Smartest Guys in the Room

Introduction Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room was a documentary film showing the real story of the largest business scandal in the U.S. where top executive officers in Enron Corporation squandered over one billion American dollars while the Corporation investors and employees lost everything. Enron Corporation was a leading commodity, and Service Company established in Houston, Texas.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Smartest Guys in the Room specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was the seventh largest companies at the time. The executive officers included Ken Lay, the CEO, Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey Skilling, Chief Financial Officer, Andy Fastow and the Accounting Firm, Arthur Andersen. The film was based on the 2003 award-winning book, The Smartest Guys in the Room by Fortune reporters, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. It also featured insider accounts and fire-raising corporate videotapes audios, interviews with former Enron executives and employees, reporters, former Governor of California and stock analysts. The film significantly examined the collapse of Enron Corporation in 2001. It showed how smart and powerful men were driven by greed, which brought shame to themselves and severely affected innocent investors and employees (Gibney 1). In 2006, the film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature and consequently won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature. Enron Natural Gas Pipeline Company was formed in 1985 as a result of the merger of Houston and Omaha, Nebraska’s and InterNorth, natural-gas companies. By 2000, Enron Natural Gas Pipeline Company had grown and dominated the North America natural gas industry and Jeff Skilling pioneered its expansion to a different range of products that included coal, steel, and water. This resulted to skyrocketing of the company’s stocks and Jeff Skilling was considerably named CEO of the company. Many people invested in the company and with the increase in the range of products, and consequently, the number of employees had to be increased. Meanwhile, Skilling accounting results put Enron’s earnings at 53 million dollars a deal with no profits (Independent Lens 1). Summary of what happened at Enron Jeff Skilling declared the company’s earnings of $53 million dollars in a deal that yielded no profits. Essentially Enron faked its bookkeeping to report profits that never existed. The company operated on corrupt and closely-guarded mismanagement by Enron executive officers.Advertising Looking for case study on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Enron came up with a scheme to artificially increase electricity demand at the West Coast. As a result, many California citizens experienced blackouts, and unfortunately, two people lost their lives while Enron’s West Coast desk pocketed huge profits. E nron also used ghost companies to hide the massive company losses that later toppled the company. Enron crafted to sell products that did not exist and its balance sheets never balanced. Inexperienced and innocent employees who had dedicated their financial lives to Enron were surprised when Enron Corporation experienced prolonged fallout without their knowledge. About 20,000 employees lost their jobs. The company’s insurance covers crashed, Enron stocks and retirement accounts were equally devalued with urgency. Similarly, many criminal accusations were prosecuted against several Enron company’s top executive officers. Additionally, Arthur Andersen’s accounting firm collapsed, the 2006 convictions of Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Chief Financial Officer, Andy Fastow also fell. This was followed by the death of Ken Lay the CEO, two months later. Organization-related Problems at Enron Organizational related problems are the problems that come up from a group†™s influence. They include the shared beliefs and shared values. Being a well-established company, Enron ought to have had proper records, book keeping, financial statements open to public scrutiny and compliant with all financial standards. Though Enron was applauded for being innovative, it had various organizational problems. Because Enron was dealing with many cash transactions, entered into future contracts, and acted as a bank for many commodities, it was necessary for them to generate cash flows which they never did. Their reliance on borrowed cash for their dairy transactions was not a good organization technique. Enron similarly dealt with inexperienced employees, credits, debts and diverse businesses instead of being specific, which brought about organization problems. The idea of Enron dealing with all types of businesses both simple and complex made it impossible for employees to have the required expertise hence resulting to organizational problems. The entry of Enron into trading activities that were unfamiliar to the employees was an organization problem. As trading expanded, Enron’s, financial status became complex, and unfortunately, they abandoned budgetary controls. The organized structure and policy of Enron clearly did not prevent unscrupulous activities like the artificial electricity scheme (GUIDESTAR 1).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Smartest Guys in the Room specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Enron did not have a mission or a strategic plan, and that can be viewed as an organization lapse. The top management and auditors of Enron were not professionally and psychologically up to the huge task in the company and were more concerned with earnings and hence could not realize eminent business risks (Cunningham and Harris 33). Root cause of the organizational problems, values, ethical, reward systems, perceptions and leadership Many companies like Enron ha ve voluntary codes of ethics that prohibit executives from being involved in other business entities that do business with the company they are working for. However, the executive officers of Enron chose not to follow this code of ethics. Enron executives, like some other companies, were allowed to manage their own employee pension funds, which unfortunately, they messed up. The diverse businesses involved in by Enron left no space for specialization and expertise hence creating organizational problems. The schemes and conspiracies developed by Enron’s executives were unethical and poor show of leadership traits. The fact that Enron hired and paid its own auditors brought a conflict of interest into the legal and financial system which created an organizational problem. The legal and regulatory structure that allowed firms like Arthur Andersen to provide both consulting and auditing services developed a conflict of interest and thus resulting to an organizational problem. The senior management at Enron did not receive extensive ethical training and as such did not have enough knowledge to arrive at concrete decisions. Corporate governance and leadership solely relied on the state of mind, will power and personal relationships of management. However, rules were skillfully, cunningly and willfully ignored though they were in place. The fact that the law left considerable discretion to managers and executives to exercise their own business judgment about what was in the best interests of the company, enabled the executive officers of Enron to mismanage and practice corruption. Finally, the shareholders of Enron were not allowed to vet the management of the organization (Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics 1). Detailed Analysis of the Problems Identified Every corporate organization operates under its own set of code of ethics. The code of ethics details how employees, employers and company business should be transacted. Once this code of ethics is followed, smooth running of a company is guaranteed.Advertising Looking for case study on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, since this code is voluntary, top management in most cases ignore it and hence create organizational problems in a company. The executive officers in Enron ignored the code of ethics and conspired, mismanaged and engaged in corrupt activities that crushed the company. Training of management team and employees ensures a good understanding of the business and required expertise. However, no such training was offered or sought in Enron, and thus it can be said that employees did not understand the newly introduced trading activities in the organization. The diverse business activities deny a company a sense of specialization and hence no mission. This leads in business being executed in any way and thus there is no perfection. The loopholes in the legal framework are used by the wise to defraud companies. The fact that the law allowed the senior management to make personal decisions they saw fit for the company, also gave them a chance to do the opposite. Hence, the law can pr otect or be used to suit the highly ranked in a company. Senior management should at all times demonstrate good governance in a company where the interest of the company should come before personal interests. In a situation where personal gains prevail, the shareholders and employees feel the wrath as in the case of Enron. Conflict of interest destroys all company plans. In a position where an auditor is hired and paid by the management, chances of auditors giving decisions that suit the employer are high. External auditors are recommended in a public company to display the true financial position of a company. Organization behavior theories that led to problems at Enron and how they relate to the Event at Enron Organization behavior theories relate to ethics that dictate how companies should be run. For many years, philosophers have in literature stated and analyzed different theories that form the basis for ethics in business. Technological theories of ethics put more emphasis on the results of an action and can be classified into egoism and utilitarianism. In this case, egoism defines what is correct and what is wrong with respect to oneself. In such a case, when required to give any business decision, an egoist will put self-interest first. This theory is believed to lead to illegal behavior. In the case of Enron, the management put self first in the west coast where they leaped a lot of profits as employees lost their jobs while some lost their lives due to the artificial electricity demand scheme. Utilitarianism theory, on the other hand, puts more emphasis on the overall amount of good that might be produced by an action or a decision. In this case, a company might decide to expand its business physically or across the borders. Utilitarianism will analyze the amount of good that can be derived from this action. In the case of Enron, the management decided to introduce other trading activities like coal and water on top of the initial natural-gas busines s. This act was well rewarded since Enron stocks skyrocketed to generate high revenues in a short period of time. Deontological theories of ethics put more emphasis on: the rights of all individuals, and the intentions of the person(s) performing an action. It cannot harm some to benefit others but treats all equally. In the case of Enron Corporation, the government declared the corporation bankrupt, prosecuted all that mismanaged the company and participated in corrupt deals that severely affected the employees and investors. By doing this, it treated everybody accordingly. A Justice-based theory of ethics is concerned with the perception of fairness of actions. To determine the fairness of an action; distributive, procedural, and/or interaction rules are used. A just action treats all fairly and consistently in accordance with the set ethical or legal standards. In the case of Enron Corporation event, the court delivered justice on the criminal proceedings against the corrupt mana gement officials and the accounting firm. Relativism theory of ethics dictates that there are no universal principles of ethics and that right and wrong must be determined by each individual or group. It observes that standards of right and wrong may change with time and cultures. And hence the rights and wrongs are subject to interpretation (Barnett 1). Conclusion Any of the above listed problems will obviously befall a company if not checked well in advance. Enron Corporation was highly affected by organizational problems to the point of a closure and bankruptcy declaration of their accounting firm. The schemes demonstrated by the management were a sign of poor leadership, bad governance, greed for money, and self-centeredness. Mismanagement affects the employees, investors and the management itself. In the case of Enron, more than 20, 000 lost their jobs, two people died out of the faked electricity demand, senior management was taken to court, investors encountered losses, accou nting firm declared bankrupt and the sudden fall of Enron Corporation. But since some of these problems are due to ignorance, lack of personal will to do right, bending the law, and selfish interests, personal conscience and good governance are required to protect the interests of all in a company. Governments should prescribe stiff penalties for all forms of mismanagement, corruption and conspiracy in a public owned company. As of such, managers and directors in such companies should be vetted before assuming management positions to ensure transparency and professionalism. Works Cited Barnett, Tim. Ethics, Reference for business, Encyclopedia of business. Reference for Business, 2011. Web. Cunningham, Gary and Harris Jean. â€Å"Enron and Arthur Andersen: The Case of the Crooked E and the Fallen A.† Global Perspectives on Accounting Education 3.1 (2006): 27-48. Gibney, Alex. Enron The Smartest Guys In The Room. HDNET FILMS, 2005. Film. GUIDESTAR. How Ethical Is Your Nonprofi t Organization? GUIDESTAR, 2011. Web. Independent Lens. Enron: the smartest guys in the room. Public Broadcasting Service, 2011. Web. Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics. What Really Went Wrong With Enron? Santa Clara University, 2011. Web. This case study on Smartest Guys in the Room was written and submitted by user Ember Waller to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Liminal Is Not a Fancy Word

