Three Art Styles - Dadaism, Surrealism and Impressionism Research Paper

Three Art Styles - Dadaism, Surrealism and Impressionism - Research Paper Example The essay "Three Art Styles - Dadaism, Surrealism and Impressionism" explores Dadaism, Surrealism and Impressionism, three styles of modern art. Dadaism has always been most visibly a frame of mind. This frame of mind began as a rebellion against WW1, the bourgeoisie, the social norms of the time, the abstract and impressionistic art of the time, and finally, by the 1920’s, it became a rebellion even against itself. It was extremely negative in its critique of everything, and also self-destructive. Dadaism began in 1915 and basically died in 1924, although there is a resurrection now in what is called Neo-Dadaism, so it might be argued that it’s not neo at all but is a continuation of sorts. Perhaps it is only the loudness of the anarchy, the violence of its performance, the wildness of its manifestos 1924. that has died, while the core beliefs still influence art today. Perhaps no one symbolizes the loud, outrageous and rebellious wildness of the original movement more than Baroness Else von Freytag-Loringhoven. She pushed her sexuality, fantastic costuming, immodest street roaming, and irrationality in everyone’s faces, living Dada and, in so doing, challenged the male sexual, cultural, intellectual and artistic insecurities of Dada artists Marchel DuChamp, Man Ray, Francis Picabia, and much of New York. Locher argues that we are not in a post-modern era at all, but in a continuation of Dada, in that we are still reacting to and rebelling against what has happened in the past half a century.

