Apple Management Essay

Why was Dubinsky initially successful? Her first 3 years at apple from July 1981 through the fall of 1984 was ones continuous success with increasing authority and recognition. She refined and formalized the apple product distribution policy. She exactly understood apple situation in market and create a marketing execution funnel that Apple Company didn’t have this system before. She and her group took all apple products from their respective manufacturing sites to the dealers. They improved warehousing, customer service, credit, repair service, order entry, and a technical group to assist dealers. She was risk taker. Maintained relationship with apple dealers. Willingly and ably fought for her subordinates and for apple dealers and customers. Focused primarily on her caring and honest relationship with her subordinates, Worked closely with 6 distribution centers across the country, She always supported company decision even if she didn’t agree with it. She always had a company’s interest at heart, she was extremely intelligent, had a great sense of humor, had a good ability in presentation, she was self confident, she was very direct. How and why did things unravel? Steve Jobs forced Coleman to do Dubinsky’s job and set up a new distribution plan, and it was more than new distribution system. It was a total change in distribution and manufacturing strategy, taking apple from supply-driven to demand-driven and reducing the distribution and warehouse centers from six to zero, it focused only on central processing units, ignoring apple’s other products, there was no provision for customer complaints and product returns; it was inconvenient for dealers who would be required to split their request between the two product divisions and their respective directors of manufacturing. How did Dubinsky react and why? It was unfair from the side of Dubinsky because it should have been his job to prepare a new system for distribution if required. She found the wrong parts in the distribution plan of Coleman but she could not persuade others to change the company marketing strategy and they did not give her a chance to change or improve that. It’s obvious that she took an emotional decision. But she decided and made an ultimatum: if Campbell did not agree to her terms, she would leave apple. And after that she wrote her letter of resignation, she told weaver about her ultimatum. How should she and others at apple handle the circumstances differently? Steve Jobs was forcing Coleman to do Dubinsky’s job and set up a new distribution plan, and Jobs was doing that because he could make Coleman think in Job’s way, since he was working in Jobs division as director of manufacturing. But that was unfair from the side of Dubinsky because it should have been his job to prepare a new system for distribution if required, since she was responsible for distribution. In that situation, we cannot blame Dubinsky for getting offended; but on the other hand, it’s obvious that she took an emotional decision. She should have acted more professionally. She had already found the wrong parts in the distribution plan of Coleman. Other then criticizing, she should have spent her time on setting up another and new distribution plan. It is obvious that, Apple could reduce its costs with a new distribution system, so that, change was required and it would be done so mehow. She could have harmonized the system that Apple was already using and the system which was proposed by Coleman. It seems like some of the products that Apple manufactured were not suitable for the Just-in-time distribution system, and some of them were suitable. So they could use just-in-time system for some products, but also use the existing distribution system for the required products. That could reduce the number of warehouses and reduce the costs. Probably she should have come up with a new plan. She didn’t want any interventions from the outside while setting up her plan, but, that was an emotional reaction too. The ultimatum she gave was a wrong attitude. She should took recommendations and advice and evaluate a new plan for distribution. How do you explain the success of the transformation? Transformation is successful if improved efficiency and outcome or simplified the way to achievement. In order to remain successful, most businesses need to continually transform and reinvent themselves. Companies who understand this principle are better prepared for the future, and can adjust if need be to the changing world around them. Here are four guidelines that are important to the business transformation process. In order to have a successful transformation we need to: Understand our Company and Its Values understand our goals, set ourselves apart from others, decide our own future. Products and services may come and go, but a company should always remain true to its core values. It is not enough just to have goals. You also have to understand and completely believe in them. Even if you are in the process of transforming certain parts of your business, it is important to stay focused on the primary goals. Make sure you understand why your business exists, and how it makes a difference to your customers. Successful companies almost always have something about them that is just a bit different from their competitors. This is where business transformation can really come into play. Many times a company can greatly increase their level of success and profitability by just revising a few small details. Stay true to your overall goals and mission, but never stop searching for ways to add value and innovation to your company. What was done well and what could have been done differently? AACP had been transformed from an unprofitable hierarchical and demoralized organization whose very existence was at stake, to a profitable, modern and existing company. Bringing in senior managers from outside the industry to replace the old guard revitalized the entire organization .significant effort went into developing new insurance products .expanding distribution and launching bold marketing campaigns, started to actively engage with the local community. Set out to regain AACP’s position as Thailand number two life insurer .finding a replacement for the former chief agency .major change in how agents get paid. Build relationships. Exchange sales techniques .listen to motivational speakers and insurance industry leaders. Reorganization the agency sales force, restructuring the product portfolio, rebuilding the management team, re designing the work environment, reinforcing people management and†¦ but all these changes was regardless to culture factors and there was not sufficient time for employees and customers to adopt with these abrupt changes. It was better first persuade employees and customers about changes. Preparation is necessary before change. What is different about how transformation change works (or not) in Southeast Asia? Each of the Southeast Asian states and the manifold societies of which they are composed are going through incisive processes of transformation. Southeast Asia has long been identified and recognized as one of the most promising and thriving economic regions in the world, and thus inevitably a potential attraction for companies that want to expand their business activities. Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Philippines and Vietnam are enlisted among the fastest growing economies in the world. millions people has earned Southeast Asia a huge base of purchasing power and enriched it in terms of infrastructure development, communication and information technology, power sectors and environment. The members of ASEAN are a great market export destination for Canada after China. The entire credit goes to the explosive economic expansion and an equally strong demand. This happens not only because Southeast Asia has a strong foothold in foreign markets, but also because it gets huge tax benefits from different foreign countries. The strategic location, pro-business environment, attractive tax regulations, skilled labor, technologically superior infrastructure, competent legal set up, upstart lifestyle and a government that is stable as well as proactive, together contribute to the business culture of Southeast Asia. . Southeast Asia attracts a large number of international firms every year. As compared to the other Asian countries, Southeast Asia calls for the least amount of operations. Apart from the tourism industry, huge revenue is generated from trades and expo Southeast Asia is witnessing a huge boom in the IT industry as well. The IT industry is making its hub there and reducing their operational cost substantially. A number of companies in this region derive immense benefit from the similarities in terms of culture, language and even accents. Over all, it can rightly be said that the business culture of Southeast Asia is such that the region is constantly moving high towards the pinnacle of economic growth and justifying itself as a region of increased importance in today’s world of globalization. Clusters of dynamic economies that include the ‘newly emerging’ as well as the ‘highly developed’ are constantly operating and growing as per their characteristic manners and disciplines. All major world religions were established in Southeast Asia. In the course of their introduction to local societies, Hinduism (Bali, Java), Theravada Buddhism (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia), Sunni Islam (Indonesia, Malaysia), Christianity (Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam), Confucianism and Daoism (Vietnam) were adapted to, and transformed by, these societies’ beliefs and their ritually enacted ideas about the Socio-political, cosmological and moral order, with all these different in languages, cultures and religions. It is almost impossible to survive without change.

Home School vs Public School Essay

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between home schooling your children and sending them to a public school? How are there learning environments different and similar? How do they teach the state standards compared to teaching them yourself? What are the disadvantages and advantages of home schooling and public school? Doing the research yourself can be a waste of time sometimes or if you don’t have the time. The learning environment of public school is kind of a hassle. They teach the students as a whole, the students can ask for help if they are having trouble with what they are learning. Also public school pushes the students to do their best in class to make sure that they understand what they are working on. The teachers also allow the student to go to the library to learn more helpful things in life. If they can read on their own why not give them the chance to read as many books as they want and not limit them. Some teachers want to challenge the children in their reading and it also improves your children’s reading score and lets them understand and comprehend more words. Also public school is very good at socializing your children with other children there age and they make friends to play with each other. Home schooling environment is more on the pace of the adult that is teaching the children. The adult also chooses the setting to have the children in, as well as the environment could be in a loud place or a calm relaxing environment. Messing with the environment of the children can make it so that they end up misbehaving and not listening due to them being stressed. Home schooling background also makes it harder to socialize your children to other children there age and you could also cause issues with other children and your children. All schools follow a state standard that all students are supposed to pass without ease. Public schools follow a chart that states what the students need to learn that week, and that is what they should be learning and have it learned by the end of the that lesson week. If any student doesn’t completely understand the lessons that are told to leave the room and to go see a different teacher to have them explain it to them. As well if you were to fall behind in your school work, they normally don’t help you make it up, they will give you at least two days to get the work turned in or it would be counted as incomplete and that would lower your grade. You would have to get the notes from a friend to understand how to do the assignment, also you get a tutor that is easier to come to your home then to school for one on one learning. When you are the one that is teaching and you can teach at your own pace or the pace that your children want to learn the material. If they are grasping the concept very well without any issues then they could move onto a different lesson. As though there are some students that need the special help and you could be on that lesson or that material for a month. As long as you get the lessons for that whole year done then you would be on tract with the lessons. The advantages of a public school is to have some alone time with yourself and to have time away from the children and be able to run errands and go to doctor appointments without the kids. Being able to be alone in the house without children is the best time to clean and complete your grocery shopping. The disadvantages of public school are all the drama that occurs within the walls of the school. The administrators are also sometimes not the best people to have around your children. Sometimes how they treat their students due to them being out of school very often or if they are having a hard time in school and the teacher doesn’t not want to help. The advantages of home schooling would be having more family time and being able to monitor the progress of the children’s learning ability to read and to understand how to comprehend how they solve the work. Also if the child is sick you wouldn’t have to go pick them up from school, they would already be home. You wouldn’t also have to deal with the drama between your children and other children and the teachers. The disadvantages of home schooling is that you would very rarely get time alone without the children and it could stress you out and make you feel like you have been enclosed in a cocoon. Having the ability to send the children off to school and be able to be your own person and not have to listen to the children whine about something and to get them to understand what it is like to be socialized is all beneficial in the end. Having the ability to completely understand the difference between the two different types of schools that are out there to allow your children to go to and them enjoy either choice that you choose. With people having their own opinions about certain schools why not get the information straight from the information and based on what the opinions say. Having the feeling that you did your research and your children are getting the education that you would like them to have it a good feeling. Finding the right reasons and the wrong reasons for sending your children to a school that you have looked at is better than not knowing about it at all.

