Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How To Use Neuromarketing To Connect With Your Audience With Roger Dooley

How To Use Neuromarketing To Connect With Your Audience With Roger Dooley What triggers your readers to buy? How can you write better calls to action and get more conversions? Today we’re going to be talking to Roger Dooley, the brains behind the book Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers With Neuromarketing. He also writes the Neuromarketing blog and regularly contributes to Entrepreneur and Forbes about neuromarketing. What is neuromarketing, and how can you use it to connect with your audience and get better results? That’s what we’re going to be talking to Roger about today. You won’t want to miss it! How Roger defines neuromarketing, the different types of neuromarketing, and how large and small businesses take advantage of the different types. Some of the principles of why neuromarketing techniques work, including social proof, authority, and reciprocity. Roger’s thoughts on case studies, emotions, and the words that potential customers and marketing professionals use. Why it’s important to understand your target buyer’s unconscious needs as well as their conscious needs. Roger’s best tips on building trust with your audience. How to turn your fans into buyers and how to create effective calls to action. Roger’s advice to a marketer who is just starting out in learning about and implementing some neuromarketing techniques. Links: Brainfluence Neuromarketing blog Roger on Entrepreneur Roger on Forbes Robert Cialdini’s Pre-Suasion The Persuasion Slide Perennial Seller If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Roger: â€Å"Even if you are a small business and you can’t afford to do costly studies, you do have the ability to run different kinds of tests in your app or on your website and see what works best.† â€Å"That person who’s purchasing the product may have certain conscious needs but there are also unconscious needs that the buyer probably is less concerned about.† â€Å"Behavioral psychology, in particular, is important. Those are the things that don’t cost any money to apply.†

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Battle of the Wilderness - American Civil War

The Battle of the Wilderness - American Civil War The Battle of the Wilderness was fought May 5-7, 1864, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). In March 1864, President Abraham Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant to lieutenant general and gave him command of all Union armies. Grant elected to turn over operational control of the western armies to Major General William T. Sherman and shifted his headquarters east to travel with Major General George G. Meades Army of the Potomac. For the coming campaign, Grant planned to attack General Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia from three directions. First, Meade was to cross the Rapidan River east of the Confederate position at Orange Court House, before swinging west to engage the enemy. To the south, Major General Benjamin Butler was to advance up the Peninsula from Fort Monroe and threaten Richmond, while to the west Major General Franz Sigel laid waste to the resources of the Shenandoah Valley. Badly outnumbered, Lee was forced to assume a defensive position. Unsure of Grants intentions, he had placed Lieutenant General Richard Ewells Second Corps and Lieutenant General A.P. Hills Third Corps in earthworks along the Rapidan. Lieutenant General James Longstreets First Corps was positioned to the rear at Gordonsville from which it could reinforce the Rapidan line or shift south to cover Richmond. Union Commanders Lieutenant General Ulysses S. GrantMajor General George G. Meadeapprox. 102,000 men Confederate Commanders General Robert E. Leeapprox. 61,000 men Grant Meade Move Out In the pre-dawn hours of May 4, Union forces began departing their camps near Culpeper Court House and marching south. Divided into two wings, the Federal advance saw Major General Winfield S. Hancocks II Corps cross the Rapidan at Elys Ford before reaching camps near Chancellorsville around noon. To the west, Major General Gouverneur K. Warrens V Corps crossed over pontoon bridges at Germanna Ford, followed by Major General John Sedgwicks VI Corps. Marching five miles south, Warrens men reached Wilderness Tavern at the intersection of the Orange Turnpike and Germanna Plank Road before halting (Map). While Sedgwicks men occupied the road back to the ford, Grant and Meade established their headquarters near the tavern. Not believing that Lee could reach the area until late on May 5, Grant intended to use the next day to advance west, consolidate his forces, and bring up Major General Ambrose Burnsides IX Corps. As Union troops rested, they were forced to spend the night in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, a vast area of thick, second-growth forest that negated the Union advantage in manpower and artillery. Their situation was further imperiled by a lack of cavalry patrols on the roads leading towards Lee. Lee Reacts Alerted to the Union movements, Lee quickly ordered Ewell and Hill to begin moving east to meet the threat. Orders were also issued for Longstreet to rejoin the army. As a result, Ewells men camped that night at Robertsons Tavern on the Orange Turnpike, only three miles from Warrens unsuspecting corps. Moving along the Orange plank road, Hills men made similar progress. It was Lees hope that he could pin Grant in place with Ewell and Hill to allow Longstreet to strike at the Union left flank. A daring scheme, it required him to hold Grants army with fewer than 40,000 men to buy time for Longstreet to arrive. The Fighting Begins Early on May 5, Warren spotted Ewells approach up the Orange Turnpike. Instructed to engage by Grant, Warren