Marketing Analysis of Watsons

Watsons in Singapore spans health & beauty chains, perfumeries & cosmetics, grocery, pharmacy, wine and duty-free. Watson's target customers are located in the spending power (two thousand and five more in monthly income) to accept new things but also the middle class (age 18-40 years). Watson in the research found that Asian women will use more time to go shopping, and they are willing to invest a lot of time to find cheaper or better products. Watson's view that female consumer of this age is the most challenging spirit. They like to use the best products and seek new experiences, fashion, willing to show themselves in front of friends. They are more willing to use the money to bring big changes for their willingness to carry out various new attempts. The reason that they are more concerned about consumers under the age of 40 is longer because of their age most women already have their own brand and lifestyle of the fixed. In this comfortable shopping environment, Watsons provide customers with a variety of products. According to the different benefits the consumers seek from the products. Watson has a strong team of health advisers, including full-time pharmacists and â€Å"health and vitality Ambassador†: professional teams are subject to professional training, provided free of charge for customers to maintain a healthy living advice and recommendations. Watson is not only concerned the sale of goods, more thoughtful and meticulous attention to customer care, and full of his â€Å"personal care† service shop features. It positions its products to offer at affordable prices which are comparable with that of the other major shop. In an affluent society, men and women of all ages are interested in a comfortable shopping environment. They hope in a good social image of shop to buy their want. Watsons, the largest health and beauty retailer in the world can satisfy the consumers’ need. 4 Ps of Marketing Product/Services – The products offered the personal health care products, beauty, skin care products and the pharmacy. UK Savers chain, the Netherlands Kruidvat Group, Latvia DROGAS retail chains, the British Merchant Retail perfume chain, Malaysia Apex Pharmacy Sinbad pharmacies and a series of mergers and acquisitions, so Watson in its own branding and product development, channels accumulate there have been large enough leeway. In 2005, Watson spent 5. 5 billion Hong Kong dollars acquisition of France's largest, has a long history of perfume retailer Marionnaud, followed in turn is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia's health and beauty chain Spektr Group in the bag. In Watsons, customers have a lot of choices, because they can use less money to buy the most suitable products. In order to facilitate customers to target women's Watson will be the height of the shelf down to 1. 65 meters from 1. 0 meters, and the kingpin of the display of products on the shelf height is generally 3-1 m 1 m 5, while human enough shelf design. Watsons Your Personal Store each are clearly divided into different sales areas, different categories of goods, placed neatly for easy customer selection. In the display of goods, the Watsons focus on its inherent connection and logic, according to cosmetics – skin care products – beauty products – hair care products – fashion articles – pharmacyâ₠¬â€ accessories —- make-up tool for the classification of the order of placing women in daily. Watson sold the products, pharmacies accounted for 15%, cosmetic and skin care products accounted for 35%, 30% of personal care products, and the remaining 20% is food, beauty products and clothing accessories, etc. Pricing Strategy – Watsons belong to the chain business model. This model not only reduces the difficulty and improves the operating quality and efficiency of operations. Chain of centralized purchasing and centralized distribution only save operating costs, but also can create its own brand of competitively priced. Chains of individual scattered into one operating large-scale network management structure, the headquarters for the store through centralized purchasing, purchasing large quantities, can enjoy a higher price discounts and reduce the purchase cost. Brought through the acquisition of channel, product and technology development and other core elements, combined with a very international brand appeal, with its own brand of competitive and strictly control the production of quality outsourcing guise of promotion model, Watson to increasing ability of consumers to the viscosity, aggregation target consumers. The one hand, quality assurance, on the one hand is the price demands, this strategy has considerable destruction. â€Å"I'm sure I'm cheap,† â€Å"overpaid, half refund† signs in this category end in Watsons’ stores everywhere. First a low propensity to attract the consumers come in, in sufficient source of the premise, by tying promotions to stimulate their purchase frequency and quantity, the Watson thus avoiding the common retail price of war. Promotion – The classification of the different regions will introduce various new products and promotional merchandise, from time to time in the shop so that customers have a new found interest in order to stimulate customer. Watsons also can through flyers, newspapers, advertisement and word of mouth. Place and distribution – A class of the most prosperous shopping district is Watson's first choice, such as a large number of big shopping malls or the streets of passenger traffic, airports, railway stations or the central office and other local white-collar workers also consider the object, similar to the other shop. Product Life Cycle People enjoy shopping in Watsons, because of the health & beauty chain. The health & beauty products market segment of the business may still be in the growth phase of the product life cycle. In the future, Watsons can offer more bonds of cosmetics. They can also offer the consumer electronics or accessories. Can set up a column to those white-collar, in order to provide them with stationary. Major Competitors The major competitors in the health & beauty business in Singapore include CK, Guardian, SaSa, Pharmacy and other health & beauty business.

Effects of Enzyme

Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Biology Introduction In order to understand the activity of enzymes at different temperatures the ability of the enzyme to function can be measured. This is important in many applications such as Polymerase Chain Reaction for forensics as well as genetics research where manipulation of temperature-dependent enzymes allows for replication of DNA segments. Bennett states, â€Å"when the energy – measured as heat – increases in a chemical reaction the energy increases the reaction speed and reaction rate. (1969) This happens until a threshold though in many biological processes where positive energy input no longer increases reaction speed due to the inhibition of other factors – in this experiment that factor is the degradation or denaturing of the protein complex that is the enzyme working to catalyze the reaction. One would make the hypothesis that for any given enzyme there is a minimum reaction rate which increases with tempera ture then at a maximum point begins to be less and less efficient as the enzyme form no longer works to catalyze the reactions with its given substrates.Materials and Methods After obtaining five clean test tubes and labeling them in order one through five, each were marked at one centimeter and at four centimeters from the bottom with a permanent marker. Next, the potato juice/catalase extract is added to each tube to the one centimeter mark. The following portion of the experiment was in segments for each tube. Tube one was placed in an ice-bath by adding ice and water in a 250ml beaker. Tube two was placed in the tube rack on the lab bench in a room temperature environment.Tube three was placed in a water bath at 50 degrees celsius, and tube four was set in the 70 degree celsius water bath. Tube five was placed in a boiling water bath of a beaker on the hot plate while wearing goggles for protection. Each tube was then left in the conditional environment for ten minutes. The temp erature of the boiling water, room temperature, and ice bath were measured by thermometer. After the ten minutes I used the thermometer to measure the temperatures of the room, ice, and boiling water. Then, after adding water, waited 30 seconds until the foaming in the tube, stopped.The measured the amount of foam was recorded. Results After all the appropriate steps were taken, a table was created and I recorded each temperature that was in the tube and foam height as well. The temperate and the foam height were both recorded to see the resemblance and results concluding the temperature effect on enzymes. An example of my results are recreated as seen below (numbers and titles are accurate and the same as lab test) As shown in the table A, temperature and foam height is represented by different color lines on the graph. The purple line, represents temperature. The blue line represents foam height (mm).As the temperature rose, the heigh of the foam decreased. This did not support my hypothesis. My hypothesis clearly stated,† If the temperature is really high, then the foam will rise highly. 50 degrees will be have the most amount of foam. † This hypothesis was not supported because the highest amount of foam was found at 0 degrees. The enzymes reached optimum temperature, and then denaturing took place. In comparison to another lab, the same results occurred. Campbell Neil from students. cis stated, â€Å"The higher the concentration of substrate, the faster the reaction rate. † This made my hypothesis invalid. DiscussionAlthough my hypothesis was not correct, the lab results agree with previous literature on the effects of temperature on enzyme activity. According to Susan Gilbert, â€Å"Enzymes are sensitive to their environmental conditions. Up to a point, the rate of the reaction will increase as a function of temperature because the substrates will collide more frequently with the enzyme active site. At extremes of pH or temperature, e ither high or low, the native structure of the enzyme will be compromised, and the molecule will become inactive†(2009). Enzymes are very sensitive and do the opposite of what most chemical reactions in this case.According to the Worthington Biochemical Corporation, â€Å"A ten degree Centigrade rise in temperature will increase the activity of most enzymes by 50 to 100%† (2012). This furthers the conclusion that when the temperature rose the foam height decreased and the reaction was less intense. Table A. Bibliography Bennett. 1969. Modern Topic in Biochemistry 43-45 Campbell, N. 2002. Biology, 6th ed. : Enzymes 300-340 Cummings. 1998. Biology in the Laboratory: Temperature and enzymes. 1-9, 10-20 Gilbert, S. 2002. â€Å"Enzymes. † Biology Vol. 2. 3-9 ———————– [pic]

