mathematical concepts in isolation. A student's prior knowledge of the subject is largely seen as irrelevant. The emphasis here is on teaching rather than on learning. If the student fails to learn despite a clear verbal explanation, it is seen as a result of the child's inability to learn. The teacher uses the question and answer format to discern students' progress. The Discovery Model: Askew et al (1997, p.341 state that it includes "beliefs based around the primacy of learning and a view of mathematics as being discovered by pupils." Here the stress is on the process of discovery as the student explores and understands the world of mathematics. The method used is considered irrelevant, provided the correct answer is arrived at. It aims to focus on and improve practical skills. As per this orientation learning is of importance and students are encouraged to learn at their pace and use the strategies they see as appropriate. Numeracy is seen as a natural process and it cannot be hastened. Having noted the salient features of these belief systems, it must be remembered that they are 'ideal types' and it is unlikely that any teacher will be a purist with regard to these orientations. With regard to efficiency in teaching mathematics there is little room for doubt. Askew et al (1997, p.345) have concluded from their studies "that those teachers with a strong

Mcdonalds Marketing Intelligence System Marketing Essay

Mcdonalds Marketing Intelligence System Marketing Essay The driving forces behind the urgency to have quality marketing research and marketing information are hinged on the two factors. The continued decline in the unit cost of computer hardware and steady improvement in the flexibility and power of computer software, (Vitale, Ives, and Beath, 1989) and the quick pace in which environment changes, (Miles and Snow, 1987). The purpose of marketing research is to assist and improve marketing decision. Market research narrows the gap between producer and consumer, and increase the chance of successful decisions. In any field, the basis of decision making is having effective information available and using it. Processed, analysed and correctly used, market information can reduce risk, time and waste by providing the best basis for decision, (Tinniswood, 1986). Naturally, it seems, this leads to well defined marketing strategy. However, (Assad, 1990) posited marketing research must be conducted vigorously and systematically to fulfil its intended role, which is only vigorously when data collected are valid, reliable and representative. 2.0 The Quality of Marketing Research and Marketing Information What is Quality Marketing Research and Marketing Information? We will tackle this question by first collecting related framework, model and system and then discuss the issues of accuracy, reliability, amount of information required and data analysis complication that affect the quality of marketing research and marketing information. Mcdonalds Marketing Intelligence System Dr. Malcolm Mcdonalds concept of marketing intelligence system is depicted in fig. 1. As explained by Mcdonald, marketing research and marketing information are inseparable and hence synergistically entwined to effect a good marketing strategy. From the above, data from the market through marketing research are processed and analysed to form relevant marketing information which forms intelligence (knowledge) to make quality decision focuses on key determinants for example, the significance of market share or correct service levels for profitable growth. In marketing, these can be realised with a shrewd marketing mix (i.e. the 7 Ps). Hattons Information Priority Framework Marketing research is just one source of information available to the business planner. Also, the collection of new data can be very expensive. It is therefore imperative for the marketer to go through the process of identifying the priority for information need as in fig 2. The easy and hard can be defined by either time or cost. Weicks Theory of Marketing Research Limits On the same vein, (Weick, 1984) felt similar concern espoused a model with three criteria , (fig 3) to keep within the research limits i.e. generality, accuracy and simplicity. He provokes the thought of tradeoff among the three components. In reality, he stress that no all can be met at the same time but rather at most, any theory can meet two of these criteria. General accurate theories are complex, general simple theories are inaccurate, and simple accurate theories have no generality. The strategic implication of McDonald, Hatton and Weicks theory is that marketing researcher and the marketing manager have to work hand in hand to define problem correctly in the first place, prioritising information required and subtract, simplify, distil, (The Sunday Times, 18th May 1997) marketing information. This could improve the quality of information at optinium time and cost. All these certainly give us an indication of the complexity of the real world and management judgement is required. Lunns Database Marketing (DBM) Technology can increases the ease of data collection and provides new form of data analysis (Stone and Shaw, 1987). (Lunn, 1986)s thorough and ingenious DBM is a cut across functional boundaries system which can be a benchmarking tool to to information system designer. It helps in the linking of data collection to alternative marketing scenario which could lead to quality marketing strategies as depicted in fig 4. This system embraces organisational and cognitive process reliant on a solid IT foundation. 