Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Learning Styles Essays (3167 words) - Educational Psychology

Learning Styles Learning Styles Throughout our lives, we are faced with many different learning experiences. Some of these experiences have made a better impact than others. We can attribute this to our learning style. A person's learning style is the method through which they gain information about their environment. Research is going on all over the world to help explain learning styles. As teachers, it is our responsibility to learn about these different learning styles so that we can appeal to every type of learner in our classrooms. Howard Gardner has elaborated on the concept of learning style through what he calls ?multiple intelligence's? (Gardner 3). Understanding these intelligence's will help us to design our classrooms and curriculum in a way that will appeal to all of our students. We may even be able to curb negative behavior by reaching students in a different way. If we implement activities that call upon the use of all these ?intelligence's? (Gardner 2) we will get the best out of all of our studen ts (Santrock 311). Their grades will improve and they will retain more information for a longer period of time. Learning styles can also help us to determine possible career paths so that we can help to steer children in the right direction. Discovering our own learning styles can potentially maximize our own information processing and teaching techniques. Howard Gardner is a professor at Harvard who has studied the idea of intelligence in a way that links research and personal experience (Traub 1). He began speaking about ?multiple intelligence's? in 1983. Since then, he has won a MacArthur ?genius? grant, he has written books which have been translated into twenty languages, and he gives about seventy-five speeches a year (Truab 1). His ideas have been backed and popularized by many groups seeking to reform the current educational system. The idea is that we know a child who scores well on tests is smart, but that doesn't mean a child who does not score well is not getting the inf ormation or is incapable of getting it (Traub1). Gardner's goal is to turn what we normally think of as intelligence into a mere aspect of a much wider range of aptitudes (Traub 1). Most of us believe that doing well in school requires a certain amount of intelligence. School work usually focuses on only two avenues of intelligence. Traditional teaching focuses on verbal and mathematical skills. A person who is weak in both of these will probably do poorly in school. Gardner suggests that their is eight different aptitudes or ?intelligence's? (Gardner 3). Each individual has the ?eight intelligence's? in various amounts. Our strengths and weaknesses in the ?intelligence's? influence how we learn (Gardner 5). They may even affect how successful we are in life. ?Verbal- linguistic? is the first of Gardner's proposed ?intelligence's? (Gardner). A linguistic learner thinks in words. This person uses language to express and understand meaning (Gardner 24) Linguistic learners are sensitiv e to the meaning of words, their order, and their inflection (Gardner 24) This type of person uses writing to express themselves, often through poetry, stories, and letters. ?Verbal linguistic? (Gardner 24) learners are usually very skilled readers. Speaking is another strength that they possess. Oral communication is used often for persuasion and memorization (Gardner 133). They are often eloquent speakers and have wonderfully developed auditory skills. This type of intelligence tends to pick up foreign languages with ease. Identifying a ?verbal linguistic? (Gardner 24) learner in your classroom is not difficult. Because of their talents at expressing themselves their class work will stand out. They tend to do well at expressing themselves through writing. The will often speak their mind and can easily explain an event that happened through words, both speaking and writing. Planning lessons that appeal to the ?verbal linguistic? (Gardner 24) learner is very easy. The traditional cu rriculum appeals best to this kind of learner. They are very good at reading and writing which is already the main method of teaching in most classrooms. Some activities that appeal to this kind of learner are storytelling, writing essays, joking, debating, story problems, and crossword searches. These activities will allow the student to use words to learn material

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Adverbs of Frequency Beginner English Lesson

Adverbs of Frequency Beginner English Lesson Students can now talk about their daily habits. Introducing adverbs of frequency can help give them further expressive capabilities by allowing them to speak about how often they perform daily tasks. Write these adverbs of frequency on the board next to a list of the days of the week. For example: Always - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / SundayUsually - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / SaturdayOften - Monday / Tuesday / Thursday / SundaySometimes - Monday / ThursdaySeldom - SaturdayNever This list will help students associate the adverbs of frequency with the concept of relative repetition or frequency. Teacher: I always have breakfast. I usually get up at 7 oclock. I often watch television. I sometimes exercise. I seldom go shopping. I never cook fish. (Model each adverb of frequency by pointing to it on the board while slowly saying the phrases allowing students to take in the regularity associated with the adverb of frequency being used. Make sure to accent the various adverbs of frequency.) Teacher: Ken, how often do you come to class? I always come to class. How often do you watch TV? I sometimes watch TV. (Model how often and the adverb of frequency by accenting how often in the question and the adverb of frequency in the response.) Teacher: Paolo, how often do you come to class? Student(s): I always come to class. Teacher: Susan, how often do you watch TV? Student(s): I sometimes watch TV. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Use very simple verbs that the students have already become used to using when talking about their daily routines so that they can focus on learning the adverbs of frequency. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Expanding to Third Person Singular Teacher: Paolo, how often do you eat lunch? Student(s): I usually eat lunch. Teacher: Susan, does he usually eat lunch? Student(s): Yes, he usually eats lunch. (pay special attention to the s ending on the third person singular) Teacher: Susan, do you usually get up at ten oclock? Student(s): No, I never get up at ten oclock. Teacher: Olaf, does she usually get up at ten oclock? Student(s): No, she never gets up at ten oclock. etc. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Use very simple verbs that the students have already become used to using when talking about their daily routines so that they can focus on learning the adverbs of frequency. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency and the correct usage of the third person singular. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

