Building a Marketing Budget How much is too much or too little

Building a Marketing Budget How much is too much or too little Often, I’m asked The reason behind the research is two-fold. One, it allows you to know the cost needed to reach your intended audience. Two, should you need to cut your budget, you can make an informed decision. One marketing piece every writer should have is a website. It’s a must! Aside from a website and the costs for keeping it reliably hosted, you may also want to consider researching the costs for the following: Advertisement placement (print, digital, or both) Advertisement creation Listing in BookBub, if book is free or discounted. Contest prizes for readers Author photos Travel Book Trailers Book release parties Freelance publicity (publicist) services Virtual assistant fees Promotional items (bookmarks, pens, giveaways, et al) Social Media (boosting posts, sponsored tweets, advertising) Fan club/ Street team rewards and supplies Mailing/Shipping A rule of thumb when building a budget is to research all of the costs for the above items you intend to use. Add them together. Then add an additional 20 percent to the total. The added percentage will allow for and offset unexpected expenditures. Researching any and all free places to promote is to your advantage and can help you defer money to other line items in your marketing budget. Some ideas for free promotion are: Create a hashtag on Twitter for your book Upload a chapter of your book to Wattpad Encourage friends, fans and readers to post reviews online Leave your book name/website address on all voicemail and email messages Offer to   meet with book clubs via Skype Solicit radio show interviews Create and submit press releases to local newspapers Celebrate your release with a Facebook party (ask fellow authors to join in) Submit articles to writers’ associations Submit for a listing on addictedtoebooks.com If this book is currently available for free, submit the book to be featured on Free Book Friday and/ or fill out the submission form for a free listing on Digital Book Today. No matter which promotional efforts you choose to promote your book, try to focus on discoverability rather than sales. When readers discover you, read your work and like it, they are more apt to tell their friends there