New Technology and How It Has Impacted Front Office Operations Essay

According to Bunduhn (2010), the hotel industry, in a worldwide scale, should meet the needs of their clients by adopting technology. In this fast paced world we currently live in. Technology is convenient, fast, and more economically wise to integrate into a system whose formula for success and their criteria for evaluation of good service is the comfort and convenience that the clients experienced bringing in more people, and ultimately more profit; a big plus to other important aspects of the hotel industry. Adopting technology is a big decision, especially when you are about to integrate it into a system that has been proven and tested from the humble beginning of the hotel industry to its current state infact, in spite of the time consuming, manual work that includes paper and pen, it has proven its worth all throughout its existence, some may even consider it safe, but there are ways to inject technology which provides convenience and comfort for the customers, while providing safety. This kind of decision is made by the front office because they are the ones who sort these things out. Front office functions may include room reservations of the guests, telephone ser-vices, and accounting, to name a few and we will be going into them one by one later in this pa-per as well as the benefits that each part can get out of technology. According to Sribd.com, hotels have what they call a guest cycle which includes the fol-lowing: (1) Pre-arrival Stage; (2) Arrival Stage; (3) Occupancy Stage and; (4) Departure stage. All of these stages can benefit from the integration of technology into the system of the hotel front office. During the first stage of the guests cycle, which is the stage where they go through all the possible hotels they are going to, selling a first impression and information, referrals, and various testaments are key to attracting potential clients to your service. One helpful tool in attracting potential guests into considering to stay at a hotel are the social networking sites. Social networking sites pop up today like weeds and it has many users all around the world. It is wise to utilize this kind of software into the system as part of the ad-vertising and sales department. This will be especially helpful in spreading information like wild-fire, and in social networking sites like Facebook, where everyone has access, it can be done, so it is vital to first create a page. Moreover, it also makes the manager’s job easier because if the information provided in the page is complete, or at least nearly complete, then there will be fewer questions asked by the guests upon inquiring for special requests; no more basic information needed. In addition, these types of social networking sites leave space for its users to leave com-ments that can be used to make testaments and comments about the place, and if provided good services, positive feedback will flood the page leaving a good impression on the people viewing your page. Good feedback resulting to more clients; more clients mean more income for your company. When the user has already decided, an application in the internet can immediately help in their reservation- convenience for both the customer and the management of the hotel. The sys-tem that handles these kinds of services such as plane seat and hotel room reservations is called the Global Distribution System or also known by its acronym the GDS. With the help of the GDS, the client can get easy access to reservation sheets allowing them to personally type in the information required in order to get a reservation. Customers can also call in to the front desk for any inquiries that are not clearly stipulated in their social networking site page, or on their web-site, and also for questions whether they can accommodate your special preferences and requests. After all is said and done, the client can already submit their reservation sheet, and then an elec-tronically generated email print of the confirmation letter will be shown on the monitor and can be printed by the guests, for reference purposes. Other means of reserving a room in a hotel that uses the advancement of technology is with the use of telephones or cell phones. With its aid, the customer is not required to visit the hotel, which may be miles away from them and be made at the comforts of their own homes. Basically these varied means in making reservations aim at making it easier for the client to get a room for a vacation, a business trip, making sure they have somewhere to stay in ad-vance. A good way to plan ahead and these advancements makes it easier, both for the client and the hotel’s manager and staff. During the stage when the client is already staying at the hotel, communication is vital in this stage between the staff, the manager, and the guests. Innovations in the communication sys-tem such as the use of the intercom system which is much like the Private Branch Exchange also known with its acronym of PBX, makes it easier for the client to contact front desk for any re-quest that he sees as necessary for him and also from one department to another, no need of marching your way to different areas of the hotel. Using one line for multiple telephones, you only need to dial a phone number that only requires three-digits or four which is assigned to eve-ry department of the hotel. The use of the desktop is very common in the current generation of hotel services. In con-trast to the previous hotels, they used manual handwriting, and that also entails a lot of papers that could possible eat up your work space. With the use of the computer hardware system, which includes, the keyboard, the monitor, the mouse, and certain pre-installed application into the computer, paperwork and writing may not necessary. These kinds of hardware also help in the strict monitoring of the charges of the guests. With pen and paper there is a higher chance of error, for the human mind can sometimes forget and might also be missed out when computing, so with the use of the automatic calculation pro-gram installed by a programmer into the system, the charges can be enumerated and totaled easi-ly, which Is apart of the whole reservation software. Simple small equipment had been very useful in the hotel front office system such as cal-culators, may not be in use in the current system of the hotel industry, but in the past, they were certainly helpful. Lastly, accounting has never been easier with the use of computers and specialized soft-ware provided by companies such as Microsoft and Intact. These accounting software allows management to monitor cash ledgers, the different accounts that goes in and out of the hotel, and payroll, to name a few. It will help with the monitoring of the many accounts of each guests in your hotel, not leaving out anything that they spent during their stay, because no matter what they say about convenience of their guests is their priority, income is still important. In many ways but one, the hotel industry should be thankful to technology because even though managers aide in the growth of the industry, it is the technology that makes their the in-dustry develop. References: Books and Printed Document: Brewer, P. et al. (2008). Current and Future Use in the Hospitality Industry. Bunduhn, R. (2010). Hotel Industry Urged to get Technology Up to Speed. The National Gretzel, U. et al. (2010). Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2010. SpringerWienNewYork. Ferdinand Berger & Sohne Gesellschaft m.b.H., 3580 Horn, Austria Internet: Retrieved from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38875395/Guest-Cycle. Retrieved: October 17, 2012 Retrieved from: http://www.tourism.bilkent.edu.tr/~jamel/RDM/Guest%20Cycle.doc. Retrieved: October 17, 2012

SAM 400 UNIT 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SAM 400 UNIT 6 - Essay Example These types of needs are required to be satisfied before others. On the other hand, higher needs are only important to some workers. In the hierarchy of Maslow, various needs required by any individual working are specified. The first one is the physical needs which are the basic for survival of any human. These needs entail shelter, water, sleep and oxygen among others. The other one is the safety needs as explained by Schermerhorn (Pp. 311) and they include security for any individual in a workplace. Any worker is supposed to feel safe while working and be in safe conditions by avoiding danger. Others include belonging and love need. When the safety and physiological needs of a worker is met, there emerges the need of belongingness and love. Maslow put emphasis on this need by saying that they involve receiving and giving love to workers in a workplace. According to Schermerhorn (Pp. 313), another one is esteem needs that makes an individual in a workplace to feel competent and worthy. This is by the worker being appreciated by the kind of work done. The other need in the hierarchy is self actualization need that realizes a worker’s full potential. In conclusion, the hierarchy of Maslow needs provide many ways that are useful in understanding the motivation of workers. Many business changes were proposed by Maslow so that workplaces would be more responsive to the workers needs (Schermerhorn, Pp.

Service quality in the casino industry Literature review

Service quality in the casino industry - Literature review Example From the research it can be comprehended that in today’s competitive environment, when all the service companies are competing to get hold of a large customer base, the main deciding factor would be the quality of the service offered to the customers. Better quality is expected to attract a larger customer base. However, there are certain factors which are also influential in defining the success of the service industry. One such significant element is the customers’ perception about the service and its attributes. To align the service qualities in line with the customers’ preferences and requirements is a great challenge for the service providers. The value and regards, the company offers to its customers, are significant the shape the perception of the customers about the specific service quality. The companies are required to show enough loyalty and commitment to the consumers they are catering to. It is pretty important that the companies must understand the requirement and needs of the customers. The company can encourage the involvement of customers to offer better service to them which would not only meet the requirements but also the expectations of the consumers. It is pretty significant that the service must strengthen the customers’ autonomy with appropriate customisation of the services. The company can assist the customers to choose the better services in compliance with the customers’ requirements and preferences. The attributes of the service must be conveyed to the customers in a way where the service processes are understood and seem to be meaningful to respective customers.

