Monday, September 30, 2019

Different forms of social influence Essay

Most of the human behaviors are a result of influence. This impact can either come from the environment or from the people we leave with. The people we come across with are likely to influence our behavior, beliefs and even feelings. This impact will lead to the development of our day to day activities. Most of the activities we encounter every day in our life play a great part in how we are going to behave. The study on social impact is very wide. Psychologists have done a lot of research to understand it and as a result many theories have been developed which explain social influences. CITATION Noa06 l 1033 (Friedkin, 2006)Compliance (This is the first form) There are several forms which have been identified to influence social behavior. Compliance is one of these forms. Simply put, compliance means to accept. Individuals may change their behavior only because someone has told them to do so, and therefore, they comply with his or her request. Compliance involves taking action to change a person’s behavior and feeling towards someone or something, therefore, it is known as an active form of social impact. This form of power is initiated by a person intentionally. Sometimes compliance is a result of internal social influence which entails inner faith of an individual. A person can decide to change from within, without any external force .Compliance as a result of the change in personal faith is not the primary aim of compliance. Conformity (The second one) Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   The other form of social influence is conformity. It happens when individuals adjust their attitude behavior and sense to conform to a group’s norms or culture. People in most cases would like to be identified with a certain group of people; hence they can do anything to change the behavior, including their sense and faith towards something or someone so that they can be the same with the other members of the group. It takes the observation of the other members of the group for one to change his or her behavior and act like them. Some behaviors one has to learn slowly. In addition one can also be taught by the members of the group. For example, an individual who would like to be identified with a group of professionals would only require observing how they behave. He or she may observe their dressing code and finally he or she would behave like them. One cannot be identified with a set group if he or she does not conform to their standards an d behaviors (Pratkanis, 2011). A person can conform to a set group either internally by having the same faith and feeling or externally by acting as the people of that group. The members of a certain group can actively influence a person to act like them, and that kind of social impact is known as an active influence. Passive impact occurs where the members of the group does not directly influence one to act like them. Most of the youth are affected by this kind of social impact. Many young people today would like to be an associated with a particular group of people which they share common beliefs, behavior and sense therefore, they would try very much to have the same behavior which will make them conform to the standards and culture of that group. The same case happens to many organizations, when an individual is recruited to join the institution; he or she has to change his or her behavior feeling and approach so that he or she can be identified with the organization. Sources of Conformity (Expounding more on conformity) Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Conformity has three sources. The first one occurs when a person sees or senses someone else act in a certain way. First it should come to your understanding that a set group of people are doing a certain activity, then you will judge whether it the right thing for you or not .After a thorough consideration you will be able to make an informed decision on whether to conform to their behavior or not ( Zanna, 2014). These can take different forms; one can see what is being done whether good or bad, you can also hear from the media or a member of the group can also inform you of their undertaking. The second one is when people understand that what a particular group is doing is informational; hence it is the best way to do things. People all over the world are in search of information and knowledge, therefore if they realize what they been looking for is being done by a certain group of people, then they will have no option other than to join them. The information gotten from that group should be beneficial to the person conforming to their faith and belief; it should add value to the existing knowledge. Finally, people conform because of the concern for the social outcome of their behavior. People would like to know the final result of certain behavior depicted by a group of people. Most researchers would engage themselves with a particular group of people with a solemn aim of knowing the end result of that kind of behavior (Homans, 1966). Obedience (The third form) Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Obedience is another form of social influence. Unlike the other forms; obedience involves the change of action as a result of direct command from the person in authority. These kinds of power always involve command on the targeted audience to act in a certain manner. Influence by command if often found in the institution where strict adherence to law and regulation is required. A good example is the military unit; the officers have to follow strict command from the authority. Obedience as a form of social power is one sided; it does not require the consent of the other party. The authority will use power vested in them to command actions, this instructions must be followed. The end result would be change of behavior; it will also affect their sense of ideas as well as their faith. Obedience has been applicable in most institutions and also in the government, with the aim of changing the behavior of the targeted audience. The application of this form of social power can have positive or negative impact on the person being impacted (Tedeschi, 1972). Persuasion (the 4th form) Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Persuasion is another form of social impact. It involves an active attempt by a person to change the behavior, attitude feeling or belief of another person through some form of communication. The focus of this kind of impact is the internal change of perception, belief or sense of an individual. The power of a person to influence another is very important so that persuasion can take effect. The political leaders use this tactic to make people to have faith in them. The language use is very instrumental for changing the behavior of people; the person must have good knowledge of the language use. Also the understanding of the targeted audience is important for you to be able to change their behavior CITATION Car08 l 1033 (Hetzel, 2008). How psychologists have studied them (Add more here) Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Many scholars have tried to define social influence, which has led to numerous definitions of the same subject. We can define social influence as a sum total of all the things that might alter the behavior, action feeling or thought of a person. This aspect has been extensively studied by psychologist and sociologist. Its application has also been studied carefully to establish how it affects the society.Professor Herbert ,one of the scholars of psychology defined social influence as a situation where an individual identify, comply and internalize to behave in a certain manner different from the way they had behaved in the past. The view of the scholars about social impact is that individuals may identify with influential person from a distance or the might have a close relation. They also believe that compliance can happen at the surface but deep in that person he might not be convinced .There are a lot of things which we can talk about concerning social impact; the bottom line is that it is aimed at changing the behavior of people. The reason why a person’s view of ideas can be influence has not been clearly know by scholars. References Friedkin, N. E. (2006). A Structural Theory of Social Influence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hetzel, C. J. (2008). The Effects of Social Influence on Personal Attitudes and Behavior Toward 0549498516, 9780549498513: ProQuest. Homans, G. C. (1961). Social behavior: Its elementary forms. Mark P. Zanna, J. M. (2014). Social Influence. london: Psychology Press. Pratkanis, A. R. (2011). The Science of Social Influence. 1136737049, 9781136737046: Psychology Press. Tedeschi, J. T. (1972). The Social influence Processes. london: Transaction Publishers. Source document

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Globalization of health care Essay

