Issue Management Risk Management - 2957 Words

Issue Management: Risk Management Unlike traditional risk management tools, which are usually based around tangible and quantifiable issues, scenario thinking encourages executives to step into the unknown and imagine a range of possible futures. - Doug Randall and Chris Ertel Managing risk is central to many corporate strategies. Reputations that take decades to build can be ruined in a matter of hours through incidents such as environmental accidents. â€Å"The definition of risk management for organizations has broadened, expanding beyond the tangible and quantifiable issues to the less tangible and more qualitative forms of risk. The bounded definition blinds executives to considerable opportunities that come†¦show more content†¦[7] Eleven members of the Deepwater Horizon rig were killed and fourteen were injured in the explosion which rocked the Gulf Coast and spewed upwards to 40,000 barrels of crude a day into the Gulf waters. The oil industry is more dangerous than other industries, and oil companies, including BP, strive to reduce accidents and improve safety. But BP, the world’s third largest oil and gas producer, has the worst health, environment and safety record than any other major oil companies, according to Yulia Reuter, (Head of the energy research team at RiskMetrics) Company Background BP is a global oil and energy company based in Great Britain. The company locates and extracts oil all over the world. BP also refines and transforms oil to gasoline, motor oils and other chemicals. Because of the supply chain system that BP operates, the company interacts with a vast number of individuals and organizations whose interactions bring along ethical obligations. Basic ethical obligations in the oil industry include the following: - Providing customers with the product that meets their expectations - Ensuring reasonable levels of workplace health and safety - Dealing honestly with suppliers - Complying with environmental laws and industry best practices - Building long term share value â€Å"We are committed to the safety and the development of ourShow MoreRelatedEssay Risk Management Issue4488 Words   |  18 PagesRisk management is the most important part of any organization to face the risks that might arise when a new project started. It should be a first concern when the decision is being made. Risk management is the practice of looking at the exposure to risk and deciding how to best handle that exposure. The idea behind risk management is to decide if the benefit outweighs the risk. This process will help you to identify risks that might normally be overlooked so when things come up, they do not surpriseRead MoreManagement Issues And Resolutions : Motivation, Communication, Training Risk Management1411 Words   |  6 PagesMANAGEMENT ISSUES AND RESOLUTIONS: Motivation, Communication, Training Risk Management While a person can be extremely intelligent in a general aspect they can lack emotional intelligence. This causes the work environment or people to be miserable, lack of motivation, and dissatisfaction with their jobs and quite often their lives. Another issue in the organization is communication skills or lack of thereof. Lastly inadequate training can and usually does lead to incidents and that is not usingRead MoreRisk Management of Legal Issues Affecting E-Commerce3459 Words   |  14 PagesRisk Management of Legal Issues affecting E-Commerce Introduction Risk management is the ability to identify, assess, and prioritize risks depending on the threat they poses on a business and the resources available. Most organizations are operating their business online nowadays. Many industries such as banking, insurance, selling of goods, offering of certain services are turning their operations online. E-commerce has many challenges that threaten to make any organization conducting online businessRead MoreRisk Management Issue in Pediatric Clinic2000 Words   |  8 PagesRisk Management Issue in Pediatric Clinic Introduction-Khushali Unforeseen events will always be a risk that can accompany those receiving medical care. One way that these risks can be minimized is through the creation of a risk management team. Risk management teams serve to protect the interests of all parties involved in terms of patient services and privacy, costs, and most importantly, patient safety. They strive to control unsafe events from occurring by being proactive in care rather thanRead MoreComputer Security Risk Management And Legal Issues1573 Words   |  7 PagesAT T Server Attack Bharath Reddy Aennam (1079250) New York Institute of technology Professor: Leo de Sousa INCS 618 - Computer Security Risk Management and Legal Issues 04th Oct 2015 Contents Abstract 4 Introduction: 5 Key Terms: 5 Risk: 5 Threat: 6 Encryption and Decryption 6 Encryption: 7 RISK MANAGEMENT FRAME WORK 7 Criteria: 8 IMPACT OF LOSS: 8 Brute force attack: 9 GOATSE SECURITY: 10 Conclusion 12 References 12 Abstract Day by Day cyber-crimes have becomesRead MoreRisk Management Issues From Electricity Industry2134 Words   |  9 Pages2.0 RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES FROM ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY. Risk management is an important part of any business, before you manage a risk u must identified the risk involved in that business first. In electricity industry companies are exposure to higher risks today than the early part of the sector (European Union of the electricity industry, 2006). Exposures to regulatory and market risks, to be specific, have it increased notably which can lead to either negative or positive impact on profit limitsRead MoreBusiness Environment Implementation Of Security And Risk Management Issues1004 Words   |  5 Pagesincreased the security risks as the intruders and penetrators are equally knowledgeable about technology. Defense Exploration methodology using for this investigation, for the business environment implementation of security and risk management issues is associated with their data. Numerous organizations are migrating to the cloud computing, these organization are in initial stage of the migration process. Organizations initially need to know about the security and risk management issues when they are adoptingRead MoreSupply Chain Risk Management Plan1299 Words   |  6 PagesSupply chain risk management, The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 16 Iss 1 pp. 120 - 141. â€Å"Supply chain risk management is the process of identifying, assessing and controlling threats to an organization s capital and earnings that are caused by the organization s Supply Chain.  Companies with supply chain risk management plans in place typically place a chief risk office(CRO) in charge of overseeing the effectiveness of the organization s supply chain management strategy.Read MoreLittle Falls Hospital Risk Management Plan1461 Words   |  6 PagesLITTLE FALLS HOSPITAL RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN Purpose The purpose of the risk management program is to protect patients, staff members and visitors from inadvertent injury. The focus of Little Falls Hospital risk management plan is to provide an ongoing, comprehensive, and systematic approach to reducing risk exposures. Risk management activities include identifying, investigating, analyzing, and evaluating risks, followed by selecting and implementing the most appropriate methods for correcting, reducingRead MoreRefurbishment Of Broron Oil And Gas Limited Three Storey Building1675 Words   |  7 Pagesis to design and construct and appropriate office structures. Which involves different stages of work in these projects? Our task involves †¢ Planning a risk management plan †¢ Creating a risk register and a risk response plan. †¢ Identifying possible risk project and procurement strategy. †¢ Undertaking qualitative and quantitative risk analysis. †¢ Risk tracking and monitor control. CHAPTER2: BACKGROUND The overview System will be addressed and elaborated in order to show the main nature and constrains