Liminal Is Not a Fancy Word â€Å"Liminal† Is Not a â€Å"Fancy Word† â€Å"Liminal† Is Not a â€Å"Fancy Word† By Maeve Maddox The other morning I heard someone on NPR use the word liminal. He immediately referred to it apologetically as â€Å"a fancy word.† Granted, liminal is not an everyday word, but it is one that adult readers encounter if they progress very far beyond the Ayres List. (The Extended Ayres List is a list of 1500 of the most common words, ranked by difficulty. It’s widely used as a spelling and vocabulary benchmark in US schools.) A cursory Web search indicates that the NPR announcer is not alone in feeling he must apologize for using the word liminal. The following examples are typical: Liminal  is a  fancy word  for having to do with a boundary. The academics have a  fancy word  for this space; they call it the â€Å"liminal†.   Liminal is a fancy word that means â€Å"1: of or relating to a sensory threshold; 2:  barely perceptible; 3: of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition:  in-between,  transitional.† The noun liminality gets the same treatment: Liminality is a fancy word meaning â€Å"a place of in-between-ness. The adjective liminal and the noun liminality are used with specialized meanings in psychology and cultural anthropology, but the words have found their way into the general vocabulary and have been in frequent use at least since the 1980s. Here are the general-purpose definitions: liminal adjective: characterized by being on a boundary or threshold, especially by being transitional or intermediate between two states or situations. liminality noun: a transitional or indeterminate state between stages of a person’s life; an indeterminate state between different spheres of existence. At least some writers targeting a popular audience are able to use liminal without apology: He’s wrecked, too, by his liminal  ­racial status: His father was an Irishman, his mother was black and he comfortably claims neither.- The NY Times. They [people mistakenly declared dead by government bureaucracy] basically can end up like Tom Hanks in â€Å"The Terminal,† wandering around in terrible liminal state of boredom and frustration, except without Catherine Zeta Jones for company.- The Washington Post film  noir occupies a  liminal  space somewhere between Europe and America, between high modernism and â€Å"blood melodrama,† and between low-budget crime movies and art cinema. More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts, James Naremore, University of California Press. Knowing the etymology of liminal makes it especially easy to learn. It derives from limen, the Latin word for threshold, the narrow part of a doorway that lies between two rooms or between the outside and the inside of a house. A person standing framed in a doorway is â€Å"in a liminal state† between larger spaces intended to be occupied. Words represent meaning. Some are more common in general usage than others, but any reader can learn any word. I don’t think that liminal is harder to learn than any other word that has entered the general vocabulary from the sciences. I’ve never noticed a speaker or a writer refer to neurotic or psychotic as â€Å"fancy words.† Writers who apologize for using unfamiliar words seem to assume that their readers are ignorant and wish to remain that way. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?Whenever vs. When EverUsing "May" in a Question

The Tariff of Abominations of 1828

The Tariff of Abominations of 1828 The Tariff of Abominations was the name outraged southerners gave to a tariff passed in 1828. Residents of the  South believed the tax on imports was excessive and unfairly targeted their region of the country. The tariff, which became law in the spring of 1828, set very high duties on goods imported into the United State. And by doing so it did create major economic problems for the South.  As the South was not a manufacturing center, it had to either import finished goods from Europe (primarily Britain) or buy goods made in the North. Adding insult to injury, the law had obviously been devised to protect manufacturers in the Northeast. With a protective tariff essentially creating artificially high prices, the consumers in the South found themselves at a severe disadvantage when buying products from either Northern or foreign manufacturers. The 1828 tariff created a further problem for the South, as it reduced business with England. And that, in turn, made it more difficult for the English to afford cotton grown in the American South. Intense feeling about the Tariff of Abominations prompted John C. Calhoun to anonymously write essays setting forth his theory of nullification, in which  he forcefully advocated that states could ignore federal laws. Calhouns protest against the federal government eventually led to the Nullification Crisis. Background of the 1828 Tariff The Tariff of 1828 was one of a series of protective tariffs passed in America. After the War of 1812, when English manufacturers began to flood the American market with cheap goods that undercut and threatened new American industry, the U.S. Congress responded by setting a tariff in 1816. Another tariff was passed in 1824. Those tariffs were designed to be protective, meaning they were intended to drive up the price of imported goods and thereby protect American factories from British competition. And they became unpopular in some quarters because the tariffs were always promoted originally as being temporary measures. Yet, as new industries emerged, new tariffs always seemed necessary to protect them from foreign competition. The 1828 tariff actually came into being as part of a complicated political strategy designed to cause problems for President John Quincy Adams. Supporters of Andrew Jackson hated Adams following his election in the Corrupt Bargain election of 1824. The Jackson people drew up legislation with very high tariffs on imports necessary to both the North and South, on the assumption that the bill would not pass. And the president, it was assumed, would be blamed for the failure to pass the tariff bill. And that would cost him among his supporters in the Northeast. The strategy backfired when the tariff bill passed in Congress on May 11, 1828. President John Quincy Adams signed it into law. Adams believed the tariff was a good idea and signed it though he realized it could hurt him politically in the upcoming election of 1828. The new tariff imposed high import duties on iron, molasses, distilled spirits, flax, and various finished goods. The law was instantly unpopular, with people in different regions disliking parts of it, but the opposition was greatest in the South. John C. Calhouns Opposition to the Tariff of Abominations The intense southern opposition to the 1828 tariff was led by John C. Calhoun, a dominating political figure from South Carolina. Calhoun had grown up on the frontier of the late 1700s, yet he had been educated at Yale College in Connecticut and also received legal training in New England. In national politics, Calhoun had emerged, by the mid-1820s, as an eloquent and dedicated advocate for the South (and also for the institution of slavery, upon which the economy of the South depended). Calhouns plans to run for president had been thwarted by lack of support in 1824, and he wound up running for vice president with John Quincy Adams. So in 1828, Calhoun was actually the vice president of the man who signed the hated tariff into law. Calhoun Published a Strong Protest Against the Tariff In late 1828 Calhoun wrote an essay titled South Carolina Exposition and Protest, which was anonymously published. In his essay Calhoun criticized the concept of a protective tariff, arguing that tariffs should only be used to raise revenue, not to artificially boost business in certain regions of the nation. And Calhoun called South Carolinians serfs of the system, detailing how they were forced to pay higher prices for necessities. Calhouns essay was presented to the state legislature of South Carolina on December 19, 1828. Despite public outrage over the tariff, and Calhouns forceful denunciation of it, the state legislature took no action over the tariff. Calhouns authorship of the essay was kept secret, though he made his view public during the Nullification Crisis, which erupted when the issue of tariffs rose to prominence in the early 1830s. The Significance of the Tariff of Abominations The Tariff of Abominations did not lead to any extreme action (such as secession) by the state of South Carolina. The 1828 tariff greatly increased resentment toward the North, a feeling which persisted for decades and helped to lead the nation toward the Civil War.

How to Style Titles of Compositions

How to Style Titles of Compositions How to Style Titles of Compositions How to Style Titles of Compositions By Mark Nichol Navigating the formatting rules about titles of compositions books and chapters, movies and TV shows, albums and songs, and the like can seem like negotiating a minefield. Here’s a handy map to help you maneuver through the terrain: In print, two primary formats exist for identifying a creative work. Titles of entire bodies of work such as a book, a TV series, or an album are often italicized, while titles for components of each book chapters, TV episodes, or songs are usually enclosed in quotation marks. Easy enough, but what about creations such as paintings and poems? A painting is a discrete work, but it is also often displayed as part of an exhibition. What do you do? In this case, italicize the painting’s title but style the title of the exhibition in roman, or ordinary, type. (However, single ancient works of art, such as the Venus de Milo, are simply styled in roman.) As for short poems collected in an anthology, style their titles like those of book chapters, but italicize the titles of book-length poems. Photographs are considered elements of a larger work, such as a book or an exhibition, and their titles are simply enclosed in quotation marks. And what about capitalization? Generally, in a title, always capitalize the first and last words regardless of part of speech, plus nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and long conjunctions (those other than and, but, for, nor, and or.) Lowercase prepositions (over, under, through, etc.) unless they are key to the title (A Walk Through Time) or as part of an adverbial or adjectival phrase (Turn Up the Volume). The initial definite or indefinite article in a title can be preempted by a nonitalicized article if it conflicts with the sentence structure. For example, write â€Å"The Wizard of Oz audio book is a best-seller.† But if this style looks awkward, just relax the sentence: â€Å"The audio-book version of The Wizard of Oz is a best-seller.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader†Expanded and ExtendedStarting a Business Letter with Dear Mr.