Managerial Personality Essay

The characteristics of a person’s personality determine his leadership capabilities. Leaders from around the world all have distinct characteristics which define their leadership style and abilities. In a corporate culture, these personality traits can be capitalized upon to direct an organization towards its goals and to do so requires an in depth understanding of the different styles of personality traits that define every individual. A grasp on this knowledge would allow any leader to have a huge impact on the culture and performance of an organization. An observation to be made is the leveraging of personality traits may be utilized in order to achieve corporate goals. To create a competitive advantage, management’s focus must be on cooperation and inspiration. A clear link exists between culture and performance, as shown by Mindy L. Hall (Hall, 2005.) A leader’s personality shapes the environment in which employees function, and can either inspire extraordinary results, or devastating outcomes. Hostile conditions in the workplace will cause anxiety, stress, lack of energy, disengagement, or high turnover. Subsequently, organizations with these issues experience a lower quality of output. This negatively affects the relationship between consumers and businesses, who may find the competition more appealing. A positive engagement between management and employees excite a higher level of performance. From this, a company experiences higher quality output and satisfied customers. A best way to manage a company doesn’t exist; it must be studied, understood, and honed to best match or shape the organization’s culture. The key issue to choosing the appropriate manager in any organization is appreciating what goals and desires are sought after. This report is focused primarily on management as leaders and employees as subordinates. However, it must be understood that subordinates can also play the role as leader in their own context, and it should be encouraged. For example, a group of four employees are assigned to a project. Among this group will emerge a leader who directs the mission to accomplish said assignment. Although this individual does not possess a management title he or she is still leading. That being stated, an organization must possess a deep understanding of its business culture, and employ these concepts when prospecting for competent employees and management. Furthermore, management can recognize certain personality traits among individuals in a team, and manipulate and combine them in a synergetic way. In general, the comprehension of the various personality traits can be used as a measurement of how an individual may respond and perform in an organization’s culture. However, there is much debate as to the extent to which personality can predict behavior, and the extent to which behavior arises from the dynamics of a given situation (Kendrick, Funder, 1991.) The key issues in a corporate context include the big five personality traits, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, attitude, and emotional intelligence. The Big Five Personality Traits General agreement exists among researchers regarding the big five personality traits. This model categorizes personalities into five distinct categories: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. An understanding of these categories often referred to as OCEAN, gives insight to an individual’s underlying personality and how an individual would react in day to day operations of an organization. However, research has shown situational factors play a role in how individuals move between the two extremes of each personality factor. Each factor is a range of two extremes, which most individuals lie somewhere in between. Given this fact, the majority of decisions made by people are representative of their fundamental personality traits. Only when abnormal or extreme situations arise does an individual shift towards the extreme of either end on one or more factors. Managers seeking to create a winning team would do well to not only understand his own personality type, but also individual team member’s personality types. Intimate knowledge of each person among a group will allow for a more harmonious and efficient team effectively utilizing strengths and mitigating weaknesses. Attitude Attitudes of managers and employees contribute greatly to the working environment. An attitude is a collection of beliefs and feelings brought on by life experiences or learned from others, and a positive or negative analysis of one’s environment. Similar attitudes of a leader and a team can create a positive working environment that flows all the way down to the end consumer. Leaders of an organization who commit to reinforcing positive attitudes contribute to a successful business model. Individuals who are satisfied with the work environment make their duties a part of life, and commit skills and knowledge to drive progress of a business. A study conducted by MBA’s and one professor from India, (Tandon, Mishra, Singh, 2011,) explored the relationship between attitude and how an organization perceives its position in society. The study begins by stating that business behavior has both economic and relational impact. Over recent decades there have been significant changes in the social expectation from business and managers. This study found that one’s personal beliefs, values, and attitude drive commitment to social responsibility. In this writing social responsibility can be thought of as organizational commitment or responsibility. The study took a specific look into how spirituality, materialism, relativism, and idealism discriminate between high and low corporate social responsibility (CSR).The study conducted found idealism and spirituality to have a positive influence on CSR, and materialism and relativism had a negative or less of an influence. This implies that managers with more of a concern towards society’s beliefs and values, and less towards material things, will have a greater concern towards creating a positive internal working environment. Moreover, a manager with this attitude may push subordinates towards the same ideals, which create a more efficient environment. In contrast, materialistic and relativistic attitudes contributed negatively towards CSR. This suggests that individuals with these attitude types can create an environment where monetary gain and possession of assets are the only goal, and right and wrong is near irrelevant. This mentality can have a devastating effect on society’s perception of a corporation. Moreover, the connection between working peers can be non-existent, and coordination would lack causing inefficiency. A manager’s attitude can bring about the benefits of a positive working environment by keeping a positive attitude towards a given position in an organization. An attitude based on working towards an end goal, which produces the greatest good for society and a corporation, would be an ideal mentality for any organization. Attitudes contribute to a successful business model because individuals who are satisfied make their duties a part of life, and commit their skills and knowledge to driving the progress and success of the business. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of human motivation based on increasing levels of needs. This theory suggests that human needs are fulfilled one at a time by accomplishing basic needs and proceeding upwards towards advanced needs. Although there is much debate as to the accuracy of these levels research has suggested a correlation between the fulfillment of these needs and happiness. Managers with an understanding of what level individuals in a team are on can manipulate motivation techniques to stimulate productivity and efficiency. Maslow’s hierarchy can be applied to compensation, job design, management techniques, or anything that requires a higher level of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy is a systematic way of thinking about the different needs employees have at any given point and explains different reactions they may have to similar treatment (Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan, 2009.) The definition provided implies that each individual perceives needs differently, and managerial techniques in this context must be applied more specifically. For example, two employees receive a raise after a massive project was finished. The first employee is satisfied with the raise because her safety, and subsequently her physiological, needs had been fulfilled. The second employee felt his needs had not been satisfied. His goal in finishing the project was to prove his worthiness as a manager. His intention through his hard work was to climb the corporate ladder. He was looking to fulfill his esteem and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs are satisfied through compensation, since a paycheck allows individuals to find nourishment, shelter, etc. Compensation can satisfy more than one need, however. Safety needs can be satisfied through benefits such as 401K, health plans, or paid time off. In many ways, compensation satisfies both physiological and safety needs. In addition, organizations must take in consideration the physical safety of employees. Managers have a duty to enforce safety precautions where working conditions may be hazardous. When a position requires employees to take physical risk an organization is expected to protect workers from unnecessary harm, and to compensate for the higher risk. When feelings of anxiety are low safety needs have been fulfilled. Social needs can be met through satisfactory social interaction with others in which there is interaction. The goal in satisfying this need is to cause individuals to feel accepted and loved. In a business context there must be a focus on acceptance over love. Creating a friendly environment is a great start to satisfying this need. Company sponsored games, events, holiday parties, and other social activities are great examples of how to socialize a staff. Also, team meetings where the staff can voice their concerns or ideas can allow team members to better understand each other. Esteem needs can be satisfied after one feels she has been accepted into a group. These needs can be fulfilled through recognition. It must be stressed that individuals enjoy being praised for their accomplishments, but praise only works for a limited amount of time. Managers must look to promote individuals with a high need for esteem. A raise in position and pay communicates an achieved status, and reinforces her ability to achieve corporate goals. Esteem needs lead into self-actualization. This need lies on the top of the hierarchical pyramid. Similar to fulfilling esteem needs, self- actualization can be met by giving an employee more responsibility, greater challenges, or more stimulating opportunities. Self-actualization is characterized by an individual having met all previous needs, and is now using his or her full potential and capabilities. Maslow’s hierarchy is important for organizations to apply. Humans are motivated by particular needs according to their current life situations and future goals. Furthermore, individual needs are in accordance with cultural backgrounds such as race, religion, or country of origin. It must also be noted that individuals are not always striving to fulfill the same needs. The needs model must be applied on an individual basis. Managers who realize their needs are being fulfilled can be used as a resource for understanding their subordinates needs, and act accordingly. When an organization applies this model to a workforce there is an increase in job satisfaction and loyalty. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to control extreme changes in mood and emotions, and is a characteristic of an effective and competent leader. When a manager cannot control temporary emotions that are brought on by day to day interactions it can bring an entire organizations progress to a halt. Emotions are contagious and create a domino effect. Simply realizing when a certain emotion is present allows one to better handle temporary emotional fluctuations, while containing it as to not affect others. That being said, it is of utmost importance for a manager to possess a deep understanding of his or her own emotions (self-awareness), and how to deal with each. An individual who is self-aware is humble enough to accept constructive criticism and mature enough to address the areas of concern. The impact of hiring individuals with high emotional intelligence is high productivity and retention of high-quality employees. Golnaz Sadri, PhD, defines E.I. as the ability to accurately perceive emotions, access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth, (Sadri, 2012.) The ability to accurately perceive emotions allows one to recognize facial and bodily gestures, and interpret their meaning. A manager who has this ability can intercept other’s cues, or tells, that signal irritability. This skill is recognized as constructive when dealing with scenarios such as a team who can’t come to an agreement, a irate client or customer, or when negotiating. For the most part, emotional intelligence is a learned skill, and an indicator of useful experience. Conclusion Manipulating strong personality traits and striving to improve negative personality traits can have a huge impact on a manager’s career, and more broadly can impact a corporation in tremendous ways. Today manager’s has access to information to help them maximize team productivity using psychology. Using psychological strategies to hire the right employees and build teams is the competitive edge companies need in this tough economic climate. REFERENCES Camgoz, S., Karan, M., & Ergeneli, A. (2011). Part II Leadership, Social Capital, and Personality: Relationship Between The Big Five Personality and The Financial Performance of Fund Managers. 15, p139 Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2009). Need-Based Theory of Motivation. In Principles Of Management (10th ed., p14.1) Hall, M. (2005). Shaping Organizational Culture: A Practitioner’s Perspective. 2(1), p1-16 Kendrick, D. T., & Funder , D. C. (1991). Situation versus Personality Debate. Retrieved from http://wilderdom.com/personality/L6-3SituationVsPersonality.html McCrae, R., & Costa, P. (1995). Domains and Facets: Hierarchal Personality Assessment Using The Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64(1), p23 Pannapacker, W. (2012, April 15). Screening Out The Introverts. The Chronicle. Sadri, G. (2012). Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Development. 41(3), p536 Tandon, A., Mishra, S., & Singh, E. (2011). What Discriminates The Prospective Manager’s Attitude Towards Corporate Social Responsibility? 10(3), p54-60 Whitbourne , S. K. (2010, October 19). The Neuroticism Paradox | Psychology Today.Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201010/the-neuroticis m-paradox Witt, L.A., & Andrews, M.C. (2006). The Predisposition to Engage in Interpersonal Deviance at Work. pHR-F2

