Analysis and Interpretation of “Company of Wolves”

Angela Carter: â€Å"The Company of Wolves† (1979, excerpt) Men are powerful, strong, dominant. But what are women's strengths? This question was widely discussed in the late seventies during the women's liberation movement. Women all over the world were fighting for their rights, and this inspired female authors to put their thoughts into stories. Women could be manipulative, deceiving. They could control men when they wanted to. So why were the men in control of the world?By rewriting â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood†, Angela Carter turns the norms of the fairytale upside down, and thereby shows the development in contemporary society. In â€Å"The Company of Wolves†, a young girl beats the most manly of all creatures: the werewolf. The short story is chronological and is told by an omniscient third person narrator with a clear narrative voice:†Children do not stay young for long in this savage country†(p. 22). This gives the reader an insight in the hu ntsman's thoughts as well as the girls, and we get an understanding of the decisions taken by the characters.The short story has intertextuality, as it's a rewriting of the fairytale â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood†, but it's uncharacteristic as a fairytale as it does not start with the usual â€Å"once upon a time†, and does not end with â€Å"they lived happily ever after†. Angela Carter has chosen to rewrite a story almost everyone knows to make her message easier to understand. But the language in the story is quite formal. This makes it more difficult to understand properly, and it shows that Angela Carter wanted to address the story to the educated part of society.The formal language is also a way of pointing out that women can actually write in a high level of language. The short story's setting is midwinter in a forest. The winter embodies the color white, the color of innocence. The color white is used frequently in the story as well as the color red to pe rsonalize the girl. The white color symbolizes her innocence and the red color represents a grown woman, her lethality and female passion in contrast to her innocence and sensibility. The girl is the main character in the story, as she undergoes a clear development from a young girl to a grown woman.She starts out as a young and innocent girl, casually walking through the forest on her way to her grandmother's house. But as she meets the young huntsman, the man, the wolf, it starts snowing. The huntsman threatens her innocence symbolized with the prelude to a blizzard. At the end of the story, just as the girl has gone to bed with the huntsman, it stops snowing (â€Å"The blizzard died down†, p. 27). The white snow, her innocence, has died down, and her innocence is lost forever. Angela Carter is using a woman as the hero in the story, which is quite unusual for a fairytale.She was trying to break away from the norms of the fairytale by letting the girl use her female strengt hs to beat the werewolf. She is deceiving and manipulating the werewolf, and ends up sleeping with the werewolf instead of being eaten. The huntsman is Angela Carter's symbol of masculinity. In this story men are shown as beasts, just like the huntsman. He's a werewolf, he's hairy, he's â€Å"carnivore incarnate† (p. 25). When the girl was walking through the forest, â€Å"†¦ she heard the freezing howl of a wolf† (p. 23), (â€Å"†¦ but she saw no sign of a wolf at all, nor of a naked man†, p. 23).By adding this, Angela Carter implies that a naked man and a wolf are the same thing, (and thereby she lets her thoughts as the writer be apparent). The huntsman eats the grandmother. He is literally feeding on women, just as Angela Carter indicates that men are feeding on women in society. Most of the women at that time were still cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children at home singlehandedly, and could proceed to take care of their husband when he got back from work. Women were the unappreciated pillar of society. The colors red and white are the main symbols in the story.These colors are mentioned throughout the story (â€Å"†¦ her cheeks are an emblematic scarlet and white†, p. 22). The first sentence starts with â€Å"It is midwinter and the robin†¦ † (p. 22), the midwinter is white and the robin is red. As mentioned earlier, red and white symbolizes the girl's innocence, passion and femininity. Red is not only used to symbolize the huntsman's lethality (â€Å"†¦ eyes the size of saucers, saucers full of Greek fire, diabolic phosphorescence†, p. 25), (â€Å"There was a faint trace of blood on his chin†, p. 24), the girl's red dress shows how the girl is equally lethal to the huntsman.By writing this story Angela Carter is focusing on women's strengths, such as how the girl uses manipulation and deception to beat the werewolf. She indicates that a woman can take a man into her mer cy in any given situation (even when he's about to eat you). But does Angela Carter really think manipulation and deception are strengths? Isn't this to display women's weakness, if these are their only strengths? Angela Carter uses the fairytale to catch the reader's attention, and by making the girl succeed in manipulating with the werewolf, she dissociates herself from the classic fairytales in which a man is the savior.Angela Carter shows men as beasts, merely feeding off of and toying with women, though they can't go for long without the love of a woman. Men are unintelligent as they just follow their feral instincts, and can be tricked by even the most innocent girl at any given time. But Angela Carter does not end up giving the reader a positive interpretation of women either. They use manipulation and their female bodies to deceive men. This short story is Angela Carter's contribution to the discussion of gender roles in society at that time.Hvad har jeg gjort? Jeg har selvf olgelig rettet de fejl som du gjorde opm? rksom pa, og provet at fa teksten til at passe bedre til konklusionen. Egentligt er det mere konklusionen jeg har provet at tilpasse teksten, da jeg har sv? rt ved at udv? lge, hvilke dele af analysen der burde udelades. I et par af analysepunkterne har jeg uddybet, sa sammenh? ngen med konklusionen er mere klar. Jeg har provet at omskrive den del af analysen, hvor du var uenig i at jeg anklagede Angela Carter, hvilket jeg godt kan se, er at ga for langt.Tror jeg blev grebet af, at jeg folte at jeg havde fat i noget, og korte den lidt for langt ud. Jeg har dog holdt fast i pointen. Jeg har forsogt at uddybe hvorfor Angela Carter har valgt en alvidende 3. persons fort? ller, og rettet mine fordanskede udtryk. Du bad mig ogsa om at uddybe enkelte dele af analysen, og det har jeg provet at gore, dog uden at komme med en ny pointe som gar tabt i lobet af analysen. Jeg er i tvivl, om det er bedst at skrive â€Å"can not† eller â€Å"can't † / â€Å"she's† eller â€Å"she is†, eller om det er ligegyldigt.

Was Alexander Really Great?

Greatness is an umbrella term that can hold several different meanings and interpretations. In the case of Alexander the Great, it has a very specific meaning that reflects upon the achievements and success of his life time, despite the many character flaws and failings he undoubtedly possessed. Alexander the Great definitely deserves this appellation for three main reasons. Firstly, he conquered an incredibly vast area for his young age and lack of experience; secondly he left his mark on society which has lasted till contemporary day; and thirdly he completely revolutionized military techniques and styles.Firstly, Alexander the Great fought in horrific battles that rewarded him with a huge amount of land, resources and prosperity. He engaged in conflicts including the Battle of Granicus, Battle of Isus and the Battle of Tyre, leading him to conquer nations now known as Turkey,Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and a large portion of India. His ambition certainly paid off, and as Arrian, an hi storian living at the time of Alexander wrote, †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦He would always have searched beyond for something unknown, and if there had been no other competition, he would have competed against himself. This source is quite reliable, as it reinforces other accounts of his attitude correctly, however Arrian basically recorded all the conquests of Alexander the Great, so it may be influenced or recorded with a certain bias that Alexander himself imposed. Secondly, Alexander the Great helped to establish Greek society and spread it over the world. He single handedly created a culture that has maintained itself till this very day. It truly is a great feat to form a society, including language, etiquette, customs and traditions that will last thousands and thousands of years.Historian Professor Paul Cartledge stated in his manuscript Hunting for a New Past â€Å"the great leader's achievements – both in his lifetime and posthumously are simply staggering, as they have lasted th e generations to still be evident today. † Cartledge’s opinion, although we must keep in mind it is only his opinion, is certainly reliable as he is a modern day expert on Greek culture and greek history, quoting in an edited and published official manuscript.Lastly, the military wisdom and knowledge that Alexander the Great not only possessed, but created himself, is astounding. The number of battles and wars he planned and executed is truly great, and especially in such a successful manner. This is one of his greatest attributes, and the skill he is most remembered for. A tapestry called Alexander the Great in Battle, discovered in 1661 by archaeologist Charles le Brun, reflects upon this concept. It depicts Alexander riding into battle and slaying his enemy with strategy and premeditated decision.Although it may be not completely reliable as it seems to portray the romantic myth of Alexander as a ferocious and fearless warrior, it does hold a concise example of his s kill in military prowess. Overall, Alexander the Great deserves his namesake because despite having many character flaws, he was an exceptional man who achieved some astounding feats. The vast land he conquered at such a young age, as well as his long lasting impacts on Greek society, and finally his military intelligence and success prove that Alexander truly was a great individual.