2.1 Accuracy of Marketing Research Most market research information does not have to totally accurate. For example, if a firm wants to know its market share, it will not matter whether the figure is 26 per cent or 27 per cent, but it will be important to discover whether it is 26 per cent or 50 per cent. Suppose a firm wants to know what portion of 10,000 person in a specific target group used their brand. They discover this information by asking everyone in the group. This is both expensive and time consuming Alternatively, they could take a proportion of the sample which should reflect the group. However, it is possible that the sample is not true reflection of the group and representative enough. The key to quality information is to have just enough information. Weicks theory come handy in this process. 2.3 Is there a need for more information? Elaborating on the above, it is easy to forget that market research is not usually needed for it own sake. In fact marketing research is not providing a direct recommendation about the correct decision to be taken. It usually provides indirect information about the environment, customers behaviour and attitude and so forth. In short, it will provide information which has to be combined with a mass of other already existed information before a final decision can be made. This indirectness can represent a potential problem. A question will arise is the present data not good enough? It is much more difficult to judge whether the information is really worth the cost and delayed involved, (Barron, and Targett, 1985). Although, the value of information can be calculated by comparing the profit available with and without the marketing research and its processed marketing information, for example, decision tree technique, it is unfortunately complicated and not reliable as the value will var y from situation to situation. One further problem is the calculations involve issues of probability and uncertainty which many people find difficult. An illustration of a survey on the likelihood of different sales level with three columns : sales, original probability estimate %, and revised probability estimate % as show in table 1 and could not find any change in it principle in making decision. For example for both estimates, the high portion of sales still fall in the region of  £40m  £50m. The revised probabilities make the decision process easier (is this quality enhancement ?), but they did not change the principle. Thus the important question is whether the revised odds would result in final decision. If not, the forecast is worthless. Hattons priority framework can provides a good guide to this consideration. 2.4 Data Analysis Accurate marketing research data needs not necessarily and automatically provides quality marketing information. Data have to be analysed. Most market researchers have learnt the art of data collection but there is certain room for improvement in the science of data analysis. (Drucker, 1992) also strongly advocates executives have become computer literate but data illiterate. As such, market reseachers should be urged to co-ordinate with the marketing manager and master the skill of interpreting data and re-look at the use of basic inferential procedures as an extra area to marketing decision making. It should use multivariate methods based on matching the technique to problem rather than the problem to the technique. The key issue here is not only to focus excessively on forecast accuracy but instead decision usefulness. For example building a consumer profile enables the firm to make quality and informed decisions. Thus, reducing the risk of making wrong decision on how to distribu te, promote and price its products. Lunns DBM model should be considered for overcoming some the above problems. Cost Issues Once data is collected and processed, the information must be distributed to the decision-makers. Its availability at the right time, right cost and its delivery in a user-friendly format will be critical to its usefulness and value. 3.0 Marketing Strategy and the Innovative use of Marketing Information (Bonoma, 1985) defines marketing strategy as the analysis of alternatives opportunities and risks to the firms, informed by environmental (e.g. competitive, social) and internal (e.g. production or people abilities) information, which leads management to choose a particular set of market, product, and customer goal. This administrative approaches carry the underlying assumptions that strategic marketing decisions are well understood and widely agreed upon within organisation (Skivimgton and Daft, 1991). At this junction we accept this unconditionally although many marketing experts discover inherent inadequacies of this nostrum, (Hamrick 1983, Mintzberg and McHugh 1985). This view holds that strategy drives structure, a strategic direction require the development of new market structure, effort and administrative mechanisms. Fig. 5 shows the corporate management spells out the mission and goals in which marketing strategy and plan are formulated after carefully evaluates the external and internal factors. Relatively, the quality of marketing strategy is definitely dependent of the marketing audit, in this case we can take as marketing research/marketing information sandwiched between the corporate mission and marketing strategy. Sharing the same view, (McDonald, 1995)s marketing planning process depicts below: According to him, marketing strategy is about the manipulation of 4 Ps Product, Price, Promotion and Place based on marketing theory (Structure, framework, models, etc.). These could include market research, market segmentation studies, response elasticities and the budgeting of resource allocation decision which may includes the distribution of people and money need to put marketing strategy into effect. (Lunn, 1986)s approach to database marketing (DBM) which allows market research data to be blended with the system database (derived