Essay about Difficult Life On and Off the Battle Fields of...

The Civil War Life As the Civil War battled on between the North and South, the war was very hard on soldiers, civilians, the physical environment, and future welfare. Each was affected in its own way, but all would be affected a long time to come even after the war. In the Civil War, and all wars, the most impacted is the soldiers.The soldiers life was a very tough life, even off of the battle field. Soldiers actually spent more time off the battlefield, then on, training, standing guard, writing home, and gathering supplies. Life could be just as gruesome off the battlefield as on. Many time the conditions in camps were horrible, with mucky roads, lack of clean water, disease, and poor meals. The meals were often something called†¦show more content†¦Most of the fighting went on in the South, which led to destruction in that area. The South’s main battle strategy was to let the North come onto their land and fight on their land. The South thought that they would have a homeland advantage.What the South didn’t think about was after the war, whether they won or not, their land would be in destruction, plantations destroyed, monument crumbled, storefronts lost. After the war, Reconstruction had to be put under way because t he four-year war demolished the land. The reason many people fighted over the reconstruction of the South was because many had different ideas on how to change the agricultural view from slaveholders and cotton growers. Also, the Mississippi was a major contributor to the South’s agricultural and transportation. When the North finally took over the Mississippi river, this was when the South started to really struggle, because a year later the battle of Gettysburg took place, and the North started to gain advantage of the Civil War. The Civil War’s future welfare was very important because it determined what would happen to the nation after the war. The social part of future welfare healed well, but some people were still touchy about slavery, but all people on opposite sides are touchy after wars.Reconstruction happened in the South, rebuilding many farms,plantations, shops, houses, and restoring jobs to soldiers all around as well as restoring them to theirShow MoreRelatedCivil War : A War Between Citizens Of The Same Country1609 Words   |  7 PagesEmma Hart Mrs. Wise History 8Y 11 December 2014 Civil War Civil War is defined as a war between citizens of the same country. Why would America have this fight? The Northern states of America decided that they would no longer tolerate the Southern states treating African Americans as slaves because of the color of their skin. When disputes were brought up over this issue between the North and South, the South was too persistent to have slaves. They worried that the North would be successful inRead MoreA Brief Note On Civil War And Its Effects On The United States1602 Words   |  7 Pages Civil War Civil War is defined as a war between citizens of the same country. Why would America have this fight? The Northern states of America decided that they would no longer tolerate the Southern states treating African Americans as slaves because of the color of their skin. When disputes were brought up over this issue between the North and South, the South was too persistent to have slaves. They worried that the North would be successful in abolishing slavery, so in result, the South wentRead MoreEssay on Shelby Footes Shiloh1669 Words   |  7 PagesShelby Footes Shiloh In the novel Shiloh, historian and Civil War expert Shelby Foote delivers a spare, unflinching account of the battle of Shiloh, which was fought over the course of two days in April 1862. By mirroring the troops movements through the woods of Tennessee with the activity of each soldiers mind, Foote offers the reader a broad perspective of the battle and a detailed view of the issues behind it. The battle becomes tangible as Foote interweaves the observations of UnionRead MoreDrum Corps : From The Battlefield Of The Football Field1736 Words   |  7 PagesDrum Corps: From the Battlefield to the Football Field â€Å"Put on a show!† The director’s command echoed across the field as the drum corps began its routine in front of thousands of spectators. What attracts people to be involved in such a demanding and strenuous activity? The concept of drum corps has changed drastically over the last 200 years. Tracing its origins from before the American Revolution through the Civil War and into the modern era, today’s concept of drum corps has evolved fromRead MoreMedicine During The Civil War1548 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the Civil War, medicine was an important aspect for every soldier due to the fact that many soldiers had to fight and ended up with injuries also there were many types of illnesses. In this essay, I will focus on the advance of medicine during the Civil War. Also how the soldiers and civilians were treated as well as how sanitize their location was, are questions I will try to answer. Also, I will like to include some of most known causes of deaths d uring the Civil War and the types of diseasesRead MoreA Brief Note On The American Civil War1540 Words   |  7 Pages The American Civil War is the bloodiest war in American history, claiming the lives of 720,00 solider and an indeterminable number of civilians. But these four years were a larger battle for survival against a third unseen enemy: disease. A battle that took two out of three soldiers from disease; most commonly pneumonia, dysentery, typhoid, tuberculosis, smallpox and malaria. Malaria was a constant threat to humans in all places with infected mosquitos. As seen in a census map of 1874,Read MoreThe American Civil War And The Vietnam War1561 Words   |  7 Pagesnever, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.† - Sir Winston Churchill. Throughout history, men have fought battles to protec t and serve for their country. Some men become injured at war and others don t get toRead MoreRobert E Lee: A True American Hero Essay1638 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.† This quote was made in 1871 by one of the greatest generals and probably men in American History; Robert Edward Lee. Robert Edward Lee was a general in the American Civil War. He led his men and stood with them in each and every they were in and got many of them out safely. Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807 at Stratford in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the youngest son of Major-General Henry â€Å"LightRead MoreThe Siege Of Petersburg1549 Words   |  7 Pages The Siege of Petersburg occurred from June 15-18 1864. However, it was actually a series of battles fought around Petersburg from 9 June 1864 to March 25, 1865. This was to be a evolving era for the military, society and how the two would affect each other. During this era, new tactics and strategies would be tried, changed and adopted throughout future wars while others would fail miserably. Your position in society would usually dictate your position on the battlefield. Even though yourRead More blacks in civil war Essay1355 Words   |  6 Pagespolitical, social and cultural life of todays and yesterdays African Americans. What affect did the Civil War have on African Americans in the United States? Were they, as some argued, better off before the Civil War, or do the advances that blacks have made since then proved that the Civil War was indeed the turning point in the lives and opportunities of African Americans? These questions and more will be addressed in the following pagesWhen slaves were purchased off the ships from Africa, they

Essay on Marketing Plan - 961 Words

Market Segmentation and Product Positioning The ultimate goal of market plan for my product is making most popular chicken franchise chain restaurant first in the U.S and then in the world 1. Identify the marketing segment for the product and explain why this segment was selected; My product will be Korean style soy source fried chicken. It is kind of popular food in Korea especially, chicken business field. The uniqueness of product concept is simple. Comparing to Kentucky fried chicken, this chicken is fried by oil with soy source and other auxiliary ingredients. The other condition of business will be basically very similar to KFC. According to the study â€Å" Market segmentation on the basis of food-related lifestyle†¦show more content†¦Therefore, this food needs to enlarge from specific small target to whole American. Base on the cook method and ingredients of this food, the main target will be Asian include Korean and Hispanic. First of all, this fried chicken is cooked by garlic, paper, also excepting soy source. Therefore, there is good possibility for familiar taste for Hispanic people. Additionally, they are big customer for chicken market. Location of chain branches will be downtown for common reason for business. To sum up, ultimately enlarging for target customer range to American, the main target customer will be Korean and Asian and Hispanic. 3. Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and treats) analysis for the company; Strengths: fried chicken is most popular item in food area. Probably very few countries’ people do not eat chicken some religious reasons. Fried chicken market is already well built in the world. If I assume to start this business in this country, there are big portion of customer groups who have favor in fried chicken, either. It already quiet succeed in Asian chicken market, so at least, from Asian who live in this country this food gained big possibility. Weakness: brand awareness is very low, so letting know about this product is most urgent matter for this business. The cost for advertisement will be extremely high. In addition to the high cost, there is noShow MoreRelatedA Marketing Plan For A New Marketing Strategy966 Words   |  4 Pagesthe governmental legal requirements and, on the other hand, defines the organization’s policy administration. For a triumphant marketing plan, understanding the government legal approaches allows for efficient operation and inter-relationship with other organization. Similarly, internal legal policies allow the company to uphold its operation in a set manner. 4.0: Marketing Audit A market audit process is a tool that can never be neglected despite the situation. However, very few companies carryRead MoreMarketing Plan For A Small Business2998 Words   |  12 Pagesin detail. †¢ The benefits of TQM when implementing the strategic plan to meet goals or increasing profit within a small business. †¢ The economy’s motivation of small businesses stability as compared to large businesses that are well established, also the financial assistance of other organization including the government. †¢ Different categories of a company and the importance of CRM to any size business. †¢ To compare the marketing plan of a small business and a large business where it reflects theRead MoreMarketing Plan827 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Marketing Business Environment Marketing Planning: An Overview of Marketing 6 main questions to ask in order to create your marketing plan: 1. Where are we now? (Business Mission, Marketing audit, SWOT analysis) 2. How did we get here? (Business Mission, Marketing audit, SWOT analysis) 3. Where are we heading? (Marketing audit, SWOT Analysis) 4. Where would we like to be? (Marketing objectives) 5. How do we get there? (Core Strategy, Marketing mix decisions, Organization, ImplementationRead MoreMarketing Plan3248 Words   |  13 PagesSAMPLE MARKETING PLAN The following pages contain an annotated sample marketing plan for Blue Sky Clothing. At some point in your career, you will likely be involved in writing—or at least contributing to –a marketing plan. And you’ll certainly read many marketing plans throughout your business career. Keep in mind that the plan for Blue Sky is a single example; no one format is used by all companies. Also, the Blue Sky plan has been somewhat condensed to make it easier to annotate and illustrateRead MoreMarketing Plan4753 Words   |  20 Pagesresponsible firm by highlighting its products based on ecotourism, community tourism and sustainable tourism. 2. Situation Analysis Blaze Mountain travels and Tours has been operating for several years now. The trips have been well received, and marketing is now critical to its continued success and future profitability. Blaze Mountain travels and tours offer concepts like ecotourism and sustainable tourism to older tourists and hard adventure trips to the student tourists. This target market appreciatesRead MoreMarketing Plan3688 Words   |  15 PagesSITUATION ANALYSIS The marketing environment for LIMCOMA represents overwhelming opportunities. It also contains some challenges that the firm believes it can meet successfully. An illustration below shows a SWOT analysis of the company to highlight LIMCOMA’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths LIMCOMA’S dedicated founders understand the target market and products. LIMCOMA has achieved distribution in several markets with quick acceptance The firm has a very littleRead MoreMarketing Plan3847 Words   |  16 PagesA marketing plan is a comprehensive blueprint which outlines an organization s overall marketing efforts. A marketing process can be realized by the marketing mix, which is outlined in step 4. The last step in the process is the marketing controlling. The marketing plan can function from two points: strategy and tactics (P. Kotler, K.L. Keller). In most organizations, strategic planning is an annual process, typically covering just the year ahead. Occasionally, a few organizations may look atRead MoreMarketing Planning : The Marketing Plan Essay1545 Words   |  7 PagesTo attract mixed segment ther is need to marketing planning is indeed the key to the whole marketing process. The marketing objectives state just where the company intends to be; at some specific time in the future. James Quinn succinctly defined objectives in general as: Goals state what is to be achieved and when results are to be accomplished, but they do not state how the results are to be achieved. They typically relate to what products will be where in what market. They are essentiallyRead MoreMarketing Plan For Subway Marketing1516 Words   |  7 PagesExecutive summary The marketing plan has close ties with the overall financial and business plan. This plan contents a strategy for success, and breaks it down into coherent, actionable components that will aid The Sub Shop to implement marketing activities to provide a firm return on investment. The following areas will help explain how the company plans to differentiate the business and product offering from the competition, and define the strategy that will drive its business forward. The aimRead MoreMarketing Plan1891 Words   |  8 Pagesa breakeven point in the second year after opening the store and become profitable in the third year of being in this business. In the first year, our profits will be low, due to low sales and high distribution, inventory, marketing and advertising and sales expenses. Marketing expenses will be very high in the first year. We have to inform the customers about this new product and get the consumers to try out this new concept. It will take â€Å"Just passin’ Thru† some time to build up the customer base