Mba Research Methodology Mb 0050

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY MB 0050 [pic] Name: XXXXX Roll number: XXXX Learning centre: XXXX Subject: MB 0050- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Assignment No. : Set 1 Date of submission at learning centre: [pic] ASSIGNMENTS Subject code: MB0050 (4 credits) Marks 60 subject NAME: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Note: Each Question carries 10 marks Q1)a. Differentiate between nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales, with an example of each. b. What are the purposes of measurement in social science research? a. Types of scales: Ans) There are four types of data that may be gathered in social research, each one adding more to the next. Thus ordinal data is also nominal, and so on. Nominal The name ‘Nominal' comes from the Latin nomen, meaning ‘name' and nominal data are items which are differentiated by a simple naming system. The only thing a nominal scale does is to say that items being measured have something in common, although this may not be described. Nominal items may have numbers assigned to them. This may appear ordinal but is not — these are used to simplify capture and referencing. Nominal items are usually categorical, in that they belong to a definable category, such as 'employees'. Example The number pinned on a sports person. A set of countries. Ordinal Items on an ordinal scale are set into some kind of order by their position on the scale. This may indicate such as temporal position, superiority, etc. The order of items is often defined by assigning numbers to them to show their relative position. Letters or other sequential symbols may also be used as appropriate. Ordinal items are usually categorical, in that they belong to a definable category, such as ‘1956 marathon runners'. You cannot do arithmetic with ordinal numbers — they show sequence only. Example The first, third and fifth person in a race. Pay bands in an organization, as denoted by A, B, C and D. Interval Interval data (also sometimes called integer) is measured along a scale in which each position is equidistant from one another. This allows for the distance between two pairs to be equivalent in some way. This is often used in psychological experiments that measure attributes along an arbitrary scale between two extremes. Interval data cannot be multiplied or divided. Example My level of happiness, rated from 1 to 10. Temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit. Ratio In a ratio scale, numbers can be compared as multiples of one another. Thus one person can be twice as tall as another person. Important also, the number zero has meaning. Thus the difference between a person of 35 and a person 38 is the same as the difference between people who are 12 and 15. A person can also have an age of zero. Ratio data can be multiplied and divided because not only is the difference between 1 and 2 the same as between 3 and 4, but also that 4 is twice as much as 2. Interval and ratio data measure quantities and hence are quantitative. Because they can be measured on a scale, they are also called scale data. Example A person's weight The number of pizzas I can eat before fainting b. Purpose of measurement in social science. One of the primary purposes of classifying variables according to their level or scale of measurement is to facilitate the choice of a statistical test used to analyze the data. There are certain statistical analyses which are only meaningful for data which are measured at certain measurement scales. For example, it is generally inappropriate to compute the mean for Nominal variables. Suppose you had 20 subjects, 12 of which were male, and 8 of which were female. If you assigned males a value of ‘1' and females a value of ‘2', could you compute the mean sex of subjects in your sample? It is possible to compute a mean value, but how meaningful would that be? How would you interpret a mean sex of 1. 4? When you are examining a Nominal variable such as sex, it is more appropriate to compute a statistic such as a percentage (60% of the sample was male). When a research wishes to examine the relationship or association between two variables, there are also guidelines concerning which statistical tests are appropriate. For example, let's say a University administrator was interested in the relationship between student gender (a Nominal variable) and major field of study (another Nominal variable). In this case, the most appropriate measure of association between gender and major would be a Chi-Square test. Let's say our University administrator was interested in the relationship between undergraduate major and starting salary of students' first job after graduation. In this case, salary is not a Nominal variable; it is a ratio level variable. The appropriate test of association between undergraduate major and salary would be a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), to see if the mean starting salary is related to undergraduate major. Finally, suppose we were interested in the relationship between undergraduate grade point average and starting salary. In this case, both grade point average and starting salary are ratio level variables. Now, neither Chi-square nor ANOVA would be appropriate; instead, we would look at the relationship between these two variables using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Q2) a. What are the sources from which one may be able to identify research problems? b. Why literature survey is important in research? Ans: Identifying research Problem This involves the identification of a general topic and formulating it into a specific research problem. It requires thorough understanding of the problem and rephrasing it in meaningful terms from an analytical point of view. Types of Research Projects †¢ those that relate to states of nature those which relate to relationships between variables In understanding the problem, it is helpful to discuss it with colleagues or experts in the field. It is also necessary to examine conceptual and empirical literature on the subject. After the literature review, the researcher is able to focus on the problem and phrase it in analytical or operational terms. The task of defining the research problem is of greatest importance in the entire research process. Being able to define the problem unambiguously helps the researc her in discriminating relevant data from irrelevant ones. Extensive literature review Review of literature is a systematic process that requires careful and perceptive reading and attention to detail. In the review of the literature, the researcher attempts to determine what others have learned about similar research problems. It is important in the following ways: †¢ specifically limiting and identifying the research problem and possible hypothesis or research questions i. e. sharpening the focus of the research. †¢ informing the researcher of what has already been done in the area. This helps to avoid exact duplication. If one had the literature and exercised enough patience and industry in reviewing available literature, it may well be that his problem has already been solved by someone somewhere some time ago and he will save himself the trouble. † Nwana (1982). †¢ Providing insights into possible research designs and methods of conducting the research and interpreting the results. †¢ Providing suggestions for possible modifications in the research to avoid unanticipated difficulties. The library is the most likely physical location for the research literature. Within the library there is access to books, periodicals, technical reports and academic theses. Other sources are the Education Index and the Educational Resources information centre (ERIC). Computer-assisted searchers of literature have become very common today. They have the advantage of comprehensiveness and speed. They are also very cost-effective in terms of time and effort although access to some of the databases requires payment. Irrespective of the sources of the literature, ethics of research require that the source is acknowledged through a clear system of referencing. . Why Literature survey is important in research? Doing a literature survey before you begin your investigation enables you to take advantage of the unique human capacity to pass on detailed written information from one generation to another. Reading all the knowledge that's accumulated so far on the problem you want to study can be time-consuming and even tedious. But careful evaluation of that material hel ps make your investigation worthwhile by alerting you to knowledge already gained and problems already encountered in your areas of interest. A literature survey amounts to reading available material on a given topic, analyzing and organizing findings, and producing a summary. There are many sources for literature reviews, including journals of general interest in each discipline, such as the American Political Science Review. There are also journals for specific topics such as the Leadership and Organization Development Journal. Governments publish great quantities of data on many topics. The United Nations and the United States Government Printing Office are two major sources. In addition, businesses and private organizations gather and publish information you might find useful. For certain problems you may want to search through popular or non-scholarly periodicals as well. While it's customary to include only data from sources that actually research the problem in a precise fashion, articles in more popular sources may provide interesting insight or orientations. Talking to knowledgeable people may also give you information that helps you formulate your problem. Thoroughness is the key. Most libraries have staff trained in information retrieval who can help find sources and suggest strategies to review the iterature. The Internet, of course, now allows easy access to limitless information on given topics. Thoroughness in your review means not only finding all current publications on a topic but locating earlier writing as well. There's no easy rule for how long ago literature was published on your topic. The time varies from problem to problem. A useful way to locate past as well as current writing is to begin with the most current sources likely to contain relevant material. Then, follow these authors' footnotes and bibliographies. At some point in this search you'll find the material is beginning to be only peripherally related to your current interest or that authors claim originality for their work. Of course, doing a goodliterature surveyis easier when you know a great deal about the subject already. In such a case you'd probably be familiar with publications and even other people who do research in your area of interest. But for the novice, efficient use of library/Internet services and organizing how they check sources are especially important skills. Having located literature, keeping a checklist of useful information will help you read each source. You might ask yourself, particularly for research articles: 1. What was the exact problem studied? 2. How were the topics of interest defined? 3. What did the authors expect to find? 4. How were things measured? 5. What research did this author cite? Have you read it? 6. Who were the subjects of study? 7. What do the results show? 8. Do the data presented agree with the written conclusions? 9. What were the limitations of the study? A thorough literature survey should demonstrate that you've carefully read and evaluated each article or book. Because research reports can be tedious and difficult to understand for new researchers, many tend to read others' conclusions or summaries and take the author's word that the data actually support the conclusions. Careful reading of both tables and text for awhile will convince you they don't always agree. Sometimes data are grossly misinterpreted in the text, but on other occasions authors are more subtle. Consider, for example, the following statements: Fully 30 percent of the sample said they did not vote. Only 30 percent of the sample said they did not vote. The percentage is the same, but the impression conveyed is decidedly different. Reading the actual data before accepting the author's conclusions will help prevent some of these errors of interpretation from creeping into your own research. It's important that after you finish your reading, you're able to write your literature survey in a way that's clear, organizing what you know about the content and methods used to study your problem. You may find it helpful to record information about each source on a separate card or piece of paper so that information can later be reshuffled, compared, and otherwise reorganized. Note in most journal articles that what probably began as a long literature survey is usually condensed on the first few pages of the research report, explaining previous research on the problem and how the current study will contribute. You, too, want to add to this growing body of knowledge we call social science by a creative summary of what's been accomplished by others as well as by your own research. Q3) a. What are the characteristics of a good research design? b. What are the components of a research design? Ans) Research Design – Definition A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose witheconomy in procedure†Is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted; it constitutes theblueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data more explicitly: i. What is the study about? ii. Why is the study being conducted? iii. Where will the st udy be carried out? iv. What type of data is required? v. Where can the required data be found? Components of research design http://www. google. co. in/url? a=t=j=components%20of%20research%20design=web=3=0CDIQFjAC=http%3A%2F%2Fposta. marmara. edu. tr%2F~sozmen%2F2003-2004%2Fresearch_methodology%2Fweek_4. doc= KgOgTo-aEofqrAeFkbWNAw=AFQjCNG1ctNqNjUq_ils-O4muicz4Z2eBA=RFuXRcsnlsSIOe9zWHhr5A=rja 4. a. Distinguish between Doubles sampling and multiphase sampling. [ 5 marks] b. What is replicated or interpenetrating sampling? [ 5 marks] http://wiki. answers. com/Q/What_is_double_sampling http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Multistage_sampling http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Replication_(statistics) https://onlinecourses. science. psu. du/stat506/node/54 5. a. How is secondary data useful to researcher? [ 5 marks] b. What are the criteria used for evaluation of secondary data? [ 5 marks] http://www. steppingstones. ca/artman/publish/article_60. shtml http://www. change. freeuk. com/learning/r esmeth/secondary. html 6. What are the differences between observation and interviewing as methods of data collection? Give two specific examples of situations where either observation or interviewing would be more appropriate. [10 marks]. †¢ http://www. differencebetween. com/difference-between-observation-and-vs-interviewing-as-methods-of-data-collection/

Healthy People 2020 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Healthy People 2020 - Essay Example One of the various objectives healthy people 2020 has provided for the well being of Americans is the promotion of Nutrition and Weight Status. It encourages the choice of healthy, nutritious diet to reduce the risk of any chronic disease and to maintain a healthy body weight. Good nutrition is especially essential for children’s physical as well as their mental growth. Moreover, it is important in reducing the risk of many health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and malnutrition, etc. (Healthy People.gov, 2013). Obesity is one of the most prevailing health problems among adults and children. Being overweight is a result of excessive intake of calories and underweight is directly linked with food insecurity that means limited or no availability of healthy and nutritious food. It is obvious that the amount of caloric intake affects an individual’s health whether it is high or low. Other than this, it is important to keep this in mind that what is the source of the calories a person is taking. There are many foods, which help prevent various diseases and are also helpful in weight control. These foods include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Plenty of researches show that making these foods a huge part of the diet will protect against diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and many other health issues. On the other hand, excessive fat and sugar intake increases the possibilities of various health problems (Brug, Starlen, & Maskini, 2012). Most important thing for health is a healthy weight.

