The impact of parental involvement

There is important research over the last 30 old ages affirms that parental engagement is a vehicle by which to raise academic accomplishment ( Hara, 1998 ) . Henderson and Berla ( 1994 ) reviewed 66 surveies of parental engagement and concluded, â€Å" Regardless of income, instruction degree or cultural background, all households can- and make lend to their kids ‘s success. † In the undermentioned extract from The Evidence Grows: Parent Involvement Improves Student Achievement, Anne Henderson ( 1987 ) summarises the decisions drawn from 52 surveies on the topic of parental engagement in secondary instruction: When parents show an involvement in their kids ‘s instruction and high outlooks for their public presentation, they are advancing attitudes that are keys to achievement, attitudes that can be formed independently of societal category or other external fortunes. It is at this point that the school enters the image. Schools can promote parents to work with their kids and supply helpful information and accomplishments, thereby reenforcing a positive rhythm of development for both parents and pupils. The surveies show clearly that such intercession, whether based at place or at school, and whether begun before or after a kid starts school, has important, durable effectsaˆÂ ¦ The opposite, of class, will besides be true. If schools treat parents as unimportant, or as negative educational influences on their kids, or if they discourage parents from going involved, they promote the development of attitudes in the household that inhibit accomplishment at school. There is a direct nexus between parental engagement and kids ‘s higher accomplishments in linguistic communication and mathematics, registration in more ambitious programmes, greater academic continuity, better behavior, better societal and version to school, better attending and lower drop-out rates ( Heymann, 2000, Henderson & A ; Mapp, 2002 ) . Cotton and Reed Wikelund ( 2001 ) identifies that all research surveies which focused on affectional steps found that parental engagement has a positive consequence on pupils attitudes and societal behavior. Parental engagement supports pupil acquisition, behavior and attitudes irrespective of factors such as parent ‘s income, educational degree and whether or non parents are employed. All parental engagement plants and works wellaˆÂ ¦ so disadvantaged kids have the most to derive from parent engagement programmes. In a study on the Educate Together Ethos and Parental Participation, Nugent and Mooney ( 2008 ) they province that when parents have the chance to take part in their kid ‘s instruction, there are benefits for both the kid ‘s cognitive development and their public presentation as scholars and their parents ‘ attitude to school. The benefits of parent engagement goes beyond instruction and includes societal and economic benefits ( OECD, 1997 ) . These include improved wellness benefits, a decrease in dependance on societal public assistance and degrees of offense ( Wolfe and Haveman, 2002 ) . The most interesting determination in the OECD 1997 Report highlights the comparatively untapped potency of parental instruction in helping parents from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds to back up their kids ‘s larning more efficaciously. It was noted that parental engagement can cut down exclusion and better equality. â€Å" Education is a powerful tool in the integrating procedure † ( OECD, The economic and societal facets of migration 2003 study ) . Research within 2nd degree instruction would bespeak that parents go less involved in their kid ‘s instruction as the kid gets older, there are many grounds for this: a more hard course of study, bigger schools – larger staff, location of the school, the kid is more independent etc. Recent pupils indicate that American instructors and educational psychologist topographic point great importance on parental engagement to promote educational results, peculiarly among deprived pupils ( Eccles & A ; Harold, 1993 ; Jeynes, 2005a ; McBride & A ; Lin, 1996 ) . The benefits of parental engagement are so great, parental and community engagement is used as a cardinal scheme in school effectivity. ( Smit and Driessen 2007 ) . The inquiry, therefore emerges: can parental engagement through the execution of the Academic Intervention Model ( AIM ) truly better the educational results of deprived pupils within Fairhill Community College? More specifically, this inquiry can be farther defined into four separate inquiries that are applicable to the writers country of research: To what grade is parental engagement associated with higher degrees of school accomplishment among deprived pupils registered on the AIM Programme? What aspects of parental engagement aid disadvantaged pupils the most: Can the Home School Completion Programme/Home School Liaison Officer positively influence parental engagement of deprived pupils? Does the relationship between parental engagement and academic accomplishment clasp across racial groups?

Pride and Prejudice Narrative Techniques Essay

The passage focuses on the conversation between Elizabeth and Jane days after they received news about the departure of the Bingleys and Darcy. In this essay, I will explore the themes, the narrative techniques used and the tone of the involved characters. Austen’s dramatic form of writing is an attractive feature of Pride and Prejudice. The novel is ‘dialogic’ in nature; the dialogue between Jane and Elizabeth is a representation of their personalities and characters and Austen has purposefully juxtaposed Elizabeth opposite Jane to show the stark contrasts in their personalities, as well as their views and beliefs. Jane is protrayed as the good-natured and forgiving sister; despite being upset that Bingley had left her, she does not blame him but praises him as the ‘most amiable man’ and blames herself instead for her ‘error of fancy’. She thinks the best of others, Bingley in this case, that he is not ‘guarded and circumspect’ despite his wealth. Her love for Bingley is genuine as she sees the virtues in him but she accepts the fact that he may not love her, ‘I have nothing†¦nothing to reproach him with’. The themes of love and class are raised here, as Jane’s words indicate her resignation and acceptance that her love for a man in an upper class is not reciprocated. This reflects how class boundaries and prejudices limit love and happiness during that time. This also indirectly reflects the social standing of women; they are expected to behave in a certain manner that does not undermine their reputation, as doing so otherwise would result in a poor reputation and possible ostracism, ‘I will not repine. It cannot last long†¦we shall all be as we were before. ’ She defends her friend, Charlotte, as having true feelings for Mr. Collins, despite his ‘conceited’ and ‘pompous’ character; an indication of her maybe naive view that true love is simple and has nothing to do with practicality and materialism, ‘it is a most eligible match†¦she may feel something†¦for our cousin’. But what she does not admit openly, due to suspicions that Bingley may have left her due to her social inferiority, is that such ‘practical’ love does exist. Both sisters are aware of this, which is why both are reluctant to bring up Bingley’s name during the dialogue, ‘I have met with two instances lately; one I will not mention†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Focalisation, a narrative technique is employed by Austen here, as the narrative voice deliberately omitted Bingley’s name and referred to him as ‘Netherfield and its master’. Although the opening paragraph is narrated from an omniscient third-person view, Elizabeth is the focaliser; this evokes reader empathy towards the sensitivity of Bingley’s departure. Elizabeth, however, is angry with both Bingley and Charlotte. She disagrees with Jane that Charlotte has feelings for Mr. Collins as she feels that no one with ‘a proper way of thinking’ would marry such a man. She thinks that it is a betrayal to ‘principle and integrity’ that Jane suggested the possibility of true feelings from Charlotte to Mr. Collins and that Charlotte had betrayed love itself as her act of marrying Mr. Collins is not the ‘proper way of thinking’. Elizabeth feels that Charlotte married Mr. Collins for reasons other than love, maybe selfishly for status and wealth, ‘You shall not defend her†¦that selfishness is prudence†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Deep in her heart, Elizabeth wishes to believe in Jane’s idealistic views on true love, ‘To oblige you, I would try to believe almost any thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢; but reality has shown her that conventional love is influenced and restricted by class boundaries and practicality. This reflects how marriage was the vehicle of self-improvement and wealth acquisition for women during Elizabeth’s day (and thus Austen’s). Elizabeth views human behaviour as ‘inconsistent’ to their actual feelings and that appearance is not a good indicator of ‘merit or sense’. It also serves as an irony of her own behaviour towards Darcy, as ‘inconsistent’ to her eventual feelings for him. Elizabeth’s views of love remains ‘prejudiced’ at this stage, a structured irony staged by Austen to serve as a milestone to chart Elizabeth’s maturity later in the novel. However, Elizabeth’s burst of ‘outrage’, ‘It is unaccountable! In every view it is unaccountable! ’, can also be read as displaced anxiety and anger as she is very uncertain of her own ability to escape a similar fate of being ‘dumped’ like Jane due to possible social inferiority or having to marry for practical considerations like Charlotte. This is not openly mentioned by Elizabeth in the passage but when she subtly mentioned that, ‘And men take care that they should’, it could be interpreted that she wished to meet a man who would admire her for the correct reasons. Jane’s words, ‘It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us’ foreshadows the maturity in Elizabeth; she is at the moment ‘prejudiced’ against Darcy when she had a poor first impression of him and thus unable to recognize his virtues. Later in the novel, Elizabeth would slowly let go of her ‘vanity’ – her misplaced ‘pride’ and ‘prejudice’ to realise a tender and mutual love between herself and Darcy. In conclusion, Austen’s ‘dialogic’ prose gives personalities to both Jane and Elizabeth, revealing the conscious and unconscious natures of the sisters, as well as their ‘hidden impulses and repressed longings. ’ (Walder, 1995, p54) (884 words) References Austen, J. Pride and Prejudice. ed. by J. Kinsley, Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. D. Walder, eds. The Realist Novel. London: Routledge in association with the Open University, 1995.

