Trials and Tribulations of Writing Le Nozze Di Figaro

A man known for composing brilliant instrumental music for most of his career, made a huge step in the world of opera on 7 May 1783. It was on this date which Mozart wrote a letter to his father with the intentions of his next composition. In the coming years this spectacle would become Mozart's 18th Operatic Work and 11th in Italian, Le Nozze di Figaro. Already having 10 Italian Operas accredited to his name Le Nozze di Figaro seemed to be Mozart's greatest operatic challenge to date. The Burgtheater in Vienna was currently home to an Italian Company whom Mozart thought would not last long – however, now was doing excellent business. There were many members of the Opera Company who could not wait to get involved in the project Mozart had in mind. Particularly the buffo bass, Benucci who was described by Mozart as â€Å"Particularly good. †[1] Despite having much interest by members of the company to aid his intentions, finding a libretto which appealed to Mozart seemed impossible. Hundreds of librettos were looked through, examined, acted out however, none seemed to be the perfect fit. Eventually Mozart's second hand man at the time, the buffo bass, Benucci came across Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais outrageously cheeky play La folle journee, ou Le mariage de Figaro. 2] Just as Mozart's Figaro Beaumarchais' play was not well accepted in the beginning. Yet the way to acceptance was paved by the Viennese success of the first Figaro play by Beaumarchais, Le barbier de Seville. [3] Now having found a libretto to work with Mozart felt so many changes would have to be made. Writing a new text seemed easier to Mozart then having to work through and omitting parts of dis-interest – possibilities which he had little time for. A new text Mozart felt would be better anyways. Mozart goes on in his letter saying â€Å" Our poet here is now a certain Abbate da Ponte. He has a huge amount to do, revising pieces for the theatre, and he has to write per obbligo an entirely new libretto for Salieri, which will take him two months. He has promised after that to write a new on for me. But who knows whether he will be able to keep his word – or whether he will want to. As you are aware, these Italian gentlemen are very charming to your face†¦ Enough, we know them! If he is in league with Salieri I shall never get anything out of him. But I should dearly like to show what I can do in an Italian opera. † [4] Supported by the letter to Mozart's father – challenges were imminent from the start. One of the biggest was that of Da Ponte being available and willing to make changes to Beaumarchais existing work. Clearly unable at first being employed by Salieri Mozart had to ponder with the idea that his composition would not get started for at least two months, if at all. Mozart was worried about Da Ponte teaming up with Salieri, fearing he would then get nothing out of him. All Mozart wanted to do was show what he could do with Italian Opera. After a chequered career as priest, preceptor, radical thinker and frequenter of married women, Da Ponte had recently settled in Vienna in the winter of 1780-81. He is described as having immense talent and passion for poetry and the theatre which were all genuine. Aside from his incredible talents Da Ponte's charm and good manners did the rest. His charm and ability to talk to people and persuade landed him a job working for Caterino Mazzola, poet to the Italian opera at the Saxon court in Dresden. This eventually lead to the relationship which Da Ponte and Salieri endured as a letter of recommendation came in high regard from Maestro Mazzola. Upon arriving in Vienna he quickly put his charm and masterful intelligence to work by courting the aged Metastasio, renewed acquaintance with Mozart's admirer and patron Count Cobenzl and endeared himself to Count Rosenberg. Once the Italian company was set-up in Vienna at the Burgtheater he was immediately appointed resident librettist. Mozart rarely mentions Da Ponte's name in any correspondence he had with people like his father and Count Mazzola. Reasoning could be thought of in one way – firstly and most obvious is the fact they lived only a few doors down from one another in Vienna so the need of corresponding through letters was not. For what some record as one of the most influential, dynamic and destined partnerships known in the musical world there is little known about the on-goings between Mozart and Da Ponte. In the months while Figaro was taking shape and being composed Mozart resided in Grosse Schulerstrasse (the modern Domgasse), a short walk to Da Ponte's office at the Burgtheatre. 5] Their partnership is easily explained through this quote where no source comes attached â€Å"a composer who understands the theatre and a true poet, that pheonix, working together. † Despite all these reasoning's as to why Mozart and Da Ponte were such a dynamic, intelligent, forceful duo – one question which lingers in one's mind might be â€Å"why did their collaboration not happen sooner? † Afterall, Da Ponte had been in Vienna 4 years prior to them beginning their collaboration. Several different reasons exist. The first – standing between Da Ponte and Mozart was Mozart's meticulousness and his increasingly acute dramatic sense. Mozart was not going to settle for less than first rate, or at any rate with the mediocre. Another reason was concern of his reputation and identity. Thirdly, was the readiness and availability of Da Ponte. Upon meeting with Da Ponte, Mozart learned that his soon to be partner was currently engaged by Salieri for another two months. Not knowing when or if Da Ponte would be ready to go by then did not cause Mozart to wait around – fully willing and prepared he kept moving forward. Lastly, the presence and consistent seeking of Mozart's father for approval with everything he did. Being so brilliant minded one does not think on the same levels as that of regular society. Thoughts, processes, formulas, details are manufactured at a different level then the rest. Mozart was definitely in this category of people. The gifted category if you will. One walks a fine line with this comparison however, the way Mozart took on projects and ways of capturing musical results could not be far off from the thought process of an engineer getting to the end result of a project drawing or building structure. Both professions – meticulous in preparation, meticulous during construction and both having such an acute focus on what the finished product must be. Bridget Brophy succinctly summarizes the immense thought and time Mozart put into his composition and completion of his opera, Le Nozze di Figaro, in her book â€Å"Mozart The Dramatist. † Brophy does so by paying tribute to the devotion and fastidiousness in which he had with all his compositions and contrasts the evident musical outcome in his operatic writing. [6]

Moda Textile Factory: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Essay

1. How have Sergei and Olga’s lives change in Soviet days? Are their lives better? After the collapse of Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan’s economics was slowdown since they was moving to market-based economy. Sergei and his wife lost their job and moved to capital. They borrowed money from family and friends starting business outside of the capital. After long period of time doing business over China, India, and Turkey, they did a better job and had enough capital for a largest department store in town. Their business was getting better and they built their own sewing factory of high quality apparel. The clients are wholesale traders who sold their goods to retailers in Kazakhstan and Russia. They had many difficulties in raising capital, exporting to new market, and many small local competitors. Even still having many challenges, their lives were much better than the period of Soviet Union. 2. What is Moda Textile Factory’s competitive advantage? How can it be used to expand the business? Firstly, Moda Textile Factory had a good relationship with their customers. Sergei had worked with most of his customers for many years, some of them were old friends of family, and also friends he knew during buying trips to Turkey. These loyal customers could bring him a lot of orders. Secondly, Moda Textile provided customer high quality products. They also had planned to make fashionable Italian imported cashmere coats. Different with other sewing workshops, Moda Textile want to develop their market not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in USA, Russia, and Europe. With a bigger target market, they will have more opportunities to expand their business. 3. What kind of people should Sergei and Olga look for as business partner to help them to expand their market outside Kyrgyzstan? How should they find a partner they can trust? What can they do to build trust with person? The best way to enter an outside market is looking for someone who has experience in working in that local market. For instant, the local business partners are good choice since they know the language, culture, and behavior of their area. Multinational companies, who is currently working in the local market because they might have experience of a foreigner entering that market. Finding partners they can just is not easy and takes a lot of time. Therefore, they should take business trip to that area, do some market research about it, and start a small contract with some partners. They need time to adapt to new environment and know what their partners benefits from their business. And they can expand their business gradually when they know the partner and the market better. 4. How can Sergei and Olga begin producing fashionable women’s cashmere coats in their factory? Is this feasible or should they give up the dream? Propose an action plan to move their business in this direction. Sergei and Olga could produce the fashionable women’s cashmere coats as their dream. First of all, they should find out target market for the women’s cashmere coats since the market in Kyrgyzstan is too small to develop. The countries like USA, Russian, or Europe are good choice since they have stable politics and provide more information to foreign traders. Secondly, they may want to find some partners, who understand the local markets to help them start with small contracts. They should get familiar to transportation, tax system, special policies, and culture of these markets. After 1 or 2 years working in different markets, they would realize advantages or difficulties of each market. Based on these experience, they could start doing bigger contracts w ith foreign customers.

Journey Speech

My baby sister Is now 5, my younger brother now 14, and me, I'm 16,' the scenery and their ages have changed again. With these physical changes it also changes the emotions in the characters. The protagonist doesn't need to force her smiles towards her little sister because she can see and understand how simple her life is and that ‘she has no worries, no regrets. They make it to the end of the block and the protagonist takes both of her siblings and takes them off the street they had been walking and into the world with her as their protection. She is able to do this with no qualms knowing that they wont have to go through the same ordeal that she did and she will always be there for them. Through this physical representation of a virtual journey it shows how a journey can develop through a metaphysical state and not be based on finding a specific destination but instead a safe place. Year of Wonders† focuses on the emotional and moral development, therefore making it a spiritual based Journey. This Is known to the reader as the mall charter, Anna Firth, has no need to continuously travel to perform her journey. Anna is living in a town stricken with the bubonic plague, as they have isolated themselves to prevent the spread. They are unable to call upon others to assist in the treatment of the ill and just use others abilities to ensure the towns survival of the plague.As lives start to be taken by the plague, many of the townspeople believe It is to do with witchcraft. Two characters, Aunt and niece, Me and Nays Goodie, have always been able to help the town with herbal remedies and have been the local midwives, but after their deaths Anna is convinced by Eleanor Employing to assist a women In labor and she 1 OFF many situations which all start to slowly influence her thoughts and change her as a person. She starts to become stronger and not Just be a young widow, who has also lost both her children.She starts to fight for other people in the tow n and help them through hard times. Although she isn't able to do this all unscathed, she is unable to understand Why did He raise us up out of the clay, to acquire good and expedient skills, in such extremity, and then send us back so soon to be dust when we yet had useful years before us? Such in the case as Maggie and George Vicars. Anna makes herself a tincture' from the poppy she had stolen from Eleanor to help with the anguish and she was able to have pleasant dreams.Anna and the town continue to be affected by the plague and many more die, Anna tending many in their deathbeds. Anna and Eleanor also assist Merry. Anna slept well that night, feeling for once that she has accomplished something that has turned out right. After many more deaths and obstacles the plague has stopped affecting the town and the people are told they are no longer quarantined. At this meeting Anna's stepmother Para is hysteric with the loss of her last child, Faith.She was ‘clutching the maggoty remnant of her daughter's corpse. ‘ Implosion, Para and Eleanor enter a embrace, trying to calm and comfort Para, Faith's head comes apart from her body and Para lashes UT and slits Liner's throat and stabs herself, leaving Anna with no family and one of her closest friend's gone as well. Eleanor asked for Anna to look after her husband and through this relationship Anna is able to experience a physical intimacy she has longed for for quite some time.This intimacy is something that has helped Anna start to feel better but it is short lived as she learns that parts of what she thought were true about Eleanor and Michaels relationship were actually lies and is repulsed by him. As Anna is asked to help with the birth of a bastard child from the Bradford Emily, she finds herself haggling with Elizabeth about receiving money to take the child and leave this city.There are many events that influence Anna change as a person but the biggest chance for her is not Just a spiritual one. She makes the move to Venice, with the Bradford child, and settles there missing some aspects of her old town but feeling safe and happy with her two daughters, feeling that she is now at home. Oh, The Places You'll Go! Shows how a person is able to be in control of their own physical and emotional Journey. This is presented to the reader through the narrator stating YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go. ‘