Adverbs of Frequency Beginner English Lesson

Adverbs of Frequency Beginner English Lesson Students can now talk about their daily habits. Introducing adverbs of frequency can help give them further expressive capabilities by allowing them to speak about how often they perform daily tasks. Write these adverbs of frequency on the board next to a list of the days of the week. For example: Always - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / SundayUsually - Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / SaturdayOften - Monday / Tuesday / Thursday / SundaySometimes - Monday / ThursdaySeldom - SaturdayNever This list will help students associate the adverbs of frequency with the concept of relative repetition or frequency. Teacher: I always have breakfast. I usually get up at 7 oclock. I often watch television. I sometimes exercise. I seldom go shopping. I never cook fish. (Model each adverb of frequency by pointing to it on the board while slowly saying the phrases allowing students to take in the regularity associated with the adverb of frequency being used. Make sure to accent the various adverbs of frequency.) Teacher: Ken, how often do you come to class? I always come to class. How often do you watch TV? I sometimes watch TV. (Model how often and the adverb of frequency by accenting how often in the question and the adverb of frequency in the response.) Teacher: Paolo, how often do you come to class? Student(s): I always come to class. Teacher: Susan, how often do you watch TV? Student(s): I sometimes watch TV. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Use very simple verbs that the students have already become used to using when talking about their daily routines so that they can focus on learning the adverbs of frequency. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said. Part II: Expanding to Third Person Singular Teacher: Paolo, how often do you eat lunch? Student(s): I usually eat lunch. Teacher: Susan, does he usually eat lunch? Student(s): Yes, he usually eats lunch. (pay special attention to the s ending on the third person singular) Teacher: Susan, do you usually get up at ten oclock? Student(s): No, I never get up at ten oclock. Teacher: Olaf, does she usually get up at ten oclock? Student(s): No, she never gets up at ten oclock. etc. Continue this exercise around the room with each of the students. Use very simple verbs that the students have already become used to using when talking about their daily routines so that they can focus on learning the adverbs of frequency. Pay special attention to the placement of the adverb of frequency and the correct usage of the third person singular. If a student makes a mistake, touch your ear to signal that the student should listen and then repeat his/her answer accenting what the student should have said.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Employee Reward (Executive Reward) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Employee Reward (Executive Reward) - Essay Example The executive compensation system helps in the improvement of the existing system that helps in accomplishment of goals and objectives. A well structured compensation system helps in the attraction of dynamic and talented pool of executives who can help the company in gaining competitive advantage over its competitors (Browning, 2012).An integrated approach of designing a reward structure helps in developing a system which is directly related to the growth of the company . Executive reward system in a company is the result of a high level interaction between the company executives and the director to maintain an acceptable return on the investment at all times. The executives expect some kind of salary based on daily or annual basis. It also includes employment contracts, portable retirement benefits and deferred compensation (Haygroup, 2013). The company management instead wishes that the executive achieve specific goals and also include developing capabilities (Edge and Davis, 2004 ). A well constructed EC system is only feasible with the development of a leadership framework in which the responsibilities, duties and capabilities are clearly identified and sorted out as per the executive level. In the leadership framework the level, responsibility, capability and results are clearly defined which helps in identification of the opportunities and the development of a strategy. The traditional executive compensation system was developed by Mirrlees and Holmstrom in the year 1975 and later it was modified by Holmstrom and Tirole in the year 1993 (Haygroup, 2013). This theory was developed to help in building an incentive scheme which focuses on trade-off risk sharing and incentive, reward consideration. The theory was also formulated keeping in mind whether the management would be able to pay back the invested amount or not. The author laid emphasis on the fact that stock prices not only reflected the fundamental value of the organization but also signified a shor t term speculative amount. The various constituents of the executive reward systems are as follows: Direct Pay Base Salary The entire executive system would include the annual based salary which would be replaced by the executive salary plans. As per the leadership framework the executive total rewards system would be as follows. Base Salary Annual Incentives and Perks Long Term Incentives Career Development Responsibilities Short Term Success Long Term Success The capability and short term success would be considered The executive salary planning would start as per the market pay data and the desired competitive range would be decided based on the competitive performance of the executives. It also includes the inputs and growth in individual responsibility and the high level performance for the individual (Armstrong, 2002). The salary plans are developed on the assumption of the consistent performance for the executive reward system. Annual Incentive The executive reward system, an nual incentive plan also forms an important part of the total reward and incentive system for the executives (Lepak, 2013). It helps in benchmarking the total work as per the quantitative and qualitative performance standards (Lepak, 2013). To ensure individual accountability the incentive system is designed in such a way that executives are able to accomplish the goals

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Frankie and alice Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Frankie and alice - Movie Review Example Then, she is also a left-handed, white racist female named Alice of unknown age with an IQ of 102. Finally, she is a right-handed black female named Genius, aged between eight and 12 with an IQ of 156. Ideally, the movie is about Frankie struggling to overcome Alice with the help of Dr. Oz. This paper will write a personal plan to promote re-integration of egos in a case such as the one presented in the movie. Re-integration of egos is an approach to psychiatric therapy founded on the separation and re-integration influences in the mind of a patient (Salas & Turnbull, 2010). The suggested plan for this case would employ the ego state therapy, which is a psychodynamic approach suitable for treating cognitive and behavioral problems. The key problem to be addressed here is teaching the patient to overcome her past and learn to manage her present life. The patient in the movie is seen to have developed distinct ego states in a meticulous sense, which can best be identified and named through ego state therapy. The nursing process in such a case would entail customizing the treatment to the patient’s problem. Specifically, that will not only require establishing a friendly and personal relationship with the two of the patient’s dominant alters or personas, but also her third identity, which is Genius. This intelligent third identity will also serve as the arbitrator. Because the patient is known to be forgetful and loses the concept of time, the ego state therapy will include hypnosis, which is a consciousness state that involves reduced peripheral awareness and focuses attention by enhancing responsiveness capacity to suggestions. This will enable the patient to achieve sharp focus and attentiveness, thus blocking out distraction while intensely concentrating on a particular memory or thought (Salas & Turnbull, 2010). Since hypnotic induction techniques are generally

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Geography introduction Essay Example for Free

Geography introduction Essay My investigation is a study of hydrology, as I want to find out how and why a rivers channel, flow and valley characteristics change as you move downstream from its upper course to its mouth. These changes are represented in the Bradshaw Model (fig 1), a fluvial model that describes changes in the river channel and flow characteristics between different courses along the river. Based on three factors, it is possible to infer information about the processes of river erosion, transportation and deposition that occurs along the river. I will use the Bradshaw Model to compare the river at Holford Combe with the characteristics that you would expect to happen and what impact these characteristics have on the formation of landforms along the course of the river. Fig 1: The Bradshaw Model Location Holford Combe is located in the Quantock hills, North Somerset (Fig2). The Village of Holford is about 14 miles from Bridgwater, on the A39 and 6 miles (10 km) east of Williton. The village is mainly situated on the left of the A39 whilst on the right there is the village hall and cricket field. Holford has been an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) since 1956. It is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The name of the river is The Holford Combe River (Fig 4). It is 7km long and the source of the river is at Ladys Fountain Spring, Frog Combe (Fig 5) (Fig 3) which is near Halsway. It is 250m above sea level, and the Mouth is at Kilve Pill. The river flows northward through Holford and kilve villages. The land is used for agriculture for example Pepperhill is a beef herd farm on the slopes of the Quantocks and Durborough is a hill farm, on the edge of Quantock Common, keeping mainly sheep. Fig 2: Ariel map of North Somerset, UK Fig 3: Source of the River Holford. Fig 5: OS map of Holford Why the river Holford? The Holford Combe river is ideal for my study because the river is short (7km) long, so we would have been able to collect more data in the time we were there. Also you can get a better overview of the general trends in a rivers processes and landforms over its full course. We can be more certain of our conclusions about the pattern along the Holford Combe River and how closely they relate to the Bradshaw Model (fig 1). The length is very important because we were only aloud two days outside of school lessons to complete the data collection. The being short meant we were able to walk the length of the river from source to mouth and not waste time from travelling to different sites. It’s a good site choice from a health and safety perspective (fig 6) as the river is not to wide or deep and being short as well. Also erosional processes haven’t had much time to act against the river channel, to make sure it didn’t make it dangerously deep or wide. The river was very accessible to us from school (only 47 miles, South west of Bristol), so it was very easy to get to and realistic and cost effective for the site there. Fig 6: Risk Assessment Risk assessments are important because then you know of any potential dangers of where you are going and to avoid any potential incidents and so you are prepared in an unlikely event of an accident. Bibliography The websites I have used to get my information that i needed were: http://www.quantockonline.co.uk/quantocks/villages/holford/holford1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Holford http://www.quantockhills.com/education/Qpedia/Topics/Place/People/Land-Use/Far