began moving west. Reaching the edge of a clearing known as Saunders Field, Ewells men began digging in as Warren deployed the divisions of Brigadier Generals Charles Griffin and James Wadsworth on the far side. Studying the field, Warren found that Ewells line extended beyond his own and that any attack would see his men enfiladed. As a result, Warren asked Meade to postpone any attack until Sedgwick came up on his flank. This was refused and the assault moved forward. Surging across Saunders Field, Union troops quickly saw their right shattered by Confederate flanking fire. While Union forces had some success south of the turnpike, it could not be exploited and the assault was thrown back. Bitter fighting continued to rage in Saunders Field as Wadsworths men attacked through the thick forest south of the field. In confused fighting, they fared little better. By 3:00 PM, when Sedgwicks men arrived at the north, the fighting had quieted. The arrival of VI Corps renewed the battle as Sedgwicks men unsuccessfully attempted to overrun Ewells lines in the woods above the field (Map). Hill Holds To the south, Meade had been alerted to Hills approach and directed three brigades under Brigadier General George Getty to cover the intersection of the Brock Road and Orange Plank Road. Reaching the crossroads, Getty was able to fend off Hill. As Hill prepared to assault Getty in earnest, Lee established his headquarters a mile to the rear at the Widow Tapp Farm. Around 4:00 PM, Getty was ordered to attack Hill. Aided by Hancock, whose men were just arriving, Union forces increased pressure on Hill forcing Lee to commit his reserves to the fight. Brutal fighting raged in the thickets until nightfall. Longstreet to the Rescue With Hills corps on the point of collapse, Grant sought to focus Union efforts for the next day on the Orange Plank Road. To do so, Hancock and Getty would renew their attack while Wadsworth shifted south to strike Hills left. Burnsides corps was ordered to enter the gap between the turnpike and plank road to threaten the enemy rear. Lacking additional reserves, Lee hoped to have Longstreet in place to support Hill by dawn. As the sun began to rise, the First Corps was not in sight. Around 5:00 AM, the massive Union assault began. Punching up the Orange Plank Road, Union forces overwhelmed Hills men driving them back to the Widow Tapp Farm. As the Confederate resistance was about to break, the lead elements of Longstreets corps arrived on the scene. Quickly counterattacking, they struck Union forces with immediate results. Having become disorganized during their advance, the Union troops were forced back. As the day progressed series of Confederate counterattacks, including a flanking attack utilizing an unfinished railroad grade, forced Hancock back to the Brock Road where his men entrenched. In the course of the fighting, Longstreet was severely wounded by friend fire and taken from the field. Late in the day, Lee conducted an assault on Hancocks Brock Road line but was unable to break through. On Ewells front, Brigadier General John B. Gordon found that Sedgwicks right flank was unprotected. Through the day he advocated for a flank attack but was rebuffed. Towards nightfall, Ewell relented and the attack moved forward. Pushing through the thick brush, it shattered Sedgwicks right forcing it back the Germanna Plank Road. Darkness prevented the attack from being exploited further (Map). Aftermath of the Battle During the night a brushfire broke out between the two armies, burning many of the wounded and creating a surreal landscape of death and destruction. Feeling that no additional advantage could be had by continuing the battle, Grant elected to move around Lees right flank towards Spotsylvania Court House where the fighting would continue on May 8. Union losses in the battle totaled around 17,666, while Lees were approximately 11,000. Accustomed to retreating after bloody battles, the Union soldiers cheered and sang when they turned south upon leaving the battlefield. Selected Sources CWSAC Battle Summary: WildernessHistory of War: Battle of the WildernessFredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military Park

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Situation in Europe during the Holocaust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Situation in Europe during the Holocaust - Essay Example Slovakia despite being sovereign, they resulted to be more depended on Nazi Germany. This was after their dismemberment from Czechoslovakia where they teamed up in annihilation and extradition of Jews.Hungary initially was independent, but its politics took a drastic change that underwent various regimes. This encompassed from democratic through Bolshevik revolution to dictatorial state (Pinder-Ashenden 134). During the autocratic period, it collaborated with Germany to execute anti-Semitic ideology. This yielded to the annihilation of Jews, for instance, in 1944 where it expatriated 420,000 Jews; Nazis executing 75%. The state’s political structure and its leaders prompted more killing besides collaborating with the Germany. Germany’s involvement was the pretense to supplement its resources that were depleted due to immense war cost while the Jews’ role was a secondary in the Hungarian economy (Pinder-Ashenden 137).The three states despite some having the power to maintain their sovereignty, they collaborated with Germany who by then was more powerful and master of war, especially against the Soviet Union. The main trend among the three was the extermination of the Jews who seemed or thought to be Soviet Union’s spies, hence threatening the stability of the German. Primarily, this was in the states in which German had control over where it instigated extermination of Jews to shun leakage of information to its enemies (Pinder-Ashenden 138).

