Implementing A Completed Progress Report Essay - 751 Words

ASSESSMENT TASK 4 – REVIEWING IMPLEMENTATION A COMPLETED PROGRESS REPORT 1. KPI progress: Objective 1 ïÆ'Ëœ Agreement signed within the time limit and auctioned, but only 180 machines installed in the past 12 months. There was a slower uptake in Northern Territory and North Queensland, due to the tourist slump with the strong Australian dollar. ïÆ'Ëœ Melbourne warehouse is still not open. It is currently being run on the more expensive agency model. ïÆ'Ëœ Still no service contractor for Northern Territory. All others meet the deadline, although agents in Western Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory were very expensive. Objective 2 ïÆ'Ëœ 100% volumes have increased to the point that all orders fill a container. KPI achieved in quicker time due to the initial increase in demand. ïÆ'Ëœ 13.8% some states still underperforming. Strategy still in line with timetable. Objective 3 ïÆ'Ëœ 12,000 clicks per day Achieved in half the time allocated. SEO specialist contractor very experienced. ïÆ'Ëœ Survey reveals only (50%) uptake. Design and colors not attractive. Strategy introduced within timeframe. Objective 4 ïÆ'Ëœ 30 suggestions and 8 new innovations, leading to a significant reduction of waste. Introduced with designated timeframe. ïÆ'Ëœ 12kw per person. Introduced to late in the year and not rolled out across the whole organization. 2. 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American Withdrawal from Iraq and the Resurgence of al-Qaeda

2006-2007 marked a time of violence in Iraq. Following the American invasion of 2003, numerous terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda,were fighting a guerilla campaign against the American occupiers and their colleagues in the Iraqi Security Force. The American response was to implement a surge of troops, which was successful in reducing the organization and effectiveness of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. But, following the 2011 withdrawal of American troops, we have recently seen a resurgence by al-Qaeda in Iraq. To understand what is happening today, we first have to be able to understand what led us to this point. Prior to the 2003 invasion, al-Qaeda had virtually no presence in Iraq. Therefore, we can conclude that the invasion†¦show more content†¦For example, we have 40,000 troops stationed in Japan and 54,000 in Germany to respond to various threats that may arise in those theaters. With the Middle East being a much more volatile region than Europe or even eastern Asia, U.S. military commanders recommended keeping 20,000 troops in Iraq. But according to Fred Kagan, a military historian and former adviser to both former President George W. Bush and military commander General David Petraeus, Obama rejected that idea (usatoday.com 2014). What makes the new violence so dangerous is that it is very much like a civil war. We no longer are seeing Muslim terrorists fighting back against American and Coalition troops, but we are seeing Muslims against Muslims. The conflict between Sunni and Shiite Islam has been ongoing for centuries. The majority of Iraq is Shiite. Saddam was a Sunni, who did persecute his opponents, many of whom were either Kurds or Shiites. Prime Minister al-Maliki’s persecution of his Sunni opponents is widely being blamed for al-Qaeda’s resurgence (washingtontimes.com 2013). He had his Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, arrested and sentenced to death for operating death squads (washingtontimes.com 2013). Al-H ashemi has since fled Iraq.Show MoreRelatedMilitary Is A Powerful Defense System Vital For A Governed Nations Democracy1525 Words   |  7 Pagescivilian official certain powers, in conjunction with Congress to declare war or initiate an engagement. War, defined as a declared state of conflict between societies; distinguishable from engagements that consist of a military force sent out to combat another force. With the end goal of preventing the military from running the government and civilians having ultimate control was due to oppressive British ruling during the Revolutionary War. In Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist 26 and Federalist 29Read MoreU.s. Troops From Afghanistan2839 Words   |  12 Pages Exiting Afghanistan Austin Schmidt American Government Mr. Pankow November 18, 2014 Over the years there s been a lot of controversy over the fact that U.S. troops are currently residing in Afghanistan and have been there since 2001. Many are wondering why we re still there and why haven t we left yet. Others want to know the positive outcomes of the roughly thirteen years that our troops have been there. Are we doing the right thing by being there? Background information aboutRead MoreThe Geopolitics Of Us Iranian Relations3204 Words   |  13 Pages AMERICAN MILITARY UNIVERSITY THE GEOPOLITICS OF US-IRANIAN RELATIONS BY NELSON SHAWVER INTL500 – WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENT: RESEARCH PAPER 31 AUGUST 2014 The Geopolitics of US-Iranian Relations American Military University â€Å"It is imperative for other states to accept the reality of Iran’s prominent role in the Middle East and beyond and to recognize and respect Iran’s legitimate national rights, interests, and security concerns.† Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2014)Read MoreTerrorism in Southeast Asia17760 Words   |  72 PagesAsia has been a base for terrorist operations. Al Qaeda penetrated the region by establishing local cells, training Southeast Asians in its camps in Afghanistan, and by financing and cooperating with indigenous radical Islamist groups. Indonesia and the southern Philippines have been particularly vulnerable to penetration by Islamic terrorist groups. Members of one indigenous network, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which has had extensive ties to Al Qaeda, helped two of the September 11, 2001 hijackersRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval

Apollo 13 Communication Plan Free Essays

A Self Reflection: While working on the communication project, we were fortunate to have had Ron Howard’s â€Å"Apollo 13† movie for reference to comprehend the complexity the team faced upon the incident that befell the mission. Both Gene Kranz (Lead Flight Director and Project Manager) and Jim Lovell (Apollo’s commander) maintained absolute control of a chaotic situation. While the team was becoming intractable, Kranz reigned in by channeling the ideas with â€Å"one at a time people† and asking his engineers to â€Å"quiet down, Let’s stay cool, let’s work the problem† successfully taming an already chaotic situation through effective communications. We will write a custom essay sample on Apollo 13 Communication Plan or any similar topic only for you Order Now In this dire situation, the only possible way to get the astronauts home was through extraordinary teamwork and ingenuity, led by Kranz, who was adamant that â€Å"Failure is not an option. † It was an unprecedented display of resolve, inventiveness and above all an exhibition of the utmost emotional intelligence there is. Awed by the interpersonal skills and assertiveness of Gene Kranz, I reflected back on my own life experiences where I could have been on more solid footings had I been able to control my emotions and use them wisely for a better outcome. This assignment really served as a virtual lab where I repeatedly found myself asking what if it were me in their stead? What would I do? How would I behave? What would I say? And above all would I have what it takes to bring the astronauts back home? This exercise asserted that the need to clearly define roles, responsibilities and objectives, and to communicate them to the stakeholders is paramount. We are, each of us, part of the system. We all serve an equally important role, and objectives cannot be achieved without the contribution of all. Aucoin states in chapter nine â€Å"the projects are all â€Å"right-brain† projects†¦Ã¢â‚¬  One can appreciate the value of this sentence after working the communication exercise, as the inspiration it conveyed was truly boundless. Indeed I will put forward and utilize the right-brain capabilities in my own projects moving forward. Applying those right-brain concepts to the information technology sphere of work would definitely put a positive spin on projects as we often manipulate ideas, concepts, and models before committing to the implementation. We frequently fail because we focus on technology ignoring the communication and collaboration piece and rarely utilize the right-brain concepts that can help us align our technology with the common goal. How to cite Apollo 13 Communication Plan, Papers

Rats in the Ranks Essay Example For Students

Rats in the Ranks Essay Because we didnt get to watch the film Rats in the Ranks, my presentation today will come from this weeks readings, but I will try and relate the readings back to previously watched films. This week the readings look firstly at the elements of the documentary, mainly focusing on the point of view and the documentaries development and structure. The later readings then delve into a more technical side of documentaries, looking at the steps taken in creating a documentary, such as the many problems that arise when trying to find funding. The first integral part of any documentary, like any film, is offcourse the picture. The reader lists 9 different types of picture a documentary can include, which look at action footage, library footage, people talking, interviews, re-enactments, still photos, and documents and graphics. Many of these can be seen in the documentary The Thin Blue Line. From these categories, the main one depicted in The Thin Blue Line are interviews, all the characters seen in this documentary are seen through interviews conducted by the film maker. Apart from interviews, the next largest used element is re-enactments, showing the scene again and again as the policeman gets shot several times. The other two main elements seen in this film are documents and other graphics, such as newspaper articles written at time the offence took place, and a few still photos, one of the accident scene, and photos of the back of a number of blue cars. When sound is used in a documentary, there are also a number of sections that it can fall under, these are quite straight forward however. The sections laid out in the reader categorise sound in the following fields, a voice over, narration, synchronous sound, sound effects, music, and silence.

