Chartered Market Technician

Chartered Market Technician (CMT) Program Level 1 Spring 2012 Reading Assignments The CMT 1 candidate is responsible for the material on a definition level. The candidate must understand the terminology used in these readings, be able to describe the concepts discussed in these readings, and be able to examine trends. The CMT Level 1 Exam measures basic, entry-level competence. The CMT 1 candidate should have a working knowledge of the basic tools of the technician. Exam time length: 2 hours Exam format: Multiple Choice Immediate scoring will be available this exams.CMT Level 1 Exam tests the candidate's knowledge of six basic areas of technical analysis: 1) Terminology of technical analysis 2) Methods of charting 3) Determination of price trends/basics of pattern recognition 4) Establishing price targets 5) Equity market analysis 6) Applying technical analysis to bonds, currencies, futures and options Listed below and on the following page are the reading assignments for the Level 1 Exam. The CMT candidate is responsible for knowing and understanding the entire list of reading assignments. ***********************************************************************************CMT Level 1 Exam Reading Assignments 1) MTA Code of Ethics (attached at the end of this document) 2) Edwards, Robert D. and Magee, John, Technical Analysis of Stock Trends, 9th Edition, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, c2007, ISBN 0-8493-3772-0 Chapters: 1. The Technical Approach to Trading and Investing 2. Charts 3. The Dow Theory 4. The Dow Theory in Practice 5. The Dow Theory’s Defects 5. 1 The Dow Theory in the 20th and 21st Centuries 6. Important Reversal Patterns 7. Important Reversal Patterns – Continued 8. Important Reversal Patterns – The Triangles 9.Important Reversal Patterns – Continued 10. Other Reversal Phenomena 10. 1 Short-Term Phenomena of Potential Importance 11. Consolidation Formations 12. Gaps 13. Support and Resistance 14 . Trendlines and Channels 15. Major Trendlines 15. 1 Trading the Averages in the 21st Century 16. Technical Analysis of Commodity Charts 16. 1 Technical Analysis of Commodity Charts, Part 2 17. 2 Advancements in Investment Technology 23. Choosing and Managing High-Risk Stocks 25. Two Touchy Questions 27. Stop Orders 28. What Is A Bottom – What Is A Top? 29. Trendlines in Action 30. Use of Support and Resistance 31.Not All in One Basket 38. Balanced and Diversified 39. Trial and Error 40. How Much Capital to Use in Trading 41. Application of Capital in Practice 42. Portfolio Risk Management 43. Stick to Your Guns Appendix â€Å"C† Technical Analysis of Futures Charts 3) Kirkpatrick, Charles D. and Dahlquist, Julie R. : Technical Analysis The Complete Resource for Financial Market Technicians, Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, c. 2006, ISBN 10:0-13-153113-1 Chapters: 1. Introduction to Technical Analysis 2. The Basic Principle of Technical A nalysis – The Trend 3. History of Technical Analysis 4.The Technical Analysis Controversy 5. An Overview of Markets 6. Dow Theory 8. Measuring Market Strength 9. Temporal Patterns and Cycles 10. Flow of Funds 11. History and Construction of Charts 12. Trends – The Basics 14. Moving Averages 15. Bar Chart Patterns 17. Short-Term Patterns 18. Confirmation 19. Cycles 20. Elliott, Fibonacci, and Gann 21. Selection of Markets and Issues: Trading and Investing 23. Money and Risk Management Appendix â€Å"A† Basic Statistics Appendix â€Å"B† Types of Orders and Other Trader Terminology 4) Pring, Martin J. : Technical Analysis Explained, 4th Edition, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York, NY, c. 001, ISBN 007-138193-7 Chapters: 2. Financial Markets and the Business Cycle 3. Dow Theory 4. Typical Parameters for Intermediate Trends 5. Price Patterns 6. Smaller Price Patterns 7. One- and Two-Bar Price Patterns 8. Trendlines 9. Moving Averages 10. Momentum Principles 1 1. Individual Momentum Indicators I 12. Individual Momentum Indicators II 13. Candle Charts 15. Miscellaneous Techniques for Determining Trends 16. The Concept of Relative Strength 18. Price: The Major Averages 19. Price: Group Rotation 20. Time: Longer-Term Cycles 22. Volume: General Principles 23. Volume Oscillators 24. Breadth 25.Why Interest Rates Affect the Market 26. Sentiment Indicators 27. Applying Technical Analysis to the Theory of Contrary Opinion 28. Checkpoints for Identifying Primary Stock Market Peaks and Troughs 29. Automated Trading Systems 30. Technical Analysis of Global Stock Markets 31. Technical Analysis of Individual Stocks 5) Jeremy du Plessis, The Definitive Guide to Point and Figure, Harriman House LTD, 2009, ISBN 1-897-59763-0. Click on the following link to buy it at an MTA member’s special discount: www. updata. co. uk/shop/mtabookoffer. asp Chapters: 1. Introduction to Point and Figure Charts 2.Characteristics and Construction 3. Understanding Po int and Figure Charts 4. Projecting Price Targets Revised November 2011 Market Technicians Association CODE OF ETHICS Amended December 2004 The Market Technicians Association has established ethical standards of professional conduct which every Member and Affiliate shall maintain. The Ethical Standards set forth in 1 through 9 serve as a guide of professional responsibility and as a benchmark for ethical judgment. 1. Members and Affiliates shall maintain at all times the highest standards of professional competence, integrity and judgment.Said standards should be maintained, and members and affiliates should act with dignity and in an ethical manner when dealing with the public, clients, prospects, employees, fellow Members and Affiliates and business associates. This ethical standard requires strict compliance with the applicable laws and regulations of any government, governmental agency and regulatory organization which has jurisdiction over the professional activities of Members and Affiliates. This same ethical standard requires that Members and Affiliates abide by the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association, and all rules promulgated by its Board of Directors.Members and Affiliates shall not unduly exploit their relationship with the Association for commercial purposes, nor use, or permit others to use, Association mailing lists for other than Association purposes. 2. Members and Affiliates shall not publish or make statements which they know or have reason to believe are inaccurate or misleading. Members and Affiliates shall avoid leading others to believe that their technically-derived views of future security price behavior reflect foreknowledge rather than estimates and projections subject to reexamination and, as events may dictate, to change. . Members and Affiliates shall not publish or make statements concerning the technical position of a security, a market or any of its components or aspects unless such statements are reasonable and consist ent in light of the available evidence and of the accumulated knowledge in the field of financial technical analysis. New methods of technical analysis and modifications of existing concepts and techniques shall be fully documented as to procedure and rationale.Proprietary methods shall not be infringed, but this standard shall be a guide in the creation of proprietary products. 4. Members and Affiliates shall not publish or make statements which indefensibly disparage and discredit the analytical work of others. 5. Members and Affiliates shall not seek, disseminate or act on the basis of material, non-public (inside) information, if to do so would violate the laws and regulations of any government, governmental agency or regulatory organization relating to the use of inside information. . Members and Affiliates shall keep in confidence knowledge concerning the lawful private affairs of both past and present clients, employers, and employer’s clients. 7. When a Member or Affi liate recommends that a security ought to be bought, sold or held, adequate opportunity to act on such a recommendation shall be given to the Member’s or Affiliate’s clients, employer, and the employer’s clients before acting on behalf of either the Member’s or Affiliate’s own account or the accounts of immediate family members. 8.Members and Affiliates shall not copy or deliberately use substantially the same language or analysis contained in reports, studies or writings prepared by any author unless permission to do so is received, in advance, from the author. In the event the original author is deceased, or is otherwise unavailable to grant such permission, Members and Affiliates must ensure that the original author receives prominent and adequate credit for the original work. 9. Members who have earned the CMT designation shall use CMT after their name whenever and wherever appropriate.

Airline Bankruptcy Filings May Be Soon

Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines are expected to file for bankruptcy protection in September to get ahead of the new bankruptcy law. The new legislature includes a provision that restricts payouts to executives in the time of bankruptcy protection and calls for quicker reorganization. Both Northwest and Delta failed to cope with rising fuel costs and continue to lose money. In fact, Northwest’s losses got even worse, with second-quarter loss going from $182 million in 2004 to $225 million in 2005. Delta’s loss in the second quarter was still higher: the airline lost $382 million. The new, more restrictive law was probably inspired by delays in the reorganization of some companies. For instance, United has been under bankruptcy protection for two and a half years. During this period the management failed to prepare a reorganization plan and has asked for several extensions of the exclusivity period. I believe this shows two things. First, it is painful to realize that the once booming airline industry has not yet recovered after September 11th attacks. True, an important factor is fuel cost, and this has been rising for a while due to increasing oil costs. But I think if the industry had not survived the nasty crisis of the attacks, it would be better prepared to meet the rise in fuel cost. Second, it shows the difficult choices the rulers of the nation have to make. Take, for instance, bankruptcy – they certainly do not want to leave the airline companies out there in the cold coping with problems on their own. On the contrary, they do not want to encourage management to reserve huge bonuses for themselves at the time of the crisis. And yet companies in trouble need all the managerial talent they can get and so need to keep their managers. It sometimes scares me to think how careful a government leader needs to be to balance all these issues in order to stimulate management but also to keep their appetites in check. No Driver’s License? No Parking Space The article by Daniel Li focuses on the problems of illegal immigrants residing in one of the apartment complexes in Anaheim, Ca., caused by the decision of the management company to deny parking right to everybody who is unable to produce a driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. The opponents of the decision say that it is discriminating against illegal immigrants who are residing in Hermosa Village. The management definitely knows that many of the tenants are undocumented and thus have trouble getting a driver’s license. These people cannot park in the streets of the low-income neighborhood after its streets became public. Now they cannot park in front of their houses as well. The management company representatives say that they did not mean to discriminate against illegal immigrants. They merely wanted to protect the safety of their tenants and remove those who had licenses revoked after they got in trouble on the road. The issue revives the debate the rights of illegal immigrants. Many believe they should be given drivers’ licenses. On the contrary, others say giving them the right would encourage more illegal immigration. In my view, the management company has to decide for themselves how they position their housing. If they present themselves as cheap property for all kinds of low-income families and singles including illegal immigrants, it is probably absurd to ask people to present the documents they cannot have. Otherwise, they have to declare a war on illegal immigration and start looking for more ‘decent’ tenants. True, this can be very much like cutting the branch on which one is sitting. As a management company, they have to show more consideration for the people they cater to and to be more committed to their customers who may not always be the most wealthy, well-bred or even law-abiding people in the world. Taking a stand on illegal immigration is a personal choice, but one has to be caring with one’s clients. Â  

Philosophy of Discipline Essay

Essay Question: In order to find out how things really are, one must understand the filters through which one perceives the world. I believe that we perceive and therefore know. We perceive through emotions, language and reason. These are also known as the ways of knowing. Thus, it is appropriate to use the Woolman’s twelve ways of knowing to talk about perception. Reality is what we see, hear, smell, touch, taste and feel. It is what we observe around us using our senses and feelings. However, how do we know that we are really seeing reality and not our perception or something that our brain can accept and process? There are colors that our eyes cannot see for example ultra-violet and infrared-red. These colors are invisible to the human eye therefore we cannot see them. What we perceive is a clean Singapore. How do we actually know that Singapore is not littered with invisible rubbish? Of course, there are special devices that allow us to see these two colors and prove that there is no such rubbish. However, you can never be sure that there are no other colors invisible to our naked eyes. The things that we have always believed to be true, because we have ‘seen’ it with our own eyes may actually be non-existent so can we trust our eyes? Is what we see real? ‘My desk is in the study room’. This statement’s so called ‘proof’ is based on ‘unproven’ premises and therefore nothing is true and reality is not real. This is skepticism. When can we be sure? We can only be sure when we begin with the simplest, most basic premises which is certainly impossible to doubt. This can be summed up into these three lines ‘what we see is not real’, ‘you cannot be sure whether you are dreaming or not’, ‘there is only thing that you can be certain of and that is your consciousness of your own existence’. Xenophanes once said that we can always learn more than we know, but we can never be sure that we have reached any final truth. Thus is seeing really believing or believing is really seeing? Everyone has behaves differently because everyone is taught or programmed differently. Some people never let a vulgar word slip their lips others say it all day. This is due to the different programs stored in their conscience. For example, if your father who bought you up teaches you that stealing is wrong, you would perceive that stealing is wrong and thus your conscience pricks you when you are tempted to steal. However, what if the person who passes the information to you is ignorant and teaches you what he thinks is right and these turn out to be wrong? This boils down to authority and acquaintances. The drug addiction problem is because of incorrect perception. If your father brought you up teaching you that drugs is good for you, you will the perception that drugs is good and take drugs without it pricking your conscience, eventually fall into addiction of drugs. Therefore, are you able to trust your conscience or the persons who brought you up and helped program your conscience? Dreams seem real and convincing. Is it possible that you remember your dreams as you remember past experiences? This seems absurd, but sometimes you can mistake a dream for reality (dreams often seem very real), as a result you may also mistakenly store that reality-look-alike thought in your brain. You mistakenly made these memories and you can no longer be confine your memory to real-life experiences, which in itself are not very convincing and have its areas for skepticism, but fake and pure materials from your imagination. Every argument or proof proceeded from premises, which it did not itself establish. Trying to demonstrate the truth of those premises by other arguments or proofs had to be based on undemonstrated premises. Therefore, no ultimate ground of certainty could ever be reached. What a valid argument proves is that its conclusions follow from its premises, but it is not at all the same as proving that those conclusions are true. Every valid argument starts with an ‘if’: if ‘p’ is true then ‘q’ must be true. That leaves open the question of whether or not ‘p’ is true. The argument itself cannot prove that because it has already assumed it and to have assumed already what sets are out to prove would be to move in a vicious circle. Perception can be simplified into two basic questions. Is your perception true? Why is it true or false? Then you can ask yourself how do you perceive? We know through our five senses? These senses send impulses or messages to our brain from the outside word. The brain then interprets and creates the real world in our brain. How does the brain interpret the impulses or messages? It can be done through past experiences, social, cultural, religious communities, spatial familiarity for example patterns and shapes, biological limitations, existing learning structures, language and self perception such as how we think or what we believe. It is indeed doubtful whether anyone could live based on complete perception, or if they could, whether such a life would be worth living. However, this refutation of perception, if refutation it is, is not a logical argument. In practical life, we must steer a middle course between demanding a degree of certainty that we can never have and treating all possibilities as if they were of equal weight when they are not. References 1. Longman Longman Dictionary Of Contemporary English (International Students Edition) Longman Group Limited 1978, 1995 2. Bryan Magee The Story Of Philosophy Doling Kindersley Limited 1998, 2001

Call a Patient Regarding an Overdue Account Essay

Call a Patient Regarding an Overdue Account - Essay Example The role of MA is to resolve the issue without hurting patient’s feeling. Attitude has three components. The three components are; affective, behavioral and cognitive (McLeod, 2009). Affective component deals with feeling, behavioral component deals with behavior, and cognitive component deals with belief and knowledge. The MA needs to realize that he or she will face patient’s three attitude components. At the same time, the MA has his or her own three attitude components. The role of the MA is to provide privilege to patient’s attitude components. The MA needs to remember attitude can express both positive and negative views over an event. The event in this case is past due hospital charges. The MA needs to remember that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent (McLeod, 2009) toward an object. The object in this case is the call itself. Answer 1: The MA demonstrates professionalism at stages 2b, 2e and 3. At the stage 2 b, the MA will face all three above-described attitude components. The MA in no way should mention to the patient about avoiding the payment. At the stage 2e, MA should express that hospital understands patient’s current inability in making payment, but it will help the hospital to know when the patient can make the payment. At stage 3 MA should be extremely professional in leaving the message so the patient returns the call. Answer: The MA demonstrates sensitivity to the situation at stage 2b. This is a make or break point for further discussion. Depending on the approach, the MA will face either positive or negative attitude of the patient towards the issue. Q3. If the patient gets really angry about this call, and yells and gets rude, how would you demonstrate professionalism and sensitivity? Write some things you could say in this situation that would be professional and sensitive? Answer: This is when the patient will use

Beam Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Beam Theory - Assignment Example Beams are often characterized by their profile, material and length. Contemporarily, beams are made of reinforced concrete, steel, cased fluid, wood or composites in a typical construction. Some of the most common beams include wide flange beam and I-beam. These are used commonly in building steel frames and bridges. Other types of beams include pipe, C-channel, angle and hollow structural section1. This paper therefore seeks to discuss the beam theory, its document design, performance and constraints involved. Statement of problem Due to the need of a comprehensive explanation of the physics of beams as well as the intense space charge an explanation of the accelerator systems requiring adequate intensity in which mutual interaction of particles in the beam cannot be neglected, this paper is important as it is aimed to give a discussion of all these elements involved in the beam theory. There is also a need to provide a wider overview of beam dynamics. The paper will put emphasis on the analytical and theoretical methods that describe the transport and acceleration of beams. There is also a need to cover aspects of experimental and numerical methods in order to bring familiarity with the basic methods used to understand the longitudinal and transverse evolution of beams. This may enable an intense foundation in designing a practical architecture. Often beams are described in the way of their support. This support restricts rotational and/ or lateral movements in order to satisfy the conditions of stability and to limit deformations to some extent of allowance. In addition, there is need to understand how a simple beam is supported by a roller in one end and a pin in the other. One may also need to understand how a cantilever beam is established. It is the interest of this paper to also explain how an overhanging beam is formed from a support of two points with one or both ends stretched beyond supports. Beams primarily support vertical loads2. Compared to thei r span in the diagrams in engineering, they have a small cross section. Document design Beams are vital class of the structural elements. The major function of constructing structures is to enable support of the space that encloses the elements such as roofs, floors and walls. Beams are often horizontal to support such elements. The behavior of any structure of a building can get complicated; however, sub structures such as horizontal elements that are associated with roofs and floors, and vertical structures identified with the walls can be identified. The horizontal elements include space frames; trusses, beams and slabs, and the vertical elements include walls, columns and lift cores3. The external bonding of reinforced strips of fiber plastic and reinforced concrete beams are broadly accepted as an effective and efficient method for upgrading and strengthening members. A growth in the exponential research has been observed due to the attention paid to the strengthening area of s tructures through reinforced strips of fiber plastic. The objective of the study is to enhance mechanical performance of the reinforced concrete. In order to prove the results of the research, the method of the finite element will be used to analyze the principal of inter-laminar, distribution of the normal stress and shear along the reinforced strips of fiber plastic and concrete4. Performance requirement The performance requirement of beams and engineering structures are more ambitious.