Drug Court Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drug Court - Research Paper Example That individual has the liberty to either call the required coordinators or a request in writing can be sent to the appropriate authorities as well. Furthermore, if the person wants to be a part of the Miami Dade Countys Drug Court program and wants to acquire some information regarding that place, then the applicant should contact the Drug Court Coordinator who shall help the individual in simplifying matters. The person who becomes a part of the Drug Court Program will be able to graduate after a minimum of a 12 month period. In this time, the client will have to attend different training sessions, must show good behavior to the norms of that place, must portray the recovery from the drugs in a positive way and must be able to cast in all the payments to the court for the treatment. (Peter Finn, 1993) Only after complying with all these steps a request is sent by the counselor to the judge to let go that individual. Though the final decision rests in the hands of the judge but once set free, the graduate can file a request to wipe out all the records of his stay in the program. On the contrary, if the individual fails to complete the minimum time period of that program and constantly tests positive for drug usage, then the person will be dropped off the training setup. To worsen the conditions the client will be tried in the criminal court and if convicted, will have to serve and spend time in the jail for the wrong doings.(Jason A Oetjen, 2003) This option is chosen very rarely and in extreme cases where the drug offender refuse to let go their appetite of having drugs. Otherwise, everyone works hard enough to find a way to treat the participant to clear the obstacles. If a rule is broken or the progress is unsatisfactory, the drug court doesn’t take the applicant to the criminal court right away, rather they look into the set of events that prompted the person in complying by the rules

Planning an Effective Strategic Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Planning an Effective Strategic Event - Essay Example It will enlist the participation of thousands to educate as well as motivate to engage in tree-planting. Celebrities will also be involved in the process and will round the reforestation area where the participants will plant trees. Aside from the incomes from participants, the event will also raise funds for the sustenance of the planted seedlings to ensure survival, as well as fund other environment campaigns to follow so that ticket sales will be maximised even for those who will not be able to attend. It will apply the AIDA theory to develop and market the event. Introduction Increasingly, organisations need to find creative ways to build their business or cause, enhance stakeholder and customer relationships, and get their key messages across in order to drive growth and success. Events of all kinds nowadays are considered important and influential components in an organisation’s strategy, to help it meet key objectives. An organisation will examine its image, ethos and i nternal/external environments in order to use events effectively, and so must ensure it develops an effective policy and planning framework within which events will be developed and operated to achieve stated and specific strategic objectives. Charity Organisation in the United Kingdom The Tree Council is the umbrella body for UK organisations that conduct tree-planting activities. It was established in 1974 to sustain the National Tree Planting Year in 1973. It organises the National Tree Week which is part of the winter planting festival. Some of their campaigns include the Tree Care Campaign, Walk in the Woods, and Seed Gathering Season. It was registered as a charity by 1978. It holds events across the UK annually with the objective to maximise involvement in planting, caring, and enjoying trees and woods. It has 8,000 Tree Wardens across the UK organising volunteerism, community activities, fund raising, advise, and research on trees. Their campaigns include the Tree Care Campa ign that ensures survival of young trees as well as Hedge Tree campaign that promotes the Biodiversity Action Plan of the UK government (The Tree Council, 2011). The Event: The event is a tree-planting reality, live show in an area identified for reforestation. It will involve celebrities and high-profile government officials to conduct tree-planting demonstration prior to mass participation of which various tree-seedling types will be ready for every participant to plant. A performance by the guest celebrities will cap the event (Brown and Isaacs, 2005). Event Design and Details: Seedling trees and planting tools and equipment will be purchased as package to participating department stores, shops, and other retailers in the form of a purchased ticket. All the materials will become available at the designated reforestation area on the day of the tree-planting event. The event will teach all participants /ticket buyers how to plant seedling trees properly in order for them to engage in the activity in their personal time at their personal space. It will also teach them the importance of trees and how they can actively contribute to the improvement of the current state of the earth’s natural environment. The event will involve celebrities and high-profile personalities as demonstrators (Ducate et al, 2001). Prior to the event, a team of tree-planting

The impact of the boxer rebellion Research Paper

The impact of the boxer rebellion - Research Paper Example Their main intention was to end the honors given to foreigners by the Ch’ing Dynasty and was later joined by Empress Dowager and other local municipalities. It was unfortunate that the people whom the Boxers’ fought treated the Chinese citizens like the second class citizens in their own land. The Boxers opted to destroy the properties of the foreigners since apart from being the richest people in the town were given lots of freedom by the dynasty. The uprising became very prevalent and spread all over China and it prompted them to start confronting Christians and non-Chinese at around 1900. Anyone who tried to take relief to that country particularly the international reliefs was attacked by the Boxers in the pretense that foreigners wanted a return of the emperor (Thompson 2-6). This writing analyses some of the impacts of Boxer rebellion. Although the Boxer rebellion did not succeed in their mission, it should be noted that they did a lot to stir up China’s na tionwide pride. The Boxers could not fight all the foreign powers because they angered almost all the foreign powers that were more superior to the boxers such as the Allied Expedition. The boxers defeat was also contributed by the fact that they were disorganized and therefore could not fight for their country and defend it properly. The Boxers only believed in rituals and martial arts which could not help them fight against the superior weapons. Boxers also did not have popular backing from within China and this too made them fail at long last (Thompson 2-6). The Boxers had very serious impacts politically on China especially as far as violation of the national right is concerned. The internal administration and security as well as the national defense were greatly weakened and stunned particularly the demands and the actions of the Boxers. The rebellion which was ended by signing of treaty made most of the Chinese people to have problem with their government (Joseph 43-47). The Q ing Empire continued to rule China since the dynasty was not very much affected by the rebels and even the foreign troops. Even the internal administration did not have power to control the Boxers and therefore they used that as justification to return to power. It was also not possible to fight against the foreigners do to the existing Qing court and this prompted the need to have institutional reforms. The government found it very necessary to come up with reforms that could help it in fighting foreign countries and this led to the begging of reform institutions after a long time of promise by the empire. The government generally had very little control over the provinces and her people at large and this made it very much unlikely to come up with reforms (Joseph 43-47). Socially and economically, China was very much affected such as the evolution of anti-Machu feelings. There was public outcry from everywhere in China when the administration levied more taxes on her people as a wa y of paying for hefty security. There was also a lot of corruption within the governments amid high taxes and this made the public to think that China could only be salvaged via revolution but not reforms (Bickers 115-120). Public were also irritated by the fact that the government could not defend their land from the foreign forces and these series of blames led to the fall of Qing reign. The fall of the regime was stirred

What inhabits governments from simply crushing protest by force Essay

What inhabits governments from simply crushing protest by force - Essay Example We are therefore, going to discuss reasons that the government avoids using force to stop protests as below. The government will never use force to crash protest because this would mean to violate the human rights. For example, black southern student sit-in movement was conducted by Civil Rights activists between 1957 and 1960 and affected at least fifteen cities in Greensboro, North Carolina was a function of well-developed and integrated widespread internal organization of civil right participants. Many demonstrations were organized in black people churches that supported the activists with finance. Some of the leaders of the protests were priest, teachers and heads of local organizations. Therefore, use of force to stop their protest would never be possible because it would go to the worst of killing these leaders. This would make the society to lose important people as they played important role in the society.Instead, the government used interviews to dig deep to the reason of the protest a move viewed to be the right move by the Protestants. The interviewers were given freedom to spe ak out their grievances while the government listening to them.As a result, the participants were able to present their facts in such a way as to enhance their own status. The interviews were appropriate because the accounted for individuals who participated in and were eyewitnesses to the events that were occurring. The government was able to understand about the sit-in that they were connected rather than isolated, initiated through organizations and personal ties, rationally planned and lead by established leaders and supported by indigenous resources thus use of force could not help to end the sit-ins but would have led to more chaos between the sit-ins activists and the government. On the other hand , it was impossible for the government to use force to crash the protests because the cycle of the organization linked to even those involve in the

Managed Care System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managed Care System - Essay Example Till 1980’s there was only a trifle between the public and private players of health care. But, the overall payment system concentrated on fee for service basis. Accordingly, each visit was counted as an episode. The physician had the liberty to administer treatment according to his diagnosis. As private insurance mostly dominated the scene, the physicians, to fulfill their selfish ends, could also recommend for unwanted tests, hospital stays and drugs. Patient safety was their only cap and they could re-jig monetary considerations underneath this consideration. The insurers also never complained as major bill payment was a responsibility of the employers. But, employers understanding this disadvantage started to backlash on the reasons of uncapped expenditure and over utilization of resources. This of course was a valid point. As more and more are getting enrolled into the health care, fee for service model has become outdated giving way for Managed Care Organizations (MCO’s). (Christensen. C., Grossman. J., Hwang. J. 2009) As accountability comes into picture, unnecessary expenditure gets curbed automatically. From past 30 years, MCO’s have been well placed and growing in the market. The main postulates of their existence are: Lowered rates of hospital admission, in patient treatment, procedural expenditure. This has resulted in a mixed result of outcomes that some patients were treated satisfactorily while many did not have that contentment about care practices. Development of state insurance sector commensurate to private players. Giving an inevitable choice to the employer and employees to be enrolled into those organizations for reduced health costs. (Anonymous., 2010). All these recommendations by the bill only point out that the MCO’s are here to stay for some more time. If not for them, accountability and cost reduction for the insurer’s purpose fulfillment would never be possible. In short, the arrangement seeks to reduce the health

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Essay Example As the study outlines he was named after his grandfather and the Saint Johannes Chrysostomus. His father Leopold Mozart was not only an excellent violinist but also a composer and concert master of great repute. His mother was Anna Maria Pertl and he had a very talented sister named Maria Anna Mozart. (Nannerl) From the tender age of three, Mozart had such a keen ear for music and began learning the keyboard and by the age of five he started composing minuets. All through his teen years he dedicated himself to music and mastered the piano, violin and the harpsichord. The Archbishop of Salzburg appointed him as concertmaster in 1772 during which time he composed several sacred works. He fell in love with Aloysia Constanze Weber and in 1782; he married her in Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Mozart worked in Vienna, supporting his family by teaching and composing and also by performing in both public and private. Mozart became composer of the â€Å"Imperial and Royal Chamber† and in 1787 one of his works titled â€Å"Don Giovanni† was premiered in Prague at the famous National Theater. By this time, while in Vienna, he was feeling quite sick while he completed another of his famous works titled â€Å"La clemenza di Tito†. Then on Dec. 5, 1791, Mozart breat hed his last just a few minutes before 1AM. He had been ill for quite sometime and had died of rheumatic fever. From this study it is clear that Mozart’s works can be categorized into three sections – Early -from 1761 – 1772, Middle – from 1772 – 1781 and the Late – from 1781 – 1791. The total number of his works was 600 in all which included 21 stage and opera works, 15 Masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos, 27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets and many other pieces. Mozart contributed significantly to the sonata repertoire which included the violin and the piano.