from previous internal and external market research data) to enhance marketing information for predictive decision marketing by combining marketing managers intuitive skills. This would allows marketer to test the effect of difference marketing mixes on specific segments. In another words, positioning by creating an USP for target market defined by research. His marketing modelling is useful for the presentation of marketing research/marketing information defining the marketing strategy. One of the many such example is the success of General Motors innovative rebate programme which became an eye opener for company like Ford, Apple Computer, who follow similar program. Synthesising the concept of relationship marketing and the segmentation technique, General Motor groups customer by their purchasing level. Loyal, heavy and creditworthy users are being rewarded with free gifts, upgrades and allows accumulating rebates toward the purchase of new vehicles by tracking the researched database. The quality of this type of marketing information was confirmed with the result of 12 millions cards, (Berry, 1994) being issued in the United States. The strategic implicati on to this is the accuracy of GMs targeting which enables quality marketing strategy. Such are not possible without a quality marketing research, database system and the innovative use of interpreted information. 4.0 Power, politics and the dissemination of information There are many literatures elaborating power, politics and the dissemination of information which is centred to the quality of marketing strategy. However, what seems to be obscuring is its specific co-relation relative to marketing strategy. Let digress slightly to discuss these issues. Knowledge, derived from organised information, which in turn is interpreted from raw data, is power, (Francis Bacon, 1957). Building on this ground, (Emerson, 1962) espoused the beholder of knowledge is a powerful figure within the organisation. Further, (Piercy, 1985) argued and introduced the information-structure-power theory of marketing emphasising on the political aspect of information in the marketing environment. Such a view is compatible with (Bonoma, 1985)s claim that it is naÃÆ' ¯ve to belief that data, especially numerical data, are science-associated and therefore somehow purer than intuitions or qualitative statements. Adding he reiterated that there is nothing so politicised in management as the collection and use of quantitative information. Data or information in management, as in science is politicised, tortured, bent, and occasionally broken in the service of vested interests in the marketing organisation. For example, in my corporation, sales expense reports are put on hold by manager until call report are turned in at the end of every month. This is to use as a punitive mean to red-line salesmans moonlighting rather than use as a base for customer research or marketing intelligence gathering. There are also numerous cases, where divisional managers are under pressure to increase market share. These sales executives came up with a manipulated pricing plan of 30% increment in vo lume, supported by dressed marketing research information. What went conveniently unreported, however, was that the current fleet of equipment would be obsolete in a few month time; much earlier, because of the forced increased in capacity. One can imagine the future repercussion of having to fund the purchase of the new equipment which the top management is unaware of. In consistent with this, (Piercy, 1984) co-relates power and politics of marketing with marketing information seamlessly. He focuses on the implications for the management of marketing in organisations, where a political analysis suggests that the management of marketing should concentrate not only on techniques of marketing research or of rational, scientific decision making but also on structure and process, i.e on power and political systems, to influence and control outcomes. His works provide the empirical support that structures and decision making processes are frequently political in nature. Piercy builds on (Velasques and Cavanagh, 1983)s defense that politics in organisations are in someway bad in themselves, but in reality power goes to the politically able rather than others with more legitimate claims. This is due to organisational situation of high ambiguity relative to structure and process, as in the case of information gathering in strategic problem formulation, (L yles and Mitroff, 1984). For example, in the allocation of fund to even within the marketing department, top management may favours the lower level executives request for his endeavour due to him being a politically competent manager as against the request of the most effective superior with better marketing information supporting him. This is in reality possible as the strategic decision are often unstructured and broad in nature, (Hayes, 1984). With the awareness of the above, quality of marketing strategy is not narrow down to only quality information. What seems to define quality marketing strategy is the interconnectedness of power, politics which are structure and process related. 