Politics in Education

Politics in Education Can education exist without politics? The answer is simply put no. While many would love to see the political scene leave education, it is inherent that the two remain together. The key is how they work together in the best interest of the students. Public schools are responsible for two precious entities- children and tax dollars (Farmer, 2012). This is one of the reasons that â€Å"today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments† (Brown v. Board of education, 1954).While we are progressively seeing federal mandates in education more now than ever, it is mainly the state and local levels where politics are inseparable (Farmer, 2012). Since education is highly imperative to the future of our country, it is and will always be subject to political scrutiny. From the beginning, a well educated American was deemed necessary to protect independence and the general welfare of the citizens (League of Women Voters, 2011). It has been stated this type of citizen will â€Å"rule themselves through elected officials† (Brademas).Education, especially higher education, at one point was considered a luxury; however, in today’s world a â€Å"high-quality† education often including the collegiate level is believed to be both a â€Å"universal right and a necessity for individual welfare† (Farmer, 2012). For this reason education will remain important topic of political debates between politicians as well as local townspeople. Politics in education goes dates as far back as the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.Federal support was given at this time and later in 1841 with the Land Grand Act in the form of land designated for a system of public education to be established. During this time the federal government began to grant money. This money was often used to clean up from war expenses; however, some funds were used for education even though congress did no t stipulate that such funds could be used for education (League of Women Voters, Oct. 2011). It is well aware this funding continues today although the state and local government share the majority of the responsibility.In 1791, the 10th Amendment guaranteed rights to all citizens by stating â€Å"the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. † This amendment entrusted authority over education to the states by having state constitutions assign specific responsibility and legal authority for public education (Usdan, M. , McCloud, B. , Podmostko, M. , and Cuban, L. , 2001). Today, state and local revenue fund approximately 87% of the money for elementary and secondary education.It is estimated that only 10% comes from federal funding (The Federal Role in Education). In 1867, the original Department of Education was established to collect data on schools and teachi ng in order to help create an effective school system (League of Women Voters, 2011). One major turning point for federal education was the GI bill of 1944. The government allotted for nearly eight million World War II veterans to have education assistance to attend college. Until this point, the federal government basically only did research and created policies for an effective system.Financing of education was not highly supported through the department. Then in 1958, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in response to Russia’s Sputnik. This created money available to students willing to study in science, mathematics, and foreign languages (Dow, 1991). In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was created which included Title 1 funding to the disadvantaged. In 1983, A Nation at Risk was released calling for a refocus on an education reform in order to compete with other countries as it appeared that America was falling behind (Farmer, 2012).E ven though the Department of Education has grown drastically, their mission still remains â€Å"to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering education excellence and ensuring equal access† (Department of Education, 2012). Today, every educator is familiar with most of the current federal mandates including- No Child Left Behind (reauthorization of ESEA), Race to the Top, and common core standards. While most of the funding, administrating, and accountability falls on the state and local governments, these are all federal policies which are often the main topics in a political education debate.One must ask why the federal government has most of the control over our educational system if it is primarily funded by state and local governments. Is it possible that different areas with different demographics might need a different policy than that mandate from federal level. Being successful is teaching the students in the best possible env ironment and demonstrating success through achievement. What works in one small town may not work in the next small or large town. Why, then, does the federal government upport equality by mandating yet not funding criteria. One thing does remain true- all of these do have a common census-equality in education for each student. The debate question that rises: â€Å"is equality for everyone possible? † Under President George W. Bush, No Child Left Behind was designed to â€Å"close achievement gaps, particularly for minority children† (League of Women, 2011). It was set that by year 2014, 95% of students would be meeting state standards in reading and math.Many educators, politicians, and citizens argued that this was an unrealistic goal which would in return be punishing or threatening the low-performing schools. Under this law, parents could be given a voucher to send their child to a different higher performing school. Although every educator had to obtain â€Å"hig hly qualified† status, teachers working at the schools deemed needing improvement often had negative feelings toward their job and thus the students suffered (League of Women Voters, 2011). Race to the Top was signed into law by the current President Barack Obama in 2009.This federal mandate came with promises of funding, and as everyone knows â€Å"money speaks volumes. † This approach would award funds to states who would meet the necessary requirements. Two of these requirements are (1) improve evaluations of teachers thus improving effectiveness based on students achievement (2) raising the limit of charter schools (League of Women Voters, 2011). Race to the Top has several supporters because it comes with necessary funding to move our current classrooms into the 21st century; however, it also comes with unrealistic research.Several argue that standardized testing is not a fair way to evaluate teacher performance. The most current federal request is the use of commo n vs. state standards The idea here is that not only will each child receive an equal education within their state, but they now will receive the same equal education within their country and hopefully one day within the nation. The use of common core standards allows children to master through higher order thinking within broad life skills instead of basic memorization of state specific standards.It opens up a new way of thinking for children and teachers. It also does create a more equal playing field as far as what children learn within their elementary and secondary education career. Most political debates in education often revolve around these federal policies, but even more often than that the main debate is: funding. Who is going to pay for education? The answer brings up the other highly political debate- us, the taxpayers. It is true that all three levels of government- federal, state, and local- contribute to education.States typically provide a little less than half, loc al governments about 44%, and the federal government only funds 10% . The interesting fact is that within the federal government’s10% it includes Title 1, NCLB, RttT, Special Education, child nutrition, and Head Start (Federal Education Budget, 2012). Also, overall the U. S. Department of Education accounts for less than 3% of the total federal budget (Federal Education Budget, 2012). As a nation, we must ask ourselves is the value of education really worth only 3% of the entire federal budget? Excellence is given symbolic prominence, but not sustained financial support† (Usdan, et al, 2001). The political debate is that most politicians will not support efforts to increase funding for education because it will raise taxes- something very few citizens support. However, if the federal government gives only 10%, the state of Tennessee is left with majority of the responsibility to fund education in order for it to succeed. States rely mainly on income and sales tax to fun d elementary and secondary education. It is the legislature who determines the level and distribution of the funding.Tennessee uses the Basic Education Program (BEP) in order to determine the cost specifications for each component in our system. In Tennessee, the share is roughly 70% which is average when compared with our country (Tennessee Basic Education Program, 2011). In some states it is as high as 86% and as low as 31%. The variation exists because some states rely heavily on local property taxes instead of state funding (Federal Education Budget, 2012). The last and probably one of the most political entities is that of the local school board. The funding for local schools is usually provided by property taxes.Thus the wealthier areas have the ability to collect more taxes which allows for them to keep tax rates lower. Unfortunately, the poorer communities may have higher tax rates but still not reach the needed funding for the local school district. Therefore often times ch ildren with the highest needs are often sent to the schools with less resources and less qualified teachers. This is why education can never be created equal for every child. Another political argument is that in present times education leadership in America is not withheld to high enough standards.Instead some argue that we have fifty â€Å"education governors† (Usdan, et al, 2001) or some even go as far as to say, â€Å"Governors and presidents are no better suited to run schools than they are to run construction sites† (Thomas, 2012). Truthfully, yes many governors could be doing a better job in education, but most are willing to fight for it. Most support the importance as honestly we must all agree that â€Å"what, after all, could be more important than a proper education for the state’s most precious asset, its children? † (Usdan, et al, 2001). This argument holds very true at the local level.It is correct to say that from the ladder of the preside nt to the governor to the superintendents of education to school board chairs and members: often some of these educational leaders have little to no background or expertise in education. From the federal to the state level, most appointed leaders in education branches bring the required knowledge. However, the local school board is composed of a diverse group of members with different backgrounds and knowledge. While they all bring unique characteristics and a broad base of knowledge, it is often the case that they do not bring an educational background.Education needs a reform in which it is driven by educators who have lived within the field. These are the people who need to be in charge of forming and implementing our country’s educational policy. Educational leadership is important at all levels including the local school board. For over 200 years, politics has played a part in our educational system. From the federal government all the way down to the local politics talk ed about in gas stations or at a high school football game. Politics and education will always be entwined together. Both are vital for the future of our nation as our future is in our children.As the vision for Tennessee states, â€Å"it is to prepare all Tennessee children for successful post-secondary work, education, and citizenship. † The state’s master plan is to â€Å"ensure equal access to the education constitutionally guaranteed to all Tennessee children† (Master Plan). Without politics, schools will not exist. Without schools, knowledge to become a successful, active citizen will not exist. Thus both politics and education will always hold a vital role. Resources: Brown v. Board of Education. (1954) Civil Rights Organization. Retrieved October 2012, from http://www. civilrights. rg/education/brown/ Department of Education. (2012) Mission Statement Retrieved October 2012 from http://www2. ed. gov/about/overview/mission/mission. html Dow, P. B. (1991). Schoolhouse politics: Lessons from the Sputnik era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Farmer, T. (2012, January 12). Politics of Local Education. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx. org/content/m14432/1. 10/ Federal Education Budget Project. (September 13, 2012). Retrieved October 2012 from http://febp. newamerica. net/background-analysis/school-finance Federal Role in Education. (2012). U. S. Department of Education.Retrieved October 2012 from http://www2. ed. gov/about/overview/fed/role. html League of Women Voters of the United States. (October 2011). The Role of the Federal Government in Public Education Part Two. Washington D. C: Author. League of Women Voters of the United States. (2011). The History of Federal Government in Public Education: Where have we been and how did we get here? Washington D. C: Author. Master Plan (2008). Master Plan FY 2008-2012. State Board of Education. Retrieved October 2012, from http://www. state. tn. us/sbe/masterplan. htm Tennessee Basic Education Program. (October 2011).State Board of Education. Retrieved October 2012 from http://www. state. tn. us/sbe/BEP%20Booklet%20FY12. pdf Thomas, P. L. , (2012). Politics and Education Don’t Mix. The Atlantic. Retrieved October 2012 from http://www. theatlantic. com/national/print/2012/04/politics-and-education-dont-mix/256303/ Usdan, M. , McCloud, B. , Podmostko, M. , and Cuban, L. (2001). Leadership for Student Learning. School Leadership for the 21st Century Initiative A Report of the Task Force on State Leadership. Washington, D. C. Retrieved October 2012 from http://www. iel. org/programs/21st/reports/staterole. pdf

