Disuss being and non-being in lao-zi's concept (老子) Essay

Disuss being and non-being in lao-zi's concept (è€ Ã¥ ­ ) - Essay Example Since nobody knew the name, they called it Tao – the mystery of mysteries. According to the Western culture there is a division between subject and object and prevents the subject from realizing the inner self. Material desires keep mounting and this affects efficiency leading to social problems. LaoZi’s idea of non-being can lessen such desires and enable people to develop with equilibrium. According to this philosophy, ‘being’ is not normal whereas ‘non-being’ is normal. ‘Being’ is not constant; there is continuous movement. ‘Non-being; is actually the denial of ‘being’. ‘Being’ is not limited to concrete material forms but includes abstract ideas and theories. The cosmic process consists of first by giving birth to all things by Dao and then the process of returning all things to Dao. Nonbeing (wu) and being (you) can be seen as the two ontological moments through which the dao manifests itself. From the state of nothingness, from the state of non-being, some forms are realized in the form of being. Hence to become being is to take the form of body. The realm of being comes rarely but the realm of non-being is much richer (Shen, n.d.). Human beings have great potential. Laozi says they should cherish what they have but always remain open to the unfathomable possibilities because the origin is the non-being. In the realm of being, all beings are constituted of opposites, you and wu being one such pair of opposites. You and wu can be analyzed on three different levels of meaning. In the first level, ontologically, you means the real, the actual, the being; wu means non-being, the potential or the possible. Spiritually you means fulfillment and constraint whereas wu means transcendence and freedom. Thirdly, you also means full, presence, whereas wu means void or absence. Non-being or nothingness is the natural state. This state is simply Dao to LaoZi.