Applied Social Marketing Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Applied Social Marketing Project - Essay Example It is root to many other crimes that are being committed such as robbery, as addicts want money to purchase the drug, violence at home when they are under the effect of the drug and many more such crimes and acts of violence. Throughout the length of this paper, the details related to drug abuse have been discussed. The symptoms that we should look for in a person who is an addict are also mentioned. There are some causes as to why a person would take up the drug such as peer pressure, stress or even violence at home. These causes are looked into in this paper. We have justified our position as to stop the use of drugs through campaigns that should be launched to increase the awareness of the risks of using and drugs and the health problems that are associated with it. The paper is about social marketing; let's explain what social marketing is: social marketing is an approach through which we try and achieve a social good through behavioral goals which are clearly identified and explained. It is not only a short term process but it also looks at the long term and tries to solve the issue for a longer period of time. This is done by using marketing techniques which can help achieve the goal. There are six features of this approach: customer or customer orientation, behavior and behavior goals, intervention mix and marketing mix, audience segmentation, exchange and competition. The process involves stages which are: scope, develop, implement, evaluate and follow-up. (http://www.nsms.org.uk/public/default.aspxPageID=10) The social issue that we have focused upon in this paper is drug abuse; drugs are a chemical substance which affects the way a normal body operates. Drugs can be sniffed, smoked, licked and injected. There are many substances such as mushrooms and alcohol which can be confused as drugs because they also affect the way the body functions. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act definition of "drug" includes "articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals" and "articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals." (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/fdcact/fdcact1.htm) Drug abuse is when the drugs are consumed more than the required amount and when they are consumed without any medical or health reason for consumption. Drug dependence can take three forms: tolerance, habit and addiction. Tolerance is when the body becomes used to a drug and to achieve the same effect we need to take higher and higher quantities of the drug. The condition worsens when the drug is used continuously for a long period of time. Withdrawal symptoms are experienced by the addict or dependent person when the use is stopped. Habit is when the person desires the drug. He physically may not require the drug but psychologically he wants to keep having it. The drug becomes a part of life; the person eventually may require the drug to function normally. Addiction is when the person starts to crave for the drug and existence without it seems impossible to the addict. Drugs can be classified into six types: The first type is alcohol and tobacco and their use is extensive by many people. They are consumed on a daily basis. The effect of these drugs starts to take place after consumption is continued for years. The second

How to use a Rubber in Mobile Phones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

How to use a Rubber in Mobile Phones - Essay Example This paper focuses on mobile technology. Some of the factors to consider when choosing materials for developing a mobile device will include, weight, girth, flexibility of the material and its fitness for the intended purpose. The mobile device market has over the past years evolved to unimaginable extents. There has been the development of space age smartphones with unimaginable capabilities and processing speeds. There has also been vast improvement in the display of such devices in both clarity and size. Many mobile devices have been unveiled by different manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Apple, Motorola and many more competing for the consumers available. One thing that has been an issue is the safety of such expensive devices when they get to fall or submerge in water. To solve this problem, we focus on Nokia’s N9 and the use of rubber by Nokia to act as a protector to this flagship device. Then Nokia n9 uses an 8 megapixel rear camera that is used for photography. The type of lenses used is Carl Zeiss by Nokia with autofocus and image stabilization property. This camera also comes with a dual led flash light to assist in photography in dark conditions. It is one of the most crucial parts of the phone. The battery in the Nokia n9 is what sustains the life in it. It a lithium ion battery that is internal to the mobile phone. It has a large capacity so that it can power up the large display and the processor together with other auxiliary components. This is the N9’s AMOLED gorilla glass curved screen that covers the whole of the N9 front face. This is a touch screen used for both input and output in this system. It not delicate as such since it is curved hence can resist a little bit of damage. The N9 case is made of polycarbonate that is well brushed. This is where all the components of the phone are housed and firmly head. It is the chassis of the whole device therefore providing the shape and character of this marvelous

History of ISIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

History of ISIS - Essay Example The group’s origin dates back in 1999-2003 during the Iraq war, and a time when Sadam was under scrutiny by the US Government. The group was formed to promote the existing war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites, where Shiites were supposed to die because it was heretic. In addition, the group wanted to expand its control over Iraq and Syria. It emerged from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which was a major character in Sunni insurgency. The group was then under the leadership of Musab al-Zarqawi then. However, after his death, the group merged with other extremist groups to form the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). However, in 2007, things lost balance in the group after many Iraq Sunni groups differed with ISI because of boundary disagreements. In 2011, the group emerged after foreign troops withdrew from Iraq and when Abu bakr al-Baghdadi was appointed the group’s new leader, who chose former Ba’athist military and intelligence officials as his personal assistants. However, in 2012, it adopted a new Moniker and branded itself the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The group has 7,000 members, 3,000 of whom are foreigners mainly from Britain and Belgium. According to reports published on CBS News website, ISIL (S) uses social media to recruit most of its members, especially from the west. In addition, it has a multilingual media group called Al Hayat, which specializes in printing and distributing glossy magazines and videos that aim at influencing people into being part of the group. Its main sources of finance are smuggling, extortion, and outlawed crimes. It is estimated that the group can make up to $8 million per month. The group’s organizational structure is composed of a supreme leader, wh o currently is Al-Baghdadi, who has two deputies, one in charge of Syria, and the other in charge of Iraq.  

Employee Empowerment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Employee Empowerment - Essay Example (Kotelnikov, 2008) In relation to the importance of employee empowerment within a flat organization, several strategic ways that will effectively prepare employees to become empowered and self-efficient as an individual employee and in group decision-making process will be thoroughly discussed. Employee empowerment is about enabling employees to make important decision-making without having the need to go through several management layers for approval. For employees to be able to make quick and effective decisions, employered employees are expected to have the following characteritstics: (1) innovativeness; (2) creativeness; and (3) resourcefulness (Chaturvedi, 2008). knowledge and skills development which can be acquired by making each employee undergo proper training programs, it is important for managers and organizational leaders to be able to develop and implement an effective organizational learning culture. Organizational learning is actually referring to the ability of employees to acknowledge the importance of learning and eventually develop a continuously learning habit to enable them to transform into a more competitive individual. (Columbia University, 2008) As a result of having an effective organizational learning culture, competitive and empowered employees are expected to be able to continuously learn new skills and be able to easily adopt with the changing market environments. The transformation of organization practice from a traditional high bureaucratic organizational structure into a flat organizational structure can result to a lot of organizational conflict because of the possibility that some of the existing employees may have resistance to major organizational change. For this reason, managers should have a good leadership and communication skills to enable the leaders to easily control and convert internal organizational pressures into positive employee behavior and acceptance to

Teacher Professional Development and Student Achievement Gains Research Paper

Teacher Professional Development and Student Achievement Gains - Research Paper Example There are many options in developing the skills and knowledge of teachers. The most appropriate approaches to professional development aim at gaining high student performance. The research conducted on the professional development of teachers focus on the personal traits of teachers and classroom activities. Research helps to find the appropriate way of developing teachers so that students achieve high performance. This paper gives an analytical review of the teacher professional development, which is aim at increasing student learning and achievement. The activities and content, which must be included in teacher professional development, include student learning, skills of the teacher and the subject matter (Jogthong & Pimolbunyong, 2009). There are two categories of studies into the professional development and student achievement. The first category mainly focuses on the traditional teaching skills of teachers. The ability of a teacher in allocating adequate time for lessons is th e area of assessment so that the teacher adequately develops his or her ability to allow sufficient time for student learning (Frampton & Vaughn, 2003, p. 292). The development of the teacher therefore should focus on enabling the teacher to be able to apply critical thinking and taking all learning factors into consideration in allocating time for lessons. For example, the teacher should be able to allocate time for lessons depending on the level of education, abilities of students, and the nature of the subject he is teaching. In teacher professional development, the ability of the teacher to provide vivid demonstrations in class is an important consideration. This will enable the development of the skills of the teacher towards ensuring that he is able to provide illustrations and demonstration in class so that the understanding is a priority. This is more important in elementary education where learners require instruction aids such as photographs as a way of enhancing leaning a nd student achievement (Ross & Bruce, 2007). The content and activities, which constitute teacher professional development, also include determination of the ability of the teacher on the student comprehension or understanding during learning. For successful achievement of learning by students, learners must comprehend what the content of the lesson (Jogthong & Pimolbunyong, 2009). Assumption of the teacher that students have understood the content of the lesson may be wrong. As a result, the professional development of elementary school teachers must enhance the skills of the teacher and knowledge as a way of ensuring that he is able to know whether students comprehend the information on the topic of discussion. This will promote student learning because a professionally developed teacher will be able to know the areas of the class topic, which he should repeat or demonstrate further to enhance student understanding (Frampton & Vaughn, 2003). In professional development of teachers , the skills of the teacher in maintaining the attention are also part of the enhancement of the skills of the teacher (Spencer, 2007, 211). Students in the elementary school are easily distracted. The teacher should be able to maintain the attention of students if the achievement of the leaning objectives is to be possible. The decisions on the success of professional development should therefore emanate from the ability of the teacher to ensure that students focus on the lesson. If there are distractions, the teacher shou