Choose any country, assess its current macroeconomic position and Essay

Choose any country, assess its current macroeconomic position and discuss what policy options might be adopted (or have been ado - Essay Example This is translated in the macro level as the economy’s total income and total expenditure. GDP measures both the income of the people in the economy and expenditure in the form of consumption, investment, government purchases and net exports. We can assess the economic performance of United Kingdom (UK) using the economic indicators mentioned above. We begin with analysis of the trend in UK’s GDP. There were rises and falls in UK’s GDP as results of the economic fluctuations over the years but the latest figures in its trends reveal the positive position of UK. The UK figures show that GDP on a comparable basis (constant basic prices) grew by 0.5 per cent in the year to end-September 2010 and grew by 0.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2010 (www.scotland.gov.uk 2011). These figures are the results of the experienced increase in both services and construction sectors, 0.6 % and 1.6% respectively and the fall in production sector by 0.4 %. This trend was presented in Figure 1. FIGURE 1. UK GDP GROWTH RATE (2000-2010) In this graph, UK’s GDP was positive from year 2000 up to the first quarter of 2008 and started to register negative growth rates in the second quarter of 2008. There was a negative GDP gap as the actual GDP was less than the potential output. This was the same year when the global recession hits most countries around the world. Recession is one of the economic fluctuations that economies have to face and pass through because failure to do so will cause economic depression. It is a period of declining real GDP, accompanied by lower real income and higher unemployment. UK is one of the affected economies by the recent global crisis. The effects were seen and felt by everyone in the economy. The findings of a survey of almost 5,000 small, medium and large businesses suggested that UK faced a serious risk of recession within months (BBC 2008). Major businesses reported fall in their production and sales. Firms particularly i n the manufacturing and services sector have experienced serious cash-flow problems as results of the lowest levels of sales and orders, job expectations and confidence hit. Both consumers and firms were losing confidence in the recovery of the economy. This made them to hold on tight to their money and refrain from spending, making the consumption and investment level very low. We all know from our circular flow of economic activities that expenditures on buyers purchases and consumption will be the income of sellers of products and providers of services. The effects of the changes in consumption behavior of the households were extended to the producers. House builders has to cut their jobs and reported that completion of their house sales fell. The services firms like restaurants, gyms and tour operators were also hard hit by the decrease in consumption level of the households. The low volumes of production and sales of the businesses caused the real income to fall and contributed to higher inflation rate (Friedman and Schwartz 1982, p.253). More firms have decided stop their production activities because the present condition won’

The Impact of Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

The Impact of Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example Most companies that are market-oriented avoid getting into trouble because they spend most of the time with their customers thereby gaining a lot of information from the customers. Indeed the relationship that coexists between the business performance and the market orientation are quite a powerful one. For instance, those businesses that exhibit strong interrelationship between the business performance and the MO have experienced success and the growth of the market share (Appiah-Adu and Ranchho, 1998). While the competitor and customer orientation can have the significant and positive impact on the overall MO, only the customer orientation can have the significant and positive impact on the business performance. From the managerial perspective, the measurements scales can be used in assessing the firm’s level of the MO and appropriately identify the â€Å"bottlenecks† in the intra-organizational information flows. For this course, the transformation of the business from the MO to the business performance is a rather a more complex phenomenon due to the interventions from the other factors during the process of transformation (Slater and Narver, 1995; Han et al., 1998; Baker and Sinkula, 1999). Successful organizations create the organizational culture that encourages its employees feel dedication and commitment to the organization. Corporate social responsibility initiatives are one way of achieving this. Besides giving the employees the invaluable feeling towards making enormous contribution to the organization, it also offer other positive effects to the business as well. Innovation in the managerial and organizational practices suggest that new and improved ways of enhancing the CSR via the rebuilding the relationship between the organizations and the community while enhancing the understanding of the social capital that found in the social environment that the

Review of an Academic Research Paper Literature Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Of an Academic Research Paper - Literature review Example Abstract: The purpose of an abstract is to provide the audience with a clear idea of the contents of the paper, where the authors describe the purpose of the paper, the research methodology used and a brief discussion of the findings, discussions and recommendations, if any. In this context, the article under review clearly brings out the fact that many previous studies on educational validity of gaming simulations â€Å"have been inconclusive† (Stainton et al, 2010, p.705). Thus, the authors inform the audience that their study has considered this aspect and it will â€Å"provide a foundation for future educational validity studies† (p.705). The abstract in this case, therefore, serves its intended purpose as per academic conventions. Introduction: Though the authors do not segregate and assign a separate section for introduction, they introduce the topic in the beginning stating that the study â€Å"proposes a methodology framework for assessing the educational valid ity of business gaming solution† (p.705). The authors further identify â€Å"total enterprise simulation† (TES) as a â€Å"credible learning tool† that can justify the time and cost invested by the students (p.705-706). Thus, the readers, right from the outset of the paper are able to understand the contents and take a decision whether to read the complete article or not, which is the purpose of the introduction in a paper. Theoretical Framework: The authors concede to the fact that â€Å"simulations are not an accurate representation of the real world† and identify this problem as the reason for their validity (p.707). Further, they also contend that the â€Å"knowledge and biases of the designer† also â€Å"distort† the learning potential of the simulations, which contributes to the difficulty and complexity in achieving the learning objectives (p.707). Their current study is based on these premises and the research attempts to find alterna tives to address these issues. The authors further argue that learners require sufficient time to â€Å"reflect on engaging experiences† coupled with motivation and feedback so as to ingest the learning effectively (p.709). Thus, they attempt to design a research methodology framework for addressing the problems in the â€Å"design, implementation, and implementation† of gaming simulations, through their study (p.709). They also feel there is an absence of a definite process for the design, implementation and validation of a TES and, therefore, they propose the need for the formulation of certain â€Å"theoretical propositions† and list them in the theoretical framework of the paper (p.710). By clearly bringing out the problems associated with the process of validating the gaming solutions in learning and identifying the specific theoretical frameworks to address these issues, the authors have clearly spelled out their objectives in the paper. Thus, from an acad emic perspective, the article provides the readers with all necessary information required by them to understand the theoretical framework on the paper. Research Design and Instruments: The authors propose a â€Å"multi-case study research design† that addresses the validity and reliability issues for the purpose of their study (p.711). In this context, it can be understood that case studies are effective tools for evaluating the

GBST300 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GBST300 - Essay Example For example in the book â€Å"How to get filthy rich in Asia† by Hamid a poor person who is the protagonist moves to city and becomes an industrialist. In a city, the education, health and security is better in village than city. Education a person can get from a school or college in village because comparing to health and security, education takes a second place. In city health and security is less and in village people can get fresh air, food and water. In village people can feel safe as there are no crowding people and there is no traffic of strangers. In a village the people know each other and feel safe. There is good health due to the reason that people are physically active. They do not spend their time leisurely and get enough time to walk or get active. Moreover they do not eat fast food or other processed food like city dwellers. They raise their own food and eat wholesome food which give them good nutrition and health. They also have access to fresh water and are not subjected to pollution. The â€Å"White horse village† is a documentary which shows the unhealthy ways of city dwellers that in greed of money and power are destroying a village in China. Getting ahead in cities is not easy. For this one person need to be competitive and need to be selfish and be materialistic. They need to be thinking of earning money by any means and others interests does not stand in their way. One needs to sacrifice their morals and ethical standard. In city one need to avoid love friendly attitude and should be ready for debt. In the book by Hamid the characters are all thinking that they are the hero which is the attitude needed in city life. The people should be ready to be unethical and the protagonist of his novel wants to go back to rural life after being rich and lost in a city lifelike the protagonist in the novel by Hamid who ignores religion, value and love

Can Crime be Considered Moral Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Can Crime be Considered Moral - Essay Example However, there are more than a few citizens who have committed crimes, acting out of concern for others or in protecting loved ones. To determine whether a crime is necessarily immoral, assumptions must be made. The first assumption is that all laws determine what consists of a crime based on harm or damage to others. The second is that all crimes hurt or bring harm to others, whether individuals, groups, corporations or other living things. The third assumption is that each citizen views harm in the same manner. Various cultural beliefs, ethical theories and value systems make it impossible for all citizens to each and every crime as moral or immoral. One who believes that murder is wrong, regardless of circumstances, may view an individual who has hurt or killed an intruder as wrong. Another may view self defense as allowable and justifiable. A serial murderer may be seen as evil or completely lacking in morals. Many in our society wonder how such an individual â€Å"can remain st eadfastly convinced of his own moral superiority and show not even the slightest glimmer of remorse.† (Silber). Most of society does not understand how the serial murderer can feel that way. Yet, the members of society will accept that â€Å"the five-year-old Iraqi girl who was killed by the same bombs that killed al-Zarqawi† was necessary to accomplish a goal. Murder is considered immoral, especially when victims are young and innocent. â€Å"Surely it is better for the world that men should be right from wrong motives than that they would do wrong with the best intentions.