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Ziv Siegl founded Starbucks in 1971. Their goal was to sell the finest quality whole beans and ground coffees (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). In 1982, Starbucks had grown to five stores and started serving coffee to restaurants and espresso bars. Harold Schultz was employed as the director of retail operations and marketing. Harold Schultz convinced the founders of Starbucks to open a downtown Seattle coffee bar, which opened in 1984. With the success of Seattle coffee bar, Schultz left Starbucks to start his own company named Il Giornale. In 1987, Il Giornale acquired Starbucks retail operations for 4 million dollars. In addition, Il Giornale changed its name to Starbucks Corporation and open locations in Chicago and Vancouver, B. C. (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). Starbucks continued its expansion throughout the late 1980 and beyond. In 1991, Starbucks became the first privately owned U. S. Corporation to offer stock options to part time employees (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). In the early 1990s Starbucks started setting up coffee shops in Nordstrom?  ¦s department stores, Barnes Noble bookstores and ITT/Sheraton hotels. In 1995, the corporation began selling compact discs and formed an alliance with the Canadian bookstore, Chapters Inc. In 2000, Schultz promoted Orin Smith to the position of CEO. Schultz remained chairman for the corporation. This allowed Schultz to focus on Starbucks?  ¦ global strategy. Starbucks operates and licenses more the 7,500 coffee shops in more than 30 countries. Coffee Industry In the United States, coffee is the second largest import (Roosevelt, 2004). Furthermore, the United States, consumes one-fifth of all the worlds?  ¦ coffee (Global Exchange, 2004). The present industry is expanding. It is estimated that North America? ¦s sector will reach saturation levels within 5 year (Datamonitor. n. d. ). According to National Coffee Association (NCA), 8 out of 10 Americans consume coffee. In addition, it is estimated that half of the American population drinks coffee daily. The international market remains highly competitive. It is estimated that 3,300 cups of coffee are consumed every second of the day worldwide (Ecomall, n. d. ). The latest trends included dual drinkers, an increase in senior citizens consumption and a shift in consumption away from home. There has been a significant increase in the consumption of dual drinkers (NCA, 2004). Dual drinkers are people who drink both traditional coffee and gourmet coffee. According to NCA, 54% of America?  ¦s coffee drinkers are dual drinkers. Gourmet coffee is experiencing substantial growth with senior citizens. According to NCA, senior citizens coffee consumption leaped from 9% to 13%. Another trend is coffee consumption is moving outside the home. Coffee consumption away from home increased by 6%. Mission Statement The current mission statement is ?  §Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow. This mission statement fits well with the general direction and the future strategies of Starbucks Corporation. Principles The following principles compliment both Starbucks mission statement and their strategies. Our recommendation is to keep the current mission statement and principles. ?aProvide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity. ?aEmbrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business. ?aApply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee. ?aDevelop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time. ?aContribute positively to our communities and our environment ? aRecognize that profitability is essential to our future success. SWOT Analysis StrengthWeakness ?aFinancial Resources ?aGlobal Presence ?aBeverage Innovator ?aReliance on US Domestic Markets ?aReliance on Beverage Innovation ?aInternational Expansion Problems OpportunitiesThreats ?aInternational Operations ?aContinued Growth of Gourmet Coffee Market ?aExpanding ? V Unit Clustering ?aSupply Risk/ Dependence on Trading Companies and Exporters ? aUS Market Reaching Saturation Levels ?aCompetition Internal Strength. A few of Starbucks strengths included strong financial position, name recognition and being creative beverage innovators. Starbucks has reported revenue from January to July 2004 as 409 million dollars, which gives the company a strong financial position. Starbucks has a strong global presence from its many stores and licensees units, which has made Starbucks a household name. Starbucks is known for their creative innovations of beverages. Starbucks is not afraid to experiment and test new drinks in their stores. Some of the beverages introduced are Fappuccino Blended Beverages or Iced Shaken refreshments. Internal Weakness Some of the weakness the corporation faces includes international expansion problems and dependence of the United States markets and beverage innovations. The corporation was forced to close a number of stores. These stores failed to entice potential customers and Starbucks was forced to end a joint venture due to the lack of success. Starbucks has a dependency on beverage innovation and US markets. It is estimated that 85% of the corporation revenues come from the United States (Datamonitor, n. d. ). Starbucks contributes its growth based on beverage innovations (Datamonitor, n. d. ). External Opportunities One opportunity deals with clustering its business units. Starbucks uses clustering to ensure domination in chosen geographical areas. This practice allows Starbucks to bring conveniences to customers and at the same time preventing new business from entering the market. The last two opportunities are profitability of international operations and the expected growth of the specialty coffee market. The profitability of international operations and the expected growth will give the company greater leverage into the world market and will promote new market expansions. External Threats. One major threat is the lack of superior coffee beans. The expansion of Starbucks operations and limited quantity of superior coffee beans may result in a shortage of supply. Other factors, which could affect the coffee beans, are weather, political and economic conditions. Organizations like Fair Trade could change or alter the coffee industry. Another threat to Starbucks is the dependence on trading companies and exporters for their supply of superior coffee beans. Although Starbucks has limited the risk by paying above average prices for the superior coffee beans, the risk is still there. The last threats are competition and market saturation. The success of the coffee industry will attract more competitors. A competitor with a serious financial backing and resources could compete against Starbucks (Datamonitor, n. d. ). It is estimated that if the current market growth continues saturation levels will be reached in five years (Datamonitor, n. d. ). Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction is defined as the measure or determination that a product or service meets a customers expectations, considering requirements of both quality and service (www. eglin. af. mil/46tw/StrategicPlan/glossary.htm). A customer?  ¦s expectations of product quality, service quality, and price, then a firm will achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. On the other hand, if the customer?  ¦s expectations are not met, the customer will be disappointed and this is likely to lower the satisfaction level. Due to lowered satisfaction, the customer could choose to stop buying from the firm/company. There have been many studies done that have shown that high customer satisfaction increases the likelihood of corporate profitability. It also showed that the costs incorporated with keeping an existing customer are five times that of getting new ones The Starbucks Customer The Starbuck?  ¦s Corporation is the leading retailer in the coffee industry. The market size of the coffee industry in the United States for 2003 is near 18 billion. The company?  ¦s sales have increased 23. 9% in the year 2003. These statistics show how many people in the U. S. are drinking Starbucks coffee. Starbucks attracts a cult-like following, serving 25 million drinks a week at nearly 7,000 locations worldwide. At one time or another, just about everyone has been a customer at a Starbucks retailer. Based on research done on the Internet, we have identified who the typical Starbucks?  ¦ customer is. A typical Starbucks customer is a male or a female, age ranging from 18 to 55. In most cases, the Starbucks?  ¦ customer is a college student, businessperson or someone in their mid to late fifties. A Starbucks customer tends to be very loyal to the company and will not accept substitutes. The usage level of a typical customer is at least three times a week, for some; it is every day. The benefits sought by customers range from enjoyment, relaxation, energy, and reward. Those who are not in a hurry like to sit down for a cup of coffee, listen to the relaxing songs played at the shops, enjoy a conversation with a friend, or just way to be alone and study. Another important characteristic of a typical customer is that most of the customers are financially stable enough to be able to afford to spend at least $2. 50 for a small cup of coffee. A typical Starbucks?  ¦ customer spends and average of $40 to $65 a month for coffee drinks. However, there are many customers who spend well over $65 a month. Improving Customer Satisfaction According to Schultz, ? §our success is based on their continued trust in our people and our environment over long periods of time. Redefining the industry youre playing in doesnt just mean hiring an agency to think up a fancy new slogan. To make it work, you have to offer high-quality new products and services that customers actually want, and that will reinforce the value offered by your core brand and expand the emotional connection your customers feel with it ( www. fastcompany. com from Issue 84 July 2004, Page 50 by:Alison Overholt). To continue the success that Starbucks had over the years, there must be ways to measure the customer? ¦s perceptions of the company. The customers are what make Starbucks what it is today, and to keep them we need to know what they expect from us. Based on research done on starbucks. com, it is evident that Starbucks values their customers. On the main page of the website there is a link to Customer Service; here the customer can ask questions or leave comments. This tool could be much more beneficial to the company if questions and/or comments could be asked by the customer. In the area of questions/comments-there is a drop down list of freqeuntly asked questions/comments, from this list the customer must pick. There could be many times when a customer has a question/comment, but it is not included on this list. The idea of having this link makes the customers feel that their opinions are valued, but there are a few areas that could be improved on that would be much more beneficial to the company. It is important that Starbucks asks for the opinions of their customers, but why only offer this online? Even though we have become such a computer savy world, there are still many people out there that are not computer literate. Many do not have access to computers, or some just do not know how to use them. This does not mean that these people don?  ¦t drink Starbucks coffee. To increase overall customer satisfaction, we should also incorporate a general product/service survey or some type of comment card in the retail stores. Surveys may seem tedious at times, but to help us find out information that could help our company in the long run, it is worth it. Surveys will give us an idea of how we can improve our product and service to satisfy the customer. Typical customer surveys are designed to measure: ?aOverall satisfaction ?aProduct-level satisfaction ?aImportance vs. satisfaction ? Timeliness of delivery ?aCustomer service process satisfaction ?aReturns and exchange process satisfaction ?aInterest in new potential products and services Included is sample survey that could be used to get a general idea of how our customers feel about our products and services. The main goal to achieve customer satisfaction needs to be: to find ways to deliver a great customer experience around your product or service. Customer expectations may be set, the idea is to exceed those expectations that they might already have. The recipe for a great cup of coffee includes four fundamentals, proportion, grind, water and freshness. Using the right proportion of coffee to water is the most important step in making great coffee. The shorter the brewing process, the finer the grind. The amount of time the coffee and water spend together affects the flavor elements that end up in your cup of coffee. Using fresh, cold water heated just off the boil is perfect for extracting the coffee?  ¦s full range of flavors. Use fresh ground coffee by grinding beans each time you brew the freshness is preserved. Starbucks quality is dependent on trading companies and exporters for its supply of green coffee. The company is looking to secure long term supply contracts, and in some cases has had to pay inflated prices in order to obtain such contracts. Starbucks responded to world coffee prices reaching 30-year lows during fiscal 2001 by offering suppliers more money to guarantee supply, and as such the risk of non-delivery on such purchase commitments is low. However, the nature of the business dictates that the company?  ¦s dependency on suppliers does put it at risk. Starbucks quality is at risk to the volatility of the supply and price of coffee. The company?  ¦s search for the superior standard coffee mean in can be adversely affected by multiple factors in the producing countries, including weather, political, and economic conditions. In addition, green coffee prices have been affected in the past, and may be affected in the future, by the actions of organizations and associations that have in the past attempted to influence prices of green coffee through agreements establishing export quotas or restricting global coffee supplies. The actions of these associations could cause a degree of costly disruption to Starbuck?  ¦s operations. Purchasing Guidelines Starbucks has also introduced coffee purchasing guidelines. The goal of these guidelines is to support Starbucks commitment to purchase coffee that has been grown and processed by suppliers who meet environmental, social, economic, and quality standards. Global coffee production can only be sustainable if it is economically viable, socially responsible, and environmentally sensitive at all levels of the supply chain. Over the past few years Starbucks has been working on the sourcing guidelines and they feel that is an important step that will help increase the production of high quality coffee and improve the health of the specialty coffee industry. With these guidelines, Starbucks is taking a leadership role in addressing the environmental and social issues surrounding the global coffee industry. This initiative is part of a long-term partnership between Starbucks and Conservation International to promote methods of coffee production that help to conserve global biodiversity. To launch these guidelines, Starbucks will enlist the support of coffee suppliers who are sustainable advocates. Starbucks has instituted a flexible point system that rewards performance in sustainable categories. Points will be accrued based on a supplier?  ¦s ability to meet sustainability guidelines, and suppliers who earn more points in the program will receive higher purchasing preference when Starbucks purchases green coffee. Starbucks has a long-standing practice of paying premium prices for coffee, and has always paid an average of at least $1. 20 per pound. As part of this practice, Starbucks will provide additional premiums of up to ten cents per pound to vendors based upon how well their coffee samples meet the standards. These financial incentives will help defray the costs incurred by participating suppliers. Suppliers wishing to participate will be required to provide independent, third party verification of their performance against the guidelines. Starbuck?  ¦s hopes that the success of this program demonstrates to the rest of the coffee industry that they can benefit by producing coffee in a way that protects global biodiversity and improves the livelihoods of coffee farmers. The Three Keys to Quality Coffee The three keys to quality coffee are: 1)Quality Green Arabica Coffee The best coffee beans produce the best cup of coffee. 2)Fresh Roasted Great tasting coffee relies on how soon the coffee is brewed, and consumed after roasting. For coffee to be fresh, and best, it must be consumed within five days after roasting, three hours of grinding, and fifteen minutes of brewing. The first sign that coffee is stale is a bitter taste. 3)Proper Brewing ? V Temperature and time, brewing is the extraction of coffee flavor oils from the roasted grounds using water. The best temperature for optimum extraction is water just off the boil (195 degrees to 205 degree Fahrenheit). This temperature will extract the full range of flavors from fresh roasted beans. Time is a function of brewing method and grind size. There are many ways to brew good coffee. Steeping and espresso are the two best methods. Financial Analysis Total net sales for Starbucks Corporation were analyzed for 2001, 2002, and 2003. The company had a total net sales increase of $639. 9M between the years 2001 and 2002. Another net increase of $786. 6M in sales occurred between 2002 and 2003. This is a positive sign because in a growing company, of course, we would expect a consistent increase in sales. A result of the increase in sales in part is due to a recent innovation of drive-throughs being added for the convenience of its many customers. Net income increased substantially to 215. 1M in 2002. This was due to the boom in sales and good control of its cost of goods sold. Net income increased to $53. 2M in 2003. The coffee giant acquired Seattle Coffee Company from AFC Enterprises for $72. 0M in 2003, as well. Income from operations took a boost up from $281. 0M in 2001 to $318. 7M in 2002, a difference of $37. 6M. Income from operations saw a considerable upturn of $424. 7M in 2003. In a growing company we would expect income from operations to grow from year to year. Cost of sales continued to increase $237. 2M between the years 2001 and 2002 and it peaked again $335. 9M between 2002 and 2003. This is normal when sales are increasing significantly. Management Strategies From cappuccinos to lattes to just regular coffee, the quality of Starbucks fine coffee beverages is worth the cost in dollars. An article from the Internet stated ?  §At $43 in mid-June, a share of Starbucks (SBUX) cost 47 times what Wall Street analysts expect the coffee-shop chain to earn per share this year. The typical stock in the SP 500 index trades at just 19 times earnings (Rosato, D. , 2004, p. 124). The article continued to state that management is projecting Starbucks earnings to grow to 20% every year for the next three to five years. With an amazing growth rate like that its no wonder that their growth far exceeds the typical SP stocks growth rate by as much as three times. Starbucks has a very strong balance sheet. It has little long-term debt and $380. 0M in cash. It continues to expand its long-term assets and finances them from its own cash flow. If a company is in a state of expansion, we would expect long-term assets to increase. The total current assets for the year ending September 29, 2002 for Starbucks Corporation were $847. 5M. For the year ending September 28, 2003 total current assets grew $76. 5M. This gives us a good indication that the company is expanding. Inventory increased from $263. 1M in 2002 to $342. 9 in 2003. In a growing company, we would expect inventory to increase. An article in the Internet stated that in November 2001, Starbucks offered their own Starbucks card. It was a convenient way for coffee drinkers to pay quickly and easily for their morning cup of coffee (Kuykendall, 2004, p. 7). Starbucks sold roughly $18. 0M of these gift cards. This strategy is a great way to increase volume and unlike other cards Starbucks said, ?  §It had never charged the fee noted on its cards $2 a month after on year ? V to anyone (Kuykendall, 2004 p. 7). Another vision to increase its financial strategy was the introduction of the Duetto combo prepaid/credit card in late 2003. An article on the Internet stated how the Chicago based Bank One Corp. called Duetto worked with Starbucks to generate a program where cardholders would receive rewards based on their spending habits. Starbucks conducted a survey to determine the gift that was most attractive to customers and Colette Courtion, director of Starbucks Global Card Services stated, ?  §Duetto cardholders receive a one-time $10 ?  §preload and 1% in so-called Duetto dollars that are automatically loaded on the stored-value side each month for every Visa purchase made. Starbucks also donates $5 to the Starbucks Foundation, after every customer?  ¦s first Starbucks Card Duetto Visa purchase (Martin, Z. , 2004, p. 22). A half-pound of coffee was one of the great appealing rewards, as well. Bank One and Starbucks were very well pleased with the markets positive response to the Duetto card. We are in agreement with these financial strategies and as a team, we concur that Starbucks Corporation should continue the card services as a strategic process that gives their company a great competitive advantage. A key strength of Starbucks is being a disciplined innovator. Frappuccino blended beverages and iced refreshments were new innovations and helped the growth of Starbucks. Starbucks should continue coming up with new kinds of beverages, as that is its core product. Perhaps a vegetable drink that is geared more toward the healthier population like a low calorie, low fat, and low sugar carrot drink that is actually providing the body with good vitamins and minerals. According to information retrieved from the Factiva database, Starbucks Price/Earnings ratio in the last twelve months was 56. 9 and its current ratio was 1. 8. Starbucks is on the right track with their strategies and they have done such an excellent job so far that we believe these strategies will continue to bring revenues for many upcoming years. Growth Starbucks Corporation has a good strategic growth plan currently to enhance their business and gain market share over their competitors. In this section of the report, it will go over Starbucks current ideas about their growth and give different recommendations in how some other ideas may increase their current and future growth. In the current high completive coffee market Starbucks has a good market share and are opening location across the world. Starbucks have opened their location in markets before any of their competitors has any of their location even around that market. Starbucks has a global brand name over their competitors. Starbucks Corporation has roughly 7,500 retail locations across the world, with majority are owned and operated in the United States of America. Starbucks currently has locations across 30 different countries to set their business in the market before any competitors due. Even with Starbucks aggressive move to open many locations across the world they have very little profit with their business. The reasons that Starbuck?  ¦s profitability is low because they?  ¦re trying to cease the market first. In the fiscal year of 2003, the company has a total of nearly 1,300 licensed retail stores, with 1,000 in Asia-Pacific region, 176 in Europe/Middle East/Africa and the remainder in America, excluding North America (Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru and Chile). Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle, derives approximately 85% of its revenues and substantially all of its profits from its domestic US market. The US market is the market that gives them the most profit of all markets. Starbucks started most of their locations at cold states based that more coffee drinkers live in cold states. With the new innovation of the cold flavored coffee drinks increased their chance to open more location in warm clement locations. Even with the rapid growth of coffee businesses in the US Starbucks has a large market share and with any change the Starbucks may due their competitors looks to target. Starbucks looks to enhance their brand image in the US market to increase their product sales from the stores that carry Starbucks coffee drinks, like Seven Eleven that carry only Starbucks coffee only. Starbucks reliance on the beverage innovation is important for the Starbucks future growth. With the increase for coffee store based on the need for coffee because of the new flavors, coffee market is growing but Starbucks looks to bring a new innovation to the market. The only problem at hand would be how long will the need and growth of the market last. In the international markets need less innovation then the US market based that there are less competitors in the market. International markets may need to have certain products for their taste. Most often different countries have different customs and life styles that could change the need for each custom. By the fiscal year of 2004, Starbucks international market will achieve profitability. About 23% of the company?  ¦s stores locations that are profitable are located in North America markets that include UK and Japan. Currently the specialty coffee sector accounts for 15% of the US retail market, and which is already worth $21 billion. By 2005, the retail coffee market will be worth $22 billion, and the specialty coffee will account for 41% of the market. Also Starbucks are looking to invent a coffee ice cream and ice cream coffee drink. All of the ice cream has many different flavors and if the newly product takes of like it?  ¦s planned on doing. The specialty coffee products are now sold even at retail store based on the growing need for it. Starbucks is looking to open coffee and ice cream combined stores in start a new market. Starbucks currently sees that more and more coffee business are opening threw out the US by small business owners, so Starbucks is selling more stores to lessen the opening of small businesses. Starbucks feels that if they sell their name that more small business owner would rather have a well-known name to enhance their chances in doing well. Starbucks owners will learn and gain from the innovation and marketing ideas that Starbucks will give. Starbucks will grow faster if they sell of most or all of their location because their will be less need in maintaining their stores and more need in bring new ideas to the market. Now their competitors are franchising their location to. Most of the Starbucks locations in malls or in strip malls across the world. Currently Starbucks are building freestanding locations and designing a drive threw so their customers can have a more convenient way when needing their service. With these newly developed locations will have a food line. They?  ¦re looking to have hot food and cold food to compete with the Tim Horton coffee business. They are also looking to stay open 24 hours, seven days a week. Starbucks is looking to carry donuts, breakfast sandwiches, bagels and other morning food. Starbucks interest to change to compete with Tim Horton?  ¦s may hurt their business or help their business based on the cost involved in the change. Starbucks has concerns regarding the US store growth potential. Currently if the growth continues, saturation levels within the North American retail division will be reached inside five years, the reasons why Starbucks has some concern is that about 75% of the companies revenue growth and a greater portion of its profit. Before the US market becomes saturated, the US market sales growth will grow slowly over the next three to five years. With this change of saturation point coming, the pressure will be on the international Starbucks division will need to grow faster. Currently Starbucks global coffee market is very competitive, and must compete against the likes of restaurants, coffee shops, and street carts. Any major competitors, with a large financial background and the same resources as Starbucks can enter the market at any time and compete directly against the company. Starbucks feels that they have a good market share and are aware of competition on all levels and can maintain its operational performance if its to maintain its status as the world?  ¦s leading specialty coffee retailer. Starbucks was one of the first coffee businesses in the market and will try to be one of the last to leave. The recommendation to Starbucks Coffee that if they are going to grow in the market faster than their competitors is not to change their business to be more like Tim Horton?  ¦s and have their own identity. Currently Starbucks started the wireless Internet access in their stores and now every competitor is doing it. Also, it will help Starbucks if they would enhance the online service to provide laptops and other computers at their locations. They should have online ordering of coffee so when business people need to go fast they can order online and pay online to have a faster way in getting there coffee. With the innovation of new products, Starbucks should think in expanding in creating a coffee machine that can be place at schools, hospitals, and other companies that may need coffee and late hours or that don?  ¦t need a store. They currently market their own coffee brand coffee to purchase at other store but they should have it accessible online to order. The best thing that Starbucks has going for them is that none of its direct competitors are selling their product at store and online. With the increase in people that drink specialty coffee, Starbucks should innovate more different flavored coffee to increase their potential growth currently and in the future. The international looks to be the best growth for their business and they should invest more into locations and countries. Summary In order to ensure future success, we feel that Starbucks should implement the following suggestions. To improve customer satisfaction, Starbucks should include a section where customers actually ask questions and/or leave comments both in store and at their website. In addition, Starbucks should incorporate a survey to measure customer satisfaction. To ensure quality, Starbucks should continue its current practices. The practice includes securing long-term contracts, paying premium prices for coffee and additional premiums to suppliers to ensure quality needs are meet. To guarantee financial security, Starbucks should continue its role as a disciplined innovator. Starbucks should continue to promote the use of Starbucks cards and Duetto combo prepaid credit cards. An important part of Starbuck continued growth is emphasizing their unique image and to continue to provide the latest technical advancements. Starbucks should start expanding by providing coffee machines at schools, hospitals and other similar organizations. These strategies will continue to promote Starbucks as a leading retailer in a highly competitive coffee industry. Starbucks Customer Survey Dear Customer: I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you. Please help us serve you better by taking a couple of minutes to tell us how we are doing. We appreciate your business and want to make sure we meet your expectations. Attached you will find a coupon good for 1 free coffee.

