Analysis Of Mary Pipher s The Storm - 936 Words

The age of adolescence has become universally known as an awkward period of growth and socialization. The article â€Å"Saplings in the Storm,† by Mary Pipher, was published in 1995 and gives an interesting look into some of the issues faced by adolescent girls, but gives little evidence to support her claims or ways in which to encourage the self-confidence in adolescent girls. More recently, there has been further research looking into the reasons as to why girls become more depressed, endure a decrease in self-esteem, and lose their curiosity after puberty. Pipher gives some compelling stories about the behaviors of some pre-adolescent girls she has encountered. Her cousin, Polly, was an energetic and opinionated girl when she was young. Upon puberty, Polly felt unable to connect to boys and girls her age until she became stylish and more subdued in her language. This gives the reader the feeling that Polly was not accepted until she changed her personality to fit that of h er surroundings. It is possible that Polly’s friends no longer enjoyed being around a girl who was opinionated or who would insult those with whom she did not agree. This story does not qualify as a valid, concrete premise to show the connection between changes an adolescent girl and her ability to connect with others. Research published eleven years after Pipher’s book shows a tangible connection between an adolescent girl’s self-esteem and the perceived importance of looks and social

Athlete Endorsements Free Essays

string(220) " a negative impact on perceptions about a brand, and 4\) Negative publicity generated by the bad behavior of well-known celebrities is harmful because consumers tend to pay more attention to it, then positive publicity\." Sport Marketing and Promotions Introduction What is an athlete endorsement and what significance does it play in the corporate world of advertising? According to dictionary. com an â€Å"endorsement† is the act of endorsing something through approval or sanction. Companies regularly use athletes and other high profile individuals to endorse their company and/or specific products as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. We will write a custom essay sample on Athlete Endorsements or any similar topic only for you Order Now They use the popularity of their talents to entice consumers to look favorably on their brand and to increase sales of their products or services thru their tacit approvals.These approvals or sanctions are done by having the athlete align themselves with the company thru advertisement, commercials, product or service promotions, or sports gear contract arrangements. Many endorsements deals can bring great wealth and exposure to both an athlete and a company. However, in recent years we have seen the negative side of these endorsement deals when the athlete doesn’t behave in a manner that provides a favorable image to the consumer they wish to attract. This can create difficult decisions for the company when considering whether to use sports athletes to promote their brand and image.The subject of this paper is to explore the Pros and Cons of athlete endorsement arrangements and how they can be either beneficial or detrimental to a company choosing this method of brand awareness. The Origins of Athlete Endorsements In the early 1900’s, Honus Wagner was a well-known professional baseball player who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Honus signed a bat contract with Hillerich Bradsby Co. on September 1st, 1905. He was believed to be the first professional athlete with an equipment endorsement deal. During this time period, he was the first major leaguer to have his signature engraved onto a baseball bat.Following Hillerich Bradsby Co’s footsteps was a non-sports company known as Gillette Razor. In 1910, Gillette won the product endorsement deal with major-league baseball stars. Gillette was the 1st non-sport endorsement deal to use professional athletes to market their products (â€Å"History of Athletes,† 2009). With the success of Gillette, more and more companies recognized this great new method of promoting their products and jumped on the proverbial band wagon by hiring high profile professional athletes to market their products.In 1917, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, Converse All star shoes became the first mass producer of sneakers. With these new production processes, companies began to focus their attention on methods that could attract larger numbers of customers to their products. Converse was quick to recognize the potential that high profile individuals could draw and they became the first to use athlete endorsements in the sneaker industry. Converse used basketball players, such as Akron Firestones and Chuck Taylor to market their shoes (â€Å"History of Athletes,† 2009).It didn’t take long for others to also utilize this new brand awareness that these modern day gladiators could bring to their companies and products and it began a trend many still follow today. However, it wasn’t until the 1960’s when the first issues arose about the negative aspects of athlete endorsements. A prominent Los Angeles attorney, who specialized in the field of athlete endorsements, stated that using an athlete to endorsement a product could be very risky.The example the attorney used to explain th e risk associated with athletes was as follows, â€Å"Suppose a company puts several hundred thousand into a campaign featuring an athlete and suppose that two weeks later the athlete is hurt and not heard from for the rest of the year? † This is something companies have to take into consideration where using athletes to market their products (â€Å"History of Athletes,† 2009). Racial controversies began to rise in the late 1960’s in regards to athlete endorsements.Media sources claimed that black athletes missed out on endorsement deals across the country unless they were playing out of New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles; It’s a subtle form of racism. † In the 1980’s, things changed a lot in regards to using African Americans and athlete endorsements. Michael Jordan’s sneaker, know as Air Jordan’s kicked off in 1986 and became the most successful athlete endorsement in history. Nike sold more than $100 million in a single year, which helped the company hit its first billion-dollar year (â€Å"History of Athletes,† 2009). Athlete endorsements today are seen through a variety of different media ources. You can turn on the television to see Tiger Woods wearing his Nike golf shirt or go online to purchase a football jersey and see Payton Manning using a MasterCard. Athlete’s endorsements have evolved with the latest technologies today and have kept pace in maintaining their relation with their consumers. Companies use Athletes as a marketing strategy to launch new products, reposition products, and/or to reinforce brand images. This paper will explain what researchers have found on the pros and cons of using Athletes to endorse a product. Review of LiteratureIn 2003, a study was conducted to evaluate some of the reasons why celebrity endorsements can be a bad idea for corporate brands. Researchers explained that relying on a single individual, as the exclusive spokesperson for an entire product line may not always be a good idea. Well-known athletes chosen to represent a product in a major advertising campaign can have a huge impact on the company if the athlete behaves in an unprofessional manner. Professional athletes that encounter trouble with the law or act in a manner that is considered culturally undesirable can have a negative ef fect on a company or brand they wish the athlete to endorse. Through this study, researchers came up with a few different conclusions on the reasons why celebrity endorsements can have a negative effect for the companies they represent, 1) Multiple endorsements by the same celebrity can reduce the credibility and increase the liability of the individual celebrity, 2) Because of the increased level of risk associated with using celebrity endorsers, advertisers have begun using more animated characters, 3) Negative information about a celebrity tends to have a negative impact on perceptions about a brand, and 4) Negative publicity generated by the bad behavior of well-known celebrities is harmful because consumers tend to pay more attention to it, then positive publicity. You read "Athlete Endorsements" in category "Papers" If companies want to use celebrities to endorse their products, researchers all agree that the endorser must be both credible and trustworthy.Advertising research indicated that endorsers perceived as being positive role mode ls could also positively influence the perception of the product/brand they are paired endorsing. The study suggests that in order for athletes to be selected for the endorsement job, they should, as a minimum possess credibility and desirable personal characteristics (Stone, Joseph Jones, 2003). Companies pay athletes a lot of money for endorsement deals, so it is the company’s responsibility to do their due diligence when hiring athletes to endorse their brand. Another study done in 2003, identified the key segments of the Canadian sport market and investigated how Generation Y defined a sports hero. The researchers asked several questions to see how this demographic group evaluated heroism. The questions and subsequent answers helped the researchers better understand what types of athletes were selected as heroes, what sport was most frequently associated with heroism, and the important features of heroism. Results reveled that majority of the respondents felt that someone in their family and/or someone who was classified as a sports star was a hero. The sports hero that was selected by the majority of respondents was NBA star Michael Jordan. The participants felt that Jordan’s strength, agility, and celebrity status made him a sports hero. In regards to the sports most frequently associate with heroism, the National Hockey League took 1st place, followed by Major League baseball, National Basketball Association, and National Football League.The results of this study found important implications for sport marketers in regards to the perception of sport heroes and the use of athlete endorsements to target Generation Y customers. As part of the study, they found th at sport endorsements and promotions should emphasize family based promotions, since this generation values family. Sport marketers should also select an athlete who has a positive image since the image carries meaning and relevance to these consumers (Stevens, Lanthrop, Bradish, 2003). A case study was done in 2005 on Soccer Star David Beckham and his athlete endorsements in the international sports industry. Beckham has endorsed several different international companies’ products, such as sports cars, airlines, chocolate, and electronics.Beckham is considered the best-known soccer player in the world, with his personal brand value estimated at $370 million. The case study explained that sponsors consider athletes recognition, appeal to customers, and credibility when choosing an endorser. Since Beckham is a high profile athlete, he is seen as valuable endorser. He is married to Victoria Adams, who is a former female pop star, and continues to be portrayed to the media as a devoted family man. He also uses his fashion to display confidence and sex appeal, which attracts a lot of female fans. The effectiveness of a celebrity endorser, like Beckham himself, relies on physical attractiveness, trustworthiness, personal characteristics, and cultural meaning.Companies, such as Gillette have used Beckham in their marketing strategy to target a younger, global consumer. Gillette feels that Beckham could improve their image and boost its brand internationally. By using Beckham, they can reach men aged 18-34. Findings have indicated that customers have a more positive brand attitude and purchasing intentions when the product is paired with an attractive celebrity endorser. Since David Beckham is considered a high profile athlete with physical attractiveness, he is a good fit for endorsements. The conclusions from this case study indicate both sports organizations and corporations use elite athletes to expand their fan base and reach their global target markets successfully.Sports celebrities are appealing to global market players and can be used in other sport marketing activities, such as venue naming rights or event sponsorships. Given the advances in technology today, the growing interest in sports marketing is becoming more global then ever and future studies should be