Price Elasticity in Air Travel

Price Elasticity in Air Travel Introduction: Elasticity is define as the quality sth has being able to stretch and return to its original size and shape. (Oxford advanced learners dictionary 6th edition). In Physics elasticity is defined as the property of a substance that enables it to change its length, volume, or shape in direct response to a force effecting such a change and to recover its original form upon the removal of the force. (dictionaryreference.com). Suppose that your employer allows you to work extra hours more after your contracted hours for extra pay at the end of the month, the amount of extra money you will earn at the end of the month will depend on how much more extra hours you are able to work. Then how responsive you are to this offer can be seen as elasticity. Therefore I will define elasticity as the measure of degree of responsiveness of any variable to extra stimulus. From my example above elasticity can be calculated as Em = percentage of extra money you earn/percentage of extra hours worked. The concept of elasticity can be used to measure the rate or the exact amount of any change. In economics elasticity is used to measure the magnitude of responsiveness of a variable to a change in its determinants (sloman) such as (demand and supply) of goods and services. For the purpose of this essay am going to be examining the concept of elasticity of demand and supply in the airline industry. Types of Elasticity Price or own price Elasticity of demand Income elasticity of demand Cross elasticity Price or own price elasticity of demand It is the measure of the degree of sensitivity or responsiveness of quantity demanded is to a change in price of a product (Edgar.K. browing). Our assumption often is that all demand curves have negative slopes which means the lower the price the higher the quantity demanded but sometimes the degree of responsiveness vary from product to product. For example a reduction in the price of cigarettes might have only bring about a little increase in quantity demanded whereas a supermarket reduction in the price of washing up liquid will produce a big increase in quantity demanded The law of demand and even Common sense tells us that when prices change, the quantities purchased will change too. However, by how much? Businesses need to have more precise information than this they need to have a clear measure of how the quantity demanded will change as a result of a price change. Price elasticity is calculated as the percentage (or proportional or rate) of change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage (or proportional or rate) of change in its price. Symbolically: Pà Ã¢â‚¬Å¾D=%ΆQ/%à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  p Here à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ denotes elasticity and à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬   Graphically Elasticity measure in percentage because it allows a clear comparison of changes in qualitatively different things which are measured in two different units (sloman). It is the only sensible way of deciding how big a change in price or quantity, so their calls a unit free measurement. Generally when the prices of good increases the quantity demanded decreases, thus either of the number will be negative which after division will end up in a negative result, due to this fact we always ignore the sign and just concentrate on the absolute value, ignoring the sign to tell us how elastic demand is. The larger the elasticity of demand, the more responsive the quantity demanded is of elasticity. Degrees of elasticity Perfectly elastic Highly elastic Relatively elastic Relatively inelastic Highly inelastic Perfectly inelastic Elastic Demand Elastic demand occurs when quantity demanded changes by bigger percentage than price.(Sloman) Here customer has lot of other alternative. The value is always higher than 1, the change in quantity has a bigger effect on total consumer spending than in price. For example if there is a reduction in the price of a bottle of washing up liquid say from  £1.00 to 50p people will buy more probably to store up, in doing this they will end up spending more on the product than they will do on a normal day. An Inelastic Demand Elasticity in airline industry The airline industry is deeply impacted by the elasticity of demand, externalities, wage inequality, and monetary, fiscal, and federal policies. The elasticity of demand is based purely on current market conditions, thcustomers September 11th tragedy had a negative affect on the entire travel industry. It impacted the fiscal and monetary policies, supply and demand, and it created staffing problems nationwide. The rate of wage inequality is improving due to legislation that has created a pay increase in participating cities across the United States. The airline industry is viewed has being unstable because it is based on current market conditions, and the market is always changing. purpose for travel, and available substitutes. Externalities continue to influence the elasticity of demand. The Elasticity of Demand The airline industry is an extremely unstable industry because it is highly dependant upon current market conditions. Events such as inflation, terrorist attacks, and the price of oil have greatly influenced the demand for airline tickets throughout the years. Competition consistently affects the price of airline tickets because it gives the customer other options. Substitutes that are existence is traveling by train, car, or avoiding travel whenever possible. Customers have resorted to all named substitutes during turbulent times in our economy. The elasticity of demand is greatly affected by the customers purpose for travel. Airline customers typically fly for business or pleasure. With the wave of technology, a large percentage of business travel has been eliminated to conserve spending. Elasticity In the airline industry, price elasticity of demand is separated into two segments of consumers and is considered to be both elastic and inelastic. A good example of how elastic demand is related to the airline industry is in relation to travel for pleasure. Pleasure travellers will be affected by the amount of travel they do based on the demand increase or decrease, affected by prices that lower with high demand or prices that rise with low demand; directly attributed to competition in this market (Gerardi Shapiro, 2007). Inversely, the business traveller would apply to an inelastic demand for this market. This has shown by demand increases or decreases, as well as the price distribution attributed, which has little effect on the buying power of the business person (Gerardi Shapiro, 2007). Furthermore, Voorhees and Coppett (1981) explain that elastic demands exist for the pleasure traveler due to demand increase rising while prices lower and vise versa. The business traveler exper iences an inelastic demand due to the quantity of service demanded and quantity has not decreased as prices have risen. In other words, this travel is seen as a necessary business tool, not affected by price changes in the demand curve. As we have seen, the airline industry is extremely price elastic. Small shifts in prices have dramatic effects on the consumer base. Externalities, such as noise ordinances, can cause negative effects, driving cost upward and threatening loss in demand due to a price sensitive customer base. Since deregulation, competition in the economy have kept prices in the industry low and have caused airlines to force cuts in areas such as wages; contributing to a growing concern of wage inequality. Refrences: Gerardi, K., Shapiro, A. (2007, April). The Effects of Competition on Price Dispersion in the Airline Industry: A Panel Analysis. Working Paper Series (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston), 7(7), 1-46. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Business Source Complete database. Mankiw, N. G. (2004). Principles of economics (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: Thomson South-Western. Morrison, S., Watson, T., Winston, C. (1998). Fundamental Flaws of Social Regulation: The Case of Airplane Noise. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/1998/09_airplane_winston/09_airplane_winston.pdf Voorhees, R., Coppett, J. (1981, Summer). New Competition for the Airlines. Transportation Journal, 20(4), 78-85. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. The airline industry is a private good. Mankiw (2004), states that private goods are excludable and rival goods. One needs to see through the anti-trust laws and regulations that tempt some to call the industry a natural monopoly; airlines still reserve the right to administer price and destination. The airline industry shows that it is an excludable good by having the power to place prices on fares and having the ability to refuse service to any person for whatever the reason. The airline industry also shows that it is a rival good because when someone purchases fare for a seat, it diminishes the ability for another person to get a seat on the plane. Because the airline industry is a private good, in a competitive market place, prices, supply, and demand are very sensitive to new policies or tax incidences placed on them. Associated content.com viewd 18/11/10 WordPress.comThis phenomenal increase in the demand for domestic air travel is not surprising. Airfare is an expensive commodity that few people can afford or are willing to pay for it. Also, a typical consumer may not be able to avail such commodity regularly. It takes time for the consumer to demand for it again. In economics, this scenario is being explained by its ELASTICITY. The concept of elasticity is being referred as the responsiveness of the quantity demanded of a good or service to a change in its price, income, or cross price. This post will provide a better understanding on this matter, specifically the price elasticity. Analysis Below consists of indicators that determines the elasticity of a good/service. Domestic air travel has been employed as a sample commodity. Substitutes. (The more substitutes it has, the higher the elasticity.) Airlines have numerous substitutes such as land or sea transportation. Percentage of Income. (The higher the percentage that the products price is of the consumers income, the higher the elasticity.) Airfares are too expensive relative to household income. Necessity. (Basic goods have lower elasticity.) Airline tickets are luxury goods. Duration. (The longer a price change holds, the higher the elasticity.) Airline fare does not change for a long time. Breadth of Definition. (The broader the definition, the lower the elasticity.) Domestic airline travel has more specific definition than ordinary air transportation. 1. Introduction The purpose of this study is to report on all or most of the economics and business literature dealing with empirically estimated demand functions for air travel and to collect a range of fare elasticity measures for air travel and provide some judgment as to which elasticity values would be more representative of the true values to be found in different markets in Canada. While existing studies may include the leisure business class split, other important market distinctions are often omitted, likely as a result of data availability and quality.[3] One of the principal value added features of this research and what distinguishes it from other surveys, is that we develop a meta-analysis that not only provides measures of dispersion but also recognizes the quality of demand estimates based on a number of selected study characteristics. In particular, we develop a means of scoring features of the studies such as focus on length of haul; business versus leisure; international versus domestic; the inclusion of income and inter-modal effects; the age of the study; data type (time-series versus cross section) and the statistical quality of estimates (adjusted R-squared values). By scoring the studies in this way, policy makers are provided with a sharper focus to aid in judging the relevance of various estimated elasticity values.[4] 2. Elasticity in the Context of Air Travel Demand. Elasticity values in economic analysis provide a units free measure of the sensitivity of one variable to another, given some pre-specified functional relationship. The most commonly utilized elasticity concept is that of own-price elasticity of demand. In economics, consumer choice theory starts with axioms of preferences over goods that translate into utility values. These utility functions define choices that generate demand functions from which price elasticity values can be derived. Own-price elasticity of demand concept airtrav_2e.gif (1,979 bytes) Therefore elasticities are summary measures of peoples preferences reflecting sensitivity to relative price levels and changes in a resource-constrained environment. The ordinary or Marshallian demand function is derived from consumers who are postulated to maximize utility subject to a budget constraint. As a goods price changes, the consumers real income (which can be used to consume all goods in the choice set) changes. In addition the goods price relative to other goods changes. The changes in consumption brought about by these effects following a price change are called income and substitution effects respectively. Thus, elasticity values derived from the ordinary demand function include both income and substitution effects.[5] Own-price elasticity of demand measures the percentage change in the quantity demanded of a good (or service) resulting from a given percentage change in the goods own-price, holding all other independent variables (income, prices of related goods etc.) fixed. The ratio of percentage changes thus allows for comparisons between the price sensitivity of demand for products that might be measured in different units (natural gas and electricity for example). Arc price elasticity of demand calculates the ratio of percentage change in quantity demanded to percentage change in price using two observations on price and quantity demanded. Formally this can be expressed as: Equation(1) where: Equationrepresent the observed change in quantity demanded and price Equationrepresent the average price and quantity demanded. The elasticity is unitless and can be interpreted as an index of demand sensitivity; it is measuring the degree to which a variable of interest will change (passenger traffic in our case) as some policy or strategic variable changes (total fare including any added fees or taxes in our case). In the limit (when Equationare very small) we obtain the point own-price elasticity of demand expressed as: Equation(2) where: Q(P,S) is the demand function P = a vector of all relevant prices p = the goods own-price. q = equals the quantity demanded of the good S = a vector of all relevant shift variables other than prices (real income, demographic characteristics etc.) We expect own-price demand elasticity values to be negative, given the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded implied by the law of demand, with absolute values less than unity indicating inelastic demand: a less than proportionate response to price changes (relative price insensitivity). Similarly, absolute values exceeding unity indicate elastic or more sensitive demand: a more than proportionate demand response to price changes (relative price sensitivity). The ratio of change in quantity demanded to change in price [equation (1)] highlights that elasticity measures involve linear approximations of the slope of a demand function. However, since elasticity is measuring proportionate change, elasticity values will change along almost all demand functions, including linear demand curves.[6] Estimation of elasticity values is therefore most useful for predicting demand responses in the vicinity of the observed price changes. As a related issue, analysts need to recognize that in markets where price discrimination is possible aggregate data will not allow for accurate predictions of demand responses in the relevant market segments. In air travel, flights by a carrier are essentially joint products consisting of differentiated service bundles that are identified by fare classes. However the yield management systems employed by full-service carriers (FSCs) also create a complex form of inter-temporal price discrimination, in which some fares ( typically economy class) decline and some increase (typically full-fare business class) as the departure date draws closer. This implies that ideally, empirical studies of air travel demand should separate business and leisure travellers or at least be able to include some information on booking times in order to account for this price discrimination, and that price data should be calibrated for inter-temporal price discrimination: for example, the use of full-fare economy class ticket prices as data will overestimate the absolute value of the price elasticity coefficient. Within the set of differentiated service bundles that comprise each (joint product) flight, the relative prices are important in explaining the relative ease of substitution between service classes. Given the nature of inter-temporal price discrimination for flights, the relative price could also change significantly in the time period prior to a departure time. The partial derivative in (2) indicates that elasticity measures price sensitivity independent of all the other variables in the demand function. However when estimating demand systems over time, one can expect that some important shift variables will not be constant. It is important that these shift variables be explicitly recognized and incorporated into the analysis, as they will affect the value of elasticity estimates. This will also be true with some cross-sectional studies or panels.[7] In particular changes in real income and the prices of substitutes or complements will affect demand. In air travel demand estimations, income and prices of other relevant goods should be included in the estimation equation. Alternative transportation modes (road and rail) are important variables for short-haul flights, while income effects should be measured for both short and long-haul. The absence of an income coefficient in empirical demand studies will result in own-price elasticity estima tes that can be biased. With no income coefficient, observed price and quantity pairs will not distinguish between movements along the demand curve and shifts of the demand curve.[8] The slope of a demand function, which affects the own-price elasticity of demand, is generally expected to decrease (become shallower) with: The number of available substitutes; The degree of competition in the market or industry; The ease with which consumers can search and compare prices; The homogeneity of the product; The duration of the time period analyzed.[9] Given the implied relationships above, any empirical demand study should carefully define market boundaries to include all relevant substitutes and complements and to exclude products that might be related through income or other more general variables. In air travel, ideally market segment boundaries should be defined by first separating leisure and business passengers and second long-haul and short-haul flights. The reason is that we expect different behaviour in each of these markets. Within each of these categories, distinctions should then be made between the following: Connecting and origin-destination (O-D) travel; Hub and non-hub airports;[10] Routes with dominant airlines and routes with low-cost carrier competition. In addition, for the North American context, long-haul flights should be further divided into international and domestic travel (within continental North America). These market segment boundaries are illustrated in figure 2.1 below, which also highlights the relative importance of intermodal competition for short-haul travel. While distinctions in price and income sensitivity of demand between business and leisure or long and short-haul travel are more intuitive, other distinctions are perhaps less obvious. If available, data that distinguishes between routes, airlines and airports would provide important estimates of how price sensitivity is related to the number of competing flights and the willingness to pay of passengers utilizing a hub-and-spoke network, relative to those traveling point-to-point, more commonly associated with low cost carriers. To the extent that existing studies assume that each passenger observation represents O-D travel, they will not be capturing fare premiums usually associated with hub-and-spoke networks and full service carriers, nor will they necessarily capture the complete itinerary of travellers utilizing a number of point-to-point flights with a low cost carrier. For example, a passenger who travels from Moncton to Vancouver with Air Canada, and utilizes the hub at Pears on International airport, is being provided with a number of services that includes baggage checked through to the final destination and frequent flyer points as well as a choice in flights and added flight and ground amenities. The fare for Moncton-Vancouver includes a premium for these services. Now consider a passenger that is travelling with WestJet from Moncton to Hamilton, and then with JetsGo from Toronto Pearson Airport to Vancouver. In this case there are no frequent flyer points to be attained and baggage has to be collected and re-checked after a road transfer between Hamilton and Pearson International. Although the origin and destination is the same for these passengers, the itineraries are significantly different. In many cases data used for demand estimates would not able to account for these differences. Route-specific data can also capture competition that may exist between airports and the services they offer as well as airlines. This may be especially true for certain short-haul routes where intermodal competition (road and rail) can play an important role in shaping air travel demand. 3. Measurement Issues Oum et al. (1992) provide a valuable list of pitfalls that occur when demand models are estimated and therefore affect the interpretation of the elasticity estimates from these empirical studies. 1. Price and Service Attributes of Substitutes: Air travel demand can be affected by changes in the prices and service quality of other modes. For short-haul routes (markets) the relative price and service attributes of auto and train would need to be included in any model; particularly for short-haul markets. Failure to include the price and service attributes of substitutes will bias the elasticity. For example, if airfares increase and auto costs are also increasing, the airfare elasticity would be overestimated if auto costs were excluded. 2. Functional Forms: Most studies of air travel demand use a linear or log-linear functional specification. Elasticity estimates can vary widely depending on the functional form. The choice of functional form should be selected on the basis of statistical testing not ease of interpretation. 3. Cross-Section vs. Time-series Information: In the long run demand elasticities for non-durable goods and services are larger in absolute terms, than in the short run. This follows because in the long run there are many more substitution possibilities that can be used to avoid price increases or service quality decreases. In effect there are more opportunities to avoid these changes with substitution possibilities. Data tends to be cross-sectional or time-series although more recently panels have become available. A panel is a combination of cross-section and time-series information on several routes for a multi-year period is a panel. Cross-sectional information is generally regarded as indicating short run elasticities while time-series data is interpreted as long run elasticities. In time-series data the information reflects changes in markets, growth in income, changes in competitive circumstances, for example. Policy changes should rely on long run elasticities since these ar e long run impacts that are being modelled. Short run elasticities become important when considering the competitive position of firms in a highly dynamic and competitive industry. 4. Market Aggregation/Segmentation: As the level of aggregation increases the amount of variation in the elasticity estimates decreases. This occurs because aggregation averages out some of the underlying variation relating to specific contexts. Since air travel market segments may differ significantly in character, competition and dominance of trip purpose, interpreting a reduction in variation through aggregation as a good thing would be erroneous. Such estimates might have relatively low standard deviations but would be also be relatively inaccurate when used to assess the effect of changes in fares in a specific market. 5. Identification Problem: In most cases only demand functions are estimated in attempts to measure the demand elasticity of interest. However, it is well known that the demand function is part of a simultaneous equations system consisting of both supply and demand functions. Therefore, a straightforward estimation of only the demand equation will produce biased and inconsistent estimates. The problem of identification can be illustrated by describing the process by which fares and travel, for example, are determined in the origin-destination market simultaneously. To model this process in its entirety, we must develop a quantitative estimate of both the demand and supply functions in a system. If, in the past, the supply curve has been shifting due to changes in production and cost conditions for example, while the demand curve has remained fixed, the resultant intersection points will trace out the demand function. On the contrary, if the demand curve has shifted due to changes in personal income, while the supply curve has remained the same, the intersection points will trace out the supply curve. The most likely outcome, however, is movement of both curves yielding a pattern of fare, quantity intersection points from which it will be difficult, without further information, to distinguish the demand curve from the supply curve or estimate the parameters of either.[11] Earlier we identified sources of bias that can arise from problems with aggregation, data quality, implicit assumptions of strong separability among others. Almost all demand studies have an implied assumption of strong separability in that they only consider aviation markets in the analysis. Such studies in effect constrain all changes or responses in fares or service to be wholly contained in the aviation component of peoples consumption bundle. The paper by Oum and Gillen (1986) is the one exception where consideration of substitution with other parts of consumption was included in the modelling. It would be difficult to extract a conclusion from this one study as to existence, degree and direction of bias in elasticity estimates when other parts of consumption are and are not included in the modelling. However, having said this, an inspection of the elasticity estimates from this study shows they are not significantly different than other time-series estimates. 3.1 Data Issues Elasticity estimates depend critically on the quality and extent of the data available. Currently, the best data for demand estimation is the DB1A 10 percent ticket sample in the US, but even this data has some problems.[12] The DB1A sample represents 10 percent of all tickets sold with full itinerary identified by the coupons attached to the ticket. However with electronic tickets, as more and more tickets are being sold over the Internet, there is a growing portion of overall travel that may not be captured in the sample. This means that the proportion is not 10 percent but something less.[13] Other important considerations are the amount of travel on frequent flyer points, by crew and airline personnel. In Canada we have poor quality data because it is incomplete, even if it were accessible. Airports collect traffic statistics but these data make it very difficult to distinguish OD and segment data. Airlines report traffic data to Statistics Canada (or are supposed to) but these data do not include fare information or routing. Knowing the itinerary or routing is important because of differences in service quality and hubbing effects. Fare data is also more useful than yield information since it identifies the proportion of people travelling in different fare classes. Yet, in many cases yield information is used as a weighted average fare. There is also the problem that carriers of different size may have different reporting requirements. Some researchers and consultants have been cobbling together data sets for analysis by using the PBX clearing house information. These data are limited and apply only to those airlines that are members of IATA.[14] The current public data available in Canada simply does not permit estimation of any demand models. Besides demand side data it is also important to have supply side information. Elasticity estimates should emerge from a simultaneous equations framework. This data is more accessible through organizations like the OAG[15], which provide information on capacity, airline and aircraft type for each flight in each market.[16] These data measure changes in capacity, flight frequency and timing of flights. One study, which undertook an extensive survey to collect multimodal data,[17] was the High Speed Rail study sponsored jointly by the Federal, Ontario and Quebec governments. This study, which had three different demand modelling efforts, examined the potential for High Speed Rail demand, and subsequent investment, in the Windsor-Quebec corridor. The analysis included intermodal substitution between air, rail, bus and car. The study was undertaken in the early 1980s. However, it is not possible for public access to any of the technical documents that would allow an assessment of the study. Attempts in the past to obtain access to the data have proven fruitless. 3.2 Distinguishing Elasticity Measures As we have stated, price elasticity measures the degree of responsiveness to a change in own or other prices (fares). However, care must be exercised in interpreting the elasticity since they differ according to how they have been estimated. Many empirical studies of air travel demand estimate a log-linear model. In evaluating such studies, it is important to keep in mind that the empirical specification implies a certain consumer preference structure because of the duality between utility functions and demand functions. It is equally important to remember that empirically estimated demand functions should contain some measures of quality and service differences or quality changes over time. Failure to include metrics for frequent flyer programs, flight frequency, destination choice or service levels in estimating an air demand function can lead to downward bias in the price elasticity estimates. Price elasticities can be estimated for aggregate travel demand as well as modal demand. Figure 3.1 illustrates the differences between aggregate and modal elasticities.[18] Our interest is in modal elasticities not the aggregate amo