What Is the PARCC Test Do You Have to Take It

What Is the PARCC Test Do You Have to Take It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips PARCC exams are relatively new and not particularly widespread, which means that finding reliable information on what they are and what they mean can be tough. In this guide, I’ll go over everything you need to know about these exams, including where they’re administered, what they test, and how to prepare. What's the PARCC Test? If you're researching PARCC tests, you're probably a bit familiar withstate exams and how they work. Stateexams are tests that are written and managed at the state level - they're administered, often on a yearly basis, at public schools within that state to monitor student progress. They also set expectations for what students should know at each grade level. Performance is considered at a large scale (e.g. state education departments may look into school districts with particularly low scores) and at an individual level (e.g. a school may provide extra resources to an individual student who isn't at grade level). PARCC (or thePartnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) is a group of several states that work together to develop and administer state exams. Each state that participates in PARCC uses these tests to monitor student progress in lieu of individual state tests - the ultimate goal is to standardize Common Core expectations across states. These tests are designed to better replacements for old versions of state tests because (as PARCC claims) they provide better information about students' skills and development to teachers and parents. In a nutshell, these examinations are meant to evaluate college and career readiness starting at a young age. By evaluating readiness early and often (i.e. on a yearly basis), teachers and parents should be better able to help children prepare for the future. For example, teachers may use information about exam performance to identify where students may need extra help. One of PARCC’s advisory committees is dedicated to working with college and universities to accept test results as an â€Å"indicator of readiness† for first-time freshmen, so it looks like they’re also making moves to replace the SAT and ACT. There’s no indication that any colleges accept PARCC results in lieu of SAT/ACT scores, however, so this isn’t somethingyou have to worry about at the moment. Test Logistics There are actually many tests and assessments that are administered through PARCC. Annual Year-end Tests - English/language arts and math tests are administered every year in grades 3-11. I'll be focusing primarily on these exams for the rest of the article. Instructional Tools and Tasks - These may be used throughout the school year, and are meant mostly for teachers. Like other state tests, the PARCC exam is supposed to align with what students are actually learning in the classroom for each grade level. As such, the actual content and the level of difficulty of the exams will vary depending on students’ grade level. I’ll go into more detail shortly. WhatStates Require the PARCC Test? In 2010, 24 states (plus Washington DC) belonged to PARCC, but the number of states participating in the program has dropped significantly since then. As of2015-2016 school year, there are11 states fully active in administering the PARCC tests: Colorado Washington DC Illinois Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey New Mexico Rhode Island What's on the PARCC Test? These examinations are relatively new - they’ve been updated quite often over the past several years, and will surely be updated in the future. That being said, a few important things have remained consistent: The two core content areas tested are English/language arts and math. The tests strive to be modern assessments of competency in higher-level critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The exams don't just test content - theytest the development of skills that (presumably) help students succeed. When you’re trying to gauge whether students are developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills - things that are essential for doing well in college and in the workplace - the way that questions are asked on the exam will be just as important as testcontent. I’ll address both of these important factors here. Tests are a lot less intimdating when you know what's going to be on them. Test Content PARCC test content aligns most closely with what students learn based on Common Core standards. These standards may vary slightly, but remember that the PARCC exams will be standardized across all participating states - as such, you can expect the exams to test content that’s shared by all those states. Content will also depend on grade level, of course. There are a couple of ways you can figure out what you can expect to see on the test: Check out Common Core standards by state. Talk with your teacher (or your child’s teacher) about the content he/she plans on covering for the year, and what he/she expects to see on the year-end PARCC exam. Check out PARCC practice tests. The PARCC website does provide some very basic information about what’s expected of both elementary and middle school students in both English and Math: English expectations for all grade levels (3-11): Students read one or more texts (and sometimes watch a video), write about what they read and/or viewed, and provide evidence drawn from the reading. English expectations for middle school and high school: Students are expected to read several passages and integrate ideas from all of them into their written responses. Math expectations for all grade levels (3-11): Students must reason mathematically, make sense of quantities and their relationships to solve real-world problems, and show their understanding. Math expectations for middle school and high school: Students are expected to develop procedural skills, conceptual understanding, and modeling and application skills with a focus on broadening number sense into ratios, rational numbers, and proportions while transitioning to algebraic skills (including working with expressions, equations, and graphs). Question Format This is where the PARCC tests really claim to stand out when compared to other, older state exams. Testing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills is tougher than testing just straight-up content knowledge - this modern test format reflects these efforts. Here are a couple of examples from the PARCC site to show you what I mean: EXAMPLE 1 The old English test item asks students to simply write a persuasive essay. The new test item asks students to consider the perspectives of multiple authors before responding (using textual evidence) with their own argument. This is quite similar - in concept, if not in difficulty level - to what students will see on the writing sections of the ACT and SAT. ELA/Literacy example questions: old test items versus PARCC test items EXAMPLE 2 The old math test item is a word problem - students have to use basic reading comprehension skills to work through the question - but it essentially is asking students to count days on a calendar. The new math test item requires students to utilize more sophisticated data analysis skills - namelythey'll have to interpret information instead of just performing mathematical calculations. PARCC exams also asks studentsto explain their reasoning. Math example questions: old test items vs. PARCC test items Preparing for the PARCC Much of the work that you’ll need to do to prepare for the PARCC happens in school. State tests are used to assess instructor, school, district, and state performance, so the pressure to do well isn’t really on the student - it’s on everyone who’s responsible for preparing the student for his or her future. With that being said, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to prepare for the test! Students should want to perform to the best of their ability because that will best inform teachers about their needs. If nothing else, preparing for a PARCC exam is good practice for other future standardized tests. There isn’t a ton of official prep material out there, but PARCC has released official practice tests for each grade level. You shouldapproach PARCC practice in the same way you’d approach ACT/SAT prep: by starting off with a full diagnostic test and then carefully analyzing your mistakes. If you find that you have any weak areas, you can use class notes and/or assistance from your teacher to close up any content gaps. What Your Scores Mean for You Students aren’t penalized or rewarded based on how they perform on PARCC exams. Their results are used to inform teachers, parents, and administrators whether they’re learning everything they’re supposed to be learning - particularly low or high scores should help teachers customize instruction for individual students. What these scores are: A measure of how familiar you are with the test content. To some degree, a measure of how familiar you are with the test format and general test-taking strategy. PERHAPS a measure of whether you’re on track for college and a career. The tests are still very new - we don’t have any hard evidence to suggest that high scores on the test in any way predict success in college and beyond (although there is ongoing research on this question). What these score are not: A measure of your intelligence. A measure of how successful you’ll be in the future. Now that you have a better idea of what your PARCC scores actually mean, we can talk in more detail about the test scoring system. How the PARCC Scoring System Works The tests’ scoring system is based on what they call â€Å"performance levels.† These different levels are: Level 1: Did not yet meet expectations Level 2: Partially met expectations Level 3: Approached expectations Level 4: Met expectations Level 5: Exceeded expectations If you are at level 4 or 5, you’re good to go. Level 3 indicates that you’re almost there - you might just need a little extra help. Levels 1-2 indicate that more significant help from instructors might be necessary to bring scores up to grade level standards. As with other state tests, you’ll receive a score report with your raw score and corresponding performance level after the exam. Here’s an example of what that might look like: An example of a PARCC score report At the bottom of the report, you can see that you’re given a bit more context for your scores - you have access to the school, district, state, and overall score average. If you'd like to learn more, PARCC has set up a site where parents can accessinformation about score results and improving performance. Summary To wrap up, PARCC exams shouldn’t be a source of stress for students or parents. Like most other state tests, these exams arecheck-in assessments that help instructors (and schools, and school districts) understand whether students are on the right track for college or for a career. Unlike other outdated tests, PARCC exams are moving towards assessing higher-level cognitive skills rather than just straight-up content. High school students might recognize that the questions they see on these tests are similar to the ones they might see on the ACT or SAT. It’s unclear whether PARCC tests truly measure college-readiness, but they’re certainly similar to other college entrance exams. Perhaps these year-end tests will help prepare students (starting in 3rd grade!) for future exams where more is at stake. What's Next? PARCC content is based on Common Core standards. If you want to do well on a PARCC exam, you may want to read more about the Common Core and why it matters. Looking at tests similar to the PARCC? Read more about ACT Aspireand check out available practice tests. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Geo Thermal Energy - Extra Credit Assignment Essay