To Kill a Mockingbird †Critical Response Essay Essay Example

To Kill a Mockingbird – Critical Response Essay Essay ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a fresh smartly written by Harper Lee to picture the prejudicial. discriminatory and racist attitudes of white society in Maycomb. Alabama in the 1930’s. Maycomb at first glimpse seems to be a warm and soft topographic point. However. as the novel progresses. the background of bondage. racism and poorness as a consequence of the Great Depression becomes prevailing. Lee explores assorted subjects such as the symbol of the mocking bird as a metaphor for artlessness. societal justness issues such as racism and bias and the mundane attitudes of people populating in little Deep South towns such as Maycomb. She successfully uses a assortment of linguistic communication techniques including sarcasm. sarcasm. temper and the usage of metaphors and conversational linguistic communication to develop characters and convey these subjects in a manner that is interesting prosecuting and thought arousing. The narrative is told through the position of Scout. the girl of Atticus. a outstanding. widowed attorney. Harper Lee’s accomplishment in making graphic imagination and a elaborate description of the town is made possible as Lookout recounts the narrative as an grownup. The narrative is divided in two parts. The first trades with Jem ( Scouts older brother ) and Scout’s compulsion with a cryptic adult male named Arthur â€Å"Boo† Radley. who portions the â€Å"spooky† Radley House with his male parent Mr. Nathan Radley. When Scout and Jem befriend a male child called Dill. their compulsion his heightened and they play games picturing the life of Boo the manner they perceive it. The 2nd Part of the Novel trades with Tom Robinson. a black adult male who is charged with ravishing Mayella Ewell. a white adult female. Tom is defended by Atticus and it is here that the biass of white society become prevailing and confronting. We will write a custom essay sample on To Kill a Mockingbird – Critical Response Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on To Kill a Mockingbird – Critical Response Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on To Kill a Mockingbird – Critical Response Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Harper Lee successfully uses irony cubic decimeter as Jem and Scout try to do sense of a society that strives to be moral and nice. yet embraces mindless biass and racism. This usage of sarcasm and sarcasm coupled with the artlessness of the kids creates temper ( for illustration. when Scout decides to crush Dill up so that he would get married her ) in the novel in capturing manner. Colloquial linguistic communication typical of the environment in which this novel is set is used invariably and suitably. However. differences even in conversational linguistic communication can be noted between white and black society. Calpurnia. a black maidservant looking after Scout and Jem. shows this really clearly. utilizing ‘White man’s language’ when in their company and altering to ‘black man’s jargon’ when in the company of dorsums. This divide in linguistic communication is used to underscore the divide in society between the two civilizations. Language is successfully used in the novel to develop characters and word picture. An illustration of this is the manner that the Ewell’s usage of disgusting linguistic communication as they address others. demoing their hapless instruction and societal standing. Again. sarcasm is created here when Bob Ewell asserts himself better than a black adult male yet Tom Robinson speaks far more courteously and without disgusting linguistic communication. Mayella shows an utmost deficiency of instruction in her address as she struggles to happen the right words to show herself clearly. Atticus. on the other manus. uses formal linguistic communication of a high criterion and incorporates metaphors. sarcasm and temper in a manner that is impressive and frequently elusive. This is used to develop his character as a extremely respectful. open- minded. moral adult male. Assorted subjects such as favoritism. bias. and societal justness are incorporated into this novel. The racialist and frequently unlogical biass of white society against black society ties into the subject of societal justness. a premier illustration being the result of Tom’s instance demoing how the universe we live in may non ever be merely and how justice depends on the attitudes of persons. However. possibly the most cardinal subject is the importance of the rubric â€Å"To kill a mockingbird† . This construct. the mindless persecution of an guiltless person. is used to depict Tom Robinson’s tribunal instance. Mocking birds sing for people’s enjoyment. make no injury to the community and are a symbol of pureness and artlessness. Tom Robinson is perceived as a mocker when he is wrongly convicted over the colza of Mayella Ewell because of the biass of white society. Lee uses the repeat of the words â€Å"guilty†¦ guilty†¦ . guilty† to underscore the disapprobation of an guiltless adult male. or in a metaphorical sense. the violent death of a derisive bird. Boo Radley may besides be seen as a mocking bird. In the beginning of the novel. he is perceived as a unsafe. frenzied person by the townspeople merely because of his cryptic character ( Boo seldom ventures out of the Radley House ) . though he had committed no offense. However. after Boo leaves gifts in a hole in a tree. puts a cover over lookout when she is standing in the cold and finally. saves Scouts life when Bob Ewell tries to kill her to seek retaliation for the demoralization of his household. during the tribunal instance. Jem and Scout realise that he is really a harmless. sort. person. Again. we see how an guiltless adult male can be discriminated against by prejudice borne from ignorance. In decision. Harper Lee has achieved her intent in doing us believe about the manner we treat others and the effects that our ain biass may hold on their lives. She has achieved this by successfully conveying the common attitudes of white society in Deep South towns in the 1930’s ( particularly towards African Americans ) . and developing subjects and characters through her usage of linguistic communication devices such as conversational linguistic communication. sarcasm and sarcasm in a manner that is effectual and prosecuting.

Get the PowerPoint - Emphasis

Get the PowerPoint Get the PowerPoint PowerPoint has revolutionised presentations. But too many people now use it as a substitute for thinking. They launch the application before theyve even considered what they want to say or what information will help the audience take in what theyre saying. Too often, the result is as exciting as a presentation on watching a plank warp. The key is to let this tool support your talk, not to let it take over. So heres a two-minute guide on how to write PowerPoint presentations: Intro slide With the first slide, introduce yourself. (Obvious we know, but its surprising how many people miss this one.) This frame can be up as your audience comes in if yours is the first or only talk in the session. It should feature: the title of your talk your name your position. Bullet points To use bullets effectively: stick to five bullets maximum keep each point to ten words maximum write statements, not descriptions cut all non-essential words double-check grammar, spelling and punctuation avoid flashy animations theyre just distracting. Graphics Graphics can add variety. Just make sure they are: relevant not too detailed making a clear point properly labelled. Sometimes a graphic on its own (ie with no text or other information) can work well to hold attention and liven up your talk. Sites like Flickr or CDs of copyright-free images can be useful here if youre on a tight budget. Although 30 spent on a decent image from a photo library can make your presentation far more professional. Holding frames Include holding frames when you want more attention on you. Avoid blank screens, it will look like something has gone wrong. Use your holding frame if you have no suitable illustration too. The holding frame should contain as little information as possible, eg just your organisations logo and web address. Avoid putting too much on your screen PowerPoint is there to support your talk. But filling the screen wont help your cause at all. Its easy to overestimate how much people can read on a slide. So dont stuff it full of statistics and excess verbiage. Whats more, if you put something on screen, remember that people will read it rather than listen to you, so you just end up wasting your breath. Less is more, therefore. (See the point about using images in isolation, above.) And finally Always think about your audience: keep things moving: aim for about one frame a minute vary the pace slightly plan your talk separately You can learn more about writing presentations and speeches on one of our courses.

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Writer's choice - Essay Example competitive advantage over a competitor, the company has employed various marketing strategies that help it in reaching out to its wide range of customers all over the place. Production of different sports wear for the different sports is among the strategies that the company uses in its market dominance. A marketing mix helps the company in producing sportswear that satisfies the different sports participants. SWOT analysis is also another concept that the company has been using in dealing with its business strategy. This involves analyzing a company’s strength, weaknesses, opportunity and the threats that the business is prone. This helps in the growth and development of the company’s strategic plans involving its marketing the goods and services. Lululemon is a clothing company that produces clothes of different models and fashions for running, yoga, working out as well as sweaty clothes. The company makes the clothes for different clients both male and females. The concept of capturing both the male and the female genders makes the company have a wide range of customers. This is a marketing mix that targets both genders thus having the maximum number of clients. This makes the company have a competitive edge over the other competitors. Having well distributed retail shops all over helps the company to reach out its extensive number of customers all over the world. This also brings out the customer satisfaction thus earning customer loyalty. This involves the satisfaction of different customers with different tastes of the goods and services. This is achieved through the production of goods with different styles and models. By having a wide range of products, the companies would have the wider range of customers to offer their services to (Paley, 2007). A marketing mix would greatly serve the different cohorts in the different

Finish three finance questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finish three finance questions - Essay Example The recessionary woes prevalent in the country have adversely affected the business of company. As the recession has taken a strong hit on the manufacturing organizations, so has service sector been affected by it. Although revenue has declined by a meager percentage, the profitability of the company has been slashed down by 73.5% during the same year. The operating expenses have themselves decreased by 2.6% on account of declining revenues and a better allocation of resources by management during the period. Exceptional items occurrence in the operating expenses section have trimmed the profitability. They have increased from a tiny ?4.7 Million in 2008 to ?37.4 Million in 2009 which represents an increase of 687% over the period. Finance costs have also painted a dim picture of profitability increasing by 10.28% during the period from CY08 to CY09. The financial burden was magnified because of an increase in exceptional items occurring in the financial charges table which increase from ?4.2 Million to ?11.9 Million. Income taxes paid during the year decreased by 65.3% with the credit going to the inverse effect of exception items on the taxable income. In a nutshell, if we exclude the effects of exceptional items, the profitability has only shrunk by 20%. ... High gross margins of the company depict that the company is operating in service industry. Operating margins have decreased from a hefty 23.6% in CY08 to 17.6% in CY09. Increase in operating expenses has caused the company to bear the brunt of falling profitability. Operating expenses have increased by 8.38% during the calendar year. Incorporating the effect of exceptional items show that operating margins have only declined from 24.3% in CY08 to 22.8% in CY09. The explanation can be attributed to the ground that the company has incurred ?37 million additional in exceptional items under the operating expenses table. Hence, we expect that the future of the company will remain upbeat as these exceptional items will have a limited affect on future operations. Net Profit Margin of Marston group has squeezed from 9.3% in CY08 to 2.5% in CY09. Again, exceptional items are the main culprit to such a large decline in margins. Financial costs have jumped up by 10.3% during the period on acco unt of increasing exceptional items incurred within the financial charges category. Efficiency Analysis Asset turnover ratio decreased from 0.27 in CY08 to 0.265 in CY09. This implies that the company is generating ?0.265 in revenues for every ?1 in its assets. This decline is a result of squeezing out of revenues in FY09, although the impact has also been mitigated by a slight decrease in assets from ?2465.9 to ?2431.3 in CY09. Trade receivables day outstanding has increased from 41 days in CY08 to 45 days in CY09 which implies that receivables are being collected in a higher number of days in the previous year, thus marking a negative sign on efficiency of the company. As the organization is not a manufacturing concern,

Sherlok Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sherlok - Essay Example Jams Watson, I feel taken a back into the 19th century, which I believe had the most intelligent human beings. Holmes’ intelligence is intertwined in his epic stoicism, sharp humour and encyclopaedic memory. I would like to focus on the plot because; the development of this story is boring. It is until one reads a number of the adventures that, the flow is realized. Holmes’s character and purpose in the adventures is realized when connecting the themes of all the Adventures and this is the sole reason of focusing on the plot of this piece of literary work. The part, when a helpless client enters to explain his mind on the determination of his case by the police. The presence of both the narrator and Holmes in the house and the subsequent events, that saw the narrator express his feeling of elucidating the most singular case, is a critical section in describing the narrator. It indicates his thinking ability, royalty and sincerity. I will like to talk about the time or periods, when the two primary characters carry out investigation of a case and take pleasure after work well done. For the case of investigation, I enjoy following Holmes apt investigative skills and the skilful ultimate interpretation (Arthur, 19). The second experience, the two characters enjoy by drinking and smoking. This indicates the other side of the two characters during leisure time. They do all sorts of things in a bid to enjoy themselves. The first experience benefits me, particularly when trying to imagine Holmes’ natural skills of investigation and solving cases (Arthur, 25). On the other hand, the second experience did not benefit me because of the reckless drinking and smoking, which indicates the bad side of the two

