Saturday, November 30, 2019

Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds Essay Example

Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds Paper Introduction: McDonalds is one of the biggest fast food companies in the market share today. It has been running in over 119 countries, as well as they have acquired over 31,000 restaurants in the world now. McDonald’s brand mission is to be customers’ favourite place and way to eat, they are aligned around a global strategy called the ‘Plan to Win’, they also committed to continuously improving their operations and enhancing their customers’ experience. As we all know that McDonald’s had successfully achieved their goal through out the years. (aboutmcdonald’s, 2012) Apart from this, as McDonald’s is a worldwide company, they also had the social responsibility to return the community; therefore, the ‘Ronald McDonald House Charities’ was established to build up their social image. Unfortunately, the market share is not only for McDonalds because there are still a lot other competitors in the market, like KFC and Burger King. So, McDonalds need a good marketing strategy to conquer other enemies and retain their position because the competition in the market is hypercompetitive. As all we know, the successful marketing strategy for McDonalds is based on their innovative and creative promotion and great marketing research in order to keep consumer’s loyalty. Eventually, this project will examine the success through three main sessions, which are marketing research, the marketing mix and the competitor strategies. Marketing Research: We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Every marketing strategy starts with the marketing research. In the fast food market, McDonald’s confronts competition form other businesses, in order to maintain the market share, McDonald’s needs to identify the needs and wants of customers, and creating the right marketing mix in order to keep customers’ loyalty so as to build up a long term relationship with their customers. Marketing research helps identifying the change of customers’ wills and anticipates how the changes will affect the sales figure. 1. Research method Market researches done by McDonald’s consider everything that affect buying decisions. (The times 100, 2012) The buying decisions could be affected by a wide range of factors, including psychological factors, like ‘what image does the product give’ or ‘how the consumer feels when purchasing’. Next, the economy changes could also affect the buying decisions, for example, the rising living standards. According to Salvam (2009), McDonald’s used both qualitative and quantitative data are developed in the research activities. After McDonald’s had collect the data, they will identify how appropriate the company’s products are for the future; the quality of employees and how well trained they are to offer the best services to customer and the financial resources that available for marketing etc. 2. Customer satisfaction The number of customers in the market is limited; it is essential to retain people once they have become customers to build long-term and successful business. The marketing research helps McDonald’s to indentify the types of customers and determine the type of products and services offered, price range, promotion strategies and even where the restaurants located. The ‘Happy Meal’ is one of the famous product line McDonald’s had produced, which targeted to young customers, the Happy Meal is served with food and a toy, McDonald’s ally with Hollywood studios such as Walt Disney, consequently, the Happy meal had become one of the most successful children’s cultural icons on the globe (Hong, 2009) and brings about a huge income to McDonald’s every single year. Apart from this, to respond the global criticism and the negative effect of the documentary ‘Super Size Me’ on McDonald’s are selling junk food, McDonald’s had introduce the more healthy food, such as salad and fruits to their menu, so as to associate their brand image with healthier food. This is one of the examples that shows how McDonald’s consider the social factor. These are all the examples of what McDonald’s done to achieve the needs and wants of customers. How McDonald’s influences their customers – The marketing mix It is known that McDonald’s used both polycentric and geocentric approach in creating their marketing mix. 1. Product It is known that most products go through a ‘product life cycle’, which sees all kinds of product will eventually go to the ‘decline’ stage. The marketing research discussed in the pervious part is vitally important to understand the changing wants and needs of customers. McDonalds constantly works to satisfy customers by developing new products to appeal them. For example, McDonalds introduced a variety of salads to appeal to the healthier conscious customers (Yahoo! Contributor Network, 2005), and recently, McDonald’s added a new product line named ‘great taste of America’ so as to attract young customers. (UK McDonald’s, 2012) 2. Price As we all know that customers draw their own mental picture of what a product is worth, therefore, it is important for McDonald’s to know the customer’s perception of value. (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006) McDonald’s will change their product price time to time based on the result of the marketing research, and offer the most reasonable price for the customers. 3. Promotions Every company has their own way to promote their products; McDonald’s is no different. The promotion strategy of McDonald’s could be classified into two aspects, which are the advertising promotion and sales promotion. 3. 1 Advertisement Advertisement is conducted on TV, radio, website, poster site, and all kinds of media that around our daily life. It is known that positive emotion can be very effective in creating memorable and persuasive messages (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006), this is also why the cheerful senses are always used in McDonalds’ commercials. Apart from this, customer-oriented appeals are also used in McDonalds’ advertisement. To advertise different types of customers, McDonald’s had different strategies, for example, they had co-operate with Walt Disney to produce toys that can attract children. Toy giveaways are a major promotion weapon in McDonald’s battle in the fast-food market share. McDonald’s have long put toys in kid’s meal to build traffic and encourage repeat visit from families. 3. 2 Sales Promotion McDonald’s had developed numerous of effective promotional campaign to attract more customers, and sales promotion is an aspect that they heavily rely on. It is believed that by adding extra value to the product, over and above the normal product offering, thus creating an extra inducement to consumers to buy or try them. (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006) McDonald’s strategy is to offer quality food quickly to customers at a good value. The pricing structure for McDonald’s over years has supported this message, McDonald’s has ran many promotions to increase product sales. For instance, they offer student offer, which gives out free hamburger, cheeseburger or ‘McFlurry Original’ with the customers purchase an ‘Extra Value Meal’ with a valid student ID card. Furthermore, McDonald’s also offer different types of coupons frequently in order to stimulate the demand and increase customers’ interest and desire to purchase their products. (McDonald’s, 2012) 4. Place Place, is about the physical location and the distribution points for products. McDonald’s had their special menu in different shops all over the world. For instance, Maharaja McBurger is a vegetarian burger marketed in India; Prosperity Burger is popular in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore; McDonalds offers Halal food in Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Indonesia, Malaysia etc. Competitor Strategies: Nowadays, many fast food shops are building up in the market, which means the market share for fast food shop is becoming more competitive. As we all know, no company can be successful without a good competitor strategy. McDonald’s has become one of the well-known and famous fast food companies today because they have had an innovated and effective competitor strategy to conquer their enemies The major competitors of McDonald’s included Burger King, Doctor’s Associates and Yumburger. RQ Admit Company, 2012) Among all of the competitors strategies McDonald’s had applied, there are three main obvious ideas, which can help them establishing a good reputation and popularity in the market. New Production Strategy: As McDonalds had expanded internationally, in order to keep consumer’s loyalty and attract people’s