The Marketing Executive Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Marketing Executive Summery - Essay Example Also attempts should be made to increase the levels of purchases made by using the marketing techniques as a purchase - decision drivers (Jobber, 2004). The major recommendation for the company is to use marketing in an appropriate fashion to maximize the number of people that they can reach out to and help building a strong and high level of brand awareness. The marketing plan for GGI allows the company to have a number of marketing metrics. Considering the use of direct marketing for the business, GGI would need to have measureable metrics for the various categories of marketing. For instance, email campaign has been effective by linking the number of click through that have come from the emails sent out and linking each of the sales that have been made with the click through from the emails. This can help provide the company with clear statistics of the number of customers that have been got from the campaign. Companies have the option to find stats of the number of emails that have been send out, of which how many have reached the recipients. Also how many have been opened by the recipients and finally how many people have clicked through from the emails and have visited the website (Bearden & Laforge, 2003). Also the direct marketing can also be measured in similar ways. The company can also use video marketing and pod casting. The video marketing or the pod casts, the evaluation method for this marketing technique is to keep a constant check on the total viewership and also on the total subscription earned from this source. It is also important to keep track of the total number of click through from the videos and how many customers have made orders looking based on these click through. Each of the above mentioned modes and techniques of marketing have different levels of affects that they would create on the revenues and the response earned from the customers. Hence it is important to evaluate each of the methods and

Energy Conservation Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Energy Conservation - Lab Report Example The output graph 2 for kinetic energy and potential energy vs time is attached herein, for oscillating mass on a spring. The graph is in such way that the curve for potential energy and kinetic energy intersect each other at a particular point, which is consistent. The point at which the two are the same for all the data is 0.5, which is the arbitrary reference level used to measure the y coordinate. Further, it is also worth noting from the graph that at the point where kinetic energy is maximum, the potential energy is found to be at its minimum. There are few uncertainties, as shown by the number of outliers, leading to the conclusion that the experiment was accurate. Part 1 shows that there is conservation of energy in swinging pendulum. This is confirmed by the graph which indicates that at the point when potential energy is highest, the kinetic energy becomes zero. This is an indication that at this point, for the swinging pendulum, all the kinetic energy is converted to potential energy. At the lowest point of the swing, the potential energy is zero while the kinetic energy is at its highest (Teodorescu 11). This also applies to part 2, indicating that there is energy conservation in an oscillating mass on a spring. When the spring is fully stretched, the change in potential energy becomes highest because of increase in length while the kinetic energy remains at zero. In which case, when the y is increased, the kinetic energy reduces to zero while the potential energy rise to maximum. To confirm energy conservation, computing mechanical energy for these systems at various points indicated that the answer remained constant for the various data . Further, for the shot basketball, in part 3, the experiment was successful in confirming the energy conservation witnessed by a basketball. The conservation was confirmed when the ball was dropped from a certain height and bounced back to that similar height. However,

Discussion 2 Week 5 Cost Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 2 Week 5 Cost Management - Assignment Example Accordingly, â€Å"The costs associated with cleaning up an oil spill are strongly influenced by the circumstances surrounding the spill including: the type of product spilled; the location and timing of the spill; sensitive areas affected or threatened; liability limits in place; local and national laws; and cleanup strategy. The most important factors determining a per-unit amount (either per-gallon or per-tonne) cost are location and oil type, and possibly total spill amount† (Etkin, 1999, p. 1). On the other hand, hiding the culpability now could mean deferment of the mentioned costs but would mean paying more in the future in terms of legal expenses associated with the chemical leak, especially to lives and properties that were affected. In addition, the negative image that the incident would generate for the organization could cost them their reputation and would even cause a significant loss in the financial condition of the organization. The fact is corroborated, as asserted: â€Å"those who have been affected by chemical leaks and spills, whether residents of the area or local business owners, may be entitled to financial compensation for the harm they have experienced. The at-fault industrial plant, oil company or other corporation may be held liable for the injuries and property damage the incident has caused† (Toxic Chemical Leaks & Spills, 2012, p. 1). Therefore, the delay in admitting the fault could cause greater damages which would be more costly for the organization in the long run because the same cleanup cost elements would be incurred, in addition to legal expenses and the damage to the reputation of the

The Era of Reconstruction in American History and Its Aftermath Essay

The Era of Reconstruction in American History and Its Aftermath - Essay Example The 13th amendment thus gave the core natural right, that of liberty a constitutional quintessence. There arose the need for the constitutional safeguard against retrogressive laws such as the Black codes and so the 14th amendment came about. There were several clauses in this amendment, but there were five very sensitive clauses in the amendment. There was a clause that prescribed what qualified individuals to citizenship (Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America 204). Another section gave protection touching on the abridgment of the exemption of the American citizens. Another clause forbade the state from denying anybody their property, freedom or life outside the confines of the suitable process of the law. The state has imposed a duty of ensuring everybody was equally protected by the law, and the equity of protection is not denied to whomever. The Congress was thus through a clause in the amendment granted the powers of putting into effect the amendment (Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America 206) Senator Charles Sumner had a profound dedication to antislavery efforts and universal civil liberties issues. He was actively involved in efforts that opposed slavery exploits. Sumner’s campaigns against slavery, especially against the Southerners, saw a fellow Congressional Representative Preston Brooks assault him on the floor of the house. He perceived the civil war as a necessary activity aimed at abolishing slavery and consistently prodded the commander-in-chief at the time Abraham Lincoln into sponsoring legislation for freeing the people ensnared in slavery. Others among his demands concerning slavery were to demand granting of civil, constitutional rights to the slaves and enlistment of the slaves into the army of the Union.

Skills Approach best describes my leadership style Research Paper

Skills Approach best describes my leadership style - Research Paper Example These approaches can be seen as supporting each other because they offer dissimilar opinions on leadership from the perspective of skills. In the approach suggested by Katz in the 1955 Harvard Business Review, in the article titled â€Å"Skills of an Effective Administrator†, he acknowledges three diverse abilities that a leader ought to have. They include human skills, technical skills, and conceptual skills. Katz stated that these skills are rather dissimilar from traits of leaders. Skills are what leaders can achieve, while traits are who leaders are (Northouse, 2009). A technical skill is understanding about and capability and aptitude in a precise work or activity. For instance, to use definite computer software packages (like MS Excel) is a superior technical skill. A human skill is one that allows one to collaborate with people. It is dissimilar from technical skills, which have to do with things. These skills help us to cope with people and to correspond and work within teams. A conceptual skill refers to abilities to work with initiatives and concepts. These skills facilitate our understanding and put leaders in a position to better choose the actions and measures that have to be adopted in a specific field of work. Based on his deductions, Katz affirmed that the level of significance of each assortment of skills (conceptual, human and technical) was openly correlated with the degree that the individual has in the firm. The aim of this paper is to describe my leadership style using the skills approach. My leadership style is best described b y the skills approach, which illuminates my basis as a leader along with my inclinations to the function of leadership. The skills approach further underscores the inherent skills and abilities that denote my leadership style. The skills approach best describes me as a leader in the sense that it underscores my abilities and skills to perform the function of leadership and

Tango Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Tango Music - Essay Example And that, of course, was my mistake. He wasn't dancing the rhythm of the music. He was dancing the phrase." The Tango is Argentina's cultural and national contribution to the European world. It has come to show the soul and personality of Latin style. The music emphasizes themes of passion and desire, despair and loneliness, jealousy, and its spiritual and emotional dance moves are memorable for their pictures of intertwined limbs and Latin machismo. There are differing points of view on the origins of the word tango but all researchers agree that it was used in America to help gathering of the black population for social aims. Jorge Novati in "Antologia del Tango Rioplatense" carries these meetings to the late 18th century in Buenos Aires. Alejo Carpentier in "La Musica en Cuba" says that the tango was in Cuba also. Around 1880, in the gambling houses and bars, lonely men spent time drinking, socializing, gambling, and looking for a little romance in the company of women of bad repute, trying to step to the music. This gave rise to the new dance, tango. This proximity of the bodies in public was considered to be impossible and scandalous. The black population in America used and adapted European forms for their entertainment, tradition and rituals. That is why the music and choreographic was transformed by the addition of rhythms and some other elements which were typical for African culture music and dance. One of the most influential genres in the rise and finding its individuality of the early tango was the Cuban habanera. Using the materials of historian and writer Alejo Carpentier, the habanera developed in Cuba from the mixture of African rhythmic influences and the French contredanse. The habanera became a real sensation and was transported back into Spain, where it was known as tango Americano. The habanera came to Buenos Aires in the late 19th century and became very popular there. Musicologist Jorge Novati, who continued the work of Carlos Vega, tells us, that the habanera had two versions: very popular and lascivious and another, more decent, which existed in late 19th century Buenos Aires. The popular version was danced by the African-American population at their gatherings, called tangos. The more acceptable version, meanwhile, was danced in the salons. By the last decades of the 19th century, a distinct dance form of dance was developed, which gathered the inventions of the Afro-Argentines: the corte and quebrada. The corte refers to a sudden stop in the general walk of the dance. During this stop the dancers would show different figures that added to a new vocabulary of dance. The quebrada was an undulation of the hips, and gave erotic character to the dance. It became so popular that it start to influence musicians, they start to incorporate different rhythmic variations into their own music. The music they played was a mix of European popular dance forms, such as the mazurka and schottische, habaneras, and milongas. According to Novati, the milonga had a short but productive existence in Buenos Aires, and is the ancestor of the early tango (tango criollo). It was really a rural poetic form but in the later version it resembled the rhythmic patterns of the habanera and became the main part in the birth of Argentine Tango. Musicians started gathering their repertoire and the first composers of Spanish-tinged tango-milonga and gaucho-influenced