5.0 Quality Marketing Strategy and Corporate Strategy We have discussed marketing strategy with some reservations in section 3 on this paper. To further demonstrate the true meaning of quality marketing strategy we continue to elaborate more. (Levitt, 1960)s Marketing Myopia adds favour to it by arguing that customers buy solution to their needs, not products. A domestic example is our home grown Creativity Technology, a PC sound card maker is introducing new kit by solving customers upgrading problem by providing the next generation DVD solution, (Strait Times, 30th July 1997). Having all said and done about marketing strategy, then precisely what is quality marketing strategy? Robet Pirsigs Zen in his art of Motorcycle Maintenance provokes some unusual thinking. He do not use the term productivity in connection with marketing activities but prefers to use phrase like peace of mind and feeling good about the marketing actions undertaken. Pirsig would say that we move from being uncomfortably involved with what is going on to more comfort with events, people, and things by our acts. As we do this, we move toward Quality. In this view Quality is bred of caring, not just technical skill, and is the brother of involvement. Another school of thought came from (Gilbert,1978), who related quality with worthy performance, which he suggested, is associated with doing the most difficult thing best with the least effort. This, he said is measurable against the behaviour aspect which is difficult to qualify. (Bonoma, 1985) merges both concepts by using coping behaviour skill as a measure of output that meets Gilberts performance yardstick. Marketing effectiveness is then about managements coping quality and can be defined by referring to a comparison of achieved output with intended goals. We call this comparison satisfaction which is similar to Pirsig peace of mind and feel good about. Putting all these together, quality marketing strategy is about the triple interface of company, customer and trade. It is only achieved with satisfaction created with the least effort using coping skill to realise the intended goal. This leads us to (Skinner, 1969)s missing link which he suggests a kind of top-down approach, starting with the company and its competitive strategy, and its goal is to define tactical task (i.e marketing strategy) in support of the corporate strategy. In short, if marketing strategy defers from corporate strategy, it is not quality marketing strategy as it is not the intended goal of the corporation. We have discussed intensely that quality marketing strategy is not only about quality information as the latter is one of the many components that assist marketing decision-maker to be more effective. 6.0 Shortcomings of Marketing Research/Marketing Information On balance, not all marketing research/marketing information can help to define quality marketing strategy. These can be illustrated in the real-life examples that follows: In the early 1990s, American Express, decided to launch their resolving credit card, the Optima to compete with Visa and Master Card. In theory, the modelling of consumer profiles and credit histories from marketing research and datebase confirmed opportunities for new product line. It was a total failure with bad debts and American Express had to abandon this endeavour after 2 years. A postmortem analysis reveals (a case of reliable information yet inappropriate) although from same individuals, the various data was taken from the American Express card for corporate business travel expenses which are reclaimed or paid directly; whereas the Optima Card was used for personal expenses. Timely information is important in the defining of marketing strategy. (Stalk and Hout, 1990), in their espoused time to market strategy argues the reduction of time to gain significant competitive advantage. Collecting data requires time and too much of it may be resulted in redundancy and misinformation system, (Ackoff, 1967). This may also renders the firm to miss their market opportunity. A case in point is Levers introduction of Signal mouthwash. Signal was in the test markets for so long that it gave Scope a chance to emphasis the same benefit in a national advertising campaign and launch the new product successfully ahead of the originator. The starting point of the marketing research is to define the problem that researcher can help to solve. If the problem is defined wrongly, the result of the marketing research not only define sub-optimal marketing strategy but also lose the firms brand image which may takes years to recover or not at all. A classic example is that of Coca-Cola who focuses the wrong problem as the sweetness of Pepsi-Cola instead of the quantity. The ideal research should instead focus on the positioning of size rather than taste. This case illustrates how experienced marketer can overlook vital consumer behaviour and that the perception is stronger than reality Original Coke is the real thing. How can anything taste better than the real thing? In cases where requirement is to be entrepreneurial in nature, innovation, gut feeling and decisiveness (Drucker, 1986) may also has competitive advantage, without the need for marketing research. An example of the victory which does not belong to the side that does a better job of marketing research is American Motors. The company ignores customer needs develops the Jeep, a product borrowed from the military. No focus group is likely to have conjunct up that idea, nor is the identifying of customer need is going to have any co-relation with it, but it is a winner. 