Lance Armstrong and Overcoming Obstacles Essay -- Expository Essays Re

Pedaling strong through the Pyrenees Mountains at remarkable speed, Lance Armstrong approached the tenth stage of the Tour de France. Beginning at an elevation of thirty-three feet above sea level, Armstrong was in sixteenth position with five minutes and fifty-four seconds separating him and the leader. For many this would be an insurmountable amount of time to makeup, especially on a stage containing such a grueling and exhausting climb, but Armstrong saw it as an opportunity to put his great mountain-climbing skills to work (Stein 60). Pacing himself through the majority of the stage, he remained well behind the leader. Then it happened; he reached the horrendous Mount Hautacam, and began his "eight-mile sprint through the rain and up the Pyrenees" (Thomsen 45; Stein 60). Each mount... ... * Stein, Joel. "Uphill Racer." Time 24 July 2000: 60. * Sterling, Michael & Associates. Lance Armstrong Online. Feb. 2003. 9 Mar. 2003 <http://lancearmstrong.com/lance/online2.nsf/html/bio>. * Thomsen, Ian. "Heavenly Ascent." Sports Illustrated 24 July 2000: 42+. * Vecsey, Laura. "Armstrong's Uphill Climb is Far More Than a Bike Ride; Cycling." The Baltimore Sun 20 Dec. 2002: 1D. Â  

Focus Group Research- Reliability, Validity, Replicability, Generalisability Essay

