Saturday, December 28, 2019

The Breakdown Of A Personality - 2612 Words

This paper will be focusing on the breakdown of a personality in every single way possible. Personality is a topic that involves multiple theories and developments. The breakdown of each development and theory will help have a better understanding for unanswered questions for many people. In this paper there will be included the theories of Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers. The developments within this paper will show the works of how a personality is developed and classified. It will show the steps of how each person is made into an individual and how each individual may have something in common. The theories will show how the developments even came about and how the studying and research have answered the unanswered†¦show more content†¦Finding out the five factors of the person is now one of the most influential ways and is the key to figuring out a person and their personality. Classifying traits Before going straight into the five factors, there are things that come before that stage such as predicting the behavior of a person. When it comes to the behavior of a person there are two labels that can define them which are â€Å"introvert† or â€Å"extrovert.† Introverts are known as people who do not do well with social interaction and extrovert is the opposite, the people who are comfortable with social interaction. Introversion and extroversion are thought of as a trait which leads into the classifying of traits. Trait theories Classifying traits of a person include common traits, individual traits, cardinal traits, central traits, secondary traits, surface traits, and source traits. Each of these traits is a trait that adds up and defines a person and their personality. Common traits are characteristics that tell people from a certain culture and share what their similarities are. Individual traits are the classification of persons’ unique qualities. Cardinal traits are the basic trait that leads to the actual trait the person is classified as. These traits then lead into central and secondary traits and most people don’t quite understand how they differ from cardinal traits. Central traits are known as the building blocks of a

Friday, December 20, 2019

Customer Service - 2488 Words

Customer Service Research Paper Before I get into further analysis of my own personal experience, I am going to explain about different characteristics that are involved in customer service. Most businesses will tell you that quality customer service is the keystone to success. An essential component of outstanding customer service is the possession of a great staff. Larger companies may be weighed down by employee handbooks that specify the customer service guidelines. Independent, smaller businesses have the advantage of selecting employees that possess excellent customer service know how and capabilities. The customer service department should also be extremely familiar with the inventory, services, and policies entailed in the store.†¦show more content†¦A good idea is to ensure the customer that methods will be taken to prevent this problem from happening in the future. Employees can make a difference if the customer feels that they are making a difference on the business. Many companies learn that ef fective service recovery heightens customer loyalty. It costs approximately five times as much money to acquire an existing customer then it does to keep an old one. Without using these methods, I have found that there are many approaches that make the customer angrier than they were in the first place. One of the best is telling the customer how important they are and how much this call means to the company, and then letting the customer sit on hold forever. It is even better when it is just a recording that interrupts the annoying elevator music on the phone repeating over and over that this call is important to us, remain holding. If this call is so important, why am I on hold for an hour? A business can always keep transferring the customer to different departments, and each department can redirect them. This will make the customer become angry at all of the departments and not just one employee. At least with one employee, the customer may not feel the whole company is unqualified and not helpful. Making the customer explain their problem over and over makes them angrier and angrier. One of the best ways to make a customer irate is to putSho w MoreRelatedCustomer Service2541 Words   |  11 Pagesï » ¿Customer Service at Datatronics Datatronics is an organization that serves their customers with Enterprise Resource Planning integrated solutions. Their growth is mainly attributed to acquisitions of smaller competitors. E-Z RP was such a company that despite its inferior size compared to Datatronics was able to succeed and outperform Datatronics on grounds of customer service and customer satisfaction. Datatronics recognized the fact and acquired E-Z RP with the aim to improve in that respectiveRead MoreCustomer Service Services And The Service Sector2162 Words   |  9 PagesSince+ the global economy embraced customer service, issues regarding levels of customer service have become more prominent in service organisations. Even now there are organisational managers with no training or knowledge of how organisations in the service sector require a high level of customer service. This is ignorance of the fact good customer service can create a competitive advantage; increase profit; efficiency; and increase staff a nd customer retention and satisfaction. Based on comprehensiveRead MoreCustomer Service And An Organization1445 Words   |  6 Pagescontinuously fail in customer service satisfaction for many reasons. As service failures are inevitable, it is important for companies, especially small businesses, to capitalize on learning the importance of reducing service failure. Just as the seed is the core of the fruit, customer service is the core of an organization; its meaning is the primary function for organizations to retain business and discover new ventures. Customer service is the primary source of business-to-customer communication andRead MoreCustomer Service Essay641 Words   |  3 Pagesto communicate with customers to identify and agree on product/ service specifications. It is crucial to be aware that customer expectations and needs will change from time to time and will be affected by market trends, fashions and changes in external environments. This means the business plans need to be adapted to changing needs of customers and is important that organisations communicate with its customers. Profiling is a method to understand the needs of the customers. Profiling enables organisationsRead MoreThe Etiquette Of Customer Service1601 Words   |  7 PagesThe Etiquette of Customer Service – Instructional Guide Overview Objective Key points How to say â€Å"I’m sorry† without apologizing in customer service? There are justifiable situations that require customer service representatives to say â€Å"I’m sorry† without apologizing. Situations include: a plan benefit that is not covered, denial of a pre-authorization, or an appeal denial. Session#1 I’m Sorry When this occurs, there are phrasesRead MoreCustomer Service Representatives1622 Words   |  7 PagesZappos. This is followed by a hierarchal ranking of the four major presenting problems for the company, which are: maintaining the â€Å"wow† image without overspending, inventory management/distribution problems, transportation efficiency problems and customer behavior problems. Each of these problems is addressed in more detail in the discussion section and the recommendations section at the end of the analysis. Prior to the conclusion and recommendations section, a list of possible strategic alternativesRead MoreCustomer Service At The Restaurant2103 Words   |  9 Pages†¢ Execute exceptional outstanding customer service by recruiting, leading and developing people and planning, organising, directing, controlling and evaluating all the operations of the restaurant to build sales and control costs to deliver optimum business results for the restaurant †¢ Understand, enforce and train Crew and Managers on all appropriate policies, award minimums, security and safety procedures. †¢ Modifying the operational procedures as per the requirement of the profitability of theRead MoreCustomer Service1186 Words   |  5 Pagessome companies aim to look after their customers well, ensuring that the customer is at the heart of their business and everything they do. In marketing terms this is called being customer focused. It is important to realise that customers can take their business anywhere they want to and if they are not satisfied they will take their business elsewhere. Therefore, it is very important to understand who our customers are, their expectations of the service they experience and how that effects futureRead MoreEssay on Customer Service1144 Words   |  5 PagesSection 1 – Understand the factors that affect an organisation and the customer service role 1. Complete the table below with a description of the products and services for at least two commercial organisations, public organisations and third sector organisations. Please ensure you provide a description for each organisation, rather than a list. Organisation type Name of organisation Description of products and services Commercial organisation Commercial organisation Read MoreQuestions On Customer Service And Customer Services1913 Words   |  8 Pagesthe main problems a company may has on the customer services, it point out that many companies may issue on dealing with customers feedbacks thus it lead enterprise loss their market share because of bad performance on customer services and they may give the bad comments on company’s products and services. Therefore, they need to establish a system ii. Body 1 It will analyze several problems a company might have, a company may hard to collect customers’ feedback and manage it, and then some company