Online blog research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Online blog research - Essay Example These considerations carry even more weight when we explore the factors that will determine a successful website that markets toys. The complexity of marketing toys on the Internet begins with the target audience. The website offering toys will be visited by young children, their parents, and grandparents. There will be vast differences in Internet capability and a wide variety of tastes. The site should be simple enough to navigate for a 10-year-old child, yet offer the sense of security and trust required for an adult to feel comfortable. The test of 3 websites offered by major toy retailers showed some important differences in usability across age groups. To begin the investigation, we attempted to shop for two toys on etoys.com, toysrus.com, and fatbraintoys.com. These sites were selected by their prominence on the major search engines, which indicate they are probably most selected by consumers. While toysrus.com and etoys.com are for general toys, fatbraintoys.com has a niche market for educational toys. We looked for an erector set for a ten-year-old boy, and a Barbie doll for a ten-year-old girl. While toysrus.com used age brackets, such as 3-4 and 5-7 years of age, etoys.com and fatbraintoys.com listed each age below 8 separately. ... Shopping by department fared no better. On toysrus.com, we looked for the erector set under building sets and retrieved hundreds of different toys. Narrowing the search by age the results were still overwhelming. Simply shopping for an erector set was not realistic. Only on fatbraintoys.com was the erector set a separate category. However, the search for a Barbie doll was much simpler. ToysRUs and etoys had a listing for 'characters' and 'brand', and Barbie was listed as a main category of toy. In fact, toysrus.com had 50 items listed under the Barbie category priced from $10 to $200. The Barbie department at etoys.com had over 100 Barbie items. The site operated by fatbraintoys did not carry a Barbie doll. When the search was narrowed to the 2008 Holiday Barbie doll, toysrus.com and etoys.com had the doll and both were identically priced. All three websites offered toys that were categorized as boy's or girl's toys. Marketing differentiation is a difficult task on the Internet, and will certainly come down to product placement. Shopping for an erector set simply by narrowing the age group or shopping a department would take more time and patience than any child or adult would expend. However, all three sites have an easy to use site-specific search engine. By entering the word 'erector', all three sites returned their selection of erector sets. However, there were significant differences in the results. While etoys.com listed 3 different erector sets priced between $40 and $100, fatbraintoys.com listed 20 different sets in the range of $18 to $90. However, though toysrus.com only listed 8 different sets, they covered the wider price range of from $20 to $300. Clearly, when a consumer is shopping for a

Theories of deviance Essay Example for Free

Theories of deviance Essay Theories of deviance (1)The text describes issues of unacceptable behavior in the society. There was given 4 different theories that explain reasons and different aspects of deviance behavior. (2)In the beginning of the text author gives us the examples of deviance behavior: alcoholism, stealing, being nude in public places. Also there is a definition of deviance behavior: behavior that violates social norms and disapproval from the majority of society. However, the behavior which is deviant for one group of people may be acceptable for others. Science that explore deviance is criminology. (3)Differential-association theory. Edwin Sutherland, the author derive this theory to explain the processes of how people learn to violate. The key features of this theory is environment in which the person is and agents of socialization: family, friends, co-workers and media. People learn criminal behavior from the interactions with others, especially in small groups. The problem is that the vague terminology of the theory don’t let it to validate empirically. Anomie theory. Robert Merton defines the term â€Å"anomie† as situation in which social norms conflict or don’t even exist. Merton pointed the difference between social acceptable goals and opportunities that people have to reach this goals. With the example of achievement of wealth author shows that when people don’t have means to attain their goals, they can use deviance behavior as a response to injustice. Although, the theory does not explains the process of learning deviance. Control theory. Walter Reckless claim that people periodically may want to act in deviance ways, but most of them don’t do it. The key is in various restraints, like internal: conscience, values, integrity, and outer: police, family and religious authorities. Self-control plays an important role in preventing unacceptable acting. Development of self-control requires right  socialization, especially in early childhood. Critics use the examples of politics and businessmen’s that commit crimes. Labeling theory. The theory claims that acting become deviant only when society defines it deviant. Drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, sex offenders, retarded people are labeled as deviant people. The consequences of being labeled can be very deep, for example people who are labeled as deviant are more likely to act against social norms as a result of the label. In support of the theory author gives the description of classic study (William Chambliss, 1973) into the effects of labeling. 1- Conclusion. 2- Introduction. 3- Arguments Explanations background information.

Educational management and lifelong learning Essay Example for Free

Educational management and lifelong learning Essay The models of theory which have been introduced into the educational sector are many, and while they have distinct names and functions, several have the tendency of overlapping with others. Six major models are presented here, in the orders of formal, collegial, political, subjective, ambiguity and cultural (Bush, 2003). These models complex constructs that are characterized and grouped into these clusters based on their relationships to different factors within the institution in which they are identified. Classification of these models is based on their agreement in such areas as the goals of the organization, their relationship to the dynamic of structure, as well as their orientation regarding an institution’s interaction with its environment (2003). Adult or lifelong learners are proliferating within today’s educational system and the posture of an institution’s management has the capacity to influence the experience of these types of students. Lifelong learners have needs and concerns that diverge from that of traditional students and the ability of teachers, administrators and principals (or deans) to cater to these non-traditional needs depends not only on their willingness to do so, but also on the type of managerial model that is present within the educational institution. The following paper discusses the principles of each of these managerial theories of education and relates each to the experience of the lifelong learner. Formal Models The formal models of theories of educational leadership and management emphasize the elements of educational institutions that might be considered official or structural (Bush, 2003). These models are based on the hierarchical envisioning of organizations and on the idea that the objectives pursued and achieved by managers are done using rational means. The form or structure of the organizations endows the organizational or departmental heads with their authority based on the positions to which they have been assigned. The formal model comprises five basic models, all of which to some degree contain the following seven features. The first feature is the tendency toward a systemic view of organizations, with each element of the system possessing an identifiable and demonstrable link with the other. Within an educational organization, this is represented by the different departments and elements (professors, secretaries, teachers and students) that make up these departments. The prominence of a given structure within the organization is another feature that defines such formal models. The flow of this structure is usually identifiable through organized patterns, and the usual pattern within educational organizations—that of hierarchy—defines the third feature. This hierarchy of the different departments as well as the order of authority possessed by the members within each defines this structure. Teachers are, for example, subordinate to heads of department, who are in turn subordinate to principals, and so forth (Bush, 2003). The formal models also render schools as organizations that seek out goals, and these official objectives are usually adopted by those who subscribe to the organization (Beare, Caldwell, Millikan, 1989). The rationality of the processes that define managerial decisions within schools is also a feature adopted by the models within the locus of formal theories. Such decisions often involve the consideration of all alternatives before selecting the most feasible and profitable. Within these formal models, the authority granted to leaders and managers is considered to derive from the positions they hold. Therefore, their authority is only tenable as long as they remain within their position. Finally, formal models emphasize the role of the body that sponsors the organization (sponsoring body). This necessitates that the educational institution be accountable to this sponsoring body, which usually takes the form of governments. Formal Models and the Lifelong Learner Within the arena of lifelong learning, the normative and prescriptive nature of these theories possesses strengths and weaknesses. While the systemic and hierarchical nature of the models allow for adult learners to understand and follow the chain of command, the fact that students are often placed at the bottom of this chain proves problematic for the adult learner. A more collaborative and egalitarian setting would be more appropriate for an adult learner, as he or she is likely to possess authority in other areas of life and would be uncomfortable merely being submissive within this educational setting. Furthermore, since adult learners are more apt to take responsibility for their learning, their inclusion in the decision-making processes would be curtailed in a very rigidly structured model of education. The problems identified with the formal model address some of the issues that involve lifelong learners (Bush, 2003). The power distribution and structure denies the important role of the individual in making and influencing decisions. Adult learners are often consulted about programs that they are interested in pursuing, and often chart their own paths in the achievement of goals. Therefore, the goal-oriented nature of the formal model, while technically substantiated where lifelong learners are concerned, gives little acknowledgement to the relative autonomy of this type of student in formulating and achieving these goals. Much of the lifelong learning and continuing studies which takes place within this age does so via the internet. Within such an educational environment, the systemic and hierarchical nature of educational management is vastly altered. Classes are no longer taught by teachers in a teacher-student hierarchy. Rather, students involved in teaching themselves via materials merely uploaded by â€Å"teachers† or professors. Therefore, the idea that the power available within this organization resides at the top of the pyramid again is faulted. Also, the structure of the organization does appear to change into a more egalitarian one in order to accommodate the more responsible adult learner.