Culture Within Organizations: Southwest Airlines

A culture is a set of values that are adopted by people who co-habit any place. It consists of shared traits and lifestyles. Within an organization, culture refers to values and norms that are prevalent throughout the workplace and amongst the employees. This includes their mannerisms, attitudes, and work ethic. Culture within an organization exerts control over the behavior of people. Growth and success of a company depends largely on the type of culture which is prevalent within an organization. Many different types of culture exist in businesses today.Certain cultures encourage employees to work and grow together as a family—thereby creating unity. Others may place emphasis on higher ranking employees, which leaves those at the bottom of the hierarchy bitter or resentful, creating a workplace which may not be friendly or comfortable. Some companies may opt to stick to what they know, thereby stifling creativity and growth by eliminating experimentation. On the other hand, a company may be overly innovative and always looking for new ideas and taking new risks.Although this sounds good in theory, it may lead to an unstable work environment. Culture can either make or break an organization. Culture is not a tangible object. It is the result of management’s beliefs and values and employees’ implementation of those beliefs and values. It exists within all organizations and can be determined, for example, by looking at the dress code within the workplace. It can also be seen by observing employee interaction and behavior. One can also get an idea of an organization’s culture by taking note of its dealings with those outside of the company (i. . customer service). Culture makes up the personality of an organization. It is crucial that a positive organizational culture is created, taught and adhered to. It can be used to improve the efficiency and work ethic of employees in an organization. It also has a powerful influence over the behav ior of individuals and drives performance of the workforce. A strong personality adds character to an individual. Likewise, organizational culture gives a business its own special identity. It creates unity among employees and embeds in them the spirit of teamwork.An example of an organization which has a strong culture that has helped it thrive in the aviation industry is Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines (SWA) was founded by Rollin King, M. Lamar Muse and Herb Kelleher in 1966. They began servicing Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in 1971, after winning a legal battle fought in the U. S. Supreme Court. The airline started off by offering six daily roundtrip flights between Dallas and San Antonio, and 12 daily roundtrip flights between Dallas and Houston.They began with one simple notion: â€Å"If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly y our airline† (www. southwest. com). This notion has led to a very unique culture at SWA—one that puts customer service at its center. This can be seen through their mission statement, as per their website: â€Å"dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit†.Their exemplary form of customer service comes as a direct result of how employees at SWA are treated. â€Å"We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer† (Freiberg and Freiberg).SWA management has created a culture where employees are treated as the companyâ €™s number one asset. There is limited emphasis on formal organizational structure and the work environment combines humor with responsibility. Their happy workforce creates maximum productivity—willingly. Trust and respect between the workers and management is an integral part of the company’s success. SWA has exemplified that culture starts from within. Passion shown on the inside will reflect outwards and customers will see it. SWA has been able to do this consistently.Customers see the passion exerted by SWA employees and it makes them want to travel with them. The uplifting, spirited personalities of employees keep customers coming back for more. This can be seen in the fact that SWA has consecutively recorded profits for the last 40 years (www. southwest. com). The positive attitudes exerted by SWA employees are contagious and trickle down to its customers. As reported on the company website, â€Å"Southwest Airlines has consistently received the lowest rati o of complaints per passengers boarded of all Major U. S. arriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation since September 1987. † The spirit that exists throughout SWA empowers its employees to believe in themselves, the service they are providing, the business as a whole, and the customers that they serve. The unique culture keeps employee morale high. All employees, including flight attendants, customer service reps, and baggage handlers, are encouraged to take whatever action they deem necessary to meet customer needs or help fellow workers (Milliman). This has led to both employee and customer loyalty.Employees feel needed which results in a devotion to the company. In turn, customers experience exceptional service where they truly are put first, creating a sense of belonging. Much of SWA’s success is due to the willingness of its leadership to be innovative. Founder Herb Kelleher studied California-based Pacific Southwest Airlines ex tensively and used many of the airline’s ideas to form the corporate culture at Southwest. Early on, they adopted the â€Å"Long Legs and Short Nights† theme for stewardesses on board typical Southwest Airlines flights.They selected beautiful flight attendants with unique personalities and dressed them in hot pants and go-go boots to ensure a fun and one-of-a-kind traveler’s experience (http://avstop. com). Operating out of Love Field, â€Å"love† became their promotional theme. Flight attendants would serve â€Å"love potions† and â€Å"love bites† (otherwise known as drinks and peanuts) to the company's clientele of mostly male business fliers (Pederson). Many decisions made by Kelleher have produced positive outcomes for SWA. For example, since its inception, SWA chose to buy its commercial airplanes from one manufacturer.This decision has allowed them to decrease operational expenses, as well as reduce maintenance and repair costs for th eir large fleet. By choosing a single supplier, the need for customer support, maintenance, monitoring, training, etc. has been reduced, thereby reducing costs for the company. They have also trimmed the time it takes to perform ground duties, once their airplanes land. This has led to a quicker turnaround time for the next flight to take off, thereby leading to profits for the company.Another move by SWA which keeps competitors at bay is their reservation system. Reservations are taken only through the internet, thereby reducing costs of using ticket counter employees. This method saves both the customer and the airline time and money. Kelleher’s paradigm for success starts with the core of the company—its employees. Hiring motivated people and allowing them to incorporate their creativity in day-to-day activities is key. By giving employees decision making abilities, they are made to feel important.A sense of pride takes root within each employee, which positively im pacts the customers that they deal with. This is reflected in their work output and creates greater efficiency, which leads to profitability for the company. Additionally, happier employees are able to provide better customer service, in turn making the experience an all around positive one. As Amy Marhoffer, Culture Communications and Planning specialist at SWA puts it, â€Å"Happy Employees=Happy Customers=Increased Business/Profits=Happy Shareholders. Although compensation is often viewed as the number one motivator, Kelleher understands the importance that employee morale plays. A little bit of fun can translate into a lot of productivity. Bailey explains how positive morale can produce more efficiency: â€Å"SWA, after pay cuts at other airlines, has the industry’s highest wages. But because of efficient work habits, measured in how much it spends to fly a passenger a given distance, its costs are the lowest among big airlines† (Bailey).It is important to note th at the success of SWA is due not only to the culture but also its ability to adapt to the industry’s needs. The airline industry in particular, is one that is heavily dependent on customer service; the happier customers are, the more positive their experience will be. Unfortunately, there is plenty of untapped productivity among corporations stuck in the old ways of oppression and tyranny. Kelleher’s approach shows that he understands people; he allows them to be themselves, which creates a positive work environment and a desire to be the best.He has successfully created a culture that has the properties of fun, entertainment and genuine care at its core. When Southwest started in 1971 they were just a small regional carrier flying from Houston to Dallas. Over the course of the last 40+ years, they have successfully expanded into a major airline carrier. SWA is now America's largest low-fare carrier, serving more customers domestically than any other airline. They are comprised of nearly 46,000 employees and serve more than 100 million customers each year.SWA operates more than 3,000 flights a day, with its subsidiary AirTran operating an additional 520 flights a day (www. southwest. com). They would not be where they are today without the innovative thinking of its leaders and the strong culture they created. Although corporate culture is not a tangible object, the results of a successful culture will produce tangible success. SWA has positioned itself for competitive advantage by creating a work environment which permits people to be their best selves and consistently outperform their competitors.It has been able to create and sustain a strong, positive culture which attracts not only the best talent, but a loyal customer base as well. The tremendous growth and profit of SWA brings to light how corporate culture, employee morale and customer service can play an integral part in the overall success of a corporation. These intangible elements are what make SWA an excellent example of a successful corporate culture. Works Cited AvStop Aviation News and Resource Online Magazine. â€Å"History of Southwest Airlines† http://avstop. om/history/historyofairlines/southwest. html) Bailey, Jeff (2008) â€Å"Southwest. Way Southwest† The New York Times Freiberg, K. & Freiberg, J. (1996) Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. New York: Broadway Marhoffer, Amy. (2011) â€Å"Southwest Airlines â€Å"Gets It† With Our Culture† http://www. blogsouthwest. com/blog/southwest-airlines-â€Å"gets-it†-our-culture Pederson, Jay P. (2005) International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 71. St. James Press Southwest Airlines Co. (2013) †Southwest Airlines† http://www. southwest. com/

Approaches And Methods Of Training Management Essay

Approaches And Methods Of Training Management Essay Training is a systematic process to develop knowledge, skill and attitude from learning experience to achieve maximum performance in an activity (Buckley and Caple 2007). Learning and education both are different but important for organisations. Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes by experience, reflection, study and instruction. While education is a series of activities which enables to develop knowledge, skills, values and understanding that allow a broad range of problem solving and analysis (Buckley and Caple, 2007). Training plays an effective role in different kinds of learning and development. The rapid change in global environment pressurized all organisations to enhance their focus on customers. That time of producing, conceiving and marketing products dropped as organisations adopted new ways to compete in the market (Capelli et al, 1997 cited in Rod and Collin, 2000). The successful organisations should have highly skilled and committed em ployees who can survive in this era of competition. Workers learn to enhance their performance and want to be more competent in their roles. Work place learning is very important after education to develop a long career (Legge, 2005). Organisations can get competitive advantage upon rivals through hiring skilled staff and through better training programs. According to Brookes (1995) organisations have to support training department and the least step is to appoint a dedicated staff in personnel for this task. It is important to make a training policy for the company and allocate specific budget for training. This all points to the fact that training and development is a prime business activity which has serious objectives and requires serious management (Nilson, 2003). There are a number of benefits for individuals as a consequence of training procedures; relative to the present positions, individuals may see job satisfaction increase as a result of undergoing training (Clements and Jones, 2002). Intrinsic satisfaction may result from being able to perform a task to a higher standard, where as extrinsic satisfaction may come as a result of increased job skills, which may lead to greater earnings, career prospects and promotion possibilities (Buckley and Caple, 2007). An obvious benefit to individuals is the change from their regular work pattern, which can have recreational benefits as well, for example, less boredom and greater variety during work (Buckley and Caple, 2007). Some of the benefits of training, from an organisation’s perspective included higher employee performance, productivity and possibly acting as a source of competitive advantage. There a number of other potential benefits to organisations of successful training procedures; decrease in wastage and increased productivity; lower labour turnover, saving costs (Rae, 2000); higher customer satisfaction, possibly leading to greater sales; shorter learning cycles for employees, reducing expe nditure (Washington, 1995); lower absenteeism and fewer accidents (Buckley and Caple, 2007). The innovations in technology brought speedy change in business environment. Training plays a critical role for individuals at work to manage careers development and organisational change. Training and learning is a pivotal business function that maximise profit and the company’s long term health (Nilson, 2003, P.2). The implementation of training plan depends on a lot of factors including the proper identification of training need and individual’s recognition for training need (Reid et al, 2004). Proper learning and best utilization of resources equally effect on effective outcomes (Bramley, 1986).