Employee Resourcing Essay Example for Free

Employee Resourcing Essay Edwards, Scott and Raju (p. 71, 2003) have defined the term recruitment as â€Å"organizational practices and policies developed for the primary purpose of motivating applicants to apply, remain in the candidate pool, and accept offers. † Recruitment has been traditionally considered to have a minor role in the hiring process. Earlier the term recruitment to the hiring managers was primarily a means to indentify and use the sources, for instance the print media, which would give the maximum output in terms of applications from promising candidates. The importance of recruitment has increased multi-fold in recent times. This has been due to trends in 1990s like the changes in market which has necessitated a need for a large work force of specialized labors, and the internet which has given a wide platform for both the recruiters and job searchers to come in contact with each other (Edwards, Scott and Raju, p. 71, 2003). As a result of these trends the organizations have come to a scenario that not many people might apply when a job is posted. Even when the organization has selected a candidate it can no longer be assumed that they would be accepting these offers. Hence, there is an increasing awareness among people who take care of a company’s recruitment that the process covers far more than merely looking out for sources where the advertisements for job openings are to be put. This report gives an overview of the recruitment trends and selection practices in recent times in UK, the factors impacting these trends and selection practices in the country. Recruitment trends in UK in recent times The recruitment practices of organizations in UK have seen a drastic change in the recent times. Various practices and conditions are seen to exist in the organizations these days, which were not present a few decades ago like provision of creches, job-sharing, part-time work, and home-working. There is also a lot of stress on gender equality by the various companies. For instance, banks are seen to be the pioneers in devising various schemes to hire and retain women. Another of these trends is also to review policies such as those which used to encourage early retirement based on various conditions (Hendry, p. 42, 1995). There have been some additional schemes like performance related pays, which brought about the appraisal management system to fore. The trends for various organizations in UK is to use systems like the 360 feedback system for performance related pays, to motivate their employees so that they stay and work with the company and see this translated to an increase in the pay packages (Anderson, p. 130, 2005). Internet boom has been seen to impact all the aspects of businesses. Recruitment is no exception, and has seen a major change in the way companies recruit people. The trend to adopt internet as a means to recruit people, has also seen in face of the increasing number of companies looking to recruit people. The ease of finding people has increased as the companies can now access databases of people living in far off places in a short time. The online recruitment activity in UK increased by 30% for August 2007, from last year August 2006 (Monster, p. 1, 2007) For the managerial vacancies, the trend is that the vacancies are filled from the internal labor market while the senior management positions are as likely filled internally as externally. This trend means that on the supply side there has been an increase in new entrants in the labor market while on the demand side the organizations have a need for new managerial recruits. Selection Practices in UK in recent times Swift and Robertson (2000) cite several surveys conducted for selection practices to point out that the employers use a wide range of selection techniques depending upon the type of jobs for which the people are being recruited. They also said that the survey showed that no one method for selection was used as a standardized or stand-alone technique in small, middle, and even large sized corporations. The most used current selection practices were found to be application forms, interviews with single interviewer, panel interviewers, personality tests, references, ability tests, selection centers, CVs, and group selection centers. Despite the many reports of unreliability and invalidity, traditional selection methods of interview, application form and references are the most popular selection practices used. Of these, personal interviews are considered to be the most widely criticized method of selection, and the third most popular toll behind reference checking and application forms. The more sophisticated techniques like the assignment centers and psychological testing are relatively less used in UK. Though there has been a rise in the number of psychometric tests used by large sized corporations while selecting new recruits, the traditional methods are still the most common tools for selection (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004). Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley (2004) also point out that there has been a rise in the flexible working practices in UK, in particular the non-standard contracts. There has been a rise in flexible contracts related to salary packages like sharing profits, introduction of performance incentive and also flexibility in the working hours. Changing environment in UK in the last few decades Organizations in UK faced the impact of the economic changes that occurred in 1980s through the 1990s. There were changes in the economic environment, labor law, government labor market policy, demographic changes and also the political climate, all of which had an impact on the organizations and hence their personnel management policies. There was a severe recession of 1980-81, followed by a period of growth till the early 1990s and again a slump in the last quarter of 1990s when the economic growth ceased (Hendry, p. 23, 1995). Due to the recession in the country there was a need for bringing in more foreign currency, hence imports became cheaper and foreign firms were drawn to the UK market. All of these brought about a collapse in the manufacturing sector which could not keep up with the measures taken by the government to bring up the recession. The industries began to restructure and this brought about the internationalization of various firms due to acquisitions and mergers (Hendry, p. 25, 1995). The trend for internationalization was present in UK but was chiefly restricted to Europe both in terms of trade and movement of capital. But the 1980s and 1990s saw the companies expand overseas in other countries to explore newer market and / or use cheaper labor due to the inherently tight labor market (Hendry, p. 27, 1995). There were other changes for instance the demographic and social changes brought about by the education system, which meant that more people were trained in higher education, and hence the labor force fell sharply through the 1980s. However, the proportion of women entering the labor market started to rise. Politically too UK saw marked changes as the Thatcher government gave way to new governments and different work related policies as well as the overall policies (Hendry, p. 40, 1995). Effects of External Environment on Labor Markets All the changes in the UK environment affected the personnel management practices by the organizations. The section above gave a brief on some of the major environment changes while this section would be giving the impact of the changes on the labor market and the next section would give the corresponding consequences in the recruitment and selection process. The collapse of the industrial segment in UK had far reaching impacts on the labor market. There was large scale unemployment which was well over 3 million for almost five years, with large regional imbalances. There were forced redundancies and many of the units were closed down. This made the companies look out for increased measures in productivity by using flexible working practices. This also led to the sharp demarcations between the various levels of employees. The slump led to internationalization in two ways. First the people in the middle class who were traditionally the labors increasingly sent their offspring to universities for higher studies. This led to an increase in the number of people qualified tor white collar and professional jobs, and the number of labors decreased. Organizations in UK hence started looking to countries in Asia and Africa for filling this labor gap. There were also direct acquisitions which led to foreign companies acquiring stakes in UK companies, which led to internationalization. The internationalization brought people from different cultures in contact with each other on regular basis. This meant that the people needed to be culturally conditioned to blend in easily with the increasingly changing work environment. The increase in the number of women in the industry at various levels brought about massive changes in the working culture of the organizations. There were issues like employee safety and newer incentives were introduced to attract employees like facilities of creches, providing pick-up and drop facilities. Effects of External Environment on Recruitment Process The labor market in UK has traditionally being tight due to the reasons outlined above. The market was affected due to two important events foot-and-mouth disease and 9/11 crisis. These events brought about crisis in the financial markets, a fall in tourism and other related activities, thus increasing the unemployment. However, in spite of these changes the labor market remains a challenge for recruiters in terms of recruitment and selection (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 48, 2004). The recruiters need to attract people to work in their organizations, which is the first important step. The second step is to follow a rigid but effective selection process which would ensure that the right people have been selected to work in the company. Recruitment and selection process are seen to be the most important functions of Human Resource Management process. This is because an effective recruitment and selection process ensures an efficient labor force while a poor one might have negative effects to the company’s productivity which are long lasting. The companies prefer that their employees are sources both internally and externally, so that the internal employees are motivated and fresh blood is brought into the company which is necessary for innovation. The rise in technology especially the internet has seen to it that the companies can have a diverse work force. The large companies have also used software technologies to use databases to keep track of their employees for checking their performance levels which would air the process of internal recruitment. UK companies traditionally preferred to fill their positions internally especially for managerial recruitments, though this is changing in the face of internationalization. Various organizations are also seen to improve the process of re-training and provide attractive incentives like performance related packages for recruiting and retaining employees (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 0, 2004). Effects of External Environment on Selection Process After potential candidates apply for the position, the selection process must ensure that the most promising candidates are selected for the positions. This is again a challenge to the recruiters because of the increasing stress laid on the employees to excel not only in their job but also added skills like team-spirit and adapting to change. Many of the positions require that the candidate must be comfortable for working in newer locations, which was traditionally limited to people in the sales and marketing department. In addition, the potential candidates must also be abreast with the fast changing technological environment, and be able to cope up with it. All these must be the elements of the selection process, which means a high burden for people designing the process to ensure only the right candidates, are selected (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004). As is already mentioned above, personal interview though is the most criticized, is still the most preferred by recruiters in UK. The reason for this is probably the importance the company people give to personal judgment. With the increasing number of people coming from different regions and countries, references and applications are considered to be the most important tools in the selection process. The reference checking is done with due diligence and the responses are always recorded. In many cases, the companies also go in for reference checking by employing private agencies to check up on the potential candidate. Application forms are of course the necessary input for any further steps in the selection process (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004).

