MGMT 4500 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MGMT 4500 - Essay Example This position in the airline’s context is determined by the number of domestic passengers served by the airline. The airline’s portfolio has been built by both strengths and weaknesses. While scenario is relatively a normal phenomenon to almost every business venture, the measures employed by Southwest Airlines in exploiting its strengths and addressing the underlying weaknesses are critical and unique its performance. The company primarily concentrates in domestic passenger travel services, giving it a local advantage. However, in international terms, its business performance is based on collaboration with international airlines. Prior to local, regional or international success, Southwest Airlines has outstanding strengths that maintain its top position in meeting air travel demands for the domestic market. Customer service is one of the critical areas that the airline roots its strengths in. The airline has in the past undertaken and continues to undertake service evaluation with regard to customer expectations. In this customer service practice, Southwest Airlines seeks to identify loopholes in its line of service. Customers are the primary determining factors of the success of a business venture. The management and the employees of the Southwest Airlines critically accounts for this fact by striving to meet customer satisfaction in air travel services. Customer feedbacks are presently used as a tool for designing, formulating and implementing customer service policies in the company. Employee base and the number of flights offered per day is an essential current strength. By close of business year 2011, Southwest Airlines had an employee base of 37,000, and offered up to 3,300 flights a day (Hill & Gareth, 2012). This has been realized to due to the ever rising customer volume especially in the last two years. The effectiveness, efficiency and commitment to duty by its workforce, Southwest

Online Ordering System Essay Example for Free

Online Ordering System Essay Reyes conducted on assessment of the effectiveness of computers in selected organizations in Metro Manila. This study found out that the early approach to computer was for data processing of high volume which have an expanded to computer as planning and decision support levels of managements. the study also that at least level 3 computer literacy af tained by must of today’s computer softwares has been generated. Thus internet has increased in developing computerized information over the years. Quieta studied a comparison of the use of electronic commerce and of traditional business process in selected business establishments in Makati City. Based on the finding of this study, the following recommendations were offered: (1) Traditional business process will still be used in the first part of third millennium by the business industries as their back-up/ support in inevitable circumstances such as computer log-down. (2) consumers are secure and are still afraid to take the risk of paying their bills using their account number and credit card through electronic commerce payment system. (3) Electronic commerce concept in the Philippines has barely grazed the business environment. (4) Electronic commerce is expected to glow in the millennium. This study explored the relationship between owner/ manager factors, organizational factors, market structure, technological factors and awareness of government efforts to promote electronic commerce and electronic commerce adoption levels. The adoption level range from using the internet to communication (level 1), using the internet to communicate and setting up a static website (level 2), using an interactive website and accepting orders online (level 3) and doing the complete business transaction online (level 4). Seventy-eight exporting firms in the National Capital Region NCR completed the survey questionnaire either at their offices or during the trade fair at the World Trade Center. Statistical tools such as chi-square and t-tests were used to determine the significant differences in the responses of the participating firms. Binary profit was also used as a statistical model. A Focus Group Discussion and a case analysis were done to further prove the factors affecting the firms Electronic commerce adoption. The results showed that were only two levels  of electronic commerce Adoption among holiday decoration exporting firms, i.e. level 1 2. One factor that proved significant in influencing firms in their electronic commerce adoption was the owner/ managers understanding the benefits of electronic commerce. However, the negative correlation implied that the more the owner/ manager understands the benefits of electronic commerce the lower the level of electronic commerce adoption. Factors that were positively significant with electronic commerce adoption were years that the firm has been existing export market as a percent of total market, firm size based on assets and location of suppliers. The research studied the acceptability of online shopping website to its buyers specifically, the study focused on China’s biggest and still growing site. Sira.com, and its buyers who were students from top universities in Beijing. This study’s general problem was: what factors influenced the acceptability of sira corporations www. Sira.com among online mall buyers in top universities at Beijing, China. Specifically, its objectives were to: 1. Present the respondent’s understanding of sira.com online mall in Terms of product and promotion; 2. Study the relationship between the product and promotion acceptability of sira.com among online mall buyer, and respondents sex, income, and academic rating of their universities; 3. Determine which of the major customer’s perceived issues should be given priority; 4. Study the relationship between the product and promotion acceptability of sira.com among online mall buyers, and customer’s perceived security risk and privacy risk. The study used descriptive and the chi-square statistical test for analyzing its quantitative data. The primary data were gathered from respondents surveyed by the researcher. After observing multi-stage sampling procedures, a total of 200 respondents were chosen from four top universities. The data and statistical results were processed with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 10. The study concluded that (1) Males are not likely to find shopping at sira.com online mall more acceptable than females; ( 2) A University student enrolled in a university rated higher by the government is not likely to find shopping at sira.com online mall acceptable than the student in the less highly rated university; (3) a customer with higher  income level is more likely to find shopping at sira.com online mall more acceptable than a customer with lower income level; (4) The customer more concerned risk is more likely to find shopping at sira.com online mall acceptable than the customer who is less concerned with security risk. (5) The customer more concerned with privacy risk is more likely to find shopping at sira.com online mall less acceptable the customer who is less concerned with privacy risk. The growth of the internet in the last few years has spearheaded the growth of E-commerce . Many companies have moved part and parcel of their business into new medium.

Lev Vygotsky Theories Analysis

Lev Vygotsky Theories Analysis Lev Vygotsky was a developmental psychologist born in Russia in 1896 in Byelorussia and passed away in 1934 due to Tuberculosis. Throughout his lifetime Vygotsky went from Medical school to law school, from law school to literature, and from literature to psychology. Although he was in the five percent of Jews allowed to attend a university he wasnt allowed to study to be the teacher that he desired to be. After finding an interest in psychology he began to explore child development and child psychology. He graduated from the University of Moscow with a degree in literature. According to Vygotsky the overall goal of education is to generate and lead development which is the result social learning through internalization of culture and social relationships. (The Educational Theory of Lev Vygotsky: an analysis) Lev Vygotsky was intrigued by the relationship between learning and human development. In addition to his theories he wrote over a hundred books and articles that were all stored in a secret library and were not published until after his death. His two major recognized pieces are The Psychology of Art and The crisis in Psychology. Two of his main concepts were inner speech and the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky believed that inner speech is what guides a childs planning and other thought processes. He also believed that learning leads development and the immaturity of students conscious awareness and mastery of their thinking at a school age and sets the stage for his concept of the zone of proximal development (Education Encyclopedia: Lev Vygotsky). Vygotskys theory is called sociocultural because it focuses on how values, beliefs, skills, and traditions are transmitted to the next generation. He considered the child as a whole, and believed in a connection between culture a nd development. He believed that childrens skills and interactions varied by culture and that a child learns through family not through stages. Vygotsky thought that a large amount of learning was through play because language and development are built upon each other. When a mentor thinks that a student is ready for a new challenge and can conquer the challenge almost independently, a zone of proximal development is drawn. It is a range of learning that would be what a child can learn on its own but better with the help of someone else. Scaffolding involves encouragement and assistance in the form of advice and suggestions to aid a child in mastering a new concept (Davison). Through what Vygotsky called dialogues, we socially interact and communicate with others to learn the cultural values of our society. The sociocultural theory suggests that learning is active and constructive. Vygotsky claimed that interaction and direct teaching were critical aspects of a childs cognitive deve lopment and that a childs level of thinking could be advanced by such interaction. Language is socially based and childrens speech during age three to seven is tied to what children think. The development of language is considered to be a major principle of Vygotskys sociocultural theory. The language of a certain group of people indicates their cultural beliefs and value system. He thinks that children gradually grow intellectually and begin to function on their own because of assistance. He also says that a childs cognitive abilities increase through exposure to information that is new, interesting, and easy to understand. When children play and cooperate with others they learn what is important in their society and advance cognitively in their understanding of the world. The sociocultural theory suggests that development is a reciprocal transaction between the people in a childs environment and the child. According to Vygotsky, people and settings influence a child and in return influences the people and settings. He also suggested that children with and without disabilities be taught together, he thought isolation would hinder social Development. As a constructivist, Vygotsky believed that learning is affected by the context in which an idea is taught as well as by students beliefs and attitudes. Vygotsky felt that learning happens before development can occur and that children learn because of history and symbolism. Lev Vygotsky is considered a seminal thinker in psychology, and much of his work is still being discovered and explored today. While he was like Skinner, Pavlov, Freud and Piaget, his work never attained their level of acknowledgement during his lifetime. Part of this was because his work was often criticized by the Communist Party in Russia, and so his writings were largely inaccessible to the Western world, his early death at age 38 also contributed. Vygotsky was one of the first people to recognize and acknowledge the importance of culture and as today becomes more multicultural the sociocultural theory is helping us understand the influences on development. In conclusion, cognitive development plays a key role in learning and thinking methods of children. Vygotsky offers some incredible insight into the possible ways children learn and by using these theories it is possible to create a more conducive learning environment for each child. I believe that principles such as scaffoldi ng, co-constructed knowledge, dialogue, and cultural tools are all important components of a students knowledge acquisition. By helping students within their zone of proximal development, we offer them useful learning strategies which they internalize and utilize later. Works Cited Browne, Gordon. Beginnings and Beyond. Thomson Delmar Learning , n.d. -. Beginnings and Beyond. Thompson, n.d. Davison, Brandi. Piaget Vs. Vygotsky. Ac Associated Content 08 December 2006. Feldmen, Robert. Child Development 5th edition. Prentice Hall, n.d. Gredler, Margaret E. Education Encyclopedia: Lev Vygotsky. 10 23 2009. . K. Geonnotti, D. Passalacqua. The Educational Theory of Lev Vygotsky: an analysis. 2007. .