Are Schools Promoting Sex by Teaching It in Schools? Essay

Are Schools Promoting Sex by Teaching it in School? | | | | Teen pregnancy have risen sky high, STD’s are spreading faster than the speed of light, and sexting id done more often as a factor of knowing about sex. Sex is the attraction drawing one individual sexually toward another leading to sexual intercourse. Schools promote teen sex to their students by teaching sex in class. Although, sex is a part of the curriculum and is supposed to be taught to students, it’s being taught at the wrong time in life. Because sex education is being taught at a young, schools are promoting teen sex and negative behaviors. Teen sex is promoted in schools and in classes’ every day because it is a part of the learning curriculum that is supposed to be taught in grade school, but at what age is it appropriate to teach students? Schools are teaching elementary school students about sex in the fourth and fifth grade to be exact( Brown, 2006). One parent says: â€Å"For elementary school students, the school is a happy place to play with friends. Topics like sex and relationships have yet to enter their minds† (Mustaza, 2010). This makes it seem like teachers, more or less, want their students to know about sex, which should not be taught to elementary school students because children’s minds at this point and time frame are not fully developed or mature enough to know about sex. For middle school students, sex being taught only gets their minds wondering. It pops questions in their heads about the things they don’t know about sex and maybe what they want to know. Kids are taught to death about all the bad things that can happen to them if they have sex† ( Bobkowski, 2009). They’ve said: â€Å"We’ve heard about sexually transmitted infections, we know you can get pregnant, but we want to know about the pleasures of sex and healthy relationships† ( George 2009). Teaching sex in schools progresses the mind to wonder about sex. If sex is going to be taught in schools, it should be taught in an informational way that doesn’t leave students with minds to pose questions or sex shouldn’t be taught at all to elementary school students. Some teens live what they learn and others lead by example, but they all have a primary source of why they live to do what they do. Teachers today may be just a couple of years older than many high school students and could be an idol. A young teacher teaching about sex may be more effective to students rather that their fifty-three year old, grey haired teacher teaching them this. The word from the younger teacher is going to be like words from the wise. But are these words the wise, wise enough? Students at the teenage level may need someone to fall back on or depend on and it may be that young teacher. Amirul, 14 years old: â€Å"At first the thought of learning about sex was a bore, but when we had coach Allen (22) I was all ready to learn everyday†( George, 2009). Students are more motivated to learn about sex now that they have a younger person in their life teaching the subject. This only makes the subject easier to the student s to learn, but harder to the teachers to teach them without getting the wires all worked up on students. But , Alan Harris said, the more educated someone is the more likely they are to make responsible and informed choice for their behaviors. Sex education given by teachers at school is the most relabel way to give kids the right information about sex. In schools sex education information is give by professional and has be proven by many reports all over the country and world. The first formal attempts at sex education were introduced by a Dr. Arnold a schoolmaster at a public school. Dr. Arnold used the Bible to make the schoolboys fell guilt and scared of sex and masturbation. The nineteenth-century scare tactics books of Dr. Arnold were nothing like the sex book used by the sex educations teachers of today(Greaves.pg. 171). Some parents don’t approve of their children learning about sex in schools, but some do. For the parents that approve, how are the teachers teaching the students? Some schools, whether it is public or private, teach the students about sexual contact and conduct in separate classes. That’s right, some schools have separate teachings; they have the students’ parents sign a consent saying that they may teach sexual education in school and then separate the males from females and teach them about sex. It sounds like a positive but in actual reality, in the long run it’s a negative according to Gandy: â€Å"Classrooms separated by gender offers different resources, different teaching methods, and other factors that create unequal living environment† (Gandy, Piechura-Couture, N. P). Meaning that, the students that are separated may learn a little bit more or a little bit different that what is on the standard list. Male may learn more about the females and how to arouse then and females may stay close minded to what males have in store or vice versa. Teaching boys and girls at separate times only make them worry and wonder more about sex. Teaching a girl about her body and teaching a boy about his body makes the students ponder about the other gender. What teachers are teaching the students about sex are another negative effect. As well as teaching the students about their body parts and how they work and what they do. Jansen, a local shop owner, holds sex workshops for all teens (Geogre, 2009). In her workshops, Jansen urges teens to ask about anything and everything. From masturbation, gender identity, and same-sex feelings to sex toys (which they keep on hand in case the subject comes up), why people like oral sex, and why should that particular act go both ways and she will answer the question as honest as possible(George, 2009). Holding these workshops are not the best way to break the ice about questions, it only gives them more conformation to keep asking these kinds of questions to eventually figure out what they mean or how they operate and participate in the act of having sex. Teens should approach their parents with questions like these rather than a stranger. Sex should not be taught in school or outside of school either. Six year olds should learn how to spell their names, fourth and fifth graders should prepare to shift from one class to eight, and high school students should focus on getting a job or going to college; real world situations instead of sex. Teaching sex in the curriculum throws off all attention to anything else in life that students should pay more attention.

Reflective writing .. Developing the Professional Essay

Reflective writing .. Developing the Professional - Essay Example These developments are an explanation of my progress as recorded in the draft of this essay and in the assessment in Assignment 1. I shall base this reflection essay on Kolb’s Learning Cycle, since it was my guide throughout this module. Kolb’s learning Cycle helped me considerably in understanding the different components of effective learning, which I applied throughout this semester. My application of the Kolb’s cycle of learning was not only in this module, but also on the other modules that I covered this semester. Aside from explaining the responses, I shall also go through a number of interesting topics that we covered in class, sharing the most captivating segments. My reflection shall also bring out my experiences during group work. I shall also highlight how the experiences contributed to my development. In so doing, I shall employ the use of frameworks, models and theories within the module to communicate my understanding and development throughout my studies in this module. The information in this reflection shall be my honest assessment of myself as recorded in the documents attached in the Appendix section of this paper. One of the most interesting topics in this module, according to me, is Active Learning. This topic was a revelation, considering the fact that even during my undergraduate program; I was not exposed to knowledge on how different individuals are with regard to learning styles, values and personality. I understood that the process of learning depended much on the personality that a person has (Burbank, 2008).This revelation changed my approach to learning, making me develop a positive attitude towards learning new things, regardless of how difficult they appeared. This topic also helped me to understand the difference that my learning style had compared to my classmates, and how as a member of a study group I could help turn this diversity into a powerful tool for

Nursing Research Critique Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing Critique - Research Paper Example Specifically, this study narrows its focus on the hospitals in Sweden. The choice of the facility is important because it contains standard features that could make findings to be generalized within a global context. Critically, it is to be expected that the results of the study would be consistent and applicable to different places and situations. The emphasis of the study was to describe the real conditions as they occur at the work place during these shifts in order to expand the understanding of the issues and challenges that relate to the matter of RNs and ENs who work during the night shift. A critical review of the association between the facts presented in the problem statement and the objective of the paper reveals a seamless continuum of logic. Critical Analysis of the Study Purpose Inferences from the abstract and the preliminary facts about the study shows clearly that this study sought to describe the night work experiences of the Registered Nurses (RNs) and the Enrolled Nurses (ENs) from perspective of the nature of the work and the kind of organization and challenges that relate to the task (Nilson, Campbell & Anderson, 2008). ... In fact the study points out some assumptions that consider night duties as continuations of the kind of work arranged by the nurses who work during the day. Ideally, the study purpose captures the need to explore deeper into the essence of night duty in terms of its uniqueness and autonomy. It might be important to consider the purpose of this study in light of the structural factors that define the roles of the nurses during night duty. Critical Analysis of the Literature Review The kind of literature explored in this study explores a comprehensive wealth of information that provides resourceful details on the various matters that touch on the night duty experience, the relationship between the RNs and the ENs, and unique challenges that relate to working during the night shift. The literature also covers matters of professionalism with specific reference to the Swedish experience. For instance, this literature provides details on the kind of working relationship that takes place b etween the enrolled nurses and the registered nurses (Nilson, Campbell & Anderson, 2008). It might be argued that literature on the matters that affect the relationship between the registered nurses and enrolled nurses is meant to highlight some of the specific factors that lead to misconceptions about the manifestation of this working relationship within the context of night duty. Some of the factors explored in the literature play the role of expanding the subject matter into other relevant discourses that engage the question of working environment during the night hours. One of the most important issues that the literature seemed to lay significant focus on is the problematic distinction between the

Basketball as the Most Popular Team Sports Essay

Basketball as the Most Popular Team Sports - Essay Example Thus, it can be said that a basketball team, although not too large a group, is a discourse community in that the members have developed a specific institutionalized way of thinking through the use of all forms of communication, be it through speech, actions or text. The very specific language used to communicate between players, between coaches and players, between the referees and players, between the referees and coaches, and between the players and fans contributes positively to the whole experience and excitement of the game. In fact, it is inevitable as is a game that has very specific rules. This perpetuates the creation of phrases, words, signals and actions that are exclusive to the game. Furthermore, because the game is fast-paced, effective communication is necessary in order to be able to play and win the game. It contributes to the enjoyment of fans, as they are able to follow and understand the game and experience a sense of belonging. This paper aims to argue the poin t that the establishment of a discourse community in basketball positively affects the perception, experience and enjoyment of the game and is inevitable through a discourse community analysis based on the observations of this author of several basketball games. Discourse is a concept that pertains to â€Å"all forms of communication,† which means that language as used here denotes spoken language, sign language, and even written language (El Hadi 1). However, because written language is not used much in basketball—unless printed commentaries are analyzed, which is not a part of the observable factors in the game—the word language, when used generally here, will mean words and actions. When discourse is combined with the world community, it now points to how language has been used by groups with  the same social characteristics. This is a testament to the progressive notion that discourse functions within standards and practices that are defined by communities.  