Research Topics with Explanation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Topics with Explanation - Essay Example The provision of the maintenance of the group health benefit of the employee, at the time he or she is on leave, is an added advantage in the provisions of the law. A change in the FMLA, therefore, shall serve justice to employees who, given these reasons, need to take leave from their work. The law provides 12 weeks unpaid leave of assured protection of the employee’s job within any given twelve months time (United States Department of Labor, 2010). I chose the topic because among the provisions in the law are issues that relate to health. Health is an invaluable need for every employee should have a job-protected leave to attend to health matters. Given the inevitability of the reasons for the leave, it should be a paid leave. The target audience is the labor department that needs to make considerations of changing the law into paid leave (Perritt, 2004). Standardization of regulations regarding the use of cells phones while driving is an inevitable need for ensuring safety in the transport sector. Drivers of commercial motor vehicles should be subject to restrictions in the use of mobile phones while driving. They should abide bythe provisions by the FMCSA. Failure to comply as per the provisions of the law should attract a new disqualification sanction the drive or the commercial driver’s license upon multiple convictions for violation. Imposing restrictions on drivers of motor vehicle carrier relating to their use of mobile phones while conducting operations in the interstate commerce would further strengthen such regulations (FMCSA, 2010). Safety in the highways would gain improvement with standardization of regulations regarding cell phone use while driving. Driver-related crashes on the highways would reduce significantly. Cases of injuries that involve these drivers would be low (Wyllie, 2007). I chose this topic becaus e of the increasing concern over several lives lost in accidents involving drivers of commercial motor vehicles. The target

CRJ 422 Week 1 discussions 1 and 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CRJ 422 Week 1 discussions 1 and 2 - Essay Example Analysis of the traditional cultural versus the interpersonal interest conflict from the angle of social justice, it is important to understand the implication of same-sex marriage to the society that is opposed to the arrangement. Equally, it would be significant to understand the implication of prohibiting same-sex marriage as it will lead to infringing the rights of the minority in the society. In the approach of social justice, Therefore, the main question in the application of the law is whether it is just to protect the minority in the community or to safeguard the rights of the majority in the community. The constitution of the United States through the chapter on the bill of rights stipulates the rights freedoms and privileges that are enjoyed by the American citizens. Nevertheless, in as much as the citizens have their rights stipulated in the Constitution, which is the principle law of the country, the rights at some point, could be seen to interfere with the free operations of the criminal justice system. The fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth amendments of the constitutions are particularly of concern to the criminal justice. Individuals are protected from unreasonable search and seizure of property unless with warrant for a probable cause according to the fourth amendment. This amendment may hinder the operation of criminal justice. An example when the police suspect that evidence of robbery are hidden in a particular location and could be relocated any time, it would take the police time to process the warrant which might be ready after the relocation. In the Fifth Amendment, individuals are protected from self-incriminating and double jeopardy. This amendment prevents the criminal justice from benefiting from the evidence that a criminal may be willing to present (Deborah, 2013). The sixth amendment requires individual proceeds in a court to

Breast Cancer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breast Cancer - Assignment Example Overall, women’s risk of getting breast cancer is said to increase by 35-50% (GÃ ¸tzsche and Nielsen, 2011). Another risk factor has to do with lack of activity. In this, there continues to be variable rates of increase in risk. The main issue however remains that activeness is very necessary for all women to ensure that they are kept safe from the risk factor of inactiveness. The third major lifestyle related risk factor has been found to be the use of oral contraceptive, where premenopausal breast cancer is said to be the most likely in this situation (Wallace, 2012). This means that the onset of breast cancer with the use of oral contraceptive is very high as compared to the rate of onset for other risk factors (GÃ ¸tzsche and Nielsen, 2011). The last risk factor under lifestyle is diet, where high fat and high alcohol intake have been noted to be major risks. In terms of genetic risk factors, Nelson, Smith, Griffin and Fu (2013) mentioned that there are genetic susceptibility that play minor part in some cases of breast cancer. The causes of breast cancer as associated with genetics have however been quoted to be less than 10% in most of the case. The average range has often been given as 5% to 10% with variations occurring, depending on the number of relatives with the situation. GÃ ¸tzsche and Nielsen (2011) actually stressed that the probable rate of cause for people with 0, 1 and 2 relatives with the disease is 7.8%, 13.3%, and 21.1% respectively. There are actually women who have been found to develop hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome as a result of genetics but the rate given in this instance has been found to be only 5%. On medical conditions as risk factor, Nelson, Smith, Griffin and Fu (2013) mentioned that there are some diseases that increase the risk of women of getting breast cancer. Typical example of this has been mentioned to be diabetes mellitus. What is more, fibrocystic breast has been found to be common among those with benign

Landscape Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Landscape - Essay Example This island also inhabits grasslands and mountainous areas as well as plateaus, which spread throughout the country. Its fame also comes from the Blue-Mountains appearing from the southeastern end of the country. The blue haze name emanates from oil droplets trickling from the eucalyptus trees. The many beautiful beaches cap the geographical uniqueness of this island. In Australia, indeed, there are many things to be curious about; it is truly a unique country as this largely feature as the monuments and vernacular landscape traits of the country. Origin of the landscape In the 18th century, Captain Cook discovered the island of Australia 1770. This is where the originality of this country lies even though there might be other chances that another voyage ship might have graced the country. This emanates from the possibility that a Portuguese first sighted the country. The Dutch are also known to have explored the coastal region of the country by the 1640s. It therefore earns the acco lades as the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth. It had the relatively stable geological history. Its formation involves forces such as tectonic uplift of the mountains ranges or clashes between tectonic plates in early landscape history. This occurred still when Australia was part of Gondwana. T he highest peak of Australia, which resulted due to the tectonic forces, was about 7,310 ft, which is comparatively low in assessment to the premier mountains in other continents (Duncan, Nuala, and Richard 92). The current shape of the continent has its shape because of the erosion, which has heavily weathered Australia’s surface area. The country now sits in the middle of the tectonic plate hence no active volcanism. As a result, the first European settlement in the country was in January 1788. It is this time, after the discovery of the Island. The first fleet sailed into Botany Bay under the command of Command Arthur Philip, establishing Australia first as a penal colony by the 1640s. Ethnic makeup of its people Australia’s original inhabitants, the Aborigines, settled there between the ages of 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. These inhabitants arrived via the land bridge and short sea crossing from South East Asia. At these ages, the sea water levels were relatively low as compared to the soaring heights in today’s Australia. The original inhabitants were soon out-numbered by the settlers (Duncan, Nuala, and Richard 88). The story of migration, like any other country in the era of colonization, brought another sect of its population. Nevertheless, the Australian history of its ethnic population does not stop there. Immigrants keep arriving in this country. This continuous flow of immigrants makes its history steeped with the settlers. Their arrival has had an effect on the land and its people. The Role of religion in forming places In the 21st century, religion in Australia purely comes as Christianity. 61.14 % of the Aust ralian population predisposes itself to Christianity as per the census of 2011. In respect to history, the current percentage is far much higher and the religious landscape is diversifying. This comes along with the multicultural immigration as 22.3% of people with no population. With 8.55% of the population not able to incline to a certain religion, the remaining population consists of a diverse group of Buddhist at 2.46%, Islamic at 2.21%, Hindu at 1.28%, Jewish at 0.45% and Sikh at 0.3% of the entire

Labor and delivery Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Labor and delivery - Research Paper Example Management of labor and delivery is section in the medical sector that has been allocated with the initiative of dealing with birth and birth complication cases. In this case, proper management strategies need to be initiated in this section in order to offer standard services to patients as well as reduce cases of childbirth mortality (Berghella et. Al, 2008). Methodology A questionnaire was designed and distributed to patients in random hospitals across in various cities of United States of America. The aim of the questionnaires was to investigate the efficiency in service delivery across the state in regards to labor and delivery. It also focused on the cost of labor and delivery in the Texas state. Findings United States of America registers a range of 4 to 4.6 million childbirths annually. There is poor self-diagnosis of active labor (Berghella et. Al, 2008). Few people visit the labor and delivery centers. There were cases of home-delivery. Most hospital had modern labor and de livery machinery. Many hospitals had a good number of nurses, obstetricians as well as gynaecologists and thus operated 24hours a day except a few situated in the remote regions of Texas. Implications In order to achieve standard medical services in the labor and delivery section, labor and delivery management departments opt to facilitate adequate and advanced trainings to obstetricians and gynaecologists. This is to improve their medical skills and enable them to handle advanced cases in the labor and delivery medical section. There is need to equip the hospital or medical center with advanced equipments. The advancement in technology has led to the invention of several medical machineries that are essential in monitoring pregnancy as well as during the delivery period. Obstetricians working in the rural areas of developing countries encounter a lot of difficulties in dealing with advanced levels of the child delivery process such as performing cesarean operations due to lack of r equired machinery and other medical equipments. 2. Labor and delivery nurses