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Environmental Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental Management - Essay Example More over, the water based sports that are part of tourism activities are affected by the presence of waste. Hotels may lose clients as they move to the unpolluted areas. The waste water could be of use to the hotels if it is treated and used for sanitary purposes, thereby lowering the water expenses. On the other hand, hotels can avoid breaking government regulations regarding discharge of waste in to the environment, which may lead to legal action being taken against them. High electrical energy consumption also leads to the depletion of water resources especially where hydro-electric power is used. Other electric generation plants also have an impact on the environment, which may lead to the migration of organisms such as birds due to the emission of toxic gases. Such phenomena adversely affect the hotel and tourism industry. Hotels would on the other hand be at an advantage if they conserved energy in their operations and hotel rooms. The most important is lowering their energy costs, which translates in to reduced operation costs, hence higher profitability (Gibson et al 2003). This can be accomplished through sensitizing the staff and the visitors regarding leaving the lights off when not in use, ensuring that refrigerators and other electrical appliances are not switched on unnecessarily. The wood fuel that is used for cooking leads to the destruction of forests, which serve as an essential carbon sink. The greenhouse gases emitted from burning fuel have been a major contributor to climate change. This has adversely affected the hotel industry as water bodies dry up and land being transformed in to a desert. Wild life is becoming depleted in many countries where tourism is a major economic activity, which has led to the closure of many hotel businesses. It is therefore necessary for hotels to engage in the control of green house gases emission, no matter how little they may be contributing to

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Functional Areas of Business Management Essay Example for Free

Functional Areas of Business Management Essay Abstract A summary of the sales and marketing functional areas of an organization’s structure as an examination of the overall role and responsibility of the managers of each area. The sales manager’s primary goal is the development, implementation and evaluation of the strategic goals they desire to achieve with the sale organization to be able to meet the company’s overall goals. The marketing manager is responsible for indentifying of the market space with respect to the client, client’s needs and the ability of the product to meet the customer’s needs. Marketing managers are also critical for conducting and evaluating the results of a SWOT analysis for the company. This information is vital to the development of corporate goals of the organization. Functional Areas of Business Management There are a number of functional groups that make up an organization’s structure. Each of these business areas or internal organizations within the company provides a vital function or role to the overall success of the business. Some of these functional groups include; finance, human resources, marketing, operations, sales, customer service, research and development to list a few standard functional business groups. The two functional areas of business that will be reviewed and explored with respect to the manger’s roles and associated responsibilities are the sales and marketing functional areas or organizations of a company. There is a strong correlation to these functions within a business organization. Many organizations may separate these two functional groups and others may closely integrate these to ensure the overall goals are achieved through the cross functional interaction of these resources. â€Å"Sales management can be most easily defined as planning, implementing, and controlling personal contact programs designed to achieve the sales and fit objectives of the firm† (Gale, 2006,). As a sales manager the responsibility is instilled upon this person to be the leader of the sale team. As the leader you are responsible for the strategic planning and the overall process of setting the desired goals of the sales organization and it is a vital function of the sales manager. â€Å"Goal setting is usually based on a companys overall sales objectives or targets† (Gale, 2007). These goals may be cascaded down from senior management in a large organization or be developed through the overall profit and growth that the company is trying to achieve. As the manager of the sales organization it will be important to examine the past history of the products you are selling as an initial assessment of the previous success. Once you have reviewed the revenue results you can compare these to the state of the economy and determine if these results were typical of the results that other competitor companies achieved in a similar market under these conditions. Also the manager will have to examine the resources that are available and determine if these resources are similar to that of the resulting period being evaluated. â€Å"The ability of the sales manager to set goals is strongly related to the desires to change past performance—by lifting all sales, high-margin sales, creating sales for new products, etc† (Gale, 2007). Implementing the strategic plans are the next key functions of the sales manager. Depending upon the overall size of the company, size of the territory to cover and the market to cover the sales department may be subdivided into regions. These regions would then have regional managers responsible for each region all working to achieve the overall sales goals and objectives developed within the organization. In developing the plans for implementing, the sales manager may have to answer questions such as â€Å"how should a sales force be structured? How large a sales force is needed† (Gale, 2006) etc. The sales manager will create strategies to be able to achieve the goals. The plans developed for implementation may also include such things as if training is required and if so then what training is required. They will also be concern with determining if there are requirements for new budgets or increases to old budgets to be able to implement the strategic plans and successfully execute the strategy. Marketing is the second functional area to be examined as a manager in the organizational structure. The overall function of the marketing department and the leaders of this organization can be viewed as the research group for determining the business needs of the client and indentifying the market place. (Moorman and Rust, 1999) â€Å"Define the marketing managers as the liaison between the customer and the product†. The marketing manager plays a vital role in understanding the client, understanding the marketing place the client represents and how the product best fits the overall needs of this market place. Once the marketing manager and the through the marketing team has identified the market space and the need for the product in it, they will then focus on creating a plan that best allows the company to successfully introduce or continue to succeed in selling the product in the identified market. The marketing manager will be responsible to set goals that will create a path for the identified product into the identified market and clients. The marketing manager will utilize the SWOT analysis to create the data that supports the need of a customer to buy and use a desired product. In the SWOT process the marketing manager will also typically identify if there is a market for a new product that the company may have interest in developing. This feedback will be relayed to the research and development organization to identify the economical impact of such a new design. This cost to develop the desired product will be evaluated against the potential revenue that can generate. With this information the company will typically decide if the investment will be made to develop the new product or if simply an old product can be modified to achieve the desired results to the client. Once a new product is developed or a current product is improved the marketing organization will determine the most beneficial way to introduce these changes to the desired client base. This method can vary from printed material in magazines, internet, client handouts or simply by the sale organization when directly dealing with the existing and new clients when they interact with them. There is significant correlation between the sale department and the marketing department in many industries today. Often it will be observed that the two roles of sales and marketing can be combined to a product marketing manager with sole responsibilities to a single product or product line. When the two functions are combined the manager will be responsible for the growth and success of the product. This manager will also be required to conduct the market research and develop the most successful path to market for the product. Whether the sales and marketing managers are reviewed individually or as a combined role they both play vital roles in the overall developing, implementing and evaluating of the companies goals. References Moorman, C., and Rust, R.T.(1999). â€Å"The role of marketing†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 63, pp. 180-197 (special Issue) Sales Management. Encyclopedia of Management. Ed. Marilyn M. Helms. 5th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 778-782. â€Å"Sales Management. Encyclopedia of Small Business. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 993-996

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Shooting an Elephant Essay -- Analysis, George Orwell

In his essay, Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell illustrates his experiences as a British police officer, and reflects it to the nature of imperialism. He hates his job as a police officer in Moulmein because an â€Å"anti-European feeling was very bitter† due to British Empire’s dictatorship in Burma. Therefore, Orwell, a white man is being treated disrespectfully by the Burmese which allows him to hate his job and British Empire, the root of everything. However, the incident of shooting of an elephant gives him a â€Å"better glimpse †¦ of the real nature of imperialism – the real motives for which despotic government act† (13). In order to express the effects of imperialism, Orwell illustrates this â€Å"enlightening† incidence by using various dictions, rhetorical devices, sentence structures, and generating appropriate tone and mood (13). From his experiences and feelings of living under imperialism, Orwell efficiently shows the terrible effects of imperialism. With the usage of suitable dictions in his essay, Orwell excellently conveys the message and feelings that he is trying to get across. He often uses the word â€Å"natives† for the Burmese: â€Å"Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd† (15). By doing so, he shows his emotions and respect to the Burmese because by calling them â€Å"natives† signifies that they are the true owner of Burma and not the British Empire. Also, by using this diction frequently in the essay, Orwell reminds his readers the existence of imperialism in Burma so that the readers do not just hang on to the elephant but also get the message incorporated in the essay. The body of an elephant is compared with the machine as Orwell thinks, â€Å"it is comparable to destroying a huge and ... ...evastation in society. Thus, George Orwell successfully sends the message of imperialism to his audience by using various styles in his essay, Shooting an Elephant. According to the topic of his essay, his main audiences are the youth, adults, and politicians as imperialism is more concern with them. According to his as a police officer, he teaches his reader that imperialism is the worst way to govern a country as it is harmful to individual’s way of thinking and value of morality in society. Orwell achieves this outstandingly by working out with rhetorical devices, dictions, and sentence structure to generate the feeling in the audience the way he wishes to be. Also, to hold and his readers through his essay, he bring up appropriate tone and mood. In result, Orwell excellently uses the incident of killing an elephant to describe the effects of imperialism.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The links between school bullying and mugging and there affects on individuals lives

Is it possible that school bullying and mugging are closely linked? If so, can they have permanent side – effects on an individual's life? Too tall, too short, too fat, too thin†¦. I hate my hair†¦ I need a better car†¦ I can't wear that dress as I wore it last week†¦. these are the questions I faced the other morning, the silly thing is that I am confident that millions of other people are waking up and lobbying mini arguments within their minds of similar matters. But why are these matters so important? A very open question, yet in all generalisation can be linked to the word SOCIETY. Blumer (1969) identifies this as noted below: â€Å"Basically human behaviour is not determined by social forces. Rather, people are simply self – conscious beings†¦ † He states that due to ones self consciousnesses, questions similar to the ones asked above arise. The self consciousness of an individual is induced by those labels attached to us through the sub cultures in which we exist. These are closely linked to our childhood educational experiences. Control theory implies that social services will decrease levels of deviant behaviour by strengthening the bond between the adolescent and society. Labelling theory implies the reverse, that the process of formal adjudication through the juvenile court will first stabilize and then increase levels of deviant behaviour. Diversion programs were originally developed as an application of labelling theory, with the objectives of minimizing involvement with the juvenile court, referring adolescents to less stigmatizing social services, and ultimately reducing levels of deviant behaviour. An additional issue has been the effect of gender on service delivery to adolescents in the juvenile justice system. This paper examines these four issues using panel data and multiple regression of follow-up on baseline variables. The term ‘bullying' refers not only to physical and verbal abuse, but psychological attacks intended to inflict fear, distress and to physically harm the victim (Farrington, 1993). Extensive research into the bullying/victim relationship shows that there are two distinct groups (or subcultures). For example, Olweus (1991) found that only one bully in ten was also a victim, while only one victim in eighteen was also a bully (taken from Fishman, Mesch, Eisikovits, 2002). This assumption shows that victims and offenders originate from different parts of society and are in fact judged upon popularity and peer acceptance rather than merit. In fact personal merit i. e. educational achievements, alongside social and physical appearance (Salmivalli, 1998) can turn an ordinary individual into a victim within an educational setting. In comparison, perpetrators saw themselves as being physically fit and popular among their peer group. Those who were victims were often those who felt unpopular and lacked the social skills to form peer relationships. According to Farrington (1993), Adolescents who lack good friends have no support when exposed to an offender's aggressive behaviour. The term ‘mugging' refers to a psychological fear and possible physical attack on a victim. When pupils are constantly being assessed and classified, it is on this basis that they are defined as able or less able. Then placed accordingly in particular sets or streams, entered for particular examinations and given or denied access to certain parts of the school curriculum. Teachers are more likely to define middle rather than working class pupils as the ‘able bodies', the ‘good students' and the ‘well – behaved' based on first impressions or certain stereo-types such as a middle class family is more likely to take interest in there child's education. This in turn disadvantages the working class pupils. A label is a major identifying characteristic. If for example, a pupil is labelled as ‘bright', others will respond to him/her and interpret their actions in terms of this label. There is a tendency for self – fulfilling prophecy to result. The pupil will only act in terms of the label and see themselves as bright, thus fulfilling the prophecy others have made. Muggings are thought of, at times, worse than bullying as the ordeal can leave a psychological scar in the way that person may perceive people in the future. The level of this can vary depending on the loss of items or the ordeal itself. All these factors will cause the victim to look at people in a different way, or even change their own behaviour in the future, asking themselves questions like ‘should I take this much money with me? ‘ or ‘should I tuck this chain in? ‘. Bullying is most commonly thought of as occurring in classrooms but unfortunately has a lasting effect on ones development from adolescence to adulthood to the outside world. It is the ‘name calling' and constant ‘teasing' that makes the individual being bullied i. e. the victim, begin to turn into themselves and think about who they really are. They create questions and insecurities within their own thoughts, as to why they in particular have been singled out as the ‘odd one' that does not ‘fit in'. Questions such as what are they calling me, why are they calling me by such names and what factors of myself do I need to change to avoid being called the latter†¦ (Which takes us back to the very beginning of this analysis) †¦ Too tall, too short, too fat too thin†¦. I hate my hair†¦ I need a better car†¦ I can't wear that dress as I wore it last week†¦. The creation of society! If bullying and mugging were earthquakes, the understanding of the epicentre is imperative, the two tectonic plates grinding, causing the earthquake, would be the Labelling theory and Subculture theories. These two theories lend a hand in explaining how and why anti social behaviour such as bullying may arise and its effects on society at large. The Sub cultural theory suggests that society is made up from several sub cultures that can each be defined by their own set of values and norms, separate from those of the wider society. Members within a sub culture share common values and have similar behavioural patterns, often based around social characteristics, such as ethnicity or styles generated by individuals within a sub culture. Sub cultures usually share some features with the host culture, but may also be oppositional to it. Sub cultural theories attempt to explain why these groups, most of which are concerned with ‘youth gangs' and gang delinquency, engage in deviant acts. The theories also analysed the formation of delinquent youth subcultures within the context of strains and pressures exerted by society. According to Cohen (1955) sub cultures are formed within an educational setting due to status deprivation. This is where a desirable ‘status' such as being popular or accepted by peer groups would be sought after by students and invariably be found through creating a sub culture. For those individuals where status was denied, Cohen (1955) again suggesting this to be a direct result of failure by the educational system leading to failure at work, status deprivation was resolved by the formation of primary groups (the most common form of which was gangs) (Cohen, 1955). By creating specific sub cultures, members, predominately young males, allowed themselves to achieve status positions within a structured group therefore satisfying their desire for some form of status (Cohen, 1955). These sub cultures often resulted to violent and aggressive behaviour towards their peer groups, taunting and victimising other youths, both physically and psychologically. Cohen claimed that if the educational system were to allow an alternative outlet for such status satisfaction, then the need to create a sub culture would be destroyed thus avoiding the anti social behaviour such as bullying. Using Cohen's ideas, it can be said that a bully will be looking for a desirable status. The mugger can be seen as one of these subgroups, and can be seen as a subgroup of bullying (taking it one step further by taking someone else's possessions) or as a subgroup of a gang (where the act is carried out within a group). It is possible for this to give the individual, or an individual within a group, a certain level of status and gained acceptance within a group. Where the Sub cultural theory attempts to explain bullying as a result of social definitions and status, interactionsists suggest that this is not the case. Interactionism, according to Blumer (1969) indicates three central beliefs that characterise social behaviour. Firstly, ‘human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them'. This means that human behaviour is not determined by social forces but rather that people are simply self conscious beings. Secondly, ‘the meaning of things is derived from, or arises out of the social interaction that one has with one's fellow's'. Here Blumer (1969) suggests that meanings are not fixed but are continually tailored and adjusted as individuals integrate with one another. Thirdly, ‘group action takes the form of a fitting together of individual lines of action'. Thus society is not so much a determinant of human action as a product of human activity. Social order is therefore inherently fragile, as it is highly dependant on shared, miscellaneous meanings. So the Interactionism idea would explain mugging as the 1st central belief, ‘human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them'. Thus saying, that a mugger may carry out their act based on what they will gain from it, which could be anything from increased wealth to other possessions. An alternative would be that the person only carries out a mugging based on meanings that are adjusted, such as the person will have carried out the mugging based on a new circumstance or new scenario, which would not have been the case the day, week or year before. Already it is clear to see how these two theories present opposing explanations to bullying and mugging. On one hand the sub cultural theory claims that there are rigid norms and values within society, forcing individuals to comply with the rules. It implies that those who do not conform or are deprived the chance to gain social recognition and desired statuses within society are forced to create their own group in which they can achieve status satisfaction. On the other hand, interactionism argues there are no fixed rules but rather ever changing, shared values that are dependent upon social interaction. It suggests that the extent of bullying and mugging is dependent upon how individuals interact within society. From interactionism stems a new approach which once initiated is widely known as the Labelling theory. The classic formation of this theory is that of Howard Becker 63†², who said ‘.. The central fact about deviance (is that) it is created by society. I do not mean this in the way it is ordinarily understood, in which the causes of deviance are located in the social situation of the deviant or in â€Å"social factors† which prompt his action. Rather, those social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitution deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an â€Å"offender†. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied – deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label'. Howard Becker 63†² Labelling and bullying both occur simultaneously throughout levels in schools. For example, the breakdown of a ‘typical' classroom layout is that of many diversities and similarities at the same time. There are two different approaches when discussing the relationship between social cognition and social behaviour, and specifically, between emotion and bullying. An information-processing model which shows how aggressive behaviour as resulting from processing biases in one or more steps in a 5 stages social information process (Dodge, Pettit, McClaskey and Brown, 1986; Dodge and Feldman, 1990; Crick and Dodge, 1994). It is this theory when applied to bullies and victims that this social skill deficit model tells us that bullies do in fact have similar deficits to aggressive children. However the victims, on the other hand, lack these social skills of assertiveness and group entry. As a direct result, this in turn means they have less experience in social interaction, in the teasing and play fighting which both in family and peer relationships, may enhance the interpretation processes of emotional expression, social skills, sense of control and self-efficacy (Smith, Bowers, Binney and Cowie, 1993). Labelling and mugging occur early on, during school. For example, the mugger is grouped as being from a poor family or labelled as a ‘trouble maker' by their elders. Giving the child a negative image and possible loss in their confidence to perform to what ‘society' expects. The muggers' emotion can vary; one could say that they lack any compassion to their victim and only have their eyes on their reward. But from another perspective, one could say that the mugger may feel compassion but due to the circumstances they are in, they feel like this would be their only solution. Advocates of this power-based theory (i. e. bullies simply bullying others around them to gain power over other less superior individuals than themselves), argue that bullies' desire for power or control is often strengthened by various social stereotypes about bullying including the negative reinforcement of the media (see the earlier discussion on social tolerance of bullying). It is has been said that bullies behaviour is cold and manipulative and that they are experts in social contexts. The problem of their behaviour can be directly related to the many emotions that surround moral transgression such as guilt and shame. Can it then be questioned as to whether; bullies actually understand other children's emotions but simply do not share them; thus lacking in empathy? Or perhaps they merely are unable to identify the suffering and pain in the victims and therefore they lack social skills? How do they feel during a bullying episode? Can and do bullies feel great for having been tough or have they the human emotion of guilt and feeling responsible for what they have done? If labelling exists within the educational system, and we have seen above how it is valid, then it is not only the behaviour of the bully and mugger that must be reprimanded but that of those who attach these labels. Looking at the educational system, it appears that those in authority, like teachers and others working alongside schools and the pupils inflict these labels upon them. By labelling these individuals, teachers will group these individuals into categories or boxes, thus causing divisions and a hierarchy within the class, and the educational system as a whole. This is because individual will tend to act according to the labels attached to them, thus fulfilling a self fulfilling prophecy. So from this we can see that there is a link between muggers and bullies. It can be seen that both want, in most cases, some level of status or acceptance and that both are categorised and labelled. Any individual that experiences either of these will also be left with psychological scars, which in-turn will change the victim in the way they behave or perceive things. The perception and behavioural changes are not likely to change with ease, and could possibly be detrimental to the individual. Social identity argues that social cooperation is a product of activation of a social identity. Social identity can be thought of as the psychological link between the self and the collective, in this case the school community. Through social identification, the school becomes a positive reference group for the pupil. When a student identifies with the school community, he or she sees themselves as interdependent with this community and he or she behaves cooperatively, upholding the school's rules and values. Tyler 1998, made a similar point. He argued that there were two inter-related aspects to self-worth: the collective and the individual. The collective aspect is reflected in pride in being a member of a school community, in terms of education. The individual aspect is reflected in having respect within this community. Tyler said, â€Å"As self-worth within a community increases in terms of pride and respect, social cooperation within that community also increases†. In other words, what each of us does is strive for a sense of belongingness and significance. Not only meeting our individual needs, but becoming a member of a positive reference group is also importance to us in society. After all, we are social animals. Work by Eliza Ahmed and her colleagues (2000) suggest that one barrier that needs to be addressed is the affective barrier associated with shame. The shame associated with a harmful act acts as a barrier to us thinking of ourselves as a fully integrated member of a community. Indeed, recent findings have shown that shame-management has been found to be an important mediating variable in the understanding of bullying and victimization (Ahmed et al. , forthcoming). The maintenance of bonds is mutually related to emotion: emotions are a means of cohesion. Nathanson (1992) has also argued that shame is the central social regulator that governs our social relations with others. Shame, as such, is closely connected with solidarity (in group cooperation) and alienation (out group competition). Humans are inherently social animals; lapses in important social bonds affect us as individuals. Threatened or damaged bonds create an environment for shame. A long period of unacknowledged shame arises from and generates failure of social connectedness as stated by Retzinger, 1991. Shame can be conceptualised as a thermostat; if it fails to function informatively about the state of our social relationships, regulation of relationships becomes impossible. Thus, shame is an important signal about the state of our social relationships. Shame management involves the search for coherence of identity. Acknowledgment of shame can lead to a greater integrity of the self and our social world; shame avoidance can lead to social alienation and conflict with the self and our social world. To conclude, it is safe to say that the links between school bullying and mugging and their affects on individual's lives are very prominent, and it seems both issues are here to stay in the twenty first century. It seems studies have shown that both bullying and mugging can have permanent side – effects on an individual's life. However, it would appear that if these bullies had not been boxed into groups, thus they would not fulfil their prophecy. Batsche and Knoff (1994) assert that the goal of creating safe schools cannot be achieved unless the issue of bullying is adequately addressed. In order to fully examine the issue of bullying, one would need to pay close attention to the structure of determinants of bullying from personal to social factors; focusing on various forms of relationships that exist in not only our personal lives but in our social lives. For example, relationships between bullies and families, schools and society; all affect the way we behave. It is these other relationships among the victims, bullies and bystanders; as well as relationships between counsellors and other school staff, that are all working together as a team combat bullying. These two theories have shown in this discussion that school bullying and mugging are linked and that bullying can only lead to far worse behavioural problems in the future – both physical and mental.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Drawing the Line: Normal and Abnormal Behavior Essay

The term abnormal is defined as deviating from the norm (Spoor, 1999). The definition however is problematic in that it addresses other factors. For instance, one needs to consider what the norm is and who labeled it as such. Norms are also dynamic; a norm today may no longer be one in the future. The fact that norms are also culture specific (Syque, 2007) leads one to consider that abnormality is largely relative.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Delineating between normal and abnormal behavior is thus more complicated in that a medical implication is often involved. Several criteria have been proposed to account for such. For instance, the first criteria accounts for the behavior’s deviation from cultural norms. Cultures impose upon its members certain norms and the deviation from such often results to being labeled as abnormal. Men who wore earrings forty years ago were thus considered abnormal. Second, abnormal behavior deviates from the statistical norm (Smith, Nolen – Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus, 2003). Most people tend to fall within the mean of certain traits. An individual with an IQ of 40 falls on the extreme end and is therefore considered abnormal. Third, abnormal behavior is maladaptive; that is, it has detrimental effects on the individual and society. A woman who fears crowds and avoids taking the bus to work even if she has to is an example. Lastly, abnormal behavior causes personal distress (Smith, et al, 2003). An individual who harbors self – defeating belilefs about himself is deemed abnormal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abnormal behavior is rarely diagnosed effectively using just one from the aforementioned criteria. For a subject that calls to draw the line between normality and abnormality; one needs to be cautious in that people are inevitably affected and involved. References Smith, E., Nolen – Hoeksema, S., Fredrickson, B. & Loftus, G. (2003). Atkinson & Hilgard’s   Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction to Psychology, 14th Edition. Singapore: Thomson Learning Asia. Spoor, Katrina. (1999). What is â€Å"abnormal†? A Beginner’s Guide to Abnormal Psychology   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Site. Retrieved December 12, 2007 from http://www.purgatory.net/merits/abnormal.htm Syque. (2007). Elements of Culture. ChangingMinds.org Site. Retrieved December 12, 2007   Ã‚  Ã‚   from http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/elements_of_culture.htm

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on The Dislikable Dewhurst

Dewhurst’s inexperience in politics and his lack of political savvy, if elected, may very well end up costing Texas in the long run. So far, his Democratic opponent, John Sharp, has been getting more support from the Republicans of the state. Dewhurst has also missed his opportunity to gain support from the majority of the members in the Texas Senate. During last year’s sessions, Dewhurst met with several Republicans who believed that he would agree with and vote on their recommendations to redraw the districts. Dewhurst turned on the senators by voting differently than he had promised; therefore, gaining a detrimental lack of trust between himself and the members of the Senate. The most important job that the lieutenant governor possesses is Chair of the Senate. The lieutenant governor must have good working relationships as well as the trust of a universe of local and statewide officials in order to clarify and set the Senate’s agenda. When David Dewhurst failed to follow through with a simple promise with the senators last year, he lost his opportunity to be an effective lieutenant governor, if elected. Republicans simply don’t like him and don’t trust his abilities as lieutenant governor. David Dewhurst has two things going for him, good looks and an estimated personal fortune of $200 million dollars. This may buy his campaign, but it certainly doesn’t mean that he qualifies for the job of lieutenant governor. In Texas, the office of lieutenant governor is the most powerful. If we want things to get done, and done right, we need to consider the fact that Dewhurst is an amateur in this race. His experience dates back four years and involves a self-financed campaign. In addition, he has not particularly distinguished himself making him still an outsider in Austin. John Sharp, on the other hand, has had experience in several areas of government including serving in both the House and Senate, the Railroad C... Free Essays on The Dislikable Dewhurst Free Essays on The Dislikable Dewhurst Dewhurst’s inexperience in politics and his lack of political savvy, if elected, may very well end up costing Texas in the long run. So far, his Democratic opponent, John Sharp, has been getting more support from the Republicans of the state. Dewhurst has also missed his opportunity to gain support from the majority of the members in the Texas Senate. During last year’s sessions, Dewhurst met with several Republicans who believed that he would agree with and vote on their recommendations to redraw the districts. Dewhurst turned on the senators by voting differently than he had promised; therefore, gaining a detrimental lack of trust between himself and the members of the Senate. The most important job that the lieutenant governor possesses is Chair of the Senate. The lieutenant governor must have good working relationships as well as the trust of a universe of local and statewide officials in order to clarify and set the Senate’s agenda. When David Dewhurst failed to follow through with a simple promise with the senators last year, he lost his opportunity to be an effective lieutenant governor, if elected. Republicans simply don’t like him and don’t trust his abilities as lieutenant governor. David Dewhurst has two things going for him, good looks and an estimated personal fortune of $200 million dollars. This may buy his campaign, but it certainly doesn’t mean that he qualifies for the job of lieutenant governor. In Texas, the office of lieutenant governor is the most powerful. If we want things to get done, and done right, we need to consider the fact that Dewhurst is an amateur in this race. His experience dates back four years and involves a self-financed campaign. In addition, he has not particularly distinguished himself making him still an outsider in Austin. John Sharp, on the other hand, has had experience in several areas of government including serving in both the House and Senate, the Railroad C...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Divergent Evolution

Divergent Evolution The definition of evolution is a change in a population of a species over time. There are many different ways that evolution can happen in a population including both artificial selection and natural selection. The evolutionary path a species takes can also differ depending on the environment and other biological factors. One of these paths of macroevolution is called divergent evolution. In divergent evolution, a single species interbreeds, either through natural means or artificially chosen traits and selective breeding, and then that species begins to branch off and become a different species. Over time as the two new different species continues to evolve, they become less and less similar. In other words, they have diverged. Divergent evolution is a type of macroevolution that creates more diversity in species in the biosphere. Catalysts Sometimes, divergent evolution occurs through chance happenings over time. Other cases of divergent evolution become necessary for survival in a changing environment. Some circumstances that can drive divergent evolution include natural disasters like volcanoes, weather phenomena, the spread of disease, or an overall climate change in an area in which the species lives. These changes make it necessary for the species to adapt and change in order to survive. Natural selection will select the trait that is more beneficial for the species survival. Adaptive Radiation The term adaptive radiation is also sometimes used interchangeably with divergent evolution. However, most science textbooks agree that adaptive radiation is focused more on the microevolution of a rapidly reproducing population. Adaptive radiation may lead to divergent evolution over time as the new species become less similar, or diverge, in different directions on the tree of life. While it is a very fast type of speciation, divergent evolution generally takes more time. Once a species has diverged via adaptive radiation or another microevolutionary process, divergent evolution will occur more quickly if there is some sort of physical barrier or a reproductive or biological difference that keeps the populations from interbreeding once again. Over time, significant differences and adaptations can add up and make it impossible for the populations to ever interbreed again. This may be caused by a change in chromosome number or as simple as incompatible reproduction cycles. An example of adaptive radiation that led to divergent evolution is Charles Darwins finches. Even though their overall appearances seemed to be similar and were clearly descendants of the same common ancestor, they did have different beak shapes and were no longer able to interbreed in nature. This lack of interbreeding and the different niches the finches had filled on the Galapagos Islands led the populations to become less and less similar over time. Forelimbs Perhaps an even more illustrative example of divergent evolution in the history of life on Earth is the forelimbs of mammals. Even though whales, cats, humans, and bats all are very different morphologically and in the niches they fill in their environments, the bones of the forelimbs of these different species are a great example of divergent evolution. Whales, cats, humans, and bats clearly cannot interbreed and are very different species, but the similar bone structure in the forelimbs indicate they once diverged from a common ancestor. Mammals are an example of divergent evolution because they became very dissimilar over a long period of time, yet still retain similar structures that indicate they are related somewhere on the tree of life. The diversity of species on Earth has increased over time, not counting the periods in the history of life where mass extinctions occurred. This is, in part, a direct result of adaptive radiation and also divergent evolution. Divergent evolution continues to work on the current species on Earth and leading to even more macroevolution and speciation.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Case study - Essay Example That was the time when she realized that this bag can be popular product for people who loves innovative designing articles like cloths, umbrella, handbags, wallet, makeup bags, lamp shades etc. Clare, mother of Calypso also helped her with the business. Her first year turnover was ?180 000 and she became the London Business person of the year at the age of 22 (Burns, 2011). Calypso and her mother Clare chose to manufacture the bags from UK and use their house as the office. The reasons are: Working from home was advantageous cause their Calypso did not had to pay any rent for her office to anybody. Except that no extra electricity or internet bill there are flexible office time. She could able to work any time in a day and handle any matter whenever they arise without delay. And she got her mother’s help from home (Clippy London, 2013). She was worried that any big and established manufacturer in market can easily steal her idea or copy it so she had to make the sales fast an d regular, to do that she needed the supply unit and manufacturing unit to be close. If the supply unit is thousands of miles away somewhere in china and she had import everything from there it would took couple of valuable days. Instead of that if that if both the unit in UK the orders can be more quickly handled. And once the business start and run smoothly the payment terms for business chain will be regular and spontaneous and it will help the cash flow for her business. An online directory namely Kelly’s online directory (Kelly Search, n.d.) helped her to find out a manufacturer from UK (Smith, 2010). Calypso was a first timer in business field and she had no experience in that domain. Also her volume of business was not very big it was precisely 250 bags only. So for 250 bags going to foreign country to search supplier and renting a separate office would have been more fancy for her cause she was not sure the idea of transparent and graphics bag would hit in the market or not. Her initial customers were family, relatives, friends and those people who appreciated her idea earlier. The official launch of the product was on 2004 during Christmas Fair in Olympia’s Spirit (Stylist.co.uk, n.d.). These three were the main reason of choosing UK as the place of manufacturing for calypso for her fashionable see through bag with customised designs. During start ups and initial growth period manufacturing unit of Clippy was at UK, there were some advantages as well as some disadvantages also. Advantages can be: If supply and manufacturing unit are nearby then time cycle from order of raw materials –delivery of them –and making finished items and delivering them to market become fast and regular. Communication between various members in supply and delivery chain is become easy and effective. In that respective if we look at Clippy’s initial days (start up and initial growth) it was quite expectable for such an innovative product. It was an innovative product no such see through bags with pockets and photos of family and friends on it was available previously in any market. It was an experiment for her to launch it in small scale in UK market from where she also got couple of encouragements from various fashion lovers. So it was like a gamble for her. So it was better to choose her home market rather than foreign market for manufacturing (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2012). Calypso did not have any experience as a