Assessing Young Learners’ Speaking Ability in the Fifth Grade of Three Elementary Schools in Padang Essay

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Problem Communicative view development in English learning makes the focus on English teaching changed. What once became structurally focused, it now moves toward meaningful language-focused. Students are not asked to memorize structure-based dialogues without knowing the meaning anymore. There are no more grammatically controlled sentences for students’ meaningless repetition. Dialogues, if used, center around communicative functions and are not normally memorized (Richards & Rodgers, 1986). That makes the teaching of speaking becomes the core part of English teaching. Just like the adults, young learners today are also taught speaking meaningfully and communicatively. However, young learners have distinctive characteristics compared with adult learners. One of them is children are still developing cognitively, linguistically, socially, emotionally, and physically (Teaching Knowledge Test Young Learners: Handbook for Teachers, 2010). In other words, in teaching speaking to them, teachers need to consider children’s development of skills in the native language first. Young learners also enjoy rhythmic and repetitive language more than adults do. They are more likely to play with language than adults are, and they can be more effectively engaged through stories and games (Peck, 2009). The different techniques and approaches in teaching speaking to young learners lead to different ways in the speaking assessment. This is the problem faced by Indonesian young learners’ teachers nowadays. Most teachers do not know how they should assess their young learners’ speaking ability; some finally choose to skip the speaking assessment and focus on pencil-paper-tests. Thus, this research is conducted to discover and reveal ways of assessing young learners’ speaking ability. B. Identification of the Problem Based on the background above, the speaking assessment techniques used for young learners should be different from the adult. It should be suited with their cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development. As we looked upon Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices by Brown (2010) and integrated it with curriculum standard in Indonesia, KTSP 2006, young learners will be better to be assessed in imitative and intensive speaking categories, such as imitating teachers’ saying, directed response tasks, read-aloud tasks, and dialogue completion tasks. Alternative assessments such as interviews and conferences can also be applied for them. C. Limitation of the Problem In this research, the problem will be focused on the speaking assessment techniques in the fifth grade of three selected elementary schools in Padang. D. Formulation of the Problem * What kind of speaking assessment technique used by elementary school English teachers? * Why do they use such techniques? E. Purpose of the Research The purpose of this research is to discover and reveal the technique used by English teachers to assess elementary school students’ speaking ability. F. Significance of the Research Theoretically, this research is aimed to give a description of how speaking assessment for young learners done in Indonesia. Practically, some techniques used by English teachers provided here can be a source of alternative speaking assessment. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. The Nature of Assessment There has been various explanation of what assessment is. Brindley (as stated in Linse, 2005) refers assessment as â€Å"collecting information and making judgments on a learner’s knowledge†. It means that in assessing students, we need to find out what students know about the subject being taught and how far that understanding has reached the learning indicator. In the same line with Brindley but with an addition, Brown (2010) states assessment as â€Å"an ongoing process of collecting information about a given object of interest according to procedures that are systematic and substantively grounded.† In his statement above, Brown implies that the process of collecting and judging students’ understanding is not done orderly in one single time; it is done continuously. Harris and McCann (1994) also give an essential note that in doing assessment teachers have to measure the performance of their students and the progress they make, as well as diagnose the problems they have and provide useful feedback. In other words, collecting and judging students’ intelligence is not enough; finding out what becomes students’ problem and giving advice to them to overcome the problems is also important to create a more successful learning process. Based on the theories above, it can be seen that assessment involves collecting information about students’ knowledge and judging their understanding in order to diagnose the learning problems they have so that students can get useful feedback to be more-successful learners. B. The Nature of Speaking As stated in the previous chapter, today’s English teaching focuses more on communicative purpose of language learning than in the past. It leads to the more important consideration of speaking skills than in previous time. Just like assessment, there is also various definition of speaking. One of them is from Lingua Links (1998) that defines speaking as productive skill in the oral mode that involves more than just pronouncing words. Referring to today’s communicative view, of course speaking cannot be thought as just pronouncing words; it needs to be meaningful, and communicative. Furthermore, Noonan (2003) states that, if pronunciation included, speaking involves three areas: mechanics (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary), functions (transaction and interaction), and social cultural norms and rules (turn-taking, rate of speech, etc). All of them are connected to each other and prove that speaking is not only about what is uttered, but also the meaning and social purpose. C. The Nature of Young Learners Young learner is a child who is in their first six year of formal education, from age 6 to 12 (Teaching Knowledge Test Young Learners: Handbook for Teachers, 2010). Many experts argue that it is beneficial to teach the children English since young age. TKT Young Learners (2010) notes one of the advantages that those children will have positive self-esteem toward English and it will help them to learn English more once they are adult. That is why teaching English to young learners considered important today. However, young learners have characteristics that make them different from the adults (Teaching Knowledge Test Young Learners: Handbook for Teachers, 2010). First, they are still morally, cognitively, psychologically developed. Based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, children in age 6-12 years old are still in concrete operational thought stage, they already have the ability to do logical reasoning and understand reversibility with the help of concrete objects (Santrock, 1998). It means that explaining theory will not do for them, we need to make them move, do games, sing, etc. Second, young learners often have no obvious reason for learning English. Unlike adults who want to do it because of the career-related reasons or teenagers that do it to pass an exam, young learners do not have concrete reason why they must learn English. However, it does not mean they are not motivated to learn English; their goodwill, energy, and curiosity to learning overcome that. Third, they may not always have well-developed literacy skills to support their learning of English. Many children in the age of 6-12 years old are just getting to know their first language. It means that as a teacher we need to not have too-high expectation and do more. Fourth, young learners often learn slowly and forget quickly. It is related to the first characteristic that young learners are still developed morally, socially, and cognitively. Their still-ongoing developments in those basic things make them forget easily and learn slowly. This is why songs, agmes, and chants do best for them. D. Principles of Assessing Young Learners According to METU Open Course Ware (2006), principles of assessing children’s language learning are: 1. Assessment should be seen from a learning-centered perspective. It means that we cannot get a true assessment by testing kids what they can do alone. It has been stated by many experts that the goal of learning English is to be able to communicate meaningfully in English. Testing students, let alone young children, as a tool to get true assessment will not congruent with the real goal of English learning and it will just be wasting time. 2. Assessment should support learning and teaching. This is something that is not also becomes a problem with young learners, but also with the adult. Before performance-based assessment is introduced, teachers chose paper-and-pencil tests as their source of assessing (Puppin, 2006). It becomes a problematic then since students do not see the connection between the learning and the test they are doing, ; they see them as two different incongruent things. If the assessment done is congruent with the learning they did, children will feel that what they have learned is useful. 3. Children and parents should understand assessment issues. Their understanding will make the assessment process more meaningful since they can participate and supports greatly on behave of children’s English development. On the other hand, if they do not understand why the teacher does this and that, there will be no good communication between these three subjects to help children’s development. E. Techniques of Speaking Assessment Brown (2010) states some techniques of speaking assessment based on students’ language development level: Imitative Speaking This kind of assessment is intended to see whether students can imitate saying in English correctly. Eventhough it focuses on the accuracy of repeating words, it does not mean that it cannot be communicative and meaningful. Besides, in recent years many experts have discovered that an overemphasis on fluency can sometimes lead to the decline of accuracy in speech. Intensive Speaking There are four tasks in this kind of assessing: directed response task, oral questionnaire, and picture-cued task. In oral questionnaires, students are first given time to read the dialogue to get its main idea and to think about the appropriate lines to fill in. Then, as the tape, teacher produces one part orally; the students respond. In directed response task, students elicit a particular grammatical form of a transformation of a sentence. Such tasks are clearly mechanical and not communicative, but they do require minimal processing of meaning in order to produce the correct grammatical output. Picture-cued task requires a description from the students. Pictures may be very simple, designed to elicit a word or a phrase, or composed of a series that tells a story or incident. This task is meaningful since sometime a little sense of humor is injected. Responsive Speaking Assessment of responsive tasks involves brief interactions with an interlocutor, differing from intensive tasks in increased creativity given to the student and from interactive tasks by somewhat limited length of utterances. The kinds of this assessment are question and answer, giving instructions and directions, and paraphrasing. Questions and answers involve oral interaction with teacher.