History midterm essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History midterm - Essay Example However, scholars and official argued that for real strengthening to be realized in China, the country should develop basic western institution, including the western government organization and education. The reforms give rise to techniques and military technologies. On the other hand, another reform movement was initiated on 1898 after china was defeated in the Sino-Japanese war. Self-strengthening movement and Hundred Day’s Reforms have some common similarities and differences based on the objectives, achievements and targets. Both reforms advocated for introduction of western education to be introduced in China. Self-Strengthening Movement was more successful because they had foreign language schools, which led to turning foreign languages to Chinese. The reforms enabled Chinese to read and understand foreign languages and there was introduction of education missions, which included navigation and study shipbuilding. Approximately, 120 Chinese were sent abroad between 1872 to 1881. Although the Hundred Days Reforms emphasized on education, the conservative officials banned it. However, the reformers abolished the conservative officials and turned the content of the examination from classical knowledge of current affairs. Education gave a mixture of both Eastern and western studies. Just like the Self-Strengthening reforms, Hundred Days Reforms encourage members of the royalty to go abroad on learning trips. The old eight-legged essays were eliminated and students were to take classes on politics, current affairs and Chinese classical volumes. The self-Strengthening Movement was more successful in developing a relationship with the foreign powers. In this perspective, it led to the construction of the Zongli Yamen in Beijing with the objective of managing the affairs with powers. This reform was a tremendous step for China in embracing diplomatic relationship with

Conclusion and implication Essay Example for Free

Conclusion and implication Essay Failure to make use of available hazard-reduction information and measures of known effectiveness constitutes another general policy issue. It is one that assists to stimulate the ongoing UN-sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (Mitchell, 1988). In many places it would be potential to mitigate losses simply by putting what is known into effect. For instance, the value of warning and evacuation systems has been proven repeatedly; yet such systems are often underused. Likewise, hazard-mitigation schemes offer consistent paths toward reducing the long-term costs of disasters but they are often resisted in favour of instant post-disaster relief, insurance, and compensation programmes. Why do individuals and governments fail to make optimal use of available knowledge? There is no single answer to this question. A large number of factors are involved. Lack of agreement about definition and identification of problem; †¢ Lack of attentiveness of hazards; †¢ Misperception or misjudgement of risks; †¢ Lack of awareness of suitable responses; †¢ Lack of proficiency to make use of responses; †¢ Lack of money or resources to pay for responses; †¢ Lack of harmonization among institutions; †¢ Lack of attention to correlation between â€Å"disasters† and â€Å"development†; †¢ Failure to treat hazards as related problems whose components require simultaneous attention (i. e. reciprocity); †¢ Lack of access by affected populations to decision-making; †¢ Lack of public confidence in scientific knowledge; †¢ Conflicting goals among populations at risk; †¢ Fluctuating salience of hazards (competing priorities); †¢ Public opposition by negatively affected individuals and groups. Underlying all of these explicit reasons is a larger problem. It is this: society fails to take care of natural hazards as complex systems with several components that often require simultaneous attention. We tinker with one or another aspect of these systems when what are required are system-wide strategies. Perhaps even more significant, we fail to address the direct connection between natural hazard systems and economic investment decisions that drive the procedure of â€Å"development† and affect the potential for disasters. That such links subsist has been known for a very long time: If a man owes a debt, and the storm engulfs his field and carries away the produce, or if the grain has not grown in the field, in that year he shall not make any revisit to the creditor, he shall alter his contract and he shall not pay interest for that year. But mainly of the decisions that are taken to build new facilities or redevelop old ones, or to take on new production and distribution processes, or to develop new land, or to effectuate a myriad of other development goals are not currently very receptive to considerations of natural hazards. They must become so. And that is a task that will require a great deal of effort by natural hazard scientists to go beyond the laboratory and the research office or the field study site to obtain an understanding of how best to apply their expertise in public settings. It will also need the users of scientific information about hazards (architects, engineers, planners, banks and mortgage companies, international development agencies, and investment financiers) to foster a mutually interactive correlation with the scientists who are producers of that information. â€Å"Development† is only one of the main public issues that overlap with natural hazards reduction. Others include: environmental management; public health; security (personal, social, and national); and urbanization. All of them are major hitch sets in their own right, each patterned by philosophical and managerial disputes and unsettled issues. Efforts to work out commonly supportive policies and programmes raise entirely new sets of appropriate issues for hazards experts. References: †¢ Dombrowsky, Wolf R. 1995. â€Å"Again and Again: Is a Disaster What We Call ‘Disaster’? Some Conceptual Notes on Conceptualizing the Object of Disaster Sociology. † International Journal of mass Emergencies and Disasters (Nov. ), Vol. 13, No. 3, 241-254. †¢ Crozier, M. and Friedberg, E. (1979) Macht und Organisation, Berlin: Athenaum. (in German). †¢ IDNDR (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction). 1996. Cities at risk: Making cities safer †¦ before disaster strikes. Supplement to No. 28, Stop Disasters. Geneva: IDNDR. †¢ Maskrey, Andrew. 1989. Disaster mitigation: A community based approach. Development Guidelines No. 3. Oxford: Oxfam. †¢ Mitchell, James K. 1988. â€Å"Confronting natural disasters: An international decade for natural hazard reduction. † Environment 30(2): 25–29. †¢ Mitchell, James K. 1989. â€Å"Hazards research. † In Gary Gaile and Cort Willmott (eds. ), Geography in America. Columbus, OH: Merrill Publishing Company, pp. 410– 424. †¢ Mitchell, James K. 1993b. â€Å"Recent developments in hazards research: A geographers perspective. In E. L. Quarantelli and K. Popov (eds.), Proceedings of the United States–Former Soviet Union Seminar on Social Science Research on Mitigation for and Recovery from Disasters and Large Scale Hazards. Moscow, April 19– 26, 1993. Vol. I: The American participation. Newark: University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center, pp. 43–62. †¢ Mitchell, James K. and Neil Ericksen. 1992. â€Å"Effects of climate changes on weather-related disasters. † In Irving Mintzer (ed. ), Confronting climate change: Risks, implications and responses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 141–152. †¢ Mitchell, James K. , Neal Devine, and Kathleen Jagger.1989. â€Å"A contextual model of natural hazard. † Geographical Review 89(4): 391–409. †¢ Myers, Mary Fran and Gilbert F. White. 1993. â€Å"The challenge of the Mississippi flood. † Environment 35(10): 6–9, 25–35. †¢ Parker, D. J. and J. W. Handmer, eds. 1992. Hazard management and emergency planning: Perspectives on Britain. London: James James. †¢ Showalter, Pamela S. and Mary F. Myers. 1994. â€Å"Natural disasters in the United States as release agents of oil, chemicals or radiological materials between 1980–1989: Analysis and recommendations. † Risk Analysis 14(2): 169–182. †¢ Setchell, C. A. 1995. â€Å"The growing environmental crisis in the worlds megacities: The case of Bangkok. † Third World Planning Review 17(1): 1–18. †¢ Wynne, Brian. 1992. â€Å"Uncertainty and environmental learning: Reconceiving science and policy in the preventive paradigm. † Global Environmental Change 2(2): 111– 127. †¢ Yath, A. Y. 1995. â€Å"On the expulsion of rural inmigrants from Greater Khartoum – The example of the Dinka in Suq el Markazi. † GeoJournal 36(1): 93–101. †¢ Zelinsky, W. and L. Kosinski, L. 1991. Emergency evacuation of cities. London: Unwin Hyman.