The world of programming Essay Example for Free

The world of programming Essay In the world of programming today, open source is one world that has made a great impact all around the world. Programmers all over the world have two completely different schools of thoughts. One of them states that the technology should be easy to use, and less functions that can be programmed easily, whereas on the other hand, second school of thoughts propose that there has to be high amount of flexibility regardless of the fact, how much the programming or coding scenario gets complex. The open source refers to the technology that has all the ingredients taken in a programming language disclosed, or in other words a programmer discloses what he has performed during his development of software. The article that is discussed in this paper has the title â€Å"Build Your Own Messaging Application in Java with jYMSG†. The technology that is referred in this article is Java based, which is an open source. The social network evolution has changed a lot of trend and instant messaging has become an essential part of everyday life. The referred article discuses a new integration of Java technology with Yahoo Instant Messenger. Java is a platform independent technology that can run from a Mac book to a cell phone to home computers and laptops. The integration of this technology can be very useful because people can be in touch with their friends on yahoo messenger regardless if they are using a laptop or a computer or any other device. This increases the creation of values as the needs of individuals are fulfilled through development of an open source Yahoo messenger based on Java technology. Hence the third principle of reshaping is fulfilled over here. References Kulvir Singh Bhogal, (2006). Build Your Own Messaging Application in Java with jYMSG. Retrived from http://www. devx. com/Java/Article/22546/1954

Major studies of conformity

Major studies of conformity This essay will describe and evaluate several major studies of conformity. Conformity has been defined in number of ways. Crutchfield (1955), defined conformity as yielding to group pressure. Mann 1969 agrees with Crutchfield, however Mann (1969), argues that it may take different forms and be based on motives other than group pressure. (Gross p 479) Conformity is a change in belief or behaviour in response to real or imagined group pressure where there is no direct request to comply with the rest of the group norm Zimbardo and Leippe (1991). A lot of research has been done to try and understand the situations individuals need to be in to conform and the factors affecting conformity. However there are various cultural and methodological considerations that affect the understanding of conformity research. The first study would be Jenness in 1932. Jenness was the first person to study conformity. Jenness asked students to estimate the number of beans in a bottle. Taking individuals estimates first then placed the individuals into groups and asked them to discuss their estimates. Once the findings had been calculated he found that the students in particular groups would conform to a group average. According to Jenness in a situation where the answer was unknown they listened to their peers and would in his view conform. His research was criticised by Sherif (1935) because the experiment was not taken out in ecologically valid circumstances. The students were not in surroundings that were familiar to them thus behaving differently. Critics have argued that the students may have conformed in order to make the results easier for the psychologist. This demonstrates informational social influence and is explained in a classic study by Sheriff. Methodologically the first major problem encountered when testing conformity was the ambiguity of the situations the participants were placed in. This was highlighted by Mustafer Sherif (1935) when he used the auto-kinetic effect to test conformity. The Auto-kinetic effect is a perceptual illusion where participants perceive light moving when in fact it is stationary. Participants were placed in a darkened room in which they could see a light that was stationary. They were asked to record how far the light moved and on their own they settled on individual estimates however when the participants were put in a room together with other participants they were encouraged to shout out their estimates. Sherif found that they started with different answers but then all came to agree on the same answer. Then after they split up the group into individuals again Sherif found that they gave the answer they had settled on with the group. In Sherifs research into conformity (1935), the aim was to see if people conform to a group norm. The results of the test showed that individual responses differed to those from the group response. The post-experimental interviews said that the participants denied being influenced, they struggled to get the correct answers, and they never actually felt part of the group. The conclusions drawn from this said that the participants conformed towards the group norm because they were uncertain about their own individual responses. Sherif then argued that his results showed conformity however there was a problem with the methodology. This conformity research was criticised to be artificial and lacking ecological validity. Also, because the task was thought to be ambiguous and that there were no real answers, the participants were more likely to conform. As the answer was very ambiguous and there wasnt an obvious answer it was argued that participants are more likely to conform as they are never completely certain of their answer. This methodology therefore affects Sherifs interpretation of conformity as it is not very reliable Solomon Asch (1951) was the psychologist that challenged Sherifs methodological and in 1951 he created The Asch Paradigm where he tested conformity rates to very unambiguous situations. In his experiment there was one participant and seven to nine other confederates who knew about the experiment. The group was asked to identify lengths of vertical lines and match up a given vertical line to one of three in another display. Each confederate gave their answer and the participant sat in the next-to-last seat. On some questions all the confederates would give the wrong answer and Asch observed the conformity rate of the participant agreeing with the wrong answer even though the answer was very obvious. Asch found that 32% of the trials, the naive subject conformed to answer given by the rest of the group, and 72% of naive subjects conformed at least once. 13 out of 50 naive participants never conformed. When he interviewed the naive participants afterward, he found that conformity existe d on three levels: distortion of judgement, distortion of perception and distortion of action. Those who experienced distortion of judgement conformed because they trusted the groups judgement over their own. Those that experienced distortion of action knew that they were right, but changed conformed to avoid ridicule from the rest of the group. Finally, those who experienced distortion of perception actually believed that they saw the groups choice as matching the line on the card. The aim of the experiment was still to see if people would conform towards the group norm. The results showed that the individuals conformed to the group norm, even if the answers were wrong. The naive participant explained their reasons for conforming to be because they didnt want to spoil the experiment, look stupid, their eyes must have been deceiving them, and because they felt that the group was probably right. This experiment also told us that the influence from three or more stooges gave more of a reason to conform than if there was one stooge. The conclusions for this study were that the people conformed for public compliance rather than public acceptance. Also it seemed like people with low self esteem were more likely to conform. The methodology in this experiment was a lot more accurate then Sherifs experiment as the answers are very unambiguous and if the participants were on their own or first then they would almost certainly have given the right answer. The results from this experiment are therefore can be a better explanation of conformity than Sherif; however there are other methodological problems which make this experiment fairly inaccurate in the interpretation of conformity. However there are also ethical issues about the experiment. The main criticisms for this experiment was that it was artificial, time-consuming, time-dependant and unethical. The experiment lacks ecological validity due to a lack of both experimental and mundane realism. It lacks experimental realism as some participants worked out what the experiment was or at least thought the experimenter wanted them to answer the same as the others and therefore the conformity rates could be unreliable. It also lacks mundane realism as the situation does not reflect a real life situation and therefore people may act differently in real life and maybe the conformity rate would be lower. Crutchfield (1954) criticized Asch that the type of experiment undertaken by Asch is very time consuming, as only one person can be tested at a time. Richard Crutchfield decided to change the experimental method so that several people, usually five, could be tested simultaneously. The same kind of problem as Asch used, was used. Each participant sat in a booth with an array of lights and switches in front of them. They were told to give their answers and each were told that they were last to guess and the others guesses were indicated by the lights on the panel. However each participant was actually given the same display, which on about half the trials was actually incorrect. Crutchfield aimed to find out whether people conformed to unambiguous tasks when the pressure from others was more imagined than real. Crutchfield found that 37% conformed all of the time but 46% some of the time. The results found were really similar to Aschs but had a lower conformity rate. This concluded tha t there is conformity to imagined pressure. The experiment was criticised to have specific people used that were perhaps more conforming. Also it lacked external validity. The time the experiment was done in (1950s) was generally a more conforming time, so that could have been one of the reasons why the people conformed more. This experiment was also thought to be unethical as the participant were lied to and could have been embarrassed. Stanley Milgram (1963) conducted an experiment on obedience that highlighted the persuasive power of authority in social psychology for the first time. His experiment exceeded all expectation and led to greater awareness of authority and how much power it credited the perpetrator of it. Participants were made to give increasing electric shocks to someone (who was an actor pretending to be receiving the shocks through wires) when the person gave the wrong answer to a question. Many of the participants continued to the highest voltage (450V). There were many reasons why participants obeyed, such as the fact that the experiment was in a professional setting (Yale University). The experimenter was an authority figure and so was trusted; and the subjects were told that anything that went wrong would not be their responsibility. It was also because the participants could not see the victim which made it seem less real to them or it could have been because the participant had taken on a rol e so they felt that they were someone else. Milgrams work has been criticised both on ethical and methodological grounds. Baumrind (1964) believed that Milgram showed insufficient respect for his participants, there were insufficient steps taken to protect them, and his procedures could have long term effects on the participants. Orne and Holland (1968) argued that the participants did not believe they were giving electric shocks and they were just playing along with their role in the study. A famous example showing conformity was the experiment Zimbardo et al., (1973) carried out the prison simulation experiment at Stanford University. The aim of the experiment was to see the psychological effects of making an average person into a prisoner or guard. After less than 36 hours one of the prisoners had to be released from the experiment due to severe depression. Others who were acting as prisoners also showed signs of anxiety and depression. According to Zimbardo, these results showed how easily people could adapt to a new role in a new situation and behave out of character to fit that role. He quoted Note that anyone ever doubted the horrors of prison, but rather it had been assumed that it was the predispositions of the guards (sadistic) and the prisoners (sociapathic) that made prisons evil places. Our study holds constant and positive the dispositional alternative and reveals the power of social, institutionalised forces to make good men engage in evil deeds. (Gross p 500) There have been many criticisms levelled at his study, (Savin 1973) argues that the prisoners did not give fully informed consent; they didnt really know what was going to happen to them. They were humiliated and dehumanised by the procedure when reaching the prison (strip searched and deloused). Savin also argued the point the ends did not justify the means. The study had become too real and should never have been carried out. Perrin and Spencer (1980) tried to repeat Aschs study in England in the late 1970s. They found very little evidence of conformity, leading them to conclude that Aschs effect was a child of its time. However the low levels of conformity found in Perrin and Spencers study may have occurred because they used engineering students who had been given training in the importance of accurate measurement and therefore had more confidence in their own opinions. Bond and Smith (1996) also considered changes into conformity over time based on studies carried out in the United States. They conclude as follows; Level of conformity in general had steadily declined since Aschs studies in the early 1950 (Bond Smith p 124). The conformity rate has been found to alter across time within a culture, though overall trends are far from clear. There is also variation between cultures. These differences are related to social norms. As a conclusion, it is fair to say that people conform for many reasons, all that have is one main aim and that is to fit in with the group. Mainly, people want to be accepted in their society and because they have the need for certainty. People who are within any society or culture and its beliefs, with regards of what is expected and acceptable can be forced in certain situations to behave in anti-social ways. As their behaviour becomes adaptive to meet the needs of normative social influence without doing so could lead them to receiving social and/or cultural rejection. The researches briefly tells us how conformity works, however do psychologists tend to bother what happens after the research has been carried out on the naive participant? Some of the naive participant reported feeling quite stressed on the critical trials, which had a psychological harm on them. Do psychologists use deception to have their researches carried out? or should I say, Are they justified?! Above all, the researches have further broadened my knowledge on how individuals react in certain situation and has taking me one-step closer in understanding the world. REFERENCES Asch, S. E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, pp. 31-35. Banyard, P, Grayson, A. (2000) Introducing Psychological Research; Seventy Studies that Shape Psychology, 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan. Bond, R, Smith, P. (1996) Culture and conformity: A meta-analysis of studies using Aschs (1952b, 1956) line judgment task. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 111-137. GROSS, R. (1996) The Science Of Mind And Behaviour, 3rd Edition. London: Hodder and Stoughton. GROSS, R. (1999) Key Studies in Psychology, 3rd Edition. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Milgram, S. (1983) Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. New York: Harper/Collins. Moscovici, S, Faucheux, C. (1972) Social influence, conformity bias and the study of active minorities. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental psychology, (pp. 149 202). New York: Academic Press. Myers, G. (2005) Social Psychology, 8th Edition. London: McGraw-Hill. Savin, H.B (1973) Professors and Psychological Researchers: Conflicting Values In Conflicting Rolls. Sherif, M. (1936) The Psychology of Social Norms. New York: Harper Collins.