attention, McDonald’s designs creative productions regularly which are both special and delicious, such as ‘shake shake chips’ and new version of burger. Clark, 2012) Furthermore, in order to spread further their market, they provided vegetarian food, which allowed customers that are vegetarian to purchase their product. Apart from this, McDonald’s has already established a great reputation in the market; therefore, they will be always exploiting their brand’s reputation and consumer’s desire to promote the new product. This is one of the effective ways, which could assist customers to gain their popularity and promote their new production. Healthy Food strategy: In this new generation, a new demand in the market has appeared. People are now craving for a healthy life and are more willing to purchase healthier food. Thus, on purpose of reaching customers’ new demand, McDonald’s had change their products from the traditional high-fat and oily food to food that contained lower calories and fat, as well as they had begun to provide some new choices of food, which are much healthier and more palatable, such as snack size fruit, walnut salad and yogurt parfait. (HubPages, 2012) Charity strategy: Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMDH) is one of the independent and egistered charities, whose mission is to provide comfort and safety place and environment for poor family and some ill or injured children. (McDonalds, 2012) There are some reasons why they built a charity. First of all, it is one of the unique strategies, which can make people feel that they have associated with the donation of the charity, after they purchased the food. Therefore, their reputation and population will increase in the mar ket and this will help McDonald creating a more positive image and change people’s rooted negative thought on fast food industry. Furthermore, RMDH can build up their brand name with co-operating with some charities to organize some activities. This is because it is one of the essential ways to let more people to be interested in McDonald’s. Thus, they can keep being one of the huge groups in the marketing share. Conclusion There is no doubt that McDonald’s is a successful company. The success of McDonald’s could be seen in the comprehensive and effective marketing research, the purposeful marketing mix created that satisfied customers needs and wants and the overwhelming competitor strategies, which helped McDonald’s to keep their market share. Reference: 1. Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. , 2006. Principles of Marketing. England: Person Education Limited. 2. Clark, W. , 2012. Product Development Strategy for McDonald’s[online]. United Stated: Hearst Communications Inc.. Available from: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/product-development-strategy-mcdonalds-12207. html [Accessed 27 April 2012] 3. Hong, J. W. , 2009. Power of McDonald’s ‘Happy Meal’: Globalization of American Culture and Value. The Global Studies Journal. 2(2), pp. 143-154 4. Hubpages, 2012. Low Calorie and Healthy Choices at McDonald’s[online]. United State: HubPages Inc.. Available from: http://pbdietitian. hubpages. com/hub/low-calorie-and-healthy-choices-at-McDonalds [Accessed 22 April 2012] 5. McDonald’s, 2012. Ronald McDonald House Charities[online]. United Kingdom: McDonald’s. Available from: http://www. mcdonalds. co. uk/ukhome/Ourworld/Ronald-McDonald-House-Charities. html [Accessed 25 April 2012] 6. McDonald’s, 2012. Mission and Value[online]. United Kingdom: McDonald’s. Available from: http://www. aboutmcdonalds. com/mcd/our_company/mission_and_values. html [Accessed 23 April 2012] Yahoo! Contributor Network. , 2005. McDonald’s Strategic Marketing Mix. [online] http://voices. ahoo. com/mcdonalds-strategic-marketing-mix-372441. html? cat=4 7. R Q Amit Company, 2010. Marketing – McDonalds’ Style[online]. United State: R Q Amit Company. Available from: http://essayexpert. qapacity. com/financial-sucess/4604/marketing-mcdonalds-style/ [Accessed 25 April 2012]. 8. Salvam, P. , 2009. Expansion of M cDonald’s to regional markets. Management committee, 1, pp,1-10 9. The times 100. , 2012. The marketing process – A McDonald’s Restaurants case study. [online] http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/mcdonalds-restaurants/the-marketing-process/the-marketing-mix-and-market-research. html Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds Essay Example Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds Essay Introduction: McDonalds is one of the biggest fast food companies in the market share today. It has been running in over 119 countries, as well as they have acquired over 31,000 restaurants in the world now. McDonald’s brand mission is to be customers’ favourite place and way to eat, they are aligned around a global strategy called the ‘Plan to Win’, they also committed to continuously improving their operations and enhancing their customers’ experience. As we all know that McDonald’s had successfully achieved their goal through out the years. (aboutmcdonald’s, 2012) Apart from this, as McDonald’s is a worldwide company, they also had the social responsibility to return the community; therefore, the ‘Ronald McDonald House Charities’ was established to build up their social image. Unfortunately, the market share is not only for McDonalds because there are still a lot other competitors in the market, like KFC and Burger King. So, McDonalds need a good marketing strategy to conquer other enemies and retain their position because the competition in the market is hypercompetitive. As all we know, the successful marketing strategy for McDonalds is based on their innovative and creative promotion and great marketing research in order to keep consumer’s loyalty. Eventually, this project will examine the success through three main sessions, which are marketing research, the marketing mix and the competitor strategies. Marketing Research: We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Strategy of Mcdonalds specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Every marketing strategy starts with the marketing research. In the fast food market, McDonald’s confronts competition form other businesses, in order to maintain the market share, McDonald’s needs to identify the needs and wants of customers, and creating the right marketing mix in order to keep customers’ loyalty so as to build up a long term relationship with their customers. Marketing research helps identifying the change of customers’ wills and anticipates how the changes will affect the sales figure. 1. Research method Market researches done by McDonald’s consider everything that affect buying decisions. (The times 100, 2012) The buying decisions could be affected by a wide range of factors, including psychological factors, like ‘what image does the product give’ or ‘how the consumer feels when purchasing’. Next, the economy changes could also affect the buying decisions, for example, the rising living standards. According to Salvam (2009), McDonald’s used both qualitative and quantitative data are developed in the research activities. After McDonald’s had collect the data, they will identify how appropriate the company’s products are for the future; the quality of employees and how well trained they are to offer the best services to customer and the financial resources that available for marketing etc. 2. Customer satisfaction The number of customers in the market is limited; it is essential to retain people once they have become customers to build long-term and successful business. The marketing research helps McDonald’s to indentify the types of customers and determine the type of products and services offered, price range, promotion strategies and even where the restaurants located. The ‘Happy Meal’ is one of the famous product line McDonald’s had produced, which targeted to young customers, the Happy Meal is served with food and a toy, McDonald’s ally with Hollywood studios such as Walt Disney, consequently, the Happy meal had become one of the most successful children’s cultural icons on the globe (Hong, 2009) and brings about a huge income to McDonald’s every single year. Apart from this, to respond the global criticism and the negative effect of the documentary ‘Super Size Me’ on McDonald’s are selling junk food, McDonald’s had introduce the more healthy food, such as salad and fruits to their menu, so as to associate their brand image with healthier food. This is one of the examples that shows how McDonald’s consider the social factor. These are all the examples of what McDonald’s done to achieve the needs and wants of customers. How McDonald’s influences their customers – The marketing mix It is known that McDonald’s used both polycentric and geocentric approach in creating their marketing mix. 1. Product It is known that most products go through a ‘product life cycle’, which sees all kinds of product will eventually go to the ‘decline’ stage. The marketing research discussed in the pervious part is vitally important to understand the changing wants and needs of customers. McDonalds constantly works to satisfy customers by developing new products to appeal them. For example, McDonalds introduced a variety of salads to appeal to the healthier conscious customers (Yahoo! Contributor Network, 2005), and recently, McDonald’s added a new product line named ‘great taste of America’ so as to attract young customers. (UK McDonald’s, 2012) 2. Price As we all know that customers draw their own mental picture of what a product is worth, therefore, it is important for McDonald’s to know the customer’s perception of value. (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006) McDonald’s will change their product price time to time based on the result of the marketing research, and offer the most reasonable price for the customers. 