The world, as you know it, has changed as a result of globalization. Local or nationalistic perspectives is transforming to broader outlook of an interconnected and interdependent world with free transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers. To be more specific, due to the development of transportation and telecommunication that the globalization plays an important role of life is irreversible. It presents in plenty of aspects of life, namely trade, culture, tourism, sports, medical treatment,†¦ People now find it much easier struggling to deal with things, ranging from daily demands to huge decisions not only domestically but internationally as well thanks to the advanced technology brought about by efforts of nations. For example, contacting with friends, even visually in distance is just like a piece of cake with a mobile phone or laptop. In terms of transports, it now allows you to make it to the opposite side of the Earth within few days. Concerning health care, receiving the same quality treatment but lower cost is not unthinkable, it is a reality to developed citizens who dare travel to developing areas. Our group chose this name because it was the first potential name crossing our minds after the question was raised. In order to adapt to the world, it is essential that you first of all become a globalized student. Approaching the globalization requires general and detailed knowledge of specific fields. For instance; if you want to send an email, then you learn how to write an email; if you want to call a partner, then you must have the numbers; if you want to use airplane service, then you must know how to make it to the waiting lounge. Simply speaking, you want to fly, you must have wings first. We not only hope for the best but also prepare for the worst. How does this name relates to International Business? Plainly in evidence that chapter 1 of the subject tells the importance of the name. It represents not only as the foundation of the study but as the future of how students establish their points of views towards economic, financial, trade, and communications integration. Students planning to work in multinational enterprises or run their own business have to master and learn how to be a globalized students in the range of university,  specifically in class of home before any further matters can be discussed. Frankly speaking, learn how to swim well at pool first or else you are going to be drown in deep ocean. 1.A decade ago the idea that medical procedures might move offshore was unthinkable. Today it is a reality. What trends have facilitated this process? The conventional concept of receiving medical treatment abroad some decades ago was something rare or even unthinkable. However, in recent years, this whole traditional idea has completely changed. The trend has shifted dramatically from the point which the citizens of many countries traveled to the United States and to the developed countries of Europe to seek the expertise and advanced technology available in leading medical centers, to the situation nowadays wherein citizens of highly developed countries choose to bypass care offered in their own communities and travel to less developed areas of the world to receive a wide variety of medical services. This significant change is brought about by the two main factors: the relentless development of technology and the cost advantage The relentless development of technology The 21th century has witnessed many outstanding breakthroughs in technology, especially in telecommunication, transportation and medical field. The development in telecommunication, in which the Internet is the biggest example, allows medical treatment abroad to be carried out in a faster and more convenient way. For example, with Internet, radiologists in the US can beam images to India where they could be interpreted by the Indian counterparts. Moreover, since India is on the opposite side of the globe, the interpretation of the images could be done while it was nighttime in the United States and be ready for the attending physician the following morning. Also, the advance of transportation makes possible the travel from one country to another in the shortest time and the least expensive way. Furthermore, the improvement in the medical field also provides developing countries to not only develop their domestic health care services but also expose to higher technological equipment. This contributes to the expansion of a global health care supply chain. As a result for people who seek overseas medical treatment, they can get access to a more various marketplace that provide the services. Some typical examples are India, Thailand, †¦ The cost advantage Although technological advance plays an important role in bringing about the overseas medical treatment, still the strongest driving force that facilitated the globalization of health care is the cost. In developed countries such as the US, the expenses are far greater than that of those provided in less developed or developing countries. This alone has persuaded a large amount of patients to find treatment elsewhere. In fact, it also gave birth to a new trend which is called â€Å"medical tourism†, wherein patients would visit a foreign land to receive complex, sophisticated and often serious medical or surgical care. Following the treatment the â€Å"tourist† can experience personal medical attention in a luxurious setting with first class accommodation and subsequently has the chance to enjoy vacation for a short time before going back home. Howard Staab is an ideal example for this cost advantage. Mr. Staab underwent a leaking heart valve surgery in New Delhi and toured the Taj Mahah afterward with the total price of $10.000, which is a lot cheaper than the $60.000 cost alone for the operation cost in the US, without the visit to the Taj Mahal. Others Besides the two main drivers mentioned above, there are some other factors involving in the decision – making of the consumers in this overseas health care services. Some people who had undergone medical care in a foreign country said that they did it to circumvent the delays associated with long waiting list. This so called â€Å"long waiting list† phenomenon recently has made as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital. Also, the involvement of insurance companies by offering enrollees the option of getting treatment abroad for expensive surgeries could provide this trend a big boost. 2.Is the globalization of health care good or bad for patients? Globalization is becoming more and more a part of our society. The health care industry is also affected by globalization. Physicians are traveling to other countries to perform volunteer work and patients are traveling to other countries to receive medical care. This has both beneficial and harmful influence on the patients’ health. Positive impacts Adequate care for patients in developing countries Globalization has brought access to medication from manufacturers to less developed countries where patients can either not afford it, or would not have access to it. Patients in these countries also have a lack of diagnostic capabilities and poor transport options. The Glievec International Patient Assistance Program (GIPAP) is an international program that works with drug manufacturers to distribute medication to patients. Under the program, the manufacturer provides drugs at no cost directly to eligible patients. This program helps over 18,000 patients worldwide each year. Furthermore, physicians, students, and other professionals volunteer to travel to other countries and provide medical treatment to those who live in countries that do not have adequate health care. For instance, sub-Saharan Africa has roughly twenty-five percent of the global disease burden, yet only three percent of the global health care workforce. Since globalization of the health industry is currently in process, physicians from around the world are participating in â€Å"medical missions† to developing countries to administer medical care. The circulation of patients The outsourcing of medical procedures to nations where medical professionals are paid lower could clearly benefits consumers. The movement of patients is a more recent phenomenon. Though still marginal, so called ‘medical tourism’ is becoming more important. Treatments offered in western Europeans countries attract infertile couples from United States because they cost half or one third of those provided in North America. Elective surgery offered in highly sophisticated Indian hospitals tends to cost only 10–20% of identical treatment in western countries. There is also a shift from personal initiatives to national incentives. Tunisia, for example, organized a conference at the beginning of December 2004 to attract health care purchasers from abroad. Purchasers, even those belonging to public systems can potentially be interested, when a reduction of costs by as much as 50–80% can be realized. Negative impacts Developing international standards in medical education and health care delivery can help improving quality in health care all over the world. Nevertheless, two problems remain. Potential of such developments to improve the quality in health care within the world International standards cannot be created that will fit the cultural, social, and economical contexts of very different countries. It is often assumed that, simply demonstrating compliance with quality processes, will lead to a result (of the treatment) that will be the same, whatever the country or the professionals involved. But it cannot be definitely sure that applying North American (or European, or for that matter African or Asian) procedures and quality rules in other countries will lead to adequate quality. Issues of access to health care and ethical dimension Countries which continue to accept patients from other lands for expensive services run the risk of either pricing out poorer citizens, or creating a second tier of medical care in those countries. Further, ethically speaking, it is not acceptable to exclude the local population from the benefits of care that is provided in their country for rich strangers, even if this organization allows less rich countries to develop employment in the health care sector. In addition, medical tourism may shift services from  preventive public health measures, to less effective and more expensive private clinics. The treatment standards in countries such as India may not be up to the standards found in the United States, and that the process takes some control out of the hands of the consumers. Finally, there are some of the potential dangers of volunteerism. When students or physicians with little education or knowledge of the culture they are in or volunteer, patients of those countries run the risk of making their symptoms worse. In conclusion, with healthcare globalization, patients in less developed countries can receive medication and care that they would not receive otherwise, doctors and physicians can volunteer and travel to other countries to provide care and treatment. Patients also have the ability to travel to other countries to receive care that would normally be very expensive in their own country. However, globalization runs the risk of patients in other countries not receiving quality care due to volunteers lacking in education, as well as ethical dilemmas. 3.Is the globalization of health care good or bad for American Economy? In general, there are many concerning about globalization of health care that have been proposed by Americans economists. In fact, many aspects has come up to this problems. Here are the examples. Impatient Americans seeking medical care are increasingly making trips far from home, often at their own expense—not just short hops to Caracas for a nip and tuck or dashes across the frontier for cheap Mexican pills. As Mr. Steele’s testimonial suggests, they are now travelling across the world for knee and heart surgery, hysterectomies and shoulder angioplasties. One motive is to save money. America’s health inflation has consistently outpaced economic growth, making it the most expensive health market in the world. The average price at good facilities abroad for a range of common medical procedures is, by Deloitte’s reckoning, barely 15% of the price a patient would have to pay in the United States (see table). But costs have long been much higher in America than in poor countries, so this alone does not explain the new exodus. Two other factors are now at work. One is that the quality at the best hospitals in Asia and Latin America is now at least  as good as it is at many hospitals in rich countries. The second, more worrying, factor is that America’s already imperfect insurance safety net is fraying. Over 45m Americans are uninsured, and many millions more are severely underinsured. Such people may find it cheaper to fly abroad and pay for an operation out of their own pockets than to find the money for deductibles or â€Å"co-payments† charged for the same procedure at home. Arnold Milstein of Mercer, a consultancy, calls them America’s â€Å"medical refugees†. Big business may soon join this wave. Epstein, Becker & Green, an American law firm, says that in the past year big employers have become interested in promoting medical travel among the employees they insure. Many are struggling to cope with soaring health costs and some, they report, are willing to take radical steps to save money. Behind the mask How will that affect the health systems in rich and developing countries? Listen to critics of medical travel, and you might think that all of this is a tragedy. It has come about, they argue, because of the terrible state of America’s health care, and its consequences for developing nations will be dire. The flow of foreigners will encourage capital and trained staff to flee state-run health-care systems in poor countries in favor of better-paying jobs catering to foreigners and local fat cats. It is surely right that medical tourism is partly the result of the failings in America’s health system. Moreover, recent research by the World Bank does indeed suggest that â€Å"internal brain drain† is a worry in some countries, especially those with few doctors and nurses. However, in many huge net exporters of doctors and nurses, such as India and the Philippines, an internal brain drain is hardly much of a worry, because there are plenty of medics to go around. And shortages, in countries where they exist, can be alleviated by reforms changing the way nursing education is funded, for instance, that would help to improve their ailing state-run health systems. 4.Who might benefit from the globalization of health care? Who might lose? Throughout history people have always shared information, traded commodities and exchanged some forms of currency across various borders, which proves globalization an enormous interest of human being. Consequently, health care  industry is no longer a norm of services provided where the patients located. The links between globalization and health are complex and globalization is a multifaceted phenomenon that can affect health in myriad ways. Its consequences can be either direct, at the level of whole populations, individuals and healthcare delivery systems, or indirect, through the economy and other factors, such as education, sanitation and water supply. For the health community, globalization offers opportunities but also poses significant challenges to many sectors. The customers (the patients) Benefits: †¢Quick response to deceases with lower costs: Due to the imbalance between supply and demand of health care in the United States, the patients have been undergoing overloaded treatment with high costs. The shortage of radiologists in America cause patients’ diagnostic medical images (including X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans and ultrasounds) to be read and interpreted for longer hours. However this can be resolved more quickly by beaming the images over the Internet for Indian radiologists. Another situation of Howard Staab, who completed his leaking heart valve cure in New Delhi, India for $10,000 instead of paying $60,000 for American hospitals, proves financial benefits for patients. †¢Chances for traveling: Medical tourism is a second mechanism through which the patients can benefit through trade liberalisation in healthcare. Taking advantage of abroad trips for medical services, patient could also travel for convalescence in famous tourist attractive destinations, which costs totally lower than treatment in the United States. Losses: †¢Spread of infectious deceases: The flip side of the above benefit is that due to the rapid mobility of people across borders for health care services, the spread of infectious diseases is a threat to everyone, particularly the poor. It is entirely possible that a person in the early stages of an infectious disease could travel halfway around the world in 12–15 hours, which functions as a vector for that disease to spread into non-immune populations. The recent epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is the best contemporary example of serious damages to the community due to  globalization of health care. †¢Involved risks due to absence of international insurance policy: Since the U.S Government-sponsored medical insurance program, Medicare, would not pay for services done outside of the country, patients without international medical insurance could be harmed. The developing countries Benefits: †¢Improve health care status & create employment opportunities for health care and tourism: Several decades ago very few hospitals in developing countries could claim to offer the highest quality of health care. Due to globalization of health care, hospitals around the world are striking to meet the stringent requirements, improving health systems standards to attract foreigners, which also benefits local patients. Besides, it would also be useful to encourage developing countries to tax medical tourism and use the proceeds to support their domestic healthcare system. Consequently, health care globalization is creating more works for local health care and tourism industry. According to the management consultancy McKinsey & Co., medical tourism was a$2.3-billion industry in India in 2012. Losses: †¢Internal brain drain of medical professionals: Another dilemma that seriously affects people in developing countries, as well as poorer communities in the industrialized nations, is a lack of health professionals. If there are going to have a global world, then people who have these needed skills should be paid appropriately, which induces them to work for well-paid medical industry. The developed countries (the United States) Benefits: †¢Potential gains for the economy: The U.S government could attain profits on providing education of modern technological medical system for developing countries. Besides, insurance companies could offer international healthcare vouchers to be secured while using foreign facilities and sharing their savings. Losses: †¢A small fraction of work and treatment moving offshore: Even though the U.S  regulations require that a radiologist be licensed in the state and will not pay for international medical treatment through Medicare, there would be a small fraction of patients travel abroad for health care due to their overweighed benefits. Reference Question 1 http://carey.jhu.edu/one/2009/fall/globalized-health-care-driven-by-technology/ http://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2014/08/no_proof_veterans_on_waiting_l.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2234298/