Marks and spencers as an international retailer

Marks and spencers as an international retailer Marks and Spencer, known as M S, is one of the biggest retailers in the world. It has around 150 stores in 30 countries, including 130 franchises operating across the globe. Though it is very popular for its clothing chains in the United Kingdom, M S is also known for its multi-million pound food industry. M S also sell home furnishings, footwear and gifts other than clothing and food. In the United Kingdom alone it has 450 stores and under the trademark St. Michael, it has a chain of 294 stores. Almost all the companys overseas branches are locally franchised. M S owns the United States of Americas Brooks Brothers and King Super Markets. To meet the demands of the customers the company gets facilitated by Direct Mail. The companys core objectives of meeting the customer expectation and giving consumers easier and better access to a wide list of products. The financial services for the customers are provided by the groups financial services which comprise of the unit trust manage ment, life insurances etc. M S in recent years suffered a succession of adversities, both at home and abroad. The sales of the company have dropped. The market capitalization and stock prices reduced substantially and the overseas profits have tremendously declined. As a result the company was forced to form a marketing department in January 1999 and become more proactive and market driven. M S followed a very simple marketing philosophy for a very long time. That is to produce high quality products under a recognised brand and advertise through the word-of-mouth. But in the recent past, this advertising strategy has come under criticism as the company started losing its competitive touch. The challenge now is to develop a good marketing strategy and emerge from the slump to reposition M S as a fierce global competitor in the international arena. Internationalization Strategy of M S The internationalization of the M S began in the early 1940s. It is because the company started to feel that the domestic market has been saturated and the expansion has to come from abroad. Unlike most of the firms, M S began to export its products on the brand name St. Michael as a way to test the waters. It has been successful and the company was exporting about $1,146,000 worth of products by 1955. Externally, the members of a local labour party were suggesting nationalizing the leading domestic retailers. Sooner as a tool of diversification, some international franchising relationships were formed. This franchising allowed the company to achieve global presence with minimum political and economic risks. As the relations of the company grew with other global countries, MS choose to invest directly (FDI). MS uses various types of foreign entry around the world. But mostly the company believes in opening its own stores in major economies. It has its own stores in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and Netherlands; and franchises in Cyprus, Israel, Bermuda, etc. when forming international alliances; it often prefers an experienced retailer in that particular country. Its first joint venture was established in Spain as it felt the cultural distance and market power of its co company will help to mitigate the political climate and behaviour of the company. Its international strategies in Spain yielded successful results which helped it to gain popularity in the global markets. Through franchising, its approach was mostly top-down. That is it has a centralised management which could not be better off in various marketing situations. Hence it was forced to change its internationalization strategies through foreign direct investment. Due to this there is a forced change in its technolog y, cultural behaviouring and regional promoting aspects. MS started to open stores in America, Far East and Europe. In different parts it has slightly different operational strategies depending upon the host countries values. In America it used acquisitions with Brook Brothers (clothing company), in Europe it has its direct stores running and in Far East, some stores were run with franchise and others through direct investment. Following a wide range of strategy reviews of its business, board of MS announced in 2001 significant changes to its strategies. The important decisions in its strategy are: Expansion in growth of profitable products. Acceleration of store renewal program Being close to the customer More intensive use of space Release value from half the property portfolio Cost cutting. MS has a wide range of returns on food products and has earned customer trust. So it decided to invest its major investment in food, home and beauty products. Its other plan was to accelerate the renewal of store renewal. Under this, it planned to refurbish more stores faster at the lower cost. It also reallocated to higher growth product areas to maximise returns per sqft. Apart from these strategic changes, it uses direct investment in global sectors which gained them a competitive advantage. Factors affecting MS strategy There are various factors which has a certain impact on the MS internationalization strategy. Of them, technology has been one of the factor in which the company was forced to change its strategy in various countries. But broadly speaking, in this fast developing technological world, technology used by Ms is been available where ever it opened its stores. A small adjustment to the technical functioning of a store is enough for the company to have its strategy working. The most important factor that has its resemblance in the formulation of internationalization strategy is geography and distance. As the marketing strategy of MS is universal, however it does not mean that it uses similar strategies in all parts of the world. There is a large effect of globalisation to the formulation of internationalization strategies. Consumers from various countries are different due to varying culture, economic development, and income level and so on. So in certain cases MS does not use its centralised operating strategies instead it combines with some other company through mergers but has its own standards running. This initial phenomenon of outsourcing and then after some recognition opening its own store had a significant upward success in MS organization. As marks and spencer is generally known for its clothing and food products, the locality of the company is very important. As MS runs its stores in different countries, transportation of the products has to be done in a prà ©cised manner such that there is no shortage. So in order to overcome this transportation and time differences, MS has its own outlets in specific countries. These outlets have immediate access to the supply of products whenever required. There are certain situations where it cannot have its own outlets due to some government policies and other factors. In these cases, marks and spencer uses its internationalization strategy of franchising. So that it has its own functionality running by other company. All these have significant impacts in the brand distribution globally. Apart from these, government trade policies also play a part in the strategy formulation. Given the growing links among nations, it is very difficult to consider domestic policy without considering international repercussions. In the case of formulating its strategy in US, bilateral negotiations are carried out covering wide range of products, services and investments. Such a policy should pursue the government to facilitate competitiveness and encourage collaboration among companies in the areas of goods and process technologies. MS is an UK company where the marketing conditions have to be emphasized by the government and the product is socially accepted. Also great emphasis is placed on efficiency by government policies. Where as in US and Far East countries, they regard individualism and the promotional appeals should be relevant to the individual to incorporate lower power distance within the market. Also the main advantage of Marks and Spencer government policy is that it had an opportunity of taking advantage of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) in US. It takes advantage of tax under this agreement and is outsourcing its products to Mexico and Canada. It also has an advantage of making economic sense in terms of logistics. The important policy priorities for the tax Policy Action Group (PAG) in the future include: The Tax Framework for Business The Value Added Tax The National Insurance Contributions M S will be benefitted over the above made policies by the government. The idea is to focus on the oversight and the management of the policy implications in indirect tax, company tax, personnel tax and customs duty. Conclusion The conventional wisdom on development of the developed companies like MS has focused on learning from mistakes. The leading MS Company showed that their high risk strategy of acquisition and direct investment can yield successful results backed up with technology, and cultural values. The insights from the study on MS suggest that overseas expansion is related to the need to improve global competitiveness in order to boost their outsourcing capabilities. No matter the distance and differences between the countries, MS has been the successful organization to open its companies in different countries and make them profitable ones. The only important aspect for it is to make a minimum number of changes to the functioning and marketing aspects depending upon the country in which it is operating in. thus from the above analysis it can be understood that the globalization strategy of MS created a new marketing paradigm in its success and also gained superior advantage and reputation irres pective of the host country policies and other factors. Hence it is clear from the strategies of an MS company that we live in a truly globalised economy where differences across countries are given little importance in development.

Essay on Camus’ The Stranger (The Outsider): Meursault as Christ

Meursault as Christ in The Stranger (The Outsider)  Ã‚     In one of his later interviews, Camus made the somewhat irritated comment that Meursault is the â€Å"only Christ we deserve.† While this seem to be a pithy, witty comment, we need to figure out how Meursault is like Christ. Christ taught his disciples and had them go and teach others, yet Meursault has no disciples and chooses to say little. Meursault murders while Christ brings a man back from the dead. Most drastically, Christ †died for our sins† in order to make all those who follow free from original sin. Meursault just dies. So it is hard to see the link. If, however, we are to take Camus seriously, we need to push hard on this comparison. Christ lived his life along an orchestrated plan. At the garden of Gethsimede, Christ looks to heaven and asks that â€Å"this cup be taken from me.† Later, he recants and continues along his preordained path to crucifixion. Meursault never gets that chance. Instead of the hand of God or Fate pushing him inexorably forward, he chooses Chance. Chance put him on the floor with ...

Welfare and Drug Testing

The welfare program was designed to be a temporary solution to help families in need to get back on their feet, and meet their basic needs. It Is estimated that 50 to 80 percent of family based services involve drugs or alcohol abuse (Chug 2001). Some advantages of mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients are that it fosters self-reliance, averts abuse of the welfare system, gives people an opportunity to receive treatment, and ensures correct allocation of tax dollars. So why not drug test the recipients before a person an get qualified for services? Drug abuse has been a problem in the United States for a very long time.In the beginning before there were regulations narcotics were freely used In elixirs and other medical and homemade remedies. It was not until the effects of these drugs were known, and the damage was already done that government regulations were put into place. It has been determined that the use of drugs has been the main cause of most crimes in the United St ates. Statistically it has been shown that nearly half of the current inmate population has some history of drug abuse. It has been brought to the attention of legislators that there is a drug abuse problem within the welfare system.When the welfare reform act of 1996 was passed there was a provision stated to allow drug testing on an as needed basis. This protocol has not been widely used, and seems to have been forgotten, until now that is. The government has identified a problem within the welfare system, and would like to recoup some of the losses, and also help some of the individuals that do have a problem. Welfare was meant to be a temporary fix† to help a person get back on their feet. If a drug problem Is present, a person will tend to stay on the system, not be employable, and use the benefits for which they were not Intended.To get this issue in check law makers would like to see people be drug tested before being approved for benefits, and periodic random tests whi le they are receiving them as well. There are also provisions for persons who have a drug problem to receive the treatment they need. This pale chart represents the results off poll Fox News did In 2010. The question was, â€Å"Do you Delves welfare recipients snouts De Aragua tested There are many different types of tests used to detect drugs in a person's yester. The type of testing used will be determined on the types of drugs being tested for and the cost effectiveness and time allotment.Some states are proposing the individual will pay for the testing, but will be reimbursed once the results come back negative. Other states are proposing the amount of money they will save by cutting back on benefit fraud will be more than enough to cover the costs of testing. The most cost effective and time efficient method of testing is urinalysis. This test can be administered in an office setting and the results are available immediately. The only down fall to this test is it can be beat b y taking herbal supplements that are made to mask the drug.It is also not accurate in testing for substances like cocaine and alcohol as they are not testable in the urine after 3 days. Hair testing is another option. This test is administered in a clinical setting, and requires small amounts of hair taken from different areas of the head. One inch of hair gives the clinician sixty days of history, and cannot be faked. Blood tests also require a clinical setting and a laboratory to read the results. With the last two options of testing turnaround time an be days, weeks, or months, and can be quite expensive.There are already a few states such as Michigan, Florida, and New Hampshire that have this protocol in place. The strongest argument for the testing of individuals is having such a program in place will help reduce the miss use and miss appropriation of taxpayer's monies. Governor Rick Scott, R Florida, states † It's not right for taxpayer money to be paying for somebody's drug addiction, On top of that, this is going to increase personal responsibility, personal accountability. We shouldn't be subsidizing people's addiction. (Scott, 2011). The state of Florida approved this bill that took effect July 1, 2011.Governor Scott also stated â€Å"It's the right thing for taxpayers,† Scott said after signing the measure. â€Å"It's the right thing for citizens of this state that need public assistance. We don't want to waste tax dollars. And also, we want to give people an incentive to not use drugs. † (Scott, 2011) It is perceived it would help reduce domestic violence and other drug related crimes. Individuals would also receive intervention and care they might not normally have access to without this program. If an individual were to fail a drug test they would be given the option to enter a state treatment program.If the person was to refuse treatment or have a second offense after completing the treatment they would lose their benefits fo r a period of one year. As with all new laws trying to be passed there are also those who are against it. Opponents of drug testing believe that it is violating the constitutional protections in the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment to the U. S Constitution states, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.Columnist William Safari in The New York Times writes, Not only is my home my castle, my body is my citadel. Unless I give you a probable cause to suspect me of a crime, what goes on in my home and body and mind is my business Robin Merrill of Maine Equal Justice, which provides legal services for the poor states, â€Å"Random drug testing is very questionable legally with respect to constitutional issues. If the government has the right to drug- test people based on receipt of aid from public assistance programs, what is to stop en government Trot requiring Aragua tes ting Tort anyone won receives a student loan or any other government benefit?This law would create a very slippery slope with respect to infringement on people's right to privacy. † Another point in question is will this really save the tax payers any money? How much will the added administrative personal and the testing itself cost? The Miami Herald reports that the savings in Florida could reach one hundred thousand dollars, but no reports of administrative costs have been reported. Adversaries also raise the question about discrimination and alienation. They believe that singling out individuals because of their financial status could be disastrous and have negative effects.Cutting off families benefits because of the actions of an individual could do more harm than good. Just because an individual has a substance abuse problem, how can you prove they are not using their benefits appropriately? (Dona 2005) Whether you are in favor or opposed to welfare recipients being drug tested, the issue is one that most people will encounter on Election Day. People who are in favor say testing will allow people to get help that otherwise would fall through the cracks. It would also raise the UN employment rate by allowing those individuals to become better qualified to obtain and keep Jobs.