A focus group can be defined as a group interview- centered on a specific topic and facilitated and co-ordinated by a moderator or facilitator- which seeks to generate primarily qualitative data, by capitalizing on the interaction that occurs within the group setting. The idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help people to explore and clarify their views in ways that be less easily accessible in a one to one interview. While the focus group opens up exciting analytical possibilities, it also gives rise to a number of potentially problematic issues in this respect. Definitions: Reliability- The quality of being reliable, dependable or trustworthy. Validity- The state or quality of being valid (having some foundation; based on truth) Replicability- Property of an activity, process, or test result that allows it to be duplicated at another location or time. Generalisability- Generalizability is a process in testing and statistics theory that takes a score from a sample of behaviors and applies them to the entire possible set of observations The group dynamics which take place in a focus group are central to its success. However, these interpersonal processes may cause problems in the interpretation of focus group data. One problem is that of the ‘censoring’ of dissenting views held by less confident participants within the group. The emergence of dissonant views and perspectives — what Kitzinger (1994b) calls ‘argumentative interactions’— often contributes importantly to the richness of focus group data, but may be artificially suppressed. Certain members of the group may be more assertive or articulate than others, and their views may come to dominate the proceedings; such individuals have been described as ‘thought leaders’ ( Henderson 1995). This reflects the tendency of those who find themselves in a minority to acquiesce to the majority view ( Asch 1951, Deutsch & Gerard 1955, Carey & Smith 1994). There is a further problem here. If a viewpoint which is shared by most of the group lies in one direction or other on the attitude continuum it may be exaggerated through what is known as a group polarization effect ( Turner 1991). The prevalent group viewpoint will tend to converge on the end of the continuum in question, but will also tend to be amplified in the process. In comparison, any divergent viewpoints will tend to be suppressed. Interestingly, when the topic in question is one which elicits an evaluative response from group members, Carey (1995) suggests that this convergence of viewpoint tends to be negative rather than positive. The more homogeneous the participants (which, as previously noted, is in other respects advantageous), the greater the likelihood of polarization. Another negative aspect is that the focus group output is not projectable. If a great deal of consistency in the results from a series of focus groups have been identified and it is very likely that the results from these sessions probably can represent a larger number of people. We can’t expect focus groups to be projectable in the same way as quantitative study findings can be. My last point about the disadvantages is that focus groups are a very artificial environment which can influence the responses that are generated. This is frequently the argument that ethnographers will use when recommending their methodology versus focus groups. Because researchers using the ethnographic technique will situate themselves in the real environment, that is unreachable for focus groups. In focus groups people are collected in a meeting room thus they might behave differently from how they behave when they are not watched and it will effect the quality of research results. But there is also a high number of advantages of focus group research . First of all the authority role of the moderator. The face-to-face involvement of a qualified moderator can ensure that the conversation is always on track, and encourage participants’ engagement without one individual dominating the meeting. Another point is the dynamic nature of the methodology. Due to the dynamic environment the moderator can modify the topics, which are prepared before the session to make the topic more suitable for the purpose. The Ability to involve the client personnel in the research Process is another important advantage. In traditional focus groups it is possible for the client personnel to watch the whole discussion behind a one-way mirror. The client personnel can provide their thinking to the moderator, which may help the moderator better handle the direction of discussion, and improve the quality of output. Also the capability to utilize non-verbal behavior as a research input can be useful . The expression, attitude of individual, the intensity of the conversation etc. can be perceived by the researcher, which can modify the moderator’s decision and also can be counted in the research result. Another positive aspect is the level of participant involvement in the research. Because every participant is under observation by the moderator and everybody know the process has been videotaped, it is easy to make participants fully engage even during non-discussion time. My last point is the greater security associated with focus group research. The possibility to screen each participant, lets the researcher know who have been involved. This ensures that for example your competition is not involved. (PBWorks, 2007, P. 1) Reliability of Focus Groups Reliability is the extent to which a measure (such as a focus group) is accurate and replicable. With focus groups, this could concern whether another focus group, of similar but different people, would give similar answers. Focus groups often have problems with reliability. These can be lessened if the moderator is highly trained and if questions are relatively specific. Validity of Focus Groups  Validity is the extent to which a measure measures what it purports to measure. For focus groups, this could mean whether it is reasonably certain that people are talking about what you think they are talking about. Focus groups tend to be strong on validity. ( Peter Flom, [N. D. ], P. 1) Generalizing from focus groups There are two perspectives from which the issue of generalizing from focus groups may be problematic. The first perspective sees the focus group as a sample from a target population — and thus presumably regards generalization as a legitimate goal — but recognizes a number of methodological barriers. Because focus group participants are often gathered together through a process of non-probability sampling, this will not provide the degree of representativeness of a larger population that may be achieved in, for example, some mail surveys. Furthermore, there is a tendency for the more self-confident and articulate individuals to be more willing to agree to take part in a focus group in the first place, and it may be necessary to provide inducements to encourage less forthcoming participants to come forward. The other perspective on the external validity of focus group data raises epistemological, not methodological, difficulties. This view would stress the fact that focus group data are firmly contextualized within a specific social situation. They therefore produce ‘situated’ accounts, tied to a particular context of interaction which may not be a particularly natural one for many participants. The conclusion that would seem to emerge on this issue is that generalization from focus group data is not impossible, but is of a very different nature from that displayed by orthodox quantitative approaches to research. Conclusion  The focus group has considerable potential as a means of gathering qualitative data. This potential will not, however, be realized unless due attention is paid to the problematic methodological issues to which the focus group gives rise. In this respect, the principal conclusions to arise are the following: The skills and attributes of the moderator and the manner of data recording will exert a powerful influence on the quality of the data collected in a focus group. Focus groups explore collective, not individual, phenomenology, and attempts to infer the latter from focus group data are likely to be unfounded. Focus group data may be a poor indicator of attitudinal consensus, though they may reveal a divergence of opinion and the extent to which certain issues recur across groups. Focus groups can reveal the nature and range of participants’ views, but less so their strength. Generalization from focus group data is problematic, but is likely to be more fruitful at the level of theoretical generalization than at that of empirical generalization. The use of focus groups is increasing at a faster rate than our knowledge about these qualitative research methods. Every indication , however, is that this environment is dynamically changing and will continue to do so over the next 50 years. To keep up with those changes more research on focus group methods is needed. Ultimately the best teacher is experience . Like most other research tools , proficiency comes with practice. This provides an opportunity to see a variety of groups interact and the way the moderator handles specific problems as they arise. We also have drawn attention to the limitations of focus group interviews as well as to their advantages. The greatest of the limitations associated with focus groups is that each group really represents a single observation. In the case of focus groups , the demand effects are likely to result from the composition of the group , the presence of a particularly dominant member of the group, the actions of the moderator , or some other group related factor. Thus, focus groups share many of the same limitations as many other research tools, including survey research and experimentation. The source of these limitations and problems may differ somewhat, but the problems are the same. All in all if you do it on the right way with the right tools, focus group research can be very helpful for your business to come up with new ideas and to find out the best way to act with your target groups.

Meaning of Life and Success Essay

The most important thing in my life is thought to be happiness. In order to achieve success you must adjust to very situation with ease. Success is it the process of doing a task and receiving a positive result, or is it simply achieving one’s own personal goals. According to The American Heritage dictionary success is, â€Å"the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempt†. The word success itself means to achieve your goal or get the point that you looking for. Some people success meant to them to be rich or to finish school and work high pay jobs. But for me success means more than that. Success means to me have peace and love; also to get married and to enter heaven after this life is over. To be sure, everybody who has peace and love is a successful succeeding person. Without peace and love there is no success. You wake up in the morning and you don’t worry about anything that day; that is success for me, because the life is short, you don’t have to be concerned about anything. Also if you have a family that loves you and is always happy for what you are doing, that is success. In addition, if you take care of your old parents and they love you and they live a happy life, which is success for me. Additionally, success is also something that is viewed differently in the eyes of everyone. This is because success means doing what I have always wanted do being where I have always wanted to be. My goal in life is to eventually get married to a good wife and have many happy children and if I accomplished that, then I could view myself as having success. Lastly, meaning of success for me is to enter the heaven after this life is over. We know that life in this world is too short, and we don’t know when we are going to die and what we are going to get after this life. That is a simple answer; do good deeds in this world and you are going to be successful in the life hereafter. That means you enter the heaven for sure and that is big reward from God to his mankind. There is no dying after this life; that means if you don’t enter the heaven you will be the loser and who ever go in the heaven will be the winner. In conclusion, I still agree with the idea I presented: however according to the dictionary and many other resources, success means to them achievement. But according to my own opinion success means to believe the ones of God, and to have peace and love in your whole life, and to get in heaven the life hereafter.

Natural Selection essays

Natural Selection essays In suggesting the process of natural selection as the means resulting in evolution, Charles Darwin shows how evolutionary changes have occurred in organisms. Genetic change through time Understanding natural selection is paramount to our comprehension of evolution. is a much more accepted than the theory man has evolved from apes. Despite the fact that we are unable to prove without a shadow of doubt that man has evolved from apes, natural selection is relevant to the changes that have occurred over the years in humans. Charles Darwins theory of natural selection was based on two observations, first the fact that all species exhibit variability, for example height, colour, etc. Secondly all organisms than survive to reproduce. To understand why natural selection is much more acceptable than the idea of evolution from apes, we must first understand the Principles of Natural selection. The first principle of natural selection is that a species must be capable of reproduction of more than enough offspring to replace itself. Secondly, the environment may affect ones chances of survival. Third, because each individual is unique some may have more chances of survival than another. Lastly, the ability to adapt to ones environment increases ones chance for survival. After the acceptance of these principles, one can understand how change through time or evolution must have occurred in the past and continues to occur today. The reproductive capacity of most organisms is enormous compared to the number of offspring that reach maturity in each generation. For example spiders can produce hundreds of offspring, dogs and cats produce fourteen or more offspring in a litter and human beings may produce ten or more offspring in a lifetime. It is this reproductive capability that fulfills the first of Darwins principles. By reproducing we are continuing the life cycle allowing for more of each creature to exist in the future. It is th...

Main Verbs and Simple Sentences

Main Verbs and Simple Sentences Main Verbs and Simple Sentences Main Verbs and Simple Sentences By Maeve Maddox Many grammatical concepts that U.S. students used to learn in school have slipped into a twilight of things vaguely understood but still sometimes wondered about. Among the most basic concepts that high school students once graduated knowing were the four kinds of English sentence: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Because of its name, a simple sentence would seem to be the easiest to identify. Apparently not. A reader asked me about a sentence her child had been asked to identify as to kind: Harry bent down and picked them up one by one, dropping them back in the boxes. The reader thought the sentence might be complex because â€Å"‘dropping them back in the boxes’ is a dependent clause.† The sentence, however, is simple. To make this clear, a review of terms is called for. Clause: A clause is a group of words having a subject and a predicate. Predicate: The predicate is what is said about the subject. The predicate will contain a main verb. Main verb: A main verb shows tense. Such a verb is called a finite verb. Independent clause: An independent clause is made up of a subject and predicate that make sense standing alone as a sentence. Another name for an independent clause is main clause. That takes care of the terms; now for the analysis. Dropping is not a main verb. Dropping is the participle form of the verb to drop. A participle can be part of a main verb only if it is used with a helping verb indicating tense: The children were dropping rocks down a hole in the garden. (past continuous tense) The children are dropping rocks down a hole in the garden. (present continuous tense) In the sentence under discussion, dropping has no helping verb so it cannot be the main verb in a clause. It is nonfinite. That means it does not indicate past, present, or future time. In the sample sentence, dropping introduces a participial phrase: dropping them back in the boxes. The participial phrase is used adjectively to describe Harry. Another feature of the simple sentence that sometimes causes confusion is the fact that a sentence may have a compound subject and/or a compound verb and still be a simple sentence: Mary and Jack live in Rhode Island. (compound subject, single verb) My father and all my uncles hunt in the fall and fish in summer. (compound subject, compound verb) In our sample sentence, Harry is the subject; bent down and picked up is a compound verb that says something about Harry. Harry dropping them back in the boxes is the complete subject and bent down and picked them up one by one is the complete predicate. Note: As long as the subject performs every action in the sentence, the sentence is a simple sentence. If two subjects perform different actions, the sentence will be a compound sentence. For example, Susy dropped the boxes and Harry picked them up. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Greek Words You Should Know20 Words Meaning "Being or Existing in the Past"Dozen: Singular or Plural?