What Is Abnormal Psychology? What Is Normal Psychology? Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is Psychology? In my research of Psychology and its meaning I have come up with many definitions. To sum all of the definitions into one it’s the study ones feelings, thoughts, and their way of thinking and using all of there senses rather its cognitive, physical, or mental. Some other questions that came to mind during my research are what is normal psychology and what is abnormal psychology?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is normal psychology? Most people consider one to be normal if they seem to have no problems physically or mentally. Are you O.K. the way you are? Should you be different? Most of us tend to roles that are acceptable behavior in society. Society expects us all to play certain roles. Health and science guide says that normality is only questioned when there is a conflict between roles. Why do we conform to these roles? We do it because in most societies, including ours, there are rewards for conformity. People tend to treat us with respect when we play roles that others are comfortable with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is abnormal psychology? I think it could be the study of mental illness as some journals stated. Overall it’s the study of mental illnesses and of how people with mental illnesses can be treated. Stated in Health and Science guide mental illness is a much-debated topic in the world of psychology to which a lot of research is still needed. Problems usually come up when people try to define what is normal. Sigmund Freud was considered to be the father of Psychoanalysis, said there was no such thing as a normal person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mental illness is considered to be an illness of the mind, which makes it difficult for people to carry out a normal, productive lifestyle. Mental illnesses range from depression to schizophrenia (a very serious mind disorder). It is important to remember that people with such disorders ate stricken with an illness. They have no more control over their illness than when a person gets flu or a cold. When I am sick with a fever or flu I would either try or treat with an over the counter product or go to a doctor. A person with a mental disorder may go to a medical doctor, or to a psychiatrist (a medical doctor who specializes in treating mental problems through therapy and medication) or to a psychologist (who is not a... ...cts the other. Thatcher stated that â€Å"we often manifest emotional disturbances through out bodies.† He says that 20 to 40 percent of patients seen by a typical family practitioner involve mental illness. Its important that we try to destigmatize mental illness and get people the help we now have available.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Treatment options for those with emotional, behavioral and mental difficulties include psychotherapy, drug therapy, and a combination of drugs and psychotherapy. Some patients require more supportive psychotherapy, in which the therapist makes suggestions and offers direction, educating the patient about his illness and how it affects his everyday interpersonal interactions, relationships and job.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my research of what is normal and abnormal psychology, I have learned that behavior affects the way society perceives you rather you think your normal or abnormal. That everyone suffers from some type of mental illness whether it’s a problem you are dealing with or how you feel. It may not be long term but when you are suffering with that problem there is a slight chance that you can be considered mentally ill at that time.

Jerusalem Art Essay

Art involving Jerusalem is very controversial. One has to place into context the fact that Jerusalem is a significant city for three major religions—Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Having one city be so significant leads to both the creation of conflict and beauty. There is conflict in the sense of war and destruction, and beauty in the sense of art on the subject. The three pieces of art this writer selected were all twentieth century pieces, but all show significant scenes, buildings or represent significant Psalms in the life of Jerusalem. Because of Jerusalem’s historical significance, this writer has chosen a piece of Islamic art that depicts the old city of Jerusalem, a piece of Jewish art that represents the Psalms, and a piece of Christian art that depicts the triumphal entry and some of the significant events of Holy Week, which is the final week of Christ’s life. The first piece of art is an Arab work that shows the old city of Jerusalem. In the painting, one sees a blue-gray sky that overlooks a sandstone colored city. There is a partial wall surrounding the city, and there appears to be two large prayer towers in the background. There are also some people, men, in the picture, looking towards the city and in a couple of cases walking towards that spiritual city. The city appears to be old, but not ancient, which means this is probably dated somewhere around the Crusades. Though this is a contemporary piece, the artist has chosen to depict Jerusalem at its height in Muslim hands. This painting probably represents Jerusalem during the Crusades. This piece would be very inspiring to Muslims, as it shows the city as theirs. It also gives them an image to look to when contemplating their own religious heritage. This brings us to the point of religious iconography and the Islamic faith. Religious iconography does not play as significant a role in Muslim religious life than in other religions. This is due in part to their trepidation about displaying the human form in a religious setting. This writer feels that this piece could be taken a number of different ways depending on the perspective, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew. For Muslims if would take them back to a time of Muslim supremacy, when they â€Å"owned† one of the most important cities in their religion. Jerusalem is a significant city for the Muslims. According to various scholars, Jerusalem is significant because it is believed it is the city from which Muhammad rose to heaven. It is also significant because some of Islam’s most significant prophets (Abraham and Jesus) preached and taught. It is also a place to which Muhammad made an historic night pilgrimage. For Christians and Jews, it would be a solemn reminder that there was a time when Christians and Jews lost their most holy city to a people they deemed â€Å"infidels†. It would bring about a profound sense of sadness and loss and might inspire a fighting spirit in Jews and Christians to reclaim their city. Over the years, the passions the Muslims have over Jerusalem have become inflamed to the point of outright violence. The attitudes have only gotten more intense and more inflexible towards the Holy City. This writer feels that the times have only served to strengthen the resolve of Muslims to reclaim the city that they perceive as theirs. Emotionally, the tensions in the region have made Muslims even more determined to control the city completely. As significant as Jerusalem is to Muslims, it also has a supreme significance to Jews. Jews actually fee as if the city belongs to them and was bequeathed to them by God thousands of years ago. It is so significant that dozens of Psalms were written about the city. One of the Psalms is 125, which says in part, â€Å"[a]s the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever (verse 2). † In this painting by Irv Davis, one sees an encapsulated city of Jerusalem surrounded by grey mountains. The city is cream, almost white, and it is implied that the city is made of marble. The sky is blue and the sun is shining, adding to the shine on the city. One can imply that the encapsulation is the spirit of God surrounding the city and protecting it from outsiders and enemies. The contrasts are very sharp, the darkness of the mountains are contrasted with the whiteness and purity of the city. This obviously represents a very young Jerusalem. This also represents a time when the Jews were extremely fervent about their faith and wished to follow the Lord and seek his will. This picture represents a Jerusalem on the rise. It is also a bit on the allegorical side, with the young city representing a young faith. The newness of the city represents the fervency of the believers. They wish to follow the Lord and, as with anything new, the new city represents a new faith. This piece of art could be taken by the three groups in different ways. For Jews, it represents a time in their history when they had a true passion for God and would write songs of praise to the Lord using their most holy city as an inspiration. For Muslims, it would be a dour reminder that a region and city of the world they felt they originally owned had been forcibly removed from their possession and would remain in control of another group for several thousand years. They would also bemoan the fact that a new faith system would be replacing the polytheism that had dominated the region in the years prior to the Jewish takeover. Jews view the city of Jerusalem with as many passions and emotions as the Muslims. They see it as one of the most significant cities of their faith, and as such, wish to reclaim it as a purely Judeo-Christian city. The emotions of the Jews towards the city have always been strong, but over time, have waxed and waned, leading to the times that we have now where the Jews are fighting as passionately for the city as their Muslim counterparts. Both groups have legitimate religious and traditional claims to the city, yet either refuses to give in and relent towards their passions for the city. They each want the city, and are willing to do just about anything to get and maintain control over it. Christians have a whole other unique perspective on the city of Jerusalem. Before we can discuss the artistic expression of the selected artwork, it bears discussing the cultural ties that bind Christians to the city of Jerusalem. Christians view the city as very important because not only did Jesus make his triumphal entry into the city during Holy Week, but also taught in the region. Additionally, the apostles taught in the region and it was from the city of Jerusalem that Christianity was established in the form of Christ’s death and resurrection. The piece of art that was selected was some hand painted tiles from Jerusalem that show scenes from the triumphal entry and major scenes from Holy Week. The tiles are well-painted and detailed. Though they are also twentieth century, the story they tell condenses the entire story of Christianity in four small tiles. They are done in yellows, blues, white, black, and red. These tiles show an older, wiser Jerusalem. There is an overall sadness to the scenes, when one places the tiles in the context of the Bible, one can find that there is indeed a sadness, but at the same time a joy in the scene being depicted. It is ironic that death represents life and birth, but that is indeed what this scene and this depiction of Jerusalem shows. For Christians, Jerusalem represents the birth of their religion and the new life that is promised from the rising from the dead of Christ. Though there may be other cities that are significant in Christendom, for Christians, the events that transpired the week of Holy Week in Jerusalem are what assured the promises made in all the other cities. This piece of art could be taken by the three religions in different ways. For Christians, obviously, there is an association with the outright birth of the religion. The death that occurred outside Jerusalem represented the birth of a whole new belief system. For Jews, while the beliefs of Christian might be unusual, would see Christians as having as legitimate a claim to the city as they do, since they feel that the two groups worship the same God. For Muslims, the scenes simply show significant scenes in the life of a major prophet of their faith. They may view the Christian’s claims towards the city as interesting, but not as significant nor as important as their own claim towards the city. Christian attitudes towards the city have always been passionate, and they actually fought seven crusades that were specifically designed to take back the city from the Muslims. While they were not successful for long in keeping the Muslims out, they were able to develop a life of â€Å"peaceful coexistence† with the Muslims. Christians traditionally have supported the Jewish claim towards the city, as evidenced in the fact that we actively support the mission of Israel today. Christian passions have always been high for the city, but they have cooled over time, and we no longer actively seek to crusade against those we perceive as infidels. Christians now instead seek peaceful coexistence with other groups, but especially the Muslims. Christians are a pragmatic people that see the realities of the situation and only seek to have the best possible outcomes for all the parties. As one can see from the above statements, Jerusalem holds a special place in the hearts of all three religions. While it has inflamed passions, it has also inspired Psalmists and believers for centuries. We should seek understanding of the situations that create the passions and instead of seeming to remain in a state of constant conflict. We should view Jerusalem as a source of inspiration and not as a source of contention. The world’s three largest religions each have legitimate claims to the city and each needs to give up something in order to get access to the one city that they all deem to be the most important in their religion. The city is a true test of negotiation and faith, and as such should remain a source of inspiration. Bibliography about. com, â€Å"Painting of Jerusalem Psalms. † Judaism. 2000. 19 Apr 2009 . (picture URL) about. com, â€Å"Painting of Jerusalem Psalms. † Judaism. 2000. 26 Apr 2009 . â€Å"Arab Art Gallery. † Arab Art Gallery. 2004. 19 Apr 2009 . â€Å"Easter Gift-Holy Easter Week. † Jerusalem Pottery. 2009. 19 Apr 2009 . â€Å"Importance of Jerusalem in Judaism and Israeli History. † 2005. zionism-israel. com. 23 Apr 2009 . â€Å"Memorandum of their Beatitudes the Patriarchs and of the Heads of the Christian Communities in Jerusalem on the Significance of Jerusalem for Christians. † al-bushra. org. 14, Nov 1994. 23 Apr 2009 . Procon. org, â€Å"What is the Significance of Jerusalem for Muslims. † 21 May 2008. procon. org. 26 Apr 2009 .