Weight lost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weight lost - Essay Example Several factors in the human body affect the rate of shading off the excess calories, which lead to the desired loss of weight metabolic rate being one of the factors (Chatterjee 2007). The amount of energy that a human body consumes through the running of several organs varies from one person to the other. Consumption of this energy highly depends on the muscle tissue and those who consume high energy during rest are likely to burn more calories than those who use little energy. Body response to calorie reduction is the other factor. This varies from one person to the other as the body may decide to shut down automatically to preserve more calories. Other factors include the level of stress, genetic composition, amount of sleep and the type and amount of bacteria found in the gut. Exercise is one of the elements practised by many to enhance weight loss. Just like an automotive, a human body needs a supply of energy during activity to the muscles to help carry on (Chatterjee 2007). When the exercise is continuously carried out, it depletes the blood sugar, which in turn sends signals to the specific glands that release hormones that enhance the removal of more fats stored to provide the needed energy. Dieting is another important factor that a person who intends to lose weight should keep in mind. Since the stored excess fat brings excess weight, an individual should ensure that the diet is less in sugar and starch (Shartava, 2011). Overcoming the huger feeling and taking bites is always a big challenge but if one can be able to avoid this then, it can be of great help. Burning off more calories than a person is consuming helps in the situation. Weight loss has a significant effect in the daily activities of an individual. First is the ability to perform more activities without exhaustion as compared to an individual who has more weight (Saylor, 2006). This is associated with the ability to move easily and perform tasks with ease. The other thing is

The assignment is in the PDF format which I will be upload Research Paper

The assignment is in the PDF format which I will be upload - Research Paper Example While this evolution has brought in many ways or ideologies of perceiving the world and humanity, the civilization has both gained and lost in the spheres of family values and social commitment. If these technological advancements provided us with opportunities to establish stronger familial and social bonds, how would you make use of them? When such an evolution pushes you towards the boundaries of ethical deliberations, how do you intelligently direct yourself on the path of conscience and prudence? How does the media evolution contribute or contradict the evolution of civilization? A.A Campbell Swinton, being a prominent British electrical engineer, was on of the many visionaries to predict a ‘Distant Electric Vision’ by discussing a fully electronic video system in 1908 (Webb, 2005). The possibility of executing Swinton’s narrations was not realized until the second half of nineteenth century. Nonetheless, the first device for scanning and transmitting images through wires was constituted by Paul Nipkow, a twenty three year old German engineering student, in 1884. This concept established to inspect a scene sequentially point by point from top to bottom and left to right. It will further be transmitted through telegraph lines using the pulsating electric current generated from the time-varying brightness after every successive point (Webb, 2005). It was the fundamental system on which today’s televisions are based on. Television started to gain a place in the general household by 1960s. As the device developed technically, it brought tremendous changes in the attitudes of masses to absorb the advent of a mass media. â€Å"The introduction of the machine into the home meant that family members needed to come to terms with the presence of communication medium that might transform older modes of family interaction† (Spigel, 1992, p.238). Social

Manage IT Security for the London Olympic 2012 games Essay

Manage IT Security for the London Olympic 2012 games - Essay Example A safety and security strategy and security measures have been set up to respond to these. According to BBC News (2011), 13,500 armed forces personnel and 10,000 police officers will be deployed during the Olympics to enforce security. This will be backed by 50 marine officers in fast response boats who will be joined by 100 military personnel (Seida 2012). The structure of the safety and security strategy has been built around strategic objectives and each of these be will be delivered though a special programme headed by a programme manager. The Protect Programme will ensure the safety and security of games sites, infrastructure and venues, and people involved in the Games. The Programme will also consider protecting people travelling to the Games. The Prepare Programme will provide specialist response by ensuring that the necessary contingencies and workforce are in place to manage events that could significantly compromise or disrupt the security of the Games. The Identify and Di srupt Programme will provide the required capacity and capability to identify and disrupt all forms of threats to the Games. Command, Control, Plan and Resource (C2PR) programmes will ensure that required resources are available and can be deployed to the necessary sites to provide safety and security (Home Office 2012). One of the assumptions for this strategy is that the greatest security threat will be terrorism. Despite the above security, the potential IT security vulnerabilities of the event are still high and the major threat is identity theft. Vacca (2003) defines this as a type of crime where someone steals the identity of someone else and poses as that person. This is basically an identify fraud. In true-name ID fraud, the person’s identify information is not modified. Terrorists are also likely to stealing key pieces information from people like driver’s license numbers and social security numbers and combine them with fake information to create new identiti es which they will use to gain entry into the games venues. This is called synthetic ID fraud as noted by McFadden (2010). Criminals could pose as fans, players, visitors and even London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) officials. Once they gain entry into the venues, they commit terrorist attacks. They can also use these IDs to obtain goods and services. ID theft is a form of cyber crime. Giles (2010) explains that hackers access personal information of other people online. To get this information, the terrorists could send messages posing as the official website for LOCOG, trying to sell tickets. As people respond, they get their personal details and use them to make fake IDs. ID theft could also result from phishing attacks like man-in-the-middle phishing. This is where a criminal positions themselves between the legitimate site and the user (Emigh and Labs 2005). In this way, they will save valuable information from different sources and send false messages bet ween LOCOG and its users. To detect this, LOCOG will have to setup a spoof-reporting email address that users will send mails to. This will provide

Hals Hardware Essay Example for Free

Hals Hardware Essay Hal’s Hardware Inc. s regional, therefore they only have stores (14 of them) in three states. This scope of customers is a weakness because of their competitors such as Home Depot and Lowe’s are not regional Franchise Hardware Stores. Hal’s Hardware Inc. doesn’t have a good business process to deal with a national scale demand. The size of the products that can be delivered directly to the customer is also limited. Hal’s Hardware Inc. can adapt to an online website filled with the items they sell because all of they have a database of all their items they ever had. Hal’s Hardware Inc. will be able to expand their stores as well as apply their demonstrations online, have accessibility, and a will adopt new ways means of attracting customers. Convenience to the customers is especially possible to provide due to the ‘order online and pick-up in-store’ idea. Hal’s Hardware Inc. , if developing an e-commerce, will have to consider the factors of their decision. They will be facing immense competitions from larger Hardware industries and e-commerce Businesses who in which has a higher area profile, a vast scope of customers. With other e-commerce Businesses, the threat of losing manufacturing companies from selling via Hal’s Hardware Inc. , and directly selling their products online using e-commerce sites such as Amazon, and other sites with a wide target client coverage. There are numerous additions that the company may resort to in order to remain strong amidst other competitors. Hal’s Hardware can make use of the aspect of community and service that they’ve developed in-store and apply it on their website. This can be done in various ways. First, wanted ads from constructors should have a place on the website. From these projects, the web site could suggest tools and materials which would bring the attention of customers to certain items by showing how they can be used. Second, website could also be host for methods of instruction. In the store and tool demonstrations already occur. Online, the instruction manuals that they give out in store could be uploaded, for example. There could also be videos of the tool demonstrations to help online customers see the products in action. Third, seminars and workshops may be accessible online. Fourth, customers should be allowed to submit reviews of products that they’ve purchased either online or in-store. Moreover, schedules of seminars and workshops should be available online in order to advertise store events and draw in more people both to the website and to the store. With regard to their purchasing process, Hal’s Hardware should implement a way by which customers can find the store nearest to them prior to completing a transaction. Seeing as some items cannot be delivered directly to the customer due the size of the product and its effect on the price of shipping, the company should consider giving the customer the option of hipping their orders to their home or to a store. To go along with this, solid return and warranty policies should be constructed in order to cater customer satisfaction. To address areas in which their stock and resources are lacking, the company may make use of the site to post advertisements for manufacturers and distributors wh o would like to have their products or resources available in the store. Otherwise, the existence of a database will be a great help in forming the website. Stock will likely be updated as much as possible as the current database is changed in real-time. The amount of stock and location of products are already integrated into the current system. Both elements are incredibly useful to online customers. Overall, the website should focus on forming a good relationship between the company and the customers. The community atmosphere should translate to the website. The tight-knit nature of HHI’s customer community isn’t usually present in large chain stores. If the website contains features that nurture this, then it has a standing chance against its competitors.