The Smartest Job Search Strategies for Any Job Search

The Smartest Job Search Strategies for Any Job Search You may think the best way to get a job is to search online, update your resume, and blitz it out in response to as many postings as you can find. But you’d be wrong. As it turns out, about 80% of jobs are not posted online. So no matter how many applications you send out, you’re still only working with about 20% of what’s out there. There are also a number of common myths and misconceptions that can derail even the most tenacious of job seekers. Debunking these can do a world of difference. Here’s two things to remember:You don’t need a great deal of experience (or sometimes even any) to get your dream job.You don’t have to settle until you get that job.So where does that leave you and your job search?You must always be prepared with a pitchThe best thing for job seekers to do- and this won’t come as much of a surprise- is network. Network, network, network. That means first and foremost, coming up with a convincing and charming eleva tor pitch. An answer to the ubiquitous question: â€Å"So tell me about you.† You’ll need to craft this perfectly to show your goals, experience, selling points, and just how perfect you are to match a potential employer’s needs. Then you’ll need to rehearse it until it comes out of your mouth as naturally as an exhale.Be sure to include a goal statement at the end. â€Å"I’m †¦. and interested in †¦. and currently hoping to transition into †¦ ideally in the X industry.† Stating your job search need as a goal ensures that you’re never outright asking anyone for favors; you’re simply stating who you are and what you’re looking for, which won’t annoy or offend any potential contacts.The shorter and simpler, the better–just be smartWhen you’re working on your resume, be sure to err on the side of brevity. DO include bullet points to maximize easy reading, but don’t include too many - and make sure the ones you do include are each doing something for you. Make them as results-driven as possible, rather than heavy on the job description. Lead with your best bullet.Once you get an interview, be sure to be as well prepared as you were for networking. Though, there, the big question is â€Å"Tell us a little about your biggest weakness.† You may have been told that the best strategy here is to claim that you’re an incurable perfectionist. The internet, more often than not, will counsel you in this direction. But the Internet is wrong. You’ll just sound insincere. The better strategy is to choose something you’ve actually been working to improve. Explain how it was a challenge to you in the past, and what you’ve been doing, actively, to turn it into a strength instead. Give an example of your progress just to prove you’re not full of baloney.It’s okay to make demandsOnce you get an offer, be sure not to roll over and accept the salary without question. It is okay and expected to negotiate. A few tips:Don’t be the first person to suggest a number. The person who speaks first in this arena alwaysIf they ask you to give a number first, deflect. Say that you’re negotiable, but you’d like to hear their range to see whether it fits for you.Do research before going into negotiations. Figure out what is standard at that company and in that position within the industry. And don’t ask for a number extremely outside of that range.Tell them instead that you’re being considered in the range of the top third of that bracket, but ensure that you’re negotiable.If you let go of some of the most common misapprehensions and job search myths, you should have a much better, clear-eyed approach that will likely start to get you the results you need.

Company law (hong kong) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Company law (hong kong) - Essay Example They are the mainspring of the company. Speaking about the importance of directors, Neville J. observed in Bath v. Standard Land Co. (1910) 2 chapter 408 that "Board of directors are the brain and the only brain of the company which is the body, and the company can and does act only through them". It is only "When the brain functions that the corporation is said to function2". They (Directors) must account for all the company's money and property over which they exercise control. They have to refund to the company any of its money or property which they have improperly paid away or transferred. However, directors are not trustees in the real sense of the word because they are not vested with the ownership of the company's property. It is only as regards some of their obligations to the company and certain powers that they are regarded as trustees of the company. Alexander v. Automatic Telephone Co. (1900). The directors of a company paid up nothing on their own shares. They however, made all the other shareholders pay 39.6d on each share. They did a breach of trust, and the directors were bound to pay to the company 35.6d on each of their shares. In Pi In Piercy v .S Mills & Co. Ltd (1920). The directors of the company had the power to issue the uninsured shares of the company. The company was in no need of further capital but the directors made a fresh issue to themselves and their supporters with a view to maintain control of the company. Held the allotment was invalid and void. In Peraval V. Wright, (1902). The directors of a company bought shares from a shareholder, while they were negotiating for the sale of the company to another of a very high price and they did not disclose this fact to the shareholder. The shareholder sued to have the sale set a side. Held the sale was binding as the directors were under no obligation to disclose negotiations to the shareholder. The law imposes these directors' duties upon them so that they are not allowed to "capitalise their strategic position in the company to serve their own interest 3". The Australian Uniform companies act has incorporated statutory provisions containing an explicit reference to the judiciary obligation of directors towards their companies. Section 24 of the Australian Companies Act states: i. A director shall at all times act honestly and use reasonable

To what extent is Green & Blacks importants to mayan community in Essay

To what extent is Green & Blacks importants to mayan community in Belize - Essay Example While Guatemala has decimated the forests and destroyed the wildlifes habitat with chemicals, Toledo has taken an organic approach. Coming back from the edge of destruction just 12 years ago, Toledo has profited by implementing environmentally and socially responsible programs that have been able to sustain and return a steady growth rate along with numerous social benefits. The Mayans in Toledo market a product that is produced by a set of strict internationally accepted guidelines under the brand name Maya Gold, marketed by Green & Blacks Organic. Justino Peck, chairman of the Toledo Cacao Growers Association (TCGA) says, "[†¦] we have all the birds and animals with us for our grandchildren to see" (as cited in Purvis, 2006). In 1993 the head of Whole Earth, Craig Sams, came to an agreement with the TCGA to grow and market organic cacao. Sams fledgling company had only recently been expelled from Togo West Africa due to political instability. Belize was open to fresh ideas after the United States Aid for International Development had abandoned the area after years of farming based on massive chemical applications. These years had left the land barren and the farmers destitute. Sams proposed organic methods and guaranteed a minimum price for the cacao, no chemical applications, and an operation that was based on Fairtrade principles. He guaranteed to purchase all of the organic cacao the TCGA could produce to be marketed under the Green and Black label. An alliance with the principles of Fairtrade, and an economy that was receptive to fresh ideas, paved the way for the future success of the TCGA, One of the basic components that would be necessary for the long term viability of Green and Blacks new product, Maya Gold, would be the accurate prediction of an increase in demand. Sams had agreed to guarantee twice the market price in anticipation of growing demand. A 1994 survey reported that 63% of the people in the United Kingdom would be willing to pay more

Rich and Poor by Peter Singer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rich and Poor by Peter Singer - Essay Example It is therefore there could not be any possibility of comparing the level of deprivations between the two culturally and economically pole-apart zones of the globe. The rich nations, according to the author, spend millions of dollars in feeding their pets, while they are unable to realize the bitter fact that by doing so, they are adding their share in respect of depriving the millions of humans of adequate food and proper nutrition. Although, the animals should not be deprived of the food, yet humans must be considered at first stance in order to make the world healthy, productive and beneficial one for the collective benevolence and progress of humanity at large. The affluent do not acknowledge the sufferings of the extremely poor and downtrodden nations, which neither do have any access to purchase seeds and fertilizers for their fields nor can they grow grains and other crops properly to feed their people subsequently. As a result, hunger, diseases, crimes, and deprivations domin ate these meager and underprivileged regions of the globe, and a large number of people leads their lives amidst the drab, dull and dismal dance of illness, hunger, scarcity, illiteracy and high mortality. The author looks to be capturing the attention of the affluent nations by awakening them from their deep sleep of negligence and indifference from their duties and obligations towards their fellow humans. The affluent are, according to Singer, so much absorbed in their everyday chores and personal and professional activities that they pay almost no heed to the miseries of others, which is equivalent to a grave abandonment in the light of moral values and ethical law. Although, the statutes of law do not impose any bar or restriction on the negligence, witnessed by the affluent, yet the principles of morality and justice certainly regard such an act as perversion and offense on the part of the rich and well-to-do towards the downtrodden strata in general. It is partly due to the ve ry reality that the rich do not have to sacrifice anything for supporting or feeding the deprived ones; on the contrary, they just have to consume few dollars from the extra amount of their income for the financial and social uplift of the poor. Hence, spending something, from their surplus wealth, Singer asserts, for the cause of humanity, as well as to combat with the awkward clutches of poverty, serves as an essential moral obligation of the wealthy and prosperous individuals, communities and nations of the world. The author stresses upon the eradication of the misconception that little contribution for the cause of helping the starving would not be the effective one to challenge the ugly and enormous face of poverty, as tiny drops of help and support to the deprived strata, would become a huge ocean of help for defeating the large-scale starvation, hunger and diseases with an iron hand. Though such contributions would not offer a high-quality life to the poor, yet they would cer tainly be beneficial in pulling them out from the whirlpool of hunger by fulfilling their basic needs.