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Customer Segmentation In Indian Banking System Business Essay

The Customer Segmentation In Indian Banking System Business Essay About two decades ago, when private players started rolling out their services, the state-run banks, who had in their grip almost entire retail customers in India, sensed it could be the beginning of a change, but probably never realised it would come with so much force and hit them hard. And they sure had no idea that after moving at an elephants pace for so many decades, they might be forced to change quickly and probably beyond recognition. The arrival of private banks, and in a limited way the foreign banks, changed the way banking was done in India. They changed retail customers expectations and the preferences and now in a fiercely competitive space, every bank wants to get a handle on the rapidly changing consumers taste and raise its service to retain and gain the market share. Our study conducted on educated middle-class working professionals in New Delhi offers an insight into how todays customers are picking their banks and ending contacts with those, which fail to satisfy them. The surveys findings underline the traditional services such as prompt and courteous services at branches are still important for bank customers. The study clearly highlights that customers value banks with bigger network of branches and ATMs as they consider it more reliable. Customers do prefer to have an account with a bank where their family members already have one. They also put a premium on a range of so-called new range of services: lower call waiting and the ability of the customer care staff to quickly understand their problem and connect them to the right executive.   Another interesting outcome was that most customers had more than one bank account and thus could pick bank for specific services. Introduction: India is on the path to become a global economy. Financial Institution specially banking industry plays a very important part in Indias growth. Banking in India originated in the last decades  of the 18th century. The oldest bank in existence in India is the State Bank  of India, a government owned bank  that traces its origins back  to June 1806. Central banking is the responsibility of the Reserve Bank of India, which in 1935 formally  took over  these responsibilities from the then Imperial Bank of  India.  After Indias independence, the Reserve  Bank was given broader  powers. In 1969 the government nationalized the 14 largest commercial  banks; another six banks were nationalised in 1980. Currently, India has 88 scheduled commercial banks  (SCBs)- 27 public sector  banks,  33 private  banks and 38 foreign  banks. They have a combined network of  over 53,000 branches and 17,000 ATMs network. Banking In India can be divided into three distinctive time period as described below. Pre-Nationalization Era: Private banks with individual holding were present in pre-nationalization era and Lockout of Banks were the reality in those days. With very little security regulatory mechanism Banks were functioning as discrete assets and there is very little presence of consumer services and security of assets. Post-Nationalization Era: With the backdrop of large no of incident regarding lock out of banks, Central Government had to take a drastic step and they had done the same by nationalization of Banks. Due to involvement of the Government, credibility of banks increased many fold and banking as a sector has started to grow in India. Due to very low or no competition at all government owned banks had started to function like monopolistic services with very little focus on customer services. IT-enabled era: After 1991 private banks with sound security mechanism were again allowed to enter into the banking segment. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank started their operation with state of the art IT infrastructure, which enable them with better service delivery and meet consumer expectation. Following the same trend and due to Government regulation Government owned banks like SBI, PNB, BOB had also started providing customer services through IT enablement. Due to some recent development like non-regularization of interest rate some banks had also gone ahead and started to offer differentiated product to make the banking more interesting. Recently government has started to think for allowing business houses for having the banking license. This can really be a game changer for Banking industry as more no of bank will open and try to fetch customers from the competitors with focus on customer preferences. As far as the customer segmentation in Indian Banking system is concerned, it is divided into three broad segments. Corporate: B2B transactions are covered in this segment Mid-Corporate: Transactions with SME is considered under this segment. Retail: Small individual customers are covered under this segment The opening of the banking sector to the private players and Indias rapid economic growth in the past decade has dramatically changed the financial sector landscape in the country. The keen competition brought customers to the centre-stage something unimaginable till about two decades ago when the state-run banks held monopoly and customers convenience was barely on their agenda. The power has now clearly shifted from banks to the customers, as private players scrambled to gain market share by raising service level, introducing innovative products and deploying technology at an unprecedented scale to woo customers. The expansion of foreign players, though limited, raised the consumers expectation and fuelled further competition. To match the private players, leading state-run banks initially, followed by regional banks, have raised the game and now probably every player is willing to give an arm and a leg to get an insight into the consumers behaviour. We have limited our research to educated working middle class in New Delhi a retail sub-segment that is attractive to banks because of paucity of time and resources. The findings cannot be generalized for the entire country. Review of Literature The Ernst Young Global Banking Consumers Survey 2011 has highlighted how customers were increasingly switching banks and preferring transparency to loyalty. The report said pricing was critical to customer satisfaction, although most customers had no idea how much they pay each year for services. Transparency over pricing and service promises is vital if banks are to deliver something customers value. An under-delivery of promised service was a big turn off for customers. Uppal, R. K. (2010), analysed in his study the complaints against Indian Public sector, private and foreign banks. The majority of complaints received were against the public sector banks and the complaints were related to deposit, credit cards and housing loans, clearly showing how state-run firms were unable to raise the quality of services. The study recommends the strategy to mitigate the complaints. RBI Report, Committee on Customer Service in Banks (2011), analysed evaluation of customer services in Indian Banking History. The main objective of the study was to find existing customer services in the Indian Banking system and future roadmap on the same. Authors have emphasized on customer education, involvement of stakeholders for launching any new services, comprehensive banking regulation. Focus on technology will also become major indicator for rolling out and success of services such as Internet Banking. Performance Assurance scheme for enforcing the banks to follow strict performance guideline is also mentioned in the report. Various other improvement aspects like issuing Photo ATM card and fraud detection procedure were also listed in the report. In his research on customers preference (2012), Md Nur-E-Alam Siddique of ASA University in Bangladesh has concluded that the most important factors influencing customers in selecting a private banks are speed and quality of customer services, image of the bank and quality online banking facility. The customers, however, chose a nationalized bank mainly due to low interest rate on loan, safety of deposits and convenient location, the report said. Mosad Zineldin, an Associate Professor at Stockholm University, brought forth some interesting trends in his research on bank customers preferences. The study said the price and advertising had a minor effect in a bank selection, while functional quality such as friendliness and helpfulness of staff, accuracy in account transaction management, efficiency in correcting mistakes were the major determinants of bank selection. Kannan. P., et al. (2012), emphasized in their study that service quality was an interesting field to evaluate the customer satisfaction. The main objective of the study was to examine the consumer preference towards the banking services in rural areas on the basis of (i) demography (ii) type of banks (public, private and cooperative bank). (iii) customers preferences. This study concluded that the satisfaction level of the rural customer was good. Research Methodology: We have adopted Descriptive Research Design for conducting the Research. Under Descriptive Research design we have conducted cross-sectional design, where data have been collected only once from the target audience. Another important point for emphasis in the research design part is that Indian Banks segment its customer mostly in three major category i.e. Retail, Mid- Corporate Corporate. For the purpose of this research project we will only consider the retail segment or the individual customer. As we have only followed the Convenience Sampling method for collection of data that too only for a segment of consumers, so it will not be possible for generalizing the result across the other segment. After reviewing the literature we have segmented customer preference in five key segments as shown below in the picture. Skill, responsiveness, friendliness Variety, cost, suitability Credibility, Technological efficiency Processes, Rules, Waiting time, Speed Network, location, phone/online Among the 5 segments shown above, image and personal of a Banking System is very difficult to change. Access of the banking system is majorly related to the investment that the Bank can undertake for improving its IT backbone. Product and services are can easily be changed if the entire infrastructure is already available with the bank. Survey questionnaire was designed based on the five key factor of customer effectiveness, as shown above. Flow of the questionnaire is described in the diagram below. Questionnaire was designed in the Google spreadsheet and link of the survey was shared in the mail for the sake of convenience. Another important aspect of data collection through Google spread sheet is that, a high amount of data integrity check is already built into the system as user can not pick up any alternative other than mentioned in the web format. Conclusion:- The research findings have brought good news for the banks. Most respondents (81 percent) are happy with customer services at banks, thereby giving the existing banks a pat on their back, while signaling that new entrants will find it extremely difficult to find a toehold in the fiercely competitive banking market once the RBI were to issue new licences. Family again has come to the rescue of the banks in India as majority of our respondents prefer a bank if their family members already have an account there. Banks with greater network of branches and ATMs are preferred over those with smaller networks. Customers see high value and reliability in dealing with large-network banks. Customers naturally also value lower service charges. So for any new entrant in the Indian Banking Sector has to offer low cost services to consumer for attracting them in their fold.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Departed/Internal Affairs Film Comparison