Blue Nile Study Questions

Marking Scheme Mid Semester Exams Lecturers: Anthony Oboe Spool and Robert Amok-LIndsay Section A (40 Marks) Provide Short and concise answers 1 Explain the term sustainable competitive advantage and why it is so Important to a winning business strategy. (5 marks) Suggested Answer A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when an attractive number or buyers prefer its products/services over those of rivals and when the basis for this preference can be maintained over time.Competitive advantage could stem from offering lower prices than competitors for equivalent benefits or providing unique benefits that more than offset a higher price. (3 marks) Sustainable competitive advantage is necessary for a firm to win in the market place. It is required for a strategy to deliver on strategic and financial objectives (2 marks) 2. Using examples briefly explain and state the Importance of each of the following a) Strategic vision Strategic vision represents the destination that mana gement seeks to take a firm.Ford's vision â€Å"A car in every garage† Importance Give the organization a sense of direction Inform company personnel and other stakeholders what management wants Its business to look like Spur company personnel to action Provide managers with a reference point to (2. 5 marks for explanation and any 2 points mentioned as importance of strategic vision) b) Strategic mission Strategic mission of a firm focuses on its present business purpose. Strategic mission highlight the present products and services, types of customers served and how it intends to do that.Examples Beacon Books: â€Å"To inspire and equip business executives and entrepreneurs with essential information and knowledge they require for professional and personal growth† Google: â€Å"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful† Importance: It focuses the business by identifying the boundaries of the current business It distinguis hes a firm from others and gives it an identity of its own. (2. 5 marks) (5 marks) 3. Explain the meaning and significance of each of the following: a. Strategic group mapping A strategic group is a cluster of firms in an industry with similar competitive approaches and market positions. Strategic group mapping entails plotting firms in n industry on a two-variable map using pairs of these differentiating characteristics e. G. Product line breadth, distribution channel use, geographic coverage, price, quality etc. It helps firms to know their positions in the industry versus their rivals It helps firms to know which competitors to focus on in their quest to make strategic moves It helps them to know which positions in the market or industry are attractive to players in the market. 2. 5 marks for explanation of strategic group mapping and any of the above points mentioned) b. ) The bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers defines the extent to which suppliers of in puts to competing firms in an industry are able to dictate the price, quality, quantity and even timing of supplies to these firms. The bargaining power of suppliers has an impact on the cost, profitability and a firm's ability to satisfy its customers and for that matter its competitiveness. Powerful 4.Identify and briefly explain any two of the factors that influence the strength or intensity of competitive rivalry among an industry member firms. (5 marks) Factors Competitors are active in making fresh moves to improve market standing and easiness performance Slow market growth Number of rivals increases and rivals are of equal size and competitive capability Buyer costs to switch brands are low Industry conditions tempt rivals to use price cuts or other competitive weapons to boost volume e. . Perishable or seasonal A successful strategic move carries a big payoff Outsiders acquire weak firms in the industry and use their resources to transform new firms into major market contend ers (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and explained) 5†¦ Identify and briefly explain any two factors that lead to strong bargaining power on the part of suppliers. (5 marks)Industry members incur high costs in switching their purchases to alternative suppliers Needed inputs are in short supply Supplier provides a differentiated input that enhances the quality of performance of sellers' products or is a valuable part of sellers' production process There are only a few suppliers of a specific input Some suppliers threaten to integrate forward (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and explained) strength and leverage of buyers. 5 marks) Buyer switching costs to competing brands or substitutes are low Buyers are large and can demand concessions Large-volume purchases by buyers are important to sellers Buyer demand is weak or declining Only a few buyers exists Identity of buyer adds prestige to seller's list of customers Quantity and quality of infor mation available to buyers improves Buyers have ability to postpone purchases until later Buyers threaten to integrate backward (5 marks for any two of the above factors mentioned and discussed) 7.Using examples explain the difference between a core competence, and a distinctive competence. A core competence is a well-performed internal activity central to a company's competitiveness and profitability. It tends to relate to a firm's ability to perform activities that are critical for success in an industry e. G. A better after-sale service capability A distinctive competence is a competitively valuable activity a company performs better than its rivals.For example Toast's low cost, high quality manufacturing of automobiles â€Å"Lean Production† is far superior to that of other automakers, (5 marks for explanation and establishing the difference between core competence and distinctive competence) 8. What is benchmarking and why is it a strategically important analytical tool? (5 marks) Benchmark focuses on cross-company comparisons of how certain activities are reformed and costs associated with these activities. It looks at things such as purchase of materials, management of inventories, getting new products to the market and so on. 2 marks) Identify best and most efficient means of performing various value chain activities Learn what is the best way to perform a particular activity from those companies who have demonstrated that they are â€Å"best-in-industry' or â€Å"best-in-world† at performing the activity Learn what other firms do to perform an activity at lower cost Figure out what actions to take to improve a company's own cost competitiveness (3 marks for NY 2 points identified and explained) Section B (80 marks 1 . Analyze the competitive forces confronting Blue Nile and other online retail jeweler's.Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. State the relative strength of each competitive force. Below is a representative five -forces model of competition for the online Jewelry business: Rivalry among online Jeweler's?a moderate to strong competitive force that is likely to intensify in the years ahead. Students should conclude that rivalry among Blue Nile and other online Jeweler's is normal to moderate, but it is likely to grow ore intense (owing to the success that Blue Nile is enjoying).Rivalry is centered on such factors as Price and value delivered to customers Selection and breadth/variety of product offerings Ability to customize and customization options The caliber and trustworthiness of the information/guidance provided to online shoppers (educational information, in-depth product information, access to professional grading reports, and so on) Image/reputation Customer service User friendliness of web site?search functionality, ease of browsing through all the selections, finding and understanding the information provided, etc.Refund and return policies Advertising and promotion?Much of the adv ertising/promotion is being done online, but the online Jewelry business is not one that is a heavy user of TV, radio, and newspaper advertising on a regular basis. Word-of-mouth is a fairly big factor Most online Jewelry competitors pursued either a differentiation strategy to try to set themselves apart or else tried to attract shoppers via the appeal of very low prices (which entailed employing a low-cost strategy).Some rivals focused their efforts narrowly on particular Jewelry items/product categories while others had broad reduce lines. Several factors were working to affect rivalry among industry participants: All rivals seem to be actively and busily trying to attract Jewelry shoppers to their websites, partly via online advertising and promotional initiatives (including search engine listings)?fresh strategic initiatives on the part of various rivals heightens rivalry. Low switching costs on the part of buyers?it is simple for people shopping for jewelry online to locate an d visit competitor web sites.Rivalry decreases when the rate of market growth rises?sales of Jewelry online seem o be growing briskly (with the sales increases coming at the expense of brick-and mortar Jewelry retailers). There is reason to suspect that the online Jewelry segment of the overall retail Jewelry industry is in its infancy (an emerging business or industry in its own right); hence, online sales of Jewelry are likely to grow faster than sales of Jewelry in general?a condition which will act to contain rivalry among online jeweler's.Rivalry increases when one or more rivals are dissatisfied with their market position and launch moves to bolster their standing at the expense of rivals. A case can be Dade that Blue Nile and most all of its online rivals are â€Å"dissatisfied† and thus are likely to make further moves to bolster their market standing, image, and sales. Rivalry increases as the product offerings of rivals become more standardized? many of the online J eweler's seems to be offering shopper many of the same things? wide selection, customization, educational information, access to grading reports, and so on.We see the differentiation among online Jewelry rivals as growing smaller/ weaker, not larger/stronger?with the possible exception of reputation/image, where Blue Nile seems to be the standout leader. Threat of entry?a moderate to strong competitive force Blue Niles success and growing reputation will almost certainly draw more competitors into online Jewelry sales. The barriers to entry into the online segment of the Jewelry industry are moderately The costs of developing a Web site.Developing supply chain relationships Developing order fulfillment capability and achieving short delivery times Expenditures for advertising and promotion needed to draw visitors to a web site and build a trustworthy reputation/image. In addition, students should see that the pool of entry candidates is probably fairly rage?especially for brick-and- mortar retailers already in the Jewelry business. Hence, the entry threat in upcoming years should be viewed as fairly strong. There would seem to be ample opportunity for new entrants to gain a market foothold and to achieve a level of sales high to be profitable.But the longer a company delays entry, the harder it will be to compete effectively against online Jeweler's like Blue Nile that have built a clientele and that have formidable images/reputations. Competition from substitute sellers of Jewelry?a very strong competitive force. Obviously, Jewelry shoppers have many other options for buying Jewelry than from online retailers. Traditional brick-and-mortar Jewelry retailers have the lion's share of the market and currently are the retailers of choice for the big majority of Jewelry shoppers. Hence, the competition that online Jeweler's face from other Jewelry retailers is quite formidable.In addition, there are hordes of possible substitutes for Jewelry altogether (but most peo ple are unlikely to see these alternatives as good substitutes). Consequently, students should conclude that substitutes for buying Jewelry online re a strong competitive force, given that Acceptable substitute sources for purchasing Jewelry are readily available and the prices charged by some of these substitute types of Jeweler's are reasonably competitive Buyer costs to switch to substitute types of Jewelry retailers are relatively low Many consumers are familiar with and comfortable with buying Jewelry from other than online Jewelry retailers.The bargaining power and leverage of suppliers to the online Jewelry retailers and jeweler-supplier collaboration?a moderately strong competitive force, especially as encores the suppliers of diamonds/gems and other Jewelry items. Students should recognize that the suppliers of gems/diamonds/]leery items have considerable bargaining power and leverage in determining the prices and terms at which they will supply their products.Yes, there ar e many alternative suppliers, and it would seem relatively easy for a it is doubtful that suppliers compete aggressively with one another on price?in other words, switching suppliers is unlikely to lead to acquiring a particular gem of particular quality at a lower price.There is no evidence in the case that suppliers of monads/gems compete with one another on the basis of price (indeed, with the exception of Blue Nile and other online Jeweler's, there is little evidence that price competition is active in the market for fine Jewelry?that is, rival Jeweler's are not aggressively trying to compete with one another by selling a diamond of given cut, clarity, grade, etc. At a lower price than their rivals). Blue Niles lower prices stem from its lower costs of doing business, not from the fact that it obtains diamonds/ gems at lower prices than do traditional retail Jeweler's.What is important for students to recognize here is that Blue Niles close elaboration with its diamond/gem suppl iers has resulted in giving it a lower cost value chain as compared to traditional Main Street Jeweler's. The distinctive feature of Blue Niles supply chain was its arrangements with leading diamond and gem suppliers that allowed it to display the suppliers' diamonds and gems on its web site; some of these arrangement entailed multi-year agreements whereby designated diamonds of the suppliers were offered to online consumers only at Blue Niles websites.Blue Niles suppliers represented more than half of the total supply of high-quality diamonds in the U. S. Blue Nile did not actually purchase a diamond or gem from these suppliers until an order was placed by a customer; this enabled Blue Nile to minimize the costs associated with carrying large inventories and limited its risk of potential mark-downs. Other online Jeweler's seem to have similar collaborative arrangements with their diamond/gem suppliers.These collaborative arrangements offer a sizable cost advantage over Main Street Jeweler's?these cost- saving arrangements put added competitive pressure on traditional local Jeweler's because such collaboration (and the resulting lower cost business model) puts them t a cost disadvantage. The bargaining power and leverage of Jewelry shoppers?a weak competitive force Individuals have little power to bargain for a lower price on the Jewelry items they are looking to purchase (except perhaps in the case of very expensive items where some price haggling is often fairly normal).Individuals can, of course, choose to buy or not buy at the marked price but no one individual is usually in a position to enter into direct negotiations over the terms and conditions under which he or she will purchase a diamond ring or other Jewelry item from an online retailer. Any individual an certainly opt to buy from one retailer rather than another, but this does not equate to bargaining and exerting leverage.Conclusions concerning the overall strength of competitive forces: Competiti ve pressures in online Jewelry retailing are strong but not overwhelming so (the best evidence for this is Blue Niles record of attracting new customers and growing its sales at a rapid clip?a convincing sign that it is able to successfully contend with the prevailing competitive forces). Currently, we see competition from substitute types of forces.The entry of new competitors could also prove to be significant, if one or more f the new entrants have a well-recognized and trusted brand name and if such entrants opt to price their products competitively versus the prices charged by Blue Nile. Moreover, while competition is fairly strong, it is not so strong as to prevent companies like Blue Nile from being profitable. The online Jewelry retailing portion of the Jewelry industry is rather attractive from the standpoint of promising growth and attractive long-term profitability?Blue Nile is demonstrating that its business model and strategy are quite attractive.This is the big reason why new entry can be expected. But online sales of fine Jewelry is likely to remain a relatively small fraction of total sales of fine Jewelry for years to come?traditional brick-and-mortar local jeweler's are not going to be driven out of business by online Jeweler's in the foreseeable future. (5 Marks for each point well discussed with the appropriate verdict or conclusion on each competitive force) 2. Do a SOOT analysis of Blue Nile. What are key conclusions you can draw about the its situation?Blue Niles Resource Strengths and Competitive Assets the current market leader in the online retail Jewelry segment by a wide margin AAA teeter known brand name and reputation than rivals AAA first-rate strategy and business model AAA broad and attractive product line from customers to choose from AAA user-friendly web site with good search functionality and very good educational information A sizable and competitively potent cost advantage over traditional local Jewelry stores due to lean operating costs and a cost-effective supply chain Its collaborative partnership arrangements with important diamond/gem suppliers Good product customization and order fulfillment capabilities (core competencies) Blue Niles ability o grow sales with very little incremental capital investment Blue Niles Resource Weaknesses and Competitive Liabilities Limited brand name recognition?many shoppers for fine Jewelry have never heard of Blue Nile Limited financial resources relative to bigger and better-known retail Jewelry chains There is nothing proprietary about Blue Niles strategy and business model?both are subject to imitation by rivals Market Opportunities Geographic expansion?entry into the markets of foreign countries Lots of room to grow the business by attracting customers away from traditional local Jewelry stores in the U. S. ?Blue Nile still has such a relatively small market share of the total market for fine Jewelry in the U. S. That it can continue to employ its current st rategy for many years. The more that the word spreads about Blue Niles attractive prices and quality the more it stands to steal away customers from traditional local Jeweler's.Product line expansion External Threats to Blue Niles Future Well-Being The entry of more online Jewelry rivals that opt to employ much the same strategy and business model?especially if these new entrants should be retailers that have a brand name that is more widely recognized and trusted than Blue Niles. Diamond/ gem suppliers either become less willing for Blue Nile to display their inventories on Blue Niles web site or decide not to renew their multi-year agreements with Blue Nile whereby certain designated diamonds in their inventories are offered to online consumers only at Blue Niles websites. (Blue Niles suppliers represented more than half of the total supply of high-quality diamonds in the U. S. Untold numbers of people shopping for fine Jewelry are very leery of buying fine Jewel online and thus a re not likely to ever be customers of Blue Nile Key Pointed and Conclusions Blue Niles strategy, business model, resource strengths, and competitive capabilities put it in a very strong market position to succeed in the online retail Jewelry business in the upcoming years?it is easy to understand why the company has been extremely successful in growing its sales over the past several years. Blue Nile would seem to have a sustainable cost advantage over traditional brick-and mortar retailers of fine Jewelry. Blue Nile has no resource weaknesses that make it highly vulnerable to competitive attack from local Jeweler's.