conducted to see what marketing strategies are most effective (Yu, 2005). David Beckham is a good example of an effective Athlete endorser who was used on an international level. In July of 2007, research was conducted on the effects of athlete endorsements on attitudes towards the product. Companies use athlete endorsements as a promotional strategy in launching new products, repositioning brands, or reinforcing brand images.In some endorsement strategies, athletes can be seen advertising non-sport pro ducts, such as computer products or electronic equipment. Marketing research asks the question, â€Å"Do consumers react favorably to non-sport endorsed products? † This study found that endorsers are more effective when there is a corresponding relationship between the endorser and the endorsed product. Researchers looked at the compatibility, creditability, attractiveness, and attitudes of individuals towards the athlete endorser and product they advertise (Kim Na, 2007). The analysis revealed that when an athlete endorses sports products, such as running shoes the credibility and attractiveness are more favorable to the consumer than non-sports products, such as perfume.Consumers see more of a relationship between the athlete and the product, especially if it related to the sport in which the athlete participates. For example, Tiger Woods can be seen wearing a Nike golf shirt when playing in the PGA Tour. This helps to show Tiger’s compatibility and credibility with the Nike brand. In 2008, Brad Carlson and Todd Donavan co nducted a study to look at athlete endorser’s effect on both brand and team-related outcomes. The study applied a social identity framework to investigate consumer responses to athlete endorsements. Researchers looked at the cognitive state of self-categorization, which exists when a fan feels belongingness with an entity, such as an athlete.They also looked at athlete identification, which is a cognitive state in which the individual evaluates the degree of overlap between their own self-schema and the athlete’s schema. The results found that fans that identified more strongly with an athlete were more likely to purchase the endorsed products. Athletes are effective endorsers when fans aspire to be like them, for example a person may associate himself or herself with the player by wearing their jersey. Fans who were identified less with an athlete endorser were more likely to abandon the teams market offerings. The findings confirmed that identifying with an athlete endorser is an important determinant of both team and brand related outcomes (Carison Donavan, 2008). Athlete Endorsements There are both pros and cons of athlete endorsements.Using an athlete as a spokesperson for an organization can be highly effective tool in building brand awareness, but it depends mostly on the target audience and how they relate to the athlete. According to Brooks International Online, some of the benefits of using an athlete to endorse products consist of raising awareness, generating media coverage, and attracting new audiences (Stuart, 2009). When selecting an athlete, companies should pick an individual whose demographics appeal to the target audience. Companies should also pick an athlete who will add value to the product they are endorsing. This past year, a case study was done on the marketing actives of Under Armor. The case looked at what types of marketing activities they used to help compete with their competitors. The main focus of this case was on athlete endorsements.Since the owner of Under Armor was an athlete himself, he felt the best way to advertise his product was by the use of athletes. He said that athletes are like a walking billboard and they help increase word of mouth marketing in the workplace (Kraft Lee, 2009). According to this article, in today’s marketplace, athlete endorsers are used to capture of attention of consumers, strengthen recall of the brand name, reinforce brand image, give the message credibility, increase product attractiveness, and increase the likelihood of purchase. The conclusion from this study showed that using athletes to endorse their product brought on more media attention then any other promotional strategies.The remaining section of this paper will give some examples of the pros and cons of athlete endorsements that have taken place over the past 20 years. PROS The following are just a few examples of positive athlete endorsers; Dale Earnhard t, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and the Williams Sisters. Dale Earnhardt, who was teamed up with Pepsi, helped generate awareness for the energy drink Amp Energy. Pepsi feels that attaching an athlete to the marketing of their product is crucial for brand awareness. The endorsement deal with Earnhardt consisted of the Pepsi logo on his racecar and on his racing gear. When Earnhardt made the front cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine, this was huge for Pepsi.Earnhardt was basically a walking billboard for Pepsi, everywhere he was seen, and so was Pepsi (â€Å"Pepsi makes heavy,† 2009). The most successful and well-known athlete endorsement in history was Michael Jordan and Nike. The slogan that was created during Jordan’s endorsement with Nike was â€Å"Be like Mike. † Michael Jordan’s sneaker, know as Air Jordan’s kicked off in 1986 and Nike sold more than $100 million in a single year (â€Å"History of Athletes,† 2009). Michael Jordan created brand awareness and loyalty for the Company, which in return made Nike one of the best known show companies in the world. Not much longer after Jordan, Nike picked up another star athlete known as Tiger Woods. Tiger is the highest paid Athlete endorser at this time. According to Forbes. om, Tiger is the world’s top golfer and made nearly $110 million in endorsements from June 2008 to June 2009. Some of the other endorsement deals Tiger has are Buick, Gatorade, Tag Huger, ATT and Gillette. Gatorade launched Tiger Gatorade in March of 2008, which claims that it â€Å"helps focus your mind and your body†. Tiger actually picked out the flavor himself and even gets a percentage of all sales sold under his name. Tiger is predicted to be the number one sports endorser again in 2010 (Paulson, 2007). Another great sports endorser is Lebron James. Lebron James entered into the NBA right after High School at age 18. The same day James signed with the Cleveland Cavilers, Nike signed him for a $90 million endorsement deal (â€Å"Pros and Cons†, 2009).This deal was another big hit for Nike. LeBron and the Cavilers have been a playoff team for several years now and Nike has enhanced their image by using athletes who have a history of winning. The final example of positive athlete endorsements is the Williams Sisters. Both Serena and Venus have endorsement deal with large companies due to their high profile status in professional Tennis. Serena Williams currently has deals with Nike, Kraft, Wilson, and Hewlett Packard (â€Å"Serena williams hopes,† 2009). Serena just singed a new deal with Tampax. After Serena’s outburst at the line judge in the 2009 US Open, tampax decided to keep Serena as the endorser and use her temper in the ads.His latest advertisement shows Serena taking her temper out on a woman’s dressed as Mother Nature (Picchi, 2009). Serena’s older sister Venus Williams signed the most lucrative deal ever for a female athlete with Reebok. Both Sisters’ have been classified as positive athlete endorses and help build brand awareness for the companies they endorse. CONS The following are some examples of negative athlete endorsers; Michael Vick, Kobe Bryant, Manny Ramirez, and Michael Phelps. Michael Vick, who was convicted of dog fighting crimes in 2007, lost his endorsements deals with several different companies. Nike who was just about to launch the Air Zoon Vick V shoe cut all endorsement ties with Vick immediately after his conviction (Lippert, 2007).They removed all items bearing Vick’s name from company stores. This hit Nike hard financially. Reebok also pulled all Vicks jerseys and merchandise from their shelves. AirTran Airways stripped Vicks contract and made him give back his $20-$35 million signing bonus money (Kruse, 2009). All of the companies who endorsed Vick felt the negative impact on their companies. The second example is Kobe Bryant. Bryant who endorsed companies such as Nike, McDonald’s, Sprite, and Rawlings was convicted for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in 2003. McDonald’s got hit the worst from this outburst since its marketing strategies are geared towards mothers and families.The study by ESPN found that incidents such as Bryant’s tarnish a company’s image (Rovell, 2003). Regardless of whether or not Bryant sexually assaulted this woman, the companies associated with him felt a negative impact through using him to promote their products. Another athlete who had a negative impact on an endorsement deal was Manny Ramirez. Ramirez, who plays for the LA Dodgers used performance-enhancing drugs and got suspended for 50 games (Jones, 2009). The game company EA Sports used Ramirez to endorse their products. Since EA sports targets younger teenagers, this had a negative impact on their brand. What mother would want to purchase a video game with Ramirez on the cover?These are some of the issues EA Sports now faces with their image. The final example of a negative athlete endorsement is Michael Phelps and his endorsement deal with Kellogg’s. Michael Phelps who is an Olympic gold medalist, had some issues with the law with drinking and driving. He was also found smoking marijuana from a picture that was posted on the Internet. Even though some companies stuck by him, Kellogg’s dropped Phelps immediately (McCarthy, 2009). Kellogg’s main target market is mothers and children. This puts a bad image on Kellogg’s to endorse an athlete who drinks and takes drugs. Ever since Phelps issue with the law, companies now see him as a risk. ConclusionThere are both pros and cons with using athletes for endorsements. Companies use Athletes as a marketing strategy to launch new products, reposition products, and/or to reinforce brand images. In many cases, the affiliation is a positive one that brings great financial reward to both an athlete and the company. When companies select athletes of high integrity and character, they impart a positive brand image on their products and generally reap the rewards of increased sales and revenue. However, when companies hire endorsers who do things culturally unacceptable for the products they are trying to sell, the relationship can have a negative impact on the bottom line.This has caused some concern among company executives and many are questioning the use of athletes to promote their products due to the risk associated with not being able to control their actions on and off their field (Sandomir, 2007). Researchers question how credible and believable athlete endorsements are in promoting their products but some case studies have proven that using athle tes to endorse sports products is more effective then endorsing non-sports products. This allows the consumer to see a relationship between the endorser and the product being endorsed. According to Millsport. com, companies need to pick an athlete who they can trust, has credibility, and demonstrates moral character.Avoiding risky endorsement deals with questionable athletes is a primary concern to decision maker’s at large national and international companies. It is important, if using an athlete to endorse your product, that a company does their due diligence in investigating the high profile individual and that it makes economic sense to insure a positive return on the investment. The athlete must fit their marketing strategies and fit the target market they are trying to reach. If companies do find an athlete that provides a good fit with their organization and brand, then using an athlete to endorse their products could be a successful way of raising brand awareness and revenue.However, do your homework as a bad endorsement deal can quickly tarnish a brands image that has taken many years to build. There are many endorsement opportunities that can build additional sales but companies need to be aware of the aspects that could negatively affect their business. References (2009). Millsport and the marketing arm. Retrieved from http://millsport. com (2009, September). History of athlete endorsements. Retrieved from http://google.com (2009). Serena williams hopes to ride u. s. open to win new endorsements. Sports Business Daily, Retrieved from http://www.sportsbusinessdaily. com/article/123828 (2009, September 5). How to cite Athlete Endorsements, Papers