Integrating ICT in Teaching and Learning

Integrating ICT in Teaching and Learning Information and Communications Technology commonly termed as ICT comes from the acronym IT and CT and refers to methods of storing, manipulating and communicating information. Information Technology (IT), as defined by the Smart Computing Dictionary, is A general term used to describe any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, or disseminate information. IT refers to the most expensive, complex computers, with devices usually dealing with electronic data in binary format. However, these IT machines are not able to communicate with one another. And, Communication Technology (CT) is the term used to describe telecommunications equipment through which information can be sought and accessed. (New Zealand MOE, 1998). Examples include: video conferencing, teleconference phones, and modems. Globally, educational systems are adopting new technologies to integrate ICT in the teaching and learning process, to prepare students with the knowledge and skills they need in their subject matter. In this way the teaching profession is evolving from teacher-centered to student-centered learning environments. ICT integration is understood as the usage of technology seamlessly for educational processes like transacting curricular content and students working on technology to do authentic tasks (Kainth and Kaur). Nowadays ICT facilitate not only the delivery of lessons but also the learning process itself. This includes computer based technologies, digital imaging, the internet, file servers, data storage devices, network infrastructure, desktops, laptops and broadcasting technologies namely radio and television, and telephone which are used as instructional tools at schools. INTEGRATING ICT IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS In Mauritius government has spent tremendously to promote ICT integration in teaching and learning. Is it worth investing so much money? What advantages do ICT have in education? Many researchers have given their view points about the advantages and how ICT can be integrated in curriculum. Allen (1997) believed that the basic skills of the future are the use of powerful technologies. The traditional textbook can no longer fulfill the need in the rapid changing and the information-explosion world. He asserted that the traditional teacher-centered approach makes classroom no longer an effective system to prepare students for the realities which they face in the near future. Parmley et al. (1997) stated that technology works best as a supporting tool-making complex processes or creative experience either possible or easier to accomplish. He thought that technology can offer new ways to provide meaningful, real-life context for learning, it also allow students to collaborate with peers and experts across the country and around the World. Rosener (1997) described IT as good as, or even better than, traditional method of teaching and learning as it being limitless of time and space. Poole (1998) pointed out that suitably integrated computer use can contribute to successful results in the classroom as to: support teaching and learning, support childrens socialisation, enable children with disabilities to integrate and enables a teacher to duplicate excellence. According to Kennewell et al. (2000), integration of ICT in teaching requires understanding at a deeper level to facilitate the development of strategies and process to identify opportunities, solve problems and evaluate solution. They believe that these higher-level objectives require not only technical knowledge and skills, but the ability to choose an effective strategy for a problem. Poole (1998) shared his view that the technology is only a tool to both teacher and student. The effectiveness of the tool depends entirely on the skills they bring to the learning process. He believed that the teachers task is thus to nurture the students willingness to learn. Gregoire et al (1996) provided the following important points in respecting student learning in analysing that the contribution new technologies can make to teaching and learning: New technologies stimulate the development of intellectual skills New technologies contribute to the ways of learning knowledge, skills and attitudes, but still dependent on pre-requisite knowledge and type of learning activity. New technologies spur spontaneous interest more than traditional approaches of learning. Students using new technologies concentrate more than those in traditional settings Moreover the above outlined points are balanced by further genuine observations: Benefits of ICT for students are greatly dependent on the technological skills of the teachers and their attitudes towards technology. Skill and attitude in turn are largely dependent on the staff training in this area. (UNESCO Paris, 2002). 2.2.1 Impact of ICT on education In educational context, ICT has the potential to increase access to education and improve its relevance and quality. Tinio (2002) asserted that ICT has a tremendous impact on education in terms of acquisition and absorption of knowledge to both teachers and students through the promotion of: Active learning: ICT tools help for the calculation and analysis of information obtained for examination and also students performance report are all being computerised and made easily available for inquiry. In contrast to memorisation-based or rote learning, ICT promotes learner engagement as learners choose what to learn at their own pace and work on real life situations problems. Collaborative and Cooperative learning: ICT encourages interaction and cooperation among students, teachers regardless of distance which is between them. It also provides students the chance to work with people from different cultures and working together in groups, hence help students to enhance their communicative skills as well as their global awareness. Researchers have found that typically the use of ICT leads to more cooperation among learners within and beyond school and there exists a more interactive relationship between students and teachers (Grà ©goire et al., 1996). Collaboration is a philosophy of interaction and personal lifestyle where individuals are responsible for their actions, including learning and respect the abilities and contributions of their peers. (Panitz, 1996). Creative Learning: ICT promotes the manipulation of existing information and to create ones own knowledge to produce a tangible product or a given instructional purpose. Integrative learning: ICT promotes an integrative approach to teaching and learning, by eliminating the synthetic separation between theory and practice unlike in the traditional classroom where emphasis encloses just a particular aspect. Evaluative learning: Use of ICT for learning is student-centered and provides useful feedback through various interactive features. ICT allow students to discover and learn through new ways of teaching and learning which are sustained by constructivist theories of learning rather than students do memorisation and rote learning. And a mentioned in Teaching of ICT by MIE/IGNOU (2005), improvements in telecommunication technologies can lead education to provide more independence to teachers and students by: Better use of learning resources- a presentation once made through use of technologies can be showed to students over and over again. Motivating to learn-ICTs combine text, sound, and colourful, moving images that increase learners motivation and their interest to learn. Facilitating the acquisition of basic concepts that are the foundation for higher order concepts and creativity can be facilitated through drill and practice as repetition and reinforcement of content and skills are being focused. Aspect Less traditional pedagogy More emerging pedagogy for the information society Active Activities prescribed by teacher Whole class instruction Little variation in activities Pace determined by the programme Small groups Activities determined by learners Many different activities Pace determined by learners Collaborative Individual Homogenous groups Everyone for him/herself Working in teams Heterogeneous groups Supporting each other Creative Reproductive learning Apply known solutions to problems Productive learning Find new solutions to problems Integrative No link between theory and practice Separate subjects Discipline-based Individual teachers Integrating theory and practice Relations between subjects Teams of teachers Thematic Evaluative Teacher-directed Summative à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Student-directed DiagnosticTable 2.2.1 Overview of Pedagogy in the Industrial versus the Information Society While theoretical arguments can be put forward to provide a strong rationale for the use of ICT in enhancing the teaching and learning process, the only real rationale is based on whether, in practice, it has a positive impact on learning, the learners, and teachers (Newhouse, 2002). learning environment entities and external entities. IMPACT OF ICT ON LEARNERS ICT has very strong effect in education and it provides enormous tools for enhancing teaching and learning. There have been many studies that have highlighted the various ways that ICT may support teaching and learning processes in a range of disciplinary fields such as the construction of new opportunities for interaction between students and knowledge and accessing information. ICT enable new ways teaching and learning when used appropriately under right conditions such as suitable resources, training and support. ICT also offers the potential to meet the learning needs of individual students, to promote equal opportunity, to offer learning material, and also promote interdependence of learning among learners (Leach, Ahmed, Makalima Power, 2005). The five ways to establish and sustain effective learning environments through ICT suggested by the Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning (2000) are: 1. Real world problems 2. Scaffolding 3. Feedback, reflection and guidance 4. Local and global communities 5. Extending teacher learning. (Newhouse, 2002) IMPACT OF ICT ON TEACHERS Roblyer and Edwards (2000) suggested that there are five important reasons for teachers to use technology in education: (1) Motivation; (2) Distinctive instructional abilities; (3) Higher productivity of teachers; (4) Essential skills for the Information Age and (5) Support for new teaching techniques (Samak, 2006). In order to make use of technology in the classroom effectively, educators should have a positive attitude toward technology and they should be trained in using the modern technologies in their respective field of education. Chin and Hortin (1994) stated that teachers must act as the change agent in the relationship between technology and the students as teachers are more likely to implement the recommended and proposed changes concerning ICT in education. But at the same time there are many challenges faced by educators as they consider how best to best incorporate ICT tools into their teaching. This is being discussed in the following article. 2.4.1 Factors affecting technology integration in Teaching and Learning I. Jung talks about the enormous challenge teachers are facing in our society due to the rapid expansion of knowledge. The modern technologies are demanding that teachers learn how to use these technologies in their teaching. Hence these new technologies increase the teachers training needs. Gressard and Loyd (1985) asserted that teachers attitudes toward computers are a key factor in the successful implementation of ICT in education. They pointed out that teachers do not always have positive attitudes towards computers and their poor attitudes may lead to a failure of the computer- based projects. Also the most commonly cited barriers are: lack of time; lack of access; lack of resources; lack of expertise and lack of support (Butler and Sellbom, 2002, Leggettt Persichitte, 1998). Another barrier given by Butler and Sellbom (2002) and Chizmar Williams (2001) is reliability. Reliability included hardware failures, incompatible software between home and school, poor or slow internet connectivity and out of date software which are available mostly at school while the students/educators are having more up-to-date software at home. SUBJECT DIFFERENCE IN ICT INTEGRATION Subject being taught is also a factor influencing the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning process. In general, science teachers have more positive attitudes towards ICT and possess a higher level of computer literacy knowledge than other teachers such as Arts, Humanities and Commerce. Law et al (2000) believe that they used ICT in their teaching more frequently. Rosener (1997) sated that the use of IT should be used when they provide more opportunities for students to visualise and understand study materials. In areas where the subject matter focuses more on value, meaning and philosophical ideas, IT will only partially be able to substitute for human interaction. However, in areas which have a high volume of students studying the subject like the sciences which constitute of a standardised curriculum and factual content, it will more likely be able to supplement the content and teaching methods with use of ICT. ICT AND MATHEMATICS There are many potential uses for computers in the teaching and learning process of mathematics. According to Oldknow and Taylor (2000), the role of ICT in the teaching and learning process of mathematics are as follows: In terms of teachers, the use of ICT:- Improves their efficiency Reduces their administrative burden since less paperwork Releases more time to address students individually Provides better records of students progress Acts as a stimulus to rethinking their approach to their mathematics teaching Acts as a stimulus to rethinking their understanding of mathematics Acts as a means to communicate with other teachers sharing the common problems. The use of ICT makes students:- Engage their attention and motivate them Stimulate their curiosity Encourage them to develop their problem-solving strategies Provide models and images which aid them in concept formation Improve their test and examination results since they learn by own pace and learn through feedback provided to them. Mathematics lessons are associated with real life situations and increases the relevancy of the lessons to the real world. The curriculum needs to be updated continually to take account of the technology prevalent in society. Mathematics has tended to be very abstract while most students tend to operate on a concrete level. The use of concrete materials in some lessons is useful but often not convenient. The computer can provide experiences with virtual concrete materials. In approaching problems associated with remedial and extension students computer use can provide appropriate material and overcome classroom management problems. In 1995 the National Council for Educational Technology published a leaflet in which are included the six opportunities students can enhance their mathematics learning through the use of ICT: Learning from feedback: Fast and reliable feedback is provided which encourages students to make their own judgements and to test out and work over their ideas. Observing patterns: The use of computers and electronic calculators enables students to practice as many examples as possible when working out mathematical problems. This chains their study of patterns. Seeing connections: With use of ICT graphs and related formulae and tables of numbers are readily linked. Changing one value probes them to see the immediate effects in the other variables thus helps students to understand the connections between them. Working with dynamic images: Students can make use of IT to manipulate diagrams. This encourages them to visualise the change of geometry when using the required software and this develops their reasoning skills. Exploring data: With the use of IT students get the opportunity to work with real data which can be represented in a variety of ways, which supports explanation and analysis. Teaching the computer: When students design algorithm to achieve a particular result, they are required to express their commands clearly and in the correct order thus developing their thinking skills. These listed opportunities are applicable with the existence of ICT tools that can help students in their mathematics learning and teachers can map those mentioned opportunities with the various types of ICT tools (including both software and hardware), from the guide ICT and Mathematics, for instance Hand-held technology use numerical and graphing features of graphical calculators with data-loggers Programming languages use Logo Small software in the form of games and simulations. Spreadsheets set up a basic spreadsheet to enter data and replicate formulae- use of advance facilities of like statistical graphing Web-sites explore web-based resources related to mathematics teaching. Whiteboards use of electronic whiteboards for whole-class teaching, using OHPs. General purpose software Microsoft Office package such as Excel, Word, Explorer and PowerPoint. Mathematics teaching software dynamic geometry software(for constructions and transformations e.g. for coordinates, measures) and interactive package including graph-plotting using Graph-plotters, data-handling (database or statistical software), symbolic algebra. E-learning- For e.g.Xerte (open source e-learning) is an interactive program and a fully-featured e-learning development for creating rich interactive environment. An example is taken from the guide ICT and Mathematics on the dynamic geometry software. This can help students arrive at a convincing proof. Figure 2.6: Geometry Software The software is used to see the sights of the relationship between the areas of quadrilaterals and the areas of the figures formed by joining their midpoints. The two areas appear to be equal, but clearer seen by dragging A,B,C or D about through the software. So formulating a speculation that the area of EFGH is always half that of ABCD EFGH always appears to be a parallelogram or by adding a diagonal BD, might suggest geometric relationships from which students can arrive at a convincing proof. As mentioned in the leaflet from Mathematics and IT a pupils entitlement in the guide ICT and Mathematics: As the technology progresses and becomes more prevalent, teachers will also need to be continually reconsidering the mathematical content of their teaching. Having software which can, for example, solve systems of equations at the touch of a button has strong implications for the way particular topics are approached. One vital aspect of the widespread availability of ICT tools and easy access to resources of mathematical information through the Internet is that they can enable us to keep in touch with developments prevailing around the world for Mathematics. The four key concepts, highlighted in the ICT in mathematics (DfES, 2004), that are noteworthy for mathematics are: using data and information sources; organising and investigating; analysing and automating processes; models and modelling. How can the use of ICT raise standards in mathematics? (DfES, 2004) ICT can be used as a tool: to support teachers in teaching an objective more effectively, in improving lesson design and improving teaching and learning; to enable pupils to engage with learning and to be motivated to improve their learning; to enable pupils to access geometrical, graphical and statistical ideas dynamically and so to make connections in their learning; to build pupils confidence in their mathematical abilities by testing their conjectures, learning from feedback and using reasoning to modify their solutions. Students learning mathematics most benefit from the use of ICT in areas such as: the teacher using an interactive or electronic whiteboard for starters and plenaries; the teacher using an electronic whiteboard for interactive teaching in the main part of the lesson; using generic software such as databases or spreadsheets as a means of making sense of data; using content-free, mathematics-specific software on computers or graphical calculators to aid visualisation and help make connections in algebra and geometry; using simple programming languages, such as LOGO, to build increasingly complex mathematical models and relationships in shape and space, number and algebra; using content-specific software, usually targeting specific mathematical skills; processing and interpreting experimental information from data-loggers; using information resources such as the Internet, CD-ROMs or data files. E-Learning E-Learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. (Wikipedia). It can use an information network or even no network necessary for the lessons delivery and interaction. It can also be termed as term online learning. Tinio mentioned that Web-based learning is a subset of e-learning and refers to learning using an Internet browser (such as Netscape or Internet Explorer). Figure 2.6.2: E-Learning 2.6.3 Blended Learning Another learning model which is evolving in our educational system is blended learning. This refers to combining traditional classroom methods with e-learning solutions. For example, students in a traditional class can be assigned with printed copies and also online materials through an educational program and even have online monitoring sessions with their teachers through the chat. Blended learning is a supplement to traditional delivery methods in class to support face-to-face lessons. (Tinio). Blending learning can be an online or offline process. 2.6.4 Open Source E Learning Like any teaching styles, e-learning requires a variety of resources to be run effectively. (Tinio).So there are many interactive packages which can be of great use and they are free software packages and of good use to educators since they help to add plain text, images, videos, drawings and other interactivities to their teaching and also various types of questions are included like: true/false multiple choice matching fill in the blank calculations When the student clicks on the submit button, they get their feedback directly and can have repetition of the work if need is. Thus e-learning can be beneficial to educators in the following ways as described by the University of Nottingham: E-learning is delivered through blended learning to supplement traditional learning methods. E-learning can cover a large or small part of a lesson, having already the necessary materials that can be converted into e-learning. Any use of technology to support the teaching and learning process can be described as e-learning. Help to manage and organise lessons materials in a more effective and efficient way Reduction of administrative tasks, for example printed materials and marking tests Enable educators to monitor student involvement and progress and offer support and advice promptly and make effective use of teacher-student contact time Widen communication opportunities with students Help the change in educators role from knowledge provider to learning facilitator Encourage the development of flexible learning materials. The University of Nottingham stated that in terms of students, e-learning: Encourage flexibility of access to lesson materials- anytime, anywhere Provide self-responsibility for learning and allow students to learn at their own pace and to keep track of their progress Enhance student participation while encouraging less confident students to take part Encourage student engagement when using interactive learning materials and improve students motivation and satisfaction and facilitate understanding of the subject matter Promote communication with educators Promote peer support as there is more interaction between the students Help in the preparation of upcoming topics and revision of preceding lessons Increase the accessibility of information and lesson materials to students with low abilities in the subject matter.