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Commercial Law Law of Torts

Question: Discuss about the Essay for Commercial Law and Law of Torts. Answer: 1st. The scenario that is provided depicts that Alan went to the shop of Ben for making the purchase of Russian vodka. After his visit, he made asked Ben for three bottles of vodka that is Russian. Upon his inquiry, Ben gave the answer that the bottles that Alan was holding in his hand are of the same description that was demanded by him. Alan then made the purchase of those bottles, paid money for the same, and received a receipt from Ben in exchange for that purchase. In the above context, we can say that as a result of the purchase, there exists a contractual relationship between them. According to the law of contract, any contract stands as a document that is more than a mere agreement, and that possess the feature of enforceability in the court of law (Barker, Lunney Trindade, 2012). Hence, it can be said that the contract acts as agreements that exist between more than two persons that make the formation of obligations that are enforceable wither for doing or refraining from doing any particular act. Several elements must be followed by the formation of a contract. Those elements are the consideration, offer, intention, legal capacity and acceptance (Bridge, 2012). The primary element of a contract is an offer. Either one party of any contract makes such offer. The person who indulges himself or herself in the offer making is known as the offeror. The person to whom the offer is made is known as the offeree. In the scenario, Alan made the invitation to Ben make him the offer. Receiving that offer, Ben caused himself to offer Alan to make the buy of bottles of vodka. In the case of Gibbons v Proctor (1891), there was a policeman who was allowed to make the recovery of a reward at that time when he sends the information by being ignorant of the offer of that reward (Brudner, 2013). The next element known as acceptance is also of immense importance. Once the offer is made, it has to make by the other party or parties in any contract. The party who makes the acceptance in any contract is known as the acceptor. After the acceptance is made, the same has to be appropriately communicated to the person who made that offer (Calfa Grossmann, 2015). The moment the acceptance is communicated appropriately the performance procedure by the offeror is to start. In the scenario that is given, the Alan made the acceptance of Bens offer of buying three bottles of Russian vodka. The next element is the consideration. It is that amount that is provided by a party of any contract in the exchange of the service to the other parties of the contract. The consideration is often regarded as the essence of any contract. Any contract is entered into only for consideration. In the provided scenario, Alan renders the considered to Ben for the supply of the bottles of vodka. In the acknowledgment of that payment of consideration, Ben gave Alan the receipt for that payment. The intention of the parties to any contract also acts an element that is important for the formation of any contract. In any contract, there has to be the intention of the parties to any contract, which is generated by their free will and not under any force. In the case study, there is the intention of the parties that is Alan and Ben to make the dealing and thus entering into the contract. The legal capacity is also an important contractual element. The law of contract makes the express statement that during entering into a contract a person must attain the legal age that is eighteen years and must not be under the effect of alcohol (Crump, 2013). Any bankrupt and a prisoner are also not allowed to enter into a contract. Alan and Ben both have the legal capacity to enter into an obligation that is contractual. Hence, from the above discussion it can be said that there exists a valid contract between Ben and Alan, as all the elements of a contract are present in their dealing. 2nd. The Sale of Goods Act governs the transactions where by any person who is known as the buyer make the transfer of goods to any person known to the seller, for the payment any amount that is known as price or value. Under the Sale of Goods Act, the contract for the sale of goods and services makes its involvement in the making of the regulations and rules for both contracts of sale and contract of sale. Part 1(h) of the Sale of Goods Act delivers the definition of the term goods. The term goods under the Act make the inclusion of all kinds of moveable and excludes claims and money (Davies, 2016). Timber, growing crops, shares and stock are included in the term goods. There are several warranties that are guaranteed by the Act that tends to render protection to both the buyers and sellers. In Part 1, of Sale of Goods Act of the territory of Singapore declares those warranties that render protection to the buyer's interest from the intentions that are fraudulent of the seller. There is implied warranty that is guaranteed by Part 1 of Section 15 of the Sale of Goods Act of Singapore for the goods that are sold by way of description. In the simpler terms, the goods that mean that whenever any goods are sold by way of description, the goods must comply with the qualities that exist in a description (Durkheim, 2014). In Part 5 of Section 53 of the Sale of Goods Act of Singapore, deals with setting out the rules and the norms that are to be followed by a buyer in case of breach any warranty by any seller. The Section states expressly that any buyer is always entitled to bringing any legal action, for making the breach of any warranty, against seller (Eggen, 2015). In the additional terms, there is also the entitlement to the buyer to make settlement of violation of any warranty by making the reduction of the price of purchase. The present case suggests that the seller is Ben, and the buyer is Alan. There was the clear demand or requirement by Alan that he wants to make the purchase of three bottles of vodka that is Russian. When Alan made his entry at the liquor shop of Ben, he held some bottles of vodka in his hands and demanded his requirement of Russian vodka to Ben. The reply of Ben was that the bottles in the hands of Alan fulfill his requirement. On getting that reply, Alan made the purchase of the drinks and offered his friend, who got ill as a result of drinking those drinks. Upon making the inquiry, it was found out that the drinks delivered by Ben were not originally Russian vodka and were illicit drinks. Hence, it can be said that Ben made the violation of Section 16 and 15 of the Sale of Goods Act by making the supply of illicit drinks in the place of Russian vodka. For the act of Ben, Alan is entitled to bring the legal action or claim against Ben. 3. The receipt that was issued by Ben to Alan for the payment of money of the bottles of vodka enshrined the statement that the products that are sold once from the shop of Ben are not subject to refund. The receipt also enshrined the words that that seller also is not responsible for the safety of the products that are sold by the shop. Hence, in accordance with the words of the receipt, there is no liability of Ben if the products of him were unsafe in any (Furmston, Cheshire Fifoot, 2012). The primary issue that is involved in this scenario is that whether the receipt that is delivered by Ben to Alan amounts to a contract that ism enforceable in the court of law. The receipt can never be considered as a contract. It is because the receipt is a mere acknowledgment of the fact that Alan made the payment of money for the bottles of vodka that is purchased. The receipt is neither an agreement nor a contract that is enforceable in any law court (Furmston Tolhurst, 2010). The receipt in the court of law would be considered as the evidence of the payment of consideration by any justice, in deciding the contractual relationship that exists between them. The contract that exists between the two parties that is Ben and Alan is not express but implied. The presence of the contract between is evident from the dealing between them. There is a reputed case named Olley v Marlborough Court Ltd, where Olley could not find the keys of hotel that she left in a safe position in the reception. A disclaimer by the hotel authorities makes the express statement that the proprietors would not held themselves liable for the loss of articles unless the managers of the hotel for their safe custody handle those articles (Hunter, 2015). The Court held that the fault was on the part of the hotel authorities for acting negligently. It was evident that Olley kept the keys of the hotel at the reception. Hence, the disclaimer that was issued on the part of the hotel was regarded by the court as not a part of the contract, and the hotel cannot rely on that disclaimer (Markovits, 2015). The contract that existed between Alan and Ben depicts that Ben was under the duty to make the performance of the contract by the delivery of the exact requirement that was demanded by Alan. By the delivery of illicit drinks, Ben made the breach of the contract terms and the violation of the provisions of Sale of Goods Act. Hence, there lies the option that is available to Alan for suing Ben. In that suit, Alan could either claim for refund against the faulty products that were rendered by Ben or could claim for damages for the loss that he sustained for the unsafe goods Ben delivered. In that suit, the receipt of Ben would be neither valid nor enforced. The Court would never consider such receipt (McKendrick, 2014). 4. The scenario that is to be discussed in the last questions suggests that the friends of Alan got affected by the disease of diarrhea. As a result drinking the drinks that were delivered by Ben. The primary issue that was involved in the case that is whether there lies any claim on the part of friends of Alan against Ben. The issue that is involved in the case can be resolved by the application and the discussion of the principles of foreseeable conduct and proximate cause in the law of torts. There is also the requirement of the discussion of the principles of negligence in a resolution of the issues (Mullender, 2013). In the tort law, there is the requirement on the part of any person to take that reasonable care in order to avoid omissions or act that could foresee reasonably in the injury of any other person. In the case of Nettleship v Weston [1971] CA, it was held by the Court that at the time of driving any motor car, it is foreseeable that any passenger or other users of the road are affected directly in case the driver is careless (Poole, 2012). In the case of Margereson v Roberts [1996] CA, the Court held that children who play near the factory of asbestos have the risk of suffering from a disease called mesothelioma. Hence, the working of the factor would be considered as foreseeable to the harm of those children (Rose, 2013). The term proximate cause refers to the primary cause of an injury. It is not necessary that the proximate cause would be the closest cause in either space or time or the first event that is responsible for setting the events in motion or in the sequence that led to any injury. The principle of proximate cause is involved in making the production of the consequences that are foreseeable without the intervention of any unforeseeable cause. The term proximate cause is also referred to as the legal cause (Schwenzer, Hachem Kee, 2012). The term negligence refers to the failure of any person to take the care of something which was under that duty of taking care and failed to take that care. The essential feature of negligence is that the failure of any person to take that care also amounted to the loss of any other party (Yeo, 2012). In the case that is given the foreseeable principle, proximate cause and negligence is applicable. The sustaining of diarrhea by the friends of Alan is foreseeable to the act of Ben, and the proximate cause of that disease is the act of Ben. The principle of negligence suggests that Ben was under the duty of delivering genuine drinks to Alan. Ben made the breach of his duty by giving Ben illicit drinks. The transferring of the illicit drinks has lead to the health problems of friends of Alan. Hence, it can be said that Ben was negligent that lead diarrhea of Alan's friends. It is evident that there is no contract between Ben and friends of Alan. However, by the application of the principles of foreseeable conduct, proximate cause and negligence makes it clear that Ben is responsible for the health hazard of friends of Alan. Hence, those friends have the right to sue Ben. Reference List Barker, K., Cane, P., Lunney, M., Trindade, F. (2012).The law of torts in Australia. Oxford University Press. Bridge, M. G. (2012).Benjamin's sale of goods. Sweet Maxwell. Brudner, A. (2013).The unity of the common law. OUP Oxford. Calfa, B. A., Grossmann, I. E. (2015). Optimal procurement contract selection with price optimization under uncertainty for process networks.Computers Chemical Engineering,82, 330-343. Crump, D. (2013). How to Read a Contract Proposal Written by Someone Else, or Evaluating the Seven Elements of Agreement.Fla. St. U. Bus. Rev.,12, 109. Davies, P. S. (2016).JC Smith's the Law of Contract. Oxford University Press. Durkheim, E. (2014).The rules of sociological method: and selected texts on sociology and its method. Simon and Schuster. Eggen, J. M. (2015). Mental Disabilities and Duty in Negligence Law: Will Neuroscience Reform Tort Doctrine?.Indiana Health Law Review,12, 591. Furmston, M. P., Cheshire, G. C., Fifoot, C. H. S. (2012).Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmston's law of contract. Oxford university press. Furmston, M., Tolhurst, G. J. (2010).Contract formation: Law and practice. Oxford University Press, USA. Hunter, H. (2015). Modern Law of Contracts. Markovits, R. S. (2015). TORT-RELATED RISK COSTS AND THE FIRST-BEST ECONOMIC INEFFICIENCY OF THE HAND FORMULA FOR NEGLIGENCE: HOW TO FIX THE FORMULA WHEN IT CAN BE FIXED AND WHY IT SOMETIMES CANNOT BE FIXED. McKendrick, E. (2014).Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press (UK). Mullender, R. (2013). English Negligence Law as a Human Practice.Law Literature. Poole, J. (2012).Casebook on contract law. Oxford University Press. Rose, F. D. (Ed.). (2013).Contract, Tort Restitution. Oxford University Press. Schwenzer, I., Hachem, P., Kee, C. (2012).Global sales and contract law. Oxford University Press. Yeo, T. M. (2012). The Future of Promissory Estoppel in Singapore Law.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Blockchain for Bitcoin Technology

