Sears And Roebuck Company Essays - Sears Holdings, Hoffman Estates

Sears And Roebuck Company Business Marketing Term Paper Sears and Roebuck Company For this paper I will be looking at an old established company, that has re-addressed its target market. To increase penetration in the market and expand in new markets, Sears has refocused its market concept. In the past Sears was where your grandparents shopped for quality product. As they sat back and enjoyed the comfort of their brand name and reaped the benefits, other companies sliced away at the market with new concepts in advertising until about five years ago when Sears woke up to a lagging profit margin. Sears began a recovery to regain market shares lost through complacency. To do this they gathered their staff and commenced to focus on new innovative techniques to cater to the needs of their consumers. First they looked at the production which was well established but could be streamlined. Some items could be eliminated or replaced by other brand name products to give the consumer a broader choice of items. For example they sold the Advantis computer branch to IBM when the projected competition would limit revenues in this area. They also negotiated lucrative contracts with brand name companies for the exclusive retailing rights for their product, an example of this is the Nordic Track home fitness equipment in January of this year. They targeted school age children with the new styles, which they refer to as the ?Relaxed Uniformity? which increased sales in July of 1998. This helped bring in the younger and health conscious consumers who did not feel that the Sears brand name was right for them. This stream lining effort would include shutting down some of the lagging catalog sales offices. This allowed them to establish more competitive prices in the market and better returns for their shareholders. This led to an increase in domestic revenues by 4.2 percent in 1998. The next areas they looked at were the location of their stores and the placement of the products in their stores. Some of the older stores which did not have a profit margin that warranted the expense of their upkeep where eliminated to cut overhead expenses. In addition, using trend analysis focusing on consumer habits, they took a hard look at the layout of the stores to see if they could improve sales through a better display or more efficient floor plans. Sears decided to set up displays, which bring the consumer walking by into the store and the product that has the return buyer's interest in the back of store. With this in mind they revamped the floor plans and placed the items they knew the patron would search out to the back of the stores which forced the customer to pass by other product they did not realize was stocked by Sears. The placement of other products, which had lagged in the past, in high traffic areas, increased the sales of those items. Last but not least, once Sears had the company market strategy drawn out; they needed to inform the public of the changes they had made and figure out how they could meet the consumers needs. Sears re-launched its successful Softer Side of Sears advertising campaign that helped the company's turnaround by highlighting its renewed focus on women's apparel. The new version of the Softer Side campaign, which included print and broadcast ads, invited customers to Take Another Look at the fashions available at Sears. The Softer Side of Sears? campaign achieves the key marketing objectives. It changes customers' perception of Sears, drives traffic into the stores, and demonstrates Sears' commitment to offering customers stylish and relevant women's apparel, said Arthur C. Martinez, chairman and chief executive officer of Sears. Now the challenge is to build greater loyalty with our customer and reinforce Sears position as a destination place for apparel that fits her lifestyle. Reinforcing Sears' commitment to serving its primary customer, a woman age 25 to 54 with a moderate household income, family and home. This campaign builds upon and personalizes Sears' invitation to Come See the Softer Side of Sears by illustrating that Sears has more than fashionable apparel; it has the right apparel for her. The original Softer Side campaign, Developed by Young & Rubicam

The eNotes Blog Style and Substance The WritersRoom

Style and Substance The WritersRoom We are fascinated with the lives of our favorite authors, always wanting to know more about the enigmas who grab us with their telling of the stories that keep us up at night, turning page after page. We read their private correspondences and official biographies, thirsty for some insight into each one’s private life and writing process.   And now we have another way of satisfying our curiosity of these brilliant wordsmiths. A few years ago the Guardian published a series of interviews with authors about their writing spaces. Interestingly, many of these Nobel and Pulitzer-prize winning figures choose the bedroom as their workspace. It’s fascinating to see how much each room reflects the personas of these authors, as we imagine them through their work. Here is a selection that shows off another side to some of the worlds best-loved writers literary styles: Alexander Masters bedroom evokes his writing in a couple of ways. He explains that his bed is central to his writing as its the first thing he does upon waking. The crocodile skin on the wall is a pervasive token throughout his work, too: The crocodile is my talisman. He was the first thing I drew for publication, was on the cover of the hardback of Stuart: A Life Backwards, and makes an appearance in The Genius in My Basement. I bought him desiccated, rolled into a ball, and had to soak him in the bath for a week before hed uncurl. Thrills the book above the oil painting is there because its gorgeous. A bed, a fireplace, a desk, and a few chairs. Does anything exemplify Thoreau's idea of simple living more than his 10'x15' home in the woods? Michael Morpurgo wrote War Horse in this bed in longhand. He first tried writing at a table, then a lectern, before discovering a picture of Robert Louis Stevenson writing in his own bed in Samoa. From then on, Morpurgo was hooked; he says the bed is a wonderful place for dreaming up a tale, and weaving it inside my head. For many years, I wrote on our bed in the house. But there were complaints about ink on the sheets, dirty feet on the bed, and we felt we should try to create somewhere else, a storytellers house So there I have made my writing bed. With flowers in the window these a gift for our 46th wedding anniversary last weekend and with [my wife] Clare sitting at the computer, trying to make sense of my scribbly script as she types it up, it has become a perfect writers hideaway. The stark negative space that makes up Dickinson's writing room and bedroom is a strong reflection of her writing. The poet confined herself to the very small writing desk in the corner to complete much of her work. Sebastian Faulks writing space isnt a bedroom, but it still has all the personality of an authors inspirational haven. Faulks wrote one of my personal favorite works, Engleby, here, as well as Devil May Care and A Week in December. The walls are pegged with pictures of three of his idols, Tolstoy, Orwell, and Dickens. I admit that the decor if thats not too strong a word is the subject of some hilarity to female interviewers The desk belonged to a furniture dealer called Simon Horn. Its too low to get my knees under, so the middle drawer has gone and the legs are propped up by copies of Charlotte Gray in Danish I inherited the curtains from the previous owner I dont care what it looks like, only how it works. Victor Hugo's Parisian bedroom was rich, opulent, and completely evocative of the Romanticism movement. More photographs of writers bedrooms, including those of Faulkner, Capote, and Woolf, can be found here. Personally, I like the parallelism the idea of writing in bed offers; while I curl up under the sheets with a great book, its pleasing to think that   its author might have begun the story in much the same way. Hmm, I wonder if any of them write in the bathtub, too?