Article of Capital Budgeting Survey Essay

This research is motivated by two major factors: (1) the  over twenty year hiatus since the last thorough review ofthe capital budgeting survey literature, and (2) past appeals to the finance academic community by researchers to explore  neglected areas ofthe capital budgeting process. In response, and using a four-stage capital budgeting process as a guide, the authors review the capital budgeting survey literature  from 1984 through 2008 and find that some ofthe neglected  areas have infact been directly addressed. Unfortunately, the most prevalent focus of capital budgeting surveys continues  to be that ofthe selection stage. As a result, many areas ofthe capital budgeting process still remain relatively unexplored, providing numerous survey research opportunities. This research effort is motivated by two tnajor factors: 1)  the twenty year hiatus since the last thorough review of the capital budgeting survey literature, and 2) past observations and appeals made to the finance academic community by  fellow researchers to explore neglected areas of the capital budgeting process through more focused and directed survey  research. Richard M. Burns is a Professor of Finance at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL Joe Walker is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL. The authors wish to thank the Editor and the anonymous referee for their many helpful comments and suggestions. 78 The first factor stands on its own as justification for an update of the capital budgeting survey literature. The last comprehensive reviews were made by researchers Scott and Petty (1984) and Mukherjee (1987) over twenty years ago. Regarding the second factor, almost three decades ago, Kim (1979) noted that too much emphasis was being placed on methods of ranking and selecting capital budgeting proposals. Scott and Petty (1984) also noted the â€Å"†¦ disproportionate (unjustified) amount of time [spent] on a particular stage (financial analysis and project selection) †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Further, Gordon and Pinches (1984) generalized this complaint by arguing that â€Å"†¦the capital budgeting process must be viewed in its entirety.† Mukherjee (1987) agreed that â€Å"†¦ further survey efforts need to be devoted to understanding the entire process.† To address these two factors, the authors have provided a current review of the capital budgeting survey studies over the past twenty-four years. The results are reported in a four-stage capital budgeting framework that allows a more detailed and clear assessment of the appeals by past researchers. As a result, fertile areas for future applied research in the area of capital budgeting survey work are more easily identified and summarized. The organization of this paper is as follows. In Section I a four-stage capital budgeting process will be identified and used throughout the balance ofthe paper. It provides a useful framework to evaluate in more detail the most prominent capital budgeting survey literature reviews of the past, to highlight neglected areas of capital budgeting research, and to organize past appeals for future research in this area. In Section II this four-stage process will also be used to describe the procedures used in performing the capital budgeting 79 BURNS & WALKER – CAPITAL BUDGETING SURVEYS: THE FUTURE IS NOW survey literature update over the 1984-2008 period. Section  III will continue to use this framework to present the detailed findings while Section IV will provide an overall summary.  Finally, Section V will present conclusions, comments, and  insights for future survey research. I. Past Reviews and Appeals appears on an executive’s desk and all that is needed is for the manager to choose the project(s) with the highest expected payoff. However, as most managers quickly learn, this is not the case. Further, once projects are chosen, the evaluation  of an individual project’s subsequent performance  is usually either ignored or often inappropriately  handled.  Our contention is that the capitalbudgeting process must be viewed in its entirety,  and the informational needs to support effective  decisions must be built  into the firm’s decision  comprehensive reviews  support system. In the corporate finance  capital budgeting survey  literature  the  capital  The last budgeting process has been  were made by researchers Scott  described in terms of four The two most significant stages: 1) identification, attempts to assess the and Petty (1984) and Mukherjee 2) development,  3)  balance of research among  (1987) over twenty years ago.  selection, and 4) control.’  these four stages were those  The identification stage  of Scott and Petty (1984)  comprises the overall process of project idea generation and Mukherjee (1987), both of which occurred well over including sources and submission procedures and the twenty years ago.^ Scott and Petty provided a synthesis of earlier surveys of  incentives/reward system, if any. The development stage involves the initial screening process relying primarily large American firms and organized their analysis based on a upon cash flow estimation and early screening criteria. The three stage classification: 1) project definition and cash flow selection stage includes the detailed project analysis that estimation 2) financial analysis and project selection, and results in acceptance or rejection of the project for funding. 3) project implementation and review. Citing Gitman and Finally, the control stage involves the evaluation of project Forrester (1977), they noted that: †¦ project definition and cash flow estimation is performance for both control purposes and continuous considered the â€Å"most difficult† aspect ofthe capital improvement for future decisions. All four stages have budgeting process. The financial analysis and common areas of interest including personnel, procedures, project selection stage, which receives the most and methods involved, along with the rationale for each. attention in the literature, is considered the least All four stages are critical to the overall process, but difBcult ofthe three stages †¦Ã‚  the selection stage is arguably the most involved since it includes the choices of analytical methods/techniques used, Also covering surveys of large American corporations, how the cost of capital is determined, how adjustments for Mukherjee (1987) agreed that there had been too much projects risks are assessed and reflected, and how, if relevant, survey focus on the selection stage and not enough on the capital rationing affects project choice. The selection stage other stages as well as the overall capital budgeting process. has also been the most investigated by survey researchers, Paraphrasing that paper’s recommendations, it called for particularly in the area of selection techniques, resulting in more research into specific questions relevant for each stage. a relative neglect ofthe other stages. This in turn has led to For example, in stage 1, future surveyors were urged to appeals to future researchers to consider the other stages in investigate the reward systems, procedural aspects, and the their survey research efforts. As Gordon and Pinches (1984) organizational structure ofthe firm. In stage 2, more research note: was suggested on the topics of divisional vs. corporate Most of the literature on the subject of capital biases, strategic considerations, cash flow estimation budgeting has emphasized the selection phase, details, data details, cannibalization, risk, and inflation. giving little coverage to the other phases. Instead, Even within the more widely-studied Stage 3, neglected it is usually assumed that a set of well-defined capital investment opportunities, with all of the informational needs clearly specified, suddenly ^ o t e that these two reviews are only three years apart based on publication ‘See Gordon and Pinches (1984) and Mukherjee (1987). Scott and Petty (1984) use a similar 3-stage process. It is interesting to note, however, that an even earlier survey by Gitman and Forrester (1977) had used a 4-stage analysis. date, and that the latter does not cite the former, likely due to publication lags. As noted in the procedures section, this paper uses the Mukherjee format. Furthermore, the title of this paper derives from Mukherjee’s title. 80 areas were identified such as the rationale for the various methods used, how firms compute their cost of capital, the low rate of risk recognition, the associated low rates of risk adjustment and assessment sophistication, capital rationing (and the low usage of linear programming), and the details of authorization levels. Finally, with regard to Stage 4, more research was encouraged into the details of performance evaluation, how the company follows up on such evaluation, the details of expenditure control procedures, and the reward system for performance.’ How well these appeals have been answered with subsequent survey research is the primary focus of this paper. In the next section the authors describe the procedures employed to assess the effectiveness of these appeals made over twenty years ago. II. Procedures Consistent with the reviews by Scott and Petty (1984) and Mukherjee (1987), the following criteria were used to choose capital budgeting survey articles for inclusion in this review: the surveys had to involve large US firms, they had to be broad-based (not focused on one particular industry), and they had to be published in mainline academic journals post-1984. Using these criteria resulted in the selection of the nineteen capital budgeting surveys included in Figure 1.† The Figure provides, in chronological order, the survey year (which in all cases differs from the publication year), authors, research method, usable responses and the audience surveyed. Each of these 19 survey articles was then thoroughly examined in an effort to identify the stages and areas within each stage that the survey covered. The results of this process are reported in Figure 2 and consistent with Mukherjee’s (1987) chronological ordering in a tabular form indicating areas of investigation within the four stages ofthe ‘These more specific questions are largely paraphrased from Mukherjee (1987) and are not fully exhaustive. The interested reader is, of course, encouraged to read this very thorough article in its entirety. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢The initial search using Proquest (ABI Inform) specifying â€Å"capital budgeting surveys† in scholarly journals after January 1, 1984, yielded over two hundred results. However, the great majority were published in the non-mainline journals, including many strictly practitioner (trade journal) outlets and /or were focused on a particular country or industry and thus eliminated by the screening criteria. To insure against missing articles due to any limitations ofthe ABl database, the authors checked the references ofthe surviving articles, and in addition, conducted a manual search ofthe most cited finance journals tables of contents and the reference sections of the various survey articles found. JOURNAL OF APPLIED FINANCE – ISSUES 1 & 2, 2009 capital budgeting process.’ It should be noted that the Figures herein were slightly altered from Mukherjee’s original format to better focus on selected issues that were identified specifically as areas of neglect. For example, the category of â€Å"techniques† was divided into â€Å"techniques used† and â€Å"reasons for techniques used†. Similarly, the risk category was divided into â€Å"risk recognition†, â€Å"risk assessment†, and â€Å"risk adjustment†. III. Findings by Stage A quick perusal of Figure 2 reveals an obvious concentration of â€Å"checks† in Stage 3 (selection) similar to the previous findings of Mukherjee. Although a careful look at some of the stage categories individually indicates that several neglected areas have been researched over the period, there is still an obvious and relative lack of research into Stages 1, 2, and 4. To further assess the effectiveness ofthe research appeals, the analysis and reported results in this section will be ordered by the four stages.   Summary comments are provided only  on those surveys which provide a significant contribution to a previously neglected area of capital budgeting survey research. As a result, the findings of Bierman ( 1993), Gilbert and Reichert (1995), Payne, Heath, and Gale (1999), and Ryan and Ryan (2002) are not summarized. A. Stage 1 : Identification Suggested areas of study within this stage include how project proposals are initiated, whether the proposal process is on-going or on an â€Å"only-when-needed† basis, at what level projects are generated, whether there is a formal process for submitting ideas, how that process works when present, and if there is an incentive system for rewarding good ideas.* Unfortunately, there has never been an in-depth survey focused on this stage, leaving no question that it remains strongly neglected. The only contribution of a minor nature to this topic is the incidental finding by Stanley and Block (1984). They found that in over 80% of the responding firms that capital budgeting proposals originated bottom up ‘In the 1987 article, note that on Figure 4, the stages are described somewhat differently from the discussion in the paper itself Specifically, in the body of the paper, the four stages are: (1) identification, (2) development, (3) selection, and (4) the post-audit. But in the table, the 4 stages are idea generation, proposal development, selection of projects, and control or performance evaluation. ‘As in footnote 3, the following suggested areas of study for all four stages are largely paraphrased from Mukherjee (1987).. 81 BURNS & WALKER – CAPITAL BUDGETING SURVEYS: THE FUTURE IS NOW Figure 1. Surveys of Capital Budgeting of Large US Firms Surveyed Year(s) Survey Author(s) Method Number of Usable Responses 1982 Stanley & Block (1984) questionnaire 121 1986 Pruitt & Gitman (1987) questionnaire 121 1986 Pohlman, Santiago, & Markel(1988) questionnaire 232 1988 Gordon & Myers (1991) 1988 1992 1990 1991 1992 Myers, Gordon, & Hamer(1991) Bierman (1993) Porterba & Summers (1995) Gilbert & Reichert (1995) Trahan & Gitman (1995) Sample CFO’s of Fortune 1000 multinationals VP Finance or Treasurer of largest industrials in Fortune 500 CFO’s of Fortune 500 questionnaire 282 questionnaire 282 questionnaire 74 Executives and capital budgeting directors of large US industrials except utilities and transportation Large public firms from FASB Data Bank 100 largest of Fortune 500 questionnaire 160-228 CEO’s of Fortune 1000 questionnaire 151 Fortune Magazine Directory CFO’s questionnaire 84 CFO’s of Fortune 500 + Forbes 200 Managers of foreign manufacturing subsidiaries of US industrials 1992 Shao & Shao (1996) questionnaire 188 1992 Burns & Walker (1997) questionnaire 180 Fortune 500 7,27,10 7 best-sellling texts, 27 prestigious CFO’s, 10 leading financial advisors 1996-97 Bruneretal(1998) telephone survey 1992-93 Mukherjee & Hingorani(1999) questionnaire 102 Fortune 500 CFO’s 1994 Payne, Heath, & Gale (1999) questionnaire 155 USA and Canadian based companies from S&P Compustat database questionnaire 111 CFO’s from Fortune 1000 questionnaire 392 CFO’s from FEI corporations interviews 39 executives of large companies questionnaire 205 CFO’s of Fortune 1000 questionnaire 40 top-ranking officers of Fortune 1000 1997 1999 1999 1999 2005 Gitman & Vandenberg (2000) Graham & Harvey (2001) Triantis & Borison (2001) Ryan & Ryan (2002) Block (2007) z †¢^ II O) (2002) ueAy â€Å"? uBAy o (0 O) †¢a (0 a> i2 i2 o u. a> †¢o (0 (O O) I O) †¢o 3 OQ a re U 3 D) < ‘O6B!)UB9 ‘UBLU|L|Od S (8861.) |S>tJeiM (Z86l.)ueaJi!O’SH!n.id (W6l)>|00ia’8’^8|UBis |L Idea Generation |A. Source of Origination |B. Reasons for Idea Origination |C. Process of Origination & Submission |D. Time Pattern of Origination 1II. ProposalDevelopment |A. Level at Which screening Takes Place |B. Screening Process  ¡C. Cashflow Estimates (and forecasting) |D. Responsibility for Budget Preparation (personnel) |lll. Selection of Projects |A. Classification of Projects for Economic Analysis B. Personnel (Department) Responsible for Analysis C1. Listing Techniques Used |C2. Reasons for Techniques Used Dl. Risk recognition D2. Risk assessment D3. Risk adjustment El. Capital Rationing: How Extensive? E2. Capital Rationing Rationale E3. Capital Rationing Methods Used F. Cost of Capital G. Project Approval |IV. Control (or Perfonnance Evaluation) A. Extent of Use of Post Audit B. Personnel Involved/Procedure C. Performance Measurement D. Use of Evaluation (Punishment/Reward/Etc.) 1* Surveys in this exhibit appear in chronological order of their publication. 82 JOURNAL OF APPLIED FINANCE – ISSUES 1 & 2, 2009 o o o o CM o ( ¿ooz) >iooia 6jaquapueA ‘S UBLUIJO (0002) (6660 9|B0 ‘S ‘MIB9H ‘auÄBd (666 O !UBJo6u!H ‘S aa[jaLj>|ni^ -?†¢ -y -7-?†¢ -y (1.002) uosuog pue suueui -?†¢ ~y (1.002)’^SWBH S lUBMBJO ~7-?†¢ -?†¢ -?†¢ -?†¢ -y -?†¢ (866l.)|Bà ­a.iaunjg -?†¢ CO t ^ -y ( ¿66l)J8>lieM’8SUjng (966l†¢)oeL^S’8OB^s -y (9661.) uBUjJio ‘S UBUBJi -y (S66l.)weM0!ay’s;jaqi!9 -y (9661-) sjauiujns ‘s eqjapod -?†¢ -y m ( £661.) ueuuaig -y -y â€Å"5 ‘a. n O (1-661-) jaoiBH ‘S ‘uopjoo ‘sjaA|/| ~y -y ~y -y (1.661.) sjaÄ|/l’8uopjoo -y ~y -y -y -?†¢ -?†¢ -y ~y -y -y to -y 00