Joseph Campbell: The Power of Myth

Hardness Questions: The Power of Myth Chapters 1-3 1. Myth reveals spiritual truth about the world. Why read myths? You need myths to find your truth. You have elaborate myths to compare to everyday experiences and to other myths. â€Å"Myths give a meaning to life (Campbell, 5). Mythology is a collection of stories based on one's knowledge and stories of experience. Myths are clues to life meaning. They are clues to â€Å"spiritual potentialities† or your potential to develop spiritually and finding your inner self.For example, marriage creates a transformation In us spiritually because It transforms our perspective of ourselves and our ability to sacrifice. 2. Do people ultimately seek knowledge or experience? In your opinion which is more Important In the 21st century? People ultimately seek experience. They believe seeking experience is their true meaning of life. They want something to remember and something to live for and at the same time we do this to resonate from ou r Inner self because from experience we gain knowledge.This could be a reason many of the 21st century go towards their quest for experience and not knowledge. . What is Campbell definition of â€Å"consciousness†? How does this consciousness define the role of mythology In our world? Campbell says that consciousness is something that the mind uses to guide you to a certain direction or towards a set of purposes. Consciousness is all your thoughts at a deeper level and your awareness or perception of your surroundings. Your consciousness depends on your level of energy that leads us to higher level consciousness. What leads you to these levels of consciousness?Myth. Mythology transforms your consciousness on a deeper level and to a higher spiritual level. You can not develop your consciousness without mythology 4. How does the modern Western world relate to myths? The modern world developments are myths. The example of machines is a prime relation (Campbell, 24) but they tend to take over our idea of what's true. The modern world has rejecting myths and everything about them including the fact that nature surrounds the whole concept. Modern world has a mindset that everything Is about you, which rejects mythology spiritual messages. How do we live without myths and why does Campbell claim that America is moving too quickly to become mythologies? Are these two concepts related? When you live without myths you have to figure out life by yourself. That is why America is moving too quickly to be mythologies. As Campbell would say we are focused on â€Å"news of the day' and â€Å"problems of the hour† (Campbell, 1). We lose connection to the meaning to culture and the knowledge of life. These concepts are related because it explains America's slow self-destruction without myths. Chapter 2 1 .Why do myths reflect what we know inside is true? How do myths then help us with â€Å"the public dream? Myths reflect what inside is true because we all come from the same place we go through similar life experiences. We all grow and develop. Myth also comes from our dreams. Campbell describes dream by saying, â€Å"†¦.. A dream that talks about permanent conditions within your own psyche as they relate to the temporal conditions of your life right now. † (Campbell, 47). Your dreams truly reflect your inner self and are Just spiritual information about yourself. Your dreams are myths, personal myths.The Public dream is society without its corrupt ways and its lack of mythological knowledge. Myth helps correct this because it is society dream and it unites society. That one place is having a dream and when you are on the correct path you are finding your reason and your inner self. . Why are the world's creation stories so similar? The world's creation stories are so similar because of the similar environment and the basic experiences of birth, growth, temptations, and death. This creates a sense of curiosity where we ask â₠¬Å"how? † and â€Å"why? † and some record their thoughts.These records reflect mythical reality. The same concept of nothing, paradise, and distance from the creator. Cultures like Christianity, Sari tribes of West Africa, and the Pimp Indians. 3. What is a metaphor and how does it operate in religion? How does metaphor assist one with the â€Å"Journey inward†? A metaphor is a comparison that suggests something else. In religion, Campbell says that the metaphors used are not literal. It was a metaphor and in his definition metaphors are not to be taken literally. Myths are written in a way to be discovered and unknown so it is able to awaken your inner self.It is deeper that what most people have been interpreting it as. People may believe that Campbell was undermining Christianity when he said Jesus never really ascended into heaven when in fact he was Just cracking the code. It was a metaphor. Society problem is that we don't use connotation to interpret meta phors and myths, but use denotation. . How do myths help us to connect to the spiritual world? Myths and religion share the same qualities. Myths help connect to the spiritual world. â€Å"The myth is for spiritual instruction† (Campbell, 59). Myths help us relate to other spiritual reticence.Campbell uses the example to reincarnation and now it ties into other concepts of religion also, â€Å"†¦. Dimensions of your being and a potential for realization and consciousness that are not included with the concept of yourself. † (Campbell,70). In religion, you come out a new person spiritually because of experience Just like in myth. 5. Why is good and evil promoted in mythology? Discuss the purpose of good and evil in your response. Good and evil are promoted in mythology because of duality and characteristics of life. Many have come to a closed, biased mindset that everything should be good and nothing should be evil.Some people's idea of evil could be another's idea of good. There is no true definition of â€Å"good† and what is â€Å"evil† because we all contribute to it when we live life. We do need evil without evil there is no duality. They must coincide with one another. Chapter 3 1 . What do our souls owe to ancient myths? Myths from ancient times help with transcendence and understanding our fears and yeastier of life. It complements the mind and body on a track controlled by nature because we tend to become astray as we venture through life. Ancient times have the same human development as today.We grow up being taught certain things and how to be dependent then as we grow older we have to transcend into maturity and learn to become independent. Campbell says, â€Å"†¦. Myth has to serve both aims, that of inducting a young person into the life of his world-that's the function of the folk idea- then disengaging him. † (Campbell, 87). Myths open up ideas that lead up to your inner life. Ancient myths also give us rituals. This gives us a larger idea of life instead of what we see it as. It helps us understand the mysteries greater than us.How are men and women initiated into adulthood differently? Once initiated, is there room in modern society for negotiation of responsibility? Men are to be put into manhood automatically and must learn how to provide, seek, and act as society tells them to be. Man is formed by society. Women on the other hand give life, they are life. As Campbell says, â€Å"the girl becomes a woman with her first menstruation† (Campbell, 104). He says this to point out that woman is formed by nature. I think man has to work for their manhood while woman Just become a woman by control of nature.The woman gives and nurses without effort, while man has to work for his greater being. 2. How has religious instruction become â€Å"obsolete† to many people today? (focus on idea of ritual) Rituals help people grow and develop into appropriate individuals in socie ty. Today they have been ostracizes and are not followed correctly. As Campbell says it perfectly it is now â€Å"dumped down† and â€Å"lacks of substance† (Campbell, 104). Myths help us understand things that are more prominent than ourselves. We must enders an the overall picture bettor we truly understand ourselves.

