Examinations a Fair Gauge?

Examinations are a fair gauge of a student’s ability. Discuss. Scholastic tests are unjust barometers for students’ aptitudes as they are one-off gauges of understanding of the subjects, which may be unfair as psychological factors could come into play. Moreover, students with a clearer perception of the standard methods and types of questions will excel better than others, meaning that scoring well for an examination will not just be based on ability of application for a subject but rather on knowledge of examination skills.Also, the varying views of different markers on a qualitative script may incur a range of possible grades, questioning the validity of the supposedly uniform marking scheme. As such, ability takes a backseat to conditioning. However, a formal stable system is still required for sectoring the society into their different intellectual strata. Every student sits for the same paper with similar schedules, thus the test is still considered impartial on a constricted level. Examinations are not fair as they are one-off opportunities for students to prove themselves.Students prone to panic will be put at a great disadvantage, as these psychological factors will cause these students to be nervous and blank out during the examination, sabotaging their performance and causing them to score badly despite their sufficient preparation and adequate knowledge. The test will thus be reflecting a distorted gauge of ability. Also, others not so well prepared might even score better as a consequence, reflecting the unfairness of this system of education and of using one-off examinations as barometers to test the students’ understanding.It would thus be much fairer should examinations be carried out in an extended period of time separated into various components, where the students’ potentials, aptitudes and attitudes can be more accurately judged and rewarded. This system of education encourages practicing past year papers aimed to master these examinations, and not so the subject. Students are asked to familiarize themselves with the standard methods of answering repeated types of questions originally set with the intention of testing a student’s response to an unexpected problem. This irony of predicting and practicing uestions, which are not supposed to be expected in the first place, sheds light on how tests are used to assess the handling of test skills rather than the plain understanding of subjects, which is twisted in the ideology of education. Other students not having acquired these examination skills despite possessing the depth of the subject will still fare worse than those who lack in understanding but master the examination skills and apply the content in a fixed and conditioned manner. Examinations are thus unfair, as the marking scheme does not only include ability as the criteria for good grades.This system also does not fully encourage critical analysis and application, which are muc h needed qualities for the working world. Examinations on qualitative papers such as literature or art are also not easy to measure in terms of marks unlike quantitative papers such as mathematics. Qualitative papers are subjective, as personal opinions are required and everyone is bound to have different outlooks. These differing viewpoints of markers would cause a great range of possible marks for the very same script, blurring the lines between right and wrong.Perceptions would thus cause the marking scheme to be rather unstable, and not only aptitude would be factoring the resulting grade achieved. Luck would be part of the picture, showing us how examinations would then be a fallacy to the promise of equality. The differing styles schools adopt to teach the students also play a part in how they perform at the end of their learning journey in the major international examinations. Different tips and tricks teachers impart to students will have a great impact on the grades at the end. Thus, teachers are a factor in how well the students do in the examinations.The teacher is responsible for bringing out the qualities required and building upon the skills, creating a holistic, balanced education for the child. Everyone has the ability to score well in the examination. It is just a matter of whether it is brought out or not. This thus creates the leverage some students hold above the rest, which raises irony in the idea of equality in examinations. If the preparation is not fair in itself, obviously, the result will thus definitely differ accordingly. It is then not a matter of ability and potential anymore, but rather the effect brought out by teachers.Examination is thus unfair as a gauge of ability. However, a formal system of separating students into their different stages of potential and understanding is still required in the society to ensure that careers in the future will be properly executed to grant the best economical outcome with full utilization o f human resources. This system is fair, as everyone sits for the same paper with the same schedule so not one person gets extra time to study for the examinations, or get to breathe better air or see better greenery to achieve higher grades.The constant physical factors involved in a sitting thus ensure equality reigns in the examination hall. Also, cheating is heavily penalized in this competitive learning arena, so everyone sits for the examination with the facts and figures all in their heads and the application skills all picked up within them already, thus their source of inspiration for the subjective papers and the pool of knowledge they get their examples and content from all resonates from within, which presents to us equality as no one gets extra help in completing the questions.Although examinations are made as fair as possible, the extent of it is very restricted, as ability is something unique and individual with no two persons the same, thus causing inequality in the r esults of the examinations.

Chaucer’s Contribution to the Development of English Literary Tradition Essay

Chaucer is commonly hailed as â€Å"the father of English poetry† who in such works as his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, significantly contributed to the development of English as a literary language. The â€Å"General Prologue† to The Canterbury Tales has often been praised as â€Å"the most perfect poem in the English language. † The Canterbury Tales and his other notable works reflect Chaucer’s familiarity with French, English, Italian, and Latin literature, and demonstrate his consummate mastery of a variety of literary genres, styles, and techniques. His poems continue to draw the interest and praise of readers centuries after his death and are among the most acclaimed works of the English-speaking world. The originality of his language and style, the vivacity of his humor, and the depth of his understanding are continually cited as reasons for the permanence of his works. Chaucer’s decision to write in his country’s language, English, rather than in the was something of a risk, and a big break with learned tradition. The risk paid off. The Canterbury Tales were enormously popular because so many more manuscripts of the tales survive than of almost any other work of this time period. The Canterbury Tales were still going strong when the first printers made their way to England. William Caxton published the first printed version of The Canterbury Tales in 1476. One of the things that makes The Canterbury Tales so fun to read is the great detail with which the narrator describes each of the pilgrims. We learn, for example, that the cook has a pustule on his leg that very much resembles one of the desserts he cooks, or that the miller has a huge, pug nose. For many of his portraits, Chaucer is relying on a medieval tradition of â€Å"estates satire,† a collection of stereotypes about people based on what occupation they had or what social class they belonged to. Another medieval idea his portraits draw upon is â€Å"anticlericalism,† a tradition that got its start in reaction to a lot of abuses by clergy in the medieval church, but which basically became a collection of stereotypes about friars, monks, nuns, priests, and the like. Since The Canterbury Tales is a story about a storytelling competition, many of the questions it asks are about stories. As the pilgrims tell their stories, though, they turn out to be talking not just about fairytale people in far-off lands, but also about themselves and their society. This leads to a lot of conflict in a group of pilgrims formed by members of that same society. It is sometimes argued that the greatest contribution that this work made to English literature was in popularising the literary use of the vernacular, English, rather than French or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language for centuries before Chaucer’s life, and several of Chaucer’s contemporaries also wrote major literary works in English. It is unclear to what extent Chaucer was responsible for starting a trend rather than simply being part of it.

Drivers Ed

Copy and paste the questions into the student comments section. Read the questions thoroughly. Answer the questions in a full and complete manner. Use complete sentences, including proper spelling and grammar. When you are ready to turn in your assignment, add a check mark to the Submit for Grading box and then select Submit. Module 3: Natural Forces Affecting the Driver Vocabulary: Please define six (6) of the following terms in your own words. Please do not just copy and paste the definition. 1.Gravity- Heaviness or weight. 2. Inertia- Inertness, especially with regard to effort, motion, action, and like ; inactivity; sluggishness. 3. Potential Energy- The energy of a body according to the position of the body 4. Kinetic Energy- The energy of a body according to the motion of the body or of the particles in the system. 5. Friction- Surface resistance to relative motion, as of a body sliding or rolling. 6. Traction- The adhesive friction of a body on some surface, as a wheel on a rail or a tire on a road. 7.Centrifugal Force- An outward force on a body rotating about an axis, assumed equal and opposite to the centripetal force and postulated to account for the phenomena seen by an observer in the rotating body. 8. Centripetal Force- The force, acting upon a body moving along a curved path, that is directed toward the center of curvature of the path and constrains the body to the path. 9. Deceleration 10. Force of impact- Module 4: Signs, Signals & Pavement Markings 1. Explain the purpose of the followingA. The difference between solid and broken lines is:B.Yellow lines (broken or solid) indicate what type of traffic flow:C. White lines (broken or solid) indicate what type of traffic flow:2. Observe and describe the different signs in YOUR city. Give specific examples of each (include color, shape, what the sign is for, etc. ).A. A regulatory sign:B. A motorist services sign:C. A recreational sign:D. A sign that you know what it means because of its shape:*If each of the above signs do not appear in your town then describe any 3 different types you see in your community. 3. Explain 3 interesting or important facts from Module 3 and 4. A. B. C.