handball :: essays research papers

Goal Tending   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When playing goalie in team handball, the most important thing to do is make yourself as big as possible. This can be done can be done in a few ways. One way to make yourself bigger is to get your arms up in the air and stand tall. Your arms should be in the air at about 45 degree angles with your palms facing out and fingers spread wide. Your legs should be positioned in a stance wider than shoulder width. This way you are able to kick away low shots and are already in a good position to move side to side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second way a goalie can make themselves bigger is to cut down the angle that the offensive player has to shoot. They can do this be moving toward the shooter while they are approaching or winding up. But, you have to be careful that you do not come up to far because then they can shoot a lob shot over you. When the goalie is moving around the goal face according to where the ball is being passed by the offensive team, the goalie should shuffle their feet along an imaginary arc across the goal. The top of the arc is about one meter from the goal line. The reason for the arc goes with the cutting down the angle theory, be doing this the goalie has a better chance of reaching just to the corners. Another important rule that the goal keeper must follow is that they have to defend the near post when there is a chance of a shot from the wing. To do this they actually can wrap their arm around the post to make it impossible for a shot to get through. This also makes it easier for the defender to channel the shot if they know the post is shut-off.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If an offensive player takes a shot and the goalie touches the ball then it goes over then end line it becomes a goalie throw.

Léopold Sédar Senghor :: essays research papers

Là ©opold Sà ©dar Senghor Senegalese poet and statesman, founder of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc. Senghor was elected president of Senegal in the 1960s. He retired from office in 1980. He was one of the originators of the concept of Nà ©gritude, defined as the literary and artistic expression of the black African experience. In historical context the term has been seen as a reaction against French colonialism and a defence of African culture. It has deeply influnced the strengthening of African identity in the French-speaking black world. "L'à ¨motion est nà ¨gre, la raision est hà ©llà ¨ne." (emotion is Negro, reason is Greek) "Negritude is the totality of the cultural values of the Black world." Là ©opold Sà ©dar Senghor was born in Joal-la-Portugaise, a small fishing vilage about seventy miles south of Dakar. His father was of noble descent and wealthy merchant. His mother was a Peul, one of a pastoral and nomadic people. Later Senghor wrote: "I grew up in the heartland of Africa, at the crossroads / Of castes and races and roads" The first seven years of his life Senghor spent in Djilor with his mother and maternal uncles and aunts. At the age of twelve, he attended the Catholic mission school of Ngazobil. He continued his studied at the Libermann Seminary and Lycà ©e Van Vollenhoven, finishing secondary-school education in 1928. After winning a state scholarship, Senghor then moved to Paris and graduated from the Lycà ©e Louis-le-grand in 1931. During these years he read African-American poets of the Harlem Renaissance and such French poets as Rimbaud, Mallarmà ©, Baudelaire, Verlaine and Valà ©ry. Among Senghor's s friends were Aimà © Cesaire, with whom he would develope the idea of Negritude, and Georges Pompidou, who later elected President of France. In 1932 Senghor was granted French citizenship. He served in a regiment of colonial infantry and in 1935 he obtained the agrà ©gation degree in grammar. From 1935 he worked as a teacher, notably at Lycà ©e Descartes in Tours, then in Paris at Lycà ©e Marcelin Berthelot. At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the French army, but was captured by the Germans and spent eighteen months in a camp as a prisoner of war. During this period he learned German and wrote poems, which were published in HOSTIES NOIRES (1948). In 1944 he was appointed professor of African languages at the École Nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer. Senghor's first collection of poems, CHANTS D'OMBRE (1945), was inspired by the philosopher Henri Bergson, and dealt with the themes of exile and nostalgia.

Baby Thesis

(Baby Thesis) Factors that can affect a student's academic performance Submitted By: Rose Ann J. Soltes Submitted To: Michael Rey C. Bucol Introduction When students earn a below average grade on a test or a report card, it does not necessarily mean that they did not study hard enough. There are many intelligent children who do not perform well in school, not because they cannot comprehend classroom lessons, but because of external factors that affect their academic success   Waking up early for school has recently been acknowledged as a reason why students are not performing to the best of their ability.Sleepy students are less likely to pay attention to their teachers. Published an article in 2006, which discusses a study regarding the start time. Across the country, schools on average begin around 7:30AM. However, the study, led by a CAD. IT teachers, discovered that students perform better later in the day for biological reasons. The article states that specific high schools th at started later saw an improvement in their students’ academic achievement simply because they were able to wake up later. The extent of student’s learning in academics may bedetermined by the grades a student earns for a period of learning has beendone.It is believed that a grade is a primary indicator of such learning. If alearner earns high grades it is concluded that they may also have learned alot while low grades indicate lesser learning. However, many experiences and studies found out that there are also several factors that would account for the grades. No single factor can be definitely pointed out as predicting grades. It has been an interplay of so many factors – gender, IQ, study habits, age, year  level, parent’s educational attainment, social status, number of siblings, birthorder, etc.In fact, almost all of existing environmental and personal factorsare a variable of academic performance. However, at this point in time, theresearchers wo uld like to investigate the possible relationship of study habitsand the factors affecting it to the academic achievement of under graduate. Theinvestigation of on this area thus becomes a real and compelling motivationfor the researchers to conduct this study. Statement of the Problem This study intended to find out the factors affecting the study habits of  undergraduate CAD. IT students.It also aimed to answer the following questions: 1) What is the profile of the respondents according to: 1. 1 Time management 1. 2 Learning Skills 1. 3 Study Skills 2) What extent of influence did the independent variables have on studentstudy habits? 3) Did the independent variables significantly influence students studyhabits? Recommendation The researchers believes that students, particularly CAD. IT will be benefited from the findings of this study since the study provides basis for awareness and better understanding of how their current study habits affected their academic performance.Likew ise gives them a morefocused and clear perspective on how the specific behaviours related totheir studies influenced study habits. Consequently, this awareness alsogives a much deeper understanding of their selves as students consideringthat the college life is typically beset of developmental adjustment demands. School administrators-like subject area coordinators, may also beguided in the formulation of future modification of educational policies,curriculum and strategies toward a more effective delivery of learning. Teachers- will also be help in understanding better the diversity of  learning of their students.As such, it is hoped that they could develop more effective methodologies in teaching their subject matter. Guidance and Counselling Centre-will also be help by this studythrough providing a more focused and factual knowledge on the factorsaffecting students study habits. This increased the understanding of theGuidance Counsellors on the interplay of the variables studie d in thisresearch. Such knowledge is hoped to help the Guidance and Counselling practitioners towards the development and implementation of more effective programs in consideration of these variables. Research SettingsThe study will be conducted inside the computer aided design and information technology (CAD. IT) Data Gathering The researchers will ask permission from the administration office to allow the student to answer the questionnaire. The answering of the questionnaire will be done in the CAD. IT intitution. Answered questionaires then, will be gather, responses coded andwill be subject to the appropriate statistical computation for reliability. These students name will then be deleted from the list of the total population so asnot to include them again in the selection of the sample population.Instruments Use Self- developed questionnaire composed of 10 items questions will be use to measure Study Habits of CAD. IT Students. Survey Questionnaire on Study Habits Name_______ ________________ Course ;Year______________  Age______Gender_______  Date________________ Direction: Please put check (v) on the space that corresponds to what you  are actually doing, thinking, and feeling regarding the statement. There are noright and wrong answers to this questionnaire. Rest assured that your  answers will be treated in strictest and will be used only for this study. . What is your gender? Male _____ Female ______ 2. What year are you in college? 1styear ____ 2nd year ______ 3rd year _____ 4th year ______ 3. What is your average grade? A _____ A- ______ B______ B- ______ C______ D ______ 4. How far in advance do you start studying for finals? One month ____ Two weeks______ One week _____ Daysbefore_____  The night before_______ 5. What time of day do you do the most studying? Morning (6 a. m. to noon _____ Afternoon (noon to 6 p. m. ) _____  Evening (6 p. m. to 9 p. m. ) _____ Night (9 p. . to 12 a. m. ) _____  Late night (12 a. m. to 6 a. m. ) ____ _ 6. On average, how many hours do you study for finals? 20-24 hours ______ 15-19 hours_______10-14 hours _______ 5-9 hours  ________  1-4 hours _________ 7. What is your favorite way to study? Repeating points out loud _____ Writing index/flash cards, then usingthem_______  Writing outlines _______ Highlighting text ______ Studying in agroup__________   Going to review sessions ______ Other, please describe :  ________________ 8. Where is your favorite place to study?Dorm room _____ Bedroom _______ Dorm common room/lounge  _______  Library ______ Coffee shop _______ Parents’ home ______ Campuspub/bar _____  Student union _______ Other, please describe: _______________ 9. What is your favorite study break? Exercise _______ Watching TV/movie ____Surfing the Internet _______  Napping _________ Socializing ______ Playing video games ________  Praying/meditating ______ Other, please describe: _______________ 10. Do you feel increased stress or anxiety leading up to exam time? Yes ____ No _____   CONCLUSION

Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte Comparison

Hitler and Napoleon had numerous differences; however I believe there were more similarities.   Both leaders immigrated in the country they ended up ruling; both conquered most of European countries; both had radical views about wars, and both were surprisingly fast in their fighting.Nevertheless, the most significant similarities between Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte is how they were accepted as monarchs in a society that was democratic before; and what they did for the countries after becoming monarchs.A hundred years before Hitler became Chancellor, Hegel, in a famous course of lectures at the University of Berlin, had pointed to the role of ‘World-historical individuals' as the agents by which ‘the Will of the World Spirit', the plan of Providence, is carried out.They may all be called Heroes, in as much as they have derived their purposes and their vocation, not from the calm regular course of things, sanctioned by the existing order; but from a concealed fou nt, from that inner Spirit, still hidden beneath the surface, which impinges on the outer world as on a shell and bursts it into pieces. (Such were Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon.)They were practical, political men. But at the same time they were thinking men, who had an insight into the requirements of the time–what was ripe for development. This was the very Truth for their age, for their world. . . .It was theirs to know this nascent principle, the necessary, directly sequent step in progress, which their world was to take; to make this their aim, and to expend their energy in promoting it. World-historical men — the Heroes of an epoch — must therefore be recognized as its clear-sighted ones: their deeds, their words are the best of their time. (Hegel, 1902, pp. 31-32)Hitler probably held some such belief about himself from an early period. It was clear enough in the speech he made at his trial in 1924, (Hegel , 1902, p.117) and after he came out of prison those near him noticed that he began to hold aloof, to set a barrier between himself and his followers. After he came to power it became more noticeable.It was in March 1936, that he made the famous assertion already quoted: ‘I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleep-walker.' (Domarus, 2004)As soon as Hitler began to think and talk about the organization of the State it is clear that the metaphor which dominated his mind was that of an army. He saw the State as an instrument of power in which the qualities to be valued were discipline, unity and sacrifice.It was from the Army that he took the Fà ¼hrerprinzip, the leadership principle, upon which first the Nazi Party, and later the National Socialist State, were built. ‘Our Constitution,' wrote Nazi Germany's leading lawyer, Dr Hans Frank, ‘is the will of the Fà ¼hrer.' (Volkischer Beobachter, 1936). This was in fact literally true.The Weimar Constitution was never replaced, it was simply susp ended by the Enabling Law, which was renewed periodically and placed all power in Hitler's hands. Hitler thus enjoyed a more complete measure of power than Napoleon, since he had been careful not to allow the growth of any institution which might in an emergency be used as a check on him.Hitler's originality lay not in his ideas, but in the terrifying literal way in which he set to work to translate these ideas into reality, and his unequalled grasp of the means by which to do this. To read Hitler's speeches and table talk is to be struck again and again by the lack of magnanimity or of any trace of moral greatness.His comments on everything except politics display a cocksure ignorance and an ineradicable vulgarity. Yet this vulgarity of mind, like the insignificance of his appearance, the badly fitting raincoat and the lock of hair plastered over his forehead of the early Hitler, was perfectly compatible with brilliant political gifts.Accustomed to associate such gifts with the qua lities of intellect which Napoleon possessed, we are astonished and offended by this combination. Yet to underestimate Hitler as a politician, to dismiss him as an ignorant demagogue, is to make precisely the mistake that so many Germans made in the early 1930s.The conception of the Nazi Party, the propaganda with which it must appeal to the German people, and the tactics by which it would come to power–these were unquestionably Hitler's.After 1934 there were no rivals left and by 1938 he had removed the last checks on his freedom of action. Thereafter, he exercised an arbitrary rule in Germany to a degree rarely, if ever, equalled in a modern industrialized state.At the same time, from the re-militarization of the Rhineland to the invasion of Russia, he won a series of successes in diplomacy and war which established an hegemony over the continent of Europe comparable with that of Napoleon at the height of his fame.While these could not have been won without a people and an Army willing to serve him, it was Hitler who provided the indispensable leadership, the flair for grasping opportunities, the boldness in using them.In retrospect his mistakes appear obvious, and it is easy to be complacent about the inevitability of his defeat; but it took the combined efforts of the three most powerful nations in the world to break his hold on Europe.Luck and the disunity of his opponents will account for much of Hitler's success–as it will of Napoleon's–but not for all. He began with few advantages, a man without a name and without support other than that which he acquired for himself, not even a citizen of the country he aspired to rule.To achieve what he did Hitler needed–and possessed–talents out of the ordinary which in sum amounted to political genius, however evil its fruits (Taylor, 1950).The obvious weakness of Hitler's policy, the fault which destroyed him as surely as it had destroyed Napoleon, was his inability to stop. By t he end of 1938 Hitler had transformed Germany's position in international affairs.He had everything to gain by waiting for a year or two before taking another step, sitting back to profit from the divisions and hesitations of the other European Powers, instead of driving them, by the fears he aroused, into reluctant combination. Moreover, a temporary relaxation of the rearmament drive would have had considerable economic benefits for Germany.According to General Jodl, at the height of the fighting in the West Hitler expressed his determination to deal with Russia as soon as the military situation made it at all possible. Hitherto he had always made it a condition of any attack on Russia that Germany must first be secure against intervention from the west.In his speech to the generals on 23 November 1939 he had repeated this condition, first laid down in Mein Kampf: ‘We can oppose Russia only when we are free in the west.'   (Domarus , 2004). But, with Britain expelled from t he Continent and left without an ally, was this not already as good as settled?Hitler was prepared to wait until the autumn to see if the British could be brought to admit defeat openly, but not longer. In the meantime, before July was out, even before the Luftwaffe had begun its all-out offensive against the British, he gave orders to start preliminary planning for an attack on Russia.There is an obvious parallel with Napoleon in 1805 the French Emperor started planning the march eastwards which was to lead to Austerlitz while still maintaining his preparations for the invasion of Britain from the camp at Boulogne.In comparison, in the east, after throwing back the Russians in March 1943, in July the Germans launched a new offensive against their lines round Kursk. Half a million men, the finest troops left in the German Army, including seventeen panzer divisions equipped with the new heavy Tiger tanks, were used to carry it out.After heavy and costly fighting the Russians not only succeeded in bringing the German attack to a halt, but on 12 July themselves opened an offensive (for the first time in the summer) farther north. Gradually their attacks spread along the whole front.On 4 August they retook Orel, and on 23 August Kharkov. On 23 September they recaptured Poltava, and on the 25th Smolensk, from which both Napoleon and Hitler had directed their invasions of Russia.From the re-militarization of the Rhineland to the invasion of Russia, he won a series of successes in diplomacy and war which established an hegemony over the continent of Europe comparable with that of Napoleon at the height of his fame. Luck and the disunity of his opponents will account for much of Hitler's success–as it will of Napoleon's–but not for all.After the war, Adolf Hitler distanced himself from his family. Christa Schroeder summed it up: â€Å"He has no feelings for the family.† (Schroeder, 1949, p. 115)It was more than that–Hitler had little in com mon with his cousins in the country or with his siblings. He had outgrown them. He was rightly wary of Alois Jr. and his son Patrick, although they actually never harmed him.Perhaps they knew too much, but what they revealed in French and American papers was innocuous. Hitler was opposed to nepotism and criticized Napoleon for it. His feelings about his relatives were truly mixed. Though he remembered them in his will, he also gave orders to make the countryside around Dà ¶llersheim, one of the villages in his ancestral region (Ahnengau), into an artillery range (Wake, 1977).Undoubtedly, Hitler and Napoleon had numerous differences; however I believe there were more similarities.   Both leaders immigrated in the country they ended up ruling; both conquered most of European countries; both had radical views about wars, and both were surprisingly fast in their fighting.Nevertheless, the most significant similarities between Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte is how they were accep ted as monarchs in a society that was democratic before; and what they did for the countries after becoming monarchs (Taylor, 1950).Evidently, France and Germany needed someone because they were both in economic chaos.   Both men were intent in building a new type of state with a new social order.   Both leaders took the advantage of more or less unlimited power, assuming, however, this power very carefully and legally.

Tweet Less, Kiss More

â€Å"Techno Tyranny† Bob Herbert explains in his article â€Å"Tweet Less, Kiss More† (published July 16th, 2010) how technology has grown so much throughout the years and how we have made more time for our â€Å"gadgets† than for people close to us. Instead of being with our families and friends we send them a quick email or text message when we should be cherishing moments together. We are so warped in our own lives and blinded by technology that we are missing out on the real world and wasting precious time we cannot get back. These days we can’t seem to take ourselves away from a computer for less than a day or drive to and from the grocery store without sending a text or calling a friend while on the road. We’re â€Å"tweeting† our private lives on the internet but won’t take time to be with our families. Cell phones have only been introduced to humans recently and we’ve survived without them for decades, so why can’t we manage to walk out the door without them today? The advances in technology over the past few years are incredible, and all very convenient, but as Herbert described it, â€Å"The blessed wonders of technology are overwhelming us. We don’t control them; they control us. † These different means of communication are beginning to tear relationships and friendships apart. More and more people are revealing their personal feelings behind computer screens and finding themselves unable to do so face-to-face. More and more romances are started and ended through texting. Chat rooms are being created for meeting others and starting long distance relationships. Children and adults are struggling more with public speaking and are experiencing anxiety due to relying on keyboards instead of verbal communication. With humans relying more and more on technology, we are wasting valuable time communicating through electronics and affecting our relationships with others by trying to sustain them through texting or instant messaging. It’s time for humans to put their cell phones away, close their laptop screens and â€Å"Tweet Less, Kiss More†. Submitted by: Olivia Gowan Date: July 28th, 2010

12 Useful Apps for Administrative Assistants

12 Useful Apps for Administrative Assistants If you’re not a personal assistant- or even if you are- you could probably use one for yourself. It’s hard enough to function at your job and in your life without also struggling to keep your resolutions to be super organized this year. But what if you could have help?Did you know you can get a virtual assistant of your very own? Straight to your phone. They’re called SVPAs. You’ll still have to run your own errands, but you can get a little help with the other stuff- and you can yell at this assistant all you want.Here are some of the best.1. Google NowCalled â€Å"the intelligent personal assistant,† Google Now   is available for iOS, Android, and your desktop. It stays with you around the clock and organizes everything into customizable cards- weather, traffic, sports scores, favorite websites, etc. You’ll never see your life the same way again once you see it in all these neat packages.2. 24MeThis one functions kind of like a second bra in. Set yourself reminders for paying bills or other important deadlines and meetings. Sync all your to-do lists, notes, and calendar into one convenient app. It’s free, and currently one of the top 10 productivity apps on the App store.3. QuipThe best endorsement for this one might be that Mark Zuckerberg himself uses it. It’s just like the virtual office Facebook, Quora, and Instagram use, and allows users to collaborate, create, upload, and share documents- even edit them- as a team.4. WunderlistIf you’re a list person, this app is right up your alley. Make all the lists you want, then lump them all together in one sleek package and enjoy. You can even share your lists with family members or pals when you need to plan vacation packing lists or bucket lists.5. SpeaktoitIf you’d rather speak to your SVPA, like you do to Siri, then this app is for you. Speaktoit is like Siri, only its the the CEO version. You can make calls, search the internet for puppy photos, or find the closest dry cleaners. Just give it commands, and the app will remember your preferences for you. It can even answer questions about how best to sort your day.6. HootsuiteThis one is free, too, with paid subscription options available. It’s a desktop/phone tool that helps you update all of your social media platforms from one place. One app, multiple posts. You can even tailor which posts go to which media as you prefer.7. EvernoteAlso free! This app ends up on most people’s favorites lists. Capture, manage, store, and remember everything you need to. Evernote is also good search and sync capabilities.8. Call PleaseHBO producer Gregg Feinberg created this free app to be able to streamline the call log process, making one list for all team members. Never let any calls slip between the cracks again. And your manager will always know exactly what’s going on- and what calls they most urgently need to make.9. IFTTTâ€Å"If This Then That† le ts you make customized recipes based on what you have- and better yet, keeps them simple. Never be stuck without an idea of what to make for dinner again with this free app.10. TinyScanScan any document at any time anywhere and send it to your own email as a PDF. Youll never have to go to Staples again for your document management.11. DropboxOften undersung, this cloud storage program syncs between your computer and your phone. Your documents are securely backed up and accessible no matter where you are. Never be at a loss again in an off-site meeting when asked the location of a specific document.12. LogMeInThis app lets you have full access to your work computer- remotely. Open documents, launch applications basically, do anything you need to do.

Mp3 Players essays

Mp3 Players essays As of late, there has been a new force arising in the music industry, this being Mp3. There has been an explosion of interest in Mp3 primarily thanks to the internet. People can easily download nearly any song they want for the price of a phone call. Mp3 (short for MPEG-1, Layer 3) is compressed digital audio. Songs can be Ripped from a CD with ease. A typical .WAV (CD Audio) file would take up around 40 mb, whereas the compressed Mp3 version of the same song would take up a mere 4 mb. This is one of the reasons Mp3 is so popular. Until now Mp3 files have been confined to computers, which has been their major downfall, but over the last year the first generation of portable Mp3 players has arisen. These have been slow to take off in Australia but are experiencing huge sales internationally. One of the advantages in Mp3 players is that they have no moving parts, so there is none of the jumping or skipping found in CD players. Usually the player comes with a program designed to extract CD files, encode them to Mp3 then send them to the player. The Mp3 files are downloaded from the PC into the units memory. The type of memory is called Flash memory and the player typically comes with 32 to 64 mb base memory with the option of upgrading. A small LSD display is used and in some players there is the option of using ID3 tags which tell the listener the song details. The units are generally small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and are very economical, running for up to 16 hours on the one AA battery. One problem with Mp3 players is that there is a limit to how many songs they can hold. A 32 mb memory chip can only hold around 8 songs and when the cost of a larger chip is around two hundred dollars, this is a major downfall. The average Mp3 player costs about $300 which is less than the better sounding MD players but more than the less reliable CD players ...

Use Bond Energies to Find Enthalpy Change

Use Bond Energies to Find Enthalpy Change You can use bond energies to find the enthalpy change of a chemical reaction. This example problem shows what to do: Review You may wish to review the Laws of Thermochemistry and Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions before you begin. A table of single bond energies is available to help you. Enthalpy Change Problem Estimate the change in enthalpy, ΔH, for the following reaction: H2 (g) Cl2 (g) → 2 HCl (g) Solution To work this problem, think of the reaction in terms of simple steps: Step 1 The reactant molecules, H2 and Cl2, break down into their atoms H2(g) → 2 H(g)Cl2(g) → 2 Cl(g) Step 2 These atoms combine to form HCl molecules 2 H (g) 2 Cl (g) → 2 HCl (g) In the first step, the H-H and Cl-Cl bonds are broken. In both cases, one mole of bonds is broken. When we look up the single bond energies for the H-H and Cl-Cl bonds, we find them to be 436 kJ/mol and 243 kJ/mol, therefore for the first step of the reaction:​ ΔH1 (436 kJ 243 kJ) 679 kJ Bond breaking requires energy, so we expect the value for ΔH to be positive for this step.In the second step of the reaction, two moles of H-Cl bonds are formed. Bond breaking liberates energy, so we expect the ΔH for this portion of the reaction to have a negative value. Using the table, the single bond energy for one mole of H-Cl bonds is found to be 431 kJ: ΔH2 -2(431 kJ) -862 kJ By applying Hesss Law, ΔH ΔH1 ΔH2 ΔH 679 kJ - 862 kJΔH -183 kJ Answer The enthalpy change for the reaction will be ΔH -183 kJ.