Group Treatment for Substance Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Group Treatment for Substance Abuse - Essay Example This situation usually arises after using these drugs and substances over a longer period of time that directly affects the working and functioning of brain and brain cells called neurons. This effect is usually in the form of addiction that is a disorder affecting brain connections such as those used in actions of reward and motivation, cognitive learning, memory skills, and controlling ones self and desires. With the increasingly alarming situation of substance abuse and drug addiction, experts worldwide has recognized it as one of the most critical problems rising at exponential rates. This has increased the needs and encouraged different methodologies that exist as effective and efficient treatment for the problem. Devising quick and effective treatment methods has become mandatory in order to protect and heal significant portion of worlds population from this illness. Group therapies are one of the most successful treatment methodologies in this regard; the reason that group therapies are most preferred is because of the effectiveness both in term of cost and performance. Nowadays, group therapies have emerged as the potential healing force bearing fruits that are hardly achieved in an individual or personal therapy setup. Another point in this regard is the fact that group therapies efficacious because it constantly use therapeutic powers like care, emotional and mental support, association, bonding, and peer encounter. These forces make the client strong enough to establish a bonding that encourage quick recovery and ensures effective healing. The other benefit of using group therapy is their efficacy in the treatment of problems that comes with addiction like depressive feelings, getting isolated from environment, shame, and guilt. Making groups or utilizing group therapies usually result in significant advantages to the group members. Group helps establishing a bond due to which

The Great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 Fires Essay

The Great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 Fires - Essay Example The essay "The Great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 Fires" discusses the factors that led to the great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 fires that took place on April 10th at 12 o’clock and their consequences. The Great Fire of Pittsburgh took place on April 10th at 12 o’clock. It broke up in some frame buildings that were located to the Southeast of Ferry and Second Street in Pittsburgh. Two weeks prior to the fire break out, the weather was dry with high winds prevailing to a great extent. When the fire was discovered, the winds were blowing fresh from several points north of west. Within a short time, the fire flames had spread to the square. The wind’s velocity increased leading to more buildings catching fire. In a very short period, a third of the city was engulfed and consumed by the fire. The fire further extended to the Ferry side of Third Street extending further to Kensington town and destroyed it too. The district that was burned comprised of many busines ses and valuable factories. The loss amounted to approximately, $8,000,000. The growth and spread of the fire were caused by strong dry winds that were blowing in the town. As such, the dry weather conditions coupled with strong raging winds subsequently led to the spread of the fire to other buildings. Additionally, Pittsburgh at that time had uncontrolled/haphazard development. This resulted in a patchwork of homes and rich businesses. These wealthy people intermingled with other peasants who were adjacent, and who lived in wooden structures.

Marketing strategies of Apple Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing strategies of Apple Inc - Essay Example When Apple was established in 1977, a three point marketing philosophy was assembled by founding members, which also became the underlying market strategy for the company (Forbes, 2012). The company still runs on these three marketing and strategic principles, where all planning and implementation processes are based on above strategies. These are;1. Empathy: Understanding exact needs of the consumers and identifying them in a faster and better manner compared to any other organization.2. Focus: Eliminating all issues and problems before utilizing internal and external opportunities.3. Impute: A book is always judged by its outer appearance or cover. Similarly, making a great service or product will not prove beneficial if the offerings are communicated ineffectively. This is where the marketing strategies come into action. The offerings are presented in a professional and creative manner imputing the desired attributes. Apple has been integrating its marketing strategies with the ab ove marketing principles and has successfully achieved sustainable competitive advantage. According to Chimhanzi and Morgan (2005), companies focusing on human resource and marketing alignment are able to attain success faster and in a more convenient manner compared to those, whose focus is directed only at profit making strategies. Hence, findings provide an important input that marketing executives should improve their relationship with the human resource departments through strategies such as, written communication and joint rewards.