Company report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company report - Assignment Example The early years of business were focused on serving military and designing and manufacturing aircraft engines, built-in engines and railway vehicle brakes. After ruins of WWII the company had tough time reviving its production plant and it was by 1947 that the company started production of two-wheeler. After rejecting Daimler’s takeover move the company emerged as a strong entity which specialized in manufacturing highest quality motor vehicles. The company has three luxurious brands BMW, Rolls Royce and Mini that remain strong and popular amongst those who wish to experience innovative luxury available across BMW global network (BMW AG). The company has a strong financial position as reported in its annual report 2008 the company has generated revenues of â‚ ¬44,143mn and net income of â‚ ¬384mn in 2008. The company has a healthy dividend payout of 61% which may imply higher shareholders’ confidence in the company’s financial position and its ability to generate cash flow in the future. The company’s total assets are worth â‚ ¬23,316mn in 2008 whereas its current liabilities and long term obligations were â‚ ¬7,974mn and â‚ ¬9,933mn. The company’s equity is â‚ ¬5,338mn and EPS of â‚ ¬0.49 (BMW AG). Despite of the recession in the global economy the company has been able to generate healthy earnings and its share prices have been on the rise in the last 9 months period currently trading at â‚ ¬35.94 on Xetra Exchange after closing at low of close to â‚ ¬18 in Feb 2009 (BMW AG). Group Management Report identified current financial crisis and slowdown in consumer spending as one of the major reasons of company’s financial deteriorating financial performance. The falling revenues within different business segments lead to lower dividend payout than previous year. The company had to pull back its capital expenditures on different upcoming automobile models in

The Rationale for Banning The Outsiders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Rationale for Banning The Outsiders - Essay Example As an initial matter, before addressing why the book was banned in certain schools, it is useful to summarize the plot generally. The protagonist in this story was Pony Curtis. Pony was a young boy whose parents had died in a car accident; as a result, he was cared for by his twenty year old brother, Darry. Pony was poor, though clever and a good student, and he did what all boys in this neighborhood did. He joined a gang, named the Greasers, and hung out with his gang as if they were an extended family. There was a rival gang, the Socs, made up of rich boys from a another neighborhood. A gang rivalry existed between the two, and one day a fight ensued in which Pony's good friend killed a member of the Socs gang in self-defense. Pony's friend later died, and another friend was shot by the police after going crazy and trying to rob a store with a gun. Pony, however, did not suffer the same fate as his friends; rather, after being inspired by a letter from Johnny, he decided to reconci le with his older brother and to try and improve his life. In short, Pony decided to reject the outsider lifestyle and to participate more productively in his society and community. Given the hopeful ending, the transcending of obstacles, it seems odd that the book was so heavily criticized. The first The first basis for criticism was that the novel promoted gangs. More specifically, this line of reasoning argued that the novel, by including both rich and poor children in gangs, glamorized and encouraged young readers to pursue similar affiliations. In this way, the novel's critics believed that the novel was divisive, socially destructive, and immoral. It was socially divisive because it pitted rich boys against poor boys; it was socially destructive because violence was used as a conflict resolution tool for disputes; and, finally, it was immoral because the gang lifestyle promoted laziness, substance use, and revenge. Indeed, the central role of gangs in the novel was a central foundation for the criticism which ensued. A second criticism was the use of violence by young boys. One can distinguish between clubs with mild-mannered rivalries and gangs with deeper notions of rivalry and revenge. It is one thing to portray youthful pranks; in the minds of the novel's critics, however, it was quite another thing to portray children and adolescents intending to cause serious physical harm and genuine emotional trauma on their rivals. A particular example was the use of weapons in the novel. These gang members, for instance, carried knives, bats, and guns. Rivals weren't simply embarrassed. Quite the contrary, as in the case of Johnny's conflict with Bob, some people were killed. Thus, in addition to the portrayal of gangs, the vivid depiction of violence also furnished a strong basis for the subsequent criticism. A third criticism was the prevalence of substance use and abuse by underage boys. The references to cigarettes and alcohol were also found objectionable. These boys were underage. By associating public figures, in this case fictional characters from a popular novel, with substance abuse, many people argued that schoolchildren would be influenced to behave similarly. Today's cigarette-smoking adolescents will become tomorrow's marijuana users was the fundamental criticism. These

Business Management Tasks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business Management Tasks - Essay Example This discussion highlights that  at the top of the structure is the CEO/President who oversees all the operations of the company he is at the top of the pyramid in decision making process. Company’s departments are categorized into either support or operations. Support include: human resources, finance, marketing, and property. Operation includes the other parts of the business.   At Pizza Hut every division plays a different function making it easier for the CEO to determine whether or not the divisions are performing as per required. This is a kind of structure that encourages specialization as each division consists of employees who have the required skills, experience, and character that are required for the function that the division serves.As the report stresses  the company is divided into departments each headed by a director. Every department has a specific function that is expected to perform a specific function the departments that are present in Pizza Hut are : marketing, human resource management, public relations, procurement, operations. This kind of organizational structure can be referred to as composite organizational structure because it is a blend of a hierarchical organizational structure and divisional organization structure. Despite the fact that the organization has various departments performing different functions there are divisions within the department with the leader of each subdivision reporting to the head of department.

Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Critique - Essay Example nimous concern that there will be a knowledge-based generational gap if higher education is not transformed to keep with the accelerating changes of digital information. Levine and Dean do identify and make the valid claim that the majority of students believe they will achieve success based on previous generation’s ability to do so, and how students do not take into account the reality of a poor economic infrastructure. However, students do recognize that a stagnant economy will curtail the possibilities of monetary success. It is important to acknowledge what students today think about the future of the economy; twenty years ago, tuition was never thought to reach the price and investment that it has today. Although the authors reveal and extol their concepts on how society as a whole is changing inevitably through the digital revolution, it is conveyed in an editorial point of view. The author’s concerns have a sense of legitimacy, but many assumptions are made witho ut taking into account that life and society is always changing. Change, by definition, is an ever-evolving transformation that at times can seem to occur instantaneously. The credibility such as the statistics given becomes skewed and misleading to the audience because of the way Levine and Dean interpret them. Although Levine and Dean make broad assumptions, they do, however, make agreeable depictions on the concept of how grades are more inflated, but not how they perceive it to have been done. â€Å"Forty-one percent of undergrads have grades of an A- or higher† (Levine & Dean), this statistic may be true, but the point of view from the authors mislead the audience by claiming that a student who has an A got that grade because grades are inflated, which leads to their assumption that today’s undergrads are â€Å"weak academically†. The authors do not take into account that every teacher is different in his or her own way, an assumption cannot be concluding with the evidence given. This is in

Macro Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Macro - Assignment Example Voluntary, is when people do not work because they feel better off unemployed. Conversely, involuntary unemployment people are generally unable to find jobs despite having the knowledge and skills needed. This issue is important because its costs are essentially borne by the society. These costs are mainly: the national income is less than the potential due to output. As a result of this, the government loses tax revenue. With Lower national output, other employees lose additional wages that they might have earned. Firms also lose a lot of revenue as they could have engaged more staff (Macpherson, 2012). Additionally, with unemployment levels on the rise crimes and violence also rise in society. At college, a lot of money is spent on; tuition, books, transport, board, room, clothing and recreation. It is quite expensive to pay and maintain a student through college education. Therefore, the opportunity cost of doing a degree course is very expensive. The money that one pays from the stat to the end of a college degree is much. The standards of living of a student are higher even if one gets out of school after school with nothing (Macpherson, 2012). College education has some benefits these are; the salary received by college graduate is much higher than that of a non-graduate. A college graduate also gains skills that are useful in any job. An individual will also be able to socialize well with people in society. The benefits of a college degree are worth the opportunity cost, this is because of the skills and the knowledge one would have gained at the end. It is a must to go to college for a career path and also it tends to provide flexibility (Macpherson, 2012). College graduates earn a higher income and this is an indication that they differ from those who did not go to college. It’s may believe that college adds importance, not only to an individual but also to the

There will come soft rains Essay Example for Free

There will come soft rains Essay Furthermore, it is Ironic that such a sophisticated example of technology, the computerized house, can be destroyed by nature, represented by the tree limb which crashes through the window and starts the fire. The use of metaphors and the irony makes the reader think about the way they are living their own life, which then leads to the reader thinking more about the story, thus their entire mind-set is focused on the plot and that builds tension, chaos and confusion. Another way in which Bradbury creates a sense of chaos and confusion is his effective use of punctuation. Throughout the description he uses simple, short sentences to make the audience read faster through the story, thus building and building on the sense of chaos. Examples of these short sentences are: In the nursery the jungle burned. Blue lions roared, purple giraffes bounded off, Ten more voices died, The crash and Smoke and silence. A great quantity of smoke. Not only does Bradbury build tension through the use of short sentences, he also uses long, detailed sentences to enhance the process of imagery. Examples of these sentences are: The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat, its wire, its nerves revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and capillaries quiver in the scalded air, The panthers ran in circles, changing color, and ten million animals, running before the fire, vanished off toward a distant steaming river, and In the kitchen, an instant before the rain of fire an timber, the stove could be seen making breakfasts at a psychopathic rate, ten dozen eggs, six loaves of toast, twenty dozen bacon strips, which, eaten by fire, started the stove working again, hysterically hissing! . Due to these detailed sentences, the audience can create an accurate picture of what is happening in the story, thus they empathize more with the characters and pay closer attention to the occurrences of the plot. This will help the audience understand what is going on, and make them more willing to find out what will happen as an outcome. This means that a sense of chaos and confusion is effectively created. Word count: 989 Miles Murdoch 24/09/09 Miles Murdoch 24/09/09 There Will Come Soft Rains There Will Come Soft Rains Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Plato | Introduction and Evaluation