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The Vietnam War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Vietnam War - Essay Example It was an expensive war in terms of men, material, and armaments, with consequent long-lasting damage to the environment due to the use of defoliants to deprive the enemy of forest cover which was well-suited in guerrilla war. This was the only war that America lost. This paper is a re-examination of perhaps one of the reasons why America lost in Vietnam due to the ROE and grossly inflated body counts (Moss, 2010, p. 383). Discussion The Cold War started during the term of Pres. Dwight Eisenhower as a competition of two contrasting ideologies – democracy (and capitalism) against communism (and central planning). American involvement in Vietnam was initially kept secret and utilized military advisers without any direct fighting by American soldiers. However, things soon got out of hand and escalated to the point that thousands of American soldiers were eventually involved and fighting a war many had thought is not America's war but a war between the Vietnamese people themselves . Former Pres. John F. Kennedy was against direct American involvement, but when his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, became the president, the full-scale war began. Assumptions – one of the most controversial aspects of the Vietnam War was a concept known as rules of engagement (ROE). This particular set of rules placed several constraints on many soldiers fighting the enemy; it is like fighting a boxing match with one hand tied behind the back. In essence, the ROE required American soldiers to observe rules of conduct when fighting in order to comply with international humanitarian laws pertaining to combat. This includes the idea of avoiding collateral damage or, in plain language, civilian casualties. When this is enforced, it is a difficult job of fighting the Vietcong because these guerrilla warriors hide among the people. It frustrated a lot of American soldiers that they cannot go after their enemy hiding in the populace. Individual soldier (infantry in the field) â€⠀œ the ROE prevents him from pursuing enemies in the heat of battle, enemies who retreat and hide in the village. This was one source of great frustration in which an enemy could have been neutralized or captured but the ROE does not allow it. This same enemy survives for another day and could possibly be able to kill him tomorrow. The ROE put unnecessary limits when prosecuting a war that was unconventional in its nature. Battalion commander – his primary concern is carrying out his orders, which are almost always mission-specific in terms of objectives – for example, attacking an identified enemy area. This ROE ensured that discipline is always maintained despite the chaos on the battleground and kept in touch with the higher-ups in the chain of command. ROE focused the battalion commander on his mission order and nothing more than that; there was hardly any room for discretion. Division commander – the ROE reminded the commander of the larger objectives of it s war in Vietnam, especially of the political aspects of the effect of warfare on the local populace. It put him on the defensive at times, because the Vietnamese people could be offended. Gen. William Westmoreland – as the direct overall commander of the entire theater of a war, it was incumbent on him to ensure victory. However, despite superiority in war materials, it was a war that was bound to be lost,

Friday, September 27, 2019

Stock Price and Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Stock Price and Information - Essay Example This will benefit existing shareholders.however; the potential new shareholders are not stupid. They will infer overvaluation from the new issue, thereby bidding down the stock price on the announcement date of the issue. So, for the information asymmetry stock price is raised.therefore, information affects stock price in many way. There is substantial evidence of short-term stock price continuation, which the prior literature often attributes to investor under reaction to new information. 1 By information uncertainty, it is meant that ambiguity with respect to the implications of new information for a firm's value, which potentially stems from two sources: The volatility of a firm's underlying fundamentals and poor information. Here, main hypothesis is that if investors under react to public information, they will under react even more in cases of greater information uncertainty. The testable implication is that greater information uncertainty about the impact of news on stock value leads to higher expected stock returns following good news but lower expected stock returns following bad news relative to the returns of stocks about which there is less information uncertainty. ... Several papers including Chan, Jegadeesh, and Lakonishok (1996) attribute price continuation to a gradual market response to information. Hirshleifer (2001) and Daniel, Hirshleifer, and Subrahmanyam (1998, 2001) posit that psychological biases are increased when there is more uncertainty. New information is public, easily categorized as good or bad, and occurs fairly frequently. There are six proxies for information uncertainty: Firm size, firm age, analyst coverage, dispersion in analyst forecasts, return volatility, and cash flow volatility.2 For each of the six proxies, greater information uncertainty leads to relatively lower future stock returns following bad news and relatively higher future returns following good news, suggesting that uncertainty delays the flow of information into stock prices. In other words, the market reaction to new information is relatively complete for low-uncertainty stocks, and there is little news-based return predictability. For high-uncertainty stocks, on the other hand, the market reaction is far from complete. Good news predicts relatively higher future returns and bad news predicts relatively lower future returns. This relation between information of uncertainty and future returns has used in prior empirical studies. Further assu rance that is missing risk factors does not drive the results by documenting a similar return pattern around subsequent earnings announcement dates. The opposite effects of information uncertainty on stock returns following good vs. bad news amplify the results of trading strategies. As a result, trading strategies that buy good-news stocks and short bad-news stocks work particularly well when limited to high-uncertainty stocks. For example, a momentum

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Hospitality marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Hospitality marketing - Essay Example There are different strategies that hotels can utilize to position the firm so that the business can thrive and become profitable. A way for hotels to optimize their usage is by offering lower prices for its idle rooms during weak visiting seasons. This can be achieved by using an online strategy that matches the customer desire price with the offerings of the hotel. The use of various marketing channels such as the written press, online ads, and cellular advertising can help companies ensure that customers visit the facilities of the hotel. Online advertising has become the hottest and most cost effective advertising strategy marketers are using today. To strengthen a company’s position the brand of the firm must be well recognized by the general public. The use of online advertising is a very effective way to get the word out about the services the company offers. It is imperative for companies to have professional websites that have lots of pictures of the hotel, provides the firm’s prices, and enables users to make sales and reservations online. In the United States e-commerce sales are expect ed to reach $269.8 billion by 2015 (Plunkettresearchonline). Companies in the hospitality industry must position its services to take advantage of holidays and special events. The use of cellular advertising can be use to let the local customers know of a special sale event such as half price rooms during Valentine’s Day. Keeping a database of the addresses and phone numbers of customers can be very beneficial in the marketing efforts of the company Based on Pareto’s rule 80% of firm’s business comes from 20% of its customers. Achieving a higher customer retention rate in the hospitality industry is critical to its success. Another way to improve the positioning of a hotel is by having superb customer service and food services. The quality of the food of the restaurant of the hotel must be

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Article Writing about FingerID Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing about FingerID - Article Example echanism of authentication also compels the user to remember different passwords for multiple accounts since it is very dangerous to maintain the same password for all accounts. A new authentication mechanism has been proposed that will save the user from the hassle of remembering multiple passwords and provide effective security for the web services- FingerID. FingerID authenticates the users on the basis of their registered finger prints and provide single sign-in to multiple accounts. The advancement in the internet technology has enabled thousands of companies to offer their services online. The availability of the services attracts the users to utilize them but compels the users to make online accounts. This results in the presence of user’s personal information at different domains and organizations on the internet and multiple login credentials for the user. Every organization might not be following reliable security measures to safeguard the user information thereby creating security and privacy threats for the users. Some organizations deploy security measures for the storage of their data but fail to concentrate on the security mechanisms handling the exchange of data from one source to the other. The user’s information might be used for malicious purposes and result in identity thefts. The distributed nature of information increases the chances of inappropriate usage. Another issue that is faced with the existing web services is the lack of usability and accessibility. Usability makes the web experience more convenient for the user and accessibility introduces features and functionalities for users with disabilities. Most of the web services do not follow the standards that are meant to ensure the availability of accessibility and usability on the websites. These standards help the developers and designers evaluate their websites with respect to the usability and accessibility aspects and to ensure that their users do not face any difficulty in