Question: Discuss about the Blockchain for Bitcoin Technology. Answer: Introduction: The block chains are the distributed databases maintaining continuous growth of records ordered in lists called blocks. It is the public ledger of every Bitcoin transactions which have been executed. The completed blocks are incorporated to it leading to constant increase in size of the block chains. These blocks have been imposed over the blockchain in chronological order and linear manner. The research would be conducted around Bitcoins. The bitcoins has been developed as rewards in competitions where users offer power of computing to authenticate and record transfer of data into block-chains. The study would not reveal any other cases supported by the block-chains like smart contracts and the licensing. The study would describe the research. Then the evaluation of the contribution of block-chains with bitcoins has been discussed. A model to stimulate has been developed with its limitations and justifications. Lastly conclusion has been drawn on the key findings fitting to the research. At first the topic blockchain technology in Bitcoin is defined. Then the area of blockchain technology in Bitcoin is unfolded. The areas that are not to be included in this research are mentioned. Lastly the general findings from blockchain technology in Bitcoin are revealed. In the next section, the fiend of the review has been described. After describing the research, evaluation is done on the contribution of the research that has been done to the area. Next the limitations of blockchain technology in Bitcoin are shown. Lastly the section ends by mentioning the values of the limitations in the project. Then the best solution for the present situation is given. It important features are discussed. Its quality and contribution to the given research field is analyzed. A model is drawn stimulating it. Lastly conclusion is drawn upon the key findings from the review of blockchain technology in Bitcoin. Research description: Boyd Carr, (2016) researched that Blockchain is the decentralized method for data transaction in data management. It was first designed for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The interest in this field originated since the idea has been coined in the year of 2008. The reason behind this was its core attributes providing data integrity, anonymity and security. This has been done in the absence of a third party organization that could manage its transactions. Thus it created attractive areas of research. This has been especially from the view point of limitations and technical challenges. A systematic mapping of the study with the aim of gathering every relevant research on the technology of lock-chain is set. The main aim has been the understanding of the present challenges, future directions and topics of the research. Various online journals are studies. That show focus on the Bitcoin systems. Most of the studies has been dealing with reveal and improve of the Blockchains from the security and privacy view-points. Several of the proposed solutions have been lacking concrete discussion on the effectiveness. Many scalability of Block-chain involving the latency and throughput has been kept unstudied. Evaluation of the contribution of the research:The contribution of the research has been interesting to watch where it has been heading. Bitcoin has got many attentions in cryptocurrency. According to Gbel et al. (2016) more people has been buying and trading Bitcoins per day. Hence it has been crucial as a research topic. The research would attract the academia and industries to carry on further researches from both the technical and business perspectives. The Bitcoin has been the only solution to utilize the Blockchain technology. There has been various other cryptocurrencies currently who have been giving competition to Bitcoin. The future researches from this study might also involve other cryptocurrencies. The review would not only help in focusing on Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies but also highlight applications possible utilizing the solution of blockchain. Utilizing of decentralized scenario like the share of virtual properties could be a contribution of the research. This would revolutionize the approach in which the organizations would sell the products. Gipp, KostiBreitinger (2016) states that as the solutions of blockchain are used for more users, it would appreciate the reviews like this done on the technical challenges and limitations. The increase in sizes and bases of users has triggered to conduct this type of researches relating to the scalability. Moreover, the research will leave its impact on the privacy and security concerns. This would give birth to inventions of new areas to prevent the disturbance on blockchains. Limitations of the research:The systematic mapping of the research would enable the understanding of the present gaps in the research. Crosby et al., (2016) state thatone of the fundamental limitations on the study is relating to the publication bias. It refers that the problem that the positive outcomes are to be published more than that of the negative ones. This is because that the negative take much time to get published. Moreover, they have been less cited in the publications. Other limitation has been the selection bias. It refers to the distortion of the statistical analysis. This has been owing to the used criteria for selecting the publications. Lastly the there has been limitation regarding inaccuracy the extraction of data and the misclassification. This indicates the possibility of extraction of data differently by various reviewers. Importance of the research gaps in the project:As researched by Zheng et al., (2016) this identification of systematic mapping of the research would help the practitioners and the researchers to concentrate on research areas that need more researches. The seeking of the gaps of research would reply the unanswered queries in the present technology of blockchain. The addressing of the publication issue has brought the usage of various scientific databases. This is done within the search protocols to seek maximum number of papers. This has raised the quantity of papers found for this study along with raising the possibility to seek the papers with negative outcomes. Nonetheless, the Blockchain innovation has been considered as another subject in the software engineering industry. It has been further distributed as white papers inside the companies. Thus, all exploration led on the specialized perspectives on Blockchain could not been incorporated in this mapping study. In any case, by u sing just logical databases as hotspots for finding significant research, papers are gathered of higher quality. The issue of selection bias has been addressed by the developing o careful search protocols. Pilot searches could be done on various keywords ensuring what has been concluded from the study. Rigorous criteria for inclusion and the exclusion could be defined form this. This would ensure that every paper elected has been the section of the research topic (Bracamonte, Yamasaki Okada, 2016). Most of the researches relating to the block-chain have been relevant to the regulation, legal and economic factors of Bitcoin with the possibility of its cryptocurrency. The current selected solution at best: The solution is the data extraction and mapping process. Matzuttet al., (2016) claimed is designed to gather data required to address the queries of research in this review. The data items collected are the basic information regarding the study. It includes the objectives and major findings from the study. It helps to organize and assess the data. The selection and search outcomes are found from the process. There has been the Prisma-Flow model provided with the process. Many journals have been retrieved initially as the search protocol designed has been registered to the scientific databases selected. The initial round on the inclusion and the exclusion has been lying on the basis of the titles of the papers retrieved. Various papers excluded have been discussed from the business view-point of Bitcoin. They have not been included in the study. Retrieval of numerous papers relevant to other scientific fields where the Blockchain has another definition than technology in computer scie nce is done. The most important features have been the identification of security, wasted resources, usability and privacy. These have been good due to the identification of exchanging property of Bitcoin. This has caused economic harm for the clients. This fit into the research was said by Karame (2016). This is because there is a scope of introducing the audit software to increase the usability in the Bitcoin exchanges. The aim of this software has been to deduce the solvency of exchange participants. This could be done without the publication of crucial data. There has been connection between the buyer and the seller with limited layer for anonymity. This prevents the buyers to find and validate data in Bitcoin. Different models could be presented through which the rating or reputation could be imposed conjoining the transactions of Bitcon. This considers every pros and cons. These aspects could be improved. This could be done on the network of Bitcoin. Thus the usability is improved delivering extra data for users who have been making transactions. Limitations:Colombo (2016) argues that the technology of block-chain has certain challenges that are identified through the review. Several technical limitations identified in adapting the technology of block-chain in future are throughput, latency, bandwidth and size, security, wasted resources, usability and versioning with hard forks and multiple chains. They have been the limitations for certain reasons. The potential issues throughput in the network of Bitcoin presently gets maximized to transactions per second. In order to develop enough protection for the transaction block of Bitcoin, it takes 10 minutes to finish a transaction roughly. In order to gain security efficiency, more time has to be spent in the blocks. This is because it has been outweighing the expense of couple of attacks. Currently the block-chains size in the network of Bitcoin has been over five hundred thousand megabytes. The community of Bitcoin assumes that the quantity of each block has been one mega bytes. The block has been created for every ten minutes. Dwyer (2016) discusses that this causes limitations in the quantity of transactions to be handled. In the security section the present block-chain at Bitcoin can have 51% attack. The mining at Bitcoin has been wasting large quantity of energy about fifteen million dollars per day. This has been the reason of effort of proof-of-work. The API of Bitcoin to develop services has been hard to use. There has been the requirement to design an API for blockchain that is more developer-friendly. This resembles the REST APIs many times. Small chains that comprises of lower quantity of nodes possess high chances of fifty-one percent attack. Another problem arises as the chains have been split for versioning and administrative purposes (Krug Peterson, 2015). These limitations fit to the review as the blockchain posses the ability to alter the method of transactions. Moreover, the block-chains applications have not been limited to the crypto currencies. The data integrity attributes of security and the anonymity has been suffering from various restrictions and obstacles. They are assesses and resolved in this research. Scalability has been another problem which has been also mentioned in this study. This research would help in identifying the present status done by blockchain. Conclusion: The research has continued to seek several problems and solutions to overcome the limitations of the technology of Block-chain. Most of the study has concentrated on addressing the challenges. Every block comprises of a timestamp. It comprises of links to previous blocks. As recorded once, the block-chains have been resistant inherently to any kind of modification of data. Maximum researches on block-chain of present day have been concerned about the security and privacy issues. It has conducted scalability problems on the Blockchain. The review has evaluated the ability of the solutions suggested in an aim of the evaluation criteria. The limitations are searched and the way it has been valuable to the project is found out. A suitable model is drawn justifying the best solution selected. Though various solutions to the limitations and solutions are presented but few of them has been just small proposals and lack strong assessment on the effectiveness. References: Boyd, C., Carr, C. (2016, July). Fair Client Puzzles from the Bitcoin Blockchain. InAustralasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy(pp. 161-177). Springer International Publishing. Bracamonte, V., Yamasaki, S., Okada, H. (2016). A Discussion of Issues related to Electronic Voting Systems based on Blockchain Technology. Colombo, R. J. (2016). Bitcoin: Hype or Harbinger.J. Int'l Bus. L.,16, 1. Crosby, M., Pattanayak, P., Verma, S., Kalyanaraman, V. (2016). Blockchain technology: Beyond bitcoin.Applied Innovation,2, 6-10. Dwyer, G. P. (2016). Blockchain: A Primer. English, S. M., Nezhadian, E. (2017). Conditions of Full Disclosure: The Blockchain Remuneration Model.arXiv preprint arXiv:1703.04196. Ferrin, D. (2015). A Preliminary Field Guide for Bitcoin Transaction Patterns. InProc. Texas Bitcoin Conf. Gipp, B., Kosti, J., Breitinger, C. (2016). Securing Video Integrity Using Decentralized Trusted Timestamping on the Bitcoin Blockchain. Gbel, J., Keeler, H. P., Krzesinski, A. E., Taylor, P. G. (2016). Bitcoin blockchain dynamics: The selfish-mine strategy in the presence of propagation delay.Performance Evaluation,104, 23-41. Hari, A., Lakshman, T. V. (2016, November). The Internet Blockchain: A Distributed, Tamper-Resistant Transaction Framework for the Internet. InProceedings of the 15th ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks(pp. 204-210). ACM. Karame, G. (2016, October). On the Security and Scalability of Bitcoin's Blockchain. InProceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security(pp. 1861-1862). ACM. Krug, J., Peterson, J. (2015). Sidecoin: a snapshot mechanism for bootstrapping a blockchain.arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.01039. Matzutt, R., Hohlfeld, O., Henze, M., Rawiel, R., Ziegeldorf, J. H., Wehrle, K. (2016, October). POSTER: I Don't Want That Content! On the Risks of Exploiting Bitcoin's Blockchain as a Content Store. InProceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security(pp. 1769-1771). ACM. Miscione, G., Kavanagh, D. (2015). Bitcoin and the Blockchain: A Coup D'tat through Digital Heterotopia?. Nugent, T., Upton, D., Cimpoesu, M. (2016). Improving data transparency in clinical trials using blockchain smart contracts [version 1; referees: awaiting peer review]. Zheng, Z., Xie, S., Dai, H. N., Wang, H. (2016). Blockchain Challenges and Opportunities: A Survey.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Editorial On A.R. Reading Essays - Education Reform,