Essay on Loosing Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown

Loosing Faith in Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, Young Goodman Brown is a story of sex, sin, and the Devil, all the entertaining things in life. Hawthorne uses many literary devices to impress strength in his work. Hawthorne uses these techniques to bring out the religious themes within the story. One of the main literary devices would be imagery. One of the most important images found in the story pertains to Faith and reaching heaven. Goodman Brown says, "...I‘ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven."(H-CAL 375). This follows traditional Puritan belief that if you have faith you will go to heaven. The uses of dark and light also help convey the religious theme of good and evil. Dark is used to symbolize evil, the woods is mainly where this is seen. Light is mostly seen in the beginning, before Goodman enters the forest. Before it all becomes dark and gray. Colors also played an important role. In the beginning Faith pink ribbons in her hair, which represent that she is young and happy. With white symbolizing purity and red representing passion,...

Long-Term Debt Gaap V Ifrs

Long-Term Debt U. S. GAAP vs. IFRS Scott Bailey Acc 311 Debruine Every company in the world must raise funds in order to finance its operations and expansion. The most common form of this funding is through the use of long-term debt. Depending on where the company does business and who uses their financial statements, there are different ways of recording this debt through the use of United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U. S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).The main differences between the two accounting standards, with regards to long-term debt recognition, deal with debt issue costs and convertible bonds. Debt issue costs are the payments associated with issuing debt, such as various fees and commissions to third parties. According to U. S. GAAP these payments generate future benefits that under ASC 835-30-45-3 are recorded on the balance sheet as deferred charges. These charges are capitalized, reflected in the balance sheet as an as set, and amortized over the life of the debt instrument. Early debt repayment results in expensing these costs.Under IFRS costs are deducted from the carrying value of the financial liability and are not recorded as separate assets. Rather, they are accounted for as a debt discount and amortized using the effective interest method. (IAS 39, par 43) The debate between which set of standards correctly portrays the financial implications of these costs is centered on the idea of matching expenses and revenue. Those for U. S. GAAP argue that the deferred costs create an asset to which we can then match the revenue with the expenses over the useful life of the debt.This is in compliance with the matching principle of the conceptual framework for financial accounting. Under IFRS the costs are said to be immaterial and do not require consideration of the matching principle. This brings up possible issues of managed earnings based on when companies are issuing debt and when they are recogni zing the issue costs. A convertible bond is a type of bond that the holder can convert into shares of common stock in the issuing company or cash of equal value, at an agreed-upon price.The difference between US and international standards arises when determining how to measure and account for convertible feature of the bond. Under U. S. GAAP, ASC-420-20-25-6 states: A contingent beneficial conversion feature shall be measured using the commitment date stock price but shall not be recognized in earnings until the contingency is resolved. This basically says that the convertible feature of the bond is not recognized until it is actually resolved.Under IFRS they refer to the convertible part of the bond (equity element) as an embedded derivative which must be accounted for separately from the liability element of the bond. (IAS 39, par 11) These embedded derivatives are treated the same as stand-alone derivatives in that they are measured at fair value with all changes in fair value r ecognized in profit or loss. (IAS 39, par 46) This process of recording causes a company to be less stable and more reactive to changes in the market. This is not necessarily a bad thing because it accurately portrays the value of the future benefits of the bonds.Accounting for convertible bonds and debt issue costs is likely to change in the future. The US and international standard boards are constantly working on a convergence in order to have a single set of accounting standards for every business. The issues with long-term debt are only a few of many differences that need to be resolved between IFRS and U. S. GAAP. They have been working on the idea of a convergence for many years and personally I do not believe there will be any type of convergence in the near future.With that being said it is important that we know the differences in reporting between IFRS and U. S. GAAP and are able to recognize the financial implications of these differences. Works Consulted Financial Accou nting Foundation. (n. d. ). Financial Accounting Standards Board. In FASB Accounting Codification Standards. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://www. fasb. org/home IFRS Foundation. (n. d. ). International Financial Reporting Standards. In eIFRS . Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://eifrs. ifrs. org/IB/Register

Nonstandard English Definition and Examples

Nonstandard English Definition and Examples Nonstandard English refers to any dialect of English other than Standard English  and is sometimes referred to as  nonstandard dialect or non-standard variety.  The term Nonstandard English is sometimes used disapprovingly  by non-linguists to describe bad or incorrect English. Examples and Observations It is no simple matter to define the difference between a standard and a nonstandard variety of language. However, for our purposes, we can define a standard dialect as one that draws no negative attention to itself... On the other hand, a nonstandard dialect does draw negative attention to itself; that is, educated people might judge the speaker of such a dialect as socially inferior, lacking education, and so on. A nonstandard dialect can thus be characterized as having socially marked forms, such as aint. A socially marked form is one that causes the listener to form a negative social judgment of the speaker.It is important to understand that identifying a dialect as standard or nonstandard is a sociological judgment, not a linguistic one.(F. Parker and K. Riley, Linguistics for Nons of widespread nonstandard grammatical forms in English include multiple negation.(Peter Trudgill, Introducing Language and Society. Penguin, 1992) In fiction nonstandard forms are mostly found in dialogue and they are used as a powerful tool to reveal character traits or social and regional differences.(Irma Taavitsainen, et al., Writing in Nonstandard English. John Benjamins, 1999) Nonstandard Usage in Huckleberry Finn I see Jim before me, all the time; in the day, and in the night-time, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a floating along, talking, and singing, and laughing. But somehow I couldnt seem to strike no places to harden me against him, but only the other kind. Id see him standing my watch on top of hisn, stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him agin in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and suchlike times; and would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was. And at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the  only  one hes got now; and then I happened to look around, and see that paper.It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a trembling, because Id got to decide, fo rever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself:All right, then, Ill go to hell- and tore it up.(Mark Twain,  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884) The kinds of errors that Huck makes [in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn] are by no means haphazard; Twain carefully placed them to suggest Hucks basic illiteracy but not to overwhelm the reader. Nonstandard verb forms constitute Hucks most typical mistakes. He often uses the present form or past participle for the simple past tense, for example, see or seen for saw; his verbs frequently do not agree with their subjects in number and person; and he often shifts tense within the same sequence.(Janet Holmgren McKay, An Art So High: Style in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New Essays on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ed. by Louis J. Budd. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985) The Stigma of Nonstandard English We should not be so naive... as to begin thinking that nonstandard English will ever shed its stigma. Many who argue against teaching Standard conventions seem to believe it will. The reality is that failure to teach the conventions of Standard and formal Standard English in our classes is unlikely to have any effect on societys attitudes toward speakers of nonstandard English, but it will most certainly have an effect on our students lives. Their horizons will be limited, and many at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale will remain ghettoized. On this basis alone, I would argue that we must push students to reach their full potential, especially with regard to language. Our society is growing ever more competitive, not less, and Standard English, because it is inclusive rather than limiting, is a basic requirement for social and economic opportunities.(James D. Williams, The Teachers Grammar Book, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2005)

Discover the Real You With Quotes About Me

Discover the Real You With Quotes About Me Discover your hidden talent. Quotes about me help you to unlock your potential. If you have forgotten your inner strength, it is time to regain your glory. Ask yourself, Who is the real me? When you read these inspirational quotes about me, you will find your feet. Marilyn Monroe I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent. Maya Angelou I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. Mark Twain I dont like to commit myself about heaven and hell you see, I have friends in both places. George Carlin The reason I talk to myself is that Im the only one whose answers I accept. Marilyn Monroe I restore myself when Im alone. Maya Angelou My life has been one great big joke, a dance thats walked a song thats spoke, I laugh so hard I almost choke when I think about myself. Thomas Jefferson I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. Walt Whitman Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. Epictetus God has entrusted me with myself. Robert Frost Humour is the most engaging cowardice. With it myself I have been able to hold some of my enemy in play far out of gunshot. Johann von Goethe All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own. Confucius And remember, no matter where you go, there you are. Julius Charles Hare Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are. Dr. Seuss Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind. H. F. Hedge Every man is his own ancestor and every man his own heir. He devises his own future, and he inherits his own past. Robert Frost Freedom lies in being bold. Pearl Bailey I never really look for anything. What God throws my way comes. I wake up in the morning and whichever way God turns my feet, I go. Robin Casarjean Take the time to come home to yourself every day. Frederick Perls I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it cant be helped. Virginia Satir I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me. I am me, and I am okay. Rene Descartes I think; therefore I am.