Nokia Study free essay sample

In recent 2 decades, people have seen the big convenience brought by colour TV, telephone, laptops, mobile phone and etc. Among them, the contribution of mobile phone is especially prominent: given the integration of technologies of Internet, laptop, and communication etc, the small and good looking handset will enable us ubiquitous application of modern multi-functions. The advantage of 3G even further attracts our minds with colourful imagination. During the up gradation of our living style, we owe a lot to the companies of the handset industry, especially those popular giants including Nokia, Motorola and Samsung etc When they change our living successfully, they realize their developing targets as well. For example, according to the Fortune Global 500 in 2005, Nokia and Motorola ranked 130th and 138 respectively1. Thus, they are recognized by the society. It’s unpredictable for a company to achieve great goals without correct strategies to employ. In the fierce competition of handset industry in China, the correct competitive strategies are required for the participant to win market shares. Surely, sometimes the right strategies are ifficult for survival. Nokia, as the no. 1 in the handset industry of China, is certainly the biggest winner through exertion of correct competitive strategies. As is mentioned above, the competition in handset industry in China will become even fiercer along with the emerging trend such as the advent of 3G, the alteration of distributing channels, and the improved level of industrial centralization etc. So competitors should promptly adopt relevant changes of their competitive strategies to adapt to new environment. 2. Company Background Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications and information technology corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, Finland. Over the past 150 years, Nokia has evolved from a riverside paper mill in south-western Finland to a global telecommunications leader connecting over 1. 3 billion people. During that time, Nokia made rubber boots and car tyres. They generated electricity. They even manufactured TVs. Changing with the times, disrupting the status quo – it’s what Nokia always done. Early Days In 1865, mining engineer Fredrik Ides tam sets up his first wood pulp mill at the Tammerkoski Rapids in south-western Finland. A few years later he opens a second mill on the banks of the Nokianvirta River, which inspires him to name his company Nokia Ab in 1871. In 1898, Eduard Polon founds Finnish Rubber Works, which later becomes Nokia’s rubber business, making everything from galoshes to tyres. Nokia rubber boots become a bona fide design classic, still on sale to this day – though Nokia no longer make them. Electronics go boom In 1912, Arvid Wickstrom sets up Finnish Cable Works, the foundation of Nokia’s cable and electronics business. By the 1960s, Finnish Cable Works – already working closely with Nokia Ab and Finnish Rubber Works – starts branching out into electronics. In 1962, it makes its first electronic device in-house: a pulse analyser for use in nuclear power plants. In 1963, it starts developing radio, telephones for the army and emergency services – Nokia’s first foray into telecommunications. By 1987, Nokia is the third largest TV manufacturer in Europe. Three become one Having been jointly owned since 1922, Nokia Ab, Finnish Cable Works and Finnish Rubber Works officially merge in 1967. The new Nokia Corporation has five businesses: rubber, cable, forestry, electronics and power generation. But as the 1980s come into view, it’s an entirely new industry that makes Nokia a household name around the world. The mobile era begins Nokia sets the ball rolling in 1979, creating radio telephone company Mobira On as a joint venture with leading Finnish TV maker Salora. 1981 then sees the launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service, the world’s first international cellular network and the first to allow international roaming. The NMT standard catches on fast and the mobile phone industry begins to expand rapidly. In 1982, Nokia introduces the first car phone – the Mobira Senator – to the network. That same year, the Nokia DX200, the company’s first digital telephone switch, goes into operation. First handheld mobile phone Then in 1987, Nokia introduces the Mobira Cityman, the first handheld mobile phone for NMT networks. Despite weighing in at 800 grams and a price tag of Rs. 24, 000. The Cityman even earns a nickname, the â€Å"Gorba†, after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is pictured using one to make a call from Helsinki to his communications minister in Moscow. In 1987, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is adopted as the European standard for digital mobile technology. With its high-quality voice calls, international roaming and support for text messages, GSM ignites a global mobile revolution. A new direction On July 1, 1991, Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri makes the world’s first GSM call, using Nokia equipment. And in 1992, Nokia launches its first digital handheld GSM phone, the Nokia 1011. That same year, new Nokia President and CEO Jorma Ollila make a crucial strategic decision: to focus exclusively on manufacturing mobile phones and telecommunications systems. Nokia’s rubber, cable and consumer electronics divisions are gradually sold off. Name that tune In 1994, Nokia launches the 2100 series, the first phones to feature the Nokia Tune ringtone. Based on Gran Vals, a classical guitar piece composed by Francisco Tarrega in the 19th century, it is probably one of the most frequently played pieces of music in the world. The Nokia 2100 series goes on to sell 20 million phones worldwide. Nokia’s target had been 400,000. On top of the world By 1998, Nokia is the world leader in mobile phones. The strategic decision to focus on telecommunications, plus early investment in GSM, has paid off. Between 1996 and 2001, Nokia’s turnover increases almost fivefold from EUR 6. 5 billion to EUR 31 billion and with the new millennium comes a host of new possibilities as the internet goes mobile. No longer are phones just for phone calls. Multi-tasking mobiles In November 2001 Nokia launches its first phone with a built-in camera, the Nokia 7650, and in September 2002 its first video capture phone, the Nokia 3650. Nokia launches its first 3G phone (third generation), the Nokia 6650, in 2002 that things really take off. With 3G technology, phones can now be used to browse the web, download music, watch TV on the move, and more. One billion and counting In 2005, Nokia sells its billionth phone – a Nokia 1100 – in Nigeria, and global mobile phone subscriptions pass 2 billion. Two years later, Nokia is recognised as the 5th most valued brand in the world. Dominated by others By 2010, having dominated the mobile world for over a decade, Nokia no longer has things all its own way. In the all-important Smartphone market, competitors such as the iPhone and Android-based devices now pose a serious challenge. Clearly, it’s time for a rethink. A fresh face at the helm In September 2010, Nokia appoints Stephen Elop as President and CEO. Formerly head of Microsoft’s business division, following roles at Juniper Networks and Adobe Systems Inc. , Elop has a strong software background and proven record in change management. In February 2011, Nokia announces it is joining forces with Microsoft to strengthen its position in the Smartphone market. The strategic partnership sees Nokia Smartphone’s adopting the new Windows 7 operating system, with the Symbian platform gradually being sidelined. The goal is to establish a third ecosystem to rival iOS and Android. Nokia launches its first Nokia with Windows phones, the Nokia Lumina 800 and the Nokia Lumina 710, in October 2011. . Strategic Analysis Nokia has three Strategic Business Units/Divisions (SBUs): Mobile Phones, Smart Devices and Location and Commerce. a) Mobile Phones Its Mobile Phone team focuses on bringing a modern and affordable mobile experience to people around the world. b) Smart Devices The Smart Devices team focuses on the creation of smart phones – this is the SBU responsible for the partnership with Microsoft and the Windows Phone platform. c) Location and Commerce The Location and Commerce team are responsible for developing a new class of integrated social location products and services for consumers, Nokia Maps. In addition to the services based aspect the Location and Commerce SBU provide digital map information, related location based content and services for mobile navigation devices, automotive navigation systems, governments and business solutions through Navteq, which was acquired in 2008 On 11 February 2011, Nokias CEO Stephen Elop, a former head of Microsoft business division, unveiled a new strategic alliance with Microsoft, and announced it would replace Symbian and MeeGo with Microsoft’s Windows operating system except for mid-to-low-end devices, which would continue to run under Symbian. Nokia was also to invest into the Series 40 platform and release a single MeeGo product in 2011. As part of the restructuring plan, Nokia planned to reduce spending on research and development, instead customizing and enhancing the software line for Windows Phone 7. Nokias applications and content store (Ovi) becomes integrated into the Windows Phone Store, and Nokia Maps is at the heart of Microsofts Bing and AdCenter. On 19 June 2006, Nokia and Siemens AG announced the companies would merge their mobile and fixed-line phone network equipment businesses to create one of the world’s largest network firms, Nokia Siemens Networks. Each company has a 50% stake in the infrastructure company, and it is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. The companies predicted annual sales of â‚ ¬16 billion and cost savings of â‚ ¬1. 5 billion a year by 2010. About 20,000 Nokia employees were transferred to this new company. In October 2007, Nokia bought Navteq, a U. S. -based supplier of digital mapping data, for a price of $8. 1 billion. Nokia finalized the acquisition on 10 July 2008. 3. 1 Corporate level Strategy On the corporate echelon Nokia is cultivating a growth strategy. Its growth is obsessed principally by acquisitions and concentrated RD. During the past few years Nokia has been vigorously obtaining companies with new technologies and competencies, including besides investments in alternative positions. All of these acquisitions and investments were embattled to improve Nokias ability to assist form the Mobile World. 3. 2 Business Level Strategy Nokias trade level strategy is based on a cost leadership. Nokia has an outsized product portfolio which would gratify consumers all over the world. It strives to keep low costs for its products throughout firm costs management and economies of scale. Nokia utilizes strategic suppliers all over the globe to attain extremely modified subassembly apparatus which are used to generate its elevated tech savvy devices. 3. 3 Operational Strategy In 2011 Nokia had 130,000 employees in 120 countries, sales in more than 150 countries, global annual revenue of over â‚ ¬38 billion, and operating loss of â‚ ¬1 billion. It was the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile phones in 2011, with global device market share of 23% in the second quarter. The Nokia Research Centre, founded in 1986, is Nokias industrial research unit consisting of about 500 researchers, engineers and scientists; it has sites in seven countries: Finland, China, India, Kenya, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Besides its research centres, in 2001 Nokia founded INdT – Nokia Institute of Technology, a RD institute located in Brazil. Nokia operates a total of 9 manufacturing facilities located at Salo, Finland; Manaus, Brazil; Cluj, Romania; Beijing and Dongguan, China; Komarom, Hungary; Chennai, India; Reynosa, Mexico; and Changwon, South Korea. Nokias industrial design department is headquartered in Soho in London, UK with significant satellite offices in Helsinki, Finland and Calabasas, California in the US. 3. 