Advice topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advice topic - Essay Example The Chinese culture focuses on molding children into morally upright individuals of the society. Many life teachings as championed by early prominent persons such as Confucius are at the center of upbringing in the Chinese culture (Colson, 45). I have learnt many lessons from the teachings, which guide me in my daily dealings. For instance, Confucius’ teaching on unlocking personal excellence has propelled me to success and within reach of my full potential. Confucius says that â€Å"choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.† The Chinese culture has shaped me into a morally upright member of the society. Confucius lessons are instrumental in personal empowerment and decision-making on issues such as choosing a career path (Hall, Mod. 1). The sensitivity of an individual to other cultures is paramount in establishing good relations. The important aspects of the Chinese culture have made me sensitive to other cultures. Initially as I grew up, I ignored other cultures simply because they were not part of my life. However, after moving to America, I have been able to learn new things and life became more interesting as I integrated other cultures into my way of life. There should be no fear of other cultures and instead for individuals to reach their full potentials, they should explore the diversity of cultures (Hall, Mod. 1).The diverse nature of Chinese culture has helped me make formidable relationships with my peers from other cultures. The anxiety to learn from each other and empower ourselves has been the key driving force to this course. Due to different cultures, individuals have different personalities. This has made it easier to form all-round academic and social groups with friends and classmates (Hall, Mod. 1). Belief System and Discipline are important values of any culture. My parents use guan as the primary practice of valued discipline. Confucianism is a feature of

Corporate Social Performance (research report) Essay - 1

Corporate Social Performance (research report) - Essay Example CSR activities not only ensure that the company is gaining a positive brand image but it also ensures self-sustainability in the near future. CSR activities now a day have become quite a mainstream phenomenon where most of the well established firms have developed and maintain the concept of social sustainability (Manuel Castelo BrancoLÃ ºcia Lima 2006). CSR can be defined as the relationship between a corporation and the national government and the citizens (McDonald and Rundle-Thiele 2008). It encompasses the positive influence of the organisational activity on the welfare of the nation and its people. In a more streamlined perspective its can be stated that the CSR is the relationship between the corporation and the society (Jones and Wicks 1999). The business firms often undertake responsibility to improve the society that they are operating in. This as a result fosters social support and at the same time creates a sustainable working environment for the organisation to thrive f or a longer period of time. The firms often undertake initiatives like child education for the under privileged, keeping the society clean by the environmental standards (Baumgartner and Ebner 2010). The corporate social responsibility is based on three principles Sustainability, Accountability and Transparency. The sustainability deals with the long term thriving of the organisational activities. It involves taking certain actions in the present that has a positive impact on the future. This suggests that if the resources that are not infinite are being used in the present then they may get exhausted in the future. Sustainability indicates that the organizations must utilize the resources responsibly and should also ensure that they are being generated at a steady rate (Brower and Mahajan 2013). The Accountability of the organisation involves its acknowledgement towards the impact on the environment causing from

FIFA World Cup Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

FIFA World Cup - Essay Example The global supervision body chose Uruguay as the host state for celebrating the FIFA competition for men. However, it is only the year 1942 and 1946 whereby the FIFA was not held because of the WWII. Although Sir Thomas Trophy is at times recognized as the First World Trophy; the 1930 World Cup is one of the certified football competition recognized as the First World Cup. The earlier host countries for FIFA World Cup were given to those countries that participated in the FIFA congress, but choosing the location had disruptive issues. Although the first international football team was played first in the year 1872, in Glasgow, Jules Rimet came with the ideas of FIFA World Cup in 1928; hence marked the first written international football tournament. The historical background for World Cup can be traced back in 1928 when Jules Rimet, the president of FIFA decided to establish the global football competition for men. Although the first international football team was played first in the year 1872, in Glasgow, Jules Rimet came with the ideas of FIFA World Cup, hence marked the first written international football match (FIFA World Cup, 2013). The first FIFA began in Uruguay, which was chosen as the host nation; thus, the final competition of only thirteen teams played for the final World Cup. The world Cup has qualified effectively since the first edition of the international football events. This international football team has significantly attracted many nations; thus, there are currently 32 teams in the final tournament. These squads have proceeded by a two-year qualifying method that involves almost 200 teams from across the globe. Scotland and England became the earliest national football teams to participate in the worldwide football tournament that occurred in Glasgow, in the year 1872. However, the events rarely took place outside the Great Britain during this period. The

The Emergence Of Jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Emergence Of Jazz - Essay Example It is at this age that the jazz music took over the country, and one would imagine that the Englishmen appreciated the culture of the Blacks. With 1919-1930 regarded as the Harlem Renaissance thanks to the spread of the culture of the Blacks, Jazz music spread exceptionally4. However, the Europeans would grab a section of the Jazz music lovers as they moved their music from New Orleans to Chicago so as they could accrue economic gain from their music5. It is evident that these whites enjoyed a huge deal from the Jazz market as it was crowded by African Americans in the times. For the Europeans, jazz music was a continuation of their Blues music. As seen in the work of Scaruffi, jazz musicians were simply singing like the Blue singing groups only that they played instruments as opposed to using their vocals6. The creativity in jazz music was then similar to that of the blues music. The voices of the musicians were simply fashioned to sound like that of the instruments. The instruments used explain what jazz music was for the Europeans and how the sounds played the role of the voices in the music7. The events that shaped the 1919 war played a huge role in the making of jazz music. The Europeans were motivated by their zeal to rise to power, and also they needed to define their style. Fitzgerald says that the generation of the time included teenagers in the course of the war and the events of the war motivated the youth and the jazz artists8. The war is still clear in the brains of numerous Englishmen. With this in mind, the jazz musicians then had the need to stimulate the nerves of its listeners. Fitzgerald says that the youth of the time were wild, while new types of audiences rose from the war9. Barker and  Barbara add that there involved the wealthy middle class’ kids, servicemen, bureaucrats, and women escalating to public service10. A close check of these audiences entails gender and class.

The Middle Ages Essay Example for Free

The Middle Ages Essay The Middle Ages are a period of European history from around 476 A.D. to 1453 A.D. when society and culture declined. The middle Ages is believed to be started from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and was ended by the start of the European Renaissance. There are several key factors that led to the end of The Middle Ages other than the start of the Renaissance. The Black Plague and The Crusades undeniably led to the end of the Middle Ages because of the decrease of population from The Black Plague and the increase of foreign goods and trade from The Crusades among many other reasons. The Bubonic Plague, Black Plague, and Black Death are names for a deadly disease that killed between 75 and 200 million people in Europe. This Disease started and was carried by flees in rats on trade ships. The fleas would be transferred onto the ships cargo, which would in turn contaminate all customers. The disease was easily contagious and basically if you were in contact with anyone who had this disease in their system, you would be dead very soon . As a result of being extremely contagious it was spread very quickly and killed many people. Even though millions died, there is a silver lining. Those who survived the plague were able to move up in the European feudalistic social circle. Peasants were able to gain more powerful positions and in turn make more money. This scenario occurred in many other peoples lives and helped end The Middle Ages. The Crusades were a series of wars taking place in Asia Minor between 1095 and 1291. Pope Urban II was the first person that expressed a need for The Crusades at the Council of Clermont where he said we should invade the holy land and persecute the inhabitants who have taken over the beloved land of Jesus Christ. This was incorrect because most of the inhabitants ancestors of Jerusalem had always been there and this was their homeland. The Crusaders did not seize Jerusalem for long which is why The Crusades are often called historys greatest failure. The crusaders brutally murdered Jews and Muslims living in this area who had done nothing wrong. Most  crusaders were French peasants or serfs who wanted to escape the feudalistic social circle. If you went on The Crusades you became rich and made money. Even though The Crusades were not successful in the sense they didnt seize their homeland, it was still successful because the crusaders brought back many new things. These products were brought back to Europe and people tried to make them there which helped fix the economy in Europe. For example, soap was never used in Europe until the crusaders brought it back from the holy land. This was one of the many important things that were brought back from the holy land, which drastically helped end The Middle Ages. The Middle Ages were a 977-year period where civilization declined instead of rising. The Black Plague and Crusades helped end the Middle Ages even if they were both devastating in their own way and killed a lot of people. It is up to opinion if these two events were beneficial overall because of some of the extremely destructive results that took place however, they definitely helped end The Middle Ages.