The Departed, a film directed by Martin Scorsese, won an Oscar for Best Picture, as well as 3 other Academy Awards. The story however, is based on a 2002 Hong Kong film directed by Wai-keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak, Mougaan dou; better known to us as Infernal Affairs. The similarities between these two crime/drama/thrillers are great. In The Departed, director Martin Scorsese takes the story into his own style of storytelling, but the adaptation of the screenplay originally written by director Siu Fai Mak and Felix Chong is almost identical to the screenplay by William Monahan adapted for The Departed. The key overall difference between the two films can be attributed to their setting. Infernal Affairs, based in Hong Kong, was adapted or â€Å"Americanized† to fit American customs and situations, namely the situation in south Boston with the Irish mafia â€Å"some time ago. Neither film specifies an exact historical era. There is an equivalent to most Infernal Affairs characters in The Departed: you have the mole in the Hong Kong IAU (internal affairs unit), Inspector Lau Kin Ming, played by Andy Lau, who is the equivalent to Matt Damon’s role as the mole in the Boston State Police, Colin Sullivan; there’re the undercover cops, Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung Chi Shing) and William Costigan Jr. (Le onardo Di Caprio); there’s the boss of the Hong Kong mafia (the Triads), Hon Sam (Eric Tsang), and the Irish mafioso, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). The head of the Boston State Police is Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen), who is mirrored after SP Wong Chi Shing (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang). There is no real equivalent to Mark Walberg’s character, Staff Sgt. Dignam, but I’m glad they added him. The two films share similar style and techniques; however it is easy to distinguish Scorsese’s directing. Both films make good use of moving shots, which only add to the liveliness of the action. The Departed has virtually no special effects at all, using editing to only to cut and colour correct. Infernal Affairs is similar to that, but makes much more use of fast editing and montage, using slight special effects for transitions and introducing key characters, using a combination of freeze frame and a desaturation filter for instance. Small effects are used in moderation throughout the film to add to the movie’s overall intensity, and makes fast cuts with multiple angles to create emphasis and a fast-paced feel in certain scenes. The overall style of the films is fairly similar: predominant use of medium to long shots, steadicam, tracking, and crane shots can be seen throughout both films. Therefore this Creates fast paced movements and a flow which also generates this overall feel of realism. Both films start relatively the same: the gang boss recruits new, young blood to put through the academy to work as moles for them. Although Costello recruits Sullivan at an earlier age than Sam, they both seem to be raising workers for the same purpose (at the beginning, we see other kids in the car shop with Colin, who can be expected to be there for the same reason), and the stories each focus on Colin (Costello’s mole), Lau (Sam’s mole), Costigan (State Police undercover), and Wing-Yan