Effective Teaching and Learning Essay

Teaching is not just one way, giving information to students and expecting them to draw from the information! A teacher (to be professional and effective) also needs to know all the different theories, models and learning styles. Embedding models to enable best practice in each session and allow students to absorb valuable information. The tutor is to reflect on each session, for example look at what went well and what didn’t go so well. Differentiating between different students abilities and learning styles. Teachers are constantly reflecting, not only if the students are learning from the tutor but the tutor should be constantly learning best practice and not become stagnant! Petty, G states â€Å"It is not an admission of weakness to seek advice and support; it is a measure of your active professionalism† The author explores the different theories associated with teaching of learning and assessment, demonstrating how she uses them in her confidence and self esteem course. The main ones that will be looked at in detail are behaviourist, cognitivists and humanist, Transactional analysis and types of assessment. Androgogy and Pedagogy, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the three main ego states and Temporal and Boydell’s (1977) Barriers to learning. There are three main theorists; behaviourist, cognitivists and humanist. Behaviourist theory was based on stimulus response from a dog. To see and measure how it learns. Pavlov (1927) states that what can be measured is classed as learning. Pavlov did an experiment with a dog. This to me is more like conditioning rather than learning. Pavlov was primarily a physiologist and very interested in how the mind works. If a person was hungry they could be conditioned to salivate by the ring of a bell if they were conditioned to have food straight after. Starving a person and getting it to do something (ring a bell) to enable it to eat is a strange way to analyse a human is learning! To treat humans in this way and relate it to humans is barbaric, just look at the year it was printed. This was also the time when electric shock treatment and locking people in straight jackets was acceptable! Skinner (1938) also did some work with animals and called it operant conditioning. His findings were the reward that the animals were working towards not the stimulus e. g. not the bell but the food! Reward is good and has been proven by theorists that this keeps the students interested (although these findings were tested on animals and humans). The reward could be learning new skills to change and overcome a barrier, gain the qualification in confidence building. Getting a pat on the back for good work handed in! The students will repeat behaviour if they are gaining a reward. The reward can also be the achievement of learning new skills for life, as in the confidence course. Skinner also believed that negative feedback was demoralising and stopped learners learning which the author fully backs up. One has to be very sensitive with feedback, especially when dealing with students with low self esteem. Most of the learning is self reflective and many self awareness exercises are done, rather than criticising or not passing a certain grade. Most learning is done through discussion and self reflection Piaget (1926) had a different view from Pavlov, he believed that the persons thought process was more important and learning was developmental. Meaning they learn and add to what they already know or have learnt. It is about linking information Knowledge is constructed though interaction with the environment. A cognitive process which requires new information, allowing the learner to evolve and transform their existing knowledge and apply this to new situations. (Armatage, 1999 Pg62) On the confidence course a cognitive approach could be to ask the learners to describe how you have used the goal setting to achieve a happier life? I am asking the students to work on a deeper level, not just retaining the information but also demonstrating how to develop it into their own life and past experiences. The cognitivists and the behaviourist are more to do with controls and being tutor led, the Humanist theory looks more into the nature of the learner and the learners’ actions that create the learning situation. The direction is for autonomy, development and growth, the search for meaning and setting goals for themselves. This is very relevant in the goal setting stage of the confidence building course. When the students goal set for a happier, healthier and more positive future. This is looking at and building on the skills that learners already have through life experiences. The role of the tutor is to encourage the students to reflect and to increase the range of experiences for the students to move on with their individual goals that are not dictated by the tutor (myself) The two major writers in this field are Rogers (1974) and Maslow (1968) Rogers viewed this as a series of drives towards adulthood, autonomy, responsibility and self direction. This is all about empowering oneself rather than being told what to do. Maslow looks at a whole hierarchy of needs (please see graph below) Maslow believes that one has to move up the pyramid of needs before they can self actualise. For example one wants their basic needs to be met Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep. This then moves on to look at safety and security. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, and stability. Belongingness and Love needs – work group, family, affection, relationships. The learners on the confidence course are encouraged to continue as a group to support each other with future goals once the ten weeks are up. This continues to have a positive effect on the learners’ future goals and encourages positive relationships. Esteem needs – self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility. This comes from the achievement of attending and finishing the course. Cognitive needs – knowledge, meaning, making sense of things. Understanding why they come to have low self esteem and understanding there are many ways to change this. Self-Actualization needs – realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. This definitely comes on the last session when the learners feel so empowered to move on with goals that have been set. Making a vision board that is related to a persons self actualisation. Up until 1970 teaching strategies were known as pedagogy which is Greek and means â€Å"to lead a child† Knowles who is a huge figure in the humanist school challenged this as he didn’t think it appropriate for adults. Knowles (1970 Pg 57) believes â€Å"Once an adult makes the discovery that he can take responsibility for his own learning, as he does for other facets of his life, he experiences a sense of release and exhilaration. He then enters into learning with a deep ego involvement, with results that are frequently startling to both himself and the tutor† Hanson (1996 pg 99) argued against a clear dichotomy between adult and compulsory education. He believed that adults are not necessarily more experienced because they have lived longer! This can be true as some of the students I come across have no literacy skills which will be classed as a major intellectual barrier (see the five barriers below) and come on the course with a support worker. This does not mean they don’t have articulate skills in other areas, such as time management and people skills. There is no point taking only an androgogical approach until students acquire the ability to learn the basic study skills. This leads onto the barriers that adult learners may face. Temporal and Boydell (1977) highlighted five barriers to learning which were: perceptual, cultural, emotional, intellectual and expressive. Perception could be a huge barrier that students face. Most that come on the course have had a bad school experience and this maybe the last time they studied. Students are worried if they will feel comfortable in the class, worried if they don’t understand what the tutor is talking about, concerned if they know someone in the class from their local area, or have concerns about feeling stupid. Perception is a huge barrier to overcome and nothing the tutor can do if the learner does not start the course. Cultural pressure could be family and friends not wanting the learner to do courses to progress, especially when they see time is being taken from the family. Temporell and Bordell (1977) have identified low self esteem as a barrier to learning. This is very difficult as there are many potential learners that phone up to do the course but then don’t have the self esteem to walk through the door. When the learner finds it difficult to express themselves, they can still learn from the course by listening to group activity. It has been noted on many courses when introducing another person to the group the learner finds it easier to talk, rather than introducing themselves they can talk for a longer period of time about their colleague. This is useful on this type of course (self esteem building) if this is not the first course the student does as a mature learner I am not sure how they will cope if they are moving onto more academic courses. Overcoming personalities and ego states can also be classed as a huge barrier, getting the student to the adult- adult ego state. They may only have had the experience of critical child ego state. One of the students commented on their childhood school memories, of standing in the corner and made to feel stupid because dyslexia wasn’t recognised then! The critical teacher (ego state critical parent). Transactional analysis (D Childs, 2004) describes three ego states Parent, Adult and child. The parent ego state falls into two categories, critical parent and nurturing parent. The nurturing parents function is to nurture themselves and others. Critical parent function is to control the behaviour of themselves and others. This can show as a critical teacher putting their students down and being condescending. The first class is entered by most students in the adapted child ego state, helpless and hurtful. Facial expressions looking scared and tearful. All students are treated as adults with a lot of nurturing parent in the first session. This is to put the students at ease and in a relaxed state with myself the tutor and their peers. The scene is set together writing boundaries as a group for the group to bond, be comfortable, respected and respectful. Once this is done the students are aware that they are being respected. This is overcoming the first barrier to allow learning to take place. The author strongly believes that if a student is not at ease they will not absorb valuable information. Also putting the students in the adult ego state. This agreement is done in unison, with the students taking ownership of their actions and behaviour with others. This can be done through setting their own boundaries. The last group agreed to switch off mobiles, only allow good gossip, no dumping (talking about personal problems), have fun, respect on another, what’s said in the room stays in the room, listen if someone is talking, not hog the conversation (give everyone time to talk), not to give opinions unless they are asked for, support one another, no swearing. This could be a Eureka moment as some students may have never been aware of how they come across nd wonder if they have been respectful to people in the past. Learnt behaviour is very hard to change in just one session. This is a huge self awareness exercise. A student may write â€Å"no swearing† (as a boundary) as it is offensive; another student may challenge this as this is challenging how that student has been reared. Where swearing is part of everyday language. They are bewildered to find that this would offend another person. Due to another student being brought up in a house full of arguments and fighting he feels threatened whenever he hears swearing. This could be the first course students have done out of their comfort zones. Other students can be from other classes, cultures and backgrounds. Being made aware what is acceptable and what is not acceptable can sometimes come as a shock. Some students complain to me of other students not washing and smelling unclean. This is a very sensitive issue and has to be dealt with very carefully, especially when working with people with mental health or very low self esteem. Some students wonder why they should bother washing as they have come from a family with no hygiene. How would a person know this if it wasn’t taught at home? We don’t learn from people sniggering behind our backs! When looking at why the students have chosen the victim path, their eyes widen as discussion unfolds. Especially when looking at critical parent. Most of the students have got or had a parent, partner, friend (so called), sibling or even a child that tries to control their behaviour. For the student looking at this in black and white is a real Eureka moment. What they find hardest is when they change ego state to adult. They find that the person that plays critical parent in their life becomes angry and resentful. Critical parent usually trying to make the student feel guilty for their â€Å"adult† state. The student then becoming the victor not the victim. When reflected upon the student can see how this relationship no longer serves a purpose. Unless the critical parent changes their behaviour the student sees the relationship as negative and will no longer want to pursue it. Learners generally come onto the course with some negative attitudes about the world or people around them. Empowering learning and research and overcoming barriers they may have encourages the students to challenge their own behaviour. When the tutor contradicts learner’s attitudes and values, class discussion can become heated. Students can become angry. This is very much a part of the learning journey in confidence building. Self assessment and self awareness exercises come in very useful, enabling the student much self reflection allowing students to overcome their own barriers through their own assessment. Initial assessment is used to see what level the student is at if the learner can cope with the work load. Do they need an individual learning plan or see if extra support is needed with numeracy, literacy or ICT. Petty, G does agree â€Å"If the needs of the learners are met, the chances of success are greatly increased† backing up how important an initial assessment can be (2009, pg 530) Curzon, L argues that examinations on many courses can be different, so can sometimes not have legitimate weighting (2006 Pg385) meaning they can have repressive or restrictive influences on teachers and students. It is thought that an initial assessment (numeracy or literacy) could startle a student at the beginning and make them feel inadequate. This could be because they were academically inadequate at school, the same fear could return, with no return of the student on the next session. Petty, G also states that just because a student has their math’s GCSE doesn’t mean they can do algebra or percentages. This won’t help in the science lab. (2009, Pg 542) One argument would be that this has separated the wheat from the chaff. Teachers now have to teach to individual learning styles, instead of blaming the learners for not learning or gaining the qualification, the tutors are looked upon! Petty believes all students can learn, given the help and support that is needed, the author being agreeable. Assessment is very important to know where the learners are at the beginning, middle and the end of the course. This is to reflect and measure where they are at the beginning of the course in terms of self esteem. This is done by a scaling questionnaire, which also measures where the learner is in terms of happiness, self esteem, confidence, relationships, communications skills, health, social skills and social activities. The author would prefer to empower her students, instead of giving the students fish, she would prefer to give them a fishing rod to eat for life. It is about empowering students to move on with their life positively. The students don’t need to be spoon fed or hand held. They just need to learn the tools and skills for a happier and productive healthier lifestyle. This is why the tutor is in favour of the Humanist theory. Skinner believes that positive feedback gets students motivated whilst negative feedback stops students in their tracks, demotivating. The behaviourist teacher is in charge and is a good role model to her students giving the students rewards which are positively reinforced with praise, smiles and positive comments on work done. This is very useful as it also activates growth in self esteem. This theory is very successful with students who lack self esteem, therfor very apt in the confidence course. The learners work more effectively as they are encouraged to reflect and self evaluate where they are in terms of self esteem and confidence. Students work well interacting and challenging negative self fulfilling ideas as a group and overcoming barriers together. The students finish the course still on a learning journey of positive self discovery through meetings and recommended reading. The role of the tutor is to encourage the students to reflect and to increase the range of experiences for the students to move on with their individual goals that are not dictated by the tutor (myself) The two major writers in this field are Rogers (1974) and Maslow (1968) Rogers viewed this as a series of drives towards adulthood, autonomy, responsibility and self direction. In conclusion the author believes teaching is not directive and one way, It has to be two way for it to be effective. Tutors need to be reflective and differentiate between all students learning styles and abilities. The author strongly feels that Pavlov’s theory is inhumane and out with the ark. Taking responses from animals is very old hat and I’m sure if you starved any animal or human they would ring a bell to get food, as this is our primary need to live. Humans are much more intelligent than rats and dogs. Pavlov was firstly a psychologist and would be looking at animal responses rather than learning. The author backs up Skinners theory and has seen it work in the confidence course. Once the student is told they are actually good at something (not just a mother, father or sibling) it encourages them to want to do better and have a happier, healthier life style for all their family. This has a huge knock on effect on their friends and people around them. They usually signpost their friends and partners on to the course. Negative feedback is demoralising, what the tutor finds useful is asking the student how they would do it next time if they wanted a positive outcome. This allows the student to self reflect and learn by experience, which is a far great learning curve. This theory links in with what Paignent, 1926 believes, that a persons thought process was more important and learning is developmental, linking information and learning what they already know. The cognitivists and behaviourist are more to do with being tutor led. The author prefers the humanist theory which looks more into the nature of the learner and their actions that create the learning situation. Maslow looks at the whole hierarchy of needs and backs up the belief of the author. Maslow believes that one must move up the pyramid before they can self actualise. Maslow’s theory is used and demonstrated on the confidence course. The tutor wants the students to see what is needed to move up the pyramid. One student came in the following week and told me she had moved house because her safety needs were not being met due to having ASBO neighbours. The student had been complaining to the council for many years. After seeing Maslow’s hierarchy the student decided to take herself out of the situation! Using the Maslow model in class, students can see in black and white why they have no self esteem and cannot self actualise and why their social or safety needs are not being met. For example fuel your body with healthy food like a car would use the best oil. Safety needs, live with people that you feel happy and safe with. Look at the positive people and negative people in ones life. Associate with positive people more rather than the negative ones. Belonging and love. Students start measuring who is respectful and positive in their life. Teporal and Bordell (1977) have identified low self esteem as a barrier to learning. One believes that overcoming barriers and having self esteem is much wider spread than one thought. It would be beneficial for students to have a self esteem test as part of their initial assessment. This would be invaluable efore the students go on to do literacy and numeracy. Looking into how ego states come into learning is very interesting; the humanist would welcome the adult to adult state. Whereas the cognitivists would play a more critical parent role when teaching. Whilst doing this essay the author has really looked into all the theories and models and it is apparent that these ideas were put forward many year s ago. We have moved on so much in seventy years, it would be interesting to see new theories or updated old theories that are based on more realistic activities and research.