Nationalist Movement Of The Belgian Congo

Nationalist Movement Of The Belgian Congo Belgian Congo represents todays Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The country got her first name, Belgian Congo, from her colonizer, Belgium, which was headed by Ling Leopold II. This event took place in November 15, 1908. Belgium Congo remained under the Belgians rule till June 30, 1960 when she gained her independence (Absolute Astronomy, par. 1).This paper is aimed at digging deeply into the events that took place in the Belgian Congo under Leopold IIs rule which eventually led to the formation of the Nationalist Movement of the Belgian Congo. Overview Belgiums control over Congo dates back to 1885 when King Leopold II used the help of Henry Morton Stanley who was an explorer to fulfill this interest. No other European monarch had expressed interest in Congo and this made Leopold II the first one. Among the things that attracted him to Congo included slave trade, rubber and minerals for which he made a gold mine. Congo remained under his control until 1908 when the Belgian government took over. Belgian remained powerful over Congo for 52 years until she got her independence in 1960. Patrice Lumumba made a great impact in Congos history as he headed Congos first nationalist party. When Congo gained her independence, Lumumba was appointed Prime Minister. In the same breath, two provinces which were rich in resources pulled out due to regional conflicts. Military struggles were rampant in Congo at the time and Joseph Mobutu who was an army chief betrayed Lumumba. Lumumba was seen as a threat and this led to his kidnap and eventual mur der in 1961. Those involved in his murder included foreign emissaries (Greenholt, par. 1). King Leopold IIs rule Leopold II ruled with an iron hand and he fought hard to control this very profitable nation. He was the sole executive chairman and shareholder of the Belgian Congo. He was making huge money from sales of copper, rubber among other minerals not forgetting that he had capitalized on the lucrative slave trade which was prominent in many parts of the world. Under Leopold IIs rule, the natives were subjected to brutal mistreatment. The natural resources were also plundered and thus benefited very few people. International scandals were also on the rise. In 1903, 122 Congolese natives were brutally murdered during a rubber collecting mission (Ankomah, par. 1). This event brought about unrest and Roger Casement of the British Consul filed a report that victimized white officials under Leopold II. This report was taken seriously and the perpetrators of this heinous crime were thoroughly punished upon arrest. The report filed by Roger Casement went ahead to pin point the leading causes of depopulation in Leopold IIs era. These he listed as indiscriminate war, tropical diseases, starvation and a reduced number of births. Some of these conditions were dehumanizing and this led to their exposure to the world. This was done by the United States and Europeans press. Leopolds rule came under much pressure from diplomats and the general public. This led to an end of his rule and Congo was now considered as a Belgiums colony (Ankomah). Life in Congo after Leopold IIs rule After king Leopolds rule hit a snag, the Belgium government took over power. This led to reformation of Leopolds shortcomings and the situation improved. This new government came with its recommendations which were geared at giving the Congolese natives a better life. On 18th October, 1908, a Colonial Charter was put in place and its Article 3 clearly stated that forced labor would no longer be exercised. This harmony brought about increased production in cotton and palm oil which increased the revenue. An education system was installed and the natives were even taught native languages like Swahili. Political administration was under the Belgian government where the King of Belgians remained the president. The Congolese natives were however not happy about this arrangement as racial segregation was rampant. The blacks could not mingle with the whites and they were not welcome in places where whites dominated. Only whites were allowed in the city centers and this pushed the blacks to the less glamorous reserves. This segregation also affected the employment sector where blacks were only given the low ranks. A curfew that restricted their movement was operational. They were not allowed out of their houses at particular times (Ankomah). Nationalist Movements of the Belgian Congo Nationalist movements were in place during Belgians rule but they looked down on them thus they went on unnoticed. Some religious and regional groups were opposed to these nationalist movements and formed their own. These movements pressurized Belgium to grant them independence as they were opposed to her rule. Belgian was not comfortable with this arrangement because she felt that this would evict her from her richest colony. A movement by the name ABAKO was formed in 1950 and this represented the ethno-religious groups (Breuilly 200). In 1956, the Nationalist Movement of the Belgian Congo was formed. It was otherwise known as the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) headed by Patrice Lumumba. This partys main agenda was to turn Congo into a self government. It gained popularity among the Congolese natives and spread widely to six provinces. Due to internal pressures within the party, a splinter group led by Albert Kalonji departed. This party took the title Mouvement National Congolais Kalonji. This split however did not affect the Lumumbas party which was now referred to as Mouvement National Congolais Lumumba. It proved to be very influential in the politics of Belgian Congo. It was seen as a threat to the Belgian government because they could smell their downfall. March 1959 saw national-wide riots which were dubbed Leopoldville. This move further terrorized the Belgian government which saw to the legalization of the national movements which had been formed so far. This was a mighty revolution and the political parties formed an alliance (Absolute Astronomy, par.8). Factors that led to the rise of Nationalism Belgian saw Congo as a tribal country that was only kept together through their rule. Patrice Lumumba was a unifying leader and worked hard to change this perceived attitude of the Congolese citizens by Belgians. He sought to bring them together by sowing in them seeds of unity and harmony against the Belgians who were typical racialists. He was not afraid to speak his mind before the Belgians whenever he had a chance. He publicly talked about the abuse the Congolese natives got from the government in power. He talked about the hard labor they were subjected to, the beatings and the taunts they suffered in the hands of the Belgians. All this they got because of their skin color; they were black. He referred to them as mes freres du race meaning my brothers of race. This was supposed to signify the bond brought about by the stance they took against racial discrimination. Lumumbas calls for nationalism were not taken kindly by the Belgian government. The least they would have wanted was rebellion from the people who gave them the layout they needed for their exploits. This landed Lumumba jail terms every now and then but he was not about to give up. He and his co-fighters would be charged with sedition. The key Nationalist Movement of the Belgian Congo led by Lumumba aimed at ensuring that the Belgian government lived to their promise of granting Congo independence with no strings attached. The movement also planned to boycott all the elections organized by the Belgian government. This they would use as a leeway to gain control over police, the armed forces and the colonial apparatus which were already in place. Their plan had been well made and they saw themselves ridding Congo of the Belgian rule with time. They looked forward to end the dominance that Belgium had over Congo (Greenholt, par.2-4). The movement also looked at empowering the Congolese citizens by ensuring that they benefited from the countrys natural resources. This would raise their living standards and put them at par with other developed nations of the world. This movement was peace loving and saw this whole transition as peaceful. This did not thereby necessitate the formation of armed forces. Lumumba was a dedicated leader who was determined to empower his people. He was a passionate speaker and in one of his speeches he said the following; Mistakes have been made in Africa in the past, but we are ready to work with the powers which have been in Africa to create a powerful new bloc. If this effort fails, it will be through the fault of the West (Greenholt). This showed that his movement was more determined than ever to work out a clean deal with the colonizers not unless they were hard-hearted. Belgium honored her promise to grant Congo independence which came with so many strings attached. They saw Lumumba and his nationalist party as a threat to their plan and embarked on a war against him. This saw the Belgian bureaucrats vacate the offices with all records, files and telephones as they paved way for Lumumbas government. They were working hard literally to sabotage him (Revolutionary worker, par. 5). Impact of the Nationalist Movement of Belgian Congo to Congos politics The people of Congo had eagerly waited for this day when they would finally rid themselves of the colonialism demon which had chocked them for the longest time. These people had not known peace and hope did not exist in their vocabulary. They had been exploited and tormented by the Belgian colonialists. They had not lived to enjoy the fruits of their hard labor which benefited a few in the society. They worked tirelessly to fatten these colonialists bank accounts with proceeds from their rich heritage. They had someone to thank specially for this dream of freedom come true. This was none other than Patrice Lumumba. He takes much credit for the revolution that brought immense change in Congo (Revolutionary worker). Congos Independence Day was long awaited for and a Belgian King by the name Baudouin I had to show up in person to hand over the independence hat to the people of this nation. The independence ceremony took place in Leopoldville. Joseph Kasavubu was sworn in as the President and Patrice Lumumba as the Prime Minister. King Baudouin I came with the hopes that he would still be closely associated with this nation and somehow continue the exploits which his country, Belgium had enjoyed over the years (Revolutionary Worker). One Lumumba saw this coming and was not happy at all. This Prime Minister could not be hoodwinked just like that. It was with this spirit therefore that he addressed all the people who had assembled. He revisited the hardships and abuse that the Congolese natives had suffered under the Belgian governments rule. He went ahead to lay down his portfolio on the future and the hopes he had for his beloved people and country, Congo. This speech was a bitter pill for King Baudouin I to swallow and Lumumbas coalition partners were shocked. They had not seen this coming. This became Lumumbas most famous speech. In this speech he mourned the distress and the problems that they had to go through as the natives of Congo under the Belgian colonialism but celebrates that at least now the leadership of the country was under the natives (Revolutionary Worker). All that, my brothers, we have endured. But we, whom the vote of your elected representatives have given the right to direct our dear country, we who have suffered in our body and in our heart from colonial oppression, we tell you very loud, all that is henceforth ended. The Republic of the Congo has been proclaimed, and our country is now in the hands of its own children (Revolutionary Worker). This speech was so powerful and greatly moved the audience. The wounds they had suffered under the colonialists were now fresher than ever. The pain they felt was deep and they felt used. Their eyes were opened once more to the atrocities that had been committed to them in their own country by these selfish people. What they overlooked was that Belgian still had control over their country through the military. The Belgians had under their arms Congos police force and army safely tucked. The countrys wealth was still under Belgians mineral corporations. Her strategy was to ensure that the country was in the hands of imperialists who they would manipulate to ensure that their stakes remained productive for their own selfish gain (Revolutionary Worker). Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was therefore a stumbling block to this move. This prompted the imperialist agents to assassinate him on 18th January 1961, soon after he was sworn in as Prime Minister at a tender age of 35. This was after he underwent a lot of injustices and mistreatment which included a house arrest, brutalization and torture in the hands of Colonel Mobutus men. Mobutu had been played a key role in ensuring that the Belgian government stakes were safeguarded. He was their informer and they manipulated him to gain their ground. He was their puppet (The Internationalist, par. 1). Lumumbas assassination came as a great shock to the people he fought for relentlessly. It also served as an eye opener to them that it would take shedding of blood to gain total liberation from the colonialists. The people of Congo had viewed him as their savior and in fact saw him as a black Christ who had sacrificed his life for the sake of his people. So many people were enraged at his death that numerous paintings were done depicting him as a great hero. One of such paintings was that of his portrait inside the map of Congo. Another painting shows him breaking off the chains off his arms and at the same time raising the flag of Congo (The Museum of Arts). A week before his assassination, Lumumba wrote a letter to his wife, Pauline Lumumba. This is what the letter dated January 1961 had; No brutality, mistreatment, or torture has ever forced me to ask for grace, for I prefer to die with my head high, my faith unshakable, and my confidence profound in the destiny of my country, rather than to live in submission and scorn of sacred principles. History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history that Brussels, Paris, Washington, or the United Nations will teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its puppets (Revolutionary Worker, par. 6). Conclusion The nationalist movements of Belgian Congo worked hard to redeem a people who had been oppressed. The Congolese people had been subjected to hard labor, slavery, racial discrimination, starvation, murders and all sorts of mistreatment. These movements enlightened the people of Congo on the evils of the colonialists. Their aim was to get their country back, their freedom and their dignity, all which they had lost to the Belgian government. There was a price to pay and they were not afraid. Patrice Lumumba paid with his life but the struggle did not end there. He had indeed fought a good fight that led to the liberation of his people from this dehumanizing rule initiated by King Leopold II. Were it not for the nationalist movements of Belgian Congo, these atrocities would have continued and independence would have been a far away dream for the Congolese people.