3. Promotions Every company has their own way to promote their products; McDonald’s is no different. The promotion strategy of McDonald’s could be classified into two aspects, which are the advertising promotion and sales promotion. 3. 1 Advertisement Advertisement is conducted on TV, radio, website, poster site, and all kinds of media that around our daily life. It is known that positive emotion can be very effective in creating memorable and persuasive messages (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006), this is also why the cheerful senses are always used in McDonalds’ commercials. Apart from this, customer-oriented appeals are also used in McDonalds’ advertisement. To advertise different types of customers, McDonald’s had different strategies, for example, they had co-operate with Walt Disney to produce toys that can attract children. Toy giveaways are a major promotion weapon in McDonald’s battle in the fast-food market share. McDonald’s have long put toys in kid’s meal to build traffic and encourage repeat visit from families. 3. 2 Sales Promotion McDonald’s had developed numerous of effective promotional campaign to attract more customers, and sales promotion is an aspect that they heavily rely on. It is believed that by adding extra value to the product, over and above the normal product offering, thus creating an extra inducement to consumers to buy or try them. (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006) McDonald’s strategy is to offer quality food quickly to customers at a good value. The pricing structure for McDonald’s over years has supported this message, McDonald’s has ran many promotions to increase product sales. For instance, they offer student offer, which gives out free hamburger, cheeseburger or ‘McFlurry Original’ with the customers purchase an ‘Extra Value Meal’ with a valid student ID card. Furthermore, McDonald’s also offer different types of coupons frequently in order to stimulate the demand and increase customers’ interest and desire to purchase their products. (McDonald’s, 2012) 4. Place Place, is about the physical location and the distribution points for products. McDonald’s had their special menu in different shops all over the world. For instance, Maharaja McBurger is a vegetarian burger marketed in India; Prosperity Burger is popular in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore; McDonalds offers Halal food in Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Indonesia, Malaysia etc. Competitor Strategies: Nowadays, many fast food shops are building up in the market, which means the market share for fast food shop is becoming more competitive. As we all know, no company can be successful without a good competitor strategy. McDonald’s has become one of the well-known and famous fast food companies today because they have had an innovated and effective competitor strategy to conquer their enemies The major competitors of McDonald’s included Burger King, Doctor’s Associates and Yumburger. RQ Admit Company, 2012) Among all of the competitors strategies McDonald’s had applied, there are three main obvious ideas, which can help them establishing a good reputation and popularity in the market. New Production Strategy: As McDonalds had expanded internationally, in order to keep consumer’s loyalty and attract people’s attention, McDonald’s designs creative productions regularly which are both special and delicious, such as ‘shake shake chips’ and new version of burger. Clark, 2012) Furthermore, in order to spread further their market, they provided vegetarian food, which allowed customers that are vegetarian to purchase their product. Apart from this, McDonald’s has already established a great reputation in the market; therefore, they will be always exploiting their brand’s reputation and consumer’s desire to promote the new product. This is one of the effective ways, which could assist customers to gain their popularity and promote their new production. Healthy Food strategy: In this new generation, a new demand in the market has appeared. People are now craving for a healthy life and are more willing to purchase healthier food. Thus, on purpose of reaching customers’ new demand, McDonald’s had change their products from the traditional high-fat and oily food to food that contained lower calories and fat, as well as they had begun to provide some new choices of food, which are much healthier and more palatable, such as snack size fruit, walnut salad and yogurt parfait. (HubPages, 2012) Charity strategy: Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMDH) is one of the independent and egistered charities, whose mission is to provide comfort and safety place and environment for poor family and some ill or injured children. (McDonalds, 2012) There are some reasons why they built a charity. First of all, it is one of the unique strategies, which can make people feel that they have associated with the donation of the charity, after they purchased the food. Therefore, their reputation and population will increase in the mar ket and this will help McDonald creating a more positive image and change people’s rooted negative thought on fast food industry. Furthermore, RMDH can build up their brand name with co-operating with some charities to organize some activities. This is because it is one of the essential ways to let more people to be interested in McDonald’s. Thus, they can keep being one of the huge groups in the marketing share. Conclusion There is no doubt that McDonald’s is a successful company. The success of McDonald’s could be seen in the comprehensive and effective marketing research, the purposeful marketing mix created that satisfied customers needs and wants and the overwhelming competitor strategies, which helped McDonald’s to keep their market share. Reference: 1. Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. , 2006. Principles of Marketing. England: Person Education Limited. 2. Clark, W. , 2012. Product Development Strategy for McDonald’s[online]. United Stated: Hearst Communications Inc.. Available from: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/product-development-strategy-mcdonalds-12207. html [Accessed 27 April 2012] 3. Hong, J. W. , 2009. Power of McDonald’s ‘Happy Meal’: Globalization of American Culture and Value. The Global Studies Journal. 2(2), pp. 143-154 4. Hubpages, 2012. Low Calorie and Healthy Choices at McDonald’s[online]. United State: HubPages Inc.. Available from: http://pbdietitian. hubpages. com/hub/low-calorie-and-healthy-choices-at-McDonalds [Accessed 22 April 2012] 5. McDonald’s, 2012. Ronald McDonald House Charities[online]. United Kingdom: McDonald’s. Available from: http://www. mcdonalds. co. uk/ukhome/Ourworld/Ronald-McDonald-House-Charities. html [Accessed 25 April 2012] 6. McDonald’s, 2012. Mission and Value[online]. United Kingdom: McDonald’s. Available from: http://www. aboutmcdonalds. com/mcd/our_company/mission_and_values. html [Accessed 23 April 2012] Yahoo! Contributor Network. , 2005. McDonald’s Strategic Marketing Mix. [online] http://voices. ahoo. com/mcdonalds-strategic-marketing-mix-372441. html? cat=4 7. R Q Amit Company, 2010. Marketing – McDonalds’ Style[online]. United State: R Q Amit Company. Available from: http://essayexpert. qapacity. com/financial-sucess/4604/marketing-mcdonalds-style/ [Accessed 25 April 2012]. 8. Salvam, P. , 2009. Expansion of M cDonald’s to regional markets. Management committee, 1, pp,1-10 9. The times 100. , 2012. The marketing process – A McDonald’s Restaurants case study. [online] http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/mcdonalds-restaurants/the-marketing-process/the-marketing-mix-and-market-research. html