Nepotism in the Workplace

Nepotism in the Workplace Introduction Nepotism can be defined as the practice of making employment decisions on the basis of relationship. It can also be defined as hiring or promoting a relative or friend, even if there are other qualified candidates for the position. Nepotism in the workplace is not uncommon, since this is a practice that does not have any universal law attached to it. However, in recent times, states have passed laws to reduce this practice, since it has many ethical issues involved in it. This paper will seek to define nepotism and it would to the international, regional and local organizations where we have seen suspicions of nepotism. It will be difficult to prove that nepotism does in fact occur in any organization; however, based on the link between persons hired and their relations, we have suspicions of the occurrences of nepotism. Nepotism is both seen in the private and public sector. However, based on research, it is more prevalent in the public sector. This paper will also show how nepotism can be detrimental the company on a whole, because there are many consequences which result in nepotism. Some consequences that will be examined include, family conflict in the work place, low staff morale, loss of competent employees, use of the job to carry out unethical acts, use of position to serve their own interest and to the detriment of the company and breach of confidentiality. Nepotism is evident in family owned businesses for the obvious reasons. Families would want to pass the business from generation to generation and this means that the profit will stay within the family and will be inherited by family members. Consequences of Nepotism Although there are consequences of nepotism a pro of this act can create stability and continuity in the organization and this will refer to more family owned businesses. Continuity because if it family owned, the business will continue by passing from generation to generation. Stability because, there will be succession planning which can result in the company being successful. On the flip side of the coin, the consequences out weigh the pros of nepotism. It creates dissatisfaction among employees. When employees are dissatisfied they may have a feeling that their hard work and dedication are not accepted or recognized by the organization. Nepotism can also result in the company losing proficient employees. This can in turn affect the organizations goods and services. Nepotism can also cause fraud in the organization. In addition, family members may bring their conflict into the workplace. Employees may not be able to separate home and work life. This is most seen in cases where hus bands and wives work together and may find it difficult to work together. This may cause a decrease in the morale among staff members. A total breakdown in communication can result because of this, which will trickle down to other employees within the company. Inequity of employees is another issue resulting from Nepotism. Because of this factor, employees tend to show their dissatisfaction by low production of work which has attributed to issues in the work place in terms of upholding discipline among employees. Discipline is an issue because employees believe that since there is no justice in the organization there is no need to follow any policy or procedure. Breach of confidentiality is another consequence of nepotism. This will occur because of the lack of loyalty among employees. Employees may see this as an opportune time for them to practice unethical acts, because they believe because they were hired by a close or relative any practice is appreciated in the organization and they may use this to their advantage to get involved in any kind of unethical behaviour. Where nepotism is prevalent For obvious reasons nepotism is common in family owned businesses and this can be viewed in the more positive terms. Nepotism in family owned businesses can result in continuity in that the business will be passed on from generation to generation. There may be no ethical issues involved in the hiring family members within a family owned business. Nepotism is prevalent in the government offices. For example in the United States of America, Vice President Cheneys wife and his son-in-law Phillip Cheney were hired by President George Bush and were given high level position with the government. The positions given were Assistant Secretary of State and Chief Counsel for the Office of Management and budget respectfully (Congress, USA Today, 2007). President Bush was highly criticized for this, because many believe that were more qualified individuals who fit the job. In Cuba Fidel Castro was President of Cuba for over forty years. His brother Raul Castro is now President and has been in the position from since 2008 to present. Raul was given the position of President without any elections by the people of Cuba. Because of the autocratic leadership style displayed by Fidel and his brother Raul. Many see this as an act of nepotism. In relation to Grenada, we have seen evidence nepotism in the government sectors, in that persons have been employed because of their affiliation and relation to government officials. Research was conducted on some private owned companies in which we saw, a father, wife, daughter and son-in-law were employed within the same organization. Staff members are of the opinion that these individuals were hired because of the family relation. Test Violation The regulations test This test deals with the reaction of your colleagues, if someone made a decision in the presence of an employee, for example to employ your sister-in-law to take up the position of manager of sales. There will be no suspicion or concern, if the business is a small family run business. Since the decision would work and be perfectly understandable considering family owned businesses are normally passed from generation to generation and the continuity relies on the emotional ties within the family. However within any government organization, if the same decision was made some colleagues may start feeling insulted. They may start thinking if there is a fraud plot in the making, and will surely voice their opinion and this will create dissatisfaction. Front page test: What would it look like if we read about it in a newspaper, blog, and twitter? What if the headlines read President of Wal-Mart promotes his nephew as C.E.O. This will no doubt create suspicion in the minds of stakeholders. Also if there is some level of shame or awkwardness about the news, one can assume there is some level of nepotism involved. Exception test: This test seeks to answer two questions. 1. What if everyone did it? If every business owner decided to employ persons that are related to them or persons that are friends, that would cause many implications, for example the skills or qualifications that may be needed at a particular time, a friend or a family may not possess them, which will result in inefficiency. Also that would mean that the main requirement to obtain a job would be on economic terms who you knew, as opposed to being judged on ability or merit. 2. What if they did it to us? There is no doubt that if someone was denied a job because he is not a friend of the employers son, but had all the qualifications and skills necessary to carry out the job would be considered to be nothing short of ludicrous. And this would be impossible for anyone to sit and make sense of. Ethical Approach The utilitarian approach This approach deals with proving the greatest good with the least possible harm. As it relates to nepotism this approach is greatly violated, since nepotism is specifically linked to benefiting only the family members or to close friends of a particular individual and normally causes dissatisfaction to the majority of stakeholders. For example, in a firm where the present Vice President may be contradicting the decision made by the president of that organization, the President may seek to get the Vice President fired so that his friend may become the new Vice President so that the decisions now made by the President can get the go ahead quite easily. (this only benefits the President and the new Vice President) Justice and fairness approach This approach deals with the question, Are we recognizing the rights of those affect? There is no doubt that each employee should be treated equally; there should be no sign of favoritism in the work place. Therefore it would not be ethical for an employer to grant a job to a fishing buddy instead of promoting an employee that is skilled, competent and filled with experience that can confidently fill the vacant position. It is important to note in this case, there will be a chain reaction involved because another employee may be looking forward for the person above him to be promoted, so he will then fill the new vacant position. Therefore when someone on the outside is used to fill the position, there will be a chain reaction of disappointment within the organization. Types of Nepotism Credentials nepotism: This form of nepotism is sometimes concealed but could be very dangerous to both an individual and an organization. In this situation people are given more credit for attending a class and passing but cannot apply what they have learnt. In short credential nepotism means giving someone more credit because they are certified (Young, 2008). They were with us through thick and thin nepotism: This form of nepotism is for the most part perverse and could create a lot of chaos. New performers in an organization tend to realize that old performers (those who have been with organization from inception) are given preferential treatment by management. This clearly shows that old employees are not held to the same employee accountability standards as the new ones (Young, 2008). Referral nepotism: Referral is an employment which is said to be natural. In this case, management asks high performers within the organization to recommend someone for a job opening that needs to be filled. Management hiring someone who turns out to be a poor performer but is tied to a high performer through friendship could lead to chaos in that trying to terminate that poor performer without upsetting the high performer is almost inevitable (Young, 2008). Contribution nepotism: This is a situation where persons within an organization receives preferential treatment because of a one-time contribution that made the organization more successful even though their subsequent performance has been poor or unsatisfactory (Young, 2008). Connection nepotism: is a connection which comes about by virtue of a shared experience such as attending the same school, attend the same church, from the same community, are members of the same sports club or were in the same fraternity. Connection nepotism is inclined to turn a blind eye to low employee performance and poor job fit (Young, 2008). Favoritism: The different types of nepotism mentioned above results in favoritism which is considered to be a killer of the morals o employees (Young, 2008). Ethical Issues Involved Illegal employment discriminations/ inequality Employment discrimination transpires when an employee or applicant is singled out by an employer or their representatives based on factors such as gender, race, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability and several other reasons. For example, an employer who hires only relatives of a particular gender and race oppose to hiring persons who are not relatives and are of a different races and gender (Employeeissues.com, 2010). Wrongful termination Illegal discharge Constructive discharge Wrongful termination is the termination of employment because an employee is a certain age, religion, nationality, gender or sexual orientation. For example, an employer dismisses an employee to hire his or her relative because they share the same religious belief and are of the same race. In this instance, the employer has engaged in illegally discharging employees based on the issue of religious beliefs and race (Employeeissues.com, 2010). Constructive discharge is a form of wrongful discharge which occurs when an employee relinquishes his or her job because of nepotism in the workplace which makes working conditions unbearable (Employeeissues.com, 2010). Stakeholders A person, organization that has a direct or indirect interest or involvement in an organization is known as a stakeholder. A stakeholder can affect or be affected by the actions objectives and policies taken by the organization. Different stakeholders are entitled to different considerations since they are not all equal (Gitman, 2009). The key stakeholders who are affected by nepotism are employees, families, management, companies and institutions, shareholders, society and customers. Research has shown that nepotism has a negative effect on job satisfaction, job turnover and Human Resource Management. Any undesirable decision made by any organization impacts heavily on management. Nepotism paralyzes and exposes a company or institution as it undermines their competence, intentions and level of fairness. This could lead to reduce revenue, production, quality of goods and services and company ratings (Arasli, Bavik, Ekiz, 2006) . The stakeholder who is mostly affected by nepotism is the employees. The employees as stakeholders are those who ought to see the direction in which the business is heading. They are the ones who are supposed to point to little changes that have been made that aroused their suspicions. Nepotism is considered to be a practice which is inequitable to workers who are more competent and qualified. Nepotism directly affects an employee level of job satisfaction in such a way that management does not recognize their commitment and effort made to the organization (Arasli, Bavik, Ekiz, 2006). Nepotism created dissatisfaction, makes workers feel offended, lowers employees moral and also low level of discipline (workers who sense unfairness question whether rules should be followed or not) in an organization. This could lead to workers producing unsatisfactory output, breach in the organizations confidentiality and lack of loyalty among employees. Nepotism could also lead to companys reputati on being tarnished since unsatisfied workers could use negative word of mouth to express their dissatisfaction. Company could suffer from reduced revenue, profits and may increase fraud (Bush-Bacelis, 2010). The negative effects of nepotism on the employees could be reflected on their families and subsequently societies. Low morale, poor job satisfaction, job turnover are issues which arise from the work place and could contribute instability within the home. Nepotism could affect a family psychologically (e.g. disgruntled parents taking it out on children) and financially (quitting job because of nepotism, therefore not being able to provide for family). Nepotism could lead to discrimination among community members and those who have suffered from the repercussions of nepotism tend to dislike those who benefited from it, race, sexual orientation and religious beliefs (Morris, 2005). A shareholders main goal is to maximize their return on investments. With an issue such as nepotism which could lead several negative effects which have been mentioned above, investors would become very interested in the issues at hand. This issue could determine the amount of return a shareholder receives on his or her investment. Unhappy share holders may seek to replace management and might even consider taking their investments elsewhere. Executives especially Human Resource Personnel should definitely avoid such situations and should always take into consideration the feelings of the shareholders when making decisions (employment decisions) within the company (Morris, 2005). Customers are primarily concerned with price, quality, or services of product. Customers recognize and evaluate quality based on the behaviour and tone of voice and in particular the attitude of the employees who serve them. Poor service and repugnant attitude could lead to a customer changing their buying habits or choosing another place which provides better service. Dissatisfied and furious customers would lead to decrease in profits, increase job turnover and reduction on returns on investments. Therefore, management has to place job satisfaction for employees at the top of their list so that employees could better serve customers which would lead to increase revenue, profits, production and quality (Bush-Bacelis, 2010). Nepotism, although could benefit an organization but it could easily destroy it. Family members could bring in conflicts into the work place which could hamper the effective functioning of the workplace hence changing the companys main purpose from production of quality goods and services and profitability to love and nurture of one another. Nepotism could create disagreements within an organization that could lead to hatred among employees and management. Loss of valued personnel who contributed significantly to the day to day operations and success of the company could be a severe repercussion of nepotism in the work place. This could to a companys inability to maintain its main goal which is profit and quality of goods and services (Ezhel, 2010). Ethically Correct Actions If Human Resource decides to employ family members either that of Executives or any other positions, they should ensure that they meet the following requirements; Appropriate education for job Work experience between 3-5 years outside of the company Pay and performance should be determined by the position which is being filled. Implement and enforce federal laws relating to nepotism. Anti-nepotism laws have only been implemented in some parts of the world like the United States and it needs to be enforced in places where it is not part of their culture. Anti-nepotism laws will be useless in countries like Saudi Arabia since it is part of their culture (Bush-Bacelis, 2010). Implement and enforce anti-nepotism policies which will differ based on the country. Certain states in the US have implemented policies that prevent qualified couples from working under the same company while some believe that it is merely discrimination (Bush-Bacelis, 2010). Managers should try to go all out to not to play favorites and must also ensure that managers under them do the same (Young, 2008). Human Resource Personnel could start periodic employment surveys (every quarter) which would seek to help employees voice their concerns about potential or actual nepotism acts within the organization (Young, 2008). Conclusion Nepotism is an issue that can be very difficult to control once there are relatives or family members who hold key positions in organizations and who have influence of who is hired and who is not hired. In a small population like Grenada, it will be a difficult task to alleviate the problem, since everybody knows everybody in Grenada. The term pull string will always be an issue in our society. Even in the more developed countries, it could be a difficult issue to combat, since there are also family members and friends employed in high level positions who can be very influential in the recruitment process. However, if policies and procedures are implemented, the practice of nepotism can be decreased, and person will be hired for their qualifications and skills as opposed to being hired because of a friendly or a family relation. It is important that organizations avoid the practices of nepotism. Based on our research conducted, nepotism could be very detrimental to an organization and could cause a loss of profit and this could also tarnish the reputation of the organization.

black and red drum :: essays research papers fc

Have you ever been fishing before? Not fishing based on lucky casts with worms or a bobber but fishing based on knowledge of what the fish do under the waves. I’ve been interested in fishing since the beginning of my time here on earth. Fish fascinate me, and catching them on rod and reel excites my inner primal being. I chose this topic to get into the mind of the fish I aim to catch. I already know much about my quarry. I know that Red Drum come in from the ocean to spawn in salt water back bays. I know that Black Drum eat stuff off the ocean bottom. I also know that Red Drum get caught by anglers during their search of spawning territory. These are the few facts I know about Drum. I want to learn much more. I want to learn enough to be called ‘Ryan the Drum slayer.’ I wonder where drum go while in open ocean? I wonder where Drum spawn and why they spawn there? I wonder how big the biggest Drum ever caught is? These questions and many more encircle my head. I h ope in reaching up and snatching a circling question, then answering it, I can become the greatest fisherman in the world. What is the scientific name of the Red and Black Drums? Well this answer is easy. The Red Drum’s scientific species name is Sciaenops ocellatus.(Red Drum in Texas). The Black Drum’s scientific species name is Pogonias cromis. (Black Drum in Texas). Where exactly do the fish live? The Black Drum is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts coasts to Southern Floridian coasts. The Black Drum is found across the Gulf of Mexico an into North Mexican shores. The Black Drum rarely is found North of New Jersey (Schaltz, Ken †Black Drum†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red Drum are found in the western Atlantic Ocean. They inhabit the coastal waters from the gulf of Maine to the Florida Keys and all of the gulf coasts to Northern Mexico. (Schaltz â€Å"Red Drum†). The Red drum are an estuarine-dependent fish that morphs into an oceanic fish later on in life. It can be found in brackish water or saltwater. It can be swimming above sand, mud, or weeds. It is found in weeds of shallow inlets, bays, tidal passes, bayous, and estuaries (Schaltz â€Å"Red Drum†). Why the drum head out of their sheltered bays and into the ocean is a mystery.

Motivation in History: Charles Beard and the Founding Fathers Essay

Throughout history there are all kinds of historians that describe about our history and how we got to where we are. Charles Beard is a unique historian because he talks about the motives on our history event by not just any event. This issue created a lot of debate on what Charles Beard believed and that is the motives of the Founding Fathers. Charles Beard published An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States on whether the Constitution’s backers simply concerned for the nation or were they interested in protecting their own material interest. He also describes that questioning the motives of the Constitution’s supporters, it also demonstrated how important our interpretations of the past could be. The supporters of the Constitution before made the Articles of Confederation. The Article of Confederation was designed for the States to have the power and to have a weak central government, but it produced some problems. Money capital suffered under the Articles of Confederation, the lack of securities for American products and investments into the foreign market. Also under the Article of Confederation the government was not paying the interest on its debt from the war, which crippled the country. He made these arguments to back his thesis on that the supporters of the Constitution was looking for their interest and not entirely the nations interest. After Charles Beard published this thesis, made a dispute against other historians. These historians do not believe Charles Beard’s thesis and try to disprove his thoughts and prove that the supports did not write the Constitution for their own interest. In a chart, which shows the Delegates that were at the Constitution Convention. The Delegates on this chart are people having public security holdings, who are people from all different backgrounds. The Delegates mostly signed the Constitution were not all wealthy landowners looking out for them. There was some small farmer in that group, who would never sign the document to benefit the rich. In other chart on the Delegates to the New York State Ratifying Convention shows that there was a mixes of  people with different economic status voting for the Ratifying Convention. Also the people who voted were Federal and Anti-Federal that voted Federal, plus lawyers did not vote for it and those would be the kind of people to want the Constitution if it was to benefit the supporters. This chart showing that it was not just the supports interest it was made for the nation because they were different people voting different ways. The Founding Fathers Debate the Establishment of Congress discusses about the thought of the Delegates, who were at the Convention. Mr. Gerry was one of those men there and he said â€Å"The evil we experience flow from the excess of democracy.† Also â€Å"It would seem to be maxim of democracy to starve the public servants.† To what Mr. Gerry said and that he left without signing the Constitution and who also had the largest amount of money. All these disprove what Beard was trying to prove in his thesis because if it benefited the supporters won’t he be one to want to sign it. John Madison said â€Å"From the protection of differing and unequal abilities for the acquiring of property, there results the possession of different degrees and kinds of property; and from the influence of these differences there follows a division of society into different interests and parties.† With different interests there cannot be a majority making the Constitution for their own interest. Alexander Hamilton discuses about the needs the government must attend to and under the Article of Confederation would never be possible. He pushes the Constitution that can handle all of its problems and looked for the best interest of the people because it does benefit him just the stability of the country. I believe that Beard’s thesis on the motives of the Founding Fathers was not entirely correct because it was more than economics. I am impress on his thesis because he does creates support back up his thesis and with just reading his writing it makes you wonder is it possible, which is want he want that to be the reaction of people. The problem is if you are an historian you could not just read his writing, you must research other source and reading other primary sources the Beard’s thesis died out. Beard thesis is a step to understand our past; with this the historians stimulate others to research better and so on. That was one of Beard’s goals  but it backfired and took his thesis out of believing it was possible. This is a way of life and that it is the right of the Constitution to have been able to disprove peoples work and improve to understand our past.

Extraordinary Circumstance Review

Introduction and Aim of the Review This review of WorldCom is based on the Extraordinary Circumstances by Cynthia Cooper. The purpose of review report is to conclude whether WorldCom satisfied the Code of Ethics and the Attribute and Performance Standards set forth by the IIA. Background WorldCom was one of the largest telecom companies in the world during 1996 to 2002. The company helped to grow a small regional company that bought and re-sold long distance in the South into an international behemoth that operated in over 65 countries.However, in 2002, the senior management and employees perpetrated a massive fraud, and in June, WorldCom announced that it had â€Å"misstated† its financial statements over the last five quarters by $3. 8 billion. After coming out this scandal, WorldCom went bankrupt, and it has been the largest bankruptcy ever. Analysis Based on the book Cynthia Cooper wrote, WorldCom didn’t comply with the Code of Ethics and the Attribute and Performan ce Standards. Fraud The internet bubble that burst in March, 2000 is followed with much larger and more devastating collapse: Telecom.WorldCom’s financial statements were far worse than expectation that would result in stock price fall, downgrading company and most importantly—losing capital to acquire companies. Then CEO and CFO were planning to change the financial statements with mid-level accountants. They thought if the financial statements were better in next quarter, they could cover the change. But things didn’t go according to plan. They had to change the number until the whistle blew. Lack of risks assessment During the WorldCom expansion, CEO, Bernie led the company through 70 acquisitions in less than 20 years.Bernie was too audacious to expand the company without consideration. For example, when board didn’t want to invest any more capital or incur more debt on telecom, Bernie mortgaged everything he had to buy TMC outright. The strategy help s LDDS expand, but also planted bomb in the company which exploded in the future. Gambling rather than risk control When World Com was acquiring other companies, some were not willing to receive a combination of cash and stock. They would sell the stock as soon as they get.In order not to let the stock price fall, the executives in WorldCom bought the stock instead at a discount price. Luckily, as the result, the stock price went up dramatically. Low internal Audit department position Internal audit department was a dispensable unit in the company and didn’t get high attention during that time. Unlike external counterparts, internal auditors are usually employees of the companies they audit. Some companies choose to have only a small, token group, others none at all, and others outsource the function altogether, sometimes to the same public accounting firm performing the external audit.Cynthia Cooper was announced to be the director of internal auditing by CEO, Bernie. They p robably had some deals under table during CEO fraud. Individual manipulation and lacking of proficiency LDDS was too big to have so many employees reporting to CEO, Bernie directly. Meanwhile, Bernie doesn’t have technical telecom or financial training and he was only interested in what he liked and understood. His goal was to make WorldCom to be the NO. 1 stock on Wall Street rather than capture market share or be global which implied the tragedy of WorldCom.He continuously acquired the other companies to make WorldCom bigger and bigger without deep consideration, even paid the price to lose his confidants. Lack of programs improvement WorldCom was praised as a â€Å"fast-growth† company—a rate of growth usually achievable only by external acquisition, not organic internal evolution. If WorldCom ever stops acquiring, growth will most likely slow, which will negatively impact analysts’ ratings and WorldCom’s stock price. The main business in WorldC om is not real telecom business; instead, it’s a acquiring and resell business.Thus, there were no improvement or clear organic structures in the company. What’s more, WorldCom didn’t have its own wireless network and it only sells wireless service, which would result in loss revenue later. Lack of after acquiring testing WorldCom acquired 65 companies successfully until the failure of acquiring Sprint. Internal auditing department only employed 10 people to monitor the huge company. Not mention to monitor and test the acquired companies. Lack of auditing CEO During the golden period of WorldCom, Bernie obtained loan from plenty banks which related to the stock price of the company.As long as WorldCom stock stayed higher above a level, banks wouldn’t issue a margin call, requiring Bernie to come up with the cash to pay down enough of the loan to bring the collateral to remain at a certain percent of the loan. As a result, when the stock market fluctuated in 2002, WorldCom stock price went down below the certain level, and the board had to help Bernie to pay the loan, or the stock price will keep falling as the banks lose confidence in WorldCom and sell stocks one after another.But at the beginning, there was no one to control Bernie not to borrow money and take that risk to pay marginal call. Conclusion WorldCom was proved to be a big success and a tragedy in the history. Its strategy of expansion through acquiring constantly helped it grow-up to be a top 100 company in the stock market. However, it’s precisely because this â€Å"crazy† acquiring method let the WorldCom ignore the foundation of operating activities. Investors neglect the cash flow statements rather than totally relied on the equity return.As the internal department, it didn’t play a good role in assurance and consulting activities for the acquiring process. Since the department wasn’t gain enough attention from the board and was usually i nfluenced by the executives, like CEO—Bernie, it was hardly to let them perform well under the Bernie’s control. In this case, Bernie was seen as â€Å"Gods† in WorldCom and there was no one came up with objections, even some will oppose the acquiring, but at last Bernie still could do what he wants.Even Cynthia found there was a fraud from the new CEO and CFO after Bernie left WorldCom. It still couldn’t prevent the tragedy Bernie planted before. At the same time, this case also gives a lesson that power should be divided rather than central control, and the person who holds the power should have the enough capability and professional knowledge. ——————————————– [ 2 ]. On page 52 [ 3 ]. On page 57 [ 4 ]. On page 77 [ 5 ]. On page 84 [ 6 ]. On page 129 [ 7 ]. On page 175 [ 8 ]. On page 127 [ 9 ]. On page 152 [ 10 ]. On page 172 [ 11 ]. On page 183

How to write health promotion documents - Emphasis

How to write health promotion documents How to write health promotion documents The health sciences have their own language. And those who dont understand it can simply feel like theyre not part of the club. If your remit is to communicate health promotion messages to the public, you need to walk a tightrope between scientific fact and digestible chunks of practical health information. Your message needs to be both authoritative and accessible. The trouble is that when you spend most of your time communicating with colleagues, its easy to forget that you have developed a vocabulary that is somewhat at odds with the general population. Studies have shown that the number of words people have in their vocabulary ranges from 600 to 5000 depending on level of education and profession. But there is a pool of common words that most people understand and are comfortable using. The secret is to think of your reader first and choose words they will connect with. Thats not to say that this is easy. Writing that persuades, educates and informs doesnt happen by accident. Critically appraising scientific findings is a very different skill from communicating these findings to laypeople. It involves a specific set of writing skills that have to be learnt. In the same way that a physics degree doesnt fully prepare someone for the NASA space programme, professional health qualifications do not prepare people to become effective writers of health promotion material. Health promotion is about persuading individuals, groups and communities to take action, so the messages must be crystal clear. The public dont want to read reports, leaflets or articles which skirt around issues. They want a definitive viewpoint. From the writers point of view, this can seem like a risky prospect, especially if there are complex policy changes and even legal implications to consider. Clear writing gives you no place to hide, as your goals and reasons for writing become transparent. But effective writing is a powerful tool that can improve peoples lives, so it is well worth mastering this skill. Dont get lost in translation Imagine your brief is to create a range of leaflets and bookmarks for a pharmacy chain to help the poorest sectors of society to give up smoking. What title has more impact? Smoking cessation advice or How to give up smoking? The second option is punchier and is far more likely to get your target audience to sit up and take notice. The phrase Smoking cessation advice just isnt something that most people say. And here lies the problem. These phrases find their way into public health promotion, because the writers have become completely immersed in healthcare language. The messages become lost in translation and lose their impact. Your work may be informed by medicine, psychology, epidemiology and public health science, but the needs of the reader must come first. Ask yourself: Who will read the document? How much experience do they have of the topic? How much do they know about it? What is their likely attitude towards it How involved in the topic are they? How interested are they in the topic? Once you have answered these questions, consider your purpose for writing the report, leaflet or other document. Think about what you really want to achieve with your message. Often we use buzz words, talking about things such as advocacy, social mobilisation and community participation. But it can help instead to think of the discrete actions you want your reader to take. Jargon is not always the bogeyman Writing in plain English doesnt mean you have to dumb down. You can still include technical information, as long as you focus on your audience. For instance, jargon such as body dysmorphic disorder will be commonly understood to mean bad body image for some laypeople. For others, it will be a meaningless medical phrase. In contrast, abbreviations such as NHS have moved into common usage. Unless you are writing specifically for an immigrant community or for people whose second language is English, its likely that they will know that it stands for National Health Service. Dont spell out every single abbreviation if its not necessary, but dont stuff your document full of terms that may perplex your readers. Remember that most people overestimate how much their audience knows and so use an inappropriate number of technical terms. Keep asking yourself whether your document is instantly readable. If not, keep revising it until the meaning is clear. Finally, your writing needs to be more than grammatically correct and scientifically sound. It needs to connect with your reader. So try to ignore well-meaning advice from your colleagues if they have little knowledge of your audience. Six steps to better writing Keep it short Keep your sentences short and simple and avoid flowery phrases. Aim for an average length of 15-20 words and stick to the rule of one sentence, one idea. Use active language Write the Government invested 15 million in this new health initiative last year, rather than last year an investment of 15 million was made by the Government in a new health initiative. The second version, which says who before what, is livelier and easier to read. Cut the clichs Cutting out redundant phrases, such as of paramount importance simplifies your messages and makes them easier to read and understand. So instead of writing It is of paramount importance to eat a healthy diet, write Make sure you eat a healthy diet. Use bullet points If youre dispensing advice, bullet points work well because they make the text stand out. Make sure that they are not too wordy and stick to one bullet for each piece of advice. Use verbs instead of nouns Verbs add movement to sentences and make them shorter and easier to understand. Use consider instead of give consideration to and provide rather than the provision of. Be specific and include people Putting people into writing makes it more powerful. Writing one in a hundred people is likely to produce a much bigger reaction from your readers than one per cent, even though they obviously mean the same thing. And when writing for the general public, one readers story can override even the most powerful numerical evidence. So dont be afraid to use case studies or stories about real people. People connect with other people. Perfect presentations These guidelines also work well with presentations. But when speaking, your sentences can be even shorter. This helps you to make your communication even punchier, to help your audience follow your line of thought. Remember that in writing, your readers can re-read sections if they choose, whereas in presentations, you pre-determine the sequence. Create an effective structure for your presentation by asking yourself the questions: what?, where?, when?, how?, why? and who? You can then lay out your core idea first, and expand on it in the rest of the speech. Analogies, such as the thought of giving up smoking is as bad as the prospect of root-canal surgery, are a useful tool for engaging your listeners. Alliteration also works well. For example, you can say, this is the most effective help for heartburn sufferers. The repetition of the h sound makes the words jump out. Your job is to take your listener from passive to passionate. Arranging your important messages in trios gives a sense of movement, progression and resolution. This is especially powerful when you are making closing comments or recommendations. Saying, Fad diets can be dangerous, unpleasant and ineffective for instance pushes the message home that you are recommending a healthy, balanced way of life. By then including a couplet in your recommendation, such as fruit and vegetables, you further emphasise that balance is at the heart of your health promotion message. Robert Ashton is the Chief Executive of Emphasis.

Effect of leadership development program on organizational performance Dissertation

Effect of leadership development program on organizational performance - Dissertation Example statistical null hypotheses 15 Testing the null hypothesis 15 P-values 16 Significance levels 17 One-tailed vs. two-tailed probabilities 17 Reporting your results 18 Confidence interval 20 p=0.891 represents the probability of occurring the event. ... nsistency refers to inter-item reliability, and assesses the degree of consistency among the items in a scale, or the different observations used to derive a score Want to be sure that all the items (or observations) are measuring the same construct Estimates of Internal Consistency Item-total score consistency Split-half reliability: randomly divide items into 2 subsets and examine the consistency in total scores across the 2 subsets (any drawbacks?) Cronbach’s Alpha: conceptually, it is the average consistency across all possible split-half reliabilities Cronbach’s Alpha can be directly computed from data Estimating the Validity of a Measure A good measure must not only be reliable, but also valid A valid measure measures what it is intended to measure Validity is not a property of a measure, but an indication of the extent to which an assessment measures a particular construct in a particular context—thus a measure may be valid for one purpose but not another A measure cannot be valid unless it is reliable, but a reliable measure may not be valid Estimating Validity Like reliability, validity is not absolute Validity is the degree to which variability (individual differences) in participant’s scores on a particular measure, reflect individual differences in the characteristic or construct we want to measure Three types of measurement validity: Face Validity Construct Validity Criterion Validity Face Validity Face validity refers to the extent to which a measure ‘appears’ to measure what it is supposed to measure Not statistical—involves the judgment of the researcher (and the participants) A measure has face validity—’if people think it does’ Just because a measure has face validity does not ensure that it is a valid measure (and measures lacking

Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Coming of Age in Mississippi - Essay Example Through Anne’s development of virtues and faults, one gets to visualise a real picture of discrimination based on colour and gender. A reader has to fight with what the author believes in throughout the book, and gets drawn into her deeds that one can cheer when the actions are justified or shy away when someone is treated unfairly. Using her memories, the author invites the reader to imagine a young girl growing up in Mississippi. During her entire life, Moody dealt with hardships that most people could not imagine, but due to her experiences, Anne gains the heroin qualities. How Moody deals with the questions of gender in her life and in her book As Moody grows up, she notes that there are different roles and misconceptions associated with each gender and race. She realizes the way women are treated and she struggles to make sure that they do not hinder her from achieving the best she could be. In the book, she depicts her everyday life in detail as a teenage lady being brou ght up in the pre-civil rights times in the South. Her maturity and experience become tools that she utilizes to cope up with gender inequality within her society and the family to develop into a woman she desired. Through most of her youthful experiences, Moody manages the question of gender by learning its social importance on her own since her mother avoids dealing with the issue as she feels that nothing regarding the societal believes about women can be changed. The insufficiency of information on society that Moody received from her mother made her to explore even further on life issues on her own and critique the standard of that era, rather than incorporating herself into a society that seemed so unfair and disgracing. Anne Moody proudly and confidently uses her observations of the various social aspects to determine her individual identity as a tough black woman who is ready and willing to stand up for what she considers right with hopes of future success and progress for A frican Americans (Moody 280). How white supremacy affect gender related experiences among and between the black and white communities According to Moody, white supremacy restrains black women to take up certain roles in the working environments and acts as a hindrance to equal rights in terms of wages. Quality education is also given to white women at the expense of the blacks. For instance, the author argues that the only option that was availed to her uneducated mother was working as a house help for a worthless pay. This forced Anne to take the burden of working to support her family while still at school (Moody 300). It is further depicted that white women were given more respect and their rights protected more than the blacks of both genders. Meddling with the life of a white woman meant that the black person associated with the action would face serious consequences. For example, Moody says that a 14-year old black man from Chicago was murdered merely for allegedly whistling a t a young white woman. This made Moody to conclude that white supremacy was too stern that any black person could be killed simply for his or her colour. At some point in time, Moody tries to depict that whites were always superior and that their wrong deeds were not treated with serious consequences as did for male blacks. This is illustrated in the book when Moody gives a picture of her life in high school when a white police administrator was caught having a love affair with a black teenage girl. It is quite obvious in this context that the act brought them