Americas Involvement in World War Two Essay -- WWII World War 2 Essay

When war broke out, there was no way the world could possibly know the severity it would have taken on the people of the world. Fortunately one country saw and understood that Germany and its allies would have to be stopped. America’s Involvement in World War II not only contributed in the downfall of the insane Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich, but also came at the best time and moment. If the United States entered the war any earlier the consequences would probably have been worse. Over the years it has been an often heated and debated issue on whether the United States could have entered the war sooner and therefore have saved many lives. To try to understand this we must look both at the people’s and the government’s point of view. Just after war broke out in Europe, President Roosevelt quickly called his cabinet and military advisors together. It was there that it was agreed the United States stay neutral in these affairs. This decision was a valid one because it was the American policy to stay neutral in any affairs not having to with them unless American soil was threatened directly. The provisional neutrality act passed the senate by seventy-nine votes to two in 1935. On August 31, Roosevelt signed it into law. In 1936 the law was renewed, and in 1937 a â€Å"comprehensive and permanent† neutrality act was passed. The desire to avoid â€Å"foreign entanglements† of all kinds had been an American foreign policy for more than a century. Even if Roosevelt had wanted to do more in this European crisis (which he did not), there was a factor too often ignored by critics of American policy-American military weakness. When asked to evaluate how many troops were available and when the United States would get involved, the army could only gather a mere one hundred thousand, when the French, Russian and Japanese armies numbered in millions. Its weapons dated from the first World War and were no match compared to the new artillery that Germany and its allies had. The air force was just as bad if not worse. In September 1939 the Air Corps had only 800 combat aircrafts again compared with Germany’s 3600 and Russia’s 10,000. American military Aviation (AMA) in 1938 was able to produce only 1,800, 300 less than Germany, and 1,400 less than Japan. It was evident to Roosevelt the United sta tes military was in no way prepared to enter this European crisis. One very importa... ...war would only endanger the United States more than it already was. On the following day Roosevelt argued that the attack â€Å"had given us an opportunity†. Congress approved the declaration of war with only one opposing voice. America’s most vital interest, defense of American soil, had been challenged. At last America had to go to war and eventually bring an end to the rule of Nazi Germany. Hitler had convinced himself that America had declined in the 1930’s because of social crisis. This misconception also led Japan to confront the United States in 1941. Had the United States entered the war any earlier or later the consequences could have been much worse (If possible). Franklin Delano Roosevelt thought about the security of the republic and defended it very well. Leading the United States every step of the way President Roosevelt did a superior job in bringing America into war when he did. Evidently America entered World War 2 at the precise time to once and for all take down Adolph Hitler and the third Reich. The United States involvement in the war could not have come at a better time even though the effect on the people at Pearl Harbor and our country was seriously devastated.

Emotions And Decision Making Essay -- essays research papers

A recently published article seems to lend new information as to the way in which emotions influence our decision-making process. While emotions and reasoning are considered inherently separate by some, new experiments are challenging that perception. A series of studies done by experimental psychologists now show us that emotion plays a very natural role in decision-making situations. The experiments, ranging in type from neuroimaging to simple classical conditioning, suggest that emotions can affect everything from simple judgments of other people to severe behavioral disabilities seen for example in sociopathic individuals. Emotion is now acknowledged as possibly the most basic of human operations and the basis for personal judgments. Fear especially has been studied extensively and is proving to be a very unconscious and automatic cognitive reaction. One fear-related study was conducted using simple classical conditioning: subjects were shown a picture of a person exhibiting stereotypical properties along with a frown used to convey a feeling of social threat (Mineka, 2002). Once the subjects were adequately conditioned, simply seeing that type of person would cause an increase in heart rate, suggesting fear, as well as provoke responses attributed to anger. The experimenters used these findings to infer that social fears are easily instilled in people simply because they for some reason have a negative image of them implanted in their head. Extensive studies of the rela...

Ray Bradburys The Martian Chronicles Essay -- Ray Bradbury Martian Ch

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If the Martian Chronicles had been written in the 1999’s instead of fifty years ago, many issues and problems would change. Ray Bradbury wrote his book in 1946. In it he wrote about problems such as censorship, man’s cruelty to man, and loneliness. Each issue shows up in one or two of his chronicles. All of his issues affect every one of his characters in many different ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Censorship is a main problem or issue today, and in the book it shows up in one of his chronicles, â€Å"Usher II†. In this chronicle, a man builds a house of Usher. One man points (he was from a group that was against all forms of imagination) out, â€Å"No books, no houses, nothing to be produced which in any way suggests ghosts, vampires, fairies, or any creature of imagination.† Yet in this house he saw all of these things and more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chronicle also brings up the issue of censoring certain books by authors such as Edgar Allen Poe. The house that is built is based on a house that is in one of Poe’s books. The unimaginative man is ignorant to the facts of Edgar A. P.’s books and does not even recognize the kind of death he was about to face that was directly copied out of a book. If it were to happen today and now, the only books that would be allowed would be schoolbooks, and even those books could not contain theories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That is the way censorship is brought up in the book. Today, however, it affects more than just books. It is used in movies, TV, news, magazines, and the Internet. Words, obscenity, and some vulgar things can be kept from the viewing audience. They can keep certain people, those seventeen and younger from seeing movies, TV, or Internet sites. In the book one character makes a point of saying, â€Å"ignorance is fatal.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Man’s cruelty to man is another issue in the Martian Chronicles that is and was a problem in the real world. In the book, it shows up in three chronicles, â€Å"Ylla†, â€Å"The Off Season†, and â€Å"Way in the Middle of the Air†. â€Å"Ylla† and â€Å"The Off Season† are more of family cruelty, while â€Å"Way in the Middle of the Air† deals more with racism. Both are reasons that people get hurt and even die for no reason. Or for a stupid reason like color or gender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"Ylla†, Ylla, or Mrs. K., is noticing that her marriage is not as fun as it used to be and her and her husband don’t go out anymore. Bu... ...family live on Mars. His real family had died years before. He was so lonely that he created robots to replace his dead family. He could not handle the fact that his family had died and left him to live alone. Many people, if they could, would bring back their diseased family members, loved but unforgotten.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most people miss family and friends that have moved or died. Some just may be shy and not have friends. Loneliness is something one can’t do anything about. It will happen. You can’t even make a law against it because it is a feeling. Some get over there loneliness by meeting new people, but still others never get over it and live lonely.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All of these issues mentioned are important today and it the book. Some have become better of over the last fifty years; some have become worse. Other issues not chosen affect life and the world too. Although these issues are still a problem, the world is what it is because of the, be that good or bad. Censorship, man’s cruelty to man, and loneliness will affect us even if we are on another planet. However that does not mean that we shouldn’t try to stop the problem. If we work together we can abolish the wrongs of this world!