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Case Study Illy Cafe

About Illy Company background and description The history of illycaffe is linked to the lives of the company's founder, Francesco Illy, and his family. Francesco in 1933 set up a business in the cocoa and coffee sector, and then decided to concentrate exclusively on coffee. Nowadays the illy group is made up of several companies located in North America, France, Germany, Spain and Benelux. Product Illy serves coffee to its customers. They insist on the fact that there are not selling basic coffees but the one which is a result of Scientifics’ research.They want to serve the best coffee due to a result of a long experience, knowledge of coffee biology and chemistry, very good skill at roasting, enabling technologies, and also a family’s entrepreneurial passion. They are also selling products which fit to the coffee world like, machines, capsules and also accessories. Revenue In 2007 turnover amounted to $221. 000. 000. In 2011 the turnover was $342. 000. 000. There is a real increase over the years. Customers 70% of its sales circuit cafes, hotels and restaurants, 20% for individuals and 10% in companies, these are illy’s customers.Illy has developed solutions for small restaurants, small hotels, cafes and other places of conviviality where coffee consumption is low but still want a perfect coffee. The company offers machines meeting the needs of its business customers. To match with its image of unique coffee Illy is increasing partnerships with the biggest names in tourism Meridien and Hyatt. The company also Illy customers offices, employees may have during their break espresso from the brand. To do this, Illy provides the I-Espresso and offers a complete range.Also Illy own its own bars called â€Å"Illy bar†, so the customer can go there and have a coffee in the company’s atmosphere. It is also possible to buy coffee brand for personal use at home. The website offers the purchase of cafe, cafe machine but also derivatives (eg cups). Most of its customers are the professionals (served in more than 50,000 public places) but Illy is developing the â€Å"Illy’s bar† to create an atmosphere for the company. Location Illycaffe was founded in Trieste in Italy. Nowadays the Illy group is a multinational organization that operates in more than 140 countries across the 5 continents.The main markets for Illy are US, Europe and Japan. Employees The company has about 700 employees. Industry With a turnover of â‚ ¬ 695 million and a growth of over 30% per year since 2001, the European leader in espresso is Nespresso. The level of competition that Illy faces differs according to the sectors, for example in the Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe sector the main competitors are Starbucks and Lavazza. Whilst in the coffee machines and coffee capsule systems the main competitor is Nespresso from Nestle group. The competition in both sectors is quite intense with Starbucks and Nestle having global reach.The adv antages these companies have over Illy are their vast economies of scale, stronger brands and higher customer reach. Mission and vision The mission: produce and deliver the best coffee that nature can offer for connoisseurs and those who will appreciate it with a special attention to methods of growing and processing the most suitable and sustainable. They want to create an emotional experience through the degustation of their coffee. The vision: being an innovative company, proud of its history rooted in the contemporary and future-oriented.Combine art, science and experience to offer the best products. They have for vision to be recognized as a world reference for coffee culture and excellence, ti be the first choice of professionals. The values: passion for excellence, the pursuit of perfection and ethics, the valuation of individual talent and teamwork. The desire to improve the lives of all those involved in the coffee chain. Attention to people and the environment. Illy Coffee : Alternatives Selection 1)Problem definition – how to become more responsible (=sustainable) coffee producer without losing the revenues/customers/quality.The original goal of Illy was to provide best coffee to customers, but the good quality coffee does not necessarily mean responsibly produced coffee. So many coffee growing countries use unethical growing practices which reduces the price of 1 kg of coffee from the farmer, but jeopardizes the company? s ethical image. Thus now Illy needs to balance three aspects – quality, profitability and ethical aspect, which is a difficult problem, since it involves the whole supply chain and for the company of such scale of operation to solve this problem will be extremely difficult (140 countries on 5 continents).Plus this challenge is also industry driven – all big coffee companies are moving towards sustainability of supply chain, and greater awareness of the customers about these issues nowadays can give a coffee com pany additional competitive advantage. 2)First of all before we outline alternatives and solutions, we need to clarify, what responsible coffee business means. Although â€Å"sustainability† has been defined in a variety of ways over the past several decades, the Brundtland Report (1987) has provided the most widely-accepted and enduring definition at the international level.According to the Brundtland report: â€Å"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.. In relation to coffee business Acting Responsibly involves a complex activity spread over whole supply chain: -Environmentally related: bear in mind environmental impacts of coffee production (â€Å"technified† or mono-culture growing practices impact, rain forests, pesticides, waste water and etc. -Social aspects: well-being of farmers and their families (minimum fair price limits, no price dumping, ch ild labor prevention) -Business-wise: when all actions and decisions taken are analyzed in terms of long-term goals of the company, current and future benefits for stakeholders and preserving viability of the company. With responsible business and supply chain model in mind a multinational like Illy might choose one of few alternative pathways: – -Marketing based approach – market the idea under a good â€Å"sauce† to your customers.Might involve working with few sustainable/ organic pilot farms and making public aware of this, or introducing your own quality standard, like own CAFE standard of Starbucks. This alternative does not involve additional costs, or reengineering of supply chain, it is more like exploitation of Responsible practices idea. But it might create additional revenues due to the fact that company can sell â€Å"responsible† coffee with even bigger price margin. Time wise this idea might be implemented quite quickly. -Supplier related a pproach.This involves responsible purchasing strategy – control and assessment on the level of bigger supply chain units – cooperatives/processing plants/exporters. Does not require complete reengineering of whole supply chain or additional costs related to separate farmers support/educational programs. More time consuming – selection, assessment of existing and new suppliers might take time. Does not really fit with Illy, since its strategy has always been close work with separate farmers. -From bottom to top strategy – every level of supply chain needs to be re-thought.Company needs to realize the importance of each individual farmer (f. ex through payment of Fair trade or responsible farming bonuses to ensure the sustainable existence of farmer communities), not only use quality control (Illy is already working with ISO quality control standards) but rather keep an eye on whole production and processing process. Moreowever, the efficiency of packing, l ogistics and transportation should be analyzed and improved – which will result in eliminating or reducing the costly, non-environmentally-friendly steps.But doing this Illy might incur additional costs (because now it will have to pay more for raw material), which can however be offset not at the expense of the â€Å"responsible† customer (who is ready to pay more for responsibly produced coffee), but rather through improving the efficiency of the whole supply chain, which will reduce the average COGS. This strategy involves extensive cooperation with all other stakeholders in coffee business – working on and adhering to commonly accepted quality and sustainability standards (like Fair Trade label, Utz coffee, RA and etc. , cooperation with local research institutes to introduce better and more sustainable farming practices for growers, or even bringing together all main players like Sara Lee, Nestle and the European branch of Kraft did in 2002 by creating of t he Common Code for the Coffee Community, a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at increasing sustainability and responsibility awareness in the coffee sector. 3)While choosing the alternative, we have been guided by Illy? s strategy, code of conduct and long-term benefits of the decision to the company.We do not want any satisficing decision, we want to optimize the whole system – company has a lot of strengths, we can use them to build up more powerful structure. We want our customers to get only the best coffee, but we also want to do it responsibly. If there is any decision to be taken, which will involve not only additional costs or revenue growth, but also extensive long-run improvement of the whole business model, we will chose this decision. Meaning, that we will opt for alternative number 3. 4)Implementing the decision.Improve the technology and introduce Integrated Process management to cut production and logistics costs and reduce business complexity to offset the co sts of high quality coffee. The company buys coffee beans directly from farmers that reduce the higher prices in the spot market. The shipping and the supply of coffee beans from farmers to the company is carried out by company under strict supervision and inspections. This shows that the bargaining power of suppliers is low with company’s commitments to provide higher quality coffee to the customers.There is a need to create a strategy for the developing economies especially the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) which will in future become key markets. A safe bet would be to create an alliance with a local partner who has expertise in the local markets, cultures and politics for example in India and China which are very big geographically, population-wise and culture-wise the local partner will add immense value in launching and growing the Illy products in a way that best suits that particular market. 5)Results Evaluation – might be performed in several steps.O n one hand, we will analyse the actual performance – if the revenue and market share is growing, if COGS are decreasing due to better efficiency, this means the strategy has been chosen and implemented right. On the other hand we need to understand the degree of customer awareness of our strategy – that means answering the question: did all these changes happen because we turned to more responsible business, or it was just due to other favourable factors†¦In this case customer opinion must be collected and analysed.Competitors’ reaction and Illy’s response: What can the competitors do? There is a wide variety of ways – from fair competition by improving the quality or reducing the price to unfair battle, consisting for example of running a systematic smear and defamatory campaign against a competitor, both directly and indirectly (on the internet and through certain machine distributors), designed to put consumers off buying Illy? s coffee.Som e competitors try to do their own investigation to uncover the unsustainable practices within supply chain (sometimes a company itself has no idea what sub-sub-suppliers are doing) and make sure that it leaks to social networks. Illy should in its turn double-check the standards and practices within its supply chain to avoid bad rumor spread, and be proactive – have active campaign in social media to create awareness of its brand and customers’ loyalty. SWOT Tangible Product: The product which is coffee is very fine.So the foundation of the brand which is the basic product is solid Basic Brand: Illy brand is is a red background with white lettering. You will also find Illy in plain bold red lettering. I believe is to attract the attention of the people. This logo has been used since (1980). The core elements for Illy are a strong brand name, high quality, attractive packaging and design The Augmented brand: Illy has added value to their brand by selling fresh beans in sealed cans, also giving the consumer the option to have it grind whether they want it bold, decaffeinated, caffeinated. hey also have tablet which goes inside espresso machines sold in any illy location. . The main factor is that along with high quality the brand is also associated with high price and hence is getting restricted to a niche market only The Potential Brand: When consumers only rely their morning coffee on the Illy brand than Illy has made their mark, even though in many other key markets like Italy it has been a major success, but it still needs to win other important key market like Japan and China.There are in all six products that will be analysed here, premium coffee, coffee pods for machines, ready to drink canned coffee, Agrimontana, the confectionary products, Domori the chocolate business and Dammann Feres the tea brand. Leader: Coffee Try Harder: All the small brands come under this sector but mainly the pods of coffee business Double or Quit: Coke has partn er up with the Illy brand to make up a canned coffee business in which the coffee will be sold to the consumer.Custodial: Is similar to the cash cow concept in BCG, this would be the chocolate business Cash Generator: this is undoubtedly the premium coffee business Phased withdrawal: this is a difficult one to point but it seems the confectionary business is the most likely candidate as it is not generating as much growth or profits as it should Divest: Again a difficult one but once again the wine or confectionary products in the Illy portfolioKey Points Analysis â€Å"Illy has a strong brand and is associated with high quality and premium pricing! † The company has shown impressive growth despite recession The key strategic partnerships like the one with Coca Cola company for canned coffee are proving to be the real winners The group needs to focus its attention on the sister brands and needs to extend the well-established Illy rand image to these sister concerns There is a n urgent need to improve the sales and awareness of the sister companies The company applies to its R, supply chain and marketing expertise to grow its coffee products like coffee pods and machines There is a need to create a strategy for the developing economies especially the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) which will in future become key markets The company needs to constantly re-invent the ways to sustain customer interest in its brand and its products, just like the Universita del caffe. † Strenghts: Strong retail store operations:50,000+: events in which illy is involved annually worldwide and more than 6 million cups are consumed each day. -Wide geographic presence: 140: countries where illy is available -Top-quality final product: 4: major certifications for quality and sustainability, 4: company-founded research facilities, 4 of 8: major worldwide coffee industry innovations, This is a known and appreciated throughout the world for high quality and unique tast e. The company has followed a strategy, which has a high focus on quality and consistency of their products -Experience: created in 1933 Innovation : The first,pressurized packaging, came in 1934, just one year after the company’s founding. By adding inert nitrogen gas under pressure, an oxygen-free environment forms as illy cans are sealed, preserving essential aromas and promoting mingling of coffee’s naturally occurring oils. Result: coffee that not only stays fresher longer than under any other packaging method, but whose flavor is actually enhanced over time by its surroundings. The second, came just one year later, in 1935: the Illetta, precursor of the modern espresso machine that, for the first time, separated pressure and heating elements.Result: espresso that is consistently round, rich and balanced, not bitter or burnt-tasting. 1974 saw illy’s third revolutionary invention: pre-tamped, pre-dosed, expertly ground espresso in single serve paper pods. Re sult: delightful espresso in reach of anyone, anywhere – at home, at the office, or at a favorite cafe or restaurant. The system, called ESE (Easy Serving Espresso) became an industry standard. – Another strength is the strong supply chain right from the coffee bean farmers to the suppliers, Illy has maintained strict quality control and good relations creating value for everyone involved.Weaknesses: sluggish growth rate / Investments needed (coffee machines that support the proprietary Opportunities: -Business expansions: Gruppo illy includes: †¢Domori – premium chocolate (acquired July 2006) †¢Dammann Freres – the legendary French purveyor of tea (March 2007) †¢Mastrojanni – critically lauded winery in Montalcino, Italy – (September 2008) †¢Agrimontana – high- quality jams and marron glace (stake acquired December, 2005) -Rising hotel and food service industry in Italy : Rising trends in coffee exports : 56%: sha re of illy coffee enjoyed outside of Italy, 200+: espressamente illy coffee bar locations worldwide -10% rate growth market -Been recognized from the market as the dominating market -Scientific research : genetics, agronomy, botany, physics, mathematics, chemistry, biochemistry, biology, engineering, physiology and psychology. All areas explored in the four laboratories illy. -Quality and sustainability : Sustainability has three-fold implicationsat illy: economic, social and environmental. Ready to drink coffee business partnering with Coca Cola will attract global customers and create newer segments for the company's products -There is a need to create a strategy for the developing economies especially the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) which will in future become key markets. Threats : -Highly competitive market : Key competitors : Caffee Negro Group, Luigi Lavazza, Segafredo Zanetti, Starbucks Corporation -Risk of battle in dominating the market by multinationals : Nesp resso -Economic crisis : Most of the global markets including nearly all the major markets that Illy perates in have suffered from recent credit crisis and economic downturn -While expanding globally the major risk involved is the supply of high quality premium coffee beans -The inconsistency in the growth of the sister brands and their chare in the portfolio creates a real threat of losing these brands at some point if they get totally overshadowed by the coffee business. At this point, Illy needs to consider the growth rate and growing strategies of these newly acquired brands to keep them profitable.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Aristotle-The Politics Essays - Empiricists, Metaphysicians

Aristotle-The Politics Essays - Empiricists, Metaphysicians Aristotle-The Politics Aristotle believes that the chief ingredient for a life of happiness is virtue. Virtue is a state of the soul that disposes and prompts our actions and is meant to guide our behaviors in society and enable us to practice moderation. Aristotle believes that human happiness, which is not to be equated with the simple-minded pursuit of pleasure, stems from fulfilling human potentialities. These potentialities can be identified by rational choice, practical judgment, and recognition of the value of choosing the mean instead of extremes. The central moral problem is the human tendency to want to acquire more and to act unjustly whenever one has the power to do so. According to Aristotle happiness is the highest good and the goo life comes from the realization and perfect practice of virtue. In order to lead a life of goodness there must be a foundation of adequate health (goods of the body), adequate wealth (external goods, property), and goods of the soul (virtue, wisdom). People think that a moderate amount of virtue is enough, but set no limit to their desires of wealth and property, power, reputation, and all such things... - i.e. of external goods. (1323 a35-40) Happiness is more often found in those who are cultivated in their mind and in their character, and have only a moderate share of external goods, than among those who possess extensive external goods but are lacking in higher qualities. The good life you lead or experience is an inner sense of well being. This is the active life of virtue and this is all for the sake of the soul. We may therefore join in agreeing that the amount of happiness which falls to each individual man is equal to the amount of his goodness and his wisdom, and of the good and wise acts that he does. [1323b21] Aristotle said we must act naturally in order to be happy. He believes nature is our guide and that nothing is good which is contrary to nature. According to Aristotle there are two types of reason that, if used well, will make you happy. The first type is calculative reason. Calculative reason is practical wisdom which leads to moral virtue. Included in the Aristotelian moral virtues are temperance, courage, liberality, gentleness, and proper pride. The idea behind this kind of practical wisdom involves knowing how to allocate time - judging the right moment to switch back and forth between practical action and intellectual activity, so as to strike the right balance between means and ends. The second type of reason is speculative reason, which is used to deduce the true nature of reality. Speculative reason is also referred to as scientific reason. There are four ways Aristotle thinks it is important to use scientific reason to really know happiness. The first is thought. We are most like the gods when we use thought. Second is that the quality of the pleasures one pursues must be marvelous in purity and duration. Third is independent thought or self-sufficiency. The fourth is that the process of learning is a joy and is rewarding in and of itself. Thus reason, if exercised well, will bring happiness and well-being. Use your reason well and you will be fulfilled. (Kaplan lecture, October 2000) Another important ingredient in the pursuit of happiness is leisure. There must be adequate free time to organize ideas and grow our knowledge or speculative reason. The city or ideal polis facilitates the nature of a good life. A good life is a life of active goodness involving fortitude, temperance, justice and wisdom. Aristotle is clearly against imperialist and military cities because he believes they are unjust, however he believes fortitude is a virtue because a collective readiness to defend ones country is required (but not desirable). The ideal city should not be overly populous one so that top citizens can be properly acquainted with one another. The ideal polis maximizes the opportunity for its citizens to display goodness and afford happiness. In the ideal polis, the foundation of the ideal social structure is based on serfs and slaves. That is, it is implicit in Aristotles conception of the good life that not everyone is meant to