Editorial On A.R. Reading Editorial on A.R. Reading. By Brodie Howe A.R. reading is the new choice of torture among teachers across the Issaquah School District (411). A.R. stands for Accelerated Reading. This is the process in which a student will take a vocabulary test at the beginning of the school year which will be graded. On this grading scale, students receive a reading range in which they are aloud to read books according to their difficulty level. As well as having to read according to what your reading level is, you have to also gain points by taking a test on the book you previously read. The number of points a book is worth has to do with its difficulty. For example; a book with a reading level of 10.5 with 390 pages and a character sizing of 10 point, might be worth 45 points. But a book with a reading level of 2.0 with 15 pages and a character size of 35, might be worth 1 point. In Ms. Hardys 4th period class, all students had to earn 60 points, 30 A.R., and 30 not A.R. this counts as 20 percent of your grade. When asked, What is the point of A.R.? Mr. Brown, a 7th and 8th grade woodshop and cooking teacher answered, We love to see you suffer! Honestly, A.R. really is pointless. Instead of forcing reading onto kids, teachers should make it fun. And teachers might even make it so it doesnt make or break your grade. If you take the time to think about it, the average reading level is about 8.5. The average point level for a book is about the same, 8.5. The average person reads about two pages per minute, and the average number of pages for an 8 point book is about 300 to 350. Therefor, the average person would have to read about an hour a day, on top of the average amount of homework for each class which is about a half hour per class per day, so this adds up to about 3 to 4 hours of homework a day, not counting projects and studying for tests. This leaves about a half an hour each weekday to have a life. Another subject that goes along with this is teachers giving class time for homework. If the teachers would just teach the whole period, the school year would not only be more productive but we would be done with the school year would only need to be about half as long. The only reason teachers do this is so they can grade kids papers during class. Wait a minute, how long does the average person stay at work until, 6 or 7 oclock at night, and teachers get off work at 2:30. That leaves about 4 hours until the average person gets off work. This means that the teachers should be able to correct all of the assignments when they are not in class so they can teach the whole period. Education

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Free Essays on Black Girl in Paris

Black Girl in Paris is a coming of age story about a smart, young girl named Eden who boldly states in the first chapter, â€Å"I’m not afraid of anything.† Embracing the courage and determination of this young woman’s adventuresome spirit to buy a one-way ticket to Paris, I flipped pages wondering what would become of her. Eden many times has to remind herself of the same thing in France. She is following her dream to live in Paris, following, too, in the footsteps of some of her mentors, most notably, James Baldwin. Along the way, Eden learns many lessons and is forced to make sacrifices of her own personal dignity. She takes jobs that she wouldn’t put on her â€Å"dream job† list, but does so out of a need to survive. Much of this book chronicles these "alternative" modes of employment. And each chapter is named after her new professional exploit. The jobs stretch the gamut: museum guide, traveling companion, artist’s model, au pair, poet’s helper, lover, English teacher, and thief. Throughout, she is challenged to reinvent herself, and forced to question and reassess the core of her being. Moving from job to job, Eden explores issues of who to trust, where her sexuality lies, and what it is really like to be black in Paris? Much of her journey is focused on her desire to write, to prove that she can write, and that she can somehow rub up against the talent of other fellow Black writers by following in their footsteps. Shay Youngblood took a similar trip to Paris as a young girl and this story could be mistaken for memoir. Regardless of how accurate these accounts are, this novel is a tale of the vibrant spirit of a strong young woman. It is a testament of the adaptability of the human spirit and how our path of survival pushes us to become more resilient.... Free Essays on Black Girl in Paris Free Essays on Black Girl in Paris Black Girl in Paris is a coming of age story about a smart, young girl named Eden who boldly states in the first chapter, â€Å"I’m not afraid of anything.† Embracing the courage and determination of this young woman’s adventuresome spirit to buy a one-way ticket to Paris, I flipped pages wondering what would become of her. Eden many times has to remind herself of the same thing in France. She is following her dream to live in Paris, following, too, in the footsteps of some of her mentors, most notably, James Baldwin. Along the way, Eden learns many lessons and is forced to make sacrifices of her own personal dignity. She takes jobs that she wouldn’t put on her â€Å"dream job† list, but does so out of a need to survive. Much of this book chronicles these "alternative" modes of employment. And each chapter is named after her new professional exploit. The jobs stretch the gamut: museum guide, traveling companion, artist’s model, au pair, poet’s helper, lover, English teacher, and thief. Throughout, she is challenged to reinvent herself, and forced to question and reassess the core of her being. Moving from job to job, Eden explores issues of who to trust, where her sexuality lies, and what it is really like to be black in Paris? Much of her journey is focused on her desire to write, to prove that she can write, and that she can somehow rub up against the talent of other fellow Black writers by following in their footsteps. Shay Youngblood took a similar trip to Paris as a young girl and this story could be mistaken for memoir. Regardless of how accurate these accounts are, this novel is a tale of the vibrant spirit of a strong young woman. It is a testament of the adaptability of the human spirit and how our path of survival pushes us to become more resilient....

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Cross Cultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cross Cultural Communication - Essay Example Brandl, J. and Neyer, A. 2009. APPLYING COGNITIVE ADJUSTMENT THEORY TO CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING FOR GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS. Human Resource Management, 48 (3), 341-353 Anxiety and uncertainty in global virtual teams can be overcome when feeling of mutual trust is developed among the members, according to Brandl and Neyer. The type of cross-cultural training can influence cognitive adjustments in virtual teams. Training should equip the team members to deal with uncertainties instead of enforcing ready-made concepts of culture. Horak, S. 2010. Does The Individual’s Culture Play A Role In The Value Perception Of Members Of Small Multinational Teams? Business and Economics Journal. Horak investigated and found that the culturally influenced work values at country level as discovered by Hofstede do not play a significant role in small multicultural teams. Students being young and dynamic adapt to an international environment and respond positively to convergence of cultures. Kirkman, BD, and Shapiro, DL. 1996. THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL CULTURE ON EMPLOYEE RESISTANCE TO TEAMS: TOWARD A MODEL OF GLOBALIZED SELF-MANAGING WORK TEAM EFFECTIVENESS. Academy of Management Proceedings, 53-59 Kirkman and Shapiro evaluated the impact of national cultures on self-managed working teams (SMWT) and found that national cultures can create different conceptualizations of organizational justice. Moreover, members of SMWT may require different forms of compensation, appraisals, and decision-making structures to reduce resistance due to differences in perceptions of fairness. Mockaitis, AI., Rose, EL. and Zettining, P. 2007. THE DETERMINANTS OF TRUST IN MULTICULTURAL GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS. Academy of Management Proceedings, Mockaitis, Rose and Zettining focused on the development of trust in multicultural virtual global teams and found that national culture, conflict, task interdependence, and communication play a vital role. However, diversity – cultural or demographic – has minor relationship in the development of trust. Cultural diversity is not a barrier to trust. Newell, S., David, G. and Chand, D. 2007. An Analysis of Trust Among Globally Distributed Work Teams in an Organizational Setting. Knowledge and Process Management, 14 (3), 158-168 Newell, David and Chand analyzed trust among IT work teams based on the Newell and Swan threefold typology of trust and found that due to situational factors and socio-psychological dynamics, and ‘Us versus them’ attitude undermines the development of trust. Relationship management can minimize the impact of an inter-group perspective. Puck, J., Rygl, D. and Kittler, M. 2006. Cultural antecedents and performance consequences of open communication and knowledge transfer in multicultural process-innovation teams. Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, 3 (2), 223-241 Puck, Rygl and Kittler evaluated the performance of process-innovation teams necessary in the ever--changing bus iness environment. The study found that national cultural diversity had no significance on intra-team communication and knowledge transfer but both these elements have significant influence on different measures of performance as performance is perceived differently by team members. Sivakumar, K. and Nakata, C. 2003. Designing global new product teams - Optimizing the effects of national culture on new product development. International Marketing Review, 20 (4), 397-445 Since cultural diversity has both positive and negative impact on global new product teams (GNPT), Sivakumar and Nakata developed a framework containing four factors that would

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Critical introduction to law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Critical introduction to law - Essay Example Poe takes a unique approach to the detective story and takes the reader from the end of the mystery to the beginning. By taking this approach, Poe presents an exercise in logical reasoning.3 Certainly, Poe’s The Purloined Letter has been the subject of considerable attention by literary critics, jurists and even psychoanalytical evaluation since its publication in 1845.4 Essentially, Poe masterfully interjects what is described as the â€Å"hermeneutic enterprise† by taking the meaning attached to a concealed item and revealing its meaning and significance.5 In this regard, the power of logic reasoning is explored and the struggle is therefore not between a criminal and law enforcement as is typical of detective fiction, but within the human mind. This paper will offer a critique of The Purloined Letter by first setting out the relevant historical factors and secondly, by presenting a synopsis of the text and commentary by critics on the text. I. Historical Background C ommentary inserted under The Purloined Letter in a collection of Poe’s works titled Thirty-Two Stories, notes that there were more significant and drastic changes in Western countries during Poe’s lifetime than at any other â€Å"brief period in human history†.6 Technological advances in communications, transportation, photography and other technologies occurred and had an â€Å"impact within Poe’s short life†.7 The commentary further notes that: Industrialization and other aspects of modernized society tore apart traditional assumptions and altered the structure of families, the nature of work, and the â€Å"feel† of life itself.8 These changes brought with them a threat to conventions in which artist perceived that they had special authority and were knowledgeable. However, changes brought about by advances in technology significantly reduced the special power and knowledge attributed to artists. The artists were reduced to a creator of pu re entertainment or beauty. In The Purloined Letter, Poe challenges these perceptions and promotes the wider significance of the artist. For instance the Prefect of Police may have a narrowly defined job, but the artist is not so narrowly defined. The systematic investigative techniques of the Perfect of Police fall short of the criteria necessary for finding the purloined letter.9 The fact is the Prefect of Police needs Dupin who is not only educated and experienced but also happens to be an artist: a poet. As the commentary notes: The Purloined Letter can be read as Poe’s version of that argument one sees in so many Romanic authors: the world needs â€Å"inspired† artists for their power and their wisdom.10 It is against this background that Poe’s The Purloined Letter is examined and critiqued. While Poe is said to have been defending the role of the artists in a rapidly changing world, it has also been suggested that Poe was demonstrating the flaws associated with humanity and institutions. An examination of the text will bear this out. II. Synopsis and Analysis of The Purloined Letter A. Synopsis The Purloined Letter centres around a letter that is presumably damaging although the contents of the letter are not revealed. The letter is presumably from a secret lover and was sent to the queen. Both