Local Agenda 21 Guidelines

Local Agenda 21 Guidelines The concept of Local Agenda 21 was first introduced in 1987 at a meeting of world leaders in Norway. During that meeting the participants agreed that the planet has to adopt policies of sustainable development in order to move forward. Officially the Local Agenda 21 was then introduced at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, organised by the United Nations where more than 100 countries and representatives of more than 10000 organizations agreed to work out local agendas for sustainable living. Each country represented was then advised to develop a LA21 plan with the agenda set by the community itself rather than by the central government. Since 1992, more than 6,400 municipalities in 113 countries have been working to accelerate the transition to sustainable, equitable and secure communities. In European Union thousands of Local Authorities have a Local Agenda 21 plan although in countries like Greece for example this initiative is not always under the name of Agenda 21. In the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 there was a review of the progress made in Local Agenda 21. The participants were pleased of the progress made but also pointed out new opportunities to adopt concrete steps and identify quantifiable targets for better implementing Agenda 21 as the best strategies are only as good as their implementation. The major results and announcements from the Johannesburg Summit regarding Local Agenda 21 and Energy were: Increasing energy accessibility Although energy services have been extended to new groups of consumers, there is still a significant number of residents in rural and remote areas still lack access to sufficient energy resources. Changing production and consumption patterns In a lot of countries there was an introduction of policies and programs for encouraging energy conservation and efficiency in various sectors. This had as a result to: Reduce the growth rate of energy consumption. Improve the efficiency of electric power plants, but also the distribution efficiencies and electricity transmission; Support for the preparation of energy audits, The creation of specialized national bodies of expertise in the energy area; and Dissemination for raising public awareness for energy savings and sustainable development. Promotion of renewable sources of energy progress has been achieved in promoting the use of renewable energy technologies. Introduction of cleaner fuels and technologies the last few decades there was a significant increase in the use of natural gas. There was also commercialisation of some new renewable energy. The use of combined-cycle electricity generation systems has also become more common in industries and the electric power sector. Energy and transport There was a great deal of new policies which have been applied throughout the developed and developing countries. For example in European Union there was a band on leaded gasoline. In developing countries like Egypt for example, there was an incentive program in Cairo that supported a switch to natural gas vehicles; The outcome of this initiative was to increase substantial the number of vehicles using natural gas and today there are more than 27000 such vehicles are already in use. Pilot projects to use fuel cells for buses are also under consideration in some parts of the region. Promotion of regional cooperation the 1990s witnessed noticeable progress in regional cooperation in the energy sector. This is manifest by the realisation of a regional electricity grid interconnection between countries in the European Union. Also, as European Union expanded to the East there are now even more opportunities for further cooperation between the old EU countries with the new comers. Finally and perhaps the most important announcement was the launch of Local Action 21 Local Action 21 builds upon the worldwide successes of Local Agenda 21 since Rio. Local Action 21 fills in Agenda 21 in regards the implementation of Agenda 21, it represents a move from Agenda to Action, from plan to practice. Energy In Agenda 21 Energy is a key issue on Agenda 21 as it recognises its importance for human productivity and development. As such, energy receives significant coverage within most of the chapters of Agenda 21. It addresses the importance and the relationship of energy use and sustainable development. In particular explains the importance of energy supply, demand, and suggests ways for the transition from unsustainable to sustainable approaches to energy management. For example in Chapter 4 it states the importance of changing consumption patterns and it gives suggestions of how economies can reduce the use of energy and harmful materials without compromising their growth. This can be achieved by greater efficiency in the use of energy and resources by choosing the right technology and resources to produce goods and services which otherwise would have required significant amounts of energy. Governments should cooperate by giving initiatives to industry to use energy and resources efficiently and with special attention to the environment. In chapter 6 Agenda 21 points out how badly the environment has been damaged as a result of past and present developments in consumption and production patterns and lifestyles in energy production and use of people in developed and developing world, but also because of industrys bad practices. This has as a result hundreds of millions of people to suffer of pollution related conditions. Therefore, in chapter 6 it is suggested to establish environmental health impact assessment procedures for the planning and development of new industries and energy facilities as well as promote the introduction of environmentally sound technologies within the industry and energy sectors. In chapter 7 of the Local Agenda 21 is clearly recognized that the promotion of sustainable energy and transportation is one of the best ways of achieving sustainability. It urges to increase the efforts of energy saving and promote renewable energy techniques and technologies. It calls to use energy efficient building materials and use an integrated approach to buildings as needed. This is important as the building sector today is one of the major user of energy and any energy saving made on this sector will contribute significantly to the reduction of energy use. Chapter 9 recognizes that the protection of the atmosphere is an essential element of sustainable development and as such energy generated air pollution should be reduced. Therefore, all the different energy sources should be used in ways that respect the atmosphere as well as the human health and the environment as a whole. To achieve this, cooperation between different partners is important in order to identify and develop economically viable and environmentally friendly energy sources for meeting the increasing energy needs (in particular for the developing countries). The above shows that energy development, efficiency and consumptions are one of the main issues of Agenda 21. Energy is well understood that is essential to both social improvement and economic development and contributes to better quality of life. In the last few decades has been realised that much of the worlds energy, is produced and consumed in ways that could not be sustained if technology were to remain constant and if overall quantities were to increase substantially. According to recent scientific findings the need to control atmospheric emissions of greenhouse and other gases and substances, will increasingly need to be based on the efficient use of energy (in terms of production, transmission, distribution and consumption), and on growing reliance on environmentally sound energy systems, such as new and renewable sources of energy. This means that all energy sources will need to be used in ways that respect the atmosphere, human health and the environment as a whole. At the moment there are significant constraints to increasing the environmentally sound energy supplies in developing world such as the world economic crisis. Agenda 21 Guidelines In order to overcome any barriers and help countries and people adopt to Local Agenda commitments, Agenda 21 sets up guidelines for activities that governments at the appropriate level, with the cooperation of the relevant United Nations bodies and, as appropriate, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, should follow. These are: Environmentally sound energy sources Cooperate in identifying and developing environmentally sound energy sources and economically viable to support the availability of increased energy supplies to promote sustainable development efforts, specially in developing countries; Environmental Impact assessments Promote the development at the national level of appropriate methodologies for making integrated energy, economic and environment policy decisions for sustainable development, through environmental impact assessments; Modernisation of old power stations Promote the research, development, transfer and use of superior energy-efficient practices and technologies, including endogenous technologies in all relevant sectors, giving special attention to the modernization and rehabilitation of power systems; Promotion of renewable energy technology Overcome any barriers found in the way of the development of renewable energy technology to promote the research, development, transfer and use of technologies and practices for renewable energy systems such as biomass energy technologies, wind energy, solar technologies hydro and others. Energy capacities Promote the development of institutional, planning, scientific and management capacities, in order to encourage policies which targets energy efficiency and environmental protection. Energy diagnosis of energy supply mixes Study current energy supply mixes in order to increase in an economically efficient manner, in developing and developed countries, the use of environmentally sound energy systems and overcome any barriers to their development and use. Evaluation and promotion of cost effective policies Improvement of energy efficiency by promoting cost-effective policies in accordance with national socio-economic development and environmental priorities of a country. Good planning and programme management Build capacity for programme management and energy planning in energy efficiency, as well as for the development, introduction, and promotion of new and renewable sources of energy; Establishment of standards Promote appropriate emission standards or recommendations and energy efficiency at the national level, aimed at the development and use of technologies that minimize undesirable impacts on the environment; Education awareness programs Encourage awareness-raising programs at the local, national and regional levels concerning how energy affects the environment and what can be done to minimise our environmental footprint by wise use of energy. Energy labelling Establish, in cooperation with the private sector, labelling programmes for products to inform consumers of energy consumption and benefits of choosing the most efficient products. In summary Agenda 21 and Local Action 21 as it was introduced in a later stage sets up some main objectives for the energy. The basic and most important objective is to reduce adverse effects on the atmosphere from the energy sector. This can be done by promoting policies or programmes, as appropriate, to increase the contribution of environmentally sound and cost-effective energy systems, such as new and renewable ones, through less polluting and more efficient energy production, transmission, distribution and use. In order to meet this objective it should be understood the need for equity, adequate energy supplies and increasing energy consumption in developing countries. In particular it should be taken into consideration countries that are highly dependent on income generated from the production, processing and export, and/or consumption of fossil fuels and associated energy-intensive products and/or the use of fossil fuels for which countries have serious difficulties in switchi ng to alternatives, but also countries that are highly vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change. In European Union, although there was a significant progress on the implementation of Agenda 21 there are still lots that need to be done. The policies and tools that have been used by the EU are numerous and it is not of the scope of this document to mention, therefore we mention just three key targets that has been set up by EU to be met by 2020, these are: Cut off at least 20% in greenhouse gas emissions from all primary energy sources compared to 1990 levels. 20% of energy consumption should come up by renewable sources and Achieve a 20% energy saving by 2020 in energy consumption through energy efficiency. The above targets could only be achieved if citizens act responsible on how they use energy by recognising that the way they choose to live has a direct impact to the environment.