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The Memory s Biology

The Memory s Biology Abstract Memory is a term used in cognitive psychology to describe the process by which information is coded, stored and retrieved. Encoding involves the conversion of sensory stimuli into forms that can be stored. Storage is the process of forming long term mental records of the information.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Memorys Biology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Retrieval is the process of extracting information from memory. Memory can be classified into sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory. Memory can be enhanced using techniques such as rehearsal, paying attention, use of mnemonics, and active participation. Active participation is thought to be better than rehearsal. Memory can be tested using techniques such as operant conditioning, recognition, free recall, and detection paradigm. Memory Memory is a mental function that enables humans to keep information for later use. I t can also be described as a term used in cognitive psychology to describe how people encode, store and retrieve information about the environment (Gazzaniga, Ivry, Mangun, 1998). This essay will begin with a discussion about memory processes. This will be followed by a section on classification of memory into sensory, short term, and long term memory. The various types of memory will be discussed in detail. Methods of studying memory will also be examined in this paper. Finally, it will end in a section on personal reflection. The stages of memory formation include encoding, storage, and retrieval. Information passes the three stages sequentially. Encoding generates information that can stored. Stimuli reaching the brain are received and processed into forms that can be used to represent the stimuli. Encoding generates verbal, acoustic, and image codes. These codes provide avenues by which information can be retrieved. Therefore, it can be said that retrieval relies on encoding. I nterpretation of the codes is a function of memory. Storage Storage can be described as creation of a long term record in the brain. Storage is a complex stage of memory formation that involves other subs of sensory memory include iconic memory and echoic memory. Iconic memory carries visual information and lasts for almost 25 seconds. It is a temporary storage for visual information. Echoic memory is a temporary storage for information coming from the ears. Echoic memory lasts for several seconds. Haptic memory is creates a temporary record of tactile information. Information coming from the sensory system is rich in content. However, human beings cannot convert all the information into memory forms. Short term memory Short term memory also known as working memory is a form of memory that lasts for several seconds to a minute. Rehearsal can improve short term memory. Short term memory can store a limited amount of information at a time. It can store up to five distinct items at any given time (Cowan, 2001). However, it has been found out that grouping items like numbers can improve short term memory. Short term memory enables the manipulation of information when attending to activities like decision making and problem solving. It is the form of memory that is constantly in use and allows an individual to interact effectively with the environment. Short term memory may rely on acoustic codes. However, this is not true for all types of information. Long term memory Long term memory is a relatively long term form of memory where vast amounts of information are stored. Its capacity is thought to be limitless. Long term memory enables us to recall events that took place several years back. Long term memory is our main repository of information. It shapes our understanding of the environment. Types of repositories in the long term memory include declarative, procedural, and flash back memories. Declarative memory also known as explicit memory is a form of long term memory that requires the conscious recall of information that can be verbalized. For example, describing the process of neurotransmission to students. Declarative memory is further classified into episodic memory and semantic memory. Episodic memory involves storage of information regarding events that were personally experienced. It enables an individual to recall events that happened at a certain time in the past. It is a form of memory that stores personal experiences. Semantic memory is personalized. It stores general, factual, and abstract information. Information about ones area of expertise, academic knowledge, knowledge of places, knowledge of people, and knowledge about meaning of words is stored in semantic memory. Learning relies on semantic memory.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Memorys Biology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Procedural memory is memory that stores psychomotor skills. Inf ormation needed to execute certain skills like driving and playing a musical instrument are stored in procedural memory. It stores knowledge that cannot be verbalized but is important in the performance of some activities. It has been described as memory that stores information about how to do things. Flash back memory stores information that is associated with emotional moments. Events that are linked to certain emotions can be recalled quickly and more accurately. For example, asking people where they were when a close family member passed away. Flash back memory is concerned with storage of unusual events. It tends to be personal in nature. Retrieval Retrieval is the process of accessing and taking information out of storage. Typically, information is pulled out of storage when it is needed. Retrieval can be complicated by factors like lack of concentration and interference. Retrieval is associated with certain recall states like tip of the tongue, and serial position effect. Tip of the tongue refers to a state in which one cannot recall all the information. In such a case an individual is able to only retrieve or recall some characteristics of the information. Serial position effect refers to a situation in which an individual can recall either the first few items (primary effect) or the last items of a list (recency effect). Recall can be prompted using either specific or general retrieval cues. Memory problems Forgetting is described as difficulty in retrieving information. Inability to recall information has been linked to some factors like decay, interference, lack of cues, and presence of disorders like amnesia. Decay refers to inability to recall due to disappearance of information over time. This happens when information is not frequently rehearsed or used. Information that is not needed can interfere with retrieval of information (Ellenbogen et al, 2006). This can occur when retrieval cues are no longer specific. Factors facilitating memory Rehears al: repeating and reciting information enhances the number of meaningful associations that can be formed. Memory improves with the number of rehearsals. Self-questioning strategies can be used to enhance this technique. Self-questioning strategies increase the number of associations that can be formed by learners. Organization: information can be arranged in a particular way to enhance memory. Chunking is one of the strategies used to organize information. Meaningfulness: this strategy encourages students to personalize information by giving personal meaning to it. This strategy is superior to reciting and rehearsing. It is easy to recall information that has meaning. This strategy enables a learner to relate what is being learned with real life situations thus forming long term memory.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Mnemonic devices: these memory aids include loci, acronyms, and key words. Loci method involves positioning of items to be remembered in specific areas of the house. An individual will use a mental map to locate the items in the house thus aiding memory. Activity: this strategy is used to enhance memory by encouraging students to actively participate in their learning. Attention/concentration: attention and elimination of distractions enhances learning and the formation of memory. Methods used to study memory Techniques used to study memory differ for infants and adults. The methods used to study infants are unique because infants cannot report on what they have learned. Methods used to study infants’ recognition memory are: operant conditioning and visual paired comparison procedure. The methods used to study infants’ recall memory are: deferred imitation technique and elicited imitation technique (Barr, Dowden, Hayne, 1996). Methods used to study adults: paired asso ciate learning, recognition, free recall, and detection paradigm. Paired associate learning is a technique that involves learning to associate one item with another. Free recall involves asking subjects to learn some words. The subjects are then asked to recall the items. Detection paradigm tests the ability to remember visual information. This paper discussed memory in detail. Memory is a term used in cognitive psychology to describe the process by which information is coded, stored and retrieved. Encoding involves the conversion of sensory stimuli into forms that can be stored. Storage is the process of forming long term mental records of the information. Retrieval is the process of extracting information from memory. Memory can be classified into sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory. Long term memory is the storehouse of knowledge about our surroundings. Memory can be enhanced using techniques such as rehearsal, paying attention, use of mnemonics, and active pa rticipation. Active participation is thought to be better than rehearsal. Memory can be tested using various techniques. The techniques used to test infants are different from those used to test older children and adults. This is due to the fact that infants cannot verbalize what they have learned. In infants, recognition memory and recall memory are tested separately. Therefore, it is difficult to study children. References Barr, R., Dowden, A., Hayne, H. (1996). Developmental changes in deferred imitation by 6- to 24-month-old infants. Infant Behavior and Development, 19, 159–170. Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: a reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behav Brain Sci, 24(1), 87–114. Ellenbogen et al. (2006). Interfering with theories of sleep and memory: sleep, declarative memory, and associative interference. Curr. Biol., 16 (13), 1290–4. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.05.024 Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., Mangun, G. (1998). Cognitive n euroscience: The  biology of the mind. London: Norton.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Article on a controversial subject Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article on a controversial subject - Essay Example First, the author does not indicate, who conducted this study, where it was conducted as well as the materials that were used to facilitate the data that was collected. In this regard, this statement and the data may be regarded as a generalized perspective owing to the fact that its validity is yet to be proven. Secondly, the author provides data indicating a research that was undertaken in 2008 by the Pew Research Centre concerning the support and opposition of gay marriage; the research indicated that approximately 47% of the American Populace opposed gay marriage while 43% supported gay marriage. However, the article fails to indicate where specifically the study was conducted and how it was conducted. America is considered one of the largest nations in terms of geographical and demographical size: Therefore, the essence of providing data regarding a study that was conducted in America without proper proof and credibility, would lead to a scenario where information is considered general or less credible. At the beginning of the article, the author makes a claiming indicating that it seems in the previous year, that opposition to gay marriage was used as a strategy to rally and energize conservative foundations. This statement is not supported by any fact or data, and may be considered a personal perspective of the author. Additionally, acknowledging the fact that the owner uses the word ‘seems’, one may conclude that the information provided by the author could be basically a personal opinion rather than factual information. Taking into consideration the fact that the article was published in 2012, the major issue that arises in regard to usability and reliability of the information indicated is that the article may be considered out-of date: This is due to the fact that society is dynamic in nature, meaning that there are various changes that occur on a daily basis i.e. socio-economic developments in this

