Global War on Terrorism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global War on Terrorism - Assignment Example The author of the paper states that the war on terrorism officially started after the 9/11 attacks on the US soil although earlier attacks on US embassies in Kenya, Tanzania and the attempted bombing of the Los Angeles international airport were alarming. The then president, George Bush took the initiative and claimed to fight the war on terrorism on behalf of the whole world. Following the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and then targetting Iraq in 2003, NATO forces have been involved in all operations as the attacks of 9/11 were considered an attack on all the 19 member countries of NATO. A very active participant of this war has been Pakistan which has been supporting the US on the matter and fighting against terrorists by allowing US forces along with their own army to carry operations in parts of Waziristan(northern Pakistani territory). Due to this war countries have the highest budget allocated to defense. This is all the taxpayer money we are talking about, which is you, me and us. Do we want to allocate our resources on just fighting terrorists in a war which never seems to end? Do we want to see innocent people being killed like in the case of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan? Do we want this amount of destruction, chaos, and insecurity? Of course, the answer to all of those questions would be no. I refuse to agree with the idea of the global war on terrorism. This war has been a total failure increasing the number of killings, the use of weaponry globally and the doubt in the minds of people if they are being ruled by cruel, self-centered and power hungry leaders.W hat seems to be the idea of the general masses is that the war on terrorism is being used to achieve Uthe S driven goals as it keeps on attacking and killing more and more without eliminating the Taliban forces.T his war has been so much hyped about by the media that it has become part of the headlines of every news channel in the world. The US has gone so far to fight the war that it has created a torture facility in Cuba with the name of 'Guantanamo Bay' which initially held the prisoners of war from Afghanistan and Iraq.  Prisoners are subject to the highest degree of torture from physical remand like electric shocks to psychological abuse, including religious insults such as the Quran being kicked on the ground.M ost of the prisoners kept in this place have been proven innocent but their lives shackled. The war shows the US interest in the oil-rich countries to obtain unhindered sources of oil.T his war is the war being fought by Uthe S alone without the support of the UN, which is the council representing the whole world. If UN does not support the global war on terrorism it is unfair and unjustified for this war to continue as it keeps on creating more and more problems for the whole world(Balken,2005).T the number of bombings and the technology being used by the terrorists is rising sharply,showing signs that this is a never-ending war which will just keep o n causing harm to the environment, the psyche of the people, the insecurity among countries(international relations) and causing unwanted bloodshed and violence(Hancock,2008). The resources of the whole world are being heavily used in a cat and mouse race with a heavy cost of living. Increased expenditures for the global war may come at the expense of consumption expenditures, the classic guns-butter trade-off. These expenditures could come at the expense of outlays for investment, including business fixed investment, residential construction, infrastructure, public and private expenditures on health and education, the primary human capital categories, and research and development(Goldsmith,2007).  

Experiential Focusing Techniques in Counselling

Experiential Focusing Techniques in Counselling Katrina Quaye (kate) What wants my attention now?   Focusing is a unique skill discovered by Gene Gendlin. Working with  Carl Rogers back in the 1960’s, research was done as to why some people have success in therapy and others do not. A very interesting result emerged; those who progressed and benefitted most from therapy were the ones who took some time to reflect, when asked a question they seemed to sense something within themselves and an answer would begin to emerge. Over time Gendlin discovered what became know as the ‘felt sense’. This is a sense that we all have but often it is operating unbeknown to us. This sense, sometimes called a bodily sense, can teach us much about ourselves and also our relationship with others and the world around us. It is a way of listening to our bodies with compassion, without judgement, and something that moved me most of all â€Å"gentleness’. Enhancement of knowledge There are six basic steps to learn in focusing. To begin with we are taught to go through the process, step by step, learning these steps well, by sitting down and quietly going ‘inside’ our body. Once these steps are learnt thoroughly the process can flow with greater ease, quickly accessing our felt sense and going with it. This can be done taking a walk, doing the dishes, driving to work, with continuous practice our body will always be there guiding us. Clearing the space, if someone is not quite in the moment, different thoughts, things to do list going through their mind, it is best to take a moment to clear a space inside. This can be done quite well in a short amount of time by asking the client in their mind to wrap up each concern on the list and placing it in an imaginary basket, not forcing each concern but in a clear friendly manner. This can also be done with a