Marketing Sustaining Competitive Advantage Free Essays

The major problem which prevented Callaway Golf Company from achieving its goals is lack of application of change management principles by the management. CGC was very successful in the environment of 80s but the management of the company did not realize that the situation changed in the 90s, and failed to react to the changes appropriately. 2. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing: Sustaining Competitive Advantage or any similar topic only for you Order Now Situation Analysis. When CGC started operating in the market, the environment was very favorable for the company. There were very many people willing to play golf and the management of the company was efficient in targeting its customers. The company established very high prices in comparison with prices of competitors, but customers were willing to pay extra for a better product. Competitors in the market were not able to offer products of the same high quality with CGC. Besides, the number of competitors was very low. CGC constantly came up with innovations which attracted the attention of consumers while competitors were still too weak to compete with CGC’s innovations. The industry had only a few companies which did not create great danger for CGC. CGC’s sales were constantly increasing due to the increased number of new and retained customers. Consumers preferred their brand because it was much better known than any of the competitors. CGC spent large amounts of money on advertising budget in order to attract even more consumers. All of the factors of external environment were very favorable for CGC in the 80s. Even though CGC was very successful during 10 years of its activity in the market and remained in the top of the industry during all that time, it did not guarantee that the company would always get large profits. The situation in the market changed rapidly in the following years, and CGC’s management failed to react to the changes. First, the interest in golf started fading. It became more difficult for CGC to acquire new consumers. Second, the number of competitors also changed, and CGC was one of the reasons of that. Capital always flows in the direction of profitable industries. If in the past companies did not seek to enter the industry of golf equipment, after CGC started making large profits in it, many investors decided to start the companies produce golf equipment. In the beginning, these companies did not have large sales but eventually they started getting more and more powerful. Third, the nature of consumers changed a lot and the same strategy of high pricing was not always efficient. Fourth, CGC’s relationships with retailers were not very successful. CGC did not pay enough attention to establishing warm contacts with its retailers (for example one of the retailers mentioned that CGC’s terms of payment were not as favorable as the ones of other companies). CGC did not consider it necessary to provide special training for salespeople. Fifth, internet shops became very popular among customers but CGC did not want to increase its online sales, and thus was left far behind in e-commerce. CGC’s had to keep track of the changes which occurred in the market, but it failed to. In order to be successful, the company needed to establish a change management team as soon as the environment started changing. The change management team would be responsible for establishing a new structure of the company, training of employees and constantly fine-tuning the marketing mix of the company according to the changes of the environment. 3.Alternatives. Other alternatives to the establishment of change management team include: making minor changes in the marketing policy of the company in order to meet short-term goals; coming up with radical innovations in order to attract new customers. The first alternative could be useful for the company in the short run because it would allow it to temporarily increase sales and stop having losses. However, changes only in the marketing policy of the company would not be enough to keep the sales at a high level in a long run. Eventually, sales would start dropping again. The second alternative could be perfect in case if the industry was characterized by radical innovations, like computer industry. However, it is simply impossible to come up with some golf product which competitors would never be able to make in the industry of golf equipment production. Even if CGC achieved the increase in sales due to the innovations, competitors would soon start producing a similar product. Golf equipment industry is simply unable to come up with a product similar to Microsoft Windows which dominates the market in the computer industry. 4. Recommendation. The creation of change management team in CGC is therefore the most suitable solution for the company. It will enable CGC to achieve not only short-term but also long-term goals. The company needs to be restructured so that its structure better answers the requirements of the new environment. The new vision of the company also needs to be established. The change management team in the project needs to consist of eight people, five of which belong to senior-level management and three to top management. The main factors which the change managers need to weight to implement the change strategy successfully include: the size of the target market which the company will work on after the changes come into force; addressing immediate concerns which are important for the realization of the company’s goals; choosing priorities concerning centralized and de-centralized structure; the possibility of resistance to changes of certain employees; possible complications in adjusting of employees to the new structure. The program includes a deep analysis of factors which prevent the organization from growing, both internal and external. It requires the identification of the main internal and external factors driving change in the organizations. The change management team needs to achieve the following goals: restructure the company; provide balanced training for employees; improve the marketing mix of the company; increase the percentage of online sales of the company from 1% up to at least 40%. The company will be able to acquire new customers with the help of online shopping. It is also very important for CGC to pay attention to the relationships with retailers because in the competitive environment, the retailers determine the success of the producer in many ways. By providing adequate training of salespeople, CGC will also be able to increase its sales. 5. Implementation Plan. The implementation of change management plan in CGC is recommended to be done on the following steps: Creation of change management team; Identification of the major issues and guidelines which have to be addressed during the change process and establishment of management goals; Encouragement of employees to participate in the research of issues subject to change; Applications of various tools to reduce the resistance of employees to changes; Creation of a new vision in the company; Introduction of a new organization structure; Empowerment of employees and their involvement in the decision-making process in the company. Bibliography. Kotter, J.P. â€Å"Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fall.† Harvard Business Review, 73(2): 59.67. 1995. Mercer D. Marketing. Blackwell Business. 1992. How to cite Marketing: Sustaining Competitive Advantage, Essay examples

Compare and Contrast Essay John Lennon and Bob Marley free essay sample

Two great men in music John Lennon and Bob Marley shared a lot of similarities yet were very different. I will introduce you to the men they were and also the lives they lead. Born John Winston Lennon on October, 9th 1940 in Liverpool, Merseyside, North West England, United Kingdom to Julia and Alfred Lennon, John was their only child together. (John Lennon, 2011) While Bob was born Nesta Robert Marley on February, 6th 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Cedella Booker Marley and Norval Sinclair Marley. Bob Marley, 2011) Both John and Bob had absent fathers throughout their young lives. (John Lennon, 2011) (Bob Marley, 2011) While Bob was raised by his mother, John was sent to live with his aunt. (John Lennon, 2011) (Bob Marley, 2011) While they both were all about Love and Peace they had totally different views on religion. (John Lennon, 2011) (Bob Marley, 2011) John felt that Christianity was on its way out while Bob was very deep into Rastafarianism. We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast Essay: John Lennon and Bob Marley or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (White, 1983) (Bob Marley, 2011) John’s first inspiration in music was The Lonnie Donegan group and later Elvis Presley while Bob’s influence was Neville â€Å"Bunny† O’Riley Livingston a friend of his. (White, 1983) (Bob Marley, 2011) John’s style was Pop and later Rock and Roll and Bob was all about Reggae. (John Lennon, 2011) (Bob Marley, 2011) They both had ties to protesting politics as well as ties to Jimi Hendrix. (John Lennon, 2011) (Bob Marley, 2011) (Norman, 2008) (White, 1983) They both had run-ins with the law and were arrested at one time. Norman, 2008) (White, 1983) And they both had forms of premonitions or dreams about events that later came true.. (Norman, 2008) (White, 1983) For John it was visions of dying and for Bob it was a dream of receiving a ring with the lion of Judah on it. .(Norman, 2008) (White, 1983) Both at one time in their life were shot and both died at a young age. (Bob Marley, 2011) (John Lennon, 2011) John died at the age of 40 as a result of being shot, while Bob died at the age of 36 from cancer. (Norman, 2008) (White, 1983) Both continue to be admired by many generations as the musical geniuses that they were. References Norman, P. (2008). John Lennon â€Å"The Life† White, T. (1983). Catch A Fire â€Å"The Life of Bob Marley† Bob Marley. (2011). Biography. com. Retrieved from: http://www. biography. com/articles/Bob-Marley-9399524 John Lennon. (2011). Biography. com. Retrieved from: http://www. biography. com/articles/John-Lennon-9379045