Fire in a Bottle Chemistry Demonstration

Fire in a Bottle Chemistry Demonstration This fire bottle is a quick and easy alternative to the Barking Dog chemistry demonstration. The bottle displays a bright blue (or other colors) light, plus it emits a woof or bark. Several websites call this project a bottle fire vortex or bottle fire  tornado, but the flame propagates as a wave down the bottle, without spinning. Of course, you could spin the bottle on a carousel or turntable. Fire Bottle Materials Glass bottleAlcohol, at least 70 percentLong-handled lighter Procedure Pour a small amount of fuel into the bottle. You want 1/2 cm to 1 cm of liquid in the bottom of the bottle.Cap the bottle or cover the top with your hand, whichever works.Shake the bottle.If you have fuel on the lip of the bottle, wipe it off or blow on the bottle to evaporate the fuel. Otherwise, there is a good chance the flame will be restricted to this small area of the bottle. It is not a concern; just reduces the quality of the display.Carefully light the vapor just inside the mouth of the bottle.The flame should go out on its own, but if it does not, simply cover the mouth of the bottle and suffocate the flame.Each run uses up the oxygen in the bottle, which the fire needs in order to burn. You will need to blow fresh air into the bottle. You can blow into the bottle or else use a straw or tube. You probably will not need to add more fuel. Just add air, cover and shake the bottle, uncap it, and ignite the vapor.If you like, add a flame colorant to the fuel (e.g., boric acid fo r a green flame). Simply sprinkle some of the colorants into the bottle. Most colorants are not consumed by the flame, so even if you get to a point where you wish to add more fuel, you will not need to add more colorant chemical. Notes on Materials Glass Bottle:  You can use just about any bottle you want, but do be sure it is glass. Plastic  will melt. Also, the shape of the bottle, especially its neck, affects the sound that will be produced. You may wish to experiment with different types of bottles. We have had good success with a glass cola bottle and a large cylindrical glass water bottle. If by some miracle you have a giant graduated cylinder, go for it.Alcohol:  You can use other liquid fuels, too. You want some water in the fuel so that it will stick to the sides of the glass. You can add  chemicals to color the flame, too. Some of these will dissolve better in pure alcohol, which you can dilute with water or mix with rubbing alcohol.Long Handled Lighter:  You could drop a match in the bottle, but then you will need to fish it out to repeat the project. A flame  will shoot out the top of the bottle, so dont use a short lighter. A candle is another good option. Safety Info This is fire. It can burn you. Perform this project under competent adult supervision. Do not set the fuel next to your glass container. Do not perform this project on a flammable surface or near flammable objects (e.g., do not lean into the bottle with long hair, do not light the bottle next to drapes, etc.). Do be prepared to put the fire out in case of an accident. Having said all that, this project works well indoors. Actually, we recommend you try it indoors because you will get the best effect in still air, with no wind. Disclaimer: Please be advised that the content provided by our website is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Fireworks and the chemicals contained within them are dangerous and should always be handled with care and used with common sense. By using this website you acknowledge that ThoughtCo., its parent About, Inc. (a/k/a Dotdash), and IAC/InterActive Corp. shall have no liability for any damages, injuries, or other legal matters caused by your use of fireworks or the knowledge or application of the information on this website. The providers of this content specifically do not condone using fireworks for disruptive, unsafe, illegal, or destructive purposes. You are responsible for following all applicable laws before using or applying the information provided on this website.

Immigration as a political and social cleavage in France Essay

Immigration as a political and social cleavage in France - Essay Example For many years, France has been home to many immigrants. The immigrants came from all over the world. It is only until recently that most newcomers in France came from other European countries. Initially, the migratory stream in France mainly composed of African Arabs and more recently black Africans from French former colonies in West Africa and the Caribbean. There are also Turks, Lebanese, and Asian immigrants (Wade 47). More notably is a group of Muslim immigrants from former French colonies. The number of Muslim immigrants in France is high to the extent that France has Western Europe’s largest Islamic population. The influx of immigrants in France has resulted in the rise of a new conflict in the nation. The conflict has led to riots and changes in laws related to the French history, culture, religion and language. Many people in French believe that the influx of immigrants will erase the identity of France as a nation especially the influence of Muslims. Religious conflicts arise due to the high number of Muslim immigrants. The religious-related conflicts have resulted in riots in many urban centers in France and tensions in Paris, Roma and other places (Angelique 1). Most of the immigrants have different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. The high numbers of these immigrants in France threaten the native ethnic composition, culture and language of the French people. The entrance of new cultures and ethnicity has threatened the local culture. Consequently, the French immigration minister launched a great debate to determine the future of France at a time when France was experiencing a high nu mber of immigrants (Nicolas 1). However, there was opposition to these national debates on immigration. Cultural cohabitation from the immigrants has increased the tension as the nation is falling into a crisis of national identity. The effects of immigrants from North Africa has

Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 27

Business - Essay Example This therefore implies that it is important to make sure that the workforce is satisfied and relating well with one another. A workforce that is well motivated, working as a team, and has a good working environment are all ingredients required for success of any business. It is upon the management to build of any business to ensure that there is team work I the organization, and that the workforce is motivated. In building employee motivation there is need for the management to create a strong foundation that should act as the main driving force of the employees. Building a foundation involves revisiting the organization’s mission, vision and objectives. It is important to make sure that all employees are fully aware of the organization’s vision, mission, and objectives. This is important since it gives a guideline on what the organization as a whole is working towards. Additionally, knowledge of the mission, vision, and objectives is important for employees to make a self-assessment to determine if they are in correspondence with individual career goals and aspirations. Correspondence of individual career goals with goals of the organization brings a sense of belonging and therefore there are higher chances of feeling motivated. This should be done frequently new employees joining the organization in order to ensure that the entire workforce is well motivated. It is upon the management to build a conducive and welcoming atmosphere within the organization in a bid to motivate the workforce. A good working environment motivates employees and there are hardly any cases of absenteeism. This is because a conducive atmosphere in work places makes employees feel important and comfortable. It is extremely easy to handle all forms of work related challenges when employees are in a comfortable environment. The management should ensure that employees feel comfortable to approach them with all questions regarding work. For instance, the

Research Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Research Report - Essay Example There are several ways of collating data; surveys are the primary means through which data is measured and captured. They have varied purposes, and encompass â€Å"marketing surveys, opinion surveys, and political polls†, among others. The questionnaire has been self-constructed, dealing with the following items: competitive cost, convenience of fast food, cleanliness of the facility, ambience of the store, personalized service, promotional offers, varied menu, being a strong global brand, and other reasons. These close-ended questions had fixed options given for each, and the respondent simply checked which option/s are applicable for him/her. Close-ended questions are questions that the researcher provides, and which may be accomplished by putting a check mark on a box or by encircling a response that corresponds to your choice. Oppenheim (1992) suggests these questions are straightforward and thus easier and quicker to answer; they are very useful in testing specific hypothesis. Most probably, they shall be utilized in the beginning of the investigation, since the unrestricted responses they attract create a better picture of the survey for the researcher. The main advantage of this kind of question is its ability to obtain a summated value. As Chisnall (1997) suggests that mail questionnaire is a predetermined set of questions that is sent to a predetermined sample. Its advantages over other methods include its low price, reassured anonymity, confidentiality, its large target scope and its ability to keep certain standards. Mail questionnaires are advantageous when responses have to be obtained from a sample that is geographically dispersed, or it is difficult or not possible to conduct telephone interviews to obtain the same data without much expense. Respondents can take more time to respond at convenience. However, the return rates of mail questionnaires are

E commerce Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

E commerce Project - Essay Example SWOT analysis on BinHendi Company SWOT is grouping of the company’s information into internal and external factors. It entails looking into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that has an impact on the company’s operation and productivity. Strengths The main force that affects the business positively lies with their ability to offered unmatched quality, luxury, elegance and their strong and professional business acumen. Many companies and business have always failed in their judgment of the market and the result of this is always a low turn over in the sales as there is lack of demand for the goods and services offered by the targeted audiences(Gulf Business 85).. However, Binhendi Company has been accurate in most of its judgment about the market and the targeted audiences and this has played a crucial role in sustaining them in the highly competitive market. The company has also worked to provide a diverse portfolio of the world prestigious brands of fashion, watches, jewelry, accessories, furniture, and fine dining among others that are rarely provided by other companies. In addition, it has established good strategic associations with their suppliers and their customers and this has greatly contributed to their reputable brand image in both the local and the international market. Weaknesses The expansion of the company has majorly relied on the direct control of its operation. It has based all its operation within one country and this has denied the opportunity to fully exploit the international market. Using Dubai as its center of operation, the company has thus concentrated in the local market as would be the case when they are having major branches in other countries. Thus the international market has been neglected allowing it to be controlled by other rival companies. The company has also concentrated a lot in price elasticity affecting loyal customers who are price oriented (Gulf Business 79). Opportunities The fashion i ndustry is largely populated as different companies and producers are flocking the market with new products and services daily. However, the company has successes in the industry because of its opportunity of employing a highly efficient staff who work round the clock to provide customers purchasing from the company exclusive products that are different from those being provided by other companies. They have also established their operations in the area as they have overwhelming divisions in the area helping in the sales and marketing of their products to the large population in the region and to retailers who make purchases and sells them to other neighboring regions. In addition, their incorporation of various brands in the market like Baituti brand has significantly helped in the expansion of their market in the region especially in Dubai as the new brands and strategies has been enthusiastically been received by their audiences in the market. Lastly, the business enterprise with their dream of creating new dream avenues of marketing their products in shopping malls as these areas are always renowned for the high number people paying visits with different objectives like shopping or conducting businesses in mind (Gulf Business 79). Threats The threat facing the company is the high competition present in the region. This has