Angst in London essays

Angst in London essays The understanding of experienced pain has recently moved from the biological to the metaphorical. Detailed interviews with twelve Turkish and Kurdish patients in London who had been unsuccessfully investigated medically for chronic pain showed that their understanding reflected local, typically humoural, conceptions of self and body. However there was little to suggest interpretation of the illness as a more specific and grounded idiom for social or political experience. It is suggested that the current vogue for 'interpretation' in medical anthropology and social psychiatry may occasionally be, as Umberto Eco puts it, INTRODUCTION It is common in cultural and historical theorising to attribute changing social patterns to some 'deeper' transformation of self or society, such that fashionable hemlines or illnesses represent changing class relations, gender roles, social crises, or whatever (Littlewood, 1997). At its most sophisticated, this logic presumes an affinity between a wider social patterning and its individual cultural manifestation as an illness (eg. Kenny, 1980); sicknesses are taken as characteristic of their age or of shared social What actually constitutes a plausible interpretation of this sort is none too clear, and historians and social scientists rely on a number of rather different procedures (Littlewood, 1997): an identified similarity between illness experience and the presumed state of other individuals undergoing the same social experiences (the illness as a reified exaggeration of the everyday), a formal equivalence between an individual and the society which experiences change (the individual as an analogue of the body politic), an expressed interpretation given by the sick individual themselves (local motivation or exegesis) or a more tenuous connection ...

Contrast Moralist and Causalist approaches to the Ethics of Torture Essay Example

Contrast Moralist and Causalist approaches to the Ethics of Torture Essay Example Contrast Moralist and Causalist approaches to the Ethics of Torture Paper Contrast Moralist and Causalist approaches to the Ethics of Torture Paper Torture can be traditionally defined as the imposition of physical suffering upon others through violence, for various reasons usually pertaining to the extraction of information or confession of guilt, but possibly simply for the pleasure of being cruel1 Torture is more commonly known and used as a tool of power2. Torture in most cultures is prohibited as no human deserves the pain and punishment associated; each philosophy though as a different analysis of torture and to what extent torture can be used. A brief history of torture is found that primitive man used to follow instincts and killed his enemy, but archaeologists have found no evidence of torture1, man survived for thousands of years without inflicting torture, only in the last few thousands of years it has become a weapon of state. So why did we start using torture and when are we going to stop? Moralism is the philosophy of adherence to morality, it stresses the importance of the value of an act resides in the act itself. Moralists rather frame terms and actions with a universal humanist ethic3. A Moralist is also known as a Kantian; Kantianism originated from a German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Causalist theories are defined as focusing not on the act but the consequences, also the belief that the value of a thing depends on its utility; greatest number3, which is also known as Utilitarianism. Both Moralist and Causalist theories hold importance of ethics in torture. The moralist approach of ethics argues that torture it self is evil, while the causalist theory shows that the consequences of the act is where the concern lies. Why is torture wrong? Moralists would debate that its the denial of a non-figurative primary right to dignity which they seek to up hold as the centre point in this matter and not the pain and agony the victims were subject too4, Causalism sees things differently as its the suffering and aches of the victims and their families that make the torment of torture wrong, not so much the denial of an abstract fundamental entitlement to dignity but the actual physical and emotional pain that the sufferer was inflicted with. Moralism and Causalism contrast each others ethics through their interpretation of torture, both theories give valid points to justify their responses to why torture is wrong. Is torture universally wrong? Torture is not permitted and is clearly stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. This clearly displays that torture is unsuitable for anyone anywhere and still to this day it is happening in so many places. From a moralist view torture is always prohibited regardless the reason, as in true Kantian style ends must never justify means4. Therefore torture or harsh punishment is proscribed as a moralist, in comparison Causalism proposes that it is POSSIBLE for situations in which torture as a last resort may be inflicted and a necessity to serve justice or for informational reasons. Both Moralist and Causalist theories display sound evidence to the ethical question of torture being universally wrong. The last question relates to the nature and temperament of the torturer. A causalist may say that the torturer is a malevolent person but may also add that a persons character is distinct and responsible as much by omission (observer in charge) as by the torturer or actor. An omission to perform an act, even one as evil as torture, might be as wrong as committing the act itself if the consequences of a failure to carry out the torture result in greater harm to others5, however a rudimentary moralist would dismiss that the torturer would have to be intrinsically evil to commit some horrific and devastating acts. Therefore these two responses to the question are both correct in that both theories hold valid evidence to support their ethics. Moralistic and Causalistic views on the ethics of torture are slightly similar but different however they both hold importance in the ethical issue of torture. The Causalist shows us that there are circumstances where torture as a last resort maybe used but overall they are completely against these immoral acts of punishment. A Moralistic view determines that under NO circumstances can torture be administered onto another human being, it is inhuman and isnt even considered an option. Now understanding more about the Moralistic and Causalist theories, can the use of torture ever be justified?

6 Tips for Briefing your Book Designer

6 Tips for Briefing your Book Designer 6 Tips for Briefing your Book Designer Last week, we revealed through a survey on social networks how much importance indie authors place on working with a professional book designer for their covers. After all, big part of the what makes self-publishing so attractive is that authors retain all creative freedom over their work. This means it is up to you, and you only, to choose your cover designer and brief them properly.As in any other creative business relationship, the briefing process is the most important part of the collaboration. A good brief will save you and your book designer both time and money. To help you refine your future design briefs, we’ve asked some of our brilliant designers on Reedsy what their main advice is for authors. Here are their answers!1- Know your audienceYour cover design will be your most powerful marketing tool. It will influence your discoverability as well as your buyer-to-reader conversion. Therefore, it must follow the #1 rule in marketing: know your target market and focus on them.â€Å"Different colors and fonts appeal to different readers. Different genres have different looks that you would want to utilize in your cover. Marketing to everyone is the same thing as marketing to no one. Your cover design should be a marketing tool to find readers who will like your book†. - Ellie Bockert Augsburger2. Give the designer an idea of your tastes and expectations 6. CommunicateThis might sound obvious, but communication is the best way to speed up the process and make sure you end up with the perfect book cover. This doesn’t just mean briefing your book designer accordingly, it also means staying in touch, giving feedback on the early comps and sharing ideas as they come along.â€Å"The #1 way to avoid miscommunications in the design process is to speak in person†, says designer Brian LaRossa. â€Å"If that is not an option- which is often the case- a video chat or phone call is still much better than an email.†If you don’t know much about the design process and are unsure about what your artist wants or needs, just follow the tips above and let them take the lead. After all, as Michael Kellner puts it: â€Å"experienced designers will know what questions to ask an author about their book: it’s subject, themes and spirit. It’s style, plot and characters. Where the story takes place, and so on.† If you trust your book designer, communication will be easy.Click the following links to learn more about professional book cover design, illustration, or book layout design on Reedsy.