4 Supply Chain Strategy Nokia’s supply chain strategy is decentralized as its operational and marketing facilities are worldwide. 3. 5 Defensive Strategy In order to go with iPhone and Blackberry smart phones and protect its share in the converged handsets market, Nokia introduced 5800 touch screen. As a consequence, after the first quarter of 2009, Nokias market shares in smart phones augmented by 3%. 3. 6 Competitive generic strategies In particulars, the competitive strategies lead the success in the marketing. The key attitude for a competitive strategy is how to build advantages in market competition. Cost leadership differentiation and focus is three competitive generic 3. 6. 1 Cost leadership Strategy Nokia claims a cost reducing on its capital markets day at the end of this year. Nokia CFO, Rick Simonson emphasized that Nokia is practicing a cost reduction which is effective now and is continuing to keep the strategy for 2009 and 2010. Nokia is always using a highly variable, low fixed cost business model. The balance sheet of 2007 gives us a clearer view of this. The cost leadership strategy is possible to follow and the switching cost for customers of mobile telecommunication industry is very low, almost zero. So its rather easy for a customer to purchase another brand of mobile phone only for a lower price. 3. 6. 2 Differentiation Strategy Differentiation strategy means providing diverse products or services from competitors to attain competitive advantages focused on enormous market. Modern telecoms market is changing quickly, grows up rapidly, and compete fiercer than most other markets. In Japan Nokia closed the mobile handset distribution and also cancelled the distribution of E71 handset due to low market preference. Opportunities ?In 2011, the global cell phone industry expected to grow by double digits ? Today, Asia-Pacific mobile phone industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. ?Developing countries like China, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan has enormous demand potential. ?Nokia had a 50-50 joint venture with Siemens of Germany ?Youth wants the stylish aesthetics, fashionable handsets, it drive the new market for players. Threats Consumers are becoming more complicated in the choice of handset due to new styles by china mobiles. ?Difficult for sellers to differentiate their products and retain loyalty. ?Nokia is facing very strong price pressure from china and other mobile producers ? Nokia is losing global market share after the arrival of several Chinese producers ? In the Asia/Pacific emerged competitive forces. ?Apple, RIM and the other different sellers have created strong pressure for Nokia. 8. Competitive Analysis: Porter’s five forces model The micro environment is the internal factors that are affected by the customers, staff, shareholders and competitors. The best model for evaluating the micro environment of Nokia is Porter’s 5 forces as this takes into consideration the competitors, customers, suppliers and new entrants. Threat of new entrants: †¢The mobile phone industry is already a well established market and the threat of a new entrant is quite low, as the technology needed to rival the devices already available is quite advance if they want to differentiate from them †¢The barriers to entry in the mobile phone industry is high because any new entrants will need high investments in RD, technology and marketing in order to compete with the established organisations. New entrants want to take market share from the larger organisations but Nokia hold 29% of the market share in the industry, the highest market share in the industry. The threat of new entrants into the mobile phone industry is very unlikely as the start up cost of entering into the market at a high level needs a lot of investments and time to be considered a respectable competitor of the already established organisations. Nokia currently hold a 29% of the entire mobile phone market worldwide and for a new competitor to obtain some of their market will take either a very long term plan or something that is truly innovative and unseen before. This is because realistically the new entrant will need very high investment for RD and marketing, and would not be able to publish positive result for a long time as they try to build a customer base and a name for itself in an established market. In conclusion the threat of new entrants is very low and not a factor which Nokia will have to worry about in the near future. Power of suppliers: †¢Although Nokia rely on its suppliers to supply equipment for their advanced mobile phones there are actually a number of large equipment makers, which Nokia could switch to. The software suppliers for their Smart phones are now Microsoft, who will have a very high bargaining power. †¢As the leading mobile phone company in the industry they are in a very strong position when bargaining with their suppliers. Nokia are in the position where they can bargain and negotiate with any mobile phone hardware maker because there is a high number of equipment suppliers that are readily available to them should their current suppliers attempt to bargain for more money with them. Nokia’s main argument would be the fact that they are a global organisation that has the highest market share in the industry, so the suppliers would not want to lose such an illustrious organisation. On the other hand, Nokia have recently created an alliance with Microsoft for their software which would be considered a major coup for Nokia more than Microsoft. As a result, Microsoft will have a lot of power when negotiating a price and share because the deal is more beneficial to Nokia than Microsoft. In conclusion, there is a moderate threat from the powers of suppliers because although the hardware suppliers have a very low power, Microsoft’s power over the software is very high because they’re very few other organisations who have the expertise and skills to rival Microsoft. Powers of buyers: †¢The power that customers have is rising because of the increasing number of choices in the mobile telecommunication industry. †¢With a lot of the Nokia competitors all offering similar packages (e. g. nlimited texts and calls) the industry is very price sensitive with customers seeking out the best value for money. †¢Many of the consumers will also be tied into long term contracts so switching from one handset to another will be difficult and expensive for the consumer, as a result they may not want to change until the contract is finished. The mobile phone industry is a competitive market where the number of choices is very wide, resulting in the consumer ha ving a lot of power because they can choose to go to one of Nokia’s many rivals if they feel Nokia are not good enough. As Nokia do not have a direct store to sell to their consumers, intermediaries such as Car phone warehouse or network stores such as Orange also have other handsets readily available for the consumers, which makes it difficult for Nokia to have a direct impact on the selling of their handsets. As a result this has created a very price sensitive market because consumers will always be on the lookout for the best deals. In conclusion, the buyers have a high amount of power because of the other handsets they can purchase instead of Nokia. Threats of substitute’s products Mobile phones are an everyday essential in people’s lives today and people would find it hard to replace, as customers would not be able to be in constant contact when away from the house. †¢On the other hand, it could be said that customers would be able to contact people through others types of media such as social networking websites, email and home telephones. Although staying in constant contact would be hard in customers’ day to day life. †¢However, smart phones are capable of a lot of functions so there are many substitutes if the substitute focuses on one of the functions, e. . digital camera can take better photos then smart phones, notebooks can surf the web just as effectively and PDAs can plan a day the same way a smart phone can. Mobile phones have become an everyday necessity in peoples’ lives because of the important functions that they can do and are all available in just one handset. No other product has the ability to make phone calls, send messages, surf the web and many more in one device. The idea of being in constant communication with someone at anytime and anywhere makes the mobile phone a very important device to people. On the other hand, a mobile phone can be dissected into the key function where there are substitutes for the functions, such as the camera function on a mobile phone can be substituted for a digital camera which can do a better job than the camera in a mobile phone. In conclusion, the threat of a substitute product is very low due to the fact a mobile phone is no longer just for making calls but for all the other function as well are expected on all mobile phones. So, the only real substitute is to buy all the functions of a mobile phone in the individual products which would not be plausible to carry all around on a person at the same time. Without mobile phones consumers would find it very difficult to replace, as it can offer so much to the consumers all in one device, no matter what the needs of the consumer are. Consumers rely on mobile phones a lot and would not be able to find a substitute that has all the function of a mobile phone. Competitive rivalry: †¢Nokia rivals have moved to smart phones and androids while Nokia have only just recently released their first smart phones leaving them trailing their rivals such as Apple and HTC. There is also very little differentiation between the competitors which means any new smart phones in the market, like Nokia Lumina, will find it difficult to tempt existing iphone and HTC customers to switch. †¢Intense competition from large companies such as; Apple, HTC, Blackberry, Sony Ericson and LG, ect. Nokia operate in an industry where the competition is extremely fierce with high investment in RB and marketing to compete with some of the biggest organisations in th e world. This year Nokia’s market share has dropped to 29% and it is forecast to continue to fall because of the rising popularity of the Apple Iphone. After Nokia’s slow move into the Smartphone market it has left them trailing their rivals, and has just released their Lumina range which will find it difficult to compete and win over consumers from their iphone. In conclusion, competitive rivalry is very high and Nokia must be aware of the threat that competitors have on their business especially with the growing popularity of the Apple iphone and RIM blackberry. The competitive rivalry is the biggest threat to Nokia because in the Smartphone market they are considerably behind and to increase their market share will take a lot of work in a market where some of the biggest names in business operate in such as Apple and Sony. 9. Financial Ratio Analysis Financial analysis helps in establishing a relation between various financial statements’ elements which can then be compared with other information about the business. This also determines the future prospects of the company and the area that needs improvement. The basic purpose is to analyze the current financial position performance of the company according to which a judgement can be made regarding future performance of the business. One has to look carefully to the annual accounts of the company and the yearly growth trend in terms of revenues, profit and its market share. For the analysis purpose, consolidated accounts of Nokia i. e. Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement for the last four years from 2007 to 2010 is taken into account and theses figures obtained from the company’s website are given below.

