Change and leadership management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Change and authority the board - Essay Example Be that as it may, it may be conceivable just if the pioneer may act carefully and propel the representatives towards working so as to improve the profitability and picture of the association in the whole market, regardless of fluctuated sorts of changes. At exactly that point, the picture and net revenue of the association may get improved in the market among other opponent players. Also, in the event that the progressions may be dealt with in a compelling manner, at that point the prominence and value of the association might be improved in this way intensifying its seriousness in the market to a limited degree in since quite a while ago run among others. This exposition is isolated into five stages that feature the hugeness of administration inside an association. Alongside this, it additionally features the job of initiative inside a change the executives circumstance with the assistance of models like Kotters 8 stages, Lewin’s change the board model. The paper tries to encourage an understanding that there is a need to choose a person with great initiative abilities who has the ideal sort of drive expected to expand the benefits and the supportability of the association to remain serious over its friends. To get a predominant comprehension of the kind of compelling authority and the executives, the paper will fuse the depiction of methods of activity of the organization Biogen Idec Incorporated. The organization manages biotechnology items that may incorporate medications for immune system issue, neurological scatters and malignant growth. The organization encounters direct rivalry from comparative biotechnological organizat ions, for example, Serono, Novartis and Teva. This makes it important that authority methodologies are put to ensure they remain over these contending organizations in a similar stage. To get by in this serious time, administration is the most basic prerequisite. As it goes about as a weapon not just animate the overall revenue and efficiency of an association yet additionally to relieve changed

Gibe, Gybe, Jibe, and Jive

Sneer, Gybe, Jibe, and Jive Sneer, Gybe, Jibe, and Jive Sneer, Gybe, Jibe, and Jive By Maeve Maddox The action words sneer, gybe, agree and jive all start with the sound [j] and are regularly confounded. sneer (action word): to insult, to affront. Model: â€Å"If he snickered rather than cried when someoneâ gibedâ at him, regularly theâ teasing stopped.†Ã¢ scoff (thing): a jeering remark, an insult. Model: â€Å"The teasing, taunts,â gibesâ and frightful acts are a piece of me still.† gybe (action word): (cruising term) to move out of nowhere and with power from one side to the next when a boat is guided off the breeze until the sail fills on the contrary side. Elective spelling: correspond. Models: â€Å"As Phil slipped over the edge, theâ boom gybed.† â€Å"A whirlwind got theirâ sail, theâ boom agreed, almost thumping Mr. Snider overboard.† correspond (action word): to bode well, to concur with, to fit in. Model: â€Å"The most recent research discoveries correspond with those recorded in 1934.† The thing jive has these three implications: 1. a sort of quick, enthusiastic jazz Weve been needing toâ play Jiveâ since the band initially began. 2. enthusiastic and uninhibited moving. He doesnt very bob around like an elastic band during his jive, yet does adequate to score a 7-7-7. 3. talk or discussion, particularly talk that is bogus, deceiving, or useless. It’s time to cut the jive and come clean. As an action word, jive can intend to play enthusiastic music or to move to energetic music. Model: They separated each other around four feet separated andâ were jivingâ to the music. The action word jive can likewise mean, â€Å"to delude or deceive.† Perhaps the narcsâ were jivingâ him, maybeâ they wereâ going to shoot him in the back. I scanned his eyes for some hint thatâ he was jiving me. He wasnt.â The most widely recognized mistakes with these words are to spell scoff as correspond and to utilize jive in the feeling of agree. Here are a few instances of abuse from the Web: Inaccurate: Arizona Prison Privatization Proposal Doesnt Jive with Market Right : Arizona Prison Privatization Proposal Doesnt Jibe with Market Incorrect: But my opinionâ about thatâ doesnt jiveâ with everybody elses opinion.â Right : But my opinionâ about thatâ doesnt correspond with everybody elses opinion.â Inaccurate: If your youngster is throwing his own sillyâ jibes atâ the mystery, at that point its a shared thing. Right : If your youngster is flinging his own sillyâ gibes atâ the mystery, at that point its a shared thing. Wrong: Put-downs, slurs, agrees, and insinuation of different sorts are rarely purposeless or innocuous. Right : Put-downs, slurs, scoffs, and allusion of various sorts are rarely purposeless or innocuous. The Oxford English Dictionary approves the nonstandard utilization of jive in the feeling of correspond as â€Å"U.S.† use, yet Merriam-Webster Unabridged (infamous for its propensity to grasp a wide range of flawed use) doesn't. The main definition M-W offers for correspond is â€Å"to be in accord.† Its solitary definitions for the action word jive are identified with music, deceiving talk, and prodding. Two other much-refered to American specialists are mindful so as to recognize scoff and correspond: The Chicago Manual of Style A sneer is a gnawing affront or insult; scoffs are allegorically tossed at their objective â€Å"The furious group heaved sneers as the suspect was driven into the courthouse.† Jibe intends to fit, for the most part with invalidation â€Å"The decision didn’t correspond with the judge’s own perspective on the facts.† The AP Stylebook To scoff intends to insult or jeer: â€Å"They sneered him about his mistakes.† Correspond intends to move heading: â€Å"They agreed their boat over the wind.† or on the other hand, casually, to concur: â€Å"Their stories didn’t jibe.† Synopsis The cruising term might be spelled either gybe or correspond. The last is increasingly normal in US utilization. The action word that implies â€Å"to agree† or â€Å"to fit† is spelled correspond. The thing and action word that pass on insulting are spelled sneer. Need to improve your English in a short time a day? Get a membership and begin getting our composing tips and activities day by day! Continue learning! Peruse the Vocabulary classification, check our well known posts, or pick a related post below:Based in and based out ofBest Websites to Learn EnglishDrama versus Drama

wiki wabbit Richmond Writing

wiki wabbit Richmond Writing If you ever watched Bugs Bunny You might read the title of this posting with an echo of Elmer Fudd expressing his chagrin at one of our beloved tricksters. The relevance of this, if not immediately apparent, will be suggested in a bit.  Wiki what? The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning fast, the emphatic form of which is wikiwiki. This phrase was first used to apply to a user-edited website called WikiWikiWeb composed by Ward Cunningham in 1995 this was the first wiki. With 9,889,432 views per hour in English alone, most folks know about Wikipedia, but fewer understand what a wiki is or how to use one. Unlike traditional semi-static/gatekeeper websites that require complex software to create and are often controlled by a single person, a wiki can be built online, often for free, and designed so a limited or unlimited number of people can edit it easily. I have been using Wikispaces for my writing workshops as well as for process drafting of research essays in my first-year writing courses. All changes are recorded in the history tab, so there is a complete record of who wrote what and when and this makes for a more thorough collection of drafts and revisions. Often the pages will have a discussion tab that is useful for writing workshop feedback, posting questions to readers etc. But wikis can be used for more than writing courses, they can be convenient and flexible group collaboration tools for any project, academic or otherwise. Browse the sites for Wetpaint or PB Works and note the varying complexity and features offered, or check WikiMatrix to find a handy tool for comparing a number of wikis of your own choosing. Oh, and about those leaks. In terms of wiki-ness, the Wikileaks website is not really a wiki since it is not editable by its users but its revelations certainly introduce an element of speed into the slower pace of partial diplomatic disclosure. Aside from speed, another aspect of wiki-ness manifest by Wikileaks is that of transparency and accountability or at least the transparency and accountability of the powerful, since Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is less than transparent himself. On a wiki, every user and every change are recorded, there is no way to hide and all information is immediately available to users. By contrast, FOIA information is laborious to obtain and is often heavily redacted, which is partly why these leaks evoke mixed feelings for me. Why do we subscribe to transparency so selectively? Isnt one of our chief criticisms of North Korea its absolute lack of transparency? No doubt these leaks will increase tension, make negotiation more difficult and possibly risk some lives but it might also be argued that, in a WMD world, everyones life is at risk every day when governments are not transparent. However, there is a surprising amount of government and institutional cooperation worldwide and a massive assault by individual hackers to shut down or shut out Wikileaks, a fact suggesting that the threat we feel from transparency trumps the value we claim to put on it. Or perhaps it is a measure of our faith in the goodness of what our leaders and institutions do in secret, but this doesnt seem in keeping with our recent waves of anti-government sentiment, so the motivation of leak opponents is unclear to me. And now, these anti-leak actions have led to Operation Payback a barrage of counter-hacking by supporters of Wikileaks in what may be our first public cyberwar. One thing is for sure: without that cloak of secrecy, with the knowledge that we were watching, powerful persons and groups at all levels would act quite differently, perhaps with more humility, responsibility and vision. As the ambiguous Wikileaks logo suggests, time is running out for our planet and it may just take some kind of digital trickster to stir things up. Ultimately such transparency may be what assures our survival. Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Compare and Contrast “the Flowers” and “a Rose for Emily”...