Nutri, Health & Wellness Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nutri, Health & Wellness - Lab Report Example To achieve safety delivery during this lifecycle, an expectant mother is given a schedule to follow during the pregnancy period. The main aim being to check the growth of the child, and if it is not safe, correction is done and also the mother is advised on maintaining her pregnancy period. Failure to get prenatal care, there are higher chances of the baby having low weight and may increase the chance of the baby’s death. Further, the doctor may spot health problems early enough when a mother accesses health facilities regularly. In addition, the doctor will treat them at an early stage before they spread and affect the baby. Prenatal care is not only on the checkups, but the doctor also gives the mother some advice on how to give her unborn baby a healthy start to life, for example by exposing her to exercises and good nutrition that will keep the baby on good health as he/she was before birth. During this prenatal phase, nutrition is very important to the health of the mother and for the child. These nutrients enable the growth of the child and also enables prevention of diseases from attacking the foetus during pregnancy. On the other hand, poor nutrition results to some challenges to the pregnant mother and also to the child (Marie C & McCormick, 1999). The nutrition challenge associated with the pregnancy include; morning sickness. It is a common nutrition-related problem during pregnancy. It usually lasts for six months during the first trimester. It frequently helps to eat little, or have regular meals throughout the day. Morning sickness is caused by strong flavored and highly seasoned foods, hence pregnant mothers are advised to avoid strong spiced and seasoned junks. Heartburn is another common challenge during pregnancy due to the hormones released by the placenta’s relaxation in the lower esophagus sphincter, which keeps food in the digestive system

Good Morning, Vietnam; Good Night, Reality Essay

Good Morning, Vietnam; Good Night, Reality - Essay Example The film is fairly accurate in what it does portray: Croanuer is a hot-shot Deejay brought in to entertain (and thereby distract) the troops and is welcomed by his peers while several of his superiors are nervous about his lack of respect for authority. Cronauer blends well enough in his new environment, even taking on a class teaching Vietnamese - although this is to meet a love interest. He befriends the girl's brother, Tuan, fighting to get him into the locally owned G.I. Bar Jimmy Wah's. Cronauer is supended from the air when he ignores the censor by announcing the subsequent bombing of Jimmy Wah's. After his return to radio, Cronauer goes into the field to do remote interviews, unknowingly walking into enemy occupied territory. Tuan finds and rescues Cronauer, who returns to find that he is be reassigned to a different location, due to his involvement with Tuan, who proves to be a Vietnamese guerilla. After bidding farewell to all of his acquaintances, Cronauer departs, while a taped broadcast of his farewell show is played to the troops. Sadly, the focus of the film proves very limited. Despite the film's entertainment value, the narrow locality of it's story (primarily in the radio station) does not allow for a more comprehensive view of American soldiers in the field, the shifting political situation or the political history, and makes almost no effort to recognize Vietnamese history and concerns. Part of this is explained by Sergeant Joe P. Dunn, of the 199th Infantry Brigade, 1969-1970; who completed his tour with the 1st Air Cavalry. He observes that there are three primary methods today of studying the Vietnam conflict: 1) Asianists, who are specialist in the history, culture, and so forth of the Asia, who treat American involvement "as merely one stage, in the long history and series of conflicts", 2) Americanists, who are primarily historians and focus on various aspects of American issues that led to U.S. involvement (although the Asianists denounce the absence of Vietnam history and culture in this approac h), and 3) Literature/Pop-culture, which Dunn contends too rarely have "the analytical tools of the historian and the political scientist." Good Morning, Vietnam proves to have a slight leaning to this second category, but an overwhelming influence by the third. How then does the film attempt to justify it's blatant entertainment orientation It does this through a small inserts of liberal efforts of social equality. Cronauer seeks to equalize the military hierarchy by constantly lampooning the upper echelon. Likewise, Jimmy Wah's, a place where there has been a small measure of cultural acculturation in so far as the Vietnamese are benefiting from American presence (and exploitation), is the only real battleground in which Cronauer struggles for Vietnamese equality, i.e. the right to patron the bar. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese is only lightly touched upon by Tuan and his sister, and then only in lamenting the impact of America on an already war-torn culture.

Open forum intelligence analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Open forum intelligence analysis - Essay Example My primary concern is how can I efficiently conduct an ACH by use of the subjective process? How is the Analysis of Competing Hypothesis different from conventional intuitive analysis (Hypotheses 2008)? Richards asserts that there might be no apparent guarantee that any form of analysis might produce accurate answers. Reason being, it all depends on imperfect human judgment on incomplete information. Consequently, this has led to the failure of intelligence systems. Therefore, what are some of the essential factors needed to make the analysis of competing hypothesis more effective (Intelligence Reports 2013)? Hypotheses, Analysis of Competing. "Analysis of Competing Hypotheses." Central Intelligence Agency . July 2008. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/psychology-of-intelligence-analysis/art11.html (accessed October Thursday,

Good Morning, Vietnam; Good Night, Reality Essay

Good Morning, Vietnam; Good Night, Reality - Essay Example The film is fairly accurate in what it does portray: Croanuer is a hot-shot Deejay brought in to entertain (and thereby distract) the troops and is welcomed by his peers while several of his superiors are nervous about his lack of respect for authority. Cronauer blends well enough in his new environment, even taking on a class teaching Vietnamese - although this is to meet a love interest. He befriends the girl's brother, Tuan, fighting to get him into the locally owned G.I. Bar Jimmy Wah's. Cronauer is supended from the air when he ignores the censor by announcing the subsequent bombing of Jimmy Wah's. After his return to radio, Cronauer goes into the field to do remote interviews, unknowingly walking into enemy occupied territory. Tuan finds and rescues Cronauer, who returns to find that he is be reassigned to a different location, due to his involvement with Tuan, who proves to be a Vietnamese guerilla. After bidding farewell to all of his acquaintances, Cronauer departs, while a taped broadcast of his farewell show is played to the troops. Sadly, the focus of the film proves very limited. Despite the film's entertainment value, the narrow locality of it's story (primarily in the radio station) does not allow for a more comprehensive view of American soldiers in the field, the shifting political situation or the political history, and makes almost no effort to recognize Vietnamese history and concerns. Part of this is explained by Sergeant Joe P. Dunn, of the 199th Infantry Brigade, 1969-1970; who completed his tour with the 1st Air Cavalry. He observes that there are three primary methods today of studying the Vietnam conflict: 1) Asianists, who are specialist in the history, culture, and so forth of the Asia, who treat American involvement "as merely one stage, in the long history and series of conflicts", 2) Americanists, who are primarily historians and focus on various aspects of American issues that led to U.S. involvement (although the Asianists denounce the absence of Vietnam history and culture in this approac h), and 3) Literature/Pop-culture, which Dunn contends too rarely have "the analytical tools of the historian and the political scientist." Good Morning, Vietnam proves to have a slight leaning to this second category, but an overwhelming influence by the third. How then does the film attempt to justify it's blatant entertainment orientation It does this through a small inserts of liberal efforts of social equality. Cronauer seeks to equalize the military hierarchy by constantly lampooning the upper echelon. Likewise, Jimmy Wah's, a place where there has been a small measure of cultural acculturation in so far as the Vietnamese are benefiting from American presence (and exploitation), is the only real battleground in which Cronauer struggles for Vietnamese equality, i.e. the right to patron the bar. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese is only lightly touched upon by Tuan and his sister, and then only in lamenting the impact of America on an already war-torn culture.

Marketing of Central Heating System Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing of Central Heating System - Case Study Example They can do a better job of choosing their market, developing their offerings and executing their marketing plans. Company needs a strong marketing information system to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers. This information in developed from internal company records, marketing intelligence, marketing research and marketing decision support analysis. Marketers find many opportunities by identifying trends in the macro environment. A trend is a direction or sequence of events that have some momentum and durability. According to futurist Faith Popcorn (1992) a trend has longevity, is observable across several market areas and consumer activities and is consistent with other significant indicator that occur or energy at the same time. A new product or marketing programme is likely to be more successful if it is in line with strong trends rather than opposed to them. Companies and their suppliers, marketing in termediaries, customers and competitors all operate in a macro environment of force and trends that shape opportunities and pose threats. Within the rapidly changing global picture the firm must monitor six major forces: demographics, economics, natural, technological, political-legal and socio-cultural. Now we will analyze the there markets i.e. Poland Hungary and Czech republic on the basis of six macro- environments forces and analyze their needs (Market needs and Customers need) for central heating system. After analyzing markets trends the launch product in the said markets could be prioritized. During analysis we also take care of financial analysis of the product through Return on investment analysis. This process is called target- return pricing for the product. The firm determines the price that would yield its target rate return on investment (ROI). Many firms use target pricing. The target-return price is given by formula, Target return price = unit cost + desired return * invested capital/unit sales. After fixing the desired return company could easily analyze and perform break-even analysis so that it could assess that how many minimum numbers of units of product selling is essential to match their investment (Kotler, 2003). (For data see appendix) Poland: It is one of the Central European countries having population of 38.6 million. After world war -II until 1989-90 it remained under communist control as well as members of Warsaw pact. During the last decade Poland has made the transition to democracy and to market based economies. Now it becomes EU member state. Poland was the first economy in Central and Eastern Europe to recover to pre-transition level of economic output. Growth in GDP since 1993 has been very strong averaging over 5% annually and making the polish economy between the fastest growing economies in Europe. However, GDP per capita (measured in terms of purchasing power parity) remains very much lower than the other western European union members. The most notable features of Poland's energy sector are its heavy dependence on coal and the depth of power sector restructuring both to date and planned for the future. The total installed power generation capacity in Poland amounts to approximately 33GW while peak d emand is about 24GW. So it is energy surplus country. Annual electricity consumption stands at around 124 TWL of which about 63% powers the industrial sector (including