ESL teacher classroom techniques Essay

The purpose of this study was to assess the specific classroom techniques used by ESL teachers to prevent /solve possible discipline related problems while employing cooperative activities with students. In this Enriched ESL cooperative classroom the teacher integrates instructional strategies that facilitate and encourage interaction, collaboration and investigation in the learning environment. The students in the class are not passive learners but are actively involved in the learning process, taking responsibility for their own learning. One of the major aspects of a cooperative learning environment is oral communication between and among students and with the classroom teacher. Students get a chance to discuss a multiplicity of issues that are relevant to the class and explore new concepts in their interactions. This type of learning and peer-to-peer interaction allow students to be engaged in the decision making process of their education and to contribute meaningfully to their own learning and that of their peers. In the cooperative ESL classroom interaction is unavoidable. Students have to work with each other in order to make learning meaningful and to develop the communicative skills necessary for useful function in the real-world language setting. Students need to feel comfortable interacting with each other, sharing ideas, investigating and exploring their language environment and working out solutions to problems. Thus on the road to developing competency in English students will have to make both an individual and a collaborative effort since one of the characteristics of language learning is to develop the social techniques that will help the learner understand how to use the language in a variety of cultural settings. Of course since interaction is intrinsic to the ESL classroom so is the potential for conflict and disciplinary concerns in the classroom. The ESL teacher needs to develop the right skills overtime to manage interactive behaviors in the classroom so that objectives are accomplished and indiscipline and other disruptive behaviors are avoided. In the current study the researcher wanted to determine the behaviors most frequently employed by ESL teachers within the cooperative learning context in response to or as a way of thwarting any potential disciplinary or non-task-related matters. The research questions that guided this research were therefore: . What classroom management techniques are ESL teachers using in the classroom in order to maintain discipline while implementing cooperative learning activities? 2. Can effective classroom management lead to successful improvement of cooperative learning activities and control discipline within groups? In order to accomplish the objectives of the study and to respond to the research questions a mixed methods research approach was taken. This involved the gathering of both qua litative and quantitative data. A questionnaire survey, administered to the ESL teacher, was used to gather the qualitative data. The quantitative data was obtained through observations of the teacher’s classroom behavior in cooperative learning sessions. Participants This study was conducted in a classroom setting and involved an ESL teacher and 28 students, in a francophone private school in Quebec City, Canada. The ESL teacher is a fairly young teacher who has been working at this private school for the past 9 years. The students are primarily from very affluent backgrounds. This is probably because the school charges a very high fee for students wishing to attend and thus only the children of parents of a high socio-economic status, who can afford those fees, are able to attend. The students were observed in their ESL class. They were taking the ELA program in grade 5. ELA is a program for high school students in grade 4 and 5. Students in this program would have completed the EESL program and succeeded the ESL core examination at the end of grade 3. The demographics of the students were 16 girls and 12 boys. They were aged between 15 and 17 years old. This group of students and the ESL teacher were selected because they were utilizing cooperative learning strategies at the time of the research. In fact, the students observed in this study had been taking part in cooperative learning for quite some time. Data collection instrument: A variety of instruments were used in the process of data collection. An initial set of data was collected from the ESL teacher using a telephone interview. The interview included a series of question on how the teacher implemented cooperative learning in her classroom (Appendix 1). The 11 questions on the interview were formulated by the researcher. Another instrument used was the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching, (COLT) observation scheme by Spada and Frohlich (1995) for the periods of observation in the classroom (Appendix 2). The COLT scheme has been used for decades by classroom researchers in examining interactive classroom behaviors. The COLT scheme was used in its original format, without any modifications, except that the researcher used only the sections on activities and episodes, participant organization and content for the purposes of the research. Data collection procedure The study was conducted at the end of February, at the beginning of the last term of the school year. The students were expected to graduate at the end of the term. In the initial phase of the study the researcher contacted the ESL teacher to respond to the interview questions over the phone. This conversation was also used to make arrangements for a meeting at the school to discuss a few things that needed clarification. The purpose of the interview was to discover the teacher’s attitude towards cooperative working activities, how the teacher used cooperative learning in her classroom, the kind of classroom management techniques she used to instill discipline while implementing cooperative activities and students’ participation in group work activities. The second part of the study involved classroom observations of the same teacher, interacting with a group of 28 students enrolled in the ELA program in grade 5 of high school. The purpose of the observations was to validate the information gathered during the interview. The COLT scheme (Spada, & Frolich, 1995) was used to collect this data. The classroom observations were conducted during three (3) separate classroom periods of 75 minutes duration each while the students were involved in cooperative activities. The research made the checks and marks under the appropriate categories of the COLT. The researcher checked each time the ESL teacher had to intervene in order to direct the students back to their work. The participants were observed three times on three different days of the week in ESL classes where the students where involved in cooperative activities. One of the observations weas done during the first period of the morning, the second was done during the second period and the third observation was done during the last period on Friday afternoon. In the classroom the teacher assigned the students to groups of 4. There were 7 groups. Each student chose one of four topics for a project and they were grouped based on their choice. The teacher provided students with 4 different topics which were then numbered. She finally set up the groups by placing the students together trying to respect, as much as possible, the student’s personal choice. The teacher and students arranged the desks arranged in pairs side-by-side opposite another pair. Such arrangement enabled students to talk to each other with ease. The main characteristics observed by the researcher were students’ behavior and teacher’s interventions during the cooperative learning. This kind of observation was chosen because it gave an idea of the actual classroom practice in terms of students’ behavior and the teacher’s interventions. This may allow some generalization of the results to other classes and teachers that use cooperative learning. Data analysis procedure When all the data were collected the information collected from the COLT (Spada & Frohlich, 1995) was analyzed. The teacher’s interventions were tallied for each observation period and the three periods were compared. The teacher’s responses during the telephone interview, and the information from the COLT scheme, as gathered through observations, were also compared. The purpose of this comparison was to determine the correlation between the reported classroom management techniques that the teacher mentioned during the interview and the actual practices used in the classroom. Results and analysis The data reveal the nature of teachers’ interventions and the students’ behavior during cooperative learning activities. The researcher observed the ESL teacher three times. During the first observation, the teacher had to intervene a total of 12 times. The teacher intervened 3 times to give group feedback and remind the students that they were to read and follow instructions in their booklet, 3 times to refocus students on the task because they were doing something besides their project, 3 times to remind students to communicate in the target language and three times 3 times when she noticed that some students were not working on their projects. During the second period of observation, the teacher had to spend some time reminding students that they were expected to play the roles they had been assigned by the group. Also, she reminded them that everyone was to contribute to the success of their project. The teacher intervened 8 times during this period – 3 times to remind students to communicate in the target language, twice to give feedback to some groups, 3 times to counter inappropriate behavior among certain groups where the students did not display behavior appropriate to the classroom. During the third period of observation, the teacher had to intervene 15 times. of the interventions were to remind students to use the target language in the classroom, 3 times to refocus students on the task because they were doing something besides their project, 4 times for displaying behavior inappropriate to the classroom and 4 times because students were not fulfilling their roles in the group. Some of the more common disrup tive behaviors that were noted include drawing obscenities, spending too much time sharpening their pencils, browsing fancy magazines and passing objects other than their project amongst the groups members. Students sometimes were talking to another group. During the third period one important observation was that students stopped working and arranged their bag while there was still about 8 minutes left in the period. The teacher used that time to settle students and remind them that they had only two periods left to finish their project. In examining the teacher’s reported estimation of the frequency of interventions during cooperative activities as stated during the interview and comparing them to the classroom observation, the results showed that the reported and actual practices were closely aligned. With respect to the techniques used to instill discipline during cooperative learning activities the classroom observations and the telephone interview also demonstrate a positive relationship. For the most part the groups were cooperative. Only 42. 86% of the students, 3 out of 7 groups, displayed problems staying on task. These groups appeared not to have shared the tasks amongst themselves fairly. The teacher had to visit this group very often to ensure that they were working. Observations of the ESL teacher revealed that she used effective cooperative activities which decreased the problems of classroom management to a tolerable level which led students to effectively work in cooperative activities in the classroom. In order to create a successful environment so that students could work effectively in groups, the observed teacher tried many techniques to manage cooperative learning. From the interview she indicated that she used cooperative activities quite frequently. She gave students roles such as ‘Captain English’. This student was to ensure that the entire group used only English in the class. The secretary had to note decisions and ideas during brainstorming and other activities. The president was in charge of seeing that everyone had been working and checking that all the documents were submitted on time. Finally, there was ‘Captain Cheer-up’. This person’s duty was to cheer up the team, motivating them whenever they had successfully accomplished a task and was ready to go forward in the project. The ELS teacher assigned the students to group using the student’s choice of a topic. Based on the report from the teacher group formation has an important role in the success of cooperative activities and students would make the best of their experience in cooperative working if the groups were heterogeneous. The students were quite comfortable working with each other and the teacher. They had been taking the same level English course and they had been studying together for two year. Many of them knew each other very well and were close friends. This is also true of the ESL teacher who had been teaching the same group for come time. According to the teacher, students should not be allowed to choose their peers to form their own teams to do cooperative working otherwise they might not work well and spend the time to talk about things out of the subject. The observed teacher had already explained to the students the most important points in order to obtain better results when working in cooperative learning. She had also explained the different roles the students should hold while working in teams. She had also taught the students how to share the task within the group members and she had emphasized the importance of grouping making. Correct choice of group size was one of the techniques that the teacher used to ensure that the teacher was able to effectively manage student behavior during cooperative working. Research suggests that group sizes should not be too big, a reasonable size being two to four students. The teacher also walked among the groups to ensure that they stayed on task and even offered them needed feedback. According to the teacher, feedback is extremely important for the success of cooperative working as it gives the students the opportunity to adapt themselves according to the teacher’s instructions. The teacher randomly selected a student from each team to present his or her group results. It was a good strategy to make sure that students had worked effectively and that everyone in the team was prepared give respond in case he or she was selected. Reward was primordial in order to raise motivation amongst the groups. The teacher rewarded every team that had worked hard. She also asked students to divide the work into parts and write their names according to what each student’s responsibilities were. Discussion There are limited studies examining effective classroom management techniques for cooperative learning activities in ESL classrooms. The purpose of this study was to fill the gap in the existing literature by discovering and highlighting the specific classroom techniques used by ESL teachers to manage cooperative learning activities successfully by addressing the questions: what management classroom techniques can teachers use in the classroom in order to instill discipline and implement cooperative learning activities? nd can effective classroom management lead to successful improvement of cooperative learning activities and control discipline within the groups? This study has attempted to show different ways in which the cooperative teaching method could improve students’ behavior and help classroom discipline. With principles such as positive interdependence, face-to-face promoting interactions, individual and group accountability, interpersonal, small group skills and grou p processing, cooperative learning has all the necessary elements to ensure that discipline is maintained in the classroom. The current research conforms to existing research paradigms on classroom management and the results are representative of previous findings in this area. In examining the effect of classroom management on the success of cooperative learning, this study, like others before it, showed that group formation is an effective classroom management tool for cooperative learning activities. Research recommends randomly assigned heterogeneous groups of students to form success cooperative groups. This study supported the finding that these groups are successfully managed in the classroom and are preferred to homogenous, self-selected groups (Emmer, Gerwels & Austin, 2005). The students in this group performed well because groups were heterogeneous so the students were able to profit from everybody’s contribution. The data collected also showed that group size was a very important factor in helping to ensure classroom management success in cooperative learning strategies. Studies also support that assigning specific roles to each student in a group ensures that everyone stays on task and that cooperative learning strategies would be more successful. This success is even further assured when students respect the roles they have in the group. Researchers have suggested the use of rewards to help motivate students to stay on task and to successfully complete activities in cooperative learning groups. The teacher in this study employed rewards to hardworking groups and this was able to motivate them to perform well. When members of the group look forward to a reward they will ensure that each works in completing the task so that all the members would benefit, they are aware that failure of one person to do what is required would result in the failure of the entire group. One thing that was immediately obvious from the observations was that students were, for the most part, aware of good cooperative skills. The students in this group have been involved in cooperative learning for quite a while and thus this exposure might have helped them to develop proper cooperative learning strategies. While there were some disruptions during the class, these were not significant enough to take away from the cooperative task and students by and large appeared to understand what was required in the cooperative groups and the proper procedures they needed to follow. Overall, the study has shown that it is possible to use cooperative learning and manage the classroom successfully. Nevertheless, all the elements of successful cooperative learning have to be adhered to in order to obtain good results. Moreover, the students must be aware of what is expected in cooperative activities. This study fits well in the existing literature on cooperative learning and classroom management. It could help ESL teacher with their classroom management while doing cooperative learning and administrators when they are examining, planning and implementing alternative teaching strategies and approaches. Conclusion This study supported the idea that cooperative learning, if used effectively, can help teachers manage their classes. If cooperative learning is implemented effectively, it could facilitate the effective management of the classroom. However, there are many elements that should be taken into consideration to attain such result. Based on these finding, teachers need to pay more attention to the classroom management techniques they use during cooperative learning. This study showed that it is possible for ESL teachers to implement cooperative learning and manage their classroom successfully if they have effective classroom management techniques. Knowing that classroom management is an important element for the success of cooperative learning, this study aimed to help teachers who implement this method for the first time to better manage their classes. This study has many limitations. Only one ESL teacher and one group of high school students in grade 5 participated in the study. Moreover, the research group was already organized when the research did the observation. Due to time constraints, the researcher could not observe the ESL teacher with her students more than three times. The results of this study provide a description of the implementation of cooperative learning that is specific to the participating teacher. Amongst all the techniques used by the ESL teacher during the observation, there is one that the teachers did not implement in her classroom. She did not have the students write a daily report to inform what they had done on that day and who had done what in the project. Therefore, more research is needed to determine the extent to which these results could be if such technique should be applied. This study showed how the ESL teacher managed her classroom and how the students behaved during cooperative learning. However, it is not easy to generalize the results because the observations were done by only one researcher. The results needed to be validated by another observer.