Impact of Stakeholder Management on Construction Industry

Impact of Stakeholder Management on Construction Industry 1.0 Introduction/Background Project management is an evolving discipline which is relatively new in both practice and academics hence knowledge is drawn from other disciplines to further advance both theory and practice in managing projects. Consequently this research will draw from different academic disciplines for its theory and the construction industry for its practice. To this end a project could be described as a strategy used by organisations to achieve its strategic goal, the strategy could be suggested to have a start and an end date (Turner 2009 p.20; Holton 2002 p.10-2). It could also be suggested that the word organisation in the above definition by Turner 2009 could be called the project stakeholder. Olanda and Landin (2005 p.321) defined project stakeholders as a  ¦group of people who have a vested interest in the success of a project and the environment within which the project operates. This research is focused on investigating the impact of stakeholder management and its contribution to project success in the construction industry. It could be suggested that the use of PMs life cycle phases be adopted for the entire project plan as seen in figure 1 below. Figure -Project Lifecycle The project initiation phase of this report will include proposing a project research topic, assigning a project supervisor or project sponsor and proposing a research plan. While the project planning phase will include reviewing of the available project materials and the execution phase will involve writing up the literature review and project methodology. Handover and closeout will involve submitting the final report to supervisor and award of Msc degree in Project Management. Lessons learnt could be suggested to be the feedback and experience gained in during the research. 1.2 Project Context Project Context could be suggested to be the setting in which a project is carried out (ApmBok 2009). In relation to the above description, the aim of this research is in agreement with the above suggestion (Achterkamp and Vis 2008 pg 749). 1.3 Project Rationale 1.3.1 Academic Rationale The academic research into project stakeholders has been attractive and extensive to researchers and professionals. Evidence shows that the construction industry accounts directly for 10% GDP growth in the UK (Cridland and Wates 2009 p.5),this goes to justify the need to investigate the impact of stakeholder management and its contribution to project success in the construction industry and also fulfil the academic requirement of the award of Masters Degree. 1.3.2 Business Rationale The economic implications for any organisation if projects fail will be devastating considering the above report by Wates and Cridland (2009 p5), this report shows that the construction industry account for 10% GDP growth. Project failure of any kind in the current economic climate will cost the organization its finance and jobs e.g. BP deep horizon in the US Gulf Coast where the collapse of a well led to fatalities which in-turn increased BPs financial burden. 1.3.3 Personal Rationale It could be suggested that as a project management professional, embarking on this research will help one better understand the principles of stakeholder management. The knowledge gained from this research will clarify any unanswered questions at the end of this research. 1.4 Aim and Objectives This research is aimed at: Investigating the impact of stakeholder management and its contribution to project success in the construction industry Objectives To explore the principles of stakeholder management and project success. To assess the benefits and challenges of stakeholder management. To correlate a relationship between stakeholder management and project success. To propose a strategy for measuring the impact of stakeholder management thereby assessing its impact on project success. To make recommendations for improved stakeholder management practices. 1.4.2 Project Scope According to Burke (2003 p. 104) project scope identifies when a project has been successfully completed within specified requirement. The scope for this project will involve activities such as writing the literature review, research methodology and drawing on the findings of the above mentioned activities to come up with a conclusion and recommendation. The scope of this research excludes the execution of the primary research. 1.4.3 Project Deliverables Project deliverables for this research is suggested to be the outcome of the report at every stage of the lifecycle (ApmBok 2009 p.135). The deliverables as shown in Table 1 are generalised and subject to being revised at the end of this report. Table Project deliverables Deliverables Description Project Research Plan Introduction/ Background Project Context and Project Rationale Project Definition Project Approach Research Project Schedule Resource Requirements Ethical Considerations Literature Review Research of theory and practice within the construction industry Project Approach or Methodology It involves the description of the process in the collection and evaluation of data that will be used to achieve the overall aim and objectives of this report. Project Proposal This involves outlining a research proposal from the finding and the analysis done in the project approach section. Conclusion and Recommendation This section involves the final summation of all the data used and presenting recommendation(s) where necessary. 1.4.4 Assumption, Constraints and Considerations Assumptions The project will be delivered on time, quality and within budget. The literature / materials needed to complete the project will be readily available. That the project aim and objectives will be met at the end of the project. Constraints The time required by the sponsor to complete the report. Combining three live projects at the same period. i.e. CPD, Group placement and dissertation. Considerations That the report will inspire its readers to proceed towards a primary research. That there will be more research into the impact of project stakeholders and its contribution to project success within the construction industry. 1.5 Initial Literature Review 1.5.1 Stakeholder Management Project stakeholders have been widely discussed in various project management literatures. Fewings (2005 p.34) described project stakeholders as people that their interest could affect the outcome of the project while Olanda and Landin (2005 p.321) agues that although project stakeholders are group of people with different interest in a particular project, they are also interested in a successful outcome no matter the level of interest. Since this research will be focusing on stakeholder management, McElroy and Mills (2007 p.270) suggested that stakeholder management deals with the relationships between stakeholders within projects. This relationship must be developed and structured so as to achieve a successful outcome. McElroy and Mills (2007 p.270) description of stakeholder management is convincing because different bodies of knowledge are yet to agree on a particular description for stakeholder management. Fewings (2005) and Olanda Landin (2005) perspectives on project stakeholders in relation to stakeholder management is valid in that all agreed that stakeholders are made up of more than one individual, so managing this relationship as described by McElroy and Mills (2007 p.270) will determine if a project is a success or a failure . 1.5.2 Project Success Yu et al. (2005) suggested that a: Project  is a success if its created product adds value to the client, considering the cost to the client at the point of acceptance While there is no definite definition to what project success is or what will be the best way to define success, this report would look into critical success criteria used in the construction industry to determine when a project is successful. The ApmBok (2009) defined project success as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the satisfaction of stakeholder needs measured by the success criteria as identified and agreed at the start of the projectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 1.6 Project Research Approach In this section it could be suggested that a proposed research approach be developed, this approach would be aligned with the project aim and objectives. To achieve the above this report has identified two methods or type of research, this are the Primary and Secondary research. A primary research entails the collection of new data or expansion of existing theories in project management body of knowledge. This could be achieved by using the following methods: the use of questionnaires, sampling and survey. Data for this research would be collected though documentary research. This involves analysing various literatures relating to the research; given that this research is a secondary research, a qualitative method will be employed. 1.6.1 Ethical Consideration Sekaran (2000, p17) defined ethics as a code of conduct or expected societal norm of behaviour while conducting a research or project . Below in table 2 are the ethical considerations used to compile this research. Table -Ethical Consideration This research was carefully structured to avoid any misrepresentation or distortion of data collected. All information used for this research was adequately referenced to avoid plagiarism. This report was written with due respect for the subject and authors All information used for this report is in line with universities academic guidelines. Sekaran ( 2000, p.261) 1.7 Project Planning / Report Schedule Burke (2003, p.94) defined project schedule as  ¦a process required to ensure that various elements of the project are properly managed and controlledà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The project schedule will be used to assign expected start date and expected finish date. The schedule is in a Gantt chart, this could be suggested to be in agreement with (Burke 2003) definition. See Appendix 1 for more details. 1.8 Project Resource Requirements and Budget The resources required for a successful completion of this project is listed in Table 2 and the cost estimate that would apply to both primary and secondary research is in Table 3 Figure -Resources Requirement Human Resources Description Hours Researcher Researcher would carry out a secondary research and prepare a primary research plan to be used to further analyse the project aim 600 Academic supervisor The academic supervisor would give guidance, review and monitor project to ascertain if the project is within scope. 60 Project sponsor The project sponsor and management would be need during an actual primary research. 100 Table Project Budget Activity Budget Source Cost for Researcher and supervisor  £3000 RGU and Sponsor Printing of dissertation and buying of CD drives ( hard and soft copies)  £200 Researcher and Sponsor (in the case of a primary Research) Transport is Dependent on the location of the organisation and RGU library Not Determined at present Researcher and Sponsor 1.8.1 Risk Matrix Risk management is a key area in APM and PMI bodies of knowledge; projects are often associated with one form of risk or another (Raz Michael 2000), controlling this risk is an important task for any researcher. To this end, this report will take a proactive role in controlling risks associated to this project by developing a risk plan which can be seen in Table 4

Customs of the Arunta Society Essay -- essays research papers

The Arunta are a group of Australian Aborigines who have many customs and reasons for why they do what they do. Their customs reflect their society because everything they do has a reason. Some customs may have come about because of the environment, the natural resources, or possibly just beliefs. There are several customs about family and kinship. An Arunta camp usually has one to two families. The Arunta live in such small groups so they do not have to worry about hunting a lot of food for big camps. If their camp were attacked, it would be a lot easier to look after a small amount of people and belongings. It may be more efficient to hunt in larger groups, because you have more of a chance to find animals, and if one person were to be attacked by some sort of animal or person, there ...