7.0 Conclusion A quality marketing research/marketing information involves the accuracy, relevancy, reliability, its time delaying elements and its cost attached with it. As traditional costing is about economic cost, a new look into the future (Farlan, 1984), involves the concern of forward looking marketing opportunity rather the present. This assignment has demonstrated other means of innovative concept such as strategic management cost encompassing the value chain analysis, cost driver analysis and competitive analysis as a better alternative evaluation of marketing research/marketing information investment. Concerns of quality marketing information is in the area of data analysis, data interpretation and decision usefulness to provide solution rather than the research and information per see. There are also two missing links from the input of marketing research to the output of quality marketing strategy. On one hand, the problem of information dissemination involving the power structure organisation. On the other, the alignment and co-ordination of corporate strategy and operations strategy (Skinner, 1969), in which marketing strategy and information system strategy becomes more blurry, (Earl, 1989, Ward, 1996). To a certain extent, technology can improve data analysis and assist the clumsiness of co-ordinating organisation, inter-organisation and external differences, but it is the innovative use of information (Keen, 1993) that put forward the marketing edge. Examples and solution to the opportunities and concerns are discussed and illustrated. In sum, strategically, in the context of marketing management, the quality of market research/marketing information related to marketing strategy narrowed to the outcome of new opportunities derived from fulfilling the perceived unfilled needs or problems of the customer. This should be done by offering creative product based on the researched information to provide benefit and solution to the end-user, the so-called marketing myopia by (Levitt, 1960) in their relationship with the market place and the relative worthiness involves the cost- and profit myopia, (Piercy, N., 1982) of the investment in their goal setting and strategic decision marking; to achieve what is required, they must also be wary of the missing links and political myopia; in implementing marketing strategies with regard to alignments and co-ordinations of the corporate strategy and the timely disseminating of information.

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan :: English Literature

Review of The comfort of strangers by Ian McEwan ================================================== This is a very interesting book by McEwan as well as being rather confusing. The name ‘the comfort of strangers’ fits the storyline perfectly. This is a very mysterious book in which the two of the main characters Caroline and Roger are slowly tightening the noose on the necks of the other two main characters Mary and Colin. I think the book fits into the mystery genre as far as the writing of the author goes and I found that some parts of the book reminded me of ‘Enduring Love’. The way that that Colin and Mary blindly get involved with Roger shows one of many weaknesses in the novel. Roger’s shady character and his weird story about how his father was very strict and how his jealous sisters made him eat chocolate so that he would get into trouble with his father along with other things should have kept Mary and Colin away. Stories like this one, which require the reader to suspend disbelief as the actors venture further and further into the abyss are extremely hard to pull off, so it's not surprising that McEwan doesn't quite manage it. An author can get away with making his characters naive, but at the point where the reader is yelling at them and calling them idiots for following along with the novel's plot, that author has lost control of his own narrative. A big complaint that reviewers have had with this novel or rather this ‘short story’ is that the author works around taboo issues meaning he may talk about them for a moment or two and then ignores them. Another problem which links onto this is that many times the author builds up the story as something really dramatic is going to happen and then nothing out of the ordinary happens for example when Mary jumps in the water you would think that one of them may drown but it turns out to be something just ordinary. I think this has a negative effect on the reader as well as the fact that sometimes the reader is left to ‘fill in the gaps’ themselves when we are not given enough detail on the characters or the storyline. There is no real solution at the end of the novel. Another problem with the novel is how Mary and Colin’s sex lives suddenly become great again after meeting Caroline and Roger. Another similar instance is when Roger punches Colin in the stomach for NO reason. The setting of the novel, which is Venice, is not really used well by

Law AS †causation model answer Essay

There are two types of causation which are necessary to establish criminal liability. These are factual causation and cause in law (also known as legal causation). Factual causation means that the defendant can only be found guilty if the consequence would not have happened ‘but for’ the defendant’s conduct. This was seen in the case of Pagett (1982). Similarly, a defendant cannot be found guilty if the victim’s death was unrelated to the defendant’s actions (as in White, 1910). Legal causation, where the actions of D must be found to have caused the consequence, can be established as long as the ‘chain of causation’ (between the act and the consequence) has not been broken. There are a number of ways in which this chain can be broken,: Firstly, through the act of a third party, an example of which is medical treatment that is deemed to be ‘palpably wrong’ such as that seen in Jordan (1956); Secondly, where the victim’s own act is so daft as to not be reasonably expected, as seen in Williams (1992); Finally, as a result of a natural but unpredictable event, such as a flood or an earthquake. Despite external factors, the chain of causation is not deemed to have been broken as long as the D’s actions are more than a ‘minimal’ cause of the consequence. Similarly, the defendant must also take the defendant as they find them. This is known as the ‘thin skull rule’ (as seen in Blaue 1975), meaning that there is legal causation even if D’s actions would not have caused those consequences in a regular or normal person.