Back to Nature in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Essay -- Thoreau Walden

In Walden, Henry David Thoreau explains how a relationship with nature reveals aspects of the true self that remain hidden by the distractions of society and technology. To Thoreau, the burdens of nineteenth century existence, the cycles of exhausting work to obtain property, force society to exist as if it were "slumbering." Therefore, Thoreau urges his readers to seek a spiritual awakening. Through his rhetoric,Thoreau alludes to a "rebirth" of the self and a reconnection to the natural world. The text becomes a landscape and the images become objects, appealing to our pathos, or emotions, our ethos, or character, and our logos, or logical reasoning, because we experience his awakening. Thoreau grounds his spirituality in the physical realities of nature, and allows us to experience our own awakening through his metaphorical interpretations. As we observe Thoreau ¹s awakening, he covertly leads us to our own enlightenment. Thoreau submerges us into the text through his language, thereby allowing us to come as close to his experience of solitude in nature as he allows. Author Lawrence Buell explains that, as "Walden unfolds the mock serious discourse of enterprise, which implicitly casts the speaker as self-creator of his environment, begins to give way to a more ruminative prose in which the speaker appears to be finding himself within his environment" (122). Buell explains that Thoreau invites us inside the text and allows us to see the images he sees and to feel the life around him. His strategy is to disengage us from the chains that society so elegantly places around our ankles, and allow us to return to where we are closest to our natural essence. This essence can only be found, according to Thoreau, by secluding ourse... ...again. We are the beautiful life represented by the "bug," and our advancements have only created the barriers that surround us. The last image Thoreau creates is one of perseverance and hope for our rebirth. Thoreau sees beyond the power and economic structures that society creates and offers an alternative. He uses Walden Pond as his central metaphor and recreates his experiences through his imagery. His recognition of the pond, and the natural world surrounding it, not only establishes an atmosphere for spiritual growth, but also succeeds in creating a paradigm for society to follow in order to achieve the same. He assembles an instruction manual for the purpose of spiritual discovery and discovery of the self. Work Cited Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. 1862. Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau. Ed. Joseph Wood Krutch. New York: Bantam, 2001.

the wilsons disease :: essays research papers

The Wilson’s Disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Wilson’s disease is a genetic disorder of the thirteenth chromosome. This disease is an inherited disease and it is mostly likely to be in all of the offspring if a parent had it. It is the unnecessary increase of copper in the liver and brain. This is cause by a defect in the transport of copper. Wilson’s disease is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of the copper transport resulting in the copper buildup. It is also known as Hepatolenticular Degeneration as the scientific name. This mutation prevents the body from eliminating the extra copper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The symptoms include quivering in the upper extremities, Slowness of movement and changes in personality. They will be exceptionally argumentative and overly emotional. They will have a Decrease in mental capabilities and Speech disorders. Liver damage will be one of the first things to go wrong and needs mandatory attention. There will be Neurological disturbances like dementia and leading to deterioration of your coordination. Corneal markings occur along with a Rusty brown discoloration at the rims of the corneas. These are major problems that can’t be gotten rid of easily. There are very few ways to get rid of the symptoms of Wilson’s disease. It is necessary to get at least one liver transplant during their life. Most patients get chelation therapy to remove different amounts of copper. To remove copper penicillamine, zinc salts and/or trientine are used. Galzin is used to get rid of some physical symptoms of the Wilson’s disease. It is necessary to take 50MG of Galzine three times a day for it to work properly. Sometimes Zinc Acetate is given to block the absorption of extra copper. It is also necessary for a person with Wilson’s disease to have a different diet. They often have a depletion of pyridoxine or B-6 and need supplements of 25MG daily. The food they eat should stay low in copper, at less than 0.1MG per portion. They could probably handle about 0.7MGs a day. People with Wilson’s disease can’t eat a number of foods like tofu, mushrooms, and raisins, any kind of beans, chocolate, soy milk, nuts, or mineral water.

Beneficial Animal Testing Essay -- Science Ethics Scientific Research

Beneficial Animal Testing Animal testing has always been plagued with controversy on its ethical issues by animal activist groups and supportive scientists. Is it morally just to experiment and sacrifice laboratory animals on behalf of human research? Dr. Gina Solomon MD wrote her article regarding the benefits of animal testing to protect the human race and all other species. Her article â€Å"The Lesser Evil† shows the beneficial and positive aspects of animal experimentation. She approves the notion for animal testing but requests greater regulation and gentler methods of testing when scientifically possible. Dr. Solomon’s article was published in the Earth Island Journal, Autumn 2002, v17, i3, pg 47. Dr. Gina Solomon MD works for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She is a senior scientist and physician of the Health and Environment program. Dr. Solomon’s article is trustworthy and credible because she is a licensed practitioner of medicine and a chief scientist. She relies on personal experience and scientific data to justify the use of animal testing. She works for a reputable nonprofit organization whose opinions are valued for the protection of human life. Dr. Solomon focuses her article toward those who are undecided or opposed to animal testing. She hopes to persuade her audience of the scientific human advantage gained by animal experimentation. Animal experimentation is essential for the protection from harmful chemicals and pesticides for all living creatures on Earth. The animal research allows scientist to better recognize and distinguish poisonous materials for humans and wildlife. Animal activist agencies, such as PETA (People for the E thical Treatment of Animals), ar... ...a huge uncontrolled chemical experiment,† (Solomon, pg 47). I enjoyed Dr. Solomon’s article because she justifies her argument very thoroughly. She uses personal experience and factual information to support her opinions on animal testing. I found her article to be informative as well as persuasive. Her trustworthy personality shines through her article from her personal beliefs and convictions. She acknowledges the need for animal experimentation but does not appreciate the waste of any animal life. She used scientific research to explain the necessity to discover the dangerous chemical side effects endangering all life forms. The byproducts of Dr. Solomon’s article will be a better understanding for animal testing. People will accept testing on animals to be an essential part of human and wildlife protection from toxic chemicals and pesticides.