Plato | Introduction and Evaluation Plato An allegory, by definition, is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other then the literal. An allegory is referred to as a figure of language but it does not need to be expressed this way. It can be expressed in pictures, sculptures, and other forms of art. The â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† is of that used by Plato within his work, The Republic. This work is examined by his student Socrates and is found to be related to Plato’s â€Å"Metaphor of the Sun† and â€Å"analogy of the divided line.† Plato’s Republic tries to illustrate the degrees in which our nature can be enlightened or unenlightened. Plato in a discussion with an acquaintance by the name Glaucon, urges him to imagine the condition of men living in a sort of cavernous chamber underground, with an entrance open to the light and a long passage all down the cave. Here the men have remained since childhood, chained by the leg and by the neck. The men cannot move and can only see what is in front of them. At a high distance up there is a light of a fire burning behind them, between said fire and the prisoners there is a parapet built along it. This is used to hide the performers who show their puppets along the top of the parapet. Behind the parapet, there are a number of people carrying various artificial objects, including figures of men and animals in wood or stone and various other materials. There objects are projected above the parapet. Some of the persons are talking while others remain silent. According to Plato the prisoners confined would see nothing of themselves or others except for a bit of the cave shadows carried past. They would also only speak in reference to said shadows. In every way, the prisoners would recognize reality as nothing but the shadows of those artificial objects. Plato then asks us to consider what would happen if one of the prisoners was released from their chains and set free. That prisoner would be forced to have to stand up, walk upright, and walk with his eyes directed towards the light. All these movements would be painful to said prisoner. The prisoner would also be dazzled by all that existed in this â€Å"outside world† to notice what objects had been making the illusions and shadows all along. If someone told him that what he had formerly had seen was a meaningless illusion and was actually now nearer to reality then before, it would be extremely difficult for the prisoner to believe. If someone actually showed him the various obje cts being carried and told what each of them was, the prisoner would be perplexed and would probably believe that most of the objects shown to him were not real and what he formerly saw was. Plato then goes on to detail what would happen if the prisoner had to look at the firelight itself. According to Plato, the prisoner’s eyes would ache and he would try to escape to the things he could see distinctly. The prisoner would then be convinced that they were clearer then those other objects being shown to him. Plato also addresses what would happen if the prisoner were to be dragged away forcibly up the steep and rugged ascent and would not be let go until he faced the sunlight. The prisoner would be so affected by his treatment that he would suffer pain and confusion. The prisoner would then be blinded by the light of the sun and would not be able to see any of the objects he was told were now existent and real. The prisoner would need to grow accustomed before he could see things in the â€Å"upper world.† He would have to start small, viewing things such as shadows and reflections before he viewed more complex images such as that of sky, the light of the moon, and the stars. The prisoner would then move on to view the Sun and contemplate its existence. From examining it, the prisoner would then conclude that the Sun produces the seasons and the course of the year and controls everything in the visible world, and moreover it is the cause of all that he and his companions use to see. The prisoner would then consider his former fellow prisoners and he would surely think himself happy in the change and would feel sorry for them. The prisoners may have had a practice where they honored and commended one another, with a prize for the man who had the keenest eye for the passing of shadows and the best memory for the order in which they followed or accompanied one another, so that he could make a good guess as to which was going to come next. Plato questions whether the released prisoner would be likely to covet those prizes or to envy the men exalted to honor or power in the cave. Plato questions if the prisoner would be like Homer’s Achilles, and he would far sooner endure â€Å"being on earth as a hired servant in the house of a landless man† or endure anything rather then go back to his old beliefs and live in the old way. Plato then goes on to imagine what would happen if the prisoner went down again to take his former place within the cave. The prisoner would be emerging from the sunlight into a cavern filled with darkness. He would possibly be required to give his opinion on shadows, in competition with the prisoners who had never been released, while his eyes were still dim and unsteady, since the prisoner has not yet accustomed himself to the light. The other prisoners would laugh at him and say that he had left only to come back with his eyesight damaged, this according to itself would caution them from attempting to escape the cave. If someone did try to free them, they would more then likely to lay hands upon said person and try to kill them. Plato then goes on to explain several things. The prison-like cave corresponds to the region revealed to us through the sense of sight and the firelight within it is similar to the power of the sun. The ascent to see the things in the upper world would be similar to the upward journey of the soul into the intelligible world. According to Plato, this is what he feels to be true but only Heaven truly knows whether it is true. According to Plato, in the world of knowledge, the last thing to be perceived and with great difficultly is the essential Form of Goodness. Once it is perceived, the conclusions must follow that, for all things, this is the cause of whatever is right and good in the visible world it gives birth to light and to the lord of light, white it is itself sovereign in the intelligible world and the parent of intelligence and truth. Without having had a vision of this Form no one can act with wisdom, either in his own life or in matters of the state According to Plato, individuals who have reached this state are often reluctant to manage the affairs of men. Their souls long to spend all their time in the upper world. They would have a difficult time interpreting from larger affairs such as the contemplation of divine things as opposed to the miseries of normal human life. The sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways, by the change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul. He will then notice that the soul faces such differences. The soul will have difficulty differentiating between good and evil. In essence, education is not what it is said to be by some it does not put knowledge into a soul which goes not possess it, on the contrary, the soul has every available capability to have the power of leaning the truth and the organ to see it with. In order for one’s eye to see light instead of darkness their entire soul must be turned away from the changing world until its eye can bear to contemplate reality and the supreme splendor which we have called the Good. Hence there may well be an art whose aim would be to affect this very thing, the conversion of the soul; this would ensure that the soul instead of looking in the wrong direction would face the way it ought to be. We as individuals have souls that tell us the difference between good and evil. Our conscience helps us in learning what is morally acceptable and what is ultimately not. According to Plato, wisdom is the virtue of divine faculty, it never loses its power, its use for good or evil depends on which way it is turned. The use of wisdom, however, can be greatly harmful when it is used for evil. Plato then goes on to detail how a state cannot be properly governed by those who are uneducated. These people know nothing of the truth and cannot differentiate from what is good and what is inherently evil. It is up to the duty of philosophers to inform the public of what is good. Philosophers must teach other to make the journey towards wisdom. It is then that law can be property applied to ensure the welfare of the commonwealth as a whole. This will ultimately unite citizens in harmony; the community will share its rights and privileges as one. This will ultimately lead to a more united state. According to Plato, there is no real injustice in compelling philosophers to watch over and care for other citizens. Philosophers will have to act as teachers and mentors to ultimately secure the safety of a nation. Due to this, individuals will become more capable of being men of thought and men of action. Individuals would then be able to live with the rest of the world in â€Å"darkness.† The only difference is that they will be able to recognize every image for what it is and what it represents. These individuals will already be familiar with the concepts of justice, beauty, and goodness. Due to this, society would be more suitable to live in. Those in office or in power will understand the needs of their nation and of their people. According to Plato, this government will ultimately be based in truth. A true government is at its best and free only when its rulers understands the consequences of his actions, the needs of his people, and does not desire power and glory. The holding of ruler and power will only be viewed as an unavoidable necessity. The truth, according to Plato, is that we can have a well-governed society only if our rulers discover that there is a better life then that of being in office. Then power will be in the hands of men who value happiness and a good wise life above everything else. What goes wrong in government is when individuals seek happiness and power from public affairs. These rulers seek about fighting for power, thus ruining themselves and their own country. The life of true philosophy is that only one that looks down upon offices of state, who does not seek power and who does not love the ability to rule. If this does not exist, then life is open to warfare and turmoil. Ultimately, the best life is that of one lead by someone who seeks the best principles of government. One who does not covet power or wealth. This will ultimately lead to a good life for the ruler and his nation, this in the end being the best reward of all. Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† explains to us how we as individuals are in a â€Å"lower realm† of knowledge. The Allegory of the Cave symbolizes this journey and how it would look to those still in a lower realm. Plato is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the tangible world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall. Just as the escaped prisoner ascends into the light of the sun, we amass knowledge and ascend into the light of true reality, where ideas in our minds can help us understand the form of â€Å"The Good†. This notion of â€Å"The Good† ultimately leads us to live successful lives that are based on knowledge, much like rulers who know what is needed to maintain the welfare of their nation. Knowledge is the greatest thing to have, according to Plato it is the basis for all things â€Å"good† within the universe.

Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Interventions

Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Interventions Restorative justice is a holistic philosophy and a concept as it encompasses the offender, the victim and the society in which the offence was committed. It aims to bring a conclusive end to the offence committed by making some type of reparations for the malice inflicted, the hurt caused and the deepening of the urge to re-offend. Restorative justice, although a part of the criminal justice process, is not a part of the criminal justice system as one of its goals it to alleviate the damage caused by the criminal justice system on the offender and the victim. There are many explanations of the concept of restorative justice (Zehr, 1990, 1997; Van Ness, 1996; Van Ness Strong, 1997; Sherman Strong, 2007; Amour et al, 2008). This shows that the concept remains hard to define (McCold, 1999; Brazemore Schiff, 2001; Latimer et al, 2005; Pranis, 2007). However, at a United Nations Convention, a working definition was adopted and titled the Marshall Definition (McCold, 1999; Newell, 2002) the following is his definition: Restorative justice is a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offence collectively solve how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future (Marshall, 1999). Mier (1998), attempts to define restorative justice without any reference to two of the circles namely the victim and society. In a later definition Menkel-Medow (2007) acknowledges Marshalls definition but attempts to be more concise: restorative justice in its most idealised form attempts to repair, restore, reconcile and rei ntegrate offenders and victims to each other and to their shared community. However, the United Nations and the Council of Europe have agreed that there are differences in the terminologies and ideologies on restorative justice (Roche, 2001; Mier et al, 2001; Johnstone et al, 2006). With or without an accurate definition the concept of restorative justice has been in use since the early 1970s in Canada and after became widely used and identified with; Victim offender mediation (VOM), conferencing, circles, victim assistance, ex-offender assistance, restitution and community service. Whereas retributive/criminal justice focuses on punishment, the restorative paradigm emphasizes accountability, healing, and closure (Umbriet, 1998) and looks at the offence as on the person and not on the state. One of the major consequences of restorative justice is the healing or closure for the victim of the offence. For too long the victim was made to suffer the offence many times over in the criminal justice system and in some cases feel a level of disrespect, as the case was dragged through court, this caused the victims to run that gauntlet of emotions over again and sometimes being unable to cope with those feelings they skip hearings or even cause the case to be quashed letting the offender go free and feeling that he had the advantage (Graef, 2000; Herman Webster, 2005; Newell cited in Edgar, 2002.; Menkle-Medow, 2007; YJB, 2008) In the criminal justice system the victim is hardly ever given an opportunity to explain how the have been impacted by the offence and sometimes are not even given the chance to meet their offender in court, this can cause repression of emotions and further scaring, they are given very few real opportunities to become an active participant in the court pr ocess because the criminal justice system is all about the offender and not the victim (Herman Webster, 2005; Umbreit 1998; YJB, 2008). In restorative justice the emphasis ideally should be on all three sections relating to the offence; the victim, the offender and the society/community (Newell, 2002; Schiff, 2007; Marshall 1999) surrounding the offence, however a little more emphasis is placed in many cases on the victim, this type of mediation (Graef, 2000) makes the victims feel that they are an important factor (Graef, 2000; Crawford et al, 2003; Herman Webster, 2005; Angel, 2005; Kubanzky, 2007 cited in Sherman Strang, 2007). With restorative justice the victim feels a since of vindication understanding the reasons, if any, behind why they were targeted for the offence which sometimes lead to an understanding that this will not happen to them again, at least not by the hands of the same offender and that they were not the cause of the offence being inflicted upon them (Umbri et, 1998; Graef, 2000; Herman Webster, 2005; Green 2007). As a result of restoration the victim is able to put a face to the crime and not be assailed with the fear that the culprit is still out there; watching them; even living next door to them or possibly a friend, they are more satisfied with the result (McCold et al 1998; Strang 2002; Sherman Strang 2007; Tudor, 2002.). The victims feel comfortable and are able to reintegrate themselves into society as a productive member (Umbriet, 1998; Marshall 1999; Graef, 2000). In cases where the victim is allowed to decide the retribution of the offender they can feel a sense of justice as the sentence is exactly what they want in order to feel retribution for the crime committed this assists in repairing the harm caused (Herman Webster, 2005; Schiff, 2007). Restorative justice is seen in these cases to be much more rehabilitative than any correctional programme in the criminal justice system because it is the human side of the offence (Graef, 2000; Herman Webster, 2005; Tudor, 2002.) and it places emphasis on repairing relationships which are the tapestry of society (Schiff, 2007). Linda Radzik (2007) argues that restorative justice focuses heavily on the ability of the offender to take positive restorative action (Graef, 2000), she continues to point out that in all cases in order for this action to be fully restorative it must be sincere and voluntary (Umbreit 1994; Menkle-Medow, 2007). It must also be offered for the right reasons and must also be married with other sincere and voluntary efforts on the part of the offender, such as a change in behaviour (Radzik, 2007). Radzik (2007) also goes on to outline the necessary steps the offender needs to complete in order to be considered reformed under the restorative justice concept. One of the main consequences of restorative justice is that the offender is able to heal in a more positive and possibly holistic manner, thus limiting the impact of his suffering, to the criminal justice method of public shaming, this type of indirect shaming does not rehabilitate the offender but usually leads to further anger being internalised and then released as further offending (Graef, 2000). Within this system the offender is treated for the offence, this treatment may be for the psychological, psychiatric or other underlying problem which is underlying the offence committed and may not be limited to traditional medicated treatments but may take the form of counselling, examination of self and emotions and understanding the impact of their actions (Umbriet, 1998; Graef, 2000; Radzik, 2006; Schiff, 2007; Menkle-Medow, 2007). Sutton (2002) states that the restorative justice process provides a concrete manner in which offenders can confront their own behaviour and the damage i t causes. He goes on to say that the object is not to punish the offender of the prisoner but to show how they can become a part of the community even a prison community. Braithwaite (1989 cited in Graef, 2000) countered with the argument that shaming can be a useful tool in the restorative process and once used wisely forms a part of the offenders rehabilitation, this is called rehabilitative shaming. In order for restorative justice to work and healing to take place, the offender must take responsibility for their own actions and the effect on those impacted (Graef, 2000). Walgrave (2007 p.562) agrees that crime is a public event. The following excerpt sums up the result of the act of taking responsibility by the offender: In the restorative process, the victim has the opportunity to witness the offender taking responsibility for his or her actions and apologising for his or her behaviour. For the offender, this means taking responsibility for what happened, but doing so in a context in which he or she is reassured that he or she need to be defined by that action now ostracized forever by family, friends and community. Traditional processes tend to stigmatize both the act and the actor, in the restorative process the two are distinguished so that the offender having acknowledged responsibility and made reparations, can earn his or her way back to acceptance by the community (Brazemore, 1998 cited in Schiff, 2007 p.231). Another important result of the restorative justice process with respect to the offender is its effect on the offenders family. In many instances there are reports of the family of offenders having to hide from the public or even move to other countries, states and deny any relationship with the offender because the public is willing to take their revenge on the family if they cannot have the offender (Tudor, pp 16-19, 2002). This occurs too often to the detriment of the family and the offender. The offender usually look to their family for support, comfort and love no matter how heinous the crime, however if the family or support unit feels endangered by the actions of persons who are not in favour with the offender then they may not want to be in contact or may fall on foul deeds at the hands of another in society who in angry. The offenders also need a support system in order to reintegrate as a productive and valued member, usually loved ones are the bridge which they use to rega in trust and acceptance from society, if this is not there then there maybe a relapse (Graef, 2000, Sutton, 2002). In many cases restorative justice limits the suffering on the family of the offender. Sutton (2002) takes this a little further by proposing that prisons should be seen as extensions of the community and not a separate entity because it makes the offenders visible and he indicates that the prisons are community service vehicles or working communities (Graef, 2000; Sutton, 2002) and need to be seen as such, this he says is achieved through restorative justice. Through this restorative process the offender is able to re-evaluate their actions and use the network of support which is given to ensure that they never re-offend (Graef, 2000; Schiff, 2007). A recent briefing report on expenditure in the criminal courts by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (2010) indicated that expenditure in the criminal courts system rose by as much as thirty-one percent to  £1027.89 million within the past three years, while staffing fell by fourteen percent (1,088 staff members) and the number of cases brought to the Crown Court increased by seventeen percent. This is a significant expenditure on any government for a criminal justice system. It is neatly summed up by Schiff (2007) when she stated that the criminal justice system assumes that the government is responsible to address all stakeholder concerns. Pranis (2002) made mention of the skyrocketing cost of punishment, and noted that restorative justice required much less monetary investment as it is about healing and reparations. While Menkle-Medow (2007) stated that restorative justice is less costly and more efficient in monetary and deterrent effects. Due to the fact that restorative justice responds to crime and offences without utilising salaried members of the system (police, legal aid, lawyers, magistrates, clerical personnel, prison personnel, in-house counsellors and hospitals) and solutions within the system (correctional facilities, jails and hospitals) the cost of the offender and victim is much less (Marshall, 1999; Sherman Strang, 2007; Menkle-Medow, 2007). Even delays within the criminal justice system cause increases in cost. In a paper by the Barrow Cadbury Trust there are calculations showing the various costs and savings of diversions of cases from the criminal justice system to the restorative justice and juvenile system. It shows tremendous saving from these diversions in a period of one to five years. Diversions to restorative justice conferencing will realise a savings of  £7,050 per offender; diversions from custody to community orders via changes in sentencing guidelines will realise a savings of  £1,032 per offender and diversions fr om trial under adult law to trial under juvenile law following maturity assessment is likely to produce a lifetime cost saving to society of almost  £420 per offender (Barrow Cadbury Trust, 2009). This will produce significant savings over the life of some cases where preparatory time is high and the chances of winning the case is low This is summarised by Sherman and Strang (2007) in the following quote ..one is to reduce the use of courts for processes that fail to bring offenders to justice. A second is to reduce the use of prisons for offenders whose incarceration does not prevent total crimeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The unintended consequences coming out from the positive side of restorative justice as listed by the National Institute of Justice (2007) involves such things as the co-option of restorative process for coercive or punitive ends; undue offender orientation and the expansion of social control. However according to the National Institute of Justice (2007) these are to be resisted. From the above references and studies conducted restorative justice has shown itself to be not only cost effective but also very effective in reintegrating and re-establishing some sense of normalcy in the lives of some if not most of the victims which were involved in the process. More research needs to be conducted on the variables of restorative justice which in more countries to be able to come to firm and conclusive statements regarding the concept. This research will also bring conclusion to thoughts from Miers et al (2001) who says that restorative justice is time consuming and labour intensive beset by communication problems and delays. Even if restorative justice does not become a mainstream section of the system, it can quite possibly be integrated into the present criminal justice system to deal with offenders or criminals (Walgrave, 2007 p. 569). In this manner he is countered by Sherman Strang (2007) with the following summary views on the effectiveness of restorative j ustice: Crime victims who receive restorative justice do better, than victims who do not, across a wide range of outcomes, including post-traumatic stress. In many tests, offenders who receive restorative justice commit fewer repeat crimes than offenders who do not. In no large-sample test has restorative justice increased repeat offending compared with criminal justice Diversion from prosecution to RJ substantially increases the odds of an offender being brought to justice. Restorative justice can do as well as, or better than, short prison sentences, as measured by repeat offending. Restorative justice reduces stated victim desire for violent revenge against offenders. With these above successes the must be some place in the system for restorative justice.

English Should be Americas Official Language Essay -- Essays Papers

English Should be America's Official Language The government implementing English as the official legal language of America is imperative because a conformity of communication within our borders is needed to unify the vast diversity. Our mighty country was founded on providing all citizens with equality including inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The United States is a progressive nation that welcomes people from far and wide to come and savor the God-given freedoms enjoyed by all. With all of the diversity from the countless immigrants coming in to our port cities, looking for a more prosperous future, a necessary tie is needed to bring the people of the nation together. Interaction with others --communicating-- is what gets everyone through their days and is essential to living. Without communication between people daily, the lack of communication would bring consequences throughout the world. Transactions among businesses would not be completed, sharing a story with a friend would never happen, the difficulty of understanding a problem of a neighbor, all of these and other necessities in daily life would never happen. The country, which we as citizens have created, needs to implement conformity among ethnicities to lessen the large variances of society to unite the entire nation. The people of America need to reshape the country in which we live, to show off the patriotism expressed so warmly after the horrific attacks of September 11. American citizens must come to unison with the most vital tool we can use to combat those problems, our communication between different dialects. Senator Hayakawa writes in his essay, The Case for Official English, that ?[i]t is with a common la... ...ies, speaking little or no English, cannot make it through High School? (450-451). The democratic process that is the embodiment of the country needs to be the determining factor in the English Only laws, not some power-driven Hispanics that want recognition. The real necessity is a connection through communication between every person in America, every person in America to keep the society together instead of tearing it apart by fighting with legislation over the laws. Works Cited - Hayakawa, S.I. The Case for Official English. Edit. Ann Dobyns & Patsy Callaghan Boston: Longman Publishers, 2004. - Will, George. ?Bilingual Ballots Provide a Sense of Reality.? The Times Union 2 May 2006: A11. - Rodriguez, Richard. Public and Private Language. Edit. Ann Dobyns & Patsy Callaghan. Boston: Longman Publishers, 2004. English Should be America's Official Language Essay -- Essays Papers English Should be America's Official Language The government implementing English as the official legal language of America is imperative because a conformity of communication within our borders is needed to unify the vast diversity. Our mighty country was founded on providing all citizens with equality including inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The United States is a progressive nation that welcomes people from far and wide to come and savor the God-given freedoms enjoyed by all. With all of the diversity from the countless immigrants coming in to our port cities, looking for a more prosperous future, a necessary tie is needed to bring the people of the nation together. Interaction with others --communicating-- is what gets everyone through their days and is essential to living. Without communication between people daily, the lack of communication would bring consequences throughout the world. Transactions among businesses would not be completed, sharing a story with a friend would never happen, the difficulty of understanding a problem of a neighbor, all of these and other necessities in daily life would never happen. The country, which we as citizens have created, needs to implement conformity among ethnicities to lessen the large variances of society to unite the entire nation. The people of America need to reshape the country in which we live, to show off the patriotism expressed so warmly after the horrific attacks of September 11. American citizens must come to unison with the most vital tool we can use to combat those problems, our communication between different dialects. Senator Hayakawa writes in his essay, The Case for Official English, that ?[i]t is with a common la... ...ies, speaking little or no English, cannot make it through High School? (450-451). The democratic process that is the embodiment of the country needs to be the determining factor in the English Only laws, not some power-driven Hispanics that want recognition. The real necessity is a connection through communication between every person in America, every person in America to keep the society together instead of tearing it apart by fighting with legislation over the laws. Works Cited - Hayakawa, S.I. The Case for Official English. Edit. Ann Dobyns & Patsy Callaghan Boston: Longman Publishers, 2004. - Will, George. ?Bilingual Ballots Provide a Sense of Reality.? The Times Union 2 May 2006: A11. - Rodriguez, Richard. Public and Private Language. Edit. Ann Dobyns & Patsy Callaghan. Boston: Longman Publishers, 2004.

Teenage Prostitution as a Response to Gender Roles in Japanese Society :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Teenage Prostitution as a Response to Gender Roles in Japanese Society Buuuzzzzzzz. â€Å"Oh, a page,† says Michiko to her friend, â€Å"give me a minute to check it.† She pulls out her mobile phone and dials the number to check her messages. This message is from one of her regular customers, Mr. Tanaka. He would like to meet this afternoon at the little restaurant next to the same â€Å"love hotel† they used last week (a place that rents theme rooms by the hour). Michiko giggles to her friend, â€Å"Poor Tanaka-san, he is such a lonely guy, but he’s very generous.† Michiko meets up with Tanaka-san, a businessman in his mid-forties, later that afternoon. They grab an early dinner, then head directly to the love hotel. After about an hour, their transaction is complete and Tanaka-san â€Å"offers† Michiko about  ¥10,000. Suddenly, Michiko notices the time. It’s nearly eight, and she has about an hour commute, by train, to her house in the suburbs. â€Å"My parents will be angry that I’m so late again, especially since I have an important algebra exam in the morning!† Michiko quickly kisses Tanaka-san on the cheek and rushes around collecting her things. â€Å"Call me soon. Okay?† says the seventeen-year-old as she slips out the door. Michiko and Tanaka-san are imaginary, yet they illustrate a very real phenomenon in Japanese society — teenage prostitution. Young girls selling themselves to older men is not a new phenomenon. Underage women around the globe resort to prostitution as a means of survival. There are few industries women can enter where capital costs are low, barriers to entry are few, and educational requirements are nil. Yet what is puzzling in the Japanese case is that most young women like Michiko do not depend on the money they receive from prostitution for survival — yet it does help to buy Burberry scarves, Chanel hand bags and other â€Å"must-haves† (Moffett 50). While it is tempting to say that teenage prostitution is a means for young women to obtain the material items they feel they cannot live without, there is more to this phenomenon than meets the eye. If it were merely a matter of wanting extra money, young girls would most likely seek legitimate employment — translation, the increasing popularity of prostitution among teenage girls in Japan is a response to the strict gender stratification of Japanese society.

Reflective Essay Founded Online, Not Mine Essay

The purpose of writing a reflective essay is to present what you felt and what you reflect after an experience. Readers will discover how you associate with the subject on which you are writing. Your reflective essay can provide your perspective and the lesson you learned from a given experience. A reflective essay must provide a personal perspective, inform of the purpose for creating, and indulge in personal thoughts as well as feelings. A reflective essay must present a purpose or a lesson to be learned from the story. You personalise the creation of a reflective essay by mentioning your role in the event or occurrence. A reflective essay will always provide for varying perceptions by studying the different point of views and aspects (mentioning if a certain decision had gone in another direction) and how you evaluate the experience as a whole. You must feel that the experience or occurrence is worthy of developing a reflective essay on. You must remember each detail and every facet of the story for the exploration of each description. You must mention the significance and the feelings that you have regarding the experience on which you write your reflective essay.

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay

Identify the current formal and informal power structures in the organization. How might the power and political structure of the organization affect employee behavior? The organization structure of Riordan Manufacturing consists of the executive which are the President, and the Executive Assistant, Senior Vice President of Research and Development and the Chief Operating Officer. The Senior Vice President of Research and Development oversees the Manager of Product Development and Manager of Research which manager the research and development department. The Vice President of Sales and Marketing oversees the Directors of Sales for custom plastics, plastic beverage containers, fans, international and the Marketing Manager. Vice President of Product Support supervises the Customer Service Representatives and the Warranty service Technician. The Chief Operating Officer supervises the all the department Vice Presidents. In the hierarchy of power in this organization, there are many level s. The political and power structure may affect employee behavior. Four different locations can cause large differences in how a particular location is run. One of the locations is in China. Communication between the locations can cause frustration. Many levels of management can cause information to employees to become distorted. One area may need more attention than others and cause employees to feel neglected or ignored by organization. Destructive behavior from employees may result. Identify the most appropriate and effective organizational structures for Riordan Manufacturing that will help them accomplish their planned changes. The proposed changes are to establish a relocation of the plant in Hangzhou to Shanghai. This type of relocation will need to involve numerous departments and resources. The first stage would be exploring the costs and resources available. Financial department would need to contrast the costs of current expensed as opposed to the cost and profitability of the new location. This  would involve the cooperation of the Director of Accounting and Finance/ Controller, Financial Planning Manager, Director of Sales International, and all other managers or directors involved with the international plant. Human resources will handle employees concerns and also relocations and any new hiring. What are the potential effects of this selected structure on employee behavior? Factors that influence the ways employees respond to their customers, leadership and work is also called organizational behavior. Identifying the internal and external factors that affect their behaviors can help the company understand why employees are committed and motivated. Internal factors can be leadership, organizational structure and the corporate culture. External factors include family life and other business relationships. Because of the proposal, employees’ behavior may be affected. Time and resources will be utilized for the change and other employee’s may feel ignore d. Employees having feelings of not being paid a completive wage may feel betrayed. Growth of the company may give positive results such as a pride for a successful addition to the company. In order to ensure positive change for the organization, managers should highlight positive outcomes to employees. Riordan Manufacturing must make sure all duties of the organization should be shared in the absence of employees working on the change. Identify characteristics of the company’s culture. What are the potential influences of the corporate culture on employee behavior? A culture is the values and practices shared by the members of the group. Company Culture, therefore, is the shared values and practices of the company’s employees. Company culture is important because it can make or break your company. Companies with an adaptive culture that is aligned to their business goals routinely outperform their competitors. Some studies report the difference at 200% or more. To achieve results like this for your organization, you have to figure out what your culture is, decide what it should be, and move everyone toward the desired culture. Company cultures evolve and they change over time. As employee leave the company and replacements are hired the company culture will change. If it is a strong culture, it may not change much. However, since each new employee brings their own values and practices to the group the culture will change, at least a little. Riordan Manufacturing incorporates the primary characteristics of an organizational culture. Riordan Manufacturing began  business in 1992. It has grown into a three location organization. Reviewing financial reports for the last three years, it is both financial efficient and allocates funds to research and development, which aids in keeping a competitive edge. This evidence of stability is also supported by the benefits is offers to employees. Some to the benefits available to employees include 401(k) Saving Plan, Educational Financial Assistance and Flexible Spending Accounts. Offering competitive wages along with these benefits promotes stability in the organization. Riordan Manufacturing encourages innovation by offering employee suggestion program and use an HRIS system to monitor employees’ information. The process of inventory and production are good examples of the organization of paying attention to details. People orientation and team orientation are introduced through new employee orientation and continuing training. Employees are cross-trained and work together in teams to achieve goals. Riordan Manufacturing aggressiveness is mild. The everyday operations are formal, but are open to new ideas and different ways to gain competitive edge. The corporate culture of the organization affects the behavior of employees. Positive culture that provides structure, professionalism, encourages employees and provides a sense of belonging will encourage employees to be productive and loyal. A disorganized or incompetent culture can lead to destructive behaviors. Destructive behaviors such as dishonesty and stretching can cause work projects to suffer and cost an organization large amounts of funds and resources. Identify the potential sources of resistance to change and develop strategies to manage resistance to change. The potential of resistance can benefit by opening a debate and discussion therefor having employee engaged to the process. Having employees engaged and giving their opinions can help evaluate their where they stand and giving the management an opportunity to explain the changes. Good strategies for management are to be papered by having answers for every question that maybe possibility to be asked by the employee. Recommend a strategy to implement the changes over the next 12 months. A strategy that can be implemented can be a learning organization. A learning organization can help developed the continuous capacity to change. Manager need to establish a strategy, also redesign the organization structure, and reshape  the organization culture. Describe how you will evaluate the success or failure of the planned change. One suggestion that we like to imamate is evaluating by giving employee a voice and allowing them to give some input. When employees give in their input they feel ap preciated and tented to improve. So we just don’t get better performances we also get to see a different stand point that will allow viewing things from the employee’s point of view. Section II: Communication Plan Select the most appropriate channels to communicate the change to the employees, and explain why you selected these channels. Identify the potential barriers to effective communication and strategies for overcoming the barriers. The communication method that it is used in the company is outdated and non-effective, the company communicates through a memorandum system that is limited in the amount of characters and it is also limited in the information that it can be attached and displayed on them. Although the memorandums deliver the message and information intended to, they are limited in the communication that can be shared. There are many methods of communications that would be useful for the company’s intra communication network, but the ideal method would be to develop an electronic mailing network that would allow the company to send and receive electronic mails with the option choosing the person or persons that the message would be delivered to, and also the electronic email network would allow the sender to attach information such as documents and images. The integration of an electronic mail network would also make communication within the employees simpler and more efficient, with this type of network employees would be a click away from communicating with anyone in the company. Another method of communication that would allow employees to communicate would be to develop a blogging network in which the employees under the monitoring of the human resources department would be able blog about their concerns, questions, announcements, and ideas that would allow the company to be in complete communication. Without a proper communication method, employees see communication within the company as a barrier that make completing projects difficult and a form of an issue that creates confusion and stress within the company. Developing a new communication plan would allow employees to communicate with all the associates from the company including management  position. With the new communication plan an open door policy is created in which em ployees have the right and are encouraged to ask and discuss any issue, idea, or concern they might have making the associate feel appreciated and content, increasing productivity, loyalty, and engagement towards the company.