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Tommy Douglas

When considering the giants of Canadian politics, T.C. Douglas surely stands at the forefront. Tommy Douglas was a remarkable Canadian whose contributions have helped to shape our great nation. Although he is most famous as the founding father of Medicare, the most advanced health-care system in the world, Douglas’ contributions to Saskatchewan and Canada were tremendous. Douglas established democratic socialism as a mainstream in Canadian politics and his CCF government became the first socialist government in North America. A visionary who achieved his dreams, Douglas changed the face of Canadian politics. More importantly, Tommy Douglas was a politician who put the good of the people he represented first and foremost. Tommy Clement Douglas was born on October 20, 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland. In 1911, Tommy, his mother and his sister moved to Winnipeg to join his father who had moved there the previous year. Shortly after settling in Winnipeg, Tommy was diagnosed with osteomyelitis in his right leg. Tommy’s family was not wealthy and subsequently his family could not pay for the best or most immediate treatment. The delay nearly cost Tommy his leg. This experience marked the beginning of Tommy’s quest for universal, public health care. By the time he was 18, Tommy set his sights on a career as a preacher. In 1924, when Tommy reached 20 years of age, he enrolled at Brandon College in Manitoba. Brandon College, which was founded by the missionary Baptists of Ontario, provided young ministers with the opportunity to receive an educational background. In college, Tommy was active in elocution classes, drama, and debating. His peers accepted Douglas as a natural leader and scholar. During weekends and summer months, Tommy would speak at rural churches. At one such trip Tommy met Irma Dempsey, his future wife. By the time he had left Brandon College, Tommy had earned his Bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Arts. In the fall o... Free Essays on Tommy Douglas Free Essays on Tommy Douglas When considering the giants of Canadian politics, T.C. Douglas surely stands at the forefront. Tommy Douglas was a remarkable Canadian whose contributions have helped to shape our great nation. Although he is most famous as the founding father of Medicare, the most advanced health-care system in the world, Douglas’ contributions to Saskatchewan and Canada were tremendous. Douglas established democratic socialism as a mainstream in Canadian politics and his CCF government became the first socialist government in North America. A visionary who achieved his dreams, Douglas changed the face of Canadian politics. More importantly, Tommy Douglas was a politician who put the good of the people he represented first and foremost. Tommy Clement Douglas was born on October 20, 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland. In 1911, Tommy, his mother and his sister moved to Winnipeg to join his father who had moved there the previous year. Shortly after settling in Winnipeg, Tommy was diagnosed with osteomyelitis in his right leg. Tommy’s family was not wealthy and subsequently his family could not pay for the best or most immediate treatment. The delay nearly cost Tommy his leg. This experience marked the beginning of Tommy’s quest for universal, public health care. By the time he was 18, Tommy set his sights on a career as a preacher. In 1924, when Tommy reached 20 years of age, he enrolled at Brandon College in Manitoba. Brandon College, which was founded by the missionary Baptists of Ontario, provided young ministers with the opportunity to receive an educational background. In college, Tommy was active in elocution classes, drama, and debating. His peers accepted Douglas as a natural leader and scholar. During weekends and summer months, Tommy would speak at rural churches. At one such trip Tommy met Irma Dempsey, his future wife. By the time he had left Brandon College, Tommy had earned his Bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Arts. In the fall o...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Athletics In MacGregors Sporting Landscape

However, using tactics which corroborate teamwork and competitive factors which in theory will motivate students to strive and increase their participation levels. 1. 0 Introduction This report will provide a detailed analysis of the participation of athletics in Macgregor’s microcosm as the societal norm believe that the status quo is â€Å"uncool†, it is known that the position of Australia’s porting landscape is very weak as there is a lack of participation within Australia as a whole This can be answered by a simple formula created to find the reason why some sports have a lack in participation in mainstream society today, Figueroa’s framework, this formula is divided into Levels listed in the following Cultural, Structural, Institutional, interpersonal and individual levels, nonetheless, it Is concluded that it is up to the individual of whether they decide to participate in Athletics or not. 2. 0 Figueroa’s Framework The social factors that influence an individual’s decision to participate in Athletics may indirectly or directly impact them by shaping their values, attitudes and beliefs. Knowing this the individual may find themselves being subjective to the people and also the certain factors they face in society ranging from cultural differences to peers to themselves. Sociologist, Peter Figueroa, develop a framework that analyses the equity of social resources that can also be implemented into the participation of athletics. . 1 Individual Level It can be argued that when it comes to equity and access issues, the individual level is the most important. This is because, while all levels of Figueroa’s Framework can identify how equity and sporting opportunities are presented to an individual, in the end it is the individual’s choice that will determine his or her access and level of participation in physical education. Kiss, 2012) This level is specific to Macgregor’s sporting landscape as it highlights the lack of participation in students; nonetheless, these decisions about sport and physical activity are ultimately made by the individuals Gen es, values, attitudes and personalities which are specific to each individual. 3. 0 Action plan In Macgregor’s deteriorating athletics program, the lack of participation in the carnivals can link to many reasons why they don’t compete in such events. Study shows that the majority of students would prefer to sit and chat with their friends instead of competing in athletics, however, to allow students to participate, an action plan was developed to; in theory create a more fun and enjoyable carnival thus increasing participation levels, using successful methods utilized in Australian sports such as Cricket, NRL, AFL, etc. The ideologies used within these sports can be integrated within the society of Macgregor’s microcosm shaping the status quo of Macgregor’s Athletics program in a more positive, enjoyable way. . 1 Justification of Action plan Throughout sporting history there are various techniques to strive for in order to have a successful carnival, the majority of successful sports share many similar techniques to better improve the participation of athletes in Australia such as making it more interactive for the audience thus improving their participation rates; for example, in tennis they implement a board that measures the speed of the serve for each game as well as the Olympics which show the world record for each event. nowing this; a supposed board that lists all the records of each event is shown publically pre-athletics carnival and during for students to observe and in theory become more motivated and strive to train and compete in the events believing they are able to break that record thus improving participation rates. Secondly, the appearance of famous sporting athletes have known to improve the participation of sports for example, NBA players frequently appear in many occasions of street basketball games as it obviously creates publicity, however, also improves the participation due to the fact that this allows the ‘average basketball fanatic’ who normally would watch their idol from the comfort of their own television, but in fact they are able to play side by side with their idol increasing their moral and motivation to play. This can also be implemented in the athletics carnival by having the famous athlete participate and motivate the students to join in and also create a slight sense of competition. Finally, it is a fact that Australians love to play team based sports as listed, AFL, Cricket, Football, NRL, Soccer, Basketball, Rugby League are in the top 10 Australian sports; this is 7 of the 10 sports that are shown. With this in mind, Students would be required to form groups of 3 and compete in the athletics carnival, with a twist; each event would hold a certain amount of points varying on the position the student places, 10points for 1st, 7points for 2nd, 5point for 3rd and participation will be worth 2 points. The team that scores the highest points will be rewarded with a prize, such as vouchers, etc. 4. 2 Links to survey results The action plan created was based on a census of the whole school to observe whether they would participate in athletics and their reasons to not. To justify the particular choices created in the action plan by showing the statistics which have guided the development as the spikes in the statistics assist in improving the participation by surveying the trend. The reason a record chart was implemented as it adds a competitive flair and students receive social rewards within the athletics carnival as 19% of students feel that there is no reward for students if they win the events, this will help students strive for the record instead of just trying to win. A massive 27% of students feel that they are not good enough for the athletics carnival and believe there is no point to participate and simply just socialize with their peers, with the appearance of a famous athlete; students would be motivated to part take in the events as the special guest can provide moral support and advice to improve their technique, etc. during the carnival as they can join in with the students. By creating team based events the 80% of students that prefer team sports are able to participate and at the same time fill the social void according to the 25% as they strive to motivate fellow teammates and allow each other perform better overall, also considering the 66% that would participate in the carnival if their peers were to join in. (Buckley, et al, 2013) 4. Links to research material including the individual level of the framework The research gathered of Figueroa’s framework on the individual level, it is realised that students values and beliefs are to strive for competition and rewards, as these factors have been fulfilled it will allow students to participate in a more enjoyable way, due to the fact that an individual’s values and beliefs reflect directly upon their parents, siblings and peers, however, it is proven that the individual learns to behave through the experience they have accumulated from mainly their peers, also the fact that students view the sports society in a ‘boring’ manner, they often assume they cannot socialise with their peers which majorly affect their participation rates. 5. 0 Conclusion