Reaction Paper Environment Essay Example

Reaction Paper Environment Paper Protocol could not be explained by balance of interest (alone), but more because of embedded symbolism Lads decision to pursue global environmental leadership, reinforced by the media and public opinion. The name Kyoto Protocol had also become a national symbol and Japans environmental policy identity. In general, I find that the factors behind Japans foreign policy on environment as identified by both articles rather similar and consistent. When reading both articles together, Japans initial efforts to become the global environmental deader as well as its subsequent slack were wallpapering. Japans Role in Kyoto Protocol On Japans initial efforts towards Kyoto Protocol, Oath explained that it stemmed from Japans quest to make a nonmilitary contribution (as constrained by the Japanese constitution) to international affairs. Both articles have identified that Japan had the ideal domestic and political factors (together with strong public support) in the earlier years that supported its initial efforts. Although in the later years, the international and domestic contexts were not favorable for Japan o promote the Kyoto agreement, Japan has taken painful and costly measure s to continue the Kyoto Protocol. Case Study: Japanese Foreign Economic policy, Grasp Week 9 (December 4) Reaction Paper (by CHOC How Yen, Constance; Student ID: 51138033) In addition, both articles also pointed out that the name of Kyoto Protocol (bearing the name of a ices of Japan) made it indispensable for Japanese government to take a global environmental leadership role in tackling the global environmental problem, including its decision o step forward with the EX. And the (small part) of the rest of the world, despise et the US has decided to withdraw from it. We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper Environment specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper Environment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper Environment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Ratification vs Implementation Tiebreaker also pointed out that ratification was quite different from implementation, which I find this point interesting. Ratification is highly visible with tangible reputation, while implementation is the outcome of countless lowered battles, which are quite technical and hidden from the public eyes. Indeed, the pacifications battle over implementation would be a more difficult recess. I wonder how the reduction targets could be implemented by distributing the targets among different domestic industries, in particular the stakeholders are in fact private business enterprises (which make it difficult for the Government to impose mandatory targets on them). Conclusion All in all, the role and efforts Of Japan in negotiating the Kyoto Protocol and the subsequent implementation battle could serve as a good case study for International Political Economy (PIPE), since many factors came into play and all were crucial n affecting Japans decision and approach to the matter. However, I am disappointed (or feel sad) to realize how these domestic factors could actually affect a countrys participation in environmental affairs. Ideally, each country should cooperate to solve this global problem for social justice.

American Revolutionary War - Ticonderoga and Crown Point essays

American Revolutionary War - Ticonderoga and Crown Point essays American Revolutionary War - Ticonderoga and Crown Point The immediate object of the attack on the British Forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point on May 10 and 11, 1775 was first to capture the forts themselves, but also to obtain a cannon and supplies to use for the impending seige of Boston. Washington, who assumed command of the American forces on July 2, 1775, could not attempt this attack without heavy artillery, which was procured by Colonel Ethan Allen, Colonel Benedict Arnold and Colonel Seth Warner with Vermonts Green Mountain Boys. Green Mountain Boys, was the name of a group of soldiers from Vermont led by Allen, Warner and Arnold. They took their name from the Green Mountains in Vermont. The Green Mountain Boys were originally organized by Ethan Allen before the revolution to protest the claims of the New York government to Vermont territory, and were later joined by Seth Warner and Benedict Arnold. Seth Warner, was born in Connecticut and later moved to Vermont, where he was declared an outlaw in 1771 for forcibly resist! ing a New York claim to the area, and had a reward offered for his capture. Under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, he participated in the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga and led the force that took Crown Point the next day. Later that year, he was elected lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Green Mountain Boys. Ethan Allen was also born Connecticut, moving to Vermont in 1769. He became involved in the struggle between New York and New Hampshire for control of the region, just like Allen was. The New York authorities rejected an appeal that the region be established as a separate province, and Allen organized a volunteer militia, called the Green Mountain Boys, to resist the New York cause. Volunteers were raised by the Committee of Correspondence. They recruited fifty men and three hundred pounds to set up the Green Mountain Boys. Allen too, was declared an outlaw by the governor of New York. At the...

History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History - Assignment Example Nietzsche, a German scholar, and cultural critic, argued that civilization and its consequences is the price people have to pay to control the ego and its wants. Natural rights were undermined as European countries colonized African states. Colonizers subjected colonial natives to unfair manipulation and oppression. The perception held by the social class at this time was described as materialistic. The opinion advocated for accumulation and maintenance of wealth at the expense of other people. Artists from various fields took to different methods of expressing their feelings. Modern movement artists as if Strindberg expressed sexuality family and class conflict in an effort to point out the state of society1. Spengler compared culture to an organism, in a context, that culture is something that is, grows and then dies. Spengler viewed culture as a development born out of creativity. He defined civilization as the result of a culture. As in, the product after a culture has been created. According to Spengler civilization, is the tangible culture. Civilization is a culture that has been transformed to be physical. The Faustian or western culture was born in Western Europe during the 10th century. The western culture became a civilization in the 20th century when it was present in most parts of the world. Religion helps a culture seek identification and exhibits the different stages in the development of a culture2. Totalitarian states are governments whose primary objective is to control the people it governs entirely. Totalitarianism requires people to comply with the government’s policies without any opposition. Totalitarian states are termed as dictatorships. The following are the authoritarian policies of Adolf Hitler in Germany. Â · Hitler devolved his party to smaller units scattered all over the country. He led with charisma and devotion to convince people that he only had good intentions. Before acquiring

Reflective journal on HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Reflective journal on HRM - Essay Example While the HRM have considerable powers over the employees the ethical code amongst these HRM is not constant through out. The article describes the role of HRM in controlling the problems faced by the employees. However if the HRM himself is biased or partial the decision taken by him would not comply with the ethical code of Human Resource practice. This partiality shown by the HRM for their employees can further deepen the problem faced by the company. To solve the issues faced by the employees Dispute Resolution procedures are applied. These Dispute Resolutions help the employees to put forward their issues and get them solved accordingly. However due to the impartialities amongst the HRM the Dispute Resolution system is going through a lot of problems. As emphasized in this article a Dispute Resolution system should always involve neutral judges. The judges here can be referred to as the Human Resource Managers working in the companies. The article emphasizes further on the neutr ality and partially practiced by the Human Resource Managers. The HRM should not have a relationship of any sort with the employees as this may affect the decisions taken by them in regard to the complaints given to them. The article emphasizes on the fact that favoritism should be removed from the Human Resource system as this affects the decisions and further makes the decision unequal to one party. The Human Resource Managers should have a neutral stance towards the weak and the powerful party so that even if the powerful party commits any mistake it is brought back to the terms and conditions applied by the company. Furthermore the article describes the role of the HRM with accordance to the new legislation which was introduced in Australia in 2005. This legislation is known as the Work Choices Act. This legislation has given more powers to the HRM i.e. they can dismiss workers without settling their disputes. This power provided to the HRM could be used in a negative way too as at times the HRM would prefer dismissing the workers rather than settling the issue between the workers. The legislation has provided an edge to the HRM and the employers over the workers. As these powers vested to both the HRM and employers would help them in dismissing the workers without settling their issues. This would affect the overall ethical code of the company. As I personally have experienced having a dispute between my co-workers I think that the Human Resource Manager plays an important role in resolving the disputes and the power vested to them can be used in the negative way. The co-workers who have an understanding with the Human Resource Managers are preferred by them over other workers. As my issue was solved by a HR manager who was neutral, I figured out that HR manager played an important role in resolving the company's problems. However if the HR manager is biased the decisions passed by them would not comply with the ethical code and terms. The HR manager should not be given the powers to dismiss workers as these powers given to them would help them to dismiss the workers directly rather than solving their issues. The HR manager should be selected by the employer with extreme caution as he is the main person in handling the internal issues of the company. The HR manager s

Chaos theory Applications to PDEs (geometry design) Essay

Chaos theory Applications to PDEs (geometry design) - Essay Example 55). Therefore, there has been a growing demand for the development for a much stronger theory than for the finite dimensional systems. In mathematics, there are significant challenges in the studies on the infinite dimensional systems (Taylor, 1996; p. 88). For instance, as phase spaces, the Banach spaces have many structures than in Euclidean spaces. In application, the most vital natural phenomena are explained by the partial differential equations, most of important natural phenomena are described by the Yang-Mills equations, partial differential equations, nonlinear wave equations, and Navier-Stokes equations among others. Problem Statement Chaos theory has led to profound mathematical equations and theorems that have numerous applications in different fields including chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering among other fields or professions. Problem Definition The nonlinear wave equations are usually significant class of equations especially natural sciences (Cyganowski, K loeden, and Ombach, 2002; p. 33). They usually describe a wide spectrum of phenomena including water waves, motion of plasma, vortex motion, and nonlinear optics (laser) among others (Wasow, 2002). Notably, these types of equations often describe differences and varied phenomena; particularly, similar soliton equation that describes several different situations. These types of equations can be described by the nonlinear Schrodinger equation 1 The equation 1 above has a soliton solution 2 Where the variable This leads to 3 The equation leads to the development of the soliton equations whose Cauchy problems that are solved completely through the scattering transformations. The soliton equations are similar to the integrable Hamiltonian equations that are naturally counterparts of the finite dimensionalintegrable differential systems. Setting up the systematic study of the chaos theory in the partial differential equations, there is a need to start with the perturbed soliton equations (Wasow, 2002). The perturbed soliton equations can be classified into three main categories including: 1. Perturbed (1=1) dimensional soliton equations 2. Perturbed soliton lattices 3. Perturbed (1 + n) dimensional soliton equations (n? 2). For each of the above categories, to analyze the chaos theory in the partial differential equations, there is needed to choose a candidate for study. The integrable theories are often parallel for every member within the same category (Taylor, 1996; p. 102). Moreover, members of different categories are often different substantial. Therefore, the theorem that describes the existence of chaos on each candidate can be generalized parallely to other members under the same category (Wasow, 2002). For instance; The candidate in the first category is often described by a perturbed cubic that often focuses on the nonlinear Schrodinger equation 4 Under even and periodic boundary conditions q (x+1) = q (x) and q (x) =q (x), and is a real constant. The can didates in category 2 are often considered as the perturbed discrete cubic that often focus on the nonlinear Schrodinger equation + Perturbations, 5 The above equation is only valid under even and periodic boundary conditions described by +N = The candidates falling under category 3 are perturbed Davey-Stewartson II equations 6 The equation is only satisfied under the even and periodic