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Cancer of the Prostate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cancer of the Prostate - Essay Example Also, it is important to discuss the psychological aspect of the lives of men with this condition. This section will touch on the cognitive functions and emotions of the person regarding his cancer. In addition to those, it would be really helpful to tackle the drugs which are said to have effects on this cancer. Related to the medical aspect of the topic of prostate cancer is the surgery and other medical interventions done in order to alleviate the condition of the patients. It would also be worthwhile talking about any risk factors which could be present alongside different medical and other nature of treatments. It is also appropriate to tackle the process after treatment which includes after-treatment therapy and the corresponding exercise and diet for the patients. The prostate gland of the male reproductive system is located below the urinary bladder. The prostate marks the first part of the urethra. It is composed of 30-50 glands with smooth muscle tissue in between them. The prostate secretes a milky substance which is released at the same time that semen is ejaculated. (MedicineNet.com, 2007) This is characterized by abnormal growth of cells in the prostate gland. This cancer progresses very slowly. This disease can be terminal, many men die because of prostate cancer but many also die because of other health effects of this cancer (McKesson Health Solution, 2006). Figures and statistics: who are affected In the United Kingdom, prostate cancer cases constitute almost a quarter of the male cancer cases. Annually, approximately 32,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with this cancer and almost 30% of these die (Hicks, 2007). It is termed as the most common malignancy of the male urinary tract (Robert-Koch-Institut, n.d). This cancer is more common to older men and to those who are genetically linked to a person with prostate cancer (Hicks, 2007). In general, 20% of prostate cancer patients are in their 50s while 70% are in their 70s (Brawn, Kuhl, Speights, Johnson & Lind,1995). Also, men from western countries, especially those in the Scandinavian region and those with African-Caribbean or African-American blood have higher risks of having prostate cancer (Hicks, 2007). Pathology In relation to the individuals affected by prostate cancer, it can be noted that men of African descent more commonly have high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) (Brawn, Kuhl, Speights, Johnson & Lind,1995). There are low chances of having prostate cancer if the individual has undergone pre-pubertal castration and also for people with liver cirrhosis or hyperestrogenism. It should be noted that prostate cancer is not at all related to sexually transmitted diseases. Also, it is not due to the effects of smoking. Nodular hyperplasia is not related to prostate cancer. (Brawn, Kuhl, Speights, Johnson & Lind,1995) Prostate cancer secretes ten times the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) of the normal prostate. The tumours are adenocarcinomas or described as glandular structures originating from glandualar tissue (Dorland's Medical Dictionary, 2007). In cases of prostate cancer, there is a significant arise in the posterior part of the prostate

Monday, September 23, 2019

Legal Aspects of Contract Adminitration (LAW) Coursework

Legal Aspects of Contract Adminitration (LAW) - Coursework Example The contract becomes valid only if it fulfilled all the legal requirements. Contract is the agreement enforceable by law so that agreement may be either for tender or for acceptance. The offer become valid only if it meets the entire requirement specified in the contract law in Australia. Those are as follows, There are normally six important ingredients essential for lawfully connecting the contract development. That are (1) agreement it consists of offer and acceptances made by the parties to the contract, (2) Offer must be made for the Consideration either in terms of money, property etc., (3) ability to enter lawful relationship between the parties to the contract it means the party to the contract must possess sound mind as well as majority of age, (4) Intention by the groups to enter into lawful affiliations, (5) must fulfill the requirement of the valid contract and (6) certainty. Contract may sometimes also turn into illegal contract if it fails to fulfill the requirements. The Australian lawful scheme is based on a basic faith in the rule of  law, fairness and the autonomy of the judiciary. An offer may be broken by revocation, rejection or drop. An acceptance is, usually conversation; a whole and ineffectual assent to the complete the circumstances that include an offer. Inten tions must be understandable and extremely a great deal evident previous to creation whichever contract. In this particular case Mr. A who thinks that he had concluded an agreement through Mr. B to buy a one third interest in D pvt. Limited from Mr. But at the same time Mr. B sold the same to Mr. C. On the other hand Mr. A notifies that he thinks an agreement among Mr. A and Mr. B to but the interest had previously been arrived at as the effect of two or three emails exchanged through Mr. B. In The first mail itself Mr. A sent Mr B a draft contract prepared through the lawyer on with no prejudice base. Second mail was sent by the Mr. B to Mr. A. In this

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Women and Crime Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Women and Crime - Annotated Bibliography Example The journal discusses in details the various roles of women. It is very difficult for a woman to face the world of crime and help eradicate crime from the society. Women must mould her to become very strong so that she can face the offenders and take proper action against them. The journal is a very resourceful source of knowledge as it broadens our view on the roles of women and how efficiently the women can play the role as a police officer. Australasian Council of Women and Policing. (1999). The Journal for women and policing. Melbourne: Austral Media Group P/L. This scholarly journal refers to women and policing. It extensively discusses the role of women in the field of police. The journal discusses in detail how the women contribute in protecting the society and preventing crime. It also discusses the problems that the women have to face while working as a police officer in a professional work environment. Women have to face a lot many difficulties and hardships while working in a professional environment and facing offenders and people committing crime.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Tortilla Curtain by U.S. author T.C. Boyle Essay Example for Free

Tortilla Curtain by U.S. author T.C. Boyle Essay The American Dream is defined in many ways in both of these works of literature.   What is the American Dream?   It is the idea that with hard work anyone can succeed in this country.   Succeeding is mostly defined in materialistic terms, like having a house in the suburbs, a new car, etc.   The American Dream is also about being able to support a family in a more-than-basic way.   It may also be defined as living a fulfilling life but of course, one needs a little money to do even that.   In Boyle’s Tortilla Curtain, the American Dream is shown as absolutely unattainable to some people, chiefly illegal immigrants, unless they are willing to break the law.   In the movie Crash, the viewer sees examples of people who â€Å"make it† as well as people who don’t, and even some people who are in between.   However, in both these pieces, characters must struggle and work hard for even a chance at the American Dream.   But the question remains, â€Å"why is the American Dream attainable for some and not for others?†Ã‚   Overall, the idea of the American Dream is shown as a myth or illusion for most people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Dream exists in many ways in this movie.   In Crash, the viewer is shown a successful character like the Latino man named Daniel.   Daniel lives in a small house, but it is his house.   He lives with his wife and daughter.   He works hard every day, and while he will never be rich like Jean, he is able to survive and to sustain his family.   The viewer would not exactly view him as a success story because there probably isn’t much money left over at the end of each month.   However, the viewer recognizes that Daniel has what is truly important in life and is â€Å"making it† even thought that might be day by day. On the other hand, the Persian man who owns the shop is unable to attain the American Dream.   Or rather, he is on his way when the shop is destroyed by vandals.   With the insurance company refusing to pay, he has lost everything.   Due to the fact that he has been ripped off before in America, he does not believe Daniel when he is told to get a new lock.   Therefore, he essentially loses his business.   Both of these characters must struggle through stereotypes and prejudice and racism on a daily basis to even have a chance at the American Dream.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now, Jean’s character in Crash shows another side of the American Dream.   She really has the plush lifestyle that most people would think of when defining the American Dream.   She has the beautiful house, the cars, the maid, the manicured lawn, the glitzy clothes and jewelry, etc.   She is clearly unhappy.   All of the material possessions have not made her happier; they have possibly made her miserable.   She has no friends, no one she can really count on.   for most of the movie, she is a hated character, and yet she is someone who lives the American Dream. The viewer does not know whether the couple has earned all this money or inherited some, but the viewer sees Jean’s character basically doing nothing.   She does not work while Daniel and Farad struggle daily to make a life for their families.   Clearly, Crash says that the dream is not attainable for everyone no matter how hard they work.   Neither one of them is lazy characters at all and still, life is a struggle.   But those who have the â€Å"life† want to protect it and protect themselves against those who don’t.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Crash, there are those who sort of live the dream outside the boundaries of the law.   The viewer assumes that Ken Ho lives the dream.   he is an immigrant who has â€Å"made it† in America.   But how has he done this?   He traffics human beings. He completely compromises any values that he had in order to make money.  Ã‚   Ludicirs and Anthony sort of live the dream although they always must stay one step ahead of the police in order to keep what they have.   They steal cars which earns them money to buy nice things.   These characters show the American Dream gone awry.   However, there is a reality here as well.   Many people in this country feel that the Dream is unattainable to them any other way than breaking the law.   So, they break the law in order to get the things that others already have.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Basically the movie Crash shows the viewer situation after situation where people struggle to live the dream and that is exactly what it is for most people, a daily struggle.   To get to the top is hard enough, but to stay there is nearly impossible.   And it isn’t about hard work at all.   being a hard worker guarantees nothing in this life.   It doesn’t guarantee that a person will ever get anywhere financially.   It doesn’t guarantee that someone who hasn’t worked at all won’t take your life away from you suddenly.   It doesn’t even guarantee that a person will have a place to live or money to buy food no matter how hard he/she works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This brings us directly to Boyle’s Tortilla Curtain, which is yet another name for the border between the United States and Mexico.   In Tortilla Curtain the dichotomy between rich and poor is shown quite clearly.   Kyra Menaker-Mossbader and her husband and son have the American Dream.   They live in an exclusive housing development called Arroyo Blanco Estates and seem to have all the luxuries of life.   below their house, Candido and America Rincon live.   They came to America illegally from Mexico in order to maintain the American Dream.   they find that no matter how hard they work, they simply cannot attain the Dream.   In fact, they cannot gain enough money to live any semblance of a decent life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Rincon’s come to the United States illegally to work for a better life.   The Rincon’s truly believe that in American society â€Å"everyone, even the poorest [has] a car, a house, and a TV† (26).   They do not understand that even Americans are poor; that is why America is so upset when she meets Mary at the labor exchange.   If citizens of this country cannot achieve the American Dream, where does that leave her family?   Throughout this book, America will come to believe that her whole idea was noting but an illusion, an illusion that will not be met. They have already reduced their living standards to the bare minimum and are barely scraping by.   While America is pregnant, she has had to camp out in the open air with no clean water or any sort of sanitation system.   This couple has no health insurance for the birth of their baby, nor do they have prospects in getting a job in order to obtain and maintain this health insurance.   They work as day laborers until they can’t even find work at all.   America is like many others.   She dreams of the United States we typically see in the movies.   She would like a â€Å"clean white house† with some modern amenities and a little yard.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Like some of the character in Crash, America commits a crime, although on a much lesser scale.   She steals fruit from a garden.   She has never before committed a crime.   But the desperateness of seeing those around her thrive while she struggles to eat is too much.   Sadly, also like many of the characters in Crash, they are also unable to defend themselves from attacks.   They are out in the open air and have a hard time with the language.   First, some kids smash up their camp for fun.   Then America is raped.   They go to the city where Candido is robbed, and they eat garbage to survive.   They return to their campsite in the valley and things are looking up until Candido accidentally sets the whole valley on fire.   Their savings are burned up, and they must start over once again.   Their daughter is born blind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kyra Mossbacher and her family have achieved the American Dream.   Have they worked harder than the Rincon family to achieve this dream.   The reader can clearly see that they have not.   It is simply that the dream is open to this family and closed to others.   Kyra Mossbacher has a dream of possessing even more.   she wants the Da Ros place which is a huge mansion â€Å"in the style of an English manor house, comprising eleven thousand square of living space† (222).   Kyra must replace her â€Å"dream† after this place is destroyed by fire.   they live a charmed life with their young son and their pets.   They are sheltered from the cruel realities of what many others face in this life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While Delaney calls himself a â€Å"liberal humanist† (3), he has some chance encounters with Mexicans that slowly turn him into a racist. First, he runs into Candido with his car.   he is guilty at first and then angry at this illegal for being in the road.   Finally he hands him a $20 and calls it even.  Ã‚   Apparently this is what an illegal immigrant’s life is worth, $20.   As other things happen, Delaney become angrier at Mexican illegals.   First, a coyote takes his dog.   then his Acura is stolen by thieves. His neighborhood also becomes angry and begins to wall in his community.   they are protecting their American Dream, but in doing so, they are stopping others from attainting this dream.     Ironically, the people building these fences are the illegal immigrants themselves, like Candida and his friends.   Kyra’s lobbying closes the labor exchange.   he wants vengeance on Candido.   He goes to the campsite with a gun and a mudslide starts.   While Delaney saves Candido, the baby drowns.   The tragedy in the end of this book is beyond compare.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What the movie Crash and the book Tortilla Curtain teach the reader is that there are no easy answers.   Illegal immigration is not rationalized or approved of in any way, and yet, these people need to survive.   We all fight for the American dream, and we all want to protect ourselves against people who want to take from us.   That is human nature.   In Crash, the idea is that we crash into people because we are so starved for human touch.   Therefore, we have these chance encounters with people we never would have met otherwise; some of them are good and some are bad.   The average person struggles everyday and life isn’t easy. There is no such thing as equal opportunity in this country and hard work is not even remotely close to all that is necessary to achieve the American Dream.   In Tortilla Curtain, the same kinds of lessons are taught.   Delaney and Candido meet quite literally in a â€Å"crash† scene, and Delaney describes himself as a liberal until he starts to fear those trying to get a piece of their own dream by disrupting his.   Then, he fights back.   It isn’t America and Candido’s fault because they want to make a better life for themselves and their baby, and it isn’t really Delaney’s fault because he wants to keep the life he has.   The story ends about as tragically as one could.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both of these pieces tell the reader/viewer something about empathy.   Maybe if everyone could try just a little harder to understand the stories of others, to understand where others are coming from, we could solve some of our problems.  Ã‚   Everyone wants the same things in the end.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Mcdonalds And Its Strategic Management Commerce Essay

Mcdonalds And Its Strategic Management Commerce Essay The vision and mission of the organization defines the expected position and the fundamental purpose of the organization. The purpose of this assignment is to understand the vision and mission of the case company and to identify and understand the strategic aims and objectives of an organization and investigate its progress towards the fulfillment of those aims and objectives. For this different alternative strategies available to the organization are also considered. To fulfill the requirement of this assignment the organization selected for investigation is McDonalds. McDonalds is the leading fast food restaurant chain of the world and is serving more than 58 million customers on daily basis. McDonalds Vision and Mission Statement Every organization must have a vision and a mission. Vision and mission statements are the short phrases which sets the whole direction of the organization. Vision statement provides the whole picture of the organizations desired future position in a single phrase. This statement then sets a whole direction of all the strategic aims and objectives of the organization. Below is the vision statement of the case company i.e. McDonalds: To be the worlds best quick service restaurant experience, being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile Mission statement clarifies the fundamental purpose of the organization. Off course the purpose is to achieve the vision of the organization, but mission statement goes in further detail and answers the question of the existence of the organization. Mission statement of McDonalds is: To be the best employer To deliver operational excellence Achieving durable profits Expanding the brand name and extending the strength of McDonalds system through innovation and technology. Analyzing the vision and mission statement of the case company it is clear that organizations focus is mainly towards the external and internal customers i.e. consumers and employees. Furthermore, the company is committed to innovate and use the latest technology to earn huge profits. McDonalds Strategic Aims and Objectives An aim is a broader statement which tells what an organization wants to become and the objectives are the specific targets or tasks which leads towards the fulfillment of the aim of the organization. It is very important for an organization to set such aims which are practically possible and which can be measured. If this is not the case the organization will put its efforts and resources in that direction which is not possible at all. For effective working and success for an organization the aims and objectives must be realistic and it must also be associated with some time frame as if it is not the case then there will be confusion within the organization regarding the time to complete the tasks and projects (Fred David, 2006). Furthermore, the aims should be measureable, as the progress towards the fulfillment of objectives should be easily measured as if this is not the case then it would be very difficult for an organization to know that whether the desired results are achieved or not. McDonalds key to success all over the world is their priorities, which are also mentioned on their corporate website. The top priority of the leading fast food restaurant chain is the customers. As per the McDonalds corporate values the reason of the existence of the business are their customers and they work only to fulfill the needs and demands of the customers. As per the company it is not the matter of sales rather it is the matter of providing quality products along with the best services to the customers in affordable prices. The second priority is their employees or workforce. The company believes that the employees make the dream of the organization come true. The employees are their valuable assets and it is just because of the skills and competencies of their employees which enables the organization to achieve the set goals and targets. The company also believes the quality of their business model. According to the corporate values of the company the business model is set to meet the dynamic customer behavioral changes. The strategic aims and objectives of McDonalds and mentioned below and these shows that what are the top priorities of the company and it gives a hint why the company is so successful all across the globe: To maintain the leadership in fast food restaurant industry To serve the customer with good food in a friendly and fun environment Providing the quality food and value of money to the customer Providing the shareholder a positive return on their investments To meet the social and ethical responsibility Strategic Plan and its Component parts Strategic plan of any enterprise is a picture of the desired position of the organization. Strategic plan gives a root path that how the organization will achieve the desired place or position in the given industry (Maches, B. 2010). Three major components of strategic plan include formulation, implementation and evaluation of strategy carries that information and plan which provides a direction towards the organizational objectives (Kim Warren, 2008). Strategy Formulation Strategy formulation process starts with the situation analysis of the organization. Situation analysis is an important part of strategic plan as it gives an overview of the existing position of the organization. Situation analysis includes the analysis of internal and external environment of the organization. Different strategic tools can be used to evaluate this situation i.e. SWOT analysis, PEST Analysis etc. This also includes the evaluation of current mission and vision of the organization. Vision statement clarifies that what an organization want to become and on the other hand mission statements shows that what business the organization operates. Mission contains the products and services, its markets and its employee management policy. The assessment of external factors of the organization involves the listing down of finite list of factors which are a potential threat or opportunities for the organization in the external environment. By finite list is meant that not all the factors are focused. The priority is given to those factors which have high level of impact or form which high returns can be gained. The internal audit is also done in the situation analysis where the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization are listed down (Fred David, 2006). After the clear understanding of the organizations current situation the real work begins where the strategies are formulated. The best practice is to involve the employees in this process as the employees from all levels will share their views and a better strategic decision will be expected. Here the strategies are developed to capitalize the opportunities available which were assessed in the external audit and minimize the threat of the factors. On the other side the strengths of the organizations require such strategies which further enhance them and the weaknesses are tried to be overcome. The next step in the strategy formulation stage is setting the long term objectives. Long term objectives are those which are associated with the sales and market share growth, it can be the growth of assets; it can be attaining any award from the government body etc. This is a very important phase as the long term goals and objectives show a direction to the whole organization. Long term objectives are set after a through consideration of external and internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the organization. The available resources and the expected resources are listed and based on those resources the long term but achievable, measureable and realistic objectives are set with proper timelines (Fred David, 2006). The final stage of strategy formulation process is the evaluation and selection of appropriate strategies to meet the long term objectives. In this the alternative strategies are also identified an evaluated and a contingency planning is also done. For instance in case of any external change which is beyond the change of organization such as change in legislations or change in market conditions then that contingency plan can be used. The existing strategies of the organization are the initial point for strategy evaluation. Strategy Implementation The next step in a strategic plan includes the strategy implementation. Developing an effective strategy does not ensures that the strategic plan will be successful. It was in the old times when the strategic planning was done only at the level of stagy formulation stage. Experiences of different organizations and further studies revealed that strategy formulation does not ensure the success of strategic plan. Implementation is another important part of the strategic plan. In the implementation phase the process of shifting the responsibilities to the middle and lower level of management is developed. As in the strategy formulation stage it was mentioned that to involve the employees of all the levels is important, so if any organization has done this during the strategy formulation them the strategy implementation process will be lot more easier. This is because the middle and lower level staff will have a clearer view of the strategies developed and they would be in a better positi on to implement those strategies in real practice (Kim Warren, 2008). Strategy Evaluation and Control After the implementation of strategic plan it is important like all other plans and project to evaluate the progress of that plan. Implementation phase end with the start of evaluation process. This is a continuous process until the strategic aims and objectives are not met (Fred David, 2006). There are many organizations such as McDonalds, who have strategic aims and objectives that shows continuity and a continuous process is required for that for instance one of the strategic objectives of the company is to provide the value to the customer. This is an objective which shows continuity as the fast food chain is aimed to provide the customer value to their money so for that strategy evaluation is required. This process ensures that the implemented strategies are progressing towards the achievement of organizational aims and objectives or not. In this process the required results or outcomes are compared with the actual results and if there is any kind of difference then with the cha nge in strategies of taking appropriate steps that difference is tried to be eliminated or at least minimized. Factors affecting McDonalds Strategic Plan Several internal and external factors can affect the strategic plan of McDonalds. These may include factors such as managements vision, financial factors, technological changes, legislative factors or market competition. As mentioned in the strategic plan earlier that the strategies are developed by considering the existing resources of the organization. It also includes the existing technology possessed by the company. If the existing system of McDonalds becomes obsolete with the introduction of newer version of the same system then the organization need to adapt that system to sustain in the market. In this case the strategic plan requires a change (Kim Warren, 2008). Same is the case with the market condition. If at the time of strategic planning the market conditions are evaluated and after implementation the market condition changes and requires a change then the strategic plan will also require a change. That is the reason it is suggested that McDonalds strategic plan should be flexible enough that can meet the changing market conditions. Furthermore the strategic plans are also depend on the vision of the management of the organization. If the management decides to go with a differentiation strategy because of the market need then the existing strategic plan will be changed. Financial aspects cannot be neglected in the strategic planning. Every strategy requires financial resources and if the financial resources are not sufficient enough to meet the new strategy then it will require a change in the strategic plan. However, these constraints can be minimized during the strategy formulation process by intensive research and evaluation of the internal and external factors, but still the dynamic market conditions and growing consumer needs cannot be predicted. McDonalds and Strategic Options If there is some change in the external environment of the company then in response to that the company opts strategic option. Moreover, strategic option is also chosen by an organization to grow and it tells that how the company wants to grow and what are the ways through which the completive advantage is taken by an organization over its competitors. By manipulating and taking advantage of the opportunities available for an organization the company can have a positive outcome. There are two renowned methods or ways which can be chosen by any organization to gain a competitive advantage over the other organization (Fred David, 2006). These two strategic options include the cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy. Under cost leadership strategy the organization cut down its cost of production or cost of goods sold and hence increases their profit margins. As the business word today is highly competitive and inn the fast food restaurant industry the customers have so many options such as KFC, Pizza Hut etc. which are also providing high quality products. So in such scenario it is not possible for McDonalds to increase the prices of their products. So, cutting the cost of production and other operational cost will be the best strategy to increase their profit margins. The internal capabilities of McDonalds will require a focus and needs to be enhanced in order to achieve the goals of this strategic option. Another strategic option available for McDonalds is to offer such products and services which are unique in nature and are not available in the market. In this way the customer will have no other option to get the desired product or service. This will keep the customer intact with McDonalds and hence the profit margins of the organization will keep on growing. A best example of this is the ice cream provided by McDonalds. No other fast food chain provides the best quality ice cream and people are fond of McDonalds Ice Cream and this has been a unique product of the fast food chain which attracts millions of customers. Another unique feature of McDonalds is their quality customer services. In this era the customer service has gained utmost importance and McDonalds customer services is helping them to increase their market share. Even if the restaurant is packed with the customers the customer services quality remains the same which makes the fast food chain number one in the world. Strategic Option a Helping Hand to achieve Strategic Objectives Strategic options help the organization to achieve the organization strategic aims and objectives. However, a combination of the available strategic options is a good option for any enterprise as this can have a dual positive effect in the organizational performance and profit margins can also be increased with a wide margin. Using integrated strategic options allows the firm a more leverage to take decision on marketing mix. McDonalds can use either of the strategic option discussed earlier, but the more appropriate is to use the mix of both the strategic options. This will help to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization which were mentioned earlier in the document. Using a differentiation strategy, McDonalds will be able to charge the premium prices against the product features. However, keeping the legislation under consideration is also important before charging the premium prices from the customers (Kim Warren, 2008). On the other side of the picture the cost leader ship strategy will provide the company a more leverage to reduce their prices of provide discount offers to the customers as the company have more margin due to the increase in profit margin. McDonalds can offer different discount deals on their core products as these are also provided by their major global competitor KFC. So, if the fast food chain is following an integrated strategic option then it can attain competitive advantage on either side of the court. This will fulfill the first and important strategic objective of McDonalds i.e. to maintain the market leader position. As the fast food chain will be able to counter each offer given by its competitor and also can attack the competitor by offering new products and deals and maintain the market dominance. Furthermore, using the differentiation strategy the fast food chain can make their customer services so supreme that no other competitor can copy that. Along with the food quality which is already very unique can be improved further and new products can be launched which are not available in the market and not ever provided by any other organization. By suing this differentiation strategy the company will be able to achieve its another strategic objective i.e. to provide the customer with quality food and service. Cost leadership and differentiation strategies will improve the profit margins and the strategic objective to provide a positive return on investment of the shareholders and investors will be fulfilled. Concluding this discussion it is suggested to the McDonalds management to continue delivering the quality product and services and further reduce their operational cost without compromising the quality of their products and standard of their services. McDonalds Stakeholders Analysis Stakeholders are those bodies or parties which have direct or indirect interaction with the organization. These bodies are affected with the operations of the business positively or negatively. The major stakeholder for McDonalds includes their customers, shareholders and their employees. Customers Customers of McDonalds are the major focus of fast food chain. Mentioned earlier in the document that the companys corporate values indicate that customer is the king. The strategic objectives are also aimed towards the customer satisfaction by delivering value to them. Customer services is the important part of the McDonalds strategic planning as through quality customer services they are able to retain he customers. McDonalds branches and franchises are all over the world and they are huge in number. This is to facilitate the customer to provide the quality food with easy access. Furthermore the free home delivery service of the fast food chain shows that the organization is committed to produce their products and services at the door step of the customers. Shareholders Shareholders are another major stakeholder of the company. Strategic objectives of the company show that the company is committed to deliver return on investments. The company has adapted cost leadership and differentiation strategy which have given them a position of market leader and helped to increase the profit margins which is the major concern of the investors. Employees The employees are the key to success for any organization. At McDonalds it is not a different story. The company considers their employees as an asset like all successful organizations and is committed to facilitate their employees who in actual are the prime resources that leads towards the fulfillment of organizations strategic objectives. Five Competitive Forces Analysis of McDonalds Michael porter provided a frame work which contains the analysis of five different forces effecting the organization (Kim Warren, 2002). Through this analytical tool five different forces affecting McDonalds are evaluated. Figure 1 Porter Five Forces Model Threat of new entrants Fast food industry has gained a tremendous growth in the 21st century. Many fast food chains are operating in different countries. The major are KFC, Pizza Hut and Subway. However there are many local fast food chains that provide the same kind of products which these international fast food chains do. However, the quality and standard is not up to the level of these chains still these chains are able to grasp a handsome amount of market share. The entry in this business is not a difficult task; however, to launch a chain at the level of McDonald is quite difficult. Threat of Substitutes There are several substitutes available against the products of McDonalds, which are also liked by the consumers. So McDonalds also have to consider those substitutes while designing their strategies. Degree of Rivalry The competition in the fast food restaurant industry is intense. Having the major brands like KFC, PIZZA HUT and Subway , McDonalds really have to be up to the mark in terms of products and customer services to maintain the market leader position. Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power of buyers in case of McDonalds is high as the customer has so many options so the fast food chains have to maintain their prices very competitive and keep the level of customer services up to the mark. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of supplier is not high in case of McDonalds. Suppliers try to add their names in the list of the big brand names such as McDonalds because of the frequency of their orders. Pest Analsyis of Mcdonalds Pestle analysis is to analyze the external forces which can affect the organization. Below is the brief analysis of McDonalds Figure 2 PEST Analysis Framework Political Forces Due to the global operations of the company there are several policies in different states which can affect the McDonalds policies and procedures. Economic Factors The global economy can affect the organization in many ways. The change in the fast food industry business can also affect the McDonalds in a positive or negative way. Social Factors Being operating in many countries across the globe, McDonald have to recognize the social and cultural factors. For instance in Muslim countries the fast food chain has to assure the community regarding the use of Halal chicken. Technological Factors The rapid change in technology will force the company to adapt it in order to survive in the competitive market. Furthermore, the introduction of new advertisement Medias gives a more chance to aggressively market the products through different channels. Conclusion McDonalds enormous success all over the globe is the result of their effective vision and mission which is leading the organization in the right direction. The selection of right strategies at the right time allows the organization to achieve the organization set aims and objectives. The progress of the company towards strategic aims and objectives is satisfactory. The selection of integrated strategic options will allow the company to progress more efficiently towards the achievement of strategic aims and objectives.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

Capital Punishment Thesis One: In principle a case can be made on moral grounds both supporting and opposing capital punishment. Thesis two: Concretely and in practice, compelling arguments against capital punishment can be made on the basis of its actual administration in our society. Two different cases can be made. One is based on justice and the nature of a moral community. This leads to a defense of capital punishment. The second is based on love and the nature of an ideal spiritual community. This leads to a rejection of capital punishment. JUSTICE AND THE NATURE OF MORAL COMMUNITY A central principle of a just society is that every person has an equal right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Within that framework, an argument for capital punishment can be formulated along the following lines: some acts are so vile and so destructive of community that they invalidate the right of the perpetrator to membership and even to life. A community founded on moral principles has certain requirements. The right to belong to a community is not unconditional. The privilege of living and pursuing the good life in society is not absolute. It may be negated by behavior that undermines the nature of a moral community. The essential basis on which community is built requires each citizen to honor the rightful claims of others. The utter and deliberate denial of life and opportunity to others forfeits ones own claim to continued membership in the community, whose standards have been so flagrantly violated. The preservation of moral community demands that the shattering of the foundation of its existence must be taken with utmost seriousness. The preciousness of life in a moral community must be so highly honored that those who do not honor the life of others make null and void their own right to membership. Those who violate the personhood of others, especially if this is done persistently as a habit must pay the ultimate penalty. This punishment must be inflicted for the sake of maintaining the community whose foundation has been violated. We can debate whether some non-lethal alternative is a fitting substitute for the death penalty. But the standard of judgment is whether the punishment fits the crime and sufficiently honors the nature of moral community. LOVE AND AN IDEAL SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY Agape, Christian love, is unconditional. It does not depend on the worthiness or merit of those to whom it is directed. It is persistent in seeking the good of others regardless of whether they return the favor or even deserve to be treated well on the basis of their own incessant wrongdoing.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Symbol Of America :: essays research papers