Benefits of Face-to-Face Interaction Community of Practice, Managers Essay

Essays on Benefits of Face-to-Face Interaction Community of Practice, Managers Role in the Creation and Development of a Community of Practice Essay The paper â€Å"Benefits of Face-to-Face Interaction Community of Practice, Manager’s Role in the Creation and Development of a Community of Practice† is a   motivating version of an essay on human resources. Communities of practice play a great role in the transfer of knowledge and the creation process. A community of practice is a term that describes a group of persons who have a common interest, a craft, and a profession. The group can emerge naturally as a result of the member’s common interest in a specific domain or it can be established specifically with the intention of gaining knowledge related to a particular field or rather their field. It is during the process of sharing information and experiences with the group members whereby the members share information and opportunities open to them.This sharing assists the members to develop each other both at the personal level and also professionally. Communities of practice can be created on the internet t hrough links such as discussion boards and newsgroups or in real-life situations like lunchrooms at places of work, in a fieldset on a plant floor or any other appropriate place in the environment. The communities of practice require a leader, the members, and a facilitator to operate and achieve its objectives. The facilitator performs the role of guiding the group into realizing its objectives, a role that the particular person should be trained on (Harman Brelade, 2003).For an organization to keep a reasonable competitive advantage over others in the particular industry it operates, it is necessary that it fosters and manages knowledge within the firm. Organizations struggle to search for optimal means of facilitating the flow and transfer of the firm’s knowledge to individual persons and to incorporate every person’s unique knowledge into the firm’s knowledge bank. The search for a more comprehensive understanding of the means and methods of efficiently exp loiting knowledge has resulted in a wave of research emphasizing the knowledge transfer process, particularly within organizations and teams. Several issues work in collaboration in the transfer of knowledge through communities of practice (Argote Ingram, 2000).From its definition community of practice can be illustrated as a component of main and distinct sub-components.These include the degree to which there is alleged to be a shared vocabulary with the members involved, the level to which education from others within the community is considered a goal of the community, the level to which there is alleged to be free communication within the community, and the level to which the community is regarded as a means of recalling previous lessons. The four components of the community of practice can be illustrated in the form of a model that clearly depicts the role played by a community of practice in the transfer of knowledge (Argote Ingram, 2000).Shared vocabulary is one of the compon ents of the community of practice. Within the community of practice, the members of creating a common language to interact with each of them and enhance the process of transfer of information. Additionally, having a common vocabulary may also be a means for the group to create a bit of uniqueness. Having this uniqueness adds to the value and motivation for a professional to attend and offer some aid to the group. Learning from each other is another aspect of the group. In fact, this is one o the reasons as to why the communities of practice are created.