What is the role of community in service learning Essay

What is the role of community in service learning - Essay Example Perfection is the point where education leads a human being. By following a well planned path of education, he or she is able to serve the community for an overall benefit. All service towards the community germinates from a sense of responsibility and this sense is an outcome of appropriate learning process which one has to avail. Although service learning calls for many interpretations, there is a core meaning which is applicable from all perspectives. Many stalwarts discussing the idea of service learning have been unanimous on a certain point and they have expressed: â€Å"Service-learning combines’ service objectives with learning objectives with the intent that the activity changes both the recipient and the provider of the service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge content.†(Defining Service Learning 2002) The Definition: Service learning is a learning experience enriching process which contributes in community service. Person going through a service learning process becomes responsible as a citizen and this individual gain ultimately results in empowering the community. There are many little responsibilities which can be learned by this gradual process, as for example: a person can learn how he or she should take care of the city restricting the chances of pollution. Communication skill is an integral part of the study of this subject too. Although career interest is given priority, it is guided in such a direction so that a positive impact on the concerned social milieu becomes prominent. Public policy, environment and science are the three career objectives for the people who go through a service learning process. Service learning is, in many ways, an activity aimed

Global Sea Level to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations Term Paper

Global Sea Level to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations - Term Paper Example Ice sheets were missing in Greenland and in the western regions of Antarctica. The huge ice sheet covering the eastern part of Antarctica was also responsible for the increasing level of the sea. Several controversies and studies have been ongoing on an understanding of how the ice sheets melt and increase the level of the sea (Parry). The present study focuses on the issue and discussion of the rising level of the sea as much as 70 feet for the future generations, which is a matter of serious concern for the world as a whole. Global Sea Level to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations: Research studies have reflected on the issue of increasing level of the sea in the future that may be around 40-7 feet higher than in the present times. Even if the world becomes successful in limiting the global warming on earth, yet such a possibility remains significant, as research studies have revealed. A research team had been led by Kenneth G. Miller, a professor of earth and planetary s ciences in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University, for the study of the levels of sea and the possible consequences of such a situation. The team made studies on rocks and parts of soil in the regions of Virginia, Eniwetok Atoll located in the Pacific and New Zealand, and concluded their studies (â€Å"Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations†). ... This situation has the capability of affecting the lives of almost 70 percent of the world population. It has also been estimated that such melting of the ice sheets would require hundreds to thousands of years of time. The existing course for the 21st century global increase of sea level is 2 to 3 feet owing to oceans warming up, partial melting of mountain glaciers, and partial melting of Greenland and Antarctica (â€Å"Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations†). Miller in his studies also focused on the fact that the great ice sheets in the earth are highly sensitive to changes in temperatures. Hence even a mild change in temperature has the ability to increase the levels of the sea to greater extents. According to him, with the present levels of carbon dioxide, the natural condition of the earth reflects sea levels that are up to 20 meters higher than normal state (â€Å"Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generat ions†). Antarctic and Greenland are the only ice sheets that are present in the current times. The ice sheet of the Antarctica has been found to be the largest ice sheet on earth representing a single piece of ice mass. The ice sheet of Greenland occupies about 82% of the plane of Greenland. Melting of this ice sheet might cause increase in sea levels by as much as 7.2 metres. The rate of melting of the Greenland ice sheet has been found to be about 239 cubic kilometres in a year on average (â€Å"Ice Sheet†). Sea Level and the Climate on Earth: The global rise in the level of the sea has been found to have a significant linkage with the climate on the earth. In the last 100 years, the climate of the earth has been increased by 1

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 57

Journal - Essay Example Sheehan terms the advertisement as a perfect example of social responsible advertisement (243). The author further points out that the form of marketing increases the corporate value of an organization (Sheehan 243). However, the Benetton’s Death Row Campaign is my most detestable advertisement. The advertisement has an objective of creating a human feeling on the people who are convicted with death rows. The execution of the advertisement was also poor. The advertisement used picture insertions of people who are on the death rows across the United States. The advertisement is not social responsible. It creates a negative perception of the people against the justice system. Any corporate advertisement should show support of state institutions or not portray them in a negative image. In addition, Sheehan cites that an organization should not put itself in a position whereby they would gain from the miseries of the society (257). The author is also of the assumption that this is an opportunistic strategy (Sheehan

Care of the severe asthmatic paediatric patient Essay

Care of the severe asthmatic paediatric patient - Essay Example Unless severe asthma is adequately treated it can become life threatening. Treatment regimen in the case of severe paediatric asthma is giving high concentrations of oxygen to the patient, nebulized salbutamol and systemic corticosteroids. One of the most frequent causes of children being presented in hospitals is asthma. The important concern with paediatric asthma is that a significant percentage of children hospitalized with a severe attack of asthma are likely to die. This makes understanding paediatric asthma and maintaining guidelines for managing severe paediatric asthma important to the reduction of paediatric mortality in hospitality Weinberger 2008 p.633, defines asthma as a disease characterized by hyper-responsiveness of the airways to various stimuli, resulting in airway obstruction that is reversible to a substantial degree either spontaneously or as a result of treatment†. The airway obstruction observed in asthma arises from the different levels of severity of broncho-spasm and inflammation. Inflammation in asthma is the result of mucosal oedema and the secretion of mucous (Weinberger, 2008). Guill, 2004, points out that asthma does not occur as a set of episodic events spread over periods of time, but is rather present as a state of inflammation and hyper-responsiveness of the airway that presents in a varying manner in an individual suffering from asthma and also among the different individuals having asthma. Such an observation suggests the severity of an asthmatic event in a child varies from time and time and the severity of an asthmatic event is not necessarily the same between different indiv iduals (Guill, 2004). The varying severity of asthma in children gives rise to asthmatic events that may be present with minimal symptoms that have hardly any impact on the health of the child to asthmatic events with life threatening potential. The available indicators of the severity levels of asthma in children are the

Historiographical Survey of Nazi Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Historiographical Survey of Nazi Germany - Essay Example Moreover, the country lead by Hitler was called as Nazi Germany which was one of the most powerful countries in that era. There are many aspects of Nazi Germany which can be discussed and there are many factors and questions which can be raised in this topic. As the twentieth century is filled with revolutions, the movement of Nazi Germany is also considered as or can be perceived as a â€Å"Revolution† and Hitler being the â€Å"Revolutionist† for some people because it was the time when Germany was â€Å"Progressing† economically and militarily. Even though Nazi Germany and policies made by Hitler could be perceived as â€Å"Revolution† for some people, however, the movement of Nazi Germany was not a revolution because it was not well supported and appreciated by the people of the country. The debate of â€Å"Nazi Germany as a Revolution† is really important because it was the Nazi Germany which was one of the most prominent causes of world war tw o. Moreover, it was actually lead by an ideology called as â€Å"Fascism† on the basis of which the movement of Nazi Germany got its support from the people. In this way, this debate is also very important because it involves an ideology which was affecting not only the political but economic aspects of Japan, Italy, Austria and Germany. Furthermore, one of the most important features of Fascism and Fascist Nazi Germany headed by Adolf Hitler is that the economy tends to be independent from other countries and the economic needs of the country must be fulfilled y its own money and resources. In this way, the country also tends to be economically independent for its progress. In this way, the debate over Nazi Germany is very important because it was fascism and fascist Nazi policies due to which the economy of Germany was growing so fast. On the other hand, this debate over Nazi Germany also deals with the matter of the fact that their ideology known as â€Å"Fascism† w as totally opposite to that of communism and, later on, Germany fought with the Soviet Union which was a Communist regime. Besides this, the importance of this debate can also be estimated by the by the fact that it was Nazi Germany which started Second World War in which Nuclear Bomb was used for the first time in the history of human kind in which a large number of people were killed out of whom 22,565 are still alive. So this was the Germany itself which challenged the world and destroyed itself, and eventually leaving the rest of the world for the Cold War between Communism and Capitalism. Besides this, the debate over Nazi Germany is also very important because it involves and discusses the brutality over the Jews and, hence, teaches the younger generation about tolerance for the diversity of beliefs and equality for the people of all religions. Another important question can also be that even if it was a revolution then whether it was supported by bourgeoisie according to the Marxist view point (Henry, 185) or it was supported by the common masses of all classes? 1 The debate over the very controversial issue â€Å"Nazi as a Revolution† involves many questions and aspects which can be argued and discussed. For example, an 2important question surrounding this debate is that was Nazi policies and movement supported by the people of Germany? Similarly there are also many other questions surrounding this debate such as the question about the formation and building block of

My Experiences with Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Experiences with Writing - Essay Example Writing is how I express myself best. It is through writing that I can reveal the information or knowledge that I have to a reader or my audience. For example, upon reading my notes in preparation for examinations, I write to establish how best I have memorized the main points. In this regard, I rest assured that when the day of examinations approaches, I will respond to the set questions without much of a problem. There are also instances where I write to free myself from distressing thoughts, such as pressing issues. I always feel relieved when I scribble my painful feelings away. I believe writing is one of the best ways to communicate. One of my writing successes has been taking part in essay writing competitions and winning several awards. This makes me happy knowing that I conveyed my points and ideas successfully. Also, it feels good to learn that you have an audience who can appreciate your writing skills or your written pieces of work. This gives me the strength to write even better. However, I have encountered disheartening experiences where I learnt that, as an international student, I cannot get employment in the U.S. I have always admired living and working in America when I complete my education. However, this destroys my morale and further chips away at my abilities. Words, language, and written communication form distinctive parts of my life. Particularly, I use words to express my ideas and views by constructing sentences and expressions.