Monday, November 18, 2019

Comparative Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comparative Government - Essay Example With more than 400 years since they founded their government, they came at only number 17. Uncle Sam’s other brothers in faith, the United Kingdom and France—both of which have also been established for centuries as Democracies—were only 23 and 24 respectively (Kekic 2). To understand this, one has to take into consideration the reality that â€Å"there are a thousand ways to skin a cat†. Liberal Democracy as a concept has always been debated upon. Even more complicated is the question on how it is to be measured. For the particular study in question, we have to know that it considered five determinants: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture (Kekic 2). According to the study, â€Å"America falls down on some aspects of Governance and Civil Liberties† (Kekic 6). Problems on lack of Universal Healthcare, the mismanagement of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise in the unemployment and deficit are domestic problems that the United States currently faces. In terms of respect of Civil Liberties, there has been growing concern on unauthorized wiretapping and torture among prisoners of Guantanamo Bay, in the Government’s War on Terror (â€Å"Renewing America†). The United Kingdom also came at the near bottom of the list given its poor scores on Political Participation, given that it has the lowest voter turn-out in the whole of the developed world. France, on the other hand, tested low for the functioning of government, political participation and political culture (Kekic 6). The problem of political culture has always been present in France given their differences in the differences in values of the people brought about by aspects of religion, geography, class and education 9 (â€Å"French Political Culture†). The case of the United States as well as that of France and the United Kingdom