Freedom Of Speech And Expression Study On China Media Essay

Freedom Of Speech And Expression Study On China Media Essay Almost every country in the world has a constitution, which outlines the basic laws and political principles of a government. Within this constitution are the freedoms, rights and liberties of its people. One such freedom is the freedom of speech and expression, which is the fundamental right to express your thoughts, views, concerns and ideas. This privilege includes communication through speech and writing and non-verbal forms of communication, such as picketing or demonstrating to convey discontent. There is truth to the adage that actions often speak louder than words. Freedom of speech and expression is not absolute. There are boundaries that must be observed. For example, you cannot destroy or otherwise damage the reputations of other people with untruths or distortions of the truth. As every individual has the right to speak ones mind, so then do we have the right as well as the obligation to hear what others have to say, and one must be tolerant of what the message is. As George Orwell said, If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they dont want to hear. Censorship is an ugly reality. In the media, we often see it portrayed on posters and placards as an angry slash across a mouth or perhaps a hand covering the mouth or the eyes. The truth of the matter is that it is persistent and insidious throughout the world, not just in countries notorious for repressing its citizens but in our own back yard. Freedom of speech can never totally manifest itself, as censorship is always nearby. One must ask the question, then, are people truly free to express their thoughts? The Peoples Republic of China is the worlds most densely inhabited country with roughly 1.3 billion inhabitants. In terms of world economies, it is second only to the United States, and, assuming it continues to modernize at its present rate, will have the worlds largest economy by some point in the twenty first century (Bloomberg). It is a nuclear power, occupies one of the five permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council, has achieved very high and sustained rates of economic growth and has managed to pull hundreds of millions of its own citizens out of poverty. Regardless of these achievements, China still has a number of significant problems to deal with, such as inadequate health care and environmental protection and the significant issue of ethnic tensions between China and Tibet. As for its government, despite attempts to amend Chinas political system, it remains a steadfast communist state. The Chinese Empire united a huge territory and many different peoples. During the more than two thousand years of imperial rule, China developed a mode of government that was highly dictatorial, willing to use violence to suppress dissent, and which stressed the value of the group over that of the individual. The Republic of China was established on January 1, 1912, and was then replaced by the Peoples Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Censorship in the Media This rigid form of government is still in place. In an article written for Reporters Sans Frontià ¨res, an undisclosed Chinese technician reported that it has a great deal of power and is highly controlling, using most of the traditional news media such as radio, TV, and print to maintain its unbending power over its citizens and policies. The Communist Party of China, abbreviated to CPC, has forbidden autonomous news and independent information. When a brand new source of information surfaced, called the Internet, the same level of control that the government once had was somewhat lost. The Internet is the first avenue to present an immediate method of sharing and expressing personal views to the public, and within China, these views are often oppositional to the governments perspective. (Journey to the Heart of Internet Censorship) Merriam-Webster defines censorship as the suppression or deletion of anything that is considered to be offensive, immoral or harmful to society. It follows, then, that Internet censorship is the suppression of any and all information available via the Internet that may be considered to be offensive, immoral or harmful to society. The Communist Party of China heavily supervises this accessible information in order to protect itself and to ensure that its citizens are not armed with any rebellious or otherwise contrary ideas. Any commentary that does not adhere to the official government position must be amended or the reporter is fired. All internet service providers operating in China must practice self-censorship or risk the loss of their license to operate. This stranglehold that the government has over these private websites is the countrys best form of censorship. The keystone of the censorship system in China is that basically ownership is censorship. If you own something Web site editor, newspaper editor, press group owner you are responsible for what is there. (Bequelin) It has been suggested by various western reporters that a further motive for Chinas Internet censorship is so that the government may be able to coerce its population to buy local, so to speak, as the open market is not readily available. This practice therefore may be an artificial boost to its own e-commerce industry. Although this censorship exists all over the world, China practices it at an extreme level. The Paris based organization Reporters Sans Frontià ¨res, RSF, has China on its Internet Enemy List, ranking it 171st out of 178 countries (2010) in terms of press freedom. China has implemented the worlds most complicated information barrier to monitor the Internet material coming into China from outside the country. They screen the constant stream of information, watchful of certain key words, blocking out harmful sites. This barrier has been coined The Great Firewall of China. Nearly all Internet data enters or leaves China via fiber-optic cables at three points, and the Chinese government has ordered Chinese Internet carriers to install routers there, which act as gatekeepers by filtering out material deemed illegal. The government provides carriers with a list of all the banned sites, identified by their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and URL (uniform resource identifier), and these are simply fed into the filters. (Petley, p. 104) This Great Firewall of China was built primarily by Cisco, an American-based multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking and communications technology and services. When the Internet search engine Google launched a special version in early 2006 that would censor searches for topics that the Chinese authorities did not wish its citizens to discuss, it was widely regarded as a concession by the company to a regime unwilling to allow free speech. Google maintains that the only way they could remain in China and be competitive with domestic search engines was to offer Google.cn. Yahoo, Microsoft and Skype all justify their censored versions of their product offered to China by claiming that these modified editions are necessary for them to be able to participate in the worlds largest market. In 2008 the eyes of the world fell on Beijing, as it hosted the summer Olympic Games. This was an opportunity for China to show the world how far it had come since the reforms of 1978 in terms of economic, political, and social development. The infrastructure, planning and the games themselves were a huge success, generating enormous global television audiences. However, early on in the Games it became clear that the Chinese government was censoring journalists access to the Internet in the official media center. In its bid to host the Games in 2001, the Chinese government had promised to give journalists complete freedom to report from the Games. However, when the time came, journalists found they were unable to access Internet websites related to human rights issues, popular unrest, Chinese politics, Taiwan or Tibet or even food safety issues. Despite international outcry at the censorship, and some slight changes in the level of censorship, journalists were never able to attain co mplete, unrestricted access during the Games. Tiananmen Square The Chinese government continuously manipulates or restricts history if they perceive it as a threat to the social, political or economic stability of the country. One such incident is the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. Tiananmen Square is the worlds largest public square situated in Beijing, China. It has been the location of many historical events, such as the May 1919 uprising, Mao Zedongs proclamation of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1, 1949 and the Massacre on June 4th, 1989. Although the protests were centered in the square, it has been reported that there were no deaths in the square itself, but rather in the streets surrounding the square. Hu Yaobang, a pro-democracy government official, died on April 15, 1989. With his death came peaceful memorial demonstrations in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities by students and intellectuals. By April 21, the crowd had grown to roughly 100,000 people. The demonstrators were demanding economic change and an end to the Chinese governments authoritarianism. By May 19, martial law was declared, and military vehicles began to mobilize. Some students began a hunger strike, which grew to thousands, to coincide with a state visit by Soviet party Chief Mikhail Gorbachev, as his presence was covered by foreign media representatives. The government was humiliated. On the night of June 3rd, the government acted. They ordered the Peoples Liberation Army to clear the square and put an end to the protest. No one knows for sure the death toll. Many more died in the days and weeks following, as the government systematically eradicated any remaining dissidents. The International Red Cross put the number of casualties at 2,800 dead and an equal number injured, while Amnesty International believes the number to be closer to 1,000. To this day, the entire events of that period in Chinas history remain unknown. The government refuses to acknowledge the actual number of dead, wounded, imprisoned and executed. In 1991, Prime Minister Li Peng, who had ordered the Tiananmen shootings in consultation with Deng Xiaoping, stated the Partys position, which has not changed since: in view of the families desire for silence and secrecy, the names of the victims would not be released. ((Sorman, p. 160) Chinas economy suffered as the world reacted with international restrictions. Foreign loans to China were suspended by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and various governments, such as Japan, suspended all loans to the country. President Bush cancelled all military sales to the Chinese government. Tourism revenue decreased drastically. While other communist countries in the world were falling, the crackdown had the opposite effect than what the students had originally protested for. Censorship in Religion China is officially an atheist state; however, religious freedom was always guaranteed under the Peoples Republic of China constitution. Despite this supposed freedom, only five religions are officially accepted. These are Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam. All are strictly controlled by the government. Since the reforms of 1978, the Chinese government has been more tolerant of the revival of religion, in the belief that it will foster greater social cohesion. One religious organization that it will not tolerate is Falun Gong. Although in its earlier stages the government watched and monitored the movement, as it grew in popularity, the Communist Party of China declared it a heretical organization in October 1999. The CPC believes it to be a well organized political group that is in opposition to the central government. Conclusion In recent years, China has begun to relax some of its rigidity. As of October 2008, foreign journalists would not be required to get government permission to travel within China or interview Chinese citizens. However permission was still needed to travel and report in restricted areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang. 2008 saw many of the worlds economies plunge, and China too, felt the downturn. As the global financial crisis worsened, the CPC has allowed some of the bad news reports concerning the economy to be available to its people. This is an important point as one recent immigrant to Canada from China told AFP, the media is different here. In China it is propaganda, promotion of things well done. Here they speak of disasters or human rights, look for negative sides. (Chinese Media) Despite these progresses that China has made in recent years, it is still so heavily censored by a government that is intolerant of its peoples thoughts, opinions and concerns. It is quite obvious that the Chinese are not truly free to express their thoughts. In an address to the officers of the US army in 1738, George Washington, the first president of the United States of America said, If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter

Consumer Behavior Is Essential For Effective Marketing Marketing Essay

Consumer Behavior Is Essential For Effective Marketing Marketing Essay Introduction: A Consumer is somone who acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing process. (Investor words, 2010). We can classify consumers in two categories: (i) personal consumers / retail consumers, and (ii) organisations as consumers. In each case bahaviour is analysed differently. I will concentrate in this essay on personal consumers and their behaviour and its implications for effective marketing. Consumer behaviour is the process individuals or groups go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions (e.g., whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where), interpret information, make plans, and implement these plans. Understanding customer perception and motivations has tremendous implications for selling and marketing, process improvement and, in turn, reaching targetted consumers and make rewarding profit. With the Consumer-Centered era long gone, in the New Era orentation to enable long-term bonds with consumers it is essential to study consumer behaviour and to understand more of the customers psychology, their internal and external motivations, preferences, limitations, and actions to be able to provide a tailored value proposition. As a discupline, this is referred to as customer relationship management (CRM). Diagram showing consumer behavior, measures, and marketing actions. (graph from: Norton, 2005)Consumer attitude: The process of purchase is largely influenced by consumer attitudes. In the context of marketing, it is towards: product, brand, place (eg retail store), etc.  Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioural intentions.   These components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together embrace the forces that influence how the consumer will react to the object.(Perner, 2008) Beliefs: Consumer beliefs can be positive (e.g. chocolate tastes good) as well as negative (e.g., chocolate makes me fat).   In addition, some beliefs may be neutral (chocolate is a treat), and some may differ depending on the person or the situation (e.g., dark chocolate gives a lot of energy and stimulatesgood when you need to study or boost your energy level, but not good just before sleep time).  Often consumer believes can be inaccurate (e.g. pork is healthier than chicken). Feelings/Affect- is the consumers feelings toward a brands product or service.   Sometimes these feelings are based on the beliefs (e.g. a person feels nauseated when thinking about a hamburger because of the amount of fat it contains), but there may also be feelings which are relatively independent of beliefs (e.g.  I like ice cream) Behavioural intention.   Is what the consumer plans to do with respect to the object (e.g., buy or not buy the brand).   This can be a logical consequence of beliefs (or affect), or may reflect other circumstancese.g., although a consumer does not really like a bar/restaurant, he or she will go there because it is a hangout for his or her friends. (Perner, 2008) Changing behaviour of customers can be challenging because people like to believe that their behaviour is rational; thus, once they use our products, chances are that they will continue unless someone is able to get them to switch (Perner,2010). Consumer Choices: The comonly accepted and studied path of consumer choices, also illustrted in Elliot (1997), includes 5 main steps: Need/ opportunity recognition 2. Information Search 3. Evaluation of alternatives 4. Purchase 5. Outcome of purchase/feedback Need/opportunity recognition. Consumers recognize a need for a product/service when they percive a gap between their current state and their desired state. This can be either because of a change for the worse in their current state (need recognition) or when the desire seem to be further away (opportunity recognition). ( Elliot, 1997). That can be as easy as concluding that we need milk because we have just run out and cant make a cake without it. Or when a mother decides that buying an Armani top for her son would probably make her family more recognisable and admirred. Information Search. After identifying a product which will satisfy the need or opportunity gap, it is assumed that a customer will search for information to help him make a decision. Here it has been established that there are two ways in which information search takes place. Those are internal and external searches. Internal vs. External Search(Perner,2008) Internal search involves the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory/experience. Internal search is influenced by motivations, attitudes, personality, age, lifestyle, perception and learning/ experience.   This is often the only search method used for low involvement products or fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), thus building top of mind awareness is crucial task for marketing communications especially in hose low-involvement products categories (Elliot, 1998). External search involves information from environment that influences the purchase decisions. Those external factors influencing decision process include situational influences, such as, physical environment and time, and social influences such as advertising as well as culture, subculture, social class, group membership, family, friends, work/school peers, co-workers, people from the same sports/hobby clubs, neighbors etc. There are various referent groups that people consciously or unconsciously consider during their search. Those include; membership, aspiration, avoidance, word of mouth, opinion, leadership. Despite consumer interests and beliefs, they will strive to conformity and thus usually the internal search has to compete with their external influences because they want to belong to, and be accepted by, people from their direct environment. Consumers are more likely to use an external search for high involvement products.   For instance before buying a house, the consumer is more likely to ask friends opinions, read reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several web sites, and visit several property offices.   Thus, it is extremely important that firms that offer products that are selected predominantly through external search invest in advertising and marketing to ensure having information available to the consumer in need-e.g., through brochures, web sites, or news coverage. Evaluation of choices: The evaluative criteria are the product attributes, functional, symbolic and emotional, on which the relative performance of the competing alternatives will be compared (Elliot 1998). Decision rules can be: I. Compensatory, when a poor performance on one attribute can be offset by good performance on other attribute. (e.g. one car is not as fast as other but its cheaper.   If the price is sufficiently inexpensive, the consumer may then select it over a car with better acceleration that costs more) II. Non-compensatory, when only one standard is used and alternatives which dont measure up are eliminated. (e.g. when a customer wants to have a UK-branded product, lets say cereal, although there will be many other cereals with same ingredients and good taste they wont be considered) Considering that human beings seek to reduce cognitive efforts, often the way for choice evaluation are rules of thumb, e.g. cheapest is best, or known brand is always better than unknown, etc. Unfortunately this type of thinking often lead to systematic bias when compared with the rational decision making model of economic theory. Those would be believes that e.g. if an item is on sale it must be a good deal, or all branded products are of the same quality. Purchase: Purchased is often influenced by time, the more time between the intention to buy and the purchase the more opportunity for change in original intention. But in many instances a conscious purchase intension is not formulated prior to the purchase act and in this case a display of product may trigger impulse purchase. US studies show that 83% decisions to purchase of snack foods take place in the supermarket itself rather than prior to shopping. Obviously higher involvement products are more likely to be pre planned than lower involvement products. (Elliot, 1998) Outcomes of Purchase: These have important implications for the future purchase decisions. The cognitive approach points to importance of prior expectations as a determining how well consumer will evaluate the purchase experience. The lower the expectations the less dissatisfaction on poor product performance, and the more satisfaction on good product performance is seen. Consumer Involvement: The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of factors. There is a classical model to measure consumer involvment in purchase decision. This model shows that involvmnet depends largly on: price, type of product, frequency of purchases, symbolic meaning, social visability, time commitment, potentiality for harm, potentiality for poor performance of product/service etc. (Elliot, 1998) In practice the price or high significance will mostly effect the involvement of consumers. E.g if we buy boat or house we are more likely to put more effort in research than when we buy washing powder. The same is true for highly life significant products such as computer or medications, which tend to be given more attention than lets say notepad or pen. (where you shop, ease / proximity of parking, ambience, safety, provision of child care, etc) Influences on Consumer Behavior(Perner 2008) The Life Cycle. Individuals and families tend to go through a life cycle: The simple life cycle goes from    http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/images/cb/Simple_FLC.png (Perner 2008) In real life however, there are many more complications possible, such as couples undergo divorce, single parents run house or remarry or become involved in other non-marital relationships, or stay on their own etc. Integrating all the possibilities gives a depiction of the Family Life Cycle to the one below: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/images/cb/Family_Life_Cycle.png (Perner 2008) Obviously young singles with still little cash and highly influenced by their peer environment will have different needs, and make different purchases to young couples, and young couples will greatly vary in their customer behaviours to full nest families. Then again there is a significant difference in amount, type and variety of products purchased between Nest I, Nest II and III families, since different age of children in the family will have various demands / needs, and the older the children the more influence they will have on parents and their purchase decisions themselves. Empty nest family with no children in the house often can afford more luxurious items than before. They will frequently look for comfort and durability and high quality of goods. Older singles will have similar needs, but if retired or lonely may not be able to afford as high standards of products as empty nest and thus minimalistic approach can be seen in their purchase behaviour. Apart from differences in customer behaviour arising from Family Life Cycle it is also important to mention that behaviour changes with age, health, career and financial status. Older people tend to have greater income but also greater obligations such as mortgages, children, and spouse. Different ages are concerned with different financial rewards and obligations. That often leads to different consumer behaviour. Figure 2.5 Consumer life events Understanding the life event triggers behind the big decisions that consumers make, assists information providers in targeting information at the times and places in peoples lives when they most need it. (Australian government, 2010) Family decision making model: Another relevant consideration includes the Family decision making model. It is important to realise that it is not only the decision maker(s) in the family that count during the decisions processes of the family. Although they decide where and which product, brand to buy, there are also initiator, ultimate users, the information gatherers/holders- who seek out information about products of relevance, Influencers- who do not ultimately have the decision power, but they may make their wishes known by asking for specific products or causing embarrassing situations if their demands are not met. And then again all those have different role to that of the purchaser. (Perner, 2008) It was measured that parents under childrens (age 4 -12years) influence in US purchase products worth apporximately $4,400 per year per child. This comprises nearly $150 billion annually in US market alone. (McNeal,1997). This statistic is even more prominent if we look at China and heir one child policy and the six-pocket syndrome (where all 4 grandparents and parents can cherish and spoil 1 child only (Goll,1995) From the marketing point of view, family decision-making model introduces some problems since the purchaser can be targeted by point-of-purchase (POP) marketing efforts that cannot be aimed at the decision maker, or influencer. It should also be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great deal of conflict. The reality is that few families are wealthy enough to avoid a strong tension between demands on the familys resources. (Perner, 2008) Family decision making model can be observed in nearly any shop. This will take place when a family is out and about maybe doing grocery shopping and then suddenly one of the children will point to a toy or Christmas tree that courts its attention (that will be the initiator). There will be various criteria to consider: maybe some information provided on the spot about this particular Christmas tree; the fact does the family have already one or not and in what condition it is, also time of the year will have influence on the decision making process. The user or a Christmas tree is the whole family but especially children. Mother of the family will often be the decider who will try to satisfy the whole family and purchase something that is practical and safe a s well as will look representative in the home surrounding. Father will often pay for the tree and make the purchase thus in this scenario will be the buyer. This issue is addressed by many shops by offering extensive displays o f child-attractive items, together with parent-satisfying product descriptions to fulfil needs of the decision maker, and not infrequent value deals to finally convince the ultimate buyer. The Means-End Chain. Is another model of consumer behaviour where consumers buy products not because of their attributes per se but rather because of the ultimate benefits that these attributes provide, in turn leading to the satisfaction of ultimate values. An important implication of means-end chains is that it is usually most effective in advertising to focus on higher level items. (Green Book, 2005) This can be illustrated on example of UHT milk. A consumer may not be interested in the process and chemistry of ultra high temperature process of milk preservation, but might reason as follows: Self satisfaction/esteem Kids will continue to get all calcium and vitamins required for growth and strong bones, and he milk is there whenever needed Children can