Happiness Found in Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde Essay Example for Free

Happiness Found in Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde Essay Most heroism deals with promotion of virtue and reproach of vice. Sloughing off from such a hackneyed, yet widely used frame of thought, the novel ‘The Happy Prince’ (1888) by Oscar Wilde connects heroism with compassion. With a subconscious reminiscent between ‘courage’ and ‘hero’, compassion is generally not a primary association with a strong image of a hero. Oscar Wilde however, through utilization of ‘the happy prince’ as a mechanism, conveys the idea of compassion and sacrifice which consists of happiness and beauty under a plot of heroism. The compassion felt by the Happy Prince can be distinguished in two levels of analysis: on himself and on the poor. The Happy Prince, once a real prince who lived within absolute extravagance, had a life far from poverty, hunger or servility. Upon encountering the inferior reality of civilian faces after becoming a statue, the Happy Prince expresses his compassion on himself by saying: â€Å"My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. (5)This distinction indicates the realization of the Happy Prince on the difference between aesthetic happiness and materialistic pleasure. It also foreshadows the displacement of the Happy Prince’s compassion from his own past self to the poor, which causes heroic action by the Happy Prince. The jewels sent by the Happy Prince to the poor in the novel are not just simple sapphires or gold. Rather, they are ‘true’ jewels resulted from self compassion. Such open-mindedness of the Happy Prince allows him to be penitent for his past misdeeds and sacrifice himself to supplement such faults, which resulted in promotion of the common good. History tells us that those who are titled as ‘leaders’ sacrifice themselves for others. Regardless of how much sacrifice they burden, all leaders have a certain extent of private loss to yield common welfare. Similarly, the story ‘The Happy Prince’ also depicts heroism based on sacrifice. In the novel, the Happy Prince, having beauty as a single reason for its production, sacrifices himself to the non haves on the streets by distributing his jewels through the help of a sparrow. Since the purpose for its existence diminishes, the mayor of the city eventually destroys the statue of the Happy Prince. The point Oscar Wilde makes at this part is that action for others with sincerity and truthfulness overwhelms the loss one gets through such action. As Erich Fromm, a German philosopher wrote in his book, ‘To Have or To Be’, property without purpose loses the value of it and absence with a purpose is more valued than its presence. Having firm belief on his action, the Happy Prince was able to practice his heroism. Mother Theresa said she lived a happy life. Her ‘happy life’, Mother Theresa said, seems to overlap with the life the Happy Prince lived as a statue. They both gave everything they had for others and earned happiness as exchange. Compassion and sacrifice may be a true key to opening a treasure box full of happiness and beauty.

Analysis Of The Oligopoly Form Of Market Economics Essay

Analysis Of The Oligopoly Form Of Market Economics Essay An oligopoly is a form of a market, in which any particular industry is dominated by few sellers which are also known as oligopolists. Originally this word is derived from Greek, which means few to sell. Now since there is small number of smaller involved in a particular industry, this makes them very much conscious of the other players of the same industry. Rather, to be more precise any decision of Firm one influence and are influenced by, the decision of other firms. Lot of business scrutiny techniques are used in strategic planning such as SWOT, PEST, STEER and EPISTEL analysis needs to take into report the likely responses of the other players. Description Oligopoly is a common form of market. Often the four-firm is used to describe vice nary of oligopoly, in which the most common ratios are CR4 and the CR8, which means the four and the eight largest firms in a particular industry and also measures the share of the four or the eight largest organizations in an industry as a percentage. Now let me use an example to make the above point clear. Here we will take the US cellular phone market. In 2008, the companies like ATT, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile together controlled over 90% of the market. Despite of the common market share and oligopolistic competition can give rise to a wide range of results. In a circumstances where a firm may develop a practice which could be a trade preventive, such as collusion, market sharing etc. to raise there product price while restrict the production which is similar to the monopoly, this could be short term as well as long term. Let us see and understand monopoly in equilibrium. The illustration of monopoly is considered to be the same in short run and long run. Now the revenue maximization occurs where MR=MC. And therefore equilibrium is at P and Q. Features of this diagram are that there are barriers to entry in Monopoly. Companies are price maker. Profits are maximized at output where MR=MC. This means they set a price greater than MC which is inefficient. In this diagram the companies makes supernormal profits because AR is greater than AC. In order to get this in effect, a official agreement takes place which is also known as cartel. The best example of cartel is OPEC which has a deep influence on worldwide price of oil. These kinds of participant are Price Setter and not the Price Taker. Through the process of collusion, oligologics can reduce the risks in markets for investment and product development and is an attempt to steady the unbalanced market. In most countries this is legally restricted. In other situations, competition can be fiercer between sellers in an oligopoly, with relatively low prices and high production. This could lead to proficient results. The results can be better when there are more companies in an industry. Characteristics The major characteristics of oligopoly are to maximize the profit by producing, where in the generated marginal revenue equals to the marginal costs. Position to set the price, which we have previously discussed above that oligopolies are price setters rather than price takers. Barriers for new firms to enter are higher. We can split these barriers in two groups, one of which is natural and the other is strategic entry barriers. These barriers are based on economical scale, patents, way in to expensive and difficult technology and above all the tactical actions by present firms designed to put off or tear down emerging firms. Since, there are few companies which results the actions of one firm can weight the actions of the other firms. Predominate factor is high barriers of the entry which prevents emerging companies from entering market, which in result can retain long run atypical profits. The most typical feature of an oligopoly is interdependence. Since oligopolies consists of fe w large firms and, each firm is so large that any of its action can affect the market condition. And due to this reason, the competing firms are well conscious of the market actions and are set ready to respond accordingly and correctly. In order to view a market action, a firm must take into the deliberation the possible reactions of all rival firms and there moves. A game of chess is a best example to simplify the above statements. Wherein both the opponents are very well conscious of each others action and are ready for the counter moves, this is duopoly. But this could explain the oligopoly since the players in the market are few in numbers. Modeling There is no model to explain the process of an oligopolistic market. In some markets there is a solitary firm which wheels a leading share of the market and a group of smaller firms. The dominant firm sets prices which are simply taken by the smaller firms in shaping their profit maximizing level of production. This type of market is known as a monopoly. Cournot-Nash model The Cournot-Nash model is the simplest oligopoly model. In this model there are two likewise positioned firms, the firms competes on the basis of the capacity rather than price and each firm makes and production decision assuming that the other firms actions is fixed. Now the bend of the demand in the market is based on assumptions to be linear and marginal cost are constant. To find the Cournot-Nash equation, one needs to determine how each firm reacts to a change in the output of the other firm which is followed by sequence of proceedings and reactions. This outline continues until a point is reached where neither firm desires to change what it is doing, given how it believes the other firm will react to any change. The balance is the intersection of the two firms reaction functions. The reaction purpose shows how one firm reacts to the mass choice of the other firm. For an example, assuming that the Firm A demand function P = (60 Q2) Q1 where Q2 is the quantity produced by the o ther firm and Q1 is the sum produced by firm A. Assume that the marginal cost is 12 Firm A wants to know its maximizing quantity and price. Firm A begins the process by following maximization rule of equating marginal revenue to marginal costs. Firm As total revenue purpose is PQ = Q1(60 Q2 Q1) = 60Q1- Q1Q2 Q12. The marginal purpose is MR = 60 Q2 2Q. MR = MC 60 Q2 2Q = 12 2Q = 48 Q2 Q1 = 24 0.5Q2 (1.1) Q2 = 24 0.5Q1 (1.2) Equation 1.1 is the reaction function for firm A. Equation 1.2 is the reaction function for firm B. The balance quantities can also be determined graphically, in which the balance explanation would be at the intersection of the two reaction functions. In mechanized economics, barriers to entry have resulted in oligopolies forming in many sectors, with new levels of struggle fueled by rising globalization. These are typically determined by development of a product and advertising. For example, there is only undersized figure of producers of civil passenger aircraft. Oligopolies have also arisen in a lot regulated markets such as wireless communications, in several areas only two or three providers are licensed to operate. In United Kingdom, there are five banks that control the UK banking sector, and were also accused of being an oligopoly by the newcomer Virgin bank. Going to the grocery market, we find four companies who shares 74.4% to 75.01% of the grocery market which are Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons. The detergent market is dominated by only two players and they are Unilever and Procter Gamble. Demand Curve In oligopoly, any company operates under flawed competition. With the vicious price competitiveness created by demand bend, firms use non-price competition in order to boost revenue and market share. Kinked insist curves are similar to usual insist curves. They are different by a hypothesized bowed bend with a discontinuity at the bend-Kink. Hence, the first imitative at that point is not clear and leads to a hop discontinuity in the marginal revenue curve. The inspiration following this kink is the thought that if firms will not elevate their prices because even a small price raise will drop many customer in oligopolistic or monopolistically competitive market. The reason behind this is that, the competitors will generally pay no attention to the increase in prices and will focus on gaining a larger market share. However, even a large price reduction will gain only a few customers because such an action will begin a price war with other players in the market. And for this reason, the curve is therefore more price-elastic for price add to and less so for price decreases. Firms will often enter the industry in the long run.