How to Use the Preposition To

How to Use the Preposition To To is one of the most common prepositions in English. The preposition to also a part of the infinitive form of the verb. For example, these are all infinitives: To doTo playTo sing Infinitives can be combined with other verbs such as hope, arrange, want, etc. I hope to see you next week.Tom arranged to have his sister picked up at the airport.Your sister wants to help you understand mathematics. The preposition to is also used as a preposition of movement or direction. To is sometimes confused with at or in. Both at and in show the place, but to shows movement to this place. For example: I live in Boston. Lets meet Tim at the town center for lunch. BUT I drove to Boston. We walked to the town center for lunch. Here is a summary of the uses of the preposition to. Important prepositional phrases with to are also used as discourse markers beginning sentences to link one sentence to the next. The Preposition To for Movement Use the preposition to when indicating that there is movement from one place to another. In other words, the preposition to with verbs such as drive, walk, go, hike, fly, sail, etc. Were flying to San Francisco on Thursday for a meeting.We thought we should walk to the bakery for breakfast because it is such a beautiful day.The captain sailed to the closest port. It should be noted that the preposition to is never used with the verb arrive even though it indicates movement. Use the preposition at with the verb arrive I arrived at work early in the morning.The children arrived at the park to meet their friends. To as Time Expression The preposition to can also be used to refer to time in the same sense as the time expressions till or until. Meridith worked to (OR until, till) five and then left.Were going to wait another three weeks to the end of the month. From/To Time Expressions When a starting time and a finishing time is mentioned, use the preposition from to express the beginning and to for the end. We usually work from eight in the morning to five oclock.She played the piano from ten to twelve. To in  Phrasal Verbs The preposition to is also used in many phrasal verbs. Here is a short list of some of the most common: look forward to somethingobject to somethingappeal to someoneboil down to somethingget to something I look forward to seeing you soon.Peter objected to the way he acted.That car really appeals to Susan.It boils down to this: You need to work hard.Just a moment, Ill get to that subject soon. To as Infinitive of Purpose   The preposition to is used as an infinitive of purpose to mean in order to. For example: I spent some money (in order) to get some help.Susan hasnt worked so hard (in order) to give up! Linking Phrases With To The preposition to is also used in a number of common phrases to link ideas, often at the beginning of a sentence. To a great extent To a great extent begins or ends sentences expressing that something is mostly true. To a great extent, the students work hard in this schoolI agree with Toms ideas to a great extent. To some extent To some extent is used to express that something is partially true. To some extent, I agree with the ideas introduced in this discussion.The parents are at fault to some extent. To begin/start with To begin/start with is used to introduce the first element in a discussion with many points. To begin with, lets discuss the problems weve been having in the classroom.To start with, Id like to thank you for coming tonight. To sum up To sum up introduces a final review of the key ideas in a discussion. To sum up, we need to invest more money in research and sales.To sum up, you think that its all my fault!. To tell the truth To tell the truth is used to express an honest opinion. To tell you the truth, I think Doug is not doing a very good job.To tell you the truth, Im tired of listening to politicians tell us lies.

The New Yorker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The New Yorker - Research Paper Example In 2010, the magazine employed sixteen fact checkers after sharp criticism concerning their fact checking process arose. In the following year, Adam Klasfeld in his article â€Å"Gawker Brought into New Yorker Fracas†, on the Courthouse News Service reported that the New Yorker had been sued by Peter Paul Biro for defamation on a July 2010 article. The magazine was unsuccessful in fighting for a dismissal of the case in 2012. Over the past two decades, the magazine has adopted the digital platform in its publishing and storage of material. Since the 1990s, the New Yorker published archived and the then current reports over the internet. In 2004, every cartoon printed since the inception of the magazine was published on compact discs. The magazine dà ©buted on Kindle and Nook in 2009 and went on to launch its iPad app the following year. The magazine was influential in the political scene in 2012 when it launched its online hub that centered on the coverage of the campaigns during the presidential election (New Yorker, web). This paper seeks to discuss the New Yorker’s move to go online and show why this decision is justified. The paper will also detail the application features and the benefits of this move to both the newspaper company and its audience. With technological developments, many users and organizations have favored the use of the internet for various basic functions such as communication, sales and advertising. As such, the use of smartphones and tablets has increasingly become a common occurrence among many people. These digital devices have user applications commonly referred to as â€Å"apps† that are designed to carry out a particular task. These programs are designed to run on the most common platform; android, Windows and iOS. Many businesses and organizations have adopted the use of these applications to interact with their target audience. The New Yorker is one such company (Jane, web). The magazine’s applications, known as the Goings

Case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Case study analysis - Essay Example Politically speaking, being green or a friend to the environment means that a legislator or a political maven would not be too friendly with performance and luxury car producers like BMW. Essentially, the entire industry is facing this problem and something must be done on a collective basis to counter the political forces. Since BMW is a global brand, it has to position itself according to the global market requirements for high end cars. In many places, the demand for luxury cars may not be as significant as others and since BMW is primarily a manufacturer of luxury cars, it should consider making inroads into areas like China and the Asia Pacific region where market growth is expected to boom in the coming years. Moreover, economic competition for BMW is rather difficult since it competes more on the idea of luxury and style which is often much better than the other producers in the market. However, for markets where the buyers are seeking to economise on their cars, the MINI brand can work quite well if the market segmentation is handled effectively (Harbour, 2001). Additionally, cars running on alternative fuels such as hydrogen and cars running with hybrid engines can also be created for markets where there is an adequate support network for both. While it is difficult to consider politically created socio-cultural factors as hurting or helping BMW’s position, the use of media, advertising and brand positioning all come into play under this title. Effective use of these sources can help BMW create, establish and even change their image if media sources are effectively managed by the company. The repute for German car making for example has long stood as a given in the car industry (Wikipedia, 2006). Similarly, the position of BMW as a luxury and performance car was certainly enhanced by the link to cultural icons like James Bond and such

Tourism and Holiday Leisure Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Tourism and Holiday Leisure Design - Essay Example The basic design of the tourism and holiday leisure product has to take into consideration the size of the product on offer, the facilities available and/or the quantity and level of services. This is to say that the tourism design package can either be big or small depending mainly on the tastes of the customers. The type of facilities available will also determine how the tourism product is designed. For instance, if the facilities are world-classes and top of the range tourist sites, then the design should reflect this. In some places the level of tourism services is very low while in some areas it is quite high. Therefore, the design of the tourism leisure product or service is likely to differ depending on the priority of tourism in a particular area (Williams and Buswell, 2003). The presentation of the tourism product available in a particular place will depend on the standard of services available. To keep people interested in the tourism package on offer, the standards of ser vice must also be high. Good services in the tourism sector are very important as they determine how well people respond to the tourism offers. If the services are poor, then most likely people will avoid that particular tourism destination and opt for one where they will get satisfactory services. Most product designs in the tourism sector include a wide range of vacation options. Also included in the designs of most travel and tour packages is consumer protection. Vacationers are normally out to enjoy themselves and the problem of insecurity is usually the last thing they would want to deal with (Pikketmaat and Weiermair, nd).  

Personal Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Personal Development - Essay Example This feeling of helplessness can further exacerbate their physical symptoms if it is not adequately dealt with. The ministrations of an empathetic and considerate nurse can put the patient at ease so that he or she does not feel too vulnerable. In this medical facility, the nurses were also responsible for administering medications to patients and monitoring blood sugar in the case of diabetic patients. I made the decision to prioritise my work in the morning in order to make as efficient a schedule as was possible for each day. Having reflected on the needs of each patient, I would then arrange them according to the cases of most importance before doing the rounds. Reflecting allowed me to be able to closely study the symptoms exhibited by each of my patients, thus allowing me to come up with the best ways of assisting their recoveries. For instance, I would accord more time for an anxious or discouraged patient in order to be able to speak more with them about their interests and f amily. This would help the patient to feel appreciated and less alienated. There are different theories on the importance of reflection and its basic benefits in a healthcare setting. Donald Schon believed that all reflective practices can be divided into reflection on action and reflection in action (Johns, 2011). Reflection on action basically describes the process of reconsidering an event that already took place while reflection in action is more concerned with processing an event even as it takes place (Redmond, 2006). In my first week of placement, reflection-on-action allowed me to be able to recount the actions of other nurses whom I had accompanied on rounds in order to... This paper approves that the nurse will be able to view his or her activities as part of the overall long-term goals. The nurse grows more confident in her or his own abilities to determine an illness without necessarily consulting medical texts. In stage four, the nurse will be more open to considering the symptoms of an illness as the parts of a whole. The nurse improves in terms of decision making and is more interested in engaging in patient-centred care. In the fifth stage, which is the last stage, the nurse uses past experiences to determine different illnesses of patients and does not rely on texts in determining different illnesses. At this stage, the nurse can also easily incorporate the latest medical procedures into patient treatment in order to produce the best outcomes and assist recovery. This paper makes a conclusion that reflecting on a regular basis will not only improve the quality of services extended to patients, but will also facilitate the personal development of individual nurses. Reflection can be conducted through official channels, such as supervised conferences that allow nurses to express their concerns without fear of censure, or in less formal circumstances like team huddles for ‘decompression’- which was something that was soon to be started where I was serving as a student nurse. While developing a nurse’s ability to confront daily challenges, reflection also seeks to make sure that nurses remain caring towards their patients, and perceptive of their particular needs.

Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Analysis - Assignment Example These questions represent 16% of the total question set. These questions may therefore need to be replaced by other questions which may be considered of optimal difficulty. Those having an optimal level of difficulty would have a difficulty index (P-value) of 0.50 0r 50% and those which were considered to0 easy would have a P- value of between 90 and 100 %. These are: From the information above and the Bar Graph in the Appendix it is clear to see that the easy questions are concentrated from the 1st to the 14th question, with the highest percentage (38%) coming from Chapter 15. A total of eight (8) questions were taken from this chapter. In applying the difficulty index five (5) questions fell below the optimum P- value of 0.50. These are considered fairly difficult and the percentage of candidates who answered them correctly ranged from 31 to 46%. The quiz items were as follows. This represents 10% of the total test items. Here Chapter 15 is featured once again. This additional information implies that 50% of the questions taken from that chapter may not be appropriate. I say may because there are various reasons why they may be allowed to remain. Low P-values normally suggest difficult items. It could mean that the question confused some candidates or that the contents related to those test items may need to be re-taught. The percentages noted above are considered above the P-value that would require the content to be re-taught. Further analysis could be carried out on items on the quiz that may be discriminatory. High values would be suggestive of discrimination (R). When a test item has a high R value it suggests that the candidates who received high test scores got the item correct while those with low scores in the quiz got the item incorrect. The Bar Graph and Pie Chart in the Appendix gives a graphical illustration of the results of the

Principles of Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Principles of Microeconomics - Essay Example Price fixation and cartel formation is illegal according to the U.S law. For example, there are three firms in an industry and they collude to form a cartel. They fix the prices they will charge from their customers and all the three firms charge the same price. Furthermore, firms may also fix prices to prevent new firms to enter the market. This is an example of horizontal price fixing and is illegal according to the US antitrust law. The US antitrust law discourages creation of monopoly and price fixing to stimulate competitiveness within an industry. However, there are some exceptions to the illegality of cartels in the US. For instance, if the agreement between two companies is a tacit one, it is not considered as illegal. For example, Pepsi and Coca Cola do not have any formal price fixing agreement. However, they have a tacit agreement whereby both the companies charge similar price from their customers. They do not compete on the basis of price but instead involve in non price competition to increase their market

Personal Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Personal Development - Essay Example This feeling of helplessness can further exacerbate their physical symptoms if it is not adequately dealt with. The ministrations of an empathetic and considerate nurse can put the patient at ease so that he or she does not feel too vulnerable. In this medical facility, the nurses were also responsible for administering medications to patients and monitoring blood sugar in the case of diabetic patients. I made the decision to prioritise my work in the morning in order to make as efficient a schedule as was possible for each day. Having reflected on the needs of each patient, I would then arrange them according to the cases of most importance before doing the rounds. Reflecting allowed me to be able to closely study the symptoms exhibited by each of my patients, thus allowing me to come up with the best ways of assisting their recoveries. For instance, I would accord more time for an anxious or discouraged patient in order to be able to speak more with them about their interests and f amily. This would help the patient to feel appreciated and less alienated. There are different theories on the importance of reflection and its basic benefits in a healthcare setting. Donald Schon believed that all reflective practices can be divided into reflection on action and reflection in action (Johns, 2011). Reflection on action basically describes the process of reconsidering an event that already took place while reflection in action is more concerned with processing an event even as it takes place (Redmond, 2006). In my first week of placement, reflection-on-action allowed me to be able to recount the actions of other nurses whom I had accompanied on rounds in order to... This paper approves that the nurse will be able to view his or her activities as part of the overall long-term goals. The nurse grows more confident in her or his own abilities to determine an illness without necessarily consulting medical texts. In stage four, the nurse will be more open to considering the symptoms of an illness as the parts of a whole. The nurse improves in terms of decision making and is more interested in engaging in patient-centred care. In the fifth stage, which is the last stage, the nurse uses past experiences to determine different illnesses of patients and does not rely on texts in determining different illnesses. At this stage, the nurse can also easily incorporate the latest medical procedures into patient treatment in order to produce the best outcomes and assist recovery. This paper makes a conclusion that reflecting on a regular basis will not only improve the quality of services extended to patients, but will also facilitate the personal development of individual nurses. Reflection can be conducted through official channels, such as supervised conferences that allow nurses to express their concerns without fear of censure, or in less formal circumstances like team huddles for ‘decompression’- which was something that was soon to be started where I was serving as a student nurse. While developing a nurse’s ability to confront daily challenges, reflection also seeks to make sure that nurses remain caring towards their patients, and perceptive of their particular needs.

Principles of Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Principles of Microeconomics - Essay Example Price fixation and cartel formation is illegal according to the U.S law. For example, there are three firms in an industry and they collude to form a cartel. They fix the prices they will charge from their customers and all the three firms charge the same price. Furthermore, firms may also fix prices to prevent new firms to enter the market. This is an example of horizontal price fixing and is illegal according to the US antitrust law. The US antitrust law discourages creation of monopoly and price fixing to stimulate competitiveness within an industry. However, there are some exceptions to the illegality of cartels in the US. For instance, if the agreement between two companies is a tacit one, it is not considered as illegal. For example, Pepsi and Coca Cola do not have any formal price fixing agreement. However, they have a tacit agreement whereby both the companies charge similar price from their customers. They do not compete on the basis of price but instead involve in non price competition to increase their market

Exogenous Auditory Spatial Attention Essay Example for Free

Exogenous Auditory Spatial Attention Essay Experiment one and two investigated exogenous covert auditory spatial attention. Experiment two used a white noise cue while experiment one used a 1000 Hz pure tone. Replacing the 1000 Hz with the white noise was deemed necessary due to a majority of the subjects in experiment one who reported high height discrimination with the pure tone. In both experiments a significant response time advantage was found for valid cues at the short SOA of 200ms. While there was no statistical advantage found for valid cues at the longer SOA’s of both 500ms and 1100ms. The results obtained mirror those found by Spence Driver (1994) for exogenous processing in that valid cues produced a response time advantage for short cue-target SOA’s. Exogenous processing of attention according to Posner (1980) refers to events controlling the orienting of attention outside the mechanisms or more specifically stimulus driven responses. The presence of the cue even if it is uninformative have led attention to focus on it albeit in a very short time and hence improved response time but for the short SOA only, it seems that when the SOA increases it takes more time to respond to the stimuli. Endogenous orienting is said to be a cognitive process wherein attention is â€Å"pushed† to the location where the target is expected (Spence Driver, 1994). Experiments 3, 4 and 5 tested endogenous auditory attention as opposed to the first two experiments which tested exogenous processing. Experiment 3 was similar to one of Spence and Driver’s experiment (4, 1994) with a slight variation in that informative cues were generated from a 3-dimensional sound apparatus. The informative cues used differed from the uninformative spatial cues of experiment 1 and 2. It was found that for this experiment (3) response time was faster for all SOA levels. The results differed from the first experiment where response time was found for the short term SOA (200ms) only. This tells us that in exogenous â€Å"stimulus driven† cueing, response time advantage is faster for the short term SOA because the attention is reacting only to the stimulus and it is for the short SOA only (100-500ms) when reaction to stimulus is immediate, as demonstrated in the first two experiments there is a drop-off in response time with longer SOA (600ms+). This drop-off in response time is referred to as inhibition of return and is a cost to the attentional system. In other words, when the subject knows that the cue is not helpful in determining the location of the target, the cue would be ignored, but right immediately the cue, attention is drawn to it even if unintentionally and for a very short time. Thus, when no other useful information is presented in that area of space the attentional focus wanders to other possible target locations. The faster response time for all SOA levels in experiment 3 says that the use of informative cues pushes attention towards the target. It was predicted that significant response time advantage would occur at the middle and long SOA levels (500ms and 1100ms) for valid cues as opposed to the invalid cues. It is clear that when subjects are cued as to the likely location of the target they attend to and use this information in looking for the location of the target. On acquisition of the cue information, the subject can shift spatial attention to the likely location of the subsequent target location. Due to the cognitive nature of the allocation of spatial attention to the cued location, believed to be a longer process than that of a stimulus driven attention capture, a strong response time advantage may not be found at short SOA (100-300ms). A cognitive based search for the target location would necessarily entail neural processes and this are indicative of covert orienting and is indicative that there is covert auditory attention as claimed by Spence and Driver (1994). In experiment 3 a significant response time advantage was found at all SOA’s for valid cues. Despite the significant response time advantage found for valid cues at the short SOA (200ms), these results were expected. Theory suggests that with a cognitive based search an informative cue will aid the detection and discrimination of a subsequent target at the cued location. This was observed in the results obtained with all SOA conditions showing a significant response time advantage. While the significant response time advantage found for the short SOA condition (200ms) is not necessary expected with a cognitive based cue, the cue used in experiment 3 (and in subsequent experiment 5) was both informative and spatial based. Therefore theory would suggest that both exogenous and endogenous processing would occur. The initial capture of attention to the spatial location of the cue would aid response time advantage at the short SOA condition (200ms), while the knowledge that the cue is informative would keep attention focused on the spatial location of the cue for longer aiding response time advantage for the other SOA conditions (500ms 1100ms). The results of experiment 3 however led to the question of whether spatial component of the informative cues affected the response time of the subjects, since like Spence and Driver (1994) the experimental conditions for experiment three was a combination of endogenous and exogenous factors. To test for a purely endogenous orientation, experiment four was carried out with this objective.