Importance in shaping law of future Free Essays

string(109) " purpose is to harmonize Community and National involvements as opposed to enforcing Community involvements\." In his first Supreme Court visual aspect, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously dissented that â€Å"Great instances, like difficult instances, make bad law† . He was of the sentiment that â€Å"great instances are called great, non by ground if their existent importance in determining the jurisprudence of the hereafter, but because of some accident of immediate overpowering involvement which entreaties to the feelings and distorts the judgement. We will write a custom essay sample on Importance in shaping law of future or any similar topic only for you Order Now † [ 1 ] On this note, neither Van Gend en Loos [ 2 ] nor Francovich [ 3 ] would run into the standards. Van Gend was rich in rule but lacked any overtly absorbing facts. Francovich featured a landmark determination by the Court in relation to directives that cultivated mass consciousness within the Community of the statute law with which member provinces are governed. But to any grade, it must be acknowledged that these are extremely of import instances. Both provide the Community with a foundational foundation for the statute law they helped concept. Both focused on the primary liability of Member State for a failure to carry through a Community duty. They tackle the greatest struggles within any statute law, the beginning of ultimate authorization, whether the involvements of both the EC and Member States can be harmonized and whether the system in topographic point can turn out effectual. Direct Consequence The trust which persons place on its regulating jurisprudence system determines its effectivity. Whether the bulk of Citizens within the community acknowledge or rely on the commissariats allotted to them is questionable and to that consequence, EC jurisprudence is frequently undermined. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the Courts instance jurisprudence in relation to EC commissariats and how instruments of implementing these commissariats contrast. With this in head, I plan to measure the direct consequence of these community steps paying peculiar attending to related instance jurisprudence and the opinions attached. The ever-present defeat that clouds the EC statute law is possibly most normally associated with â€Å"direct effect† and its ever-growing ambiguity. Understanding direct consequence is indispensable in groking philosophies of legal protection and effet utile. The philosophy of direct consequence provides for persons a agency to raise upon national tribunals, commissariats outlined in the Treaties, commissariats including ordinances, determinations and directives that must turn out â€Å"sufficiently clear and unconditional.† [ 4 ] The philosophy allows persons to avail of rights provided by the pacts and their commissariats and the national tribunals must esteem these rights ( Vertical direct consequence ) . Situations besides arise whereby rights are invoked against other persons and private parties ( horizontal direct consequence ) . The Doctrine derives from the struggle that exists between the involvements of EU Courts and member provinces and how to set up a qi. The kernel of the philosophy is that persons may trust upon the commissariats of directives even where the member province has failed to do agreements to impl ement them falsely. Provided that the commissariats in inquiry are clear, precise and unconditioned, direct consequence can be relied on. The Court has refrained from enlarging the philosophy of direct consequence with respects to allowing private parties rely on commissariats and raise them upon persons. The Court, on the other manus has made attempts to slake this aperture by enforcing upon national tribunals to infer national statute law, â€Å"as far as possible in the visible radiation of the diction and the intent of the directive so as to accomplish the consequence it has in view.† [ 5 ] First, I will supply a brief analysis of these EC commissariats. The most important instrument through which the EC may infringe national statute laws is the Regulations found in EC and Euratom Treaties. â€Å"A ordinance shall hold general application. It shall be adhering in its entireness and straight applicable in all Member States† [ 6 ] . They house two important and alone features. They feature a community character which enables them to straight use jurisprudence in full to all member provinces. The Member State here must fulfill ordinances and their commissariats in their entireness and the demands must be fulfilled in the method and timeframe outlined in the commissariats. Nor can the member province under any status introduce statute law that conflicts or encroaches in any manner the ordinances provided. Besides alone is their direct pertinence which allows the Acts of the Apostless to be regarded and relied upon in the same mode as national jurisprudence without he terotaxy into national jurisprudence. All members of the community are bound by Community statute law and as such, must esteem and stay these Torahs as they would their national statute law. Another component of Community jurisprudence which must be respected is that of EC or Euratom Decisions. â€Å"A determination shall be adhering in its entireness upon those to whom it is addressed.† [ 7 ] Decisions are single orders to Member States which are adhering in their entireness. The EC can therefore ask an single or state to perpetrate or exclude a title, or can confer civil rights or raise them against Member States. A determination may be contrasted to a ordinance as it is of single application. A determination inside informations explicitly the names of the individuals who become entirely bound by that determination. It is different to the directive in that it is straight applicable as ordinances are and is adhering in its entireness. Examples of cases where determinations w ere utilized include the granting or refusal of province assistance ( Articles 87 and 88 EC ) , the cancellation of operations including agreements or understandings opposing just competition ( Article 81 EC ) and the infliction of mulcts. [ 8 ] Direct Effect of Directives. Alongside EC ordinances, the European directive must be regarded as the most important bureaucratic mechanism utilised by the European Community. Directives exist in order to unify the struggle in European Law that occurs when set uping the uniformity of Community Law while procuring the cultural and structural nature of single Member States. The intent of directives as we will discourse is dissimilar to that of ordinances in that its purpose is to harmonize Community and National involvements as opposed to enforcing Community involvements. You read "Importance in shaping law of future" in category "Essay examples" The aim is to accommodate the double aims of both the EC and Member States through bridging their involvements and extinguishing the disagreements that exist between National Law and ordinances. As respects the direct consequence of directives, Article 249 described directives as â€Å"binding, as to the consequence being achieved, upon each Member State to which it is ad dressed, but shall go forth to the national governments the pick of signifier and methods.† The Directive is acknowledged as being one of the primary instruments utilised to make the individual EU market. They are directed either separately to one Member State or to multiple provinces and necessitate the accomplishment of certain community related ends and marks. They are non straight applicable as ordinances are in that Direct Effect relates to rights formulated by commissariats that are dependable in Member State Courts whereas Direct Applicability is associated with an full legislative act I.e. it becomes portion of National Law. When in operation, directives provide members of the Community with a system for the execution of the intended result. They do non order the agencies of accomplishing that consequence. It has occurred where the statute law provided within a member province already provides for the demands of the directive and they are in bend merely required to maintain this statute law integral. More often nevertheless Member States have to change their statute law to implement the directive right and to the EC ‘s blessing ( referred to as heterotaxy ) . The failure of a province to follow with the demands of the directive or if it fails to change its national statute law as required the Commission can incite legal action against the member province in the ECJ. There are two types of direct consequence as we mentioned ; perpendicular direct consequence and horizontal direct consequence. Where commissariats sing persons rights set out by the EC have non been implemented yet the State or constituencies of the State fail to follow these rights the person may raise ‘vertical direct consequence ‘ . Vertical direct consequence is associated with the legal relationship that exists between EC jurisprudence and National Law and the demand of the MS to guarantee National statute law is in line with EC Law ( see Foster v British Gas Case C-18/89. ‘Horizontal direct consequence ‘ , in contrast, enables citizens to trust on EC commissariats in actions against other persons. An illustration of horizontal direct consequence occurs in the instance of Defrenne v Sabena where it was established that â€Å"The prohibition on favoritism between work forces and adult females applies non merely to the action of public governments, but be sides extends to all understandings which are intended to modulate paid labour jointly, every bit good as to contracts between individuals.† Directives do non hold ‘horizontal direct consequence ‘ in that their enforceability applies merely against the province. The tribunal has refrained from spread outing the direct consequence of directives to enable persons to claim against other private persons. So, although directives have no horizontal direct consequence they do enable perpendicular direct consequence significance persons may raise action against public organic structures. The definition of public organic structures was established in Foster v British Gas ; â€Å"a Directive might be relied on against administration or organic structures which were capable to the authorization or control of the State or had particular powers beyond those which result from the normal dealingss between individuals.† â€Å"a Directive might be relied on against administration or organic structures which were capable to the authorization or control of the State or had particular powers beyond those which result from the normal dealingss between individuals.† It is possible for a Directive to be invoked against â€Å"a organic structure whatever its legal signifier, which has been made responsible pursuant to a step adopted by the State for supplying a public service under the control of the State and has for that purpose particular powers beyond those which result from the normal regulations applicable in dealingss between individuals.† Hence, British Gas, a house which was privatised could be held to be an emanation of the province. Important Cases The original construct of direct consequence was constructed by the ECJ in the instance of Van Gend en Loos [ 1963 ] . The importance of â€Å"direct effect† was highlighted by the European Court of Justice here. They argued that its function was protective to the citizens of Europe in that they were ensured that Treaty duties could be enforced against Member States therefore rendering Community jurisprudence effectual in their national legal systems. The logic presented by the ECJ ensured a important importance for this new legal order. Van Gend nut Loos besides proved of import in that it formulated the standard for admiting when a peculiar proviso can hold direct consequence. For over 5 old ages important arbitration sing the old European Coal and Steele Treaty was scarce and really small definition had been withdrawn from the Treaty. Defining, disputing or watershed instances refering the harmonisation of national Torahs with international statute law were rare sing there were over 70 opinions from 1954 to 1961. In Geus v. Bosch and new wave Rijn nevertheless, the first major inquiry was cast sing how the 1958 EEC Treaty was to be interpreted under Article 177 EEC ( now 234 EC ) . It was foremost recognised by Advocate General Lagrange that greater significance should be placed on a modus operandi which was â€Å"designed to play a cardinal portion in the application of the Treaty: † â€Å"The progressive integrating of the Treaty into the legal, societal and economic life of the Member States must affect more and more often the application. and. . . , reading of the Treaty in municipal judicial proceeding. . . , and non merely the commissariats of the Treaty itself but besides those of the Regulations adopted for its execution and so of legality. Applied judiciously – 1 is tempted to state loyally – the commissariats of Article 177 must take to a existent and fruitful coaction between the municipal tribunals and the Court of Justice and the Court of justness of the Communities with common respect for their several jurisdictions.† It was held by De Geus that the ordinances withdrawn from pact commissariats become instantly applicable statute law. Boding Van Gend en Loos, Lagrange farther elaborated: â€Å"Since the Treaty, by virtuousness of its confirmation, is incorporated into the national jurisprudence, it is the map of national tribunals to use its commissariats, except when powers are expressly conferred on Community organs.† Following on from this was the unequivocal Van Gend instance where the Court established the great rule of direct consequence, supplying that the Treaty of Rome concepts rights for citizens of a Member State which must be protected. An of import instance which helped sketch the cardinal demands of direct consequence was Van Dyun v Home Office ( ( Case 41/74 ) [ 1974 ] ECR 1337 ) . Here entry for a Dutch adult female coming to work in the UK was denied. Van Dyun relied on Article 39 which ensures the right to liberate motion topic to limitations sing wellness and policy. Directing 64/221 provided that anything outside of Article 39 must be based entirely on behavior. Article 39, it was held, was non straight effectual in that farther legal Acts of the Apostless were relied upon by Member States. The directing invoked a comprehensive duty that freedoms may be based entirely on behavior, and this proved straight consequence every bit long as three important conditions were fulfilled. The directing must be ; ( I ) clear, precise and unconditioned, ( two ) non dependant on farther legislation/action by the member province or the Community, ( three ) the day of the month of execution must hold passed. The determination made in Francovich was based on the ‘effective judicial protection and effet useful philosophies. â€Å" [ I ] T has been systematically held, † the Court stated, â€Å"that the national Courts whose undertaking it is to use the commissariats of Community Law in countries within their legal power must guarantee that those regulations take full consequence and must protect the rights which they confer on individuals.† â€Å"The full effectivity of Community Law would be impaired and the protection of the rights which they grant would be weakened, † the Court concluded, â€Å"if persons were unable to obtain damages when their rights are infringed by a breach of community jurisprudence for which a Member State can be held responsible.† See Constitutionalism and Pluralism in Marbury and Van Gend, Daniel Halberstam, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.judicialstudies.unr.edu/JS_Summer09/JSP_Week_1/Halberstam, % 20Constitutionalism % 20v.Gend % 2008.pdf. Van Gend A ; Loos, Case 26_62 ( 5 February 1963 ) Joined Cases, C-6/90 and C-9/90, [ 1991 ] ECR I-5357 Van Gerven, supra note 2 at 680. ] [ 1990 ] ECR 1-4135, Court of Justice of the European Communities. Article 249 EC Article 249 EC From hypertext transfer protocol: //sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod2/2_3_2_eu_sources/07_sources_of_ec_law.htm How to cite Importance in shaping law of future, Essay examples

Grapes Of Wrath By Steinbeck (389 words) Essay Example For Students

Grapes Of Wrath By Steinbeck (389 words) Essay Grapes Of Wrath By SteinbeckAuthors often use many styles and techniques in their novels. They use certainmethods in order to make their stories seem more real. John Steinbeck uses manyliterary techniques in The Grapes of Wrath to help the reader better understandthe story. The interchapters in The Grapes of Wrath often foreshadow the regularchapters. They are more of a general picture as to what went on during that timeperiod in America. The regular chapters are meant to represent a specificfamily, the Joads, and document their journey to California and usually theinterchapters have something to do with the story line of the Joadsadventures. The interchapters became predictable as the story progressed, andafter awhile the two different types of chapters gave the story a rhythmicalpattern. John Steinbeck uses a certain dialect throughout the whole story whichmakes the reader see how people talked during that time period. This also aidsthe reader in feeling like they are part of the story, and it helps him tounderstand the way things were back then. Many slang words and phrases typicalof the early 1900s are used to make the conversations true to life. Forinstance, in the first chapter at the roadside diner, the conversation betweenthe customer and the waitress right away tell the reader the kind of dialectthat will be used during the story. Steinbeck has a very distinctive style ofwriting. He uses many descriptive phrases and words to help give the reader aclear picture as to what is happening in the story. His use of alliteration andrepetition makes the sentences and paragraphs easier to follow because of therhythm and flow that is added to them. Steinbeck uses symbolism in order to showthe importance of some ideals and main themes of the novel. For example, theturtle that was walking across the road represents the long, treacherousjourneys that many families took to get to California. The dust that settledover the crops symbolizes the harshness that fell over the many farms, thereforeforcing the people off of the land. Rose of Sharons stillborn baby shows thereader that long, painful journeys, filled with many problems along the way,sometimes amount to nothing in the end. In order to understand the story and itsmany hidden meanings, the reader must pick up on Steinbecks style of writing.These writing techniques of Steinbeck aid the reader in his analysis of TheGrapes of Wrath.