Best way to get an International education †Pro-Academic-Writers.com

Best way to get an International education Nowadays the number of international students is increasing and recently obtaining a diploma in a foreign country has become quite popular. More and more countries open their borders for new young brains. If 10 years ago the USA took the leading place in providing international students with prestigious education and now lots of countries create and develop different programs in order to attract foreign students. Before deciding what country to choose, you have to take into consideration all the pros and cons of international education, studying rules, and make profound research about foreign universities. Sometimes it may turn out that the profession that you would like to obtain is not highly required in your country, so be careful and think twice what and where you would like to study. Which is the best? The first step to be made is to choose the country. You should know well how to provide a proper language analysis,  even if it is a foreign language. It only seems easy, but if you don’t have some specific requirements and benchmark, you are running a risk of getting lost in tones of information about countries, cities, universities, faculties and living conditions. The variety is amazing and it is difficult to find the most suitable. In this article, we give you a short summary of pluses and minuses of education in different countries. Great Britain It is a well-known fact that studying in Britain is very prestigious and interesting. If you enter the university there, you will attach to the centuries-old history and traditions which run through the student’s life in Albion. Nevertheless, students shouldn’t forget that there is also a practical side of studying in England. Pluses High rating of the universities Great quality of education Diplomas are acknowledged worldwide Constant language practice with native speakers Interesting and thrilling student’s life Great chances of employment Minuses High tuition fee Difficulties in getting and prolonging the student visa Tough competition Chances of staying in England after finishing the education are very small The USA Everybody knows the expression â€Å"American dream†. Lots of students choose education in America because it gives more opportunities. Hundreds of universities enroll international students; the choice of educational programs is definitely impressive. Let’s see the good and bad points of studying in this country. Pluses Worldwide famous universities with an immaculate reputation Great variety of educational programs Developed system of students exchange Availability of student’s campuses in almost all universities International student body Good chances of finding a job Respectful and friendly treatment of international students Minuses Quite a high tuition fee Job restrictions during and after studying The educational system differs from many other countries Unusual mentality Quite expensive living conditions and transport New Zeeland In comparison with other countries, New Zeeland is a novice in international education. Nevertheless, modern teaching methods and great sports opportunities attract a lot of foreign students. Pluses High-quality education The British system of education which is considered to be one of the best in the world New universities with progressive views Tuition fee is lower than in other countries Observance of international students’ rights Possibility to stay there for one year after finishing education in order to find a job Perfect climate for sun and warmth lovers Minuses Not so experienced in the international studying filed Geographically â€Å"alienated† Very expensive plane tickets which may be a problem to visit family and friends Netherlands The Netherlands is one of the most popular countries with students in continental Europe. Studying in Europe has its advantages – you don’t have to travel very far and still you get an international education. What else you should know about studying in Holland? Pluses Lots of scholarships and grants for international students Tuition fee is lower than in Britain or the USA Possibility to study in English Innovative teaching methods Diplomas acknowledged all over the world Possibility to combine work with studying Exciting student’s life in the international collective Possibility to stay there for one year after finishing education in order to find a job Minuses Considerable difference in the cost of accommodation, products, goods, and services between the capital and the province Some educational programs are available only in the Netherlands language Statistically, the total cost of living in the Netherlands is higher, than in such large cities as Sydney and Toronto Australia If studying in another country is too trivial, you can study on another continent, and Australia will help you. Even though it is far and quite expensive, Australia is gaining popularity among foreign students. Pluses Any course is thought over, structured, organized and planned. On the Internet, the student can choose the subjects and to create his own schedule. Tuition fee is 30-40% cheaper than in America or Europe Low requirements for the knowledge of the language Employment prospect Possibility of working during education Minuses Often colleges choose teachers on the basis of their knowledge, but no ability to teach. The preference is given to Asian students and teaching is focused specifically on them. Geographically â€Å"alienated† that makes it difficult to visit family and friends No grants and scholarships for international students You are to choose It is clear that every country has its own advantages and disadvantages, so be careful when you choose, think twice, find more information and make a well-weighted decision. Please also check our guide on how to write solution essay with 30 topics provided.