The Great Depresion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Great Depresion - Research Paper Example Poverty was a major issue of that time as above 60 per cent people lived below the poverty level. The uneven division of wealth between the rich and the poor was the consequence of unequal distribution of funds and resources between agriculture and industry. Hundreds of thousands of Americans became unemployed during the Great Depression. The Great Depression marked the commencement of involvement of the government of America into the society in general and the economy in particular. The decade before 1929 was fairly prosperous and opportunistic for the American people. Then one day, on 29 October, 1929, the Great Depression started with the crash of the stock market. â€Å"During the next three years stock prices in the United States continued to fall, until by late 1932 they had dropped to only about 20 percent of their value in 1929† (Nelson n.d.). Panic struck the Americans as the stock prices fell down without any indication of recovery. This caused Americans to start sel ling their possessions in large numbers while the number of purchasers constantly declined. The stock market that seemed an obvious means to gain financial stability, rapidly transformed into the way to bankruptcy. The first and the foremost sufferers of the crash of the stock market were the banks which had taken money from the public and had invested in the stock markets. Crash of the stock market caused those banks to get closed. Closing of the banks added to the panic of the people of America. In an attempt to save their money by withdrawing it from the banks that were still open, Americans rushed towards the banks. The open banks were forced to close by such a massive withdrawal of savings. The banks were left with nothing to do business from. Lack of the ability of people to recover their savings from the bank after it had closed caused many who could not make it to the banks in time become bankrupt. The failure of banks was so immense that above 11000 of some 25000 bank in Am erica had closed between 1929 and 1933. â€Å"[T]hroughout the whole of this period there existed in one of the chief financial centres of the world a lack of balance between long- and short- term investment which was itself conducive to disequilibrium and latent with dangers of extensive catastrophe, should anything occur to disturb the insecure prosperity elsewhere† (Robbins 2007). The Great Depression also affected the business and industry in America. Companies started to downsize and reduce the salaries of their employees after they had lost a major portion of their equity in the bank closures and the crash of the stock market. On the other hand, there was an immense decline in the number of consumers as people controlled their savings, only to spend on things they could not live without rather than things that provided them with luxury. This attitude of the consumers served as a disincentive for the businesses and they were left with no option but to fire the employees and reduce the salaries of the remnants. Some businesses completely shattered and all of the employees were left unemployed. In any of such hard times that preceded the Great Depression, one community that was always able to survive was that of farmers as they at least used to have the stock to feed themselves. The Great Depression was a hard time even for the farmers as their plains were hit by a drought and a lot of powerful storms. The drought is

Bussiness plan of photography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bussiness plan of photography - Essay Example These include; increase in the flexibility of the business where by different colors of photos can be taken, different sizes, and different postures. The business also intends to employ experience and quality in order to attract and maintain many customers. The business also intends to expand and diversify its services such that it will be able to offer services such as printing of the photos, photo editing, framing and production. The business also intends to employ creativity and innovation in the business in order to come up with unique ideas. Photo-pix Studio aims at entering the international commercial photography market by the end of its third year in operation. Within these three years, the business also aims at having annual revenue of over $500 thousand. The business also aims at having wider market coverage with an established customer loyalty. Photo-pix Studio aims at serving a variety of customer (both businesses and individuals) in all their photography needs by creating excellent photos of a high quality and ensuring full customer satisfaction. Photo-pix Studio will be a sole proprietorship established within two miles from Berlin Side Walk. Start-up costs of the business include the licensing fees for obtaining the studio open space; marketing expenses in order to promote the business and rental fees for the studio. Other expenses include the acquisition of long-term assets such as cameras, flashes, lighting, tripods, and backdrops. Money for purchasing the assets and paying for the expenses will come from personal savings. If the personal savings are not enough, the business will take a long-term borrowing form a bank. The services to be offered by Photo-pix Studio include; full-time commercial photography, festive events photography services, Photo production, photo editing, framing photos, and digital editing work. The market for this business will include both business and

Unemployment in Macroeconomic Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Unemployment in Macroeconomic Theory - Essay Example The farmer will not get the job of the mismatch skills. Another cause of structural unemployment is the geographical immobility. This is a situation where an individual is not able to move to another place for a job opportunity. He or she mays decided to remain jobless due to the fact that he or she cannot move to another geographical area even if a job is guaranteed. Some of the reasons behind are family’s issues or health issues. One can leave a job opportunity and remain close to the family. Change in technology can also cause structural unemployment. This is because some people are resistant to change. When new technology is introduced, they find it difficult to adapt to its use. Some are forced to quit their jobs due to the technology illiteracy. However, structural unemployment issue can solved if people accept to go for retraining if they want to be considered in re-employment. People searching for jobs should also accept to change their geographical locations if the jo b opportunity demands them to. Furthermore those who are working in technology driven companies should be able to adjust to the changes in technology. Another type of unemployment is the frictional unemployment. This type of unemployment occurs when one leaves the current and become unemployed when he or she is still looking for another job. Some can leave their jobs just to have time to relax themselves (Wessels, 93). The main cause of this type of unemployment is the movement of people between jobs, locations or careers. One of the cause of this unemployment is when someone is fresh from college and do not understand the labor markets. The graduate will be expecting to get a better paying job. During this time... The intention of this study is to provide comprehensive theoretic analysis of the issue of unemployment and also determines the ways of addressing this problem, in order to achieve high levels of economic development. There are many effects that are caused by unemployment, which can either be direct or indirect. Unemployment is situations where people who get job they are searching. These people do have any income. They have to look for other options that will help them get jobs. Unemployment can either be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary unemployment is where one renders himself or herself jobless knowingly. This is caused by many factors both economical and in the markets. Another type of unemployment is the structural unemployment. This is a type of unemployment where capital labor situations make people to be unemployed. These capital labor situations reduced labor demand. Structural unemployment always occurs when the new job vacancies mismatch with the skills that are available. Frictional unemployment occurs when one leaves the current and become unemployed when he or she is still looking for another job. Some can leave their jobs just to have time to relax themselves Cyclic unemployment is the most volatile type. It is caused by lack of goods and services demand. It is sometimes referred to as demand deficient unemployment because it is related to the economic capacity. It always occurs when GDP growth rate moves in moves in different direction with the rate of employment.

Importance of ERP systems for its success in the business environment Dissertation

Importance of ERP systems for its success in the business environment through solutions - Dissertation Example The constant support and guidance helped in gaining multiple perspectives and understanding over the research topic. The researcher would also like to thank his professors for offering profound insights on the research topic along with helping in forming deeper understanding over the research topic. The researcher feels proud of his University on offering all the possible help and support by allowing access to the library and electronic sources. This helped in exploring the research area in a systematic manner. The help and support of family and friends often act as a support system and the researcher would like to thank his family members for being there and supporting him during the research process. Their constant motivation and guidance helped in being positive and enthusiastic while conducting the research. The researcher feels happy to state the significance of friends in terms of offering critical views and opinions along with helping in thinking differently through logical di scussions. The support and cooperation of friends helped in gaining multiple insights over the research topic along with being critical in assessing personal understanding of the research topic. Overall, the researcher would like to thank everyone who has been a constant support and medium of motivation in the research process. ... The introduction chapter introduces the research topic along with stating the aim, objectives and research questions. The chapter also explains the scope of the research topic along with highlighting its rationale. The literature review helped in investigating the elements of the ERP along with exploring its benefits and risks in the competitive business environment. The literature review also helped in investigating issues and reasons resulting in the success and failure of the ERP systems. In order to explore more, a robust research methodology has been designed using positivism research philosophy and deductive research approach to analyse secondary data and information. The findings and analysis revealed that ERP Systems succeed mainly because of the organisational culture and support, cooperation and acceptance offered by internal stakeholders. The case studies of Dell and Fox Meyer revealed that Dell succeeded in its ERP implementation mainly because of effective and judicious planning while Fox Meyer failed because there was no planning and human resources were not trained or skilled enough to handle the challenges and complexities of ERP systems. Overall, it was concluded that in order to derive benefits from ERP systems, it is important to understand the use and purpose of ERP along with assessing the organisational culture and stakeholders’ acceptance for the ERP Systems. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1.Introduction 5 1.1introduction 5 1.2 Research Aim 6 1.3 Research Objectives 6 1.4 Research Questions 6 1.5 Research Topic within the Current Academic Literature 7 1.6 Relevance of the Research Topic 9 1.7: Contemporary Nature of the Study 10 1.8 Summary 10 Chapter 2.0 Literature Review 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Elements and Modules of ERP 11 2.3

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 134

Essay Example standards, innovation style, experimentation with drugs, alternative sexualities, interest in eastern religion, and rejection of materialism and claims of national consciousness. Kerounac, one of the ‘beat’ writers allows that it was it was street hustler Harbert Huncke who originally used the phrase ‘beat’ in an earlier discussion with him. ‘beat’ could colloquially mean ‘beaten down’ with the African-American community of the period and had developed from the image ‘beat to his socks’. One of the beat writers however altered the image and the meaning to include the connotations upbeat, beatific and a musical association of being ‘on the beat. John Clellon Holmes writes the article ‘This is the Beat Generation’ in New york Times Magazine in November 16, 1952 which gives several sentiments about the generation culture. The first concern is an eighteen-year old California girl who had been picked up for smoking marijuana and wanted to talk about it. In view of her contention, one of every five people you meet from the beat generation is a user of marijuana and people should leave them alone to do their own things. The writer is also concerned with a girl sentiment in a court courthouse for stealing a car and says that she believed small business to be dead and it intended to become a comfortable cog in the in the largest corporation it could find. The same generation is caught in the uncovering of the first non-virgin club in Illinois. The writer brings out the image of a group that drinks themselves to relaxation and as a way to solve their problems. Their sexuality morals are in question when the author points out that secretary of the beat generation are confused if to sleep with their boyfriends anytime, anywhere or to wait. They drink around and drive off to Detroit on a whim. The author sees the origin of the word ‘beat’ as obscure. To him it implies the feeling of having been used while still raw. He interprets it like some

The Implications of Reconstruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Implications of Reconstruction - Essay Example 562). Reconstruction's biggest failure was the backlash that was created when Northern Republicans attempted to rule the South. The backlash resulted in violent hate groups that disrupted the political system, and the lives of African-Americans for the next 100 years. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were all passed during the era of reconstruction. These important amendments prohibited slavery, guaranteed the freed slaves citizenship, and granted them the right to vote, but were largely unenforceable in the South. However, these amendments would form the foundation for the Civil Rights movement 100 years later. Reconstruction ended when the disputed election of 1876 saw the Republican Rutherford B Hayes gain the presidency, even though the electoral votes were in dispute. In return, Hayes agreed to remove the federal troops from the South and not oppose the newly formed Democratic governments there (Zuczek 171). This spelled an end to Reconstruction and another 100 years of racial violence, segregation, and discrimination. By the late 19th century, African-Americans had still not realized the American dream of liberty and the right to vote, or the constitutional guarantees that came with the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

The transformation in the banking system in the lead-up of the Global Essay

The transformation in the banking system in the lead-up of the Global Financial Crisis - Essay Example The paper tells that the Global Financial Crisis started with the collapse of biggest (in terms of financial status and business of these companies) financial companies of the world, including Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. The crisis situation became worst in 2007 when financial intermediaries like banks of USA were in a position to announce themselves as bankrupts. In this time the US government intervened into the matter and provided the necessary financial support to these banks and financial intermediaries and slightly controlled the crisis situation. The financial crisis situation occurred because of the strategy of those financial intermediaries to provide various types of loans, such as house loans, car loans etc., to individuals and business organizations. The crisis situation became worst when these loans or hedge funds have been circulated to different layers in the banking transactions all around the world. Increase in the layers of providing loans to different sectio ns of the world economy has caused these financial intermediaries to suffer from greater risks of default of loans. The risk has been at high because default of one of the person or organization could have resulted in the default of the entire system of circulation of loans. In the mid-2007 this has actually happened and the entire financial system of the country collapsed. This crisis situation eventually transferred into several other countries of the world, including developed countries like United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and developing countries like India and China (James, 2011, pp. 19-22). With significant disturbance in the housing markets of USA economic and financial systems of countries across the globe has been disturbed and financial companies started to reduce their economic as well as financial activities which in effect reduced the level of economic activities across the globe. In the beginning of 2008, greater liquidity crisis in the US financial mark et and in the US banking system caused countries across the globe to suffer from severe financial crisis situation. The reduction in housing prices and real estate prices across the US caused many large financial intermediaries and banks to suffer from loss of capital and funds. These have eventually reduced the amount of investments made in the process of developing world economies and hence countries started to suffer from severe financial crisis as well as debt crisis. During this time most of the effected countries tried to implement various policies and strategies to transform the banking system to reduce the effects of the Global Financial Crisis (Campbell, 2011, pp. 217-219). Transformation of banking in New Zealand: After the introduction of the Global Financial Crisis in the period of 2007 and 2008, many countries started to implement various macroeconomic as well as various microeconomic policies in order to reduce the intensity of the crisis to affect these economies. New Zealand also affected badly like other developed nations of the world by the Global Financial Crisis and hence, the government of New Zealand took several policies to transform the financial system of the country into more financially stable and operationally strong position. The financial system

The value of communication skills in the workplace Research Paper

The value of communication skills in the workplace - Research Paper Example o and Sanchez believe that â€Å"if the idea received is not the one intended, communication has not taken place; the sender has merely spoken or written† (Guo & Sanchez, 2005, p.78). The present study focuses on the skills of communication that are necessary within an organization for achieving successful communication between the organizational employees. As Guffey & Loewy reflect in their views, effective communication is essential within an organization for advancements of the organization. Organizational members including leaders, managers, supervisors and employees need to communicate well among themselves. Proper skills of communication are hence necessary both within the organization as well as outside. Excellent communication skills enable an organization to advance more than others. In today’s organizations there is a greater need to understand different data, figures and words where written communications also prove to be highly significant (Guffey & Loewy, 2010, p.30). It can thus be said that communication in any form proves significant in order to pass any message internal or external to an organization. Guffey & Loewy also mentioned that today’s business organizations reflect dynamic trends where there is tremendous need for excellent communication. This is accompanied by flattened hierarchies of the organizational managements, expansion of the management based on teams, use of innovative technologies for the purpose of communication particularly where the office works occur anywhere and at anytime, diverse workforce, as well as enhanced focus on business ethics (Guffey & Loewy, 2010, p.30). Hence it can be realized that modifications in businesses in the present times require that organizational members are strong in their communication capabilities. This would enable messages to be communicated effectively. Effective decision-making may be obtained in this way with exchange of needful information. Also, effective communication would allow

Should The Supreme Court Essay Example for Free

Should The Supreme Court Essay The Supreme Court’s power of judicial review should not be strictly limited by a constitutional amendment because the simple fact what if you do a judgment that they are not in the right of? If the judge is proved wrong then it will be appealed. For an example we the people shouldn’t be judged because what if one commits the same crime and does it intentionally such as killing someone and then someone does it to protect them and their family from harm if someone broke into their home and was coming at them and the only thing was to kill them to keep from getting their children or self harmed. The cons of this is that what if we are wanting a law passed and it gets rejected and we the voters can’t have any say of it. For example switching books in the schools for more modern technology like Ipads what if the children don’t understand the work very well and needs more studying time, they won’t be allowed to take them home. They should make the law of going back to older days when all the technology wasn’t out just books, pencils, and paper! The pros is that the Judicial branch can have the power to view the laws of the other two branches and has an important role playing of the check and balancing system. So when you sit down and think about it its like they are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. They are sometimes to many decisions and too many judges at one time.