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Nursing Practice Gap Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing Practice Gap Analysis Paper - Essay Example However, attempts to develop have been faced with the challenge caused by the gap between theory and practice. What the students learn is viewed as ideal and not the reality of what happens in healthcare. Therefore, there is need to analyze the gap and reconcile theory with practice for advanced nursing practice. This paper analyses an area of nursing practice with a gap between theory and practice. it will talk about an area that lack of theoretical support, theory developments and rationale for theory. 2. Nursing Practice Gap. Theory presents information that form a basis for understanding nursing, therefore, information offered in the classroom is a representation of what happens in practice as Walker and Avant (2005, p. 9) note. Nursing students often find themselves in challenging situations where they have to find solutions in practice after successfully engaging in theoretical studies. 2.1. Area of nursing that lacks theoretical support. Caring theory is an area that provides understanding to the gap between theory and practice. According to the caring theory nurses can show care by upholding the well being of a patient. The nurse will administer drugs and participate in prevention of infections. The challenge lies in the actions of the nurse, the process of care and meeting expectations of the patient. Theory of care does not adequately cover the measure of care a nurse can poses given a specific situation. The capacity of care may vary from one individual to another. Commitment of the nurse in their relationship with the patient for care is not adequately supported. Additionally, a complimentary environment for giving care is required and not often clearly emphasized in the theory. Caring actions are overlooked and not given priority in the theory as it is in practice. Caring actions include enabling, assisting, staying together, recognizing and beliefs of the patient. In practice, nurses realize that caring actions have consequences. Although the nurs e may give out, the intended outcome may not be realized. The conditions for giving care can be complicated. Patients and their relatives need care, which is shown through professionalism, leadership and care delivery. Care may be hindered by problems emanating from either the organization, nurse or the patient. The caring theory may require the nurse to spend time with the patient to know how they are coping with the illness. This may not be practical because the nurse must find a balance between their assigned tasks. 2.2. Current theory development. In order to improve giving care to patients in the hospital, unique and specific actions have been proposed as the appropriate ways of giving care. Actions that would make the patient obtain and believe in care have been preferred. The actions would translate theory into practice. According to Tonges and Ray (2011, p. 376), developments in care theory propounds that nurses participate in maintaining the faith or belief of the patient t o aid in the transition of their well being. The nurse strives to know and understand issues and events happening that could affect the well being of the patient. Taking care of a patient has incorporated the emotional support to the patient and relatives. In an attempt to close the gap between caring theory and practice, nurses practice doing for others what they would like done to them. Furthermore, there are situations where giving care in person can be a challenge; hence, it is recommended that the nurse facilitates for others so that they can take care of

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Commentary - Essay Example He has argued that the modern day media has been inspired from radio serials of the past, which were under influence of sixteenth century play serials whose authors faced great criticism regarding the morality of their products. This way, media is continuing to affect the moral standards of its viewers. Professionals today must study history, and historians must understand the importance of modern day studies regarding media and communication. Dumas has concentrated upon the technicalities of how content is generated over the internet and is received by the access points. His net neutrality debate lucidly clarifies how net neutrality has become a public debate over the years. He has numbered a myriad of net neutrality drawbacks of modern times, which gives the reader an insight of how the whole process has prospered over the years. Both the texts are lucid in their own style, giving the readers an insight into how technology progresses over time and what are the pros and cons of mani fold technological and media

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Tickets Movie Analysis Essay Example for Free