Economic Challenges In Health Care Health And Social Care Essay

This paper explores the uninsured and underinsured job that is known in America. It talks about perplexing statistics sing these two issues. Another subject discussed is the Health Care Reform measure and asks why America is so opposed to such a good alteration. The chief focal point of this paper is on California and more specifically San Mateo County. Discussed are province and county wellness benefits along with one of San Mateo County ‘s largest wellness system Mills-Peninsula Health Services, which is a Sutter Health affiliate.Economic Challenges in Health CareToday, wellness attention is at the top of societal and economic issues that are faced by Americans. Medical attention and insurance costs are on the rise and are impacting the support of a huge bulk of Americans. Americans are being faced with the inability to pay for medical attention that is needed. In the whole image this is non merely impacting the uninsured but Americans with wellness insurance are besides affe cted. The province of California has high Numberss of people that are uninsured or underinsured. California has different plans in topographic point to help the general populace that is missing equal wellness coverage and besides aids those with no coverage. California has province and county plans to assist with the load of non holding insurance and it besides helps supplement occupants who are underinsured. Medi-Cal is one of the most accessed plans by the occupants of California. The county of San Mateo is one of the larger counties in California and holds some of the highest Numberss of underinsured and uninsured people of the province. This county has plans set in topographic point that will assist with those who qualify. Mills-Peninsula Medical Services, one of the largest wellness systems in the county, besides provides aid for those who are underinsured and/or uninsured. Mill-Peninsula Medical Services is a portion of the Sutter Health System, which is a not-for-profit organ isation that is community based. Mills-Peninsula is at that place for the community and for people who need wellness attention that can non afford it at other installations. When looking at all of the Numberss and statistics, why does America non desire the Health Care Reform? The Health attention Reform will offer legion benefits to America. Americans need to be able to swear their authorities and necessitate to be assured that the authorities is making what is best for the United States.-I think you should interrupt this immense paragraph into a few smaller 1s. Seems like it is all running together but needs some differentiation. Underinsured are those in the population who have wellness insurance but still have fiscal troubles paying for their wellness attention demands. Underinsured persons are faced with lifting wellness attention premiums, deductibles, and copayments every bit good as their insurance programs holding restrictions for assorted services. Underinsured persons may be besides faced with higher out-of-pocket disbursals. The United States is get downing to be known as a state with the worst wellness attention systems in the universe. The United States does non supply any kind of cosmopolitan wellness attention for its citizens and besides has one of the highest rates of wellness attention expenditures. The following are facts harmonizing to wellness attention statistics: In 2007, about 50 million Americans did non hold wellness insurance, while another 25 million were underinsured. The sum people pay for wellness insurance increased 30 per centum from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period of clip merely increased 3 per centum. The entire one-year premium for a typical household wellness insurance program offered by employers was $ 12,680 in 2008. Health attention expenditures in the United States exceed $ 2 trillion a twelvemonth. In comparing, the federal budget is $ 3 trillion a twelvemonth. The figure of people who are underinsured has grown 60 per centum to 25 million over the past four old ages. The fastest turning section of the underinsured is the in-between and upper income households ( Health attention statistics 2011 ) . In the population of the uninsured, an estimated ten per centum of kids and striplings still remain uninsured, about eight million. Research has been conducted and its consequences have shown that 20 per centum of kids and striplings will hold a diagnosable mental or substance usage status each twelvemonth, which in Numberss is about 1.6 million. The figure of grownups who are uninsured is about 20 per centum of Americans, which is 37 million people under the age of 65 ( Manderscheid, 2011 ) . These Numberss are being shown higher due to the American unemployment rate. It is expected to turn every bit long as the unemployment Numberss stay increased. Statistically by cultural beginning, 19.6 per centum of African-Americans and 32.7 per centum of Hispanics are uninsured while the White, non-Hispanic population merely account for 11.3 per centum ( Manderscheid, 2011 ) . While those Numberss are merely demoing the population that is without insurance the following class to be discussed is Americans who have insurance but are underinsured. Approximately 50 per centum of kids and striplings are underinsured, 40 million in Numberss ( Manderscheid, 2011 ) . Adults under the age of 65 are frequently underinsured by Medicare and Medicaid due to certain restrictions. For the one-hundred million grownups who have insurance through private suppliers, being underinsured is a job for about six million of them ( Manderscheid, 2011 ) . It is easy to see why people are uninsured due to the fact they either do non take to hold a wellness program or they can non afford to hold a medical wellness program. Looking into why people are underinsured includes many factors. Some grounds for being underinsured include but are non limited to employers non holding group insurance offered to their employees. Another ground is wellness benefits being excessively expensive, therefore persons can non afford programs. Although persons may measure up for province insurance, their portion of cost may be excessively expensive. Underinsured persons include people who are insured all twelvemonth but have at least one of the undermentioned qualifiers: medical disbursals greater than ten per centum of one-year income, an one-year income less than two-hundred per centum of the federal poorness degree and medical disbursals greater than five per centum of one-year income, wellness program deductibles equal to or greater than five per centum of one-year income ( Nunley, MD, 2008 ) . The undermentioned are known facts about underinsured Americans: About 16 million grownups with full-year coverage were underinsured in 2003. One out of every three grownups in the United States is either uninsured or underinsured. Underinsured grownups are more likely than those with more equal coverage to face hold programs with higher cost- sharing characteristics, program bounds, and more restrictive benefits. Despite their more limited coverage, underinsured grownups frequently incur high out-of-pocket costs. One-third of the underinsured rated their insurance negatively, approximately double the rate of those with more equal insurance. The underinsured are more likely than those with more equal coverage to be insured by beginnings other than employer-based programs than those with more equal coverage ( Nunley, MD, 2008 ) . These statistics are perplexing. It is dismaying to conceive of these types of Numberss to be true. One would ne'er believe that here in America, the citizens are traveling without equal wellness attention needs because of being uninsured and/or underinsured. With these scaring Numberss and statistics shown above, one would believe that the American leaders would be stepping in to assist modulate the wellness attention demands of their people. It is known that when these wellness attention measures are non being paid it is increasing the cost of wellness attention in America as a whole. If a infirmary and/or clinic is non having money due to Americans being unable to pay their medical measures, so in fact, wellness installations will necessitate to increase costs for those who can afford wellness attention so the installation, itself can remain afloat. Health attention reform was set into drama by United States President Barack Obama to offer the population to have wellness attention benefits. The ideal ground for the Health Care Reform is to diminish the cost of wellness attention in America. There are many people who are against this. The logical thinking is so simple to see with all of the benefits that it has to offer. So why non take advantage of this? A great intelligence publication was done by MSNBC where polls were taken on the positions of Americans. A inquiry that was asked was â€Å" do you believe the authorities should remain out of Medicare? ( Schuster, August 20, 2010 ) † Thirty-nine per centum of Americans said â€Å" Yes † to this inquiry, but why? Why do Americans truly believe that the authorities should remain out of this? Of those 39 per centum of Americans, do they non already cognize that Medicare is already a authorities remunerator plan? We all are already paying revenue enhancements to hold Medicare. America to a point must be misinformed or non even cognize what Medicare truly is. The inquiry that made an oculus gap experience is that 54 per centum of people who took this study thought that if wellness attention was reformed it would take to authorities take over. Peoples in America must be opposed to alter. There are no words stated in the measure that should of all time take to a authorities return over. When looking at other states that have cosmopolitan wellness attention, it is really successful. People sense alteration and do non desire to listen to the facts of what benefits this will offer to America. Another ground many American citizens are concerned with wellness attention reform is that they are scared of a authorities decease panel. Forty-five per centum of people who were surveyed thought that the Health Care Reform would really bespeak that the authorities would hold a say ( Schuster, August 20, 2010 ) . This in all actuality would non be a bad thought. Should a revenue enhancement remunerator be responsible to hold to pay for person whose household members want to maintain them on life support? If there are known facts that a patient is encephalon dead and there are no other options so yes, why non hold a panel that decides this? If America wants to maintain their wellness attention monetary values low so there does necessitate to be boundaries set. The measure, though, does non province any kind of a decease panel. Why is America so afraid of this so? Some Americans feel that they have been misinformed about old determinations and now some are unsure for this new alteration. Harmonizing to some of these statistics, this could be the job. America needs to be able to confront alteration and assure themselves that this is the best option. Harmonizing to the measure, the cost will be $ 940 billion dollars over 10 old ages. In twenty old ages this will cut down our shortage by $ 1.2 trillion dollars ( Jackson, 2010 ) . The measure states that no wellness attention coverage would cover abortions ( Jackson, 2010 ) . Some Americans believe that this will be covered but why do they believe this when it has been clearly lined out in the measure. Since the twelvemonth of 2000, California has had a big addition in the per centums of people who are uninsured. Almost one tierce of the uninsured have household incomes of more than $ 50,000 per twelvemonth. In the province of California more than 60 per centum of the uninsured populations