Essay On The Intrinsic Flaws Inherent In Christian Essays - Religion

Essay On The Intrinsic Flaws Inherent In Christian Essays - Religion Essay On The Intrinsic Flaws Inherent In Christianity Christianity is a religion in which events are claimed to have occured but which can never be proved. Those who practice it live by different morals than are preached by the most holy texts. It is an institution in which the most holy scripture is contradictory, and wherein the supreme being, by the very definition, cannot exist. Christianity is, therefore, a fundamentally flawed religion. According to the Bible, events have occured which are even more miraculous than the resurection of Jesus Christ. Events such as the stopping of the sun by Joshua (Joshua 10:12-14), the reversal of the sun's course by Isaiah (Isaiah 38:7-8) , the resurrection of the saints, and their subsequent appearance to many (Matthew 27:52-53) were witnessed by thousands of people. The stopping and reversal of the sun would have been visible worldwide. The idea that people could have witnessed these events without having been amazed by them is, quite simply, ludicrous. Other cultures having witnessed this would certainly have offered their own explanations in keeping with their own cultural and religious beliefs. Surely a society existing at the time would have documented this miraculous event. Yet nowhere have such works been found. In the instance of the resurrection of the saints, Matthew is the only person to mention this occurence in the Bible. Surely other first-century Christians would have used this as further proof of Jesus' divinty. It would fall to reason that Paul and the gospels would have mentioned it. This is not, however, the case. Nowhere else in the Bible is this mentioned or even hinted at. These events are then, at best, highly unlikely to have occured. The fact that Matthew is alone in writing of the resurrection of the saints leads us to believe that certain writers of the Bible had differing views on christianity. The christian Bible is highly contradictory, not just to modern day christian beliefs, but in and of itself. Today's society is of the belief that all people are created equal, and Christians submit that their god is of the same belief. Modern Christians believe that their god loves everyone, and that they are all equal. However, after Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree forbidden by god, this deity said to Eve I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master. (Genesis 3:16). This tells us that, according to the Christian religion, women shall naturally be dominated by men. This kind of behavior is not conducive to a being who believes in inherent equality. Women are repeadtedly treated as objects and told to be submissive in the Bible. According to the rule observed in all the assemblies of believers, women should keep silent in such gatherings. Rather, as the law indicates, submissiveness is indicated for them. If they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgrace when a woman speaks in the assembly. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35). Man was not made from woman but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man. For this reason, a woman ought to have a sign of submission on her head. (1 Corinthians 11:8-10). The Bible also permits bondage. Slaves, male and female, you may indeed possess, provided you buy them from among neighboring the nations. You may also buy them from among the aliens who reside with you and from their children who are born and raised in their land. Such slaves you may own as chattels, and leave to your sons as their hereditary property, making them perpetual slaves. (Leviticus 25:44-46). This same Bible gives laws on the punishment of slaves. When a man strikes his slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21) We find further examples of prejudice in Deuteronomy. In the Bible, it is stated that No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has

Free Essays on Nucor Analysis

Synopsis Nucor is the second largest steel producer in the United States and most profitable in the world with over 4.5 billion in sales annually. Nucor in the world’s largest recycler, recycling over 10 million tons of scrap steel annually. Nucor descended from auto manufacturer Ransom E. Olds, who founded Oldsmobile. The company evolved into the Nuclear Corporation of America, which was involved in the nuclear instrument and electronics business in the 50’s and early 60’s. Over the next five years, Valley Sheet Metal, Vulcraft Corporation and U.S. Semi-conductor Products joined the Nuclear Corporation. After suffering several money-losing years, in 1964 F. Kenneth Iverson was installed as president. Management then decided to integrate backwards into steel making, and in 1972 they adopted the name Nucor. Since then Nucor has established itself as a leader in the steel industry through efficiency and innovation. It