Introduction To European Food Cultural Studies Essay

Introduction To European Food Cultural Studies Essay Europe is not an unfamiliar name in an individual mindset. Many people aspire to go to Europe as it has a varied amount of distinctive features in terms of food and culture. Composing a major part of the world Europe is the second smallest continent having the third highest population and consists of fifty individual countries. The overlapping cultures of Europe are a distinctive feature perceived by the travellers. In terms of weather the Northern Europe has is covered with a blanket of cold and shorter winters and cooler summers than Southern Europe. However in the East and the West the winters are longer and colder and the summers are shorter and hotter. On the other hand Moscow which lies in the same latitude, it has an average January temperature if 14 degree F (-10 degrees). The central and Southern part of Europe has a warm and a moderate climate so the agricultural cultivation is possible. A country or a region is otherwise also recognised by its cuisine and it plays an important role in standing up for the popularity of the same. The cuisine in Europe is primarily inhabited by the local available products and is also influenced by the cultural factors. Hence the importance of culture cannot be ignored. European cuisine is also known as the western cuisine as it is represented by taking all the cuisines from Europe and western countries into consideration. The East Asians used European cuisine to differentiate between the European cuisine and Asian cuisine. It is also known as continental cuisine in some parts of the United Kingdom. On the other hand the westerners from North America, Australia and Latin America who travelled to the Europe increased the popularity of the cuisine globally and hence the dishes in Europe were categorised as European cuisine. Northern cuisine included the Danish cuisine, Finnish cuisine, Estonian cuisine, Irish cuisine, Swedish cuisine, English cuisine, Scottish cuisine, Welsh cuisine and Anglo- Indian cuisine. On the other hand the South European cuisine consists of the Croatian cuisine, Spanish cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Italian cuisine and Portuguese cuisine. The Eastern European cuisine is majorly influenced by the climate and consists of the German cuisine, Polish cuisine, Russian cuisine, Romanian cuisine, Ukrainian cuisine and Hungarian cuisine. Last but not the least the Western cuisine includes Austrian cuisine, Belgian cuisine, French cuisine, German cuisine and Swiss cuisine. http://www.europeword.com/blog/europe/european-cuisine, Accessed on 10TH March 2010 See full size image http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/italy/Italy_color.GIF,Accessed on 10TH March 2010. ITALY Italian cuisine has always considered one of the main influences of the new American cuisine developing in the United States, although it certainly is major influence, many people dont realize that only a fraction of the true Italian cuisine has made its way across the ocean. Whenever you look in Italy a robust love of cooking and an appreciation for the finer things in cuisine is found in Italy. This approach to eating and cooking developed differently in every region of Italy, resulting in one of the most varied and complicated national cuisine in the world. Italy is a dynamic country that has experienced many outside influences on its native culture and cuisine throughout history. Italy was once the home of the great Roman Empire which spread its influence across southern Europe northern Africa, and into Middle East, and the culture of these areas left their imprint on the Italian Cuisine as well. The ancient Greeks were know for their appreciation of the arts and many culinary traditions developed by the Romans in present days Italy are credited to the influence of the Greeks in Romans life. During the Greek Empire (600 BC-200BC) the Greek settled many colonies for trading purposes many of which developed into some of todays cities including Naples and Reggio. The Greek also settled Sicily and brought with them many ingredients that are now main elements of the Sicilian table, including grapes, olives, citrus and several preparations of the local seafood. In AD 827, Moorish Arabs conquered Sicily and ruled the island for 200 years, along with the parts of southern Italy and Sardinia, and they brought with them an understanding of distillation example Marsala fortified wine and grappa and freezing techniques example gelato (frozen flavoured milk), sorbet (frozen flavoured juice), and granite (slushy flavoured ice).Some of the ingredients the Arabs brought with them were spinach, pine nuts, eggplants, coffee, bitter oranges, rice, sugar, almonds, Marzapan and spices and many of the ingredients became regular components of Sicilia as well as Italian cuisine. The Arabs ruled Sicily and other parts of Italy and brought many of the sweet preparation that is found in Italian and in Sicilian Cuisine. The use of sugar in preparation of sweet dishes such as cannolis (fried pastry stuffed with sweetened cheese and other ingredients) and cassatas (rich cakes with dried fruit and marzipan topping) as well as numerous frozen desserts. The inhabilants of western Europe (Scandinavia, England and a part of France0 invaded southern Italy in AD 1000 and fought for control of the land, during which time baccala (salt cod) was introduced to the Italians. Spain fought with France for many years for influence in the Mediterranean and also rules Sicily from AD 1550 to AD 1714, during which time many of the new world ingredients were introduced to the peninsula including chiles, chocolate, tomatoes corn, potatoes and beans. Corn was quickly adopted in northern part of Italy but it took much longer for some of the ingredients from the Americans to obtain general acceptance in Italy. The French have a long history of rule over areas of Italy, such as the former area of Savoy in the north western Italy or cross cultural influences. The marriage of Catherine de Medici to the eventual king of France is but one example of why culinary traditions and ideas flowed so freely between the two countries. Refined sauces. Roasted meats. Stewed meats and vegetables, pureed soups and the prevalence of cheese all reveal this connection. The northern part of Italy that borders Austria was under Austrian control in 1713, and this period relate in similarity between northern Italy and Austria. Crauti, strudel. and goulash found in north of Italy. MacVeigh, J. (2009) International Cuisine. New York: Delmar Top of Form ITALIAN CUISINE Modern Italian cuisine can be identified by its two branches the northern part region of Italy which include Val DAosta region which borders France and includes major cities Aosta and Turin. This region includes some culinary traditions that resemble French tradition and recipe. The region once was a part of a kingdom called Savoy. The common ingredients from this area are mushroom, chestnut, corn, young ox, pheasant. Some of the product that are produced in the Valley of Aosta include fontina, which may be found in local fonduta (melted cheese dip) as a means of using the scraps of left over cheese cutting. The cured meats and sausages from this region are also well known and include pancetta steccata, coppa al ginapro, and mocette. This region has produced a number of local specialities including zuppa di pane (bread soup), carbonade sauce with pancetta and egg), montebianco (sweetened chestnut puree) and polenta cunsa (polenta layered with cheese and mushroom). Piemonte which is located in east of the Aosta Valley and is also situated within the Alps. This region includes cities like Turin and Asti and has culinary connection with France. The Piedmont area includes the foot hills of the Apls, which are rich in game and truffles, as well as the PO valley, where much of the quality rice is grown which is used to make risotto. Some of the ingredients found in this region are hazelnut, truffles, manzo, Arborio and carnaroli. Some of the recipes and products common to this region are tomini, bagna caoda, castelmango, bollito misto, salsa verde, risotto, grissini and zabaglione. Lombardia region in Italy occupies the centre of the most northern section of Italy, with its northern neighbour of Switzerland bordering its northern reaches. This region is the birth place of well known recipes as risotto alla Milanese. Pannetone. Osso bucco and tortelli de zucca as well as the producer of bresaola, gorgonzola, bel paese, Asiago and mascarpone.Some of the ingredients used in this region are butter, asparagus, pork,oca,trout and squash. Veneto region is the most eastern portion of the Po vally that stretches towards the Adriatic Sea.Veneto includes the ramous city of Venice, which was once the major port of Europe and controlled the trade of coffee, salt, spice and sugar. Some of the common ingredients of this region include granoturco, riso, radicchio, fagioli, asparagus, zucca, cavolo, patatas, pesce and burro. The region product and recipe include pasta and beans, rice and peas, carpaccio, polenta and tiramisu. Friuli Venezia Guilia is the most eastern part of Italy and borders Austria to its north. Slovenia to its east and the Adriatic Sea to its south. It has been significantly influenced by its northern neighbours, including Austria Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. This area include Trieste an important seaport to the region that dish. Has a long incorporation of ingredients from countries such as poppy seeds, paprika, caraway and horseradish. The most commonly used ingredients in this area are polenta. Liguria region is bordered by Piedmont to the north and by Emilia- Romagna and Tuscany to the east and includes the major city of Genoa. Some of the common ingredients used in this area are sultanas, rabbit, basil, pine nuts, walnuts, olive and fish. Some of the common dishes are pesto alla Genovese, vincigrassi, salsa di noci, trenette, gnocchi, buridda(fish soup), torta pasqualina, ravioli and focaccia. The western and the northern portion of Emilla Romagna includes the southern part of the Po valley while the southern portion dominated by the Apennines Mountain that run run through the heart of Italy. Some of the major cities include Parma, Bolongna, Reggio, Modena, and Piacenza and each contributes to the richness of the cuisine of the region. The ingredients commonly used in this region are mela, maiale, milk, sole, eel, tomato, grapes, oregano, and other aromatic herbs. Some the common recipes are brodetto, anolini, tortellini, tagliatelle and lasagne. The piquancy of southern cooking comes from herbs and spices. Especially garlic and chilli peppers. Italy first pasta was produced in the south though noodles were preceded by flatbread called focacce. Arab established a pasta industry in the Sicily using durum wheat for dried pasta. Short type of pasta is referred as maccheroni and long type of pasta is referred as spaghetti and vermicelli. Spiral shape fusilli, oblique tubes called penne, and larger tubes called ziti and zite are also popular. Fresh pasta is also prized, sometimes but not usually made with eggs, in such familiar dishes are lasagne, fettuccine and ravioli. MacVeigh, J. (2009) International Cuisine. New York: Delmar Equipment used in Italian Cuisine See full size image Pasta Machine: A stainless steel, hand- cranked pasta machine helps cooks churn out homemade pastas. These are clamped to the edge of a table or counter, and a variety of sizes and shapes of pasta are rolled out through various attachments. http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:hb7s4GLVWw9RhM:http://fantes.com/images/14870mezzaluna.jpg Messalina: A mezzaluna is a half-moon-shaped knife with handles at the ends of the blade; Cooks roll the blade from side of side to chop herbs and vegetables. Be careful using a mezzaluna as the blade is extremely sharp. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:5sdS0vFyO9l_vM:http://www.saltandpepper.co.uk/cms_images/product/large_JudgePastaPot.jpg Pasta Pot: A five quart pot is a good size for cooking for two. Purchase one with an inner draining basket that has handles. Once the water has come to a boil and pasta is cooked, raise the basket up by its handles to drain. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:WQJ_jpEFD7y5NM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Zest_Grater.jpg Grater: A basic, four-sided grater will work just fine for most needs. Another option is a rotary cheese grater, which has a container to catch the cheese. The grater may have different-size apertures as well. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:UztbK8JgsY96_M:http://www.hospitalitywholesale.com.au/products/ravioli-cutter1.jpg Ravioli: A nifty tool is a ravioli cutter, which is handy for cutting ravioli or pizza. http://www.ehow.com/facts_5317888_italian-cooking-equipment.html Accessed on 13th January 2010 http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/spain_mineral_1974.jpg http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/spain_mineral_1974.jpg, Accessed on 10tth March 20102. SPAIN Like many other Mediterranean countries Spains culinary heritage can be traced back to the Roman times and much later to the Middle East and the Moors. The Spanish were justifiably proud of themselves when in 1492 the Moorish strong hold at Grenada was conquered, which was to be the beginning of a period of trade and a colonial power. At its zenith the Spanish realms took in all of Spain, Portugal, Hollad, parts of Italy and the North and Central America, most of the Caribbean island and all the South America continent. It is understandable that Spain has absorbed a whole range of cookery styles to produce its own distinctive style. The fertile country attracts millions of visitors each year and supplies many of its European neighbours with high quality fruit and vegetables of all kind and in all season. It has European largest fishing fleet and produces many very fine wines. Many of its popular dishes are mixture of fish, selfish, meat, poultry and game with an assortment of vegetables and cereals. The language of Spain reflects the inherent diversity. Even though Spanish is the official language, other languages in Spain are highly dominant in parts of the country and have been officially recognized. The Spanish culture would not be complete without mentioning two of the most popular customs of Spain: flamenco and bullfighting. These customs are synonymous an important part of any fiesta or carnival in Spain. Finch, C.F. and Cracknell, H.L. (1997) International Gastronomy. England: Addison Wesley Longman Limited. Spain Cuisine The cuisine of Spain is simple hearty and flavourful. In the Iberian Peninsula, there is no haute or classic cuisine that divides the social strata. Dishes are the same on the dinner tables of rich and poor alike. Spanish cooking with its diverse influence is Europe melting pot. Ex the use of fins and seafood as staple ingredients, and the preservation of fish as a cooking technique came from the Phoenicians. The use of olive oil and grape wine was introduced by the Greeks. Garlic arrived via the Romans while spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, pepper and cumin were brought by the Arabs. Gaspacho, a popular tomato based soup served cold, also came from the Arab cusine. Cocido Middleno, the national dish illustrates the abundance and vigor of Spanish cooking. Cocido is a slow cooked hearty stew that blends textures and flavours of chicken, beef, pork, chorizo sausages, veal and a staple ingredient of garbanzos {chick peas}. Cabbage, potatoes carrots onions and noodles are also added. The stew is served with a variety of sauces and always with fresh, crusty bread. The northern region of Spain includes the Atlantic coast of Spain above Portugal and the north central Basque region bordering the Atlantic and the southern western corner of France. The climate of this region is wetter than much of the rest of the country. Some of the products and recipes of this region are idiazabal (semisoft sheep milk), empnadas (savory filled pies), bacaloa a la viscaina (salt cod with chillies), pil-pil (sauce made from cod, garlic and olive oil) and caldo gallego (broth with ham, beans and sausage). Catalonia and Aragon lies to the north of France and Mediterranean lies towards the east. The climate of Catalonia has a mild climate and is surrounded by a harsher terrain and climate. This region is more complex in its varied ingredients. Where as the climate of Aragon region is much harsher then Catalonia region. Some of the common ingredients used in this region are tomatoes, spring onion, chiles, asparagus, and wild mushroom. The common recipes used in this region are pa ambtomaquet (grilled bread rubbed with ripe tomatoes), calcotada (spring onion grilled and served with rosesco sauce), and crema catalane custard with caramelized sugar on top), Camerano (fresh goat milk cheese) and samfaina (summer vegetable sauce or stew). The Balearic Island lies to the eastern coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea and relies heavily on the sea. The specialities of this region are pa pages (compressed fig, anise and bread cake), burrida (fish soup eith almond) and caldereta de langosta (lobster stew). Tapas served in appetizer sized portions, are uniquely Spanish and one of the most delighted aspects of Spanish cuisine. They range from very simple fare such as cured ham and simple canapà ©s, to sophisticated dishes that use fresh snails, caviar, frog legs and quail. Also famous is paella a colourful rice dish with seafood or meats and various vegetables and saffron.Paella was invented in 200 years ago. It is a summer dish, intendedfor picnics, and generally cooked by men in a flat pan set over a charcoal. Desserts include flan a variety of caramel custards and the Andalusian Yemas a confection of Moorish origin that uses egg yolks and sugar. In addition to sherry and fine wines, Spaniards frequently serve sangria a cocktail of red wine brandy fresh fruit and soda water. MacVeigh, J. (2009) International Cuisine. New York: Delmar Equipment Used in the Spanish Kitchen http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:OGhvjSePAnJzGM:http://www.hospitalitywholesale.com.au/products/black-iron-paella-pan1.jpg The Paellero or Paella Pan is a hugely important piece of Spanish kitchen equipment which is used to make paella. It is a large round shallow pan that has been used from generation to prepare the world famous Spanish Dish. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:o6VbjyALXUGEYM:http://www.tienda.com/images/recipes/pix_cazuelas.jpg The earthenware dish or Cazuelas makes a regular appearance in the Spanish kitchen. They are available in very small cookware which is used to serve tapas. The Spanish kitchen will be in completed with this cookware because they retain the heat after cooking it is perfect for Gambas al pil-pil a classic spicy dish of chill and garlic prawns. http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:1NmpCEmgoeOUkM:http://www.ioshenonline.co.uk/images/stories/newimages/RGBJpeg/b_carving%2520knife%2520%26%2520fork%2520%26%2520ham.jpg The Ham carving knife is used to carve Serrano ham into wafer thin slices. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:2ohKNv6ltDjbIM:http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1/3690844-Cataplanas-Algarve.jpg Capaplanas traditional domed clam cooker from the Algarve region in southern region of Portugal. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:U78f3sXK-TRxnM:http://inventoseinventores.com/boutique/images/JAMONERO%2520VERTICAL.jpg Casserole dish, Jamonero or ham stand are some of the other equipment used. http://www.hub-uk.com/interesting02/spanish-kitchen.htm, Accessed on 8th January 2010 Traditional Food Preparation Method used. In Spain meat, fish and poultry or game is prepared using a variety of methods. The Most common terms used in the Spanish kitchen are: Cocido- stews or stewed. Other term used for the same method is Guisado and Estofado. A la parilla or a la bras charcoal grille. La parilla is a BBQ grate and la brase is a live or hot coal. A la plancha- grilled on a metal plate. Al pil-pil sauce which is originated in the Basque country is made of oil in which the fish has been cooked. http://spanishfood.about.com/od/cookingtipsandbasics/a/cookmethodsmeat.htm, Accessed on 8th January 2010