Research and Account Essay Example for Free

Research and Account Essay Report One: Old Deanery care home One staff member has been sacked and seven suspended from one of Englands largest care homes after an undercover probe by BBC Panorama found poor care. The filming at the Old Deanery in Essex showed some residents being taunted, roughly handled and one was slapped. The home said it was shocked and saddened by the allegations. Care minister Norman Lamb described the images as absolutely disgusting and said there could be a role for the use of CCTV in care homes. Care Quality Commission figures seen by the BBC show over a third of homes that received warning notices since 2011 still do not meet basic standards. Allegations of poor care and mistreatment at the 93-bed home in Braintree, where residents pay roughly  £700 per week, were first raised by 11 whistle-blowers in August 2012. see more:identify reports into serious failures Essex County Council put it on special measures for three months until concerns were addressed. But secret filming by Panoramas undercover reporter over 36 shifts found many of the same sorts of issues reported a year earlier, including: a woman slapped by a care worker who had previously been complained about for her poor attitude towards residents the same woman, who has dementia and is partially paralysed after a stroke, was also repeatedly mocked and taunted by other care workers cries for assistance from a resident suffering a terminal illness ignored as she sought help for the toilet, and her call bell for assistance left unplugged on one occasion a resident bed-ridden with a chronic illness left lying in his own excrement after two care workers turned off his call bell without assisting him Report Two: Winterbourne view care home The 11 defendants – nine support workers and two nurses – admitted 38 charges of either neglect or ill-treatment of five people with severe learning difficulties after being secretly recorded by a reporter for the BBCs Panorama programme They were filmed slapping extremely vulnerable residents, soaking them in water, trapping them under chairs, taunting and swearing at them, pulling their hair and poking their eyes. Whistle-blower Terry Bryan,  a former nurse at the home, contacted the BBC after his warnings were ignored by Castlebeck Ltd, which owned the hospital, and care watchdogs. Hours of graphic footage recorded during a five-week, undercover BBC investigation in February and March last year, showed one support worker, Wayne Rogers, telling a resident: Do you want me to get a cheese grater and grate your face off? Do you want me to turn you into a giant pepperoni? Rogers slapped another resident across the cheek, saying: Do you want a scrap? Do you want a fight? Go on and I will bite your bloody face off. His colleague Alison Dove was recorded saying a resident loved pain, then saying to the resident: Simone, come here and Ill punch your face. Dove threatened another resident when she broke a window in the lounge with a chair. She was recorded snarling: Listen, in future Im going to let you sit on the fucking floor, cos you dont deserve a chair. On another occasion, Dove, Graham Doyle and Holly Draper restrained a female resident as a fourth member of staff, Sookalingum Appoo, forced a paracetamol tablet into her mouth. Later, during the same incident, Doyle put on a mock-German accent and, mimicking a Nazi guard, slapped the resident over the head with his gloves shouting: Nein, nein, nein, nein. The Panorama investigation, which was screened in May 2011, led to a serious case review two months later, which criticised Darlington-based Castlebeck Ltd for putting profits before humanity. These reports show that safeguarding of the individuals involved should have been enforced. The failings to do with this incident could have been due to the fact that the care homes were: under staffed over worked language barriers not had up-to-date training trained in dementia a better approach to safeguarding across agencies a better system for flagging concerns and referrals better information sharing A most recent report from CQC on 1st April 2014 shows  that overall, providing care, treatment and support that meets peoples needs and staffing, required improvement. The Old Deanery also had a CQC report from June 2012 which showed staffing problems and when residents pressed their bells in their rooms, they were waiting a long time until they were attended to. This shows that these issues were not addressed. Also the staff employed at The Old Deanery care home ignored or failed to recognise the individuals rights and need for protection. There was poor communication, planning, coordination and thoughtlessness which left each individual in an abusive and dangerous situation. The government review found as well as reports from the police, the CQC and the local NHS drew the following conclusions, to Winterbourne Views case: Patients stayed at winerbourne view for too long and were too far from home- the average length of stay was 19 months. Almost half of patients were more than 40 miles away from, where their family or primary careers lived. There was extremely high rate of physical intervention- well over 500 reported cases of restraint in a fifteen month period. Multiple agencies failed to pick up on key warning signs-nearly 150 separate incidents- including AE visits by patients,police attendance at the hospital, and safeguarding concerns reported to the local council- which could and should have raised the alarm. There was clear management failure at the hospital- with no registered manager in place, substandard recruitment processes and limited staff training. A closed and punitive culture had developed- families and other visitors were not allowed access to the top floor wards and patient bedrooms, offering little chance for outsiders to see daily routines at the hospital.

Slavery :: Slavery Essays

True or false: â€Å"Slavery was the immediate fomenting cause of the Civil War.† The answer is false. Slavery was a cause of the Civil War, but not the cause. Slavery was just one of the issues that added to the unjust state rights that led to the secession of the Southern states and ultimately the American Civil War. The three major events that made the southern states feel that they were getting the short end of the bargains were: the Compromise of 1850, the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. These three documents were examples of the unfairness of the Southern state rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before Missouri became a state it was believed by the southern states that it would be admitted as a slave state. To the South’s surprise and dismay, Republican Representative James Tallmadge of New York proposed an amendment that would prohibit the importation of slaves and ultimately bring about the emancipation of all slaves born in Missouri. The free state-slave state ratio had been equal and admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state would keep it equal. The bill passed the House but failed to pass the Senate. It was rearranged to hold a clause that said instead of prohibiting slavery in Missouri, slavery was forbidden in all of the remaining land from the Louisiana Purchase. Even with this exception to Missouri, the South was enraged at the idea that they lacked the power to decide for themselves if a state was free or open to slavery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Missouri Compromise gave birth to feelings of resent between the North and the South. Those wounds had salt poured on them so to speak when the Compromise of 1850 was passed. The Compromise goaded the hostility between the North and the South concerning the question of the extension of slavery in all directions. The anti-slavery Republicans favored the proposal made in the Wilmot Proviso to exclude slavery form all the lands acquired from Mexico. While the South assumed that this land was theirs for he taking and strongly opposed this plan.

Janes Resilience to Events in Jane Eyre Essay -- Jane Eyre Charlotte

Jane's Resilience to Events in Jane Eyre The novel Jane Eyre was written by Charlotte Bronte in the 1840’s. Put simply, it is the story of a woman who began her life with nothing but aspired, against the odds, to gain recognition and a better social status. Moreover, it is about her ability to cope with situations and make decisions that affect her life and others. Through these qualities it is possible to describe her as a heroine. This essay will aim to show how Bronte conveys Jane’s resilience – her ability to cope and repel suffering – to the audience. It will also show how Bronte shows how Jane could be considered a heroine; not in the clichà ©d sense of fighting evil but more like her ability to choose good over evil, her selflessness, her courage and her overbearing will to continue to live. With such a poor social status (she was an orphan and a women, who were seen as inferior and had far less opportunities in life during the 1800s than men did), no money and no friends the character Jane needed more than a little ambition and feistiness to succeed in overcoming her obstacle-ridden life. Bronte presents Jane at the beginning of the story as a young girl. She is an orphan who lives with her aunt - Miss Reed - but is extremely disliked by her because it was her uncle who adopted her and is now dead. She also lives with Miss Reed’s three children, Eliza, Georgiana and John who also despise her. Bronte communicates Jane’s status in the family early on - Jane is considered an outcast and treated as inferior to the rest of the family. The torment she suffers is clear from the very beginning of the story, and Bronte is quick to associate Jane’s relationship with the Reeds with feelings of mis... ...dly how Jane evolves from a quiet and bullied girl to a full-grown woman capable of loving with all her heart, respecting herself and finding happiness in unhappy situations. Bronte also shows how Jane becomes a strong individual. I think the novel shows very well how badly women were treated in the 1800’s but also why they deserved the same respect as men. It also showed that status in society does not affect whether a person is bad – this contrast is shown by Bronte in Jane, an orphan girl, being good, and the Reeds, a rich respected family, being horrible. Overall it is a very encouraging story, with many tragic moments but also a happy ending. It not only leaves the reader understanding how social status was viewed in the 1800’s but also leaves them with a feeling of hope and the idea that anyone can change who they are, if they are good people.