Steps of Coducting an Audit

I sincerely hope that this assignment meets your approval and demonstrates my ability to resent assignments. If you require further clarification, I will be happy to contact you according to your convenience. Sincerely, Ishrat Nahid ID: 0930183 Executive Summery An auditor is an official whose Job it is to carefully check the accuracy of business records. An auditor can be either an independent auditor unaffiliated with the company being audited or a captive auditor, and some are elected public officials. Auditors are used to ensure that organizations are maintaining accurate and honest financial records and statements.In this report I have written about the plan of audit and the importance of ndependence of auditors. Planning the audit is an important step to conduct the audit. Auditor uses different planning methods to determine risk assessment, assessment of internal controls etc. The auditor either internal or external cannot complete all the aspects of the audit in one year. The auditors plan the audit is such a way they can cover the audit over a period of time. Auditor independence is one of the most important issues in accounting practice today.Independence increases the effectiveness of the audit by providing assurance that the auditor will plan and execute the audit objectively. High-quality audits enhance the reliability of the financial reporting process by investors and other users. Topic 1. Planning of audit 15- 163. References Page no 5-14 2. Independence of auditor 17 audit report Planning refers to the process of deciding what to do and how to do it. Planning involves selecting mission and objective and the actions to achieve them; it requires decision making that is, choosing from among alternative future course of actions.Plans thus provide a rational approach to achieving reselected objectives. Planning is an intellectually demanding process; it requires that we consciously determine ourses of action and base our decisions on purpose, knowle dge and considered estimates. An audit plan is the specific guideling to be followed when conducting an internal or external audit. Internal audits are usually conducted by a company's accounting staff and are primarily used for a management review of accounting process.External audits are conduct by external public accounting firms or private certified accountants (CPA) to ensure outside stakeholders that the company's financial information is prepared in accordance with that Jurisdiction's accepted accounting principles. External audit usually use a formal audit plan for auditors to follow when conducting audits. Audit planning improves the quality of audit work. It is necessary for an effective, efficient and timely audit. Adequate audit planning establishes the right means to achieve the objectives of audit.It helps in identifying potential problems and ensures that work is completed expeditiously. An audit plan does help the auditor not only to understand the scope of audit but also facilities smooth conduct of audit. Auditors use five types of test to determine whether financial statements are fairly stated: rocedures to obtain understanding of internal control, tests of controls, substantive tests of transactions, analytical procedures and tests of details of balances. All audit procedures fall into one or more than one of these five categories.By these tests detection risk reduces and effectiveness of internal control has increase. Five types of tests are firstly, update and evaluate the auditor's previous experience with the entity. Secondly, make inquiries of client personnel. Thirdly, read client's policy and systems manuals. Fourthly, examine documents and records. Fifthly, observe entity and operations. A meaningful audit plan considers some basic steps. If these basic steps are the minimal possible time. Step 1: Talk to the client The auditor discusses the nature of the engagement and the client's business and industry trends at the beginning of planning.Insights gained from this discussion help the au ditor navigate through the remainder of the audit planning procedures. These insights set the stage for an active two way communication process that result in a fully engaged audi tor. Step 2: Obtaining background information An extensive understanding of the clients business and industry and knowledge bout the company's operations are essential for doing an adequate audit. The auditor asks about recent developments in the company that may cause the audit to differ from prior years.Developments such as mergers, new locations or new product lines may have a significant impact on the audit plan for the current year. These discussions take place at the client 10 cation. Going on site provides the auditor the opportunity to meet with key employees or new employees and to see for him or herself any changes in the overall operations of the client. Step 3: Prepare A Complete list of items needed from the client Before starting uditi ng auditors require samples, documents and many other papers those auditors need to audit.A meaningful audit plan pro vides an updated list of client-prepared items that considers the following: New schedules because of changed risk profiles at the client New schedules resulting from a change in audit ap proach Example schedules and templates so the client prepares them in the auditors desired format Insertion of due dates for each schedule that has been agreed to by the client For larger clients, insert the name of a person respon Sible for the completion of the schedule that has been agreed to by the client