Married vs Single Essay

Most people would agree that getting married is a happy occasion. People think their lives are going to be better when they get married because the husband and wife are going to spend their times together. However, some people think when they are single, their lives are going to be better because of they have more freedom than when they get married. Some of the differences are social relationships and free time. The first difference is social relationships. For example, people who are married are together until they get divorced or until death. Married couples have social relationships with their children when they talk and express their inner feelings. Also, that is how parents have close relationships with their children. On the other hand, single people are living different lifestyles when I come to social relationships. In fact, single people are having social relationships when they are talking with a friend or boyfriend/girlfriend. Single people can make their own decision about who or who not to have a social relationship with. The second difference is free time. To better explain, people who get married are responsible to spend quality time with their family. They also have to spend time assisting their children with their homework. Truthfully speaking, responsible husbands or wives need to spend time together in order to avoid future problems. In contrast, single people spend their free time anyway they want to. If truth needs to be told, they don’t have to make any commitments toward anybody. Finally, married people have a busy time with their family such as working, shopping, and they can’t spend too much time with friends. In contrast, single people have their school, work, and shopping, and they have a lot of freedom to hang out with their friends In brief, married and single people are very different in many ways. As I have shown it in the above paragraphs, they are not similar in their relationship as well as their free time. In my opinion, people who believe that married people and single people are alike are fooling themselves. It is important to remember that married and single people don’t have much in common.

How an HR Practitioner should ensure the services they provide are timely and effective

With reference to the HR Practitioners role within my company i will show how we meet the customers needs in a timely and effective manner. Prensently i work for Leicestershire Police and my role as a HR Clerk mainly entails the recruitment side of things. Which also entails job fairs, seminars and marketing fairs. Additionaly to this i will do general admin duties where will answer or update employees queries, deal with the sickness line and fit notes and maintain employee records.At present we are recruiting between 200 – 250 people who are at several different stages of the process. Understanding customer needs (include examples of 3 different customers and 1 need for each, and explain how would you priotise conflicting needs) We entertain a wide variety of customers within our HR department, the 3 key users that we deal with are the external and internal candidates, employees and management. Internal and External candidatesEach recruitment selection can require different p rocesses  · to keep them updated with the whole process from start to end, i.e successfull at short listing, interview/asssement dates, have been successfull/unsuccessfull at interview, vetting medical and employment reference checks.  · provide them induction days and training if required for thyat specific role.  · For some areas of our vacancies we have a pool of candiates that would go into cohorts. How we priotise who would go in each one would be whos passed their assessments/interviews, fitness tests, how quickly other departments we work alongside would complete their side of things.Employees · Main needs would to keep thier records upto date with sickness, awards, training, change in circumstances, performance developement reviews.Management  · To keep line managers informed of new starters, what their scheldues would be, induction lists to provide the new starter and to make sure they settle into their new efficiently and to inform them if they need any additiona l help. make sure that the new candidate completes the manditoryDisplay Screen Equipment Survey (DSE) so that the they are working in a comfortable environment.  · Update managers with any sicknessesWith these main 3 customers the HR Service Centre can show that they provide a broad range of services that meet to the customers standards. We update the relavent people with the correct information but would uphold the confidentiality around sensative or personal records. Effective communication (includes examples of 3 different communication methods and the advantages and disadvantages of each) Within in the HR service centre we use several different methods of communication, the ones we find most effective in our line of work are by telephone, writing or emailing.Telephone Communication · The quickest way to contact someone is by phone, this way we are able to talk through various process and get quick confirmation from people. you would also get a sense of what the person is lik e.  · The disadvantage of using the phone is that you have no recording of what has been said or agreed to, and the full meaning/point might not get across to them.Email Communication · The benefit of emails is that it is the quickest way to keep people informed about various things and get answers back almost immediatley, tranfer details to various people at the same time. If they are internal employee/ candidates we can keep the emails restricted so they cannot be accessed from outside forces. We would also be able to keep an audit trail of what has been said or agreed to.  · Disadvantage would be that if the email is unrestricted others would be able to access it, would go to the wrong person and would not be classed as official confirmation.Written Communication · Would go directly to relavent person. More offical when sending out contracts, update letters references. Would be able to keep a copy of the letter we send out with the persons file.  · On the other hand let ters can easily be lost in the post, employees and candidtaes can claim to have not recieved it. Written communication can also take longer between replys. Effective service delivery (include: delivering service on time, delivering service on budject, dealing with difficult customers, handling and resolving complaints)All services that we provide needs to be processed in a timely manner. In the recruitng side we have a time frame of 8-12 weeks to recruitment candidates, we do have some longer to time frames for people who are in the pools. With more everyday queries we recieve generally take 24 hours to at least action if answer any questions.

California Drought in 2014 Essay

Water is a life resource for everyone. A situation between a drought and our resources being in danger with shortages of water in the region, is something that should not be trifled with. The state of California plunged into its third year of being affected by a record breaking drought. (Global Risk Insight) The Sacramento region was in desperate need of water this winter, with the high record of 52 winter days without rain (Sacramento Bee: Weather Report). Generally, the average time for rainfall encloses the time from late November to Mid April; and the months of the most rainfall occurs December through February.(Department of Water Resources) As parts of the country get drier, the amount of water availability will most likely decrease. The drought of 2014 is being noted as the most dangerous and driest drought California has ever seen. To understand what a drought is, there are different terms and systems of droughts that differentiate among one another. A drought is periods of unusually dry weather that persists long enough to cause environmental or economic problems. Droughts that are lingering for countless years does indeed do a negatively great climatic difference in the environment and do many environmental and social damages: water shortages, agricultural problems, health issues and much more (livescience). There is a total of four categories of droughts: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, and socioeconomic. The first three are known to measure drought as a physical phenomenon, the last deals with drought in terms of supply and demand (Types of Drought). During the occurrences of a drought, the major factors are having the greatest impacts: Economic, Environmental, and Social. The United States has suffered droughts in the past but as mentioned before, 2014 is noted as being the worst of all. California is similar to an arid state with a Mediterranean climate, those who have lived in California has certainly lived through a drought in their lifetime. Since the 1900’s there have been extended droughts at least once a decade, last one ending in 2009 (CBS Sacramento: Drought Way of Life). Between 1980 and until now, 16 drought events have cost a combined $210 billion in the U.S., and thousands have died due to the droughts effects.(LiveScience). Research shows that the  2014 drought epidemic has nearly 91 percent of the state undergoing â€Å"Severe to exceptional drought. More than seventeen communities scattered across the state are expected to run out of water by mid-May†. Scientists are now seeing that this drought has the most record breaking dryness than the previous drought that had happened in 1850. (Global Risk Insights) A notable dry period of dry conditions was experienced most in the 1920’s and well into the 1930’s. Three twentieth century droughts were of particular importance from a water supply standpoint – the droughts of 1928 – 35, 1976 – 77, and 1987 – 91. The year of 1928 – 35 was considered as the dustbowl drought as it established hydrologic criteria widely used in designing storage capacity and yield of large Northern California reservoirs.The drought of 1977 served as a wakeup call for water agencies that were unprepared for major cutbacks in their supplies. The 1987 – 92 drought was noted as its six-year duration. Adopting of measures such as a 14 month ban on all lawn watering, the city installed a temporary emergency desalination plant and an emergency pipeline. (Department of Water Resources) Not only is everyone in California suffering through the consequences of the drought, our commercial agricultural system is also being affected. Lack of water calls for desperate measures: with not enough water to maintain our growing plants with sufficient nutrients, it delays the growth rate of the vegetation, and that inconvenience will cause a food supply shortage. In addition to that, economic supply and demand will be uneven in the marketing procedure, which will have the effect of high prices in produce in marketing. Food availability, affordability and quality drive food security problems in the world are all being affected right now as the drought continues on. (Global Risk Insights) Hunger and famine are a great issue at hand, our agriculture system is what keeping us healthy and placing foods in our grocery stores. Little water will not support food crops towards the livestock nor will they have enough grass or grains to be feed upon. When droughts are at their peak of their dryness, it destroys food sources, and those who suffers are us. We go  hungry and if hunger lasts for a long period of time, famine is surely to come to be the new epidemic. Lack of clean and dependable water resources can lead to public health problems. As noted before, significant drought events have occurred and can have different affects in different areas. (CDC) The use of water for any health care resource is vital and it has to be within everyones reach in order to have a healthy lifestyle. Saving water is indeed important, but that should not eliminate the water being used to wash ones hands to reduce germs from the hands. (LiveScience) Although we are in a drought, that should not limit the continuous use of hand washing. Droughts creates lack of clean water resource for drinking, public sanitation and personal hygiene, which unfortunately can lean to multiple wide ranges of life-threatening diseases. In addition, health concerns can have everyone suffering, lack of water can lead to dehydration and the human body can function certain amount of days without water. Farmers in the agricultural system work at their hardest to have food growing for our personal hunger needs. In the season of a drought, farmers are worried about their crops and paying out of their pocked to keep their crops alive and doing any means necessary to keep their crops. Farmers run a chance that they will loose all of their financial benefactors if a drought destroys their crops. Having water to nurture their crops is another fact; spending more money to have specialized irrigation or wells drilled up for the farmers to have a continuation of water. Lack of water for the surrounding environment is not the only factor of danger that endangers the surrounding area; Lack of moisture and precipitation from the drought conditions can produce out-of-control wildfires with hazardous conditions in forests and across range lands. The negative result of this environmental danger results in injuries/death, extensive damage. Many unfortunate consequences can arise from this negative factor. Not only does the environment suffer from this inconvenience, workers in the wood or timber industries are also being affected. Climate change with the danger of the drought is not a good combination together; water reservoirs, lakes and dams are shrinking rapidly. Water quality can be in danger. Shrinking amounts can cause dangerous contaminants such as heavy metal, industrial chemicals, pesticides, and sediments. An example of a shrinking dam: Folsom Lake. Folsom Lake normally holds just under 1 million acre feet of water. However during this drought it is only 33 percent of average. The lake’s extremely low levels have become one of the droughts most iconic images. Other reservoirs across the state were hitting record lows across the state, alarming water agencies to do necessary water cutbacks. (CBS Sacramento: Hard to Recover) The same factors as the commercial agricultural farmers hold the same fate as the businessmen in the aquatic industry. Those who work in the boating or fishing industry may not have the luck to sell their goods due to the lakes or other water resources drying up or reaching abnormal water levels. Hydroelectric power energy companies rely their energy functioning on running water, and this would be expensive for both the company and the customers as they would be needed to pay extra. Workers working on ships or sail boats may find difficulty navigating their way through streams, river, and canals due to low water levels. This would be considered as a expensive business transportation for receiving or sending goods and materials. During a drought, officials may issue a water restriction measure;Governor Jerry Brown, has requested the Sacramento City Council and all Californians to approve a 20 percent reduction in water use for everyone in the city. This is a mandatory rationing so that homes, businesses and farms will not run dry over the sumer (SF gate). Depending where everyone lives, water restriction measure procedures can vary on odd or even days of the week, at night, or on weekends. The restriction may vary from hours, days or in some cases prohibit use of water. No matter the case, it is important to check with your local water utility for more information. (How to Survive a Drought.) The future still holds many questions and discovery in the long run for the environment and towards everyone. The population is increasing everyday, and  in arid, and wet regions the demand of water supplies are still the same. Not only is the expansion of the population is causing a bit of worrisome troubles about the future use of water, but the idea of global warming.(LiveScience) With increasing levels of global warming, who knows how the environment will deal with more strong droughts. The least thing everyone can do is be prepared for dry seasons with little rainfall, and dangerous environmental consequences. However, the good new is everyone can help save water, we all have the ability to make a difference in the environment. There are multiple ways to save water and take consideration to the environment, and it all starts with how we make a change to our lifestyle. The major places to observe water waste would be in the kitchen, bathroom, how we do laundry, and activities that are done outside. The average gallons wasted during showers and brushing our teeth with running water is as least 2.5 gallons per minute. Washing a full load of clothes in the washing machine is 15-50 gallons per load, depending what kind of appliances one owns. The leaking problems under the sink, faucets, toilet, and bathtub can actually waste more water than anything else; the average gallon waste is at least 30 gallons per day in leaks. When working outside, its is important to reserve water as much as one can. As the average water waste when one is working outside is at least 20 gallons. By replacing energy and water efficient appliances. (City of Sacramento: We Are in A Drought) The drought of this country and the regions that are suffering with it, has no good cause for everyone and the environment. The ongoing California drought provides a unsavory view of future water shortages and its impact on agricultural production and food safety. Preventing a drought is something that everyone in the world cannot avoid, if it is going to strike then it’s going to strike, there is no stopping it, unless if rainfall comes. However, what we can prevent is our precious water going to waste by making water efficient choices that will conserve water.