The thing that I see that represents America is Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There have been numerous historical events that have been the basis for the forming of the United States of America that took place inside Independence Hall. Basically, everything that happened during the time of the Thirteen Colonies and a period of time after the Revolutionary War that involved political affairs, all took place in Independence Hall. This place was pretty much the earlier version of the United States Congress back in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Independence Hall, a historic monument of the United States of America, was where the U.S. first began to form from where the Continental Congress met to the place where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution was signed to build it’s way to become one great nation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, Independence Hall was where the Continental Congress held all their congregations that eventually led way to the independence of the United States. The Continental Congress was where all the forefathers of America from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, and many others all decided to free America from British rule. And where else did this take place than at the site of Independence Hall, but after the Declaration of Independence was signed and a bloody war called the Revolutionary War was fought.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed in Independence Hall. The Declaration was just a little document that brought the birth of a â€Å"new, free nation.† The beginning of the United States was on July 4, 1776 at the signing of the Declaration where all the forefathers of America risked their lives as patriots to get rid of an â€Å"evil† tyrant ruling from far away across the ocean, and to create a democracy that they could believe in. One more thing was that the United States Constitution was signed after the Revolutionary War to bring deserving and fair rights to every American citizen. Freedom and rights were achieved by these historic documents after they were signed to bring in a new country that has lasted for centuries and for centuries to come.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What other thing represents America better than the place of Independence Hall where America was actually born? There were many things that can also be seen as the symbol for America from such things as the President of the United States, to freedom, to the â€Å"American Dream†/ â€Å"the almighty dollar,† and so on.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Life of Alton Brown and his wife Deanna Brown producer

Alton Brown was born on July 30, 1962 in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. He studied in the University of Georgia where he received a degree in drama. After studying he worked in cinematography and film production. He produced the music video â€Å"The One I love† where he became as a best known film producer and cinematographer. He also contributed works to the film School Daze by Spike. Alton Brown is a born again Christian. In Marietta, Georgia, he became a member of the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (Parker, 2007).Alton Brown was raised by his mother and grandmother and while growing up in their house, the passion of cooking was already a common thing for him. When he was in high school and college he had worked as a cook but he had never considered to enroll in a culinary arts school by those times (CNET Networks Entertainment, 2007). During sometime in his life in film production, he had observed the dissatisfaction he felt with the quality of food he ea ts. He was also dissatisfied with the way the American cooking shows were aired. Because of this observation, he planned to study culinary arts.He then enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute. Brown revealed that when he was in high school and in college studying for his degree in drama, he showed poorness in science. When he enrolled for the culinary arts, he noticed that he needs to excel in science because the subject is needed for him to understand the processes of cooking in a scientific way. In 1997, he graduated at the New England Culinary Institute (New England Culinary Arts, 2007). Alton Brown is currently living in Marietta, Georgia together with his family. DeAnna is his wife and Zoey is his daughter.DeAnna Brown is working with her husband in the Good Eats wherein she is the co-producer of the show. But DeAnna Brown had never appeared in one of the TV shows of her husband. Alton Brown had the opportunity to portray his currently arrested twin brother named â€Å" B. A†. As a result, many of his viewers kept asking him of what his twin brother’s do for a living. Many people and many of his viewers were not aware that the character of his twin brother â€Å"B. A. † was simply a product of intelligent editing. In his culinary show Good Eats, he always features Apple-branded computers.Aside from loving Apple computers, he also revealed in his interview with the MacWorld magazine that he also loves the fruit apple (Macworld, 2007). Alton Brown is a specialist of cheese and vinegar. Aside from being a specialist of vinegar and cheese, Brown also is a motorcycling enthusiast and because of being a motorcycling enthusiast he owns a 2005 BMW R12RT (Litscher, 2004). Alton Brown had also completed his first solo as an aviator last June 25, 2007 to be able to gain his certificate in private piloting. The Works of Alton Brown Books. Alton brown’s first published book is all about his recipes that are aired in his Good Eats show .The book is entitled â€Å"I’m Just Here for the Food† won the title of 2003 James Beard Award. The book had detailed the stories of Alton Brown about his favorite ingredients as well as his favorite experiments. Comprehensive directions for finding the perfect cooking apparatus and tools are also included in this book. Handy diagrams about the importance of things that are related to cooking were also in detailed in the book (AltonBrown. com, 2005). Another book of Alton Brown is entitled â€Å"I'm Just Here for More Food:Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking†.This book was suggested to be a required book for reading to those cooks aspiring to be great bakers. In this book, Alton Brown had explained and discussed in his own ways and manner of the processes that would help aspiring bakers to learn the things that they could use for their baking endeavors. Things such as the salt’s role in the process of baking are written in the book as well as the importance of eggs in baking is all written in he book (AltonBrown. com, 2005). The book â€Å"Gear for Your Kitchen† was a way for Alton Brown to let the people know that cooking is a lot fun.He came to realize the fact that people are not having fun when cooking so he wrote the book. He also found out that people do not find fun and excitement because they do not use the right tool and implements in cooking (AltonBrown. com, 2005). â€Å"I’m Just Here For the Food: Kitchen User’s Manual† is also a book written by Alton Brown. Brown considered this book as a kitchen organizer because it is the ideal companion in the kitchen. This book is really written to be a cook manual and it does have eight separate sections dedicated for recipes and other cooking essentialities.The eight section of the book consist of full page plastic pockets in order to have a place for holding and keeping the cooking clippings, equipment manuals and other important paperwork in the kitchen (A ltonBrown. com, 2005). Television Shows. Alton Brown was the one who created Good Eats. Good Eats is a television cooking show wherein Alton Brown himself is the host. Good Eats is aired in North America on Food Network. Good Eats is a show wherein it showcases the familiar dishes that could be easily cooked at home. There are also segments in Good Eats where the important and the proper cooking implements and tools are being discussed.Iron Chef America: The Series is also a television show wherein Alton Brown makes appearance. The television show is based on a Fuji Television’s Iron Chef and is produced by Food Network. The television show is a culinary game show. There is a cooking competition between a challenger and a resident ‘Iron Chef’ in every episode of the show. The competition is one hour long wherein a theme ingredient is featured (Food Network. com, 2007). Feasting on Asphalt is also a television series show where Alton Brown is the host. Since Alton Brown is an enthusiast of motorcycling riding, the third series of the television show is all about â€Å"road food†.The third series was all about the restaurants which caters the needs of travelers during their long travels. The series gives an importance to the unique restaurants and regional cuisine wherein the travelers could eat when they are traveling. And in finding and looking for this unique and regional cuisine, Alton Brown go off the road by using his BMW motorcycle which proves that he is really an motorcycling enthusiast aside from being a chef (Food Network. com). Aside from all the books and from all the television shows of Alton Brown, he also contributed to the 2005 Cookbook of the Food Network Favorites:Recipes From All-Star Chefs.He is a member of the Heifer International. Heifer International is a nonprofit world hunger organization Works Cited:AltonBrown. com (2005). Books. BE Square Corporation. Retrieved September 24, 2007 < http://www. altonbrown. co m/adventure/books. html>.Food Network. com (2007). Iron Chef America; The Series. Scripps Network, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2007 < http://www. foodnetwork. com/food/show_ia/0,1976,FOOD_16696,00. html>.Food Network. com (2007). Feasting on Asphalt 2. Scripps Network, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2007 .CNET Networks Entertainment (2007). Alton Brown. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2007 < http://www. tv. com/alton-brown/person/219990/biography. html>.Litscher, S. (2004). Chef Alton Brown of â€Å"Good Eats† Writer, Director, Food Hacker & Gear Head. Road Fly Magazine. Macworld.The Mac Express (2007). Add Apples for Flavor; Q and A with Alton Brown. Retrieved September 24, 2007 < http://www. macworld. com/2001/03/bc/buzzbrown/ >.New England Culinary Arts (2007). Profile: Anton Brown. Retrieved September 24, 2007 Parker, Virginia (2007). Alton Brown Steaks His Claim. Atlanta Magazine.