Old Love by Jeffrey Archer Summary free essay sample

Jeffrey Archer is well-known for his novels of intrigue, deceit and mystery. Old Love, one of his short stories from The Collected Short Stories, does not fit into this category and could even be described as predictable but, whilst reading it, the reader cant help but want to read on just to make sure that what is expected really does happen. The suspense is fitting and delights the reader as they hated each other from the moment they met, sets the reader up for a love story that many recognize as characteristic of their own lives. Passion comes in many forms and it is almost preordained that, although opposites attract, so do those that are extremely passionate about their craft or profession. Hence, the unromantic characters of William and Philippa allow a very believable story to develop. After their marriage, the passion continues but on a completely different level as the fierce competition that fueled their complete dislike of each other, matures into mutual admiration ensuring that the reader does not become bored with the inevitability of it but relishes it. We will write a custom essay sample on Old Love by Jeffrey Archer Summary or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The fact that the names meant to discredit each other as they competed are the same names used as pet names after they fall in love, being that silly woman and that arrogant man, cements the story. The subtle characteristics of a love story are present in Old Love as Philippa is the Vicars daughter. William is the hero who comforts her in her loss. He is also the one who runs out of gas! As Philippa remarks, It is no small mystery, William, how you could have managed a first-class honors degree in English when you cant even read a gas-gauge. Perhaps the only black spot in their lives is that they have no children. The shock at the end when William shoots himself, although horrific is, for him, as strange as it may seem, a romantic gesture. Readers across cultures and generations can recognize intense love like this. It will never be out of date and love is an old-fashioned concept in this fast, convenient world and hopefully, a story like this, can remind some to make time for it or even recognize it. + Answer Question

Free Essays on My Dream

. My dad would often test me over them and correct me if I was wrong. I have always loved dancing, singing, and playing sports. However, if there was any opportunity to improve my language skills I would leave everything behind and work on the language. During my freshman year in high school, my parents decided to pay for private tutoring. I was a quick learner and my pronunciation was â€Å"just marvelous,† as my teacher used to say. I loved it so much; the only language that I would use with my family and friends was English. Although the school was expensive, I persuaded my father to let me go to an International-American school my sophomore year. I enjoyed every moment in that school. I was able to actually practice everything that I had learned for the past few years of my English studies. I was so happy, I did not think it could get any better. Closer to the end of the school year, my dad got a job teaching in Texas. That was another wonderful opportunity to continue my education in English. It has been almost two years from the day we arrived. I am blessed to graduate from San Marcos High School. The work is not easy and there are a lot of things that I still need to catch up on, but I am willing to get better in all aspects of my education. All it takes is practice and will.... Free Essays on My Dream Free Essays on My Dream From early childhood I had a dream to learn another language. Even though I was born in Baku, Azerbaijan and already knew Azeri and Russian, I loved the sound of English. I would walk around the house with a dictionary and try pronouncing different words. I would listen and sing British and American songs without understanding the actual meaning of them, all of my dolls had English names, and my mom taught me how to introduce myself politely and say basic things in English. Day by day I applied myself and started learning vocabulary and spelling of words. My dad would often test me over them and correct me if I was wrong. I have always loved dancing, singing, and playing sports. However, if there was any opportunity to improve my language skills I would leave everything behind and work on the language. During my freshman year in high school, my parents decided to pay for private tutoring. I was a quick learner and my pronunciation was â€Å"just marvelous,† as my teacher used to say. I loved it so much; the only language that I would use with my family and friends was English. Although the school was expensive, I persuaded my father to let me go to an International-American school my sophomore year. I enjoyed every moment in that school. I was able to actually practice everything that I had learned for the past few years of my English studies. I was so happy, I did not think it could get any better. Closer to the end of the school year, my dad g ot a job teaching in Texas. That was another wonderful opportunity to continue my education in English. It has been almost two years from the day we arrived. I am blessed to graduate from San Marcos High School. The work is not easy and there are a lot of things that I still need to catch up on, but I am willing to get better in all aspects of my education. All it takes is practice and will....

Brand Identity Prism Kapferer For Nike Running Shoes Marketing Essay

Brand Identity Prism Kapferer For Nike Running Shoes Marketing Essay According to Kapferer’s model, the brand identity prism for Nike running shoes has six dimensions which are physique, relationship, reflection, personality, culture and self-image. First, physique is the physical aspects and the main purpose of the brand; tell consumers what the product is, what the product actually does and what the product carries value in the eye of customers (Krishnamurthi 2007). The physique of Nike running shoes is â€Å"sport- running† because that is what the running shoes being made for. It includes all the tangible things of Nike running shoes including Nike running shoes feature, look, color, design and quality which these add values to buyers as it wears for running. The second dimension is relationship. Customers can have a relationship with the brand because the brand often involve with transaction and exchange between people, particularly in the service and retail sector (Garg 2008). According Kapferer (2008), brands exist in the market because of communication, such as advertising and direct consumer’s communication. For our Nike running shoes prism, Nike maintains a good relationship with customers by creating memorable award-winning campaign such as Nike running marathon. Furthermore, Nike sponsors the athletes (focusing on individual athlete and their success) as well as sponsors the game, such as the Olympic game. The third dimension is reflection which means how the individual in the intended group of customers identify himself as a person in relation to the brand (Kochhar 2007). Therefore, every brand tries to design the product to meet the need for the targeted customer group as customer reflection is a good factor for being a strong brand image, so brands should control their customer reflection (Kapferer 2008). In this case, customers will be reflected Nike running shoes for dynamic lifestyle, for winning with cool fashion. Over time, Nike will use advertising to continue address our customer refle ction, so as a result of buying Nike running shoes, customers will perceive their own identity to be dynamic and fashionable and certainly to win. The fourth dimension is personality which refers to when brands talks about its product and what kind of person it would be if it were a human being (Krishnamurthi 2007). Brand personality is described by using the features of customer personality which are directly related to the brand and is closely linked with self-image (Slideshare 2009). For our Nike prism, Nike brand personality may be that of confident, arrogant, aggressive and energetic. Examples of person it could be are Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer since these two tennis players have the personality of confident, arrogant, aggressive and energetic which these character can represent the Nike brand. Nike gives the attention to a specific sport, such as tennis, basketball and golf (Slideshare 2009). The fifth dimension is culture which is a set of values that the brand is ins pired or originated from (Kapferer 2008). It can be said that brand is representative of its culture, including communication (Krishnamurthi 2007). For our Nike prism, Nike takes its culture from the American culture. Nike is a global brand that reveals its culture by which symbolizes the American way which is being individual and aggressive like Michael Jordan (Garg 2008). Nike has aggressive winner attitude that can be related to the American sport attitude. This culture will help Nike in the way to differentiate Nike from other competing brands, such as Adidas, as the brand culture indicates what values are included in the Nike products and services. In addition, Nike communicates with their people by relating it with cultural values by creating a provocative attitude by encouraging them to let loose (â€Å"Just do it†) (Slideshare 2009).

Analysis of Business Communications Personal Statement

Analysis of Business Communications - Personal Statement Example For that to happen the receivers must actually want to read the letter and not just put it aside in the belief that they know what it contains. Therefore, the letter should begin with an attention-getting statement and then proceed (incorporating the summarization) to state how the writer can meet the reader’s needs, ending with a request for action and a thank-you for having been given the opportunity to explain to them how much they will enjoy this product or service (Stewart et al, 1986). Having received the bad news from the president of the company that the Accounting Department has overcharged client ABC $12,023 in May 2008, the Marketing Specialist would immediately go into damage control. To do this, with the help of Sue Smith in Accounting is required; and in order for her to do so, she must be made aware of the situation. This should be done in a respectful and non-accusing manner, which makes the contact very important. A good approach would be for the Marketing Specialist to deliver a written memo—marked confidential and urgent-- to her office that would contain the same information from the president that he received. He would tell her that he realized that she might require a little time to digest them There is probably no easy way to deliver a message such as the one written by the President. If the Marketing Specialist had simply gone into Sue Smith’s office to verbally deliver this message, he might have got no further than that they had overcharged Client ABC $12,023 in May 2008 before she would have become upset and begun to pepper him with questions regarding if it was an honest mistake, if someone might be embezzling, and so forth. By being left alone to read and to digest the whole message, she would, hopefully, be relatively calm for her meeting with the Marketing Specialist who had promised, when he delivered the memo, to work with her to  resolve the problem, that she was not in this alone.

Statistics paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistics paper - Essay Example Commercial sample showed a strong negative correlation (r=0.98) while residential sample showed a strong positive correlation (r=0.97) between the bill size and the delay. The date of a payment can be predicted by the regression equations derived separately for commercial and residential samples. Late bill payments always trouble the service providers by interrupting their future planning and investments. Delay can be varied from a day to few months or sometimes a year. It is really helpful if a service provider can predict the date of the payment. The size of the bill may have a relationship with the number of days the payment delays. It may take a long time for a customer to pay a large bill than a small bill or it could be vice versa. However if such a relationship is found the service provider can use it to predict payment dates and work accordingly. The mean values of the total and sub samples (commercial and residential) were calculated. Regression analysis (linear) was performed using Excel and SPSS statistical packages to find out possible correlations between the size of the bill and number of days the payment delayed. Size of the bill was considered as the independent variable in this analysis. Regression analysis for total sample (figure 1) showed no correlation between bill size and delay. However regression analysis for commercial sample (figure 2) showed strong negative correlation. This explains their behavioral trend of paying large bill more quickly than that of the small bills. The residential customers expressed a totally different behavior than the commercial customers. They delay the payment as the bill size increases. Amongst the commercial customers the bill size negatively correlated with the delay while it was positively correlated with the delay amongst the residential customers. The date of a payment can be predicted by the following regression

Lessons in Pragmatism Essay Example for Free

Lessons in Pragmatism Essay Having been a Para Educator since 1994, serving both Special Education as well as General education children, I have had countless opportunities to observe incredible teachers in action. In fact, one of my most vital responsibilities is to collect observational data on various special education students and their IEP goals. This allows the teacher to generate reports of student progress and to help in modifying goals and objectives as needed. It is unfortunate that the writing of this paper falls during the summer months making it impossible to conduct a formal observation of a specific lesson plan in real time. Therefore, the focus of this presentation shall be a lesson plan which was located in the database of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, an organization dedicated to providing enriching, meaningful mathematics curriculum while ensuring availability for all students. This particular lesson plan is a multi-dimensional lesson, or a better an investigation, written by Laurie St. Julien (2008) and printed in the publication Teaching Children Mathematics. It has been generated toward third graders as a means to â€Å"pose their own mathematical questions from real data† (St. Julien, 2008, pg. 506) Before performing any critique of a lesson plan, it is first helpful to identify the basic philosophies that provide its foundation. In a course structured around empowerment through group dynamics conducted by Brunson and Vogt (1996), the results correlated with the theology that â€Å"an empowering educational philosophy promotes trust, collaborative learning and tolerance for ambiguity†. (Brunson Vogt, 1996, pg. 73) Pragmatism is a philosophy that centers not on the simple passing of knowledge from teacher to student, but around the teacher and student acting as co-learners in the educational process. Stallones, 2011) Pragmatic teachers believe that in order for children to flourish, they must be provided with opportunities to create their own knowledge through experience with the real world in a social context. This Pragmatic theology can be traced back to philosopher John Dewey (1859 – 1952). He saw education as the process of reconstructing knowledge through experiencing the real world; seeing Philosophy as a discipline that required constant change, paradoxically requiring the same reconstruction in education. Neubert, 2009) Following this school of thought, students are guided to generate their own questions, and to use scientific means to come to their own conclusions. This seems to go in tandem with the 7000 Pancakes lesson plan, centered on the theme of the incredible weekend output of the busiest International House of Pancakes in the country. This is quite pragmatic in that it clearly relates to a real world construct familiar to most children, as well as the fact that this particular pancake house just happens to sit next to Disneyland. The students have not been asked to arrive at a singular conclusion, but rather to hypothesize and test their theories, problem solve solutions to and adjust their assertions. This is done in a systematic way over more than one period. (St. Julien, 2008) They are also asked to generate and share their own small group generated questions, This allows for the development of scientific analysis and critical thought, particularly when coupled with the opportunity to scientifically attempt to answer each other’s questions through experience. In addition, Pragmatism favors the merger of various disciplines, in this case the blending of mathematics and science. The lesson plan includes an element that focuses on the eggs that are needed to create various numbers of pancakes in various time increments; however it also questions the properties of the egg and how they change when prepared differently embodying a scientific component to the lesson. This is accompanied by hands on demonstration of all of the aforementioned components, even culminating in a pancake breakfast! St. Julien, 2008) The real world connection in every aspect of this lesson, and the scaffolded guidance required by the teacher to implement it effectively, shows the true pragmatic nature of the lesson and its creator. The strengths of the lesson in question are numerous. The social requirements within the various groups and in the numerous opportunities for open discussion provided a psychosocial aspect to this lesson. These social skills are vital in every aspect of adult life, beyond the practicalities of mathematics. This is support by Siegel (1995) in her assertion that â€Å"learning is a social process in which learners actively construct their understandings†. (Smith, 1995, pg. 407) By using the real world construct of the familiar pancake house, and the visual aids that the lesson facilitates the students in developing a vested interest in investigating the questions that naturally arise through scientific analysis. The hypothesis and analysis process that resulted were well established and right on target for the inquisitive mind of a third grader. Allowing them to tactilely handle the different components of the pancakes allowed them to commit the information to memory in meaningful ways, allowing them to apply this new knowledge to other situations. The scientific component is also a major strength, however I believe yet another discipline could have been added to this lesson; I would also ask them to keep a scientific journal chronicling the experience as well as write a short reflective essay at the end to tie in the language aspect as well. To find any other fault with the lesson plan in question or to better it would prove to be extremely difficult.

Ursula LeGuins The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Essay -- LeGuin One

Ursula LeGuin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Utopia is any state, condition, or place of ideal perfection. In Ursula LeGuin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" the city of Omelas is described as a utopia. "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" presents a challenge of conscience for anyone who chooses to live in Omelas. Omelas is described by the narrator as the story begins. The city appears to be very likable. At times the narrator does not know the truth and therefore guesses what could be, presenting these guesses as often essential detail. The narrator also lets the reader mold the city. The narrator states the technology Omelas could have and then says "or they could have none of that: it doesn't matter. As you like it"(877). The method of letting the reader make the city the way he choose makes the city more desirable by him" Perhaps it would be best if you imagined it as your own fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you all"(LeGuin 876). Now the reader might feel that the city is fictious. The narrator also asks the readers "Now do you believe in them?"(879) Asking if the reader believes what the narrator says about the festival, city, and joy of the people of Omelas implies that the reader should have doubts. Can the narrator be trusted by a re ader who is being asked to approve the details of the story? Such questions raise doubts in the reader's mind about what the narrator is conveying. With the help of the reader, the narrator makes Omelas appealing to everyone. "Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time"(LeGuin 876). Omelas does sound too good to be true. While the narrator is saying all that Omelas has and does not have, she says "One thing I know there is none of in Omelas is guilt"(877). The reader later finds out that all Omelas' happiness and joy depend on a child who is locked in a cellar. If the child were rescued from its cell, the whole city of Omelas would falter. The city's great happiness, is splendors and health, its architectural, music, and science, all are dependent upon the misery of this one child. The Omelas people know that if the child were released, then the possible happiness of the degraded child would be set against the sure failure of the happiness of many. The people have been taugh... ...opefully the guilt for the child's suffering will go away, just like the people did. This helps the conscience of the ones who could not stay if the child remained incarcerated, but does nothing for the child. Another way LeGuin's story reflects theology is by the way the child must suffer for others happiness. Collins compares this to the way Jesus suffered and died, only to rise again to a transformed, glorious life. Leaving bright Omelas and walking into the darkness is like going from life into death. If leaving Omelas is like going from life to death, that death leads to a new transformed life in a place beyond the mountains, a life so different from the present life that is unimaginable. It is all right for one person to suffer for the benefit of another, because even the sufferer will end up benefiting – his or her final transformed state will be vastly better than his or her first state. It is the precisely resurrection that gives the suffering – servant its final justification. So when LeGuin makes sense of a utopian gesture (leaving Omelas) in the imagery of renewed life beyond death, she indirectly buttresses the very scapegoat theodicy she hopes to undermine.

Array Paper

Programming Solution Segments in Wooden Ring or Bowl One of the clubs that I belong to is the Savannah River Wood turners Association. We meet once a month in a friends shop down the road from where I live, and we usually have guest speakers give a presentation on aspects of wood turning. Last weekend we had a gentleman from Atlanta teach a session on segmented wood turning. Segmented turning is a type of wood turning that involves gluing together hundreds of segments to make a particular shape that you would then refine on a DOD lathe.It is a very time consuming and complicated endeavor sometimes, and the thought of a program to help with the math seemed like a great idea. The personnel involved in the project is mainly myself, but also some of the other members from the group. The aim is to be able to input the amount of segments that you would want to use in a ring and then determine the angle at which you must cut the sides of the segments. It would also be great if the program c ould output the length of each segment based on the diameter of the bowl.I say bowl loosely, building a blank with segments is usually done so that they form a ring. The final shape could be anything, but for this program it will be a bowl. In terms of the development cycle, the program will be built in five stages. The first part I am doing right now by writing this paper, this part is the analysis of the problem. The second will be the general design of the program itself. I will flesh out all of the details about input/output, what variables will be used, whatever math will be involved in the next paper.The third stage is the coding stage in which I will create a Visual Logic executable that runs the program. The fourth and fifth stage will be testing and maintenance. I suppose that I will actually test out the program by attempting to use the results that I get by creating a segmented wood blank. I will then put it on the lathe and include pictures in my final paper, as long as time permits. Turning can be a slow or fast process, and with segmented turning going fast is really not an option.Taking a modular approach will be somewhat important in the context of this reject. By using modules to separate all of the math from the input and output, it should make the academicals Logic flow chart easier to understand. The math involved in determining the dimensions of each segment is not that complicated in reality, but to me it might as well be ancient Egyptian. Luckily, I have found multiple websites and even other programs to guide me in making this. The first thing the program will do is ask the user what it wants to do.I saw that in the next paper we are required to use a selection statement, and I intend to use an if else, or maybe even a while loop to create a main menu for the program. From the desired diameter of the bowl in centimeters or they will choose to exit the program. The exact function of this menu is still up in the air, and as I move into mo re detailed design and math I will figure it out. The number of segments will be store in a variable. This variable will then be divided into 360, then divided by 2. This will give the angle to cut the pieces at.In reality the user would have to understand to cut the segments at this angle on both ides facing inwards, but that may be another variable I can output. Next the user will input the desired diameter of the ring in centimeters, this will also be stored in a variable, which will then be multiplied by 3. 14. I will add a third variable called the fudge factor, this is relative to the thickness of the segments and gives the user some flexibility in design and cutting. This number will be added to the circumference of the ring, and then the circumference will be divided by the number of segments.The final output will be the length of each segment, and the angle to cut at. Overall I hope to create a program that will aide in the math involved in this process, and one that I will be able to share with my friends. This type of woodworking is a lot of fun, but for those of us that are not so math inclined it can become frustrating. Accuracy is of the utmost importance, and hopefully this program will help me achieve it. I think this will be a lot of fun. References Segmented