Geo Thermal Energy - Extra Credit Assignment - Essay Example First of all more and more people are moving into the cities all around the world. This urban movement is bringing more and more people to the mechanized life. Moreover governments all around the world are introducing new technologies to less developed areas of their countries. These factors would increase the demand of energy many times over. The people living in village have a very low demand when it comes to energy. The mostly do all their work by hand or animal. Their basic energy demands are fulfilled by burning firewood etc. By bring these people into cities or by taking technology to them the demand of energy would be increased as their life styles would be totally changes. Moreover the entire human race is becoming more technology dependent day by day. There was once a time when cars were considered to a luxury. Today however keeping a car has become a necessity. This shows how the number cars over the years have dramatically increased. Moreover the technology is becoming cheaper day by day. Therefore more and more people can afford to buy and use it, thus increasing the demand for energy. The sources of energy on the other hand are totally limited. The main energy source currently being used by the world is fossil fuel. These fuels are expected to run out in a few decades. Therefore the discovery of alternative sources of energy is not a luxury but a necessity. Moreover non renewable resources create a lot of population which is very dangerous for the atmosphere. A solution to world energy problems is geothermal energy. Geothermal as the word implies means the energy of the earth. There are many different sources of geothermal energy. The most common and powerful sources is using the energy stored up under the earth’s surface. The energy form radioactive decay of minerals and sun’s energy absorbed on the earth’s surface is also used as geothermal energy. Currently 10715 megawatts of geothermal power is being generated in almost

Management, People and Organisations - Managing the United Kingdom Essay

Management, People and Organisations - Managing the United Kingdom National Health Service - Essay Example The management of NHS has been faced with challenges from the government, public and within its own organization. The government and public requires the organization to deliver more and build trust however provisional support not sufficient. The essay analyzes symptoms in order to recognize problems and provide alternatives solutions. It deliberates the organizational issues underlying these difficulties and suggests vicissitudes believed conducive to making a high performance organization. In addition, it explores NHS organizational administration methods, structure and culture morals from a conjectural background (MARTIN, 2005). It summarizes the prominence of managing these issues communally in an unstable atmosphere to accomplish goals. It discloses internal and external factors that encourage change in organizations. The problems faced by United Kingdom National Health Service are not unique to any organization offering service. Management requires designing and maintaining an atmosphere that individuals, working as teams, efficiently achieve selected goals. The key objective of management is to ensure things are done by the people, through generating a suitable setting in which they can attain organizational goals. The case study reveals that many clinicians have indulged in managerial duties besides their existing role, in an attempt to bring a difference. This engrossment in management can be time overwhelming and actually clashes with their professional roles. It is understandable that many of the indications which the case study proves can be directly linked to conflict of roles or better say conflict of interest. This proves lack of professionalism since each player in an organization should adhere to their duties and do them to their best. Organization should define each role of players and governing principles to ensure quality. It is evident that role issue is a major management problem for the NHS. In any specified role, there