Friday, November 1, 2019

Leader in Globalized Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leader in Globalized Workplace - Essay Example It is no coincidence that globalisation enables organisations to compete for scarce resources and customer preferences internationally. Globalisation leads to and facilitates reduced labor costs, lower costs of manufacturing and marketing, and greater demand for products and services, especially from the third world countries (Bartlett & Ghoshal 1989; Harris & Morgan 1996). Apparently, leaders working in global organisations need new skills and knowledge to manage these organisations through the global change. Unfortunately, in light of the emerging globalisation trends the significance of national culture gradually wanes. The absence of geographical boundaries erases the existing cultural differences among employees. Yet, it is at least wrong to assume that globalisation eradicates the effects of national cultures on individual level outcomes; this being said, leaders in globalised workplace need a cultural intuition and understanding of the main cultural conventions affecting their followers. Globalisation and culture: Hofstede assumptions and their limitations in globalised workplace National culture has always been one of the central measures of effectiveness in organisations. With the advent of international organisational forms, national culture has come to exemplify an important source of influences on individual employee outcomes and one of the central objects of organisation analysis. Hosftede’s model of cultural influences on organisations has become the seminal element in the evolution of cultural knowledge in organisation research. Since then, â€Å"most of the research on culture has focused on identifying the core cultural values that differentiate cultures† (Erez & Gati 2004, p.584). Hofstede (1980) and Schwarz (1999) are rightly considered as the gurus in the analysis of cultural values and their implications for organisational and workplace behaviours. Hofstede’s study of national culture is one of the most frequently cited works in the research of national culture and its effects on organisational performance. In 1980 Hofstede published the results of a broad survey of almost 120,000 personnel from a large multinational company in the U.S., where he proposed a system of the national culture dimensions to measure and predict the relationship between culture and employee performance in the workplace (Hannerz 1992; Hofstede 1980). The central implication of Hofstede’s study is that national cultures as clusters of shared norms, values, and beliefs greatly affect and actually predict the way employees act in the workplace. In other words, depending on the cultural belonging of the employees, his (her) workplace behaviours and reactions can be modeled in advance. For example, individuals born and operating in masculine culture are prone to value competition, performance and success, whereas those born in â€Å"feminine† cultures are more likely to value caring, warm social relationships, and quality of life (Hofstede 1980; Leung 1989; Rohen & Shenkar 1986). The individualism-collectivism dimensions presented by Hofstede (1980) allow defining the degree to which employees are group- and socially-oriented (Chen, Chen & Meindl