Elements of Cinema Essay

* Since the images of moving pictures move in time, time is the most important element of the cinema. In the cinema it is subject to contraction, expansion, breaks or leaps through the manipulation of the director. The three aspects of the time 1. Physical time is the time taken by an action as it is being filmed and as it is being projected on the screen. A film may actually show what is happening in real life. * Physical time in the cinema can be distorted through slow motion, accelerated motion, reverse motion, and stopped motion. * Slow motion happens when the camera takes pictures faster than the projector can show them on the screen. * Accelerated motion occurs when the camera takes pictures slower than the projector can run them on the screen. * Reserve motion conveys an undoing of time * Stopped motion is not often used. Instead of stopping the action of an otherwise moving sequence, still photographs are used. 2. Psychological time is our emotional impression of the duration of the action that we experience as we watch film. In real life our mental state affects the way time passes for use. Time seems to move fast when we are happy. Boredom, idleness, or tragedy makes time lag. * In the cinema, time also go quickly and induces in us a feeling of exhilaration and excitement, while a slow pace can induce a melancholy mood or grief and slow down time. 3. Dramatic time refers to the time taken up by the events which are depicted in the film. the cinema may use a story-line that covers a single day in the life of a character or the whole history of a civilization. * A story that embraces a long period of time may utilize flashbacks, include a plague or an epilogue, or exclude that inessential since it can be controlled from the shot. * A film that depicts a brief period of time may be extended through repetition of different aspects on the events or the inclusion of scenes which to us may seem to flash across the screen when in truth it covers a few minutes. Read more:Â  Analysis on Philippine Cinema

The Escape by Maugham Essay Example

The Escape by Maugham Essay Example The Escape by Maugham Essay The Escape by Maugham Essay William Somerset Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the 20th century. He was not only a novelist, but also a one of the most successful dramatist and short-story writers. Maugham wants the readers to draw their own conclusion about the characters and events described in his novels. His reputation as a novelist is based on the following prominent books: â€Å"Of Human Bondage†; â€Å"The Moon and Sixpence†; and â€Å"The Razors Edge†. Though Maugham doesn’t denounce the contemporary social order, he is critical of the morals and the narrow-mindedness. Realistic portrayal of life, keen character observation, and interesting plots coupled with beautiful, expressive language, a simple, clear, unadored style, place Somerset Maugham on a level with the greatest English writers of the 20th century. In general, Maughams novels and short stories could be characterized by great narrative facility, an ironic point of view, cosmopolitan settings, and an astonishing understanding of human nature. His short stories gained the greatest popularity. And it’s right time to speculate upon one of the stories â€Å"The Escape†- which impressed me deeply and made me think about its subject. It is about a man (Roger) and a woman (Ruth), their complicated relations and scheming in order to achieve different aims. So they are the main characters. The author hides behind the narrator who is the secondary character. The essence of â€Å"The Escape†, to my mind, is that Roger and Ruth have diverse approaches towards the relations. Of course, the men and the women like the first step: flowers, attentiveness, passion. But then their paths diverge. The romance disappears, the man looks for the way out, he craves for new emotions, but the woman deems that the relations should develop into the marriage. And â€Å"The Escape† is the example of such a mismatch. From the very beginning the narrator convinces us that if a woman once made her mind to marry a man nothing but instant flight could save him. One of his friends seeing the unavoidable hazard before him, took ship and spent a year traveling round the world. He hoped the woman who was considered to be his bride would forget him being fickle, but he was mistaken; when he got back thinking himself safe, the woman, from whom he had fled, was waiting for him on the dockside. This funny thing supports the idea that the inevitable loom of the marriage frightens some men and they try to evade it. This portion of the text is some kind of preamble, it prepares the reader for the following plot-development and presents a piece of narration. Its syntax is complicated, there are compound sentences with many subjects and verbs of action not to loose the thought. The epithets â€Å"instant flight†, â€Å"the inevitable loom†, â€Å"menacingly† show us fear and trembling of such men. They don’t know and don’t respect women, the epithet â€Å"fickle† confirms it, that why they are afraid of difficulties of the marriage. And through these stylistic devices we feel the author’s tone, it is humorous, but this humor is with bitter flavor, so it’s natural to begin to reflect once more on the essential principles of the relations between the man and woman, but the story continues, let’s turn to the text again. Further on the narrator says that he knows only one man who escaped successfully. Once upon a time his friend, Roger Charing told him he was going to marry. Roger was tall and handsome, rich, experienced middle-aged man. Of course, many women wanted to marry him. But he was happy to live the life of an unmarried man: the epithets â€Å"sufficient experience†, â€Å"careful† give the direct description of his lifestyle. But then he met Ruth Barlow. He fell in love with her. He immediately wanted to look after her and make her happy. Ruth was twice a widow, she was younger than Roger. She was quite good-looking and she had big, beautiful, dark eyes and she had the gift of pathos. When a man saw those big, sad eyes, he wanted to help Ruth. The epithet â€Å"defenseless† expose the power of her look. It was Ruth’s mode to get what she wanted because she had no other means (I mean money). This â€Å"gift† helped Ruth to reach her goals. The metaphor â€Å"the gift of pathos†, the epithets â€Å"splendid dark eyes†, â€Å"the most moving eyes†, â€Å"big and lovely eyes† and the repetition of the word â€Å"eyes† make us pay our attention to this peculiarity. And Ruth made her mind to marry Roger: he was rich, considerate, tactful and was glad to take care of her, so he was the best variant for her. He didn’t let down and made a proposal of marriage to her. They were going to marry as soon as possible. While reading we came across a lot of pure literary words (gift, splendid, wonderful, hazards, sadness, lovely) and some clich? s (â€Å"the world was too much for her†, â€Å"stand between the hazards of life and this helpless little thing†, â€Å"how wonderful it would be to take the sadness out of those big and lovely eyes†) which are peculiar to the description of ordinary situations concerning love affairs, so we see what kind of story â€Å"The Escape† is. The narrator provoke us to perceive it ironically. Through Roger’s vision, Ruth was very unlucky. Indeed, she seemed to be very miserable, everything was wrong with her. If she married a husband he beat her; if she employed a broker he cheated her; if she engaged a cook she drank. She never had a little lamb but it was sure to die. The epithets â€Å"helpless little thing†, â€Å"rotten time†, â€Å"unfortunate†, â€Å"poor dear†, the metaphor â€Å"a little lamb†, parallel constructions â€Å"if she married†¦ â€Å" and pure literary words such as â€Å"sufferings†, â€Å"hazards†, â€Å"sadness† display hopelessness of Ruth’s life. Roger took an interest in her destiny and was ready to relieve it: the repetition of the pronouns â€Å"she† and â€Å"her† in Roger’s speech, the epithet â€Å"dreadfully sorry† prove my assumption. The epithets â€Å"very happy† and â€Å"pleased† make us believe that it wasn’t a nuisance for him. But according to the narrator’s opinion, Ruth was two-faced woman of few ideas: he called her stupid and scheming. The epithets â€Å"stupid†, â€Å"scheming†, the similie â€Å"as hard as nails† add some points to her description, so the method of character-drawing here is direct. We see two people, Roger and Ruth, as the future family, so this is the idea of this portion of the text. The author describes the first part of their relations which were rather standard. As thousands of men and women, they met, fell in love and decided to be together. But then, on a sudden, Roger fell out of love. This was the second part of their relations. There was no evident reason. Perhaps, his heart-strings were no longer touched by Ruth’s pathetic look. Roger became acutely conscious that Ruth had a mind to marry him. He gave a solemn oath that nothing would induce him to marry Ruth. But he was in a quandary. He was aware that Ruth would assess her feelings at an immoderately high figure if he asked her to release him. Besides, he didn’t want people to say that he jilted a woman. The epithets â€Å"acutely conscious†, â€Å"a solemn oath† and â€Å"an immoderately high figure† stress the importance, significance of his decision; as to the epithet â€Å"pathetic look† and the metaphor â€Å"heart-strings† (at the same time it is a clich? ), they produce the humorous effect. Falling out of love is the most terrible thing I can imagine. Recently it was an acute pleasure for Roger to do everything for Ruth. He was charmed, but, as I suppose, it wasn’t a serious and profound feeling – Roger lost it too easily. It is obvious Ruth was narrow-minded woman and she didn’t really love Roger. But there are some arguments to be said in her defense, she lonely and wanted to be protected. Probably she would be a good wife. The repetition of the expression â€Å"to have a mind to† reveals the conflict of Roger’s and Ruth’s interests. Ruth desired to have relations of long duration she cried for the moon. On the contrary, Roger wanted to escape with no loss. And again we are the witnesses of the usual continuation of the love story. It’s rather banal. Roger kept his own counsel, he remained attentive to all her wishes. It was decided that they would be married as soon as they found a suitable house. Roger applied to the agents and visited with Ruth house after house. It was very hard to find a satisfactory one. Sometimes houses were too large, sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy, sometimes they were too airy. The idea is that only such dishonest, shabby act as the flat-chase tactics seemed to be appropriate for Roger. I think, it was like a committing a crime. Roger’s behavior wasn’t fair, it was even disgraceful, but unfortunately such conduct is not uncommon, the men trick the women very often, because their attitude towards the relations differ. Parallel constructions â€Å"sometimes they were too large, sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy†, the metaphor â€Å"house-hunting†, the epithet â€Å"innumerable kitchens† describe Roger’s scheme. Firstly I took Roger’s side, because I consider that each person should have a right for free choice, but then I was sorry for Ruth, Roger tired her out, she didn’t understand what was happening. The epithet â€Å"exhausted† demonstrates her state brightly. At last Ruth revolted. She asked Roger if he wanted to marry her. There was an unaccustomed hardness in her voice, but it didn’t effect the gentleness of his reply. Roger persuaded her that they would be married the very moment they found a suitable house. Ruth took to her bed. She didn’t want to see Roger, but he was as ever assiduous and gallant. Every day he sent her flowers, wrote that he had some more houses to look at. The epithets â€Å"assiduous†, â€Å"gallant† display his dissimulation. A week passed and he received the letter: Ruth let him know that she was going to get married and claimed that Roger didn’t love her. He answered that her news shattered him, but her happiness had to be his first consideration. He sent Ruth seven orders to view. He was quite sure she would find among them a house that would exactly suit her. This is the end of the story. At that moment there was no love, there was no even the sympathy between them. They became the enemies. It was Roger’s victory. He achieved measurable gains at this story. In this portion of the text the tone changes, it is still ironical, but there appears some serious element. This story carried me with its eternal intrigue – the war between male and female, playing games between the sexes. We may be in earnest about it or may try to ignore it, but it really takes place and this problem will exist until the end of human history.