Job stress to job performance Essay Example for Free

Job stress to job performance Essay The thesis selected for my critique which is called â€Å"A Study on Job Stress to Job Performance: Counseling as a Moderator† was written by Tseng, Yu-man in 2013. The thesis was done by a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Resource Management. It can be discovered on the Electronic Thesis Harvestable and Extensible System of National Sun Yat-Sen University. In this article, the overview of the thesis will be simply described followed by the critique on the research design and data analysis. A terse paragraph on the overall impressions will also be comprised with possible suggestions made in the conclusion part. Overview of the research thesis: In the thesis, the author intended to understand the relationship between job stress and job performance. According to the relationship, she explored â€Å"Is consultant a moderator between job stress and job performance. † She also examined â€Å"Is the personal demographic information as an obvious difference between job stress and job performance. † Quantitative method was applied and data was collected from the questionnaire survey. Furthermore, the thesis used some statistic method in this research, such as conducting the poll through questionnaires, factor analysis, descriptive statistic, T test, ANOVA, correlation analysis, regression analysis. However, unfortunately, there is no information to demonstrate if the consultant as a moderator between job stress and job performance. The author suggested backward researcher can apply ink to paper or depth interview more when doing questionnaire design. The results indicated that: 1. Job stress and job performance have statistically negative relationship. 2. There is no answer about if the consultant as a moderator between job stress and job performance. No one has the experience of seeking the consultant in the retrieved questionnaire materials. Therefore, it is unable to learn if the consultant as a moderator between job stress and job performance. 3. Marriage has an influential effect in the relationship between job stress and job performance. Other personal demographic information, such as gender, age, schooling record, seniority and current position within company, do not have significant difference in the relationship between job stress and job performance. Critique of the research design: (a) Problem statement/ introduction part: The introduction part consists of the pressures among our daily life and how it affects us to become stressful that threaten our lives. This is because there are differences between pressures and stresses. Pressures come from external, but stresses generate from internal. The author states particularly and precisely the causal relationships of pressures and stresses. First, she brought out a concept that suicide is a serious philosophic problem. It leads out another concept that â€Å"Should we struggle to survive? † Then, she used lots of instances for demonstration. Lastly, she said there will be less ill effects if we have moderate ways to relax when we have pressures and stresses. The author seems to have missed out specifying what the right behaviors are for releasing our pressures and stresses. This is noteworthy to tell the readers that some people relax in bad behaviors such as smoking which can produce a more aggravated problem than pressures and stresses. (b) Literature review of the study: In the literature review section of this thesis, the content is discussed systematically in the following arrangement: stress; job stress; job performance; the relationship between job stress and job performance; and consultative. The literatures represented exhaustive and related to the themes of study. The literature reviews have a few strengths that help the readers understand the contents easily. The contents described deeply with different types of diagrams appropriately. For example, it mentioned the scholars have lots of views in different years, it shows there are frequent changes in the definitions of the terms each year. Moreover, it used descriptive statistic to analyze the factors precisely. However, there are some improvements needed in the areas. It seems to be a little bit unbalanced in defining all the terms. Here are some suggestions for improvement. First, it depicted a lot in each factor of stress, job stress and job performance. The thesis is mainly focused on the relationship between job stress and job performance, but the literature reviews depicted the relationship in a very simple manner. There should be more information with instances to analyze the relationship. Therefore, the reliability of the investigation will be increased and the persuasiveness will also be enhanced. (c) Methodology of the study: The research was to investigate the practical states of the variables among the research subjects. The research subjects are the employees of manufacturing and service industry. Therefore, the author used a questionnaires method to handle the research. Firstly, she constructed the research frameworks. Secondly, she set up the research assumptions after the research frameworks. She also confirms the operational definitions and ponders what should be used as the instrument. In the first phrase, the research frameworks set up a framework of the relation between job stress and job performance, also with the other factor of counseling. Then, the research assumptions set up two assumptions as the relativity assumption and diverseness assumption. For the relativity assumption, the author assumed that there is an obvious correlation and consultant as a moderator has an influential effect in the relationship between job stress and job performance. For the diverseness assumption, the author assumed that sex, age, marriage, level of education, years of service and current duty have variant effect in the relationship between job stress and job performance. In the second phrase, the research design has used factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis in operational definition, job stress measurement table and job performance measurement table among job stress, job performance and counseling. For job stress, the author used Strees’s theory (1988) which believes a person will have job stress when facing some threats from job. Also, she used the measurement table with 32 questions in 5-point likert scale: always, often, sometimes, seldom and never, published by Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in Council of Labor Affairs in 1995 to measure. For job performance, the author used Campbell’s theory (1987) which believes that job performance related to the process when a person who has the willingness to help the organization to accomplish the goals. Moreover, she used the measurement table with 24 questions in 5-point likert scale: very agree, agree, no opinion, disagree and very disagree, adopted from Yu Dak Shing’s translation with minor amendments that published by Motowidlo Van Scotter (1994) Task Performance Questionnaire the Task Performance Questionnaire (TPQ) and contextual performance questionnaire (Contextual Performance Questionnaire, CPQ) to measure. For counseling, the author defined it in a psychological perspective that a person will use the personal information to understand himself or herself and make improvements in adapting to the new environments. In addition, she used a revised measurement table with reference to Taiwan Tobacco Liquor Corporation. However, it is a doubt whether the research design can obtain the results clearly and reliably. This is because the measurement tables do not show an obvious correlation between job stress and job performance. This will make up some errors. Moreover, the author does not mention the amounts of research subjects. To increase the reliability and preciseness, the author should mention the amounts of research subjects and its responsiveness. Also, she should find more references for making the measurement table in an obvious relationship. (d) Discussion and Conclusion of the Study: In the discussion section, results were interpreted and possible explanations were given. The significance of the investigations is very low because the sample size is restricted. This has been substantiated by the researcher’s discussion that most of the factors (job stress and job performance) do not consist of any correlation with counseling. The researcher should ameliorate the methodology especially sampling. The conclusion was highly dwelt as the researcher defined it into 6 parts of different data. However, most of them did not show any correlation with each other. Therefore, the researcher’s efforts were useless. Conclusion: Overall, this research study gives us a good view on the current situation of the extent on â€Å"Job Stress to Job Performance: Counseling as a Moderator† in Taiwan. It provides extended review on both international and local literatures. The data and analysis were represented in a systematic and intelligible way so that readers can effortlessly comprehend. However, the collected data involved a broad range of different factors for examining the effects in the relationship. It should be expressed more clearly in some definitions. Otherwise, the meaning of the sentence may sometimes confuse people‘s understanding. Reference: Tseng, Yu-man (2009). A Study on Job Stress to Job Performance:Counseling as a Moderator. Taiwan: National Sun Yat-sen University, Retrieved April 1, 2013, from eThesys: http://etd. lib. nsysu. edu. tw/ETD-db/ETD-search-c/view_etd? URN=etd-1103109-054940 Cooper, C. L. , Sloan, S. J. S. Williams, (1988). Occupational stress indicator management guide, Windsor, NFER-Nelson. Brian Seaward, Job stress