Case Study Samsung Mobile Advertisement Marketing Essay

Case Study Samsung Mobile Advertisement Marketing Essay The following essay will analyse the attached Samsung mobile advertisement, in terms of the type of advertisement, the psychological approach used and the target market to which the advertisement is aimed at. A comparison with other advertisements would also be looked at in order to support the general argument of the essay. Advertising is a pervasive form of communication. Society is bombarded with paid-for messages from the morning they wake up until they go to bed at night. Advertisements appear on television as consumers watch their favourite weekly shows, on billboards as they commute to work, in magazines and newspapers as they read an interesting article, on radio while they listen to the music of their choice and on the internet where they communicate with their friends far and wide, advertisements appear wherever humans are present. It is estimated that the average consumer is exposed to more than a thousand images a day. (Tellis, 2004:3) Thus advertisements impinge on consumers awareness and can greatly affect their thoughts, beliefs, actions, attitudes and decisions, making advertising an extremely powerful tool for communicating to the general public. Many people in society make the assumption that advertising is only done by corporations in order to sell their products to consumers and make quick money off it. These individuals also believe that advertising is an accident of the free market system, an evil force that consumers have to endure for the sake of free speech in our capitalist society. However in reality, advertising is a vitally important force for many reasons. (Tellis, 2004:3) Advertising firstly creates fierce and healthy competition between corporate organisations. In a free capitalist market companies constantly competes with each other, offering potential customers better quality products or services at lower prices than their rivals. Companies make use of a brand image to represent a consistent level of quality at specific prices. Corporate organisations then use advertising to communicate to potential customers what these brand names represent and what the particular prices are and where the consumers can find the products or services. (Tellis, 2004:4) The various forms of advertising enable companies to communicate to the potential consumers promptly and efficiently as needed, thus making advertising an essential tool in the workings of the free capitalist market. (Tellis, 2004:4) Secondly, companies make use of advertising as a primary tool to communicate to customers about new or improved products or services. Since the beginning of the Industrial Age during the 19th century, the quality of consumers lives has greatly improved primarily due to the availability of new or improved products or services. (Tellis, 2004:4) The great vitality of most free capitalist markets rests on the ability of companies to market and sell these new or improved products or services to consumers. In order to do so, corporate organisations need to communicate to potential customers and inform them of the current innovations at hand and to persuade them of the values associated with these innovations. Advertising thus becomes the primary tool corporate organisations use to achieve this task, while at the same time ensuring the vital functioning of markets for new or improved products or services. (Tellis, 2004:4) Advertising thirdly provides major support for media in any free market economy around the world. Several forms of media including broadcast television, satellite television, magazines, newspapers, and most of the internet, reach consumers mainly free or way below cost. The reason for this is that advertisers pay media companies to display their advertisements. The media companies in turn do not have to charge customers the full cost of the chosen media. As such, advertising subsidises the chosen media. Consumers primary form of information and entertainment comes from the media, thus advertising helps improve and maintain the free flow of information and entertainment to society. (Tellis, 2004:4) Fourthly, advertising as an industry in itself is enormous. Total expenditures on all forms of media for the year of 2007 stood at $385 billion worldwide. (Wikipedia, 2010) The advertising industry employed over 300,000 professionals in over 21,000 companies at the turn of the century with growth in employment projected to rise to 32% compared to 15% of other industries. (Tellis, 2004:4) The fifth and final reason for the vitality of advertising to the free capitalist market is that, the public subsidises advertising expenditures. Advertising expenditures in many free market economies are tax deductable. This means that corporate organisations can charge these expenditures as costs of doing business in order to reduce their pre-tax profits. In Layman terms, the general public pays for a small fraction of the cost of advertising that is equal to the advertisers marginal tax rate. (Tellis, 2004:4) Advertising can take the form of various mediums. Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings, billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema and television adverts, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web popups, skywriting, bus stop benches, human billboards, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses, banners attached to or sides of airplanes (logo jets), in-flight advertisements on seatback tray tables or overhead storage bins, taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers, doors of bathroom stalls, stickers on apples in supermarkets, shopping cart handles, the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an identified sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising. (Wikipedia, 2010) The attached Samsung Mobile advertisement is a form of press advertising. Press advertising is form of advertising that utilises newspapers and magazines as a tool for communicating to potential consumers. These encompass either a very broad readership base such as major national or international newspapers and magazines to a more narrowly targeted readership base such as a local newspaper or magazine. (Wikipedia, 2010) The use of a textual based advertisement is a major reason behind the use of press advertising as medium, it makes it essential. The viewer or consumer requires a certain amount of time to read through the advertisement and then to process the given information on the Samsung Mobile advertisement. If Samsung Mobile used a billboard as a medium to advertise the attached advertisement instead of the preferred press advertising medium, the given information of the advertisement would be lost or misinterpreted by the viewer or consumer, as not enough time was spend on the reading of the information in the advertisement. Thus the message or purpose of the advertisement would be ineffective. The use of press advertising as a medium to communicate to potential customers would also render itself more cost effective than the use of television or billboards as a medium. In the corporate environment, advertising would either adopt a rational or emotional psychological approach in order persuade a potential customer in buying the specific product or service, or in certain cases both approaches would be utilised. The attached Samsung Mobile advertisement uses the emotional approach successfully to grab the attention of the viewer or consumer. Emotional advertisements can utilise the three most common components, namely; arguments, emotions and endorsements. Arguments are appeals that persuade the consumer with the use of evidence or force of logic. An emotional approach would persuade the consumer by arousing certain emotions, such as anger or love. Endorsements on the other hand utilises the use of a lay endorser, an expert in the field or a celebrity who vouches for the effectiveness or quality of the product or service either by claim or association. (Tellis, 2004:23) Of the variety appeals that companies can use to advertise, the emotional approach would be regarded as the most effective form of persuasion for a number of reasons. Emotional appeals are firstly more interesting and can more easily cut through the clutter and grab the attention of the consumer than other forms of appeals. Secondly, emotional appeals require less attention by the viewer or consumer. Thirdly, emotional approaches are far more vivid and easily remembered than other appeals. Fourthly, an emotional approach contains far less counterarguments, thus resulting in less resistance from the viewer or consumer. The fifth and final reason why an emotional appeal is more effective than other appeals is that it evokes a more immediate action by the consumer. (Tellis, 2004:23) The attached Samsung Mobile advertisement effectively utilises the emotional psychological approach or appeal with the use of a textual based advertisement. The text used in the advertisement reminds the viewer of reasons why he or she unfortunately cannot join their family and loved ones during the festive season, for reasons such as having to work during the festive season or living far away. The text or information contained in the advertisement are written in a hand-style format in order to create a more personal touch or feel to the advertisement and to engage with the viewer at such a level. Certain words are also circled and underlined to emphasise the importance of these specific words relating to time that could be spent with the viewers family during Christmas. Hand drawn illustrations for example like snowmen, reindeer and turkey dinners are used to enforce the text based information by creating a festive feel and a personal emotional touch of previous festive times. An essential component for effective advertising is the ability to understand the selected target market for the specific product or service. Knowledge or information regarding this matter can be achieved by the company involved utilising a process called market research. The main purpose of market research is to have a clear understanding who your target audience or potential customers are. A target market consists of those individuals or specific groups that have common characteristics or needs which the participating company can satisfy with their products or services. The goal of market research is to develop a profile of the potential consumers with the use of gathering information through a comprehensive study of demographics and psychographics. (Jinnet et al, 2006:19) The term demographics refers to the statistical information gathered regarding sex, age, ethnic background, occupation, education, income, family status and geographical location. Sex is an important element regarding market analysis, as traditional buying patterns are ever changing, for example, not only men go fly-fishing. Age distribution dictates certain trends associated to a specific age group. Ethnic differences would indicate specific product preferences, language differences and population shifts. (Jinnet et al, 2006:20) Population distribution would help the specific company involved to create a better understanding of the size and location of the target market. Trends indicate that people are moving to the cities suburbs at increasing speeds. The family status of a target market has changed in the past decade with two new distinct groups emerging, single people living on their own and unmarried couples living together. Education, occupation and the level of income are othe r demographics to be considered in a target market. Specific educational level points to a change in product or service preferences. (Jinnet et al, 2006:20) Target markets are can also be defined as psychographics. Psychographics refers to the specific lifestyle, personal behaviour, self-concept and buying style. These factors are just as important as demographics as they can indicate why consumers buy and use certain products or services. The lifestyle factor refers to the consumers manner of living and involves personal characteristics, interests or activities. Personal behaviour is attached to the specific values of the consumer, which can be linked to the consumer being sceptic or cautious. The term or factor of self-concept refers to how the consumer views themselves or how they would like to portray themselves towards the public. Self-concept is strongly linked to the demographics of location, family size, income level and occupation. The buying style of the target market is crucial to the success of the advertising campaign of a company. Elements such as how often does the consumer buy the product and/or what the reasons were for buying the specific product or service. Trends show that new products are normally bought by adventurous and open-minded consumers rather than less adventurous individuals. (Jinnet et al, 2006:21) The attached Samsung Mobile advertisement targeted a specific target market that can be associated to young professionals. Young professionals aged between 21-30 years of age, which live mostly on their own and are adventurous enough to leave the comfort zone of living near their family or loved ones. Individuals that are educated, career driven and have a disposable income in order to buy the latest Samsung mobile phone in order to communicate with their family during the festive season. If comparing the attached Samsung Mobile advertisement to other existing mobile advertisements, one can observe the use of either the emotional or rational psychological approaches to sell a similar product. The Sony-Ericsson C905 advertisement utilises both sexual emotions and rational appeal, combined by the fact that the advertisement was the first of its kind to ever use a photograph taken by a mobile phone camera and not a professional stand-alone camera. (See attached Figure 1) Figure Figure The Sony-Ericsson W705 uses a rational approach to advertise the mobile phone main selling ability crystal clear sound. An inner city environment covered in egg containers are used in the advertisement to indicate that the sound produced by the mobile phone is as perfect as a recording studio used for professional artists. (See attached Figure 2)nokiastring.preview.jpgSoundproofCityDowntown.preview.jpgsony-ericsson-c905-mobile-phone-ad-campaign-a-world-first.bmp Figure The Nokia mobile phone advertisement utilises a rational approach to indicate chaos, but with the help of this specific Nokia mobile phone the consumer will never get lost as it has the function of GPS (Global Positioning Service) used instead of a traditional road map, the GPS function on the mobile phone can give the user directions to their final destination, thus making the consumers experience easier and more enjoyable. (See attached Figure 3) In conclusion, the above essay effectively analysed the attached Samsung mobile advertisement, in terms of the type of advertisement, the psychological approach used and the specific target market to which the attached advertisement was aimed at. Varies comparisons was made to other existing mobile phone advertisements and their respective psychological approaches identified.

The Effects of Scandinavian Immigration on Culture and Economy in Washi

Through research this document will examine how Scandinavians have affected the economy and culture of Washington. Exploration will explain why Scandinavian immigrants sought out life in the Northwest, particularly Washington. This paper will take in hand integration of the Scandinavian culture into the existing one. Research will show how the government and especially the railroad worked to endorse the influx of Scandinavian immigrants. They did this by using newspapers, promoters, and even return passage. Furthermore, this essay will look into some of the issues deriving from the loss of culture and language even though it was minimal and how it affected the success of integration. This essay will look into Scandinavian culture, letters from Scandinavian immigrants from around the Pacific Northwest. This paper will touch on Skiing, Fishing, Crabbing, and Dancing. Finally it will address how even immigrants arriving in Washington the late 1950’s have had an effect on th e culture of Washington today. The principal groups of immigrants into Washington State during the time period of 1895 to 1910 were Scandinavian immigrants, which includes Swedish, Danish and Norwegian people. Washington State by 1910 had greater numbers of immigrants than any other state of the union during 1910. At this time Washington had more immigrants than any other state; fifty percent of the state at that time was Scandinavian immigrants. The Scandinavians that came to Washington wanted to become Americanized. They worked hard at combining the best of their culture with the new culture. This also made the transition and culture shock that many emigrants experience was very minimal. (Dahlie, 1980) Washington from 1895 to 1910 had received more S... ...thers have been because it in the immigrants own words. The weakness is also that it is in their own words so the opinions may be biased. One can learn through these letters of the events that helped shaped the culture and economy of the PNW. Forssblad, M. (2001, August 15). HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3476 This essay discusses the influx of Norwegian immigrants as well as their role is skiing logging boating and fishing. This resource is based on the archives in the Nordic Heritage Museum. The weakness with this resource is that it is just a short easy although it strength is it covers many aspects of how Norwegians helped develop Seattle.

Football Player :: Sports, Personal Goals, NFL

My dream job in the future would be professional football player. I have loved the game of football since I was a little kid because it’s a good sport and you can tackle the player and catch and do anything in the sport as long as you follow the rules. The colleges that I’m looking forward to go to are UNC, Oregon, or Appalachian State. If a football player is interested in becoming a professional football player, it’s essential to be on a college football team. If a player wants to go to the pros, he should attend a college that puts a lot of emphasis on its football program. If the player shows promise on a college team, that’s one way to open the door to being successful. Players need to learn about the sport, in addition to knowing the rules, regulations, and policies. They should read about the history and about the players of the past (Field 11). It is also imperative that the athlete train to become a professional football player and start out early like youth football leagues (â€Å"How†¦Professional†). NFL players need an education in case of injuries or if they can’t play for any reason. Players can have a degree in any type of subject. If a player wants to play in the NFL, he has to attend a college or a university that has a good football program. Some players come from high school but most players come from a four year college (Field 11). If you have a son that is going to be in the NFL who wants to play linemen, he has to be about 6’8† tall and weigh around 350 lbs. Players have to know the game. They can’t hope to be a NFL player if they don’t understand how to play the game (Green 174). The training and practices required to play professional football are intense. You have to wear uncomfortable pads and helmets and endure grueling practices in the heat of the summer and you have to lift weights every day (Green 174). You have to train no matter what position you play. What’s important about is how the position works and how it contributes to the game. Young boys must join high school football team, the road to football star begins in high school.

Prescription Privileges

1: Prescription Privileges Some of the current changes that can be seen in regards to prescription privileges include changes in the ways that physicians and mental health professionals are able to prescribe medications to their patients. According to Brenda Smith of the APA (2012), currently patients receive their medications for psychological conditions by a physician usually without having been evaluated by a mental health practitioner according to the CDC. The trend includes individuals to visit their general health practitioners in order to receive psychotropic medications such as antidepressants and anxiolytics. The problem with individuals receiving these medications from other sources include: deterrence from alternate treatment interventions that include CBT or psychoanalysis. Changes currently described as happening in the realm of prescription privileges include the expansion of prescription writing privileges to mental health professional such as license psychologists that are well-versed in psychopharmacology as well as the dangers of overuse and over prescription of psychotropic medications. According to the American psychological Association (Smith, 2012), several states programs for psychologists designed in respect to prescription privileged programs have been approved. The states include Louisiana, New Mexico and the US armed forces. Additionally according to the American psychological Association (Smith, 2012), there are several bills being considered in many other states regarding the expansion of prescription drug privileges but many of these measures have been met by opposition from the American Medical Association and the American psychiatric Association due to concerns about the adequacy of each training programs in dispensing of prescription medication and overall patient safety. . Changes in Ethics of Drug Treatment Some of the decisive changes described above in the ethical use of drug treatments for individuals that might have a psychological disorder include the consideration of clinical level testing for psychotropic medication prescription. Special attention should be giving to understanding informed consent and any challenges that may be presented and prescribing ethically medications to special populations such as children. According to the Gerald Tietz of the Washington law review (1986), indicates that it is well within a practitioner’s scope of duty to inform the patient of significant effects were injuries that may be related to the prescribing of any particular pharmacological treatment. This informed consent should be expanded to include the harms were dangerous presented also with non-use of additional treatment interventions such as therapy or CBT. Additional trends identified in ambulance pediatrics (Cooper, Arbogast & Ding, 2006), or the trends and the prescription of antipsychotic medications for children in the United States of America. The information taken from the national ambulatory medical care survey in regards to the US population indicated that between 1995 and 2002 there were nearly 6,000,000 visits to health providers by children in the US that had been subscribed or prescribed antipsychotic medications. Nearly 1/3 of the prescriptions for lease populations were provided by non-mental health service professionals. The study of the department of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville also indicated that over half of the prescriptions for these children were given based on behavioral indications or affective disorders which find a way have not been fully studied for use in children. These changes tend to speak more towards the trends and blocking of measures to expand prescription privileges due to the fact that they affect children as a special group. It appears that the special groups and factors such as overprescribing of psychotropic medications fueled a change in the ethics of drug treatment. As these factors become rectified, so will be trends were changes towards allowing privilege of prescription to mental health professionals and expansion of ethical considerations for those individuals prescribing these drugs.