Marketing Assignment on Apple

Marketing Principles Task B 24 – 11 – 11 By Ayesh Goburdhun A. Define your product The product chosen for this assignment will be a laptop, the Macbook Pro by Apple. The product is a personal computer that can be used for communicating with people or whoever, working on different kinds of software, listening to music and mostly to go on the Internet with the rising of the social networking websites. Apple Computers Inc. s an American multinational corporation, who was established in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Steve Jobs, the Chairman and CEO of Apple is one of the world’s most successful businessmen today, his management style and his charisma brought the firm from a starting company to a global force to be reckoned with. Apple Computers Inc. designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.To describe further the product, we have to answer to the question: What is the consumer really buying  ? The Macbook pro is based on superior quality materials that will allow faster actions and will permit the entertainment of its users over time without being bored and can be classified as a premium category of products that are not easily affordable. The Macbook Pro is based on the newest technologies on the market; it offers the best design of any kind of computers or portable engine that are actually called â€Å"innovative† on the market.So, we can say that the Macbook Pro offers great satisfactions to its customers and further, it is composed of usefull softwares that are already integrated and very powerful. The Macintosh comes with the latest brand of Operating System that the company developped in the past decades to improve the pleasure of the users, so that they woudn’t be outdated. Moreover, the Laptop is compatible with all devices at home, based on a new technology called â€Å"plug n play†, no complicated installations are required and the system works with any kind of operating system already install, even competitors.When people think about Apple and Mac they automatically think and talk about a problem-solving product, indeed, the Laptop offers a level of security that haven’t been hacked yet whereas its major competitor: Windows, the first provider of personal computers on the market. It is, of course, implied that the Macbook is running on the tardiest best performing computers’ components. Because the company builds both the computer and the software that comes with it, reliability is the first purpose, this means that a Macbook rarely freezes or crashes.Occasionally an application might quit, but it won’t affect the rest of the system. And the operating system resists mostly to anything, so everyone can do anything without worrying about losing everything. Apple Computer Inc. distributing the product proposes a variety of sizes and styling; the Macintosh Laptop is totally customizable and is forming part of the high standing computers on the actual market. For example, ladies could easily tend to buy pink Macbooks contrary to gentlemen who will choose the white or gray one.In addition, when people decide to buy a laptop they are principally attracted to the brand name, in this case, Apple that represents a very fashionish and stylish brand with a various types of stunning adverts and commercials. The packaging of the Apple brand is also one of the best in the market; it represents clearly the brand and adds an extra â€Å"something† to ensure the pleasure and delightfullness of the buyers opening the product bought.It is considered that Apple’s after sales service is one of the best, worlwidely speaking, indeed, the warranty applicable for each Apple products can be extended as much as the consumer wants or needs to. Further, when an Apple product is b roken the after sales service comes and replaces or repairs the item immediately if it is available in the stock. This is the principal reason why Apple is so good in the after sales services contrary to other competitors in the same sector.To classify the laptop, we can say that it forms part of a durable and tangible product, it can be used over and over with a great warranty period, and marketers would classify the Macbook Pro as a consumer product used for personal consumption. B. Provide and critically analyze definitions and components of segmentation Market segmentation can be define as the segmentation of markets into homogenous groups of customers, each of them reacting differently to promotion, communication, pricing and other variables of the marketing mix.Market segments should be formed in that way that differences between buyers within each segment are as small as possible. Thus, every segment can be addressed with an individually targeted marketing mix. Market segment ation is also an adaptive strategy, it consists of the partition of the market with the purpose of selecting one or more market segments which the organization can target through the development of specific marketing mixes that adapt to particular market needs.According to Kotler, P (1999), market segmentation means â€Å"the act of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who might require separate products and/or marketing mixes. † According to William J. Stanton, ‘Market segmentation is the process of dividing the total heterogeneous market for a good or service into several segments. Each of which tends to be homogeneous in all significant aspects. ’ In brief, market segmentation is important not only for creating consumers but also for satisfying them.Market segmentation helps matching the market opportunities to the resources of the corporations and enables them to face market competition effectively. For example, for the personal computers market t here are two segments, desktop computers and laptops. As for the desktop ones, they are mostly used by bureaucratic administration because they are less expensive for the same characteristics. Moreover, gamers also use desktop computers due to their fully customizable and upgradable components, whereas the laptops, which are considered as more mobile and practical, used principally by businessmen and tudents. In the segmentation of laptop, they are multipurpose laptops, multimedia laptops and laptops based on performance. In general, multimedia laptops are used to satisfy lower demands of customers who do not want to invest a huge amount of money because the demand is just for multimedia using like listenning to music, organizing pictures and web surfing. The components of this kind of laptop will be creating directly by the enterprise without subcontracting.Furthermore, multipurpose laptops are viewed as the middle class computers; they are principally used with basic softwares, fo r web surfing and all the multimedia stuff. The companies who build multipurpose laptops, used by middle class peoples, tend to subcontract in order to offer better performances and quality. Finally, the premium laptops are answering the demand of engineers, designers and professional who are in the need of very powerful and qualified product either for their work or their personal use.The characteritics of those laptops are generally a mix of components of the best-specialized industries on the market; this is why such laptops are very expensive. Niche markets are also present on the marketplace, answers to very high specific demands and tries to differentiate the company with its competitors. These markets are very small but the profit is real. In Mauritius, personal coaches are an example of niche marketing, concerning laptops; the Alienware brand is a niche market specialized to satisfy â€Å"hardcore† gamers.Concerning the Apple brand, we can talk about a geographic segm entation. For the line of Macintosh products, it can be segmented into regions; the company will not try to sell expensive laptops in poor countries such as Somalia or Afghanistan where the demand of theses products is totally nil. They will focus on ways to sell the product in big capitals or cities like New York, Paris or London, where the demand is constantly growing up. Shops, called Apple Store or iShops, are going to represent Apple worldwidely and has to fit in big commercials centers, or big buildings with great standards.All of these shops need to have the same organization, layouts, services and of course, same products. The client needs the impressions that they are communicating directly with Apple and not with a subcontracting agent. For example in Mauritius, Apple is franchised by Leal communications and informatics and the logo of the brand is not present in the Apple store shop based in Mauritius. The buyer must communicate directly with Apple and not with Leal (exce pt for after sales issues).The demographic segmentation is very important for the company, indeed, it will depends a lot on the age, gender, sexual orientation, family etc†¦We can assume that, as we saw before, persons that have a more feminine personnalities tend to buy Macbooks with pink colours. In addition, the age is a major factor, where students and young persons are more attracted to laptop such as the Macbook, whereas the elderlies who would prefer buying more expensive desktop towers, for example the iMac. It is clearly segmented in the way that Apple will try to sell Laptops, mp3s to the 18-30 and Tvs, iMac to elders +35.The enterprise is also willing to target wealthy persons, undoubtedly the products provided by them are classified as quite expensive and premium due to its very powerful components and noble made materials. As we saw earlier, the Macbook Pro is categorized in a high-standard category so the income and the psychographic segmentations are also importa nt where persons with extroverted personalites, fashion addicts and wealthy persons are targeted. People looking for the Macbook are persons willing for an advantages of buying it.If the product does not propose any kinds of benefits comparing to its competitors it won’t convice these persons for buying the product. The laptop presents a load of benefits like fully customizable, virusless, plug n play system etc†¦ Marketers assume that some customers are completely loyal to the brand that they like, they buy one brand all the time. Apple is one of the best example for these kind of buyers, indeed, the Apple fans are regardless of the functions or capacity of any kind of the Apple line of product, they are totally in confidence and are not affraid to pay whatever the price could be.They are almost waiting weeks in front of an Apple Store in order to be the first one to obtain a new Apple made product. This loyality is very rare but can be understand by the fact that the c ompany is very successful. In the recent years, Apple’s product are being seen by peolple as a brand of wealthiness and reliability. However, the segmentation is principally based on the demand of the customers and we can assume that this demand will grow in the coming years but if it is not there won’t be any kind of segmentations. Some market segments can disappear due to the evolution of the demand.For example, in the mail delivery market, some segments like post letter delivery services are starting to disappear due to a very fast growth of electronical technologies such as mailing, chatting, messaging etc†¦ Further, segmentation is impossible when  : 1. The size of the market is too small. 2. A brand is a dominant brand in the market. 3. More number of people falls in the same category. 4. The advertisement of each kind of product is too expensive. 5. The informations accumulated are completely wrong. C. Provide definitions and state the importance of targe ting and apply the concept to your productKotler, P (1999), stated that ‘target markets are a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve’. After a company has defined market segments, it can enter one or many segments of a given market. Kotler, P (1999), also says that ‘market targeting involves evaluating each market segment's attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter a company should target segments in which it has a differential advantage over its competitors; where it can generate the greatest customer value and sustain it over time. A company with limited resources might decide to serve only one or a few special segments; this strategy limits sales, but can be very profitable. Kotler, P (2002) stated that, to provide for a good market targeting, the firm has to evaluate the various segments and decide which ones to target. A principal concept in target marketing is that those who are targeted show a strong affinity or  brand loyalty  to that particular  brand. Target Marketing allows the marketer / sales team to customize their message to the targeted group of consumers in a more focused manner.In order to perform a good targeting, we have to answer to the questions: Who are our customers? Who will buy our product? And how segmentations will help us doing it ? To target the consumers we can say that Apple Computers Inc. is a company present on the national and the international scope, its target are all over the world. It is considered that the customers of the Apple products will look for these goods in new commercial centers and big buildings with great standards, in the nearest cities where they will find Apple Stores and iShops that are specialized boutiques.The target here will focus on persons living in cities and more urban regions where their concerns are more important. Apple is using a distribution channel based on self-providing, indeed, they do franchise the ir brand but, as we viewed earlier, they tend to limit the presence of the company that they are working with and so focus on themselves for easier targeting. For example: if companies are targeting young people, advertising should be done on specialized web sites or magazines for young people, The Times or The Independent aren’t good choices. Apple is marketing to people who have a few characteristics: Middle/Upper income persons that are willing to pay a bit more for a better user experience. Paying 1000 â‚ ¬ or more for a computer is not a huge deal if they have a decent income. * People who like to have fun with technology. No other platform offers as many entry-level tools. This includes people who like to shoot a lot of digital photos or video. It's the whole digital hub concept. People are starting to buy into it. * Music enthusiasts and fans aged from 12-35. * Professionals in media and design and engineers. Shops are going to represent Apple worldwidely it has to be in big ommercials centers with great standards of quality and hygiene. All the shops need to have the same organization, layouts, services and product. The client need the impressions that they are communicating directly with apple and not with a subcontracting agent. They are targeting people that can afford buying products in those premium places. Promotions are proposed nationally and internationnally with the  «Ã‚  apple standards  Ã‚ » by the representants. Billboards, flyers, e-mails and quite stunning adverts are ways to target families, students or professional photographs.However, there is a very controversial approach that could be discussed in the target market of the company chosen. Indeed, we can say that Apple do not target markets they target people. For example, Apple has never marketed Macs to enterprise customers, and only hired a very small sales crew to sell to such customers, but they have  been advertising the Macbook and its business-related applicati ons in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and other business-friendly publications. Apple does not seem to target markets in the way other companies do. It targets people.It focuses on users. And Apple lets them decide how and where they’ll use the products. This is how great companies are built: they focus on individuals and build exceptional products for them; they let these individuals determine how best is to make use of the new technology provided. D. Provide definitions and need for positionning and apply it to your product. After a company has decided which market segments to enter, they must decide what ‘position' they want to occupy in those segments. A product's position is the place where the product occupies the consumers' minds.If a product were perceived to be exactly like another product on the market, consumers would have no reason to buy it. Market positioning gives a product a clear, distinctive and desirable place in the minds of target consumers compared with competing products. Marketers plan positions that distinguish their products from competing brands and give them the greatest strategic advantage in their target markets. Market  positioning  is the manipulation of a brand or family of brands to create a positive perception in the eyes of the public.If a product is well positioned, it will have strong sales, and it may become the go-to brand for people who need that particular product. Positioning is no doubt the single most important aspect of marketing in the globally competitive market place. With capitalism gaining popularity in most countries of the world, competition has increased greatly. A company not only needs to fight rivals in the local market. It also has to equip itself to compete against the world’s best companies. Companies are improving their products and offering them at competitive prices.A good quality product is no longer a guarantee for success. Positioning has to be managed a t every point where the customer comes in contact with the company, from personal sales to online communication to telephonic interaction. This is the only effective way of avoiding any confusion about the product in the mind of the customer. So what has Apple done in recent history to the Macintosh product line to demonstrate this premium positioning? It is widely recognized that Apple is a premium brand that demands and earns a price premium.This price premium spans the entire Apple product lineup with the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, software, and accessories. Apple's positioning is aligned with targeting a less price sensitive customer. As a result, Apple's culture and internal activities are structured to meet the needs of these customers, strategists call this needs-based positioning. Apple has thus created a culture and a set of activities to differentiate themselves from rivals in order to meet the needs of their target customers.Apple has positioned itself to a certain type of customer, wealthy people, innovators, people with good jobs, good lifestyle, etc. If Apple targets the poor man type, the trendy guys will stop buying Apples, because everybody can and Apple is not the Porsche of the computers anymore, this would hurt more the brand than maybe the increasing sales because of lower prices, and in good times, where everybody has more money, Apple would have the problem that they cannot rise prices, because everybody expects a cheap Apple product.If Apple were to attempt to compete for all customer segments, it would have to lower product prices. The danger with such an approach is that it would not only undermine and erode the company's premium brand image but it would also undermine the company's culture and internal activities. Each new Mac revision has either maintained or been subjected to modest price increase while Apple has simultaneously improved product features. A few examples include the introduction of the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro, larger displays on the iMac, and the replacement of the 599â‚ ¬ Mac mini with a higher priced (999â‚ ¬) model.Years| Sales in Million| |   | 2006| 5,200,000. 00| 2007| 6,905,000. 00| 2008| 9,550,000. 00| 2009| 10,350,000. 00| 2010| 13,425,000. 00| 2011| 7,770,000. 00| 1. From 2006 to 2007 the Macbook Pro is in development process. 2. From 2007 to 2008, Apple introduces the product. 3. From 2008 to 2009, it is the growth of the laptop. 4. From 2009 to 2010, the Macintosh observes its maturity period. 5. And finally, from 2010 to 2011 the curve is starting to decline.REFERENCING Kotler, P (et. Al. ), Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall Europe, 1999 Kotler, P (et. Al. ), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall Europe, 2002 William J. Stanton,  Fundamentals of marketing, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964 Apple website viewed on the 18th November, http://www. apple. com Apple website viewed on the 19th November, http://www. apple. com/why-mac/ Google website viewed on the 20, 21 and the 22nd of November, www. google. com Elmer-DeWitt P, April 9, 2011 11:56 AM, How many Macs did Apple sell last quarter, viewed on the 20th November, http://tech. fortune. cnn. com/2011/04/09/how-many-macs-did-apple-sell-last-quarter/