Compare and Contrast â€Å"The Flowers† and â€Å"A Rose for Emily† In comparing Alice Walker’s story â€Å"The Flowers† with that of William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† there are similarities and differences. The main difference in the stories is the way the characters react to the deaths. There are similarities such as the main characters of both stories personally face a dead body, both stories share the symbolism of flowers, and both present a theme of death. In â€Å"The Flowers,† Myop innocently stumbles across the remains of a lynched man after she spends a day gathering flowers in the woods behind her family’s cabin. She discovers his body by stepping â€Å"smack into his eyes.† (Walker 82) In â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† Emily loves one man, Homer Barron.†¦show more content†¦This discovery is the end of Myop’s carefree existence; therefore, her innocence dies. Myop lays down her flowers, not only at the gravesite of the man but also at the gravesite of her childhoo d and her former self. The most obvious way that death is present as a theme is through the fact that Myop discovers an actual dead body in the forest. She comes to realize that all people die; some have harsh and cruel deaths. The details of the decomposing body: the eyes, teeth, and rotting clothes strengthen the theme. In the beginning from the description of Emily’s death-haunted life to the description of Emily herself, it is clear that death runs rampant for Emily. Emily is a fixture in her community, as a symbol of the south’s old dying ways. She tries to deny the fact of death at all. Her necrophilia first comes to light once her father dies. She is unable to admit that he has passed away and clings to his controlling love- the only love she knows. Reluctantly, she gives up his body. When Homer dies, she again refuses to accept it, even though she is the cause of his demise. In murdering Homer, she was able to ensure that he would never leave her. Homer and Emi ly’s repulsive marriage reveals Emily’s attempt to fuse life and death as one. Death ultimately conquers all. Myop and Emily were both similar and different. Myop faces a murdered body in a field and Emily physically murders someone. Flowers are used as symbolismShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of the Gothic Fiction Books, The Cask of Amontillado and A Rose for Emily1191 Words   |  5 Pages　　　　　　Analysis of â€Å"The cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"A Rose for Emily† 　　　 　　　In this paper, I choose the Gothic fictions â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"A Rose for Emily† to compare. I like them as these two works are very exciting with suspense. Next I will compare them on three aspects. 　　　The first is the theme. A Rose for Emily, written by William Faulkner, is a short story about the life and death of Miss Emily Grierson. The reader is told the story in flashback. Its structure is broken downRead MoreEnglish All Semester 26504 Words   |  27 Pages7.03A, 7.03B 7.05B, 7.08 Week 8 8.01, 8.02A and B, 8.03, 8.05 (segment exam) 5.03- A rose for Emily Part I: Character Identification in A Rose for Emily In complete sentence format, identify each of the following characters. Remember reporters, be sure to include as much information as possible to give your readers a vivid picture of each of the following characters: 1. Emily Grierson: Emily Grierson was a young lady, whose life was always run by her father. Her father who was of veryRead MoreTypes Of Poetry : A Poem Which Deals With Religious Themes, Love, Tragedy, Domestic Crimes, Essay2495 Words   |  10 Pagesthe Revolution. It also describes how powerful people can change the ideology of a society. 4. Sonnet: Normally a 14 line iambic pentameter poem. Example- William Shakespearean Sonnet From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty’s rose might never die. But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thyRead MoreAmerican Literature11652 Words   |  47 Pagesideas that have to do with physical sensations--sounds, tastes, smells and so on. Finally, he can go back and think about all the ideas these different images could imply--figure out their connotations, in other words. For example, if a poet compares something to a ship, the reader might think about what ships look like, and then think about what it feels like to be on a ship. How do ships move? Where do they go? What sights, sounds, smells and sensations can we associate with ships and beingRead MoreStylistic Analysis10009 Words   |  41 Pagesof the working classes, relationships between men, women and the natural world. D.H. Lawrence was especially fond of writing about animals, flowers, and other aspects of nature ÃŒ ¶ usually in a deeply symbolic manner. His poetry collections include â€Å"Love Poems and others† (1913), â€Å"Amores† (1916), â€Å"Look! We have come through† (1917), â€Å"Birds, Beasts and Flowers† (1923), â€Å"The Collected Poems of D.H. Lawrence† (1928), â€Å"The Complete Poems of D.H. Lawrence† (1964), edited by Viviande Sola Pinto and F. WarrenRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2 005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagestransformations in where humans lived, how they earned their livings, and their unprecedented ability to move about the globe. Moya and McKeown set the patterns of migration in the twentieth century against those extending back millennia, and they compare in imaginative ways the similarities and differences among diverse flows in different geographical areas and across ethnic communities and social strata. They consider not only the nature, volume, and direction of migrant movements motivated primarilyRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesstudents can hone their analytical skills and also their persuasive skills—not selling products but selling their ideas—and defend them against critical scrutiny. This is great practice for the arena of business to come. NEW TO THIS EDITION In contrast to the early editions, which examined only notable mistakes, and based on your favorable comments about recent editions, I have again included some well-known successes. While mistakes provide valuable learning insights, we can also learn fromRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesinterpreting results in authentic situations or give students the experience necessary to be able to use statistical methods in real settings. We believe that the exercises and examples are a particular strength of this text, and we invite you to compare the examples and exercises with those in other introductory statistics texts. Many students are skeptical of the relevance and importance of statistics. Contrived problem situations and artiï ¬ cial data often reinforce this skepticism. A strategy thatRead MoreInnovators Dna84615 Words   |  339 Pagesabilities in 117 pairs of identical and fraternal twins. Testing twins aged fifteen to twenty-two, they found that only about 30 percent of the performance of identical twins on a battery of ten creativity tests could be attributed to genetics.6 In contrast, roughly 80 percent to 85 percent of the twins’ performance on general intelligence (IQ) tests could be attributed to genetics.7 So general intelligence (at least the way scientists measure it) is basically a genetic endowment, but creativityRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 Pagesnot-for-profit world sometime seems comparatively complicated because the goals of these organizations are often difficult to articulate. The goal of the for-profit organization is to make money for its owners, and this goal is fairly straightforward. Contrast it with the â€Å"serving society† or â€Å"doing good† goal of a not-for-profit; that goal could be interpreted in many different ways. Not only do managers in not-for-profits sometimes have more trouble setting goals, but it can be equally hard to assess

Jackie Robison vs Ali Essay - 1640 Words

Jack Roosevelt â€Å"Jackie Robinson† Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr â€Å"Muhammad Ali† Muhammad Ali once said, Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesnt matter which color does the hating. Its just plain wrong.† Muhammad Ali stood for the common black man, so did Jackie Robinson. Both of these men were professional athletes, two different sports, baseball and boxing, were changed forever because of these men. They both broke segregation barriers not only in their profession but also outside the field and ring. Both these men had some similarities but overall had more differences whether it was their profession, who they were influenced by, or their involvement with war. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American†¦show more content†¦While boarding a bus Jackie Robinson had refused to sit in the back, because of this he was ruled court marshaled. He was token into custody but was found innocent by President Truman. While Martin Luther King Jr did not support the war, Jackie Robinson did, he wrote to President Johnson to let him know that he has the support of Jackie Robinson and many other African-Americans. Jackie Robinson was in full support of the war, but Muhammad Ali was not, in fact Muhammad Ali refused to go to war in 1966, he had failed his qualifying test but was later revised and was changed into class 1A, which meant he was now eligible for the draft. When he was notified of the change he declared that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector, which meant he could not go to war because of his religious stance. Ali stated that War is against the teachings of th e Holy Quran. Im not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We dont take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers. Ali also famously said in 1966: I aint got no quarrel with them Viet Cong ... They never called me nigger.† His refusal of going to war was made into a huge dilemma, it went on to be a supreme court case, â€Å"Clay vs United States†. The day of his induction into the U.S armed forces on

