Antigone A Greek Tragic Playwright - 1761 Words

Antigone is a Greek tragic playwright, set in a classical era of time. During this period, the city of Thebes is completely organized around strict gender roles and religion. There are also expectations that the citizens are expected to meet through abiding by the rules. In this regard, this essay will look at the playwright, on aspects touching on the issues of interest, the historical context, the insight gained among others. The situation of the two sisters: Antigone and Ismene, who are comforting each after losing their brothers in the same battle invokes a melancholic mood. It is a feeling of sadness following the demise of their brothers. They lack any form support from their friends or the state. The rites of their brother’s burial†¦show more content†¦The king demands him to find the culprit failure to which he faces death. War is used to defend the state; those who bring hate in the state are killed in broad daylight. In historical context, a greater understanding of the rationale behind Creon and Antigone’s actions can be gotten from a historical analysis of this period. The historical time was during the 441BC; it is the period in which two brothers goes into war but die while fighting. One of the brothers is viewed as a rebel bringing into conclusion that no burial rites should be performed. King Creon is a dictator hence showing the dangers of the absolute ruling at the time. Creon allowed few people to speak openly giving out their options without being biased. Antigone tries to defy Creon’s order by burying her brother. At this particular time, freedom of expression is limited hence the rule of law is not democratic. An Analysis of the Work Antigone is a courageous girl with high family values. Antigone attempts to convince her sister Ismene to assist her in burying their brother Polyneices. Ismene refuses due to fear for her life if she tried to defy the king`s order. Antigone remains focused on ensuring that her brother receives a proper burial no matter the consequences of her actions. Polyneices is considered a disgrace to the state since he led a siege to his state. The king declares that Polyneices remains should be left in the open, fed on by

Race Race And Race Essay - 1650 Words

Race has been a controversial topic for many years. Depending on your race it can be a blessing or a misfortune. According, to articles such as â€Å"Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race† or â€Å"Race: Is It a Valid Issue?† they all come to the conclusion that race is a social construct because race cannot be determined by genetics or the color of the skin. There is no such thing as subspecies we are all human beings. Yet, for many years’ people of European ancestry (whites) have committed monstrous acts towards people of color. Whites enslaved people of color tearing countless families apart, and taking away liberties that every human being should possess. As the issue of race continues, many laws have been implemented as an attempt to mitigate white supremacy; however, alongside with each successful attempt, white supremacy continues prevailing. Background In 1537, thanks to the efforts of Bartolome de Las Casas, a Catholic priest, one of the first successful attempts towards equality was achieved (Manchaca CH.2). Pope Paul III declared Indians to be human beings able to own property and thus it was illegal to enslave Indians (Manchaca CH.2). However, as Indians gained their freedom Africans lost theirs. The importation of African slaves to Mexico began in 1527 and drastically increased between 1599 and 1637 (Manchaca CH.2). Spaniards were aware that they were enslaving human beings and therefore, compensated by giving them the right to marry the spouse of their choiceShow MoreRelatedRace And Race : Race3289 Words   |  14 Pages The problem with this concept is that people believe it to be a positive idea. However, it actually presents a damaging ideology – it suggests that race should not be a factor when trying to determine the type of person an individual is. I see it as an unsophisticated approach to view people becaus e race is a vital part of our existence. Race is an attribute that makes individuals differ from one another, and the problem is not the differences in the colors of our skin. The problem is that weRead MoreRace And Class, Race, And Race911 Words   |  4 PagesThis article discusses the thought and preconceived notions that race is the major determining factor of the health outcomes of persons living in Baltimore, an urban area. However, what was found is that the place matters. Furthermore, what I was able to understand in greater depth is that there are deeply rooted racial issues in the United States of America despite the legislation that has been passed to eliminate such issues. In addition, what I was able to dissipate was that the researchers wereRead MoreRace And Race : The Social Construction Of Race858 Words   |  4 PagesThe race is an indefinite term, which has not been created from science or research, but more so the idea of what it is. Essentially, race is all a bout perception. One person may separate races based on a certain category of traits while another person uses totally different guidelines to define what races there are. Race has ultimately been created socially, therefor has no biological components until people connect the two terms. This paper examines the connection between society and race whileRead MoreRace And Ethnicity : Race866 Words   |  4 Pages Race† is a complex word that has a variety of definitions, and one of the definitions in the dictionary lists it as a group of people that share a similar lifestyle, culture, tradition, history, etc. In reality, race itself is ambiguous and can be interpreted in many ways. The concept of race is largely complicated, yet it has seen a major impact in American society, sparking major outcries for many years. The textbook, Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity, goes into substantialRead MoreThe Problem Of Race And Race921 Words   |  4 Pagesquestion of race. Race is a prevalent and influential part of our everyday life that surprisingly many do not even understand. What is race? For years race has been used as a tool in the subjugation of human populations on the perceived notion of biological superiorities. Race by definition is a population â€Å"that develops distinct characteristics differing from other populations of the same species†, while these variations may have social and cultural implications, genetic evidence suggests race has noRead MoreRace And Ethnicity And Race1434 Words   |  6 PagesZamarripa 1 Marcos Zamarripa Anthropology 9: Society and Culture October 27, 2015 Race and Ethnicity Ethnicity and race have been used in American society to the point where both words are indistinguishable from each other. Race is a social construct (Throop, Lecture, 10/8/2015). Race is a social construct because race is used to differentiate the different ethnic groups from each other. Race should not be used to separate the different ethnic groups. In American society, it is evident thatRead MoreRace And Gender And Race1409 Words   |  6 PagesThe idea of race and gender is an idea that has been socially constructed. Society has created roles for race and gender, they are determined by what society thinks is appropriate for the gender or race. Some people argue that certain behavior roles are based on gender where as others may believe that it is based on race. I will first discuss how in today’s society we promote to stop racism yet it is still happening everyday, and people are just blind to see it. Creating a role for race is racism,Read MoreRace, Racial, And Rac e Relations1494 Words   |  6 PagesEvery individual has a particular definition of race and a distinct view of race relations in America today, because every individual’s reality is different and therefore their perception is different as well. With that in mind, it becomes clear that the best way to understand race relations better is to understand what another person’s thoughts are on the matter. This interview paper sheds light onto another’s understanding and thoughts regarding race relations in America. I can not sate the trueRead MoreThe Differences Between Race And Race869 Words   |  4 PagesOver time, humans’ understanding of race has evolved dramatically. Now, human race relations in the civilized world serve as a key issue for politicians, news outlets and sociologists. In particular, anthropologists hold to a very particular definition of race, essentially stating that race exists only as a sort of construct that humans create in order to classify each other and make assumptions based upon these classifications. In many ways, this assertion holds merit. For instance, recent scientificRead MoreRace Theory Of Race And Racism845 Words   |  4 PagesTheories of race and racism have been used by sociologists to not only describe modern societies but also address issues of social injustice and achieve an end to racial oppression. Critical race theory is one of the most widely used for this purpose and provides the structure employed by Dwanna Robertson in her analysis of racism against Native Americans and the consequences they have experienced as a result. She uses the term legitimized racism to discuss the racialization of American Indians.

Social Media Marketing Of CBA Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Social Media Marketing Of CBA. Answer: Introduction Active social media presence is significant for now in all types of businesses. Social media networks provide an advantage to drive the target audiences of the organisations. Moreover, using social media networks for business can boost the website's SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). For a bank, through social media marketing, it can improve to have a higher conversation to customers, to increase the traffic and to develop bank loyalty. The aim of the report is to highlight the social media presence and social media marketing techniques of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. In the first section, the social media presence and audience profiles will be explained. In the later section, social media marketing strategies will be described with current statistics. Moreover, ethics, security and privacy policies of social media will also be analysed in the final section. Overview of the organisation Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is a public bank of Australia and it is a multinational bank. This bank has branches across United States, Fiji, New Zealand, the UK and other Asian Countries. Headquarter of the bank is situated in Sydney, Australia. CBA has more than 1100 branches across the world and was established in the year 1911 as a government bank. Then, in the year 1991, this bank became public company. CBA works in retail banking services, institutional banking and markets, business and private banking and wealth management (Commbank.com.au, 2017). Moreover, CBA offers finance and insurance, corporate banking, consumer banking, private equity, investment management, mortgages and credit cards facilities to the consumers. In the last year 2016, the revenue of the bank was AUD 24.58 billion. This is the largest company in Australia that is listed on Australia Securities Exchange. In addition, Commonwealth Bank Australia wants to have high conversion rates, good marketing ROI, and increase website traffics through social media marketing. Social media presence of Commonwealth Bank of Australia Now, the most of the people are getting tech-savvy and in case of Australia, maximum people are using social media. It is very much easy now to reach the people through social media network and it is cost effective. Through social media, CBA got unexpected growth in Australia and in the Asian countries. CBA has its own website and in this website, the customer can find links through which they can join CBA's social media pages. Customers can join Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Google+ and You Tube. Commonwealth Bank Australia loves to hear from customers and the organisation gives plenty of chances to the customers to stay in touch (Commbank.com.au, 2017). In case of Facebook, CBA has currently more than 739,900 likes and more than 5,500 Facebook users visited the Facebook page of CBA. As it is finance based company, the organisation wants to reach people and teach people about financial literacy and services and products they offer. Most interestingly, CBA reached 100,000 Facebook users within one year of launching their Facebook page. CBA's customer service team try to respond each of the queries in real-time basis posted on the Facebook page or in the inbox. This has enabled the traditional customer service provision of the over-the-counter policy. In case of Twitter, CBA has its account named #CommBank and they have been active on Twitter since May 2008. On the Twitter, this bank has more than 80.7K followers and the organisation twitted 36.7K. The organisation follows more than 4K through twitters. Most importantly, the management has decided to be active on Twitter like Facebook in order to engage more users and market the services and products. In addition, in case of LinkedIn, CBA has its presence and users can find them using the catch word Commonwealth Bank on LinkedIn for career opportunities and like to access industry experts for any queries. In Instagram, it is the latest sensation for the digital age and most of the young generation use this social media for posting images and videos. CBA has been using this social media network since its beginning. The users can find CBA using @CommBank. This bank posted more than 700 posts and has followers of 13.K. The funny images, creative GIFs and relevant videos make this social media page attractive for users. Moreover, this bank has You Tube channel and customers can subscribe these channels. CBA has two You Tube channels for the users, CommBank Business Channel and CommBank Channel for spreading the knowledge of financial tools, tutorials and tips to invest money in the bank. Additionally, in Snapchat, users can find CBA by using key words CommBankSnaps. Here, the customers can find the relevant news of company, community, legal and business aspects of the organisation. Lastly, in Google+, the customers can find CBA by using CommBank and CBA posts images and news of services and products through Google+ for the users. Social media audience of Commonwealth Bank of Australia Purpose of social media marketing is to reach the target audiences and increase the customer base of the organisation for a bank (Tuten Solomon, 2014). Social media marketing falls under internal marketing strategy of the organisation and the overall objectives remain same. The target audiences of a bank are to grab the future customers of the organisation. CBA post various images, discount offers, financial news and videos in order to reach the customers and the users of social networks may get interested for being a part of CBA. CBA joined social media to target specific demographics or psychographic segmentation of the customers. They use the strategy to ask the users to comment on posts and they personalise the business. In this case, Facebook creates a part of banking and its social media strategy is to create a community to interact the customers through online. The target audiences are customers of the CBA bank make them loyal to the bank in any kind of investments. Moreover, the audiences of CBA in social media are new start-up ventures people to generate funding. The target of CBA in social media can be investors who want to invest in business in the banking sectors. The common people are the target audience and number of these audiences is bigger than others. The users may want to know about private equity, mortgage and interest rate, the customer service team are there to solve the issues when these are posted on social media pages. 56% of the social media users log into social media pages more than 5 times a day and 84% of the Australian adults access the internet on daily basis (Sensei.com, 2017). Facebook Instagram Snapchat Twitter LinkedIn Google+ 93% 45% 40% 32% 17% 10% Table: Daily use of social network (Source: Cio.com.au, 2017) The CEO of CBA demanded that the strategy of CBA is to build bridges between customers and banking services through social media networks, not to just make an echo-chamber. In case of CBA, the customer engages rate through social media extends to 20% last year (Smartcompany.com.au, 2017). CBA is one of the top most banks in the world who have customers to use online banking services. More than 1.75 million Australians use NetBank in each day. In order to reach customers, CBA uses mainly content strategies that attract the customers. Social media marketing of Commonwealth Bank of Australia Social media presence of a bank gives opportunities to create the meaningful connection to the users and customers. The marketing through social media helps to lure desirable consumers that must support the organisational goals. The management of bank tracks the ROI in social media marketing as well. Social Media marketing of Commonwealth Bank Australia is based on mainly content marketing strategy. They generally use attractive contents in order to engage maximum users on social media pages. Promoting a service or product of CBA, they use mainly content marketing strategy to create connections on social media pages. 44% of the social media users like to read engaging contents on social media if they are beneficial for them (Ashley Tuten, 2015). CBA tries to being personal in content marketing and asks the customers to share likes and comment on the posts. In last Ashes series, when Australia whitewashed England, CBA used impressing content marketing through social media. CBA made short videos on cricketers caricatures and they used mimicked voices to it (Scott, 2015). Content marketing of Commonwealth Bank Australia pushed the target markets through this and that can share the knowledge of the users through social media. This content strategy on social media pages like Facebook, Twitter and CBA used this subtle way that could inform the potential customers to engage on their posts. In addition, CBA uses CSR techniques through social media marketing and they use the tactic of Community Seeds. They ask the customers to generate $125,000 for the six different communities through Facebook in order to develop the community life (Dwivedi, Kapoor Chen, 2015). Through Facebook, the organisation started a campaign in opening savings account for all. CBA uses the strategy to give way gifts for the winners of any competition. CBA distributed EM I music voucher, movie voucher and gift coupons for the customers. CBA used the strategy of Time Vault, through which the users of Facebook needed to give the right answers about companys history posted on Facebook page each day. Ethics, privacy and security of social media Everything that an individual does online is getting public and one cannot delete' this forever. An organisation must know about the consequences of taking any action through social media. Privacy of the customers or any users should not be penetrated through social media. Commonwealth Bank shared their ideas that they never posted any distort news or any images that can hurt the sentiment of any particular class and people. In recent time, Commonwealth Bank faced the issue of ethics when in two pages of employment policy, they wrote about employees' responsibility on posting on social media pages about CBA (Lovelock Patterson, 2015). CBA declared that no employees can post anything negative about CBA on social media. However, legal experts fired back as they say that no organisation can ever interfere with someone's personal expression. Moreover, inappropriate images and news about CBA on social media pages can harm the brand loyalty of the bank and it may also pose marketing of cu stomer expectation. CBA has customer support team to solve the issue when it is posted on social media before it is getting viral. CBA does not do unsupported endorsement and compromise about consumer privacy. When CBA uses to collect consumer behaviour data, they do not compromise with privacy (Gordon et al. 2016). In case of security, CBA claims that they never steal the identity of the users and share personal information of any users on social media pages. Any kind of personal discussion is done through personal inbox and not in comment section publicly. Any kind of hacking and spamming of email are not entertained by the IT cell of the CBA (Hyder, 2016). CBA does not share any URL on social media pages that can be vulnerable to the customers. CBA itself uses link scanner to be secure. Social media technologies Business organisations are no longer use social media for only communication purposes, however, social media analytics are now capturing in the industry, especially in the financial sector to analyse the data. Most of the organisations trying to capture competitive advantage through social media marketing. Content strategy, sharing link or optimising the SEO, these strategies can be evaluated through social media analytical tools (Chang, Yu Lu, 2015). Financial Technology (FinTech) is one such tool that can be used to gather financial information on social media pages. Woolworths, the largest retail of Australia takes help from Socialbakers analytical tools to analyse the engagement of the customers on social media pages (Smartcompany.com.au, 2017). However, Commonwealth Bank Australia does not use any social media technology to analyse their social media performance. CBA just uses social media pages like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, You Tube and all. Buffer is a tool that makes a s chedule for posting contents on social media pages according to customer engagement. Buffer analyses that most numbers of Facebook users become online on Friday. In addition, Agora Pulse is an interesting analytical tool that helps the professionals to posts on three social media at a time. Conclusions In recent days, social media is taken as best tool in order to connect with customers of the organisation. With consistent updating of the services and products on social media can help to increase the market share and customer base. It is observed that CBA uses traditional social media strategy of content marketing. However, social media presence of CBA is strong and they have customer service department in order to give replies to social media queries. The social media marketing of CBA boosts the advertisement of this bank as it is cost effective. CIO of CBA, Michael Hate opined that they provide real time posts on social media. On the contrary, it is observed that the organisation has been facing challenges in the analysis of social media performance as they do not have social media analytics and social media analytical tools within the organisation. Recommendations Setting up chat times: It is needed for CBA to connect the customers at personal level and setting up chat time (on live) is very important. Customers and potential future customers have various questions regarding investment opportunities in CBA, if they can chat with customer support team over voices or through messages would be helpful. Giving thoughtful answers to the customers queries will definitely increase social media presence. Introduction of social media analytics: CBA must use social media analytical tool in their organisation and in order to continue using, CBA needs to hire skilled analytics. In order to gain a competitive edge, CBA can use these tools help to gauge the customers sentiment and monitor the performance of the organisation on social media platforms. Tie in blog posts: CBA posts short and relatively catchy contents on social media pages as people do not have enough time to read long contents. However, if a customer wants to know the financial benefits, financial services of CBA, blog posts would be perfect. Blog posts links can be shared on social media that will make more financial literate customers. References Ashley, C., Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement.Psychology Marketing,32(1), 15-27. CBA in hot water over social media policy - SmartCompany. (2017).SmartCompany. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/advice/startupsmart-legal/cba-in-hot-water-over-social-media-policy/ Chang, Y. T., Yu, H., Lu, H. P. (2015). Persuasive messages, popularity cohesion, and message diffusion in social media marketing.Journal of Business Research,68(4), 777-782. Dwivedi, Y. K., Kapoor, K. K., Chen, H. (2015). Social media marketing and advertising.The Marketing Review,15(3), 289-309. Facebook, H. (2017).How to kick start your social media strategy Commonwealth Bank focusses on Facebook.CIO. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.cio.com.au/article/412478/how_kick_start_your_social_media_strategy_commonwealth_bank_focusses_facebook/ Gordon, R., Gordon, R., Zainuddin, N., Zainuddin, N., Magee, C., Magee, C. (2016). Unlocking the potential of branding in social marketing services: utilising brand personality and brand personality appeal.Journal of Services Marketing,30(1), 48-62. Hyder, S. (2016).The zen of social media marketing: An easier way to build credibility, generate buzz, and increase revenue. BenBella Books, Inc. Kasemsap, K. (2014). The role of social media in the knowledge-based organizations.Integrating social media into business practice, applications, management, and models, 2(1), 254-275. Lovelock, C., Patterson, P. (2015).Services marketing. Sydney: Pearson Australia. Scott, D. M. (2015).The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, online video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Sensei.com.au (2017). Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.sensis.com.au/asset/PDFdirectory/Sensis_Social_Media_Report_2017-Chapter-1.pdf Stay in touch with us on Social - CommBank. (2017).Commbank.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/support/social-networks.html Tuten, T. L., Solomon, M. R. (2014).Social media marketing. London: Sage.

New Product Development (NDP)

Introduction Products act as the main source of monetary benefits that organisation organisations enjoy upon availing them to willing clients. An organisation may decide to increase its sales returns by colonising new markets. Due to differences in the needs of the target consumers in different markets, it may be compelled to either improve or develop completely new products to suit a market (Kim Wilemon, 2007).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on New Product Development (NDP) specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This strategy is perhaps largely workable for Google when it chose to enter the Chinese market. Considering that the goal of new product development (NPD) entails coming up with products that succeed in a target market, using the case of Google China, this paper investigates the processes of developing such commodities. Purpose This paper discusses new product development at Google China. The discussion borrow s from various theoretical frameworks for developing new products in organisations. The paper also conducts interviews on customers and company employees about the reception of Google China’s new products with the aim of developing an understanding on the effectiveness of NPD practices of the company. Background First led by Kai-Fu Lee, Google China began as a subsidiary of Google Company in 2005. It ranks the third position in the Chinese market after Soso and the Baidu. Carsten (2013) informs how it controlled a market size of about 338 million people in 2009. Over the years, the company has been struggling to expand its market. However, it has encountered immense challenges akin to the various legal regulations on search engines in China’s mainland. In 2010, Google searches were prohibited for some time in China’s mainland. Mobile searches and others yielded DNS errors (Carsten, 2013). Hong Kong does not censor search results for various search engines. Googl e China found it the most appropriate location from where to control the sharing of networking and information resources across the internet with Google customers who are located in the China. Marketing successful Google products elsewhere across the globe in the Chinese market is incredibly difficult because of censorship and other regulations on information sharing. The company endeavours to search new products that fit the Chinese search marketplace.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For instance, it presumes that the software for android Smartphones has a high potential to succeed in the Chinese market. Google had controlled 29 percent of the total search market in China by 2010. However, this trend declined by 24 percent over 2012 before settling at 1.7 at the close of 2013 (Carsten, 2013). This poor performance attracted the necessity for the development of new products that suit the Chinese market. This case has been given priority if Google China has to operate in the market with success in the future. Scope New product development comprises all approaches that are applied to avail new products in all markets where an organisation’s operations are established. These strategies include idea development, design of the products, its engineering, marketing research, and promotion analysis. The scope of this paper is limited to product design, idea development, and engineering. The other two aspects (marketing analysis and research) focus on ensuring acceptance and performance of the products in the marketplace. Methodology This research uses both primary and secondary resources. Direct online interviews, which are conducted on employees and customers of Google China, are the sources of primary data. The interview questions are designed to eliminate ambiguity. This situation enhances clarity so that interviewees can respond accurately. The int erviews (as shown in appendix 1 and appendix 2) focus on determining the reception of Google products, which the Chinese people search consumers. The questions also target at determining the implication of censorship upon the consumption of the product. This information may provide an opportunity for benchmarking or reverse engineering in the development of new products that suit the Chinese consumers. A sample of 20 people (customers and Google China employees) was interviewed. Primary data is important in helping develop thumbnails for products that are likely to succeed in the Chinese market.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on New Product Development (NDP) specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the development of the actual products requires the deployment of an appropriate NPD conceptual model. Therefore, a wide range of secondary data on frameworks of NPD becomes important. The most appropriate framework i s then selected for analysis of Google China’s NPD processes. Assumptions The models deployed in the discussion of NPD are borrowed from secondary resources. Such models are developed for application in general organisations without considering specific needs in some markets. This research assumes that upon generation of ideas that measure up to the needs of the Chinese market, Goggle China can follow such models to create products that will succeed in the Chinese marketplace. The research also assumes that no other recent or better NPD models exist in unpublished scholarly works and/or stored in a form that is inaccessible through online libraries. Limitations Using online interviews to collect data in a nation where there is regulation of freedom of expression through online media is one of the major limitations of this research. Fear among the interviewees on the purpose or use of the information that is sought from them may increase their reluctance to participate in the interviews. This situation has the implication of lowering the accuracy and reliability of the research findings and the offered recommendations. The approaches deployed by Google in NPD may also differ from those applied by other organisations. Thus, the process of generalising and applying the recommended NPD processes in other organisations is another limitation of the research. Frameworks Sequential Model The sequential model depicts the process that leads to the development of new products. It comprises a number of sequentially organised steps (Smith Reinertsen, 1998). Application to the Organisation Sequential model in figure 1 shows that NPD initiates with the development of the concept or a product idea before examination of the feasibility of the products. This case makes the model highly applicable in Google China since the challenge of developing new products that meet the needs of the China’s search market requires compliance with China’s rules and regulat ions.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The feasibility of the product must be evaluated in the context of legal and regulatory environment so that a failure to pass the feasibility test calls for a re-examination of the concept before any other effort to develop the product further. Aspects such as the quality of the product and its capacity to satisfy of customer needs are also accomplished at the feasibility stage (Smith Reinertsen, 1998). In fact, at Google China, organisational resources can be wasted if software and applications developers initiate NPD process without total assurance of the likelihood of acceptance of the new product as it progresses in each stage of development. Overlapping Model The overlapping model approaches NPD process through the interactions of various professionals and work teams from the beginning to the end. Rather than operating through specialised stages, contribution of all players in the development process ensures attention to varying ideas since the development process takes place (Ulrich Eppinger, 2004). Under the model, each of the stages of NPD initiates before the end of the preceding stage (Ulrich Eppinger, 2004). Additionally, new product developers at one stage pre-visit the previous stage in an attempt to incorporate various changes to eliminate cascading bugs in the current stage from the previous stage as illustrated in figure 2 below. Figure 2: Overlapping Model in Product Development Source: (Ulrich Eppinger, 2004) Application to the Organisation While developing new Google China’s products, several variables may influence the success or failure of the overall development process. While implementing a phase in the NPD process, it important to consider the necessary changes in the previous phases in an effort to incorporate them in the second phase to increase the probability of success of later phases. For instance, it is important to evaluate a phase in the context of the likely omissions of legal requirements as they apply in Chinaâ⠂¬â„¢s search industry. Innovation Value Chain Framework Source: (Hansen Birkinshaw, 2007) Projected by Hansen and Birkinshaw (2007), the innovation value chain scheme presents four chronological stages, namely creation of thoughts, selection of the appropriate idea, transformation, and idea execution. The model provides an in-depth examination of an organisation’s efficacy through KPI constraints for gauging production capacity. The framework may be fruitful at Google China since it can be tailored to diverse production stages within the company Application to the Organisation The usability of the value chain framework to different sectors within Google China makes it feasible to gauge the circulation of various production strategies across many systems while at the same time weighing production at different departments that make the company. The framework can come in handy while determining production at Google China by enlightening its expenditure in IP security and/or i n structuring its status to advance its production volume. High-Tech model Google China operates in a technology intensive industry. This environment underlines the necessity for considering NPD models that are applicable to such an industry. Cooper and Edgett (2010) assert that high-tech organisations need to establish NPD models that incorporate their business objectives and specific goals. They suggested an NPD model that concentrates on these aspects. NPD comprises various stages, namely thought formation, plan selection, model testing and expansion, industry scrutiny, beta testing, bazaar investigation, methodological execution, commercialisation, and pricing of the new product (Cooper Edgett, 2010). However, the plan deviates from the sequential and overlapping models. It features a special concept, namely strategic arena, which only applies in high technology organisations (Cooper Edgett, 2010). This aspect refers to the particular business-oriented bazaar, trade, applicati ons, merchandise category, technology, or simply efforts that are concentrated on a new product (ZemlickienÄâ€", 2011). The model also highlights the importance of the use of strategic maps in the NPD process. Application to the Organisation Strategic maps help in assessing the most effective and important strategic arena (ZemlickienÄâ€", 2011). This claim suggests that they offer mechanisms of evaluating and visualising the mechanisms of addressing various factors that influence the NPD process. For Google China, strategic maps provide a room for incorporation of environmental factors that control the company’s success in the Chinese search market. In this sense, the model provides mechanisms for ensuring the development of customised Google products that are likely to boost the organisation’s competitive advantage in the Chinese market. Diamond Production Framework The diamond framework, which makes part of Porter’s work that sought to address the issue of c ompetition disparities with reference to different products, has five key production elements, namely product upgrading and technology plan, idea-to-launch procedure administration, portfolio supervision, atmosphere, traditions, headship, and new product performance. Source: (Rugman D’Cruz, 1993) Application in the Organisation Using this framework, Google China can think about three foremost matters, i.e. the availability of a premeditated product arrangement to advance its production levels, configuration of the plan with the company’s approaches, and the existence of reputable systems for ensuring successful execution of business strategies Critical Analysis Gaps Identified The aim of approaching the problem of NPD in the context of a conceptual model that has various decision loops or algorithms is to ensure a reduction of bugs that result in failures of new products either in the development process or soon after completion of the entire process. Identifying gap s in the organisation’s approach to NPD can help conceptualise an alternative approach to NPD, which will lead to the development of new products that have a higher probability of success in the market (Ulrich Eppinger, 2004). Google China uses NPD plan based on the standardised NPD model deployed by its parent company across all other markets, notwithstanding special laws and regulations in the Chinese market. This gap may explain the reduced success of Google success in China between 2010 and 2013 as discussed before. Strengths Although different NPD models have their strengths and weaknesses, consideration of strengths and weakness of the organisation in any market, which prompts the development of a new product is incredibly important. Google China has a large resource base support from the parent company akin to its successful global operations (Carsten, 2013). The resources can be utilised in marketing research to identify specific attributes for search engines that ar e valued by Chinese search consumers. This information can be deployed as inputs of idea conception stage, which is common to sequential, overlapping, and high-tech models, to enhance utility levels of new products in the market. Weaknesses Due to declining competitive advantage in the Chinese market, the company may encounter challenges while trying to place its new products successfully in the Chinese market. This possibility is a significant weakness upon considering that it has a low presence in the social media advertising. New media advertising constitutes one of the growing ways of communicating a product to consumers (Kotler, Adam, Denise, Armstrong, 2009). The company has no capacity to solicit for relaxation of Chinese laws and regulations on search engines. These inabilities create uncertainty on whether the nation will enact new laws that can create a non-conducive political climate for success of new products that are developed consistently with the provisions of the c urrent laws. Recommendations In a market where the existing products of an organisation perform poorly, introduction of new products becomes the only option to re-energise its operations. Developing a new product begins with the identification of an appropriate NPD model. Google Company approaches NPD from the context of examining ideas from its people. It prioritises the top most100 ideas, utilises agile approaches, promotes visibility, and/or pays attention to usability of its products. This approach fails to incorporate regulations such as censorship. The model generally applies in nations that have higher levels of freedom for expression and sharing of information. Thus, it is recommended for the company to incorporate this consideration while at the same time deploying either high-tech or overlapping NPD approaches in the Chinese market. Conclusion Organisational products undergo different phases, namely the development phase, the preamble stage, rapid growth stage, maturation, and decline phase. At the decline phase, re-engineering or developing new products is important to prevent a total collapse of the organisation in a given market. Google China recognises the importance of developing a new product that will renew its fortunes in the Chinese market. NPD starts with identifying an appropriate model. The paper has discussed three NPD models together with their applicability at Google China. Reflection Any organisation that seeks to gain a competitive advantage in a market that is characterised by competition and statutory regulations must not only focus on compliance, but also look for products that meet consumer needs better than the competitor products. Through this assignment, I have learnt that introducing organisations’ operation in a new market requires the development or modification of products to meet specific needs of the market. The objective of any organisation is to deliver value to its owners. This value is normally expressed in te rms of the returns on investments. Organisations face the pressure of delivering value to not only to the owners, but also to other stakeholders who have stakes in the performance of the firm (Cooper Edgett, 2010). This goal cannot be achieved without high-performing products in the market since sales act as the main way of generating income in a profit-making organisation. By studying the case of Google China’s struggles in establishing itself in the Chinese search market, I have leant that total assessment and analysis of the organisational operation environment is important in avoiding failures in placing products in the new marketplace. Through the assignment, it is evident that the rules of new product development change with the changing external forces as an organisation ventures into different markets. This situation has altered my perception of new product development process as encompassing a holistic approach, which can be applied within any organisation with succ ess. Initially, I viewed product development as a process that constitutes all steps that are necessary for ensuring that a new product satisfies the needs of the target market in terms of usability. However, it is now clear that although a product may be highly usable, a regulatory force can prevent its consumption in the market. Google Company has been successful in the global search market. Many organisations, especially software and networking applications companies, have benchmarked their NPD processes with those of Google. I believe Google Company is one of the global organisations whose products have received positive reception in all markets. However, through the assignment, it is clear that no single company’s NPD strategies can lead to the creation of new successful products in all markets. Thus, although benchmarking is essential, it is important for an organisation to approach new markets in an open-minded manner. This case ensures that the input for idea concepti on, analysis, and testing only depends on the anticipated environmental variables, but not on other variables that apply in another market segment. This assignment has provided a learning opportunity on how product development process occurs in real-life. It is not a straightforward approach, but an approach that requires many iterations and examination of probable products through several algorithms to enhance their positive reception in the market. For instance, through the interviews, potential customers of Google products in China unanimously agreed that if Google searches do not return DNS errors, which occur because of blocking of some sites due to censorship of the products to comply with China’s regulations, they could consume them. In this extent, focusing on a particular organisation has provided an opportunity to appreciate how a particular context in which an organisation influences its NPD conducts. Reference List Carsten, P. (2013). Microsoft Blocks Censorship o f Skype in China: Advocacy Group. Retrieved from www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/microsoft-blocks-censorship-skype-china-advocacy-group-f2D11664965 Cooper, G., Edgett, E. (2010). Developing a product innovation and technology strategy for your business. Research Technology Management, 53(3), 33-40. Hansen, M., Birkinshaw, J. (2007). The Innovation, Value Chain. Harvard Business Review, 85(6), 87-98. Kim, J., Wilemon, D. (2007). Sources and Assessment of Complexity in NPD Projects. RD Management, 33(1), 16-30. Kotler, P., Adam, S., Denise, S., Armstrong. (2009). Principles of Marketing. Australia: Prentice Hall. Rugman, M., D’Cruz, R. (1993). The double diamond model of international competitiveness: Canada’s experience. Management International Review, 33(2), 17–39. Smith, P., Reinertsen, D. (1998). Developing Products in Half the Time. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. Ulrich, K., Eppinger, S. (2004). Product Design and Development. New York, NY: McGraw-H ill. ZemlickienÄâ€", V. (2011). Analysis of High-Technology Product Development Models. Intellectual Economics, 5(2), 283-297. Appendices Appendix 1: Interview questions Are you an employee or potential customer of Google China? Employee customer/potential customer If you are an employee, what is your experience with Google China? Always occupied in troubleshooting networks and directing customer traffic Hardly occupied in troubleshooting networks and directing customer traffic If you are customer/potential customer, have you ever used Google China search products Yes No If your response to question 3 is No, why? Highly censored Always returns DNS error If your response to 4 is b, can you consider using the products if Google China search products do not return DNS error or when censorship is limited? Yes No Appendix 2: Interview Reponses Question Response a b 1 4 16 2 0 4 3 3 13 4 5 8 5 8 This report on New Product Development (NDP) was written and submitted by user Camren D. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Loman Sons in Death of a Salesman

The Loman Sons in Death of a Salesman There is no such thing as a perfect life; everyone has conflicts that they must contend with. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem or live in denial for as long as possible, while others face up to the problem to get it out of the way. Arthur Miller' play "Death of a Salesman," centers around the Loman family's inability to perceive between reality and illusion. This is evident in the two Loman sons, Biff and Happy. Although Biff and Happy are at first unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, they end up going in different directions, with Happy still living in his world of lies whereas Biff is being set free by the truth. This will be shown through an analysis of the attitudes the Loman sons have about success in the workplace, achieving their father's standards, and the truth within one's self.Biff HendersonArthur Miller contrasts the views that Biff and Happy have wit h regards to their success, their father's expectations, and the truth. Over shadowed by his older brother, Willy's youngest son, Happy, is continually ignored by his parents. In the play, it is prevalent to see Happy striving for Willy's attention. In Willy's flashbacks, young Happy is always telling his father, "I'm losing weight, you notice, Pop?" (Death of a Salesman, 30). Even as an adult Happy announces to his mother, Linda, that he is going to get married. However, she brushes him off the same way they did when he was younger. As a shadow to his older brother, Happy is nothing but a stunted version of Willy's dream-that a "well-liked" and "personally attractive" man in business will acquire the material comforts of a modern American life.

An introduction to the Delphi Language

An introduction to the Delphi Language Welcome to the sixth chapter of the FREE online programming course:A Beginners Guide to Delphi Programming.Before you start developing more sophisticated applications by using the RAD features of Delphi, you should learn the basics of the Delphi Pascal language. Delphi Language: tutorials Delphi language, a set of object-oriented extensions to standard Pascal, is the language of Delphi. Delphi Pascal is a high-level, compiled, strongly typed language that supports structured and object-oriented design. Its benefits include easy-to-read code, quick compilation, and the use of multiple unit files for modular programming. Heres a list of tutorials, an introduction to Delphi Pascal, that will help you learn Delphi Pascal. Each tutorial will help you to understand a particular feature of Delphi Pascal language, with practical and easy to understand code snippets. Object Pascal Variable Scope: now you see me, now you dont. Typed constantsHow to implement persistent values between function calls. LoopsRepeating operations in Object Pascal in Object Pascal in Object Pascal in Object Pascal. DecisionsMaking decisions in Object Pascal or NOT. Functions and ProceduresCreating user defined subroutines in Object Pascal. Routines in Delphi: Beyond the BasicsExtending Object Pascal functions and procedures with default parameters and method overloading. The basic layout of a Pascal/Delphi program. String Types in DelphiUnderstanding and managing string data types in Delphis Object Pascal. Learn about differences between Short, Long, Wide and null-terminated strings. Ordinal and Enumerated Data TypesExtend Delphis built-in types by constructing your own types. Arrays in Object PascalUnderstanding and using array data types in Delphi. Records in DelphiLearn about records, Delphis Pascal data structure that can mix any of Delphis built in types including any types you have created. Variant Records in DelphiWhy and when to use variant records, plus creating an array of records. Pointers in DelphiAn introduction to pointer data type in Delphi. What are pointers, why, when and how to use them. Writing and using recursive functions in Object Pascal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Some exercises for you...Since this Course is an online course, there is much you can do to prepare for the next chapter. At the end of each chapter Ill try to provide several tasks for you to get more familiar with Delphi and the topics we discuss in the current chapter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  To the next chapter: A Beginners Guide to Delphi ProgrammingThis is the end of the sixth chapter, in the next chapter, well deal with more sophisticated articles on the Delphi language. A Beginners Guide to Delphi Programming: Next Chapter Sophisticated Delphi Pascal techniques for Beginners

ISSUE DEVELOPMENT(Cutting Academic Programs in Higher Education) Research Paper

ISSUE DEVELOPMENT(Cutting Academic Programs in Higher Education) - Research Paper Example Therefore, professionals have an array of viable remedies such as decreasing the expenses of the institutions while promoting performance accountability, raising tuition and the most adequate one (in terms of fund management) cutting academic programs (Goldstein, 2005). Cutting academic programs focuses on fronts such as reducing the amount spent on paying faculty and other personal (Keppler, 2010). Another area is merging or total annihilation of departments (Keppler, 2010). According to Ohio Board of Regents (2010), cutting academic programs is necessary especially when one considers the performance of a given program against their financial viability. Various states have seen the effects of cutting of academic programs due to budget cuts. With the projection that Missouri by the fiscal year 2012 would suffer a budget deficiency of up to $500 million, cutting education programs was no longer an option. Given statistics on student enrollment, number of graduates and the value of rel ated research, over 70 programs were in the line up for possible cuts (Chapman et al, 2010). The scenario was more somber in states such as Louisiana where whole colleges were at the risk of extinction. Chapman et al report that in New York and Illinois, administrations were more specific to the point of exuding some form of bias (2010). In the University of Illinois, it was the institution of aviation. The director of this institution cites unfairness given that the institution is small and remote. Meanwhile, in New York State University, the department of Language, Literature and Cultures took the hardest blow with an estimated four programs targeted for budget cuts (Chapman et al, 2010). There are a number of factors that cause states and institutions of higher learning to favor cutting of academic programs even with the public outcries. Currently, increase in cost of living makes it difficult for parents to afford hiked tuition fees hence parents may support cutting academic pro grams to increasing tuition fee (Goldstein, 2005). On the other hand, the institutions’ administration would rather loose a few programs than loose graduate enrollments because of insufficient funds to run the entire institution (Gold, 1995). After all, students can always move away from a cut program and limit themselves to those available. Finally, there is a great shift in educational stratification in view of changing world economics (Jung & Milton, 2007). The current employment market favors professions in fields such as business (Jung & Milton, 2007) while other programs such as history and arts take a back seat. As such, students prefer engineering and scientific courses at the expense of arts making these programs more susceptible to budget cuts (Jung & Milton, 2007). All these factors contribute to the popularity of cutting academic programs in higher education. Current and Future Prospects: The first issue that comes to mind is the redundancy of some of the academic programs not because of reduced enrollment in their respective departments but because of budget cuts (Chapman et al, 2010). For instance, in New York, foreign languages, classics and theatre are at the verge of â€Å"death† according to the article by Chapman et al (2010). It seems the state administrations current shift in budget allocation will become permanent. Most states now favor performance based funding (Harnisch, 2011). The outcome of this is that institutions

Conflict in the school Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conflict in the school Systems - Essay Example It is possible that parents will be ready to accept the democratic model of school education, but at the same time they will express dissatisfaction with different concrete things (Robinson, 2000). Or, on the contrary, parents may consider the main task of school education to be the development of children’s love for freedom, in the development of their personal potential, realization of their creative abilities, but the school offers the system of tough routine study. The conflict of values can occur between a teacher and school administration or between children, especially in the high school (Richmon, 2005). The conflict of values is the conflict, which can’t be resolved by any psychological means. The conflict of values is the controversy which can’t be resolved in open confrontation as every person has a right for his/her own hierarchy of values. In resolution of conflicts of values much depends on the school leaders. Some researches find the way out in values based leadership model â€Å"values and conflict will continue to remain contentious issues of challenge for administrators but the adoption of a values based leadership model could assist school leaders to succinctly define the realities of their very complex role despite the challenges. The values-based model has tremendous potential and possibilities to transform the existing face of educational administration provided it is seamlessly integrated within educational organizations to become the new standard of successful and meaningful leadership practice† (Zupan, 2012, p. 184). Certainly, the discussion of various values is necessary, but if it is impossible, the only way out is to organize the collaboration of people with the same values. It is necessary the parents should have the opportunity to appear in school where there are teachers with the same values. Teachers’ staff should also consist of people

Dressed All in Pink Essay Example for Free

Dressed All in Pink Essay Literary Ballad A literary ballad is a poem written by a specific author. These ballads are not set to music. An example of a literary ballad would be Dudley Randalls ballad Dressed All In Pink Dressed All In Pink by Dudley Randall It was a wet and cloudy day when the prince took his last ride. The prince rode with the gonernor, and his princess rode beside. And would you like to ride inside for shelter from the rain? No Ill ride outside, where I can wave and speak to my friends again. They ride among the cheering crowds, he young prince and his mate. The governor says, See how they smile and cheer you where they wait. The prince rides with the governor, his princess rides beside, dressed all in pink as delicate as roses of a bride. Pink as a rose the princess rides, but bullets from a gun turn that pink to as deep a red as red, red blood can run, for she bends to where the prince lies still and cradles his shattered head, and there that pink so delicate is stained a deep, deep red. the princess rides beside, and her dress of pink so delicate deep, deep red is dyed. Jackie Kennedy is the princess -iambic tetrameter -rhyming scheme: abcb -the dress symbolizes the country itself falling from grace -colour imagery of pink as roses and red as blood -princess is described in colour -dyed at the end has a double meaning -dress is said to be as pink as roses but roses are also a deep shade of red, but the dress is not referred to a rose when it is covered in blood -Pink is the colour of innocence and it turning red is significant in dis playing the loss of innocence

A True Patriot: Walt Whitman Essay -- essays research papers fc

A True Patriot: Walt Whitman When one talks of great American Poets, if the person has any since of intelligence, then they can in now way fail to mention Walt Whitman. Whitman is unmistakingly a great American poet, So great, that Ralph Waldo Emerson said that he was an â€Å"American Shakespeare† (Tucker 247). While the debate still goes on about that comment, there is no debate about the greatness of Whitman. Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, NY on May 31, 1819 on Long Island. He was the second of nine children. He never developed a close relationship with his father, but he was very close to his mother. When he was four, he moved to Brooklyn where he went to school for six years and, when he was eleven, dropped out and began work as a clerk in a Law Office. Shortly thereafter, he became a typesetter’s apprentice. He then began to teach school on Long Island. Bored by this, he began to edit and publish the Long Islander, an area newspaper (Funk 293). But this attempt at a steady job was unsuccessful as well, he then began to write political essays and started to write what would become his life's work Leaves of Grass. He would write various books of poems, most of which would be added to Leaves of Grass, which he re-published nine times. Whitman spent his last days as the sage of Camden, New Jersey, where he died on March 36, 1892 (Magill 406). Walt Whitman, through his admiration for a fallen President, condemnation of war, and his theme of camaraderie, illustrates a definition of patriotism. Walt Whitman was an American, and he loved President Abraham Lincoln. He had the upmost respect for the sixteenth President of the United States. His admiration was shown in his most famous work, O’ Captain, My Captain. This is without a doubt the most popular poem of Whitman’s career. In it, he repeats the word Captain; this word refers to Abraham Lincoln, the fallen President. He uses phrases like â€Å"fallen cold and dead† to tell of the mournful death of Lincoln. Whitman mentions a â€Å"ship†, which is the Union in the Civil War. He also uses the â€Å"voyage† to symbolize the Civil War. The overall mood of this elegy to Lincoln is grievance for the lost loved one of Whitman. He had a deep reverence for the President and it was a great pain for him when Lincoln was assassinated (Whitman 63). Another poem that Whitman wrote, that is famous for its grievance of the fallen Presi... ...d have to be close with those around you. The only way to counteract the horrors of war is the camaraderie of the soldiers, if they developed friendships then they could look past the horrible thing that is war (Magill 406). A patriot is defined as a person who loves his or her country. If there is anyone that has ever lived in this great country that can be called that, then it should be Walt Whitman. Whitman showed his love for his country and his allegiance to his president. One can deny that he is the greatest American poet, but no one can deny that he is a great American patriot. Works Cited Magill, Frank N. ed. Magill’s Critical Survey of Poetry. 7 vols. Englewood Cliffs, 1987. Tucker, Martin ed. Moulton’s Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. The Mid-Nineteenth Century to Edwardianism. Englewood Cliffs, 1975. Unger, Leonard ed. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. 7 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974. Whitman, Walt. Drum Taps. Grosset & Dunlap New York: NODATE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whitman, Walt. â€Å"Leaves of Grass.† Timeless, Timeless, Themes: The American Experience. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2000.

Cultural Adaptation and Career

How cultural adaptation influence professional belief and career development of Chinese students in UMN?Introduction The influence of cultural diversity is some of the most critical issues facing the United States today. Census data show that the non-white population is rapidly increasing – this is a huge reserve of human potential, which makes the multicultural focus a top priority for vocational education and development. These diverse cultural groups include some international students coming to the United States to take advantage of higher education opportunities. After completing their studies, many of these students choose to stay in the United States in order to pursue work and build family. The career development and consulting needs of this multicultural workforce are very different from the established norms. It is important to understand and solve their needs for the country's cultural and psychological adjustment. Therefore, counselors and professional professionals in universities and workplaces need to have specific cultural information and skills that contribute to effective vocational education/consulting. Most of the differences between cultures come from various worldviews that people hold. Lee and Rice (2007) and Dee and Henkin (1999) point out that in this society, the worldview of racial and ethnic minorities is different from that of European Americans. The worldview contains all cultural norms, customs, folk cultures and cultural adaptation behaviors that are passed on to future generations in an identifiable group. Values, interests, family and interpersonal relationships largely depend on these worldviews, and these worldviews are assumed to influence career choices. The worldview of ethnic minority customers will influence their career decisions in ways that may differ from most people. In order to provide culturally appropriate services, professional professionals in universities and workplaces must have a keen understanding of the team's worldview. In order to understand more about the concept of worldview related to career development, Marsella and Leong (1995) suggest positioning individual clients in the continuum of national cultural identity and determining the relative importance of individual or cultural characteristics to individuals. For example, when a person is fully integrated into society, interest/preference may be more relevant to career development. However, for a more traditional individual, cultural influence may play a more important role in career development. Marsella and Leong (1995) suggest that career counseling for different customers should consider three factors: cross-cultural similarities, and culturally unique aspects that influence members and personal characteristics. Another way to better understand the worldview is to study the individual's level of cultural adaptation. Marsella and Leong (1995) pointed out that cultural adaptation has become an important variable in psychological research because it helps to highlight and explain the huge heterogeneity existing in ethnic/ethnic immigrant groups. Cultural adaptation levels have been found to influence psychological and physical health variables, including work values, career orientation, and career choices (Kubat ; Kuruuzum, 2009).In short, with the increase in the multicultural nature of the U.S. labor force, it has become imperative to appropriately address the unique career development needs of customers from different ethnicities. Marasella and Leong (1995) indicate that by understanding the customer's worldview, unique career development needs can be met. Research on ethnic identity and cultural adaptation can help to learn a worldview.Many international students are looking for jobs in the United States, which is a factor in increasing the multicultural workforce. For this reason, using this population for world outlook (cultural adaptation and ethnic identity) and career development studies will be particularly useful. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between professional beliefs and cultural adaptation levels of international students from China. It has been found that cultural adaptation and career development may be related to several other important factors, for example,People's specific nationality: Even if they come from the same continent, the cultural adaptability of people from different countries is also different (Jacob ; Greggo, 2001);People's age: Age is positively related to professional identity (ie older people may have stronger professional identity). The negative correlation between age and cultural adaptation indicates that it is difficult for older people to adhere to the norms of the new culture (Suinn, Ahuna ; Khoo, 1992, 1995; Shufen ; Brown, 2001);Level of education: Interestingly, studies by Shu Fen and Brown (2001) show that education levels are negatively correlated with cultural adaptation. This suggests that better-educated individuals may not be comfortable, and vice versa.Term of residence in the United States: There is a negative correlation between the length of residence in the United States and cultural adaptability, indicating that people with shorter residence periods tend to have less culture. There is a positive correlation between living time and professional identity, which means that people who live longer in the United States have stronger professional identities (Suinn, Ahuna ; Khoo, 1992, 1995; Shu-fen ; Brown, 2001);Gender: There seems to be a conflict regarding the influence of gender on cultural adaptation. Although there was no significant relationship between gender and cultural adaptation and professional identity and gender, the study (Lopez ; Ann-Yi, 2006) also showed that the process of cultural adaptation was affected by gender.In this study, information on nationality, age, US resident status and gender will be collected. It also will study the influence of the above factors on cultural adaptation and professional beliefs, with particular emphasis on the influence of gender.Propose of the studyThe main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between cultural adaptation and factors that influence the professional beliefs of international students from China. The adaptation of a cultural group to another cultural group can be demonstrated by changing language preferences, adopting common attitudes and values, joining common social groups and institutions, and losing individual political or ethnic identity. Professional beliefs are people's assumptions about themselves and what they must do to succeed in the world of work. Specifically, this study will examine whether these international student's cultural adaptation will affect current employment status, career planning, acceptance of uncertainty, openness, university education, sense of control, sense of responsibility, career path flexibility, after training. The attitude of transition, relocation and other occupational beliefs are perseverance and hard work.The study will examine whether the relationship between cultural adaptation and professional beliefs is influenced or mitigated by gender. Research questions Are there any influence from cultural adaption on professional beliefs and career development of Chinese students in UMN? How cultural adaption influence professional beliefs and career development of Chinese students in UMN?MethodsParticipants are Chinese students in UMN. The questionnaire will be delivered through university email. There are also potential follow-up interview.Two scales will be used in this study:First one is Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA). Suinn, et al have developed SL-ASIA as a self-reported measurement of cultural adaption (Suinn, et al, 1987). There are 26 options including language, behavior, generation/geography history and attitude in this scale. In the score, the total value is obtained by summing the answers to all items. The final cultural fitness score is then calculated by dividing the total by 26. The conservation level on SL-ASIA ranged from 1 to 5, the low range was 1 to 2.33 (Asian mark), the medium range was 2.34 In order to obtain a structural validity assessment, Suinn, Ahuna and Khoo (1992) used 324 Asian students from Colorado (137 first generation, 76 second generation, 31 third generation, 26 fourth generation and 14 fifth generation participants who performed factor analysis on SL-ASIA. Their results showed that five interpretable factors accounted for 69.7% of the variance between different variables. The other one is Career Beliefs Inventory (CBI). The Occupational Belief Scale (CBI) (Krumboltz ; Jackson,1993) is built based on data collected from 7,500 people, ranging in age from 12 to 75 years. The original 122 items has been separated into 25 scales consisting of 96 projects. Grades. These projects were written in the eighth grade. Participants stated their agreement to a statement based on the 5-point Likert scale, strongly agreeing that the active wording project scored 5 points, and strongly disagreed with a score of 1 point. The negative wording items are reverse scores, so strong opposition will get scores of 5 points, and strong opposition scores of 1. These scores are then converted into proportional scores ranging from 10 to 50. The difference factor between them and the project score is 10, so the proportional score is ten times that of the time average score.(After collecting data, I will use SPSS or R to build a model and do some simple analysis between SL-ASIA factors – language, behavior, generation/geography history and attitude – and professional beliefs. Based on this conclusion, I will give some recommendations about career development of Chinese students in US.)Reference:Dee, J., ; Henkin, A. (1999). Challenges to Adjustment to College Life in the United States: Experiences of Korean Students. International Education, 29(1), 54-70.Jacob, E. J, ; Greggo, J.W., (2001). Using counselor training and collaborative programming strategies in working with international students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 29 (l),73-88.Kubat, U., ; Kuruuzum, A. (2009) . An Examination of the Relationship between Work Values and Personality Traits in Manufacturing Industry. International Journal of Business and Management Studies, 1(1), 37-48.Krumboltz, J. D., ; Jackson, M. A. (1993). Career assessment as a learning tool. Journal of Career Assessment, I, 393-409.Lee, J., ; Rice, J. (2007). Welcome to America? International student perceptions of discrimination. Higher Education, 53(3), 381-409.Lopez, F. G., ; Ann-Yi, S. (2006). Predictors of Career Indecision in Three Racial/Ethnic Groups of College Women. Journal of Career Development, 33(1), 29-46.Marsella, A., ; Leong, F. (1995). Cross-Cultural Issues in Personality and Career Assessment. Journal of Career Assessment, 3(2), 202-218.Suinn, R., Rickard-Figueroa, K., Lew, S., ; Vigil, P. (1987). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: An Initial Report. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47(2), 401-407.Suinn, R. M. Ahuna, C, ; Khoo, G. (1992). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale: Concurrent and factorial validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 1041-1046.Suinn, R. M., Ahuna, C, ; Khoo, G. (1995). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identify Acculturation Scale: Cross-cultural information. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 23, 139-148.Shih, S., ; Brown, C. (2000). Taiwanese International Students: Acculturation Level and Vocational Identity. Journal of Career Development, 27(1), 35-47.

Affects of Low Socio-economic Status in Children Essay

Socio-economic status remains a theme of great interest to those who study children’s development. This interest derives from a belief that high socio-economic status families pay for their children an array of services, goods, parental actions, and social connections that potentially redound to the benefit of children and a concern that many low socio-economic status children lack access to those same resources and experiences, thus putting them at risk for developmental problems (Briscoe, 1994). The interest in socio-economic status as a worldwide construct persists despite evidence that there is wide inconsistency in what children experience within every socio-economic status level, despite evidence that the link between socio-economic status and child well-being varies as a function of geography, and culture, and despite evidence that the relation between socio-economic status and child well-being can be disrupted by catastrophes and internal strife (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky & Haynes, 2003, p. 45). The major factor that affects child development is the socio-economic status. It is an indicator of a person’s social and economic standing, measured through a combination of income, level of education, residency, occupation, and social status in the community (Briscoe, 1994). Families with a high socio-economic status often have more success because they typically have more access to more resources to improve their child’s development (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky & Haynes, 2003, p. 54). They are able to afford high-quality child care and books that would encourage children to learn. Children from low socio-economic status families lack the financial, educational and social support they need to be considered equivalent to children from high socio-economic status families. These differences can cause a child to become unconfident, non-motivated, and even isolation from society. It is a problem that could stay with the child through adolescences and on into adulthood (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). It is only as an adult that the person has the independence and the ability to change his socio-economic status. He makes the choice of where to live, what job to pursue, how he fits in society; becoming his own person but a child can not (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky & Haynes, 2003, p. 223). Family’s Influence on a Child’s Educational Success The family is a key element in every person’s life. They have the greatest impact on a child’s socialization and their development. Socialization is a learned behavior that remains with a human being his entire life. Family influences nearly every aspect of children’s life, most significantly, their education. Increasing evidence indicates that schools are not solely responsible for promoting our children’s academics and success; rather, families must be engaged in helping youths develop the understanding and skills they need to function in tomorrow’s workplace (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). Therefore, the question is not whether parents influence education, but rather how and to what degree they do. A variety of explanations exist, including the size of the family, the parenting techniques, and the family’s economic status. Three major constructs are believed to be parents’ basic involvement decisions. First, a parents’ role construction defines parents’ viewpoint about what they are supposed to do in their children’s education and appears to set up the basic range of actions that parents construe as important, necessary, and permissible for their own actions with and on behalf of children. Second, parents’ sense of efficacy for helping their children succeed in school focuses on the degree to which parents believe that through their contribution, they can exert positive influence on their children’s educational outcomes. Third, general invitations, demands, and opportunities for involvement refer to parents’ opinion that the child and school want them to be involved (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). However, even well-designed school programs welcoming involvement will meet with only limited success if they do not address issues of parental role construction and parental sense of efficacy for helping children succeed in their schools. Academic Attainment and Low Socio-economic Status For over 70 years findings on the relationship between socio-economic status and intellectual/ academic competence has accumulated. The association between socio-economic status and cognitive performance begins in infancy. Numerous studies have documented that poverty and low parental education are associated with lower levels of school achievement and IQ later in childhood (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky & Haynes, 2003, p. 103+). There has been some debate regarding which aspects of socio-economic status most strongly connect to cognitive development. Each socio-economic status measure used in the Health Examination Survey (family income, maternal education, paternal education) highlighted intellectual attainment, with education being the best predictor. Maternal education was a stronger predictor than paternal education. Maternal and paternal education is good predictor. Socio-economic status accounts for about 5% of the variance in academic achievement. Among the traditional measures of socio-economic status, family income accounts for the greatest amount of variance. In a recent study, it has been found that each socio-economic status indicator (income, education, occupation) was associated with better parenting, which in turn affected school achievement via skill-building activities and school behavior. Evidence suggests a particularly strong relation between socio-economic status and verbal skills. Major differences were found in the language proficiency of children from high socio-economic status and low socio-economic status families. The relation between socio-economic status and cognitive attainment may be quite complex, with different components of socio-economic status contributing to the development of particular cognitive skills in different ways and with some components of socio-economic status serving to moderate the effects of other components. Several analyses have indicated that the relations for family income and parental education depend on the number of siblings present in the household (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky & Haynes, 2003, p. 34). The affect of Socio-economic status and intellectual/academic attainment diminishes with age. However, the effects of family income on achievement among 7-year-olds are similar to the effects on intelligence for 3-year-olds. Socio-economic status also appears to affect school attendance and number of years of schooling completed. The impact on years completed appears to be less than the impact on school achievement. Even so, socio-economic status remains one of the most consistent predictors of early high school dropout, with evidence suggesting that it is connected both to low parental expectations and to early initiation of sexual activity (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). Students from lower-income families suffer further disadvantages as well. Economic hardship and stress have been known to affect the relationship between the parent and child. If the socio-economic status of the student is low, the amount of parental support, control, and consistency is usually low as well. Adolescents from intact families have been found to be more optimistic and confident about the future than those from homes in which there has been a separation, divorce, or parental death. References Bornstein, M. H. & Bradley, R. H. (Eds. ). (2003). Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Child Development. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bradley, R. H. , & Corwyn, R. F. (2002). Socioeconomic Status and Child Development. 371+. Briscoe, J. (1994, December). The Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect. Corrections Today, 56, 26+. Education Is Critical to Closing the Socioeconomic Gap. (2003, February). World and I, 18, 18. Ellis, L. (Ed. ). (1994). Social Stratification and Socioeconomic Inequality (Vol. 2). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Free Essays on Jaques Pepin

Jacques Pepin is a famous chef. He is also a host of PBS-TV series, Today’s Gourmet. He has published 19 cookbooks. He is a contributing editor to FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE. Mr. Pepin was a columnist for the New York Times. Jacques Pepin was the personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles DeGaulle. He has been a guest on many popular TV shows like The Today Show, and Good Morning America. Jacques Pepin was born in Bourg-en Bresse, France. His parents owned a restaurant called Le Pelican. His first exposure to cooking was at that restaurant when he was 13 years old. His name means umbrella in French. The umbrella has become a family symbol or trademark for his signature that he signs his artwork with. He did a formal apprenticeship at the distinguished Grand Hotel de L’Europe in his hometown. He also worked in Paris training under Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athenee. He moved to the United States in 1959. He worked first at New York’s historic Le Pavillon restaurant. Then he worked ten years as a director of research and development at the Howard Johnson Company. He studied at Columbia University earning an MA degree in 18th Century French Literature. Jacques has painted many of the pictures that hang in his house. He is married and lives in Madison, Connecticut with his wife, Gloria and daughter Claudine. Mr. Pepin is currently finished writing a cookbook called, Jacques Pepin’s Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine. He also serves as dean of the French Culinary Institute in New York City and he teaches at Boston University. His PBS series will be a 26 show series with Julia Child. Mr. Pepin is the recipient of two of the French government’s highest honors. He is the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1997) and a Chlevalier de L’Ordre du Merite Agicole (1992). He is also on the board of trustees of the James Beard Foundation. Mr. Pepin feels cooking is a joy and a gift you ... Free Essays on Jaques Pepin Free Essays on Jaques Pepin Jacques Pepin is a famous chef. He is also a host of PBS-TV series, Today’s Gourmet. He has published 19 cookbooks. He is a contributing editor to FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE. Mr. Pepin was a columnist for the New York Times. Jacques Pepin was the personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles DeGaulle. He has been a guest on many popular TV shows like The Today Show, and Good Morning America. Jacques Pepin was born in Bourg-en Bresse, France. His parents owned a restaurant called Le Pelican. His first exposure to cooking was at that restaurant when he was 13 years old. His name means umbrella in French. The umbrella has become a family symbol or trademark for his signature that he signs his artwork with. He did a formal apprenticeship at the distinguished Grand Hotel de L’Europe in his hometown. He also worked in Paris training under Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athenee. He moved to the United States in 1959. He worked first at New York’s historic Le Pavillon restaurant. Then he worked ten years as a director of research and development at the Howard Johnson Company. He studied at Columbia University earning an MA degree in 18th Century French Literature. Jacques has painted many of the pictures that hang in his house. He is married and lives in Madison, Connecticut with his wife, Gloria and daughter Claudine. Mr. Pepin is currently finished writing a cookbook called, Jacques Pepin’s Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine. He also serves as dean of the French Culinary Institute in New York City and he teaches at Boston University. His PBS series will be a 26 show series with Julia Child. Mr. Pepin is the recipient of two of the French government’s highest honors. He is the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1997) and a Chlevalier de L’Ordre du Merite Agicole (1992). He is also on the board of trustees of the James Beard Foundation. Mr. Pepin feels cooking is a joy and a gift you ...

How to Get a Marketing Job With No Traditional Experience - CoSchedule

How to Get a Marketing Job With No Traditional Experience What if I told you that it’s possible to land a six-figure job in marketing regardless of the experience you have right now? You’d probably say I’m full of it. I mean, if that were true, wouldn’t everybody be doing it? Not quite Five years ago I graduated from college with a biology degree, a 2.5 GPA, and a job in the medical field. Two years later, I landed job offers from Google, Microsoft, and Twitter to work on their marketing products and my salary jump into the six-figure range. Most people struggle to land a job they love for two reasons: They follow the same outdated job search advice that every other candidate is using They don’t put in the extra effort it takes to build new skills and beat out the competition In this post, I’m going to walk you through the exact process I used to build the marketing skills I needed to land jobs at the world’s best companies without a degree or job in marketing. I’ll also teach you how you can get paid to learn and create a second source of income along the way! [Cookie Get Your Free Marketing Resume Template || https://media..com/uploads/Blog-Austin-LandAJob-mockup.png || Download  Now || https://media..com/uploads/Entry-Level-Marketing-Resume-Template.docx How to get a #marketing job with no traditional experience its possible!By the end of this read, you’ll have a clear path from where you are now to the marketing job of your dreams. Let’s dive in: Step 1: Get Clear On What You Want One of the biggest mistakes that career changers make is heading straight to a job board and blasting out dozens of applications. The first step is any job search should always be getting crystal clear on exactly what you want. While this article is going to show you the exact steps you can take to land a job in marketing, by no means is it going to be easy. Applying for a new role, especially one that doesn’t exactly align with your background, is a full time job in and of itself. You don’t want to spend four months job searching only to end up in a role you can’t stand. The good news is that this problem is super easy to avoid by simply doing your research before you get started! went ahead and did most of the heavy lifting for us by researching and breaking down the different types of marketing roles and consolidating them in this article. Reading that will give you a high level overview of the marketing landscape and help you take the first step in your search. The Decision Funnel For Marketing: Digital vs. Traditional When it comes to marketing, there are two overarching fields: traditional and digital. The first decision you need to make is which field you want to be a part of. Traditional marketing includes â€Å"old school† tactics like print advertising in newspapers, TV spots, or physical coupons. Digital marketing is comprised of all the tools and tactics you’ll find online like Content Marketing, Facebook Ads, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, etc. If you’re looking for a career that pays well in a field that’s primed to rapidly expand in the next 5-10 years, the answer is easy: you’re going the digital route. Digital marketing has been growing at an astonishing rate in 2017, advertisers spent $209 billion on digital  which made up 41% of the market (compared to traditional media’s 35%): Image courtesy of Recode.net That trend is only going to grow with Statistia reporting that advertisers plan to increase their digital budgets 12.3% in the next 12 months, while traditional media budgets continue to decline.

Economics answer question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economics answer question - Essay Example A decade after the World War II, Japan has experienced astonishing economic figures, flashing a near double-digit "average annual growth rate of 9.2% and increased its real GDP sevenfold" (Itoh, 1). Itoh has identified at least four factors relating to the miraculous climb of the Japanese economy since early 1950's. Generally, what helped Japan gain such a high growth rate are timely help from abroad with a favorable economic environment and sound macroeconomic policies. One of the accidental help to the Japanese economy is the favorable international environment. The "US global strategy of creating a bulwark against communism by the substantial reduction of war reparation in addition to a recovery aid programme" has helped Japan's economy (Itoh, 2). The growth if world trade has also facilitated Japanese exports and imports. The second factor that brought Japan's booming economy was the availability of new technologies. The Japanese were able to easily adapt the technologies brought from the US into their production primarily due to the high adaptability of Japanese workers and rising level of education and training. It has then become an important jumpstart for the Japanese automobile industry. The favorable terms of trade... The fourth reason for the Japanese economic boom was the cheap and docile labor. The "large shift in working population away from agricultural areas provided the necessary amount of relatively cheap labor for the rapid growth of urban secondary and tertiary capitalist industries" (Itoh, 3). Some macroeconomic policies applied by the Japanese government also did well to their economy. It includes the "necessary infrastructure such as seaports, roads, railways and communication system" (Itoh, 4). Generally, "the Japanese economic growth was mainly dependent on expanding domestic market and maintained a relatively low rate of export dependency" (Itoh, 4) The Economic Struggle The collapse of the Bretton Woods International Monetary System has brought a domino effect of economic crisis to Japan. The trade deficit of USA coupled with multinationalization of US firms increase private foreign investments leading to a substantial outflow of dollar funds. This event has resulted in the appreciation of the yen, as all economists know; this event hurt the export of Japan. Countries resorted the fully floating exchange rate in 1973, believing that this would gradually resolve international trade imbalance. However, "the automatic adjustment mechanism did not work particularly in the case of Japan" (Itoh, 6). There also a resulting inflationary pressures making the products more expensive. An over-accumulation of capital also occurred to the point wherein the total of capital became so numerous compared to the Japanese working population. This condition became favorable to worker, therefore nominal wages were observed to have increased by 63% in 1970-1973. After th ese events, "the Japanese economy became

DNA - The Double Helix Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DNA - The Double Helix - Lab Report Example To solve the DNA structure puzzle and discover what the molecule looked like, the work of many people was needed to come up with the full structure. The scientists used X-rays to see through DNA, a Three–Helical structure and specific base pairing to show the DNA structure (Nobelprize 9). It was also proved that genes are a result of replication of coded regions in the DNA which are passed from one generation to another. As a result, Gregor Mendel of Czech noted that certain traits such as colour in peas were inherited in different packages called genes. Oswald, an American, theory which stated hat the genes were made of nucleic acid was also affirmed. The game helps us know how copying of genome in an organism takes place and that different species like the mouse, mosquito, e-coli bacteria, fruit fly or flower have different amounts of DNA. It also helps in understanding how copying of genome in different organisms takes place. From the game, one is able to have an clear understanding that most living organisms have similar genetic material (DNA) as it gives a clear picture of DNA molecule structural shape (The double helix) which resembles a staircase and is found in almost every living organism. It also gives an easy way of pairing up bases that is A with T and G with C and helps one know that only up to three mutations are accepted in the human

MGMT340 U2 IP Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MGMT340 U2 IP - Research Paper Example The group development starts with a few members coming together and they start knowing each other through polite exchange of conversation and later conflict arises which leads to development and recognition of roles played by different members. After roles are defined, group members continue to operate with little or no conflict and then they reach a position where no conflict takes place at all and the group performs the targets assigned to them. The first stage of the team development model prescribed by Tuckman is the forming stage and in this stage, different group members of the team are brought together. Group members are not well acquainted with each other, so they all look up to the leader of the group while keeping distance with other group members and engaging with them through small talks in a very polite manner. Since the group members look up to the supervisor or the leader, the leader needs to provide information and feedback for all the queries of the group members. The next stage to follow is the storming stage in which team members are more inclined towards the impression they are posting to other team members and in this stage all the group members try to obtain certain roles in the team by exhibiting their knowledge, skills and abilities to the team leader. In this stage the level of conflict among group members is quit high and there are chances of smaller groups being formed within the group and certain g roup members may even be left alone. The third stage of the model is the norming stage and if the group development reaches this stage, it means that the storming stage had been successfully passed. It is not necessary that all groups are able to make it to the norming stage because in storming stage, conflict is so high and sub group forming takes place due to which the entire process of group creation may be damaged (Levin, 2005, p.79). This even means that in storming stage there are chances of the group process

The death penalty debate

The death penalty debate Death penalty has been an issue of controversy and debate for ages and one comes across a large number of arguments for and against capital punishment system. Capital punishments were prevalent at one stage or other in the developmental history of many nations and many of them have constitutionally abolished death penalty from their criminal justice systems. Advocates of death penalty in the United States argue that death penalty is the need of the time as homicides and serious offences are at an increasing rate and that the provision for capital punishment can act as the strongest corrective measure in a crime prone condition. Besides, there are many who believe that many innocent lives can be saved by providing death penalty to dreaded criminals. The retributive belief that death penalty is essential to preserve retributive justice whereby murderers get the full punishment they deserve and the utilitarian argument that death penalty deters or is necessary to incapacitate prospectiv e criminals have immensely supported capital punishments in the nation. On the other hand, the major argument against death penalty is that it is against human rights, ethics, and morality. Whatever may be the arguments for and against the practice, when it comes to implementation of a law such as capital punishment on state level, it is essential to consider the pros and cons of death penalty in the nation, the underlying reasons behind the creation of the capital punishment, the moral and ethical issues related to it, how much the implementation of it is efficient in fulfilling its purpose, and whether there are any other alternatives to achieving the same purposes as that of death penalty. The higher cost of using the capital punishment and the liabilities it causes on the states governance are also to be unearthed. In doing so the paper tries to compare and contrast capital punishment with its closest possible alternative-life imprisonment without any possibility for parole. The paper seeks to make a probe into the various aspects of capital punishment and it emphasises that capital punishment should be abolished in the United States as it does not deter other criminals, as there is the increased risk of innocents being executed and as the cost of execution is higher than that of life imprisonment. 2 Discussion There have been a number of debates over the future of capital punishment in the United States. However, it is a fact that the opponents as well as the supporters of death penalty system are not entirely satisfied with the current system of capital punishments and the way death penalty is administered in the nation. Even a number of national opinion polls have brought about conflicting results with regard to the elimination capital punishments. This has prompted most of the politicians to take a neutral stand in this controversial issue. On the other hand, there are many who favour life time imprisonment without any chance of parole to death sentencing. In fact, the abolitionists have played a pivotal role in educating the public of the laws regarding life in prison without parole whereby they seek to convince people that such murderers will never be released or allowed to commit further deadly crimes (Marzilli 2008, p. 94). They also argue that United States should follow the exampl e set by other Western industrialized nations in abolishing capital punishment. There are also many who hold that gun control, drug treatment, better schools, and other social programs are much more effective than the death penalty in reducing crime (Marzilli 2008, p. 96). Similarly, one should also bear in mind that there are several nations that have brought down crime rates even after abolishing death sentence. Abolition of Capital Punishments: Pros and Cons: It is essential to consider the advantages and disadvantages of capital punishments in the United States. Stephen B. Bright argues that death penalty is an outdated form of punishment which belonged to the primitive ages when prisons and jail systems were limited. He cites the examples of South Africa and Russia, two nations that have abolished death sentencing in the 1990s. According to him, in USA, there are many other factors like racism, poverty, improper police and prosecution practices that decide death penalty for the perpetrator, rather than the seriousness of the crime committed (Bright, 2000, p. 2). To substantiate his argument, Stephen provides a number of instances where the convicts who were sentenced for death penalty were later proved to be innocents and thus points out how the judicial system of the nation come to hasty conclusions and sentence people for capital punishments. In the same way, in most of the cases the ac cused were not given proper legal assistance and even the mentally retarded people were convicted for capital punishment. Thus, he concludes that there exists fallibility of the court system of the nation and he exhorts that the government should pay heed to the public demand to abolish death penalty from the nation. On the other hand, the supporters of the capital punishment system consider death penalty as the strongest form of deterrence and preserver of judicial retribution. Ernest van den Haag, a Professor of Jurisprudence at Fordham University, repudiates the arguments of Simon by stating that it would be a failure of the judicial system of the nation if dreaded criminals are not punished for the retribution of their crimes. According to him, the capital punishment acts as the powerful deterrent for the criminal minded people to abstain from crimes as he believes in the common sense evidence that fear of the death penalty is likely to deter many would-be criminals from committing murder (Haag 2000, p.1). Besides, he holds that sparing criminals from death penalty would pose further threat to many more innocent lives. Thus, the abolitionists argue that the change should take place not in the sentencing of death penalty but the way it is pronounced. The accused are to be provided sufficient o pportunity to prove his/her innocence irrespective of his/ her colour or financial status. No hasty decisions are to be taken during trials and only the deserving convicts are to be sentenced for death penalty. While many purport that capital punishments are aimed at deterring prospective criminals from indulging in serious criminal activities, it is quite paradoxical that death sentence in the United States are inflicted in private, leaving no scope for such deterrence. Similarly, one can also find that crime rates have not come down in those states where capital punishment prevails offering no evidence that support this deterrence perspective. Bryant (2003, p. 376) makes this clear when the author purports that even though the states are spending millions of dollars into the death penalty, one can notice no resultant reduction in crime rates in these states. In this respect, Sarat argues that capital punishments has become commonplace in America. For him, capital punishments in the states take place in the face of increasing doubts about the reliability and fairness of the capital punishment system, strong criticising from international communities (mainly from democratic nations) and in many cases the issues of the victims innocence are remaining unresolved (Sarat, 2002, p. 13). The author also argues that capital punishments only help to weaken democratic political institutions and promote revenge rather than reconciliation or social reconstruction. One can also notice that death penalty in America is disproportionately directed towards racial minorities (who murder white victims) and in many jurisdictions blacks and African Americans are subjected to capital punishments at a rate of 38 percent higher than all others (Sarat, 2002, p. 18). Innocence, Morality and death penalty: The growing support for the abolition of death penalty and subsequent priority for life imprisonment is the likelihood of innocent people being put to death. One can never undermine the possibility of wrongful conviction and execution of the innocents due to human error the fallibility and frailty of human judgement), perjured testimony and mistaken honest testimony (Hodgkinson Schabas, 2004, p. 11). A significant research conducted by Bedau, Radelet and Putnam showed that there were almost 416 cases in the United States where the wrong person had been convicted and sentenced to death; the underlying reasons for these wrongful convictions varied from perjury by prosecution witnesses, mistaken eyewitness testimony, community passion against the defendants, failure in police work to overzealous prosecution (Hodgkinson Schabas, 2004, p. 13). All this have culminated in the public demand towards the introduction of a moratorium on executions where by a commission would decide whether it is fair to administer death penalty on the convicted. The Death penalty Information Centre (2002) observes that even though the Federal Government has undertaken great radical measures to minimise the chances of innocent people being executed, it has been identified that almost 102 persons have been released from death rows in various states based on evidence of their innocence since 1973 (Bryant 2003, p. 376) and all these evidences call for the need to abolish capital punishment in the nation. Thus, it can be seen that even though the most significant argument against administering death penalty is the possibility of innocent people being executed, the ethical and human rights issues related to capital system also need to be addressed. Many social scientists, theologians and legal experts explain that capital punishment is morally wrong, and thus should be abolished and replaced with more humane but adequate criminal penalties. Simultaneously, social activists and right protection organizations called for a moratorium on death penalty until the American judicial system achieves an acceptable degree of accuracy and ensures highest levels of fairness in capital punishment processes. The ethical concerns with regard to capital punishment system consider it as a way of taking revenge on the perpetrators whereas morality stresses on mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Similarly, the proponents of human rights theories argue that the government does not have the right to take the life of anyone and that the value of life is to be acknowledged. Similarly, there are many who hold that the methods of execution used by the judicial system are cruel and inhumane. History of Capital Punishment in America: Ever since the end of the Second World War one can notice a considerable decline in the rate of capital punishments in the United States. Hood (2002) offers a clear cut statistics of the number of capital punishments in the United States in various decades. During the 1930s the number of people executed in the nation was 1,670; in the 1940s it was brought down to 1,288 and in the 1950s to 717. The number of people executed in the nation was only 21 in 1963, 15 in 1964 and just 2 in 1967. The Supreme Courts verdict in 1972 that ruled all death penalty as unconstitutional as it was being applied in an arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory manner against the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the constitution in Furman v. Georgia case proved to be a landmark in the history of the criminal judicial system of the nation (Hood, 2002, p. 63). This prompted many of the states to redraft their statutes and frame new capital statutes which were rul ed as constitutional by the Supreme Court in Gregg v. Georgia and many other cases towards 1976. Since then, there have been debates over whether capital punishments are to be abolished or not. While those states that uphold capital punishments for their deterrence effect on prospective criminals, there are 13 jurisdictions in the United States that have abolished capital punishments. In the 1970s there was an increasing public demand to reinstate capital punishments and this paved the way for new mandatory statutes regarding death penalty. Killing a police officer, murder-for-hire, multiple murder, and murder by a life-sentenced inmate became more likely to be followed by death penalties under these new mandatory statutes (Petrezselyem, 2008, p. 15). However, factors such as mental impairment, emotional disturbance and juvenile delinquency were also taken into account in such mandatory capital punishment cases. Even though the abolitionists argued that capital punishment in its ver y nature is cruel and unusual as per the Eighth Amendment of the constitution, the US Supreme court announced its decision on July 2, 1976 in favour of the supporters. However, the mandatory death penalty sentencing was rejected by the Supreme Court as it fails to take into such factors as individual circumstances that led to the crime. In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled in the Coker v. Georgia case that it was unconstitutional to provide death penalty for rape cases. However, The Violent Control Act of 1994 made capital punishment a discretionary penalty for offences other than murder cases. However, towards the last decade of the 20th century there was an increased difference of opinion on the legitimacy of capital punishment among the juries in the Supreme Court as well as the common public which led to controversies and debates over the abolition of capital punishment in the nation. Similarly, public opinion also has varied from time to time in public polls with regard to the abol ition of capital punishments. The methods of execution in the United States vary from lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging to firing squad; the statistics on execution in the United States since 1976 show that there were 654 executions through lethal injection whereas there were only 10 executions by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, 3 by hanging and two via firing squad (Bryant 2003, p. 370). Abolitionists argue the death penalty is cruel and inhumane primarily because of the methods used. The pictures of the old and newly renovated San Quentin Prison Death Chambers are given below: Capital Punishment and its Cost: One needs to consider the huge amount of money spent on capital punishments and studies have shown that the cost of death penalty is much higher compared to other forms of punishment. In this respect Mandery (2005) observes that the increasing costs of capital punishment are actually making America less safe and that it has put the nation at the danger of economic and financial liabilities. The author observes that the state of California which had little money for innovations like community policing is spending an extra $90 million per year on capital punishment whereas Texas, which spends on capital punishment an estimated $2.3 million per case has the highest murder rate in the nation (Mandery, 2005, p. 116). These statistics clearly demonstrate that there exists no cost-benefit analysis for the huge sums of money spend on administering death penalty. It is also imperative to compare the cost of capital punishment with that of life imprisonment without parole and researches have shown that death penalty is much more expensive than its closest alternative-life imprisonment with no parole. As Mandery observes, Capital trials are longer and more expensive at every step than other murder trials. Pre-trial motions, expert witness investigations, jury selection, and the necessity for two trials-one on guilt and one on sentencing-make capital cases extremely costly, even before the appeals process begins (Mandery, 2005, p. 116). One can also see that many of the capital punishments end up in life imprisonment even though the government needs to spend huge amount of money for the prosecution and trials. A comparative and contrastive analysis of the cost of death penalty and life imprisonment without parole shows that the death penalty is actually two or three times more expensive than that of life imprisonment. Barkan Bryjak put it, capi tal cases are extremely time-consuming costly than life imprisonment procedures as they involve various procedures at the pre-trial and trial stages unlike non-capital cases; similarly, appeals following conviction also become mandatory, time-consuming and costly in capital cases (Barkan Bryjak 2010, p. 447). All these prove that the federal and state governments can benefit a lot from the abolition of capital punishment and the huge amount of money spend on death capital cases can be used for the effective prevention of crimes such as the employment of community policing. Capital punishments are also causing financial burden to the local governments and various counties. Very often, the county governments become responsible for the costs of prosecution, appeals for defending the poor convicts, and in their criminal trials. The far reaching effects of this increasing cost for capital punishment for the nation are many and varied. The large sum of money spend on death penalty not only is reflected in the shrinking budget for crime prevention but also in other developmental and health care projects. Similarly, these costs of capital punishment pose great financial trouble to the tax payers also. Mandery, in this respect, observes that in Texas taxpayers need to pay an average of $ 2.3 million towards death penalty case costs which is about three times the cost of imprisoning one at the highest security level for 40 years and in Florida the cost for each execution is $3.2 million (2005, p. 117). Thus, one can easily come to the conclusion that the high co sts of capital prosecution in the nation has adverse and long lasting effects on its local, State and Federal government budgets. All these call for the need to substitute death penalties with life-without-parole sentences whereby the nation can utilize the high cost of death penalty system for better crime prevention measures and other purposes. (Baumgartner, Boef Boydstun 2008, p. 229). Life imprisonment over death penalty: Moral, religious and legal issues have always been an issue with regard to punishment of criminal activities of citizens of a country or a region. Some legal systems consider both life imprisonment and death penalty while others take a stand that taking a life of a human being is morally and ethically wrong (Gildenhuys 2004, p. 17). Given the various factors mentioned above, this section views awarding life imprisonment without parole as an effective alternative to capital punishments for any crimes. The factors that will be taken into consideration are the effectiveness in prevention of crime in awarding death sentences versus life imprisonment. The legal factors followed in the US are not considered here because statutes regarding the two factors differ between different states. Proponents of death penalty state that executions will help to deter crime and will also remove the criminal from committing further crimes (Baumgartner, Boef Boydstun 2008, p. 246). Execution in a verdict of death penalty is irreversible and does not offer a chance to the concerned individual to a life of redemption and regret apart from the fact that judicial errors may creep in such sentencing and subsequent executions (Hood 2004, p. 95). Once a person is executed it is not possible that he or she will redeem or change their attitudes and make an attempt to come back into the mainstream society. The above observation also indicates that judicial errors can result in wrongful conviction of innocent persons which could be proved as wrong in the course of time which is possible in life imprisonment. One compelling argument against death penalty is that it promotes official homicide or murder or in other words, endorses unofficial criminal acts (Robertson 2002, p. 2). In other words, it could be said that official execution will only contribute to develop an attitude that will endorse unofficial or civilian criminal acts. Another factor that favours a lighter sentence like life imprisonment over capital punishment is provided by Hodgkinson and Schabas. The reason is that there is an increase of unfairness in awarding of capital punishment for the same type of crimes in the United States (Hodgkinson Schabas 2004, p. 208). The authors state the following factors that contribute to this development over the years. Courts in the US find it increasingly difficult to appoint counsels to represent death-row inmates in the country. In other words, competent people who can argue for a lesser punishment are often seen as difficult and hence can be considered to be unfair to such convicted people. Those counsels appointed are not only incompetent, but also are often accused of unethical behaviour themselves. This is an indication that competent counsels are reluctant to represent such cases and also that those who come forward will go any lengths to defend their clients. According to the authors, another aspect of this lack of fairness is that economically backward sections of the community are affected more under such circumstances. In other words, a proper investigation which could provide persuasive evidence against providing capital punishment to such sections through proper investigations and arguments is not available. The inherent problem is that a jury comprised of common citizens may award a preliminary death penalty and such people do not have the power to counter it. The lack of understanding of the acts of psychologically disturbed persons is also an issue in this instance (Fleiner Fleiner-Gerster 1999, p. 64). Statistics over the years show that sentencing to death and actual executions have shown a disturbing trend in recent years. Figures ranging from the 1950s to 1970s show that the actual number of sentencing was quite low in the 1950s, but the subsequent carrying out of executions were high during this period (Barkan Bryjak 2010, p. 443). Both sentencing and actual executions came down during the 1970s. But as mentioned earlier, both sentencing and executions have actually increased after the 1970s in the United States. This could be due to the increasing number of crimes in the modern society and a change in judicial outlook on the concept of implementing (and executing) death penalty. The fact is that awarding of capital punishment does not seem to have an effect on criminal activities in a particular society. For example, studies on crime over the past century in New York does not provide any real evidence that death sentence providesany real deterrence to crime when compared to life imprisonment (Owens, Carlson, Elshtain, 2004, p. 241). Thus, it can be concluded that capital punishment and subsequent execution is not a deterrent and a solution for criminal activities in the United States. Whatever may be the reasons that the perpetuators of crimes act in a particular fashion harmful to the society, it is felt that they should be given a chance to change their outlook and attitudes. This is not possible in the case of capital punishments and executions. But a life imprisonment may provide them with a chance to transform through effective counselling and support and above all the government can save a large sum of capital invested in death penalties which can be utilized in other sectors. 3 Conclusions Having critically analysed the various pros and cons of the capital punishment system in the United States one can come to the conclusion that death penalty should be abolished in the nation. First of all, the large sum of money spent on capital punishments not only adversely affects the budget systems of the local, State and Federal governments but it also does not have any positive impact on reducing the crime rates in such states that have not yet abolished the system. Similarly, studies have clearly demonstrated that the capital punishment system does not help to deter further similar crimes in the United States. The study also has shown that life imprisonment without any possibility for parole could be an ideal alternative to death penalties as it is comparatively less costly and provides an opportunity for innocent victims to prove their innocence. Life time imprisonment is also desirable as the dreaded criminals will never be allowed to indulge in similar dreaded crimes as the y will not be offered any sorts of parole and it can also have a deterring effect on the society. The moral and ethical considerations also favour life imprisonment without parole as the method of punishment value both human life, human rights and ethical codes. Similarly, life time imprisonment without parole also helps the judicial system to make sure that no innocents are being executed. The innocent victims get opportunity to prove their innocence even though justice can be delayed to them. Death penalty, in its implementation level is subject to a number of drawbacks and therefore it is recommended that the nation abolish the system and substitute it with its closest possible alternative-life imprisonment without any possibility for parole. It can also be seen that life imprisonment is capable of providing sufficient retribution for ones crimes and that it has also got the potential to deter further crimes. It is high time that the United States makes meaningful constitutional amendments so as to implement the abolition of capital punishments. For this, the abolitionists need to go a long way towards creating awareness among the public, the jury and the political leaders. They also need to build public opinion in favour of the abolition of death penalty in the nation and the present trends in the nation show positive signs towards such a land mark in the judicial and constitutional history of the United States. Thus, it can be concluded that that capital punishment should be abolished in the United States as it does not deter other criminals, as there is the increased risk of innocents being executed and as the cost of execution is higher than that of life imprisonment.