Is the U.S. seeking to contain China Research Paper

Is the U.S. seeking to contain China - Research Paper Example It remains far behind on innovations and development of new technology for advanced weaponry but even then it succeeds in catching up fast with advancements. US maintain first rank as per military spending with 740 billion dollars as compared to China’s 106 billion dollars (â€Å"China Military Budget Tops $100bn† 2). This difference ensures US lead in innovation and advanced strategic weapons which in turn protects the national interest and maintains influence. China has a long way to go to take a lead in military hardware; it is even taking technology for its aerospace industry from Russia. But, with its growing capacity to catch up makes it a contender for a rising new military power. Military capability has conventionally been an indicator of a country’s influence in a region. Chinese military requirements have mainly been offshore defense and its military keeps up with this requirement easily, however, the development projects of fifth generation stealth fig hters and an aircraft carrier demonstrate its ambition for advanced weaponry and perhaps world influence. Containment strategy typically involves surrounding a target country with allies and placing strategic assets to keep physical presence directly or indirectly. If we analyze a decade of policies by the US we do find a pattern indicating containment strategies aimed at China. According to the Washington Post, â€Å"Chinas rise is a significant factor in the Obama administrations moves to strengthen ties with traditional allies, such as  South Korea and  Japan, as well as with Malaysia and Laos and even with Vietnam, a former foe† (Pomfret 1). Similarly, Bush administration started improving ties with India which even involved nuclear cooperation projects. India has long been an adversary to China with military inclination towards Russia. The pacts with these countries indicate a policy to contain China with a group of allies. The pattern is similar to formation of NATO in order to contain

Value gap in the hospitality industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Value gap in the hospitality industry - Essay Example The literature review section (above) gives a detailed summary of the information that was obtained in the course of the secondary research. From this research two primary objectives for the study could be identified. These are: To evaluate the discrepancy gap between the customers’ expectations and perception of their overall experience with the offered service To identify the factors that enhance customer satisfaction in the hotel industry In order to investigate these objectives both qualitative and quantitative research were used. It was not practical to examine the hotel industry as a whole, an as a consequence four London based hotels were used in order to examine these factors. 3.2 Research Philosophy Yin (2003) considers two different methods that can be used while conducting research, either qualitative or quantitative. These methods refer to the way the researcher treats and analyses the collected data as well as the data itself. The qualitative research approach is less formal and based on unsystematic and unstructured observations. There is little to no numerical component of the research, and consequently it consists mostly of observations and can be difficult to analyse. According to Corbin and Strauss (2007) qualitative verbal analysis is often used in order to gain proper understanding of the phenomenon. The use of this method is to value and study the entire situation. Quantitative research has a foundation of numerical data, which then are calculated and accessible in figures with statistics; therefore, the quantitative research is more standardized (Corbin & Strauss 2007). A positive side of the quantitative approach is that it is rather easy to generalize from the gathered resources. This study took an interpretive paradigm that stresses differences in individuals’ perceptions of social reality that vary across time and place. Interpretive approach thus requires the researcher to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the phe nomenon before drawing any inferences (Klein & Myers 1999). However, since interpretive approach is predominately qualitative, elements of positivism, notably quantitative and statistical techniques were incorporated into the analysis to enhance the generalisability of results. A combined approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods enabled the researcher to understand why customer experience and customer satisfaction are different, and to identify the specific factors that make the two different. To accomplish this both interviews and the survey questionnaire were used in this study. 3.3 Population The primary mandate of the researcher was to choose a sample whose collected data could be generalised for the entire population of managers, employees and customers from the hotel industry in London. The management including CEOs, supervisors, department heads, managers, and team leaders were among the population targeted to be included in this study. This population was releva nt for this study because it has the knowledge and experience of the perceived differences between customer experience and customer satisfaction. Therefore, their views and perceptions were ideal for this study particularly in answering the research questions. For this study, staff members from four hotels were used as the study population. The specific hotels were

Historic tenets of urban planning Essay Example for Free

Historic tenets of urban planning Essay The Third World Cities have seen extra- ordinary growth in their urban expansion since 1950. The world 10 most populous cities are located in the third world countries. The urbanization has changed the way of life for the people living there. On one side these megacities have become economic giant for their countries, on other they have also created problems such as disease, congested traffic, pollution and sacristy of resources with a huge gap among haves and have not. As these cities are unplanned and this urbanization is a sudden experience, it is natural for the Third world countries to be surrounded by these surmounting troubles, unless they choose the way out. Historic tenets of urban planning The evidence of urban planning can be found the ancient cultures such as Roman and Greek cities and in ancient cities in India and Egypt as well. The Indus civilization in Pakistan is recognized as the first civilization to have a completely developed urban planning. In 2600 BC, before the arrival of Harapa and Mojodharo, the small towns grew into bigger towns and eventually became cities with thousands of people living in. These people did not have agricultural society as their cities depicts, showing a homogenous culture, however diapered suddenly from the course of history with their cities still intact. These cities are well planned and follow a consistent design, which clearly shows that they were built according to a conscious plan, and is considered the first developed urban plan. Similarly the Romans used to built their cities according to a proper city plan, with military and civil defense and many European cities still appear to follow that pattern. In their plan, the city has a central plaza or market, which is surrounded by streets and walls with short cuts to cut the time short for pedestrians and often the city, has river or stream in the center to provide water and carry sewage out of the city (Crouch, 2003) During the last two hundred years the Western world urban planning has gone through extensive changes in its planning and design. In the industrial age, the control of the city was held by the wealthy few, while the rest of the population lived in slums and sewage. In the 20th century a movement started to change this urban structure and to provide healthy environment to its people. Thus arose the concept of garden city, which were small in size but were basically model towns with few thousand people. In the early 1920s the concept of modern city emerges, such as Paris but they were destroyed during World Wars (Gaffikin, 1999). It was only after WWII that the new cities started to take shape place, however it was not until 1970s, that cheap block construction created an easy and efficient way of creating new buildings. The main objective of the concept of modern planning is to regulate the building activities and set the limits on building and neighborhoods. According to Hopkins (2001) the postmodern planning is composed of the following essential elements: Aesthetics Planning In postmodern urban plans, the most essential element is taking aesthetics more seriously, which meant to add beauty to homes and building. The important aspect of a city planning is zoning, maximizing and managing the use of land and pace of urban development. Safety The houses in modern urban plans are designed to incorporate well with existing municipal services. The cities extreme zones are planned in a way that such dangers can be defused and houses in such areas are equipped with emergency operation and secure evacuation centers. Transport Planning A good urban plan has well developed transport system which cater to the needs of it commuters. Good transport system avoids traffic congestions and effectively carries commuters into different parts of the city without hassle. And automobiles in a city are well suited it meets its requirement, such as spacious roads and parking lanes, which can handle traffic in rush hours. Effective Sub-urban Planning A successful urban plan brings benefit to larger city area by making the towns and urban environment spacious. Planning and the environment In advanced urban or village planning models, taking care of ecology is inevitable. The modern urban planning includes pastures and gardens to keep natural environment consistent with the city.

The Nightingale and Amy Clampitts poem Essay Example for Free

The Nightingale and Amy Clampitts poem Essay Sir Philip Sidney’s poem The Nightingale and Amy Clampitt’s poem Syrinx are two very different poems. The Nightingale is a poem based on the mournful song of a bird, as it expresses grief and pain: ‘And mournfully bewailing/ Her throat in tunes expresseth/ What grief her breast oppresseth.’ (lines 5-7) Whereas the Syrinx is a poem based on how the sound of words, have no real meaning and are simply just sounds. The Syrinx can also be defined as a water reed which prohibits birds from singing: ‘syrinx, that reed/ in the throat of a bird,’ (lines 7-8) The abrupt stop at the end of the line, is a technique used by Amy Clampitt, to make the reading of the line feel like choking on the words, like a reed in a birds throat would cause. Therefore there are many comparisons and contrasts between the two poems, thus in order to examine what these are I am going to look at the use of rhyme, imagery, diction, structure and metre in each of the poems to try to identify the similarities and differences between the two. The Nightingale is divided into two stanzas of equal length, whereas Syrinx is divided into two stanzas of equal length, then a final short verse paragraph. The effect of this is to highlight that The Nightingale is a very regular poem, where Syrinx is a very irregular poem. It is as if Amy Clampitt teases the reader by making the first two stanzas of equal length, then throws in another couple of lines at the end. This therefore highlights her desire to make the poem seem irregular. This difference in regularity can also be seen through the metre of the poems. The Nightingale is mainly iambic pentameter throughout, with hypermetrical stresses on each of the last words in each line. The effect of this is to make the poem flow better and lead on to the next line, whereas Syrinx is extremely irregular switching between iambic and trochaic regularly. This switch in metre throughout the poem acts as a technique to again frustrate the reader. The tone of each poem is greatly affected by the contrast in layout and metre. The Nightingale seems to flow much better, giving the effect that reading the poem, is like listening to a mournful song. Syrinx on the other hand is very difficult and frustrating to read. The Nightingale also seems a more personal poem as it is written in the first person, whereas in Syrinx Amy Clampitt seems to be addressing her listeners and just uses: ‘we’ (line 10) once. Therefore this gives The Nightingale a more deep and meaningful tone, where Syrinx has a very controversial tone. Also not only is the metre and layout of Syrinx irregular, But Amy Clampitt’s over use of enjambement only serves to slow the reading of the poem: ‘what ails it, the aeolian/ syrinx, that reed.’ (lines 6-7) This not only makes the poem appear fragmented but is used as a device to slow the tone of the poem so that the reader can value the sound of the words. In both of the poems the difference in regularity is further expressed through the use of rhyme. The Nightingale has a regular rhyme scheme of ABABCDDC this serves to make the poem flow better as if making it appear some what musical. There are also a lot of heroic couplets present; they appear emphatic on words which are the antithesis of each other, for example: ‘O Philomela fair, O take some gladness/ That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness.’ (lines 9-10) Therefore this helps to understand the meaning of the poem, as if the song of the Nightingale is sad searching for some gladness. Syrinx however, has no real rhyme present. This again serves to add to the irregularity of the poem. It could be argued that in fact there is some half rhyme used by Amy Clampitt, for example: ‘Like the foghorn that’s all lung/ the wind chime that’s all percussion.’ (lines 1-2) However, it is as if it needs to be forced out again frustrating the reader. It also depends on how you pronounce the words, this links to the meaning of the poem. Amy Clampitt through her use of all these irregularities and emphatic use of half rhyme appears to be trying to put across a message to the reader. That it is important how we pronounce words and sometimes how words sound can mean more than their actual meaning.