The Many Signs of Dance :: essays research papers

The many signs of Dance "To learn the language of dance, one must perform." That quote is taken from C. Nicholas Johnson, director of dance. In the following paper, I will review the Wichita Contemporary Dance Theater performance that took place April 8-9 at 7:30. I will be reviewing Friday nights performance. As C. Nicholas Johnson said, "In doing so, we hope to encourage personal growth beyond the art itself. Ever since I heard about the Spring Dance Concert, I was very excited to go and be part of that. For some reason that night I thought I was going to be seeing a Ballet concert. So when the first piece came on "Dear Me" choreographed by Cheyla Cabrales, I was in for a real shock. Soloist Stephanie Davis started the show out with a very modern dance, by doing all her moves by simply sitting in a chair. The audience was then surprised with a outburst of dancers right beside them. All over the room there were breaths that were taken at the same time and complete surround dancing. I enjoyed this piece not just for the uniqueness, but for the music and the openness affect it had on me and the audience. The second piece, "Warfaring" choreographed by Janice Garrett, was much more different from the first piece. It was much more brighter, the girls wore green dresses, and the music was fiddles and guitars. It involved 4 dancers, but it seemed like more because they were doing so much work throughout the movement. I liked this piece, it made me smile, because the girls had smiles on their faces as they were dancing. They looked as if they could have danced all day and be completely satisfied. The third piece "Inside Out" choreographed by Nick Johnson, was one of my favorites. "To all my female dance majors...I understand!" That was the quote that was under the piece's title. In my head I was thinking that this was probably going to be a slow emotional dance with soft music. But instead it was very humorous. Nick Johnson was half a women and half a man. The costume was perfect, it was literally haft women and half man. I thought of the act as a "dating" scene. The man being all nervous and wanting the women, but the women showing that she likes him, but making sure he knows that she is in charge.

Lexus challenges Mercedes Essay

A. Introduction. Toyota offers luxury and quality setting the trend through its new model, Lexus, giving the same almost privileges to the buyer as the ones that a Mercedes owner enjoys at a half price. B.The problem. Extremely high competition on behalf of Toyota towards a multinational car industry like Mercedes whose name is synonym to luxury and status that offers if somebody owns one. Unknown expectations and responds from the part of the candidate buyers. C.Internal issues. (strengths) Toyota was offering a car that had the same performance with Mercedes at a reasonable price. Toyota made the public believe that he or she is a smart buyer since they could have a luxurious car, which in order to have it, they wouldn’t throw their money just to gain more status. Toyota was planning to market the new model with a multiple warhead attack. Lexus had a luxurious interior, and a sculptured look with fine fit and finish. Also the engine was smooth as well as the ride. Lexus cost 50% less than a Mercedes model with the same engine and standard equipment. Toyota paid much attention to the designing of the showrooms and to the professional salespeople that was planning to hire. Cheaper spare parts than Mercedes. Toyota was offering a 12-minute videotape to the buyers with which outweighed the advantages over Mercedes. Lower taxes. According to the magazine Car and Driver issued on April 1997, the annual token for Toyota Lexus GS 300 is 16.250.000 drachmas, where the annual token for Mercedes SEL 300 is approximately 20 million. C. Internal issues.(weaknesses) Not the same status that Mercedes has set up decades ago. Cheaper spare parts might also be problematic ones. Inexperienced personnel in case something could go wrong with the launched cars. Many Toyota agents might not be able to represent Lexus because of financial reasons since this model would be the flagship of the car industry. On the other hand, most Mercedes agents are able to represent a luxury models like the SEL500. Mercedes produces cars whose engines are above 2000cc. and doesn’t produce any models with an engine less than the above. Lexus is the only Toyota’s model that exceeded the limit of 2000cc. That’s why Mercedes has the kind of status nowadays and is difficult to be taken down.  · Toyota is a Japanese car industry and many Europeans might prefer to buy a European car since Mercedes is a German industry. C. External issues. (threats) Mercedes might maintain or raise its prices and add generous guarantees and services like for example free repairs for six years. Other car industries like Toyota might follow the same strategy of producing luxurious cars and so Mercedes would not be the unique competitor in this category. C. External issues. (opportunities) People who bought Lexus were delighted and the buyers raved to their friends and became the best salespeople for the new Lexus. The Mercedes power system in wealth offered, and other car industries like Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, and BMW was beginning to collapse. D. Alternatives. Toyota could keep on advertising Lexus as much as possible and should try to develop the specific model more, in parts of technology, safety, engine, and look. Also, Toyota could spend more money in order to make its showrooms and service provided the same and even better than those that Mercedes has. E. Recommendations. For many years Mercedes-Benz is producing cars with big engines and endless hulls adjusting its equipment to the world standards of safety and technology. If Toyota is powerful enough to pass through all the stages that Mercedes went in order to become one of the best industries of luxury cars worldwide, then maybe sometime in the future Toyota will be able to compete Mercedes with the only difference that the last would be one step ahead. According to my opinion, in Mercedes reigns one dictum: Only the best is good enough†¦