E-government and E-business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

E-government and E-business - Essay Example That doesn't, of course mean that all the organizations have adopted the e-business models. But beneath the surface, a lot has happened. Computers have been playing much more major role than sheer word processing or computational devices. Today, many managers look at it as an effective communication tool. With the advent of the Internet, the clerks in the companies exchange e-mails with remote suppliers, ordering goods via electronic catalogues and tracking those orders through the whole procurement cycle (Feng Li, 2006). The essential features of e-business are: Scholars generally view e-business and e-government as two phenomena that are quite similar in nature, yet occur independently to one another. Apparently, the two are generally studied separately, though using a common background concerning research methods. Research has also begun suggest that e-business and e-government are related, and therefore should to be studied together. These aspects become much more important and helpful during winds of economic change as they help in improving the economy of the country. As a matter of fact, partnerships between public and private entities have in many instances become key instruments in enabling the development of the region capable of sustaining the local economy by stimulating innovation and fostering greater efficiency within industry. They have also played instrumental roles in eliminating the various ills plaguing the region like the unemployment.Historically, it was in Chile that a real e-governance initiative was taken up in 1972 when IT services were unheard of in those days and were very limited in business. They used IT techniques not just to make paperless offices but also to perform government work efficiently. (Roland, 2003) It is a well-known fact that the advent of e-governance has helped in bridging the gap between the Governments and the public. In the developed nations wherein almost everyone has access to the Internet at very nominal rates, this has been declared a huge success. While certain privileged sections of the society get to avail e-governance and get closer to the government, the threat of the under-privileged, uneducated people distancing themselves from the government cannot be ruled out. However, the major challenge lies in implementing this in the underdeveloped and the developing areas where few people have access to the Internet and major portion of them do not know how to access the Internet. A possible solution for this problem, which can be conceived, is setting up of centers specifically for people to enable performing transactions with the Government with little or no effort. Trained people must be allowed to run these centers, under the supervision of the Government. (J.Sathy anarayana, 2004) Hence, we can sum up the properties of e-governance as follows Integrates the networks of all the government depts., thus, giving the user a platform

System in organization final paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

System in organization final paper - Essay Example Insurance industry is a world where competition progresses speedily and the requirements of customers change quickly, Lenox should see that IT oriented system is to be delivered in months and not in a period of over three years. Oxford Health Plans Inc was ranked as the fifth top –growing company in the United States in 1996 by the Fortune magazine as the business was growing both in revenues and in members. Everything went topsy-turvy when Oxford management tried to introduce new computerized billing system as the executive’s paid a little or poor attention to information technology. The bad structuring and management of Oxford billing system not only tarnished the company’s brand name but also resulted its future growth as Oxford’s stock price stumbled down to one-third of its earlier quote due whooping loses of $ 300 million. If the management do not spot the apt IT-enabled chances, introduce misguided systems or mishandle the whole activity , in such scenarios ,IT systems can even be proved to be devastating like what it had happened in Oxford. Badly visualized and implemented IT investments become hazardous in the long run if it is not noticed at the early stage. Sullivan should have been made to directly report to Bennett, CEO rather than reporting to Fontana, CFO. Sullivan, as a CIO, should have assumed responsibility for outcomes of IT investments, in collaboration with the senior management. A management committee should have been formed with CIO as the head and this committed should have supervised the real-time systems and should have introduced necessary changes as and when necessary. Lenox CEO is fully aware that by bringing the latest technology, by modernizing key applications and by rationalizing and reorganizing the information services at Lenox, it definitely helps Lenox to see its business is growing. If investment in information technology is

Professional engineers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Professional engineers - Assignment Example The modern day Engineer has the obligation to conduct their operations in an ethical manner. Several accidents result from negligence on the part of the Engineer or from not following the standards set out for conducting these activities. One such accident was the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in which the vehicle burst into flames shortly after taking off killing all the crew. The president of the United States set up a commission to investigate the cause of the accident that found that the accident was as a result of the failure of the O-ring seals and that the seals had been cited as a potential hazard years before the accident. The commissions report to the president indicated that since managers and engineers had prior knowledge of the O-ring danger, lack of proper communication between management and the engineers and poor management practices were the principle causes of the disaster. This interpretation is however insufficient if the history of how NASA and contracto r’s engineers had detected and dealt with the defects on the O-rings before the launch. According to Andrew Dunar and Stephen Waring in Power To Explore-History of Marshall Space Flight Center 1960-1990, ‘Allowing Marshall engineers and managers to offer their side of their story, based on documents before and after the accident testimony and interviews leads to a more realistic account of the events leading up to the accident than that found in the previous studies.’ It is therefore important that I highlight some of the ethical issues raised in order to understand the obligations of professional engineers as a way of preventing the occurrence of such disasters. While engineering ethics principles are easy to formulate, they are sometimes hard to apply and decisions made by professional engineers must be considered on the context of the technical details of the design. It should be seen that ethical principles are not violated to avoid the probability of acciden ts due to such considerations as of finance. The NASA space Shuttle Challenger burst into flames about 73 minutes after liftoff killing seven people on board. The crew team included: Francis R. Scobee as the commander, Michael John Smith ( who was the pilot), Ellison Onizuka ( the missions 1st Specialist ), Judith Resnik (Mission 2nd Specialist), Ronald McNair (Mission third Specialist ), Christa McAuliffe (Payload 1st Specialist ), and Gregory B. Jarvis (Payload 2 nd Specialist ). The commission realized that on the evening prior to the launch Morton Thiokol, the contractor supplying the seals had recommended during a teleconference that the launch be delayed due to concerns about the performance of the seals. This recommendation was however reversed during the teleconference leading to the disaster. In trying to understand, the probable causes of the accident during investigations care take care not to such as the myth of perfect engineering practice and that of retrospective fall acy. There is no such thing as perfect engineering practice and simply identifying what standard steps were not followed during the design is not enough in assigning the cause of accident. Moreover, looking back in retrospect at what important decisions should/could have been made is sometimes misleading, as investigators will always try to assign blame. In order to underst

Module 5 Reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module 5 Reflections - Essay Example The quiz was one of the most challenging compared to the ones done in the previous. This is ironical because, the module featured most of the concepts that had been approached in the previous modules. Therefore, even before engaging in the study I had assumed that I knew the concepts well. This assumption proved to be the challenge to the realization of a good mark in the test. One thing that I learnt through this is to be careful to internalize concepts while keeping track on revising so that I do not forget what has been previously learnt. Despite the quiz being challenging, I did not expect to miss a whole nine questions. The question that I would like the instructor to give further insight is on the distinction between triangulation and explanatory methods. The major area that proved challenging was n elucidating and comprehending the experimental designs. Of particular concern was the mixed methods design. I remember vividly, the lecturer talk about the rationale for mixing as well as the importance of research questions in the study. For the later, I understood how to frame it as well as its significance in a research. The research question provides is the puzzle that is unmasked after the research is concluded. Drawing a thick line between triangulation, exploratory and explanatory mixed designs was a major challenge especially in the quiz where I missed two of the questions that were meant to establish an understanding of these three designs. Though I have been able to understand the bit of what these mixed methods are about distinguishing them is an uphill task. On the other hand, I would like to raise the question on what is the need for mixing the designs. However, going through the text I found powerful insight on why qualitati ve data should be mixed with quantitative data. The most striking thing that clearly caught my attention and proved to be a simplistic concept in the