Analysis of Hollensen and the Primark store

Analysis of Hollensen and the Primark store According to Hollensen (2007) ,  « global marketing consists of finding and satisfying global customers needs better than the competition, and of coordinating marketing activities within the constraint of the global environment  ». In that essay , it comes to think about: In what way Primarks strategy could correspond to the needs of French customers. In other terms, is there an opportunity to Primark to setting up itself in France seeing the French environment. Irish clothing retailer founded in 1969 under the name of Penneys (still in Ireland) , Primark represented in 2008 3,9% of the global clothing retail value in United Kingdom. and counted 21827 employees. With a revenue which have reached 2,314m  £ in 2009, Primark count today 206 stores split among England as a majority with 144 stores ,Ireland Spain, Portugal, Germany , Netherland and more recently in Belgium. Retail part of the Associated British food group in which it represent in 2009, 25,5% of the entire revenue of the group, Primark enjoy the stability and the power that ABF group bring to the retailer. With a strategy of good quality for cheap price, Primark is after 40 years of experience recognised the second largest retailer in Uk with a growth in 2009-2010 higher than it competitors. With a gloomy economic climate which encourages people to look after the opportunity to buy cheaper, some leaders of the French fashion market as Zara, Kiabi and HM keep watching close this giant that is surrounding France and that nothing seems to stop. In today competitive market, satisfying the customers is seen as the only source of the firm profits. Precisely targeting our market seems to be the key success factor. In segmenting a market, factors such as geography ,demography, psychographic and behavioural would be relevant to analyse . Today, Primarks strategy is to propose an entire concept through all these stores.Allowing to realise economy of scale in the production and marketing, Primark is able to propose low prices. In the target market analysis, it is relevant to analyse if the target market of Primark in the UK would be suitable and have an opportunity of growth in France.(because changing the target market would bring to much costs for Primark). This essay will focus on the clothing part of Primark seeing the fact that Primarks core competencies is clothes retailing, that home market is a completely different market in France as well as baby clothes and required a particular analysis for each of them. Moreover, French clothing market could represent a growth opportunity as we will see below. In 2008, French population from 15 to 35 represented an important part with 38,7% of the total population. In terms of clothing expenditure, in 2009 men consumption in clothing for the 15-25 reached 3,9millliardsà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ nearly the same than women. However, in a general way, French men clothes expenditure is 15% less than women with an average of 360à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ for the year 2009. After gloomy 2009 year with a decrease of the consumption on clothing, 2010 represent the stop of the degradation of the clothing consumption with a tiny increase of O,2%With a young population in expansion, a target market still buying clothes and a general consumption of clothing which restart, there is an opportunity of growth for Primark in France. If we look at the Internationalisation motives of Hollensen (2007), one of the proactive reason which pushes a company to internationalize is the managerial urge that he defines by a reflection of general entrepreneurial motivation of a desire for continuous growth and market expansions. In the recent year, Primark showed the desire of conquest the western Europe by entering in new country such as recently Belgium. According to Bason John, financial director if AB foods, the performances of our new shops in the Iberian peninsula gives us the impulsion to continue our development in the European continent. Then, the first motive which could bring Primark in France could be the desire to become an European player of the fashion through it expansion all over Europe. One of the others proactive motives present by Hollensen is a foreign market opportunities and market information. Analytical tool such as PESTLE which allowed to get this information. Both part of the European union, UK and France benefit from the common European Union policy which facilitates exchange and trade. However, through state aid and by encouraging mergers between French firms to prevent takeovers by foreign firms, French government act against EU policy and still maintain a kind of protectionism. However, France benefits from a Political stability and the political side of France should not represent a threat for Primark. With an increasing unemployment rate and a decreasing consumption the last years, it seems that the crisis could represent an ally for Primark. While a study about the purchasing power shows that 49% that the under 35years old thinks that their purchasing power has strongly decreased the consumption habits of French goes forward the last opportunity to buy cheaper. As a study of clothing in France explain, the success of the sales periods shows that the sales drop mainly due to purchase power constraints but not as a fashion rejection. With its strategy  « sales price » all the year round, the change in French consumer habits could represent an opportunity . However, the consumer expenditure on clothing is a lot more higher in UK than in France with an expenditure for 2009 of 37805mnà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ decreasing in comparison with 2008 in France against 40472mn £ in UK ( à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  46542à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬) increasing in comparison with 2008 While expenditure in UK continue to growth when it decrease in France , it could make Primark think that the clothing consumption habits between UK and France are different and then could represent a threat to Primark implementation. Finally for the consumption, according to the clothing in France report 2009, by 2013, clothing sales are forecasted to reach 26,980à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬millions, a 2,1 % rise in constant value compared to 2008 which let hope for Primark a bright future. In spite of the fact that Primark is an Irish company, from a market research and data point of view it is more relevant to analyse the accessibility of the French market through the comparison with the English implementation which is more important than the Irish one (144 shops in England instead of 38 in Ireland However, from a financial side , it is more relevant to deal with the Irish headquarter company where the money is going because Ireland is in eurozone. Alhtough as a report of associated british food explain, in a uncertain economic environment, price and exchange rate volatilities could be the major threats to the groups profitability By dealing with Ireland, Primark escape that kind of risks. In France, fashion remains an important part of the culture. Then , according to a study , French people are still attached to the brand and the luxury in the fashion sector and would prefer after use the sales period ( 41%) , buy cheapest brand (33%) Then, even if that trend does not automatically represent Primark target market (under 35)which can not necessarily afford luxury brand, French culture in the fashion sector could represent a threat for Primark. France has to face to the ageing of it population. Until 2050, 1/3 of the population will be ageing more than 60 years old. While some of Primarks competitors such as Kiabi (which proposes a fashion for the whole family), could begin a  « senior marketing  » by proposing clothing for senior, Primark could not enjoy this opportunity risking to break its strategy and positioning and lost its target. In an article about the factors of primarks success, Susan Segal-Horn says The focus part of Primarks strategy is the specific customer segment it focuses With a clear positioning , Primark answers to a special target market needs. Its ageing of population represents an indirect threat for Primark because it does not concern its target but it could benefice to its competitors which could gain a competitive advantage. In spite of the fact that the technological aspect is not the most relevant in the implementation of Primark in France, it is important to notice that the evolution and increase of the new technology influence the consumers to purchase more technological product such as mobile phones, internet, or IT equipment to the detriment of others goods such as clothes. In Primarks case ,legal and environmental factors are linked. According to a study, fashion industry remain one of the most exploitive in the word, both to people and environment However, consumers are more and more aware of the environmental aspect of goods. Often critics for this workers conditions, Primark is now part of Ethical Trading initiative which guarantees the protection of workers and environment. Analysis an environment , it also analysis the competitive environment to be able to gain a competitive advantage. According to an article about the success of Primark, primark has got teams of buyers in UK and Ireland travel internationally both to identify fashion trends and to seek out the most competitive suppliers Then, by always looking to reduce its costs Primark prefers to spread its production through a lot of small suppliers which made the power of suppliers low. Highly competitive, the clothing retail industry is already full of players. Moreover, the costs to get in the market is very high which make the threat of new entrants low. This highly competitive market make the power of buyers very high. Indeed, consumers trends in now to look after cheap prices. By having multi choice, they can easily switch from a shop to another. Still due to the multiplayers market, the power of substitutes product is high. Indeed, the competition is more based on the price strategy but the product range that propose all the shop follow the same fashion trend. Then , the products are quite similar from a shop to another. Source: clothing in France, Euromonitor international, October 2009 As we can see with that figures, clothing industry in France does not have a big driver players but still have some strong brands such as Vivarte which groups 24 brands such as LA HALLE, DEFIMODE.. which are, according to their price strategy similar to Primark and could represent potential competitor. However, brand such as ZARA, HM very popular and perceived as trend setters among the French population will represent the biggest competitor for Primark. But those brand proposing price still higher than Primark, Kiabi, by it price strategy similar to Primark could represent a big competitor from a price strategy side. Add to that direct competition, the increasing of the online shopping. According to the IFM group, online clothing sales increased by 31% in value between July 2007 and June 2008 To get a well understanding of the opportunity that Primark has in France, a SWOT analysis will be helpful: According to clothing in France report,  « In terms of market share, the leader have the ability to adapt quickly to market demand by offering many different collection By proposing a fast fashion strategy, Primark has the opportunity to become an important player in France. However, it will have to face to a high competitive industry with some players already well established and some consumers habits. When a company is considering all possible channel strategies when entering in a new market, there are three major modes: Export, Intermediary (or contractual mode) Hierarchical (or direct investment activities). According to Hollensen ( 2007), the choice of the entry mode can not be stated categorically and depend on many internal and external conditions. By analysing some of the Hollensens factors, we will analyse which way should take Primark to its entry in the French market. As a manager from Primark says in the corporate video its quality travel, its value for money travel. Primark is exporting a whole strategy, business and know-how. Franchising , one of the intermediate modes allowing to use an entire business in compensation of money could bring the opportunity to Primark to control the major part of it setting up in France. However, by having strong financial resources, Primark is able to choose an entry mode market which could guarantee it a total control of it business and escape the risk link to an international franchise (quality control, jurisdiction) . A hierarchical model, even highly risky and not flexible, seems to be in the setting up of Primark in France the most relevant. According to Hollensen(2007),  «hierarchical mode is the entry mode where the firm completely owns and control the foreign entry mode and organization. Conscious that few hierarchical modes are possible, the wholly owned subsidiary seems to be the most adapted for Primark setting up in France. Through a total control of it operating companies and by controlling the know how, the