Sound Recording free essay sample

Its History And Impact On Media In The 21st Century On this essay I will try to show how Sound Recording impacts media in the 21st century. But in order for me to do that I will need to explore the history of Sound Recording, which started in the 19th Century. Before 1877 sound could be recorded but not played. That year Thomas Alva Edison invented the talking tin foil, also known as the phonograph (voice – writer), which enabled sound to be played back (the first speech to be recorded and played back was the poem by Sarah Josepha Hale (1830) ‘Mary had a little lamb’, which, unfortunately â€Å"was not preserved, but in 1927, Edison re-enacted the recording for Fox Movietone news. It can be heard on the Recording Technology History web site at http://history. sandiego. edu/gen/recording/mary. html† (John Cosway 2008 Livin Publishing’s webpage)). But it had a problem when the tin foil was removed from the machine it would loose its shape making it impossible for sound to be played back again. We will write a custom essay sample on Sound Recording or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Along the years technology improved a lot, especially after the First World War. Because of radio improvements as well as records, recording and buying music became cheaper and easier. Radios would use records to fill up airtime and bands and singers would use radio to advertise their songs. That made music palpable to everyone all over the world. So a song recorded in Europe could be heard in the United States of America within months. But not only music was, now, able to cross oceans it was, also, able to cross classes, meaning that classical music could be heard by poorer classes as well as folkloric music could be heard by richer classes. Edison realized â€Å"that what he had arrived at was something else, and in an article for the North American Review in 1878 he suggested a number of uses for the new invention. The article makes curious reading: here is an inventor, aware that the machine he has just created is remarkable but as yet too crude to be practicable, trying to awaken people’s imagination to what it might do: . Letter writing and all kinds of dictation without the aid of a stenographer. 2. Phonographic books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part. 3. The teaching of elocution. 4. Reproduction of music. 5. The ‘Family Record’ – a registry of saying, reminiscences, etc. , by members of a family in their own voices, and of the last words of a dying pe rson. 6. Music boxes and toys. 7. Clocks that should announce in an articulate speech the time for going home, going to meals, etc. 8. The preservation of languages by exact reproduction of the manner of pronouncing. 9. Educational purposes; such as preserving the explanations made by a teacher, so that the pupil can refer to them at any moment, and spelling or other lessons placed upon the phonograph for convenience in committing to memory. 10. Connection with the telephone, so as to make that instrument an auxiliary in the transmission of permanent and invaluable records, instead of being the recipient of momentary and fleeting communications. (Gelatt, 1977)† (Chanan, 1995:3) In 1889 the enterprising manager of the Pacific Phonograph Company decided to put a coin-operated phonograph in a saloon. Although it would only play one song it helped launch the modern music industry. The Pacific Phonograph improved the idea of the coin-operated player piano, music boxes, and other similar technologies by playing back commercially made records. Pacific Phonograph reported that after five months the coin-operated phonograph had generated $1,000. 00, which is very remarkable because every time some one wanted to play the song they would only have to pay five cents. After a few years as novelty items in phonograph parlours, low priced home machines began to appear. The top-selling cylinders of the period around 1900 were probably (based on their predominance in catallogs) military bands. Many of these military band recordings were actually dance music, described in catalogs according to the way people were expected to dance to it, e. g. waltzes, polkas, cakewalks, and so on. Yet the most famous leader of such a band, John Philip Sousa, had doubts about the phonograph and publicly denounced recordings as inferior to live music. Thus began a decades-long campaign against recorded music, sponsored by a succession of music critics, social theorists, and musicians. As one of those social theorists has argued, the real significance of the early phonograph was that it transformed the way people listened to music. Where once music was a unique, live performance, experienced in a public place with a group, now it was heard privately in the home and it was possible to hear the same performance over and over. According to this argument, the listening experience was cheapened. Recording History. org(? ) Music was available almost anywhere, any time so people, in theory, would be exposed to a wider selection of music, which, some people believed, would result in a social uplift process. However in the United States and Europe most people kept buying popular music instead of what reformers called â€Å"good† music. †Good† music started being advertised more heavily, by companies like Victor, Columbia and Edison’s, by offering a wider variety of â€Å"good† music in their catalogs. Historians have also countered the argument that the phonograph degraded musical taste by noting that good live music was not always readily available to millions of people in nations like the United States, who lived outside major cities. The phonograph provided a link to urban culture good and bad, including the serious music preferred by highbrow music critics. However, by the time it was possible to track record sales according to the type of music, it was clear that the public still preferred popular music. Record companies did nothing to discourage the sale of popular recordings, which largely supported their business. † Recording History. org(? ) In the 20th century the phonograph played a more important role in mixing races, especially in the United States, where African-Americans were inventing Jazz music but it was usually recorded by white people. This might have been seen as a positive start to create a link between black and white societies. Unfortunately this phenomenon happened at the same time as â€Å"coon† and ethnic recordings. Coon† was often seen as comedy and stereotyped black-sounding voices were used to entertain. Nowadays it is hard to listen to them and not find them offensive but back then it probably was. â€Å"In fact, it is reasonable to compare these to another popular turn-of-the-century type recording which employed humorous stereotypes of whites-known as hick recordings. Modern attitudes about rural whites have not undergone the same tran sition as those regarding African-Americans, so that today the hick stereotype is still socially acceptable. It is possible that coon recordings reflected an analogous type of attitude among the white population. † Recording History. org(? ) â€Å"Economically, musicians began to experience recording as a new and contradictory form of exploitation, in which other people were always making more from records than they did, although the rewards to be gained with success often outstripped all other sources of musical money-making; a process that also changed the shape of music publishing and the entertainment business. (Chanan, 1995:7). Today music artists are super stars, they have paparazzi following them 24/7, because people at home want to know every little aspect of their lives. If an artist wants to know how successful they are all they need to do is count how many paparazzi are following them. Sound recording also has a major part in our daily lives, probably more than we realize. All ten of the suggestions that Edison gave in the article, The Fabulous Phonograph 1877-1977, by Roland Gelatt are being used today: our lives depend on the answering machine or the digital voicemail; we not only have audio books but we also have audio description (a service provided by some networks to describe the scenes being shown so people, that are blind or can’t see very well, can enjoy the program as well as any one else); we are able to learn a foreign language by repeating after a CD or MP3 file; among many others. Another use for Sound Recording is surveillance. The ‘surveillance society’ â€Å"has been developing for many decades, aided by new technologies. Wiretapping, for example, began as early as the U. S. Civil War, when both sides tapped into the other forces telegraph lines and simply copied down the messages. ( ) Today the use of audio surveillance is arguably a minor issue compared to the massive use of video and internet surveillance. However, it is important to remember the deep roots that the surveillance has in our history. What is being done with technology today is not different in principle to what was done a century ago, but today it is undeniably more sophisticated. Recording History. org (? ) On August 17, 1982 the first Compact Disc (also known as CD) was launched and the first title to be released was The Visitors (1981) by Abba. Sony’s CD player reached the market on October 1, 1982 in Japan and early the following year in the United States of America and other markets. â€Å"This event is often s een as the Big Bang of the digital audio revolution. The new audio disc was enthusiastically received, especially in the early-adopting classical music and audiophile communities and its handling quality received particular praise. As the price of players sank rapidly, the CD began to gain popularity in the larger popular and rock music markets. The first artist to sell a million copies on CD was Dire Straits, with their 1985 album Brothers in Arms . In 1986 Queen became the first artist to have their entire catalogue converted to the format. † Wikipedia (2008) â€Å"The CD was originally thought of as an evolution of the gramophone record, rather than primarily as a data storage medium. Only later did the concept of an audio file arise, and the generalizing of this to any data file. From its origins as a music format, Compact Disc has grown to encompass other applications. In June 1985, the CD-ROM (read-only memory) and, in 1990, CD-Recordable were introduced, developed by Sony and Philips. † Wikipedia (2008) MTV (Music Television) was launched on August 1st, 1981. The producers Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert decided to play the MTV theme song over a montage of the Apollo 11 moon landing, associating the launching of MTV with the most famous moment in world television history. Thanks to MTV a very firm commercial interdependence of music, dance, film, and computer graphics was established. With the advances in digital technologies in the 1990’s such as MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and digital sequencing, solitary musicians can add to the music a full spectrum of instruments simultaneously. For example â€Å"Rap music highlights the increased use of appropriated and re-contextualized audio material, which is facilitated by digital sampling. † Intekom (1994-99). Also, multimedia production tools became extremely easy to use, especially since both video and audio information can be stored digitally, â€Å"mixing them becomes more seamlessly natural. Desktop artists and hobbyists of moderate means can now manipulate digital material with the same technical precision that recently required expensive studio equipment and substantially more time. Internet enthusiasts on different continents can collaborate on multimedia creations. † Intekom (1994-99). The latest technology in Sound Recording was launched on a â€Å"rented auditorium near Apples corporate campus in Cupertino. The audience and the rest of the computer industry was shocked by the product (iPod). No one grasped the importance of the device to Apple and the music industry in eneral until much later. Many reacted to the product with hostility, with criticisms that ranged from its $400 price to the scroll wheel and its lack of Windows compatibility. † Low End Mac (2007). When the iPod was released in Europe it had a much more enthusiastic reception. As the popularity of the iPod grew a whole ecosystem started to be created around it. In 2003 when Apple launc hed the iTunes store they revolutionized the music industry. Now anyone can download music, legally, within seconds of its release, at the store, anywhere in the world. They also offer another service called Podcast (a series of digital media files distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. ), which allows people to put an interview or a debate or even their own opinion available on the Internet (it is even possible to have shows that are only released in Podcast). iTunes also sells films that can be downloaded into and played in an iPod giving us the possibility to watch films from all around the world. All the advances in the Sound Recording area allows different cultures to merge e. g. e find Brazilian musicians playing Brazilian rap and Americans playing samba. â€Å"So what would Thomas Edison have to say about all of the recording advances in the 130 years since his tin foil breakthrough? Perhaps, he would ask how to upload Mary Had a Little Lamb to his spiffy new iPod. † Cosway, (2008) Unfortunately I can’t include all the aspects that I wanted but I hope the ones I did include explains in general the evolution and the importance of Sound Recording. Bellow I added a summary of the History of Sound Recording. NOTES: Summary Of Main Events In The History Of Sound Recording 1877 Thomas Alva Edison applied for the US Patent 200 521 which covered talking machines and sound writers to be known as Phonographs. The first phonographs used tin foil cylinders. 1886 Edison was granted US patent 341 214 for a wax coated recording cylinder. This signified the beginning of the end of the tin foil coated cylinder. 1889 Coin-in-the slot public access replay facilities, a primitive form of juke box, which could be used in amusement arcades, became immensely popular in the US creating a demand for entertainment recordings, mainly comic monologues. 903 The first 12 inch dia meter records were released on the Monarch label. HMV Italiana released Verdi’s ‘Ernani’ on 40 single sided discs. 1906 The Victor Company’s Victrola model gramophone first appeared. Victrola was to become a generic term. 1925 The first ‘electrical’ recordings were issued by Victor and Colombia in the US. 1931 Alan Dower Blumlein (EMI) was granted a patent for a stereo recording technique that provided the basis for present day techniques. 1934 BASF manufactured 50,000 metres of magnetic recording tape for use by AEG for large scale experiments. 936 BASF engineers, using a Magnetophon, recorded Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. The first tape recording of a full symphony orchestra, it still exists and is of surprisingly good quality. 1941 Leopold Stokowski conducted the recording sessions for the soundtrack of the Walt Disney film ‘Fantasia’. 1952 Cinerama presented multi sound track replay to the public for the first time. 1956 Stereo LPs became available and new releases were issued in both mono (m onaural) and stereo (stereophonic) versions. The Philips original cast recordings of ‘My Fair Lady’ was one of the first million seller LPs. 1965 Pre-recorded Musicassettes were released. 1966 Dr Ray Dolby introduced the Dolby Noise Reduction System. 1975 Computer memory was added to studio equipment. 1979 Sony introduced the Walkman 1982 Compact Disc (CD) hardware and software was launched in Japan. 1989 the CD accounted for over 200 million units and the LP was beginning to disappear from record stores. 1989 DAT was introduced by Sony in the US. 1992 Sony introduced MiniDisc (MD). 1996 The first DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) product was shown. 997 Elton John’s tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, Candle in the Wind 1997 became the fastest selling single ever and was certified 8 times platinum by the RIAA within 24 hours of release. 1998 Music piracy on the Internet, using the MP3 format, became a cult activity. † Team One of Sociology (2000) 2001 Apple Inc. launches the ‘iPod’, a device t hat stores digital music in such formats as MP3 and ACC. 2003 Apple Inc. launches the iTunes store, which establishes the model of selling individual songs and films for purchase.