Debate over globalisation Essay

Currently in international circles there is a great debate over globalisation and whether it is a force for good or bad. The statement oversimplifies the matter, of course. But the issue of globalisation and our collective response to it promises to define who prospers and who does not well into the 21st century. Globalisation has positive and negative aspects. On top of its positive aspects comes the tremendous development of new information and communication technology, triggers in economic growth through increased trade and job creation around the world. This economical growth can be illustrated by the fact that the world real GDP grew from US$2 trillion to US$28 trillion, which means an increase of 1400%. On a per capita basis, this means an increase of US$614 to US$4908, an increase of about 800%. The quality of life in developed countries has increased However, anti-globalisation supporters affirm that although there was an economical growth, this was not well distributed throu ghout society, and that over the past 150 years, the rich countries are developing at a faster rate than the poor countries, increasing the difference between them. This happens because dealing with globalisation in a capitalist society, there will always be winners and losers. The winners will be the nations which have more skill, technology, information, power and money, whilst the losers will be the poor countries, which export primarily goods and rely on the rich countries to obtain technology and manufactured goods. As a term, globalisation means different things to different people. To some, it is a purely economic trend, the result of the market system unleashed on a worldwide scale, a century-long process that has now been vastly accelerated by the fall of Communism and the relaxation of other restrictive economic practices. As has the impact and growth of globalisation changed, so has its meaning during the last decades. But what is certain is that globalisation is not something of today or yesterday. Among the so many given definitions, Martin Wolf defines globalisation as a â€Å"journey, but toward an unreachable destination, the globalised world. A globalised economy in which, neither distance nor national borders impede economic transactions. A world where the cost of transport and communication were zero and the barriers created by differing national jurisdictions had vanished†. (Wolf, 2001: 178). But globalisation is a very wide notion, which embraces the social, cultural, and political interdependency of states. Globalisation refers also to the integration and interaction between different people and nations. Take the European Union as an example, where the member states share the same democratic values and norms, or the convergence and similarities of the constitutions of the member states, which could lead to a European law or constitution. To others, it defines the ever widening process of international interchange and interconnection that can be witnessed in so many aspects of life, whether the casual observation that top musical artists draw increasingly on other cultures for their melodies and rhythms, the news that former enemies are now participating in joint peacekeeping missions, or the realisation that there are suddenly many more foreign faces and accents in your hometown than before. No matter what the definition, globalisation is dynamic and real, causing numerous and often radical changes in all but the most remote places. Depending on your point of view, circumstance and prospects, the process can be seen as hugely positive or grossly negative. Those who defend globalisation say it is bringing prosperity to untold millions around the world, breaking down national and cultural barriers, and helping to speed the general process of peace-building. Critics say that the chaotic manner in which market forces have scaled up to the global level has unleashed a destructive whirlwind that treats workers callously, serves too often to further impoverish the poor at the expense of the rich, and wreaks vast amounts of environmental destruction. They say that its side effects are equally horrific, ranging from the spread of AIDS and drug abuse to the creation of a world monoculture that destroys local traditions and squelches diversity. At the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, nations of the world took note of this dualism: â€Å"Globalization, which is a consequence of increased human mobility, enhanced communications, greatly increased trade and capital flows, and technological developments, opens new opportunities for sustained economic growth and development of the world economy, particularly in developing countries. Globalization also permits countries to share experiences and to learn from one another’s achievements and difficulties, and promotes a cross-fertilization of ideals, cultural values and aspirations. At the same time, the rapid processes of change and adjustment have been accompanied by intensified poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. Threats to human well-being, such as environmental risks, have also been globalized.† Inasmuch as the pain caused by some aspects of globalisation is undeniable, the real issue is whether the negative effects of its sweeping processes can be ameliorated and the positive effects enhanced. Because in the opinions of some, the forward march of globalisation is unstoppable. The notion concept of sovereignty refers to the three-fold capacity of a state, which is the â€Å"absolute supremacy over internal affairs within its territory, absolute right to govern its people, and freedom from any external interference in the above matters† (Wang, 2004: 473). So a state is sovereign if it has the ability to make and implement laws within its territory, and can function without any external power and assistance, and doesn’t acknowledges any higher authority above itself in the world of independent states. From the above definition one can draw the conclusion that either a stat e can be sovereign or not, since sovereignty is defined as the absolute supremacy and right of the government in a given state. A realist like Steven D.Krasner agrees on the collapsing autonomy of states but deny the impact of globalisation on nation state, which could possibly lead to the death of state sovereignty. He argues, â€Å"Those who proclaim the death of sovereignty misread the history. The nation state has a keen instinct for survival and has so far adapted to new challenges, even the challenge of globalization† (Krasner, 2001: 20). He also argues that globalisation is not a new challenge or phenomena. Viewed from a criminological point, â€Å"the perceived normality of high crime rates, together with thee widely acknowledged limitations of criminal justice agencies, have begun to erode one of the foundational myths of modern societies: namely, the myth that the sovereign state is capable of providing security, law and order, crime control within its territorial boundaries† (Garland, 1996: 448). The notion of legitimate organized violence monopoly, which is of great importance for the internal order as well as for the foreign accountability of a state, is challenged by the international criminality. Since states cannot provide security for their citizens and are not capa ble of guaranteeing internal order, one of the fundamental elements of state sovereignty is undermined and questioned. The negative effects of globalisation can be softened only through new and higher levels of international cooperation and consultation, filtered through a new system of moral values that puts human welfare and social justice ahead of the predominantly materialistic paradigm currently in vogue. Call this global governance. Call it world government. But one way or the other, the forces of globalisation will require the creation of some sort of international super authority, one that can ensure that human rights and workers’ prerogatives are upheld, and that the environment is protected, as globalisation proceeds. Another factor that is observed is that the number of poor people (people living with less than US$1 per day) has increased, and reached almost 1.2 billion people, which is almost one fifth of the world’s total population. This is partly caused by the increase in global population, but also due to the distribution of the money. The ratio of income between the wor lds twenty percent richest and twenty percent poorest has increased from 30:1 to 78:1. Many people also question the issue of globalisation creating more jobs when multinationals establish new factories in foreign countries. Their argument is that although more jobs are created, and that this reduces the unemployment, these jobs don’t require any skill and workers have very bad working conditions, working long hours and receiving little money. And as the workers have no other working options, and working in these factories is their only source of income, they can’t do anything else, but work to try to survive. Besides this, the unemployment levels are very high, which means that there is always someone available to substitute workers that aren’t happy with what they are being offered. These facts make us think in a way of making globalisation fairer, and giving developing countries the chance of benefiting more from it. So that this can happen, there are many things that need to be changed. First of all the development needs to be more focused on the people, and not only in financial reasons. Fairer rules and deeper partnerships should be done between developed and developing countries so they can have a mutually beneficial relationship. Also one of the most important things to ensure that nations can benefit the most from globalisation is that a powerful, democratic and more effective UN helps to control the spread and paths of globalisation. From this we can conclude that globalisation is one of the most important factors of the new century, and that it will continue spreading and growing all around the world, reaching the furthest corners of the planet. The question of whether it is good or bad can never be answered completely, and there isn’t a right or wrong answer, because there will always be good and bad sides to it. At present globalisation seems to be beneficial for some and detrimental to others. For globalisation to be beneficial to the majority depends on how it is treated and controlled. Globalisation could be very beneficial to society as a whole if managed correctly.

Free Essays on Pop Art Movement

Pop Art was a visual arts movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s in Britain and the United States of America. The term Pop Art referred to the interest of a number of artists in the images of mass media, advertising, comics and consumer products. Pop Art is an abbreviation of Popular Art, the images used in Pop Art were taken from popular or ‘pop’ culture. Pop art was â€Å"a dazzling celebration of life in a world recovering from war.†# Pop art is in some ways hard to define. Pop art does not describe a style but rather a collective term for an artistic phenomena where the works have a sense of being in a particular era. There are however essential characteristics which make artworks part of the Pop Art Movement. These characteristics are the subject matter, forms and media of Pop Art. Pop art was entirely a Western phenomenon, born under capitalist, technological conditions in an industrial society. The epicentre of Pop art was America and as a result the entire western world have become Americanised.# Pop art thrived in big cities. The cities of its birth were New York and London. These two places became the new art centres of the Western World.# In the post war world of the 1950’s both Britain and America were places of optimism. After the War there was a consumer boom. Exciting new products were pouring out of factories on a massive scale. Mass production meant lower prices so more people could afford these new products. People were enjoying fast cars, fast food, colour television, film, fashion and pop music for the first time. There was a whole range of new products to brighten up these peoples lives. This was the birth of Popular culture. Stores, burger bars and cinemas wanted to draw big crowds. To do this they advertised their products on giant billboards, television screens and magazines. The Pop artists liked these bright images that they saw in the advertisements and realised that by using these i... Free Essays on Pop Art Movement Free Essays on Pop Art Movement Pop Art was a visual arts movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s in Britain and the United States of America. The term Pop Art referred to the interest of a number of artists in the images of mass media, advertising, comics and consumer products. Pop Art is an abbreviation of Popular Art, the images used in Pop Art were taken from popular or ‘pop’ culture. Pop art was â€Å"a dazzling celebration of life in a world recovering from war.†# Pop art is in some ways hard to define. Pop art does not describe a style but rather a collective term for an artistic phenomena where the works have a sense of being in a particular era. There are however essential characteristics which make artworks part of the Pop Art Movement. These characteristics are the subject matter, forms and media of Pop Art. Pop art was entirely a Western phenomenon, born under capitalist, technological conditions in an industrial society. The epicentre of Pop art was America and as a result the entire western world have become Americanised.# Pop art thrived in big cities. The cities of its birth were New York and London. These two places became the new art centres of the Western World.# In the post war world of the 1950’s both Britain and America were places of optimism. After the War there was a consumer boom. Exciting new products were pouring out of factories on a massive scale. Mass production meant lower prices so more people could afford these new products. People were enjoying fast cars, fast food, colour television, film, fashion and pop music for the first time. There was a whole range of new products to brighten up these peoples lives. This was the birth of Popular culture. Stores, burger bars and cinemas wanted to draw big crowds. To do this they advertised their products on giant billboards, television screens and magazines. The Pop artists liked these bright images that they saw in the advertisements and realised that by using these i...