How Electron Configuration Accounts for Ion Formation

How Electron Configuration Accounts for Ion Formation Consider electron configuration as it applies to the periodic table and explain in detail how this accounts for the formation of ions. Elements are arranged in the periodic table (see figure 1) according to their electronic configuration, which describes the number and arrangement of electrons in an atom, helping to make sense of the chemistry of an element. The notion of Electron configuration was first highlighted with the Bohr model, in which the electron shells were orbits at a fixed distance from the nucleus of an atom, and it is still common to speak of atomic structures in terms of shells and sub-shells. An electron shell is the set of atomic orbitals which share the same prinicpal quantum number n (Krauskopf 1995) – the number before the letter in the oribital label. Orbitals are filled in the order of increasing n+1, where two orbitals have the same value of n+1, they are filled in order of increasing n (reference.com). This gives the following order for filling the orbitals: 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p 5s 4d 5p 6s 4f 5d 6p 7s 5f 6d 7p If we look at this in relation to the periodic table we can see that starting with Hydrogen (which has one electron) going across to Helium having two. These two electrons have no filled up the first ‘shell’, called 1s. The next ‘shell’, 2s, is filled by Lithium and Beryllium. Moving across to the 2p sub shell (1p does not exist) – B, C, N, O, F, Ne. Each whole (one row in the table) ‘shell’ holds 8 electrons (with the S sub-shell holding 2 electrons, and the p sub-shell holding 6). So the second shell, looking at one row of the periodic table, is Li and Be (2s), and B, C, N, O, F, and Ne (2p). The elements of group 2 of the perdioic table have an electron configuration of [E]ns2 (where [E] is an inert gas configuration, taken from reference.com). Those elements grouped together in the periodic table have notable similarities in their chemical properties (Drever 1997). Electrons fill energy levels according to the Aufbau principle – the principle that the electron configurations of atoms build up according to a set of rules. The three rules are that: Electrons go into the orbital at the lowest available energy level Each orbital can only contain at most two electrons (with opposite spins) Where there are two or more orbitals at the same energy, they fill singly before the electrons pair up. Figure 1: Periodic Table of Elements ‘Valence electrons’ are the electrons contained in the outer shell (commonly called the ‘valence shell’) of an atom, and are important in determining the chemical properties of an element (Krauskopf 1995). As a result of this, elements with the same number of valence electrons are grouped together in the period table. As a general rule, the fewer electrons an atom holds, the less stable it becomes and the more likely it is to react. Conversely the more complete the valence shell is the more inert an atom is and the less likely it is to chemically react. Elements in the same group of the periodic table have similar properties because they have the same outer electron configuration. There are trends in properties down a group because of the shielding effect of the increasing number of inner full shells (Drever 1997). Electrons are able to move from one energy level to another by emission or absorption of a quantum of energy, in the form of a photon (reference.com). It is this gain or loss of energy that can trigger an electron to move to another shell or even break free from the atom and it’s valence shell. When an electron absorbs/gains more photons, then it moves to a more outer shell depending on the amount of energy the electron contains and has gained due to absorption. When an election releases/loses photons, then it moves to a more inner shell depending on the amount of energy the electron contains and has lost. If we use fluorine as an example, we can see that the full electron configuration of Fluorine is 1s2s2p5 (F is 5th from the left in p-block, one behind Neon so has 5 2p electrons). The valence electrons are 2s2p5 as there are two shells and these electrons are in the outer one. The key point is that atoms like to have a whole shell of 8 electrons, as this makes them more stable. As we can see from figure 1, Fluorine has only 7 electrons (7th from the right on the second row). It really wants to gain an electron (to be like Neon) in order to have 8, and complete its shell. Fluorine is, therefore, very reactive and ‘steals’ and electron off anything it can find. When it does this it gains an electron and becomes a negative ion – F (1s2s2p6). The reverse of this is Sodium (1s2s2p3s1), where 3s1 are the valence electrons. It really wants to loose this one extra electron to become 1s2s2p8 like Neon. It looses an electron and becomes a positive ion (Na+). REFERENCES: Baird, C. (1995) Environmental Geochemistry. USA: W.H. Freeman and Company Drever, J.I. (1997) The Geochemistry of Natural Waters. London: Prentice-Hall Krauskopf, K.B, Bird D.K. (1995) Introduction to Geochemistry. USA: McGraw-Hill Howard A.G. (1998) Aquatic Environmental Chemistry. Oxford: Science Publications Garrels, R. M., and J. C.Christ. (1965). Solutions, minerals, and equilibria. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper. Web Resouces: www.reference.com

Ethical Challenges In International Marketing Marketing Essay

Ethical Challenges In International Marketing Marketing Essay Abstract: Ogilvy and the Mather is one of the largest providers of marketing services in the world. It aims at delivery the platform for creating the right brand identity and accelerating the business with effective and excellent marketing communications to its multinational clients. This paper includes the Four P i.e. are Product, Price, Promotions and Price and the strategies adopted by the company in its operations and delivering of services. The product, price, promotion and distribution strategies help in the achievement of quality and standardized services as compared to its customers. The communication strategy includes the way and the various schemes a company attempts to adopt to communicate about its products and services. In the later part, the ethical challenge faced by the companys in marketing new product in a different country is discussed. Marketing ethics are rules and the regulations with the principles to be followed in the international marketing. The cultural and the legal issues to be considered in marketing new product in another country are discussed. The cultural and the legal issues must be considered so that the legal regulations and the cultural differences are not humiliated in introduction of new product in another country. Name of the company- Ogilvy Mather Line of Business- Advertising, marketing communication and public relations Countries where the company operates- United States of America, Australia Brazil and Singapore. Ogilvy and Mather is one of the leading advertising and marketing communications firm in the world. Ogilvy and Mather offers an Extensive range of marketing services and has established a collection of partner groups which includes line network Ogilvyone, Ogilvy Public Relations and others. They provide services to fortunes 500 companies which includes coke, American Express, Ford, Lenovo, Yahoo, Cisco, Johnson and Johnson, Kraft and Nestle. Products The Ogilvy and Mather is one of the largest marketing service provider in the world. The services offered by Ogilvy and Mather are as follows- Interactive strategy It offers services such as agency insights, interactive strategy consulting, and digital brand planning, business modelling. Online Advertising Social media and marketing Digital media and search marketing Digital CRM Data Analysis and Measurement Emerging Platforms Brand experience Product strategy- Ogilvy and Mather offer wide range of services to its customers. The product strategy used by Ogilvy and Mather is the creative excellence which established a value and standard of its services in the market. The strategy used for its services is to capture the area of marketing and communications by provided value added services with uniqueness to its clients. It promises to provide multidisciplinary services with the combination of creativity with effectiveness. It adopts the BIG IDEA;L policy where it believed that L will changes everything which means higher purposes , rallies support and provides a platform to all sort of ideas and crates demand ultimately. (2) Price The pricing strategy of Ogilvy and Mather is supposed to be high with best in quality and creativity. The skimming strategy is followed by Ogilvy and Mather in some few of its services where it the best player in the industry its pricing strategy , for example interactive marketing .This means they tend to change more to create a difference of their products and committing for delivery highest in quality with diversity. The competitors of Ogilvy and Mather are Ameredia, Saatchi and Saatchi, Arnold worldwide, BBDO. The price charged by Ogilvy and Mather is less than Ameredia and Arnold who are best players in the world .The pricing strategy are based on industry positions and the long term strategy. (3) Promotions- The services of Ogilvy and Mather are well renowned and most value in the area of marketing communications. Ogilvy and Mather initiated the concept of Evangelism which means finding the passion and the emotions of a brand , and inspiring the customers and the employers with the same. The promotional strategy adopted by Ogilvy and Mather is working in conjunction with the marketing campaign which they believe can get the product and the services into the customers notice and can new repeat customers. Ogilvy and Mather agency works for brand leveraging of its multinational clients by the combination of local know-how along with the worldwide network, making powerful campaigns that address local market needs and reinforcing the same for the universal brand identity. The brand building capability of the agency is the carried out by 360 Degree brand Stewardship which provides a holistic look at the communication and by using which is important from all the discipline to form a brand identity. The communication strategy adopted by Ogilvy and Mather is to create attention and getting the message which will make a promise consistent and reliable to the brands image and the identity. (4) Place- The agency has its marketing and communication network worldwide. The distribution strategy adopted by the company is based on the needs and the requirements in both the local and international terms. The target market of Ogilvy and Mather is to capture the companies which have global presence. It targeted on marketing accountability providing its customers right and effective services to accelerate in their brand and business. The targeted market of Ogilvy and Mather is to capture the marketing communication of the companies and provide public relation services to its clients. The distribution strategy pursued by Ogilvy and Mather is the creation and the platform that will drive the distribution strategy of the content. They work with the media to provide brand leverage and accelerating the brand identity of its clients. The distribution strategy includes the clients from IT sector to the Banking sector. It has the clients in various categories and industries. By delivering the quality and creative marketing and advertising solutions it helps the companies to maintain and create a brand identity in the global as well local markets. The two ethical challenges many companies face in the areas of ethics  when marketing a  product in another country- Marketing Ethics are collections rules, principles and the moral values to be followed in the operation and the regulations of marketing activities. In the marketing of new products in another country, the companies face many challenges due to the cultural, social, and political differences in different countries. The following are the two ethical challenges faced by the companies in introducing new product in another country in the area of ethics Price- Price is the most important factor to be considered in marketing a new product in another country. In the marketing of new products, the product would be unknown to the country and the marketer has to create a new place for its product in a foreign country with the help of advertisement and different promotional activities. The ethical issue faced in the introduction of new product in another country is the price dumping. To attract customers and create a market for the product, low price is charged. It charges a price less than the production cost or the price charged in the home country. Market competition- Another ethical issue faced by the marketing department in introducing new product in the foreign market is the market competition. Due to the cultural challenges the new companys face ethical issues in marketing their products in the international market. The market is already captured the market players and the new company will face the challenges of acceptance and the competition prevailing in the foreign market. The competition in regards to taste and preferences and customers are used to few particular brands, and are not willing to shift their choice to a new product will poise a barrier to the entry of the new product. A legal and a cultural  issue that  must be considered when marketing a product in another country- The legal issue to be considered in marketing a product in another country is the regulation of advertisements. Different countries induce different legal rules and regulation in advertising of products which must be considered in introducing new product in another country. Some products are banned from advertisements on certain media, for example, in France, large supermarket chains are allowed to be advertised T.V. In some European countries, it is illegal to discriminate price between customers and it is illegal to offer products on sale outside very narrow seasonal and percentage range. Therefore, the legal rules and regulations should be considered in advertising and selecting the media of promoting the new product in the foreign market. The cultural issues is based on the cultural psychology of the people in a country differs from another. One of the cultural issues is vales and the attitudes of the people differ in different countries. The cultural values and the attitudes of the people must be considered in the introduction of new product in a foreign country. This also requires the national and local languages must be taken into consideration in marketing new products in the foreign country. In a country spoken language carries a great emphasis of the communication; hidden cultural meaning of the words must be needs to be considered.