Carrying out a stroop effect experiment

Carrying out a stroop effect experiment It has been proposed that it is difficult to control automatic processes as they were unconsciously carried out. This meant that they could intrude on other tasks. The Stroop Effect looked at how automatic processing would interfere with colour identification. It was discovered that identifying ink colour was made more difficult when looking at a list of colour related words than when looking at colour neutral words and so This experiment attempted to study automatic processing by using a variation of the Stroop Effect test. 22 Participants were given two lists of 30 words. On each list, six words were repeated five times in varying colours. The Condition 1 (appendix 2) list contained incongruent words, whilst the Condition 2 list (appendix 3) contained congruent words. Half of Participants were tested on Condition 1 first, followed by Condition 2. The other half began the test with Condition 2, followed by Condition 1. The time each Participant took to name the colour ink the words were printed in was recorded and measured (See appendix 1 for results). (158-100) Introduction A great deal of the way that people perceive things involves automatic processing. This occurs outside of the conscious mind and so requires no effort. It has been found, however, that some level of interference between the automatic and controlled processes can happen. Information from the senses and from that already stored in memory has to be processed from a cognitive system that has a limited capacity. Reading is an automatic process and recognising a colour is a controlled process. Putting both together should cause interference in the ability to both read and recognise the colour of the ink the words are printed in. The general idea of automatic processing interfering with other tasks has been researched by many psychologists. Shneider Shiffrin (1977) set up an experiment in which participants had to memorize a set of numbers or letters and then find those numbers or letters in a much larger set. It was found that it was much easier to recognise a number in a set of letters (Or the reverse), than it was to recognise a number in a set of numbers or a letter in a set of letters. ********************************** The rationale for this experiment was to test another variation on the stroop effect. The experimental hypothesis was that the time taken to name the ink colour on the condition 1 list of incongruent words would be longer than that of the time taken to name the colour ink on the condition 2 list of congruent words. The null hypothesis was that there would be no difference in time taken for the two conditions. (-500) Method (657) Design The experiment employed a within-subjects design. This design was chosen because the same participants were used in both conditions. The independent variable was the colour ink the words were printed in. Two lists of 30 words were provided (Appendix 2 3). The 30 words on each list consisted of 6 words repeated 5 times in varying colours. Each participant was asked to name the colour ink each word was printed in, in as fast a time as possible. On the condition 1 list of incongruent words, the words listed all had a relation to a colour. For example, the word sky has a relation to the colour blue. The words were printed in a colour removed from that with which they were normally associated. The condition 2 list contained congruent words and the words had no particular relation to a colour. The dependent variable was the length of time taken to name the colour ink each word was printed in. A measure was taken of the time participants took to name the colour ink of all the words printed on the list. Times were taken for condition 1 and for condition 2. The time was taken in seconds using a stopwatch and the length of time it took each participant to complete the entire list to the nearest second was noted. In order to reduce the possibility of any confounding variables, half of the participants began with condition 1 and half with condition 2. Individual times were then noted on the response sheet to later be compared with results from the other condition. Materials The materials that were used in this experiment were made up of 2 cards containing lists of 30 words. The 30 words were made up of 6 words repeated 5 times in varying colours. (Appendix 2 3) A stopwatch, consent forms and a response sheet were also used. Procedure Participants were fully informed about what the study would involve and were given the opportunity to withdraw if they wished. They were told that the study would involve a variation of the Stroop Effect and that they would be required to name the colour ink the words were printed in, in as quick a time as possible. They were made aware that the study was looking at the effects of interference between automatic and controlled processing. The possible effects of driving whilst using a mobile phone was used as an example in helping them understand the underlying reasons behind the study. They were informed that all resulting data would be anonymous and that no names would be given on the response sheet or to anybody else. All participants agreed to take part in the study and signed a consent form. Participants were placed in a well lit, quiet room and shown a set of instructions that told them****************** When they were ready to commence the test the participants turned over a sheet of card containing either Condition 1 or Condition 2 words. The sheet of card had been placed on a table, upside down in front of them. They began reading the list of words given and were timed to measure their individual performances. When the first test was complete, the participants were given a two minute break before the second test commenced. Half of the participants began with the Condition 1 list and half began with the Condition 2 list. Include how responses were recorded and mention the debriefing of participants. Redo data as have not put in time chart difference between starting condition 1 first or condition 2 first. Results As this was a within-subject design, a paired-samples t-test was used to analyse the data. The analysis showed a t value of 3.78 (To 2 sig figures). This positive result showed***************************** Mean SD= 4.945 T=3.774 df=21 p=.001 D= 0.65 (To 2 sig figures) This shows that the independent variable had a medium to high effect on the dependent variable. The data showed that the mean for condition 1 was higher than the mean for condition 2. The standard deviation of time that was taken to complete the two lists was compared and the difference calculated at 0.53. This showed********************* Discussion There was an increase in the time it took participants to read condition 1 over condition 2. This confirms previous research and is supportive of the experimental hypothesis. It was observed that participants appeared to show a much greater degree of concentration when completing condition 1 than in condition 2. Whilst when completing the condition 2 part of the study it appeared, even without considering the time taken, that participants found it much easier and it did indeed appear to be a much more automatic process than condition 1. Some errors were made, although very few. Those that were made, but not noticed by the participant showed that in the real world, the interference between automatic and controlled processing could have quite detrimental affects. An example of this would be in the case of***************** Reading appeared to be such a deeply rooted, automatic process that even when attempting to relay the ink colour the word was printed in, participants appeared to have to make an extra effort to stop themselves from reading the words themselves.

Panopticon: The Ideal Social Order :: essays research papers

Panopticon: The Ideal Social Order "The Panopticon is a marvelous machine which, whatever use one may wish to put it to, produces homogenous effects of power." Panopticism is a style of controlling the individual and making him conform to the system. That system could refer to the police or the world as a whole. There is never a definite top position, therefore, everyone feels as if they are being monitored by someone else. It is for this reason that this disciplinary mechanism is so effective. The Panopticon serves as a tool for discipline and a laboratory of power. The capabilities of a Panopticon are endless. It is the basis for the government while it could also aid in the criminal activities for the mafia. In the government there is a system of checks and balances where nothing can get accomplished without the authorization of a higher ranked official. Once these ideas are passed they are then imposed on the individuals of society by other organizations . Whether it be the police, the IRA, or a neighborhood watch group. The Panopticon can serve the public in many ways. It can defend a country, reform prisoners, treat the ill, and educate the public. It does this by creating channels of power and distributing them to the individuals. In the Panopticon, no one individual shall be granted too much power so as to place his or her own values upon the masses. The concept behind panopticism is the distribution of power in order to better society as a whole. The historical problems with power have proven, when it is unevenly distributed, those with the power take advantage and impose their values on the public. For instance, Hitler was given too much power and he massacred millions of innocent people. The Panopticon, on the other hand, serves to increase the wealth, welfare, education, and spirituality of society. The Panopticon does punish but it does so in a means of reform. It attempts to restore the individual to a being that can be a productive and positive influence. The system has two main purposes, the distribution of power and the means of establishing discipline. Every aspect of the world has the ideas and principles of panopticism behind them. The world is full of intricate and complicated people. These people group together to create tribes, governments, countries, and or civilizations. What are the rules? How are we, the most complicated form of life that we know of, suppose to act towards one another. The panoptic system has implemented itself upon the world. It has created a system where no one

Odyssey/Siren Song Essay

Homer’s epic poem Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens and their deadly song which is shown in Margaret Atwood’s poem â€Å"Siren Song.† When comparing each text, it is found that the Sirens are portrayed as temptresses that trap you with their beautiful, â€Å"honeyed voices.† The tone in the epic poem is bright in the beginning when Homer writes â€Å"Helios’ burning rays† and â€Å"the sun at high noon.† As the poem progresses, it takes on an ominous tone that shows Odysseus’ self-control as he â€Å"stop[s] the ears of [his] comrades one by one† with beeswax. He also has his men â€Å"[bind him] hand and foot in the tight ship†¦lashed by ropes to the mast.† These two examples show Odysseus fighting against his desire to listen to the Siren’s song. When Homer writes â€Å"and the heart inside me throbbed to listen longer† it shows how very hard it is for Odysseus to ignore the Siren’s call. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, the tone that is set is one of bereavement. The three Sirens understand that they are beautiful and that their call is tempting to every man but they consider the song as a â€Å"cry for help.† The Siren that is speaking in â€Å"Siren Song† refers to her trio as â€Å"fatal and valuable.† Imagery is used in both of the texts to portray the Sirens as beautiful women. For example, from Homer’s first-person point of view, they have â€Å"honeyed [and] ravishing voices,† and from Atwood’s first-person point of view, the Siren speaks of the trio as â€Å"picturesque† and â€Å"mythical.† The Siren that is speaking in Atwood’s poem refers to her trip as â€Å"feathery maniacs.† The imagery in this poem makes you pick up a subtle tone that the Sirens are like temptresses. They reel in the men with their gorgeous, tricky call even though the men can see the â€Å"beached skull† which symbolizes their fate of death. Their song may be â€Å"boring† but, in the Siren’s words, â€Å"it works every time.†