Friday, November 15, 2019

Skin care cream

Skin care cream EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Term paper examines different aspects and issues involved in the development and operationalization of IMC strategy for Natural Menz Fairness Cream. Natural Menz Fairness Cream is a special skin fairness cream for Men. This is a cream made of all natural ingredients and having no side effects and focusing on value-added products which are not widely or readily available in any other companys cream. I have made marketing strategy including competitors analysis and marketing mix of fairness cream. The Marketing Mix Is The Set Of Decisions About Price, Promotion, Product And Channels Of Distribution. Only By Addressing These Elements We Can Actually Implement Our Marketing Strategy. I have designed distribution processes resulting in lower distributing costs and high profitability. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is the judicious and efficient use of the promotional tools so that a universal, clear, and effective promotional message is communicated amongst the target audience. Product promotion involves informing, reminding, and persuading the consumers about a particular product or service. I have made IMC plan based on various communication mix tools like Advertising, Direct Marketing, Sales Promotion, and Publicity/Public Relations and Personal Selling. And established a budget method according to purchase advertising, and establish marketing and support activities for distribution and promotion of Natural Men fairness Cream. So in this term paper I have made IMC plan for Natural men fairness cream and then implement it and then evaluate it. Skin Care market The skin care market is valued at $180 million in India. With safe and effective procedures, advancement in medical technology, increase in awareness, the Indian Skin care solutions business is growing very fast. The skin care market can be segregated into toners, cleansers, sunscreens, anti-wrinkle creams, dark circle removing creams, astringents, facial creams, moisturizers, fairness creams, day and night creams, etc. Out of these, facial creams, moisturizers, fairness creams, day and night creams, etc. are the most popular products and account for approximately 60% of the skin care segment. The skin care market is at a primary stage in India. The penetration level for both the urban and rural market is low. Many people still prefer to use homemade and traditional products to cure the skin problems. However, within a period of five-six years, the use of skin care products has increased significantly in India. With changing life styles, increase in disposable incomes, greater product choice and availability, and influence of satellite television, more people are taking interest in personal grooming. The facial skin care market is booming. Products are competing with one another to take shelf space in the retail stores. Facial skin care products have become an essential part of the beauty market. Like western countries, creams and potions are applied in India also, in an effort to remove the pimples and the acne, fight stress and worry lines, and to remain young. Since the penetration level is still relatively low, growth is expected to be around 25% over the next five years. In the skin care category, Fair Lovely fairness cream, with a penetration of 75%, accounts for 60% of the skin care market in rural India. It also enjoys the undistinguished patronage of 58% of its user households. Both Ponds and Fair Lovely are enjoying a monopoly in the rural markets in their respective categories. Rural India is not averse to trying out the premium brands at high prices. Major players in Skin Care Market Some of the major players in this segment are Hindustan Lever (Fair Lovely, Lakme, Ponds) with a market share of 53%, followed by CavinKare- Fairever with a market share of over 12 % and Godrej-Fair Glow with a market share of 3.4 %. The other players that have a presence in the market are Emami (Gold Turmeric and Naturally Fair), Revlon (Fair Glow) etc. Fairness CREAMS MARKET in India Fairnesscreamshave become a vital product for the Indian companies in increasing their overall sales due to the importance given by Indian consumers towards fairness. As India is a country known for its diversity different consumers from different parts of the country prefer different brands. The leading players in the market includes Hindustan Lever Ltd., (HLLs) Fair Lovely with 76 percent of the market share and Cavin Kare s Fairever with 15 percent of the market share. Other important players like Godrej s Fairglow, Emmas Fair and Handsome, Vicco and Himalaya share the rest of the market share. There are number of fairness creams and other skin whitening products in the market such as peel-offs, serums, lotions etc. All the fairness creams have similar basic ingredients but the several additions make them more suitable to some particular skin type and may irritate other skin types. Sometimes and in some people it may have side-effects there are a number of creams in the market and manycosmetics. India has a tropical climate with maximum number of months having sun shining as the brightest star. Moreover, the temperatures are rising day by day. These factors create a need for the otherwise darkened skin due to over-exposure to the shining sun. All the companies are reaching out to the target customers through its wide range of fairness creams.AloeVeraextract, turmeric, vitamin-E, lemon extract are some of the ingredients which form major formulations. Another advantage of such fairness creams is that they tend to clear dark spots, brighten the discolored, pigmented skin and are suitable for all skin types. They have to be used twice a day on face and neck after cleaning them with a face wash. All thecosmeticscompanies have at least one fairness cream under their brand name. Although packing changes regularly, formulations remain the same. Starting from the most popular brand, Fair Lovely plays as the market leader with oldest brand and highest customer base. There are two more variants added to its original brand. They are anti-marks and ayurvedic range. For that flawless look Ponds of HLL and Oil of Olay of P G, quite openly challenge the seven-day test with a money-back guarantee. Shahnaz Herbal claims its product as herbal and best in its range. This product is economical in range as against the normal line of products at premium prices. For the last few years, Emami is selling its fairness cream for men The product is a great success, especially in small towns and cities. As most of the Indians are very much bothered about their colour complexion the fairness creams enjoy very good market growth rate when compared with other related product categories Description of Natural Menz Fairness Cream My Company (Natural) has decided to develop a new skin fairness cream for men. We wanted to make a product that was efficient in and affordable for Customers. So we developed an affordable and effective men fairness cream to sell to our customers. The name of the product is the Men fairness cream and Brand name is natural. There are few creams in the market that portray effectiveness, but cannot prove it. Our product will come in a very attractive container, which serves a better purpose. This product provides fairness to men. We will offer the product by meeting the objectives all the stakeholders of the organization. We want to cater to the demand of the customer with effective and affordable skin care cream. We plan to have an annual growth rate of 20%. We plan to establish high brand image of the fairness cream to our customers and provide them with products at a reasonable cost. We are planning to become one of the top three organizations in this segment in one year. We will target our customers by the needs approach. The concept of need will be perfectly applied to our target market. Our main grounds of introducing this unique concept and product line are to address the problem faced by men for not having fair skin. The problem or need to manage healthy looking skin is being answered in the best possible way by our product. Even though there are alternatives available in the markets to address the problem, none of these products have been able to address the need of affordability for everyone. We have tried to launch the fairness cream by informing our Customers that addresses their special needs and wants in the best possible and convenient way that provides a solution to their dark skin by proper customer satisfaction. The company which will be able to provide maximum consumer satisfaction and maximum possible solution to consumer needs and wants will be able to sustain in this competitive arena. Marketing plan Situational analysis Every organization is facing a lot of problem at present time in market analysis, so it became very necessary for every organization that before setting any objective the organization must be carried out situation analysis in order to recognize strength, weakness, opportunities and threat present in the organization. According to Sally and John, marketing plans are the written document or blueprint for implementing and controlling an organizations marketing activities related to a particular marketing strategy. A successful marketing plan is able to improve organizations profits and growth, uses in objective setting and monitors results. So to gain a successful market plan it is necessary to understand the current situation comprehensively and trends affecting the future of the organization.Situation analysis plays a vital role in developing marketing plan.First of all, its help our company to lead the dynamic marketing environment in the shoes market that will help to lead the uncertainty, threats and opportunities for marketers. Marketing managers who success to know changes in environment through situation analysis can lead their companies to capitalize on opportunities and cope with threats created by changes. Then, systematically analyzing situational environments in order to identify our customers and understand their needs. There are certain opportunities for Skin fairness Company, such as increase more and more men target market and increase market and market share through integrated PR, advertisement and promotional campaign. Increasing competitions a Threat to Skin care industry. Market Competition Our main men skin care cream competitors are: Emami with Fair and handsome cream and Fair and Lovely with Menz active skin care cream for men.Nivea is also entering with its fairness cream for men. SWOT Analysis of Natural Menz fairness Cream SWOT analysis will help me to identify our company strength, weaknesses, opportunity and threats internally and externally both. Through this, we can easily identified our Natural menz fairness cream competitors in the market that are fair and handsome and fair and lovely menz active and once we know the company weakness and what kind of opportunity we have for the present and future prospect then we can easily make cost effective IMC plan and strategic IMC plan for the company. In SWOT analysis of the company, we have found the following that will help to make more strategically and cost effective IMC plan: STRENGTHS Strong Market Research. Natural ingredients used in Cream. Strong sales and distribution network. Having easily access to skin care cream at low cost. Well-established linkages with buyers in all parts of India. WEAKNESSES Lack of Finance and Experience in this field Environmental problems Opportunities Increasing per capita income drives Skin care cream growth A changing profile of a differentiated set of consumers. Large scale potential customers. A buoyant growing economy. Growing international and domestic markets. Retain customers through quality and natural ingredients in cream and timely deliveries. THREATS New entrants/local competitors/ MNCs: These would increase the competition like Nivea is entering in men fairness segment. High internal competition Emami and Fair and lovely also catering the men fairness segment. Technological change: This makes the products obsolete in short span of time. So we should focus have to focus on technological innovations from time to time. S.T.P. Segmentation The segmentation will be on the basis of following bases:- Age (18 or Above), Gender (Men), Behavioral Lifestyle, Income Occupation Regions (East, West, North, South) etc. Targeting Target market is men who want Fair skin and wholesalers and Retailers who are in the business of selling cosmetic goods. Positioning We will position our cream on the basis of natural ingredients used in it. We will market this cream by giving them a clear comparison between the chemical-based products they are now using and our natural products. Marketing mix or 4Ps PRODUCT Natural Menz Fairness Cream is a new skin fairness cream for men.The name of the product is the Men fairness cream and Brand name is natural. Our product will come in a very attractive packaging having detail of price and ingredients, which serves a better purpose for informing the consumer and for Promotion of Cream. This fairness cream will be provided to our customers at a reasonable cost. Our main grounds of introducing this unique concept and product line are to address the problem faced by men for not having fair skin. The problem or need to manage healthy looking skin is being answered in the best possible way by our product. Even though there are alternatives available in the markets to address the problem, none of these products have been able to address the need of affordability for everyone with natural ingredients. We have tried to launch the fairness cream by informing our Customers that addresses their special needs and wants in the best possible and convenient way that provides a solution to their dark skin by proper customer satisfaction. The company which will be able to provide maximum consumer satisfaction and maximum possible solution to consumer needs and wants will be able to sustain in this competitive arena. Price We will maintain our pricing positions as a Low price provider. We are the best product available from the most discriminating consumer. We intend to maintain our separation from the price competition initially by providing creams at low cost. Price increases will be due mostly to the fluctuation of our ingredient prices. Price of my product is Rs 25 of 75 gm. The strategy used for Pricing is PENETRATION APPROACH Strategy. PENETRATION APPROACH It is an approach in which we set a price firstly low and then as demand increases we increase the price of the product. PLACE Once a sale is made, the product is shipped to the distribution point our facility. We will be looking at setting up a drop-shipment so goods travel directly from the manufacturer to the customer. Our whole physical distribution process will be fueled by sales. The following activities will be coordinated in order to physically move our product: Communication between order processing and physical distribution. Warehousing of finished product for distribution. Selection of transportation method to move the finished goods from warehouse. Handling the finished product at the distribution point. We will also provide necessary delivery service to customers in a timely manner and keep costs under control. Promotion In our Promotional strategy we will try to change consumers buying behavior, to have a brand image, to increase profit, to increase sale of our product. We will apply two kind of sale promotion, one is directed toward consumer and other one is directed toward trade such as dealer, supplier, retailer etc. Consumer sale promotion tools Trade sale promotion tools. IMC PLAN FOR Natural MenZ fairness Cream Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is the judicious and efficient use of the promotional tools so that a universal, clear, and effective promotional message is communicated amongst the target audience. I have made IMC plan based on various communication mix tools like Advertising, Direct Marketing, Sales Promotion, Publicity/Public Relations and Personal Selling. IMC objective The IMC objective of the Natural company is following:- To Increase sale by 50% in next six month. To Increase brand awareness. To Increase customer loyalty. To Increase desire of customer for purchase of men skin fairness cream. To Increase repeat purchase. To measure customer satisfaction. To create relationship with customer on personal level. To control and observe public opinion. To receive feedback from customer on regular basis Adoption Model Promotional Guidelines Utilize promotions that are consistent with and enhance marble product image Review success or failure of each promotion to help in developing future promotions Test new promotions when possible Use appeals that are of interest to your target market and that are realistic to obtain Make your objectives measurable and obtainable Develop total promotional campaigns, not just ads Marble need higher promotional budgets than established a good brand image Marble in out-of-the-way locations require higher promotional budgets than stores with heavy traffic. Advertising Advertisement plays a great role in the minds of the customers. It is a paid form of the non-personal product or service. In any of the advertisement every company must keep in their minds customers viewpoint. Remember that your customers are people without good technical or detailed understanding of your products and services. The mark of truly effective advertising and marketing is the ability to convey complex issues to the audience in a manner that is interesting, relevant, meaningful, and easy to digest very quickly. Thomas Jefferson suggested that The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do and this is a good maxim for writing good advertising material. So this skin care cream advertisements will be simple and easily understood, truthful, informative, sincere, and customer-oriented. The main objective of the advertisement of the Hunky company will be the following:- To inform to the target market about our product. To persuade to the target market about natural menz fairness cream with respect to price and quality and with our positioning message. Of natural ingredients. Print ad of natural menz skin fairness cream A cream that can change your life makes your skin fair 100% natural ingredients. no irritation no side effects easy to use and easily available. cheaper price. DIRECT MARKETING It is one to one approach that uses Personal advertising media to produce an enquiry or some important results. In this we will get feedback about the product also. It can be done by direct mail, telemarketing, internet, person to person video or voice chat, personal interaction etc. TELEMARKETING Using telemarketing agency is a proven method of marketing. Telemarketing can be an extremely good and cost-effective method for generating sales enquiries, selling products and services. It is important to identify a good telemarketing agency, and to that ensure your aims, outline script. A good CRM (Consumer Relation management) computer system to manage lists, data, is normally essential for telemarketing is to be successful on any reasonable scale, and good telemarketing agencies will already be using such systems which hopefully will interface with your own systems. Good experienced telemarketing staff and managers listen to their audience. A good telemarketing agency will work best by developing their own approach to meet the broad requirements of a project brief and an outline of what you want to achieve, and how you want to achieve it. Consumers and businesses are protected by certain rights relating to direct marketing techniques such as telemarketing, and you must ensure that your activities adhere to these rules. BROCHERS LEAFLETS Brochures and leaflets can be used for a variety of purposes. It is distributed in different ways. A good printer can provide examples and castings. The main aim of a brochure is foremost to generate new business through providing information in a way that appeals to the reader. Some brochures and leaflets are pleasing pieces of art, but they dont achieve anything for the business. If you work with a designer be sure to control any fanciful tendencies and keep the message and style to the point. Too much spent on a brochure can give the impression that your business is extravagant. When producing leaflets and brochures think about the way that they are to be distributed. If it needs an envelope try to avoid using a non-standard envelope size, which will add cost unnecessarily. Do you want people to retain the material? If so perhaps a business card or plastic credit-card-type attachment would help? SALES PROMOTION In Sales promotion we will provide various consumers and trade promotional tool such as rebate, discount, gift, contest, coupons, price deal, contest game, sampling to the target market to increase sale of skin fairness cream. There are certain objectives of the sales promotion of skin fairness cream. To increase immediate product sale To increase support among the marketers sales force. To gain the support of the trade in marketing the product SALES Promotional tools By the help of Promotional strategy we will try to change consumers buying behavior, to have a brand image, to increase profit, to increase sale of our product. We will apply two kind of sale promotion, one is directed toward consumer and other one is directed toward trade such as dealer, supplier, retailer etc. Consumer sale promotion tools We will apply following promotional tools to increase sale among consumers. Price DEAL: -Price deal is temporary reduction in price of product. We will provide two type of price deal: cents-off deals and price-pack deals. Price deal will be is given at various times to stimulate purchase of skin fairness cream. Coupon: A coupon is typically a printed certificate giving the bearer a stated price reduction or special value on a specific product, generally for a specific period. In this We will provide Various company issue various kind of coupon that contain various discount price customer get the advantage of this discount and purchase skin fairness cream at low price. Offer: There is various kind of gift that will be offered by various skin fairness cream industries. Premium:sometime various companies like Emami and Fair and Lovely etc. offer some gift or at bargain price to encourage customer buying. Sampling:Some company like American eagles to known customer feedback provide free sample of various skin fairness cream according to their preference. Advertising Specialties:Advertising specialties also call a promotional product. It will be mostly given to our loyal customers. It includes various cards like birthday card or gift, New Year card. It is mostly done to retain old customer. Trade sale promotion tools Objectives of Trade Sales Promotion: Gain/maintain distribution Influence resellers to promote product Influence resellers to offer price discount Increase reseller inventory Defend against competitors Avoid reduction of normal prices There are various sale promotion tools that stimulate trade to promote company product. There are a lot of trade sale promotion tools some are as discussed below: Trade Allowances Trade allowancesare short-term special allowances, discounts, or deals granted to resellers to stimulate reseller to rapid purchase of their product. Point-of-Purchase Display Point-of-purchase displays are generally used at the retail level to call customer attention to a featured product. In this company employees observe every retail shop and that retail shop that display more company product will be winner of special gift or prize After implementing these different techniques of sale promotion we monitor result and evaluate these by comparing with objective set before implementation MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION Successful implementation calls for breaking up the plans into micro-level activities, timing, and scheduling them, assigning them to people -in-charge, coordinating their efforts and monitoring the execution process. Marketing plan basically implemented on the basis of market segmentation. We have gone through the target market segment which basically includes:- Middle income class Lower income class High income class Implementation is an integral part of strategy. It make sense when it is implemented into Indian skin care market it saw an opportunity for an organized sector. The customer was moving towards branded goods in other segments. Natural did the process of creating brands in the minds of customer. Launch a blind ad campaign on billboards and magazines in all A class areas of major cities and magazine with respect to target market. Heavy advertising on TV, newspapers and magazines Set displays of skin care creams in showrooms and major dealer outlets in all cities. Continue Advertising. Evaluate Performance The Goal of our marketing plan is to achieve market objective that are established before implementation of marketing plan. We evaluate and control our strategic tactics by comparing our result with standard established before setting of plan, by measuring customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. If result is less than our standard than it means there is any default in implementation and monitoring in the program. The people who are responsible for the monitoring and control of the marketing plan will be the Marketing Executives, Sales Managers, Media Managers, Market Research Departments, and the Production Managers. Manager has to measure the actual performance either through consumer surveys or sales figure. Whether Sales have been increased or not after launching of IMC plan. The market share have increased or not after launching of cream. Brand image have to increase because of our marketing strategies used. it must got success to satisfy their customer towards their new product Manager got to know these outcomes by comparing actual performance with set standards of new product. These steps also helped out to take further decision or plans. Some activities will be carried out for evaluating the overall performance that will be precisely and closely evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies and tactics for example the gathering and structuring of data regarding market, product, consumers and the pricing trends, then the generation of daily sales report should be maintained and then in the end continuous reconfirming of the marketing budget and activities by the managers of different divisions. BUDGET A budget is generally a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. In other terms, a budget is an organizational plan stated in monetary terms. In summary, the purpose of budgeting is to:- Provide a forecast of revenues and expenditures i.e. construct a model of how our business might perform financially speaking if certain strategies, events and plans are carried out. Enable the actual financial operation of the business to be measured against the forecast. Procedures for Setting a Promotional Budget All-you-can-afford method Incremental method Competitive parity method Percentage-of-sales method Objective-and-task method Conclusion To put the pre-going discussion in a nut-shell. It can be safely be ventured to opine that our company has much potential at that time but if we use the above strategy in proper manner we easily conclude that we will be able to lead the companies in the India and abroad. However there are some discrepancies in such sectors so we can realize that all the features that are involved directly or indirectly in the production are working properly at their positions .As for Indian customers but In all over the world. Speaking for natural menz skin care cream is the evident that the company must benefit from its target customer on the basis of quality and originality. Speaking for natural menz freshness cream it is evident that the company must benefit for the spectacular development of its company in the skin care cream district sales of finished products. After taking an overview of the strategies of Natural menz freshness cream we can easily understand the successful journey of Natural in all factors of advertisement and proper awareness about its products to the customers before launching and after launching. Also evaluates the response and feedback of customers on basis or its advertisement research. bibliography websites http://www.fairandlovely.in/about_FAL/about_fal.aspx http://www.unilever.com.lk/ourbrands/personalcare/FairandLovely.asp http://www.scribd.com/doc/21635826/01-Fairness-cream-research http://www.livemint.com/2008/01/23224142/HUL-to-launch-new-skincare-ran.html?d=1 http://www.naukrihub.com/india/fmcg/overview/skin-care/ books Marketing Management A South Asian Perspective by Philip Kotler Newspaper/Journals/magazines 4 Ps Indian management Business today Business line The Hindu

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

A Proposal to Restore Family Unity in America Essay -- Government Pape

For many people throughout the United States, it is a melancholy but common sight to see broken families, separated children, and squabbling spouses. In a society in which over 20% of marriages end in divorce, it is not surprising that the majority of today’s children grow up in a one parent marriage. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that in 1993, about 1,187,000 divorces were granted in the U.S., affecting 1,075,000 children. Sadly, some children are even deprived of seeing their mother or father throughout their entire childhood. Many others are allowed to visit one of their parents only once or twice a month. This lack of family unity results in emotional and psychological problems for both the parents and the children. I think it is agreed by most people that the increasing rate of divorce and the problems related to it are subjects of great concern. In fact, anyone who could devise a plan that would restore family unity and bring meaning to the line â€Å"till death do you part† deserves a medal. Having turned my thoughts to the issue for several years now, I have developed a reasonable solution. I humbly propose that the government create a new department, The Department of Marriage Control and Enforcement (DMCE). It will be the job of this agency to prevent troubled marriages from occurring in the first place and to eliminate divorces all together. After a couple has recited their vows, the tradition of exchanging wedding rings will be abolished. Instead, a DMCA official will lock a steel ring onto the bride and the groom. The steel rings will symbolize the newly wedded couple’s commitment to one another and the fact that their future time together has no end. The DMCA official will then weld a three-foot-long chain to each ring, forcing the couple to remain together at all times. Chaining a couple together will prevent couples from obtaining a divorce because the couples will be chained together for the rest of their life. Since couples will be chained together, the y will be forced to think long and hard about marriage before they exchange their vows. Additionally, chaining a couple together will result in increased communication between wives and husbands. Because they will always be together, they will be required to communicate with each other. No secrets will exist between the two. Also, adultery will be greatly reduced due to t... ...any the adults to work and learn their parents’ trade. Most of the parents who have children will accompany their children to school and receive payment for expenses from a certain pool created by working families. After the child is unchained at age 18, the couple can then resume work, unless they have more than one child. If the reader finds this humble proposal objectionable, let him not talk of other solutions: of requiring marriage preparation classes in order to obtain a marriage license: of making divorces harder to obtain: of offering counseling free of cost to troubled couples: of increasing the costs of divorce so that individuals will have to think harder about pursuing one: lastly, of requiring certain classes to high schoolers that explain the consequences of divorce for both the couple and the children. Therefore, I repeat, let no man speak to me of these or like expedients until he has some reasonable idea of how to put them into practice. I hereby pronounce that this proposal has been created to promote the well-being and happiness of families everywhere. I have no motive other than the well being of society because I am not married and do not have children.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Explain why women failed to gain the right to votebetween 1900 and 1914

Female Emancipation was one of the greatest changes in human history. Only in the last two centuries has progress been made; the right to vote was part of this global process. In the 19th Century Britain was profoundly unequal in terms of class and gender. Women were of inferior status both in society's views and legally, and their role was to marry and have children. On marriage they promised to serve their husband and a woman's property became her husband's. (Until late 1880, they had absolutely no rights over their property or children. ) Around the turn of the century, groups such as the Suffragists and Suffragettes started up, championing the right for women to vote, which in turn would help female candidates run for a position in parliament. This was the state of Britains social hierachy. The matter of why women failed to gain the right to vote in the years leading up to the first world war is quite a complicated issue. With all the huge campaigns lead by the Suffragists and Suffragettes there are a number of key points to understand. First of all, the vote was very exclusive at this period of time, even all men did not have it. Only homeowners in full-time employment were allowed to vote, which limited the vote to virtually the upper-middle and upper clases, and the lucky workers. Then there were the traditional views on women in general; they were seen as practically â€Å"second class† citizens of the country. Only in 1870 had education up to the age of 11 become free and compulsory for girls. (For boys it was earlier) Women had only just won the right to vote and run in local government elections. Most people felt the womans place was in the home raising children. Young girls who wanted to go on to higher education instead of marrying at the age of 16 were generally looked upon with disgust. They were seen as abnormal. It is easy to see that in a male-dominated country with an all-male government and cabinet it was an almost impossible task to win the franchise, or so it seemed. The Suffrage movement was increasing constantly, however compared to the nations population, the members of the various groups seemed very small. Many men did not want women to gain the vote for the long term reasons stated earlier, and even many women felt that they did not need the vote. It is hard to understand, but the whole mentality of British society was so deeply set in traditional thought that bringing about a change of such proportions was an immensly difficult task. Some people even started up Anti-Suffrage movements. The Suffrage groups started putting massive amounts of pressure on the government, which was for most of the duration run by the Liberal Party. (Lead by Lloyd Asquith after 1908. ) Hopes were high for a women suffrage when the Liberals came to power in 1906, because their policies were based on equality, although women's suffrage was not on their manifesto. Asquith, however, was against the right to vote for women. All the women's suffrage groups had intensified their campaigns when the Liberal Party was elected, and they had a high level of support. The Suffragettes were the smaller of the two largest groups, but were by far the most publicised. They believed in â€Å"Deeds not Words†, and were a more militant group than the larger and more respectful â€Å"Suffragists†. The Suffragettes were growing impatient and started intensifying their campaigns, growing more and more violent. Incidents involving stoning and heckling MP's, confronting authorities, getting fined and not paying; leading to imprisonment plagued the headlines of newspapers on a regular basis. Although this was putting pressure on the government, it also had the negative effect of alienating the movement from the public who generally did not like this approach. The Suffragettes started launching attacks on property, attacking Key MP's houses or property, setting fire to pillar boxes (thus destroying the property of Her Majesty) and chaining themselves to rails outside important political locations. This caused intense dislike towards them, and caused splits within the group itself. A free vote showed that the Parliament was overall for women to have the vote, as long as an adult male suffrage was introduced aswell. This was so all the working class males would be allowed to vote which would be an adcantage to them, so the increase in upper class people voting (women) would not hurt their chances of becoming re-elected. They also did not want to be seen as giving in to what was literally terrorism. The government also had greater issues to deal with, such as the crisis in Ireland, and the threat of War with Germany. Compared to these issues, the womens demonstrations and attacks seemed a minor problem. In 1914, The First World War had begun. This was the first total war, which required the whole nations contribution. The Suffragettes and other groups called off their protests and volunteered to help the government in the war effort. They had failed to win the right to vote, at least in the years between 1900 and 1914.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Shore Road Mystery essays

The Shore Road Mystery essays The Shore Road Mystery The Hardy boys, Frank and Joe, were taking a casual drive down Shore Road when they heard a report about a stolen car. Frank and Joe raced towards the scene and actually saw the stolen car. Suddenly, a big red produce truck came right into the middle of the road. The boys had no choice but to slam on their breaks. They ended up crashing into a fence and were dazed but uninjured. The driver came out of the truck and apologized. "Something seems fishy about that guy." Said Frank. They both returned home that night trying not to let their mother see their cuts and bruises. The next morning a friend of the Hardys , Jack Dodd, called and told the Hardys to come quickly. The police were looking for a suspect who had stolen a car. The police thought they found their man. They found Jack Dodd's fishing rod in the trunk of one of the stolen cars. Jack insisted that he had not put it there and that he was being framed. The cops handcuffed Jack and his father and took them down to headquarters. Later that night Chief Colling came to the Hardy's home telling them that the Dodds had taken off in their station wagon. The Hardys had known the Dodds for a very long time and it just didn't seen like them to break the law. The Hardys went back into their secret fort in the garage to think things through. They asked themselves if anyone had ever held a grudge against the Dodds. Then they thought of Ray Slagel. He was the man that the Dodds hired but had done such a poor job with their farming equipment that they had to fire him. They decided to check out the area where most of the cars were being stolen... Shore Road. They stumbled upon a local drifter, a friend of the Hardys, named Scratch. Scratch said that he had seen a man that looked like the photo of Slagel that they showed him. He was pulling out of the woods with a nice looking car. That night they re ...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

The effect of performance management systems on employee engagement The WritePass Journal

The effect of performance management systems on employee engagement Introduction The effect of performance management systems on employee engagement IntroductionBackgroundThe research question Literature reviewEmployee engagementTheoretical context for employee engagementPerformance managementTheoretical context for performance managementIntervening variablesMethodologyDesign and procedureParticipantsModel specificationOperationalisation of variablesAnalysis LimitationsReferencesRelated Introduction Background Prior research has established the positive effects of employee engagement in the workplace, not only for the organisation in its entirety but also for the wellbeing and productivity of individual employees (Kahn, 1990). It is therefore of paramount importance that research correctly identifies the factors which give rise to increased employee engagement and investment in their job. Rich, Lepine and Crawford (2010) found in a study of 245 fire fighters that engagement, conceptualised as the investment of one’s complete self into a job role (the degree to which a job role is integrated into a personal construct) was a significant mediator in the relationship between value congruence, perceived organisational support, core self-evaluations and the dependent variable: job performance dimensions. Aside from the obvious benefits, including increased productivity and employee initiative, this also suggests that there are psychological perks for employees with higher rates of engagem ent. Increased self-efficacy, job satisfaction, self-esteem and morale have been found to be direct consequences of higher rates of employee engagement (Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008; Harter, Schmidt and Hayes, 2002). Employee wellbeing in the workplace is known to correlate with positive business outcomes (Harter, Schmidt and Keyes, 2003). Overall, engaged employees are more likely to view their job as meaningful, their management and leadership as above average, have better perceptions of their own ability to perform their duties and are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, leading to a greater work ethic and better performance (May, Gilson and Harter, 2004). The research question The research problem we are facing is to determine the antecedents of employee engagement in the workplace. The questions that will be used to investigate this will query the relationship between management policy and employee engagement. The objective of this study will be to determine whether performance management strategies used by companies affects in any capacity the tendency of employees to fully engage themselves in the workplace. The experimental hypothesis will be that increased use of performance management strategies in the workplace increases rates of employee engagement. Performance management is the independent variable and employee engagement will be the dependent variable. This will establish whether one significant facet of management policy affects employee engagement; an important factor in predicting effectiveness in the workplace. However there are other factors which could potentially influence the dependent variable (employee engagement) which are beyond the scope of this study. There may be many aspects of the individual and their chosen career which affect how engaged they are regardless of management policy. In addition, Saks (2006) found that multiple facets of how an organisation handles employees work ethic determines how engaged they are in the workplace, including how much training is provided and perceived effectiveness of procedural justice at work. Isolating performance management will be one step in building a framework to more fully predict employee engagement. If the anticipated effects are discovered, this would be valuable information for businesses wishing to enhance employee productivity and satisfaction using the medium of employee engagement. By establishing the antecedents of employee engagement it will be possible to fill in another gap in the overall model presented by research to predict positive business outcomes. It has been vehemently established that employee engagement can indirectly affect this outcome, but the influences resulting in greater engagement have received relatively little attention. Performance management in particular was chosen since it encapsulates something that is under the direct control of businesses, and will therefore potentially offer an immediate and practical means for businesses to affect employee engagement. Literature review This section will incorporate definitions of the variables involved and the theoretical context of employee engagement and its antecedents. It will also cover some of the research into other factors besides the independent variable for this study which could reasonably affect the independent variable. Employee engagement The definition of employee engagement is surprisingly ambiguous in the literature, which led Macey and Schneider (2008) to gather and categorise the various definitions found in research. They found that authors generally referred to engagement in one of three broad domains; psychological state engagement, behavioural engagement and trait engagement. The effect of management, leadership, company policy and any performance management strategies employed by the business are of course effective only at the behavioural and psychological state level; trait level engagement is innate and relatively constant in each individual, and arises from various psychometric variables. The conceptualisation we shall settle on for this study will therefore involve only the psychological state and behavioural levels, since the primary independent variables of interest involve factors the business can influence to increase employee engagement. Theoretical context for employee engagement Within a theoretical context, employee engagement fits well into the explanatory remit of self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985). This theory postulates that different forms of motivation exist; autonomous regulation refers to all volition which originates from genuine internal desires, as opposed to controlled regulation in which the source of the impetus to act is external. In terms of engagement at work, autonomous regulation is desirable, as it results in greater initiative and productivity at a task. According to Meyer and Gagne (2008), who explored the underlying psychological mechanisms of autonomous regulation in the workplace, the key lies in satisfying basic psychological needs for competency, autonomy and relatedness. Performance management systems are likely to be a part of building the work environment which successfully cultivates these feelings in employees; giving them a sense that their needs have been met. Although of course there is certainly more involved in determining the extent to which employees are personally involved in their work than need satisfaction. Intervening factors are likely to include employee personal circumstances and the current economic climate. Performance management For the purposes of this study, the definition of performance management shall be the degree to which intervention by the business occurs to ensure recognition of above average performance, and involvement with offering incentives for increased productivity and work ethic. All other variables listed above which have been identified as causal antecedents of engagement will be considered as confounding variables in this study, and will be controlled for as far as possible. According to Roberts (2001), performance management involves the setting of objectives, the use of appraisal systems, reward strategies, training and feedback. This is a definition that can be more easily operationalized as the components are clearly divided which will make development of measurement scales for each subset simpler. Therefore these are the components that shall be measured as the independent variable in this study to make up performance management. Theoretical context for performance management Performance management affects employee perceptions and attitudes, which subsequently affect performance (Hartog, Boselie and Paauwe, 2004). This fits in with the theoretical framework which places employee engagement as reflecting attitudes and the meaning ascribed to job roles. It is therefore logical to expect that higher levels of implementation of performance management strategies would be significantly related to employee engagement. Although this theoretical framework does not leave much room for the inclusion of the position individual employees ascribe to their jobs in their lives. It is relatively simplistic in terms of modelling the expected effects, and there are likely to be confounding variables. Intervening variables Research has uncovered some general factors which contribute in various magnitudes to the level of employee engagement. Job characteristics (van der Broeck, Vansteenkiste, de Witte and Lens, 2008) perceived organisational support (including leadership), procedural justice, learning and training opportunities and performance management strategies (including rewards and recognition management) are all important in predicting the level of engagement an employee is likely to exhibit (Saks, 2006). This study will address one aspect of the bigger research question then; the explanatory power of performance management over employee engagement will be established. The issue will require further research to account for other possible influences on engagement, and potential interaction effects between independent variables. The originality of this study then lies in the examination of a relatively newly recognised concept (employee engagement) and shedding light on the specific relationship it has with performance management strategies, independent of other influences. Methodology This section will describe the proposed method of examining the experimental hypothesis, including how data will be gathered, what will be measured, and how the data will be analysed. Design and procedure Since the sample is limited to one business many confounding variables such as differing job demands and organisational structure can be eliminated. The samples will be taken from historical data, from employees working within a business with relatively low levels of performance management compared to similar organisations. The business under study will have to be one which has at some point implemented a new, more involved performance management strategy; this is how the independent variable will be manipulated. Both levels of employee engagement and performance management will be measured before the implementation of the new performance management strategy to serve as the control data. After the new strategy has been imposed and levels of performance management have increased in the business, the independent and dependent variable will be measured again, and this data will serve as the experimental condition. To establish the persistence over time of any significant differences in the dependent variable found to result from the change in performance management strategy, three samples will be taken at six month intervals after the implementation of the new strategy. If there is any initial difference in employee engagement between the samples immediately before and after the new strategy comes into for ce, the subsequent samples taken after the strategy has been present for some time will tell us about the long term effects of increasing performance management, otherwise the possibility remains that any effects are merely short term and fade when employees become accustomed to the new system. This will therefore be a repeated measures design. The rates of employee engagement will be compared between temporally differing samples, which will determine if changing levels of performance management alone were sufficient to affect a change in engagement, and how any effects persist, weaken, or strengthen with time. Participants Data will be gathered from secondary sources extant in the literature. The ratings of employee engagement and performance management strategies will be gathered from employees and managers working within the same business. Model specification The model we have to test (based on prior research in the area) places employee engagement as dependent in part on performance management. An a priori power analysis will be conducted on previous studies examining employee engagement to determine the expected effect size. Operationalisation of variables Performance management will be defined as the number of rewards and punishments handed out by senior management, the amount of time employees spend in training, and how often employees are appraised. Employee engagement will be measured with subjective rating scales and peer ratings. Analysis Statistical analysis of this data would include one-way analysis of variance. First performance management would be measured in each group to ensure that in reality there was a change due to the implementation of the new strategy. Then the degree of variability in engagement can be examined between conditions. The relative impact of increasing performance management can be examined in the short and long term, which could help in our theoretical understanding of the psychological underpinnings of any effects observed; if the effects change over time, this will provide clues for future research to investigate, and give use evidence to speculate further on why the change took place. This method of statistical analysis will allow for simple comparisons between control and experimental groups, and for different levels of the experimental condition, in this case the amount of time elapsed after the implementation of the new strategy. Limitations Since the data will all be gathered from the same business, many confounding variables will remain constant between groups, however this means the findings may be less applicable to other business contexts. There is also the fact that a substantial time will have passed between conditions, meaning there may have been other changes other than the independent variable under study, which could confound the results. All other pertinent factors will be investigated and accounted for in the final report to ensure they remain as consistent as possible. It is also essential to recognise the fact that different individuals harbouring different internal traits and psychological dispositions will be motivated to engage in their workplace by different factors which are meaningful to them personally. This is especially true between individuals with radically differing job characteristics and duties since they are likely to have different expectations of their job, and view their relationship to their job role differently. However the influences on engagement cited here have been shown to be generally applicable despite differing job roles. Psychological factors of unique individuals may also play a role in shaping how well specific employees fit into their job role. May, Gilson and Harter (2004) found that perceived meaningfulness of job role, perceived safety at work (including co-worker relations and perceived job security) and availability of psychological resources relevant to job demands are all positively correlated with employee engagement. Such factors may be positively influenced directly by effective performance management but are otherwise outside the scope of this study. The fact that different employees are likely to have been used between conditions (due to the time elapsed) could also pose a problem due to their potential to have very different opinions, experiences and traits relevant to their work life which could influence employee engagement. Limitations include the fact that not all influences on the outcome variable have possibly been considered in the analysis, although there are good theoretical grounds for including the variables that are present. There is likely a myriad of intervening factors affecting how much employees engage at work, but focusing on ones that are immediately under the control of the business administrators and relatively logistically sound to implement makes the most sense as a starting point for this line of research. References Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B. (2008) Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing organizations.  Journal of Organizational Behavior,  29(2), 147-154 Den Hartog, D. N., Boselie, P. and Paauwe, J. (2004) Performance management: a model and research agenda.  Applied psychology,  53(4), 556-569 Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L. and Hayes, T. L. (2002) Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a meta-analysis.  Journal of applied psychology,  87(2), 268 Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L. and Keyes, C. L. (2003) Well-being in the workplace and its relationship to business outcomes: A review of the Gallup studies.  Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived,  2, 205-224 Kahn, W. A. (1990) Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work.  Academy of management journal,  33(4), 692-724 Macey, W. H. and Schneider, B. (2008) The meaning of employee engagement. Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 1, 3-30 May, D. R., Gilson, R. L. and Harter, L. M. (2004) The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work.  Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,  77(1), 11-37 Meyer, J. P. and Gagnà ©, M. (2008) Employee engagement from a self-determination theory perspective.  Industrial and Organizational Psychology,  1(1), 60-62 Rich, B. L., Lepine, J. A. and Crawford, E. R. (2010) Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academic Management Journal, 53(3), 617-635 Roberts, I. (2001) Reward and performance management.  Human resource management: A contemporary approach,  3, 506-558 Saks, A. M. (2006) Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement.Journal of Managerial Psychology,  21(7), 600-619 Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H. and Lens, W. (2008) Explaining the relationships between job characteristics, burnout, and engagement: The role of basic psychological need satisfaction.  Work Stress,22(3), 277-294