Assessing the Marketing Strategy of Payboy Magazine Free Essays

Contents Introduction4 Literature review5 The product life cycle5 Introduction stage5 Growth stage6 Maturity stage6 Decline stage7 MARKET SEGMENTATION8 Attractiveness of a market segment9 Target market strategies9 BRAND10 Building and managing brand equity12 Globalisation13 There are three main international marketing orientations13 Ethics in marketing14 Gender role and marketing14 Generic marketing strategy15 Findings16 The playboy product life cycle16 Market segmentation17 Brand17 Globalization17 Ethics18 Marketing strategy18 Discussion20 Conclusions21 Recommendations21 References22 Introduction A marketing strategy calls for the organization to pull its limited resources to attract the desired market segment and gain some competitive advantage. The positioning of a product is the reason the target segment of the market uses or buys a product based on the attributes of the product which ensure that the product attracts the desired market segment by meeting the product expectations (Wind, 1990). These two strategies are used to attract consumers of all product types. We will write a custom essay sample on Assessing the Marketing Strategy of Payboy Magazine or any similar topic only for you Order Now The magazine industry mainly applies these strategies to attract buyers towards their product. They offer their readers target content by being first segmented into the various types of magazines which include: men, women, news magazines and readers digest. Readers digest offer its readers a wide array of topics of interests without focussing on a specific readership, gender or group of interests. News magazines offer feature news articles usually on topics that have already been discussed in other news media but in a more in-depth sense. Women’s magazines offer articles of interest to women and men’s magazines offer articles of interest to men. Magazines are further segmented under each section to feature topics of interest from decor to cars. One of the more successful men’s magazines Playboy will be discussed in this paper, focussing on, what strategy they applied to achieve their global success. The magazine has been in existence for over, 50years and has stood the test of time. This paper will seek to determine what marketing strategies they applied to achieve their global success. Literature review The product life cycle The product life cycle can be divided into several stages characterised by the revenue generated by the product. A PLC depicts the stages that the product goes through during its life time. The PLC is made up of the following stages: Introduction stage When the product is introduced, sales will be low until customers become aware of the product and its benefits. Advertising costs are typically high during this stage in order to rapidly increase customer awareness of the product and to target the early adopters. During the introductory stage the firm is likely to incur additional costs associated wit the initial distribution of the product. These higher costs coupled wit low sales volume usually make the introduction stage a period of negative profits. During the introduction stage, the goal is to establish a market and build primary demand for the product class. The introductory stage comprises of the following marketing mix components: Price – the price will be generally high, assuming a skim pricing strategy for a high profit margin as the early adopters buy the product and the firm seeks to recoup development costs quickly. In some instances, a penetration pricing strategy is used and introductory prices are set low to gain market share quickly. Distribution –the distribution is selective and scattered as the firm commences implementation of the distribution plan. Promotion – it is aimed at building brand awareness. Samples or trials may be directed at early adopters. Growth stage This is a stage of rapid revenue growth. Sales increase as more customers become aware of the product and its benefits and additional market segments are targeted. The marketing team may increase its distribution at this point. When competitors enter the market, often during the later part of the growth stage, there may be price competition and or increased promotional costs in order to convince customers that the firm’s product is better than that of the competitor. During the growth stage the goal is to gain consumer preference and increase sales. The marketing mix may be modified as below: Product – new product features and packaging options, improvement of product quality Price – the price may be maintained at a high level if demand is high or reduced to capture additional customers. Distribution – at this point, the distribution becomes more intensive. Trade discounts are minimal if resellers sow a strong interest in the product. Promotion – advertising is increased to build brand preference. Maturity stage This is the most profitable stage. While sales continue to increase into this stage, they do so at a slower pace. The brand awareness is strong and so the advertising expenditures will be reduced. Te firm places effort into encouraging competitors’ customers to switch, increasing usage per customer, and converting non users into customers. Sales promotion may be offered to encourage retailers to give the product more shelf space over competing products. During the maturity stage, the goal is to maintain market share and extend the product life cycle. The marketing mix decision may include: Product – modifications are made and features are added in order to differentiate the product from competing products tat may have been introduced, Price – there are possible price reductions in response to competition while avoiding a price war. Distribution – new distribution channels and incentives to re-sellers n order to avoid losing self space. Promotion – emphasis on differentiation and building of brand loyalty. Incentives may be introduced at this stage to get competitors’ customers to switch. Decline stage At this stage, sales begin to decline as the market becomes saturated, the product becomes technologically obsolete, or customer taste change, if the product as developed brand loyalty, the profitability may be maintained longer. Init costs may increase with the declining production volumes and eventually no more profit can be made. During the decline stage, the firm has three options: †¢ Maintain the product with hope that competitors will exit. Reduce costs and find new uses for the product. †¢ Harvest it, reducing market support and coasting along until no more profit can be made. Discontinue the product when no more profit can be made or there is a successor product. The marketing mix may be modified as follows: Product – the number of products in the product line may be reduced. Rejuvenate surviving products to make them look new again. Price – prices may be lowered to liquidate inventory of discontinued products. Prices may be maintained for continued pr oducts serving a nice market. Distribution – it will become more selective. Channels that are no longer profitable are passed out. Promotion – expenditures are lower and aimed at reinforcing the brand image for continued products. MARKET SEGMENTATION Here, the suppliers will want to concentrate in a particular market. There are two important factors to consider when selecting a target market segment. These are the attractiveness of the segment and the fit between the segment and the firm’s objectives, resources and capabilities. † This is the process in which a company attempts to identify the categories of consumers whose needs and wants it can satisfy. In order to segment the market Companies first assess their capabilities and resources then they determine the competitive situation in the marketing environment. Finally they match their capabilities with the needs of the market segment. There is no single way of segmenting the market because their criteria used to segment the market depend on the individual organisations. The segmentation process involves several steps: †¢ You define the market usually based on the consumers needs †¢ Identify the best market segmentation criteria †¢ Apply the segmentation criteria and divide the market †¢ Analyse and understand the profile of the priority consumer segment (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007) Attractiveness of a market segment The following aspects can be considered when evaluating the attractiveness of a market segment: †¢ Growth rate in the segment †¢ Size of the segment †¢ Competition in the segment †¢ Attainable market share given promotional budget and competitors’ expenditures †¢ Required market share to break even Market research and analysis is essential to obtain this information. Te impact of micro and macro environmental variables on the market segment should be considered. Target market strategies Market specialisation – here the firm specialises in a particular market segment and offers that segment an array of different products Full market coverage – the firm attempts to serve the entire market. This coverage can be achieved by means of either a mass market strategy in which a single undifferentiated marketing mix is offered to the entire market, or by a differentiated strategy in which a separate marketing mix is offered to each segment. Product specialisation – Here the firm specialises in a particular product and tailors it to different market segments Selective specialisation – Here the different marketing mixes are offered to different segments. The product itself may or may not be different. The promotional messages or distribution channels may vary. Single segment strategy – Here one market segment is served with one marketing mix. A single segment approach often is the strategy of choice for smaller companies wit limited resources. BRAND A brand is a name or symbol used to identify the source of a product. (NetMBA,marketingbrand equity). Very successful brands have been known to become the generic name of a product. The design and implementation of an effective brand strategy can be considered in relation to the brand, product or the service offered. There are several brand strategies that can be applied, these include: †¢ Brand development strategy – used when the brand already exist †¢ Rebranding – when an existing brand is rebranded in line with the change in the market segmentation or competitive positioning strategy. †¢ Brand introduction – used when a new brand is introduced †¢ Brand extension (umbrella branding) – used when a new product that is unrelated to an existing product is introduced. (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007) The brand can add significant value when it is well recognised and as positive associations in the mind of the consumer. This concept is referred to as â€Å"Brand equity. † There are three perspectives from which to view brand equity: 1. Consumer- based: A strong brand increases the consumer’s attitude strength toward the product associated with the brand. Attitude strength is built by experience with a product. This importance of actual experience by the customer implies that trial samples are more effective than advertising in the early stages of building a strong brand. The consumer’s awareness and associations lead to perceived quality, inferred attributes, and eventually, brand loyalty. 2. Brand extensions: A successful brand can be used as a platform to launch related products. Te benefits of brand extensions are the leveraging of existing brand awareness thus reducing advertising expenditures, and a lower risk from the perspective of the customer. Appropriate brand extensions can enhance the core brand. Te value of the brand extension is however more difficult to quantify than are direct financial measures of brand equity. 3. Financial: One way to measure brand equity is to determine the price premium that a brands commands over a generic product. Strong brand equity provides the following benefits: . It is an asset that can be sold or leased 2. It Increases cash flow by increasing market share, reducing promotional costs, and allowing premium pricing. 3. It facilitates a more predictable income stream Building and managing brand equity In his 1989 paper, Managing brand Equity, Peter H. Farguhar outlines # the following three stages tat are required in order to build a strong brand: 1 . Introduction – in this stage, introduce a quality product with the strategy of using the brand as a platform from which to launch future products. A positive evaluation by the consumer is important. 2. Elaboration – make the brand easy to remember and develop repeat usage. There should be accessible brand attitude, that is, the consumer should easily remember his or her positive evaluation of the brand. 3. Fortification – the brand should carry a consistent image over time to reinforce its place in the consumer’s mind and develop a special relationship with the consumer. Brand extensions can further fortify the brand, but only with related products having a perceived fit in the mind of the consumer. Globalisation Marketing efforts can cross borders in a process known as internationalisation and globalisation. Internationalisation is when a firm starts to sell the products across the borders. Globalisation is a result of internalisation and it is shown by an increase in volumes and value of goods as well as the emergence of transnational segments of consumers with similar demand. (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007). The main factors influencing international marketing operations are: †¢ Good knowledge of the evolution of the international business environment †¢ The existing assets of the firm †¢ The capacity of managers †¢ To rapidly adapt the firm’s strategy to the continuous changes in international markets. (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007) There are three main international marketing orientations †¢ Domestic Market orientation – this is when you sell your service or products in a foreign markets that is very similar to the domestic market. †¢ The multi-national orientation – this is when a product or services adapts to the demands of each foreign market. †¢ Global orientation – it identifies the transnational segment of consumers in different foreign countries having similar needs and wants. (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007) The main challenge with globalisation is whether to adopt standardisation or adaptation theories in the marketing strategy. It has been argued that standardisation should be adopted because international markets have increasingly convergent needs and wants. However, standardisation does not allow for the local cultures to shape the preferences and in such cases the adaptation theory will work best. (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007) Ethics in marketing The ethical stance of an organisation can either promote or hinder the marketing strategy of an organisation. Ethical issues ranging from pay, pricing of goods to environmental issues affect the image of an organisation and can have a critical impact on an organisation’s brand. In order to combat the negative publicity, organisations can form ethical alliances with non-profit organisation taking the form of donations, cause-related marketing, event sponsorship, employee exchange and the provision of services. Such cause-related marketing strategies can be used to distinguish an organisation in the market place. (Ranchhod Gurau, 2007) Gender role and marketing In advertising, it has been found that the marketing to women and men especially in publication differ in terms of the type of products they advertise. Men products tend to promote lifestyle enhancing and professional appearance while women’s advertisements tend to promote self reflection and personal appearance (Graham and Gollop, 2003). Many brands in the market are said to posses gender bias. The bias helps leverage their ability to attract their male or female target group. This same trait works as a hindrance where the brand is trying to cross the gender divide (Jung and Lee, 2006). Findings show that depending on the race and gender of the magazine, the roles of the women and men changed. In women’s magazines, women appeared in subordinate roles most of the time and were considered more exposed then men although research has shown that these roles appear to be changing. Interestingly, depending on the magazine gender bias, men’s magazines had dominated in images of men and women’s magazines dominated in images of women (Graham and Gollop, 2003). In most the magazines, women appeared as sexual objects. Generic marketing strategy Porters has two main fundamental decisions that organisation need to adopt in order to gain competitive advantage. He proposed that organisations could compete on price and differentiation. The two strategies define the following four generic competitive strategies . 1. Overall price leadership – it provides products and services at lowest prices 2. Differentiation – offering a product or service with differentiated features. 3. Differentiation focus – segment the market then offer each segment a differentiated product. 4. Price focus – firstly, segment the market and offer the segment a low price (Mitchell,2010) Findings The playboy product life cycle Introduction – Playboy was introduced in 1953 with a $1000. 0 budget. The first publication had a circulation of 53991 copies and Marylyn Manroe was on the cover prior to her fame at a price of $0. 5 per issue. When this idea was launched, the logo was a stag, and the magazine was supposed to be called ‘Stag Growth stage –the playboy ‘bunny ‘was introduced and subsequently became the prima ry unchanged logo for the magazine. Maturity stage-in the 1970’s the playboy magazine had grown in popularity and this marked the best sales period of its circulation. The magazine grew into the playboy corporation and has under the umbrella name in addition to the magazine: Night clubs †¢ Casinos †¢ cosmetics Decline- given the negative publicity linked to the content of the playboy magazine, in the late 1970’s immediately after achieving its peak, their sales declined as a result of the rise of competitors such as penthouse (Trivialibrary. com, 2010). There was a 2-year ban on all explicit content magazines in the united states in the†¦ based on the speculation that magazine of that content was a health hazard. Maturity stage -to date the magazine has a notable goodwill and has accumulated in value. In 2002, the first issue of the playboy magazine was auctioned off for $5000. 0 showing that the magazine has accumulated value as a collectable. Market se gmentation The playboy magazine cast a wide web and segmented its market using geographical and gender based segmentation. The magazine is typically targeted at men aged between 18 and 80 years of age. However, the contents satisfied both the male and female market (Forbish, 2004). Brand The playboy brand is symbolised by a black bunny bearing a bow tie. It has immense goodwill and has been exploited and incorporated into several products such as jewellery, T-shirts printed etc. The magazine P has stars to indicate the level of circulation for that particular issue Major brand extensions include: lingerie, jewellery, TV shows, Clubs and Casinos. Globalization The playboy magazine has been published in over 50 countries worldwide with local publication and has shown a certain degree of popularity internationally. It sells more the 3million copies in the united states and 4. 5million copies around the world (Forbish, 2004). In addition, playboy has a website which has allowed that to reach an international market. Ethics There have been many ethical issues surrounding the magazine spanning from, exploitation of women to the lack of morals based in the sexual content of the magazine. However, they stand out from the rest because they show some moderation on their contents; †¢ they are not as explicit in both their magazine and web content †¢ their sit only shows nudity to viewers after they have acknowledged the content Marketing strategy The main aim of the playboy magazine was to sell a ‘lifestyle’ and not just sex and nudity. The idea was for the young man to feel like he was a member of a playboy lifestyle club (Forbish, 2004; Thompson, 2008). They show this by incorporating issues of interest to men including humorous and celebrity related content (Forbish, 2004). Between 1959 and 1961, Playboy had a television show ‘Playboy penthouse’ which supplemented in television what it offered as a publication. This show was not an easy success story because television at the time was related to feminism and usually show cased feminine products and shows (Thompson, 2008). The show offered the viewer a visual idea of what the playboy lifestyle was about: beautiful women, celebrities and partying (Thompson, 2008). They have a web page that was opened in 1994. It is currently the most visited site and highly successful magazine online sites. Its cyber store has a 2700 item catalogue and is responsible for a major portion of the playboy profit. Another major feature is the live feature which allows surfers access to view live events online. The ideas of the web site was not to lose sight of the playboy persona by strongly linking its contents and the quality to that of the magazine aimed at getting its visitors to buy into the playboy brand as well as other merchandise that they sell online (Forbish, 2004). When introducing the magazine, the pictures that were published in the magazine were of an upcoming icon Maryline Manroe which was to be used in a calendar. Playboy has been known for using celebrities such as Pamela Anderson in its covers. They also used award winning non sexual content interviews with famous figures to sell the magazine including Malxom X, Martin Luther King Jr. (Forbish, 2004). Discussion The playboy magazine is an ideal example of a magazine that stood the test of time. Starting in the 1950’s the magazine managed to capitalize on a basic need in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ‘Sex’. Considering the more conserving time era in which the magazine was launched, the minimal budget and the small circulation, the magazine has proven to be a success story. To date, the playboy brand is considered a symbol of status, fashion and personality (Chen and Wang, 2007) In terms of strategy, using semi naked women on the cover, to attract their ideal market segment was a good key strategy to attract readership; having the semi naked women being up and coming celebrities like Pamela Andersen was a genius idea this being key in attracting their target market; men aged between 18-80. This strategy was the key to the success if the magazine (Thompson, 2008). In terms of positioning, the playboy magazine has expressed intensely that they are not a ‘pornographic’ magazine and attest the idea that their content is purely sexual in nature (Schilowitz, 2004). They argue that their content is of interest to men and thus their articles will be male interest related; with men interests being women amongst other things. They show this by having in depth interviews with interesting key people in society including Malcom X. They push the idea that Playboy is in-fact a lifestyle of fun with a sexual connotation, which is why the extensions of the brand include casinos and clubs. In terms of ethics, the try to show that they are not pushing the men into reckless sex, they do not exploit women and they do have a certain level of conservative standard which they show by not fully exposing their women; and putting restrictions on their websites to inform their patrons about potential nudity in their sites. Conclusions In conclusion, the playboy brand is a successful entity, the name and logo has an international standing. Having graced that stands from the 1950’s to present day and stood the test of criticism, linking to the ‘pornographic market, defending its image as a lifestyle as opposed to a product the brand has been successful. In terms of segmentation, the ‘Playboy’ magazine had had a high success rate in reaching its target market while unintentionally attracting another segment in the market; women readers. It has successfully offered its readers more than just ‘sex’, it has offered its readers the ideal idea of what it means to be a man (Cox, 1961). Playboy has had a fair share of negative press about the ethics of the publication linked to the images of the women but this has had a little effect on the goodwill of their brand. In summation, the playboy brand has been marketed successfully and the application of the strategy has been well carried out. This has been done through effective segmentation, application of online marketing and globalization, application of ethics, effective use of goodwill on the brand as well as brand extensions. Recommendations The following recommendations could be applied: Given the current global HIV/AIDS pandemic, it would be in the interest to include in their articles talks about how best to avoid, prevent and stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Their articles should promote awareness and prevent stigmatization. References Chen Y and Wang X. (2007). Research on the legal protection of intellectual property right in clothing brand. Asian social science. Vol. 3 (2) pp 77-80 Cox H. (1961) Playboy’s Doctrine of Man. Christianity and Crises. Forbish T. 2004) Sexual Profiteering and Rhetorical Assuagement: Examining Ethos and Identity at Playboy. com. JCMC. Vol. 9 (3) Jung K. and Lee W. Cross-Gender Brand Extensions: Effects of Gender of the brand, Gender of consumer, and Product Type on Evaluation of Cross-Gender Extensions. Advances of Consumer Research. Vol. 33. pp 67-74. Graham R. and Gollop C. J. (2003) Gender Role Reinforcement in Popular Magazine Advertising. Dissertation from the University of North Carolina. United States. Schilowitz E. (2004) Dont Dare Associate Playboy With Porn: Playboy Enterprises, Inc. . Netscape. Communications Corporation. B. U. J. Sci and Teck L. Vol. 10 (2) Thompson E. (2008) The Parodic Sensibility and the Sophisticated Gaze : Masculinity and Taste in the Playboy Penthouse. Televisions and News Media. Vol. 9 (4) pp 284-304. Wind Y. J (1990) Positioning analysis and strategy. Interface of marketing strategy. Jai Press ———————– Assessing the marketing strategy of Playboy magazine Strategic Marketing MKT 762 Dr. Ayanda Group IV Modise Nengu 9903378 Oumi El-Kindiy 200302031 Dineo Mooketsi 9703200 How to cite Assessing the Marketing Strategy of Payboy Magazine, Essays