Monday, September 16, 2019

How Are Theories Formed?

What is a Theory? We often hear someone say â€Å"That’s just a theory† or on the contrary – â€Å"In theory and in practice, it always works. † This term may indeed hold in itself a somewhat ambiguous undertone, and lead to confusion and misuse. Let’s look at the origin of the word; according to an etymology dictionary, theory derives from the Greek â€Å"theoreo† which means ‘to look at’, ‘to observe’. The definition tells us that one must firstly observe a phenomenon so that a theory about a certain aspect of it could form. There are essentially three forms of theories, and although they are different, all of them have one thing in common – a theory is always born with observation. The first form is theory as a belief, found in humanities such as philosophy and arts – this type is a theory that can guide or predict certain behavior in a social situation. For example: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs or the Karl Marx Theory of Bureaucracy. This is when someone might say â€Å"That’s just a theory†. The second form of theory is used primarily as a possibility, in other words as a tentative insight into the natural world – for example, the most famous in this category would be the Evolution Theory or in physics a String Theory. Finally, the third form is the scientific theory, and according to www. wordnet. princeton. edu, it is â€Å"A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena. In order for a theory to be considered scientific, it needs to satisfy certain parameters, which distinguishes it from the other two forms. Firstly, a scientific theory will explain how nature works for example Newton’s Theory of Universal Gravitation, or Kinetic Theory of Gases, and it will do so with significant evidence – unlike in the other forms, a scientific theory is always well tested by numerous experiments. This leads to the n ext point – scientific theories are mathematical in nature, meaning they explain measurable phenomena, and not abstract concepts, such as the theories in the first category. Why did I state that String Theory and Evolution Theory are not scientific theories as opposed to Kinetic Theory of Gases? The answer lies in the hypothesis of these theories. A hypothesis is a proposal intended to explain certain observations, a prediction. It must be testable, meaning that whichever prediction you make, you need to be able to prove it works. It also must be falsifiable, meaning capable of being proven wrong. In both the String Theory and the Evolution Theory, the hypothesis fails, because you cannot possibly test them and also prove them wrong. These are the steps in the formation of a scientific theory: 1. Observation 2. Hypothesis based on observation 3. Experiments 4. Evidence 5. Theory First form doesn’t make it to step 3 and second form doesn’t make it to step 4 – only scientific theories make it to step 5. The method outlined in these steps is called an inductive approach to science. It was introduced by Francis Bacon and he said that a scientist needs to erase what he knows in terms of science, and start with a clean slate, tabula rasa; his knowledge will be based on observation, lead to hypothesis, then to evidence (or lack thereof), then to theory and its generalization. The relationship between a theory and evidence is crucial – without evidence, there is no theory and no science, just random observations. To better demonstrate inductive method, let’s take Aristotle as an example. He observed dropping down two objects at the same time, and with numerous experiments he saw that objects which are heavier fall faster to the ground than lighter ones. So that was his theory, and it stayed that way until Galileo Galilei opposed it. This is what inductive method is about – you base your theory on observation and make it a scientific fact until something else contradicts it. It is similar to coming across mammals and saying all animals are warm blooded – until you come across a reptile. When Galileo objected to Aristotle’s theory, he said to forget inductive method and instead focus science on the deductive approach, an exact opposite. Instead a scientist would work from an already existing theory – an argument is that scientists make progress when they hold an idea in mind and then they go to observe and gather evidence for that idea/theory. Proponents of the deductive method assert that science makes progress through meta-theories, meaning that in place of one theory, another one will emerge. So when Galileo opposed Aristotle’s theory, he proposed that the different speeds of objects falling to the ground have nothing to do with their masses, but instead occur because of air resistance and acceleration due to a gravitational pull. He was right and Aristotle was wrong. Below is a summary of how evidence and a theory interact in their relation to each other. Evidence -> theory (inductive) Theory -> evidence (deductive) Meta-theory -> theory -> evidence (deductive) As mentioned throughout the paper, the validity of a theory and its worthiness depend primarily on the evidence and proof which is gathered after the theory has been stated. For example, the recent theory that all physical objects in the world and all living organisms are holograms is mind bending and would be a tremendous breakthrough in the world of science had the hypothesis been testable. Just like with the Theory of Evolution and Theory of Creationism, the Theory of a Hologram World, remains a theory â€Å"yet to be proved right†. The issue here though is overwhelming – how much information and evidence does one theory require in order for it to become a law/fact of science? And even when it does become a law such as Law of Gravity or Law of Multiplication Table in mathematics, it exists only as far as contradictory evidence is not presented, because in science, observations take precedence over everything else. Scientists also know that in science, there is no certainty. Before 1800’s people thought they have sufficient evidence that the Earth was flat, it is funny to us now, but who knows maybe in three centuries down the road we will also be laughed at. Going back to the question of how much evidence is needed for a theory to become accepted as science – this has also to do with the way a theory is structured, worded. Again, its linked to mathematics and measurement – the more precise the theory is in terms of numbers, the easier it would be to measure it. The more vague and open to interpretation it is, the harder it would be to come to a conclusion. This is concerned with issues of metaphysical/ontological theories – examination of nature as a physical experience versus a mental, spiritual experience. Another very important issue arises from the question – who researches scientific theories? At the end of the day, science is researched by people, and written by people. When evaluating theories, one might question the bias factor and the personal interest factor in the developments of science. Enterprise and governmental politics may play a key role when time will come to take a closer look at a contentious theory. Part 2: Question 4 One of the most controversial issues is regarding the question whether psychology really can be encompassed as a science or not. Psychology means the study of the human mind, also the study of human behavior, and science in its simplest definition is the explaining of the world through empirical and numerical evidence. Science as a concept is very structured – because the very nature of things it looks at, can be researched and studied under laboratory, experimental conditions. Paul Lutus, in his article â€Å"Is Psychology a Science? † states, â€Å"We should determine whether psychology can be relied on to objectively support the social and legal policies that are based on it. In modern times, such a serious public burden can only be borne by a field that is based on reason, on science. † If psychology is in fact responsible for providing answers, what is the content of this science? Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience primarily because it is concerned with the study of the mind rather than the brain. It focuses on the study of concepts of perception, cognition, interpersonal relationships between people and what motivates individuals to behave the way they do. Psychology also aims at treating mental disorders and classifying abnormalities and ways to cure them. Psychology differs from other social sciences such as anthropology, economics and sociology due to experimentation and the primary focus on the individual, or on small groups of individuals, rather than society as a whole. The next question would be, what is the methodology applied in psychology as a science to research the content? As the object of interest in psychology is the human mind, the most effective way to gain insight would be to apply projective techniques to the subjects of research. Projective techniques involve asking subjects to interpret or fill in visual stimuli, complete sentences, or report what ssociations particular words bring to mind. The way the questions are structured, enables the patients to project their own personalities onto the stimulus, often revealing personal conflicts, motivations, coping styles, and other characteristics. The best known projective test is the Rorschach test, created in the 1920’s by a Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach (r orschach. org). It consists of a series of ten cards, each containing a complicated inkblot. Some are in black and white, some are in color – subjects are asked to describe what they see in each card. Another famous projective technique in its purest form was established by Sigmund Freud, called free association, where the subjects are told not to filter out anything that comes into their mind and speak it out freely, so that language and voice communication acts as a direct channel to what is going on inside a person’s head. Methodology applied in psychology, consists of essential three elements: research, diagnosis and therapy. Most importantly, in order for diagnosis and therapy to be meaningful, the research i. e. he experiments need to be conducted in a way that assumes minimal bias and maximum control of the variables. Psychology is excellent at describing phenomena, however it often cannot reliably explain these occurred phenomena; this is to be expected, after all the object of study is the most complex and genius creation in nature – the human mind. Works Cited Lutus, Paul. (2009, May 12) Is Psychology a Science? Retrieved from http://www. arachnoid. com/psy chology/index. html Online dictionary www. wordnet. princeton. edu/perl/webwn? s=theory www. rorschach. org