British Diplomacy in Palestine Essay -- Palestinians

I believe that British diplomacy in Palestine was consistently indecisive and hypocritical but at the same time the British wanted to keep their hands in Palestine’s economy and goods. The reasoning behind this statement is because of the events that played out during the Hussein-McMahon correspondence, the Sykes-Picot agreement, and the Balfour declaration. First, the Hussein-McMahon correspondence was a long-drawn-out exchange of letters between the Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali and British High Commissioner Sir Henry McMahon dealing with the future political status of the Ottoman Empire. The Arab’s were planning on revolting against the Ottoman Empire because of the promise that after the war was over Britain would recognize the independence of the Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire now known as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Saudi Arabia. The British encouraged the revolt against the Ottoman Empire because they were allies with the Germans, during World War I. The British also knew that if the Arab’s would get into World War I and if they could overthrow the Ottoman Empire the British would be able to occupy key positions that could give them the advantage over the Germans in the war. Unfortunately, after the war had ended, McMahon and Hussein could not agree on what areas of the territory to r ecognize the independence of the Arab areas that Hussein had wanted. For a lack of better words this made the relationship between the Arab leader, Hussein bin Ali, and the British High Commissioner Sir Henry McMahon and their people very untrusting of each other and extremely tense. The Second thing that put a lot of tension on the relationship between the Arabs and the British was the Sykes-Picot agreement... ...ing colonizers at just the moment when other Europeans had given up on the idea?† That being said, I believe this statement effectively paraphrases the source of the tension between Jews and Arab opponents of the creation of the state of Israel. Works Cited Fromkin, David (1989). A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. New York: Owl. pp. 286, 288. ISBN 0-8050-6884-8. Peter Mansfield, British Empire magazine, Time-Life Books, no 75, p.2078 Balfour, Arthur J. "Balfour Declaration of 1917." Letter to Foreign Office. 2 Nov. 1917. MS. Huneidi, Sahar. A Broken Trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians 1920-1925. London: I.B. Tauris, 2001. Print. "Quotes About Israeli Palestinian Conflict." (19 Quotes). Web. 10 Mar. 2012. .

John Dickinson :: history

John Dickinson Even though John Dickinson lived in the colonies, he supported the King and England. He became the â€Å"Penman of the Revolution†, but mostly in favor of the king. He tried to suppress the war, but he wasn’t successful. Born in 1732 in Maryland by an affluent farmer, he later moved in 1740 to Dover, Delaware, where he was educated at a young age. In 1750 he started to study law in Philadelphia. In 1753 he went to England to continue to study law at the London's Middle Temple. He returned to Philadelphia in 1757 and became an important lawyer. Since Dickinson was so well educated, he was asked to be in politics. In 1760 he served as spokesperson at the Three Lower Counties in Delaware. In 1762 he won a seat In the Pennsylvania Assembly and did again in 1764. Unfortunately for him, he lost the seat that year for going against Benjamin Franklin. During the Stamp Act, Dickinson was an important player. He wrote â€Å"The Late Regulations Respecting the British Colonies†, a pamphlet that that advised Americans to look to revoke the Stamp Act by pressuring British merchants. In 1767-68 he wrote â€Å"Letters From a Farmer† which was anonymous letters to the Pennsylvania Chronicles which stated, â€Å"The parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all her colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a moth country and her colonies; and necessary for the common good of all. He, who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire, has very slender notions of justice, or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament and we are as much dependant on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on one another.† This quote makes Dickinson seem as though he is against England, but in the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition†, from July 5, 1775, his views were a little different. â€Å"†¦the apprehensions which now oppress out hearts with unspeakable grieved, being once removed, your majesty will find your faithful subjects on this continent ready and willing at all times†¦to assert and maintain the rights and interests of your majesty and of our mother country.† It is possible that in the 8 year period between the â€Å"Letters from a Farmer† and the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition† Dickinson’s views have changed on the colonies. John Dickinson :: history John Dickinson Even though John Dickinson lived in the colonies, he supported the King and England. He became the â€Å"Penman of the Revolution†, but mostly in favor of the king. He tried to suppress the war, but he wasn’t successful. Born in 1732 in Maryland by an affluent farmer, he later moved in 1740 to Dover, Delaware, where he was educated at a young age. In 1750 he started to study law in Philadelphia. In 1753 he went to England to continue to study law at the London's Middle Temple. He returned to Philadelphia in 1757 and became an important lawyer. Since Dickinson was so well educated, he was asked to be in politics. In 1760 he served as spokesperson at the Three Lower Counties in Delaware. In 1762 he won a seat In the Pennsylvania Assembly and did again in 1764. Unfortunately for him, he lost the seat that year for going against Benjamin Franklin. During the Stamp Act, Dickinson was an important player. He wrote â€Å"The Late Regulations Respecting the British Colonies†, a pamphlet that that advised Americans to look to revoke the Stamp Act by pressuring British merchants. In 1767-68 he wrote â€Å"Letters From a Farmer† which was anonymous letters to the Pennsylvania Chronicles which stated, â€Å"The parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain and all her colonies. Such an authority is essential to the relation between a moth country and her colonies; and necessary for the common good of all. He, who considers these provinces as states distinct from the British Empire, has very slender notions of justice, or of their interests. We are but parts of a whole; and therefore there must exist a power somewhere to preside, and preserve the connection in due order. This power is lodged in the Parliament and we are as much dependant on Great Britain as a perfectly free people can be on one another.† This quote makes Dickinson seem as though he is against England, but in the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition†, from July 5, 1775, his views were a little different. â€Å"†¦the apprehensions which now oppress out hearts with unspeakable grieved, being once removed, your majesty will find your faithful subjects on this continent ready and willing at all times†¦to assert and maintain the rights and interests of your majesty and of our mother country.† It is possible that in the 8 year period between the â€Å"Letters from a Farmer† and the â€Å"Oliver Branch Petition† Dickinson’s views have changed on the colonies.

Mgt/311 Motivation Strategy Plan Essay

Abstract This paper will review the motivational strategies that best suits each of the three employees based on their characteristics. I would go on to describe the motivational strategies I have chosen and why they would suit theses three individuals. This paper will also point out the motivational theories that are best connected to the motivational strategies I have chose I have come up with motivational strategies that I felt was appropriate for all three individuals based on their portfolio from their self-assessments and their characteristics. In order to do this I had to evaluate each of the individual’s characteristics and see what best suited their interests. Mike is able to make reasonable decisions but could at times make rash decisions which could have a negative affect the way he makes decisions regarding his job. He lacks self-motivation when it comes to his employment. Mike is mildly emotional although it he may become overwhelmed under pressure. He has a relatively positive emotional outlook when it comes to his job. Mia tends be able to valuable decisions regarding her life and job which is a positive feature for her job. She also tends to be self-motivated but may become bored with her job from time to time. Mia emotions could interfere with job related issues because she seems to be highly emotional. She is able to work under li ttle to no supervision Positive emotional outlook about her job but this could fluctuate depending on stress level which means she would be open and receptive to helping others. Ray has a good since of direction when it comes to making decisions he too could work well under little to no supervision. He tends to be self-motivated but may need a boost here and there due to lack of interest. Like Mike Ray tend to have mild emotional reactions to job duties and job related stress but seems to be able to regulate his emotions. Great positive emotional outlook toward his job and tend to be very helpful to others. There are a few motivational strategies that I have chosen these strategies are in place to suit each of the three individuals. The strategies I have chosen is merit based pay plan, flexible benefits, employee recognition, employee involvement programs and bonuses. Each of the individual’s characteristics that benefits from one or all of these choices. The merit based pay plan would help the individual engage in their jobs better because great performance equals a great raise. Flexible benefits also helps them to choose benefit package that best suits their individual needs, this is seen as a perk of the job. Employee recognition would suit each of the individuals because this would help them feel good about the work they are doing and would make them want to keep doing a great job, it would also boost their confidence. Employee involvement is another strategy I would use because this would give the individuals to become more involved with not only their assigned job but with other things in the company as well. This would also help them to do things out side of their job and expand their knowledge. Lastly I chose bonuses I feel as if the company is doing well it would be because of the employees and the bonuses would also give the individuals something to look forward to and help them to want to keep up their performance because if their performance goes down the production of the company goes down and so will the bonuses (Robbins and Judge, 2011). The two motivational theories that are connected to my motivational strategies are two, factor theory and expectancy theory. According to Robbins and Judge (2011) expectancy theory is a theory that believes that employees would be motivated to a high level of effort when they feel as if it would lead to a better performance appraisal. The two motivational theories believe that a person is basic and their attitude towards their work could determine their success or failure (Robbins and Judge, 2011). With my strategy I not only want the individuals to have a good attitude towards their job but to also feel appreciated for doing their work. References Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th Ed.). River, N.J. Pearson/Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix. Employee Portfolio: Motivation Action Plan. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, MGT/311 Organizational Development website.