Developing an action plan Essay

The Utah Symphony has proven its ability to generate substantial sums of Revenue with both performance revenues and by securing large sums of income from governmental grants along with generous contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. The Symphony’s ability to draw large crowds along with their demanding schedule length allows them to offer the community ample opportunities to participate. The Symphony provides sustainability for 83 full time musicians, and this allows them to concentrate on the goals of the Symphony without the worries of looking for other income opportunities. Mr. Lockhart is a very talented and experienced music director that has a personal commitment to his symphony. Mr. Lockhart’s role as the music director comes with many challenges, it is through these challenges that he has elevated the Utah Symphony to the status they enjoy today. The musicians and Mr. Lockhart have developed a relationship of trust and respect, Mr. Lockhart has publicly acknowledged how important they are to the overall success of the symphony and his success as a director. The Utah Symphony has a very demanding schedule and with it comes great expense; the symphony needs to look for cost cutting options to maintain operations. They are relying on generous governmental funding and other contributions that are simply not what the previously had been. The symphony will need to look towards the possibility of reducing its staff’s income and benefits, to overcome this shortfall, which is a hard situation to deal with. Mr. Lockhart will need to take a stronger leadership role and develop a plan to approach the musicians about the dire situation they are in and try to develop a strategy to cut cost, however his personal relationship with them present a challenge that is not easy to overcome. Another concern is Mr. Lockhart does not want be perceived as â€Å"playing second string† when it comes to his Symphony and will need to look at the bigger picture to see what is best for the Symphony. Anne will need to be as straight forward and honest as possible about the  realties that the symphony faces, with regards to budget management and cost saving techniques. She will need to gain the trust of the musicians much the same way Keith has by developing the understanding of the importance the musicians hold within the developing organization for the merger to be successful. She needs to develop a relationship with Keith and his position with the symphony that does not create tension within the merged organization. The Utah Opera has developed a business strategy that works. They are running a very profitable organization that utilizes effective methods for fundraising and obtaining other contribution resources. They have appropriated their budget to allow them to maximize what revenue they attain wisely; they will have very little reduction in governmental grants, and a projected increase in contributions for individuals, corporations and foundations in the year to come. They have a large inventory of costumes and productions sets and own the building and land they operate in. With Anne as the head of the UOC she has grown the budget from 1.5 million to almost 5 million; she’s an accomplished fund raiser for the UOC. Anne bring many talents to the UOC from stage director, to general director Anne is a very crucial part of the success of the UOC. The UOC faces a challenging future with the lack of performance revenues projected for the upcoming season and increase in production cost they may have to make adjustments to staff to maintain their level of security, however they have been running an impressive surplus of nearly half a million dollars. With the merger details made public they have had some staffing concerns and even the resignation of the Director of operations Leslie Petersen. Some members of the UOC staff feel they may be placed in the shadows of the Symphony and end up flipping the bill for the symphonies failures. Anne has undertaken a huge role within the merger of the organizations and she will need to make sure she doesn’t lose focus with the day to day operations of the UOC, since she is currently without a Director of operations. Anne has a proving record of running efficient organizations and may not be sensitive to the needs and desires of the employees from both the UOC and USO, due to her drive for efficiency. Anne needs to place a Director of operations for the UOC as soon as possible. She will need to talk with her current employees and provide the assurance they need in regards to the important role they play in a successful merger. She will want to assure that the organizations will work together as one and the UOC will not be left flipping the bills from the shadows. Anne will want to continue to meet the needs of the UOC to maintain it level of success. Analysis of Company scorecards Financially the goals of the USO and UOC are quite similar they both are concerned with financial stability with increased profitability. Fund raising is realized as being very important to maintain that profitability with the USO focused more on keeping ticket prices the same as last year and the UOC with increasing their endowment being a priority, which has one to think that the UOC is more concerned with money then the artistic exposure aspect that the USO has. Both organizations have goals of increasing profitability, with the USO planning on a significant increased goal, the UOC just wants to increase the reserve funding (there security blanket). Both organization have similar goals with respect to notoriety however due to the size and scope of the entertainment they provide, the USO has a more world vision on success with the UOC is focused on national and regional recognition. Both organizations realize their success depends on great performances and talented performers; they remain very similar in that aspect. The crowds say it all and both the UOC and USO know that feedback and attendance is very important, but they have different views on how to gauge this with the USO focused on feedback directly from exiting customer and the UOC judging this by the ability to producing sell out performances. The internal processes of the two organizations are quite different with the USO maintaining the staff of it musicians tear round, and the UOC gaining new performers for different performances, they face different sets of challenges they both negotiate salaries for the performers and talents with  profitability being a major tactic. They measure the success of the internal process differently as we with the USO depending on improving ticket sales and returning customers the UOC is depending on reviews and profitability measurements for success. With respect to learning and growth, the organizations differ slightly. They are concerned with increasing the amount of performances, with the USO focused more on gaining a younger crowd the UOC is just trying to keep sales growing. They both realize the importance of ticket sales to their success with the UOC again is concentrating on having the increase in bottom line, where as the USO wants greater returning audiences. The scorecard does address some of the strengths and weakness, I developed prior but should have a better focus on what the organizations can do to improve and assure they will be successful in the future. The balance score card may not align with all the strengths and weaknesses of an organization but it more approximately focuses on what direction the organization desires to go to meet its desired outcome. USO & UOC Balanced Scorecard Financial  ·Strategic Goal: Being Financially stable with increased profitability  ·Critical Success Factor: Maintaining highly successful fundraising efforts to maintain ticket prices and endowments.  ·Measure: Increase profits providing Surplus deficits. Customer  ·Strategic Goal: Providing Top notch performances and gain Notoriety  ·Critical Success Factor: Acquiring quality performers  ·Measure: Ticket sales and exit surveys Internal Process  ·Strategic Goal: Attracting top talent while improving profitability  ·Critical Success Factor: Negotiating contracts closely to assure profitability  ·Measure: Improved profitability, and ticket sales. Learning and Growth  ·Strategic Goal: Increase of productions to more appealing crowds  ·Critical Success Factor: Increased profitability with Larger demographic  ·Measure: Return sales and exit survey results The weakness of the merged organization with regards to the financial stability will be how to distribute the profits; they both have goals to increase profitability which is a good starting point, they will just need to develop a solid plan. With regards to the customer the organization wants to increase its overall notoriety and exposure to different demo graph’s and this is a great strength they share and can benefit from. With regards to Internal processes the current goals they share to maintain profitability while negotiating salaries is a weakness due to the inherently different classes of talents the organizations face and how they can balance that difference while maintaining peace. The organizations share the goal of increased growth and exposure to a varied age group while increasing production so this should be a strength that they both will benefit from and have little trouble adapting to. With the balance scorecard in place, the financial issue that could arise would be how the profitability of the organization should be allocated, whereas the UOC is more focused on maintaining its endowment the USO is more concerned with keeping ticket sales stagnate while keeping the musicians happy. The Humans resources department will be dealing with two very different groups of talent and with the USO musicians union to deal with they will have a very challenging task with the merger.  When dealing with customer satisfaction, due to the organizations producing very different types of productions they have a level of frustration and confusion with scheduling and production run times. The best way to educate customers on the performances will be through advertisements and customer interactions such as exit surveys and questionnaires. The new merged company executive will want to develop a detailed business strategy that will show how the organization will be able to maintain its level of profitability while achieving all the financial goals it has developed. The new executive must help the Human resources department understand their roles and assemble this department from both organizations to be successful. As with any company customer satisfactions should be a priority and by educating the public about the benefits of the newly merged company and the great performances you provide can greatly increase your exposure to a larger customer base.

Adulthood case study

Mr. Mort Philman is a 64-year old Caucasian male. His wrinkles, grey hair, and slightly stooping stance reflect his age. According to him, his body no longer functions the way it had for the past years. His renal heart failure gradually declines his health and his most recent surgery seriously affected his daily routine.Being bedridden for weeks deprived him of the pleasure of doing the activities which he used to be engaged in. As for his cognitive functioning, his memory is still intact; he can still recognize his caregiver, sons, and other relatives. He is also updated when it comes to current events despite being homed in an institution for the elderly.He had been happily married to his wife for 31 years, until his wife passed away in 2006 due to breast cancer. They were blessed with two sons who now have families of their own. They visit him in the institution once every two weeks.However, Mort still feels weary and sad because of loneliness and constant feeling of nostalgia. Th e more he grows old, the more he feels futile about living.Coming from a working-class family, Mort had to work to fund his schooling. When he was in his early 20’s, he was working as a bartender and at the same time attending college in California. He was an outgoing type of person and wanted to be with his friends most of the time, but his work schedule did not allow him to do that.Also, he did not have much time for love relationships at such an early time because he focused on his studies and work. He learned to drink because of his job, but only did it occasionally because of his health condition. He was also advised by his doctor not to smoke because this would affect his heart ailment badly.Fortunately, Mort was able to finish college with a degree in Accountancy. He got a good-paying job in an accounting firm located in New York where he met his first girlfriend/future wife. At this point, he was living independently albeit he couldn’t afford to buy his own hou se.He got married at a practical age of thirty-two and his wife gave birth to their first son, Jed, a year after their wedding. His wife quitted her job to become a full-fledged housewife and mother to their son. Before Jed’s 2nd birthday, his wife gave birth to another boy named Lloyd. They were living a simple yet happy family life until his first heart attack when he was 48 years old.This had an immense impact on his career and home life as well because his sickness was incapacitating. Nevertheless, he was able to recover and go back to work for another six years. By that time, his health was deteriorating and had to stay home. This stagnation greatly affected his personality wherein he felt helpless and had to depend on his eldest son.Several years later, his wife was diagnosed of having breast cancer and eventually died because of it. This became another mishap in his life which made him more depressed and alone. This build-up of negative feelings caused him another hear t attack which required surgery for him to survive.Since his sons were afraid that no one can attend to him when another heart attack occurs, they admitted him to an institution that cares for the elderly.Analyzing Mort’s development from early to late adulthood, there are different areas to be discussed. Concerning his physical development, Mort underwent the normal changes in an individual: decline of physical performance, noticeable wrinkling and sagging of the skin, grey hair, and reduced perceptual acuity like blurred vision (Santrock, 2002).His main health concern is his heart condition which he has been nursing since he was young but eventually became severe when he experienced emotional difficulties during middle adulthood. For his cognitive development, it is observed that Mort’s functioning is in the reflective, pragmatic and realistic according to Piaget’s view of human cognitive development (Plotnik, 1999).These characteristics are manifested by his capacity to introspect, make logical assumptions and address his present situation.Delving into Mort’s moral development, with regards to Kohlberg’s theory of moral progression, it can be inferred that he has reached Stage 5 (Social Contract). With his experiences and wisdom, Mort has appreciated and evaluated the government laws since he believes that it promotes equity and human rights.To give a concrete example, he succumbed to his sons’ decision of placing him in an institution for the elderly because he is aware that it is for the common good (Santrock, 2002). Lastly, taking into account Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development, Mort was able to achieve intimacy during young adulthood.However, he stagnated during middle adulthood due to his heart condition and this developed into despair just recently catalyzed by his wife’s death. Moreover, even though he has accepted what happened in his life, his pessimism and feelings of inadequacy rem ain.It is recommended that Mort continue having medical check-ups to address his heart condition. It is also advised that he join a support group for people of his age and be given the opportunity to perform worthwhile activities.His family should also allot more time for him and be involved in some of his activities. Such recommendations could help him restore his self-esteem and let him enjoy the remaining years of his life.References:Plotnik, R. (1999). Introduction to Psychology (5th ed.). USA: New York Publishing Inc.Santrock, J.W. (2002). Life-Span Development 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill