Mayan Art Architecture Essay

Art for the Mayans was a reflection of their lifestyle and culture. For the Mayans art took several forms including: painting paper, plaster, carvings in wood and store, clay, stucco models, and terra cotta figurines from molds. Metal was very scarce and so it wasn’t commonly used. Mayan Art during the period, 200 to 900 has been considered the most sophisticated and beautiful of the New World. There is few remaining Mayan Art, which includes funerary pottery, ceramics, a building in Bonampak (which is around Chiapas, Mexico), has several murals. What is interesting is that Mayan art gave almost free reign to the artist. The artist was not required to produce a work that fit any particular rules. The art usually didn’t depict anonymous priests and unnamed Gods. Some archaeologists believe that art was only produced by the wealthy. Most of the people who lived were farmers who had to work hard to make a living. It is presumed that most of the art was done by sons of kings, and the artworks made were given as gifts or sold to other wealthy landowners. An interesting fact is that Mayans were one of the few civilizations that the artists signed their name to their work. ARCHITECTURE The Mayan architecture is the method the men spoke to the gods. The first Mayan pyramid was said to be built in Uaxatan, Guatemala, just before the birth of Christ. The Mayan architecture is one of the most recognizable. Each pyramid was dedicated to a deity whose shrine was at the peak. At the height of the Mayan civilization, cities like Chichen Itza, Tikal, Uxmal were created. URBAN DESIGN Mayan cities were spread all throughout Mesoamerica. Locations of cities were  not planned to a great extent. In fact, most cities seem to be placed haphazardly. The Mayans easily adapted their cities to their surroundings. Cities that were in northern Yucatan existed on flat limestone plains, while cities built in the mountains or on hills such as, Usumacinta, used the topography to raise their towers and temples very high. At the centre of all Mayan cities were large plazas, which held governmental and religious buildings such as the pyramid temples and ball-courts. Although it seems that most planning was done in a haphazard manner, the Mayans placed very special attention to the directional orientation of temples and observatories. They were always constructed in accordance with Maya interpretation of the orbits of the stars. Outside of ritual centers were the formation of lesser nobles, smaller temples, and individual shrines. These less sacred structures had much more privacy. Outside of the urban core were the less permanent and modest homes of common people. In essence, it was the most sacred and noble buildings in the centre and the further one got from the center the lower of importance the dwelling was in the Mayan hierarchy. In the classic Era the Mayans focused on great monuments (such as temples), public plazas. Interior Space was entirely secondary. In the later-post classic era the Greater Mayan cities developed into more fortress-like defensives structures that lacked plazas. The Mayans actually developed several unique building innovations, including the corbel arch which was a false arch achieved by stepping each successive block, from opposite sides, closer to the center, and capped at the peak. MATERIALS The Mayans lacked many construction technologies. They didn’t have metal tools, pulleys, and even the wheel – or at least they didn’t use the wheel as a means to help in work. Mayan architecture was based on manpower. All  stone was taken from local quarries, and they mostly used limestone. It wasn’t only used because there was an abundance of it but because it was easy to be worked with. The mortar generally consisted of crushed, burnet, and mixed limestone that is similar to cement, and it gave a stucco finishing. PROCESS The King or priests would supervise the labour of the common people. The peasants would work on the construction projects as a method to pay homage to the king and the state, and the construction typically took place when they were unable to do their agricultural work. The laboureres would carry loads of materials on their backs of roll them on logs to get them from the source, usually a quarry, to the site. The Mayans also had specialized workers such as architects who would oversee the construction of the buildings. STYLE Mayan architects did not build in right angles. They relied on bilateral symmetry meaning if you were to cut the building right down the middle, each half would look like a mirror image of the other side. They would also build temples on top of temples. This is one method on how they made some pyramids so large. COMMON STRUCTURES Ceremonial Platforms These were made of limestone, and less than 4 meters in height. Public ceremonies and religious rites were performed here. The buildings were often accented by carved figures, altars and sometimes a tzompantli. A tzompantly is a stake used to display the heads of victims, or defeated Ball game opponents. The word comes from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, however,  it has been applied to many other civilizations. The general interpretation is skull rack or wall of skulls. Palaces Needless to say, palaces were large and highly decorated. They were usually located at the center of the city and housed the city’s elite. Often, they were one-story and consisted of many small chambers and at least one courtyard. Sometimes, palaces were home to various tombs. E-groups Still a mystery today. The appeared on the western side of a plaza and they are a pyramid temple facing three smaller temples across the plaza. Some believe that these E-Groups are observatories due to precise positioning of the sun through the small temples when viewed during solsites and equinioxes. Pyramids and temples Most religious temples say atop very high Maya Pyramids – one theory stating that it was the closest place to the heavens. Most temples had a roof comb which is a superficial grandiose wall, they say the temples served as a type of propaganda. It was very occasional that these walls would exceed the height of the jungle. The roof combs would be carved with representations of rulers that could be seen from vast distances. Beneath the temple were a series of platforms split by steep stairs that would allow access to the temple. Observatories The Maya were very intelligent people, and they were keen astronomers, they had mapped out phases of planets. The method they learned about this is through their observatories. The Mayans had these round temples, often dedicated to Quetzalcoatl or what they called him Kukulcan, and if you go on tours many guides will say that they are observatories but realistically  there is no evidence to prove this. Ball Courts An integral part to any Mesoamerican lifestyle. This ins’t specific to just the Mayans but to basically every Mesoamerican civilization. Enclosed on two sides by stepped ramps that led to the platforms. The ball court was found in all but the smallest of Mayan cities. Explanation of The Game It was the first team sport in history and began over 3,500 years ago. The game wasn’t just for competition, the survival of the players and the spectators depended on the outcome.

Global and U.S. Economy Essay

After a low-key performance for about three consecutive years, prospects for growth of the world economy significantly improved in 2004. This improvement in the economic outlook was widespread across the nations of the world. However, differences in economic robustness among regions and countries persisted. In the preceding two years, macroeconomic policies had been crucial for stimulating the global recovery, but the emerging challenge was for policies to simultaneously sustain robust growth and maintain stable inflation (United Nations, Economic and Social Development Affairs, â€Å"2004† 3) Following a temporary slowdown in mid-2004, global GDP growth picked up through the first quarter of 2005, with robust services sector output more than offsetting slowing global growth in manufacturing and trade. In the second quarter, however, in part reflecting the impact of higher oil prices, signs of slowness emerged, with leading indicators turning downward and business confidence weakening in most major countries. Subsequently, while global manufacturing and trade were strengthened, and leading indicators picked up, the continuing rise in crude oil and refined product prices, which was exacerbated by the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Katrina, acted as a major downward force (World Economic Outlook, â€Å"2005† 1). Nonetheless, the resilience of the global economy in 2005 continued to exceed expectations. Despite higher oil prices and natural disasters, activity in the third quarter of 2005 was in fact stronger than earlier projected, particularly among emerging market countries; global GDP growth was estimated at 4.8 percent, 0. 5 percentage point higher than projected previously (World Economic Outlook, â€Å"2006†1). Global industrial production has gone up from mid-2005; the services sector today remains strong; global trade growth is at a high level; consumer confidence and labor market conditions are on an optimistic note; and forward-looking indicators such as business confidence have risen. Asia is forging ahead, with China enjoying double-digit expansion and India growing very rapidly as well. Growth in most emerging and developing countries remains solid, with a marked buoyancy of activity in China, India, and Russia. After years of deflationary weakness, Japan has embarked on a new path, with personal consumption and labor income joining exports and business investment as the main drivers of growth. Japanese expansion is well established. In continental Europe, activity weakened again late last year, partly reacting to rising oil prices, but accelerated in early 2006 (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). There are signs of a more sustained recovery in the Euro area, although domestic demand growth remains subdued in that region. The impressive performance of the global economy in recent years is, truly, a cause for celebration. Accelerated growth is vital prerequisite for poverty reduction in developing countries. Without sustained and rapid growth, lasting poverty reduction will prove elusive (Krueger). Though hurricanes had a damaging impact in the United States, it was but a transient one, and the activity was already bouncing back early in 2006. Among industrial countries, the United States remains the main engine of growth. In 2005, the U. S. economy expanded by 3.5%, a rate slightly above potential growth for the U. S. economy, leading to a decline in the unemployment rate from 5. 4% in the fourth quarter of 2004 to 4. 9% in the final quarter of 2005. The economy added nearly two million jobs in 2005, averaging 165,000 jobs per month. Yet the economy experienced a substantial swing in economic activity beginning in the third quarter of last year. Real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4. 1% in the third quarter, slowed drastically to 1. 7% in the fourth quarter, and then bounced back up to 5. 6% in the first quarter of 2006. (Strauss and Engel).

What function does religion play in human society Essay

What function does religion play in human society - Essay Example This paper is going to explore the possible function of religion that plays an active role in human society. Clifford Geertz opens his chapter on Religion as a Cultural System in a book called Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, with a quote by George Santayana which explains the meaning of â€Å"living† and â€Å"healthy† religion as having a â€Å"marked idiosyncrasy† (Banton 1969). There is always a sense of security whenever one hears something about religion. It is like a belonging that one never wants to lose. At the same time, however, one feels apprehensive about it, especially in times of despair and hardship. In order to remain in touch with one’s religion, the American culture, which is said to be very religions, has developed the principle narrative technique, whereby it reflects moral deeds, illuminating the ways of living that have existed ever since a long time (Burton 2000). Hence, each individual of the society carries a narrative of his own, which allows him to embrace life through his own philosophy. Some people might tell a story with no mention of God/gods. They gear themselves for another life, probably after death. For some, religion clashes with medical interventions, which make them, doubt their own existence. They question whether religion will be of any help in these troubled times. A great political leader once said that it does not really matter what religion one follows as long as he is religious. To be religious has many possibilities and limitations. For humans to stay civilized they need to have a sense of moral duty towards their relative community. In a more philosophical speech, religion harmonizes â€Å"human actions† to a visualized â€Å"cosmic order and projects images of cosmic order onto a plane of human experience† (Banton 1969). Religion has a major role to play in human society. Society is

Improving Math Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Improving Math Skills - Research Paper Example At their grade level, they are expected to memorize basic math facts. However, it seems they cannot recall such basic information and have to rely on finger counting or touch math. In order to help them, I had to research on available strategies to implement on them during extra sessions outside class hours so their academic daily routine will not be disrupted. This action research paper attempts to help students with learning disabilities in math using the program, Mastering Math Facts (Otter Creek Institute, 2003), a math drill program aimed at improving recall of basic math operational facts. To state the problem simply, This study was conducted with five students from three different fourth grade classrooms who each have been diagnosed with learning disabilities in Math. Due to time constraints since the study was done towards the end of the schoolyear, and the students’ difficulty to move on to the next levels because of their learning disability, the expected completion of the program was not met. Also, all of the data was collected in the resource classroom when the students were pulled out of their regular classes. Implementing this program in the regular classroom by the classroom teacher to all students might improve reliability. Although the first trials have been promising, leading one to accept that the program, Mastering Math Facts, is an effective strategy to improve math skills in basic math operations, results are not generalizable to the population of students with learning disabilities. This action research study is an ambitious attempt to help students in need. Having learning disabilities in math is an impediment for students who need to go through the tedious and progressive math program throughout their school lives. For regular students, math concepts can only go more complicated as they master basic concepts and skills. How much more for students with learning

Transformational Leadership Style as a Contributor to Motivation and Research Paper

Transformational Leadership Style as a Contributor to Motivation and Organizational Productivity - Research Paper Example The study involved 21 participants from the Hospital who represented both the directors and employees. The participants were picked at random using a stratified random sampling technique to ensure that each category of the target populations was represented. Quantitative data was collected from the 21 participants using questionnaires. The questionnaires had statements relevant to the relationships under investigation. The participants were supposed to agree or disagree with the statements. The quantitative data collected were analyzed using the SPSS software. The analysis provided descriptive and empirical descriptions of the responses. The findings of the study indicate that there is a strong and positive relationship between independent and dependent variables. In addition, the findings indicate that there is a strong relationship between employee motivation and organizational productivity. ... Improving employee motivation through transformational leadership and other strategies will help an organization to increase its productivity to higher levels. Organizations should equip their leaders with the necessary skills and knowledge in transformational leadership to enjoy its benefits. Despite the effects of transformational leadership on employee motivation and productivity, organizations should consider the internal context and the most likely response from employees to avoid negative effects in some parts of an organization. Employees react differently to changes in an organization especially in leadership and thus an abrupt introduction of transformational leadership may lower the level of motivation in some departments. Introduction Many past researchers have explored transformational leadership and thus, several definitions of transformational leadership exist. Hacker and Robert (2003, p. 3) define transformational leadership as â€Å"the comprehensive and integrated leadership capacities required of individuals, groups, or organizations to produce tran sformation as evidenced by the step-functional improvement.† Leadership is an exchange relationship between the leaders and followers and transformational leadership allows leaders to make their followers develop their sense of self-worth. Hacker and Robert (2003, p. 3) define transformational leaders as those who bring about a positive change in their followers and motivate them to do more than they had intended. Transformational leaders will cause their followers to exceed their traditional level of performance. This kind of leadership allows followers to revise their expectations and perform better than what they thought possible (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 4).