decision making, the companys trade secret, the wholly owned subsidiary allowed to Primark which have for objectives to become a European player to be implemented more easily a coordinate strategy. Moreover by choosing a Greenfield investment, which is defined as direct investment in new facilities or existing facilities instead of an acquisition which acquires an existing firm, Primark would be able to keep its production logistics strategy. Although Primark production strategy is the base of cost saving, main factors of its success. By dealing directly with manufacturers mainly in Asia and by ordering in huge volume, Primark is able to sell at very low price notably thanks to the cheap labour cost and by realising economy of scale. Setting up in a very high competitive market, Primark has to adopte a strategy which will allowed it to gain a competitive advantage. According to Michael porter (1985), there are three basics competitive advantage that a firm can possess: Low cost, differentiation, Focus. According to Johnson the low price strategy, seeks to achieve a lower price than competitors whilst maintaining similar perceived product or service benefits to those offered by the competitors. According to Lynch the low cost leader in an industry has built and maintain plant, equipment, labour costs and working practices that deliver the lowest costs in an industry. By always looking for the most competitive suppliers all around the world and by spreading its production in developing economies which offered low cost labour, Primark is able to control it cost and at the end to propose cheap price to its consumers. According to a menswear controller in UK in an interview We do bring extraordinary value to our customers but we do it by bringing extraordinary volume to our factory In proposing the same product everywhere, Primark is able to order huge quantity which allow to realise economy of scale. As the Associated British food report in 2009 summarises Primark offers low price because it purchases very large volumes and has low marks up, minimal advertising and low overheads. The entire Primark concept is built around the control of its logistics, cost and strategy development which allows it to follow a cost leadership strategy when it comes to it setting up in France. By following its strategy, Primark would launch a Price war within the French market obliging its competitors to reduce their margins as HM and ZARA already start to do so However , as one of the article highlighted : it takes a lot of money to look this cheap.and the control of the cost is very hard to manage which explain the choice of the wholly owned subsidiary as market entry mode. IMPLEMENTATION Developed by McCarthys around the four major Ps (Product, Price, Place Promotion),the traditional marketing mix has received criticisms. Including three others Ps (people, physical evidence, Process) suggested by Booms and Bitners, the 7Ps framework is today the reference to analyse the implementation of a strategy. In favour of the globalization, Levitt argues that, the needs of consumers are more and more homogenized creating a single global market pushing towards a global strategy (standardisation instead of adaptation to the local market). Then, implementation is all about whether adapt or standardize. If we look at the factors favouring standardisation such as the convergence of tastes and consumers needs, the economies of scale in RD, production and marketing, then Primark would definitely go towards a standardisation of its strategy when it is setting up in France. Primarks product strategy is to propose the same collection everywhere, with the same clothes in each of its stores which allows them to order in huge quantity and at the end to propose low price. The other part of Primarks product strategy is to put new product on the shelf every week. A season is defined by Primark not as summer, winter or spring but as six week window When Primark will setting up in France, the concept and the product will be the same than in Germany, in Spainà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ However there is existing differences between French and English clothing style. Indeed as an article about the French style clothing explain, Bold and bright colored clothes, loud prints or lots of embellishments are something French women avoid wearing In a general way, the French fashion looks more classical and simple than the English fashion. According to my shopper experience, Primarks clothing lines are for some of them flowery, with a lot of prints and really colourful. Moreover the size of the dress that English girls are wearing are very short in comparison with what I am used to seeing. An adaptation of the product could be judicious for the setting up in France. However, any adaptation bring costs which could increase the price and do not correspond to Primarks low costs strategy. Primarks product will follow a standardisation strategy in a first time and could like in Spain adapt some clothing lines as the director of the Spanish Primarks explains when he says the taste of the Spanish customers are similar from the British one, in spite of the fact that some clothing collections has been adapted with for example more colour for the Spanish market. When it comes to the pricing strategy, some authors proposed a International pricing framework which take in account the factors influencing the Pricing strategyIn a general way, as we saw fashion industry are highly competitive and the degree of comparability of Primarks product in the French market is high as Primarks strategy is to propose the same product than its competitors but at a lower Price. If we only take in account that factors Primark would have to tend towards a low Price strategy. However the most influencing factors for the pricing strategy in France is the corporate and marketing objectives of Primark. Indeed Primarks strategy is to make their customers primarks addict pushing them to come back every week;(Primark corporate video, 2010) by notably proposing a fast moving product strategy. The target market would be the under 35 which are characterised by a limited income. In order to attract that target and make them come back, Primark has to put a low Price strategy. As we saw in the second part, Primarks strategy is focus on the control of its costs. In notably realising economy of scale and by improving their skills ( what Doole and Lowe called learning curve) Primark has honed its business model into a science which allowed Primark to Proposed very low Price. When it comes to the setting up of Primarks in France, Primark will use an aggressive strategy such as market penetration Price that Hollensen (2007) defined as the use of the low prices used by a firm to rapidly increase sales by stimulating growth and increasing market share, but at the same time discouraging competition. which will allow Primark to launch a Price war in the French clothing market. Finally, it is important to notice that Primarks price strategy is allowed by its communication strategy nearly inexistent with the quasi absence of advertising as an article highlighted when it says Primark is a high street retailer which has a family of brands and focuses much more on buying, logistics and supply chain management than branding According to Hollensen(2007), standardisation in the communication requires that the firms product has a unique selling proposition that is clearly understood by customers. As we already see, Primarks strategy is to sell a unique concept all over its stores which allow it to standardise it communication (even quasi inexistent). When it comes to communication ,while its competitors such as HM or mango spend a lot on advertising , associating their brand name with famous fashion designers, artists or top model, Primark will follow the same way of communication as Zara which does not advertise at all and relies on word of mouth and its natural prestige. Indeed Primarks communication is mainly made through its simple and understandable look good, pay less slogan which remain the same in every country even with different languages , through its blue Logo , through the visibility of its brand ( for example in the Primarks bag that people will carry in the street), the agencement of it stores and the people on it. Primarks communication is made through the last three Ps of the marketing mix which are People, Process and Physical evidence and not through the usual communication tools such as advertising, personal selling more expensive. However as an article from the Irish times, Primarks strategy is reaching the highest number of potential customers at the lowest cost. Defining by Hollensen (2007) as a Online word of Mouth marketing technique that seeks to exploits existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, the Viral marketing is one of the tool for Primark in France. Indeed while Primark is not setting up in France, the social network facebook already gets more than 20 groups asking for Primark In France such as for example For the opening of a Primark in France or We want Primark in France Matching its young targets, often heavy users of internet, enjoying from the expansion of its social network, and corresponding to its strategy of word of mouth to attract the maximum of customers, Internet through the internet viral seems to be a real potential way of communication if France as well as for the company as it is very cheap. According to a study about retailing in France , Apart from Price, proximity and convenience were among the majors needs of French consumers. While Primark is looking for highway and huge surfaces, industrial zone (characterised by cheaper rent but high frequentation) or Big malls (which regroup a lots of shop and are often situated in highway) seems to be the best place for Primark. Moreover a part of Primarks target is the teenagers which are characterised by a low mobility and go shopping in easy accessible place.(E.g.: The teenager do not have driving licenses and often go to big shopping centers where a lot of shops are together and with an easiest access than the industrial zone). However in order to define what could be the distribution strategy for Primark in France, it is important to look at the precedent implementation of Primark in Europe. Except in Spain with five stores in Madrid and England with one store in Oxford street (London) Primark do not setting up in the capital. If we look at the German, Belgium and Netherland implementation, Primark has a stores in Frankfurt (richest city in Germany) in Rotterdam ( second city in Netherlands)and in Liege (third most populated city in Belgium). In Portugal it has a stores in Rio Tonto and Amadora (Lisbon metropolitan area). We can see that Primarks implementation in Europe and notably in the recent implementation it also made through test city by not implementing it stores in the capital (often more expensive than the others city) but in important city in the country or in the capital region which could be less expensive and then reduce the costs. Seeing the precedent implementation in Europe and seeing the needs of French consumers and especially the target young target market, a selective coverage in some test area could be relevant and then turn towards an intensive distribution (which correspond better to a low price and high turnover strategy), if the test is concluding like in Spain which has now 18 shops. If we look at the Analysis of the first part through the use of Pestle and Porter five forces model, France market in spite of its high competitiveness seems to be ready to welcome Primark. However those models give a snapshot of an industry at a certain point and the fashion industry is fast moving and change very quickly. Moreover the habits of expenditure in that sector are highly affected by the external environment. As no one can predict what will happen, the setting up of Primark in France seems to be an opportunity but the external environment if suddenly changed (like the crisis in 2009 which slow down the expenditure in most of the sector), could make the setting up of Primark more difficult. When Porter propose three distinct generic strategy, a company dreams would be to mix both of them. Indeed when Primark main strategy is cost leadership, it also could be saying that it looks after differentiation notably by not advertising and through its high fast moving product strategy (higher than it competitors). However the in-between strategy is highly risky and not affordable The mix marketing has to be seen as a basic for the implementation of Primark seeing the current French environment. However a marketing plan has to be flexible during the setting up and during the development of a company in a country according to the reaction and expectations of new customers and in order to match them. This high level of flexibility for a marketing mix can not necessarily be affordable by Primark as every change generate new cost. According to the financial director in Primark in a corporate video, there is still a lot of places where were not and where wed love to be sources. Neighbors of UK, France could be one of those place. Now surrounding France, Primarks success story is it following a country test strategy before its conquest of France ?