Toyotas Ethical Issues

Toyotas Ethical Issues Business ethics, guiding decision-makings and policies, is concerned with good and bad or right and wrong behaviors and practices within business context(Carroll and Buchholtz, 2008, p242). Based on its great influence on the thinking and acting of all economic entities, whether private companies or state-owned enterprises, business ethics has become a real hot business principle. It appertains to relations between stakeholders and shareholders, between employees and employers, between customers and corporation; it dedicated to product quality, customer satisfaction as well as social responsibility. With the imperative consensus on the reconstruction of social values, business ethics is bound to be pivot and prerequisite for business. However, Carroll and Buchholtz (2008) stated actual business ethics seems to be improving but not at the same pace as public expectations are rising(Carroll, 2008, p242). Furthermore, the economic globalization piles increasing pressure on international business ethics. From the case of Toyotas recall problem, it is drawn that business ethics is ubiquitous and affects a companys development and prosperity strongly. For the purpose of this essay, it is essential to identify its significance and implementation in enterprises. This essay will firstly elaborate Toyotas ethical dilemma involved in its recall. Following this, it will analysis the origin that creates Toyotas ethical dilemma, with a combination of some related theories about business ethics, such as Stakeholder Model, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Finally, some considerable recommendations for Toyota to address this problem will also be made. 2.0 Toyotas Ethical Dilemma General Background of Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan. Through tremendous development, it currently boasts about 183 billion in annual sales and is the worlds largest automaker, which has the business of which covers many countries and territories including America, Europe, Africa and Asia (Pride et al, 2009, p243). Since its foundation, Toyota continuously conducted business activities under the guiding principle of contributing to the development of a prosperous society through the manufacture of automobiles. The guiding principle, as well as Toyotas CSR policies, serves as the foundation of its business (Toyota Official Website, 2010). However, now Toyota faces a series of embarrassment caused by its vehicle recall. In the beginning of 2010, due to a defect in its accelerator pedals, the company recalled eight million cars around the world (The Times, 2010). The global large-scale recall focalized Toyota once again. Ethical Problem Involved in Toyotas Recall Apart from its quality defect, more and more people began to accuse of Toyotas loss of ethics as a big business before and during its recall. Despite under multi-accusation and criticism, lacking initiative, Toyota did not respond timely. Originally, it attributed the safety issue to the floor mats and denied defective vehicles design; subsequently, its quality problems can not be covered up any longer. Nevertheless, in order for protecting its own business interests and corporate image, Toyota still took the chances and did not recall involving vehicles. Even when appearing in the U.S. Congressional hearings, Toyoda firmly insist that electronic throttle control system has nothing to do with the safety issue, throwing the issue of pedal safety to Toyotas suppliers. More specifically, according to U.S. lawmakers, Toyota hid internal test data in its secret book and refused to hand over evidence of safety defects involving its cars. At the same time, documents obtained by the Congress ional Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee demonstrated that Toyota deliberately withheld key information of crash victims (The Times, 2010). Finally, Toyota could not quibble about its intention to try to conceal the defect or reduce the recall range, which is also a direct challenge to its reputation. Clearly, Toyotas approach is not a right one that a responsible company should adopt when problems exist. To some extent, this is not a blunder of its decision-making but the lack of business ethics. Effects of the Ethical Problem to Toyota At present, Toyotas recall problem seems not to be curbed but ever-widening. Having recalled a wide scope of vehicles, Toyota still has to face the U.S. criminal probe and litigation. What is more severe, with its market having been seriously affected, Toyota also suffered a crisis of confidence worldwide, which is undoubtedly a deadly threat to the worlds top-ranked automaker. It is considered that Toyota has paid a terrible price due to ethical dilemma rather than quality problems. 3.0 Analysis and Discussion There are multiple reasons that caused Toyotas recall crisis, including supply chain mismanagement and its stringent cost control etc. While, the root on ethical dimension should not be neglected. Toyota Attach Great Importance to Economic Benefits but Neglect Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Toyota exceeds General Motors in 2008 as the worlds largest automaker. It is in this process that Toyota introduced a relentless cost control and simultaneously reduces its concern for quality. Toyoda acknowledged that in the past decades, Toyota was committed to expanding business scale and economic benefits, elevating market share and lowering costs; while giving up priority to product safety. In the harsh reality of competition, Toyota gradually goes away from the traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) it has been proud of in a sense. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business concern for societys welfare; a capacity to treat the stakeholders of the firm ethically or in a responsible way, and it is interpreted by managers who consider both the long-range best interest of the company itself and its harmonious relationship to the surrounding society (Lamb, 2008, p66). As for its wider aim, Hopkins(2007) suggested that it is to create the higher and higher standards of living for people both within and outside a certain company, while preserving the profitability of this focal corporation (Hopkins, 2007, p16). Corporate Social Responsibility is comprised of three concepts, including Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR1), Corporate Social Responsiveness(CSR2) and Corporate Social Rectitude(CSR3). Banerjee (2007) defined CSR2 as the ability of a corporation to respond to social pressures. Compared to CSR1, which has a normative basis to instruct a company what should to do, CSR2 provides a more strategic and managerial focus; that is, it is about what issues a firm choose to address and its policies and actions to address the issue (Banerjee, 2007, p20). CSR2 can be reactive, defensive or responsive. Unfortunately, Toyota adopted the reactive one; it did not make an active response, let alone an effective one. It was not until the crisis went beyond control that Toyoda appeared to apologized to the consumer and explained the situation. To our knowledge, CSR2 is a part of social policy process, whose concentration is on the organizational process for determining implementing and evaluating the firms capacity to anticipate, respond to and manage the issues and problems arising from claims of stakeholders (Sims, 2003, p51). The undisputed is that in its CSR2 process, Toyotas reac tion is passive and slow all the time, which also illustrated its attitude as prevaricated, procrastinative and arrogant. When it comes to CSR3, it refers to the moral correctness of the policies or actions taken (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2008, p56). Frederick in 1987 indicated CSR3 involved a pervasive sense of rightness, respect and humanity that would put publics values and ethics at the center of the companys concern, policies and main decision-makings (Scherer, 2008, p57-58). However, in its recall process, Toyota treated consumers in different regions in significantly differentiated way. As can be seen from Figure3.1, compared to the large amount of recalled vehicles in U.S. and European markets, the number of those in Japanese, in particular Chinese market is very small. In China, the worlds fourth largest market of Toyota in 2009, the recalled number is only 75,552, only accounting for one-tenth of Toyotas total sales in China, and one-third of the quantity recalled in Japan. What is more, type recalled is only the RAV4, while others are excluded. However, they belong to the list of Camry, Crolla and Highlander that has been recalled in U.S. market. Meantime, observant people have found such a delicate situation. In the U.S., in addition to apologizing, Toyota would also pay a high cost, which is comprised of not only the huge recall loss and kinds of fine, but also claims from U.S. consumers. Yet for Chinese consumers, Toyota is unwilling to provide alternatives, let alone financial compensation. Undeniably, Toyota is quite familiar with the hidden rules in Chinese auto market, where a comprehensive recall system has not been established, and it is adopting an appropriate way in accordance with Chinese law to deal with the recall. However, for Toyotaa company who always seek excellence, not breaking the relevant laws and regulations is not enough to convince people. In the CSR3 context, Toyota did not serve Chinese customers who are the same important to it equally. Although within the law, its discrimination against Chinese consumers is not an ethical behavior. Source: China News (up to 10 February, 2010) -Toyota Puts its Focus on Shareholders but not Stakeholders From a general view it seems that corporate stakeholders show the trend of proliferation and diversification. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify and thus effectively balancing the interests and needs of various stakeholders. To achieve this, it can draw reference to the Shareholder and Stakeholder Model. The Shareholder Model, known as an external and independent orientation, is to improve the wealth prospects of investors. On the contrary, firms who adhere to the Stakeholder Model promote an internal control focus and will promote its performance and thereby offer favorable returns for stakeholders who share an interest in the company. This will stimulate a supportive and positive environment for the company (Kakabadse, 2004, p234). In the recall, the stakeholders facing Toyota is not just consumers, but also government, regulators, competitors and media etc.. Hence, Toyota should not only be quick to solve problem in recall, but also be cautious to balance its stakeholders expec tations and needs. Kakabadse (2004) also pointed that the pursuit of profit for shareholders may become secondary when aim of Shareholder Model sharply conflict with the broader stakeholders requirements. Put in another way, Stakeholder Model should be preoccupied with wealth creation for shareholders; if not, there will exist great contradictions between corporates economic benefits and stakeholders interest, leading enterprises into ethical censure. Toyotas recall problem is just a typical. Toyota, addicted to the competition with General Motors, has been expanding its global scale. However, its proud Lean Manufacturing loses control after rapidly spreading all over the world, with the balance between minimum cost and optimal products being broken. In order to maintain constant revenue, Toyota place cost reduction overwhelmed, largely abandoning stakeholders interests; therefore its product quality problems are boomed to arise. In a sense, it is because Toyota ignored a balance of interests of stakeholders that contributed to its present ethical dilemma. Recommendations Restore the Situation Now the primary task for Toyota is to contain the intensified situation. It has been found that product recall has become one of the recognized best practices to maintain corporate reputation when quality problem and crisis emerged. So it is acceptable that Toyota recall all of its defective vehicles regardless of their amount. Although great expenditure on recall is unavoidable and the brand may be frustrated severely, but consistent large-scale recall will allow consumers to experience Toyotas sincerity and faith; that is, its ethical commitment as a responsible big business, which will enable Toyota to win more loyal customers. From the viewpoint of long-term, it is still beneficial and adoptable. At the same time, compared with that about its vehicle defects, the criticism is more about Toyotas passive attitude. So Toyota should lower its profile to actively cooperate with all involved stakeholders including those investigation departments to expect a clear description of the inc ident. Re-establish Image and Credibility To a certain extent, Toyotas original good image in the minds of consumers has been subverted because of the recall. If Toyota had made sincere response to consumers, the product problem may not turn into todays huge crisis. So it is urgent for Toyota to take positive actions and re-establish its image and credibility. Some practical ways to be considered are as follows. Firstly, Toyota must re-win consumers confidence and support. On the one hand, it could modestly listen to customers opinions and feedback to effectively address their concerns; on the other hand, Toyota may visit its clients frequently to show its stick to quality and safety; last but not the least, it must act in a moral way to treat every consumer fair. Overall, Toyota should spare no efforts to get customers understanding and continued support. Secondly, Toyota could actively corporate with some powerful media who act as the governments mouthpiece to publicize its correct behaviors. With positive publicity or pro motion of those media, it is feasible for Toyota to re-create its image as a noble company and to restore consumers confidence to it. Revise its Vulnerabilities Business ethics, as the same as a companys commercial objective, can be achieved by management. Among them, communication plays an essential role. Besides, the reason why Toyota fell into troubled water is not just confined to those ones stated above; it is also because Toyota failed to meet the expectations of international media and consumers to handle problem crisply. Because there exist flaws on the respect of its communication management. In fact, as a multinational corporation, Toyota still followed the traditional Japanese-style communication, which is often procrastinative and burdensome. Meanwhile, as far as the balance between the interests of stakeholders is concerned, the issue worthy to review for Toyota is still its management of communication with its stakeholder. However, it is never too late to correct. The lessons drawn from this crisis is that Toyota should stress and enhance its communication management. Moreover, for Toyota, strategic communication should be emph asized, which should be used not only as a means or method of conflict resolution, but also as a tactic from the strategic perspective. To establish strategic communication, it is far enough to launch kinds of internal and external communication mechanisms; what is more important, various communication methods, such as international public relations, lobbying and advertising etc. should be made the most of. On the basis of communications great importance for multinational company to solve or eliminate ethical conflict, Toyota should pay attention to it. Conclusion Laura Hartman (2003), past president of the Society for Business Ethics, said that business ethics, whose focus is on corporate citizenship and ethical management behaviors, recognizes principled leadership, moral awareness and participates in social changes (Vega, 2007, p648). However, in the process of business internationalization, the biggest challenge facing a company derived not only from its business objective, profit, the strategy and the technology; but also from the lack of business ethics, which support its ongoing survival. Toyota is one that suffered ethical crisis caused by its vehicle recall. It attaches much more importance to economic benefits than Corporate Social Responsibility, and also focus on shareholders but not stakeholders; all these produced its current ethical dilemma. As can be seen from the Toyota case, an enterprise, even a big one, must respect ethical issues. In this regard, an effective communication, as a tactic or a strategy, can help to solve ethi cal conflicts and balance interests of stakeholders. In short, business ethics is going from the edge to the center of management and becomes the strategy of corporation. So any corporation should value ethics and regard it as the starting point of any decision-making and action. Only when its wealth objective is consistent with the expectations and request of both the public and society, it can get enough support and achieve further success.