buy custom Graff - Pinkert Case Study essay

buy custom Graff - Pinkert Case Study essay The 70 year old family owned Graff- Pinkert Company has since its establishment been dedicated to the turned parts industry. It is an international leader in automatic screw machines, rotary transfer machine and cnc/Swiss sales, service and parts. The company began during the Second World War. At the time, Aaron Pinkerts cousin Leonard Graff took helped him to run his screw machine shop. Leonards main responsibility was to locate machines US factories required for the war effort. Graff-Pinkert was housed in an area that was formerly a pickle factory. As a measure of growth, the company has sold over 5,000 automatic screw machines across the world since 1941. The company is now located in a modern 25,000 square foot facility in Oak Forest, Illinois as compared to the 5000 square foot where it first started (Graff-Pinkert sales, 2009). Strengths and Weaknesses of the Company The way Graff-Pinkert treats their customers is a huge strength on its own that contributes towards their reliability. Very few companies across the globe can accept returning of their products due to faults. This company embraces company satisfaction to a point that a customer can return the respective product for fixing. Another of the companys strength is its diverse nature; in such a way tha they deal with various areas of the industry. As much as they can produce new products, they can also rebuild and recondition machines. Another weakness is when it comes to buying a used machine and letting it to lie in the site. This means wastage of space and resources that could have been utilized elsewhere. This company deals with various aspects of machines. Research has however shown that specialization has been one of the most important trends used in the machinery business since 1940s. Those who have had a narrow focus on a particular type of equipment have really grown. Graff-Pinkert deals with so many areas of machinery making it to miss out on the advantage of specialization. Challenges The market of used machinery is not perfect owing to the fact that there a number of determining variables. The variables include condition, age, market timing, attachments, size, technological advancement, location and manufacturer. All these factors affect the quality or rather value of the particular machine in question. Competition from other companies is also another challenge that this company has faced. The nature of used machinery companies is such that there are a few mergers. This is so because the companies are rarely sold. In the event that tthe owner passes on, and there are no heirs to take it up, the inventory is liquidated and thus the business disappears. This situation hinders the advantage of mergers which helps to realize faster growth of companies. Other competitors in this industry include Adams Machinery, Lieberstein and Muslin and Angus (Graff, 2009). Recommendations Graff-Pinkert Company should continue working on customer satisfaction. It is only through customer satisfaction that a company can expand its market share and be able to move to another level in terms of sales. When customers are satisfied, the companys image as a whole is also boosted. The company should be careful when purchasing used machines to avoid cases of useless machinery lying in the site. Idle machinery that does not have any use wastes company funds. A lot of space for both storage and expansion is also wasted when a company has idle machinery. Conclusion Graff-Pinkert Company embraces full customer satisfaction. This is an ideal virtue which helps the company entirely on major decision making actions. Customer satisfaction cultivates trust and reliability of the customers. This eventually translates into increased volumes of sales and growth of the company in general. Buy custom Graff - Pinkert Case Study essay