make or buy decision Essay

Introduction The debate to buy or make has taken many dimensions, with wit economists, citizens, politicians, and businesses pulling the debate to suit their intentions. When the public is dependent on the rational consumption process amid constraints, the politician is obligated to safeguard the interests of their representatives. In the same breath, the concerns of economists and academicians are overinforming on the implications of each action and businesses have a moral responsibility to remain afloat. The decision to buy or make to some extent is obvious as no company would survive by making all what it uses in its operations and complete buying of the company’s products may make the company lose identity. To some extent, this is true but on the flipside, the decision to buy or make can be a tough managerial dilemma. The buy or make decision is centered on issues that may be situational or strategic. Issues that influence this decision are competitive advantage, flexibility in the fac e of technological changes, and potential coordination inefficiencies. Small firms may not have choices when called upon to produce through a manufacturing plant whose laying down would require a substantial capital. It is common knowledge that firms remain afloat by engaging continuously in decisions that ensure profitability and outsourcing has over the years given small firms competitive advantages in the manufacturing sector. Established firms have internalized and perfected their production schedules and regimes and efficiency of their production schedules gives them the competitive advantage. How to Make Choices Making this choice as Fine and Whitney (2002. p.25) posit is based on the restrictions unique to every firm. The product itself determines how the firm goes round it to make it happen; it is an undertaking that relates to the skill set required to make the product, manufacturing issues, and designing issues. To make it happen, each firm relies on its unique characteristics that determine its competitiveness. The engineering process and management commitment toward a product ought to be harmonized for the prosperity of the company. Because of this, a company must understand its core competencies, the product development process, the engineering process and systems, its architecture, supply chain modalities and other relevant characteristics (Fine and Whitney 2002 p.1). Taking the example of an automobile industry, varying degrees of outsourcing is apparent. The two big players in US markets GM and Chrysler are the ideal examples of this diversity. GM buys over 70% of its products whereas Chrysler buys only 30% (Fine and Whitney 2002, p.3). This disparity, to some extent, could be attributable to strategic, but also due to GM’s contractual obligations to UAW and the fast-growing corporate changes (Fine and Whitney 1996, p.5). While cost may look like it is the underlying factor, but as Harvard research group posits if this decision to buy or to make is given a one dimension of cost it may be a bad idea as strategic business concerns for example supply chain and keeping up with customer demands could overshadow the gains in cost cutting if they are not favorable (HRG, 2005: 3). To-buy decision, according to Chan et al. (2006, p.98) can prove costly due to the high turnover of experts in the field and costs related to training and retraining of these experts to remain relevant to the rapidly changing IT sector. Cost-cutting alone would not be reflective of strategic decision as Leiblein et al. (2002)posit that companies that have some capital intensive production phases may adopt buying option on grounds that changes to the production needs may require further capital outlay and this would threaten the firm’s profitability (817). On this basis, firms are seen to have more flexible production capacities that customer reviews can incorporate in phases and not necessarily continuing to sell the product as it was originally produced. The decision to buy also comes with the disincentive of developing further the company’s capabilities as it limits the scope of imagination and self-sustenance due to the contracted firm dependence. Some buy-options ha ve in some ways weakened competitive edge of firms, as its buying option could be a competitor and quality can only be close to what the product was intended to be (Leiblein et al. 2002, p.818). Advantages of buying It this backdrop, this study looks into the merits of buying at the expense of making. Flexibility tops the list, as cost cutting cannot be particularly observed by the buying company. Flexibility in terms of production changes and technological alterations to incorporate features that were previously not present increases customer needs responsiveness. For manufacturing designs and products that require reengineering, buying makes more sense for firms that have small capital outlay. Some firms require adopting services different from what they currently pursue, which may demand the employment of specialized skills. Through buying, firms do not have to hire such services as the services can be offered from outside the firm. Firms can supplement their skill set without overstretching their social security obligations and other employment limitations (Ordoobadi 2005, p.1). Production and manufacturing plants come with risks as regards safety of machines and chemicals that characterize production plants. Through outsourcing manufactured goods, a company can escape the possibility of such an occurrence. A key reason why many companies go into buying option is to reduce their factor inputs in terms of labor and capital, which in return reduces the potential of increased capital risks and the possibility for increased ability to use innovative and up-to-date developments without paying large amounts of outlay. Firms that opt to buy have the incentive of focusing on their strengths and core business (Ordoobadi 2005. p.1). Disadvantages of Buying at the Expense of Making When firms make their products, there is the application and use of quality control within the production process. Firms can change the production design halfway and can alter the perceived flaws to fit their intended prototype. In the case of outsourcing, firms contract out their production process and have no control over the other firm’s production plant and hence cannot change the process midway or change design. In case of a changing design, the contracting-out- firm is likely to pay more, which was the reason for opting to buy. When making product, firms can keep up with supply fluctuations without having to put up with contractual rigidity of outsourcing. In this regard, a firm whose demand suddenly surges is bound to experience problems, as the making firm capacity may not handle its production. Such issues arise and can threaten not only the profitability of the firm but its customer base satisfaction, which may affect long-term projects of the firm. When competitors outsource from the same firm, problems are bound to arise as regards supply capabilities and any sleight hand may lead to reduced competitive edge that was sought initially. Notably, outsourcing can be a disincentive to the morale of employees as they may feel that they are used within their capabilities. For instance, a trained structural engineer contracted by the company outsourcing designs may make them feel underutilized. The process of continual contracting out may make such skills underutilized and underdeveloped. Some firms may never experience their optimal capacities when buying skills that can be developed locally (Ordoobadi, 2005. p.1). It is at this backdrop that the decision to buy or make can neither be straightforward nor structured, but must be critically evaluated, consultative, and well scrutinized so that the best can be achieved in a company. The Decision-Making Process The pioneer of this debate proposed one of the oldest methods of making this decision. The Transaction Method proposed by Coase in 1937. As it was observed in IBM stance on outsourcing IT products, IBM is motivated by the desire to increase revenues against the wave of the quest for flexibility, modularity and the needs of the customer (IBM 2005 p.2). All these factors may or may not fit in the transaction method (Nikolakakos and Georgopoulos 2001, p.161). An attempt to consider cost incurred by the company to buy that would otherwise have not been spent had the firm made its products requires an even greater evaluation and a time factor that may not be at the firm’s disposal. Consequently, the firm must consider its identity and core properties and mission. A company whose mission is to become a market leader in its line of specialization may consider having its production schedules within its business model as buying may expose its unique competitive and product advantage (M erl and Husa 2006 p.17). The Problem of Misalignment Bidwell (2009) took alignment concerns among contracting-out-firms and observed that firms require a balanced approach to multiple goals to achieve alignment to its core business and the nature of this decision is multilevel and unsubstantiated in most firms. Consequently, contracting out can cause a lapse of any of this decisions and as a result problems of uncoordinated functions may arise to hurt the firms independence (5). In purpose, Bidwell (2009) posits that structural components inherent to the firm and decision to outsource or not go hand in hand (12). Things to Consider In Decision-Making If a firm chooses to contract out, three aspects come into the play: whether there are possibilities of easy exit, or entry if consumer preferences change; the probability that customer responsiveness can be enhanced as feedback is acquired from consumers; and the chances that the relationship is bound to lead to improve relations and not foiled and endurance rather than mutual and loyal working progress (Preker et al. 2000. p.779). Consequently, buying is considered a continuum that ought to have benefits and rarely sacrifices (Sena and Sena, 2010. p.41). Minh (2011.p.647) looks into the Analytic hierarchy Process AHP while modeling relations of buy or make for Japanese automobile that is dominated by buy options and identifies that this continuum requires that firms to focus on specialized core business areas and not aim to control production model. For example, Toyota buys about two thirds of its products and its unique profitability and growth plan is unmatched. Taylor looks at the economists’ view of contracting out especially overseas as seen in evident in IBM. The economy looses the potential to employ its populace when business operations are moved to low-cost production areas, for example, India and China. This premise is countered by the fact that these businesses are morally obligated to ensure sustenance and their collapse would spell doom to the same economy. Furthermore, as this firms move abroad, notably IBM stance to move abroad, they are able to use the advantage attained to offer lower costs for consumers (IBM 2005. p.371). Mohamed et al. (2009 p.144) presents a similar outlook to that of Walker and Weber (1984. p.373) regarding choices. Although they differ on reasons for decisions, they pose that firms require understanding choices available to them and tradeoffs regarding decisions influence on long-term and short term company objectives. Walker and Weber opine that decisions about transactions today are governed by the uncertainty associated with decision and uniqueness or specifity; hence, high-specialized goods may better be bought than made. Concerning manufacturing firms they have â€Å"technologically constrained systems, with inherent limitations in equipment, space, process technology, and other resources such as labor and capital. All of these limitations make trade-offs in the decision-making process inevitable.† The key difference between firms buying and those making is in their individual and unique capabilities. Some firms after trade off are forced to use the focused factory with objectives ranked on priority basis and dealt with in the same order (Dabhilkar 2011. p.60). IBM uses the focused system with priority being to enhance flexibility of their product designs. Based on the nature of technology p roducts and consistency of its competitive priorities, its decisions are warranted. However, just like Dell their persistent use of buy-option makes their products lack the appeal that brands like Apple command. The Consequences of Decisions Even with modularity playing a pivotal role in IBM’s decision to consistently buy Arya et al. (2013. p.24), have reservations over such decisions. They argue that the transaction costs lack the accuracy, and the decision to buy or make may be based on a false premise. The difficulty is when computing in-house production estimates with those of external buyers are offering ( IBM 2013 p.24). Consequently, McIvor and Humphreys (2000. p.306) devised a five-stage decision process. In manufacturing decisions, the first stage incorporates the identification of options and categories related to the firm’s performance. In this stage, IBM poses that setting a plant would enhance the appeal of their core business, yet at a cost higher than its projected growths. Step two involves a detailed analysis of the firm’s abilities. The limitation of keeping up with technology boom becomes a headache that ought to be eliminated in their books. What follows is the comparison stage be tween available options, and in this case, IBM figures that only rigorous training is avoided, as its producers require that its IT department remain updated with current technology. It also figures that it saves on flexibility and customer responsiveness better by simple design alterations, and not plant overhaul, as would be the case had they decided to make. Just like Japanese companies that focus on their strengths, IBM does study suppliers to level that it strategically aligns itself with firms that complements its weaknesses. In short, step one is about defining company motive and objectives, step two evaluates options against the fulfillment of goals, step three analyzes the evaluated options on merit and strategic purpose with costs and suitability concerns, and lastly selection (Bajec and Jakomin 2010 p.288). A follow-up of these procedures as posed by Klein (2005:441) ensures that misalignment and mal-adaptation of methods are avoided at an earlier stage. This method of evolution assumes that firms are aware of their business environment, which is not usually the case as some firms thrive on the basis that their competitors are ineffective. IBM may be buying over two thirds of its product components to enhance its chances of profitability, but firms its age have larger asset bases owing to their ability to have and maintain production plants unlike it, which focuses on the rapidly changing designs to respond to a market, which compromises customer loyalty eventually. Evidently, firms with production plants take time to develop and research a product well before production since they realize that the cost associated with mid production changes to the plants design unlike firms that buy and can rely on changing products midway to respond to customer reviews. Conclusion In this regard, firms are compelled to make, and in doing so, they must ensure that they consider all the drivers of their markets and products. A blind look at technology change may overshadow the less urgent concern of long-term ambitions, the core business concerns, and capabilities, and participatory decision with stakeholders to ensure that decision achieves flexibility, modularity and gives the firm a competitive edge or strategic gain over an otherwise decision. The decision to buy or make rests on the management of each firm upon careful consideration of all the factors including costs, flexibility, technology, long-term ambitions, core business and competencies and relative advantage of the decision over the foregone. Reference List Arya, A., Mittendorf, B., & Yoon D.H., 2013. Revisiting the make-or-buy decision: Conveying information by outsourcing to rivals. The Accounting Review, pp.1-37. Bajec, P., & Jakomin, I., 2010. A Make-or-buy Decision Process for Outsourcing† PROMET-Traffic&Transportation, 22(4), pp.285-291. Bidwell, M., 2010. Problems deciding: How the structure of make-or-buy decisions leads to transaction misalignment. Organization Science, 21(2), pp.362-379. Chan, PS., Pollard, D., & Park, S., 2011. IT Outsourcing: Strategic implications. Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 10(1), pp.97-104. Dabhilkar, M., 2011. Trade-offs in make-buy decisions. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 17(3), pp.158-166. Fine, CH., & Whitney, D.E., 2002. Is the make-buy decision process a core competence?† MIT Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development, pp.1-31. HRG. 2005. HRG Insight: Making Successful Sourcing Decisions. [Online] Available at: http://www.hrgresearch.com/ pdf/HRG%20Sourcing%20Paper%20Final.pdf. [Accessed 26 Oct. 2013]. IBM. 2005. Aligning relationships: Optimizing the value of strategic outsourcing. [Online] Available at: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/so/pdf/aligning_relationships.pdf. [Accessed 26 Oct. 2013]. Leiblein, MJ., Reuer, JJ., & Dalsace, F., 2002. Do make or buy decisions matter? The influence of organizational governance on technological performance. Strategic management journal, 23(9), pp.817-833. McIvor, R.T., & Humphreys, P.K., 2000. A case-based reasoning approach to the make or buy decision. Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 11(5), pp. 295-310. Merl, A., & Husa, M., 2006. Make or Buy decision: Outsourcing-A successful method to reduce costs in business processes of international companies? Munich: GRIN Verlag. Minh, N.D., 2011. Empirical make-or-buy decision making model in the Japanese Automobile industry, S. Jain, R.R. Creasey, J. Himmelspach, K.P. White, and M. Fu, eds, 2011 Winter Simulation Conference. pp. 6 47-658. Mohamed, Z.A., Abdullah, H.H., Othman, R., & Uli, J., 2009. Make or Buy Strategy and Origin of Sourcing Materials and Their Relationship with Firm Performance† International Review of Business Research Papers, 5(3), pp. 142-155. Nikolarakos, C & Georgopoulos, N 2001. Sourcing: Issues to be considered for the make-or-buy decisionsl. Operational Research, 1(2), pp. 161-179. Ordoobadi, S., 2005. Development of a decision model for strategic outsourcing. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 5(2), pp.7-24. Preker, AS, Harding, A., & Travis, P., 2000. Make or buy decisions in the production of health care goods and services: new insights from institutional economics and organizational theory. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78(6), pp.779-790. Sena, M., & Sena, J., 2011. Make or Buy: A comparative assessment of organizations that develop software internally versus those that purchase software. Journal of Information Systems Applied Research, 4(2), pp.38-52. Taylor, T., 2005. In defense of outsourcing. Cato journal, 25(5), pp.367-377. Walker, G & Weber, D 1998. A transaction cost approach to make-or-buy decisions† Administrative science quarterly, pp.373-391.