WAL-MART AND BHARTI TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA Essay Example

WAL-MART AND BHARTI: TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA Paper WAL-MART AND BHARTI: TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA BY -roni2208 WAL-MART AND BHARTI: TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA This report analyses and evaluates the situation of the retailer Wal-Mart in the Indian industry. On the point of creating a JV with the company Bharti, Wal-Mart has to resolve numerous challenges, range from the cultural differences to problems with its supply chain to strengthen its competitiveness, gain customer loyalty and becoming the go-to place. The Indian Retail Market The competiveness of the Indian retail sector will be evaluated, by applying the Porters 5 forces model. Threat of Entry Due to the competitive pressures of new entrants combined with stringent laws and regulations on FDI, this threat is considered as middle. The fact that the emerging Indian retail sector is ranked among the most promising sectors, the advantage of being the first mover is essential in order to gain competitive advantage. Threat of Substitutes Considered as middle, the threat of substitutes do not dominate the competiveness of the retail industry, due to the growing population, who have to buy their groceries at some places anyway, which they need for their daily life. Nevertheless the entality is changing from Save and Buy to Buy and Pay, there are still price sensitive Indians. Buyer power Regarding the Indian market, which is mainly dominated by unorganized retail, combined with the pressure on low margins, the bargaining power of buyers is very high. However Wal-Mart is known for its EDLP proposition which is essential to meet the Indian customer needs, who are very loyal to the lowest price. We will write a custom essay sample on WAL-MART AND BHARTI: TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on WAL-MART AND BHARTI: TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on WAL-MART AND BHARTI: TRANSFORMING RETAIL IN INDIA specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Supplier power The weak supply chain management, which is rather considered as the main factor of the low bargaining power of suppliers, is based on a poor infrastructure, which can ause delays in transportation. Rivalry between competitors This force is considered to have the main influence on the industry and is therefore very high. The JV is facing competition on the one hand from its main competitors; on the other hand from the dominating unorganized retail stores. In conclusion the Indian retail industry is considered as highly competitive, where it is difficult to sustain through a low-cost strategy. However low prices combined with a differentiation strategy would be the key factor in order to stand out from the competitors and to gain competitive advantage. Wal-Mart Wal-Marts core resource and competence is serving its customers with EDLP. Due to this valuable strategy, Wal-Mart is enjoying the cost-leadership and is therefore market leader In tne gloDal retall Inaustry. Wal-Mart estaDllsnea a close relatlonsnlp with its suppliers to bargain prices to lower its own prices and to force its competitors to do so as well. Moreover its main strategy is accompanied by the use of IT, which forms the heart of its business. Leveraging technology enhances planning and strengthens operations to improve the supply chain, which is costly and difficult o imitate. Based on its EDLP Strategy, which requires efficient processes, Wal-Mart stands out from its competitors and is enjoying sustained competitive advantage. Wal-Mart Bharti Joint-venture Regarding the future venture of Bharti, Wal-Mart will have to deal with numerous challenges range from strict laws and regulations to cultural differences. The SWOT analysis below will evaluate how well Bharti will fit into Wal-Marts operating plan. Strengths Bharti has grown the last few years by building global partnership. Its high presence n India combined with its deep knowledge of the growing consumer market can help to extend WalMarts retail expertise. It has built a huge network of suppliers and business partners which will be useful for the JV. Weaknesses Compared to Wal-Mart Bharti is a small company, which could lead to an imbalance of power. Moreover its experience in retail is very limited. The JV will require a lot of co-operating and cross cultural management. Opportunities The change from a S to B mentality, accompanied with an enhancement of the living conditions let the Indian retail market boom. Moreover the growing number of working youth and women leads to increased consumer spending and purchasing power. However Indian consumers still attach importance to lower prices. 2 Threats Wal-Marts poor social image as well as the strict labour laws and regulations on FDI can be serious issues. The poor infrastructure will cause a lot of problems, when implementing WalMarts efficient supply chain. Moreover already established retail companies and new entrants will make it more difficult for the JVto sustain in this highly competitive industry. Recommendation Based on the analysed facts, I deduced two main options open to the JV: Whether entering the Indian market or not. Not entering the Indian market is Justified by the enormous number of threats and weaknesses in the retail industry. This option would include avoiding businesses within India and cooperating with a company that has more expertise in retail. There are other markets with less regulations and customers who are still demanding low prices. Entering the Indian market will be a very risky and costly strategy. In order to succeed WalMart has to focus on its core competences as well as on differences in onsumer behaviour. Beside the low-price strategy, consumer demands a favourable price-quality ratio. Thereby Wal-Mart has to redefine its current strategy by focusing n OITTerentlatlon ana Keeping low prlces. conslaeraDle amounts 0T money will oe necessary to invest in the poor infrastructure in order to implement its sufficient supply chain. Due to the tremendous importance of respecting the Indian culture, Wal-Mart needs to establish social actions by implementing CSR. On the one hand Wal-Mart should adjust its supply chain towards an environment-friendly anagement; on the other hand a positive relationship with the community is crucial, by using local producers and stimulating the local economies. CSR can improve the reputation of the company enormously. A high reputation combined with the sufficient supply chain and a favourable price-quality ratio, can push the JV ahead. In conclusion, I would recommend Wal-Mart to enter the Indian market, while improving its core competences and implementing CSR, which are creating a sustained competitive advantage and thus leads to a strengthened competitiveness. 3

Regional dialects Essays

Regional dialects Essays Regional dialects Essay Regional dialects Essay Regional dialects show great variation on what was, in some cases, a uniform language and can pose a difficult problem when studying language change, as they conform to no logical pattern of difference from the standard language of a country. This usually comes from the dialect of the area of greatest political power, this being the South-east Midland dialect (encompassing London, Oxford and Cambridge) in England. A written standard language is particularly important for communication between regions and between people of different social groups. However the oral form of a standard language can be the most susceptible to change, as it is the type of language that is used most frequently and in the most widespread areas; as in the example of modern English. The influence of mass communication is producing a phonological change whereby regional accents are declining and becoming replaced by estuary English one of whose primary features is the glottal stop. English is also widely spoken as a second language or the primary foreign language of many speakers. Exposure to such people naturally brings about their changing the language which can cause the creation of pidgin forms, for example the widely used Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea. However dialects that do not form the standard language tend to alter less rapidly due to the fewer number of speakers who often have a desire to retain the vocabulary that is seen as a part of their culture. Diachronic changes in semantics are diverse and often unpredictable. Patterns exist only in the classification of the certain types of change. Semantic word change tends to fall into three main groups. The meaning of a word can broaden, the term dogge in Middle English referred to a particular breed of dog; narrow, the word deer used to mean animal but narrowed to mean a particular species or shift the word silly in Old English meant happy, in Middle English this shifted to naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and now has come to mean foolish.3 Semantic changes are always occurring. Currently a shift in English is taking place in the word disinterested. Traditionally the word means to be impartial, however present generations are confusing the word which is now becoming a synonym for uninterested.  Due to the vast time period of language change and the sheer number of factors that affect it, it can be difficult to understand why changes affect certain aspects of the language and not others. In English ough has eight different recognised forms of pronunciation. In addition to this, in Chinese for example, the oral forms of a language can change out of all recognition to become a different language yet at the same time written form can remain mutually intelligible. This shows that speech and written language are two very different areas that can change in different ways, and that these changes can happen independently of each other. Changes in language can also occur due to individual speakers. It is true that parole, according to F. de Sassure, is the way in which an individual produces their language; however these changes can be perpetuated permanently when new generations adopt traits from their parents by creative copying, so that gradually, a language changes imperceptibly to a current speaker, unless it is compared with the language of previous generations. For example the differences in lexicon and even intonation of voice heard on film footage of the First World War and even as recently as the Fifties. Analogical formations can also become accepted into standard language, in Old English the -s ending was only one of many plurals but is now standard. As mentioned previously, social factors such as the development of technology and changes in education, along with words that come into (and out of) fashion can affect languages, particularly within the younger generations, without any apparent predictability. Certain buzz words change semantically from one generation to become the latest word for cool, ultimately, these trends rely on the individual to decide whether to use and pass on such words so that they become embedded in the lexicon. It must be said that the unpredictability of language change caused by the influence of history and social factors, can only show certain tendencies for changes that happen rather than them complying to rigid rules. Even though patterns can be analysed in diachronic linguistics, this is simply a demonstration of what has occurred as opposed to an explanation as to why the change has happened. The diversity of language change is so great, and on the whole unpredictable that it can not be submitted to complete and generalised analysis.

Occupational Stress suffered by Anesthesiologists Essay

Occupational Stress suffered by Anesthesiologists - Essay Example In which case, physical and emotional stress are natural and cannot be avoided (Alves, 2005). This situation is called occupational stress. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (1999), occupational stress refers to the unsafe physical and emotional responses that surface when the abilities, resources or needs of a worker do not match the latter’s abilities. In other words, this is felt when the demands on a worker become too much for such worker’s ability to fulfill those demands (Lazarus, 1991). In a survey conducted by the US Department of Health and Human Services (1999), 40% of the American workers see their jobs as enormously stressful which made the healthcare expenditures of US increased to as much as 50% (Sauter & Hurrell, 1999). According to the study of Dickson (1996), the main sources of occupational stress for anesthesiologists were overload in work, professional relationship and lack of control. The study of Nyssen (2003), on the same note, identified the lack of control over work, risks and time factors, the lack of supervision, and communication within the organization, particularly with the surgeons, as the major sources of stress for anesthesiologists (Nyssen et al, 2003). The studies conformed with the study of Kinzl (2007) that lack of control, especially for female anesthesiologists, is really a major contributor of stress. A different set of factors have been elicited during the ASA Annual Meeting in Orlando Florida in October 1998 wherein the attendees of the ASA Resident Component House of Delegates responded to an anonymous questionnaire about stress factors. However, it has to be noted that the respondents are anesthesiologists undergoing the residency programs. The answers identified were t he insufficient support given by the residency program, lack of contentment with the teaching given during the residency program, the lack of time for reading and the small chance to recreate

Listening Without Resistance and Systems Thinking Research Paper

Listening Without Resistance and Systems Thinking - Research Paper Example In addition, I have been judging the accent of the other party in the conversation. I have been thinking that people who have great accent are less literate. This has been making me get less keen when listening to them. Conversations I have had in the past weeks were just discussions. Discussion is listening without a desire to be changed by the conversation (Mozdzierz, 2009). A dialogue, on the other hand, is a special way of conversation in which one is willing to be influenced by the conversation (Robinson & Rose, 2007). The conversations I have had in the past weeks could not fit to be called dialogue. This is because of my behavior of choosing not to be keen when the other party in a conversation had an accent, pronunciation problem or spoke less audibly. In most cases, my actions were either partially or completely withdrawing myself from the conversation. Therefore, I have done more of discussion than dialogue. Conversations could be easily converted to dialogue using several advantage points. One of the points is completing the features of a conversation. According to Nikulin (2010), this could be done by personal voice, unfinalizability, and allosensus. Another point is asking for clarifications during the conversation. This could increase someone’s attentiveness on the conversation. As a result, the conversation would have a great influence on the person and thus converted into a dialogue. The other point is reframing the message communicated during a conversation. This could avoid negative reactions and judgments made during conversations. As a result, the conversation would have a great influence on the parties involved and thus it would have been converted to a dialogue. System thinking is one of the five disciplines defined by Senge to guide activities of a learning organization. According to Wyk (2003), system thinking could be conceptualized as a tool for making complex patterns in a learning organization much

Health Care In United States Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health Care In United States - Research Paper Example (Holohan, 2010) Thanks to the PPACA 32 million more of the most economically vulnerable Americans will have access to health insurance. (Health Reform Act, 2011) The PPACA is landmark legislation many thought would never occur and was a hard fought success for President Obama and what was at the time a Democratic dominated congress. It addressed many significant health issues and will facilitate millions of citizens while saving the nation billions of dollars. However, the PPACA is not universal health care or even close to it. Going further than the PPACA by ratifying universal health care would radically reduce the burden lower and middle income family’s face due to healthcare costs while also reducing the division of health care services along family economic lines. Most Americans share the same opinion as the majority of the industrialized world. Society has a shared moral responsibility, to offer everyone health care without concern for the amount of money they have. When asked â€Å"do you think the federal government should guarantee health care for all Americans?† Americans support health care that is guaranteed by the federal government by a pretty wide margin of 62-38 percent.

How Does Racism Impact Interpersonal Relationships?

How Does Racism Impact Interpersonal Relationships? When I saw the opportunity to complete a research paper on racism arose I immediately jumped on the topic. I chose the question, how does racism impact interpersonal relationships? In Saginaw, the city in which I am born and raised, I see a lot of racism and racist acts every day. There is a river that is basically a line in the sand that divides the whites from the blacks. Saginaw was just recently voted the most dangerous city per capita in America for the third straight year. I have many African American, Mexican, Chinese, and Chaldean friends. I am comfortable with my friends families as well as my own. The current racism in the country is just unreal to me. In all reality racism does factor into, not only interpersonal relationships, but all relationships. How do you define race? Is race some territory marked off by some line? Is it a tint of your skin? There is racism in relationships, racism in areas of the community, and racism in the voting process. Racism factors into many different parts of our everyday lives. It may be so minute you may not even notice. Take for instance; you just finished dinner with your spouse and she notices a man of color approaching and she grabs your arm and squeezes her purse tightly. Now, think about if you have ever walked into a place and have someone stare at you, then quickly grasp their wallet? What about when you are walking in the mall and a mother looks up at you and switches her purse from the side nearest you to the other side of a stroller. Jean Moule (2009) calls these instances blink of an eye racism. He says, Such unconscious biases lead to unintentional racism: racism that is usually invisible even and especially to those who perpetrate it. Yet, most people do not want to be considered racist or capable of racist acts because the spoken and unspoken norm is that good people do not discriminate or in any way participate in racism (p. 321). The article states biases are rooted in stereotypes and prejudices. A stereotype is a basic image or distorted truth about a person or group based on a prejudgment of habits, traits, abilities, or expectations. The mind also has ways of denying its stereotypes. Such as saying Oh, I have a many close black friends, when an individual would be confronted with their racists remarks or actions towards that of a black individual. Moules article quotes, And when we receive evidence that confronts our deeply held and usually unrecognized biases, the human brain usually finds ways to return to stereotypes. The human brain uses a mechanism called re-fencing when confronted with evidence contrary to the stereotype. Allport coined the term: When a fact cannot fit into a mental field, the exception is acknowledged, but the field is hastily fenced in again and not allowed to remain dangerously open(Moule). In uncertain situations, peoples minds also reconstruct a situation in order to conform to their stereotypes. For instance, when a judge is dealing with a black defendant, rather than that of a white defendant, he is much more likely to favor that side of which he is not racist towards, and the fact that, regardless of explicit racial prejudices, police officers are more likely to shoot an unarmed black target than an unarmed white target (Moule). What is race? Can it be defined? Is there a line that separates certain races from another? Race is just a term created in the last 500 years that was used for individuals that had not experienced any clinical variation in their lives. So these race terms were developed and hence this is the world we live in now. So where is the start of personal prejudice? Do individual experiences fuel stereotypes? Is it easier to be responsible for existing stereotypes because things will never change? Can people conquer struggles within their own ethnic groups or communities? What stops us from overcoming these prejudices? Crash forced me to analyze my own prejudices and racial stereotypes towards others. I always thought that racism occurred as a result of a persons upbringing. If your parents were racist, there is a good chance that you will be a racist too. In the movie Crash, a cop has a close bond with his father. The son tries to help his father anyway he can, but plays phone tag and becomes frustrated. Later in the movie, we discover the roots of his racism. It turns out that his father was not racist towards black people. It was the son who, in combination with his fathers negative experiences and his own as a member of the LAPD, formed his own perceptions towards blacks. Another example of how race factors into relationships, occurred at the beginning of the film when the Persian family was attempting to purchase a gun. The clerk at the gun shop made a few blatantly racist comments about the perceptions of the customers and their connections with the 9/11 attacks. Ludacris character was one of the most interesting to me. Here was this expressive young black man that spent his life stealing cars from white people. Rap music is the music of the oppressor, he said. It is often easier to blame other individuals for your shortcomings t han it is to confront them head on. On the flipside, trouble facing stereotypes can occur anywhere. They are not simply restricted to skin-tone and neighborhoods. Racial discrimination transpires through social class as well. This creates division within the same racial groups. In the film, there was a man portrayed as a rich, African American television star. He achieved success as a hard working black man. The actor faced scrutiny from both of his people, namely his wife and from his white producer. It was like a catch-22: if he wanted to be successful, he needed to act like a white man. With that came two major problems. Just because he had a good paying job, he failed to acknowledge that all the money in the world couldnt change the fact that he was a black man. For instance, in the movie, look what happened with the LAPD. They did not care that he was a law abiding Buddhist, he was still black. With the success he had as an actor, it was also possible that he developed a complex, thinking he was entitled to white privileges. As a result of that complex, he faced a flood of embarrassment, shame, frustration, and anger. When Sandra Bullock, first saw the Mexican locksmith, she made a snap judgment. He is a gang-banger because of his shaved head, prison t attoos and his pants around his ass. She determined that he was going to sell her house keys to one of his homeys. Contrary to her analysis, he was a soft-spoken, sensitive family man. These instances just support that racism does factor into relationships. Another instance of how race factors into relationships would be that of my own. Once, when I was a late teen I was driving around on my citys eastside. The town of Saginaw is the number one most dangerous city in America per capita for the last four years running. Although we have reduced crime by 24% we still lead the nation in crime. The city is divided almost in two parts, with the Saginaw River as the primary dividing line. Westside is the township and where the whites and the suburbs are. The eastside is where the boarded up windows and closed down buildings are. Also, on the eastside is where the majority of Saginaws black population lives. This is not saying that there are not whites on the east or blacks on the west; its just saying that the city is one of the most segregated towns in America and the river is the dividing line. It was after the sun had set and it was just before dark settled in. The YMCA is located just across the bridge on the eastside. It was here where I realized that when you were told not to go over the bridge at night, you should listen. I was walking to my car after working out, when I was ambushed and the fight occurred. There were two black men and they came out of the dark just from around the dumpster. They wanted my belongings and there was a disagreement and I put a master lock around my knuckles and fended for my life. I managed to flee, but I lost my gym bag, the least of my worries at the time. I tried to call police but when they arrived, they acted like it was my fault for being across the bridge after sunset. It seemed that this unwritten rule reigned supreme over my attempted burglary case. They took down my info on a paper and I could have sworn that they threw out my info before they even got into their car. I was just shocked at the lack of interest or care for that matter. I never received a call back from the police and I never felt so neglected in my life. So I feel like racism does factor into interpersonal r elationships. Due to all the above information and the fact that even if you dont tend to think you are being racist, you tend to be anyways. It may be the slightest touch of racism, however it is still racism and this is why it effects and will always affect interpersonal relationships. The answer I came to at the end of the day was the same answer I thought I would have before I began this paper. Racism is so bold that society as a whole is blind to it. Its not the fact that people are ignoring racism, its just so miniscule and if you grow up around little to no racism, you can see the whole racism picture. If you tend to be raised racist or even learn from those whose views are diminished, you are more likely to be racist. Some of society is racist, but they are just blind to it because they feel as if it was the way they were raised. These notions can be spotted throughout the world. I expected this answer however, because I have seen racism every day of my life and I know it factors into relationships even if the relationship is blind to the fact. I may believe this though because of the community I grew up in. As you read, it was a crime-filled and segregated city, so maybe I am biased due to the area I grew up in and the environment where I went to school. Until we as a society and as individuals, can take the time to understand the roots of discrimination and take a good look at our own thought patterns, well never move forward. Movies like Crash are forcing us to look outside our own lives and fears, to realize that were more alike than we think. Aside from the genetic differences between us, we all have problems and internal struggles. Thats what makes us human.

Micromotives and Macrobehavior Essay -- essays research papers

Micromotive is the inner motivation that leads us in performing particular acts. Those decisions are to pursue peoples’ own self interest, unintentionally lead to contradict with other people’s acts. Chasing that idea of human nature T. Shelling gives us variable results of how micromotives can guide the society in the world of externalities. Economists tend to rely on A. Smith’s â€Å"Wealth of nation† where he talks about invisible hand theorem† according to which people seek to promote their own self interests in the society and also promote the interest of society. (McConnel, B.). Schelling in his paper presents things from different angle. He convinces us that individual actions can lead to surprising results as an aggregate. In our society people selfishly follow their own interests not considering the results those may have on others: either positive or negative. For instance Wright Brothers have invented the first airplane. That is a great example of positive spillover. Inventers chase their own interest on the first place, but in the long term they have contributed into societal progress. Therefore now we can get to the destination faster and easier. An example of negative externality is someone who refuses to pay the taxes to the government. To save money acts on his own interest behalf, when at the same time his action doesn’t benefit societal â€Å"bank†. That behavior could decrease future potentials for societal development if left ungoverned. Shelling introduces coordi...

Pedagogical Techniques: Cognitive Disequilibrium an Goldilocks Principle

Cognitive Disequilibrium There will always be different kinds of intellects at classrooms. What are considered the worst students do not like to think through a problem or find out how a mechanism works, while some of the better students may understand the same concepts but do not think further about them once they are done learning what they had to learn. This is when the presence of a teacher asking them questions comes into play. A technique used to make students think further is called the cognitive disequilibrium. Cognitive disequilibrium is in charge of daring students to think of better ways why something works the way it does.The name itself points at imbalanced knowledge towards a certain topic. Let’s take for example a group of students leading an experiment where they are mostly sure of what the outcome will be. Their desire to find results that matches their theory will be biased, and if something in the experiment indicates their theory is not completely true ther e will be a moment of conflicting cognitions; this is what researchers call cognitive disequilibrium. Starting as early as the 1950’s, social psychologist Leon Festinger coined the term â€Å"cognitive dissonance† in his book When Prophecy Fails.At the same time, developmental psychologist Jean Piaget realized his work in cognitive developmental theory, including a close approach to cognitive dissonance. He conceptualized that as a child grows up, he will constantly be finding new information that will challenge the former beliefs he had, thus making an imbalance in cognition and making the child adapt to a new set of ideas (Colombo, 2002). This kind of conflict affects learning the same way it can affect the process of gathering information. Much like in research, theories can change drastically based on how big the changes are when finding new data.According to Chin and Brewer (1993) there are seven different forms of response to inconsistent information, the unpredi cted information that can possibly throw off one’s already learned knowledge: ignoring, rejecting, excluding, abeyance, reinterpreting, peripheral change, and theory change. Because of its ability to change theories and change our perception of beliefs, cognitive disequilibrium is not only a concept, but it also serves as a major pedagogical technique. In the context of educational psychology, cognitive disequilibrium can be used as a tool to defy students and their ideas.We can see instances where in class a teacher asks a student a question related to the material to see if the student is familiar with it, but that does not show understanding of the material. By asking more in-depth questions of why a student thinks he has the right answer or by asking about how he came about finding the answer we are solidifying a pathway that shows us why the answer is such. If there is not an exact pathway that could explain how one came to conclude that the answer is correct, there may be an error in between that could change the answer. In the case of our lecture class, Dr.Zola has made use of this technique in a couple of occasions to motivate students into thinking deeper about their answers to simple questions he makes. I remember at least one occasion where he asks a simple question about a student’s take on a subject, and when the student confidently answered, Dr. Zola asked follow-up questions that made the student rethink his response, and thus think better about his argument. Not only would he give follow-up questions, but introduce new ideas backed up by other researchers of prestige that could really change the way we think.The times he presents new information that unbalances our beliefs are just followed by very small pauses where we reconsider our ideas, until we have to discuss them with other students or we move ahead to new material. Every concept that we rethink due to new information presented should be given a good amount of time to brea k down what we know about the concept and build up a new conclusion in our minds. By giving us more time to think, we can further build up on the ideas on our mind and solidify the new concepts we are learning.Like I said before, we need to plan out a pathway that leads us to our concluding ideas or theories. Due to the fact that most of our work in lecture and discussion is based on partner or group talk; we need to be ready to give out our opinions on different matters with a solid argument. It is true that most of the concepts we learn about in lecture are somewhat familiar to us since we have dealt with them ourselves or we have seen people been affected by what researches have to say about cognitive development.However, it is always good to satisfy the need to learn more about different concepts by bringing up new information that will make us see the concept from a different angle. We need to be able to break down what we know about the concept, pick up the details that are st ill useful to us, get rid of the details that are no longer any useful, and accept the new details that will shape our concepts in different ways. Goldilocks Principle Another technique used by effective teachers deals with being able to assign tasks and assignments to students so that they fit their levels of skill or prior knowledge.The Goldilocks principle is appropriate for this, since it deals with finding the right level of difficulty materials that are given to students. Like Graesser mentioned it (2008), material that is too easy for the audience will be disregarded as it may seem repetitive from what the audience or students have learned before; if the material is too hard, students may find it too frustrating and will give up. This technique suggests that materials and assignments should not be too hard or too easy.At a right, constant level students will remain engaged with the material. This is related to what O’Donnell, Reeve, and Smith (2008) explained as Vygots ky’s â€Å"zone of proximal development† as the concept that tells us that a child should be taught at his own level of recent maturity. This means that a student shouldn’t be pushed to work the material as if he has already mastered it or been experienced with it, but that he should work the material as if he’s still practicing it. As Wolfe et al. 1998) demonstrated in their article a group of researchers from two different schools experiment how background knowledge can affect students’ ability to comprehend different materials given. In this experiment, students were given the task to learn about something of background knowledge to them; in this case, it was the functions if the human heart. Students were given the same material but in different reading levels. The researchers found out that little background knowledge on the topic made the students gain about as much knowledge as the students with major background knowledge did.In other words, students whose prior knowledge did not overlap enough with the contents of the text did not learn well but neither did students whose knowledge overlapped too much with the contents of the text. At the end of their research, they found out that â€Å"low-knowledge† students understood just as much as â€Å"high-knowledge† students when their material was customized for the highly coherent and detailed, just as when the material given to high-knowledge students was presented with coherent gaps that they had to fill in by themselves.This technique should be used in a classroom environment to reach for those students that are not fully engaged to the material given. In the classroom we could find different types of learners, but it is fair to say that under-challenged and over-challenged students make up most of the class. By finding a way to balance the material and presenting it in a way that is fully detailed for some and challenging for others the instructor will be able to have most, if not all of the class fully engaged. Based on what I have experienced in class, we can say that Dr. Zola has made good use of this technique. Dr.Zola is letting his students use their own background knowledge to fill in gaps in the knowledge of other students through discussion. By bringing up questions that almost everybody is familiar with, but that everybody has a different take on, the discussions amongst students can last for a good while, and students always end up learning from each other when sharing stories and background knowledge. After all, there are several ways to keep a variety of learners engaged in the classroom, as by having discussions to keep the class active, integrating other fields in the material, stimulating the senses of the audience, etc.These last mentioned only keep the class active, and hopefully everybody engaged, but as a teacher one must still work on filling those gaps that some students may have about the material being learned . References Colombo, J. (2002) Infant Attention Grows up: The Emergence of a Developmental CognitiveNeuroscience Perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science  , Vol. 11, No. 6 (Dec. , 2002), pp. 196-200. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/stable/20182811 Wolfe, M. W. , Schreiner, M. E. , Rehder, B. , Lahman, D. , Folts, P. W. , Kintsch, W. , & Landaure, T. K. (1998).Learning From Text: Matching Readers and Text by Latent Semantic Analysis. Discourse Processes, 25(2/3), 309-336. Graesser (2008). 25 Learning Principles to Guide Pedagogy and the Design of Learning Environments. Life Long Learning at Work and at Home. Retrieved from http://psyc. memphis. edu/learning O’Donnell, A. , Reeve, J. , Smith, F. (2008) Educational Psychology: Reflection for Action. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Chinn, C. A. , & Brewer, W. F. (1993). The role of anomalous data in knowledge acquisition: A theoretical Framework and implications for.. Review of Educational Research, 63(1) , 1. Pedagogical Techniques: Cognitive Disequilibrium an Goldilocks Principle Cognitive Disequilibrium There will always be different kinds of intellects at classrooms. What are considered the worst students do not like to think through a problem or find out how a mechanism works, while some of the better students may understand the same concepts but do not think further about them once they are done learning what they had to learn. This is when the presence of a teacher asking them questions comes into play. A technique used to make students think further is called the cognitive disequilibrium. Cognitive disequilibrium is in charge of daring students to think of better ways why something works the way it does.The name itself points at imbalanced knowledge towards a certain topic. Let’s take for example a group of students leading an experiment where they are mostly sure of what the outcome will be. Their desire to find results that matches their theory will be biased, and if something in the experiment indicates their theory is not completely true ther e will be a moment of conflicting cognitions; this is what researchers call cognitive disequilibrium. Starting as early as the 1950’s, social psychologist Leon Festinger coined the term â€Å"cognitive dissonance† in his book When Prophecy Fails.At the same time, developmental psychologist Jean Piaget realized his work in cognitive developmental theory, including a close approach to cognitive dissonance. He conceptualized that as a child grows up, he will constantly be finding new information that will challenge the former beliefs he had, thus making an imbalance in cognition and making the child adapt to a new set of ideas (Colombo, 2002). This kind of conflict affects learning the same way it can affect the process of gathering information. Much like in research, theories can change drastically based on how big the changes are when finding new data.According to Chin and Brewer (1993) there are seven different forms of response to inconsistent information, the unpredi cted information that can possibly throw off one’s already learned knowledge: ignoring, rejecting, excluding, abeyance, reinterpreting, peripheral change, and theory change. Because of its ability to change theories and change our perception of beliefs, cognitive disequilibrium is not only a concept, but it also serves as a major pedagogical technique. In the context of educational psychology, cognitive disequilibrium can be used as a tool to defy students and their ideas.We can see instances where in class a teacher asks a student a question related to the material to see if the student is familiar with it, but that does not show understanding of the material. By asking more in-depth questions of why a student thinks he has the right answer or by asking about how he came about finding the answer we are solidifying a pathway that shows us why the answer is such. If there is not an exact pathway that could explain how one came to conclude that the answer is correct, there may be an error in between that could change the answer. In the case of our lecture class, Dr.Zola has made use of this technique in a couple of occasions to motivate students into thinking deeper about their answers to simple questions he makes. I remember at least one occasion where he asks a simple question about a student’s take on a subject, and when the student confidently answered, Dr. Zola asked follow-up questions that made the student rethink his response, and thus think better about his argument. Not only would he give follow-up questions, but introduce new ideas backed up by other researchers of prestige that could really change the way we think.The times he presents new information that unbalances our beliefs are just followed by very small pauses where we reconsider our ideas, until we have to discuss them with other students or we move ahead to new material. Every concept that we rethink due to new information presented should be given a good amount of time to brea k down what we know about the concept and build up a new conclusion in our minds. By giving us more time to think, we can further build up on the ideas on our mind and solidify the new concepts we are learning.Like I said before, we need to plan out a pathway that leads us to our concluding ideas or theories. Due to the fact that most of our work in lecture and discussion is based on partner or group talk; we need to be ready to give out our opinions on different matters with a solid argument. It is true that most of the concepts we learn about in lecture are somewhat familiar to us since we have dealt with them ourselves or we have seen people been affected by what researches have to say about cognitive development.However, it is always good to satisfy the need to learn more about different concepts by bringing up new information that will make us see the concept from a different angle. We need to be able to break down what we know about the concept, pick up the details that are st ill useful to us, get rid of the details that are no longer any useful, and accept the new details that will shape our concepts in different ways. Goldilocks Principle Another technique used by effective teachers deals with being able to assign tasks and assignments to students so that they fit their levels of skill or prior knowledge.The Goldilocks principle is appropriate for this, since it deals with finding the right level of difficulty materials that are given to students. Like Graesser mentioned it (2008), material that is too easy for the audience will be disregarded as it may seem repetitive from what the audience or students have learned before; if the material is too hard, students may find it too frustrating and will give up. This technique suggests that materials and assignments should not be too hard or too easy.At a right, constant level students will remain engaged with the material. This is related to what O’Donnell, Reeve, and Smith (2008) explained as Vygots ky’s â€Å"zone of proximal development† as the concept that tells us that a child should be taught at his own level of recent maturity. This means that a student shouldn’t be pushed to work the material as if he has already mastered it or been experienced with it, but that he should work the material as if he’s still practicing it. As Wolfe et al. 1998) demonstrated in their article a group of researchers from two different schools experiment how background knowledge can affect students’ ability to comprehend different materials given. In this experiment, students were given the task to learn about something of background knowledge to them; in this case, it was the functions if the human heart. Students were given the same material but in different reading levels. The researchers found out that little background knowledge on the topic made the students gain about as much knowledge as the students with major background knowledge did.In other words, students whose prior knowledge did not overlap enough with the contents of the text did not learn well but neither did students whose knowledge overlapped too much with the contents of the text. At the end of their research, they found out that â€Å"low-knowledge† students understood just as much as â€Å"high-knowledge† students when their material was customized for the highly coherent and detailed, just as when the material given to high-knowledge students was presented with coherent gaps that they had to fill in by themselves.This technique should be used in a classroom environment to reach for those students that are not fully engaged to the material given. In the classroom we could find different types of learners, but it is fair to say that under-challenged and over-challenged students make up most of the class. By finding a way to balance the material and presenting it in a way that is fully detailed for some and challenging for others the instructor will be able to have most, if not all of the class fully engaged. Based on what I have experienced in class, we can say that Dr. Zola has made good use of this technique. Dr.Zola is letting his students use their own background knowledge to fill in gaps in the knowledge of other students through discussion. By bringing up questions that almost everybody is familiar with, but that everybody has a different take on, the discussions amongst students can last for a good while, and students always end up learning from each other when sharing stories and background knowledge. After all, there are several ways to keep a variety of learners engaged in the classroom, as by having discussions to keep the class active, integrating other fields in the material, stimulating the senses of the audience, etc.These last mentioned only keep the class active, and hopefully everybody engaged, but as a teacher one must still work on filling those gaps that some students may have about the material being learned . References Colombo, J. (2002) Infant Attention Grows up: The Emergence of a Developmental CognitiveNeuroscience Perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science  , Vol. 11, No. 6 (Dec. , 2002), pp. 196-200. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/stable/20182811 Wolfe, M. W. , Schreiner, M. E. , Rehder, B. , Lahman, D. , Folts, P. W. , Kintsch, W. , & Landaure, T. K. (1998).Learning From Text: Matching Readers and Text by Latent Semantic Analysis. Discourse Processes, 25(2/3), 309-336. Graesser (2008). 25 Learning Principles to Guide Pedagogy and the Design of Learning Environments. Life Long Learning at Work and at Home. Retrieved from http://psyc. memphis. edu/learning O’Donnell, A. , Reeve, J. , Smith, F. (2008) Educational Psychology: Reflection for Action. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Chinn, C. A. , & Brewer, W. F. (1993). The role of anomalous data in knowledge acquisition: A theoretical Framework and implications for.. Review of Educational Research, 63(1) , 1.

Red BAron essays

Red BAron essays World War 1s leading fighter pilot for Germany was Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen. During his two years of fighting for Germany he shot down eighty enemy planes. Richthofen painted his plane bright red so everyone that saw him coming would be in fear of, THE RED KNIGHT, or better known as the RED BARON. Most of the planes the Richthofen shot down were British. Most of the people that Richthofen defeated burned to death after the bullets form his machine gun hit the gas tanks, as for the pilots who were able to eject before the plane went down or exploded Richthofen would fly by giving them a friendly wave or land to shake hands. IN 1918 Richthofen was 25 and the commander of Pursuit Squadron 1 of the German Air Force. The squadron that Richthofen was in charge of was nick named the Flying Circus. His squadron flew Fokkers. The squadron painted their planes in gaudy colors but no one was aloud to copy the all red design of the red barons plane. On the morning of April 21, 1918 Richthofen led two-dozen warplanes over the Somme river Valley of France. Richthofen was eager and hoping to gain air control so they could launch an offensive attack on the British forces below. As thy were chasing a few Australian photo reconnaissance planes they encountered some ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTERS. They commenced the air battle, which was quite a show for the men down in the ditches. Richthofen chose his one victim, which was LT. (Lieutenant) Wilfred May from Canada. Wilfred was a novice fighter pilot. He did not notice that he had Richthofen on his tail until he saw tracer bullets begin to arc past the stays on the wings. Wilfred looked behind him to see the big red plane chasing behind him with the machine guns spitting fire. Wilfred then took risky actions to avoid being hit and downed he pulled h ...

The Classical Dramatic Speech From Sophocles Antigone

The Classical Dramatic Speech From Sophocles' Antigone Written by Sophocles around 440 B.C., the title character in Antigone represents one of the most powerful female protagonists in theatrical history. Her conflict is a simple yet poignant one. She gives her dead brother a proper burial against the wishes of her uncle, Creon, the newly crowned King of Thebes. Antigone willingly defies the law for she devoutly believes that she is doing the will of the gods. A Summary of  Antigone In this monologue, the protagonist is about to be entombed in a cavern. Although she believes she goes to her death, she contends that she was justified in offering her brother his funeral rites. Yet, because of her punishment, she is uncertain about the ultimate goal of the gods above. Still, she trusts that in the afterlife, if she is at fault, she will learn of her sins. However, if Creon is at fault, the fates will surely inflict revenge upon him. Antigone is the  heroine of the play.  Stubborn and persistent, Antigones strong and feminine character supports her family duty and allows her to fight for her beliefs. The story of Antigone surrounds the dangers of tyranny as well as loyalty to family. Who Sophocles Was and What He Did Sophocles was born in Colonus, Greece in 496 bc and is considered one of the three great playwrights in classical Athens amongst Aeschylus and Euripides.  Famous for the evolution of drama in theater, Sophocles added a third actor and reduced the importance of the Chorus in the execution of the plot. He also  focused on character development, unlike other playwrights at the time. Sophocles died around 406 BC. The Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles includes three plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus. While they are not considered a true trilogy, the three plays are all based on Theban myths and often published together.  It is understood that Sophocles has written over 100 dramas, though only seven full plays are known to have survived today. An Excerpt of Antigone The following excerpt from Antigone is reprinted from Greek Dramas. Tomb, bridal chamber, eternal prison in the caverned rock, whither I go to find mine own, those many who have perished, and whom Persephone hath received among the dead! Last of all shall I pass thither, and far most miserably of all, before the term of my life is spent. But I cherish good hope that my coming will be welcome to my father, and pleasant to thee, my mother, and welcome, brother, to thee; for, when you died, with mine own hands I washed and dressed you, and poured drink-offerings at your graves; and now, Polyneices, tis for tending thy corpse that I win such recompense as this. And yet I honored thee, as the wise will deem, rightly. Never had I been a mother of children, or if a husband had been moldering in death, would I have taken this task upon me in the citys despite. What law, ye ask, is my warrant for that word? The husband lost, another might have been found, and child from another, to replace the first-born; but, father and mother hidden with Hades, no brothers life could ever bloom for me again. Such was the law whereby I held thee first in honor; but Creon deemed me guilty of error therein, and of outrage, ah brother mine! And now he leads me thus, a captive in his hands; no bridal bed, no bridal song hath been mine, no joy of marriage, no portion in the nurture of children; but thus, forlorn of friends, unhappy one, I go living to the vaults of death. And what law of Heaven have I transgressed? Why, hapless one, should I look to the gods anymorewhat ally should I invokewhen by piety I have earned the name of impious? Nay, then, if these things are pleasing to the gods, when I have suffered my doom, I shall come to know my sin; but if the sin is with my judges, I could wish them no fuller measure of evil than they, on their part, mete wrongfully to me. Source: Green Dramas. Ed. Bernadotte Perrin. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1904

Discussion Questions Week One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion Questions Week One - Essay Example the data set, while the alternative hypothesis is a claim of â€Å"difference in the population† (Introduction to Hypothesis Testing n.d.) After this, the test statistic for the data is calculated according to the type of test which is conducted. When the test statistic has been estimated, it is converted into a p-value which is also known as the level of significance. Lastly, the researcher makes a conclusion according to the result of the test. Hypothesis testing is very much important and is now widely utilized in coming up with significant business decisions. It should be noted that this technique can be utilized both for quantitative and qualitative analyses. One of the applicability of hypothesis testing is in predicting whether there would be an increase in the productivity of the workforce with the proposed performance based salary scheme. This is a very important issue which can be resolved using hypothesis testing noting that business organizations are now on the lookout for various techniques in order to motivate employees to excel in their respective posts. Monetary and non-monetary benefits are both used in order to increase employee productivity. Productivity can be measured through the average per hour production of employees which can be indicated by the dollar per hour that they contribute to the organization. A two-tailed hypothesis test can be conducted with the null hypothesis claiming that average produc tivity will not change or will still be equal to the previous average

Management Issue Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Issue Paper - Essay Example Good communication starts at the top of the corporate hierarchy. The managers of a company are responsible for the work performance of the entire staff. Whenever managers are unable to communicate well with the employees the workers feel isolated and they may pickup bad work habits that can hurt the efficiency of the company. For instance a lack of communication from the managerial staff can lead to discipline problems and lower overall productivity. â€Å"Effective communication empowers employees and provides clear direction and feedback agents for employees to express their thoughts, suggestions and concerns† (Papa). Good communication can enhance the corporate culture of an enterprise. Corporate culture can be defined as the system of shared actions, values, and beliefs that develops within the organization and guides the behavior of its members (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn). Having a solid corporate culture can help create a work environment in which the employees feel com fortable and happy in the workplace. Poor communication can be detrimental to a firm and lead to undesirable outcomes such as friction and conflict. When the workers display conflict among the staff it can cause damage to the morale of the employees in the firm. Due to the fact that communication problems hurt the operations of a company the managers of a firm have to implement alternative solutions to improve the communication of an enterprise. If the communication problems exist at the top the problem becomes more complicated. The managers of a firm are supposed to communicate well with each other to provide leadership to the rest of the members of the staff. A way to resolve communication problems among managers is by hiring an external consulting firm to intervene and resolve the problem before it gets worse. If the reason for conflict and lack of communication between managers is associated with the presence of a particular manager a potential solution is to terminate the emplo yment of the trouble maker. Effective communication is a critical success factor in the 21st century. Due to the importance of communication the managerial staff has to take steps to improve communication whenever a company suffers from its symptoms. A way to improve communication between the managers and the employees is by implementing a feedback system. It is important to listen to the voice of the workers. Sometimes the best ideas are hidden in the minds of the floor employees. The floor employees are the ones that have the day to day experience on how a company operates. A firm can either use direct or indirect feedback. Direct feedback occurs when the employees speak directly to their supervisors or managers. Direct feedback is effective, but sometimes the employees are scared or feel threaten by the managers which inhibits good communication. Indirect feedback on the other hand is performed in an anonymous way. Two simple techniques to gather indirect feedback is by placing a feedback box in a wall so that the employees can place their feedback in a written note for the managers to evaluate. A second way to implement indirect feedback is by setting up a phone hotline. The involvement of the employees in the operations of the company is important. Communication in a firm can improve by using two way communications. â€Å"