Do's & Don't for Educational Facility Planning Project Essay

Do's & Don't for Educational Facility Planning Project - Essay Example The space should be standard and as per the recommended guidelines. The planner should fit the available finances into the standard plan rather than fit the plan into the available finances. In such a case, there will be concern towards achieving the correct space for present as well as the future. In the development of an approach that will settle the scores between the budgetary constraints and educational requirements. Care should be taken in avoiding an approach that will constrain the facilities due to the available cash. It would be better to develop a few compulsory facilities and leave space for future developments, rather than develop all facilities, but with constraints. This approach will aim at ensuring quality. The facility aims at providing comprehensive educational specifications that link the education programs offered with the design of the facility. In achieving this objective, all features necessary for a certain facility should be incorporated into the design. This will involve the use of relevant personnel. Proper documentation should assist in ensuring the proper steps are followed. The planners, should thus, use the resources available at their disposal to ensure that they get the requirements for the facilities right and not focus on what they think is right. They should apply facts, procedures and standards in determining the requirements. There should be proper communication between the designers and the educators, whereby the educator is responsible for stating what is required and the designer is responsible for stating how the requirements are met. The educator has the requirements in a theoretical perspective and should not be involved in determination of the design. The designer is responsible for ensuring that the required and stated specifications are met fully. The process of planning for the education facility at hand requires consultation with experts, who are responsible for approving some of the required

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Essay - 11

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies - Essay Example Additionally, the merger and acquisition strategies that the company has adopted has made it to effectively meet the needs of its customers as well diversify its operations. Some of the notable companies that AT&T has acquired include America Movil and Direct TV among others. The company competitors are T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. This paper seeks to discuss various levels and types of strategies adopted by AT&T as well as the comparison of its strategies with those of Verizon its main rival. For any company to succeed in a short-term and in the long-term, it must come up with unique business-level strategies. As a leader in the telecommunication sector, AT&T success has been achieved as the result of effective business level strategies. One of the notable strategies that the company has adopted is the master strategy. This implies that the company intends to be the only telecom provider that connects its small and large customers anywhere. Recently, the company management stated that AT&T plans to focus exhaustively on large customers. This will account for 75% of the company revenue an aspect that will save the $1 billion annually (Ausik, 2012). Another key strategy that AT&T embarks on is product differentiation. One of the major aspects that differentiate the company from its competitors is the exclusive agreement with Apple Corporation to sell iPhone. As a result, the company has benefited from strong customer loyalty based on the valuable products provided by Apple . The marketing strategies that AT&T adopts have a great impact on the profitability of the company. Geographically, the company is positioning itself as the leader in wireless coverage. Additionally, the company as noted earlier has embarked on diversification of its product line. Some of the wireless products that AT&T provides include PTT, video share, and voice-IP among others.

Brand Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Brand Management - Term Paper Example Brand orientation refers to the case where a company or business organization formulates its marketing strategies based on brands. It is a company’s inclination towards the dealing with different brands as a marketing strategy (Urde 1). Brand Management: Definition and Related Concepts Brand management This refers to the analyses of all factors and aspects related to a brand and then coming up with a strategic plan to have a uniformly distributed brand. It involves the use of marketing strategies in ensuring that the users of a particular product do not shift their interest from the brand in question. Brand awareness This refers to the ability of the consumers of a particular product to identify and classify the product among other competing products and associate it with the manufacturer (Urde 10). It enables the consumer to know what the brand has that can make it more preferable to the others. It is important for the management to ensure that awareness is carried out concerning the company’s product since no customer will buy a product he does not understand. Brand valuation This is the establishment of the financial value of a brand. Brand valuation has important applications both in strategic brand management and in financial transaction. In the former case, brand valuation ‘focuses mainly on internal audiences by providing tools and processes to manage and increase the economic value of brands’ (Brand Valuation 10).