Evolution and Creation Essay -- essays research papers

Evolution vs. Creation How was the earth created? There are several different answers to this question. One is from a religious viewpoint and stems from the Bible. Another comes from the world of science and is based on evidence that has surfaced over the last century. The theory of evolution comes into direct conflict with another theory that has been around for thousands of years, the theory of creation. The theory of evolution claims that humans have evolved over thousands of years from apes. The creation theory discredits evolution and claims that God created man. As the teaching of the theory of evolution has been accepted into most public schools, a new controversy has arisen about whether or not the theory of creation should also be taught in public schools. The theory of evolution was first presented in 1859 by Charles Darwin and has influenced history as an alternative to the theory of creation. Evolution is simply change; it is a process that results in genetic changes in a population spread over many generations. The theory of evolution suggests that all the species that have ever existed descended from a single ancestor from the past. This theory claims that humans, through gradual continuous changes, have evolved from the ape family. These gradual continuous changes arose from the need for species to better adapt to their environment. Since mutation is a random process, the changes can either be beneficial, unfavorable, or have no use at all. This theory is largely supported by the findings of paleontology, anthropology, and genetics and involves the process of natural selection. Fossil records have been used as empirical evidence to support the theory and have concluded that Homo sapiens share â€Å"clear anatomical, genetic, and historical relationships to other primates.† This trend of evolution is never ending and continues to occur in all life forms. The theory of creation is based on the first eleven chapters in the Bible, and is by some considered to be part of world history. This theory supports the notation that the world was created in six days and that Adam and Eve were the first humans. The theory states that the world is young, only ten thousand years old. The Bible states that man is made in the image of God, therefore God created mankind. Creationists use this to further justify that God created man, not apes. It also claims that all... ...ce will always be questioned and doubted regardless of the empirical evidence that supports it. Mounting empirical evidence has proven through scientific means that evolution is no longer a theory, yet those who are eternal supporters of the theory of creation continue to attempt to discredit the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution is an acceptable subject to be taught in public schools because it is a subject that is based on scientific discoveries, making it appropriate for science classes. The theory of creation is based on religion and religion is a subject that should not be taught in public school, but one that is the responsibilities of the parents. Because of the diversities of religion in our country, soley Christian values and theories should not be taught to children in the classroom settings. Resources Bergman, Jerry. Teaching Creation and Evolution in Public Schools. Creation Ex Nihileo Technical Journal, 1999, Vol. 13, Issue 2. Bronson, Michael. 7-Day Creation: Figurative or Literal. Understanding God and his Universe, Section 11, 2001. Jackson, Wayne. The Influence of Evolution Upon Religion. Reason and Revelation, Augusta 1995, Vol.15, Issue 8: 60-61.

King control Essay

After 400 AD, there was no central power in the West, but a central ecclesiastical power, which claimed primacy from the earliest times. The barbarian invasions and the ensuing anarchy resulted in a tremendous growth in the power of the papacy. With the appearance of strong political powers in Europe, a struggle between the papacy and the kings started to grow. The principal disagreement was the proper distribution of power; the king was believed to be the ruler by divine right. Should the King control church as well, contrary to the belief of pope as vicar of God on earth? It was in these circumstances that, Pope Boniface VII appeared on the religious scene in Europe. As Papacy was congested with internal wrangling of war of succession, it is believed that Pope Benedict VI (973-974) was strangled to death. For Boniface VII, papacy was a secular issue, rather than a divine mission, which had to be acquired by all means. After his accession, with in a month, he was forced to leave the Constantinople, but he did not hesitate to steal a large sum of money from the Vatican treasury. After nine years of exile, he returned with an army to depose his successor Pope John XIV (983-984). All these deeds earned him the name of Antipope. According to historians Boniface VII sitting in Peter’s chair was at the lowest point in the papal history. This decline and corruption in church was visible at the time of Gregory VII accession to the papacy. He laments the unhappy state of the Church in the following words, â€Å"Wherever I turn my eyes–to the west, to the north, or to the south, I find bishops who have obtained their office in irregular ways†. Gregory made efforts to stamp out the Church from major evils, for him the Bishop of Rome was not simply the court of last appeal, but the pope was to govern the universal Church as a vicar of St Peter. The medieval kingdoms were religious states and king as the head of people was the supreme authority in religious, as well as in political matters. The spiritual governance was now in the hands of the bishops and pope, kingship had to be understood differently and new foundations laid for the political authority of the state. The state deprived of its spiritual authority was forced to conceive itself as a corporate body independent of the Church. Gregory knew that the customs prevailing in the Church and society had no foundation in ancient Christian tradition. According to him faithfulness did not mean slavish obedience to the rituals, but faith required deeper understanding of the religion. Gregory began his great work of purifying the Church by a reformation of the clergy and enacted a number of decrees, such as banning the office of sacred orders by payment, baring guilty priests from exercising ministries, and rejection of the clerics who failed to obey these injunctions. These decrees were met with vigorous resistance, but were partially successful. Pope Boniface VII and Gregory VII had the same ambitions, but with different point of views. According to Pope Boniface VII, Church cannot not be separated from the state, there had to be balance for this co-existence. Gregory VII, on the contrary de-sacralized the authority of the king, and separated the spiritual world from politics. As a result, the Church became a sovereign body with its own head, administrative structure, body of law, and courts, which eventually gave rise to the modern state. Source: Ullmann. W (1962), The Growth of Papal Government in the Middle Ages: A Study in the Ideological Relation of Clerical to Lay Power, Methuen London. Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope St. Gregory VII (8 Nov. 2005), http://www. newadvent. org/cathen/06791c. htm

Importance of Physical Education

Childhood is the best period to learn, shape or change behaviors. It is recognized worldwide that the healthy, physically active child is more likely to be academically motivated, alert and successful in school and more likely to adopt behaviours that will foster good health throughout life thereby promoting lifelong wellness. The school is being increasingly perceived as the hub of efforts to promote health and well being of our children.With the growing popularity of private tuition, multimedia technology and the presence of television in practically all Mauritian homes, today’s youngsters are more likely to spend their leisure time in sedentary activities with limited opportunities for social interaction. Hence, exploring approaches in promoting physical activity and social interaction in the daily lives of this younger generation has become an urgent need.Health and Physical Education (HPE) in the school curriculum proves to be an effective means to address this need. Thro ugh a life-skills approach to PE, children can develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to grow into healthy, physically active adolescents and productive adults. HPE is intended to address not only the physical, but also the social and emotional dimensions of health, thus fostering the overall development of the child.There is evidence showing that effective teaching of HPE promotes self-esteem, helps children to develop responsible friendships, enables them to accept personal differences and inculcates in them a sense of respect for others. The physical education learning objectives should include objectives in developing the psycho motor domain, cognitive domain and affective domain of individual students. Physical education for students aims at: * Developing knowledge and skills relating to physical activity, aesthetic development, and social development. Developing confidence and ability to master basic motor skills that will encourage participation in various physic al activities. * Obtaining and maintaining an optimal degree of physical fitness to perform daily tasks efficiently and in control. * Developing personal values through participation in physical activity both corporately and individually.* Participating in physical activities that can develop social skills that enable students to function effectively in relationships between people. Enjoying the fun and joy through physical activity, including sports games. However, it should also be taken into consideration that though Physical Education is included into our curriculum, in very few schools it is being taught. There are various reasons why though included in the curriculum, it is not implemented. Some of the reasons are: * Many schools don’t have the proper infrastructures and equipment, for example, some schools don’t even have a playground or there is very few equipment. It is also perceived by some teachers to be a waste of time. We can often hear them saying that if they indulge in PE classes completing the syllabus will be a problem for them as they might not complete it in time. * Whoever it’s not always the teachers to be blamed. There are teachers who actually want to do PE classes but the headmaster or headmistress might not agree with him/ her. The given reason is often that taking the students out will disturb the normal running of the other classes as there will be noise.

Management innovation in the South African dairy industry Essay

The case focuses on management innovation in the South African dairy industry, describing how an innovative new yoghurt product, Danimal, was created specifically for the market at the base of the pyramid. It explains how management of the product line embodied the various innovation opportunities and challenges presented. The concept was initially introduced in order to assess the feasibility of profitably servicing this market. However, the project was not simply about introducing a cheap brand to poor people but was more about creating brand awareness in the market at the base of the pyramid. It was an investment for the future. The new product took into consideration the nutritional shortcomings in the diet of children in this market and also allowed for the lack of available infrastructure – electricity and refrigeration. The case illustrates the importance of a product being affordable, relevant and available for this market. Innovation went further than product design and also took into account the necessity of a lean distribution channel. This took the form of micro-distributers, referred to as Danimamas, who comprised township residents, unemployed or part-time employed individuals. The case offers insights into the complexity of doing business in developing countries. The company admits that it has not been a sustainable business model in terms of current profitability but the value that has been gained from social marketing and long-term brand development has been great. The case concludes with the challenge of how to ensure that the project continues on its upward trajectory. The objectives of the case are to encourage students to have a better understanding of the strategies required to successfully impact on low-income markets in developing countries, the different metrics that one could consider when assessing the impact of interventions on the base of the pyramid market, and the importance of harnessing opportunities and overcoming the challenges of management innovation. Questions to answer: How does the Danimal project shed light on and challenge the principals suggested to manage the base of the pyramid? How would you measure the success of the Danimal project? How does the approach taken by Maria Pretorius in managing the Danimal product line factor in management innovation opportunities and challenges?