Role of the US President

Role of the US President Who Wants This Job? Government 2305: Professor: John Sutter Student: Cathy Lynch Date: March 18, 2015 Who Wants This Job? Would you want to be President of the United States of America, Why? We hear and read political news from the television, radio, internet, special interest blogs, news papers and magazines, for those who still read hard copy printed material, and of course Barbra-shop gossip. After listening to what sounded like tongue and cheek, total organized chaos, back-biting, mudslinging, political undermining pitting party against party issues against issues, dealing with millions of other people’s lives in totality for generations to come †¦etc, the proverbial question seem fitting to ponder, Who wants this job and why? This essay sets out to investigate by reviewing articles, books, video commentaries and documentaries of individuals who may consider being president of the United States of America. First let’s look into the prerequisites in order to become president of the United States. According to our Constitution, Article II, Section 1, which place minimal requirements seem like the best place to start. The U.S.Constitutionâ€Å"Article II Section 1 Clause 5 expresses â€Å"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of thisConstitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. (Roland 2008) A little fun fact, on who was the youngest and eldest president to service USA: Theodore Roosevelt (42 years, 10 months, 18 days) Ronald Reagan (69 years, 11 months, 14 days) (Rosenberg n.d.) Only native-born U.S. citizens (or those born abroad, but only to parents at least one of whom was a U.S. citizen at the time) may serve president of the United States. Of course, like many things there are from time to time requirements are called into question, such as most recent current event the potential 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R – Texas).† (Trethan n.d.) One of his parents is from another country Cuba, the other is a native-born U. S. Citizen, and yet they resided in Canada where Ted Cruz was born making him to posses multiple citizenships [Canadian, American and Cuban].Would this be a hindrance or an asset to American if he were to be elected as President? Actually the reality is our Constitution indicates native born. However, Ted Cruz, isn’t the first, nor the last to have their citizenship questioned. For an example Obama, Kenya or Hawaii? Term limit amendment according to US Constitution, Amendment XXII, Section 1 ratified February 27, 1951 states, No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. (Hickok n.d.) But there are much more for a potential president nominee to be considered. We Americans are very demanding. We want what we want, and we want it NOW; if we don’t get it, we won’t stand behind the leader of the band, [the President]. A good example is when Ben laud in was captured; all praise was given, but then a few months down the road, we turned our backs on the President because we didn’t like what he did on another issue. After all, the President is a mouth piece for our country, the leader of the executive branch of the federal government of our grand country, the head of state, head of government, the commander-in-chief of our military armed forces. He makes laws, has the power to veto them, a leader of a vast economy and nuclear arsenal responsibilities to know when to hold and when to fold, as they sing in the country and western song the Gambler. He sometimes has to gamble with people’s lives too. Would you consider the position of presidency as the most powerful held position a person could hold in the world? This job requires one in power to execute of federal law, appoint other political executive, and judicial officers. The president comprises therein treaties with foreign powers with the help of the Senate, which may or may not be of his own party. He’s also the person that takes the heat when separate powers don’t want to play ball due to special interest group contributions, and other enticements. He must be well connected in order for fundraising for campaigning, to get elected, re-elected and other expenditures. He must possess the power of persuasion, have thick skin. Hey the political arena can be brutal and strip one to the bone and hang them out to dry without a blink of an eye. Who would and why would someone put them self and family through such torture? For the good of the nation or is there more too it? What does the President get in return for four year term of service? From the very beginning of our great nation’s first constitution to now most leaders are already wealthy and set well in life and business. So becoming a federal leader for the pay isn’t much of a motivator being the president currently collects the amount of $200.000 $500.000 annually for services rendered, depending on the president, of course. Thanks to Clinton who signed legislature to provide the presidency their first pay-raise since 1969 from $100.000 to $200.000. (Howstuffworks 2000). That seems like a lot to us average income earners doesn’t it? But if you think about their expenses, and all they are required to do, even with an expense account of $50,000.00, that amount doesn’t go very far. Actually they make more than that in their private lives of business. So what’s the motivation to become President? There’s free housing in the grandest best well kept house in the nation, the white house; unlimited access to Camp David, Travel and meet with very important, influential people and other nation leaders. But also keep in mind, they are putting their lives on the line every time, in spite of body guards around the clock and everywhere they go. They live under a microscope too; also one can never please everyone. There is always something brewing, scheming and always a problem to fix and improvements to be made if they can get the opposing party to comprise. They have the weight of the World, Our Nation, Congress, Constituents, not to mention their own personal family upon their shoulders. When the president decides to retire they receive some lifetime and some time restricted benefits. However, they do have an option to relinquish these benefits and services. Post presidency, what is it like? Life after being a president has its reward system well in place. The United States have had eight presidents meet their demise while in office. Four of those were assassinated, (Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John Kennedy). One president resigned (Richard Nixon), and two presidents were impeached, (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton), though not convicted. (2000Josh Clark). As a rule most presidents serve one to two – four year terms; then either get re-elected, defeated or retire. Living in such intensity under a microscope some retire out of the public lime light. Other’s profit from their published and distributed memoirs, some get involved in speech circuit, and some utilize their distinction toward business improvement, as Jimmy Carter is known for being the most successful post president. However, not all post presidents get out from public eye, instead they may continue to move forward by being nominated into the House of Representatives or Supreme Courts. As in the early times, the departing presidents would merely pat upon the back, given an Atta boy; when the Former President Act (federal law) was expedited by Congress back in 1958 this act was to provide an annual pension of $25,000. Of recent, according to an article posted on the About News website post president’s pay and compensation consist of the receipt of several lifetime benefits which entitle them to: Annual pension An annual pension of $400,000 which is equal to the executive head level I. In addition to their spouse who also receives an annual pension of $20,000., providing they do not accept additional benefits. This benefit start immediately upon the vacating their presidential position. Staff and office expenses – Transitional fund, are labeled for expenditures of vacating the office available up to seven months (It covers office space, staff compensation, communications services, and printing and postage associated with the transition). However in addition to the transitional fund, there is also revenue provided for the departing president’s private staff and office thanks to the Administrator of General Services Administration. Medical care or health insurance Post presidential is entitled to medical treatment in Veteran’s hospitals thanks to Management and Budget Office charges are discounted by interagency rates. Two-term presidents have an option to purchase medical insurance provided by the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program Secret Service protection—Post presidential and their family members use to be entitled to a lifetime of secret service protection. Then when Clinton was post president the SSP were only for ten years. However, current president Obama signed legislation reinstating lifetime protectionin 2013 for him and other post presidential. (Longley 2014) We have covered a lot about why anyone would want to be president, but we hadn’t mentioned anything about their political aspects, admirations and goals to further our country into all its glory, an improved nation. Nor have we mentioned anything about We the people being considered or being the main focus. Though, we are certain being these men and women of today’s political world have many fires to start and to put out being the great successful leaders that they are have us in mind, have our country in mind. After all, it’s their country too and they live in it too. They are not above the law even though they may receive extra perks here and there†¦ It merely proves these intelligent leaders, know what they want earlier on in their life, because politics is a lifelong commitment; as simple as step 1, 2 3; to get your foot in the door, to follow, to rule, to lead, and to succeed as an individual as well as a country. Would you want this job? Why or Why not is something amazing to ponder? It’s not the kind of job a lazy person, that is uneducated, lack morals, and integrity to embark upon. It is a position of distinction, reverence and money, keen communication skills, the ability to persuade and work well with others, know the law, and how to select their supporters to help manage the Oval Office and foreign affairs, an innovative thinking and producer of excellence. This is why everyone should vote in all elections local, state as well as governmental levels. Obama stated this morning on telecast news on channel 8, if Everyone would vote the results would outnumber the money. It is crucial to arm one’s knowledge banks regarding worldwide politics, voice ones opinion by voting. It is our right, and a privilege we may not have in the future, if not exercised now and every time there is an election. References Hickok, Eugene. Amendment XXII . http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/the-amendments/amendment-22-presidential-term-limits (accessed March 13, 2015). Howstuffworks. August 21, 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. http://money.howstuffworks.com/question449.htm> (accessed March 17, 2015). Longley, Robert. Presidential pay and Compensation. April 22, 2014. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/presidentialpay.htm?utm_term=Benefits of Being Presidentutm_content=p1-main-4-titleutm_medium=sem-relutm_source=msnutm_campaign=adid-928de88a-d94c-40b9-b35c-49ea4f7fca65-0-ab_msb_ocode-28810 (accessed March 15, 2015). Roland, Jon. Presidential Eligibility. April 13, 2008. http://www.constitution.org/abus/pres_elig.htm (accessed March 17, 2015). Rosenberg, Jemmofer. About Education 20th Century History Expert. http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldleaders/a/youngpresidents.htm (accessed March 17, 2015). Trethan, Phaedra. Requirements to Service as President of the United States Now accepting Applications. Edited by Phaedra Trethan. Camden Courier-Post. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/presrequire.htm (accessed March 14, 2015).

Charles Fraziers Use of Music in Cold Mountain Essay -- Charles Frazi

Charles Frazier's Use of Music in Cold Mountain The American Civil War was a bitter, grief-filled conflict with oddly musical overtones. A Southern soldier, Alexander Hunter, recalled that â€Å"There was music in plenty,† (Lawrence 169) just as Charles Frazier’s character Stobrod in Cold Mountain remarks that â€Å"there was so much music back then† (407). While both the Union and the Confederacy placed great import on music, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier focuses primarily on the Southern perspective of the war, in all of its aspects. Spiritual music gave soldiers hope, gave them something cheerful to listen to after their days of slogging through the grime of human remains, as Inman discovers during his journey. Songs of homecoming and perseverance also strengthened the women, children, and parents left behind, waiting with fearful hopes for the return of their loved ones. Ada’s continual reference to â€Å"Wayfaring Stranger† illustrates this point beautifully. Finally, the musical natures of both armies created a bond that otherwise would not have been possible, forming brief alliances among enemies. The impact of music during this period of American history was so great that General Robert E. Lee was heard to say â€Å"I don’t believe we can have an army without music† (Wiley qtd. in Waller and Edgington 147). Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain exemplifies this statement, interweaving music throughout the struggles of Ada and Inman, using it as a tool to express emotion and to give a common thread to the broken culture that was the American South. The dissonant harmonies of Civil War-era music both complemented and contrasted itself, creating new forms from old ones and forging bonds where there had been nothing. Hope was a rare p... ...ow Music Shaped the Confederacy, 1861- 1865. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole, 2000. netLibrary, U of Denver Penrose Library. 15 April 2004 . â€Å"Aura Lea.† Music of the War Between the States. 24 April 2004 Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain. New York: Vintage, 1998. Hill, Lois. â€Å"Lorena.† Poems and Songs of the American Civil War. 23 April 2004 . P. Wilson, Keith. Campfires of Freedom: The Camp Life of Black Soldiers During the Civil War. Kent: Kent State U P, 2002. S.A., R. â€Å"God Save the South!† Ballads of the North and South in the Civil War. Comp. Walbrook D. Swank Colonel, USAF RET. Shippensburg: Burd Street P, 1996. 66. W. Sears, Stephen. To The Gates of Richmond. New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1992. Waller, Lynn, and William P. Edgington. â€Å"Using Songs to Help Teach the Civil War.† Social Studies 92.4 (2001): 147- 150.

Leadership Essay -- essays research papers

Leadership: The Human Vessel to the New Business Frontier As our workforces grow more diverse every day, and customers are demanding better, faster, and less expensive service, companies are faced with the challenges to create and meet the changes necessary to remain in business. The organizational environment must also learn to assess the direction of these changes while also being able to respond successfully to those that roll in at a completely different direction than expected. The leadership required to handle these wonderfully tumultuous times, so that organizations in transition remain profitable, is crucial.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today’s companies become successful based on their abilities to create and manage change. They can no longer survive without “…courage and imagination – the courage to challenge prevailing business models and the imagination to invent new markets.'; As the globe continues to evolve into a marketplace with vanishing boundaries, competition becomes stronger, tighter, and smarter than ever before, ultimately forcing organizational change. The tidal strength of competition that has been upon us over the past few decades has fundamentally changed the “blueprints'; of many corporations and how they now need to be led. Businesses have awakened to the hard fact that leadership can no longer be defined by the effective management of people and systems, but most importantly by the effective leading of change. Leadership, or the lack thereof, is proving to be one of the most crucial determinants of whether organizations will survive and flourish in the next century’s business frontier. “We live in an era of organizational reengineering. To become or remain competitive, leaders often must realize improvement through radical change, or reengineering.'; As defined by Jon R. Katzenbach, author of Real Change Leaders, radical changes are: Those situations in which corporate performance requires most people throughout the organization to learn new behaviors and skills. These new skills must add up to a competitive advantage for the enterprise allowing it to produce better and better performance in shorter and shorter time frames. The changes that are most relevant are those that demand companies to redefine their org... ...within their organizations as the primary factor for success. Although empowerment has become somewhat of a “buzz'; word within the business arena, it’s power is nonetheless stronger than any other tool used by leaders to get results from people. Because in its most simple form, empowerment is sharing the decision-making process with others, it is closely related to courage. Those companies that have stood the test of time, such as Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Nordstrom, and Wal-Mart have infused into their organizations the practices of empowering their employees. Leaders of the future must have the strength and fearlessness to go against the grain of old assumptions or paradigms. They must continue to trailblaze in their efforts to see that the organizations of the next century will remain in tact. They will be the encouragers of change for positive results; they will be the beacons that the others look to guide the ship through any storm; they will hold their heads high in recognition of success and have the courage to admit when outcomes are not what they had planned. Tomorrow’s leaders of change rise to the occasion and take the others with them.

Milk Analysis

Milk The movie â€Å"Milk† was based on a true story of a gay activist in San Francisco, Harvey Milk. Milk shows his story through his statements through a recording made before he was assassinated. He narrated what happened to him during the last eight years of his life (40-48). It showed how confidently Milk went out of the closet and fight for the rights of gays. Milk became the representative of the growing population of gays in San Francisco. Milk eventually ran for the office because being in the office will be the best way to easily fight for gay rights.Milk won and at the same time, another politician who was against the ideologies of Milk won also, Dan White. This marks the growing conflicts between the two. White regards gay as social deviants. Not only did he consider gays as social deviants but also Asians especially the Chinese people but Milk showed no hostility towards White in fact he tried to work professionally as co-politicians with White but in the end of t he movie, Milk was killed by White.Relating to the course, homosexuals can be considered as deviants because they violate the gender norms which includes only male and female but for me, homosexuals nowadays should not be cons idered deviants at all because a large percentage of the world’s population includes homosexuals already and as I can remember through our discussions in class, in order to be considered deviant, these people should represent only a small number of people but relating to the movie, what Milk has done can be considered as tertiary deviance. Tertiary deviance is a deviant act when an individual tries to label a deviant act as non -deviant.As portrayed in the movie, Milk fought for gay rights. He wanted people to regard gays as equal with the heterosexuals and normal people. In the movie, Milk managed his being homosexual through his charismatic characteristics as a gay activist he believed that he can be an effective re presentative of the gay community b ecause a lot of people liked him whether gay or straight. A lot of people supported his ideas since he was the first ever gay who had been elected for a position in the government. The society had different reaction to Milk’s actions.There are people who like him and supported him and there are also people who stayed as homophobic and believed that gay people should not be given jobs as teachers because they believe that these gays will just teach their children to also be gays. Reactions of people were different from one another depending on the perspective of the people and the belief that they hold onto. If these people are openminded, they would react to the gay activism as a normal behavior b ut in the movie it seemed that there are people who cannot take the fact that there are other people in the society who hold different beliefs.A lot of factors can be considered why these people stay close-minded to the social realities. This is may be because of how they were broug ht up. Family, especially parents has great impact on your beliefs while you grow up. Another factor is religion. Religion has the power to make people follow its beliefs and hold onto it as much as possible. I also consider Dan White as deviant because he committed murder against a co-politician who is against his ideologies.

Theory of aging

Ageing or aging is the process of getting older. Age is commonly taken into account in social interaction and age differentiation is commonly a basis for allocating social roles and resources. A theory of aging or a formal intervention strategy, by its very nature as a human activity, always contains a story with implicit and explicit meanings or ontological images of human nature, its development and its teleology. This article focuses the social, cultural, and economic effects of ageing. Aging is an important part of all human societies reflecting the biological changes that occur, but also reflecting cultural and societal conventions. Age is usually, but wholly arbitrarily, measured in years and a person’s birthday is often an important event. As a feature of social change and as an aspect of social stratification, ageing and age groups have been seriously neglected by sociological theory. To conceptualize age groups in a multi-dimensional model of stratification this considers ageing in relation to economic class, political entitlement, or citizenship, and cultural life-styles. Theories given by many sociologists on aging are as follows:- Modernization Theory This is the view that the status of the elderly has declined since industrialization and the spread of technology. Disengagement Theory This is the idea that separation of older people from active roles in society is normal and appropriate, and benefits both society and older individuals. Activity Theory A view holding that the more active people are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with life. Continuity Theory The view that in aging people are inclined to maintain, as much as they can, the same habits, personalities, and styles of life that they have developed in earlier years. Cognitive Theory A view of aging that emphasizes individual subjective perception, rather than actual objective change itself, as the factor that determines behavior associated with advanced age. Demographic Transition Theory The idea that population aging can be explained by a decline in both birthrates and death rates following industrialization. Exchange Theory The idea that interaction in social groups is based on the reciprocal balancing of rewards depending on actions performed. The impact of social and sociocultural conditions and social consequences of the process of aging is termed as social gerontology. Normal declines in all organ systems, usually occurring after age 30. (The period between Birth – 30 years is usually called â€Å"Development† or â€Å"Maturation†) The future of public welfare with regard to older people is being questioned in all industrial societies, thus it is more important than ever to understand the relationship between old age and public policy. Older people have been expected to adjust to the reification of age into convenient social categories for the purposes of resource distribution and rationing. It is important in health and social welfare, the social and health deficits become translated into need, how need can be forestalled or optimum conditions created for its alleviation, and what can be done to promote the quality of life in old age by practical means. We turn to mental health theorists to elaborate our definition of life satisfaction and well-being and then to psychological research to suggest how to prepare ourselves now for a good old age in the future. Many older people face many problems, without programs for the aging and the human services workers who help older people use them, many more would be in difficult circumstances. As more and more elderly live longer life spans it is likely that many of those older individuals in their sixties and seventies may have surviving partners, which is a new phenomenon in our society. Many elderly people are healthy, vital, and in good financial circumstances. The term â€Å"young old† categorizes the health and social characteristics of the elderly rather than the very old. On the other hand, improvements in health care and the quality of life have made it possible for people to live longer. On the other hand, for many older people survival into old age is not a blessing. Many suffer from poverty; isolation, and no productivity. The large population has become a problem for society, as we have not created channels for productive use of leisure time and means for old people to meet their own needs successfully. On the whole, our society is ill prepared to cope with the increasing number of older people. To work successfully with older people, it is important to understand their social status today in relation to changes that have occurred in this century. In addition, it is important to understand the aging process and the strengths and weaknesses of people in the later phases of life in coping with their status and problems. In the eastern culture’s respect for old age, the elderly were given status and power of life and death over the young, perhaps old age was a better time of life than young adulthood. Many of these ancient values have transcended time and exist today in Eastern cultures, where the elderly are generally revered and, therefore, are well cared for by the society as a whole. Aging is a disease that reaches all of us, but its symptoms can be postponed with the proper combination of diet, supplementation and exercise. Reference: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare:-  By University of Connecticut School of Social Work, Western Michigan University College of Health and Human Services, Western Michigan University School of Social Work 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Enduring Questions in Gerontology  By Debra J. Sheets, Dana Burr Bradley, Jon Hendricks 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Policies for an Aging Society  By David L. Shactman 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Housing an Aging Society: Issues, Alternatives, and Policy  By Robert J. Newcomer, Mortimer Powell Lawton, Thomas O. Byerts 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aging Families and Use of Proverbs for Values Enrichment  By Vera R. Jackson 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ageing, Status Politics and Sociological Theory Bryan S. Turner         

Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Essay

Compare the ways in which children are portrayed in Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. How convincing do you find each author’s treatment of evil in relation to his characters? Everyone likes to think of childhood as a symbol of a time of innocence. People tend to look back on their childhood nostalgically, they remember it as carefree and often use the term ‘youth is wasted on the young’ these feelings have stayed with us for centuries and are incredibly deep rooted. These feelings therefore, create widespread outrage when evil becomes apparent in children or is inflicted upon them, For example the murder of James Bulger by ten year olds and also abuse and corruption of children. Children are thought of as vulnerable, when there vulnerability is taken advantage of, especially by another child a question is asked, is childhood innocence a myth? The Victorians were aware of the religious doctrine of original sin, yet they were shocked that there was the suggestion that the two young children in Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw could be evil. Golding presents children with a strong propensity to evil and disorder. Golding’s children are a mixture, from saintly Simon to barbaric Jack. The fact that the two writers have different aims to come of their stories should be taken into consideration. Golding has written a fable, whilst his characters are all boys, and are recognisably boys; they all possess different characters that are intended to represent humanity. They are all individuals, Ralph, Piggy, Simon and Jack but each one can be categorised. On the other hand James has written a ghost story, albeit of an unconventional kind. Also, the two children in The Turn of the Screw are never actually shown from a different point of view from that of the governess, we never see Miles and Flora as wholly rounded individuals we don’t gain access into their thoughts and feelings and therefore could interpret them wrongly. They could be the corrupted accomplices of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, as the governess believes, or they could be the sexually obsessed fantasies in her head. In Golding’s novel there is not a definite narrator. Golding allows us to know what the boys are thinking and feeling; this is particularly true of Ralph and Simon. When Miles and Flora are first introduced into the novel they are seen through the romantic and idealising vision of the governess and therefore are portrayed to us as ‘innocent and beautiful; they have charm and perfect manners’ Yes, this is because the governess has a romantic imagination and is overwhelmed by her new responsibilities but it also could be because the children’s innocence portrayed in the first chapters of the novel makes their depravity later on seem all the more shocking to the reader as a contrast. When we first meet Golding’s boys however they are portrayed to us far more realistically, Piggy is an excellent example of this as he is the first most down to earth character we meet, you immediately get an image of piggy and the things he says are never questioned in the readers head to be unrealistic or fake about him. This is because his speech and manners aren’t perfect, which is what you would expect in a child. For me both authors treatment of evil in relation to his characters are convincing. James approaches the question of evil by being deliberately inexplicit. We are never actually informed as to what offence Miles was expelled from school ‘I said things’- Miles. Also, in chapter six the governess feels a ‘sudden sickness of disgust’ when she learns from Mrs. Grose that Quint was ‘too free’ with Miles. Again we don’t learn exactly what this means; it could refer to some sort of sexual abuse. I think this is a convincing and effective way of putting across the evil in the book because the novel seems to gain in power precisely because James refuses to spell things out for the reader. The ghostly apparitions are given a genuinely chilly impact ‘he slowly changed his place, looking at me hard all the while, to the opposite corner of the platform’ through the governess’s reaction the reader is made vividly aware of an atmosphere of evil. For Golding evil is first manifest in the gradual breakdown of order amongst the boys: they neglect things they agreed to do together, such as building shelters; they pick on or shun those who are different, notably piggy and Simon. Roger begins to discover that he enjoys wielding power over others and even inflicting pain; the lure of hunting turns into blood lust; the boys succumb to the fear of the ‘Beast’ and superstition. Simon the visionary is the only boy with the insight to see that evil is a part of Melanie Parkes human nature. The Beast is not an external creature to be feared, but it is inside each one of them. This evil is an enemy of reason and order and wishes to extinguish them. It results in murder, first of Simon, then of Piggy, and finally the boys intend to hunt and kill Ralph. I also find the evil in children implication convincing in Goldings writing as it implies that evil comes from within and is present in everyone, even children. The build up to children murdering each other in this story is convincing and therefore the evil in them is convincing as nothing on the island apart from a dead corpse was there to trigger the evil that came from only them. Overall the two writers manage to deal with ‘evil’ in different but effectively, whilst both stories are of a different genre they both deal with the fact that evil may well be present in children. The children are portrayed differently because evil because apparent them in different ways, in James’s novel through the ghosts and in Golding’s novel through ‘The Beast’ however in both books evil is seen as a force, which consumes and destroys. Miles is destroyed at the end of James’s novel though in ambiguous circumstances. In Golding’s novel, the entire island is turned from a paradise into a raging inferno.

Managing Market Acceptance (Case Study)

Field course ‘Developing for Markets’ 2011 Case 2 BD Group: Introducing the Chicka Phone 1 Contents Introduction:3 Part 1 – Influencing market acceptance in a consumer market3 1. 1 Knowledge phase3 1. 2 Persuasion phase4 1. 3 Decision phase4 1. 4 Implementation phase4 1. 5 Confirmation phase4 Part 2 – Influencing market acceptance in a B2B market4 2. 1 Influencing individual members of the DMU5 2. 2 Influencing the customer firm5 2. 3 Influencing a whole market segment5 2. 4 Influencing several market segments6 Part 3 – Evaluating market acceptance6 3. 1 Evaluate Market acceptance in an consumer market6 3. Evaluate Market acceptance in an B2B market7 Reference list8 Introduction: In this case we will treat different aspects in the field of Business Development. The theme is developing for markets, where the processes of adoption and diffusion will be elaborated. To illustrate the theory behind these processes, a case will be presented about a new sta rt-up company, which is named the BD Group. The BD Group has been innovating their communication systems, and want to bring it to the market. For the consumer market, the BD Group wants to bring a new consumer phone: the Chicka Phone 1. This phone holds their new and nnovative technology addressing in particular the needs of students who are much socially active. For the B2B the BD Group is interested in exploiting the technology to other companies. This paper focuses on aspects a company should take into account before bringing a new product to a market and how it can evaluate the market acceptance when a product is actually launched. The former will be addressed in two parts in this paper. In the first part will be referred specific marketing tools that can be used when bringing a new product to the consumer market, and in the second part, this will be done for bringing a new product to a B2B market.The third part will show how to evaluate the market acceptance when the product is actually launched to one (or both) markets. Part 1 – Influencing market acceptance in a consumer market Many proactive firms try to positively influence market acceptance of their newly introduced products. This means that this company has to deal with both (1) the adoption processes at the level of individual customers and (2) the diffusion processes at the market level. In order to do so, a company can use different tools. In this section these tools will be addressed.This will be done using the model of Rodgers (1995) of Stages in the innovation decision process, see also figure 1. The theory will be illustrated by using the case of BD Group. Figure 1: A Model of Stages in the Innovation-Decision Process (Rodgers, 1995) A new company, called the BD Group is going to bring the new Chicka Phone 1 to the market. Different actions have to be considered by BD Group in the adoption process, this to influence the adoption at the individual level. In each phase of the innovation- decision process; the knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation and confirmation phase, different tools are needed. . 1 Knowledge phase â€Å"Knowledge occurs when an individual (or other decision making unit) learns of the innovation's existence and gains some understanding of how it functions† (Rogers, 1995, p. 20). In the knowledge stage innovators and early adaptors become most engaged. In this stage, information from a different variety of sources and references (statistics etc. ) will be most effective in increasing awareness and adoption of the Chicka Phone 1. Knowledge should be spread in different kind of forms, from commercials to face to face contact with potential customers for the Chicka Phone 1. 1. 2 Persuasion phase Persuasion occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) forms a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation† (Rogers, 1995, p. 20). The persuasion stage is about uncertainty reduction for the customer. The custom er wants to learn about the consequences the innovation will have on his or her personal situation (Rogers, 1995). Interpersonal networks play an important role, as customers are likely to be influenced by subjective evaluation of their peers (Rogers, 1995). In practice, this means that the information needs to reach a select group of customers first, before it can travel via worth of mouth.The groups to be reached first by the BD Group are the innovators and the early adopters. As these groups are eager to figure out more about the innovation, they can be presented with comparison charts and an overview of the benefits. Other persuasive communications tools that fit into this phase are benchmarks, cost comparisons and product reviews (Brenner, 2007). Once these groups are convinced of the value of the product they will start communicating with the early and late majority, which will lead to the laggards. 1. 3 Decision phase Decision occurs when an individual (or other decision-maki ng unit) engages in activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation† (Rogers, 1995, p. 20). Again, the customer wants to reduce uncertainty and is likely to be influenced by subjective evaluations within his or her interpersonal networks in this stage (Rogers, 2010). To address this problem, the effect of word of mouth should be enhanced by positive confirmation from other sources. This can be done by the use of social media and free communication channels such as YouTube. com.Providing positive product reviews will help the customer to make the right decision process. 1. 4 Implementation phase â€Å"Implementation occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) puts an innovation into use. Re-invention is especially likely to occur at the implementation stage† (Rogers, 1995, p. 20). In the implementation stage marketing and communication will become more and more important. Ongoing communications should be used to satisfy the customers of t he BD Group. A good customer service that has a high availability can be integrated in the organization to satisfy customer needs.Also, a platform for customer feedback is needed, as re-invention is likely to occur. 1. 5 Confirmation phase â€Å"Confirmation occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) seeks reinforcement of an innovation-decision that has already been made, but the individual may reverse this previous decision if exposed to conflicting messages about the innovation† (Rogers, 1995, p. 20). Dissatisfaction should be prevented, therefore communication channels should be established to provide proper service.Adjusted and improved versions of the phone should be considered to keep the customers satisfied and attract potential customers. Part 2 – Influencing market acceptance in a B2B market Influencing market acceptance in a B2B market differs of that in a consumer market. In a B2B market, decisions to implement a technology is usually not mad e individually, but involves a comprehensive Decision Making Unit (DMU), consisting of both individuals inside the customer firm and outside organizations (such as consultants).Therefore influencing market acceptance in a B2B market, is a more complex process and before it is done, there should be made a clear distinction of trying to (1) influence an individual members of the DMU, (2) influence the customer firm, (3) influence a whole market segment, or (4) influence several market segments. The BD Group wants to sell their technology to other businesses. The technology concerned is a sophisticated communication technology, and the company is convinced this technology could have many benefits for other businesses. 2. Influencing individual members of the DMU Influencing individual members of the DMU is comparable with individuals in a consumer market, only the influence is mainly limited to the knowledge and persuasion phase. The process for doing so, is called diffusion. Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system (Rogers, 1995, p. 35). So when the BD Group wants to influence individual members of the DMU,   they have to reach them personally or trough their social systems.An effective way of acieving this, is by offering the new equipment directly to these individuals, or to his or hers direct colleagues. When offering the communication system to this individual or his or hers social contacts, the benefits and the novelty of the product should be emphasized. But because it concerns complex equipment only approaching the individual and explaining the benefits and novelty, would probably not be sufficient. In order to convince him or her, this person also has to experience the product.To ensure a sufficient experience, (1) a trial version of the system could be offered, combined with a tutorial which shows the ease of use and the novelty of the product, or (2) a try- out event could be organized, in which the individual can directly ask questions to product experts when needed. These offers should of course meet the knowledge the individual that (might) already possess, and also should be realizable in terms of costs and technical possibilities for offering these instances. 2. 2 Influencing the customer firmBD Group could could also try to influence the whole customer firm. Influencing the customer firm can be done by reaching multiple levels within the firm. Given the likelihood of the presence of individuals of multiple classifications of the adoption model, i. e. innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards, the manufacturer should consider methods to reach these different segments, since this will result in a different attitude of the people within the firm towards the communication system.In order to make the communication system known to an organization, possible innovators and early adopters should be identified, because they can be ‘used’ in later stages to convince the early and late majority to adopt the system, because late adopters overweight the current system’s benefits over the new one by a factor of three (Gourville, 2006). The innovators and early adopters can be regarded as the first ones which are enthusiastic about the system, even when it is not flawless yet.Since they like to try something new and are regarded as the ‘opinion leaders’, they can convince decision makers to make use of the system. To ensure that they are convinced themselves, evidence from research, press releases or other third party confirmations could be provided to them. 2. 3 Influencing a whole market segment Because the technology of BD Group is sophisticated, it could also try to get market acceptance by emphasizing one particular part of the technology that really stands out, and offer this for free.By addressing one specific need or a service, and offer that particular service for free, the whole technology would be taken for granted. A good example of this came of another telephone technology business, RIM, it has made its service (ping) for free, but earned money by selling phones. Another possibility is to use traditional marketing tools, like advertisement campaigns. By using specific trade journals which can be addressed to specific market segment, businesses of this specific segment could get aware or familiar with the new communication system. Also using existing ‘partners’ can be beneficial.So could BD Group work together with another (mobile) phone company, like Motorola, to use their market access to make a market segment familiar with the new system. In addition to specialist journals an organization can also use specific Internet pages to inform visitors about the new system and offer them an easy opportunity to learn more about the system. This should not be done by so called banners, since many visitors find them annoyin g, but by creating a short bulletin on the home page for example. Finally, an organization can use an exhibition at which they can physically show the system to potential users.However, the effectiveness is really depending on the market segment, but the advantage is that an exhibition will mostly be visited by higher involved people of DMU’s in the segment. 2. 4 Influencing several market segments To influence the broadest group of several market segments, an organization could try to influence the end user of the communications system, notwithstanding the fact that the company is active in a B2B market, to make them aware of the product and convince the different market segments that there is enough demand for the new communications system.This influencing of the end user could be done with broadcasting tools which will have the greatest potential reach. That are television commercials, radio messages and some Internet advertisements, excluding banners since these are more suited for products with lower involvement of the user. Part 3 – Evaluating market acceptance Market acceptance can be described as the process in which a good or service satisfies the needs of a sufficiently large number of customers or business customers to continue or increase its production or availability.With this definition in mind, a set of variables will be put forward to measure the degree of market acceptance in the mobile phone market. BD Group will use these variables to measure the success of the Chicka Phone 1. First factors that can influence market acceptance of the consumer market are proposed and will be explained how to analyse these factors. After that, the same will be done for the B2B market. 3. 1 Evaluate Market acceptance in an consumer marketBy Huizingh (2008) it is stated that the adoption decision, which is the decision from a consumer or a company to buy a certain product, depends on four variables: perceived product characteristics, activities of the supplier, characteristics of the customer and external factors. Therefore, for the BD Group it can be stated that the degree of market acceptance that will be achieved for the Chicka Phone 1 depends on these factors. Figure 2: Diverse group of factors which determine market acceptance of an innovation In the competitive industry of mobile phones it might be difficult to find market acceptance.Moderators influencing market acceptance are mentioned above in a model. Variables that BD Group, a supplier of the new mobile phone can use to measure the market acceptance of customers can be the following: * Amount of complaints of customers * Intensity of use * Total base of customers * Profits on the Chicka Phone 1 * Increase of selling in different phases of the PLC * Amount of positive comments in social media * Amount of positive comments in expert sites The different variables are chosen, because of their relationship with market acceptance.This are indicators of market acceptance and are directly measurable. The indicators are measuring the degree of market acceptance from the customers of the Chicka Phone 1. Factors influencing the degree of market acceptance of BD Group are different than the indicators mentioned. These are discussed in figure 2. 3. 2 Evaluate Market acceptance in an B2B market Following the same reasoning mentioned earlier, the influencing factors of the degree of market acceptance for the BD Group are: perceived product characteristics, activities of the supplier, characteristics of the customer and external factors.Rogers argued that the rate of adoption of an innovation is determined by the perceived attributes of the innovation (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability), the type of innovation-decision (optional, collective, authority), communication channels (mass media or interpersonal), the nature of the social system and the extent of change agents’ promotion efforts. However, due to t he specifics of B2B market, the measuring variables differ comparing to consumer’s market. Economic factors: initial cost may affect its rate of adoption, therefore by decreasing the price during diffusion process; a rapid rate of acceptance can be expected * Status aspects: one motivation for organizations to adopt an innovation is the desire to gain social status (for example the CE mark on products increases customer’s trust, therefore many companies want to have it on their products and pay significant fees to such organizations) * Relative advantage: as organizations pass through the decision process, they are motivated to seek information in order to decrease uncertainty about the relative advantage of an innovation.Potential adopters want to know the degree to which a new system is better than the existing one. * Preventive innovation: in order to lower some unwanted future events, an organization might adopt the new system. * Compatibility: with socio-cultural values and beliefs; previously introduced systems/ideas; client needs for the innovation. Reference list Brenner, B. K. (2007). Adopt a Marketing Model to Increase Client Satisfaction. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 61(3), 8 – 10. Gourville, J.T. (2006). Eager Sellers, Stony Buyers. Harvard Business Review,84(4), 99 – 106. Huizingh, E. H (2008), Innovatie Succes is geen toeval Frambach, R. T. and N. Schillewaert (2002), Organizational Innovation Adoption; A Multi-Level Framework of Determinants and Opportunities for Future Research, Journal of Business Research, 55, 163-176 Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations (4th ed). New York: The Free Press. http://www. slideshare. net/davidonoue/diffusion-of-innovation-slides-for-chapter-6