Sampling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Sampling - Research Paper Example 8 - 4 Fine Gravel 4 - 2 0.00 Very Coarse Sand 2 - 1 0.42 Coarse Sand 1.0 - 0.5 12.13 Medium Sand 0.5 - 0.25 63.30 Fine Sand 0.25 - 0.125 21.73 Very Fine Sand 0.125 - 0.063 2.43 Slit/Clay Sample 3 has GI value of 1.8 and the figure for total pores space is 36.8 % approximately. Low GI = Good Drainage Distribution of Particle size and their category Category Diameter (mm) % retained Stones >8 Coarse Gravel 8 - 4 Fine Gravel 4 - 2 0.00 Very Coarse Sand 2 - 1 0.30 Coarse Sand 1.0 - 0.5 6.22 Medium Sand 0.5 - 0.25 84.22 Fine Sand 0.25 - 0.125 9.20 Very Fine Sand 0.125 - 0.063 0.06 Slit/Clay Sample 4 has GI value is 2.67 and the figure for total pores space is approximately 36.5. %. Low GI = Good Drainage Distribution of Particle size and their category Category Diameter (mm) % retained Stones >8 Coarse Gravel 8 - 4 Fine Gravel 4 - 2 0.00 Very Coarse Sand 2 - 1 0.42 Coarse Sand 1.0 - 0.5 1.18 Medium Sand 0.5 - 0.25 45.23 Fine Sand 0.25 - 0.125 51.36 Very Fine Sand 0.125 - 0.063 1.80 Slit/Clay Table 6: SIEVE APERTURE (mm) Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Example D90 1.10 0.55 0.45 0.4 1.1 D10 0.30 0.19 0.25 0.15 0.35 D50 0.60 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.59 D20 0.40 0.24 0.25 0.18 0.40 3.67 2.89 1.8 2.67 3.12 Porosity % 36 36.4 36.8 36.5 35.5 Conclusion 1. Percent Retained Sample 1 has a maximum percentage retention value of 58.04 under 0.5mm sieve aperture. Sample 2 has a maximum percentage retention value of 63.30 under 0.25mm sieve aperture. Sample 3 has a maximum percentage retention value of 84.22 under 0.25mm sieve aperture. Lastly, Sample 4 has a maximum percentage retention value of 51.36 under 0.125mm sieve aperture. The distribution of the sieve... Sample 1 has the lowest value of percentage passage under 0.25 to1mm sieve aperture. However, from out of the four samples when in 0.125mm, sample 3 got the lowest value of 0.06. It is also notable that under 0.25mm sieve aperture, sample 4 has still high value of percentage passing with a value of 53.17. Sample 1 contains 58.04 % of coarse sand, 13.47% of Very coarse sand, and 24.41% of Medium Sand. Sample 2 contains 63.30 % of Medium Sand, 12.13% of Coarse Sand and 21.73% of Fine Sand. Sample 3 in almost all of the samples were Medium Sand with percent retained value of 84.22%. Lastly, Sample 4 is a combination of Medium Sand, 45.23%, and Fine Sand, 51.36%. Based from the D10 values, Sample 1 has 0.30, sample 2 has 0.19, sample 3 has 0.25, and lastly, sample 4 has 0.15. All of the samples are in fine sand except for sample 1 which is classified as medium sand. This means that sample 1 has the higher hydraulic conductivity which means that there is more open area for the flow of water. It has been found out that the values of the Porosity % of the four samples were too close to each other as evidenced by the value of 36, 36.4, 36.8, and 36.5. It is notable that sample one has the lowest value of porosity which means that it has very small space for the water to pass through.

Market analysis for Childrens Parties Services in the UK Essay

Market analysis for Childrens Parties Services in the UK - Essay Example This paper illustrates that a family business works with creating children parties making it stress-free for her parents. At these parties, everything that the client feel is necessary is provided. These include party suppliers, cakes, children’s costumes, and entertainers. Daisy entertainments market is wide and deals with all kinds of organization and communities dealing with children. Whether it is a large corporate or community with special needs, daisy entertainment crew is capable of adapting its services to suit the client's needs of the children. The team, which forms Daisy Entertainers, is energetic, in-house talented fun loving, loves children hence reliable and enthusiastic. Daisy's entertainment has a unique and simple party planning known as a party in a box. Party in a box includes everything the client requires for their child’s party as suggested by Daisy entertainments. These include filled party bags, napkins, invitations, table covers foil, cups, plat es, banners, party hats and latex balloons. However, all these facilities depend on customer’s choice and are delivered to the door anywhere in the UK. There are also various children themes from which entertainment programs are chosen. They include Disney princess, Hannah Montana, Spiderman, and the Night Garden. Daisy’s entertainers provide a wide scope of entertainment activities such as puppets, face painting, balloon modeling, magic, plate spinning among other. This organization can over a variety of things ranging from fun and lively children entertainers to catering services, birthday cakes, decorations, themed goody bags and set up services. The party is usually planned within the client’s requirements and budget. Children character entertainer; all types of children character entertainers are available at Daisy's entertainment and it is upon the client to make choice. They include games, magic, music, and puppets. The charges for character entertainers are  £195 for every two hours of fun.

Human Skin Pigmentation As Adaptive Evolution Term Paper

Human Skin Pigmentation As Adaptive Evolution - Term Paper Example Skin hairlessness evolved due to the need for body heat loss from the skin surface through thermoregulation, especially under hot conditions or intense UV radiation (Jablionski 2012: 47). Thermoregulation increases skin hairlessness through evolution of epidermal cells, such as keratins and stratum corneum, which reduce the permeability of the skin and enhance resistance to abrasion and microbial attacks (Bruckner-Tuderman and Has 2014). There is high correlation between human skin pigmentation and UV radiation, whereby skin reflectance is more correlative in autumn than summer levels of UV radiation. The ability of the human skin to produce melanin helps in the adaptability to UV radiation, and thermoregulation. The adaptation of hominins, which lived in hot environments and intense radiation, was characterized by skin hair loss on exposed skin due to the necessity of heat loss for effective brain functioning for the primates. Primates had intense metabolism and brain activity, and hence the natural skin evolution and adaptability for effective heat loss (Jablionski 2012). Intense skin hair hinders thermoregulation and functionality of the eccrine sweat glands, and hence there is need for skin pigmentation to help in effective thermoregulation and controlled creation of vitamin D (Aranow 2011). Conclusion Body heat regulation is vital for any human or mammal and is highly influenced by skin pigmentation, skin hair, and environmental factors (Bruckner-Tuderman and Has 2014). The exposure to UV radiation is vital in the increment of vitamin D in the body that is vital for metabolism (Jablionski 2012).

Privacy is not the most important right Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Privacy is not the most important right - Essay Example There was very limited control in the society. However, modern institutions have developed controls that have raised very various privacy concerns. Privacy has become a matter of concern to many thinkers, law makers, human rights activists and other essential policy makers. Despite the significance of the right to privacy and the existing laws supporting it, government agencies, security departments and legislative authorities across the globe have engaged in laws and acts that violate the right to privacy as a basic principle that define human dignity. The guiding principle for security agencies in Britain is that security interests and ensuring stable human security is supersedes the basic right to privacy. The United Kingdom has overemphasized the protection of human security at the expense of the constitutional right to privacy. The installation of public surveillance cameras in major cities and towns in Britain is an example of a major violation of the fundamental right to privacy in the country. As a matter of fact, every individual has something to hide from the public, a fact that may be infringed by the installation of surveillance cameras. It is a universally acknowledged that people should not be allowed to hide under the guise of the right privacy to commit crimes and cause harm to law abiding members of the society. Proponents of this point of view hold that privacy is not one of the most fundamental human rights. Most scholars will concur with my position that, privacy defines comprehensively the right to be left alone and refrain from sharing an individual’s private information with other people. Some of the common issues that are catered for by privacy rights include: individual truths, private matters and issues, individual information as well as ones secrecy. The right to privacy is commonly popular and profound to free people. It offers a significant amount of

Investigating business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Investigating business - Assignment Example This paper seeks to investigate the Alton tower theme park, water park and hotel, otherwise called Alton Towers Resort. Given that the company seeks to move a branch to the Qatar, its SWOT analysis will be undertaken in view of making out its ability to sustain the move. Secondly, the research will constitute an external environmental analysis by use of the Qatar PESTLE analysis of the hotel industry. The swot analysis considers the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in an organization. In this case, the Alton Towers Resort has its own internal strengths as related to the external opportunities and threats. Given the resources at the resort, one of the strengths is that it has great experience in resort business that has run for the past one and a half centuries. Over the years, the company gained a lot of experience going by the way it responds to the changing market tastes and preferences (Altontowers, 2014, p. 2). The other Strength is that the place is renowned which gives it a world wide appeal. This attracts a very large number of revellers given its strong brand name and reputation. The other strength is that the company has a very wide collection of products and services. Over the years, the company has been inventing different new products of which the latest is the 2014 family area and there is additional live entertainment. The products range from tickets and prices, short breaks, rides and attractions, water parks, hotels and spa and other event offers. This is indicative of financial stability which is an added strength to the resort. One of the weaknesses of the company is that it has a very large work force. This issue is associated with the many services that the resort offers (theme park, Water Park and hotel), it is forced to employ a very large number of employees that highly contribute to use of its resources. This situation

Financial Managment IP 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Managment IP 1 - Essay Example The New York Stock Exchange houses many of the largest companies in the United States and trades around 1.5 billion shares each day across the United States and Europe. The companies listed on the stock exchange represent over seventy-five percent of the market share in the nation. Most of the trading is done on the floor of the exchange where specialists and floor traders provide related services. Specialists  are the workers who have the responsibility of matching interested buyers to sellers. Every specialist is responsible for certain shares. These specialists make sure that trading of the stocks and shares they are responsible for occurs in a fair, orderly, competitive, and efficient market. This ensures that all customers will have an equal and fair opportunity to buy shares while the seller receives the best possible price according to the market conditions present at that time. They also work to prevent any large and unjust fluctuations in the prices of the shares between c onsecutive sales. The floor traders are the people present on the floor of the stock exchange waving their hands and making gestures to make trades. These are the members of the NYSE who trade for their own account, however they can serve as floor brokers for buyers and sell their services. Lastly the NYSE uses a SuperDOT system through which the specialists handle orders from brokers that are not on the floor. The system enables brokers to send messages through a common message switch to the proper specialist’s trading-floor workplace. These specialists then handle the buying and selling of the selected shares and as they become available they send an acceptance using the same switch to the originating brokerage firms. The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations uses three separate processes for the buying and selling of shares. These include the interface, the matching engine and the quote services. The interface electronically connects the buyers an d sellers as they enter their trades with the brokers. These trades then come into the NASDAQ system through hundreds of computers. The quote services provides up-to-date minute price quotes through its computers. Brokers then use these quotes for the people they deal with. Lastly the matching engine connects the buyers and sellers when the prices they offer match. Once this is done information is sent to the brokers of the buyer and seller who then complete the transaction. This information can also be seen through the quote services facility by any person interested in the transaction. The process is not as simple as it seems because numerous transactions take place simultaneously, therefore thousands of computers and brokers are needed to complete every transaction. Both the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations sell shares of the companies listed on their exchanges. These organizations use brokers which help in connecting buyers and sellers. There is increase in the use of machines as both organizations have a highly developed computer system which speeds up the trading process and aids the buyer and seller to negotiate. However as the name suggests NASDAQ is run mainly by machines where the interface connects the customers with each other and the matching engine finds suitable trades. On the other hand NYSE is still labour-oriented