are Latino. California has the 6th largest proportion of uninsured in the state and the largest entire figure of uninsured ( Fronstin, 2010 ) . California has 32.5 million in the entire population of the province. In those entire Numberss 6.8 million are uninsured occupants. This figure shows that there is a entire of 21 per centum of California occupants that do non transport any kind of wellness coverage. Over the past few old ages, Medi-Cal has helped countervail such worsening Numberss in California occupants non holding insurance but it is non available to everyone ; hence, it is difficult for the occupants to hold linkage to measure up for this province wellness plan. A terrific fact stated by Fronstin is that â€Å" California has a higher proportion of uninsured occupants and lower rates of employer-based coverage than the state as a whole † ( Fronstin, 2010 ) . In the province of California, one in five households that have an income between $ 50,000- $ 74,999 rely on some kind of public aid that is offered through the province or the county that the persons reside in. Research has shown that approximately 10 per centum of Californians with household incomes above $ 75,000 are without wellness insurance ( Fronstin, 2010 ) . This is why California needs to and does supply some kind of wellness aid for the occupants. The following tabular array defines the different province plans that are available to the uninsured and underinsured occupants in the province of California:Types of ProgramsDescriptionsAccess for Infants and Mothers ( AIM Program ) This is a plan that is province funded with low cost wellness insurance for low to middle income pregnant adult females and their neonates. CaliforniaKids This is a wellness attention foundation that provides subsidised wellness attention services to people of the ages 2-18. California Children ‘s Services ( CCS ) CCS is a province funded plan that treats kids with certain wellness and disablement jobs. County Medical Services Program ( CMSP ) CMSP is a county plan that helps people between the ages of 21-64. Merely certain California counties offer this plan. Family Pact Family treaty is a plan for planning and generative services. Healthy Families Health Families is a province plan that offers low cost wellness and dental insurance for kids in low income households. Medi-Cal Medi-Cal is a province and federal plan that is provided to people who qualify because of low or no income and/or for dearly-won disablements. RX Help for CA This is a plan for persons who do non hold prescription drug coverage. – ( Help for the uninsured, 2010 ) California offers many plans as shown. Medi-Cal is the largest plan that is accessed by the occupants. Medi-Cal helps many occupants of California wage for wellness attention services. This is both federally and province funded. The Medi-Cal plan is supported by federal and province revenue enhancements. To measure up for Medi-Cal the occupants of California must be under the age of 21 or over the age of 65 to measure up for Medi-Cal. If the applier applying is a married twosome ( one of the persons must be absent, deceased, temporarily or for good disabled, unemployed and/or working less than 100 hours per month ) they will merely associate if there is a minor kid in the family. Besides, any individual that may measure up for Medi-Cal regardless of age are those that are lawfully blind or are disabled and unable to work for a uninterrupted 12 months. Furthermore, if a individual has been assaulted and has pressed charges on the individual who committed the assault against them they will besides hold linkage for Medi-Cal. Since Medi-Cal is a federal/state funded plan, it does hold regulations and guidelines for the people desiring to entree it. Anyone using for Medi-Cal can non hold property/assets over two-thousand dollars. The province will reexamine assets for appliers by sing look intoing histories, nest eggs histories, stocks, bonds, 401K ‘S, retirement financess, places and vehicles as belongings. Each family gets one vehicle and one house exempt for belongings and besides anything that is considered an irrevokable trust. If the belongings is over $ 2000 a spend-down procedure will be required. If the family income is over a certain sum accounting for each income in the family there will be a portion of cost to hold Medi-Cal. If one is seeking long term attention, where one member of the family needs to populate in a long term attention installation and one partner is populating in the place, $ 111,560.00 is exempt for property/assets. Not everyone qualifies for Medi-Cal but is it available for the occupants who need this type of attention program and measure up for the linkage. In the province of California, there are over five million occupants that receive Medi-Cal. A true fact about Medi-Cal is that people do non even have to be United States Citizens to have these benefits. Some people who are having this aid are non even legal occupants in the United States. The undermentioned graphs show the Population Distribution by Ethnicity, Population Distribution by Language ( Primary Speaking Language ) and Population Distribution by Citizenship Status that have been compiled by the State of California. – ( Population Distribution by Ethnicity, January 2010 ) – ( Population Distribution by Ethnicity, January 2010 ) – ( Population Distribution by Citizenship Status, January 2010 ) After analyzing these graphs it clearly states the high use of Medi-Cal by linguistic communication, ethnicity and citizenship. The graph about citizenship shows that a individual can populate in the province of California and have Medi-Cal undocumented. Why the inquiry is asked about California traveling insolvent. California gives province and federal plans to undocumented foreigners. Counties in California besides contribute to the wellness attention system. San Mateo County is the 14th largest county in California. County broad there is a entire population of 754,285 people. San Mateo County offers six different plans to its occupants. These plans are Medi-Cal, CareAdvantage, HealthWorx, San Mateo Access and Care for Everyone ( ACE ) , Healthy Families, and Healthy Kids. The following table defines each:PlanDescriptionMedi-Cal Medi-Cal is for those who are ages 21 and younger and for those over the age of 65. Besides, those with disablements qualify for Medi-Cal. There are other regulations and judicial admissions that are involved in this plan. CareAdvantage CareAdvantage is a plan which combines Medicare and Medi-Cal benefits into one simple program. HealthWorx HealthWorx is for certain excess aid employees that are employed by San Mateo County, it is for In-Home Supportive Services ( IHSS ) workers employed by the San Mateo County Public Authority and for certain parttime employees of the City of San Mateo. San Mateo Access and Care for Everyone ( ACE ) San Mateo ACE is a plan for grownups age 21 through 64 who are non eligible for other province and federal insurance plans. The appliers must populate in San Mateo County, and have low-income. Legal residence position is required for ACE. Healthy Families Healthy Families is for uninsured kids from birth to age 19 who are non eligible for full range Medi-Cal or Healthy Kids. Eligibility depends on kid ‘s age, household size and income. United States citizenship or legal residence is besides required for this plan. Healthy Childs Healthy Kids is for uninsured kids from birth to age 19 who are non eligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. Immigration position does non impact eligibility for Healthy Kids. Eligibility depends on household income. Families must populate in San Mateo County. Children are required to hold been uninsured for six months in order to measure up. In the county, 92,272 occupants benefit from one of these plans which are about one-seventh of the population. A huge bulk of occupants enrolled in these plans are Spanish talking merely. San Mateo County has great benefits for its occupants in demand and besides has a great not-for-profit infirmary that offers farther aid to those in demand and that do non measure up for any of these plans or may be uninsured or underinsured. Sutter Health was created in January 2006, when the amalgamation of Sacramento Mills-Peninsula Medical Services and California Health attention System decided to do a alteration in the wellness attention systems in California. Mills-Peninsula Medical Services is known as a non for net income organisation. Mills-Peninsula Medical Services is community owned, which has been thought to function the best for the patient ‘s demands and besides the communities in general. It is a known fact that patients treated at a for-profit or authorities owned infirmary are two to four times more likely to endure from a preventable inauspicious consequence than a patient who is treated at not-for-profit organisations ( Mills-Peninsula Medical Services, 2011 ) . The shareholders for Mills-Peninsula Medical Services are the communities. A great benefit to this is that at for-profit wellness systems have fiscal inducements to avoid caring for the uninsured and underinsured patients. They besides have a fiscal inducement to avoid difficult to function populations and unwanted geographic countries such as rural countries. In many of Northern California ‘s underserved rural venues, Mills-Peninsula Medical Services is the lone supplier of infirmary and exigency medical services in the community ( Mills-Peninsula Medical Services, 2011 ) . Mills-Peninsula Medical Services provides charity attention and particular plans to communities. The support of the community helps the organisation expand services, introduce new plans and better medical engineering. Mills-Peninsula Medical Services receives its support by federal grants, medical charities, medical insurance, and patients paying their measures. Due to the fact that there are many patients who are uninsured and who ca n't pay at that place measures, the ground for necessitating grants and charities are a important benefit for the wellness organisation. There have been generous contributions donated to the Mills-Peninsula Medical Services organisation ( Mills-Peninsula Medical Services, 2011 ) . Runing a not-for-profit organisation is entirely depended on its community. Mills-Peninsula Medical Services has given back on everything to its community since this is where the most financess are coming from. When the communities who are involved with the organisation dedicate themselves to those services the organisation in return can assist the communities by maintain up with the latest engineering, new accomplishments, and acquire the right specializer for the demands of all patients to see that the organisation is supplying the greatest wellness attention that is out at that place. Economic challenges in wellness attention affect the United States greatly. Uninsured and underinsured people mostly impact the societal and economical issues that are faced non merely in the province of California but besides in America. With America ‘s unemployment rates at its highest, it besides affects why citizens are populating with out run intoing their medical demands. Without the province of California supplying some kind of public aid to its occupants, these Numberss could be higher and have an even greater impact on the province than what they presently do. It is great that the Sutter Health affiliate, Mills-Peninsula Medical Services, a not-for-profit organisation besides provides support for the uninsured and underinsured occupants of San Mateo County. At this clip, the United States needs to implement some kind of aid to assist with run intoing all wellness attention demands for all persons or the figure and statistics that have been shown will maintain turning v astly.