The Terror of the French Revolution - 1793-1794

The Terror of the French Revolution - 1793-1794 1793 January February February 1: France declares war on Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. February 15: Monaco annexed by France. February 21: Volunteer and Line regiments in the French army merged together. February 24: Levà ©e of 300,000 men to defend the Republic. February 25-27: Riots in Paris over food. March March 7: France declares war on Spain. March 9: Representatives en mission are created: these are deputies who will travel to the French departments to organise the war effort and quell rebellion. March 10: The Revolutionary Tribunal is created to try those suspected of counter revolutionary activity. March 11: The Vendà ©e region of France revolts, partly in reaction to the demands of the levee of Feb 24. March: Decree ordering French rebels captured with arms to be executed without appeal. March 21: Revolutionary armies and committees created. Committee of Surveillance established in Paris to monitor strangers. March 28: Émigrà ©s now considered legally dead. April April 5: French General Dumouriez defects. April 6: Committee of Public Safety created. April 13: Marat stands trial. April 24: Marat is found not guilty. April 29: The Federalist uprising in Marseilles. May May 4: First Maximum on grain prices passed. May 20: Forced loan on the rich. May 31: Journee of May 31: the Paris sections rise demanding the Girondins be purged. June June 2: Journee of June 2: Girodins purged from the Convention. June 7: Bordeaux and Caen rise in the Federalist revolt. June 9: Saumur is captured by rebelling Vendà ©ans. June 24: Constitution of 1793 voted on and passed. July July 13: Marat assassinated by Charlotte Corday. July 17: Chalier executed by Federalists. Final feudal dues removed. July 26: Hoarding made a capital offence. July 27: Robespirre elected to the Committee of Public Safety. August August 1: The Convention implements a scorched earth policy in the Vendà ©e. August 23: Decree of levee en masse. August 25: Marseille is recaptured. August 27: Toulon invites the British in; they occupy the town two days later. September September 5: Prompted by the Journee of September 5 government by Terror begins. September 8: Battle of Hondschoote; first French military success of the year. September 11: Grain Maximum introduced. September 17: Laws of Suspects passed, definition of suspect widened. September 22: Start of Year II. September 29: General Maximum begins. October October 3: The Girondins go to trial. October 5: The Revolutionary Calendar is adopted. October 10: Introduction of the Constitution of 1793 halted and Revolutionary Government declared by the Convention. October 16: Marie Antoinette executed. October 17: Battle of Cholet; the Vendà ©ans are defeated. October 31: 20 leading Girondins are executed. November November 10: Festival of Reason. November 22: All churches closed in Paris. December December 4: Law of Revolutionary Government / Law of 14 Frimaire passed, centralising power in the Committee of Public Safety. December 12: Battle of Le Mans; the Vendà ©ans are defeated. December 19: Toulon recaptured by the French. December 23: Battle of Savenay; the Vendà ©ans are defeated. 1794 January February February 4: Slavery abolished. February 26: First Law of Ventà ´se, spreading seized property among the poor. March March 3: Second Law of Ventà ´se, spreading seized property among the poor. March 13: Hà ©rbertist/Cordelier faction arrested. March 24: Hà ©rbertists executed. March 27: Disbanding of the Parisian Revolutionary Army. March 29-30: Arrest of the Indulgents/Dantonists. April April5: Execution of the Dantonists. April-May: The power of the Sansculottes, Paris Commune and sectional societies broken. May May 7: Decree starting the Cult of the Supreme Being. May 8: Provincial Revolutionary Tribunals closed, all suspects must now be tried in Paris. June June 8: Festival of the Supreme Being. June 10: Law of 22 Prairial: designed to make convictions easier, start of the Great Terror. July July 23: Wage limits introduced in Paris. July 27: Journee of 9 Thermidor overthrows Robespierre. July 28: Robespierre executed, many of his supporters are purged and follow him over the next few days. August August 1: Law of 22 Prairial repealed. August 10: Revolutionary Tribunal re-organised so as to cause fewer executions. August 24: The Law on Revolutionary Government reorganises the control of the republic away from the highly centralised structure of the Terror. August 31: Decree limiting the powers of the Paris commune. September September 8: Nantes Federalists tried. September 18: All payments, subsidies to religions halted. September 22: Year III starts. November November 12: The Jacobin Club closed. November 24: Carrier placed on trial for his crimes in Nantes. December December - July 1795: The White Terror, a violent reaction against supporters and facilitators of the Terror. December 8: Surviving Girondins allowed back into the Convention. December 16: Carrier, the butcher of Nantes, executed. December 24: The maximum is scrapped. Invasion of Holland. Back to Index Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Business Foundation Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Foundation Management - Assignment Example It jacked up it prices by 60% because of the deal they made with Hollywood (Sandoval 1). The deal was that Netflix was to pay a specific amount of money for every user per month for any user who had the right of connecting to the Hollywood content. This was regardless of whether they Netflix consumers viewed that content or not. Therefore, Netflix could not afford the luxury of paying for the digital content for individuals who were not watching it. The organisation argued that it was not cost of living increase and nor was it inflation. Regardless of the fact the analysts argued that the new hike in prices by Netflix was because of the new studio contracts, Netflix maintained the contracts had nothing to do with it. It also maintained that neither was it the high costs of doing business had caused it to hike the prices. In the Netflix’s blog, they say that when they launched their $7.99 unlimited streaming plan, whereby DVDs by mail were treated as a two dollar adds on to their unlimited streaming plan (Sandoval 1). In that previous year, the management had not anticipated offering DVD-only plans. Thereafter, they realised that there was still a very large continuing demand for DVDS. This was from both their existing member and the non-members. They continue to argue that, given the long life they thought that DVDs by mail were going to have, treating DVDs a two dollar add on their unlimited streaming plan was neither making great financial sense not satisfies the individuals who just want DVDs. Netflix mana gement argued that creating an unlimited DVDs by mail plan whereby it did not include streaming at their normal prices, which were very low, $7.99, it did not make any sense (Sandoval 1). In addition, they stated that it would not ensure a long life for their DVDS by mail offering. The most argument that comes regarding this decision was that the price hike was mostly to force the millions of Netflix’s members and non-members to go for