Effects OF Watching Too Much Television Essay

Watching television is an experience shared by most adults and children. But the problem is that watching television for long periods of time has many bad effects. The purpose of this essay is to persuade the reader that people shouldn’t watch too much television. The first reason why people shouldn’t watch television for long periods of time is that it makes people waste time that could be used in more beneficial activities. This wasted time could be used to make useful activities like exercising, interacting with friends and family, and reading. The second reason is that the content of many television programs is not educational. Movies and series nowadays have lots of violence, sex, and drugs scenes. This tendency has very dangerous impact on children because they grow up with the idea of a world where problems can only be solved with money and violence and where wars are inevitable. The third reason is that watching television increases the audience desire in eating which causes obesity. Because they always sit in front of the screen and they forget to do physical exercises. After the invention of television on 1923, it is found that the rate of obesity, heart attacks, and eyesight problems is increasing. According to a new study, watching television too much increases the risk of dying at an earlier age, especially from heart disease. This research says that every hour you spend in front of the television increases the risk of dying from heart disease by 18 percent and increases the overall risk of death by 11 percent. However this doesn’t mean that we should ban television, but if we are going to watch it, we should do it with moderation.

Monster Energy Drink Target Audience and Company Objectives Essay

Consumer Behavior Monster Energy Target Market Because the energy drink is still part of a new and developing industry, the energy drink target market is different than in some of the other beverage industries. Monster energy drinks have become a very popular, â€Å"hip† part of society, but the market at which they are aimed is not as wide and expansive, or diverse, as some might think. Early in energy drink history, when they were first being sold in the United States, athletes were the primary consumers. This shows that even initially energy drinks were directed at a select crowd, a group of people with specific interests. Although the consumer base for energy drinks has now expanded beyond that of simply athletes, the target market is still more particular than in other industries. When thinking about the energy drink target market, it is important to consider who is most receptive to the purported effects of the beverages. Although everyone is susceptible to the fatigue of the super-charged, over-worked lifestyle, young people are especially vulnerable to persistent exhaustion and insufficient energy. This group of people, more specifically male teenagers and people in their 20s, are also most likely to believe in the veracity of the energy drinks’ claims. As a result, the majority of energy drinks are developed for and advertised to this younger generation. In addition to focusing on a specific age group, many energy drink companies are even more exclusive in their marketing efforts, gearing their products and advertising to appeal to very specialized groups, such as gamers, extreme sports enthusiasts, and the hip-hop crowd. The effects of this emphasis on such a target market can be seen in the advertising campaigns of the energy drinks. Many of the names of the beverages, such as Monster LoCarb appeal to these specific consumers and the marketing strategies that revolve around sponsoring public events or celebrity endorsements reflect this focus. The design and packaging of many energy drinks also relates to the target market. Although the energy drink industry currently caters to a very specific target market, as it continues to grow and develop, it is likely that marketing efforts and the focus consumer base will be more diverse and expansive. The Monster Energy Drink, distributed by Monster Beverages Co., uses concentrated targeting as a marketing strategy. Strong promotion strategies including product hand-outs by young attractive vendors in powerful trucks blasting music are common ways The Company promotes in cities. The Company also uses Ricky Carmichael, a motocross legend, to endorse their products. 40 foot posters are used to target motocross fans which are a major target market for Monster Beverages Co. (Murr, 2006). Other effective advertisements include using high contrast, recognizable posters in retail stores and high energy, adrenaline rushed TV ads. Advantages of concentrated marketing include concentration of resources, better meeting the needs of the target audience, and strong positioning. Disadvantages include segments being too small or changing, and large competitors such as red bull to more effectively market to niche. According to Rodney Sacks, CEO, the target audience is 18 – 25 year old males (Murr, 2006). This market is focused on a product which offers an energy boost, so any audience that is involved in sports, or high endurance activity is a clear target. The green claw marks resemble adrenaline, power, and testosterone, accompanying its motto, â€Å"unleash the monster within†. High schools and colleges are clear niches for these high energy markets. The demographics for the target market for Monster energy drink are: Major Cities 18-25 year olds Males Athletes/ High endurance activities Income ? middle class According to the 2000 census, there are approximately 10 million males who fall under Sacks’ audience of 18 – 25 year old males. But I believe the target market is expanding to be much wider than that including women and older men. Judging by the effectiveness of free handout promotions in hot locations such as South beach, Florida, I see a target market of males and females ages 12 – 35. According to the census this number is around 80 million (US Census Bureau, 2007). Hansen’s Monster Energy drinks offer giant doses of caffeine and sugar in big black cans adorned with neon-colored claw marks. The scary packaging, plus a bevy of extreme-sports sponsorships, positions Monster as an edgy alternative to Red Bull in the fast-growing, $2 billion a year energy-drink market. Monster’s slogan: Unleash the beast. † Monster has certainly energized Hansen. The company has seen its sales more than double since it introduced the brand in April, 2002. Last year, Hansen earned $20 million on sales of $180 million, up from just $3 million of profits on sales of $80 million in 2001. Sales nearly doubled, while profits quadrupled, in this year’s first quarter. Those results helped Hansen earn the No. 26 spot on BusinessWeek’s annual ranking of Hot Growth Companies. Monster Objectives Hansen has jolted the Monster brand with a dose of guerrilla marketing. Teams of Monster ambassadors† give out samples of the product at concerts, beach parties, and other events. The company also sponsors motocross, surfing, and skateboarding competitions. Hansen representatives in black Monster vans supplement the company’s network of 300 independent distributors by assembling store displays and restocking specially designed racks in convenience store coolers. Hansen now owns an 18% share of the energy-drink category, according to the trade publication _Beverage Digest_. While Red Bull remains the leader with nearly half of the market, Hansen’s energy-drink sales increased 162% last year — more than three times Red Bull’s growth rate. A small subset of consumers is going wild over these drinks,† says Beverage Digest editor and publisher John Sicher. Hansen is really riding a tiger. † It’s a jungle out there, though. Coca-Cola Co. ([**KO**](.. /javascript:%20void%20showTicker(‘KO’)) ) is promoting its new Full Throttle energy drink. PepsiCo Inc. ([**PFE**](../javascript:%20void%20showTicker(‘PFE’)) ) is marketing energy drinks under its SoBe and Mountain Dew brands. And independent entrepreneurs have elbowed their way in with products such as Rockstar and FUZE Mega Energy. Every month we pick up a new product or two,† says George Kalil, who runs an independent bottling company in Tucson. Sacks estimates that the energy-drink category is growing 50% a year and that there’s room in the market for everybody. These are the new soft drinks of the world,† he declares. Sacks and Schlosberg are fending off the attack by diversifying. They’ve launched Joker, an energy drink sold exclusively in Circle K convenience stores, and Rumba, a caffeine-laced juice drink designed to be a morning pick-me-up. And they introduced Monster Assault, which comes in a black-and-gray camouflage can that saysDeclare war on the ordinary! † It’s a slogan that could describe the juiced-up strategy of this formerly sleepy beverage player. It is apparent that Monster has become a major player in the energy beverage market. We hope to be the number one choice of energy drinks among consumers.