now employs more than 7,000 people worldwide and has exp erienced tremendous growth under its new CEO Daniel R. DiMicco. SWOT Analysis Strengths  · Low Cost Producer  · Employee/Managerial Relations  · Leading Innovator  · Low Debt Load  · Overall industry leader Weaknesses  · Dependency on scrap metal and energy supply prices  · Slow Growth in Foreign Markets Opportunities  · Forecasted increase in cash on hand  · Growth through acquisitions  · Gain market share from older and slower competitors nationwide  · Continue vertical integration of the company Threats  · Expiration of Patents and Tariffs  · Competitors imitating innovation Problem Low profitability cause by decrease in sales and sales price. Industry Evaluation The industry as a whole is classified into the GICS (Global Industry Classification Standards) sector of Materials. Nucor’s sub industry is classified simply as the steel industry. This sub industry operates under the confines of an oligopolistic market structu... Free Essays on Nucor Analysis Free Essays on Nucor Analysis Synopsis Nucor is the second largest steel producer in the United States and most profitable in the world with over 4.5 billion in sales annually. Nucor in the world’s largest recycler, recycling over 10 million tons of scrap steel annually. Nucor descended from auto manufacturer Ransom E. Olds, who founded Oldsmobile. The company evolved into the Nuclear Corporation of America, which was involved in the nuclear instrument and electronics business in the 50’s and early 60’s. Over the next five years, Valley Sheet Metal, Vulcraft Corporation and U.S. Semi-conductor Products joined the Nuclear Corporation. After suffering several money-losing years, in 1964 F. Kenneth Iverson was installed as president. Management then decided to integrate backwards into steel making, and in 1972 they adopted the name Nucor. Since then Nucor has established itself as a leader in the steel industry through efficiency and innovation. It now employs more than 7,000 people worldwide and has exp erienced tremendous growth under its new CEO Daniel R. DiMicco. SWOT Analysis Strengths  · Low Cost Producer  · Employee/Managerial Relations  · Leading Innovator  · Low Debt Load  · Overall industry leader Weaknesses  · Dependency on scrap metal and energy supply prices  · Slow Growth in Foreign Markets Opportunities  · Forecasted increase in cash on hand  · Growth through acquisitions  · Gain market share from older and slower competitors nationwide  · Continue vertical integration of the company Threats  · Expiration of Patents and Tariffs  · Competitors imitating innovation Problem Low profitability cause by decrease in sales and sales price. Industry Evaluation The industry as a whole is classified into the GICS (Global Industry Classification Standards) sector of Materials. Nucor’s sub industry is classified simply as the steel industry. This sub industry operates under the confines of an oligopolistic market structu...

Option Pricing Model in Valuing a Company in the Context of Pfizer Dissertation

Option Pricing Model in Valuing a Company in the Context of Pfizer - Dissertation Example His constant guidance and positive attention helped researcher to concentrate more on the research topic. The researcher would also like to thank his other professors for acting as a support system when required along with helping and guiding when needed and required. The support and cooperation of the University in allowing access to the library helped in referring to different study materials that further help in understanding the research topic in a sound manner. The researcher would also like to thank his family for being there as a strong support system often guiding and supporting along with enhancing the level of motivation and excitement through kind and positive feedback. The researcher feels blessed to have friends who not only shared their views and opinions on the research topic bust also brainstormed to add more value to the research topic. Overall, the researcher would like to acknowledge the efforts and support of everyone playing an important role in the entire resear ch process. Without the support and cooperation of above mentioned people, the research would have been an aimless journey lacking depth and understanding. The researcher expresses his deep gratitude for all the support and guidance along with being thankful to everyone for being so kind and supportive throughout the research journey. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1.Introduction 4 1.1 Introduction to the Research Topic 4 1.2 Research Aims and Objectives/ Questions 5 1.3 Scope of the Research 6 1.4 Rationale for the Research Topic 7 1.5 Limitations of the Research 8 1.6 Methodology 9 1.7 An Overview of Pfizer 10 1.8 Summary 11 Chapter2.0 Literature Review 12 2.1 Introduction 12 2.2 An Overview of Options 12 2.3 Types of Options 14 2.4 Factors Affecting Options 16 2.5 Application of Option Pricing Model 18 2.6 Option Pricing Model in Real World 19 2.7 Option Pricing Model and Historical Data 20 2.8: Summary 21 Section 3.0 Research Methodology 22 3.1 Introduction 22 3.2 Research Philosophy 22 3.3 Research Approach 23 3.4 Data Collection Methods 23 3.5 Data Analysis Methods 24 3.6 Ethical Considerations 24 3.7. Strengths of the Methodology 25 3.8: Limitations of the Methodology 25 Chapter 4.0 Findings and Analysis 26 4.1 Introduction 26 4.2 Value based Management 26 4.3: Economic Value Added 28 4.4: Market Value Added 29 4.5: Option Pricing Models 30 4.6: General Findings 32 4.7: Summary 34 Chapter 5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 35 5.1 Introduction 35 5.2 Conclusion 35 5.3: Recommendations for Future Research 36 5.4: Recommendations for Pfizer 36 5.5: Reflection 37 5.6 Summary 37 BIBLIOGRAPHY 38 CHAPTER-1.0: INTRODUCTION 1.1: Introduction to the Research Topic Business environments have always been unpredictable and hard to understand and therefore, it becomes important to understand the intricacies of business environments and financial concepts that will help in understanding the growth and development of organsiations. In finance, the time value of assets and o rgansiations is calculated through the analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic values that vary in a great manner (Aswath, 2008). In finance, the concept of â€Å"Option† is defined as a derivative financial instrument specifying a contract between two parties for a future transaction revolving around an asset at a reference price (Aswath, 2008) In today’s time, the concept of option pricing has emerged as a safeguarding tool for a number of organsiations willing to

Strategic Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Accounting - Essay Example One of the major developments in the area of managerial accounting is the product life cycle costing which has gained serious recognition during recent periods to meet the challenges of changes in the production systems and procedures. Product life-cycle costing being the new development in the management accounting system has been defined as "a new area of reporting in cost management systems which is the accumulation of costs for activities that occur over the entire life cycle of product"(Hilton, 1994, p.230). Product life cycle examines the life of the product from its development stage to the stage till the removal of the product from the usage. According to Horngren & Foster (1991), product life-cycle covers the life of the product from the time of initial research and development to the time when sales and support of the product to the customers is withdrawn. Burstein (1988) observes that the life cycle costing becomes more and more crucial and important in the light of rapid changes in technology and the shortening of the product life cycle. There is a sharp distinction between the product's life cycle costs and the whole life cycle costs. Life cycle costs cover all the costs that the manufacturer will have to incur and whole life cycle cost includes the costs at the hands of the consumer like installation, operation, maintenance, revitalization and disposal (Shields & Young 1991.) Adamany & Gonsalves (1994) have identified the following seven stages in the life cycle of a product: 1. Analysis Stage - involving a critical assessment of the concept and the effects of investing on the concept 2. Start Up Stage - comprising of prototyping, dedication of the manufacturing facilities and practical assessment of the effects of the investment 3. Entry Stage - where the entry into the market with a new product or service is planned 4. Growth Stage - during which the firm receives back the returns on investment as potential sales revenues 5. Maturity Stage - at which the firm harvests the profit from the product or service 6. Decline Stage - signifying the tampering down of the sales which necessitates moving to the withdrawal stage or revitalizing the product 7. Withdrawal Stage - the product is withdrawn from the market It is also vitally important that the managers gather all the required information at the different stages of the life cycle and the life cycle concept introduces an integrated approach to planning and budgeting. Mapping of Key Information Requirements Life Cycle Phase Time Customer Requirement Satisfaction Target Pricing Resource Requirement Continuous Improvements Cash Flow Analysis Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Start up Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Entry Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Growth Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Critical Maturity Critical Critical Critical Critical Decline Critical Critical Withdrawal Critical Source: (Adamany & Gonsalves 1994) Actions under Life Cycle Costing for Generating Revenue and Reducing Costs Revenue Generation Cost Reduction Product Improvement: New Processes Features Cumulative Volume Performance Experience