Domino’s Pizza Business Environment Essay

Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 TASK 1 a: Examine the various types of organisations and their purposes and compare the mission, goals, and the strategic objectives of your chosen organisation with a similar organisation. The various types of organisations are: – Sole traders – is a person who start a business by one individual. Advantage: – Retain all the profit – Maintain full control of the business – Information about sole trader is keep private – Direct contact with customers – The business can be based on the sole trader skills Disadvantages: – Unlimited liability. Difficult to have finance for business – Intense competitions from bigger firms – When the owner dies the business ends too – Partnerships – is then when two or more persons became associate and start a business together. Advantage: – More money for business – The partners can have different skills – Shared decision making – Business losses shared between the partners – Partners can replace each other if needed Student ID 11170 page 3 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 Disadvantages – The profit must be share – Unlimited liability – To take a decision must consult all partners. – The partnership must be reformed in the event of the death of one partner – Private Limited Companies – is an independent entity that provides limited liability and legal protection for its shareholders. Advantages: – Limited Liability – The business will continue even if one of the owners die – Separate entity – More capital can be raised Disadvantages – Profit must be share – There is a legal procedure to set up the business – Firms are not allowed to sell shares to the public. – Financial information filed with the Registrar can be inspected by any member of the public. – Public Limited Companies – is a company that work with stock exchange and its share can be buy or sell from anyone Advantages: – Limited Liability – New shareholders and investors can be easily assimilated – The company has a legal existence separate from management and its members Student ID 11170 page 4 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 – Because of their size a PLC can sometimes dominate the market Disadvantages – Setting up the costs can be very expensive – The firm is open to public inspection – Because of their size they cannot always deal with customers at a personal level. Decisions can be slow because the PLC has many directors – Cooperatives – is an organisation founded and controlled by a group of volunteer users for their benefits. Advantages: – Buying in bulk – Working together to solve problems – Good motivation of all members to work hard for profit Disadvantages – Possibility of conflicts between members – Poor management – Longer decision – making process – Franchises – is an organisation that operates under the brand of another organisation that is already in the market called franchisor. Advantages: – Operate in an already known brand – Support from franchisor ( training, financial). – Can work with franchisor’s existing partners Disadvantages Student ID 11170 page 5 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 – Must work from roles already established from franchisor, the franchise has no control of the business – Franchise must to pay franchisor because use their name. – Private Sector and Public Sector Organisations Student ID 11170 page 6 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 DOMINO’S PIZZA – FRANCHISE INTRODUCTION Domino’s pizza was founded in 1960 by Tom Monaghan (www. coversupermarket. com) and his brother. After one year Tom bought him brother’s half became the sole owner. In 1967 Domino’s opened the first franchise in 1978 to have over 200 franchise stores. In 1985 they opened their first store in UK currently reaching over 700 stores. By 2000 coming to have more stores in fallowing countries: Canada, Tokyo, India etc. In 1998, after 38 years of ownership Domino’s pizza sold 93 percent of the company to Bain Capital for $1 billion. In 2004 Domino’s began trading common stock on the Stock Exchange. In 2006 they opened 8000 total stores in international markets. The company is still growing today with more than 9350 stores in more than 60 international markets. In same year they starts its sponsorship of The Simpsons in UK. (the Domino’s effect. 13 supplement, Estates Gazette, July 19 2008 Issue) In 1999 Domino’s became the first home delivery company to float in the Alternative Investment Market. In 2000 they introduced hot bags to keep the pizzas hot and crisp during delivery. Domino’s started making pizza and today the current menu is a variety of Italian – American products but pizza stay main product, Domino’s along time bringing many improvements countertop and toppings. The Domino’s Pizza Team is hard working, committed to excellence and serious about having fun. There are more than 170,000 team members employed by 600 corporate-owned stores, a system of 5,000+ domestic franchise-owned stores and international franchise base that operates more than 5,000 stores in more than 70 markets around the globe ( www. dominosbiz. com ). Over 21,000 team members work in UK and Irish stores and in a range of support functions ranging from marketing, IT and training. Tom Monaghan bought the business for the amount of $500, now Domino’s has already labeled as â€Å"megabrand† because it already reaches a total of $5. 1 billion in terms of global retail sales. This includes $3. 2 billion in domestic sales and $1. 9 billion in international sales. ( www. statupbizhup. com ) Student ID 11170 page 7 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 MISSION, GOALS AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES MISSION Their mission is to be the best pizza delivery company on the world. Sale more pizza, have more fun. GOALS When the business started Tom Monaghan, the founder, had an only one goal to open three stores. This goal is achieved even exceeding the expectations Domino’s has turned its attentions to a new goal, namely to make the people to love their pizza. OBJECTIVES – Improve speed and efficiency of pizza making. Improve efficiency and speed in delivery. Lower the costs of pizzas. To improve customer relations. Make more profit. Student ID 11170 page 8 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 COMPARE DOMINO’S PIZZA WITH PIZZA HUT(FRANCHISE) PIZZA HUT MISSION They take pride in making perfect pizza and providing courteous and helpful service on time all the time. ( www. wiki. answers. com ) Every customer says â€Å"I’ll be back! † PIZZA HUT GOAL Their goal is to reach 85% recognition of the new product in their target market. The most important goal of the company is to increase revenue and profits. PIZZA HUT OBJECTIVES To serve the customer , to provide delicious and hygienic pizza and helpful delivery service. Practice what they preach: integrity, ethics and open communications. While Pizza Hut’s mission is to improve products and customer loyalty, Domino’s Pizza and motivate their employees saying that selling more pizza then the company will have more profit and employees will be better rewarded for their work as a result will have more money for their personal activities. Pizza Hut’s goal is to launch new products and marketing in a more advantageous and profitable growth while Domino’s Pizza wants to expand their business by opening as many stores and offering products and services as good that loyalty to his customers. Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut are competitors in pizza market and has same market demographic characteristics. Both companies have been able to offer to the customers a good and quality pizza and services. Both companies want to have the best possible promotion of products so that they can maximize their profit and want to cover a larger part of the market. Student ID 11170 page 9 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 TASK 1 b – Explain how stakeholders influence organisational mission and goals and discuss how and to what extend your chosen organisations (responsabilities) meets stakeholder expectations. All stakeholders have a real importance for a company. Each of them is an important part of business. Customers. The customers want that company to provide good products and service customer. For Domino’s customers are real important, they are dependent by customer’s satisfactions and they know that it is important to keep them. Each of satisfied customer bring with him profit. To became one of the most leading pizza delivery Domino’s has made and put the focus on clients feedback regarding improving the quality of products and services carrying many times their survey. Employees. The employees want that company to create a nice place to work and to give them a good training. As well the employees is very important in this company. Without good employees no organization can grow up. Domino’s know their employees work hard every day to provide great food and customer service why invest financial resources in training them. Suppliers. The suppliers want that company to have a good and along collaboration with them and pay them bill on time. Domino’s Pizza has a good relation with suppliers because they are an important factor in a business. Domino’s Pizza is very strict when choosing their suppliers because they are one of the largest volume purchasers off pizza – related product and they need the suppliers to ensure their highest quality product Management. The management want that company grow up and increase profit. Franchisor. The franchisor want that company provide a good work and to keep a good image of brand. Student ID 11170 page 10 of 20. Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 TASK 2 a – Explain the nature of UK economic system and how it affects business organisations such as yours. UK have a free market economy, that means the market economy have a little government control and they can fixed the price without state intervention. At same time is a market where the sellers decide what to sell and the buyers decide what they want to buy and for how much. As for other organisations and Domino’s Pizza is an advantage that they can perform the work in a free market but can also be a disadvantage because in a free market all time are more competitors. Domino’s can set their prices and their activity without been affected from government influence only if the change taxes, instead there are situations where they need to stay flexible with the prices because of competition and they need to spend more money for advertising because in a free market the costumers have many options. TASK 2 b – Discuss how governments manage the national economy briefly and analyse the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on businesses such as your chosen organisation. UK government tries to manage the national economy in the fallowing ways: – keeping a low unemployment rate – keeping a low inflation rate that is as low prices – trying to produce as many goods and services that have a growth economy – by lowering taxes The fiscal policy represents all government imposed taxes and fees to maintain a balance of macroeconomics. Fiscal policy applies to market goods and services and by increasing or decreasing taxes can have a significant impact to organisations, can rise or lower inflation and unemployment. If the government reduces taxes would be an added advantage for Domino’s Pizza because automatic and demand would increase. If demand increases the organisation can Student ID 11170 page 11 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 have a higher profit and that help to open other stores. When the organisation expands help lower the unemployment rate because new jobs automatically appear. When the government increases taxation the demand decreases and the organisations are discouraged to invest and unemployment increases. When inflation is high has a negative effect on Domino’s Pizza because the organisation is forced to raise the prices and this automatically leads to lower demand and this affected the company’s profit. The monetary policy is intervention of monetary authorities on cash economy. The monetary policy have influence on interest rates, exchange rate, money supply. In terms of Domino’s Pizza organisation can be seriously affected by rising interest rates because the firm need to pay more money back to bank or stop the loans witch is a really help in company’s grow up. If the interest rates increase the population can’t take loans as well and this means if the costumers don’t have money the demand decrease and the production is affected as well. Lower interest rates have the opposite effect and the organisation can make more investment because the consumption increase as well. TASK 2 c – Analyse how competition policy and regulatory mechanism work in the UK in relation to your chosen organisation. Competition policy is an organisation that tries to control commercial activity in competition so that some companies do not get to have total power over the market. Competition policy bring the follow benefit for consumer: – consumers can benefits from products and services at the best prices – to adapt to competition policy, the firm develops researches and bring new innovation Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is the UK’s consumer and competition authority. Their mission is to make markets to provide a good work for consumers. OFT do the market research and provides consumers all the necessary information to make sure that they can make the right decisions regarding the products or services that consume. Regarding Domino’s Pizza there is no informations revealing that the organisation would have created problems so that OFT intervention to be necessary. Student ID 11170 page 12 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 Task 3 a – Using your chosen company as an example, explain how market structure determines the pricing and production decisions. Domino’s Pizza is part of monopolistic market. The monopolistic competition is a type of imperfect competition. The monopolistic competition have fallowing characteristics:  large number of competitors in market – between prices are small differences – large number of substitutes products – high advertising – is easy to entry or exit because exist just few barriers in this competition The monopolistic market is a market where exits many organisations which provides same products or services but with different characteristics. Same like Domino’s in pizza market exist many pizza delivery organisations but their products are different in taste, bases of ingredients, brand and advertising. In monopolistic competition for Domino’s is hard to decide their prices because they are influenced by competitors witch sell products substitutes. To be able to remain at a high level in this market segment, Domino’s has invested a lot of money in advertising to get customers trust and loyalty. In monopolistic market, Domino’s may not always have the same profit because the presence of competition and they always must to make researches to differentiate the products. Student ID 11170 page 13 of 20 Assignement. Business Environment Feb 2013 TASK 3 b – Using a range of examples, analyse how market forces influence the organisational response and examine how your organisation would respond. Unlike other companies which have faced difficulties during the recession, Domino’s pizza has managed to keep afloat even increase sales. Although the economy was visible affected Domino’s has invested more money in advertising continues to promote its deals and discounts and, reportedly from 2009, for Domino’s was an advantage that much of the population affected by the recession chose to eat home this led to a sales increase of about 11%. As well if cost increases and Domino’s Pizza offer must increase prices of its products or company profits would be affected. However manages to not have a drop in demand even increase its offering in exchange quality products and fast delivery order. Another influence comes from the competition because in this domain are many competitors, so Domino’s Pizza try various way to remain high: – through more intensive advertising – goods products and customer services – fast delivery All this make the demand increase. Student ID 11170 page 14 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 Another influence have suppliers because if the cost of the milk or wheat increases then the supply increasing as well and Domino’s Pizza need to increase the prices and then the demand decreases. TASK 3 c – Discuss the business and cultural environment of your selected organisation and assess to what extend it shapes the behaviour of the organisation. Food is the most culturally sensitive category of consumer goods. For Domino’s richness of diversity in the workplace stimulates the work environment, creativity and innovation, and they became stronger because they use all the human resources with different culture. While age consumers change their option for consumed products. Every buyer has their own vision of quality products that wants to consume and this is influenced by lifestyle and the income of each. Domino’s has many shops in many countries with customer who have different tastes they had to adopt their products according to the demand and desires of customers in each country. For example in Korea Domino’s sell Potato Pizza which topping include potato, in France domino’s sell Saumoneta Pizza with smoked salmon and dill and creme fraiche also they sell Four Cheese pizza. Student ID 11170 page 15 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 TASK 4 a – Discuss how international trade affects the UK business organisation and analyse the impact of global factors on UK business, including your chosen organisation. The international trade is the exchange of goods and services outside the territorial borders. International trade has many advantages but also requires some higher costs than domestic trade. International trade is very important for economic development in general and for individual countries economic development. Like other countries and UK practice international trade because it can not produce all the goods and services they need to be continuously developing. UK import is called when purchasing goods and services produced in another country and when UK sells goods and services to other countries is called export. For Domino’s Pizza international trade is opening new opportunities borders. When the organisation can expand by opening new stores the profit is growth but also the competition increase. When competition increases Domino’s Pizza must focus on placing the best possible products and services so that its clients do not turn their attention to competitors. This means that Domino’s need to invest more time and money in advertising and researches. Another great advantage of international trade is the company access to new products and suppliers which means that international expansion helps to increase production because in international trade a country need to utilize all resources. Globalisation is a business philosophy which believes that the world can became homogeneous. Globalisation has effect on the culture, economic development, environment and political system. Globalisation have fallow drivers: – market drivers – cost drivers – government drivers – competitive drivers Market drivers – degree of homogeneity of customer needs – existence global distribution network – transferable marketing Student ID 11170 page 16 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 Market globalisation drivers bringing homogeneity among customers. Domino’s Pizza can provide products to customers in UK from other countries and this influences cultures, taste and lifestyle and can increase demand. Cost drivers – potential for economies of scale – transportation cost – product development cost – economies of scope Globalisation have many advantages in cost drivers because Domino’s Pizza UK can supply from another countries with cheaper product with same quality and company can benefit from lower transport prices in globalisation if purchase necessary products in larger quantities. Government drivers – lower taxation– compatible technical standards and common marketing regulations – privatisation Government can help Domino’s Pizza by lowering import taxes and export taxes. Globally, Domino’s can work in countries with less advanced technology with more advanced technology from another countries. Student ID 11170 page 17 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 TASK 4 b – Assess the role and impact of EU policies and directives on the UK businesses using your organisations as an example. The European Union was founded by economic and political union of 27 states. The purpose of the European Union is to create a single market, the European market, and to introduce a single currency in the Member States to facilitate commerce and to lower the risk of being affected by exchange rate. By creating a single market in Europe, Domino’s Pizza, would have many advantages and few disadvantages. EU first wants to ensure protection of traders that operate within European borders and to introduce a common external tariff to facilitate the exchange of goods and services between Member States. By creating a single market with a common external tariff, for Domino’s means new business opportunities, a simple way to have access to new market, increase number of consumer Although, in UK, Domino’s working with national currency, if here would introduce the single European currency, Euro, the company would have a number of advantages; – company would not have losses caused by exchange rates that they would be removed – the transition to the single currency would eliminate and some bank fees – there would be no a fluctuation in the prices. EU helps to reduce the unemployment rate in Europe because in most Member States any citizen has the right to live and work in another member states except do some states still retain certain restrictions which include and UK. Student ID 11170 page 18 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 Conclusion My opinion about this course is that now I have more knowledge about what mean business environment. I developed my vision strengths to be considered within organisation and also negative and positive influences of all factors acting on business. I have more knowledge about national and international economic system and how economy can influence the organisations. And after this course I learned which is the best position in market for to have a good business. Student ID 11170 page 19 of 20 Assignement Business Environment Feb 2013 References www. coversupermarket. com. 2012.Dommino’s Pizza. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. coversupermarket. com/blog/? p=211. [Accessed 15 April 13]. www. dominosbiz. com. 2011. OUR TEAM. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. dominosbiz. com/Biz-Public-EN/Site+Content/Secondary/Careers/Team/?&lang=en_us&output=json&session-id=bdec0454534e2ab7f3ed9233e6b9f7ce . [Accessed 14 April 13]. www. startupbizhub. com. com. 2011. Dominos Franchise Cost. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. startupbizhub. com/dominos-franchise-cost. htm? &lang=en_us&output=json&sessionid=653a45ce3c73fa78dfdd910e0a4bda77. [Accessed 15 April 13]. www. wiki. answers. com. 2011. What is the mission statement for Pizza Hut? Franchise Cost . [ONLINE] Available at: http://wiki. answers. com/Q/What_is_the_mission_statement_for_Pizza_Hut? &lang=en_us&output=json&session-id=29e880efe554d20d1c63f97638aab27e . [Accessed 15 April 13]. Student ID 11170 page 20 of 20.