Tickets Movie Analysis Essay Starring: Blerta Cahani, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Silvana De Santis Sanije, Dedja Martin Compston, Gary Maitland, Carlo Delle Piane, Filippo Trojano, William Ruane Written by: Abbas Kiarostami, Ermanno Olmi, Paul Laverty Directed by:   Ken Loach, Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami MPAA Rating: Unrated Language: English, Albanian, Italian, with English subtitles Running Time: 115 minutes Date: October 24, 2006 Introduction: The compilation films hardly ever work as a unified whole; the best to hope for is that one of the section will stand apart from others, as is the case with Life Lesson’s by Martin Scorsese from New York Stories and The Hand by Wong Kar-Wai from Eros. The new movie Tickets grips u well from the beginning till the very end mainly due to the fact that three different directors have worked together in flawless fashion combining one series into the next one. The whole movie takes place on a train. Ermanno Olmi (The tree of Wooden Clogs) an Italian director being with an upsetting story of an old Italian professor played by Carlo Delle Piane remembering a beautiful assistant played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi who took care of him while being on a business trip. Sitting in first class dining car, he finally turns his sight towards more instant matters. The next story is told by Abbas Kiarostami who also directed the wind will carry us and Taste of Cherry. He tells a story of an ex soldier played by Filippo Trojano now fulfilling the whims of a bossy general’s widow played by Silvana De Santis. His displeasure mounts when he meets a couple of teenage girls from his hometown. Than it is the turn of Ken Loach who also directed Sweet Sixteen and My name is Joe. He tells the story of a trio of Glasgow Rangers football fanatics played by William Ruane, Gary Maitland and Martin Compston who are heading for a big game and on their way they meet a concerned Albanian family. Movie Review Tickets certainly has a number of examples in different cinema’s, movies which have brought together famous directors to make a single short story that is either is or isn’t linked to the central idea. The short movie format is infamous for its trickiness. A critical trend is associated with such films. One sequence tends to do better at the price of the other. The movie Tickets is in the same process with the story of Olmi being the worst where as Abbas’s story getting the most praise.   The strength of tickets is its remarkable stability of quality in all the three different parts and they in spite of the difference in the style and content show a unity of vision to the movie as the whole. The journey of the train proves to be a life affecting one for the characters. Their eyes are opened to the world surrounding them in way which proves to be a decisive action.   In the first story of Ermanno Olmi, a 60 year Pharmacologist recognized as The Professor cannot focus on the report he wants to write for a company he visited because of the intuition on him by a beautiful and kind P.R women who saw him off at the train station. As the train leaves the station, he recalls the moments between the two, gestures and looks whose implication could be taken more than a friendship. He starts to write a letter to the women to express his feelings in which he frequently stops to think. This story opens up in a seductively non linear fashion reflecting the memory of the professor of their meeting which than recalls a childhood memory in which a piano is played by a girl whose face he cannot see. The professors thought is occasionally interrupted by different stories which are taking place around him. Is the man actively conducted to music he is both listening and reading to a musician or just and excited music devotee? Why is the man sitting on the opposite side ripping stories out of the newspaper? Why are the soldiers and their commander on board? The commander sits opposite of the Professor whereas his men are standing in the corridor talking to a pretty young female of an Albanian family who cannot afford seats in the First class car. The attention of the professor diverts to the female. He shows an act of kindness which awakes him from his fantasy and from his memory and even from the ignorance of the world. He is not the only one to go such a change. The second story of Kiarostami reduces the tone with the introduction of some well portrayed character comedy as a woman makes her way through a train and grabs two seats one for herself and the other a young man whose name is Fillipo whom she continuously bullies like he is her son. She is woman with whom even a slightest disagreement would be a problem. One such unexpected result is the conflict over a mobile phone which surely prompts laughter. Fillipo meets a young girl from his home town which makes him to re think his own life decisions. This story is an examination of relationships and how status, duty and experience can shape personalities and lives. The true meaning of the woman’s journey whose exposure reveals the behavior of both her and Fillipo which leads to Fillipo’s decision which shows us the glimpse of weakness underneath her hard exterior. A few carts down are three young Scottish Celtic male supporters who are on their way to see a Champions League match. Many will quickly recognize that this is the story of Ken Loach and this story provides the significant jump in style as the language turns over to English. One of the issues here is communication but the ideas to the story are the themes of international solidarity and working class nobility very close to both Laverty and Loach. The lower class status of both the groups is decisive to the narrative. The three supermarket workers from Scotland whose employer has given a bag of sandwiches for their journey which their low income cannot afford and when one of the supporter lose their ticket, their problem increases. They cannot buy their way out with a credit car. They present the sandwiches as a gift when the trio starts a friendship with the Albanian family also mentioned in the first story. The friendship between the two groups soon is shattered when one of the Scot suspects the young son of the family to have stolen it. The recovery of the ticket is important as the owner may risk an arrest on his arrival in Rome. Their effort in recovering the stolen ticket and hearing the story of a family whose story of poverty surpasses theirs. They face them with an ethical problem motivated by the doubt that they may be being spun a well trained line. It is here that the significance of the title is most eagerly felt, where the ticket is more than just a means of traveling and becomes something that could actually change lives. The three different stories are associated by more than just the characters and the entire journey. They distribute thematic concerns of relationships, self awakening, social status and communication and explore these areas in different ways. The entire cast is brilliant throughout with actor Carlo Delle Piani playing the role of The Professor wonderfully assigning the thoughts of a man lost in the new and old memories. Gary Maitland, Martin Compston and William Ruane delightfully perform the role of the three Celtic Football Club supporters. The cast in Kiarostami piece is effectively striking with Filipo Trojano and Caroline Benvenga playing the girl whom he meets communication through their eyes. Through their eyes Filipo suggests a hidden sadness and gentleness where she suggests large and wide as an anime princess as they do with words. Conclusion If one compares the three different parts, the weakest tends to be of Olmi since it is far too inactive, inert and the object of liking of the main character is too weakly construed. The high point of the movie is Kiarostami story. A delightful and humorous observation of a lady who not willing to let go of a former soldier and self respect which is all of a sudden dissolved by the death of her husband who was an army general. She forces thing her own way and most of the time gets away from it. The story of Loach is typical of his style, an obvious heart for the working class and a bigger heart for the demoralized class. He ends the movie in a cheerful mood which is very good as Tickets is a magnificent celebration of the world’s three truest directors and putting their work in one movie is a joy to watch. Bibliography Tickets from Kamera. Retrieved on June 7th from http://www.kamera.co.uk/reviews_extra/tickets.php Tickets from Cine Boom. Retrieved on June 7th from http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=ensl=itu=http://www.cineboom.it/anteprime.php%3FID%3D20%26c%3D3sa=Xoi=translateresnum=10ct=resultprev=/search%3Fq%3DTickets%2Bby%2Babbas%2Bkiarostami,%2Bken%2Bloach,%2Bermanno%2Bolmi)%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Thursday, November 14, 2019

1880-1890 :: Essays Papers

1880-1890 The decade from 1880-1890 was an interesting time for America, giving rise to great advancement in architecture, inventions and businesses. For instance, such now famous companies as Sears Roebuck Company, DeBeers and Johnson & Johnson opened in this time (Timeline). Also, the Brooklyn Bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the world was set up in 1883 (Museum). This decade saw another milestone for architecture, the skyscraper. The first skyscraper, built in Chicago out of an all-iron frame, was completed in 1885. Some famous inventions included gasoline engines, the Kodak camera and electric lamps (Timeline). Another first was free mail. Towards the end of this decade, free mail was being delivered to all community populations of at least 10,000 (Timeline). Clara Barton, a major humanitarian, was the leader behind the establishment of the American Red Cross during this time (Timeline). In 1886, Americans got their first good look at the Statue of Liberty with its opening dedication in the New York Harbor (Hurley). On a National scale this decade saw various events being played out across the world. For instance in Germany advancements were being made in science and social reform. An example of this would be, Pasteur’s first use of the vaccination principal and the Germany’s establishment of the first known health insurance (Goff). The French in the 1880’s were developing new techniques in architecture and waging wars. That is, towards the end of this decade the Eiffel Tower was just being completed and the French were waging a war with the Chinese (Sino-Chinese War) over trading rights (History). The British were busy responding to anti-foreign riots in Egypt, eventually leading to their invasion and capturing of Cairo (History). Neighboring Belgium was concerned with more peaceful, recreational matters, such as their hosting of the first beauty contest in 1888 (Time). In the 1880’s the movement known as Impressionism was coming to an end. The eight and last Impressionist exhibition was held in Paris during 1886 (Time). Although Impressionism was coming to an end new forms of art arose to take its place. Some famous artists producing during this time include, Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, and Odilon Redon (Georges). Odilon Redon started his own movement known as Symbolism, which strives to give form to ideas and emotions (Odilon). Another painter responsible for creating a new style is Georges Seurat. Seurat was a French painter who popularized and developed his own style called pointillism.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Absorption vs. Variable Costing Essay