safely use the milk when they need it without a need to go back to a shop for weeks at a time. Milk can be stored longer without taste and properties change, Long life properties of UHT milk UHT milk producers use this model and emphasise the long life properties of milk, and thus in consumer perception this is the main focus point. They often dont make further investigation to find out that UHT milk has sufficiently less vitamins and minerals then fresh milk, and frequently make decision to buy long life milk instead of fresh milk. Diffusion Curve Model: And last but not least we should note that not all consumers will choose to buy new products at the same time. Dependingly on their education, experience, capacity to purchase and desires we will be able to identify Innovators who buy first but comrpise less than 5% of consumers, e.g. people who follow the latest releases of technology/fashion engineering and will purchase the products as soon as they reach the market even if they dont necessary need it, and it means paying premium price for those goods. After the first purchases by Innovators, the Early adpoters will show their interest. They benefit form using the product and want to maintain an edge over the rest of their peer group / consumers at large. However the vast majority of the curve ignores most marketing efforts at the earliest stages until they are convinced that the product or idea is not a fad. Successful new products, the hits, are most sought by Innovators and Early Adopters soon after introduction: and then Early majority will follow the trend to purchase. After some time the later majority will make the decision to buy, and then when the products/ services are no longer considered new by majority of population the laggards will come to belive it is ecessary for them to aquire this product. Possibly that will take place after the older model they owned is no longer functioning and it is necessary for them to replace it. Those clients frequently benefit from large discounts, since new more desirable models are often already available on the market. The described above model is commonly known as Diffusion Curve model or 5 segments model, and can be illustrated as bellow (actual percentages will vary according to the product / sector / consumer mix): Viral Marketing and Consumer Behavior (Graph from; Braziel, 2007) This model doesnt equally apply to all products, it is mostly used for electronics, computers, fashion clothing, house appliances such as AGD (white goods) and RTV (audio / visual electronics) products. Thats because we cant really talk about innovative products when it comes to FMCGs like bread, milk, butter. Also it would be hard to talk about laggards when the product of concern was something everyone needs in day to day life. Knowing about the diffusion curve model and the fact that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, companies learned that to introduce new products they must be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success by generating self-sustainable profit. They also realize that it is very important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many subsequent customers brand choices. That is why many brands use post-purchase evaluation forms and ensure quick response to any dissatisfaction, so consumers feel understood, respected and powerful. This helps in creating good overall impression about the product or brand, which is likely to be passed on to Early adopters and beyond. Discussion: There are two main applications of consumer behavior in marketing: (Perner 2005) Using consumer behavior to make better marketing campaigns. For example by understanding that consumers are more receptive to food advertising when they are hungry, food/snack companies learned to schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon. As a result of increased receptiveness consumers are more likely to memorize the items and either buy there and then or next time when they see the product on the supermarket shelf. by understanding that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, companies learned that (1) to introduce- new products must be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success. (2) it is very important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many subsequent customers brand choices. Social marketing involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than selling something. E.g. To reduce the incidence of transmission of diseases through illegal drug use the best solution, obviously, would be if we could get illegal drug users to stop. This, however, was deemed to be infeasible. It was also determined that the practice of sharing needles was too ingrained in the drug culture to be stopped. As a result, using knowledge of consumer attitudes, Dr. Fishbein created a campaign that encouraged the cleaning of needles in bleach before sharing them, and this marketing campaign was hugely successful (Syed, 2009) Attitude research has shown that consumers often tend to react more favorably to advertisements which either: Admit something negative about the sponsoring brand (e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe), this approach makes consumer perceive the advert more reliable, and will pay off by their better attitude towards brand/product advertised. OR Admits something positive about a competing brand (e.g., a competing supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less service and selection).   Two-sided appeals must, contain overriding arguments why the sponsoring brand is ultimately superior-that is, in the above examples, the but part must be emphasized. (Perner, 2008)   Again this two side appeal gives consumer perception of rational, reliability and this type of advert is more likely to be listened, believed in and remembered. Knowing it is generally very difficult to change beliefs that people hold, some companies try to change the importance of beliefs by decreasing them or by strengthen them by advertising e.g. milk company can emphasise on the importance of milk ingredients such as; calcium and iron for the health being of people, and thus increase the perception of importance for milk in consumer eye, which will then lead to increased milk sales. Companies can also add to consumer beliefs, e.g. Cereal makers can add beliefs that their cereal are more convenient and healthy than other cereals, which sounds quite plausible to some people if the advert uses enough credible terms for ingredients. Thus consumer perceive those cereals more appropriate for breakfast than others and are more likely to purchase them when next time see them in the shop. Using consumer choices model described in the introduction, some companies will seek to create in the eyes of target consumers a perception of need of e.g cooking spice, by advertising it as a miracle mix which will make every dish you make tasty and desirable by all family members. That perception of opportunity may trigger the consumer purchase decision. Knowing that information search for FMCGs is mostly internal, food producers try to make impression on the consumer e.g by making tomatoes look more healthy and appealable to potential consumers e.g we can see tomatoes with green stems or big organically grown sign on the packaging that will trigger the consumer desire to eat healthy and even though those tomatoes may not be any healthier than the other 5 types that sit on the shelf. The perception of healthy / organic will arise in consumer mind and thus he will be more likely to purchase them. In relation to purchase decisions of consumers, many companies, especially those selling low involvement goods, use a marketing strategy which is directed at one of humans basic motivation:- curiosity. By packaging a product with interesting and/or innovative pictures and images, they try to wake up consumer curiosity and in this way win the consumer interest and encourage impulse to buy. Knowing that fulfilling original expectations of consumer will often lead to repeat purchase some products e.g Heinz Ketchup by introducing a claim of great thickness and delivering on it better compare to other brands, can win consumer because consumer attention is drawn towards thickness only and satisfying this attribute alone give consumer overall perception of good performance. Emphasising consumer brand loyalty, many shops introduce loyalty cards, which give additional credits for shopping in particular shop, such as entitlement to discounts and promotions. Loyalty cards databases on the other hand enable understanding the clients better and give offers that best suit their behavior/habbits. Its a win-win situation for seller and buyer: the consumer has a perception of being special/appreciated and can see the reward for loyalty, while the shop has more information about the customers. For example, it was established that a buyer of full fat milk is 2.5 times more likely to purchase children orientated products. That is because a lot of parent buy full fat milk for their kids, and having kids means we buy for them more than just milk. Knowing that, a shop/company can send kids products brochures only to those people buying full fat milk rather than spend money on approaching adults who dont have kids and are unlikely to purchase childrens products. All the models described above are important to know and consider; to help spot emerging patterens and trends relative to the marketing and branding process. However they seem to be slightly overcomplicated and we need to realise that every day consumer patterns as well as practical marketing often varies from the theoretical models. To support this view we dont need to look far, we read from countless articles e.g McCole (2004) suggests that there exists a sizable gap between the worldviews of academics and practitioners. And Brennen (2004, p. 492), in his editorial comments in a special issue that explored the nature of the academic-practitioner divide, notes that a consensus seems to be emerging that much, or perhaps most, of work done by academics is of limited relevance to practitioners. (Syed H. Akhter, 2009). Also there are numerous studies which show that a large percentage of consumers dont research their purchases or limit the research to minimum, e.g. on average 52% of peo ple in US obtained no independent information on products/services purchased and even for purchase of a new car, more than 30% of people visit only one car dealer.(Elliot, 1998). A lot of those theoretical models, together with practical / anecdotal experience, indicate that decisions made by customers are mostly emotion-driven or impulse driven. The purchase decisions often depend on curiosity, value perception (an approximation of reality), brand loyalty or rules of thumb , rather than research, and that is why marketing, branding and advertising need to enhance value perception for the customer and take care of a good purchase experience rather than just focusing on the purchase product/service. Conclusion: To conclude this paper on dynamics of consumer behaviour in practical marketing, I decided to look into Early Learning Center (ELC) brand and their marketing strategies. With their consumer base largely being 0-6 year old children, specifically I sought evidence of ELCs marketing efforts reflecting a sound understanding of the behavior of their target customers, the adults who buy those goods on childrens behalf Early Learning Centre (ELC) ~ Toy Sale Now On Early Learning Centre (ELC) is essentially a marketing and distribution company, but one that also designs and commissions the manufacture of its own-branded products.It was established in 1974 as a mail order firm, and was an early adopter of direct sales through the Internet the website www.elc.co.uk was first launched in 1999 and proved to be successful in its first year in terms of profit generated on internet-driven purchases.. In 2007 Mothercare plc acquired Early Learning Centre for  £85m ( £49m plus  £36m debt). Mothercare is one of the most familiar names in UK retailing, and is probably the first store that comes to mind when thinking of the needs of pregnant women, babies and children up to the age of 10. There is a lot of overlap with ELC in the post-natal market and so their merger and co-location of stores makes sense from a business perspective. Today there are over 225 ELC stores in the UK, and 115 stores internationally operated by franchise partners in locations including UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia Ireland, and Poland. Catalogues sales have remained a core part of the business. [Early Learning Centre prints and distributes over 4 million catalogues in the UK alone each year.] Over 80 percent of the products sold by Early Learning Centre are own brand. ELC operate through three distinct channels to market; UK stores, Direct (internet-based businesses and catalogue mai l order), and International.(ELC, 2008) The Early Learning Centre brand provides eight major categories of toys and games primarily for children in the 0-6 year age range. They segregate their items based on sex and age of children for whom the toys are designed. This approach helps greatly during customers search through the products. As a result customers can put less effort into the search process and it adds to their overall shopping experience. Knowing that changing attitude of consumer is generally very difficult. Instead ELC try to influence feelings, either by advertising itself to create pleasant, warm feeling about products, and hope that will be enough to make customer like the product, or they use classical conditioning by e.g. showing happy, stress free children playing with ELC toys. the great outdoors!!! acctive play and fresh air fun! (pictured copied from: http://www.kidstart.co.uk/partner/ELC.aspx) Another strategy of ELC involves exposure effect. By providing advertisement and pictures outside the store and in magazines known to be popular amongst parents of 0-6 year old children and those adults likely to buy presents for such children, ELC ensures customers are more familiar with the product and thus more likely to purchase it. Aware that changing behaviour of customers can be challenging, one strategy employed by ELC is to introduce seasonal price discounts to justify in consumer minds the switch, based on a good deal principle. After the switch if a customer was more satisfied with the ELC product than with a previously used brand, there is a large likelihood that he or she will stick with the ELC products for future purchases even when the price goes back to normal. Another marketing strategy employed by ELC is engaging the convenience mindset of their target audience. ELC stores are usually located in big shopping malls, specifically in those locations in the mall that are frequently used/passed by customers on their way in or out. Not only are toys displayed, many toys at the entrance, but also throughout the store, are out of their packaging to enable better investigation of product prior to purchase. This is also a great way to attract the children of passing shoppers mothers, families into the shop to play. When this happens parents will be forced to come into the shop and during that time possibly will purchase one or more of the toys that their children were attracted to, or indeed other