Why dieting ultimately leads to weight gain Essay

Why dieting ultimately leads to weight gain - Essay Example The effects of dieting have surprised many scientists prompting them to indulge in further research to determine the psychological and physiological processes that cause the paradox observed with dieting. It is unfortunate that many people obsessed with dieting only lose weight for some time and are likely to regain more weight after a while. This paper will discuss some of the mechanisms that contribute to weight gain during dieting. Dieting denotes a pattern of regulated and restricted eating with the purpose of losing weight or preventing weight gain. In an era where obesity rates are soaring each year, many people consider dieting as a viable solution. To understand why dieting may trigger weight gain, it is important to consider the normal metabolic process. Food consumed by an individual undergoes a rigorous process of chemical transformation with the objective of producing energy. Naturally, some people have a faster metabolic rate while in others the rate may prove to be slower (Lowe, 2015). Individuals with a faster metabolic rate have an advantage because all the food they consume is burnt down completely. However, individuals with a slow metabolic rate may experience increased fat accumulation because the body lacks the capacity to break down all the food consumed. The dietary pattern affects the normal metabolic rates. Some people practicing dieting avoid meals with high amounts of carbohydrates or fats. Nutritionists have highlighted that consuming lesser amounts of fats prompt the body to preserve fats for the future. Therefore, after a meal, the body adjusts the metabolic rates to preserve fats for the future. Many people who practice restricted eating are likely to consume more food in one go. Since the body is starved, it loses its ability to control satiety (Lowe, Doshi, Katterman, & Feig, 2013). Therefore, an individual is likely to consume more than the required calories. When

Four Seasons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Four Seasons - Research Paper Example 3). Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is distinctly one of the most outstanding works done by Antonio Vivaldi. The song has been used in various movies like; A view to kill, Tin cup, White Chicks among others (Atrium Musicologicum Para. 1). Four seasons has four distinct musical pieces from an orchestra and solo violinist. It signifies the different activities, sounds, atmosphere and weather of the four seasons; Summer, Spring, Winter and Autumn. Despite them being different and each complete by itself, they are designed to perform together (Squido.com, Para. 5). Notes and Historical information Four Seasons by Vivaldi was published in 1725, in a concerto composed of twelve sets referred to as The Test of Harmony and Intervention. Each concerto is in a separate variety of fast-slow-fast movements. Four Seasons by Vivaldi appealed more to the French. That is why King Loius XV loved the ‘Spring’ and authorized it to be performed at the most unanticipated moments (Green Para. 2 ). The period when the Four Season was produced was known as the Baroque era. This era came after the renaissance and middle Ages where there was a large audience for European music that was accompanied with religious hymns. The Baroque era was attributed by the existence of secular vocal music, opera and orchestral music. Based on their texture, the four seasons were unique in the manner that; â€Å"Spring† being one of the seasons was characterized with a Tutti. This represented the arrival of the season, next was the first solo which depicted the greeting from the birds, it followed that the next episodes were related to breezes and a thunderstorm. The solo was also characterized by the existence of a second set of violins. This represented the sound that was produced by the leaves and branches and the viola in the set represented his â€Å"faithful dog† as it was constantly repeated in the set. It should also be noted that the â€Å"barking† was not original ly part of the sonnet but part of the viola part instructions. The set also had an amazing dace part where it represented the inclusion of droning basses. â€Å"Summer† season set was showcased by the opening bars and represented by the sun and a sweltering â€Å"man and flock† (Laphil, â€Å"Antonio Vivaldi†). The first solo consisted of a violin which was accompanied with ornamented and unique cuckoo notes. It was then followed by a turtledove and goldfinch, and rustling of the gentle zephyr breeze, which is joined by the violent north wind (Laphil, â€Å"Antonio Vivaldi†), where the wind has a theme that characterizes the smooth entrance of a shepherd. The shepherd is describes by the music as being fearful that a storm is about to hit the earth and this fearful state was depicted in the form of diminished musical chords. Summer was also characterized by the onset of buzzing insects in the air and the shepherd was listening to them with the mentality a nd thought of the thunderstorm that were about to be experienced. The final set of this portion was that that was related to the actual storm. â€Å"Autumn† was the next season among the four seasons by Vivaldi. It was initially depicted by a dance that was linked to harvest. The individuals enjoy the harvest and they win and dance. They also enjoy the fresh air and rest as they reap their hard

The Weighted Average Cost of Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Weighted Average Cost of Capital - Essay Example (Gallagher and Andrew, 2008) However, this point is only hypothetical, in reality this point is impossible to be obtained. What managers can do is get as much cheap debts as possible and avoid expensive equities. How do you get cheap debts A corporation should do whatever it can to reduce the value of its beta. The beta is a tool for decreasing the cost of capital.A stock with stable returns is less risky than a stock with fluctuating returns. A beta defines the amount by which a stock's returns are fluctuating. The value of returns fluctuates because of changes in present profitability and future expectations. So actions should be taken to keep them stable. (Steven M. Bragg, 2008) The costs and benefits of debts and equities must be evaluated properly. Other than this, the optimal level of capital varies from company to company and industry to industry. For example, a monopoly with very strong demand for a product can invest in capital to a higher extent than a company which is in a competitive market with lim ited resources and limited future prospects. (Gallagher and Andrew, 2008) Describe how uncertainty is calculated into cash flows. ... (Gallagher and Andrew, 2008) Describe how uncertainty is calculated into cash flows. Why should two projects with equal cash flows but unequal risks produce different financial results Would you prefer a low-risk, low-return project or a high-risk, high-return project, and why When cash flows are created, it is assumed that all cash flow will be exactly like you expected, but in real life the cash flow is different, for this reason we calculate uncertainty. (Johnathan Mun, 2005) One way to calculate uncertainty in cash flows is to use a discount rate that reflects the riskiness of cash flows. How do you choose the risk associated with cash flows By risk we are referring to uncertainties of future cash flows. (Gil Fried, Steven J. Shapiro, Timothy D. DeSchriver, 2007) A certain Discount rate (risk rate) is set that accounts for a percentage of cash flow that might not be there. Therefore, (1-Discount rate) is the proportion which will be there. The formula to calculate the discounted cash flow is as following: Discounted Cash Flow = Nominal Cash Flow * (1-Discount Rate) ^ Number of years Now suppose that Ben and Joe expect to have $1000 at the end of 5 years. Ben feels that the inflation would be high in the coming years so he keeps the discount rate (or risk rate) as 6 percent per annum while Joe keeps the discount rate as 4 percent. Financial results for Ben after 5 years would be $734 while the financial results for Joe would be $815. Therefore, this is how their financial results will differ. (12manage, 2008) All investors prefer less risk to more. They are also called risk averse and this is a law of finance. But being a risk averse does not mean that investors would not take risks. It just means that an investor is able to

Christian liberty Essay Example for Free

Christian liberty Essay According to the page, Martin Luther’s argument revolves around two basic proposition of liberty. Which states that: â€Å"A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none† (Luther). By this statement he meant that once a person is freed by Jesus Christ, there shouldn’t be any other thing that would have a true dominion on the person on earth. So if Jesus sets you free, indeed you are freed. He explained that man has two folds nature: the inner soul, the spiritual and the carnal, outward flesh. A Christian does not become righteous by doing anything that has to do with flesh but only by the faith in Jesus. Nothing on earth should have any influence on Christian liberty. The second principle was that a Christian â€Å"man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone† (Luther). The two propositions appeared to be contradictory but Luther was able to explain further on both making it clear. He asserts that only one thing alone is necessary for a Christian liberty and that is the Gospel of Christ. He defines Christian liberty as the freedom from the law putting it that the law is not meant for a righteous man. It is the belief in Christ that brings peace and liberty. While Freedom of the soul and its justification comes by faith alone and not by work, he said â€Å"it is evident that by no outward work or labor can the inward man be at all justified, made free, and saved† (Luther). In conclusion, Freedom comes when one belief in the word of God, that is one’s soul get freed and one become saved. Whereas, one get liberty after one has believed wholeheartedly in the Gospel of Christ, it is the word of God that teaches liberty. The freedoms mentioned by Martin Luther all have an element in common: they are all divine freedoms from things of the world. In contrast, Christians should be voluntary servants to God and other men, motivated by love for God and the changes made by salvation. Reference Luther M, Concerning Christian Liberty. Retrieved May 09, 2010 From http://homepage. mac. com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlchrlib. htm

Implications Career Counseling Based On Hollands Theory

Implications Career Counseling Based On Hollands Theory It is John Hollands view that career choice and career adjustment repre ­sent an extension of a persons personality. People express themselves, their interests and values, through their work choices and experience. In his theory, Holland assumes that peoples impressions and generalizations about work, which he refers to as stereotypes, are generally accurate. By studying and refining these stereotypes, Holland assigns both people and work environments to specific categories. Holland (1966, 1973, 1992, 1997) has published five books that explain his typological theory. Each book represents an update and a fur ­ther-refined version of earlier work in the development of his theory. The -August 1999 issue of The Journal of Vocational Behavior contains 12 arti ­cles which describe John Hollands 40-year contribution to career develop ­ment theory. Two psychological inventories were important in the devel ­opment of his theory: the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, i985b) and the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1994). These instruments, in differ ­ent ways, measure self-perceived competencies and interests, which are an assessment of an individuals personality. Holland (Holland, 1997) recog ­nizes that his theory can account for only a portion of the variables that underlie career selection. He is clear in stating that, his theoretical model can be affected by age, gender, social class, intelligence, and education. with that understood, he go es on to specify how the individual and the en ­vironment interact with each other through the development of six types: Realistic Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Both individuals and environments consist of a combination of types. The Six Types Realistic The Realistic Environment The Realistic (R) environment makes physi ­cal demands on the person. Such work settings have tools, machines, or animals that the individual manipulates. In such a setting, individuals are re ­quired to have technical competencies that will allow them to do such things as fix machines, repair electronic equipment, drive cars or trucks, herd animals, or deal with other physical aspects of their environment. The ability to work with things is more important than the ability to interact with other people. Construction sites, factories, and auto garages are ex ­amples of environments that provide machinery or other things for Realistic people to master. Some Realistic environments require a great deal of physical agility or strength, such as roofing, outdoor painting, and pipe fit ­ting. These environments may be hazardous and may produce more phys ­ical illness or accidents than other work environments. The Realistic Personality Type Realistic people are likely to enjoy using tools or machines in their hobbies or work. They tend to seek to develop competencies in such areas as plumbing, roofing, electrical and automotive repair, farming, and other technical disciplines. They are apt to like courses that are very practical and teach the use of mechanical or physical skills. Realistic people are likely to have little tolerance of abstract and theoreti ­cal description Often, they approach problems, whether mechanical or personal, in a practical or problem-solving manner. They are likely to value Investigative The Investigative Environment The Investigative (I) environment is one in which people search for solutions to problems through mathematical and scientific interests and competencies. In such a situation, people are encouraged to use complex and abstract thinking to solve problems cre ­atively. Examples of occupations that offer the opportunity to use analyti ­cal thinking skills are computer programmer, physician, mathematician, biologist, science teacher, veterinarian, and research and development man ­ager. In each of these environments, cautious and critical thinking is val ­ued. Individuals are likely to need to use logic and precise methodical thinking in order to find solutions to problems in these fields. These jobs require that people use their intellect to work independently to solve prob ­lems. They are not required or encouraged to use human relations skills to solve problems, nor are they likely to need to use thachines. For example, a computer programmer .uses logic to figure out solutions to problems (an Investigative environment), whereas the computer technician works with machinery and may assemble it or fix it (a Realistic environment). The Investigative Personality Type The Investigative person is likely to enjoy puzzles and challenges that require the use of intellect Such a per ­son is apt to enjoy learning and to feel confident about his or her ability to solve mathematical and scientific problems. Such people often enjoy read ­ing about science and discussing scientific issues. They seek to work in ­dependently to solve problems such as mathematical or scientific ques ­tions. They are likely to enjoy courses in math, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and other physical or biological sciences. They are not likely to enjoy supervising other people or dealing directly with personal problems, but they may enjoy analyzing or searching for solutions to psychological problems. Artistic The Artistic Environment The Aitistic (A) environment is one that is free and open, encouraging creativity and personal expression. Such an envi ­ronment offers much freedom in developing products and answers. Exam ­ples of occupations in which people can use creative and unconventional ways to express themselves are musician, fine artist, and freelance writer. Such settings allow people to dress the way they wish, keep few.appoint ­ments, and structure their own time. These work environments encourage personal and emotional expression rather than logical expression. If tools are used, they are used to express oneself (for example, a clarinet or a paint ­brush) rather than as a means to complete a task (for example, an electric drill or a wrench). The Artistic Personality Type The Artistic person likes the opportunity to express himself or herself in a free and unsystematic way, creating mu ­sic, art, or writing. Such people may use instruments to do this, such as a violin, the voice, sculpting tools, or a word processor. They are likely to want to improve their ability in language, art, music, or writing. Original ­ity and creativity are particularly important in expression. To use a painted by-numbers kit would be deeply offensive to an Artistic type, who needs and desires the opportunity to express herself or himself in a free and open manner. A pure Artistic type would dislike technical writing and would prefer writing fiction or poetry. Social The Social Environment The Social (5) environment is one that encour ­ages people to be flexible and understanding of each other, where people can work with others through helping with personal or career problems, others, affecting others spiritually, and being socially responsible. The Social environment emphasizes human values such as being idealis ­tic, kind, friendly, and generous. These ideals most commonly exist in the education, social service, and mental health professions. Examples of these occupations are elementary school teacher, special education teacher, high school teacher, marriage counselor, counseling psychologist, speech thera ­pist, school superintendent, and psychiatrist. The Social Personality Type The Social person is interested in helping people through teaching, helping with personal or vocational problems, or providing personal services. Social people enjoy solving problems through discussion and teamwork rather than through delegation. Preferring to talk and resolve complex problems that may be ethical or idealistic in nature, they often choose to avoid working with machines. They seek out envi ­ronments where they can use verbal and social skills, such as in education, welfare, and mental health. Enterprising The Enterprising Environment The Enterprising (E) environment is one where people manage and persuade others in order to attain organizational or personal goals. These are situations where finance and economic issues are of prime importance and risks may be taken to achieve rewards. In such an environment,- people tend to be self-confident, sociable, and assertive. Its an environment where promotion and power are important, and per ­suasion and selling take place. Examples of Enterprising environments are sales work, buying, business management, restaurant management, poli ­tics, real estate, the stock market, insurance, and lobbying. All of these en ­vironments provide the opportunity for power, status, and wealth. The Enterprising Personality Type The acquisition of wealth is particu ­larly important for Enterprising people. They enjoy being with others and like to use verbal skills in order to sell, persuade, or lead. They tend to be assertive and popular, trying to take on leadership positions. They enjoy working with people but prefer to persuade and manage rather than to help. Conventional The Conventional Environment Organization and planning best describe the Conventional (C) environment. Much of the Conventional environ ­ment is an office environment, where one needs to keep records, file pa ­pers, copy materials, and organize reports. In addition to written material, the Conventional environment includes mathematical materials, such as bookkeeping and accounting records. Word processing, calculating, and copy machines are the type of equipment that is found in a Conventional environment. Competencies that are needed to work well in a Conven ­tional environment are clerical skills, an ability to organize, dependability, and an ability to follow directions. The Conventional Personality Type. The Conventional person is one who values money, being dependable, and the ability to follow rules and orders. These people prefer being in control of situations and not dealing with am ­biguous requests. They enjoy an office environment where their values of earning money and following rules, regulations, and guidelines can be met. Their strengths are their clerical and numerical ability, which they use to solve straightforward problems in their environment; Their relationships they tend to be directed toward accomplishing tasks and establish ­ approach to problems. Hollands Theory and Implications for Career Counseling John Hollands typological theory of persons and environments is regarded as the most influential in the field of career counseling (Brown, 2002), but this has not carried over to the field of higher education and academic advising (Smart, Feldman, Ethington, 2000). This conundrum led us to explore whether or not Hollands theory and research were relevant and could shed light on the behavior and organization of college faculty and students, which could ultimately improve the effectiveness of academic advising and career counseling. This article summarizes the results of our exploration. As colleges and universities have grown in size, scope, and organizational complexity, some students have found it difficult to find a home (Astin, 1984). While students may identify with a student organization, residence hall, or activity program, we believe that the academic department is the entity where students are likely to find important mentors, peers, involvement, direction, and inspiration. Academic departments have an inherent, varied mixture of characteristics that are created by the interests and behaviors of the faculty. If students can recognize, differentiate, and understand these diverse academic environments and the faculty who dominate them with respect to Hollands theoretical model, we believe they are more likely to find a place within the university that will increase their satisfaction, involvement, and persistence. Hollands person-environment interaction theory is especially important to scholars and practitioners in education and psychology. John Holland pioneered in assessing the environments of colleges and universities and their influence on students. His research has been central in the development of knowledge about nonacademic accomplishments. Hollands Theoretical Contributions Many inventories and career assessment tools use the typology to enable individuals to categorize their interests and personal characteristics in terms of combinations of the six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, or Conventional. Hollands typological theory (Holland, 1997) specifies a theoretical connection between personality and environment that makes it possible to use the same RIASEC classification system for both persons and fields of study or occupations. According to RIASEC theory, if a person and an environment have the same or similar codes, e.g., Investigative person in an Investigative environment, then the person will likely be satisfied and persist in that environment (Holland, 1997). This satisfaction will result from individuals being able to express their personality in an environment that is supportive and includes other persons who have the same or similar personality traits. It should be noted that neither people nor environments are exclusively one type but rather combinations of all six types. Their dominant type is an approximation of an ideal, modal type. The profile of the six types can be described in terms of the degree of differentiation (flat or uneven profile), consistency (level of similarity of interests or characteristics on the RIASEC hexagon for the first two letters of a three-letter Holland code), or identity (stability characteristics of the type). Each of these factors moderates predictions about the be havior related to the congruence level between a person and an environment. Persons and environments are typically described proportionally in terms of the most highly weighted three of the six Holland types, e.g., Lawyer, ESI; Accounting, CEI. The environments of college campuses, fields of study, work positions, and occupations can also be classified using the RIASEC system (G. Gottfredson Holland, 1996). Hollands early efforts with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) and the American College Testing Program enabled him to look at colleges and academic disciplines as environments. It is important to note that RIASEC theory had its roots in higher education and later focused on occupations. However, almost any social setting, e.g., a family-owned business, a classroom, or a work group, might be characterized in terms of a RIASEC environment. Every aspect of the theory can be applied to different kinds of environments. L. S. Gottfredson and Richards (1999) traced the history of Hollands efforts to classify educational and occupational environments. Holland initially studied the numbers of incumbents in a particular environment to classify occupations or colleges, but he later moved to study the characteristics of the environment independent of the persons in it. College catalogs and descriptions of academic disciplines were among the public records used to study institutional environments. Astin and Holland (1961) developed the Environmental Assessment Technique (EAT) while at the NMSC as a method for measuring college environments. Success in measuring faculty and the curriculum led Richards to explore differences in environments in Japanese (Richards, 1973) and British Commonwealth universities (Richards, 1974), U. S. law schools (Richards, 1987b), and Historically Black colleges (Richards, 1987a). For example, Richards found that Japanese universities placed less emphasis on the Artistic area and more on the Realistic area than U.S. universities. The most recent instruments for measuring environments are the Position Classification Inventory (PCI; G. Gottfredson