Case study: Relational Aggression

Case study: Relational Aggression Adolescents today face many challenges with regard to both academics and peer groups. Unfortunately, one aspect of peer relations is aggression, and many times we often only think of physical aggression. However, relational aggression can also characterize the peer interactions of adolescents, and thus it has gained more attention in research. Relational aggression can be defined as a purposeful act that an individual carries out intentionally in order to inflict harm upon another individual through a social relationship (Bowie, 2007). The present literature review will discuss some of the research that has demonstrated how relational aggression contributes uniquely and negatively to social-psychological adjustment problems in youth (Crick, Ostrov, Werner, 2006; Prinstein, Boergers, Vernberg, 2001; Reynolds Repetti, 2010; Rose Swenson, 2009). The protective factors identified by research that appear to mitigate the negative effects of relational aggression will also be discussed. Being popular (Rose Swenson, 2009), having a close friend (Prinstein et al., 2001), and having a positive academic self-concept (Taylor, Davis-Kean, Malanchuk, 2007) have all been found to act as protective factors in the face of relational aggression. Lastly, relational aggression in the context of school will be examined. Given that relational aggression makes unique contributions to social-psychological adjustment problems in the absence of such protective factors, it would be valuable to explore whether or not relational aggression also has unique negative effects on academic engagement and achievement. This could have important implications for prevention and intervention efforts, as well as educational policy and classroom management strategies. Since the conception of research on relational aggression, researchers have found that engaging in relational aggression can have negative effects on various social-psychological adjustment outcomes for adolescents. A study by Crick et al. (2006) targeted a sample of 224 children, who were part of a larger longitudinal study, as they progressed from third to fourth grade in order to examine how relationally aggressive behavior affected childrens social-psychological adjustment over time. The authors hypothesized that relationally and physically aggressive children would exhibit increased levels of both internalizing and externalizing difficulties. They also expected that relational aggression would create distinct psychopathological symptoms from those that are associated with physical aggression. Participants completed a self-report measure about physical and relational aggression, as well as prosocial behavior. Participants teachers filled out a survey to assess childrens social-ps ychological adjustment. Results indicated that relational aggression is indeed a significant indicator of childrens risk for future social-psychological adjustment problems, and that the outcomes of relational aggression are unique compared to those of physical aggression. The authors call for additional, similar studies to improve prevention and intervention programs that address both physical and relational aggression in boys and girls. Similarly, a study by Prinstein et al. (2001) examined the association among relational and overt forms of aggression and adolescents internalizing and externalizing symptoms and behavior in a sample of 566 adolescents in a New England high school. The authors hypothesized that relational aggression would be distinctively associated with depressive symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, and externalizing behavior. Another significant hypothesis was that having a close friendship would buffer adolescents from the negative social-psychological adjustment outcomes that are associated with relational aggression victimization. Several self-report questionnaires were administered to the participants that respectively measured overt and relational aggression and victimization, depressive symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, externalizing symptoms, and close friend social support. Results demonstrated that adolescents make a distinction between overt and relational forms of aggression and victimiz ation. Relational aggression was found to have its own unique effects on victims, including higher levels of depressive symptoms, higher levels of loneliness, and lower global self-worth. The hypothesis was supported that having a close friend did act as a buffer against negative psychological adjustment problems associated with relational aggression. A study by Reynolds and Repetti (2010) gathered descriptive information from 114 girls in a Los Angeles public high school about the forms, frequency, perceived motives and functions, and types of emotions felt when relationally aggressing or when being victimized. An online survey was utilized that elicited scale ratings and descriptive responses from the participants about their experiences as both perpetrators and victims of relational aggression. The results showed that every participant reported being involved as both a perpetrator and a victim in each form of relational aggression at least once in the past year. The most frequent form reported was talking behind another girls back, while the next most frequent behaviors were spreading rumors about a girl and intentionally ignoring her. The most frequently reported function was trying to get back at someone. Additionally, the participants reported that ignoring, as compared to rumors and exclusion, was related to the strongest n egative feelings experienced at the time of the incident, like sadness. Ignoring emerged as a unique form of relational aggression in this study, which merits further investigation. Implications of this and similar studies demonstrate that intervention and prevention efforts should focus on the most frequently reported behaviors by adolescents. Due to the evidence suggesting that relational aggression has unique, negative effects on social-psychological adjustment in children and adolescents, it is important to look at what protective factors might exist for children and adolescents that buffer these negative effects. In addition to the finding that a close friend can buffer the negative effects of relational aggression (Prinstein et al., 2001), other protective factors have been identified through research. For example, a study by Rose and Swenson (2009) looked specifically at perceived popular adolescents who relationally aggress and whether or not their participation in relational aggression leads to emotional adjustment problems. The authors studied a sample of 439 students in seventh and ninth grade in the United States. It was hypothesized that perceived popularity would moderate the association between relational aggression and internalizing symptoms. Peer nomination surveys were used to assess peer status and aggres sion, and the Childrens Depression Inventory was used to assess internalizing symptoms. Results demonstrated that perceived popular adolescents who relationally aggress do not experience emotional adjustment problems, but youth who were perceived as less popular did experience elevated internalizing symptoms. This finding suggests that popularity acts as a buffer against the negative effects of relationally aggressive behavior. For this reason, the authors discuss future directions in research that could examine which other variables protect popular, relationally aggressive peers from experiencing internalizing symptoms. Similarly, Cillessen and Mayeux (2007) also investigated peer status and aggression, however they did so around the transitions from elementary to middle school, and from middle school to high school. They looked at how these constructs are related to adolescents academic and social expectations in their new school system. The total sample size was 2,434 with students from fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth grade. The authors hypothesized first that pre-transition expectations and post-transition perceptions of academic and social functioning would be moderately correlated. Secondly, they hypothesized that both social preference and perceived popularity would be positively correlated with social expectations, and thirdly, that both overt and relational aggression would be positively associated with social expectations. Participants completed a sociometric assessment that measured social preference, perceived popularity, overt aggression, and relational aggression. Participants also comp leted a set of self-report questionnaires that measured pre-transition expectations and post-transition perceptions of academic and social functioning. Results demonstrated that their first hypothesis was correct. They also found that popular adolescents had more positive expectations of transitions, and also rated themselves as doing better socially after the transition. Relational aggression was negatively correlated with the academic functioning of sixth grade girls. No other main effects were found for relational aggression. Consequently, the authors called for more research on relational aggression in the social and academic lives of students, especially for girls. Relational aggression can have impacts on the development of friendships as well, as demonstrated by Sijtsema et al. (2010) in their longitudinal study. They examined how aggression in different forms and functions (instrumental, reactive, overt, relational) impacts friendship development in a sample of 337 participants, ages 12 to 14 years. The authors hypothesized that instrumental, relational, and overt forms of aggression would be associated with making friends who are equally aggressive. They also hypothesized that reactive aggression would predict a high number of unidirectional friendship nominations in which the aggressor nominates others, but is never nominated by others. Additionally, the authors hypothesized that social influence effects will appear uniquely in relational aggression contexts. Various questionnaires were administered to the participants to gather information about friendship networks, previous acquaintances, and occurrences of instrumental, reactive, overt, and relational aggression. Results demonstrated that all four conceptualizations of aggression had unique and meaningful effects on friendship selection and social influence during early adolescence. Of particular interest was that relationally aggressive adolescents selected similarly aggressive friends, and that relational aggression was subject to social influence. Therefore, it was found that relational aggression uniquely affects early adolescent friendships, regardless of the function of the relationally aggressive behavior. Given that relational aggression can occur in school contexts because that is where peer groups are situated, it is important to examine various aspects of the schooling experience in order to better understand why relational aggression occurs. Accordingly, Totura, et al. (2009) conducted a study that used an ecological framework to examine how middle school students (N = 2,506) perceptions of their family and school contexts moderated their involvement in and the effects of bullying and victimization. The authors hypothesized that students with internalizing and/or externalizing problems would be less likely to be categorized as bullies and/or victims if they had a stable family context, and if their school had high levels of support and monitoring. They hypothesized that students would be more likely to be identified as bullies and/or victims if their school and family contexts were characterized by low levels of support, monitoring, and school belongingness. The investigators used student and teacher surveys to measure bullying and victimization, internalizing and externalizing problems, family functioning, school bonding, adult monitoring at school, aggressiveness of the school climate, and academic performance. Results of this study demonstrated that there are many relations among emotionality, bullying, and students perceptions, as well as some significant gender differences. One result particularly important result is that bullies and bully/victims exhibited lower academic achievement and were less bonded with school. This points to a potential area of research that explores whether or not increasing childrens academic engagement, achievement and bonding with school can actually decrease relational aggression. Another important implication of this study is that it demonstrates how important students perceptions of their environment are and the impact that their perceptions can have on their experiences with bullying and victimization. Furthermore, Taylor et al. (2007) explored how self-esteem and self-concept may influence aggression in a school setting. The authors used a diverse sample of 842 children, which was part of a larger longitudinal study, in middle schools in an East coast state. The authors hypothesized first that students with negative academic self-concepts would be more likely to aggress in school than children with more positive academic self-concepts. Their second hypothesis was that students whose high academic self-concept is threatened would be more likely to aggress at school. The study utilized interviews and self-report questionnaires from both the participants and the participants primary care givers to measure the constructs of aggression, self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic performance. Results supported the authors first hypothesis in that low academic self-concept was correlated with increased aggression in school. However, their second hypothesis was not supported. These findings are significant because they demonstrate that if we can increase childrens academic self-concepts, perhaps aggression would decrease. All of the studies mentioned above have made significant contributions to the study of relational aggression, specifically with regard to the social-psychological effects of relational aggression, protective factors, how relational aggression impacts friendship development, and how school contexts can impact relational aggression. These studies all have some analogous strengths and limitations that can point us to future directions in research. Longitudinal methods were used in the study by Crick et al. (2006), as well as the study by Sijtsema et al. (2010), demonstrating definite strengths for these two studies. However, Crick and his colleagues did mention that a limitation of their study was that the interval was only one year, and so future studies would benefit from having longer time intervals to see how relational aggression affects children through different developmental periods. Sijtsema et al. (2010) acknowledged that a limitation of their study was that peer relations wer e examined with respect to school grade, so aggression that occurs outside of school might not have been captured in the study. Both studies by Prinstein et al. (2001), and Totura et al. (2009) addressed the fact that their cross-sectional designs were an inherent limitation. Specifically, Totura et al. (2009) stated that the cross-sectional nature of their study prohibits researchers from determining which came first, internalizing and externalizing difficulties or bullying/victimization. In this way, future longitudinal studies would be exceptionally beneficial to the field so that we can further examine what factors lead to engaging in relational aggression. Similar to the study by Totura et al. (2009), the study conducted by Rose and Swenson (2009) discussed a limitation of their study that the results cannot speak to causation, only to correlation. Their study did have two important strengths in their sample size and their use of validated measures of depression and anxiety. The study by Totura et al. (2009) also had a very large sample size at N = 2,506. The study by Prinstein et al. (2001) used a very ethnically diverse sample. Future studies would benefit from also making every effort to obtain a diverse sample in order to best understand relational aggression in adolescents. Additionally, future studies would benefit from including school transitions and perceptions, like Cillessen and Mayeux (2007) did in their study. A limitation of their study was their exclusive use of self-report measures, which will be discussed later in this literature review. The authors did acknowledge, though, that future research would benefit from including more objective measures of social and academic outcomes. Lastly, a strength of the (2010) study by Reynolds and Repetti was that the investigators collected novel, descriptive data through an online survey that informed them of the unique experiences of relational aggression among high school girls. A limitation of this study was its relatively small sample size (N = 114), and the fact that the stud y only addressed girls. All of these studies (Crick et al., 2006; Prinstein et al., 2001; Reynolds Repetti, 2010; Sijtsema et al., 2010; Taylor et al., 2007; Totura et al., 2009; Cillessen Mayeux, 2007; Rose Swenson, 2009) actually used self-report questionnaires as at least part of their methodology. Self-report methodologies are certainly valuable, however future research would benefit from the use of different methodologies as well, as suggested by Cillessen and Mayeux (2007), in order to ensure that we understand relational aggression from multiple perspectives. Crick et al. (2006) also used teacher reports in order to assess the childrens social-psychological adjustment. Equivalently, Totura et al. (2009) used teacher surveys in addition to student surveys to measure bullying and victimization, and internalizing and externalizing symptomology, in addition to other various constructs. Rose and Swenson (2009) used peer nomination surveys in order to assess peer status and aggression, and this was in a ddition to the self-report measure used to assess internalizing symptoms. Taylor et al. (2007), in addition to having the adolescents complete self-report questionnaires and having their primary caregivers complete surveys, also interviewed the adolescents themselves. The use of interviews could provide valuable in-depth information about the experiences that children and adolescents have with relational aggression. Another methodology that has not yet been utilized in past research is focus groups. This could involve having six to eight adolescents talk about their experiences with relational aggression. Methodologies like focus groups and interviews would be extremely valuable when used in addition to self-report, peer-report, teacher-report and/or parent-report surveys. In this way, researchers would be able to gather information from a variety of sources in order to understand relational aggression. Few studies have addressed how relational aggression might impact the academic achievement and engagement of adolescents. Exceptions to this include the study by Totura et al. (2009) that investigated how middle school students perceptions of their family and school contexts moderate their involvement in and the effects of bullying and victimization. Importantly, the authors defined bullying as engaging in the following behaviors: kicking/pushing/hitting, name calling, teasing, socially isolating others, and spreading false rumors (Totura et al., 2009, p. 579). In this way, the authors do capture important aspects of relational aggression. The results of this study have important implications for future studies that look at how relational aggression impacts academic achievement and engagement. Moreover, Taylor et al. (2007) investigated how self-esteem and academic self-concept influence aggression in a school setting. However, a limitation of this study is that the researchers opera tionalized aggression as acts of aggression that resulted in formal school discipline, although they acknowledged the various forms of aggression and the fact that not all aggression results in formal discipline. It must be addressed, though, that acts of relational aggression might not have been captured to the full extent in this study. Nevertheless, the methodology used and the results found in this study provide support for promising directions in the research of a possible link between relational aggression and academic achievement. Overall, the studies mentioned above utilize similar methodologies in order to address various aspects of relational aggression. The studies above investigated how relational aggression affects social-psychological adjustment adolescents, what protective factors exist to buffer adolescents from the negative effects of relational aggression, how engaging in relational aggression affects friendship development, and lastly how a few school-related constructs affect ones experience with relational aggression. The purpose of this literature review was to provide an analysis of what research has been done with regard to relational aggression. Because it has been shown that relational aggression has unique, negative effects on the social-psychological adjustment of adolescents, it is imperative that we examine what other negative effects might be a result of engaging in relational aggression, either as a perpetrator or as a victim. Specifically, research on how relational aggression impacts academic engagement in the classroom, and consequently academic achievement, would be very valuable. School bonding and school spirit are other constructs that could be explored. If a negative association is found between relational aggression and academic engagement, this could have implications for educational policy and school behavioral management systems. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to explore whether or not increasing the academic self-concept of an adolescent would cause a subsequent decrease in their engagement in relational aggression. Future studies would benefit form utilizing multiple methodologies, including interviews or focus groups in order to gain a deeper understanding about what it is like to experience relational aggression. The area of how relational aggression might impact academic engagement has yet to really be explored, and so studies in this area would be indispensable in informing research and also practices in the field.