Actor and Ubermarrionette

The Actor and the Uber-Marionette Edward Gordan Craig did not think of acting as an art-form; he considers it incorrect to speak as though actors are artists. He started out as an actor, but became more interested in art and he ended his acting career for theatrical design. He asserted that the director was the true artist of the theatre and viewed actors of little importance and even declared that they were very replaceable. Throughout his career in theatre production, he was viewed as extremely difficult to work with and he refused to produce anything that he did not have complete artistic control over.His ideals about the theatre and how it should be run were written in his most famous and rather controversial essay, â€Å"The Actor and the Uber-Marionette. † In this article, he seems to suggest that the stage has no place for actors and they should be banished and be replaced by super-marionettes. His analysis of the human actor compared to that of the marionette seems to be inferior. He believed that art can only come by creation; he believed what actors were doing was imitation. He believed that true artists capture the spirit of things and the actor was only mere pretending to capture the true essence of art.It is obvious in his language that Gordan Craig was very passionate of the theatre and he saw the commercialization of the stage as the destruction of theatre. He seems to think to think that actors were the root cause of the degradation of the art of the theatre , but he seem to have an underlying intention to urge actors to reform their acting and create for themselves a new form of acting. Gordan Craig believed that â€Å"Art arrives only by design. † (Craig, p. 55) This means that acting was not considered art by this definition because he saw actors as only being able to imitate and impersonate.He believed that the only way to make art was through creation and â€Å"Therefore in order to make any work of art it is clear we may onl y work in those materials with which we can calculate. Man is not one of these materials. † (Craig, p. 55) He believed that art can only be created by â€Å"materials† and those actors using their own bodies as materials for their art-form were considered an â€Å"accidental nature. † He claimed that the actor was controlled by his emotions and therefore unreliable and untrustworthy, â€Å"But with the actor, emotion possesses him; it seizes upon his limbs, moving them wither it ill. † (Craig, p. 56) He saw the human body, which the actors use as their material, as easily manipulated by emotions. Human emotion is so strong that it dictates every aspect of the actor such as his facial expressions and the sounds of his voice. He argued that the human emotion could work against the actor at any given moment and betray him. Gordan Craig liked having control of every aspect of the production and he did not like the idea of not having complete control of the act or’s voice and movements.He likely believed that with marionette, he would have a way to control the unpredictability of the actor and express a wide range of emotions. This is similar to how Jim Henson could express a distinguishable range of emotions using only the eyes of the Muppet. The placement of the eyes for a Muppet was the key to success for the character. In The Muppet Movie (1979), Miss Piggy is able to convey anger and even aggression through the puppeteer’s use of her eyes. This can be seen during the scene where Miss Piggy fights off Doc Hopper and his henchmen in the barn.Another example would be when Miss Piggy first gazes eyes on Kermit the Frog at the fair; her infatuation with Kermit is made obvious through usage of her eyes. Jim Henson also frequently says that Kermit the Frog was much bolder than himself and â€Å"He can say things I hold back. † (Seligmann, J. ; Leonard, E. (May 28, 1990). â€Å"Jim Henson: 1936–1990†. Newswe ek. ) In â€Å"The Actor and the Uber-Marionette,† Gordan Carig seemingly wants to do away with actor and have him replace by the uber-marionette.He says that even if the actor were to have original ideas of his own, â€Å"his nature would still be in servitude; his body would have to become the slave of his mind. † (Craig, p. 61) He goes on to say that the body of man is â€Å"utterly useless as a material for an art. † (Craig, p. 61) The only way actors can escape from this predicament is to reform their way of acting, â€Å"Today they impersonate and interpret; to-morrow they must represent and interpret; and the third day they must create. †(Craig, p. 61) This is the only solution to bringing back the essence of the theatre.The actors must learn to create and only then they can have freedom of creation and having something you can call your own. Gordan Craig thinks that actors are only able to imitate art, but cannot recreate it. He thinks of them as fakes who only do impersonations and never offering any contribution to the art. The actors masquerade as artists and they rarely think about creating art. They are copies and are incapable of â€Å"capturing the spirit and essence of idea to an audience. † (Craig, p. 63) Gordan Carig wants the actors to redeem themselves and help revive what is failing in the theatre.This importance of creation is predominant in Muppets and Sesame Street characters. Each Muppet has their own individual identity and their own unique aspects that define them. The puppeteer has freedom over the control of the Muppet and can decide to portray the Muppet in whatever way is desired. This is where Gordan Craig’s ideals differ with Muppets because some Muppets are based upon real people. That is not to say they are exact imitations, but they certain qualities resemble their real counterparts. Although they are their own characters, some Muppets do have a level of impersonation.For example, An imal is said to be based on Keith Moon, the drummer for The Who. Caroll Spinney who performs Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street said he based Oscar’s cranky voice on a New York cab driver that he once had the pleasure of riding with. The marionette has evolved from its predecessors; Gordan Craig has even said that it is â€Å"a rather degenerate form of a god. † (Craig, p. 82) Clearly, he holds the marionettes of higher value than the actor. He wants people to acknowledge how special the marionettes are and he is disappointed that puppets are regarded â€Å"low comedians. (Craig, p. 82) To him, the marionettes are â€Å"the last echo of some noble and beautiful art which has passed civilization. † (Craig, p. 82) He hates how modern puppets are being used and he feels they are being utilized incorrectly. He longs for the day in which puppets are used again as medium for the intelligent thoughts of the artist. The ideal situation was by creating the uber-marionett e; we can rid the theatre of the weakness that is the actor who is under the influence of his emotions.He saw the uber-marionette medium as perfect, pure and completely able to express the artist’s intentions because the marionette would be made in the artist’s image. Craig Gordan’s vision was similar to the situation in which Jim Henson was in where he was afraid that his company would be type casted as purely children’s entertainment. He wanted to break out in to the adult audience. American networks initially rejected his idea because they thought that Muppets only appealed to children and that adults would not be interested. Eventually he was able to get â€Å"The Muppet Show† financing through a British network.He was able to prove that the Muppets appealed to a variety of audiences, both young and old. It was no doubt that Muppets appealed very easily to children and this theory is very evident in Sesame Street. The usage of Muppets helped pr opagate the idea that â€Å"Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them†. (Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference p. 100) Muppets were good teaching tools because children can easily recognize them and they capture their attention.Edward Gordan Craig’s intentions through â€Å"The Actor and the Uber-Marionette† were to influence a revival of theatre art. He wanted actors to reform their way of acting and reacted strongly against the actor’s dominance in theatre. The creation of something by the artist was closer to true art and actors were merely imitating this. Actors were impersonators and were not intellectual and could not capture the spirit or essence of the art. The actor’s own emotions and personal beauty ruined the director’s vision. He truly believed that theatre should banish the actor and be replaced by the ube r-marionette.The marionette was much more reliable and trustworthy and the director could have full control over it. The puppet had a long history and was linked to many past great works of art. In his closing statements he tells us his desire, â€Å"I pray earnestly for the return of the image—the Uber-marionette to the Theatre; and when he comes again . . . , he will be loved so well that once more it will be possible for people to return to their ancient joy in ceremonies—once more will Creation be celebrated—homage rendered to existence and divine and happy intercession made to death. † (Craig, p. 94)

Developing Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Developing Management - Assignment Example In addition, Ryanair is famous for its cost minimizing operations such as: lack of air bridges and first-come first served basis model for seat allocation (GanusauskaitÄâ€", 12). The organization has set a strong corporate culture and highly focuses on its management style. The CEO, Micheal OLeary is popular for his candid yet strict leadership styles which lead to the revolution of Ryanair (GanusauskaitÄâ€", 16). One problem in Ryanair’s organizational culture is lack of good customer service. Although the airline is close to its employees, it is not very reputed to have good relations with its customers (Sparrow). According to Nwagbara (207) Ryaniar has hostile relations with the public and makes little attempts to satisfy them. In addition, the company does not focus on providing an experience to its customers rather it aims to reach the destination in a safe manner. In my opinion, Ryanair should change this culture and shift towards experiential marketing. The airline should offer some basic facilities to passengers that can improve their flying experience. Like thee blogger Sparrow states, Ryaniar should learn from JetBlue which provides highly committed customer service. Ryanair is Europe’s carrier which offers aviation services at the most affordable (low) prices. The company claims to offer lowest fares to all of Europe’s destinations (Ryanair Ltd). Ryanair’s cost cutting strategy has been its USP. The company has troubled its competitors using this cutting cost plans. It focuses only on the core offerings and rest of the facilities like hotel accommodation, car services etc are charged (Nwagbara, 207). In this way the airline is able to offer fares that are 40% lesser than its closest competitor (Nwagbara, 207). Ryanair’s decision to cut costs by completely E-tailing its air tickets ensures quick service and profit maximisation. Moreover, the decision to provide short haul routes and point-to-point services ensure non-stop routes and services are

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Research Paper Example It was saved from destruction and restored to its marvelous state by a famous French architect known as Eugene Viollet -le- Duc1. Many Francophone countries use the name Notre Dame in Catholic churches as it means Our Lady. Understanding the structure and significance of the building requires proper movement through the building. The Notre Dame de Paris was believed to among the first cathedrals constructed in Gothic design with its construction period spanning around the Gothic era. Its stained glass and sculptures show the powerful influence of naturalism which was different from the Romanesque architecture. The building was among the first buildings to use the arched exterior supports also known as the flying buttress. The original design was not made to include the implementation of flying buttress around the nave and choir. During construction, the thinner walls made in Gothic style began growing higher thus causing stress fractures to occur due to outward movement of the walls. To counter the move the architects of the cathedral built supports around the outer walls, later on, more additions were added to the pattern. In the 1790s the cathedral underwent desecration throughout the radical phase of the revolutionary French revolution when most of the religious imagery was destroyed or damaged. The 19th century was marked as a period of conducting a restoration project on the cathedral to return it to its marvelous state2. The cathedral was opened by a bishop of Paris known as Maurice de Sully in 1160 who had the idea of converting the two ruin basilicas into a single building for the large-scale purpose. In 1163 Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone and consecration of the high altar began in 1189.By 1250 the nave, western facade, and choir had been completed and the next 100 years saw the addition of chapels, porches and other embellishments.