Impact of integrated marketing communication on brands Essay

Figure 1 As mentioned above, having a good and effective brand can be achieved by various factors and approaches and one of these is through integrated marketing communication. Integrated marketing communication is known as a strategic coordination of multiple communication voices. The objective of this is to optimize the effect of persuasive communication on both the non-consumer and consumer including trade and professional audiences by coordinating the elements of the marketing mix which include public relations, advertising, package design, promotions and direct marketing (Moore & Thorson 1996). In this regard, it is evident that different approach can be used to ensure that the information of the brands is being conveyed on the targeted market. Furthermore, IMC is also considered as a strategic approach for coordinating all messages and media utilised by a company to collectively affect its perceived brand value (Keegan, Moriarity & Duncan, 1992). In addition, IMC is also referred to as a cross-function approach for generating and sustaining good relationships with clients by controlling or managing strategically all the information sent to them and by purposely encouraging two-way dialogues with target market. Integrated marketing communication has been considered to have an effect in brands. Accordingly, its concept that aims on managing customer relationship has the ability to drive brand value for the company and generate desire results (Clowe & Baack 2004). Through the integrated marketing communication, brands are strategically promoted through the use of various promotional elements as well as marketing process to communicate the message of the company and the brand to the specified target market (Moore and Thorson, 1996). It has been noted that integrated marketing communication is aiming on using direct communication so as to bring behavioural changes among consumers who will purchase a specific brand (Shimp, 2000). Integrated marketing communication also relates the message to the client which brings behavioral changes that helps the brand to establish a strong and tight relation with the target market. Furthermore, the context of integrated marketing communication stresses on the significance of coordination and synergy so as to develop and maintain a strong brand image. By using various communication instruments through the integration concept of marketing communications, industries have the ability to use effective methods to strengthen their brands with their target market and promote stronger brand names to their targets (Kotler, 2004). The IMC approach can also be considered to affect or influence brands positively by giving the brands the chance to sustain their competitive advantage among clients by identifying the most useful and appropriate methods in communicating and establishing good customer relations, which include strong relationships with stakeholders including the employees, investors, suppliers interest groups and the public in general. The main objective of the communicating brand image is to instill a stable and consistent impression among their clients (Fill, 2002). In addition, Integrated Marketing Communication affects brand in a way that it gives the opportunity for the brand to sustain its marketability. The application of integrated marketing tools can enable the brands to communicate with the other target segment. For instance because of the increasing popularity of the world wide web, each company that invests in having their own website will have the chance to reach consumers locally and internationally. This means that the reach of the brand are also extended and expanded in the global market. Through the use of integrated marketing communication. With this, brands of different company will be able to Emerge quickly in the marketplace since the tools and approaches of integrated marketing communication will act as shop window for many businesses today. In addition, this will also permit the clients to easily know important information about a specific brand and to know the different features a specific brand. In addition, the integrated marketing communication is also important in impacting the brand since this will served as a marketing communicating approach for effectively promoting the brands, which will aim to result in a more sales from other distribution channels. The rationale for choosing this marketing channel is that Integrated marketing communication can help brands to meet target consumers worldwide and this could be a great opportunity to be developed and in order for brand to be quickly recognized by the target market. In this regard, the overall campaign element of the brand must be integrated so as to attain the desirable marketing communication objectives. It is said that the target market do not separate or divide sponsorship, advertising, sales promotion, and internet as marketing communications approaches. The clients tend to receive the messages about specific brand from various sources and set up either favourable or unfavourable image of the brand. As far as the company is concerned, the source of the brand information is not that important. What is more essential with is the content of the information conveyed and to what degree the brand promise has been actually delivered to the target market (Fill & Yeshin, 2001). It can be said that all campaign activities lead down to marketing communication and the vital efficient communication is to comprehend how the clients process the vast amount of information that comes their way each and every day and how it helps the brand to reach their target audience (Fill, 2002). In order to sustain the competitive advantage of the specific brand, the market must be able to select only the important message that the management perceive to be important in enhancing the brand value and ignore the rest. If the marketing information is to be selected and process, the management must ensure that it include sensory and life experiences which can easily be determined and change into a unified context, have mental relationships to other categorized brand ideas, and fit into the categories and mental linkages that consumers have already created for themselves. Conclusion The context of branding is said to be useful in terms of comprehending and analysing the competitive position of an organisation. The brand of the company remains an important part of marketing communication as it is mostly recognised by their clients. It can be said that the heavy consideration on marketing communication in branding can create the impression that the brand can be promoted through the use of integrated marketing communication. In this analysis, it shows that brand image strengths and effectiveness is important to sustain the competitive advantage of the company. Much has been said about the importance of having a strong and effective brand image. Based on this analysis, it can be said that a strong and effective brand is something that can influence the choice of the target market and meets the brand personality provided. It can be said that each organisation must have a brand image which addresses the dimensions and characteristics of strong and effective brand. In order to achieve this, the company must be able to manage the brand efficiently. By and large, it can be said that brands have many useful attributes. A brand can be used by the company as promoting recall, as assets, in providing premium and quality in the market, and in generating perceived differentiation. It can also be said that brands is a complex phenomena and it can easily be understood using metaphors such as linking brands into a person. Analysis has shown that to be able to have a strong and effective brand, it must be able to meet the needs and demands of the clients and the company itself. In addition, analysis shows that the use of integrated marketing communication is an important aspect to make the brand be more attractive and appealing to the target market. It can be concluded that integrated marketing communication affect the brand’s competitive position by enabling the target market to know more about the brands. And eventually contribute to increasing sales; notably, integrated marketing communication can help in new institutional development and launches of the brand. In addition, the study shows that a strong and effective brand has the ability to produce audiences in a multi-channel environment that enables the company to be known in the global market. Second, strong and effective brands can be an outcome of an effective integrated marketing communication approach. Reference Aaker, D. (1991). Manage Brand Equity. New York: The Free Press. Aaker, D. A. & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand leadership. New York: Free Press Asher, J. (1997). Promoting brand identity: what’s your name again? ABA Banking Journal, Vol. 89. Bailey, S. , & Schultz, D. (2000). Customer/Brand Loyalty in an Interactive Marketplace. Journal of Advertising Research, 40(3), 41. Balmer, M. T. J. 7 Wilson, A. (1998). Corporate identity: there is more to it than meets the eye. International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 28. Biel, A. (1992). How brand image drives brand equity. Journal of Advertising Research, 32, 6-12. Brassington F, Pettitt S (2000). Principles of Marketing. 2nd edition. Harlow: Financial Times Pitman. Clowe& Baack (2007) integrated advertising, promotion and marketing communications 3rd edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. Engel, J. , Blackwell, R. and Miniard, P. (1995). Consumer behavior, 8th ed. Orlando, FL. : The Dryden Press. Fill C (2002) Integrated marketing communication.oxford butterworth heineman Laforet, S. & Saunders, J. (1999). Managing brand portfolios: Why leaders do what they do. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 39. Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(January), 1-22. Kim, H. , Kim, W. G. , & An, J. A (2003). The effect of consumer-based brand equity on firms’ financial performance. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20 (4), 335-351. Kotler, D. (1997). Marketing management: Analysis, planning, implementation and control (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. (1999). Marketing management analysis, planning, implementation and control (9th ed. ), Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, NJ: Prentice. Hall Inc. Kotler et al (2004). Principle of marketing, the European edition. Kotler, P 2001 Marketing Management. Northwestern University: Prentice Hall International, Inc. McCombs, M. (2003) Everything you know about branding is wrong, expert advises: Guess who’s really in charge? Available at [brandharmony. com]. Accessed July 16, 2008.

Why I Want a Wife Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Why I Want a Wife - Essay Example The written composition of Judy Brady sheds light on how the role of â€Å"Wife† was viewed in the society and what were the main expectations from her. The description of duties and tasks expected of her; make her role unbelievingly intricate and tiresome. Yet, her financial dependency makes her more vulnerable despite her input in the family rearing. Despite these presumptions, Women played a significant role in domestic and social reforms to nurture society and their children persistently. Judy Brady’s â€Å"I want a wife† is a vivid example of how feminism was surging in the nineteenth century and how women realized their place and position in the social life. Judy Brady in her open letter wishes to earn a wife herself. The â€Å"Wife† is a key idea here, who is a solution for all her hectic responsibilities of a personal, professional and social life. The author claims that a husband expects to achieve his professional and family life achievements on the bases of his wife’s contribution. He relies on her thoroughly and expects complete support and submission from her whether it’s moral or physical (in terms of Children and domestic responsibilities). Simultaneously, from another perspective, the stated lines have been desires of a â€Å"Dependent Wife† to become financially self-sufficient, so to support herself and her family with the help of her higher degree. The regret of leaving school to earn a good degree is evident and the author claims that with the degree she could earn her freedom (economic stability). She is keen to go out of her house-life to learn and earn. She regards the idea of freedom (carefree life of a breadwinner) and also desires to earn a caretaker (like her husband), who could perform the job of a wife and a mother, while she could pursue her desired endeavors.