What Were the Consequences of the Enron Scandal Case Study

What Were the Consequences of the Enron Scandal - Case Study Example This case study represents a bold attempt to answer the question stated in the work's title: What Were the Consequences of the Enron Scandal? Enron, â€Å"a provider of products and services related to natural gas, electricity and communications to wholesale and retail costumers† represented one of the largest fraud scandals in history. As a result of the fraud investigations, the company was forced to file for bankruptcy in December 2001. While the bankruptcy of a small company is taken as a routine, Enron’s case is different as the company was ranked seventh by Fortune 500. During the 1990s, Enron expended quickly into several areas such as developing a power plant and a pipeline. This expansion, however, required large initial capital investments and long gestation period. By that time, Enron already raised a lot of debt funds from the market and hence any other attempt to raise funds would affect Enron’s credit rating. But Enron had to maintain the credit ranking at investment rate in order to continue business. On top of that, the company wasn’t making enough profits either, as it promised to investors. Hence, Enron began making partnerships and other special â€Å"arrangements† (Special Purpose Entity, or SPE). These companies were used to keep Enron’s debts and losses away from its balance sheets, therefore allowing it have a good credit rating and look good in front of the investors. Figure 1 How SPEs worked Adapted from Chary, VRK. (2004). Ethics in Accounting. Global Cases and Experiences. Punjagutta. The ICFAI University Pres., India, pg. 115 -$ millions- Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 Revenues 20,273 31,260 40,112 100,789 Total assets 22,552 29,350 33,381 65,503 Long Term Debt 6,254 7,357 7,151 8,550 Shareholder's Funds 5,618 7,048 9,570 11,470 Table 1 Enron's Financial Highlights Adapted from Chary, VR. ((2004). Ethics in Accounting. Global Cases and Experiences. Punjagutt., The ICFAI University Press. India. pg. 119 Enron's goal was to bypass the rules of consolidation and still increase credibility. If a parent company (in this case Enron) financed less than 97% of an initial investment in a SPE, it didn't have to consolidate in into its own accounts. If properly done, the legal isolation and the third party control over the SPE, reduce the risk of the credit. Therefore, off-balance sheet treatment of such a SPE involves enough third party equity. The third party's equity must be "at risk", otherwise the transferor would be required to consolidate the SPE into its own financial statements. Up to end of 2000, no one pointed fingers at Enron. For 2000, the corporation reported $101 billion revenue and the auditors gave a clean report. But, at this stage, Enron announced its intention that during the third quarter of 2001, it would book a loss of $1.01 billion and, at the same time, reducing shareholders' funds by $1.2 billion as a result of correcting accounting errors in the past. After a long trial, Andrew Fastow, the former Enron finance executive has been sentenced to six years in prison. Fastow pleaded guilty for fraud and money laundering in 2004 and also became the chief whiteness in the trial against Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay. His testimony helped convict Lay (who died in July 2006 after a heart-attack) and Skilling, who was sentenced to 24 years in jail. In May 2006, the latter was found guilty on 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and inside trading over Enron scandal. Skilling was found to have orchestrated a series of deals and financial scheme which later

Access to Insurance Versus Access to Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Access to Insurance Versus Access to Care - Essay Example However, there should be glaring distinctions. Access to healthcare must be all about the ability of Americans to obtain care for themselves whenever they get sick. And such care includes access to physicians, hospitals and others facilities and services of the medical system. On the other hand, access to insurance refers to the access and use of health plans. Essentially, hence, the lack in insurance coverage does not necessarily mean there is no access to health care. Henderson (2009) pointed this out by citing how the uninsured in America receive about 60 percent of the medical care per capita of those with insurance (p.68). So what this means is that the uninsured does get medical care. The issue about access all boils down to the term "ability". Yes, the uninsured can still avail of medical care but they do receive, in the words of Henderson, less care than the insured Americans (p.68). This is the reason why the 2010 federal health reform law was enacted. It follows the objective of universal coverage in which health care insurance participation becomes mandatory, rejecting the voluntary system in the process, and paving the way for medical care access for all. It took a long time for this health reform initiative to be realized. Different administrations have proposed different health care models aiming for nationalized and universal coverage and failed. Even as we speak, the current law, which should depict the pinnacle of these initiatives having been passed and implemented two years ago, is still in danger of getting repelled once a Republican regime is elected to the White House. This reflects the highly contentious debate about how to pursue health reform f rom two dominant political and ideological standpoints. The liberals favor the current system of universal healthcare whereas the conservatives want to cut cost and are committed to the old model typified by individualism, freedom of choice and competition. This conflict is

Lenovo Goes Global Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lenovo Goes Global - Term Paper Example This acquisition was a great opportunity for the Lenovo brand; however, it also posed significant challenges to the company’s management. The key challenge was associated with differences of the American and Chinese cultures. It took almost five years before the company has managed to resolve the worst of the cultural differences (Holstein, 3). This was a process of learning of a way in which the multinational company should operate in order to succeed. In result of this experience, the company has surpassed such global players on the PC’s market as Dell and Hewlett-Packard Company (Holstein, 4). Lenovo’s sales have almost doubled in 2014 compared to 2008, and reached $39 billion. This success was partially attributed to the company’s Mergers & Acquisition strategy. The company has successfully entered many foreign markets by acquiring local players. One of the most recent acquisitions was the handset division of Google and IBM’s low-end server busi ness in China (Holstein, 4). Another success factor was attributed to the company’s capability to develop a global network. Lenovo has developed effective HR strategies based on the global approach, adopted global management principles, and created network oriented enterprise. Also, the company has managed to transform its ineffective and costly supply chain into highly integrated, cost-effective, flexible and competitive supply chain system. In order to achieve this, Lenovo’s management has eliminated excessive elements and policies, have developed effective system of performance measurement, and provided extensive training to its top managers. Lenovo has also adopted â€Å"out of box† thinking culture and against all the stereotypes have reestablished electronics assembly in the United States (Holstein, 6). Despite the fact that the workforce in the US was more costly than in China, Lenovo has

BBusiness studies - Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BBusiness studies - Economics - Essay Example Sloman (2006) has explained that demand is limitless and is related to wants. Moreover, if goods and services were free, people would simply demand whatever they wanted. Supply on the other hand has limits. It is related to the resources available to the firms (Sloman, 2006, p.5). Growth, inflation, unemployment, GDP etc are some of the areas in which microeconomics is mostly interested in. This paper mainly focus on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its effects on a country’s economic growth and personal wellbeing. Mankiw & Taylor (2006) have mentioned that GDP is a measure of total income of a nation (Mankiw & Taylor 2006, p.464).They also pointed out that GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time (Mankiw & Taylor 2006, p.466). It is calculated based on the total consumer investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports (GDP, n. d). The following formula can be used to calculate the GDP of a country in given financial year. From the above equation it is clear that when the import increases the GDP decreases whereas when the consumer spending, investment made by industries, and governmental spending increases, the GDP also increases. The current recession (Recession is a phenomenon in which the output in the economy declines or the growth becomes negative (Sloman, 2006, p.6)), has forced people to think twice before lavishly spending their moneys. Westerners who normally spend more than what they earn has already started to save some money for the future after visualizing the negative impacts of recession. But from the above formula it is evident that too much saving can drastically affect the GDP. GDP is a measure of standard of living in a country even though many economic Gurus have different opinions. The GDP performances of United State in the recent years can be

Choose any contemporary theme and write a review of that theme by Essay

Choose any contemporary theme and write a review of that theme by using a variety of secondary sources. (Safety and Security in - Essay Example This elevates the issue of safety in airports as of considerable concern in regions that are considered as major destinations for tourists. This paper looks into safety and security in airports in relation to tourism. Introduction The contemporary world has witnessed dramatic changes since the rise of globalization. Based on the heightened incidence and severity of terrorism related incidences, individual’s feelings of safety (whether physical or psychological) have been challenged. The travel and tourism sector have considerably been bruised at various levels, accompanied by growing concerns on safety and security of destinations. The resultant sense of insecurity has yielded to increase screening within airports in a bid to thwart occurrence of any terrorism related incidences. Passengers and air cargo are the two main entities that pose the highest treat to the security and safety of airports. Passengers are considered as a serious threat due to the increased number of terr or activities occurring in airports (Sweet 2009, p.52). Even prior to the 9/11, the society was conscious of the risks associated with being at the wrong location at the wrong time; however, the 9/11 attack brought to the limelight how interconnectedness of the world and the society was awakened to the risks occasioned by the interconnections. The global aviation immediately launched tighter travel rules, restrictions, and regulations in a dramatic attempt to thwart a repetition of the incidence. The changes heralded within the passenger travel experience right from check in to disembarking have been rendered non-negotiable. As a result, the process of travel has been made increasingly complex and time consuming (Sonmez, Apostolopoulos and Tarlow 1999, p.13). The safety and security of airports remains an ongoing challenge and continues to evolve as air traffic rises. The threat presented by crime and terrorism has over the years increased necessitating enhanced security and safety in airports. Indeed, the public has had an enhanced sensitivity towards aviation and airport security owing to the concern that criminality may yield to vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorists. The central aim of airport security centres on preventing ‘unlawful interference’ with the could yield to fatalities among the passengers and crew major airports continue to be critical infrastructure for the health of the economy and people’s lives and livelihood, and the possible targets for the severe crimes and terrorism (Sonmez, Apostolopoulos and Tarlow 1999, p.14). Terrorism and crime are unique, but possibly overlap, but at its most fundamental place, an environment characterized by lax security can avail opportunities for terrorists to take advantage of the weaknesses in airport security. However, with the growing surveillance within airports, critics have argued that the heightened security screening at airports is increasingly heralding misery to h oliday travelers. Critics point out that government agencies pursuing to make journeys secure render plane trips unpleasant, which encourages people to take the option of travelling by road (where possible). Discussion Terrorists target airports largely because of the social and economic damage that can arise once an airport has suffered a terror attack. The 9/11 terror attack motivated all leading airports to pay keen attention on improving the

Clerk & Squire Contrast The Canterbury Tales Essay Example for Free

Clerk Squire Contrast The Canterbury Tales Essay In Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, two young men of the Middle Ages, stand in sharp contrast to each other. The clerk and the squire are of similar ages but are very different. The clerk is a member of the middle class, has attended Oxford and studied Aristotle, while the squire, a member of the upper class, has been educated in the arts of chivalry. In appearance wise the clerk is a grave or somber individual. He is thin hollow-cheeked and dresses poorly (outer cloak threadbare). On the other hand the squire is a bright, cheerful person. He is lusty, strong and nimble and dresses extravagantly red and white embroidery; short coat with long wide sleeves. His facial appearance is similar to his dress habits, his hair is curled and he is very handsome. The two differ in personality as well. The clerk is formal and modest when he speaks and he only speaks (gives his input) if it is needed. He is also considerate of others, pray diligently for the souls of them that gave him wherewith to stay at the schools and his speech is of moral virtue. The royalty of the squire was apparent in his personality. He is courteous, modest and helpful to others. His royal roots show that he is a respectable man and in his youthful state, he is full of energy. Finally, we can see that the two have very different interests. The clerk is interested in lectures on logic, reading Aristotle and studying Philosophy. He also loves to learn and teach and convey his knowledge to others. The squire is engulfed with the many campaigns/battles of the country and loves jousting in his spare time. He also enjoys singing, playing the flute, riding horses, making songs, dancing drawing and writing. The squires royalty shows through his interests because the middle class would not have the time or resources to commit to these interests. The portrait of the clerk and the squire in The Canterbury Tales shows two men of similar age; in the same time frame, The Middle Ages. We learn that the two are very different in appearance, personality and interests. This can be attributed to the fact that they grew up in different classes. The clerk in the Middle Class and the squire in the High Class, in this time  frame classes molded how an individual grew and learned. Chaucer shows in his novel how two individuals can be the same in some ways but very different in others.

Principles of Assessment Essay Example for Free

Principles of Assessment Essay Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole. According to the Academic Exchange Quarterly: Studies of a theoretical or empirical nature (including case studies, portfolio studies, exploratory, or experimental work) addressing the assessment of learner aptitude and preparation, motivation and learning styles, learning outcomes in achievement and satisfaction in different educational contexts are all welcome, as are studies addressing issues of measurable standards and benchmarks. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Educational_assessment Some of the key concepts of assessment are as follows: * Accountability * Achievement * Assessment Strategies. * Initial, Formative or Summative types Accountability means that I am answerable to my learners and my organisation to ensure that I am performing my role as an assessor correctly. I always let my learners know when they are going to be assessed and how they will meet the criteria. Achievement- I will look at what the learner has achieved while they have been doing the course and compare this with the standards to ensure they have been fully met. Assessment Strategy- I follow my organisations assessment strategy for the subject I am assessing to ensure I am carrying out my role correctly. The assessment strategy I follow for NVQ2 in Cleaning is: * UPK questions * Observations * Progress Review * Supplementary questions * Exit Interview. The qualifications and experience I require are A1 V1 and experience in the cleaning industry. Formal Assessment * Ongoing during a course * It enables progress to be regularly monitored and reviewed * The student can see what they need to develop further before a final assessment * A student can identify gaps in their learning * It shows a student how much they have learnt so far which encourages and motivates them Methods of Formal Assessment. * Tracking Sheet * Observations * Tutorials * Midway Review * Oral Questions Summative Assessment * Usually taken at the end of the course * Usually leads to a pass/fail situation * Tests whether performance criteria have been met Methods of Summative Assessment * Exit Interview * Portfolio Completion * Demonstration * Summative Testing * Evaluation Form â€Å"Summative assessment takes place at the end of a course or topic and is used mainly for certification purposes. It is used to see if a student has learned the material and is capable of going on to further study. † Formative assessment is most suitable where the results are to be used internally for example: Teachers to ensure learning has taken place and for improving methods of instruction and for students to have an idea of their success etc whilst summative assessment can be set by the teacher or by an awarding body/examination body. When making a summative decision I confirm to my learners that they have met the criteria. They may receive a certificate as with NVQ2 or progress further with their training. Summative assessment takes place at the end of a course or topic and is used mainly for certification purposes. Formative assessment, on the other hand, takes place during the course and is useful in telling the student how the learning is proceeding. Reece Walker 2007p323. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESS Formative Assessment Formative Assessment Role Play Make learners uncomfortable Physical demonstration of ability Embarrassed Not Realistic Summative Assessment Summative Assessment Demonstration Make learners feel uncomfortable Authentic Realistic Valid The assessment practice starts with initial assessment before the course starts. It may happen at pre- entry, entry or induction stage. The initial assessment will inform you about the learner’s prior knowledge, skills, qualifications, learning styles and any support learner may need. When you have found out the current level of ability you can then set goals, plan future learning and assessment. There are different types of initial assessment: Enrolment Form- shows what qualifications the learner has if they have special needs. Interview when you interview the learner you will be able to ask many questions. Skills Scan the skills scan will tell you if the learner is in employment what there job requires and if they will need additional training. Diagnostic Tests will inform you if the learner has difficulty in reading or writing. You may be able to tell if a person has dyslexia as they will have blurred vision, suffer from headaches when reading and they find it easier to read large print. To help them with reading you can print on to coloured paper or have a coloured overlay. 10% of the British population are dyslexic, 4% severely. Dyslexia is identified as a disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. Some of the famous people who suffer from dyslexia are: Albert Einstein Tom Cruise Henry Winkler. Vince Vaughn (British dyslexia Association www. bdadyslexia. org. uk, (11/07/11 I have taught learners who have learning difficulties including deaf people, people who have difficulty in reading and writing and understanding. ILP It states on the ILP what qualifications a learner has, the results of diagnostic tests and if they require additional support, what units they are doing, midway review and exit interview. Learning styles is recognising individuality in your class it is the way in which learners begin to concentrate on and process and retain new and difficult information. There are different types of learning styles: David Kolb’s Converger, Diverger, Assimilator, Accommodator Honey and Mumford’s Having an Experience, Reviewing Experience, Concluding from Experience Planning next steps Fleming Vak/Varks Visual, Auditory, read/write, Kinaesthetic. Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia En. wikipedia. org/wiki/learning styles 11/07/011 Learning style is the way that you absorb information 1 We decode 2 How you store information 3 Recall information Learning style is how we receive and recall information. We can absorb information through our senses, hearing, seeing and doing. In my role I use all of the styles of Fleming. In further education if there is no initial assessment this will disadvantage the learners as they may be placed on the wrong program or course, which will lead to lack of interest and little motivation if any, they may not get additional support and the teacher will have no baseline to assess their progress. Peer and Self Assessment Self or Peer Assessment is a process whereby students or their peers grade assignments or tests based on a teacher’s benchmarks. [1] The practise is employed to save teachers time and improve students understanding of course materials as well as improve their metacognitive skills. Rubrics are often used in conjunction with Self- and Peer-Assessment. [2] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Self-_and_Peer-Assessment 12/07/11 Peer assessment is when the learners or colleagues assess another learners or colleagues progress. It is used to develop learner’s ability to work as a group and to be critical of others work as well as receiving review and comment. Self assessment is when you assess your own progress. Both methods encourage the learners to make decisions on what they have learnt so far and to reflect on future development. The learners need to know the criteria fully. Advantages Disadvantages Peer Assessment Peer Assessment Can reduce the amount of teacher assessment. All peers need to be involved So planning needs to take place As who gives feedback and to Whom. Learners may accept comments from peers Appropriate conditions and More willingly than from the assessor environment are needed Promotes learner and peer involvement some peers may be anxious, Nervous or have lack of confidence To give feedback. Self Assessment Self Assessment Encourages learners to check Difficult to be objective when Their own progress making a decision Encourages reflection Learners need to fully understand Promotes learner involvement the assessment criteria. And personal responsibilities some learners may lack Confidence in their ability to make Decisions about their own progress What research tells us? * Giving feedback on learning errors and getting the learner to correct them and identify strategies to improve future work is directly linked to significant improvement in achievement rates. (Professor John Hattie, 2002) Assessment should involve both teacher and learners in checking and reflection. Feedback is very important not only to learners but to the teachers from the feedback teachers can decide whether they have to change anything. Feedback and Questioning Feedback is information we give our learners to let them know what they have achieved to date and how they can develop further all learners need to know how they are progressing and what they have achieved. Feedback can be both formative and summative. Formative is ongoing and includes praise and encouragement. Summative is at the end has the learner achieved to specific criteria. Feedback should be a two-way process allowing discussion and questions. Most people need encouragement to tell them how well they have done or how well they are doing when you give feedback you should give praise first then how they can improve then end on a positive note to give them motivation. This is known as the praise sandwich. http://www. google. co. uk/search? q=feedback+sandwichhl=enprmd=ivnsbsource=lnmstbm=ischei=vXQcTsrxHNKwhQepndXdBwsa=Xoi=m 12/07/11 The advantages of giving feedback are: Confirms achievement, success or otherwise Creates opportunities for explaining and discussion Highlights progress rather than failure. Helps improve confidence and motivation Identifies further learning opportunities or any action required. Feedback should be given as soon as possible after the assessment while the information is still fresh. Questioning can be used formally and informally as part of the feedback to ensure the learner understands what has been said. My response should question appropriate questioning skills so the feedback is effective to the learner. Questioning skills include: * Using open questions (usually beginning with who, what, when, where, why and how). * Using closed questions (only requiring a yes or no answer). * Clarifying (for example can you go over that again? ). * Probing (for example why was that? ) * Prompting (for example what about†¦? ) Feedback should were possible be positive negative feedback presents learners with difficult and unachievable targets or naming and making learners embarrassed in the classroom. You should never criticise always praise and if the teacher makes a mistake he/she should be honest and apologise. Record Keeping Accurate records that are taken through out a course enable the teacher and learner to continually assess the effectiveness of the teacher/learner relationship. Records indicate whether pupils are learning what they are being taught and their progression with the course, records can tell you which learners may need a little more help, and whether a teacher needs to refine any aspects of their teaching. Maintaining attendance records can give an idea of where learners may fall behind through their learning. Being able to identify learners attendance can indicate problems which may benefit from referral to other professional bodies, or a learner may be unhappy with the teaching style or the course they have chosen. As well as a register a tracking sheet of all learners names, forming columns starting with a date, the assessment and a column for a pass or refer, in cleaning you are competent or not yet competent. These tracking sheets are recorded and form part of the learner’s portfolio along with any practical tasks and also a guide for the learners to follow through their course. When learners begin their course its good for them to have their own individual learning plan as a teacher its good to have our own individual teaching plan. A session plan should relate to the scheme of work, it helps to record your aims and objectives, assessment activities and self evaluation. It can also help to assess your learners. As a teacher my responsibility is to teach and guide and assess my learners. Records can be used as a guide for learners focusing on their learning strengths and weaknesses, where they do well or could do better. There are organisational records and external records. Organisational records: * Enrolment form * ILP * Learners record of achievement * Peer group feedback * Tutor feedback * Incident report * Observation records. * Contact Logs The types of records I use are: * Enrolment form * ILP * Learners record of achievement * Observation records * Contact Logs â€Å"You need to keep records of how your learners are progressing. If you mark a test or observe a task, how can you prove your learner has achieved something if they lose their work†? (Gravells 2008p88) JOIN NOW FOR FREE RATIONALE METHODOLOGY Wishing to gain a broad balance to my teaching experience, I started working as an assessor at Swan Training Group. The following assignment will cover the following areas: Negotiating with learners Inclusive learning. Integrating Functional skills Communication I have researched all of the above and this written assignment will be a short overview of the main areas using examples from both research and personal experience. Negotiating with learners is a form of communication where cooperation is established so that the learner and tutor agree on the learner’s goals; negotiation is the process of two individuals or groups reaching a joint agreement. When you have got all the information via initial assessment at the start of the course it is important to agree on goals and actions based on the information. The learner should be encouraged through negotiation to take control and responsibility for their own learning by contributing in discussions and decisions about their learning and how this will develop. Also in initial assessment you can include tests for literacy and numeracy to see what level learner is at and if they will require additional help. In my specialist area I integrate functional skills as the learners need to use literacy and numeracy to read labels and dilute chemicals, complete upk questions, order supplies, complete holiday sheets. Inclusive learning is described as recognising, accommodating and meeting the learner’s needs of all of the students and supporting them in the learning environment. All learners are allowed to take part in their chosen subject and should be placed in the best possible environment regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation and age. Communication is very important and we not only communicate by speaking we communicate through our eyes, gestures and body language. There are also many barriers to communication such as: Family Commitments Lack of Resources Lack of Support. Peer Pressure Emotional Disability and many more. To overcome these barriers you must be honest with the learners if you do not know something you should tell them you will find out, be positive and enthusiastic, communicate effectively and give constructive and positive feedback. I am learner centred as I pay attention to what the learner is learning, how they are learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning. I like to teach this way so all of the learners can participate and differences between learners are accommodated so that all in the group have the best possible chance of learning.

The Manual Transmission System

The Manual Transmission System In this report, I am going to compare and contrast the difference between Toyota 5 speed manual gearbox transmission and Toyota 5 speed automatic transmission system. 2. History of the transmission In 1894 Louis-Rene Panhard and Emile Levassor invented the modern transmission. Today we still use the same concept since it was introduced. The concept is still the same that the crankshaft connects from the engine to the transmission shaft through clutch. The latter is mounted to gears which control and operate the transmission of the motion that is coming from the engine to the wheels. Few experiments have been done about type and numbers of gears but still until today the same concept is applied. To make it easier for the driver to control speed and with help of gears, synchromesh gears and a live rear axle were invented. Instead of having gears engage and disengage again from each other, a car transmission that had gears and continuous with each other was introduced, all the gears were moving and the dog clutch was designed in order to connect the gears that are caused to rotate by engine and move the wheels forward. Different gears with different sizes are designed to increase or decrease the momentum of the vehicle. The most popular transmissions were 4 speed transmissions which its top gear (4th) had a ratio of 1:1 while other gears had lower ratios. Then, engineers came with a 5th gear in which will increase the ratio by 1 between the engine rpm and the wheel rpm that is known as overdrive. American inventors Harold Sinclair and Richard Spikes designed automatic transmission while German inventors invented the automatic transmission rudimentary design. While General Motors provided automatic transmission in all of their cars that were manufactured from 1938 and by the end of 1940s most of the car manufactures offered at least one transmission in their models. Electric cars also fitted with electric car transmission. Now the market for automatic transmission is huge and most cars are manufactured with it (Car transmission, 2006) 3. Automatic transmission system This is the type of transmission that is capable of changing the gear ratios automatically while the vehicle is moving without the need of the driver to manually change the gear using the gear stick. The main purpose of the transmission is to provide the following outcome: Neutral to keep the engine running without the gear, or moving the vehicle. Lower gears for taking off purpose and for operating in heavier situation. Higher gears for cruising, higher speed and lighter weight Reverse gear to move the vehicle backwards. Transferring the driving torque to the required wheels (Crolla, D, 2009, p, 109) The automatic transmission comes into two different types. The front wheel drives vehicles that are designed more compact than rear wheel drive vehicles transmissions that are normally connected in the engine compartment in which they are known as transaxle. Both of these types of transmission do the same job and same design of the planetary gear train. The essential part for the front wheel drive transmission is differential, while the rear wheel drive transmission has externally mounted differential which is uses the drive shaft to link up with the transmission. The automatic transmission system contains few major components. These are: Planetary gear unit Torque converter Hydraulic control unit Seals and gasket Computer Governor/ modulator The above six components perform various duties in transmission as explained below (Toyota technical training). Planetary gear unit: The purpose of planetary gear unit is to provide and changing different gear ratios. Generally, the planetary gear unit contains three major parts. These are ring gear, inner gear (sun gear) and planetary carrier that carries three or four gears which are between the inner gear and outer ring gear. Planetary gear unit When one part of the planetary gear connects to the input shaft which leads to the engine, the second part is held still and the third part usually attached to the output shaft. It all depends on which part stays still, which one is the input or output because it will result in different gear ratios. Things such as brake bands, hydraulic clutch packs and one way clutches are used in the planetary gear to control the power flow. Every gear links up to a combination of clutch packs and bake bands being engaged or disengaged (Samarins.com) Torque converter Is a fluid type coupling, that lets the engine to rotate freely without the help from the transmission, if the engine is running slowly, idling or on the stop traffic, there is a small amount of torque that is passed via torque converter, less pressure is also required on the brake pedal to keep the car stationary. Also when you put more pressure on the gas pedal, it speeds up and adds more fluid into the torque converter which causes the wheels to receive more torque. The torque converter housing contains five major components. Pump is fixed to housing, turbine that is connected through output shaft to transmission, stator has output that is connected to fixed shaft in transmission, fluid and converter clutch. This housing is attached to the engines flywheel and rotates and at any speed that the engine is spinning. The torque converter also has pumps that is made up of fins and are attached to the housing that uses the same speed as engine to turn. Centrifugal type pump is used inside the torque converter, as it rotates it causes the fluid to be thrown outside and this action creates the vacuum that draws a lot of fluid in at the centre. Once the fluid arrives in the blades of the turbine, the transmission begins to rotate and this causes the car to move, the turbines blades are curved and this makes the fluid that is coming from the outside to go into different way before it goes to the centre of the turbine, this changing of direction is the one that causes the turbine to spin. In other way we can put that both turbine and the fluid spin in different direction and this creates the force as an outcome. This fluid that exists from the turbine is usually moving into different direction as the pump and engine turn, because if the fluid hits the pump directly, it may cause the engine to waste power or slow it down and that is why there is a stator in the torque converter (Builders transmission and used car Inc.). Hydraulic control unit: A transmission fluid is sent using the engine oil pump that controls the performance of the car clutches that helps the planetary gear sets to work smoothly. Seals and gasket Their work is to support and maintain the right place of the engine oil and stop it from leaking outside. Governor / Modulator This controls and monitors throttle position and the speed of the car to determine when to change the gears. Computer This is the major unit that uses sensors to control all the activities such as engine speed, engine load, throttle position, brake pedal position etc. (Carazoo, 2010) 4. Materials The materials that are used to build clutch or transmission have to resist heat, friction, durable, strong, hard and tough. These materials are organic, Kevlar, segmented Kevlar, hybrid carbon, ceramic and sintered iron (UUC Motorwerks, 2003) 5. Advantages of automatic transmission system The torque converter gives more engine torques and reduces the strain and the shock of the entire drive line. A lock up clutch is included in the latest automatic transmission, this helps in maximizing the fuel economy because of its direct mechanical linkage from the engine to the transmission. A vehicle with automatic transmission is very comfortable and easy to drive as the driver does not need to manually change the gear ratios. Automatic transmission can also be powerful and strong because of the arrangement of the sun gear and ring gear, this increase the gears contacts that reduces the gears breakage and supplies more torque on big area (Rowe, R. 2010) 6. Disadvantages of automatic transmission Since the automatic transmission is made up of several components, the main setback can occur when single part breaks down working and this can cause a transmission to stop working, as a result maintaining or fixing it can be very expensive. Also the total speed of the vehicle is controlled by the computer that manages the transmission, and the driver can lose the acceleration beyond a certain speed. Automatic transmission can overheat easily. 7. Manual transmission system This is the type of transmission in which the driver has to manually change the gear ratio setting by using the gear stick inside the car. There are two types of manual transmissions. The constant mesh design and the sliding gear type. The sliding-gear type, no part is turning inside the transmission case except the main drive gear and cluster gear when the transmission is in neutral. In order to mesh the gears and apply engine power to move the vehicle, the driver pushes the clutch pedal and moves the shift knob, which shifts a linkage and forks to slide a gear along the main shaft that is connected straight above the cluster. Once the gears are meshed, the clutch pedal is released and the power from the engine is sent to the drive wheels. There can be different gears on the main shaft of different diameters and tooth counts, and the transmission shift linkage is designed so the driver has to unmesh one gear before being able to mesh another. With these older transmissions, gear clash is a problem because the gears are all rotating at different speed (Cook, M. 2009) The 5 speed manual transmission gear box has a three plane arrangement order with reverse gear alongside fifth gear and uses a special fluid to operate. Moving forks are attached to three wide base rails that work in arranged bushing for less friction, these moving levers are connected together to the shifting cables. Every one of them uses different way with selected lever and this creates less shifting efforts for a driver, it also avoids to accidentally engaging the reverse gear from fifth because of the way it is designed to operate, it shifts the crossover lever into three to four gear without jamming or binding. The shift knob is usually used to control the gear ratios. The forward gear ratios are synchronized using great capacity dual cone brass (1st and 2nd) and other gears are synchronized with paper friction materials which is more strong and clash resistant than brass. The input shaft uses paper materials synchronizers, by cutting rotating inertia it helps to reduce the shifting effort. A reverse engagement clash can be minimised by using a brake mechanism. The needle roller bearings are fixed to reduce friction and extend gear life. The case itself is cast in only two pieces to reduce leak paths; structural ribs strengthen and harden the case to reduce noise and vibration with small or no extra weight. The case has good bending stiffness, offering a natural frequency above the exciting frequency of the engine at peak rpm (Massey, K. 2010) 8. Clutch system A manual transmission system will not function without a clutch. This is the mechanism that is used for transmitting rotation that can be engaged and disengaged. This is controlled by the driver who uses a special release mechanism to control the movement of the torque between them. The clutch assembly A single disc clutch assembly contains four major parts: the rear face of the flywheel- a driving member the clutch disc- the driven member the pressure plate assembly-a driving member the release mechanism-disengages and engages the clutch (May, E. 2004. p,250) 8.1 Types of clutches Multidisc clutch that contain two or more disc are usually used in automatic transmission, motor cycles and heavy mechanical equipment. While the manual transmission is operated using a dry clutch and there is no lubrication between surfaces. The automatic transmission clutch operates wet, it is enclosed in the transmission case that is full of lubrication fluid. Generally, in automatic transmission there is no clutch pedal and a gear shift (Roymech, 2010) (Genta Morello, 2009 p, 425) There are so many different types of clutches such as cone clutches, wet clutches and dry clutches but the common one uses one or more friction discs that are pushed very tight together or against the fly wheel using a spring. A Clutch contains two rotating shafts, one is operated using pulley and the other one uses a different method, these two shafts are connected together by the clutch so that they can be locked together and rotating at the same time while it engages, or be decoupled and rotate at different speed while it disengages. The input shaft is used at the centre of the pressure to engage the splines of the friction disc hub. The clutch and flywheel assembly spinning as one unit when the engine is rotating. The flywheel is receiving the torque from the engine, uses the friction that is occurring from the clutch discs to the spline hub into the transmission. When the clutch pedal is moved, it manages and controls the movement of the torque between two units. The pressure pl ate can be retracted against the springs force and frees the disc from its clamping action by depressing the pedal. These two units and clamping force can be connected again by releasing the pedal once again. This is a very important mechanism when: Engaging the transmission into gear, the input shaft from the transmission must be disengaged from the engine. The pedal is released slowly, it provides a gradual engagement of the drive, as the facings slips of the friction slip, and this lets the torque to be applied continuously until these two units are connected very tightly. Choosing different ratio, changing gears when the vehicle is moving, for this to happen, the engine torque from the transmission must be interrupted. The disengaged of the transmission that causes the vehicle to stop and let the engine run at idling speed. The co-efficient of friction between the friction facings and their mating surfaces, the total spring force and the amount of facings in contact can decide the torque that is transferred by the clutch. If you want to increase the torque capacity, the diameter of the clutch needs to be increased and this will cause the spring force to increase. Multi plate clutch can be made by having two or more clutch plates as well as increasing the number of facings and torque capacity. They are useful where by reducing the diameter is beneficial or where by increasing the spring strength is undesirable. (CDX online eTextbook). 9. Advantages of manual transmission system The manual transmission vehicles are usually cheaper and good in maintenance compare to the automatic ones, this is because changing of the fluid can be very less, also when it breaks down it is more than likely that the clutch needs to be replaced and this can save you a lot from buying a new or second hand transmission. It gives better control because of the faster shift response, this is mainly due to the bad weather. They can as well be good in braking because the driver is not fighting the effort of the automatic transmission to move forward. It can be good is terms of fuel economy because you can shift the gear into neutral and avoiding driving in lower gears. A skilled driver at shifting gears will have a better traction in snowy, muddy or slippery conditions and might as well be easier to get of the dangerous situation than automatic one. Manual transmission is also lighter in weight. And there is a fun point of view in driving manual because it keeps you active and keeps you aware of what is going on around you (Moore, S. 2010) 10. Disadvantages of manual transmission system Driving manual car in traffic can be very pain full especially when there is a stop start driving, automatic cars are more comfortable in this case. It is very unlikely to find a manual transmission car with a cruise control. Most car now are built in automatic transmission so there is less availability of cars with manual transmission as well as the difficulties in learning how to drive manual transmission cars. 11. Report Summary This has been a successful report and I have researched a lot of information about this topic. Indeed I have acquired a lot transmission system. Here are some few pointed aligned below: History of the transmission What is automatic transmission system Major components of the automatic transmission and how they work Advantages and disadvantages of automatic transmission system What is manual transmission system Clutch assembly and clutch components and how they work Advantages and disadvantages of manual transmission system 12. Conclusions According to my understanding in the report, it shows the main difference between automatic transmission and manual transmission is that automatic transmission uses torque converter to create power while manual transmission uses clutch to engage and disengage the gears. Also automatic cars are in very high demanding since most of the components are controlled by computers now in the car. It also shows that once the automatic transmission breaks it can be very hard and complicated to fix it and this may end up in replacing the whole transmission. In terms of manual gear box, the report shows they are very hard to break or die as well as less maintenance too, this is one of the best things in manual transmission because it can last for long time without anything happen. From my point of view I would always recommend to go for manual car if you enjoy the gear changing ration as I do.

Kings Gothic Naturalism Essay -- Literary Analysis

Naturalist writers of the early 20th century convey the notion that persons are fated to whatever station in life their biological heredity and social environment prepare them for. Those who profess to be proponents of the naturalist perspective see literature as a means to understand the nature of man. Since â€Å"the naturalist found in scientific discovery only a confirmation of humankind’s helplessness in the face of indifferent and inscrutable forces,† their writings usually generate an uninspiring idea of humanity’s frailty (Strengell 11-12). While the deterministic worldview is logical, it is difficult for many to resonate with powerless and doomed characters. Thus, the only way for the naturalistic frame of mind to reach a wider audience is to present it in a different and less monotonous way. â€Å"[O]ne of the signature traits of Naturalism seems to be the ease with which it combines in hybrids with other forms† (Crow 123). Master of Horror Stephen King illustrates this concept in his novel, The Shining (1977), by intertwining the deterministic elements of Naturalism with Gothic and Horror. Combining these genres may seem to be a marriage of complete opposites, but what lies dormant on its own thrives in the pairing. Unlike most naturalist writers, King presents a character’s strength along with his or her faults. Although their deterministic traits imply that failure is imminent, the Gothic elements provide the backdrop for developing sympathy and even understanding for a character’s actions. By using these techniques, King transforms a genre that has been mainly sought after for entertainment into insightful literature. In The Shining, King explores the triumphs and failures of naturalism, as he illustrates the mor... ... effective method of understanding the deterministic forces that drives action. Works Cited Crow, Charles L. "Jack London's The Sea Wolfe as Gothic Romance." Gothick Origins and Innovations. By Allan Lloyd. Smith and Victor Sage. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994. 123-31. Print. King, Stephen. The Shining. Ed. William G. Thompson. New York: Pocket, 2001. Print. Magistrale, Tony. ""The Truth Comes Out": The Scrapbook Chapter." Discovering Stephen King's The Shining: Essays on the Bestselling Novel by America's Premier Horror Writer. 2nd ed. Tuscaloosa: Borgo, 2008. 39-46. Print. Norris, Frank, and Donald Pizer. McTeague: A Story of San Francisco: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. Print. Strengell, Heidi. Dissecting Stephen King: From the Gothic to Literary Naturalism. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 2006. Print.

Babylon Revisted :: essays papers

Babylon Revisted This Story was intriguing to me for several reasons. Fitzgerald gradually unwinds the plot, posing new questions as he goes. Charlie seems to be someone who has experienced the best as well as the worst in life and it has made him a stronger person. However, his time revisiting Paris proves how one’s past can come back to haunt you. It seems this might be a fairly typical story in the era of the stock market boom and the infamous crash. In this story Fitzgerald slowly shows the past of the main character, Charlie. He is obviously well educated and has been wealth at some point. He speaks of collage and communicates with elegance. Charlie gradually comes to speak of times when he threw away large sums of money for no reason other than entertainment. At one point he speaks of being treated like royalty with the other Americans partying in Paris. A page before that he tells how he spoiled Paris for himself, that the days went by without his knowing. This shows the diversity that the character represents. The darker sides of Charlie’s life are presented through another character, Marion along with her husband Lincoln. These people are related to him by marriage only and have custody of his daughter. Marion reveals the extent of Charlie’s drinking and the problems that arose out of his marriage to her sister, Helen. Marion says that she questions Charlie’s character when he asks to take his daughter, Honoria, home with him. I find this interesting because at one point he also questions his own character saying â€Å" he wanted to jump back a whole generation and trust in character again as the eternally valuable element. Marion seems to blame Charlie for the death of her sister almost goes far enough to accuse him of being involved saying, â€Å"How much you were responsible for Helen’s death I don’t know.† The story takes a turn when Charlie has finally convinced Marion to allow Honoria to travel home with him. As they make the agreements Charlie’s old friends, representing his past, show up at the home of Marion and her family. When they leave Marion rushes out of the room. Her husband claims that shock makes her physically sick. I think that Fitzgerald is trying to make the notion here that Marion is in no better state than Charlie has ever been in.

A Forgotten Hero :: essays research papers

From the very beginning of the poem, the character Achilles’ actions, or lack of actions, have enormous effects upon how the plot unfolds. Starting with the fight with Agamemnon and his withdrawal from the battle, to the death of Patroklos, and finally to the slaying of Hektor, Achilles and his emotions decide the fate of many Greek and Trojan warriors. It is his struggle against his anger, pride, loyalty, and love that make this poem one of a tragic nature, rather than just a gruesome account of a war. Although the reputation of Achilles claims him to be the perfect warrior, strongest of the Greeks, the poem doesn’t explain if he is the true hero of these events. With all the things he went through, you might wonder why a warrior would take his sword and leave the battleground. Achilles is a true hero, he believes that the attributes of a hero are not warfare, but nobility, pride, fellowship, honor, and respect. The acts that Achilles portrays seem to be childish. He is a man of noble principles throughout the poem. His argument with Agamemnon is a testament to that. When Achilles refuses the gifts of Agamemnon that are offered to him, Achilles shows that his principles rank higher than desire for fame on the battlefield. Achilles goes to Agamemnon and asks him to return the girl to her father so the plague will end. He agrees to return her, but he doesn't want to be left empty-handed. He returns Chryseis to her home, and he takes Briseis, a war-prize of Achilles. Achilles is so angry with Agamemnon that he vows to stop helping him fight the Trojans. As the battle goes on, Agamemnon realizes how important Achilles and his Myrmidons are to the Achaean troops. The King of the Greeks then swallows his pride and offers gifts to Achilles if he will come back and help fight. Achilles, however, is so stubborn that he refuses all the gifts and will not allow his troops to fight. When he is offered the gifts he rudely responds, "I hate the man [Agamemnon] like the very gates of death who says one thing but hides another in his heart†. This quote shows how much Achilles is hurt by what Agamemnon has done, and that Achilles took this very seriously toward his pride, that Agamemnon would just take some one away, that meant so much to him.

Introduction to Marketing Revision Notes

Chapter 1: Marketing Principles and Society Definitions: Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM): The management process of anticipating, identifying and satisfying customer requirements profitably (CIM, 2001) The American Marketing Association: The activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (AMA, 2007) These definitions stress the importance of considering the customer requirements and to delivering value. The difference between a customer and a consumer, is that the customer physically buys the product, and the consumer actually uses (or eats) it. The Marketing Process Marketing comprises 4 phases of activity, which is a component in the process of creating value for the customer: 1. The design phase. Companies identify customer and consumer needs, and design the product offering around their needs to create value for the customer. 2. The development phase. Companies develop products, services, and ideas, which meet those needs and deliver the intended value. 3. The delivery phase. Companies distribute those products, services and ideas to their customers and consumers and customers receive the product offering and the value created 4. The determination phase. Companies determine whether or not what customers receive really fits their needs or not and it not, redesign the product until it does fit their needs, and provide the customer with real value (or the organisation goes out of business). This process is cyclical, because products usually begin with the determination phase. There is a feedback loop to determine whether this product suits customers’ needs. These processes are influenced and dependent upon society and are regulated by government. Marketing: Ancient or Brand New? Marketing as a coherent approach to business has been around since the early 1920s. 1. Production period, 1890s-1920s: focus on physical production and supply, where demand exceeded supply, there was little competition, and the range of products was limited. This phase took place after the industrial revolution. 2. Sales Period, 1920s-1950s: focus on personal selling supported by market research and advertising. This phase took place after WW1. . Marketing Period, 1950s-1980s: more advanced focus on customer needs. This phase took place after WW2. 4. Societal Marketing Period, 1980s-present: stronger focus on social and ethical concerns in marketing. Marketing as a discipline has developed through the influence of practitioners, and through developments in the areas of industrial economics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, (see page 9 for theorists): * I ndustrial Economics Influences – our knowledge of matching supply with demand comes from the development of microeconomics. Psychological Influences – our knowledge of consumer behaviour comes principally from psychology, particularly motivational research in relation to consumer attitudes, perceptions, motivations, and information processing. * Sociological Influences – our knowledge of how groups of people behave comes mainly from sociology, with insights into areas, such as how people from similar gender and age groups behave. * Anthropological Influences – our debt to social anthropology increases more as we use qualitative market research approaches such as observation to research consumer behaviour. Differences between Sales and Marketing Selling: Product push Marketing: Product pull Marketing * Tends towards long term satisfaction of customer needs * Tends to greater input into customer design of offering (co-creation) * Tends to high focus on stimulation of demand Sales * Tends towards short-term satisfaction of customer needs. * Tends to lesser input into customer design of offering (co-creation) * Tends to low focus on stimulation of demand, more focused on meeting existing demand What do Marketers Do? . Provide marketing intelligence and customer insight 2. Provide strategic marketing direction for the organisation 3. Develop the customer proposition 4. Manage and provide marketing communications 5. Use and develop marketing and customer information 6. Lead marketing operations and programmes 7. Work with other business functions and 3rd parties 8. Manage and develop teams and individuals Marketers at different levels of organisation will undertake different components of t hese functions at different levels. Generally, senior marketer/marketing director will guide and direct these functions, while the marketing manager will manage them, the marketing executive will undertake the actions necessary to fulfil these functions, and the marketing assistant will support the marketing executive (CIM, 2OO5). The Marketing Mix and the 4 Ps There are some general concepts that help managers frame their actions as they develop their marketing plans and undertake marketing tactics. The marketing manager was a â€Å"mixer of ingredients†, a chef who concocted a unique marketing recipe to fit the requirements of the customers’ needs at any particular time. Eugene McCarthy (1960) simplified and amended the memorable 4ps from previous lists: 1. Product – the offering and how it meets the customers’ needs, packaging and labelling. 2. Place (distribution) – the way in which the product meets customers’ needs. 3. Price – the cost to the customer, and how the cost plus profit to the seller 4. Promotion – how the product’s benefits and features are conveyed to the potential buyer Extended Marketing Mix for Services: the 7Ps American scholars, Boom and Bitner (1981), incorporated a further 3Ps into the marketing mix: 5. Physical evidence – to emphasise that the tangible components of services were strategically important since customers used these to infer what the quality of the service might be e. g. students requesting brochures of different universities, to pick the course most suitable. 6. Process – because service delivery cannot be separated from the customer consumption process. Process is included because of the need to manage customer expectations, interaction and satisfaction. E. g. track and trace delivery services. 7. People – included to emphasise that services are delivered by customer service personnel, sometimes experts and often professionals who interact with the customer sometimes in an intimate manner (e. g. spa treatments). How they interact with customers, and how satisfied customers are as a result, is of strategic importance. Market Orientation * Marketing Orientation: a company that increases the importance of marketing within the organisation, e. g. by appointing a marketing person to its board of directors. * Market Orientation: doesn’t just involve marketing. Involves all aspect of the company, gathering and responding to market intelligence (i. e. customers’ verbalised needs and preferences, market research etc) Developing a market orientation means developing the following: * Customer orientation * Competitor orientation * Interfunctional orientation Organisations that manage to develop a market orientation are better at market sensing (understanding the strategic implications of the market for a particular organisation). Relationship Marketing Organisations must keep relationships with the parties exchanging value. 1. Suppliers 2. Potential employees . Recruiters 4. Referral markets – where they exist (banks rely on professional services i. e. estate agents for mortgage referrals) 5. Influence markets – e. g. government bodies for companies in the public sector 6. Internal markets – e. g. existing employees Relationship marketing concerns the integration of customer service and quality assurance. Customer re tention is more important to companies than customer acquisition. Research proves that retention is more profitable than acquisition: * Customers will increase their purchases over time * Customers cheaper to promote to Customers who are happy with their relationship with a company are happy to refer to others The Consumer Services Perspective Some commentators argue that products and services have significant differences and similarities: Services: * Cannot be protected by a patent * Do not make use of packaging * Lack a physical display * Cannot be demonstrated in the same way However there are major similarities, including the need to: * Work at full capacity * Develop trade and service marks * Use promotional media * Use personal selling techniques The five characteristics of service products Service industries are generally seen to have 5 important differentiating characteristics: 1. Intangibility – enhancing physical environment, producing brochures, leaflets, by obtaining service quality kite marks. 2. Inseparability – production and consumption are inseparable in service markets. There is a need to manage carefully relationships between clients and their customers, managing their expectations of the quality of the service that they receive. 3. Variability – the quality and standard of service products varies depending on the individual customer and the service provider. Can be difficult to monitor and control service production to ensure consistent service standards. 4. Perishability – services cannot be stored and consumed at a later date, unless they are recorded. Service-based businesses must maximise how much their facilities are used through yield management. E. g. offering discounts at specific times. 5. Non-ownership – customers cannot own the service they receive because ownership is not transferred from the seller to the buyer as it is with a tangible good. The Business to Business Perspective The emphasis in b2b markets is strongly focused on the development and building of mutually satisfying relationships based on commitment and trust, to win the contract in the first place. B2b marketers can create a competitive advantage if they develop a linkage between the marketing and logistics functions, developing a strong customer service proposition on the following items: * Reduction in order cycle times * Simple accurate invoicing procedures * Consistent and reliable delivery * Simple and effective claims procedures * Availability of inventory Good condition of goods and effective service delivery * Flexible delivery times * Strong after-sales support What Impact Marketing has on Society It is important to be critical of marketing. As beneficial as it can be, by providing wants and needs of customers and consumers, with higher technology, more ethical products, with it can also come by marketing bad products, such as alcohol. Cigarettes have been banned to be advertised, but it is important to recognise that not all companies market products for the greater good, but because they can make a profit. Chapter 2: The Marketing Environment . External Environment 2. Performance Environment 3. Internal Environment The external environment consists of the political, social, and technological influences, and organisations have relatively little influence on each of these things. The performance environment consists of the competitors, suppliers, and indirect service providers who shape the way an organisation achieves its objectives. Here, organisations have a much stronger level of influence. The internal environment concerns the resources, processes, and polices an organisation manages in order that it can attempt to achieve its goals. These elements can be influences directly by an organisation. Understanding the External Environment The Political Environment The political environment relates to the period of interaction between business, society, and government before those laws are enacted, when they are still being formed, or are in dispute. Political environment analysis is a critical phase in environment scanning because companies can then detect potential legal and regulatory changes in their industries and so they can have a chance to impede, influence, and alter that legislation. The Economic Environment Companies have to develop an understanding of the economic environment in which they operate and trade. The external environment of a firm is affected, but not exclusively, by the following items: * Wage Inflation * Price Inflation * Gross Domestic Product (per capita) – combined output of goods and services in a particular nation and is a useful measure for determining relative wealth between countries * Income, sales, and corporation taxes – taxes run at different levels all around the world, substantially affecting how we market goods and services * Exchange rates Export quota controls and duties All these factors can change the amount a company charges for its products and services. Companies need to understand how prices or labour costs change if we are importing goods and services, or even components, from another country. The difficulty comes in comparing prices from one country to another. Firms usually have little impact on the macroeconomic environment since t hey have little control over macroeconomic variables, e. g. oil prices, which might affect their business. The Socio-Cultural Environment Lifestyles are constantly changing and consumers are constantly shifting their preferences over time. Companies who fail to recognise this will ultimately fail. Companies must consider the nature of households, lifestyles and the family structure, and the changing values in society or in a consumer group as important variables in their scanning process. The Technological Environment The emergence of new technologies can substantially affect not only high-technology businesses but non-technology businesses as well. Examples include those aspects of technology which impact upon productivity and efficiency. New technology is increasingly changing the way that companies go to market through moves towards more email and web-based marketing. The difficulty for most firms is how to determine whether or not to invest in radical new technologies, since the potential benefits are far from clear at the outset. The Legal Environment The legal environment covers every aspect of an organisation’s business. Laws and regulation are enacted in most countries ranging from the transparency of pricing, minimum wages, business taxes, product safety, packaging and labelling, the abuse of a dominant market position. All of these come under the umbrella of the legal environment. The Ecological Environment Concept of sustainability in marketing and corporate (social) responsibility. Increasingly, customers are being worried about the impact of companies on their ecological environments. Consumers are equally concerned with ensuring that products are not sourced from countries with poor and coercive labour policies. Orsato (2006) suggested that a company should adopt one of the following four different green marketing strategies: 1. Eco-efficiency – developing lower costs through resource productivity (e. . energy efficiency). This approach should be adopted by companies which need to focus on reducing the cost and environmental impact of their processes. 2. Beyond compliance leadership – the adoption of a differentiation strategy through organisational processes such as certified schemes to demonstrate their ecological credentials. This approach should be adopted by firms which suppl y industrial markets, such as car manufacturers. 3. Eco-branding – the differentiation of a firm’s products or services to promote environmental responsibility. For example, BP – formerly British petroleum – who changed their logo to make it green and yellow in a flower petal and sun synthesis, which they call the Helios, and slogan to â€Å"beyond petroleum† to reflect their intended shift in meeting the world’s energy requirements to more sustainable sources. 4. Environmental cost leadership – the offering of products and services which give greater environmental benefits at a lower price. This strategy suits firms operating in price-sensitive ecologically sensitive markets, such as the packaging and chemical industries. Chapter 3: Marketing Psychology and Consumer Buying Behaviour Diffusion Process Consumers purchase products at different times in the product life cycle. 1. Innovators: kick starts adoption process 2. Early Adopters: speeds up adoption process. Opinion leaders. 3. Early Majority: more risk averse than other 2 groups. This group requires reassurance. 4. Late Majority: sceptical of new ideas. Only adopt products due to social/economic factors. 5. Laggards: opinions hard to change. Small majority. Lowest income and social status. Suspicious of new ideas Innovators: 2. 5% of population Early adopters: 13. 5% of population Early majority: 34% of population Late majority: 34% of population Laggards: 16% of population It is likely that a promotional campaign should only be targeted at innovators and the early majority. Word of mouth and reputation will get round to the late majority and laggards. People are classified into these groups, but the type of people in the groups can swap and change depending on the type of product. Consumer Product Acquisition Motive Development Information Gathering Product Evaluation Product Selection Acquisition Re-evaluation Motive Development: the model begins when we decide we need to acquire a product. This involves initial recognition that some sort of problem needs solving, i. . need a new dress Information Gathering: the next stage requires us to look for alternative ways of solving our problem. We are open to ways of solving our problem, i. e. looking online Product Evaluation: once we feel we have all the information that we need to make a decision, we evaluate the products, i. e. choose between 2 dresses Product Selection: the pr oduct we eventually select is the one that we evaluate as fitting our needs best beforehand. This is a separate stage because there are times when we must re-evaluate, because what we want may not be right, or not available, i. . pick best dress Acquisition: once selection has taken place, different approaches to product acquisition might exist. It is important for the marketers to ensure that their customer value the product that they receive, i. e. buy online, with chance to return within 14 days, free delivery etc. Re-evaluation: the theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957) suggests that we are motivated to re-evaluate our beliefs, attitudes and opinions. To reduce dissonance, we might: * Selectively forget information * Minimize the importance of an issue, decision or act Selectively expose ourselves to information which agrees with our existing view * Reverse a purchase decision (take product pack) Perceptions Consumer understanding very much depends on how effectively the message is both transmitted and perceived. In any one day, consumers receive thousands of messages. AMA, 2007: Based on prior attitudes, beliefs, needs, stimulus factors, and situational determinant, individuals perceive objects, events of people in the world about the. Perception is the cognitive impression that is formed of â€Å"reality† which in turn influences the individual’s actions and behaviour toward that object. The process of screening such meaningful information from the non-meaningful is known as selective exposure (Dubois, 2000). The implication for marketers is the importance of determining what media your customers use, and which they ignore. Perceptual mapping is a useful tool to determine how consumers perceive competing products and services, by comparing labels, brands and products, by rating those using semantic differential questions. Learning Consumers are continually learning about new product characteristics, their performance and new trends. Learning is the process by which we acquire new knowledge and skills, attitudes and values, through the mediums of study, experience, or modelling others’ behaviour. There are numerous theories of human learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning. Classical Conditioning: Ian Pavlov stated that classical conditioning occurs, because we learn by associating one thing with another, in Pavlov’s case, the sound of the bell and arrival of food made the dogs salivate, so eventually, just by the sound of the bell, the dogs assumed that food would arrive. Operant Conditioning: Skinner (1954) argued that learning was the result of operant conditioning, which is learnt through behaviour reinforcement, through punishment or reward. Social Learning: Bandura (1977) suggested humans are much more thoughtful and less animalistic than the Skinnerian behaviourist school of learning suggested. Also contrasting to operant conditioning, Bandura argued that we can delay gratification and dispense our own rewards our punishment. In other words, we have more choice over how we react to stimuli than Skinner proposed. We can reflect on our own actions and change our future behaviour. In social learning, we learn by observing the behaviour of others. Memory Knowledge develops with familiarity, repetition of marketing messages, and consumers acquisition of product/service information. According to Bettman (1979) our memories are highly complex, there are a variety of memorisation processes which affect consumer choice, some of which include the following: 1. Recognition and recall – less frequently used words in advertising are recognised more. The more unique a campaign’s message, the better it is recognised, but the worse it is recalled. 2. Effects of context – memorisation is strongly associated with the context of the stimulus, and while information may be available in memory it will be inaccessible in the wrong context. 3. Form of coding and storage of objects in memory – subjects may store information in the form it is presented to them, either by object (brand) or dimension (product/service attribute). 4. Effect of processing load – this concept operates from a capacity allocation theory of memory suggesting that we are likely to find it more difficult to process information into our short and long term memories when we are presented with a great deal of info at once. . Effects of input mode – short term recall of auditory input (i. e. sound) is stronger than the short term recall of visual input (sight) where the 2 compete for the consumers attention. 6. Effects of repetition – recall and recognition of marketing messages increase the more times a consumer is exposed to them alth ough there are decreasing increments in memory performance and repetition increases. Personality How and what we buy is also based on our personalities. Personality: the aspect of our psyche that determines the way in which we respond to our environment in a relatively stable way over time. 3 main approaches: . Psychoanalytic approach – stresses self-reported unconscious desires 2. Trait theory – stresses classification of personality types 3. Self concept approach – concerned with how we perceive ourselves as consumers. Psychoanalytic Approach Freud (1927) stated that someone’s personality is determined by their sexual development through the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages. An adult’s personality is developed according to how well they cope with crises that occur during these 5 phases. ID – instinctual drives and urges Ego – attempts to find outlets for the urges in our id and acts as a planning centre. Moderated by superego. Superego – controls how we motivate ourselves to behave to responds to our instincts and urges, so that we do in a socially acceptable manner, and avoid any feelings of guilt or shame. Social conscience. Trait Approach This approach categorises people into different personality types. There are 20 needs. E. g. autonomy, aggression, and achievement. Maslow (1943) suggested a hierarchical order of human needs: Self-actualisation Needs The need to fulfil our potential Esteem Needs Valued and respected by self and others Belongingness Needs Affection, attachment, friendship Safety Needs A predictable non-threatening environment Physiological Needs Food, water, oxygen, sex, and shelter from the elements The importance of each level ranges from country to country, as some needs are more readily available than others. Chapter 4: Marketing Research and Marketing Information Systems Marketing research is used to obtain information that provides the management of a company with sufficient insight to make more informed decisions on future activities. For a business to be successful, an organisation must understand the motivations, desires and behaviour of its customers and consumers. Marketing research specifies the information required to address certain issues; design methods for manage and implement the data collection process; analyse the results and communicate the findings and their implications. (ESOMAR 1995) Even though marketing research is the foundational element of modern marketing practice, market research is valued by some companies more than others. Commissioning Marketing Research Conducting market research depends largely on the size of the company and the type of product or service being sold. Some large companies employ market research agencies to conduct their research for them. The main advantage of using agencies is that it is relatively cheap compared with undertaking the research in-house and collecting the data independently. The main disadvantages of using agencies are that the agency sometimes cannot achieve the depth of knowledge of the client’s problems or market unless it offers a niche specialism in this area. In many syndicated surveys, (retail audits etc) several rival organisations buy the same data from the agency, so a cost effective survey can be carried out. However the survey could be less specific to each business. The Marketing Research Brief Typical contents might include the following: * Background summary – brief info and details about the company and its products it offers * Management problem – clear statement of why the research should be undertaken and which business decisions are dependent upon its outcome * The marketing research questions – a detailed list of the information necessary in order to make the decisions outlined above * The intended scope of the research – the areas to be covered, which industries, type of consumer etc. Should be provided. Should give an indication of when the info is required and why that date is important * Tendering procedures – the client organisation should outline how agencies are to be selected as a result of the tendering process. Specific info may be required such as CVs from agency personnel to be involved in the study, and referee contact address The Marketing Research Process Stage 1 – define the problem Stage 2 – decide the research plan Stage 3 – undertake the data collection Stage 4 – undertake the data analysis/interpretation Stage 5 – write the report and deliver the presentation See book for detailed descriptions, page 144 Competitive Intelligence and Marketing In formation Systems It’s no good having lots of data unless you know how to use it. Companies are frequently swimming in data but have no means to convert the data into intelligence or no means to store it and provide it to end users. Competitive Intelligence – the organised, professional approach to collection, analysis, and distribution of timely, accurate and useful information as intelligence products – intelligence that contributes materially to the achievement of strategic and tactical business objectives (Nolan, 1999). There are various techniques used which include: * Use remote psychological assessment tools to build profiles of business opponents * Collecting competitive intelligence at conferences and trade shows * Collecting information on rivals from their customers and suppliers using elicitation techniques * Collecting intelligence on rivals from 3rd parties using elicitation techniques Marketing Research and Ethics Many supermarkets adopt loyalty cards. The major value of such schemes is the provision of consumption information. This data is analysed by a 3rd party, and sold to the company. Since marketing research is based on the cooperation of the individuals or organisations that provide the answers or fill in the questionnaires, marketing research should be carried out in an objective, unobtrusive, and honest manner. Researchers have been particularly concerned about the public’s increased unwillingness to take part in market research. Marketing research should neither attempt to induce sales of a product or service, nor influence customer attitudes, or intentions of behaviours. The general public and other parties are entitled to assurances that no information collected in a research survey will be used to identify them, or disclosed to a 3rd party without their consent. In conducting any marketing research, researchers have responsibility for themselves, their clients and the respondents from whom the information is being gathered. International Marketing Research Marketing researchers need to understand how culture operates in international markets and how this impacts upon research design. More variables need to be considered. Difficult to decide whether to use the same sampling frame, or study using different scales, sampling methods and sizing. The key issue faced by international researchers is to ensure comparable data are collected, despite differences in sampling frames, technological development and availability of interviewers. Conceptual Equivalence – when interpretation of behaviour or objects, is similar across countries. Functional Equivalence – a concept has similar functions in different countries Translation Equivalence – words in some languages have no real equivalent in other languages The International Marketing Survey Research Process . The project is discussed at length with the client 2. The fieldwork agencies for each country are selected 3. The questionnaire is developed centrally 4. The questionnaire is translated locally and the translation is checked centrally 5. The questionnaire is piloted locally 6. The questionnaire is finalised centrally 7. The interviewe rs are briefed locally by an executive of the central company 8. A coding and editing plan is provided for the local agencies 9. The edited and coded questionnaires are returned to the head office 10. A coding and editing check is carried out centrally 11. Data processing is carried out centrally Chapter 6 : Market Segmentation and Positioning The STP Process The method by which whole markets are subdivided into different segments is referred to as the STP process. STP refers to the 3 activities that should be undertaken. These are: 1. Segmentation 2. Targeting 3. Positioning Marketers are increasingly segmenting markets and indentifying attractive segments in order to identify new product opportunities, develop suitable positioning, and communicate strategies (i. . what message to communicate), and effectively allocate resources to key marketing activities (i. e. how much should we spend and where? ). Organisations operating in highly dynamic environments seek to conduct segmentation research at regular intervals to keep in touch with changes in the marketplace. Key benefits of STP process include: * Enhancing a company’s competitive position by providing direction and foc us for marketing strategies – such as targeted advertising, new product development and brand differentiation. Examining and identifying growth opportunities in the market through the identification of new customers, growth segments, or new product uses. * More effective and efficient matching of company resources to targeted market segments promises the greatest return on marketing investment. The Concept of Market Segmentation Market segmentation is the division of a market into different groups of customers with distinctly similar needs and product/service requirements. The purpose of market segmentation is to leverage scarce resources, to ensure that the elements of the marketing mix are designed to meet particular needs of different customer groups. With an increasing proliferation of tastes in modern society, consumers have increased in disposable incomes. As a result, marketers have sought to design product and service offerings around the consumer demand (market segmentation) more than around their own production needs (product differentiation) The process of Market Segmentation There are 2 main approaches to segmenting markets. 1. Breakdown Method – this adopts the view that the market is considered to consist of customers which are essentially the same, so the task is to identify groups which share particular differences. 2. Build-up Method – considers a market to consist of customers that are all different, so here the task is to find similarities. The breakdown approach is perhaps the most established and well recognized and is the main method used for segmenting consumer markets. The build up approach seeks to move from the individual level where all customers are different, to a more general level of analysis based on the identification of similarities. The aim of both methods is to identify segments in the market where identifiable differences exist between members within each segment (member homogeneity) The segmentation process varies according to the prevailing conditions in the marketplace and the changing needs of the parties involved, not simply the needs of the selling organisation. Market Segmentation in Consumer Markets To segment the consumer goods and service markets, we use market information we have collected based on certain key customer/product/situation related criteria (variables). These are classified as segmentation bases, they include profile, behavioural, and psychological criteria. The 4th segmentation criteria is contact data. The population can be segmented and analysed through various ways: * Demographics * Lifecycle * Geographics * Geodemographics * Psychographics * Behavioural criteria Transaction and purchase: the development of electronic technologies has facilitated the rapid growth in the collection of consumer purchase and transactional data, providing an additional consumer characteristic upon which to base market segmentation. Segmentation in Business Markets There are 2 main groups of interrelated variables used to segment business-to-business markets: 1. Organisational characteristics: organisational size/location/industry type (SIC codes). 2. Buyer characteristics: Decision-making unit structure/choice criteria/purchase situation. Organisational size: by segmenting organisations by size, it is possible to identify particular buying requirements. Geographic location: particularly useful since it allows sales territories to be drawn up around particular locations which salespersons can easily service. SIC codes: Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes are often used to get an indication of the size of a particular market. Easily accessible and standardised across most western countries. Decision-making unit: a decision making unit may have specific requirements that influence their purchase decisions in a particular market, i. e. policies, purchasing strategies, attitudes towards vendors and towards risk. Choice criteria: business markets can be segmented on the basis of the specifications of product/service that they choose. Purchase Situation: there are 3 factors associated with the purchase situation. 1. The structure of the buying organisation’s purchasing procedures (centralised, flexible etc). 2. What type of buying situation is present (new task, modified re buy, straight re buy) 3. What stage in the purchase decision process have target organisations reached? Target Markets It is important to determine which, if any, of the segments uncovered should be targeted and made the focus of a comprehensive marketing programme. It needs to be judged which markets are selected and exploited, and which markets are ignored. Kotler (1984) suggested that for market segmentation to be effective, all segments must be: * Distinct Accessible * Measurable * Profitable Targeting Approaches Once identified the company needs to select its approach to target marketing it is going to adopt. Four differing approaches can be considered: 1. Undifferentiated marketing e. g. UK post office, targets mass market. 2. Differentiated marketing e. g. Levi’s, targets multiple market segments. 3. Focu sed/concentrated marketing e. g. Jordan cereal targets consumers interested in organic. 4. Customised marketing: B2B markets (e. g. marketing research or advertising services) Market Segmentation: Some Limitations The process involves approximating product/service offering to the needs of customer groups, rather than providing an individual customised offering, there is a chance that our customers’ needs are not being fully met. * There is insufficient consideration of how market segmentation is linked to competitive advantage. Market segmentation has not tended to stress the need to segment on the basis of differentiating from competitors. * It is unclear how valuable segmentation is to the manager. Suitable processes and models to indicate how to measure the effectiveness of market segmentation processes are not yet available. Process issues – lack of experience, guidance and expertise concerning the way in which segmentation is undertaken and managed. Positioning Ha ving segmented the market, determined the size and potential of market segments, and selected specific target markets, the 3rd part of the STP process is to position a brand within the target market. Positioning is important because it is the means by which goods and services can be differentiated from one another and so give consumers a reason to buy. It’s about how customers judge a product’s value relative to competitors and its ability to deliver against the promises made. . Physical attributes – functionality and capability that a brand offers. 2. Communication – the way the brand is communicated and how consumers perceive the brand relative to other competing brands in the marketplace. Perceptual Mapping Perceptual mapping represents a geometric comparison of how competing products are perceived. The further apart the positions, the greater the opportunity for new brands to enter the market, because competition is less intense. Repositioning Strateg ies Markets, consumer tastes, fashions and competitors change. There are four main ways to approach repositioning a product. . Change the tangible attributes and then communicate the new product to the same market. 2. Change the way a product is communicated to the original market. 3. Change the target market and deliver the same product 4. Change both the product attributes and the target market. Chapter 9: Products, Services, and Branding Decisions The 3 levels of a product: 1. The core product – consists of the real core benefit or service. May be a functional benefit in terms of what the product will enable you to do, or an emotional benefit in terms of how it will make you feel. E. g. cars provide transportation and a means of self-expression. 2. The embodied product – consists of the physical good or delivered service that provides the expected benefit. E. g. features, durability, design, packaging, brand name etc. 3. The augmented product – consists of the embodied product plus all other factors necessary to support the purchase. E. g. credit and finance, training, delivery, installation, guarantees. Consumer Products Durable goods: can be used repeatedly and provide benefits each time they are used e. g. ike, Ipod Non-durable goods: limited duration, often only capable of being used once e. g. yoghurt, newspaper Convenience products can be sub-divided into 3 categories: 1. Stable products: bread, milk, petrol 2. Impulse products: chewing gum, chocolate, magazines 3. Emergency products: bandages, umbrella, plumber in the middle of the night when there’s a leak. Unsought products refers to a group of products which people do not normall y anticipate buying or want to buy. For example, insurance sold on the streets, double glazing, and timeshare holiday (mainly products pushed to buy from salespeople). Business Products There are 6 main categories identified according to how organisational customers (business people) use them: 1. Equipment goods 2. Raw materials 3. Semi-finished goods 4. Maintenance repair and operating goods 5. Component parts 6. Business services Product Lifecycles Product lifecycle is the belief that products move through a sequential, predetermined pattern of development. It consists of 5 distinct stages: 1. Development 2. Introduction 3. Growth 4. Maturity 5. Decline Speed of movement through the stages will vary but each product has a limited lifespan. The lifespan can be prolonged and extended, but the majority of products have a finite period. It does not apply to all products in the same way. E. g. some products reach the end of the introduction stage and then die as it becomes clear there is no market to sustain the product. Some products get to decline, and then get recycled back to growth stage by repositioning activities. Usefulness of Product Life Cycle The plc (product life cycle) concept allows marketing managers to adapt strategies and tactics to meet the needs of evolving conditions and product circumstances. It is a well known and popular concept and is a useful means of explaining the path a product or brand has taken. Clear, simple and predictable. However, in practice the PLC is not great use. Difficult to tell when the product has hit each stage in the cycle. Historical sales data does not help managers identify when a product has moved from one stage to another, so it is difficult to forecast sales and determine the future shape of the PLC curve. Great care is required when using the PLC. Idea Generation Idea Generation Screening Business Plans and Market Analysis Product Development and Selection Test Marketing Commercialisation The Process of Adoption The process through which individuals accept and use new products is referred to as the process of adoption (Rogers 1983). The process starts with people gaining awareness of a product and moves through various stages of adaptation before a purchase is eventually made. 1. Knowledge 2. Persuasion 3. Decision 4. Implementation 5. Confirmation Branding Branding is a method through which manufacturers and retailers help customers to differentiate between the various offerings in a market. It enables them to make associations with certain attributes or feelings with a particular brand. Brands are products and services that have added value. This value has been deliberately designed and presented by marketing managers in an attempt to augment their products with values and association that are recognised by and are meaningful to customers. It is customer perception and the brand’s value which is important. AMA definition: a name, term, sign, symbol, design or a combination, intended to identify the goods, or services of one seller or group of sellers, and to differentiate them from those of competitors (2006). There are 2 main types of attributes: 1. Intrinsic – functional characteristics of a product, such as shape, performance etc. 2. Extrinsic – brand name, price, packaging, marketing communications etc. Benefits of branding for consumers: * Assists people to identify their preferred products * Reduces level of perceived risk * Help people gauge the level of product quality * Reduces amount of time spent making product based decisions, decreases shop time. * Provide psychological reassurance or reward, especially for products bought on an occasional basis (e. g. esigner handbag) * Inform consumers about the source of a product (country or company) Benefits of branding for manufacturers and retailers: * Enable premium pricing * Help differentiate the product from competitive offerings * Encourage cross-selling to other brands owned by the manufacturer * Develop customer loyalty/retention and repeat purchase buyer behaviour * Assist the development and use of integrated mark eting communications * Contribute to corporate identity programmes * Provide some legal protection Types of Brands * Manufacturer brands: Persil, Heinz, coca-cola, Cadbury. Promoted heavily. Distributor (own label) brands: Argos, Harvey Nichols, Sainsburys. Sell manufactured and own label. * Generic brands: plain flour. Packaging only displays info required by law. Sold at prices substantially below normal price. Only firms in pharmaceutical sector use this type of brand now, as popularity elsewhere has declined. Brand Policies Individual branding: requires that each product offered by an organisation is branded independently of all the others. E. g. Unilever uses individual branding with Cif, Knorr and Dove. Advantages: * Easy to target specific segments and to enter new markets with separate names. If a brand fails or becomes subject to negative media attention, other brands are not likely to be damaged. Disadvantages * Heavy financial cost as each brand needs to have its own prom otional programme and associated support. Family branding: requires that all the products use the organisations name, either entirely or in part. E. g. Microsoft, Heinz, and Kellogg’s. Advantages: * It is hoped that customer trust will develop across all brands. * Promotional investment need not be as high as there will be a halo effect across all the brands when one is communicated. Disadvantages: * Damage to one product or operational area can cause problems across the organisation. Corporate branding: Single umbrella brand, based on the name of the organisation. Used by major supermarkets, business markets, and financial services. Advantages: * Promotional investments are limited to one brand. Disadvantages: * The risk is similar to family branding where damage to one product or operational area can cause problems across the organisation. Co-branding is where two established brands work together, either on one product or service. Brand Equity is a measure of the value of a brand. It is an assessment of a brand’s wealth, sometimes referred to as goodwill. Brand equity is considered important because of the increasing interest in trying to measure the return on promotional investments and pressure by various stakeholders to value brands for balance sheet purposes. A brand with strong equity is more likely to be able to preserve its customer loyalty and so fend off competitor attacks. There are 3 parts associated with brand equity: 1. Brand value, based on a financial and accounting base 2. Brand strength, measuring the strength of a consumer’s attachment to a brand 3. Brand description, represented by the specific attitudes customers have towards a brand Packaging There is a societal and political pressure to ensure that packaging and the materials used are appropriate and capable of being recycled. Packaging has 2 main roles to be, functional and communicative. * Protection * Preserved * Convenience * Clear messages about content, features, and dangers * Good design (complement physical attributes) * Brand identification and reassurance * Layout Labelling Labels are important. Deliver information about product usage * Help promote a brand * Enable brand owners to comply with various regulations and requirements * Good design Chapter 10: Price Decisions Price: the amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something Price: something expended or endured in order to achieve an object In marketing terms, we consider price as the amount the customer has to pay or exchange to receive a good or service. Customer Perceptions of Pricing, Quality and Value Quality is defined as the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind. Consumers have differing views of the quality of the product they have purchased. Value is defined as the regard that something is held to deserve importance of worth. In marketing terms, perceived value refers to what we get for what we pay. Value = Quality/Price Although products might be perceived as expensive, they can still be perceived as value for money (e. g. Panadol is an expensive drug, but is more effective than own-label aspirin) Reference Prices: when customers have some idea of what they think is a fair price to pay for a certain good or service, or what they would expect to pay. When customers assess prices, they estimate value using pricing cues, because they do not always know the true cost and price of the item that they are purchasing. Odd Number Pricing: also known as psychological pricing. ?1. 99, we think is a lot cheaper than it is. Purchase Context in Pricing: starting off with cheaper prices before adding in extras (easy jet), or gym memberships with a small monthly fee but with a yearly contract. Consumers are drawn in more if they initially see a low price. Price Bundling: bundling other products together, e. g. magazines with free CD’s or DVD’s. This is pure price bundling. Mixed price bundling is when different products can be bundled together through choice, such as mobile phone packages with international call packages, SMS packages, and email, which can also be available independently or with other offers. Price bundles can also include â€Å"cash back† not just offering products. For example banks offer cash back schemes on money spent and inputted in their banks (Halifax pay ? 5 every month is ? 1000 is put into a current account). Pricing Approaches The setting of prices depends on a number of factors, such as demand, sales revenue, costs etc. There are 4 types of pricing approaches which can be used: 1. Cost-oriented approach (prices are set based on costs) 2. Demand –oriented approach (prices are based on price sensitivity and levels of demand) 3. Competitor-oriented approach (where prices are set based on what competitors charge) 4. Value-oriented approach (prices are set based on what customers believe to offer value) Pricing Policies Although there are 4 main types of pricing approaches, there are in fact many different possible pricing policies which could be used: 1. List pricing: unsophisticated approach to pricing. A single price is set for a product or service. 2. Loss leader pricing: the price of a product is set at a lower level than actual cost to product it. This entices customers into stores, and the loss incurred on these items is made up by increasing costs elsewhere on less price-sensitive items. 3. Promotional pricing: when companies temporarily reduce their prices below the standard price for a period of time to raise awareness of the product, to raise brand awareness in the short term. 4. Segmentation pricing: where varying prices are set for different groups of customers, e. g. tesco finest, tesco value, George asda, etc. Economists call this price discrimination. 5. Price skimming: the start of a product’s life cycle, a product is charged a lot higher, to recoup the costs of research and development, and to make the product â€Å"exclusive†. 6. Price penetration: the start of a product’s life cycle, a product is charged a lot lower, to gain market share and generate a large volume of sales to recoup research and development investment. Pricing in the B2B Setting B2B markets exist on the basis that firms sell products and services to one another rather than to end users. From the B2B seller’s perspective, there re numerous approaches to pricing products and services including the following: * Geographical pricing – where customers are located * Negotiated pricing – set according to specific agreements between company and client * Discount pricing – reduce prices on the basis that customer is prepared to bulk buy * Value-in-use pricing – price foc uses attention upon customer perceptions, what they expect to pay * Relationship pricing – understanding of customer’s needs, helps generate relationship * Transfer pricing – large organisations, internal dealing between different divisions of the company and across national boundaries. Economic value to customer – works on basis that a company prices a good according to its value to the client through comparison with a reference or market leading product, taking everything into consideration (start-up and post-purchase costs) Price Elasticity of Demand It allows us to determine how the quantity of a good or service relates to the price at which it is offered. Inelastic goods and services are defined as such, because a change in price has little effect in sales volumes, whereas elastic goods have large effects. We need to understand this concept in order to understand demand-orientated pricing mechanisms. Chapter 11: An Introduction to Marketing Communications Marketing communications or promotion is one of the 4ps of the marketing mix. It is used to communicate elements of an organisation’s offering to a target audience. Communication is the process by which individuals share meaning. There are 3 main models or interpretations, of how communication works. 1. Linear model 2. Two-way model 3. Interactive model Linear Model of Communication – page 434 Regarded as the basic model of mass communications. First developed by Wilbur Schramm (1955). The linear model emphasises that each phase occurs in a particular sequence, to enable to transmission of information, ideas, attitudes and emotion from one person or group to another. The goal is to create a message that is capable of being comprehended easily by the receiver. once encoded, the message must be put in a form that is capable of transmission. Once the receiver has received the message, they decode it, to make sense of it. Once understood, receivers react and provide a response, with feedback. The final component is understanding. The source and receiver understand each other. Increasing numbers of people now engage with interactive based communications, so companies and individuals cannot be involved in real dialogue. The linear model therefore is no longer entirely appropriate. The Two-Step Model of Communication People can have a significant impact on the communication process, and the two-step model goes some way to reflecting their influence. It recognises the importance of personal influences when informing and persuading audiences to think or behave in particular ways. There are 2 main types of influencer: * Opinion leader – ordinary person who has a heightened interest in a particular topic. * Opinion former – involved professionally in the topic of interest. These both have enormous potential to influence audiences. Messages from personal influencers provide reinforcement and message credibility. The Interaction Model of Communications Model is similar to two-step model but contains one important difference. Mass media is not the only source of communication. Interaction model recognises that messages can flow through various channels and that people can influence the direction and impact of a message. Interaction is about actions that lead to a response and much attention is now given to the interaction that occurs between people. The development of digital technologies has been instrumental in enabling organisations to provide increased interaction opportunities with their customers. (e. g. press the red button to get more info). News programmes now encourage viewers to phone or send in their emails and pictures about particular issues. This gets audiences to express their views and in doing so, promoting access to, and interacting with the programme. The Role of Marketing Communications The success of marketing communications depends upon the extent to which messages engage their audiences. These audiences can fall into 3 groups: * Customers * Channel members – suppliers, retailers, wholesalers, value added resellers * Stakeholders – shareholders, employees, local community There are many types of exchange, but 2 of particular importance: 1. Transactional Exchanges: transactions that occur independently of any previous exchanges. Short term orientation. When a consumer buys an mp3 player, a brand they have not bought from before, then a transactional exchange can be identified. . Collaborative Exchanges: longer term orientation. Develops between parties who wish to build long-term supportive relationships. When a consumer buys their 3rd product from the same brand as the mp3 player, perhaps from the same dealer, collaborative exchanges are taking place. Audiences who prefer transactional exchanges will engage better with advertising and mass media-base d communications, as messages are impersonal and product focused. Companies by adding extra touches, can convert a shopping experience from transactional to collaborative, by putting in extra effort to maintain relationships. The Tasks of Marketing Communications There are 3 main aspects associated with marketing communications: 1. Engagement 2. Audience 3. Responses Communications can be used to differentiate brands and companies, to reinforce brand memories and expectations, to inform (make aware and educate audiences), and finally to persuade them to do things or to behave in particular ways. The Marketing Communications Mix The traditional marketing communications mix consists of a set of 5 primary tools: 1. Advertising 2. Sales promotion 3. Direct marketing 4. Public relations 5. Personal selling These 5 primary tools are used in various combinations and with different degrees of intensity in order to achieve different communication goals with target audiences. Word-of-mouth Word-of-mouth communication is â€Å"interpersonal communication regarding products or services where the receiver regards the communicator as impartial†. Integrated Marketing Communications IMC is concerned with harmonising the messages conveyed through each of the promotional tools, so that audiences perceive a consistent set of meanings within the messages they receive. Cultural Aspects of Marketing Communications Culture is important because it provides individuals within a society with a sense of identity and an understanding of what is deemed to be acceptable behaviour. Within businesses various types of culture arises: * National culture * Industry/Business culture * Organisational culture * Individual behaviour Corporate Concentration – a few large organisations own more and more media properties. Chapter 12: Marketing Communications: Tools and Techniques The marketing communications mix is a set of 5 tools that can be used in various combinations to communicate with target audiences: 1. Advertising 2. Sales promotion 3. Public relations 4. Direct marketing 5. Personal selling There are 6 key classes of media: 1. Broadcast 2. Print 3. Outdoor 4. In-store 5. Digital 6. Other (which includes both cinema and ambient media) The Role and Purpose of the Marketing Communications Mix Media fragmentation: the expansion of media where different classes of media have recently been used in different ways and developed. Advertising Advertising is a non-personal form of communication. It reaches large, mass audiences in an impersonal way. * Can be used to influence demand for products Can be used to manage perceptions and understanding about the organisation as a whole. Strong theory of advertisement – Jones (1991) Weak theory of advertisement – Ehrenberg (1997) Other Promotional Methods and Approaches * Sponsorships * Product placement * Branded entertainment * Field marketing * Exhibitions * Viral marketing Chapter 13: Managing Communications: Strategy, Planning, a nd Implementation There are 3 core marketing communication strategies, each based on broad target audiences: * Pull strategies – used to communicate with end user customers. Consumers and organisations within a B2B context. * Push strategies –