Killer angels 2 Essay Example For Students

Killer angels 2 Essay The Killer AngelsThe Battle of Gettysburg brought the dueling North and South together to the small town of Gettysburg and on the threshold of splitting the Union. Gettysburg was as close as the United States got to Armageddon and The Killer Angels gives the full day-to-day account of the battle that shaped Americas future. Michael Shaara tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the generals and men involved in the action of the battle. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg gives the reader a chance to experience the battle personally and not the history book manner taught in schools. A historical novel gives the facts straightforward and provides no commentary by the people involved in history. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg, as seen in Killer Angels, provides the facts of the battle as seen through the eyes of Generals Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, James Longstreet, and John Buford. The feelings and inner-thoughts of each General and the conditions of the battle are seen, heard, and felt by the reader in the historical account. Shaara takes historical license with letters, the words of the men, and documents written during the three hellish days of the battle. Shaara avoids historical opinion and provides his own opinion towards the Civil War and the people. The historical account of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg specifically, in Killer Angels conveys the attitude to toward war, attitude towards the Civil War, and cause for fighting the war of General Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, James Longstreet, and John Buford. General Robert E. Lee gained stoic and legendary status as the heart and soul of the South in the Civil War, but many did not know his reasons and feelings for fighting the war. War and the slaughter of others did not interest Lee and he felt compassion for the Union. Lee had contradictory feelings towards war and says, He was not only to serve in it but he was to lead it, to make the plans, and issue the orders to kill and burn and ruinhe could not do that (Shaara 263). The Civil War is not in the taste of General Lee, but feels it is his duty, and he cannot just stand by and watch the war pass him by. Michael Shaara says of Lees reason for fighting the Civil War , He found that he had no choiceLee could not raise his hand against his own. And so what then? To stand by and do nothing? It had nothing to do with causes; it was no longer a matter of vows (Shaara 263). Shaara, through his commentary on General Lee, explains that Lee did not want to fight the war but had to. Lee felt it was his duty to fight for his fellow countrymen, but not for a cause, land, or slavery. So it was no cause and no country he fought for, no ideal and no justice. He fought for his people, for the children, and the kin, and not even the land, because the land was worth the war, but the people were, General Lee says (Shaara 263). General Lee fights for himself and has no cho ice but to fight, knowing in the end that he might be wrong with his cause and pay the price someday. General Lee is not a proponent of war, but he will serve his country with honor and duty if necessary. A man of ideals and honor represent the character of Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. Being a man of education, Chamberlain knows the demeaning and repulsive nature of slavery and has come to fight to end it. Chamberlain hates the whole idea of the Civil War and the death and destruction that goes along with it. I used my brother to plug a hole. Did it automatically as if he were expendable, says Chamberlain (Shaara 304). He hates the idea that men, including his brother, are dying out in the fight for slavery. The only reason he believes in the Civil War is that if he the North did not fight freedom would be tarnished and a great travesty .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 , .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .postImageUrl , .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 , .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:hover , .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:visited , .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:active { border:0!important; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:active , .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06 .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u81cf9bdc2b9f8bf48b1d26c9a2db5b06:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Iron And Silk Essay

Evil flaw in God or necessity for our sake an Example by

Evil: flaw in God or necessity for our sake? The question of why God allows evil is extremely difficult to answer if we ask it in terms of classical Christian theology. Indeed, if God is not only omniscient and omnipotent, but also the kindest in existence why does he allow evil and suffering? For the sake of argument, we shall accept the Christian position: that God takes an active position in humanitys lives, and that he, in his infinity, knows and cares about individual lives, not treats them as we would treat cells of our own body with care, but a disinterest in each individual cells life. Need essay sample on "Evil: flaw in God or necessity for our sake?" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed There are a number of classical explanations to the phenomenon of evil in this context. One of them, expounded upon most by the renowned John Hick, is the so-called soul-making theodicy. It states that God created not slaves to live, not dolls, but children that evolve and children must be taught. As anyone who had to deal with children can tell you, there must be two ways of education: the whip and the candy, bitter and sweet. Only in balance they are effective. If we are not playthings to have fun with, but indeed Children of God, then we must go through all of the lessons we can. If we are Children, then we live through Gods own experience, to get closer to infinity with every one. In Christian theology, God allowed his son to partake of human pain and fear indeed, a mirroring process to what happened in the beginning, when God allowed humans to partake of his own worst qualities. When God created children, he gave them the ability to learn for what else could free will be? - a place to learn and grow, and the necessity to do so. Indeed, the best of circumstances to aid us in rising to his level. To be like God, to be above all of creation, even the angels, we must know all aspects of his existence including evil. How can evil exist in a perfect creature, for surely, perfection denies evil? In my humble opinion, to deny God evil would be to limit him. People always seem to forget for some reason that a truly infinite being would not only be the kindest in existence, but also the cruelest. God is infinity, he is beyond good and evil, he is beyond cruel and kind. He is always both. He is the spectrum itself, not any of its ends. He is the merging of opposites, something we, with our thoroughly dual perception, cannot comprehend. People have always wanted to place shackles on infinity, as on anything we cannot understand. Even in math we must work with limits to somehow appraise it, to use it. Yet, humanity fails in shackling infinity time and time again, because we are finite in ourselves, however we may try to go beyond our finiteness. We are attempting to bind reality with illusory chains, and are utterly unsuccessful, though we may at times amuse ourselves with false tales of victory. The ways of God are incomprehensible so goes the classical quote. Indeed, we can have no idea of what goes on within the mind of a sentient creature so far beyond us, however much we wish to. We have no idea what he might consider good or useful, or how he perceives things. If we take Christian theology, we can know for certain that he can think at the human level Jesus being proof but wherever did humankind get the idea that this human level is the most important? God is a creature with his own plans, and while they both concern us and with us, it is not necessary that the latter outweigh the former. Even if he cares for us more than for the rest of creation, we persist in our anger. Though we, in thinking logically a bit, know that evil that we perceive may be lesser, or not evil at all, when looked upon from the grander scale of things and if God is all-kind, he surely works to prevent evils that are too great for us to work with, as a student is given progressively tougher exercises. Yet, like a child from whom a too-dangerous toy may be taken away does not understand why the parents act as they do and is angry, so are we angry with a God who, by definition, knows better in his omniscience. We are not angry with him for saving us - but when he goes against the illusion we have built ourselves of him. As we can see, God has no reason to be kind. He is infinite, and he can be as cruel or kind as he wishes, as he is, in truth, beyond that or not infinite. He does not owe it to us to care about us. Yet, even if we presume that he cares about us, we can see that evil is absolutely necessary for our growth, for us to expand and learn more of both God and ourselves. And last, as a point to think about, does not Murphys Law state that something can always get worse? We have no idea what God is truly preventing from happening to us indeed, humans likely might have died out all too long ago. Yet we exist thanks to this great balance of duality, which is truly necessary for our ongoing life and evolution. End Notes John Hick's Official Web Site,August 5, 2005. The Three Initiates, The Kybalion,August 5, 2005.

Fire by Deepa Mehta essays

Fire by Deepa Mehta essays In Deepa Mehtas film, Fire, symbolism is used to show the struggle between tradition and new ideas. This struggle, which Radha defeats with her choice for lesbianism, is symbolical paralleled by the reoccurring scenes of her as a child. The film is a tale of two vital, beautiful women breaking their cultural obstacles and being reborn through the passion they express for each other. Their relationship is forbidden, but it is by giving into their feelings that they find the strength to defy their husbands and turn their backs on tradition. Tradition is one of the dominant themes in the film and is represented by Biji, the mother of the family. This is a good symbolic figure for tradition because her old age represents the ageing of the ideals her generation strictly lives by. With her age she has lost her voice and must ring a small bell in order to display anger or discomfort. This represents the dieing off of old customs and the strength of traditions voice fading out. This allows for a rise of new ideas because the old ways are losing their power and leavening room for a new voice. Sita, who becomes Radhas lover, represents this new voice through youth and resistance to oppression. She is symbolic of the fight against tradition because she openly opposes social issues which Radha has been taught to ignore. As Sita continues to question these traditions Radha finds herself questioning her lifestyle as well. Throughout the film, symbolism and foreshadowing play an important role in displaying the feelings of the characters and the overall message of the movie. Radhas inner struggle is revealed to the audience through clever flash backs and camera angles that imply hidden messages in the scenes. For example, Fire opens with a flashback or dream of a little girl and her parents sitting in a large field of flowers. The child is Radha, one of the main characters, when she was a little girl. This sc...