Code Of Hummurabi :: Hummurabi Code of Law

In his position as King of Babylonia, Hammurabi managed to organize the world's first code of laws and establish Babylon as the dominant and successful Amorite city of its time. "Records written on clay tablets show that Hammurabi was a very capable administrator and a successful warrior. His rule spanned from 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. When he became king in 1792, he was still young, but had already become entrusted with many official duties in his administration" (Grolier). In the early years of his reign, Hammurabi mostly participated in traditional activities, such as repairing buildings, digging canals, and fighting wars. Yet later in his rule, Hammurabi organized a unique code of laws, the first of its kind, therefore making himself one of the world's most influential leaders. Hammurabi was primarily influential to the world because of his code of laws. This code consisted of 282 provisions, systematically arranged under a variety of subjects. He sorted his laws into grou ps such as family, labor, personal property, real estate, trade, and business. This was the first time in history that any laws had been categorized into various sections. This format of organization was emulated by civilizations of the future. For example, Semitic cultures succeeding Hammurabi's rule used some of the same laws that were included in Hammurabi's code. Hammurabi's method of thought is evident in present day societies which are influenced by his code. Modern governments currently create specific laws, which are placed into their appropriate family of similar laws. Hammurabi had his laws recorded upon an eight foot high black stone monument. Hammurabi based his code on principles like, the strong should not injure the weak, and that punishment should fit the crime. As for punishment, "legal actions were initiated under the code by written pleadings; testimony was taken under oath. The code was severe in it's penalties, prescribing "an eye for an eye, a tooth f or a tooth.""(Grolier). This code of laws was able to be maintained by invoking the authority of the gods and the state. Although the punishments were different than those of today, the authority of the state (government) is similar. Currently, punishments are issued through the state's law enforcement system, comparable to the way punishment was determined and enforced in ancient Babylon. In the code, crimes punishable by death required a trial in front of a bench of judges. Included in these crimes were: bigamy, incest, kidnapping, adultery and theft.

Finding James Cains Life in Mildred Pierce Essay -- Biography Biograp

Finding James Cain's Life in Mildred Pierce      Ã‚   An individual is greatly influenced by his/her environment, life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   challenges, and experiences. As a result, in addition to imagination, a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   novelist uses his life experiences to create his/her books. The influence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of James Cain's life in his writing is obvious.   In Mildred Pierce, James   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cain utilized his characters to portray the hardships suffered in the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Great Depression, characteristics that impressed him about his mother, and   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  his experience with love.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   James Cain employed his experience of the Great Depression as a context of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mildred Pierce. Like any American who lived during this period, he   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   suffered from this economic slowdown. In November 1931, Cain came to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hollywood to start a six-month contract with Paramount; however, "within   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   six months of his arrival in Hollywood, Cain was out of job in the middle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of the Depression"(Contemporary Authors Online). Layoffs were common   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   because of the bad recession. Thus, although James Cain attained a job at   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Columbia, he quickly lost it (Skenazy 12). Consequently, Cain used the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   effects of the late 1920's market crash to create the story of Mildred   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pierce. Bert, Mildred's husband, lost all his invested money in the AT&T   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   stock on "Black Thursday of 1929, and his plunge to ruin was so rapid he   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   could hardly see Pierce Homes disappear on his way down" (Cain 10).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Similar to Bert, Cain was financially unstable, with a wife and two   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   children to support. Cain wrote some stories and essays; nevertheless, the... ...pedia of World Biography Supplement, Vol. 19.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hoopes, Roy. Cain: The Biography of James M. Cain. Southern   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Illinois: University Press, 1987.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Marling, William. Hard-Boiled Fiction. Case Western Reserve   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   University. Updated 2 August 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (http://www.cwru.edu/7177060/artsci/engl/marling/hardboiled/Cain%20James.HTM)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Murray, Bill.   James M. Cain: July 1, 1892 - October 27,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1977.(http://www2.rmcil.edu/users/dhaynes/hum120/caincainbio.htm)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Skenazy, Paul. Cain James M. (James Mallahan), 1892-1977.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New York: Continuum, 1989.      

Colgate-Palmolive Company profile Essay

Colgate –Palmolive is a well-known brand that served more than a billion of people all around the world in different country. This company is founded in 1806 and the founder is known as William Colgate. For now, Colgate is running in a multinational consumer products company that focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health and personal care products. Meanwhile, the mission and goals of Colgate is by reducing total delivered cost, extending technology resources and developing excellence in purchasing, logistics and sourcing processes to provide Colgate with a significant competitive advantage (Colgate World of Care, 2014). Product Overview Nowadays, Colgate provides oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition product under different trusted brands like Colgate, Palmolive, Speed Stick, Protex, Ajax, Axion, GLO, Softlan and Lady Speed Stick. In our opinion, Colgate should come out with a new production line extension for kid’s toothpaste by adding more different flavor. As what we know, nowadays most of the parent will let their kid’s to choice their own toothpaste, so that they will more likely to brush their teeth daily with using their favorite toothpaste. Besides, this new product line extension will also provide Colgate to have a more competitive advantage in the market. Competitor Analysis The major competitor for this new product line extension is Kodomo Lion. This company is the leading company in Malaysia for kid’s toothpaste as they are the specialist in this region (Kodomo Lion, 2014). Next, the strength of this strong competitor is they are specialist in producing kid’s toothpaste for many years, their brand is well-known by a lot of customer that have children and the consumer have bigger confidence for Kodomo kid’s toothpaste against other competitors as the toothpaste that produce by Kodomo contain ‘Xylitol’, which is something that could reverse early formation of tooth decay in teeth (Shen Li, 2014). But, there is also a weakness of this strong competitor. Kodomo Lion is not often to have an advertisement for their product, therefore, Colgate have a very big chance to increase their market in this region by attracting more new customer like new mother and father  that just have their kid’s. Target Market and Positioning Strategy By using the bases for segmenting consumer markets, demographic segment is the most suitable segment for this new product line extension by dividing the market into groups based on variables such as family size, family life cycle and age. On the other hand, the consumer in this target market must have the characteristic as the consumer household must have at least a kid`s and have the knowledge to maintain the health of teeth for kid`s. Example, parent and guardian; that both of them have the highest consumption of the product as there are the one that decide to purchase which brand of kid`s toothpaste even though they are the non-user in the product category. Then, when come to the positioning strategy, this new product could use the benefits, needs or solution positioning strategy. With adding more new flavor to this product that the competitor do not have, it will give the product a distinctive edge and this will also help the product to differentiate from the competitor as there is only a single company is producing this kind of flavor for kid`s toothpaste. Core Product The core product is the intangible product that cannot be touched (Cuccureddu, 2011). It is the benefits of the product that makes it valuable to the customers, which determine customer’s decision (Friesner, 2014). Therefore, when Colgate comes out with the kid’s toothpaste, it will emphasizes on the benefits that it enables clean, strong, and healthy teeth as well as the prevention of tooth decay for kids. It will also point out in all Colgate kid’s toothpaste advertisement that the calcium contain in its kid’s toothpaste is able to lead to a stronger and healthier teeth since calcium has been widely believed to have strengthen the teeth. Actual Product The actual product is the tangible and actual physical of product (Cuccureddu, 2011). It includes the level of quality, special product and service features, branding, styling and packaging (Friesner, 2014). In the case for this Colgate kid’s toothpaste, its actual product would be the toothpaste itself that contain high level of fluoride and calcium and also include different color of packaging for different type of flavor in order  to persuade customer to buy the toothpaste. For example, pink packaging for strawberry, orange packaging for orange, purple packaging for grape, and red packaging for apple. The most importantly is the logo, Colgate, which color can only be white to promote clean and healthy teeth. Augmented Product The augmented product can be referred as the non-physical part of product (Cuccureddu, 2011). It usually consists of additional features or benefits and added value to the actual product (Friesner, 2014). For the Colgate kid’s toothpaste, the important augmented features that it will have include is the flip-cap package so it will be more easier to use and also more convenient to store for the kids. Another augmented feature Colgate kid’s toothpaste has is that it offers a very lovely and likeable taste as well as fresher breath. Branding Colgate can develop a stronger branding for the kid’s toothpaste through advertising. For example, Colgate can advertise their product through magazine ads, commercial ads and printed ads that can be placed in billboards on roadsides, sides of buses and dentist offices. This can be done to promote the new kid’s toothpaste and create parents awareness at the same time as well as remind them of existing products. Packaging As for the packaging, Colgate kid’s toothpaste has to come in eye-catching and attractive colorful pack in order to get attention from customers. As mentioned earlier, the kid’s toothpaste should come with different packaging color according to the types of flavor so that parents or kids can easily locate it from the retailer shelf. Labeling When comes to the labeling, it is important for Colgate to have include label in the kid’s toothpaste as reference for the customers like parents. For example, it should include the list of active and inactive ingredients, purpose, direction to use, warning and many more to provide necessary information for the parents. Provision It is a wise idea for Colgate to market the kid’s toothpaste with user-friendly packaging such as flip-cap package to replace the old twist  cap. It provides a more convenient and ease of use of the toothpaste not only for parents but also for the kids so they won’t left the cap open. Promotion in the marketing is like a tool, which helps a company to let the people know about the product. The main purpose of the promotion is to Create Awareness, Persuasion, Education, Information, Emotion, Brand Loyalty, and Understanding. Adopting a good promotional strategy Colgate has succeeded to retain its customers and image. By this Colgate strongly focuses on different promotional strategies i.e. mass selling, advertising, publicity and sale promotion etc. Colgate has done in the past and still doing at the moment. Advertising Advertising is the paid and non- personal communication of a marketing message by an identified sponsor through mass media such as television, newspapers, magazines, Internet or radios (Levens, 2012, p. 228).Advertising is typically done to promote and inform consumers about the new products as well as build awareness among them. The reason we choose advertising as one of our promotional strategies is because it is a cost effective and creative way to communicate with group of customers, can effectively inform consumers about the features and benefits of the new product, it can help begin and maintain a dialogue with a target market. Our advertising objective is to inform and provide consumers with features and benefits of the new product as well as build awareness in the market to attract consumers. Our target market for this new product is kids, so we have decided to advertise our product through mass media such as commercials on TV, magazines and reading materials. Almost all groups of people will spend their time on watching TV so commercials on TV are essential and necessary to build awareness and attract our target market, kids. For example, when kids saw something they are interested in, definitely they will request their parents to buy it for them like every kids do. Of course, attracting kids only will not be enough to attract consumers. We have also decided advertise through magazines and reading materials to aware parents of the new product. Every parents are definitely willing to buy a product that will be best and benefits their kids. These will definitely stimulating the demand and hence boost the sales of this new product. Sales Promotion Sales promotion is defined as short-term activities that encourage the sales of a product or service. Sales promotion usually involved a wide assortment of tools such as coupons and premiums to attract customers. For examples: organizations use sales promotion to create response in the market by adding urgency, and changing what the customers perceive value for money. In this assignment we put our main focus on customer promotions. We would set up few kiosks in healthcare section of different shopping malls, and offer consumers our new flavor Colgate toothpaste in small packing for free when they tending to purchase Colgate toothpaste. Besides that, we will encourage those customers who tried the new flavor Colgate toothpaste to make a repeat purchase. To achieve that goal, we will offer them a value pack of our toothpaste in order to get their attention and make immediate purchase. With all these efforts, the purchase time will be shorten and achieving high sales (Hose, 2014). The cost will be high at initial stage, but eventually this would boost up the sales with low profits. Most important is we may achieve repeated sales of our new product, and also increase the market shares. In long term, if we putting more efforts on sales promotion, this will pull consumers away from our competitors such as Darlie, Sensodyne, Fresh & White and others. Lastly, the sales promotion can be used as a helpful marketing tool in order to achieve company promotional goal, as it may benefit Colgate to attract more new potential consumer further enhance the market share with their new flavor toothpaste (Boundless, 2014) Public relations Public relations is a communication that is designed to improve and enhance mutual understanding and positively affect relationships between marketer and its internal and external publics (Levens, 2012, p.233). The internal and external publics are people inside or outside the company such as customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, community members and others. The objectives of public relations are building product awareness, providing information and building goodwill among an organization’s target market through events, conferences, public appearance and sponsorship. We have decided to include public relations in our promotional tools because public relations objectives can be attained at a very low cost compared to other  promotional tools, well-structured public relation conferences, events, campaigns and sponsorship can reveal and expose more detailed information to target market. For example, we can organize special events on holidays to interact with consumers face to face in a more crowded area such as shopping mall, provide a talk for consumers about the features and benefits of the new product on how can it benefits the target market. We can also offer giveaway prizes of the new toothpaste in a smaller package to the consumers who have participated in the event to attract more consumers to attend the event. By this, consumers will have a chance to try our products thus we can get feedbacks from them. Besides, we can also organize ‘Health and Care’ campaigns in primary schools to inform the kids about the importance of brushing teeth and taking good care of our tooth. Hence, demonstrate on how to brush our tooth correctly and provide them with the new toothpaste in a mini package so that everyone can have a try. With the new flavors in the toothpaste, it is believed that kids will definitely attracted to the flavors and ask their parents to bu y for them. References List Boundless (2014) Sales promotion. Available from: https://www.boundless.com/definition/sales-promotion/ [Accessed 10 May 2014] Colgate World of Care (2014), Global Procurement Mission & Goals. Available from: http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/ContactUs/GMLS/MissionAndGoals.cvsp [Accessed 10th May 2014]. Cuccureddu, G. (2011). Co-creation And The Impact On The Three Levels Of Product. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/co-creation-and-the-impact-on-the-three-levels-of-product-2011-9?IR=T& [Accessed 13 May. 2014]. Emily, W (2014) Marketing Mix – Promotion and Promotional Strategies. Available from: http://www.learnmarketing.net/promotion.htm [Accessed 9 May 2014] Friesner, T. (2014). Three Levels of a Product – Marketing Teacher. [online] Marketing Teacher. Available at: http://www.marketingteacher.com/three-levels-of-a-product/ [Accessed 13 May. 2014]. Hose, C (2014) Difference between Advertising Strategy & Promotion Strateg y. Available from:

Educational Preparation Essay

There are many differences in the competencies of Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates. To start, I think it is best to look at the through the perspective student’s eyes when they are deciding which type of program to attend. The first question one may ask is â€Å"How long is this going to take?† On average, an ADN program takes 3 years to complete, the BSN requires a minimum of 4 yeas. The difference in the length of programs is first based on the amount of prerequisites required. â€Å"While Associate Degree in Nursing students do need to take science prerequisites and some liberal arts classes, they don’t have to earn nearly as many credits in this area as BSN students do.† (ADN vs BSN Debate I Difference in Competencies, Salary & Education.2013) â€Å"Instead of the sixty-six nursing credits that a BSN student must complete, the student in the associate degree program needs forty-nine nursing credits† (ADN vs BSN Debate I Difference in Competencies, Salary & Education.2013) Therefore, the ADN program takes less time to complete, is more condensed, and is more focuses on clinical skills. BSN programs have a direct goal of not only graduating clinically competent nurses, but nurses that understand that this profession is deeply rooted in science and theory. The differences in competencies between the ADN and BSN nurse is based on this understanding of science. If you had to explain what science is in one word that word would be â€Å"why†. BSN programs are typically centered around critical thinking and evidence based practice – they â€Å"why† of nursing. â€Å"Numerous research studies have demonstrated that the ADN and BSN nurses are not different in skill competency when they graduate, but within a year, the BSN nurses show greater critical thinking skills, better problem solving, and the development of clinical judgment; three skills of increasing importance for the increase in acuity of patients in hospitals and other health care settings.† (West Coast University: Dean’s Corner – The Differences Between Associate Degree Nurses and the Baccalaureate Degree Nurses.2009) The ability to use critical thinking when caring for a patient is what defines all other competencies. Competencies aren’t based on just the task the nurse is about to complete, but knowing why she is working towards completing this task. Without that training in understanding the â€Å"why†, her competencies are limited to just tasks. A fast growing trend in nursing today is complex technology used in patient care. Often times the nurse finds herself faced with not only caring for the patient, but managing high-tech equipment involved in that patient care. Being a resourceful nurse is not just beneficial, but crucial to patient care. BSN prepared graduates are experts in research due to the expectations in the BSN curriculum. â€Å"A major concern in an era of evidence-based practice is that the majority of practicing nurses have not experienced a formal research course. These classes are generally lacking outside of the baccalaureate curriculum. It would seem that an understanding of the research process would be necessary to deliver optimal patient care† (Ayers & Coeling, 2006; Thorpe & Smutko, 1998). The ability to conduct research appropriately is a skill that is taught. We live in an age where information is just a click away. If a nurse isn’t using the correct resources, the patient is the one that suffers. The push for continuing education in nursing is one of the many forces that shaped what nursing is today. The BSN prepared nurse encompasses the ability to be resourceful, a bold and capable critical thinker, and one that will lead the profession into a strong future. As a nurse, we should never settle for just the standards put in front of us. We should always be looking for a way to improve patient care for the individual patient, as well as the practice of nursing as a whole. To settle for just the minimal requirements and standards of nursing is to just complete the tasks assigned to us. Developing critical thinking is what brings us to better patient outcomes. Learning to think ahead – planning for the worst, expecting the best is what restores patient health. The human body is a dynamic, complex integration of systems working in unison to maintain life. If one of those systems is not working correctly the nurse is cued in because of our critical thinking skills. It is what keeps the nurse’s brain â€Å"on†, assessing at a constant. It’s not always the system we’re â€Å"caring for† that tells us what is wrong. This is where the critical thinking comes in. We should always be asking â€Å"why† as a nurse. References ADN vs BSN Debate I Difference in Competencies, Salary & Education. (2013). Best Nursing Schools, Degrees & Online Nursing Programs. Retrieved January 13, 2013, from http://www.bestonlinenursingprograms.com/3356/adn-vs-bsn-debate Ayers, D., & Coeling, H. (2006). Incorporating research into associate degree nursing curricula. Journal of Nursing Education, 44(11), 515-518. West Coast University: Dean’s Corner – The Differences Between Associate Degree Nurses and the Baccalaureate Degree Nurses. (2009, February). West Coast University – Nursing Programs – Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire. Retrieved January 13, 2013, from http://www.westcoastuniversity.net/deanscorner/print.php?article=22

HRD assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

HRD assignment - Research Paper Example Evaluation is characterized as either formative or summative . Broadly , formative evaluation focuses on what leads to an intervention working, and summative evaluation, on the other hand, looks at specifically the short-term to long-term outcomes of an intervention on the groups targeted. Formative evaluation takes place before the project, and also during the project so as to improve the design of the project as it is being put into implementation. Formative evaluation is usually used in qualitative ways of inquiry. Summative evaluation is used during and after the project implementation, and it is associated with more decision, quantitative methods. The difference between formative and summative evaluation is blurred. Generally it is of paramount importance to have knowledge of how an intervention works, and also if it worked. It is thus important to capture and make assessment of both qualitative and quantitative data. Importance of Evaluation The first importance of evaluation i s that evaluation theories are a way of consolidating lessons learned, that is, of synthesizing prior experience. They help evaluators develop a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of the way organizations make decisions and may be influenced by evaluation findings. Theories enable us to learn from the experience of others. Second, comparing evaluation theories are a useful way of identifying and better understanding the key areas of debate within the field. Comparative study of evaluation theory likewise helps crystallize what the unsettled issues are in practice. A third reason for studying evaluation theory is that the theory should be an important part of our identities as evaluators, both individually and collectively. If we think of ourselves in terms of our methodological skills, what is it that differentiates us from many other people with equal (or even superior) methodological expertise? Evaluation theory. But people come for evaluation through quite varied pathwa ys, many of which don’t involve explicit training in evaluation. That there are myriad pathways into evaluation is, of course, a source of great strength of the field, bringing a diversity of skills, opinions, knowledge sets, and so on (Schwandt 2002).. Types of evaluations Process Evaluation Process evaluations help stakeholders see how a program outcome or impact was achieved. Overemphasizing outcome evaluation of the cost of other types, especially process evaluation, is a disservice to nonprofits and the sector. This is because the process evaluation allows a nonprofit to look at how it develops itself, its structures, its supporting programs like communications and marketing, even fund development in order to get to the outcomes everyone wants it to achieve. In other words, process evaluations document the process of a program's implementation. Process evaluations help stakeholders see how a program outcome or impact was achieved. The focus of a process evaluation is on the types and quantities of services delivered, the beneficiaries of those services, the resources used to deliver the services, the practical problems encountered, and the ways it was handled. Taking process evaluation a step further, it can also look at the processes of program, management and  infrastructure together that is  the capacity of an organization to deliver on its promised outcomes. Approaches to