This case study will look at Jokkmok Industries and one of its managers, Mr. Rosen, who is bucking for a promotion to CEO. His division uses absorption costing and has the ability to produce 50,000 units a quarter with a fixed overhead amount of $600,000. While the sales forecast shows that the company will only sell 25,000 units during each of the next two quarters, Mr. Rosen wants to double his budgeted production for the second quarter from 25,000 to 50,000 units. We will look at Mr. Rosen’s decision and see how it affects his company’s bottom line by putting the figures from last quarter and the next quarter into an absorption income statement and a contribution margin statement. From this we will be able to see the differences in production costs from the two income statements. These figures will let us be able to assess if Mr. Rosen has improved his division’s performance by increasing production. We will also be able to tell if absorption costing is a viab le option for management to use when making decisions like increasing production when sales are not forecasted to improve. We will also discuss a few shortcomings of the absorption approach and how it relates to management. And finally, we will see if Mr. Rosen’s decision would allow him to be considered for the CEO position. Absorption vs. Variable Costing (Contribution margin) â€Å"The main difference between variable costing and absorption costing is the accounting for fixed manufacturing costs.† (Horngren C. n.d.) This is never more evident than in this case study. Income statements prepared using these different methods usually produce different net operating income, and they will also produce different costs per unit sold. In order to completely fill out the income statements we will need to look at the 1st quarter’s income statement listed in Table 1. From the data in table 1 we will need more data to input into the absorption and contribution margin income statements. This additional data is displayed in Table 2. Now we will plug these numbers into both the absorption and contribution margin income statements shown in tables 3 and 4 below for both the 1st and 2nd quarters. Information for setting up these tables was obtained from the article â€Å"Income Comparison of Variable and Absorption Costing† from Accountingexplanation.com. One can notice right away that there are some major differences between the two income statements especially in the 2nd quarter’s net operating income. Under absorption the net operating income is $650,000 and Mr. Rosen would think that his bottom line is looking better and he could almost see himself in the corner office. But running the numbers using the variable costing method in the contribution income statement, the increase in production shows the same net operating income as the previous quarter which was $350,000. So how can the bottom line look so much better under absorption than contribution? The main reasons have to do with fixed manufacturing overhead and inventories. Fixed manufacturing overhead are things like rent, facilities expenses, salaries, and insurance that do not change over a given period of time. â€Å"Since fixed overhead costs do not change substantially, they are easy to predict, and so should rarely vary from the budgeted amount.† (Bragg 20 13) This is demonstrated in the cost per unit sold difference between the first and second quarters. First quarter’s was $72 while 2nd was $60. The reason is because fixed manufacturing costs are involved in the equation. In absorption you have to take the fixed manufacturing costs ($600,000) and divide by the total units manufactured (50,000) to get $12 per unit. Now you add that to the cost per unit manufactured on Table 1 ($48) to get a total of $60 per unit manufactured. When the company only produced 25,000 units the cost was $72 per unit. ((600,000/25,000) + $48 = $72). Now the excess fixed manufacturing costs are rolled into inventory for the next quarter. As shown in the less ending inventory in Table 3 ($1,500,000), because 25,000 units of the units manufactured were not sold. Contribution margin or variable costing does not break up the fixed manufacturing costs, instead it puts in the entire amount of $600,000 into the quarter and does not roll over the fixed costs into inventory. (As shown in the line fixed manufacturing overhead below the contribution margin.) Ho wever, in variable costing, $48 of manufacturing cost per unit is rolled over in the inventory. Because variable costing accounts for the fixed costs entirely it is the better option for knowing where your company stands. Besides the problems with absorption costing listed above, it considers fixed manufacturing overhead as product cost which shows a higher cost per unit than variable costing. As a result, it does not help management decide the selling price of a product. In the example above table 3 shows $72 and $60 per unit sold, while table 4, the variable cost per unit sold is $55. Also absorption costing can make the bottom line look better than it is by removing product costs from the income statement by producing inventory. This way managers, like Mr. Rosen, who are evaluated on the basis of operating income can temporarily improve profitability by increasing production. But there some that still think there are advantages to absorption costing. â€Å"Advocates of absorption costing argue that all manufacturing costs must be assigned to products in order to properly match the costs of producing units of product with the revenues from the units when they are sold.† (Accountingexplanation .com n.d.) But given the reasons stated above variable costing is still the way to keep the books for the decision makers. I would not recommend Mr. Rosen for the CEO position because he seems to have cooked the absorption books in his favor. By increasing his production he manipulated the fixed manufacturing costs to show them lower than they really are and thus showing a better net operating income. But the real costs are rapped up in inventory for the next quarter to worry about, like kicking the can down the road. There is something that Mr. Rosen could do, or might have been planning to do, to correct the inventory problem. He could plan on selling more units. What if market research shows that sales will increase by nearly 20% if Lokkmok drops prices by 5% to gain a competitive edge in the 3rd quarter? Look at Tables 5 and 6 below to show how dropping the prices and increasing sales to get rid of inventory would help the bottom line. Notice the difference between keeping the status quo of pricing and sales compared to the ‘what if’ third quarter numbers on both income statements. Now notice the difference of the bottom line between the absorption ‘what if’ 3rd quarter and the contribution margin income statement, the bottom  line suffers under absorption because sales are eating into the inventory, which is a good thing. But in reality the increase sales has increased revenue, eating away at inventory and actually helping the bottom line, as is the case on the contribution income statement which shows net operating income went up over 21%. Conclusion We have discussed the shortfalls of absorption costing, while showing the many benefits of variable costing and the contribution income statement. Whether it showing the correct net operating income for a company that increases production, or that selling more units, cutting into inventory, and increases revenue actually helps the bottom line, variable costing is correct tool for decision makers. Attached to the submitted Case assignment is the excel worksheet I used. I learned a lot about accounting and excel to complete this assignment. I had a fun time crunching the numbers to see how sales, fixed/variable costs, unit pricing and the like affect the income statement. Please feel free to open and change the yellow highlighted sections to see the outcomes. Please give me any feedback on the excel spreadsheet, for I was a broadcast journalism major 18 years ago and have not tinkered with spreadsheets too often. Thank you. References Horngren C. (n.d.) Chapter 9: Absorption/Variable Costing Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/p/pforsichh/accountinginfo/121/documents/newCh09In-ClassProblemsHorngren13e-MYCOPY-X2.pdf Bragg, S (2013) What is fixed overhead?, AccountingTools. Retrieved from http://www.accountingtools.com/questions-and-answers/what-is-fixed-overhead.html Accountingexplanation.com. (n.d.). Advantages, Disadvantages, and Limitations of Variable Costing Systems. Retrieved from http://www.accountingexplanation.com/advantages_disadvantages_limitations_of_

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Ishmael Beah’s Experience in A long way Gone

The book A long way gone is a literary work that narrates the ordeals of a child-soldier in the hands of fate. The writer, Isheal Beah became a soldier at thirteen. As the enthralling story enfolds, he recounts his experience during and after the war. At twelve he had fled for the attacking rebels in his country, Sierra Leone into the streets turned insane by the violence of war. A year later he was converted to a soldier by the government’s army. This is where the heart-wrenching tale, a first class experience of a transformation from a young boy, with a tender heart to a killer boy begins. He was exposed to all the undiluted vices of war. From drugs that they were given to strengthen them and the ammunitions they were given to kill themselves with. He was given an AK-47 much heavier then his hands could carry. One moment an innocent boy, the next moment a â€Å"killerboy†, capable of intense violence and terrible acts. Ishmeal tells his story with an unparallel truth bearing in mind other people’s feelings. Now twenty-six he looks back, down the memory lane at all he had been through, how he survived the war and how he survived his rehabilitation after the war. For three years he fought in the war until he was removed by UNICEF. With the help of the organization, he received rehabilitation, a re-transitional process to his former self before the war. Haunted by the war’s experience, the war was over truly, but the war within Ishmeal’ heart continues. The rehabilitation experience was a story of self-war in itself, involving a self-forgiving process and a requisition of humanity long lost till eventually the final healing began to come. Ishmeal’s experience reminds us of all the wars across the globe and how children have become the easy choice for these wars. With more than fifty wars going on, over 300,000 children have been converted to soldiers. All going through the trauma and hell that Ishmeal went through. The story fits into the trend of history in the twentieth century that was so full of African genocide, Gulf war and other wars around the world. The story also reminds us of the consequences of war, the unchecked genocide perpetrated by human to fellow humans and the effects of all these on several thousands of children and others, whose lives have been altered miserably by war. Ishmeal’s story does this an alarming genuity and explicit emotional force. His experience is quite unique because he was not only a witness but also a victim. He saw and conquered. The story was written like a memoir which has not only added colour to the story but made it more unique, for he narrates them in first person that made it more gripping. His honesty is exacting, and a proof to the ability of children to outlive their sorrows and suffering, if given a chance. From his recounts of the burning villages and total destruction to all, the story raises the question in all rationale minds†¦ what do human gain from war? â€Å"My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. † â€Å"Why did you leave Sierra Leone? † â€Å"Because there is a war. † â€Å"Did you witness some of the fighting? † â€Å"Everyone in the country did. † â€Å"You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other? † â€Å"You should tell us about it sometime. † â€Å"Yes, sometime. †