Critical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Critical analysis - Essay Example Thus unjust measures enforced by the so called laws came to an end. Almost all the works ever produced in the history have philosophical identity. The philosophers’ writings on various subjects signify their philosophical ideas and themes which they articulate and suppose in order to distinguish between good and evil. Philosophy and logic are eager to study the techniques and theories applied in making distinction between correct and incorrect reasoning. Logic is, Copi views, the study of the methods and principles used to differentiate good (correct) from bad (incorrect) reasoning. (1986:3.) The main objective behind logic is analysis of ones own thinking, which helps an individual in evaluating the knowledge he has attained on the one hand and to support his mental growth and cognitive development on the other. Furthermore, comprehensive and in-depth examination of thinking is highly beneficial in order to draw out divergence between good and evil as well as right and wrong. The same is the case with the Hindu Brahman came across by Voltaire. Voltaire is of the opinion that levels of satisfaction as well as mode of feeling happy vary from one individual to the other. Since human societies have been divided into countless categories including caste, class, creed, community, clan, tribe, region, religion, race, age-group and socioeconomic status, their views, habits and thinking are also differ from one another. Some of the individuals seek happiness and contentment in simple and plain way of leading life within the set up of their personal little worries, little knowledge and commitment to their everyday tasks and routine life. On the contrary, another stratum of society declares knowledge and wisdom as the first and foremost thing, and struggles hard to seek more and more wisdom and foresight. The desire for acquiring for more knowledge realizes the

Macroeconomics 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macroeconomics 2 - Essay Example Japan is considered the strongest economy in the Asian region. The Asian economies are dependent on Japanese trade and imports. The earthquake that hit Japan has completely disrupted the entire economy of the island of Japan. The financial markets of Japan have been negatively impacted by the event. The Toyko shares drop by 11% on March 15, 2011 and by 6.2% on Monday March 14, 2011. The total combined drop in value was 17.2%. Along with the news and effects of the earthquake there is currently a lot of speculation due to the nuclear scare the people of Japan are facing. There is a possibility that the damage in the nuclear plants released radiation into the atmosphere which would cause environmental damage to the ecology and to humans. Millions of Japanese inhabitants are at risk of exposure to radiation if the worse scenario becomes a reality. The uncertainty associated with the nuclear condition of Japan is causing panic among the investor community and within the population of Jap an. A major problem that the region of Japan is facing since the earthquake hit them is that its supply chain logistics have been altered. The supplier logistics have been dislocated throughout Japan due to restrictions on using highways for freight has been imposed. When companies are unable to receive raw inventory on time it can cause a firm to suffer from a shutdown. Hundreds of corporations in Japan have close down since the earthquake hit. Along with logistics another problem companies are facing is a lack of stability in its power grid. Electricity shutdowns have been occurring throughout the entire region of Japan. Without electricity companies are unable to produce. Another industry that has been hit hard by the event is the tourism industry. People are scare to travel to Japan right now. Many flights in and out of Japan have been cancelled. Tourism brings in a lot of money because the people that come to Japan spend money during their visit to the nation. There are many so cial aspects that must be considered after the earthquake. The government of Japan has to invest resources in order to find shelter for the thousands of victims that lost their homes. The fact that food and oil prices are high hurts in the recovery process. Higher prices on food will hurt the ability of the government and the non-profit organizations to purchase sufficient food to feed the victims. The medical industry had a huge increase in the demand for its services after the earthquake. Thousands of people were injured as a result of the earthquake. Japan needs the immediate importation of medical professionals in order to meet the demands for medical services as a result of the crisis. The rise in oil prices is another factor that is negatively impacting the Asian economies. A rise in the price of crude oil has inflationary consequences due to the fact that oil has so many derivative products and because virtually all transportation vehicles use gasoline to operate. In the next few months Japan is going to experience a major boom in its construction industry. There is going to be a

Case study: Facial Recognition

Case study: Facial Recognition Facial Recognition is the process where the brain recognizes, understands and interprets the human face (Face Recognition, n.d.). The face is essential for the identification of others and expresses significant social information. The face reveals significant social information, like intention, attentiveness, and communication. Goldstein (1983) (as cited in Chung Thomson, 1995) stated that, The face is the most important visual stimulus in our lives probably from the first few hours after birth, definitely after the first few weeks. The loss of the ability to recognize faces, like those who have prosopagnosia, greatly affects the individuals life. The primary focus of this review is to provide an overview of the development of facial recognition, gender and age differences, facial identity and expression, memory, prosopagnosia, and hemispheric advantages in facial recognition. It is also my intention to review past and contemporary theories of development and understanding of facial recognition. The Birth of Facial Recognition The human face has sparked interest in various disciplines within the arts and sciences for centuries (Darwin, 1872 as cited in Nelson, 2001). This fascination of the human face may reflect the psychological significance of the face and the recognition of other faces. Cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists and developmental psychologists are interested in facial recognition due to evidence that faces are somehow perceived differently than other patterned objects, the ability is controlled by a distinct neural circuit, and that faces provide an early means of communication between infants and caretakers. Regardless of the wide-ranged and continued interest in the subject matter, it still remains unclear how facial recognition becomes specialized, and what neurological systems are involved in the development process (Nelson, 2001). The number of research with faces used as stimuli has increased dramatically over the past decades (Chung Thomson, 1995). This may be a result of a change in the cognitive studies from fragmented verbal materials to more meaningful nonverbal memory. It is also noteworthy that the majority of the research on facial recognition has been focused on infants and adults, giving little attention to the developmental changes during childhood (two through five years of age). Studies of Development Studies in Newborns In the early stages of facial recognition (1960s) there were contrasting results as to whether newborns had any preference towards faces over other patterned stimuli. Over the next few decades of research, the view that newborns are capable of recognizing faces and discriminating between their mothers and unfamiliar faces was supported by researchers (Nelson, 2001). Although the findings that newborns can distinguish between faces and may show preferences, evidence for ability to recognize faces earlier than 1 to 2 months of age is extremely weak and not regularly supported. Newborns possess poor visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and cannot determine the high spatial frequencies that make up the fine details of faces (de Schonen and Mathivet, 1990; Simion et al., 1998 as cited in Nelson, 2001 ). Another criticism of newborn studies is that they have used schematized stimuli (having eye sockets and opening for a mouth and nose used as a model of a real face), questioning the validi ty of the stimuli used to serve as a real face. In more current literature by Gava, Valenza, Turati and de Schonen (2008), they found evidence that newborns may have the ability to detect and recognize partially occluded faces. They believe their findings highlight the importance the eyes play in newborns facial detection and recognition. Newborns detected faces even if some low-information portions were missing from the face. The only exception was the eyes-once the eyes were removed, detection and recognition of the stimuli was impaired. This is found in both newborns and adults. The findings of the study were in line with Morton and Johnsons structural hypothesis (Gava, Valenza, Turati and de Schonen, 2008) that states, faces are special for newborns because human infants possess a device that contains structural information concerning the visual characteristics of conspecifics-hiding the eyes implies that the typical face pattern (three high contrast blobs in the correct positions of the eyes and the mouth) would be disrupted. There are two hypotheses offered by Gava, Valenza, Turati and de Schonen (2008) explaining how newborns recognize the difference between the non-obstructed and obstructed faces. The first hypothesis states, Newborns might have filled in the partly hidden surface, thus perceiving the obstructed stimulus as connected behind the obstructers, or might have simply perceived only what is immediately visible of the obstructed face. The second hypothesis suggests that newborns might have perceived the similarities between the non-obstructed and the obstructed face, perceiving only what is immediately visible of the obstructed face. The results found do not explain the perceptual operations of the ability of the newborns to detect and recognize occluded faces. Nonetheless, it demonstrates that the degree of salience highly affects the competence of the obstructed information. Both past and present literature shows a difference in opinions when it comes to newborns and facial recognition. In recent literature the main consensus is that newborns can certainly recognize faces, but the perceptual operations of the newborns ability to detect and recognize are still yet unknown. Studies in Infants In 1972, Fagan (as cited in Nelson, 2001) demonstrated that infants around 4 months old have excellent recognition of upright faces in comparison to upside down faces. This finding suggests that infants around the age of 4 months have developed a face schema and view faces as a special class of stimuli (Nelson, 2001). Infants between the ages of 3 to 7 months can identify their mothers from strangers and recognize faces by gender and facial expression. These findings demonstrate the development over the first 6 months in facial recognition, where infants not only identify but also discriminate faces. Carlsson, Lagercrantz, Olson, Printz Bartocci (2008) measured the cortical response in the right fronto-temporal and right occipital areas of healthy 6 to 9 month old children by showing an image of their mothers faces compared to that of an unknown face. A double-channel NIRS (near infrared spectroscopy) device monitored concentration changes of oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin. The mother was asked not to talk to their children during the trials. The children were exposed to four types of visual stimuli: a grey background, a photograph of the mother, a second grey background and a photo of the unknown female face. Eight children (Group A) were presented with a picture of their mother before that of the unknown female face. In Group B, 11 children were presented in the reversed order. Each stimulus lasted a period of 15 seconds. The results showed that Group A (the mother image first) elicited an increase in the right fronto-temporal area, which is statistical different from responses to the unknown image. In Group B, (the unknown females face first) there was an insignificant increase in cortical response in the right fronto-temporal area when shown the unknown female and then spiked when the maternal facial image was presented. The findings in this study show that there was a greater increase in the right fronto-temporal region when the picture of the mother was shown in comparison with the unknown female photo. The effect of this hemoglobin change is most likely due to a discriminatory and recognition process. In addition to the right fronto-temporal region they also illuminated the right occipitotemporal pathway, part of the right prefrontal cortex, the right medial temporal lobe and the right fusiform area. These have been identified as specific target areas involved in face recognition. By looking at the mothers, the facial image is suspected to be an accurate result of the activation in the right occipitotemporal pathway. Difficulties in face recognition among infants born prematurely may be caused by a change or delay in the development of this pathway. The results show that the connectivity between the occipital cortex and the right prefrontal area are present and functional at the age of 6 to 9 months. These findings are extremely valuable to understanding the developmental mechanisms in infant social adaptation. Studies in Children It is highly likely that as we age, ones level of accuracy for facial recognition increases, but the evidence for the underlying processes of age differences is less certain. One of the techniques used was showing inversed pictures of faces to both adults and children. It was found that inversion disproportionately impairs the recognition of faces more so than other objects (Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998). Evidence by Carey and Diamond (1977) revealed that children at the ages of 8 and 10 years recognized a face with better accuracy if it was in the upright position in comparison to inverted position, like adults. However, children at age 6 recognized the inverted faces equally as well as the upright faces. These findings led to the hypothesis that children at the age 6 use a featural encoding strategy for processing faces. This is called the encoding switch hypothesis, where children 6 and under encode upright faces according to features such as the nose, mouth a nd eyes, and around the age of about 8 to 10 years, they begin to process faces holistically. In a second experiment when testing their encoding hypothesis, Carey and Diamond (1977) found that 6 year olds were misled more by changes in clothing, hairstyle, eyeglasses and facial expressions than 8 and 10 year olds. These results suggest that children at younger ages process faces according to their parts until they are about the age of 10, where they switch to a holistic approach. Carey and Diamond received criticism by a researcher named Flin, who believed their results were due the level of difficulty used in the task for 6 year olds and that their poor performance might have obscured the possible inversion effects. Flin (1985) (as cited in Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998) found that the 6 year olds recognition was below the older age group as an overall. He argued that there is little evidence to support the encoding switch hypothesis when taking age related performance differences into account. In more recent research, Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter (1998) stated that although face inversions may reveal performance difference, they provide little insight into the cognitive operations attributable to these differences. Tanka reasoned that if upright faces are encoded holistically, the whole-face test item should serve as a better retrieval cue than isolated-part test items, and if inverted faces are encoded only in terms of their parts, there should be no difference in the isolated part and whole face test conditions. Over a series of three experiments, their findings failed to support Carey and Diamonds (1977) predictions of the encoding switch hypothesis. If young children rely on featural information to encode faces, one would expect differences in their parts and whole performances than older children, which were not found. Their results suggest that by the age of 6 years old, children use a holistic approach to facial recognition and that the holistic appro ach remains relatively stable from ages 6 to 10. Recent research by Baenninger (1994) and Carey Diamond (1994) (as cited in Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998) also supports the idea that children do not encode faces based on features and then switch to a more configural encoding strategy, but instead encode normal faces holistically from the beginning. In fact, Carey and Diamond (1994) suggest that the Age X Inversion interaction may be attributed to a norm-based coding scheme (relational properties of the face that is encoded relative to the norm face in the population), which may explain experimental factors in changing the absolute levels of holistic processing. The norm-based coding model predicts that as one ages, facial recognition improves, whereas facial recognition should remain constant. The inversion task used by Carey and Diamond (1977, 1994) eliminated capability advantages by blocking norm-based encoding of relational properties, which could attribute to the lack of evidence for the holistic model. Th e single process that configural and featural information are encoded together supports the holistic approach to face recognition (Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998). Prosopagnosia A large amount of facial recognition research comes from the assessment of patients with prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia is [a] visual agnosias that is largely restricted to a face recognition, but leaves intact recognition of personal identity from other identifying cues, such as voices and names (Calder Young, 2005). Regardless of who they are looking at, face recognition can be severely impaired. Patients typically recognize people by paraphernalia (voice or distinct features, such as a mole). Patients often cannot distinguish men from women, but hair length is a good retrieval cue for recognition. Areas related to prosopagnosia have been found the left frontal lobe, bilateral occipital lobes, bilateral parieto-occipital regions, and in the parieto-temporo-occipital junction (Ellis, 1975). It is possible to have several areas of damage for the specific function, but most occur in the right hemisphere. Gloning et al. (1970) (as cited in Ellis, 1975) found it is common for patients to exhibit symptoms of other agnosias. Such as foods looking the same, difficulty identifying animals, and inability to locate themselves in space and time. Some other, typically uncommon defects include visual field defects, constructional apraxia, dyspraxia for dressing, and metamorphosia (Ellis, 1975). The symptoms attributed with identifying faces are described as overall blurring, difficulties in interpreting shades and forms, and the inability to infer emotions in the face. Gloning et al. (1966) (as cited in Ellis, 1975) reports some patients have the most difficulty with the eye regions and others found the eyes the easiest to recognize. Regardless of the symptoms, an interesting aspect of prosopagnosia is that patients can always detect a face, but are unable to recognize it. This suggests that there is a two-part process in facial recognition. First, faces are detected, and then undergo further analysis where information such as age and sex are analyzed and compared in long-term memory. In comparing left posterior hemisphere to the right posterior hemisphere, Yin (1970) (as cited in Ellis, 1975) found that those with damage on the right side were poorer at face memory tasks than those with left side damage. They found that visual categories may all be difficult to recognize because they all have a high degree of inter-item similarity. De Renzi Spinnler (1966) (as cited in Young, 2001) found similar evidence, showing that patients with right-hemisphere damage were worse at recognizing faces, and other abstract figures than those with left hemisphere damage. These significant findings led them to believe that those with right-hemisphere damage are limited in high level integration of visual data. It also led to the hypothesis that prosopagnosia patients have lost the ability to recognize the individual members of categories with items of similar appearance (Young, 2001). The finding of covert recognition (Bauer, 1984 as cited in Ellis, Lewis, Moselhy Young, 2000) helped the cases of prosopagnosia as a domain-specific impairment of facial memory, showing parallels to priming effects. Bauer tested his patient LF by measuring his skin conductance while he viewed a familiar face and listened to a list of five names. Skin conductance was shown to be greater when the name belonged to the face LF was looking at. However, when asked to choose the correct name of the face, LF was unable to do so. These results showed a significant difference between the inability to overtly identify the face and the higher levels of skin conductance in the covert recognition. Bauer believed that there were two routes in the recognition of faces that both began in the visual cortex and ends in the limbic system, but each taking a different pathway (Bauer, 1984 as cited in Ellis, Lewis, Moselhy Young, 2000). Although Bauers neurological hypothesis was dismissed shortly after, his psychological hypothesis of a separation between overt recognition and orienting responses has been generally accepted (Ellis, Lewis, Moselhy Young, 2000). Models of Facial Recognition Bruce Young Functional Model Bruce and Young (1986) have proposed a functional model suggesting that the structural codes for faces are stored in memory and then connected with the identity and name of the matching face. The model mainly supports how individuals recognize familiar faces. This is one of the better models for face recognition. Their model is outlined in a box and arrow format, where face recognition is completed in stages. In the first stage, structural encoding, individuals encode visual information from a face into information that can be used by the other stages of the face recognition system. Within the structural encoding are two separate processes, view-centred description, and expression-independent descriptions. These two are in a serial position where expression-independent descriptions take input information from the view-centred descriptions process. These allow for identification of facial features when viewed from various angles. The next few stages are part of a series of parallel processes after the structural encoding stage. The expression analysis stage takes its input from the view-centred descriptions processes, allowing facial expression to be analyzed. The next stage is facial speech analysis. The last branch is directed visual processing, which targets more general facial processing such as distinguishing between faces. These sets of parallel processes take input from both structural encoding processes. All of these four links of parallel face processing feed into the general cognitive system, where all are bidirectional links receiving some input back from the cognitive system (Bruce Young, 1986). The last three stages of Bruce and Youngs (1986) model are the recognition, identification and naming stages. The recognition stage involves face recognition units, also known as FRUs. They are individual nodes associated with familiar faces. When facial features are detected, nodes are activated and fed into the FRU system. Whichever node reaches the threshold activation level is the one that corresponds to the face being observed, and is then recognized. The face recognition units interact with person identity nodes, also known as PINs. PINs and FRUs bidirectionally share input information, with a two-way interaction. Activation of the PIN for a person can create some activation in the FRU, allowing recognition time for the face to be faster. Last is the name generation process. Both the PINs and name retrieval interact with the cognitive system. However, only the PINs have a two-way interaction, whereas name retrieval process solely sends input information to the cognitive system. IAC Model Burton, Bruce and Johnstons (1990) adaptation of McClellands Interactive Activation and Competition model of concept learning is an extremely basic form of a connectionist model, consisting from pools of simple processing units. The goal of the model is to explain repetitive priming, associative priming, distinctiveness and face naming. All of the units within a pool inhibit each other. There are excitatory links connecting individual units across different pools, where activation passes between these links (all links are bidirectional). Each FRU is paired to a known face and any form of recognition will activate the appropriate FRU. The second level of classification occurs at the Person Identity Nodes (PIN), where one unit is paired to each known person. Familiarity is signaled when any PIN reaches a common activation threshold. This implies that there is one decision mechanism used for all person familiarity judgments, regardless if they are faces or other kinds of information. The third level of classification is the pool labeled Semantic Information Units (SIUs), where information about known individuals are coded in the form of a link between the persons PIN and SIU. The fourth level of classification is a pool of units labeled lexical output, which capture the first stage of processes involved in speech and other output modalities. The fifth and final stage is a pool of units labeled WRUs (Word Recognition Units), where code names link directly to a pool of Name Recognition Units (NRUs). Finally, all Word Recognition Units are connected directly to the lexical output units, in which the model contains the elements of a dual route model of reading. The IAC Model is different from the Functional model because FRUs signal face familiarity, pins are modality-free gateways to semantic information, and that the details and spread of activity are more clarified. This model has had success in simulating phenomena such as relative timing of familiarity, repetition, semantic and cross modal semantic priming. Both the Bruce Young (1986) and Burton, Bruce and Johnston (1990) models show how activation levels are used in recognition processes. These two models help us theorize exactly what is happening in the mind as we analyze and recognize facial features and faces as a whole. The main idea of the model is the idea that facial identity and expression are recognized by functionally and neurologically independent systems. These models have started great advances in the research of facial recognition. Memory Load on Facial Recognition Memory in facial recognition has had limited research, which is surprising considering its importance to understanding facial recognition and how it could impact research. Goldstein and Chance (1981) (as cited in Lamont, Williams Podd, 2005) found two critical variables that have received little attention when reviewing laboratory settings: memory load and delay. Memory load is defined as the number of faces shown in the study phase and delay is defined as the delay between study and recognition phase. Researchers have found that increasing age is associated with a decline in facial recognition ability. However, the variables interacting with age are still unknown. Nevertheless, mixed evidence on the question of whether face age has any impact on elderly participants is still debated. Evidence by Shapiro Penrod (1986) (as cited in Lamont, Williams Podd, 2005) reveals that as memory load increases, face recognition performance decreases. Due to the limited research on the subject matter, Podd (1990) wanted to inquire about the possible effects that it has on the field of research for facial recognition. Podd tested subjects in small groups, where they were asked to look carefully at a series of faces that the subjects were asked to identify at a later time. Subject had to discriminate between faces that they had seen previously and those that had yet to be seen in the recognition phase. The results showed that an increase in both memory load and delay correlate to a decrease in recognition accuracy. Podd believes this could be contingent on the fact that increased memory load decreases accuracy by decreasing the portion of targets correctly identified, while delay decreases accuracy by increasing the likelihood that a distractor will be called a target. Depending on how similar the target is from the distractor, there will be fewer attributes to use to differentiate between the targets. In more current literature, Lamont, Williams Podd (2005) have tested both aging effects and memory load on face recognition. They looked at two interacting variables: the age of the target face and memory load. They were curious in finding out if memory load had a greater impact in the elderly than in younger individuals. Another variable they looked at was recognition load, the total number of target and distractor faces seen in the recognition phase. The main objective was to see if they could determine whether the effects of memory load could be teased out from recognition load. In the results they found that, as expected, older age was correlated with a decrease in accuracy of facial recognition. Surprisingly, older people had a decrease in accuracy for younger faces but not in older faces. The results of the study were not consistent with past research, which found that recognition accuracy in the younger groups was higher with younger faces than with older faces. The current study showed the exact opposite results. One possibility of these results is that with increasing age, features of the face fade more quickly. Also, with increasing retention intervals, there is more time for peoples memories of the target to fade, where the least salient feature fades the fastest (Podd, 1990). They believe that the elderly have fewer distinctive facial features available in memory to make the judgment, meaning an increase in judgment time. It is also noteworthy to say these findings are consistent with Podds earlier work, (1990) showing that increased memory load is associated with a reliable decrease in performance in recognition accuracy. The findings show that recognition load produced the decrease, which is independent of age. Another important finding is that recognition load is the true source of the association between increased memory load and decreased face recognition. Lamont, Williams Podd (2005) state that, [f]ew studies dealing with memory load have taken account of this potential confound, and our results challenges the interpretation of all such research. Crook Larrabee (1992) (as cited in Lamont, Williams Podd, 2005) suggest that the present studies implications are of considerable value to future research, since some authors do not report age of their target faces. Therefore, the results are crucial for proper interpretation of facial recognition research. Sex Differences Hemispheric Advantages in Facial Processing Extensive research has been completed on facial recognitions hemispheric advantages. Unfortunately, little has been concluded due to contradicting evidence. Patterson and Bradshaw (1975) (as cited in Turkewitz Ross, 1984) found that when drawings of faces varied by only one feature, participants showed an advantage in the left hemisphere; however, when all features varied, there was an advantage in the right hemisphere. Prior studies have shown that advantages in both hemispheres are contingent on the conditions being used, which produces different results. Even when the conditions are held constant, conflicting results emerge, resulting in individuals showing both right and left hemisphere advantages. Ross and Turkewitz (1981) (as cited in Turkewitz and Ross, 1984) found hemispheric advantages were associated with the nature of the information process strategy being used by the participant. Those with a right-hemisphere advantage showed signs of decline when inversion of faces was being tested, whereas those with left hemisphere advantages showed a decline while omission of selected facial features were tested. They suggest that these results show that those with a right-hemisphere advantage recognize faces based on gestalt qualities (whole) and those with left hemisphere recognize faces based on a more individual and distinctive features. Turkewitz and Ross (1984) were interested in researching age-related changes in hemispheric advantages in recognition of presented faces and determining whether a dual-mode of right hemisphere processing exists and if it associates with differences of age and gender. The participants were students ages 8, 11 and 13 years old. Participants were seated in a chair in front of a screen, where facial stimuli were presented. The objective was to point to the face presented in the response sheet for each trial. The data found suggest that there are age- and gender-related differences in the nature of hemispheric advantages shown when confronted with the task of identifying unfamiliar faces. The findings also support the hypothesis of processing stages, where different hemispheric advantages are associated with the stages. Both adults and older girls exhibited a right-hemisphere advantage, suggesting an age-related shift, responding to the undifferentiated and global characteristics of the faces. Younger girls showed no advantage which suggests they use right and left hemisphere strategies equally well. This suggests that girls are using more advanced and integrated right hemisphere modes of functioning, which tends to be more effective when engaging in facial recognition. Everhart, Shucard, Quatrin Shucard (2001) tested 35 prepubertal children in facial recognition and facial affect processing. They were trying to find similar results to those found in the previous literature stating that males show higher levels of activation in the right hemisphere, where females tend to show higher levels in the left. They were also looking to see if this change developed before puberty, similar to those of adults, and to see if gender-related differences would be present in cortical processing during the performance of face recognition. Auditory probes were used to gather ERPs during a Facial Recognition Memory task. They used a facial identification task to gather data on matching and recognition of facial affect, reaction time and accuracy. Their results showed that boys show greater levels of ERP amplitude in the right hemisphere, where girls showed greater levels of activation in the left hemisphere. The findings also showed that boys might process faces at a global level, which is in the right hemisphere, and girls might process faces at a more local level, in the left hemisphere. This study states that its findings have potential clinical implications. Due to the finding that boys use more resources in their right hemisphere and girls use more in their left, then sex related differences will be evident following lesions to the right hemisphere, suggesting that males may be more at risk to have prosopagnosia. Conclusion Facial recognition has interested humans for centuries. Although all evidence out there on the subject matter is useful and important, I selected the findings I believe to be the most important. Based on the research in the development of facial recognition we can conclude that, humans, from newborn age through adulthood, can identify faces. By the age of 6 months, people can discriminate between faces. It has also been found that children do not encode faces based on features and then switch to a more configural model, but rather encode faces on a more holistic level. Other aspects looked at were prosopagnosia and different models of face recognition. Some of the most important research on facial recognition comes from comparing prosopagnosia patients to normal adults. The last two topics examined in this review were memory load and hemispheric advantages. Both help us understand where we process facial information and also how our memory works to store faces. The location of facial recognition has been narrowed down to specific areas of the brain and pathways, further research must be done to get a better idea