The Graduate Essay example -- essays research papers

Shot by Shot Assignment Ben enters his room and is at ease finally. The music stops and the focus is on him. The room is well lit and his head is leaned against the white door, which gives the audience a sense of escape. As he makes his way toward the window, we see a dartboard next to his bedroom door that has not one of the darts on the correct target. One has even found itself on the wall. Over his bed we see pictures of planes and toy planes pointed in every direction as maybe parallel to his life. The camera holds a medium close-up as Ben looks down through his window after he takes a hesitant walk over to that position. Interpretation: He feels that himself in his room with nobody else around ensures him isolation that he is yearning for. However, the un-aimed darts contradicts the room’s solidity and assurance. Just as his life as we later see the dart board is just as disorganized as Ben. Shot 2 Observation Duration: 3 seconds Ben looks down through the window. The camera shows the back of his head in the right foreground and the guests at the poolside in the left background. We see the shot in high angle. The guests are laughing, having drinks and seem to be enjoying themselves. Ben looks on as if the party was not in his favor. Interpretation: The close-up of Ben looking out the window shows the viewer that he is searching for an escape out of the situation that is current in his house. He wants to be elsewhere but has no idea at the moment where exactly that elsewhere should be. He looks very disappointed and even hopeful at the same time to disappear to another location as if by magic. Shot 3 Observation Duration: 7seconds Ben walks from his window to the bed. His journey there is slow and seldom. His bed is gray and black as he showcases not only the toy airplanes above his bed but also pictures of airplanes pointed in different locations. There is not really a burst of color in his room beside those protruding inside of the fish tank. The view is very blatant and not at all flamboyant. Interpretation: He has no sense of direction or happiness in his room. Even though he originally wanted to be alone, he finds himself now too lonely. He attempts to find some form of movement within his confinement when he is drawn to sit near the fish tank. Shot 4 Observation Duration: 12 seconds Ben... ...nly significance in the overall story, but they refine Ben’s expressed statements. Women are constantly surrounding Ben. The kiss from the older woman anticipates the affair with Mrs. Robinson. The entire social class portrays a wealthy medium classed people in society coming together in an attempt to draft a new member, (Ben). They have high expectations and aspirations for him. The family friends refer to Ben other than his name as a method of showcasing somehow unintentionally his accomplishments more than his personality. He as a person is not highlighted in any way, shape or form. This introduces Ben’s desire to explore himself eventually find himself outside of the track. The cutting paces are roughly the same length probably because it symbolizes uniformity and even stable day-to-day sequences of a day in the life of Ben. The husband-wife exchanges are very opinionated as far as what is best for the child. Ben’s attempt to escape to escape leads to lef t-right tracking shots to convey his confused direction movement throughout the film. He wants to do something that is his idea and not those of his parents, which he succeeds at doing throughout the film with Mrs. Robinson.

Modeling Ocean Acoustic Tomography Essay -- Science Ocean Tomography

Modeling Ocean Acoustic Tomography Ocean acoustic tomography is a recent scientific breakthrough in the last thirty years. This usage of this tomography is key because of the major affect the oceans play on the Earth’s biosphere. Water takes up about 75% of the world and plays a role in land temperature variance and seasonal climate changes. In 1965, scientists pictured the ocean’s general circulation being large slow-moving currents like the Gulf Stream. These conclusions were based on periodic observations. No one had a grasp on the water’s vast expansion and high reaching depths. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, new instruments were brought to the table. Subsurface floats moved with the ocean currents. Data was gathered while a signal was emitted so ships could track it. Ocean current meters weren’t mobile, but rather fixed to one location. They would remain anchored for several months gathering the changes within the water around them. These tools discovered variability within the water’s movements. The theories on slow, basin-scale currents were hidden by the domination of mesoscale fields. These fields are high energy flows that reach ten times the average velocity of major currents. These up-tempo movements relate to the out of water weather patterns. A mesoscale can be 100 square km in size and persist for 100 days while atmospheric weather will be 1000 km, but only resonant for 3-5 days. 99% of the ocean’s kinetic energy can be summed into these mesoscale rather than the slow basin-scales. Monitoring the newly discovered mesoscales became a problem. A grid would have to be set up with monitoring equipment at 50 km intervals. Sensors would be lowered to average ocean depths (approximately 5... ...phy system along with the old ship method. The tomography setup accomplished the task in 24 hours. It took the ship, though, three weeks because each interval stop took 4-5 hours. The map was also blurred because of the long â€Å"exposing† time. Quickness has become a major role characteristic, along with coverage. 1000 km of a current was measured for temperature averages. The methods are near the point of being able to measure temperatures around the world simultaneously for references on global warming. 75% of the world is water. Finally, we are being able to study it and apply it to weather patterns within the air. Works Cited Munk, Worcester, and Wunsch. Ocean Acoustic Tomography. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Spindel, Robert C., and Peter F. Worcester. â€Å"Ocean Acoustic Tomography.† Scientific American Oct. 1990, vol. 263: 94-99.