Psychological Impact of Stereotype

Psychological Impact of Stereotype Free Online Research Papers Society is shared with a diverse group of people who express individuality in their own distinct way. Although we may experience and share much of our culture with other people, and transfer it from one generation to another, it impacts everyone differently. Our culture is primarily responsible for the characteristics that make us unique and special. Culture is the shaping of our minds and our lives by the norms, morals, values, ideas, traditions, customs, art, history, and institutions. It also encompasses our physical attributes such as height, skin color, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. Culture has an undeniable impact on our attitudes, how we perceive the world, and our interpersonal interactions. Stereotypes We are all guilty of using stereotypes, more than we care to admit. Stereotypes are a quick and effective way we identify observable characteristics of a few representatives from a group. We may hear something secondhand, and we apply these attributes collectively to the whole. This brings about a view of the entire group that makes them seem less threatening and overwhelming. Using the stereotype allows the person to feel more comfortable and powerful. People judge other people, and fall short. Understanding the background, the values, traditions and the essence of an individual or a culture is difficult and time consuming. Therefore, it is easier to use limited knowledge to generalize and apply labels. Labels are generally prejudiced and biased, yet accepted as stereotypes for large cultures such as African American or Native American, but also smaller ones, such as women, liberals and conservatives, police officers, and religions. These all too commonly distort the view of particular individuals or groups. (Dahlstrom, 1993). Stereotypes make people judgmental about others. Oftentimes they are used as a scapegoat. Stereotypes allow a way to separate â€Å"their† behavior from â€Å"my† behavior. They prevent identifying and understanding the actual feelings experienced. The belief remains that the problem is how â€Å"those people† are, instead of addressing the feelings of hurt, confusion, anger, etc. (Moore, 2007). Negative Stereotyping has generated laws and rules that benefit some people, and exclude, or punish other people. The Jim Crow laws forcibly discrimated against African Americans and did not permit their entry into certain places, or allow them to take part in particular activities. The negative effect of internalizing the negative stereotype of a woman’s need to be very thin to be beautiful may harm a woman’s self-esteem. It could lead to eating disorders, and a vulnerability to plastic surgery that will perpetuate this image. The stereotype of Asian Americans as driven, successful and possessing extreme intelligence should be positive; however, it places an unnecessary burden on individuals to thrive and succeed, and may lead to depression and higher rates of suicide (Moore, 2007). To combat the effect of stereotypes, people should concentrate on relationship, on discovering the commonalities that all people share. When people share a common thread, the practice of respect and understanding come into play, rather than ignorant stereotyping that justifies terrible actions and behaviors. Homelessness The stereotype of the homeless population is made up of, old white men, the mentally ill, and runaway teens. Yet the homeless community is different from the primarily incorrect stereotypes. Homelessness results from family breakdown or tragedy, or natural disaster, or the socially less competent or disabled unable to receive familial or societal help. The majority of the homeless population is made up of working and underclass backgrounds, but it is not unfamiliar with people from all cultural identities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family types (Lacher, 2005). To live a normal life, a home to live in is required. The homeless do not have privacy, freedom, or independence. They do not have access to security or a place of their own to relax. The homeless cannot take a regular shower, have regular meals, a permanent address, phone number, or place to sleep. When a homeless person searches for a job, he or she may find one, then be turned away because of the stereotype and stigma related to living homeless. If he or she does acquire a job, it may be a burden to keep because the loss of resources connected with living in a home makes it difficult to be successful at the job. It is also unfortunate that many of the jobs available to the homeless population do not pay enough or provide the benefits that would overcome homelessness (Lacher, 2005). Homelessness is a hardship that produces a tragic outcome for many individuals and families. Psychological trauma resulting in emotional distress and emotional disorder is a potential and likely effect for those faced with the reality of homelessness. First, both the unexpected, sudden loss, and the gradual losing of a home, results in the sacrifice of neighbors, routines, and maybe even family members. The aftermath can undoubtedly be a severe stressor that produces symptoms of psychological stress and trauma. The ongoing burdens of lack of safety, no predictability or control that is associated with living in a homeless shelter, may wear away at the remaining coping mechanisms causing or exacerbating psychological stress and trauma. Finally, especially for women who become homeless after a history of physical or sexual abuse, psychological trauma will most likely be aggravated and there will be an overwhelming barrier to recovery (Goodman, Saxe, Harvey, 1991). Ageism In our society people are most often automatically sorted into three dominant categories: race, sex, and age. The most socially accepted and condoned prejudice in the United States today, is age prejudice (Nelson, 2002). Older people are stereotyped as physically ill, senile, sexually ineffective, and helpless. Wisdom and knowledge is the honorable gift of age. Instead of embracing the natural process of aging, most people dread the inevitability of becoming older, and all its social implications. The truth is, the older generation is made up of immensely diverse individuals who are not that easily classified. Society may view people over 65 with â€Å"one foot in the grave,† or â€Å"ready to be put out to pasture,† these individuals view themselves as active, energetic, and productive members of the community. It is an unfortunate attribute of our society that perpetuates the negative stereotypes that are aimed toward the elderly. These harmful biases and impressions cause people to develop wrong attitudes and behave adversely toward the aged. Older people’s ability to be vigorous, productive and creative doesn’t change. Rather, it is society’s unwillingness to see seniors as vital and effective contributors despite the fact that they reach retirement age. An unfortunate by product of internalizing these negative stereotypes results in many older individuals absorbing these concepts into his or her own mind-sets. This is an example of the self-fulfilling prophecy. By buying into society’s stereotype, the older person internalizes these assumptions and their behavior confirms the stereotype. A study has shown that older people who embrace a positive self-image of them aging, lived approximately 7.5 years longer than those with negative self-perceptions. Those people who have a positive experience with aging have better memories and better balance. Positive attitudes will foster a positive impact on aging (Stanford Edu., 2009). Conclusion Perhaps there is nothing that will end society’s ingrained bias that Asian Americans are ruthlessly successful, the homeless are mentally unstable drug addicts, and the elderly are frail and powerless. The exaggeration of negative aspects, simplifying preconceived images of people, is societies obsession. An awareness of the background, the values, traditions and the essence of an individual or a culture would reveal the inadequacies of these misinterpreted stereotypes. When people build mutual relationships the practice of respect and understanding come into play, rather than ignorant stereotyping that justifies terrible actions and behaviors. References: Dahlstrom, W. (1993). Tests: Small samples, large consequences. American Psychologist, 48(4), 393-399. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.48.4.393 Goodman, L., Saxe, L., Harvey, M. (1991). Homelessness as psychological trauma: Broadening perspectives. American Psychologist, 46(11), 1219-1225. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.46.11.1219. Lacher, A. (2005).- Homelessness and Poverty: A Cross Cultural Study of Homelessness and Social Policy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Marriott Hotel, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia, PA Online . 2009-05-25 from allacademic.com/meta/p22313_index.html Moore, J. (2007Year, May 4). The effects of stereotyping [Opinion and editorial]. Message posted to associatedcontent.com/article/233134/the_effects_of_stereotyping_pg2.html?cat=9 Nelson, T.D. (2002). Ageism: stereotyping and prejudice against older persons. : MIT Press. Stanford Edu.. (2009). Global public health and marginalized populations: sexuality, disability, age, etc.. Retrieved from http://stanford.edu/class/humbio129s/cgi-bin/blogs/marginalizedpop/2009/05/14/global-public-health-and-the-elderly-ageism-and-mental-health/ Research Papers on Psychological Impact of Stereotype19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementHip-Hop is ArtCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesCapital Punishment

Hewlett-Packard Organizational Structure Essays

Hewlett-Packard Organizational Structure Essays Hewlett-Packard Organizational Structure Paper Hewlett-Packard Organizational Structure Paper Hewlett-Packard (HP) is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors. It specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise, and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software and a diverse range of printers, and other imaging products. The company was founded in a one-car garage in Palo Alto by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Currently, HP is the worlds leading PC manufacturer, operating in nearly every country. It specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise, and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software and a diverse range of printers, and other imaging products. HP markets its products to households, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises directly as well as via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology vendors. HP also has strong services and consulting business around its products and partner products. Major company events have included the spin-off of part of its business as Agilent Technologies in 1999, its merger with Compaq in 2002, and the acquisition of EDS in 2008, which led to combined revenues of $118. 4 billion in 2008 and a Fortune 500 ranking of 9 in 2009. In November 2009, HP announced the acquisition of 3Com; with the deal closing on April 12, 2010. On April 28, 2010, HP announced the buyout of Palm for $1. 2 billion. On September 2, 2010, won its bidding war for 3PAR with a $33 a share offer ($2. 07 billion) which Dell declined to match. Hewlett-Packard is not affiliated with Packard Motor Car Corporation, founded by James Ward Packard and William Doud Packard . HISTORY Founding Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard graduated in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1935. The company originated in a garage in nearby Palo Alto during a fellowship they had with a past professor, Frederick Terman at Stanford during the Great Depression. Terman was considered a mentor to them in forming Hewlett-Packard. In 1939, Packard and Hewlett established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packards garage with an initial capital investment of US$538. Hewlett and Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. Packard won the coin toss but named their electronics manufacturing enterprise the Hewlett-Packard Company. HP incorporated on August 18, 1947, and went public on November 6, 1957. THE 1960s HP partnered in the 1960s with Sony and the Yokogawa Electric companies in Japan to develop several high-quality products. The products were not a huge success, as there were high costs in building HP-looking products in Japan. HP and Yokogawa formed a joint venture (Yokogawa-Hewlett-Packard) in 1963 to market HP products in Japan. HP bought Yokogawa Electrics share of Hewlett-Packard Japan in 1999. THE 1970s HP is identified by Wired magazine as the producer of the worlds first marketed, mass-produced personal computer, the Hewlett-Packard 9100A, introduced in 1968. HP called it a desktop calculator, because, as Bill Hewlett said, If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers computer gurus because it didnt look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared. An engineering triumph at the time, the logic circuit was produced without any integrated circuits; the assembly of the CPU having been entirely executed in discrete components. With CRT display, magnetic-card storage, and printer, the price was around $5000. The machines keyboard was a cross between that of a scientific calculator and an adding machine. There was no alphabetic keyboard. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, originally designed the Apple I computer while working at HP and offered it to them under their right of first refusal to his work, but they did not take it up as the company wanted to stay in scientific, business, and industrial markets. THE 1980s On March 3, 1986, HP registered the HP. com domain name, making it the ninth Internet . com domain ever to be registered. In 1987, the Palo Alto garage where Hewlett and Packard started their business was designated as a California State historical landmark. THE 1990s In July 1999, HP appointed Carly Fiorina as CEO, the first female CEO of a company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Fiorina served as CEO during the technology industry downturn of the early 2000s. During her tenure, the market value of HP halved and the company incurred heavy job losses. The HP Board of Directors asked Fiorina to step down in 2005, and she resigned on February 9, 2005. THE 2000s On September 3, 2001, HP announced that an agreement had been reached with Compaq to merge the two companies. 20] In May, 2002, after passing a shareholder vote, HP officially merged with Compaq. Prior to this, plans had been in place to consolidate the companies product teams and product lines. [21] In 1998 Compaq had already taken over the Digital Equipment Corporation. That is why HP still offers support for PDP-11, VAX and AlphaServer. The merger occurred after a proxy fight with Bill Hewletts son Walter, who objected to the merger. Compaq itself had bought Tandem Computers in 1997 (which had been started by ex-HP employees), and Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998. Following this strategy, HP became a major player in desktops, laptops, and servers for many different markets. After the merger with Compaq, the new ticker symbol became HPQ, a combination of the two previous symbols, HWP and CPQ, to show the significance of the alliance and also key letters from the two companies Hewlett-Packard and Compaq (the latter company being famous for its Q logo on all of its products. ) THE 2010s On April 28, 2010, Palm, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard announced that HP would be acquiring Palm for $1. billion in cash and debtÃ'Ž In the months leading up to the buyout it was rumored that Palm was going to be purchased by either HTC, Dell, RIM or HP. On August 6, 2010, CEO Mark Hurd resigned amid controversy and CFO Cathie Lesjak assumed the role of interim CEO. On September 30, 2010, Leo Apotheker was named as HPs new CEO and President. On September 22, 2011, Hewlett-Packard Co. named former eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman its president and CEO, replacing Leo Apotheker, while Raymond Lane became executive chairman of the company. Flat OrganiZational structure HP has flat organizational structure with few or no levels of intervening management between staff and managers. * They had well-trained workers who were more productive when they are more directly involved in the decision-making process, rather than closely supervised by many layers of management. * This structure is generally possible only in smaller organizations or individual units within larger organizations. When they reach a critical size, organizations can retain a streamlined structure but cannot keep a completely flat manager-to-staff relationship without impacting productivity. Certain financial responsibilities may also require a more conventional structure. Some theorize that flat organizations become more traditionally hierarchical when they begin to be geared towards productivity. * The flat organization model promotes employee involvement through a decentralized decision-making process. By elevating the level of responsibility of baseline employees and eliminating layers of middle management, comments and feedback reach all personnel involved in decisions more quickly. Expected response to customer feedback becomes more rapid. Since the interaction between workers is more frequent, this organizational structure generally depends upon a much more personal relationship between workers and managers. Hence the structure can be more time-consuming to build than a traditional hierarchical model . Divisional structure Divisional structure in HP allowed the organization to coordinate intergroup relationships more effectively than does a functional structure. Product Structure * Each product division contains the functions necessary to that service the specific goods or services it produces. What are the advantages of a product structure? * Increases the division of labor so that the number similar products can be increased (such as a wider variety of appliances like stoves, or ovens) expand into new markets and produce totally new kinds of products (such as when an appliance maker starts to produce computers or ai planes). Market Structure * Market Structure Group functions into divisions that can be responsive to the needs of particular types of customers. Geographic Structure An organization facing the problem of controlling its activities on a national or international level is likely to use a geographic structure and group functions into regional divisions to service customers in different geographic areas. * Each geographic division has access to a full set of the functions it needs to provide its goods and sevices. HP IS Decentralized HP has Decentralized organizational structure in which daily operations and decision-making responsibilities are delegated by top management to middle and lower-level mangers within the organization, allowing top management to focus more on major decisions. For a small business, growth may create the need to decentralize to continue efficient operations. Decentralization offers several advantages, though relinquishing control may be difficult for a business owner accustomed to making all the decisions. Advantages Empowering Employees Employees can be empowered by having more autonomy to make their own decisions, giving them a sense of importance and making them feel as if they have more input in the direction of the organization. It also allows them to make better use of the knowledge and experience they have gained and implement some of their own ideas. Relieving the Burden * Decentralizing takes some of the burden of daily business operations off the business owner. When the owner allows others to perform such tasks as hiring new employees or ordering supplies, this frees her up to spend more time on big-picture items, such as planning for expansion or meeting with important clients. Preparing for Emergencies * A situation may arise where the business owner must be away from the business for an extended period time because of illness or another type of emergency. A decentralized structure provides a better chance that the organization will maintain self-sufficiency because managers and employees are accustomed to working autonomously. More Efficient Decision-Making * A decentralized organization is able to make decisions more quickly than one with a centralized structure. A manager often can make a decision without having to wait for it to go up a chain of command, allowing the organization to react quickly to situations where fast action can mean the difference between gaining and losing a customer. Ease of Expansion For a growing business, decentralization can facilitate the process of expansion. For example, if expansion results in opening a new business unit in a different geographic area, decentralization allows the new unit to operate as an independent entity, meaning it can react more easily to the specific needs of the area, such as deciding to sell products that appeal to the local market. Mutual adjustment The ongoing informal communication among different people and functions that is necessary for an achieve its goals. Mutual adjustment makes an organizations structure work smoothly, and managers must constantly make efforts to promote it and do all they can to facilitate communication and the free flow of information among functions. * Mutual adjustment, for example, prevents the emergence of different orientations that can cause significant communication and decision-making problems between functions and divisions. * An organization has to build into its structure integrating mechanism that facilitate mutual adjustment and make it easy for managers and employees in different functions and divisions to meet and coordinate their activities. Cross Functional Structure A cross-functional team is a group of people with different functional expertise working toward a common goal. It may include people from finance, marketing, operations, and human resources departments. Typically, it includes employees from all levels of an organization. Members may also come from outside an organization (in particular, from suppliers, key customers, or consultants). Cross-functional teams often function as self-directed teams responding to broad, but not specific directives. Decision making within a team may depend on consensus, but often is led by a manager/coach/team leader. Advantages on having this structure The organizational changes have increased transparency for these business functions relative to the company’s strategic roadmap, sharpening the executive team’s focus on customer-facing businesses, further enabling opportunities for synergies across business units, and positioning HP for the opportunities it sees in the market.

Why the Early Middle Ages are often referred to as the Dark Ages Essay

Why the Early Middle Ages are often referred to as the Dark Ages - Essay Example In spiritual terms Dark Ages were a period of birth of a new type of personality, a new mentality, both individual and collective. In times when the collection of earthly treasures became impossible, people, following the precepts of Christ, began to collect the treasures of heaven. The Christian religion was gave the support for people and helped not to lose heart and humbly endure all the trials, which he met. Hunger, barbarian attacks, diseases - it seemed that Christian God was testing people in order to prepare believers for promised in the Gospel, "the millennial kingdom of Christ." Philosophers were analyzing not the nature of man - a transient phenomenon, but the divine nature. Theology, which flourished in the High Middle Ages, took its beginning in the monasteries of the Dark Ages. All knowledge about the world of medieval man was based on the knowledge of God.During the Dark Ages the decline of common knowledge took place, and existed science survived only in monasteries, as only Church succeed in preserving of ancient and Biblical writings. So it was assumed, that no-one was literate properly. But not everything was as worse as it seems to be, and in the 19th century a number of sources were found, which proved the existence of culture development. As the Church was powerful, it did its best to promote learning and literacy. In addition, European people were adopting and transforming such legacy of the Roman Empire as Roman law, administrative and taxation practices, literature, trade and economy and so on.

Human Trafficking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Human Trafficking - Research Paper Example This research paper will explore the issue of human trafficking, look at its causes, effects, how it can be prevented and analyze its magnitude in a few sample drawing countries. Despite the fact that human trafficking is one of the main issues facing the world currently, there is no reliable data that can be used to estimate the number of persons trafficked annually. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, a body that is responsible for monitoring trafficking for the United Nations, explains that estimating the exact size of the human trafficking is a difficult task because the act is committed underground, and it often go misidentified or not identified at all.2 In addition, victims of human trafficking are often afraid to report cases of abduction to the authority because of the regular stern threats they get from the traffickers. However, various controversial research studies estimate that at least 600,000 to 800,000 young children and women are trafficked per year across the world. These are scary figures, especially considering the fact that the figures do not account for the number of persons trafficked within their own countries. Majority of the human trafficking victims are duped into the vice by the false promises made regarding to job opportunities.3 This is very common especially in the developing countries or the so-called third world countries, where the level of poverty is extremely high. Sources indicate that a significant number of women who are trafficked from these countries are lured into this trade using false marriage as the bait. In the developed countries such as USA, most of the human trafficking cases are related to sexual purposes. According to a study that was conducted on this topic in the country, more than 40% of all the human trafficking investigations in the USA are related to sexual trafficking of a child and roughly 80% of such cases involve United States citizens.

Different De-Icing Systems for Aircraft Research Paper

Different De-Icing Systems for Aircraft - Research Paper Example This paper looks at the various systems used for de-icing in airplanes. The protection of engines and the aircrafts can take fundamental forms. One of them is the removal of ice once it has been formed, or probes be used to prevent it from forming. De-icing is the removal of ice, snow, or hoarfrost on the surface of the airplanes. However, deicing is correlated with anti-icing, which is defined as the use chemicals in the surfaces of the aircraft. The chemicals do not only de-ice but also stay put on a surface and prevent buildup of ice for a period, or hinder adhesion of ice to make mechanical removal easier. Therefore anti-icing is also a form of de-icing (Skybrary, 2012). Removing ice on the surface of the aero planes takes various forms. It can be done using chemical methods such as scrapping and pushing. In order to achieve this, heat must be applied on the surface of the plane, by using liquid or dry chemicals that are formed to decrease the freezing point of water. Such chemic als include alcohols, brines, salts, and glycols. Moreover, they can combine many of these chemicals in order to enhance their effectiveness. De-icing can also be done through the use of a protective layers such as the use of viscous liquid known as the anti-icing fluid on the surface of the aero plane to absorb the contaminate. ... In addition, it dilutes the anti-icing fluids used thus changing into a contaminant itself (Lankford, 1999). Salt has also been another method that is used to de-ice. It has traditionally been used to de-ice roads with the addition of sand and gravel. This has been effective due to the availability of the chemical sodium chloride also known as rock salt. This method is effective and inexpensive to use. Moreover, it is readily available. However, this method cannot be used for temperatures below -18 degrees centigrade, which mostly is easily achieved by highflying aeroplanes. Moreover, this method causes corrosion on the surface of the aeroplane, therefore rusting the steel, which is one of the materials used to make the surface of the aeroplanes (Roskam, 2000). In addition, de-icing on the aeroplanes uses another method that uses different categories of salts such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. These salts are important since they condense and depress the freezing point of water to a lower temperature. However, this salt also causes exothermic reaction. In the recent years, more advanced salts have been developed which do not cause environmental issues that was previously affected by the salts. They also have a longer residue effect when used together with the traditional salts such as salt brines and solids (Roskam, 2000). In addition, de-icing has taken various forms with the development of technology. More recently, the flight industry has turned into using the infrared de-icing system. This method is advantageous in that it is subsequently faster than the traditional salt systems and conservative heat transfer modes used by

Sociology GCSE mass media notes Essay Example for Free

Sociology GCSE mass media notes Essay New media – anything that uses new technology that usually involves some process of convergence e.g. phones as they can now access the internet. New media is likely to be digital, interactive and dispersed (not controlled by a single source of professionals). Democracy – rule by the people for the people Consumer society builds as it is cheaper and quicker for companies to advertise on the internet Exploits WC and MEG’s through news, stereotypes, folk devils and media ampflication Faster for many functions such as advertising and research etc Reinforces digital divide as the RC are more likely to posses new media The internet enables us to be democratic as it allows us to see and research information Increases social isolation as those without new media feel less ‘involved’. Allows us to have more knowledge and enhances us intellectually Higher risk of criminal behaviour happening e.g. fraud, illegal downloads and paedophiles of children’s websites Widens consumer choice Lack of regulation – many things go uncensored and undiscovered Infotainment – the replacing of news information by entertainment Enhances the power of the powerful, risking democracy as we only see information from the side of those in power Theoretical views Functionalist – media reinforces social order through the NV’s system Marxist – division of labour is kept as WC cannot become socially mobile due to poor access to information Feminist – dislike how women are portrayed; women that go against portrayal are seen as deviant Functionalist – socialises us with NV’s, gender roles etc Marxist – selective as it exploits the WC; it is always from the point of view of the RC and those in power Feminist dislike how women are portrayed; women that go against portrayal are seen as deviant Functionalist – no problem with it as it provides information Marxist – dislike as it benefits the RC and reinforces the digital divide Feminist – dislike as it present women in a derogatory way e.g. pornography The Press – privately owned media that primarily communicates the news; they are profitable organisations Broadcasting – lots is financed privately: PBS is not profit making, CSB is private and the BBC make profit through TV licenses with prices decided by the government. Media affect on behaviour The hyperdermic syringe model – The media has power over its audience: it can control and persuade people. The audience receives its daily injections of information from the media and this determines behaviour. It has an immediate effect o the audience as the media controls us. Evidence to support the HSM Lab experiments were conducted by Bandura Ross and Ross Liebert and Baron. Bandura: children who watched violence were more likely to hit the doll with a mallet. However, there were no other toys to play with and the children were aware this was wanted from them. Liebert and Baron: Children that watched violence were given the option to help or hurt someone when light came on, indicating a child in another room needed help with a game. Many clicked hurt, which sent an electric shock. However, lab experiments do not measure long term affects and we cannot isolate media as a variable. The uses and gratification model is used to argue against the HSM. The uses and gratification model – The media does not use us; we use the media. This theory is how the media is used to actively satisfy peoples needs based on their ability to exercise choice and control. Audiences actively seek media for specific gratifications and this theory deals with why media is chosen, what purpose media serves, and how media competes with other media sources to meet satisfaction. We retain information from the media based on five factors: Information e.g. wildlife programmes Personal Identity e.g. religious TV Personal relationships e.g. Jeremy Kyle Entertainment e.g. Big Brother Diversion/Escapism e.g. soaps The decoding approach – We use the media to support the values we already have, not give us new ones. McQuall suggests that the audiences are active decoders of the content of the media and have different interpretations in terms of: Selective retention – remembering certain information if it has significance to you Selective exposure – only exposing yourself to what you want or need; we’ll only watch things if they support our values Selective perception – we all understand parts of the media in different ways and use it in different ways The media has an immediate effect on the audience The media does not have an immediate effect on the audience Marxist – it has a negative immediate effect on the audience as they control us to have particular behaviour e.g. hierarchy Decoding approach – we expose ourselves to what we chose so only learn what we wish to learn Hyperdermic syringe model – the media controls our behaviour as we are given daily injections Selective retention – we only remember the information that means something to us Imitation – we copy what we see Selective exposure – we only expose ourselves to the media that interests us Functionalists believe values are learnt through the media Selective perception – we all interpret the media in different ways, so our behaviour is not immediately or directly affected in the same way Media can also be to blame for deviant and criminal behaviour: Media affects Explanation Imitation The audience are influenced by what they see to the extent that they copy the images and messages they are exposed to. Children in particular are prone to imitation and often engage in violent and inappropriate behaviour as a result. Sensitisation The audience hears and sees a lot of images in the media that makes them more aware of the consequences of the behaviour. They are less likely to engage in the behaviour and instead are likely to report to the police or intervene if the behaviour is witnessed. For example, child abuse reports went up due to coverage in soaps Desensitisation If an audience is exposed to violence in most of the media output, they begin to believe what they see is normal and are therefore no longer shocked by it in real life Cathartic effect Sex and violence in the media helps the audience to release inbuilt tensions and anxieties. By watching the behaviour there is no need to engage in it. Sex offenders are treated with pornography Disinhibition Violent and sexual images become so common that the audience no longer feels embarrassed or ashamed to behave in this way as they think it is normal Moral panic – the false worry about people and deviance/crime in society Deviance amplification model 1) A small group of people commit some act of deviance 2) The media pick up on the interesting story: a ‘problem group’ is identified 3) The media sensationalise the news to grab the attention of the audience 4) Causes of the deviant behaviour are simplified for easy explanation e.g. bad parenting 5) The group is labelled as folk devils and stereotyping occurs; other incidents of this deviant behaviour are made into news and it seems more common than it really is 6) A moral panic develops and the public’s concern is aroused at the real or imaginary ‘threat’ posed to society; the media campaign for action to be taken against the perceived threat 7) More social control – politicians, police and magistrates respond to public demands as shown in the media, and law-and-order campaigns are begun to stamp down on the deviants The impact of media on society today Primary socialisation – the first place to learn the norms and values of society; the family Secondary socialisation – other areas of your life in which the value system is reinforced or, in some cases, contradicted Functionalists believe the media is beneficial as it reinforces social order Marxists dislike the media as they reinforce the hierarchy of the RC over the WC and false class consciousness Feminists dislike the media as it reinforces gender roles and patriarchy What the media reinforces Through Gender roles Children’s programmes adverts Patriarchy Soaps music videos Political socialisation Debates the news Glamorisation of violence Soaps video games Hegemonic masculinity Competition between men soaps Stereotypes Soaps Global culture – when the culture of one community spreads worldwide through media and, globally, people are exposed to this culture. It is also known as media imperialism. Mass culture – the culture shared by the majority of society due to a general interest in certain things the media presents Media dominates family life; whereas before families were hardworking, hierarchical and communicative around the hearth, families today have their living rooms organised around the TV (the substitute hearth) and other media devices dominate leisure time. Identity – who you are as a person; this can be influenced by what we see in the media as, nowadays, people use the media to confirm and explore their identities. The media shapes our views on what we should be consuming and what we should be like. The media’s representation of age, gender ethnicity Children Rogers argues that children are presented as either angels or devils. The impact of this is that children are not held accountable for their actions if they are angles. However, it they are devils, they experience negative interaction as they are to blame. These stereotypes lead to labelling Youths The news amplifies stories on youths to make their devious and criminal behaviour appear more common. Teens become folk devils as they are all believed to be delinquent. Cohen says that the young as used as scape goats for society’s own issues and this can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Age As children are easily manipulated, gender stereotypes are reinforced through TV programmes. This is known as age patriarchy. Elderly Grumpy – conservative, stubborn and resistant to social change Mentally challenged – deteriorating health Dependent – burden on the younger generations as they are weak Elderly women – grey hair, old clothes; being different is being ‘mutton’ Men have higher status as world leaders, politicians etc We are an age denying society Ethnicity People are free to upload on the internet as they wish so racism can happen on the internet or dangerous cults can start online YouTube is not moderated so various videos can be uploaded Impact of media on society 1) Socialisation 2) Mass culture 3) Effects family life 4) Reinforces and causes stereotypes on age gender and ethnicity 5) Effects behaviour and can create violence – audience effect models 6) Politically socialises us Political socialisation – your learning of political values, beliefs and preferences Whipping system – when an MP is told they need to vote in favour of their party or they will no longer be a part of it Rebel MP’s – Mp’s that do not vote the way of their party Political spin (spin doctors) – write speeches with ‘sound bites’ that can be used as newspaper headlines Curtis and Mair (2008) believe that: The press has too much influence on how people vote Negative coverage of politicians and politics has discouraged people from voting If readership of newspapers declines then: Newspaper’s ability to influence the outcomes of general elections will also have declined Fewer people will be exposed to the press’ supposedly negative coverage of politics and politicians that discourages people from voting at all The media promote democracy The media restrict democracy Because the media in Britain are not controlled by the state, the risk of censorship by governments is reduced, and free speech is protected. Journalists are free to report as they wish – within legal limits The media reflect the conservative views of their wealthy owners. While journalists are often critical and expose wrongdoing, they will frequently avoid issues which might cost them their jobs by upsetting newspaper owners or TV station bases The wide variety of privately owned media means a range of opinions are considered and public debates take place. By criticizing the actions of governments, the mass media can play an important ‘watch-dog’ role and keep governments in touch with public opinion The variety of opinion presented is limited. Working-class political views – such as strikes – are rarely reported. The ideas and actions of the least powerful groups are the most likely to be excluded. Those who in some way present a challenge or threat to the existing way society is organised are presented as irresponsible or unreasonable extremists The media give an unbiased account of news. TV news has to be impartial News values, agenda-setting, norm-setting and other sources of bias mean only some issues are covered, and these are not presented in neutral ways. The media choose what to report and how to report it, and therefore provide a biased view of the world The media accurately reflect public opinions that already exist in society rather than creating new ones. People wouldn’t read newspapers or view TV and websites unless they were providing what their audiences wanted The media do not simply reflect public opinion, but actively form and manipulate it. People can only form opinions on the basis of the knowledge they have, and the media are primarily responsible for providing this knowledge. The owners of the mass media hold overwhelmingly conservative views, and their ownership gives them the power to defend their position by forming favourable public opinion Anyone can put his or her views onto the internet via blogs, social networking sites etc Only the rich have the resources necessary to publish and distribute a newspaper on a large scale, or to set up a television or radio station, and it is the wealthy that own and control the main means of electronic communication. The concentration of ownership of the mass media is a threat to democracy, as a small powerful group of media owners can control access to ideas, information and knowledge. Those who wish to put forward alternative views to that presented in the mass media may not be allowed access to the media b their owners, and will therefore be denied any real opportunity to persuade public opinion of their ideas Concentration of press ownership Functionalists take the pluralist approach and they believe that the media isn’t used by owners to control the audience but is available for secondary socialisation. Marxists take the conflict approach as they believe that the media is used by its owners to control the audience. Pluralist approach Conflict approach A range of interests exist in society and no single group dominates Society is based on conflicting interests between different groups Media represents a range of different interests within society e.g. Woman’s Weekly, The Pink Paper and the Financial times Owners of the media are part of a minority who use their power to influence opinions in their own best interests Newspapers only give the audience what they want to receive i.e. the Sun does not have much international news because readers of the Sun do not want to read it, not because Rupert Murdoch does not want them to know Press owners have intervened directly to control content e.g. Harry Evans was hired as editor of the Sunday Times and was then allegedly fired from his post by Rupert Murdoch as a result of Evans’ political policy If owners of the media tried to give us something we did not want, consumerism would decrease; this is known as consumer power and would cause a decrease in companies’ profit m argin The Big Six – the few companies that own a vast majority of the press and world media. This is problematic as these companies can promote their own political beliefs and values through everything they own, meaning we are exposed to the owners’ own beliefs and values. They have the power to influence our views and beliefs. Consequences of press ownership Political socialisation – influences us to believe certain things and therefore affects the voting pattern and behaviour Negative portrayal of MEG’s Support those in power and authority to reinforce capitalism Presentations of different groups within society – age, gender, ethnicity Ethnic presentations in the media Black populations are presented as criminals. Cottle (1994) believes that this representation effectively hides racism and, through the hyperdermic syringe model, they believe they are criminal and this leads to self-fulfilling prophecy Sociologists argue that people from the groups internalise – from the media – that their lives are restricted and so they live the lives shown to them by the media Agenda setting – the media can focus attention on some issues and ignore others. They don’t tell us what to think but what to think about. This can affect political views and voting habits. Those who decide what makes the news are called gatekeepers as they have the power to influence what we think about. Norm referencing – the media reinforces norms and values so we conform. Those who conform are viewed and shown in a positive light and those who don’t in a negative light. This causes us to label people, leading to stereotypes. The cameras are always from the point of view of those in authority, giving a very selective view on what is happening. Defining ‘New Values’ – News doesn’t happen; journalists make news and have a list of things that ‘make news’. These are news values and, the more that are satisfied, the better the news is. This affects our understanding of events. Profit motive – Media is about money; owners and companies get this from advertisers. The advertisers must be satisfied with what goes on the news and the media listen because they want the money. Laws – there are laws in place saying what the media can and can’t share, so laws have a large impact on what goes on the news and how the news is presented. Digital natives – have grown up in the digital world using new media to communicate; there is a digital divide between digital natives and novices. Digital novices – have been born into a generation that used old media to communicate and new media has been introduced within their lifetime, meaning they have to learn how to use it and have not grown up with it. The mass media and power Press ownership In Britain, press ownership is concentrated in a few hands; this could give some individuals in the media the ability to influence mass opinion. Some argue that, in order to keep democracy, press ownership should be spread between larger numbers of individuals. The pluralist approach to press ownership According to the pluralist approach, a range of views and interests exists in society and no single group dominates. This range of views is reflected in the wide variety of newspapers and magazines available, so all political viewpoints are represented within the various publications that consumers can choose to buy. The pluralist approach rejects the idea that press owners control content. Instead, it suggests that newspapers simply give people what they want to read as, companies that fail to do so, are unlikely to succeed in competitive market and are more likely to go bankrupt. So, this view states that consumers are the ones who influence content through their market power. The conflict approach to press ownership According to the conflict approach, press owners are in a strong position to put their own political views across. This is because, as owners, they are able to control content and they do so in favour of their own political and economic interests. Supporters of this approach point to several developments within the media to support their position. These include the increasing concentration of press ownership in the hands of a few companies and individuals and the emergence of multimedia (or cross-media) conglomerates (such as News Corporation) that operate on a global, rather than national, scale. As a result of such developments, much of what people read comes from a few multinational media empires. The exercise of power within the media The media have the power to select which issues are ignored and exploited. In doing so, they direct public discussion and therefore affect what people think about it. This could give the media influence over people’s political views and their voting behaviour. The news media also have power in relation to norm referencing; they are able to outline the acceptable boundaries of behaviour. The views and behaviour of some groups and organisations are presented positively, whilst others are presented negatively. Through nor referencing, positive images of some groups ad negative images of others are created, and this helps to shape public opinion. The internet and the distribution of power Some sociologists argue that digital technology will lead to a reduction in power and influence of media power as it allows everyone to produce media content, rather than just consume it. For this reason, the internet could help to safeguard democracy by spreading the power to communicate and to exert influence more widely among different individuals and groups. Because anyone can upload information, comment on information given, contact politicians etc, they can exert influence. They can also find out about pressure groups (such as Greenpeace) or issues such as global warming. In this way, the internet could empower people and provide them with more opportunities to participate in politics. Other approaches, however, question how far the internet has increased political participation and empowered people as most people use the internet for things like shopping rather than for political reasons. Critics also argue that ‘e-democracy’ requires expensive technology and funding to start up and maintain so not everyone can get involved. The press is free because The press isn’t free because Members of the public exercise control through our market power. We can easily switch newspapers if we are unhappy with what we read. Hence, the market controls content and the consumer is sovereign There has been an increasing concentration of press ownership in the hands of a few companies and individuals meaning smaller companies have been swallowed by media giants Owners cannot simply dictate content but have to give us what we want to buy Multimedia conglomerates operate on a global rather than a national scale so a small number of multinational companies now have interests in media across the globe There is freedom to set up new newspapers if existing ones do not meet market demands Multimedia conglomerates such as News Corporation have emerged as a result of other companies merging together The media is an ISA used to teach us the norms and values of a capitalist society. The media is controlling us.