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Amazon Ads For Authors Two Case Studies Showing That They Do Work

Amazon Ads For Authors Two Case Studies Showing That They Do Work Amazon Ads for Authors: Two Case Studies Showing They Do Work Amazon ads have been the talk of indie author town since Amazon opened its AMS platform to all KDP users in 2016. While Facebook ads become increasingly competitive, as Mark Dawson already predicted on this blog back in 2015, Amazon has made huge improvements to their advertising platform, and are progressively becoming one of the most favored channels for marketing a book.Like any other advertising platform, the AMS platform comes with its own challenges and learning curve. And like any other platform, success largely depends on data analysis and iteration. In this post, we’ll analyze two case studies (one fiction, one nonfiction) and try to understand what these authors are doing right.A brief intro to Amazon AMS adsBefore we get into the case studies, it’s important to have a look at what Amazon ads do. If you’re already familiar with them - or have taken the Reedsy Learning course on Amazon ads for authors, or Dave Chesson's video training - you can skip th is part.When judging any advertising platform, you should think about four crucial things:Placement: where do the ads show up?Targeting: how can I decide whom the ads get shown to?Cost: when am I being charged? What is the minimum I need to invest?Analytics: how do I know if my ads are working or not?PlacementThere are two types of ads you can try on Amazon:Sponsored Product: these ads show up on search result listings and other books’ product pages (below the â€Å"also boughts†).The main thing to note is that his targeting is automatic.â€Å"Here’s my logic: Amazon knows! It’s creepy, but Amazon knows what you’re shopping for, what you’ve been looking at, what your interests are and how best to deliver the right advert at the right time.†For more insights into Joseph’s campaigns, take our free course on Amazon ads! Two of the 10 lessons are written by him and he shares everything about his process. On top of that, Joseph's a freelance book marketer on Reedsy. If you’re a non-fiction author looking to self-publish or to dabble with AMS ads, you can get in touch with him and seek his help.Takeaways for nonfiction authors:Try Sponsored Product ads first;If your book’s metadata is well-optimized, go for automatic targeting;Even if the ACoS isn't the best, consider the number of impressions you're getting and the impact in brand awareness.What's your experience with the AMS ad platform been like?   Share your insights with us below. If you have any questions for Annelie and Joseph, feel free to ask in the comments as well!

Monday, November 4, 2019

Entrepreneurial Leadership Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Entrepreneurial Leadership - Coursework Example This essay describes the entrepreneurial leadership, that helps to grow our society. It involves instilling the confidence to take risks, initiative, responsibility and creativity. Case, Kouzes and Drucker recognized the importance and type of approach individuals need in pursuing entrepreneurial leadership. We will examine these three different theories/ philosophies and the highlighted components, which ultimately will formulate a new definition of entrepreneurial leadership. Additionally, entrepreneurs can access a wide pool of resources accessible via the website SCORE and Small Business Administration (SBA). Moreover, we will discuss the Small Business Administration, which provides useful information to entrepreneurs that are beneficial, especially to business persons just starting. Large and small businesses have access to online tools and resources on the SCORE and Small Business Administration website. The most resourceful one is the workshops geared towards building a busin ess plan. A business plan plays numerous roles, here are the following: demonstrates to entrepreneurs the feasibility of starting a business, demonstrate the tools needed to launch the business, it will highlight the cost of starting, it can open doors to funding agencies and individuals, for example, investors and it will show the intended customers or audience. Hence, all other important practices that come into play; such as, coaching, team building and motivating will fail if there is no solid plan.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Microeconocs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microeconocs - Essay Example This "supply schedule" is usually represented by relationship between market price and amount of goods produced. On the other side, "demand is defined as the willingness and ability of a consumer to purchase a given product in a given frame of time" (Clasquin 24). This schedule represents the amount of goods that consumers are willing to purchase at different prices as long as everything else remains the same. While there are numberless different markets that vary from country to country, there are a few producers that find a demand throughout the world. One of these is the demand for oil, with almost all machines depending on the energy it provides. The production and consumption of oil makes for a perfect example of how supply and demand works. One of the largest and most well known oil producers is The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This organization ties together the biggest oil producing countries in the world including: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. "OPEC's influence on the market has been widely criticized. Several members of OPEC alarmed the world and triggered high inflation across both the developing and developed world when they used oil embargoes in the 1973s" (Clasquin 24). OPEC has weathered the ups and downs of supply and demand like no other producer has because the demand for oil in today's fluctuating market is constantly changing. With the worldwide economic crisis currently taking over many parts of the world, the demand for oil has been significantly reduced. "For years, the world's oil surplus was negligible. This year, OPEC's spare capacity is expected to surge to around four million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In 2009, global oil demand will fall by 800,000 barrels a day -- the sharpest retreat since the recession of the early 1980s, the Energy Department predicts" (King A.6). This sharp decline in demand can be directly linked to the pocketbooks of everyday citizens. A massive amount of the demand OPEC sees comes from everyday citizens needing oil to power their cars. Many of these citizens are losing jobs and feeling the crunch due to economic stress. They have less spending money and are sticking only to necessities. In this case, less spending money means less demand. For example, citizens have less money to spend on leisure activities which almost always require some kind of transportation to and from. It seems that people are driving only to and from work, sticking to their homes and surrounding neighborhoods in their time off. People can't afford to take vacations, depleting the demand of oil needed to operate airplanes, and an allover tightening of pocketbooks is restricting the amount of work needed to be done by the machinery using oil as a power fuel. Therefore, with all of these factors facing OPEC, they have "announced that the group's largest supply cut, --2.2 million barrels a day - after pledging to cut two million barrels a day in the autumn, when the slowdown began to take hold" (King A.6). Global economic stress has stalled OPEC actions along with signs ofa weakening energy demand. At the end of 2008 reports of crude oil stocks rising in cost and falling retail sales in the U.S. were driving oil prices down.