Profiling Essay -- Legal Issues, Ethics

One area of psychology and investigation, (an occupation? or shall I say craft?), many ways to refer and interpret it, with a complex past intermingling various areas of study, Profiling, like any other area of study, has both its advantages and disadvantages. Yet, how useful is it as an investigative tool? It certainly isn’t considered as a hard science, however this does not mean that is should be discarded and not taken seriously. Or does it? I say advantages and disadvantages, because whilst my personal position is towards profiling in general, it can only be used in conjunction with other, more deeply studied police work. Here I will discuss mainly its advantages and why I hold the position in favor of criminal profiling, but some disadvantages will obviously be mention in relation the advantages. As asserted by Wilson and Seaman (2007), one of the first psychological profilers was James A. Brussel, M.D in the 1950, then dubbed â€Å"The Sherlock Holmes of the Couch.† Although he was very accurate in providing the police with a profile of the criminal which helped them locate and arrest the Mad Bomber, using primarily his handwriting on letters sent to the police, his â€Å"technique was not enough in itself to change traditional law enforcement procedures.† (Wilson and Seaman, 2007). It was only in the early 1970s that the FBI Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico decided to use this profiling technique when investigating violent crimes. Here, they would profile the type of criminal involved using the crime scene itself and the various criminal MOs. Their initial investigation using this method was held in 1974 with the case of the kidnapped seven-year old girl, Susan Jaeger. Profilers predicted the kidnapper being a young, whi... ...nalytical Theory. Turvey (2001) points of the voyeurism problem and affirms that this fact alone might be a magnet for so-called profilers to join the field. This, of course, will create problems for all involved in the case. Here, another setback to profiling is formed which might reduce the profiler’s ‘expertise’, for how can on be certain of the real intention of a profiler and his compatibility to the team? Having said all this, one can say that in reality, profiling is an art and not a science, as â€Å"by itself, a profile does not solve any crime† (Holmes and Holmes, 2009). That is, however, not said to reduce all its credibility and usefulness. Profilers have helped the police and it most likely that will continue to do so in the future, but it must be kept strictly as an aid and not as the only means. But yes, all in all, it is a useful investigative tool.

College Admissions Essay: I Will be the Wind :: College Admissions Essays

I will be the wind    I am a piece of paper. In the beginning I was blank. I could have been anything. A paper airplane, treating my life as a quick high, then being left on the ground, forgotten, had I wasted my childhood on drugs; a story, had I chosen to take my time and develop into a dynamic creature; a crumpled up ball, thrown away seconds later, had I not been loved; I could have been a college essay, had I been created only to be given to someone else. I am a story. As I grew up, I chose which kind I should be. I could have been one written by a child, should I be simple enough; a novel, should I live my life for fun, and die treating life as a game; a complex piece of art, with thoughts that run deep and insightful as the darkest red; I could have been a song, at first catchy and wonderful, soon forgotten by the world. I am a painting. As I continue to grow, I color and change myself. I could be dark greens and purples, should I choose my mood to depress slightly; yellow-orange in some corny sort of false happiness; deformed like a Picasso, beautiful, but almost too complex to enjoy; I could be three-dimensional, rounded, patternless, deep. I am three-dimensional. I am unable to be contained on the paper I was created as. My ink, my paint, my complexity must evolve. I could soon become a tree, to grow, to lend myself to children to play in; an ocean, vast as all eternity, powerful enough to destroy cities at any moment; the air, changing directions at every moment, unpredictable in behavior, but carrying the essence of life; I could soon become a rock, a solid, unchanging, powerfully dense object. Will I be the air? Obstacles in my way, I will move around. Other obstacles I will overcome, and I will take them with me in my whirlwind; they will become a part of my strength. Should I come to a tree, I shall not only uproot it, but I will take it with me, the tree will become a part of me, and I shall be stronger. I will be unpredictable and may change my direction at any moment;

The Power of Stretching :: Sports Running Stretch Exercise Essays

The Power of Stretching "The money and the fame are irrelevant really. I'm just a hamstring away from oblivion; you've got to look at it like that." ---- Steve Jones Running is the oldest and most popular sports in the world. Most runners feel that running is fairly simple, when in reality it is very complex. Running is one of the only sports that gives the whole body a work out. Leg strength and cardiovascular endurance play huge roles in the success of a runner, but they are not the only things that measure ones running ability. Upper body strength and back support are also important in running. Since athlete's's bodies are made up entirely of muscle, they must exercise often in order to take care of themselves and prevent injuries. Muscles are like any other thing in the world, the more you use them the stronger they get. Running long distances is strenuous on the muscles and if they are over worked and under cared for they can be damaged. Running causes the muscles that are active to become strong and less flexible, whereas the opposing muscles that are relatively under used become weaker. When muscles are being used they expand and contract often. If the muscles were not used in a while they usually get sore from the work out. Since muscles are the most important part of being athletic, proper care should go into maintaining them. Stretching before and after runs is a perfect way to care for your muscles. WHAT IS STRETCHING? The three main reason why stretching is so beneficial to a runners body is: it reduces the risk of injury, prevents muscle soreness after exercise, and it improves athletic performance. What is actually happening to the body during a stretch is very complex. Each muscle contains stretch receptors which attach themselves to the working part of the muscle called, muscle fibers. The stretch receptors measure the degree of the stretch, sending a message through the spinal cord to the nerves that control the contraction of the muscle where the receptors are. As the runner stretches more intensely the receptors begin to send out pulses harder and more rapidly. These pulses exceed a certain frequency, and the stretched muscle contracts and shortens, preventing overstretching. STRETCHING INJURIES Unfortunately, stretching is not done willingly by runners. Even though it would only take an extra five to ten minutes on top of the one or two hour run, most runners choose to skip stretching.

Apple Inc

Features of Apple Industry:2 Evaluation of Steve Jobs as a strategic leader4 Strategic Innovation5 Recommendation7 Conclusion8 Reflection of our group work9 References12 Introduction As the first of the World’s Most Innovative Companies (Business week, 2010) and the 17th of the Best Global Brands (Interbrand, 2010), Apple has succeeded in strategic leadership and innovation, which has drawn attention from the world recently. This essay focuses on some key issues of Apple’s innovation. It begins with analyzing the key features of Apple Inc by Porter’s five forces and Kay’s distinctive capabilities.Then, the evaluations of the CEO Steve Jobs as the strategic leader and explanations of Apple’s strategic innovation are involved. The final section is our recommendations to Apple. Features of Apple Industry: In the stage of analyzing the key features of Apple industry, the first method is the Porter’s five forces model. It divides into five parts, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and competitive rivalry within an industry (Assen, Berg and Pietersma,2009). Firstly, for Apple, there are some new entrants have disruptive power.For example, some online services which are similar to iTunes. However, there are numbers of high requirement for new entrants to get in the market, for instance, time and cost of entry. In the part of substitutes, nowadays, large amount of substitutes have good performance, they cost lower, are easy to switch, but only few of them have same quality as Apple’s products in the same price. In terms of bargaining power of buyers, it is an influential trouble for Apple. Although Apple has vast and loyal customers, every buyer and retailer all want better stuff in lower price.Moreover, they may reduce spending on Apple’s products if their economy downturn. Furthermore, Apple can ignore bargaining power of its professional supp liers, such as Inter, and strategic alliance, like Microsoft. The last part is the existing rivalry; Apple has a lot of powerful competitors, for example, HP and Lenovo. They pressure into Apple in every technological area and attract buyers by different products. Nevertheless, to be the most innovation company of the world, Apple industry is competitive all the time.Another method used in analysing key features of Apple industry is Kay's distinctive capabilities. This model consists of Architecture, Reputation and Innovation. Architecture: in the internal part between firm and employees, Apple industry has owns special corporate culture and a spiritual leadership. Apple corporate culture is featured in intense works and being pursuit of perfect works under a casual atmosphere and with sharing spirit. For a spiritual leadership, Steve Jobs' role in Apple is motivating employees to bring employees' creative talent into full play and not involving in the employees' work.In the externa l part and net works of architecture, Apple only choose strong suppliers having professional advantages to cooperate, such as Intel, it always cooperate other firms with its own purpose. For instance, the apple chose the Google to take advantage of its maps and video features for phone. Reputation: Apple has a great reputation that is built up on the basis of the quality signals and consumers' own experiences. Apple pays attention to quality of products. Apple keeps a trial and error on every product to prevent any quality problems from happening in future.Moreover, Apple's production is always based on consumers' experience. For example, Apple offers a free trial for consumers to feel their products. Innovation: Apple is famous for its innovation that can be demonstrated by technological innovation, product innovation and management innovation. Technological innovation means a perfect integration between hardware and software and Apple also keep updating them. Referring to product innovation, from first imac to recent-product i phone, Apple products, combining different functions, all go through the innovation.Speaking of management innovation, after Steve job's employment, Apple's management style is successfully transformed from relaxed style to controlled one. Evaluation of Steve Jobs as a strategic leader Steve Jobs is known to be eccentric when it comes to strategy and business because he strives to become a market leader by dominating the competitors in customer loyalty, distribution and coverage, perceived value, price, profit and promotional spending. This is evident when we compare Apple and Microsoft because when Microsoft shows profit by sheer quantity, Apple competes strongly with the quality of its products and services.As an innovative leader, Steve Jobs is legendary which is reflected on his company motto â€Å"Think different! † Rethinking, reinventing and revitalizing are the three main ways of doing business according to Steve Jobs. S implicity and innovation in terms of the product range gave Steve Jobs the edge over other competitors. A well-known example for this is the annual launch of new and updated versions of the iPod with a simple change in colour, form-factor and memory capacity. His risk-taking approach to business is believed to be unique making him an epitome of courage.His idea of self-belief and a vision enabled him to lead a great career life. He believes in investing in new innovative products and services that are built on existing technologies to create a â€Å"customer and market-based business†. His ability to get over failures and try again makes him a suitable comparison with Thomas Edison who had his share of failures along with mighty successes. Apple is a multi-billion company and yet they have just fewer than 30 different products. This is because of Steve Jobs’ immense drive for focus on a specific and well-identified section of the consumer electronics market.This shows the stringent and perseverant character of Steve Jobs as he would have told â€Å"No† to many potential ideas related both to the products and in recruitment. When Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985 and came back in 1996, he implemented what we now believe as a CEO-centric model of strategic leadership that involves not just generation of ideas but also to hold the rudder of a massive ship that is Apple. Hence Steve Jobs will always be remembered as one of the most visionary, creative and high-impact leaders of his generation or any generation.Strategic Innovation Apple has successfully engaged in strategic innovation and has awarded the most innovative firm for triple years continuously. At the same time, it is the top one most admired firm in American (McGregor, 2008). Due to apple’s history, it belongs to established company. Therefore, overcoming the inertia of success and making a change is a big challenge. Combing Palmer and Kaplan’s theory of seven d imensions of strategic innovation with apple’s experience, this paper analyzes strategic innovation in Apple.In terms of Markides (1998), strategic innovation is basic principles build up new business modules and creates new markets and increase benefits for both company and consumer. In other words, strategic innovation refers to company needs to market positioning and was good at founding vacant space in market and filled up. Palmer and Kaplan’s theory of seven dimensions of strategic innovation are explained as follow: A Managed Innovation Process -Assembling conventional and unconventional ways to business strategy (Palmer, D. and Kaplan, S. , 2007).It is said that apple’s products develop in simultaneous stages and Apple always sticks with a proprietary ecosystem. Though it has some drawbacks, the benefits outweigh drawbacks. Core Technologies and Competencies- Main skills (ibid). Due to the face that Apple is high-tech Company, it requires consecutive high technologies innovation. Apple was dedicated to study innovative industrial design; such as apple has the world’s most advanced operating system and intuitive UI and so on. Industry Foresight –Forecasting the complex forces driving change (ibid. Steve Jobs quoted the words from Wayne Gretzky-â€Å"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been† (Jobs, 2008, cited in Yates, 2010). And he said they always tried to do that at Apple since the very beginning. Strategic Alignment – Establishing Support (ibid). In Apple, when it comes to a strong strategic vision for the business, the powerful leader is capable to align the people in the organization with the direction inherent in this vision. Therefore, the enthusiastic internal support could be achieved. Consumer/Customer Insight – Deep perceiving of target (ibid).On one hand, Apple possesses wide audience ranging from amateurs to professionals. On the other hand, Apple satisfies custo mers’ requirements. All products are characterized by human interface design and ease of use, combing aesthetics and simplicity, showing a perfect balance of form and function. Organizational Readiness – The ability to implement strategy (ibid. ) The board of directors had been re-structured since Jobs took over in 1997. Apple gets an excellent leadership and team spirit. At the same time, Apple masters core technologies and competencies.Sufficient preparation leads to success. Disciplined Implementation –Putting the strategy into effect (ibid. ) Apple’s process of implementation follows the module: culture- product-user-brand. All the products that meet user’s needs abide by their culture, which causes consumer loyalty; they get good reputation, therefore, the brand is established. Certainly, effective marketing strategy is an essential part of successful implementation. Recommendation Based on analysis above, here follows some recommendations to Apple. Maintain design spirit.As most customers are attracted by peculiar aesthetic design of products, Apple should continue paying attention to it. Keep innovation. Innovation is the soul of Apple Inc, Keeping innovation will bring Apple a bright future. Improve product compatibility. Improving compatibility is able to increase the opportunities of choosing Apple products. At the same time, the product market share will be improved. Search for the promising leader and create positive crises. It is essential to find another brilliant leader after Jobs. Apple should keep unsatisfied with current success and pursue change.Find hi-tech partners. Consumer electronics and entertainment industry are high competitive industries which update technology frequently. Thus, finding partner is crucial for an enterprise in the industry, especially, a hi-tech partner. Conclusion According to studied about Apple, it can be reached that there is an excellent management team in Apple Inc. , especial ly the CEO Steve Jobs, a strategic, spiritual leader with strong personality. In terms of strategy of the corporation, it is sticking to core competencies and innovation strategy, making the perfect products to consumer.With reference to organization, Apple is a mix-mechanic and organic style. Staffs in Apple are always with passion and love their own company as well. Performance of Apple in the consumer electronic and entrainment market which is a hyper competition market with technology updating speedily is excellent. There are a large number of loyal customers, great strategies, beautiful products and influential leadership which are all produced by Apple, an innovation corporation. Reflection of our group work Our group work focuses on a topic- Strategic Leadership and Innovation at Apple Inc. y Apple case studies, several key questions are asked to answer, including the key features of Apple industry, the evaluations of the CEO Steve Jobs as the strategic leader, explanations o f Apple’s strategic innovation and our recommendations to Apple. Our group activities was proceed according to a routine of making assignment for each people; then searching for materials individually; next, sharing ideas and of discussing issues together. In the following part, we will introduce a procedure of our group activity in detail.The object of our first group meeting was getting main idea to carry out our project after we read the apple case material. In this meeting, our group discussed and got general ideas and several key words from this case: what is management and innovation in Apple. But it didn't work very well due to insufficient preparation. Therefore, when we made a second meeting, we changed our idea to go on our tasks according to orders of questions. Each two members of our group took responsible for one question, and a member took charge of introduction, recommendation and conclusion.In this time, everyone got a clear task. In the following group meeti ng, we discussed what we found from collected materials and gave advices of every question and pick the best ones to the questions. Everyone is asked to complete their own speeches of their own presentation. If we had problems of our project in the period of not being together, we still kept in touch online. In the last two group meeting, we all gave a brief presentation of our own part to group members and made them understand every piece of our works, and we all achieved agreement to our project without any doubt.One of team member combined all pieces of Power Point into the whole and decorated it. We all prepared for the presentation and kept practice with a time controlling together. For a group work, we evaluate that it is fairly good with advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, we learned a lot from this group work. Firstly, we learned how to analyzer a case with models. Furthermore, we also learned that by a combination of case studies and models, it strengthens the kn owledge we learned in the class. Secondly, this activity also improved our skills of doing presentation and reports.We got a clear understanding of requirements of good presentation and reports. Last but not least, our team members shared ideas and made up for each others' disadvantages. From this experience we got the team work spirit and learn how to corporate with others, how to solve the conflicts. On the other hand, some problems existed in the period of meeting. Frankly speaking, some meetings are ineffective, because we didn't prepared well what supposed to do about case studies. Moreover, on the account of some member’s absence and lack of team spirit, the progress of our group work was affected.Here are some suggestions to the future team work we learn from our experience: firstly, a clear schedule should be made in the beginning as a guide of future works. Secondly, team members need to improve group awareness and join in a group activity positively. Everyone of a g roup should review handouts or materials in advance of one’s own responsibility of a group. Lastly, the efficiency is critical to group work.References Assen. M. V. , Berg. G. V. D. , Pietersma. P. (2009) Key Management Models, Prentice Hall Best Global Brands, Retrieved Nov 4th, 2010, form http://www. interbrand. om/en/best-global-brands/Best-Global-Brands-2010. aspx Brian. C. Steve Jobs Killer Instintcts. Retrieved Oct 27th, 2010, form http://www. forbes. com/2009/04/06/apple-microsoft-advertising-technology-enterprise-tech-apple. html Harvard Business review blog, Retrieved Oct 27th , 2010, from http://blogs. hbr. org/taylor/2009/06/decoding_steve_jobs_trust_the. html Markides. C. (1998). Strategic Innovation in Established Companies, Sloan Management Review, pp31-42. McGregor. J. (2008). The world’s most innovative companies. Business week, April 17. Retrieved Oct 27th, 2010, from http://www. usinessweek. com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081061866744. htm Palmer, D. an d Kaplan, S. (2007). A Framework for Strategic Innovation, Innovation Point LLC, PP. 1-24. Practice of leadership website, Retrieved Oct 28th, 2010, from http://www. thepracticeofleadership. net/2008/03/30/steve-jobs-and-his-leadership/ Roberts, J (2004). The Modern Firm, Oxford University Press. Saswati. 2010. The seven dimensions of strategic innovation. Retrieved Oct, 26th, 2010, form http://www. improvementandinnovation. com/features/articles/seven-dimensions-strategic-innovation? age=1 Strategy leader blog, Retrieved Oct 26th, 2010, from http://strategyleader. blogspot. com/2010/01/steve-jobs-risktaking-innovative. html The 25 Most Innovation Companies 2010. Retrieved Nov. 1st, 2010, form http://images. businessweek. com/ss/10/04/0415_most_innovative_companies/26. htm , Yates, V. |(2010). Steve Jobs. Retrieved Oct 26th, 2010, from http://www. leadevalues. com/Content/detail. asp? ContentDetailID=1369 1000 ventures website, Retrieved Oct 27th, 2010, from http://www. 1000ventures . com/business_guide/market_leader. html