Hunchback of Notre Dame :: essays research papers

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME In Paris, under the reign of Louis XI, the annual Festival of Fools is underway. From atop the mighty Notre Dame cathedral, Quasimodo, a deformed hunchback who rings the bells, looks down on the crowd in contempt. Also in the crowd is Dom Claude, the kindly priest of Notre Dame, and his evil brother, Jehan. Clopin, a gypsy who has been crowned "King of the Beggars," calls for his adopted daughter Esmeralda to dance for the group. As Esmeralda passes by the window of Gudule, the old woman curses her, for years before her daughter had been stolen by gypsies. Esmeralda dances for the crowd, while high above in the palace of Louis XI, Phoebus, a young captain of the guard, admires the pretty girl, though he is betrothed to Fleur de Lis, the niece of Madame de Gondelaurier. That night, Jehan has Quasimodo abduct Esmeralda for him, but Phoebus is on patrol and thwarts the attempt. Phoebus takes Esmeralda out for a late supper and attempts to ensnare her with his charms. She is we aring a necklace given to her by her mother when she was a baby which she says protects her from all evil. Phoebus has a change of heart and decides not to force his attentions on the girl, though she appears to be willing. The Court of Miracles is the hideout for all the beggars of Paris, so named because here the blind see, and the lame walk. Gringoire, a harmless poet, has stumbled into the Court and is about to be hanged by the mob, but Esmeralda intercedes and he is released. Hereafter, Gringoire becomes her faithful servant. Quasimodo is tried for his attack on Esmeralda and is ordered to be lashed for an hour in the public square. He is beaten brutally and at the end of the time, he cries for water. Esmeralda, pitying the poor beast brings him a drink and Quasimodo is forever in her debt. Quasimodo also does not forget how Jehan betrayed him, and he hates him thereafter. Madame Gondelaurier gives a ball and Phoebus brings Esmeralda, dressed in the finest of clothes, and introduces her as a Princess of Egypt. Clopin has learned that Phoebus has taken Esmeralda as his plaything, and he breaks into the ball demanding her return. To prevent bloodshed, Esmeralda leaves with Clopin, broken hearted. Esmeralda has Gringoire bring a note to Phoebus asking him to meet her one last time at