Investigating business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Investigating business - Assignment Example This paper seeks to investigate the Alton tower theme park, water park and hotel, otherwise called Alton Towers Resort. Given that the company seeks to move a branch to the Qatar, its SWOT analysis will be undertaken in view of making out its ability to sustain the move. Secondly, the research will constitute an external environmental analysis by use of the Qatar PESTLE analysis of the hotel industry. The swot analysis considers the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in an organization. In this case, the Alton Towers Resort has its own internal strengths as related to the external opportunities and threats. Given the resources at the resort, one of the strengths is that it has great experience in resort business that has run for the past one and a half centuries. Over the years, the company gained a lot of experience going by the way it responds to the changing market tastes and preferences (Altontowers, 2014, p. 2). The other Strength is that the place is renowned which gives it a world wide appeal. This attracts a very large number of revellers given its strong brand name and reputation. The other strength is that the company has a very wide collection of products and services. Over the years, the company has been inventing different new products of which the latest is the 2014 family area and there is additional live entertainment. The products range from tickets and prices, short breaks, rides and attractions, water parks, hotels and spa and other event offers. This is indicative of financial stability which is an added strength to the resort. One of the weaknesses of the company is that it has a very large work force. This issue is associated with the many services that the resort offers (theme park, Water Park and hotel), it is forced to employ a very large number of employees that highly contribute to use of its resources. This situation

Week4 presentation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week4 presentation - Assignment Example There are various reasons why it took a long period for the American constitution to be amended from 1870 to 1913. However, the main reason was the fact that senators were elected by governors indirectly instead of being directly elected to the senate by the United States citizens. This slowed down the amendment process since senators enacted laws that benefited themselves and governors who had elected them to the senate instead of protecting the interest of the ordinary American citizen. This can be proved by the fact that amendments to the United States of America constitution practically began after the amendment in 1913 where power to elect the senate was left to the American citizens. One reform that took the Christian approach in the United States of America between the late 19th century and 20th century is the 18th amendment that was adopted in 1919. This was a law reform that banned the sale, consumption, buying, and importing alcoholic beverages. This reform took a Christian approach since alcohol made people behave in an unethical manner. The second reform that was based on the Christian approach was abortion, which was enacted in many states. Christianity also prohibits abortion hence such a reform was supported by most citizens. The 19th amendment that was adopted in 1920 in the United States of America is a good example of American reforms that took the socialistic approach. This amendment provided for the right of women to  vote in any election involving the government. This is considered a socialistic approach since it meant that women would vote for people who would fight for their needs in the legislature hence good governance. Another example of a reform that took a socialistic approach was the17th amendment that provided that senators would be elected by citizens from their state. This provided good governance since it meant that