Goals and the Future of Education

I believe the goals within the education field that will be the most important for the future of education is advancing students’ skills in problem solving strategies, improving student achievement across all sub-groups, teaching of diversity and tolerance to students, and preparing students to be effective in their future occupations. Students in America need to be taught problem solving abilities that can be used not only in the classroom but also in everyday life.Critical to a student's success in general education is his or her ability to problem solve. It is essential that we teach students to be adept at problem solving. An increased emphasis on teaching critical thinking and problem solving has been central to restructuring school curriculum reform because such skills provide the basis for all learning. Indeed the ability to retrieve and process information and, in turn, propose a solution to a discernible problem represents a skill that will significantly improve a stu dent's competence and independence.Problem solving involves using available information to identify and design solutions to problems. Unfortunately, many people lack the skills to solve problems in their lives. I know the dreaded NCLB comes to mind when I say improving achievements across subgroups, but it goes further than AYP and NCLB, it is about making sure that individuals in every sub-group is receiving the best education. Before NCLB, special education students had a tendency not to count in many districts.Teachers were not given appropriate curriculum and teachers were not held accountable for moving students toward grade level standards. After NCLB, these students count and now the districts have to make sure that the students have access to curriculum and are making progress. I believe that diversity and tolerance needs to be taught in the classroom. America has been a â€Å"melting pot† and with occurrences of terrorism, ELL instruction, nationalities are targeted and discriminated against even in the classroom.Sexual orientation is now a reason for suicide in some young individuals minds. Bullying has become a nightly news report. It appears that in many households, there is still a stigma attached to these individuals. With the economy in the dumps, these individuals are increasing become the scapegoats for everything that is wrong. Morals cannot be taught in a classroom but acceptance can be through exercises in tolerance. There is an expression I have heard,† Not everyone can be a brain surgeon†.Vocational teaching needs to become a hoice again for those young students that are not college bound. In the UK, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the exam taken between the ages of 14-16 and depending upon the grades determines if higher education is pursued or an internship / vocational training. These types of exams need to be introduced into the U. S. in some form. By allowing students to have an avenue othe r than college it may cut down on high school dropouts because they know that they are acquiring a marketable trade while in school.