The World’s Wife Essay Example

The World’s Wife Paper By subverting male dominance in â€Å"The World’s Wife†, Duffy challenges gender conventions and ultimately transcends them, however women are still trapped by predetermined societal constructs. In this presentation, attack will be defined as the assertion of power over someone and in the world’s wife, it shall be defined as the subversion of male dominance by the female. Transgression will be defined as going beyond what society deems as conventional/normal. Therefore I will be focusing on the ways in which Duffy establishes female dominance and how she ultimately transcends gender conventions. Battle of the sexes? We will write a custom essay sample on The World’s Wife specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The World’s Wife specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The World’s Wife specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is important to differentiate sex and gender. Provisionally: ‘sex’ denotes human females and males depending on biological features ‘gender’ denotes women and men depending on social factors. Feminism seeks to overcome/challenge the conventional socially constructed notions of ‘gender’. One way to do this is to assert the female’s dominance over men, which is seen in â€Å"The World’s Wife†. In this presentation, I’ll be looking focusing on 3 poems, Delilah, Circe and Mrs Beast and I will explore 1. The assertion of the female literary voice. 2. Male dominance subverted by female violence. 3. The reversal of gender roles 4. Women cannot completely remove themselves from societal constructs 1. Duffy asserts the female literary voice in order to establish female dominance. Conventionally, throughout history, males have dominated the literary cannon and women have been absent to a great extent from historical representations. However, in â€Å"The World’s Wife†, the title already hints at the main perspective of the collection and with the assembly of poems, of which each contains certain experiences made by women, it creates an atmosphere of a female gathering. This creation of a female space is a reversal of conventional gender constructions in which the male voice dominates the literary cannon. Within â€Å"The World’s Wife†, Duffy moves away from the gender convention of males dominating the literary voice. DELILAH In the poem, â€Å"Delilah†, which is a retelling of the biblical story of Samson, an unrivalled hero of Israel famed for his strength which was attributed to his long mane of hair and his lover Delilah who, when offered payment by his enemies, cut off Samsons hair while he slept, severing the source of his power. In this poem: Samson asks Delilah to ‘teach him how to care’ and as a result, she cuts off his hair to remove his strength in order to allow him to feel emotions. Delilah questions Samson and adopts an imperative tone, Tell me more indicating the power she has over him, she seems to be dominating over him and this foreshadows the ending. Furthermore Duffy uses â€Å"I† and â€Å"Me†, indicating that Delilah has now taken charge of the way the poem is being told. The final imperative and concluding dash Put your hand here - marks the transition back to Delilahs point of view, he guided my fingers. further emphasizing how she holds the power over the way the story progresses. Moreover, she also claims responsibility for her actions, actively asserting herself as the one who has done the deed to Samson, she is the dominant voice in the poem. MRS BEAST The female literary dominance is also extended to Mrs Beast which is a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story in which a beautiful human girl is forced to live with a beast and they eventually fall in love. Mrs Beast showcases a different relationship in which the female actively seeks out the beast. Females have taken on an assertive role in their relationship with males. This is seen through her assertion of her literary voice as the poem is told through her perspective. Throughout the poem, the female voice is harsh and blunt, demonstrating her apparent strength and rejection of the stereotypically weak nature associated with females. For example, I should know, theyre bastards when theyre princes establishes her confrontational attitude towards men. Additionally, in â€Å"I had the language girls†, she addresses the female gender as one collective unit. This makes it sound as if she is preparing an army for a battle for those lost to the suffocation of the mal e species. It further shows how Duffy establishes the female as possessing the language and thus establishes them within the literary cannon. CIRCE This is also seen in â€Å"Circe† who is able to transform her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals. She addresses a female audience and is thus in a position of power and she actively dominates the voice within the poem, â€Å"I’m familiar†, â€Å"I’ve stood† and â€Å"I want† are all phrases of assertion and dominance. -Therefore, through the assertion of the dominating female literary voice, Duffy successfully transcends gender conventions. THROUGH THE USE OF AGGRESSION EMPLOYED BY WOMEN, DUFFY FURTHER TRANSCENDS THE GENDER CONVENTIONS AND ASSERTS FEMALE DOMINANCE. In DELILAH, the cutting of hair can be seen as an dominating and aggressive act as she is literally physically stripping Samson away of his power/strength/which had made him valuable to mankind, Furthermore, this aggressive act is reinforced by Delilahs premeditation is emphasized by the syntax: I let†¦And before I . . . I fastened the chain to the door and the rhyme of floor and door. Indicates she has planned to and knowingly carries out the seemingly violent act on Samson. â€Å"Circe† displays a more brutal sense of hostility towards the men and the idea of taking aggressive action against them is conveyed. The venomous tone in â€Å"all of them†¦with those piggy eyes† generalizes that all men are the same and deserve to be punished this way. Thus, there is a strong sense of hatred towards men where girls are encouraged to fight back. Furthermore, â€Å"boiled†, â€Å"scraped† and â€Å"mash† are violent images that suggest brutally punishing men. Circe is also described as taking the pig’s ‘sweetmeats slipped from the slit, bulging, vulnerable bag of balls.† This aggressiveness strengthens the superiority of the female voice and subverts existing male power. Moreover, in the last stanza, she makes an effort to threaten and display aggression by wanting to â€Å"baste that sizzling pig on the spit once again†. This vicious display of aggressively cooking the men shows how she refuses to return to her naà ¯ve self who had once â€Å"hoped for men†. Mrs Beast continues to consciously reverse gender roles in order to overthrow male dominance. Hence, She is in complete control over the Beast and pulls the strings in their relationship. Duffy further strips the male of his power by portraying the female in a dominant position in their sexual relationship. For example, â€Å"The lady says that’s not what I meant† undermines the Beast’s sexual performance, and we see her forcibly ordering him around. In fact, ensuring she is sexually fulfilled is the priority, not the desires of the beast. â€Å"The pig in my bed was invited† emphasizes that it is a privilege for the Beast that she has allowed him to be in her presence, reinforcing his subordinate position next to her. â€Å"The Beast kept out of sight,† tells us that he had to give her space when required, but still had to serve them at the poker game. He has become her servant, obeying every command and she controls when she wants him near her or not. Hence, she adopts this active role to overturn male dominance by belittling him –– an act of aggression as she forcibly takes action to oppress him. We can see that female dominance is established through transgressing gender conventions. Duffy establishes conventional gender roles within â€Å"Delilah† in order to actively move away from them. The poem begins with an imperative, Teach me, reflecting Samsons strong, dominant character. The second stanza depicts Samson speaking directly, in first person; the tone is boastful and the language violent rip, roar, fire, and flay. Samson relates his accomplishments in declaratives: Theres nothing I fear. His speech emphasizes his dominant and strong personality, conventional traits of the masculine gender. Delilah, in turn, nibbled the purse of his ear an allusion to the biblical account in which Delilah is paid by each of Samsons enemies which alludes to her materialistic attitude and reflects her reputation as a prostitute, all of which are conventions to the female gender. -In the poem, Duffy transgresses gender conventions and through that, begins to establish Delilah’s dominance over Samson. Duffy deconstructs the gender convention of male strength and power. She let him slip and slide and sprawl to the floor suggesting an air of weakness within Samson and request that Delilah teach him how to care suggests that he desires emotional intimacy, which undermines his masculine identity. He laments I cannot be gentle, or loving, or tender. The tripling of modifiers connotes femininity and intimacy, attributes not associated with warriors, again undermining his masculine identity. By contrast, afterwards he lay with his head on my lap, a gesture both childlike, intimate and trusting, it further enforces the power Delilah has over him in the relationship. She also says My warrior, of which is a rather possessive tone, again reversing the conventional roles of which women seem to be possessed by men. The line I have to be strong suggests that Samson feels he has no choice, a reflection of how the perception of specific gender roles are so deeply rooted within society and the interrogative What is the cure? implies that he sees his condition as a sickness, which could represent Duffy’s view of masculine dominance as a disease. The end focus on the question reflects the changing balance of power between the couple as he now questions her. The line snipping first at the black and biblical air is very knowing as well as cutting her lovers hair, the speaker is attempting to shred her reputation as a femme fatale, which originated in the biblical account. She actively tries to reverse the conventional role placed upon her by society. CIRCE Duffy first establishes conventional gender roles. She compares men to pigs, implying that they are lazy and in the case of â€Å"the tusker†, aggressive, and women should therefore take action against such unruliness. Furthermore, she also points out the male’s skill to deceive women, â€Å"to lick, to lap, to loosen, lubricate, to lie.† And the very fact that Circe is instructing the women around her on how to cook pigs, Duffy places her in a domestic setting, traditionally reserved for women. However, the dominance of the female is particularly evident in this poem. She is putting them on a lower level in comparison to her. For instance, â€Å"all pigs have been mine – under my thumb† reinforces her domineering role over them. Also, the poem is structured in the form of a recipe for cooking men. This shows how men have become a consumable commodity to her and are of lesser importance. MRS BEAST The idea of dominance is also prevalent in Mrs Beast, she is also the one who holds the real power, and her relationship with the beast is that of a dominatrix to a subservient male. Female empowerment is of intrinsic quality to Mrs Beast, especially when the poem opens with the listing of females, ascending in terms of empowerment, â€Å"Helen’s Face, Cleopatra’s, Queen of Sheba’s, Juliet’s †. Furthermore, the reverse is also seen in the line, â€Å"And if his snout and trotters fouled my damask sheets†¦he’d wash them. Twice†, here Duffy has placed the male beast into a domestic role, a position traditionally reserved for women. This maintenance of power over men is a conscious effort, from the line from Mrs Beast, â€Å"Let the less-loving one be me†, because she forces herself to be less loving, as part of a rather feminist vow to never be trampled on by men. Furthermore, the line also seems to be mocking the lack of mal e emotional attachment. The Beast also seems to have accepted his submissive role in their relationship, as he would â€Å"pick my nose, if I wanted that†. Mrs Beast continues to consciously reverse gender roles in order to overthrow male dominance. However, despite the transgressions of and the attempt to move away from conventional gender roles, Duffy also takes into account that women cannot be completely free from society’s traditional shackles that bind them. Delilah The very notion of Samson being a masculine symbol of power and strength but yet still being able to desire to be emotionally vulnerable indicates a mix of the two gender conventions. Even Delilah herself, Then with deliberate, passionate hands/ I cut every lock of his hair†. Although she is ready to carry out this aggressive act which will assert her dominance over Samson, she does not allow herself to be completely removed from the act, instead her emotions have seemingly taken over, through the word â€Å"passionate†. She does not completely deviate from female gender conventions by asserting her dominance; instead there is evidence of feminine emotional vulnerability. Through Delilah, Duffy hints at the weakness of emotion; a traditional female trait, but she still asserts the female’s dominance by having her deconstruct masculine power, transgressing gender conventions. Circe However, in Circe, in the midst of describing her culinary attack on men, she slips into a state of emotional vulnerability and recalls a time when she was young and ‘hoping for men’. This indicates that despite the dominant and aggressive role Circe seems to take on, she is still prone to emotional weakness, a conventional female trait. MRS BEAST However, it seems that there can be no complete role reversal, instead, by asserting dominance over men, she seems to have taken on the traits commonly associated with the male gender, Furthermore, it seems as though Mrs Beast cannot be entirely independent, instead she actively seeks out a male presence and is satisfied co-existing with the Beast. Therefore, we can see that although Duffy seeks to establish female dominance through moving away from conventional gender roles within the poems, she also shows that these roles are so deeply rooted within society and it is impossible for the female voice to be completely removed from such stereotypes. Conclusion In conclusion, Duffy challenges male power and the notion of male dominance in society by consciously asserting the female gender in The World’s Wife. Duffy establishes various ways of transgressing gender roles like through the establishment of the female literary voice and the aggressive actions taken by them, they result in the subversion of male dominance and power. Although Duffy tries to move past gender constructs, she still showcases that such societal notions are inevitable and women in â€Å"The World’s Wife† are unable to completely remove themselves from such structures.

buy custom The Prosecution of Criminals and Mozambican Model essay

buy custom The Prosecution of Criminals and Mozambican Model essay The main purpose of the paper is to study and analyze the article War, Gender and Culture: Mozambican Women Refugees written by Tina Sideris in order to answer the question whether prosecution of war criminals should take precedence over amnesty and/or reconciliation (Sideris, 2003). The special attention in this essay is paid to the Mozambican model, as it is important to define whether it is worth emulating, or it saws the seeds of future conflicts. The following conflict in the world history is a perfect example of demonstrating the connection between the war criminals and the outcomes of their crimes as a lot of people have been injured during this warfare. The current analysis shows that criminals prosecution is extremely important despite the fact that there are series of cases where the amnesty has to take place. The war in Mozambique continued for nearly two decades and it has injured a great number of people. Special attention has to be paid to the trauma caused towards women that are far more affected by the severe violence and constant warfare. The numerous injured people that survived show that the multiple injuries are the result of the lack of understanding of the real value of humans life, the outomes of the conflicts and crimes (Sideris, 2003). In this connection, punishment and prosecution have to be implemented in order to stop criminals committing crimes. This shows the border line to a great number of people. The injury to the spirit is worse than the physical injuries. Therefore, the trauma that remains after the crime is even more severe. However, here it can be seen that the prosecution can also cause such a trauma. In this connection, the criminal can potentially become injured. That is why there are some cases where the amnesty is more suitable, especially in such countries as Mozambique. Mozambican model was suitable for the country at that period of time, but such a process results in the emergence of new conflicts. Therefore, the model that took place within the country appeared to be ineffective. It can be seen from multiple evidences of local people that a lot of families have been killed during the warfare, not only the single persons. Women have been left alone and many of them became refugees. A great number of deaths could have been prevented in case the criminals were stopped. It is important to persecute and punish such individuals because of the destructive characteer f their crimes and the great number of innocent victims. The amnesty for such criminals is not an option because it can be seen that this warfare was extremely heavy and resulted in the psychological trauma, depression and distress of a number of people. These mental injuries might affect their children and therefore the number of victims grows. The series of crimes produces a great number of criminals as well. And these people have to witness severe punishment. Unlike common citizens that witnessed persecution and therefore were seriously harmed, real criminals have to face real punishment. This is the main difference between the two measures and therefore in the majority of cases criminals that affected innocent civilians have to be persecuted. This will lower the number of criminals and make it possible to prevent a series of new crimes and victims. It is extremely important to protect people and guarantee their safety and security of their families. That is why the amnesty in many cases is not a perfect solution as it will cause the emergence of new criminals that can also be left unpunished. A proper system and its stable functioning will support the development of healthy social environment within the country. Buy custom The Prosecution of Criminals and Mozambican Model essay

Amazon Cycles of Creativity

Amazon was incorporated in 1994 as an American e-commerce company, by Jeff Bezos. It is the largest online retailer in the world according to its sales and capital. The company earned an income of US$135.98 billion in the financial year of 2016 and on its peak days it sold more than 306 items in one second. The motive of selecting Amazon for this report is because the company has beat all of his completion in the market Management and become world’s largest online retailer with a high level of customer satisfaction. Amazon operates in online shopping and cloud computing industry. Along with their online retailing, the company provides several other internet-based services to its customers as well. Other services of Amazon include Amazon Prime, online book store, studio movie, app store, cloud drive and web services. Amazon keeps innovating their products and services according to their customer's requirements. The recent project of Amazon is â€Å"Alexa†, an artificial intelligence system that could connect to mobile, house or other electronic devices (Teece 2010). According to Mangalindan (2012), Amazon key strategy focused on cost leadership, as compared to other off-line retailers. The company’s enormous warehousing services and processing abilities, providing them cost advantages. The company is also focused on customer satisfaction and Bezos has implemented the consumer focus structure throughout the enterprise. The company uses these facilities to provide competitive pricing to its customers and other facilities such as one-day delivery, easy return, fast purchase process, and customer support. According to Forbes, Amazon is one of the world’s top three most innovative companies, with a market cap of US$427 billion and this strategy will help them sustain their growth in the future. Amazon’s business model focuses on enhancing growth by adopting a lower cost structure, as discussed by Bucherer (2011). The company provides lower cost products with high-quality services. Following is the criteria of Amazon’s business model: Amazon operates in more than 16 countries, and they might start selling in Australian as well. Before entering in Australian online retail market, the company required to assess their culture, administrative, geographic and economic factors. As discussed by Johnston (2017), Australian online retail market is a booming industry with more than 80 percent of population spending in online retailing, but around 64 percent of customers returned their purchases. Amazon required formulating faster delivery operations with easy return policy to capture Australian online retail market. Uber Technology incorporation is an American corporation operating in transportation and delivery services. The companies headquarter is situated in San Francisco, California. Uber provides its services in more than 632 cities globally. The organisation has revenue of US$6.5 billion in 2016 financial year. The purpose of choosing Uber is that company has changed the taxi industry without any significant investment. The organisation has created a monopoly in the transportation industry and worth more than US$63 billion. Uber allows customers to book a taxi through their mobile application. The drivers of Uber cabs have their own vehicles, eventually reducing the investment cost of Uber. The company has millions of vehicles to operate, for which they did not pay millions of dollars. Uber does not require maintaining full-time drivers or vehicles which reduce their costs. Uber operates in the low competitive market. There are other taxi drivers and organisation, but they did not provide customer services like Uber (Cramer and Krueger 2016). The customs choose Uber over taxi because they provide easy accessibility and facility through their application such as convenient booking, 24*7 service, and no cash transactions. According to Jonathan (2015), Uber hire world-class programmers and talented mathematicians that help in maintaining policies for the company by analysing the data. The company constantly update their policies to attract a high number of customers such as discounts, guaranteed prices, simplicity in the booking process and motive drivers to work longer. The innovative strategy helps Uber in gaining a competitive advantage and assist in sustainable future growth. Uber’s business model focuses on maintaining high standards of services management at lower prices. Following are its essential parts (Cohen and Kietzmann 2014): The business model of Uber assists them enhancing their operations worldwide. According to the research of Cannon and Summers (2014), the company is not affected by economic, geographic, and administrative and cultural factors of different countries since the company did not invest in vehicles. Uber provides a facility through their application and their drivers use their personal vehicles. The business approach of Uber increases their operations in more than 632 cities and sustained their future growth. Bucherer, E., 2011.  Business model innovation-guidelines for a structured approach. Shaker. Cannon, S. and Summers, L.H., 2014. How Uber and the sharing economy can win over regulators.  Harvard business review,  13(10), pp.24-28. Cohen, B. and Kietzmann, J., 2014. Ride on! Mobility business models for the sharing economy.  Organization & Environment,  27(3), pp.279-296. Cramer, J. and Krueger, A.B., 2016. Disruptive change in the taxi business: The case of Uber.  The American Economic Review,  106(5), pp.177-182. Culey, S., 2016. Building the Everything Store: Amazon’s Cycles of Creativity and Circles of Destruction. The European Business Review. Retrieved from < https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/building-the-everything-store-amazons-cycles-of-creativity-and-circles-of-destruction/ > Forbes., 2017. The World’s Most Innovative Companies. Retrieved from < https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon/ > Johnston, R., 2017. Yet Another Reason Amazon Australia Is Going To Be Huge. Gizmodo. Retrieved from < https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/yet-another-reason-amazon-australia-is-going-to-be-huge/ > Jonathan, T., 2015. Uber’s Use OF Data As A Competitive Advantage. Digital Innovation and Transformation. Retrieved from < https://digit.hbs.org/submission/ubers-use-of-data-as-a-competitive-advantage/ > Mangalindan, J., 2012. Amazon’s recommendation secret.  CNN Money https://tech. fortune. cnn. com/2012/07/30/amazon-5. Teece, D.J., 2010. Business models, business strategy and innovation.  Long range planning,  43(2), pp.172-194.

Business law International Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business law International - Essay Example ies, France, UK and the United States who are planning to start a business in a tax haven would have to confront several issues that go along with international taxation, most especially the OECD proposals, an organization their countries are member States. Despite the fact that individual country has its unique Taxation System, all countries are bound to act in conformity with generally accepted International rules for taxing multinational companies and their citizens when they earn some amount of incomes from overseas. Hence, the rules highlighted below hold true for all international transactions currently undertaken among nations across the globe. 2 (a) Jurisdiction for taxation: The very first step in international taxation is the determination of which place or locality is eligible or has the rights to lay claims to the taxes payable by a company. There are some descriptions that could fit how a company’s jurisdiction may be determined. The first description defines a jurisdiction as the place or location where a company is legally registered or incorporated. Even though a business owner lives in France or UK or the US, but registers his/her company in, say Bahamas, the company’s jurisdiction, according to the definition above, is Bahamas. However, it is sometimes confusing to determine which jurisdiction to apportion to a company that is totally floated online: for example, the ICT companies. In this circumstance, a company’s jurisdiction may be said to be where the company’s main economic activities take place. In other words, the company’s jurisdiction would be where its majority of bus iness operations occur; like purchasing, marketing, shipping, selling and other business activities. For example, a seller on Ebay buys advertises and sells Chinese products in the United States has the US as its jurisdiction. The theory of jurisdiction then supports the fact that a multinational company or enterprise owes its taxes to all the jurisdictions where

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN, Subject-Critical Thinking and Essay

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN, Subject-Critical Thinking and Investigation Methods - Essay Example Peter, Olson and Grunert (1999) defined CRM as â€Å"a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer†. According to them, CRM involves the integration of marketing, sales, customer service, and the supply-chain functions of the organization to achieve greater efficiencies and effectiveness in delivering customer value. These definitions emphasise that CRM is a comprehensive set of strategies for managing relationships with customers that relate to the overall process of marketing, sales, service, and support within the organisation. As a result, customers are given the chance to convey their preferences through the use of explicit or implicit means. In the retail industry, they make the company or organization aware of these preferences through communication lines established or through the personalized services (i.e. loyalty schemes and frequent shoppers programs) developed by the people in charge of customer relationship management. Having made aware of these preferences, companies continue to track these responses and offer their customers with products and services that are both customized and personalized. Customer loyalty and the understanding of their customers’ preferences are very hard and at the same time, take a lot of time. Because of this, the relationship established by the two becomes unique and the customers would often come back for a repeat business, one of the proofs of their loyalty to a certain company. This paper shall focus on customer relationship marketing to establish customer loyalty in the hospitality industry. Traditionally, it has been said that the products and services being offered in one hotel is very hard to differentiate from the products and services also being offered in another hotel. Hence, hotels

Principles of Marketing Essay Example for Free

Principles of Marketing Essay The course content includes a study of the relationship between marketing and society, nature and functions of marketing, marketing management processes, marketing tools, the markets, and the consumers. Course Objectives The main goal of the course is to provide an overview of the basic principles underlying modern marketing theory and practice. It will provide participants with an understanding of the analysis that is necessary for taking marketing decisions, and the wide range of factors (and interactions of those factors) that need to be considered in the design of a marketing program. Students should come away with this course with an understanding of the marketing system and its role within the Malaysian economy and within an individual firm by studying how products and services are planned, priced, promoted, and distributed in order to satisfy consumers wants. Learning Outcomes Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: ? define and apply knowledge of the key marketing concepts. ? explain how marketing decisions are influenced by environment, trends and developments. ? discuss the factors influencing consumer behavior. Please dress decently and appropriately (according to university’s dress codes) when attending classes. ? Group projects ; Assignments There will be group projects and assignments. For group project, work together with your group members and at the end of the project your group members will assess your contribution to the project. You are expected to do a group presentation before submission of written copy during the semester. Assignments will be uploaded in UNIEC. In class assignments must be submitted on the specified date otherwise you may be penalized for late submission. If you encounter any problem to submit assignments on the specific date, you are required to inform the lecturer within 2 days of the specified date. For any type written assignments given, the format of the paper should be as follows: ? A cover page with your details – Name, Student ID and Sections ( as registered in CMS) ? Font: Time New Roman , size 12 with 1. 5 spacing ? Include a reference page for every assignment that you submitted. ? Forums Students are required to participate in ALL 3 forums posted by the Course Leader and marks will be assigned based on the quality of the discussion. ? Accessing/ Checking UNIEC Virtual It is utmost important for students to access and check their UNIEC Virtual for any updates and information pertaining to the course regularly throughout the semester. Ignorance is NO EXCUSE. Examination Format Final examination will be a three hours-examination. The exam will evaluate your level of understanding and knowledge acquired in this course. The question formats may consist of multiple choice, true-false, short essays, and case-based problems. Week Topics Covered Overview 1 2 3 4 Topic 1: Marketing: Managing Profitable Customer Relationship Topic 2: The Marketing Environment and the Marketing Information Topic 3: Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior Topics/Activities Remarks/ Deadlines Introduction. Class activities: Getting to know. Overview of course plan. Marketing: Managing Profitable Customer Relationship ? Definitions of marketing ? Basic concepts of marketing ? Evolutions of marketing ? Relationship marketing ? Marketing strategy and the marketing mix ? Marketing Challenges in the future Read. The Marketing Environment and Marketing Information ? Company’s Microenvironments ? Company’s Macroenvironments ? Marketing research process Read: Forum 1 ? Kotler: Chapter 3 ; 4 ? Real Marketing 4. 2 ‘Tracking consumers on the Web: Smart targeting or a little creepy’. p 151 Class activities: ? Discuss reading materials Topic 2 ? Discuss ‘Prius: Leading a Wave of Hybrids’ case Consumer Markets and Business Market ? Consumer Buying Behavior ? Consumer Decision-making Process ? Factors Affecting Consumer Buying Behavior ? The Organizational Market ? The Organizational Buying Process.

Desert Winds And Electrical Energy Essay -- essays research papers

Desert Winds and Electrical Energy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The energy of the wind can be channeled into other forms of energy besides the energy used as an erosional agent. This is especially true of desert winds. Today, some desert wind is used to make electricity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wind velocity is affected by air temperature. When air warms and cools, it changes density, which creates air pressure differences that cause wind. In the desert, temperatures may range from 40 º F at night to more than 120 º F in the daytime. Because of this temperature fluctuation, wind is generally stronger in desert areas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many windy areas in California. It is usually windier during the summer months when wind rushes in from cooler areas, like the ocean to replace hot rising air in California’s deserts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Southern California, the hot air from the desert goes up and out over the Coast Range, reaching seaward. When it cools off it descends and flows back toward the land and re-enters the desert through such loop holes in the Coast Range as the San Gorgonio Pass – the old Puerta de San Carlos – above Indio. The rush of wind through this particular pass is quite violent at times. For wind is very much like water and seeks the least obstructed path. Throughout the San Gorgonio Pass there are wind-eroded ledges attesting to the violent winds that pass through it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The San Go...

College Selection Essay

Introduction: In order for any business to succeed, that business needs to provide a good or service that will attract and satisfy a group of people. One of the most popular and profitable businesses in the United States is the college education business. Colleges compete annually in order to enroll the most qualified students and to provide a learning environment that will retain those students. Once the faculty senate understands how satisfied students are with the current operations, they can work to make improvements that are necessary to retain current students and attract new students. Research Dilemma: Students College of Pennsylvania are not satisfied with several of the current operations at the college. Research Question: What can the faculty senate improve on in order to increase satisfaction levels for students? Research Objective(s): The purpose of this research is to discover the level of satisfaction with the student body at College of Pennsylvania. This investigation explores the levels of student satisfaction with dining experience, athletics, classroom resources, and overall convenience at College. Through statistical analysis, we plan to prove that there are necessary improvements that the college needs to implement in order to compete in today’s economy. Importance/ benefits: In the current economic recession, College cannot afford to lose students to other colleges as a result of minor predicaments that can be easily changed. Before the faculty senate can improve college operations, they have to know which specific operations students are displeased with. We believe that the information contained through this investigation will decrease current student transfer rates. Moreover, we think that potential students, who visit College, will find the college to be more attractive if the problem areas in our investigation are corrected. Research Design: Communication Approach: Ten students were interviewed before the data collection process in order to investigate how these students feel about the operations at College. Through these interviews, our research group was able to determine which aspects of the college students considered to be most important. This was a vital step in this investigation because it allowed us to focus in on the four areas of operations that students considered most important. Data Collection Method: A survey was created to measure student satisfaction levels on dining experience, athletics, classroom resources, and overall convenience. The survey consisted of five investigative questions for each specific area of operation. Additionally, one more question was provided to measure which area of operation students were most displeased and satisfied with. Surveys were administered to a random sample of 43 students. Before the survey was given to the participant, the administrator explained that all of the information gained will only be used for school purposes. Once the survey was handed out the surveyor walked approximately 15 feet away from the student taking the survey to give the student proper privacy. We expected that this would reduce that amount of dishonesty recorded by each participant. Also, if the student had any issues regarding any of survey questions, then the surveyor would fully answer any problem the student might have on a question. This will assure our group that the student understands the survey completely which will eliminate any problems due to confusion to a survey question. Data analysis: Survey questions 1-20 applied an investigative scale ranging from satisfaction and usage levels of 1-5. If the participant selected a â€Å"1† that meant that the participant either did not gain any use out of the specific operation, or that the person was completely dissatisfied with the operation. However, if the participant selected a â€Å"5† on the survey this meant that the participant gained a significant amount of use from this operation, and was fully satisfied with it. These scales provided quantitative data that was then analyzed through statistical analysis.

Self Development Assignment

This assignment is designed to help you understand yourself. In this course, you will explore who you are in terms of your personality, skills and values. Further, you will examine how you work and interact with others. In it, you will explore two areas of strength, two areas of weakness, and then you will develop a plan of action focused on one of your strengths and one of your weaknesses. It is expected that this assignment will contribute to your sense of self-awareness and thus help you make wise choices about your future. As part of our in-class activities, we will focus on self discovery. This will allow you to reflect and disclose those aspects of yourself that you feel are most likely to contribute to your abilities as a leader. Further, you will be encouraged to give and receive feedback from others. In addition, you will have the opportunity to delve into your areas for growth. For this assignment you will also reflect on two areas of weakness (or areas that you would like to develop). Understanding your strengths and your developmental needs should help you because a heightened sense of self-awareness should guide you to make career choices that capitalize on your strengths. The first step in this assignment is to identify two areas of strength and two for development. If you are already aware of your strengths and the areas in which you would like to grow, then you simply need to determine whether you are using appropriate terminology to describe them. If you are uncertain of your strengths and areas for improvement, then you will begin the assignment with an exercise in self-reflection. Increasing Self-Awareness Step 1 Once you have identified two strengths and two areas for growth, you should compare your list with the list of competencies in For Your Improvement (on reserve in the library). Step 2 1. Consider how you exemplify the strengths / areas for development. Provide concrete examples of how you demonstrate these strengths / weaknesses in your daily life (at work or at school). 2. Describe how each of the strengths/weaknesses impacts your performance at work and/or how it currently affects your performance at school. If you find that you cannot identify how the strength/weakness helps/hinders your performance, then re-consider why it is a strength or why you would want to improve the skill, or go back to step 1 and identify another area for development. Step 3 1. Select one strength and one area for improvement. 2. Drawing on theory, explain why the strength/developmental need might affect your current performance and/or how it might positively or negatively impact your future career. When considering theory, you will want to find research articles (academic ones) in support of your hypothesis that the strength will be of benefit to your career and that the area for development will negatively affect your performance (or alternatively, why improvement in this area will be necessary for your career). Developmental Plan The next part of the assignment is to develop a plan for improvement. Your plan should be realistic and you should provide a convincing argument for why you believe it will be effective. In order to be persuasive, I recommend that you support your plan with evidence (i.e., research the potential methods that can be used to improve a particular skill and include this evidence in your paper). 1. Develop a plan of action for capitalizing on one of your strengths. a. Develop a plan for how you believe you can capitalize on your area of strength. Use specific behavioural example(s) to indicate how your plan will give you an opportunity to use the competency to advance your career. The plan should be realistic and you should apply what you know about goal setting to ensure that the plan is likely to be motivating (e.g., consider whether your plan has SMART goals). b. You will need to indicate what would constitute career success and how your plan will bring you closer to achieving it. Further, you need to use research to convince the reader that your plan will be effective. 2. Develop a plan for how you believe you can improve one of your areas of weakness. 1. Use specific behavioural example(s) to indicate how your plan will be implemented. The plan should be realistic and you should apply what you know about goal setting to ensure that the plan is likely to be motivating (e.g., consider whether your plan has SMART goals). 2. You will need to indicate what would constitute improvement. You should explain the criteria for achieving proficiency on the competency. In addition, you should provide a specific behavioural example of how you would demonstrate improvement in your own life/career. 3. Research the plan. Look for evidence to support the idea that you can improve the identified skill and that your method is likely to be successful. If your idea has not been tested, then you should provide a theoretical explanation for why it will work. Please use academic theory and research to support your plan.

An Introduction to Akaikes Information Criterion (AIC)

An Introduction to Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) The Akaike Information Criterion (commonly referred to simply as AIC) is a criterion for selecting among nested statistical or  econometric models. The AIC is essentially an estimated measure of the quality of each of the available econometric models as they relate to one another for a certain set of data, making it an ideal method for model selection. Using AIC for Statistical and Econometric Model Selection The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was developed with a foundation in information theory. Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics concerning the quantification (the process of counting and measuring) of information. In using AIC to  attempt to measure the relative quality of econometric models for a given data set, AIC provides the researcher with an estimate of the information that would be lost if a particular model were to be employed to display the process that produced the data. As such, the AIC works to balance the trade-offs between the complexity of a given model and its goodness of fit, which is the statistical term to describe how well the model fits the data or set of observations. What AIC Will Not Do Because of what the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) can do with a set of statistical and econometric models and a given set of data, it is a useful tool in model selection. But even as a model selection tool, AIC has its limitations. For instance, AIC can only provide a relative test of model quality. That is to say that AIC does not and cannot provide a test of a model that results in information about the quality of the model in an absolute sense. So if each of the tested statistical models are equally unsatisfactory or ill-fit for the data, AIC would not provide any indication from the onset. AIC in Econometrics Terms The AIC is a number associated with each model: AICln (sm2) 2m/T Where m is the number of parameters in the model, and sm2  (in an AR(m) example) is the estimated residual variance: sm2 (sum of squared residuals for model m)/T. That is the average squared residual for model m. The criterion may be minimized over choices of m to form a trade-off between the fit of the model (which lowers the sum of squared residuals) and the models complexity, which is measured by m. Thus an AR(m) model versus an AR(m1) can be compared by this criterion for a given batch of data. An equivalent formulation is this one: AICT ln(RSS) 2K where K is the number of regressors, T the number of observations, and RSS the residual sum of squares; minimize over K to pick K. As such, provided a set of econometrics models, the preferred model in terms of relative quality will be the model with the minimum AIC value.

Terrorism and Fundamentalism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Terrorism and Fundamentalism - Assignment Example As religious fundamentalism continues to affect the modern urban terrorism in America, it may mean that the religious groups will have to convert their faith and pledged their allegiance to a central religious leader. Again, a perfect demonstration of this is the Middle Eastern terrorist groups which are fueled by religious faith and religious fundamentalism (Pedahzur, & Weinberg, 2009). Once the terrorist's groups are minced with religious fundamentalism, the cause of war and terrorism will change for these groups because they will now be dealing with a different calling. Religious fundamentalism leads to a following by people who may not even comprehend what they are standing for and, therefore, it is likely to increase the enrolment in these groups and make it harder for security agencies to curb these terrorist groups. To begin with, religion is always shrouded in mystery and in most cases dogma. As religious fundamentalism comes into the picture, religious dogma will play a cruc ial role in try to ensure that the followers are well contained, and they can keep their lives at risk to fight for because they do not even understand (Reed, p.45). Religious fundamentalism as a medium for terror groups has more power, and as the urban model gets enshrouded by this fundamentalism, it will be easy for the groups to now come up with ways to gain strength. A good example of how religious fundamentalism can increase the strength of terror groups is the roman Christina crusades which lasted for over 400 years.... As a result, it will be necessary to understand that, although they may lack a powerful central power, need and necessity may make them to end up grouping around a common goal and, brining their resources together. This can lead to more dangerous terrorist groups in the future. It is natural for people to end up in a group of interests, and as more terror groups gather their individual powers, they may end up making one common terror group. A good example of this is what is seen in the Middle East where terror groups such as the al-Qaida are now combining forces with other smaller groups and having a common centre and shared resources thus making them stronger and harder to beat. Religious fundamentalism According to Nirmal (2009, p.25), fundamentalism refers to a deep and unquestioning commitment to a cause. Religious fundamentalism will lead to stronger groups and will also change the rules of the game for both terror groups and the security agencies such as FBI and CIA. Religious fundamentalism leads to more cohesive groups that are harder to beat especially because religious faith makes the followers of the groups more committed because they see their cause as a holy calling. As Saha (2004, p.34) says, there are numerous religious faiths in the United States and these sects and dialects are all joined by one common factor; that they all believe in an all powerful and holy deity. As religious fundamentalism continues to affect the modern urban terrorism in America, it may mean that the religious groups will have to convert their faith and pledged their allegiance to a central religious leader. Again, a perfect demonstration of this is the Middle Eastern terrorist groups which are fueled by religious faith and religious fundamentalism (Pedahzur, &

Development of Human Resources Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Development of Human Resources - Research Paper Example The services provided are project management and civil engineering, full design and construction services, and construction services for public and private clients. At 9,000 employees, the workforce has been reduced over the last three years due to economic reasons. The company is profitable and has a solid financial foundation in place. There are 12 offices around the UAE with a talented and diverse managing director team leading the company. This reporter is a human resource strategy student. b. CCDC’s current strategic business objectives involve reducing the levels in the chain of command; implementing a coaching method of management rather than autocratic; maintain financial success, and ensure high-quality services, meet the health and safety needs of staff, meet environmental standards, and improvements made in networks and purchasing agreements. c. While there has been an emphasis on HR policies and initiatives to support these objectives, there is also a question as to whether HR practices add value and how the effects of HR on the organizational culture may be evaluated. a. First, Cabrera and Cabrera (2003) and Rose and Kumar (2006) would note the lack of a human resource strategic framework. CCDC lacks an overall HR strategic framework that HR objectives, programs, training, and policies can fall within or under. The framework could then be used by the leaders when they are conducting their strategic planning to avoid placing the leaders in the position to do the business planning, then step out of the planning and pass the business objectives to HR to do the work from a support standpoint – resulting in a disconnect (Porter, 1996). Both HR and the business need to be operating as one. There are resulting comments regarding HR functioning in a support role, which is counter to business needs.