Holland, 1991), a direct theory-based measure of occupational environments, and the Environmental Identity Scale (EIS; Holland, 1997). These instruments make it possible to study college faculty directly and thus advance the study of academic disciplines and their effects on college students. Those who study or provide services to college students need to understand the importance of Hollands RIASEC theory. For example, Day and Rounds (1998) reported that the RIASEC typology was used similarly by ethnically diverse groups of U.S. students to organize information about their interests and options. This means that varied cultural subgroups in the United States have a sufficiently common social and educational experience that RIASEC theory and related practical applications can be applied to almost everyone. More recently, Tracey and Darcy (2002) found that college students whose schema for organizing information about interests and occupations differed from Hollands RIASEC structure had less career certainty and more career indecision. This finding suggests that the RIASEC hexagon may have a normative benefit regarding the classification of occupations and fields of study. Definitions Although the terms academic advising and career counseling are familiar, it is important to define them as they are used in this article. Ender, Winston, and Miller (1984) defined developmental academic advising as a systematic process based on a close student-advisor relationship intended to aid students in achieving educational, career, and personal goals through the utilization of the full range of institutional and community resources. The distinctions between academic advising and career counseling are primarily a matter of scope and emphasis. Career counseling is a broader, more comprehensive term not limited to educational settings. However, both functions involve a process of individual or small group interventions to help persons use information to make educational and occupational decisions that are consistent with their personal goals, values, interests, and skills. We believe that a theory that informs career counseling, such as John Hollands RIASEC theory, can also infor m academic advising. Academic advising is more narrowly focused on college and university students and life/career decision making related to curricular and co-curricular activities. Creamer (2000) defined it as an educational activity that depends on valid explanations of complex student behaviors and institutional conditions to assist college students in making and executing educational and life plans. Traditional Application of Hollands Theory in College Settings The most prevalent strategy used by scholars is to define achievement in terms of the further acquisition, growth, or development of individuals initially prominent characteristics; that is, the competencies, values, interests, and attitudes associated with their dominant or primary personality type. For example, in our recent book (Smart, Feldman, Ethington, 2000), Academic Disciplines: Hollands Theory and the Study of College Students and Faculty, we tested the validity of the congruence assumption by examining the extent to which college students with dominant Investigative, Artistic, Social, and Enterprising personality types who entered congruent and incongruent academic environments differed on their development of Investigative, Artistic, Social, and Enterprising abilities and interests, respectively. Separate analyses were conducted for each of the four personality types. Our findings provided rather clear support for the congruence assumption, though the evidence was decide dly stronger for students with Artistic and Investigative personality types than for those with Enterprising or Social personality types. The logic that flows from the traditional definition of achievement illustrated in our and others findings is that students who enter congruent academic environments are more likely to be successful and to exhibit higher levels of achievement. Conversely, students who select academic environments that are incongruent with their personality types are likely to be less successful or to manifest lower levels of achievement than would be expected. Education is of course a nurturing profession, and our task, especially as teachers and counselors, is to assist students in their efforts to be successful throughout their college experiences. Given the conceptual appeal of Hollands theory and the accumulative evidence in support of the congruence assumptionthough often of modest magnitudecounselors and others have embraced the theory in their efforts to assist students in their efforts to successfully navigate the complexities and challenges of their college experiences. In so doing, the typical advice given students is to select academic majors (i.e., environments) that are congruent with their personality types. The strategy is simple and straightforward given the exemplary instruments developed by Holland and his colleagues to assess students personality and academic environment types: simply (1) assess students personality types using such established instruments as the SDS or the SCII, (2) look up academic majors that are simi lar to the students personality types using such reputable references as the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes (Gottfredson Holland, 1996) or The Educational Opportunities Finder (Rosen, Holmberg, Holland, 1994), and (3) advise students to select academic majors that are congruent with their personality types. This has been, in my opinion, the typical or traditional approach to research on the validity of the congruence assumption of Hollands theory and the use of his theory by counselors and others to assist students in the selection of academic majors in which they have the greatest likelihood of being successful and satisfied. All this is predicated on the selection of academic majors that are congruent with students initially prominent characteristics (i.e., their dominant personality types). The vision of a college education that evolves from this strategy is one characterized by assisting students to further develop their primary or dominant interests and abilities they had as freshmen. To venture from this tried and true path was assumed to lead to dissatisfaction, failure, and dropout. An Alternative Application of Hollands Theory in College Settings Something seemed amiss or disquieting to me as a result of such investigations of the congruence assumption in this manner. Our definition of achievement and the research strategies we employ are essentially silent as to what students who entered incongruent academic environments learned in those environments because our definition and strategy of learning or achievement focused only on students further development of their initially prominent characteristics; again, that is, the competencies, values, interests, and attitudes associated with their dominant personality type. This conceptual and analytical approach seems unfulfilling and problematic in college settings given that American higher education has historically sought to promote student growth and learning in a broad repertoire of competencies and interests. This repertoire is evident in the various taxonomies of college student outcomes developed by Bowen (1977), Lenning, Lee, Micek, and Service (1977), Ewell (1984), the Association of American Colleges (1985), and others. In addition, one need only examine the professed intent of higher education as manifested in their catalogues and in the growing use of performance indicators proposed by statewide coordinating agencies to assess the effectiveness of those institutions (Nedwick, 1996). Are students who enter incongruent academic environments really less successful and, as a consequence, their institutions less successful as well? My sense of discomfort led to two recent articles (Feldman, Smart, Ethington, 2001, in press) that are grounded in that portion of Hollands theory that is sociological in perspective and implicitly postulates a homogeneous pattern of reinforcement and reward by the respective academic environments irrespective of students levels of congruence with those environments. The approach is referred to as the socialization assumption or hypothesis of Hollands theory. Most important to remember here is that students success or achievement within the parameters of the socialization perspective is judged by the extent to which they grow in terms of the abilities and interests resistent and rewarded by their chosen environments (i.e., their academic majors) rather than enhancing their initially prominent characteristics. That is to say, for example, that while students who select academic majors that are incongruent with their personality types may remain the same or decline in their initially prominent characteristics, they may gain or grow in the abilities and interests reinforced and rewarded by their chosen academic major. This is a very different definition of students success or achievement within the parameters of Hollands theory than the typical or traditional approach discussed earlier (i.e., students ultimate satisfaction and success in college is dependent on their choice of an academic environment that is congruent with their personality type). Socialization Effects of Disciplines The research of Smart et al. (2000) was based on two ideas. First, faculty create academic environments inclined to require, reinforce, and reward the distinctive patterns of abilities and interests of students in a manner consistent with Hollands theory (p. 96). Second, students are not passive participants in the search for academic majors and careers; rather, they actively search for and select academic environments that encourage them to develop further their characteristic interests and abilities and to enter (and be successful in) their chosen career fields (p. 52). In the following paragraphs, we summarize findings relevant to these two ideas. Smart et al. (2000) sought to discover whether or not changes in students over four years were the result of their experiences in their major fields of study (academic discipline). They reasoned that faculty chose to be in academic environments, e.g., academic departments, because of their preferences and values regarding the goals of undergraduate education and their preferred ways of socializing students. Smart et al. held that faculty are the primary representatives of academic environments and the primary contributors to behavior patterns of students who choose those environments as majors. Students and Major Change Thus far, we have concentrated our analysis on the impact of four disciplines in socializing students toward the development of interests and skills predicted by Hollands (1997) typological theory. But what about the personal choices made by students in selecting a discipline? In order to study this phenomenon, Smart et al. (2000) classified students as primary or secondary recruits. Primary recruits were defined as students initially selecting a discipline and staying in that field over four years. Secondary recruits were those in a different major in the fourth year. When environments (percentage of seniors in each of the four areas) rather than entering students were examined, Smart et al. (2000) found that from 1/3 to 1/2 of the four environments were composed of primary recruits, and about half of the sample were secondary recruits, e.g., the seniors who had changed their majors. This means that almost half the seniors ended up in a discipline that was different from their initial choice. This was most notable in the Artistic environment where 2/3 of the students were secondary recruits from one of the other areas and did not intend to major in the Artistic area in their freshman year. About 1/3 of the students migrating into the Social area came from Investigative, Enterprising, or undecided areas. Students moving into the Investigative area were most likely to come from the Enterprising area, and vice versa. These data reveal the fluid nature of students major selections and the heterogeneous nature of the four environments with respect to t he students initial major preferences. Socialization in Relation to Student Characteristics The specific findings of Smart et al. (2000) regarding the impact of socialization for the four discipline environments with respect to student personality characteristics are summarized below. The variability in the socialization styles and the effects of the environments, as well as how socialization effected the students congruence with the environments are described. It will be recalled that a high level match between the person and the environment, e.g., Investigative person in Investigative major, indicates high congruence. Faculty in Investigative environments place primary attention on developing analytical, mathematical, and scientific competencies, with little attention given to character and career development. They rely more than other faculty on formal and structured teaching-learning, they are subject-matter centered, and they have specific course requirements. They focus on examinations and grades. This environment has the highest percentage of primary recruits. All students in Investigative environments increased their abilities and interests in this area, and this was even stronger if they were Investigative students at entry (primary recruits). Investigative students in disciplines outside of the Investigative environment did not increase their abilities and skills in the Investigative area. Artistic environments focus on aesthetics and an emphasis on emotions, sensations, and the mind. The curriculum stresses learning about literature and the arts, as well as becoming a creative thinker. Faculty also emphasize character development, along with student freedom and independence in learning. Varied instructional strategies are used. About two-thirds of students in the Artistic environment did not anticipate majoring in the Artistic environment when they entered college. Artistic type students were not more likely to initially select a major in this environment. On the other hand, Artistic students majoring in Artistic environments did have stronger interests and abilities in this area. Students majoring in Artistic environments did show large increases in Artistic abilities and interests, and this was true for both primary and secondary recruits. Artistic personalities not majoring in Artistic environments did not increase their self-rated interests and abilities over four years. Social environments have a strong community orientation characterized by friendliness and warmth. Like the Artistic environment, faculty place value on developing a historical perspective of the field and an emphasis on student values and character development. Unlike the Artistic environment, faculty also place value on humanitarian, teaching, and interpersonal competencies. Colleagueship and student independence and freedom are supported, and informal small group teaching is employed. The socialization effect of the environment was the smallest of the four areas studied and the effects were muddled by gender. Small increases were recorded for Social students in Social environments, but these were not much different from those for Social students in other environments. Social disciplines seem to have the least impact and Social students reported the least gains in related interests and abilities. Stated another way, the Social environments appear to be the most accepting and least d emanding of the four environments studied by Smart et al. (2000). The Enterprising environment has a strong orientation to career preparation and status acquisition. Faculty focus on leadership development, the acquisition and use of power to attain career goals, and striving for common indicators of org