Diversity Management in Hospitality Management Case Study

Diversity Management in Hospitality Management - Case Study Example Hilton has always taken care of this issue which plays an important role in the functioning of the whole company. Matters like productivity, quality, co ordination and unity need to be given high preference in big firms because the workforce is multinational, includes people of different religions and castes. Even gender discrimination must be eradicated to achieve optimum performance of the company. At Hilton, the steps taken to manage their diverse workforce are commendable. Keeping in mind the sentiments, practices and beliefs of their people, all their policies and plans are accepted by its employees. In all sectors of the group be it promotion of brands, relationship with other organizations, all are under the principles made by the company. Though, in some regions of the world, managing diversity is tough, still Hilton has worked hard to maintain its policies. In the following scripts we will be discussing how Hilton manages diversity management. As suggested by Hofstede, culture is more often a source of divergence than of synergy, and cultural disparities can be both nuisance and disaster simultaneously (Hofstede, 2001). Hilton has a massive workforce that includes minorities and women. The need of diversity management comes when discrimination occurs. Companies in order to maintain standards or to optimise their fund utilization and profits do not care to manage the problems which in turn would help them yield more profits. Many issues related to caste, religion, and sex hinders the growth of an organisation. People of different religions have grudges against each others. People of middle class category don't want to work with poor employees. Women are regarded useful only until they are single. Once they get married social and family matters surround them, like pregnancy, kids and further social life. Hilton has to overcome all these problems. Hospitality sector of the UK does face many such problems. Even though major officials of the sector have tried their level best to manage diversity, no significant results have come out. Plans and strategies were to be framed and implemented in order to provide job equality and opportunities, but the attempts have failed and a mere number of organisations have taken this issue seriously. The surveys that were carried out gave unsatisfactory results. Few companies were not bothered, few said that we would look upon it in the future, and only a few agreed to take reformative steps. The problem is that large hotel groups do not understand how harmful this discrimination is to their sector. People due to their cultural or background tags are not given the opportunities they deserve. This way, the persons' name and his monetary condition is given worth, not his skill. Their

Discuss about the perils and promise of pluralism in America Essay

Discuss about the perils and promise of pluralism in America - Essay Example In such a plural state as America is, every individual have the right to choose â€Å"what part of the multiplicity he wants to have or to belong to† (Johansson and Lynoe, 2008, p.245). In such a circumstance the stability of society depends on a ‘power balance’ (Johansson and Lynoe, 2008, p.245). Although this pluralism tries to ensure the greatest good, it is not a totalitarian principle and it has certain negative effects for individual and for society at large. The first effect of pluralism is that it gives rise to deferent interest groups in the politics. As America is probably the largest democracy in the world, the pluralistic view poses the question of whether having various interest groups is good for creating a policy. One of the major challenges that have arisen in the wake of this century is ensuring the national security from terrorist attack. America’s democracy promotion policy in the Muslim countries has been resisted by the Muslim Americans. Even a lack of clear definition of democracy allowed the Muslim Americans to question the basic presumption of democracy. The Judeo Christian tradition of America made it possible to create a society based on the shared values of catholic, protestant and Jewish religion. It was possible because certain denominations of the values of these religions were supported by the American life style. The 1965 Immigration Act was pivotal in creating a congregating identity of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs. With the widening of democracy, these culturally diverse groups have been able to lobby the administration and influence the social and cultural life of America. Within the diversity, there are cultural groups who feel marginalized and it is due to the tension between cultural groups who are struggling to monitor the values and institution for desired reformation (Machacek: 2003, p.1) Cultural pluralism in America tends to denigrate certain social groups in regards to language,

Sociology Exam questions tackling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sociology Exam questions tackling - Essay Example Sending food and supplies to starving people in developing countries can sometimes prove to be more harmful because it shakes up the economy. The market in the developing country can become flooded with goods that are donated, meaning these products do not have production cost to recoup, unlike the local products. Because of this competition, the local products are forced to lower their prices which can make them lose their investment. For example, if there are food drives from richer countries, there would be a large supply for a commodity, let’s say corn. This would down the prices of the local farmers’ corn produce, which is bad for them. In short, sending food and supplies can kill the local industries in developing countries. Discuss the main assumptions of world systems theory and outline how this perspective views the economy. The main assumption of the world systems theory is to view the world-economy as a whole, not by merely units that stand alone per country. The study of the social change in any element in the system such as regions, ethnic groups and classes must begin by finding out where in the economic scale these certain elements stand. For example: a state. In the world systems theory, the state will be examined for the changes in has undergone internally, and it will also be studied as an element of society which is affected by changes by the world economy as well. World systems theory is basically the foundation of globalization. According to the main proponent of the idea, Immanuel Wallerstein, there is only one world that is connected by a complicated and complex economic exchanges and an endless accumulation of capital. This theory has features that separate it from other theories. The core, periphery and semi-periphery terms in this theory explain how it works. The societies that work outside the world system is at the periphery while the core has a high level of technological development that enables that society to manufa cture complex products. Now, the role of the periphery is to supply the core these raw materials and cheap labor. There goes the inequality between these societies as the people from the periphery would also buy the manufactured products (fashioned from theirs) from the core. This theory can make the whole world a commodity. It promotes the commodification of materials, including human social relationships, labor and materials. This makes everything material and therefore, everything can be bought. List and describe the three major contributions of feminist research toward understanding the relationship between work, labor and gender. Major contributions of feminist research toward understanding the relationship between work, labor and gender includes equality, laws pertaining to the female sex (like maternity leaves) and the ability of women to participate in work and labor and even sexual violence because of discrimination due to lack of education and work opportunities. Before, s ocial rules deemed women as second class citizens. This is just a social construct, no scientific basis whatsoever. This is usually what happens when something is termed as weak or strong. The feminist movement began in the late 1900s. This brought along large waves of change in the world, and was backed by â€Å"universal† values that claim equality between sexes. This movement is, according to

M1A2- Leadership and Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

M1A2- Leadership and Ethics - Assignment Example The rumors were about the managing Director embezzle the company’s resources. To add on that, the aspect of mismanagement, where employees were not included in planning and the issue of ethnicity and racism was so much in practice. This caused a lot of unrest among the staff that the managing director went into hiding. The situation was so bad, that even the organizational output decreased tremendously. The breech in ethical principles and etiquette cost the organization a great deal, as they had to come up with strategies on guidance and counseling for all the staff members to reach and address the root cause of the problem. Hence, the inter relationship between values, morals and work ethics was established in a bid to solve the crises. According to Duska (1998), values refer to the definition of the good and bad in society. Moral values are those attributes that are upheld and valued in the society. Typical values include honesty, integrity, compassion, courage, honor, resp onsibility, patriotism, respect and fairness. By that definition, one could categorize the values listed above (honesty, integrity, compassion †¦) as â€Å"moral values† - values derived from a higher authority. When one acts in ways, which are consistent with our beliefs (whether secular or derived from a moral authority), we will characterize that as acting ethically. Hence, for one to be ethical, they need to posses ethics and moral values. According to Naagarazan (2006) the strategies to address the ethical crises apply in real life, whereby one attends therapy sessions and guidance and counseling in case, they face conflicts at home and the workplace. These tactics instill self-confidence in the individual, in that they are able to address and face their problems. This strategy is therefore effective in both the work place and real life situations. Reference List Duska, R. F. (1998). Education, leadership and business ethics: Essays on the work of Clarence Walton. K luwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht Naagarazan, R. S. (2006). Textbook on professional ethics and human values. New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers: New Delhi. A true leader should be able to address the specific organizational requirements while rendering his or her duties of ethical leadership. Discuss how you think virtues of character and leadership skills are acquired or developed within specific organizational contexts. For any given organizational framework, analyze parameters that will help you identify principles of best practice for leadership development. Identify and analyze attributes and competencies of effective leadership that can help implement these principles of best practice. Sucher (2008) wrote that, some of the leadership traits like humility, aggressiveness, and patience are innate, in that one is born a leader. They are nurtured in the day-to-day handling of the people in the organization. On the other hand, there are those traits that are acquired th rough practicing leadership for example, conflict resolution and team building. There are also those traits in leadership that are acquired through training, for example, listening and empathy skills from guidance and counsel ling classes, conflict resolution and team building from the managing people courses that people attend. Peterson & Sondergaard (2008) asserted that an organization that experiences effective ethical leadership, experiences high output. The staff on the other

Tourism in Costa Rica Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism in Costa Rica - Research Paper Example In addition to this, Costa Rica has one of the most extensive and well-developed national park systems in all of Latin America. An aerial tram which takes visitors by cable car over the top of the rain forest is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Costa Rica (Liu et al., 2008, p. 259). Prior to the 1980s when Costa Rica’s popularity increased, the country’s hotel industry was small. As demand grew, many Costa Ricans entered the hotel business. The majority of new hotels were owned and operated by inexperienced individuals who learned the business by trial and error. A small number of hotels were run by international chains operating in Costa Rica using both staff and management from their global operations. Soon after, a number of local hotel operators began working with a number of foreign hotel operators as joint-venture partners. Marriott Hotels was one of these companies. This system worked so well in Costa Rica that a number of other countries in the region, including Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama, began to use the same formula. These joint-venture partnerships were characterized by a majority of local shareholders, a minority stake by the international chain and a strong training and development component (Liu et al., 2008, p. 260). Increased environmental awareness and the growing interest in ecotourism can cause conflicting priorities for exotic locations such as Costa Rica. While the country must promote itself as a tourist attraction, it must also protect the country’s natural resources. The demands of sustainability and economic growth can be in conflict (Liu et al., 2008, p. 259). In order to remain a tourist attraction and extend the life cycle of its attractiveness, a country must know a great deal about its international visitors as they are the ones who are primarily responsible for the destination’s tourists (Liu et al., 2008, p. 260).