The Characteristics Of Childrens Learning Styles

The Characteristics Of Childrens Learning Styles CHAPTER I The background and main characteristics of childrens learning style 1.1 The characteristic of teaching young learners The concept of learning is influenced by the psychological study of the learning process and is widely interpreted in the popular use. The psychological concept extends quite far and includes all parts of childrens development, from language acquisition to social roles and changes in their personality. Language teaching can be widely interpreted as all activities intended to facilitate and cause language learning. At the beginning of learning the new language, the learners knowledge has none or hardly any associations with the language, it is as an infant learning its first language. The lack of contact with the language and the lack of a safe reference system can give the learner an intellectual and emotional shock which can discourage from further learning. Thus, the task for the teacher is to overcome childrens disorientation which characterises the beginnings of learning, build up and associate a system of positive attitudes and feelings with the language: that is, being able to reply spontaneously and to think in the second language. In teaching of the second language, certain social strategy is also needed, so that children should feel a need of imitation and acquire the second language in the same way as their first one. (H.H. Stern Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching:397-400) Childrens world is based on games and having fun and the same should apply to their learning. Children should not be aware of learning, neither lexicon nor grammar, but the teacher can easily use these facts to teach the foreign language through games, stories and songs. In teachers work with young learners, it is important to teach them according to psychological and pedagogical rules. The amount of material which the learners can remember depends on teaching techniques and the way the material is drilled. It is important to remember that lack of stress in learning makes it more efficient and easier to use in real situations. What is more, only friendly attitude of the teacher towards a learner, teachers willingness for learning and using all methods of relaxation can protect a child from being discourages and shy in learning and using the foreign language. Any good associations with parts of the material can cause that vocabulary or grammar will be better and longer remembered. It is also important that childrens concentration span is quite short and it is crucial to use any procedures which can make the learner able to longer concentration. Student should be also involved and interested in the lesson (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 145-150). Childrens learning is based on imitation and having fun rather than on their awareness of learning. Imitation is the easiest way of introducing new vocabulary and its aim is to lead to correct articulation and intonation of sounds and their memorization. In teaching young learners, intonation exercises are especially useful because of childrens flexibility of larynx which disappears with time. In terms of imitation exercises, the teacher should pay attention to learners reactions determined by their age. Furthermore , the teacher should change the techniques of teaching to avoid learners getting bored (WoÃ… ºnicki, T./ Zawadzka, E. 1979: 60). Most activities for children should consist of movement and involve their senses. The teacher needs many objects, visuals and pictures to work with, and to create a possibility to use all of the schools surroundings. It is also important for the teacher to let the pupils play with the language, talk to themselves as much as it is possible, use songs, rhymes and tell stories. As a matter of fact, the teacher should let pupils talk even nonsense to enable them to experiment with the language. The basic principle in teaching a language is a variety of activities, pace, organisation, voice and face expressions. Nevertheless, routines in the classroom are also essential so that the children can know the rules, be able to use the mark system and complete tasks. Using familiar situations or activities creates the atmosphere of safety, especially for the shy learners. Another important criteria in making teaching a language efficient is the classroom atmosphere. During the lesson, there is s upposed to be room for shared experiences, group work, pair work; what is more, rewards and prizes should be avoided. It is much more useful for the teacher to make notes about each pupil regularly in case the teacher would like to inform the pupils parents about their progress (W. A. Scott Teaching English to Children:5-7). 1.2 Theory of language acquisition in the early age From around 1975, â€Å"language acquisition† is contrasted with language learning. The American applied linguist Krashen uses the word â€Å"acquisition† to describe learning of the second language which is analogous to the way in which a child learns â€Å"naturally† his or her first language and does not focus on the linguistic form. The disadvantage of Krashens terminology is that it is contrasted with psychological terms. Krashen differentiates between â€Å"acquisition† and â€Å"learning†, as learning for him is more or less conscious. It is a very valuable distinction but it implies a constraint on the use of the term â€Å"learning†, and frequently deliberately limits it to the school-like learning (H.H. Stern Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching: 18-20). In the light of an early start of language learning, Anderson claims that the way a person acquires mother tongue still remains a riddle. Between birth and the fifth year of life, children develop their ability to speak. Children in the first stage observe adults behaviour and any noises they produce. After some time, they start understand the meaning of such noises without seeing adults movements. The next step is imitation of sounds and (partially) a creation of their own ones. Consequently, children find out that they can control adults behaviour by making certain sounds. Lonnerberg mentions that only 10% of childrens utterings is like adults ones and that 90% of such utterings is their own language production. As far as it is concerned, childrens language acquisition is a dispute between an innate, individual parole and the langue created and used by the society (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 22-23). 1.2.1 A critical age for foreign language learning Regarding the age of the earliest acquisition and learning point as birth, the best moment to start teaching a child the second foreign language is the age of 4-5. This is because of childrens flexible larynx which allows for nearly ideal imitation of sounds and the most efficient brain which all together create a great opportunity for language acquisition. Nevertheless, only until the age of 12-13, children keep their flexibility and natural readiness for language acquisition. Lenneberg shows through extended case studies the stages of physiological maturity processes taking place in the brains hemispheres (especially the left one), which is dominant. What is more, if it happens that the left hemisphere is damaged before the age of 12-13, it is possible that the right hemisphere takes over the domination and speech problems can be reduced. In addition, after this age such a process is almost impossible (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 28-29). 1.2.2 Childrens second language acquisition The phenomenon of mother tongue acquisition is interesting for linguists, psychologists, neuropsychologists and even neurophysiologists. Furthermore, it is connected with natural bilingualism which occurs when a child learns, in a natural way, the second language. The process of the second language acquisition in natural conditions is quite similar to the first language acquisition or even identical. The only difference between those two is the fact that the second language is assimilated later and is based on experience and knowledge of the first one and, as a result, the whole process happens faster and more effectively (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 18). Chomsky(1964) claimed â€Å" it is a common observation that a young child of immigrant parents may learn a second language in the street, with amazing rapidity, and that this speech may be completely fluent and correct to the last allophone, while the subtleties that become second nature to the child may elude his parents despite motivation and continued practice† (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 8). The first international meeting connected with childrens acquisition and its use in teaching foreign languages took place in Hamburg in 1961. Participant tried to find out if it is right to introduce foreign languages in the primary schools, if it is true that children learn better than teenagers and adults and which techniques are supposed to be used in teaching them. After four years, the second meeting took place and the first answers were given. During many decades, lots of contrary opinions developed. As early as 1967, Corder points out: â€Å"It still remains to be shown that the process of learning second language is of fundamentally different nature from the process of primary acquisition†. On the other hand, in 1972, Moulton stresses that in teaching a foreign language to young children it is possible to adopt some methods and intuition procedures, used by a child during mother tongue acquisition, and weave them into learning of the foreign language (BrzeziÅ„ski 19 87: 8). 1.2.3 Factors of efficient language learning In 1960s, the matter of teaching a foreign language during the early age was a topic of many discussions. After the war, in many methodological books it was said that children can easily absorb, imitate and produce the new language. Learning of languages in the early age is connected with the habit of repeating words and sentences in a foreign language and acquisition of language material with the help of various memory techniques. The technique of frequent repetition of the material, as the main key to learning a language, is also supported by many psychologists such as Watson and Thorndike. In many psychological books, it is easy to find many completely different definitions of habit. According to â€Å"MaÅ‚y sÅ‚ownik psychologiczny†, habit is well-practised through numerous repetitions: actions which are done always in the same way and automatically. This definition can bring one to a wrong opinion that one should always react in the same way. Lado definites habit as fluency in using units and models of a particular language in answering while attention is not paid to units but to content. There are many more definitions of habit written by A. Szulc, Lompscher or Rubinsztejn, but all these definitions come down to the conclusion that the habit is way of mechanic, unconscious repetition and conscious production leading to the conscious process where consciousness is removed so long as the automatic element is eliminated. In this case, the fact that the process of repetition is the most important comes from the opinion of psychologists based on the theory that acquiring the mother tongue comes from the imitation of adults. There are also certain reasons directly influencing and shaping the process of learning and its efficiency:  · age - ­ after the age of 10, language acquisition ease diminishes. Childrens minds lose their flexibility and it is not that easy to acquire a language. Younger learners have better and more specific memory but have less ability to learn and need more repetitions. Children are more willing to imitate but have a very short concentration span. Their mechanical memory is better than that of the adults, and their short memory is more dynamic and more effective. The older the child, the more specific the way of learning is. Older children have their own range of memory, their long-term memory is more developed and more logic. They can focus more easily and have wider general knowledge. Being more mature, having better learning techniques and better motivation, the young and adults can easily make up this matters, which children can reach thanks to their imitating skills and more flexible minds.  · attitude in learning, there are many elements which have influence on better acquisition or learning, but attitude is one of the most important because it stimulates brain to better work and makes memory work more efficiently. What is more, the lack of motivation can cause that person who is not interested in the topic or in learning itself will not remember anything.  · previous experience connected with the material that has to be learned the more experience the learner has, the easier and more efficient learning is for him or her.  · material and content there are some units of material which are more difficult to understand or remember, for example, sentences which have lots of information. Also, the size of the material, the length of sentences, the kind of material (Passive Voice sentences are harder to remember and require longer time to learn than Active Voice sentences) significantly influence the effectiveness of the learning process.  · way of learning Humans use mechanical or logical memory while the logical one is more preferred and a part of material learned in a logical way is not only easier to reconstruct, but also stays longer in human memory. Certain researches show that talking in a foreign language is not only a simple reproduction of material that was learned. A learner should pay attention to very basic patterns which can be modified and updated with new vocabulary and structures. Mechanical memorising of sentences can be even a quite dangerous and tricky factor because certain language elements occur in a particular arrangement, in a way they were learned and drilled by exercises.  · number of exercises and repetitions Psychological research shows that the long term memory is extended in proportion to the learning time. What is more, overlearning is a very important element in the memorizing process. The higher the level of overlearning, the slower is the process of forgetting. Yet, the level of overlearning is reached individually after each learner performs a number of repetitions. At the same time, mindless repetitions cannot be treated as overlearning.  · time spent on learning It is important how long and how often repetitions and exercises are done. Frequent and short exercises are more efficient than rare and long ones (WoÃ… ºnicki, T./ Zawadzka, E. 1979: 30-40). 1.3 The characteristic of childrens memory Learning styles are various ways of learning. They involve education methods, characteristic for an individual, which are used by the individual to learn best. The alleged basis and efficacy for these proposals have been extensively criticized. Learning styles depend on individual preferences, and, according to Nail Fleming, such styles may be divided into four categories. The fist group is made of visual learners, who, as the term suggestsplies, receive most information visually. These learners have a tendency to do well at public schools because most of what they are taught is presented through visual teaching tools. They do well with visual aids like pictures. For visual learners, the easiest way to learn is watching and calling up visuals in their minds to remember what they studied in the past. They have a tendency toward appreciating arts: crafts, painting or drama. They tend to be creative and imaginative. The second group are auditory learnerswho tend to learn better through listening. They listen to instructions and follow them in such a way that they can gather large amounts of information and deal with it. Auditory learners are very good at listening to lectures and conversations for a longer time without getting bored. They are more concentrated than visual learners and may be more discerning and attentive in the class. They prefer to study with music in the background. These students may also be creative and imaginative. They are good at listening to information and reproducing it in their individual ways. Students with another style known as kinesthetic learning might be mistaken for too active in the classroom. They do not like waiting for information. They prefer to find things out for themselves without any prompts. They are the explorers who want to make new discoveries. They are quick to learn new things and do not mind being left on their own with a particular toy to find out how it works. They can be successful in practical tasks, such as carpentry and design. These children prefer doing rather than thinking. Homeschooling might be a better for these learners because regular classroom activities might not be interesting enough for them. The forth group consists of logical learners who think in a conceptual manner. They explore patterns and like to know how things work. They often ask questions and are good at puzzles, math problems, strategy games and computers. They understand abstract concepts faster than others. These students prefer inventing and building their own contraptions, for example, with toys (http://www.ehow.com/info_7881656_inventory-learning-styles-child.html#ixzz1MXMcJS9C). 1.3.1 Initial memorisation According to many researches, children have lots of problems when trying to remember and repeat parts of material or longer sentences. In a situation when a group of kindergarten children was asked to remember and repeat, they were passive and even did not take any action to do so. 8-year-old children are a slightly better and show some will to do what they were asked, although only the 10-year-old children and older pupils are able to deal with efficient memorization, data processing and are even able to organise new information to remember it better. According to this research, one can observe that at the beginning children can use only simple techniques and just after some time those techniques develop, become more complicated and fitted to individual preferences and styles. This fact is quite disturbing because during the very early school-years children are often required to remember mane, sometimes even complicated information like lyrics, grammar rules or definitions. On the o ther hand, children can easily learn their mother tongue, they widen their knowledge about society or nature quite fast. Children are often able to repeat the dialogue of their parents even if they seem not interested in it. In their first years, they are not aware of how their memory works. The flash memory term became very popular according to the discovered phenomena that some people have perfect perception and prefer things they saw rather than those which they listened to. It is a very important fact that children use flash memory in a metaphorical way because they mechanically transfer the received information to their memory. Everything seen by people is remembered for a very short time in their operation memory. For a long-term memorisation, it is useful to include various visual aids in the teaching process. Children are able to remember not only pictures but also many details from such pictures. However, sometimes a picture shown to a child may be slightly different, may h ave different colours or shapes (especially of those elements which amazed the child). Autistic children have a very efficient flash memory and after a few seconds they are able to memorise very complicated and detailed pictures; what is more, they do so without much effort. From the previously discussed research, one can deduct that only from the age of ten children can consciously memorise some facts for a longer time. More effective memory depends on which study techniques the child uses. Those study strategies consist of certain elements like: the level of consciousness and awareness of the aim the child is learning for and willingness the child hasmemorisation strategy effort used to learn a specific part of the material Sometimes it is very hard to prove which element from the ones mentioned above is used. It can be even said that children create memorization strategies in internalisation. Before a child creates its own technique of learning, a child cannot achieve better results in learning but when those strategies are already created, the child knows how to study to achieve his or her aim. Then, the process of memorisation becomes faster, easier and more efficient. After some time, children not only know how to learn faster but also can understand more and do this more freely. Nevertheless, at the age of six it is still very complicated for the young learner to organise material which has to be learnt, and this is why children start to repeat. Only nine-year-old children are consciously able to group certain pictures into categories to achieve better memorisation. To sum up, one can easily say that children develop their memorisation skills according to their age and in this process children reme mber those things which they pay attention to but it is short memory and at the same time hard memory which are used. Sensitivity on keeping memory on the alert and reaction do not depend on where this new information comes from (society, nature or their own body) but in case of children it is mainly automatically received and processed by their brain. This process happens quickly and almost without any effort and the teacher cannot see those processes and cannot stop or modify them. This process can be only stopped and controlled, but then it works much slower and requires some effort. What is more, a child has to be conscious of information and has to recognise it. To distinguish between automatic and controlled memorisation, one can distinguish three levels of the automatisation processes: the first level is dominated by the automatic use of information (also without paying attention) the second level is partially automatic when attention is not focused on information the third level is only rarely automatic but full attention is needed in this case ( E. Gruszczyk- KolczyÅ„ska, Ewa ZieliÅ„ska Wspomaganie dzieci w rozwoju zdolnoÅ›ci do skupiania uwagi i zapamiÄ™tywania WSiP Warszawa 2005: 52-68). 1.4 The theory how media influence children Media themselves may introduce lots of positive things but also the negative ones into the human life, shape attitudes and mentality of the young people. Furthermore, especially children may be easily influenced by commercials. Media contents are brought to people through the Internet, radio or television, and such media information consists of specific stimuli which affect brain, senses and create or change attitudes and ways of looking at the reality. The good side of the media is the fact that it is created for peoples development, making life more convenient, introducing social and personal values and causing that long distances are easier to overcome. As a result, even such aspects as education or culture are closer to various and separated nations. On the other hand, mass media become a kind of of a boundary or a cage in which a person is isolated from the others, as it may create a situation of misunderstanding and limit of ones social life which is then substituted with cyber space. Needless to say, the mass media caused radical reorganisation of the social life. In terms of education and upbringing of young generation, the media are creating new types of personalities, a sort of a new civilisation. This new generation of media-people is an inextricable part of the modern life, and can be source of many good, positive and improving aspects as well as bad, demoralising, violent and the ones encouraging unacceptable deviations. 1.4.1 Media in education The fact of striving for more effective ways of teaching is a main subject of many modern researches. Nowadays, in order to achieve the goal it is natural to use the most entertaining and universal tools like the Internet and other mass media. Thanks to these tools, learning can be more pleasant and successful for the learners and also easier and less effort-requiring for the teachers. More and more modern teaching techniques make education up-to-date and allow for leaving (old) traditional methods in education and introduce the modern model of integration of education with entertainment. In this context, education becomes a product, (almost a technological device), a source of educational tools and an incentive for the unconscious learning. Media may be easily and freely used not only in school teaching but also in private, out-school or even global, social, personal and cultural training. They can provide news, information and educational content using all possible multilingual tools. What is more, this kind of instrument has certain aspects which are singled out by Henryk GrudzieÅ„ in his work Media jako skÅ‚adnik procesu dydaktyczno-wychowawczego: direct influence this means that especially television programs and films immediately influence their audience (human emotions and intellect) building-up influence means building up information, associations and feelings connected with films or TV programs which cause some changes in the human psyche subconscious influence similar to the one above, but the audience is not conscious of changes in its attitudes because at the beginning the audience refuses the given way of thinking due to its unsuitable content and after some time its resistance disappears. Media also have a tremendous influence on the lifestyle of the young people, and they affect lots of spheres of young peoples lives, for example: the effect on the way that somebody behaves (making decisions, aggressive behaviour, social actions etc.) the effect on the level of knowledge (level of information, range of knowledge, level of communication skills etc.) the influence on attitude (believes, religion, judging of other people, etc.) the influence on physical fitness (damaging of senses, lack of motion, addiction) The processes mentioned above depend on many conditions such as age, psyche, actual situation in ones life, level of knowledge, weather, place of receiving such information or influences, company or gender. For example, the most influential may be a film watched in a cinema where the level of focus is very high, a bit weaker may be television and the weakest the radio. 1.4.2 The Internet in childrens education Nobody can deny that modern technology has changed and revolutionized education. Teachers have also quickly adjusted their teaching methods in a response to new technology because gadgets in the classroom can create a more interesting, interactive and entertaining environment. If schools strive to keep up with technological trends, then the learning that takes place there becomes more relevant and meaningful for the learners. The Internet and computer knowledge and literacy of major software programs is no longer reserved only for higher educational systems or special trade schools in the modern society. ( http://www.ehow.com/about_5410187_uses-modern-technology-classroom-teaching.html#ixzz1Iai4xP5X) Many children, when going to school, deal with individual difficulties on the basis of their opportunities. Nowadays, from the very early age, children get used to computers, the Internet and other modern technologies. The access and the use of the Internet fulfil many of the aims of education. What is more, it broadens childrens mind horizons, gives them a sense responsibility, builds up their self-esteem and develops their autonomy. A big advantage of the Web is its easy access and lack of duty to have a face-to-face contact. The author of the book Special educational needs and the Internet: issues for the inclusive classroom Chris Abbott claims that there are four principles and each one proves that websites and the Internet have become an influential tool for teaching as the pupils are: Informed The Internet is a source of information and news used in topic work, planning visits, web sites pictures of classmates work, connection with other pupils even outside the school, village or town and also link with past friends. Involved In the virtual tour, in preparing material, in creating and sharing their ideas; in group with the integrated activities where physical presence is not significant. Empowered enabling access for children with any physical difficulties, various tools, e-mails Recognised pictures on websites of the children and their work, whiles of the school council meeting, aiding successes and building self-esteem. (111-112) The Internet has a large part to play in the future education of the young people. In this book, the author included many useful tips when using computers in teaching young learners. For example, the page a teacher wants to use should be put on the screen before children come into the classroom. What is very important, computers should be set in a way so that the children cannot open unauthorized sites and also it is important to remind the children of behaving in a good way to prevent the pupils from running to get to the computers first. It is also useful to create a list of computer room rules. Wherever possible, there should be no more than three pupils per one computer. If children cannot see the screen, they may quickly lose interest in their school work and may not be willing to learn. All these elements can make children more concentrated and make learning more effective (C. Abbott Special educational needs and the Internet: issues for the inclusive classroom New York 2002).