background feeling of being tense, anxious, whatever the feeling maybe to set it aside for the time being. Not forcing, but inviting it to stand aside for some time. Gendlin would often take half an hour for this process with clients. Although it may be done in a much shorter amount of time, five to ten minutes. This would allow for a longer session with the felt sense. One then checks back with the self, that you are feeling clearer to start. So now we can choose something to work on. One may already have an issue they want to work on, in which case one can check with the body if this is okay to work with. Alternatively one may see if there is something that needs their attention now. Often the sense is felt in the throat, chest or abdomen area. One of the key words in focusing is gently, gently say hello to the sense, checking if it is okay to be with it. Gendlin said ‘it is best to be next to the sense, like a friend sitting on a park bench wanting to have a conversation’. We don’t need to become immersed in the sense, just to be next to it. Like a sensitive baby animal we need to be gentle with the sense. Cornell (A. W. Cornell. pg.18) mentions, ‘Focusing is like being a friend to your own inner experience’. You may bring such qualities of friendship as curiosity, respect, empathy, warmth, compassion, letting it know that you are there to listen and listening with these qualities. Now we have said hello and acknowledged it is there, we can begin to describe the felt sense, it may start with a feeling of tightness in the chest, we acknowledge this, then we can ask ’how does this tightness feel’ we are checking back with this word to see that it captures it well. We are now resonating back and forth with the word or image, we don’t need to rush this process. Like a friend who wants to share something that is important to them, they don’t like to feel rushed. We are sitting next to this felt sense, as Genlin (Gendlin pg 57-58) explains, ‘ the felt sense is more than an emotion, with an emotion we know what it is, angry, sad, joyful, but with the felt sense we say I can feel it right there, but i don’t know what it is’. A felt sense contains a maze of meanings, we need to allow the sense time to form. That tightness may develop as anger, but within that anger can come a sense of the whole situation, what led up to that anger, how one is involved, it may for example show you scenes from childhood where you felt angry towards your parent for not understanding or listening to you. The felt sense can give a very complete form of understanding that will be more than just the anger. We now have words and or images we can work with that through checking would fit with the sense. We now come to sense from â€Å"its† view, what it wants us to know. I am letting ‘it’ know, I hear it, or sense it, welcoming it, it knows where it wants to or needs to go, we are listening not forcing or trying to work out whats happening, but allowing the process to unfold. Ending. It is important to ask if there is more that needs to come or shall we end here. It is important to thank the felt sense, to re-assure it that if need be I will be back. If we can develop a trusting relationship that when we say we will return, that we do so, the felt sense will be re-assured. The more we do this the more it will work with us. I will write a brief summary of my own personal experience using Focusing over a number of weeks. Having a quiet place I went inside of myself and sensed a feeling around my heart area. Gradually words like unappreciated, unloved emerged, I was listening to these words seeing if they were the ones. Yes they were. An image of a heart with a wooden dagger stabbed through it emerged, thick deep red blood was slowly oozing out. I was able to sit with this image for sometime, it was very strong, after sometime I needed to finish. Afterward I felt extremely heavy, it was hard to even continue with my daily tasks. The next day I came back to Focusing, realizing that I hadn’t finished off the process properly, mainly because after some time it seemed too much for me. I went back inside and the image was still there, I sat with it and came to understand the experiences I had been through that brought about this image. I needed to be more caring of myself. I asked it the question of how would it feel like if the difficulty wasn’t there. This brought forth an abundant response of joy and happiness, something like fire works were going off in celebration. I felt very light as if a big shift had taken place. Over the next two weeks I went back in to see what was there. I had an image of myself as a young four year old, the feelings of being unheard came up, need to do things perfectly, as mentioned above it takes in a blend of the situation not just an emotional feeling, but a deeper sense of what it was like to be that young child. I was being shown what it was like and by my acknowledging this allowing the whole of it to come out. There was a shift where those strong feelings seemed to melt away. Enhancement of Understanding Greater understanding of myself has come about through Focusing. Other peers and companions have said the same of their experiences when focusing; if one is to gain continuing benefits it is important to keep with the practice. There are certain attitudes that can help the process. Focusing is a very gentle process, approaching it with the wisdom of not knowing is very beneficial, as Cornell (pg21) says, ‘Why would you listen to someone if you think you already know what they have to say.’ The feeling of respect and wanting to know what the sense has to say is of the utmost importance. We need to ‘let go of what we know, to bring an attitude of open, friendly, interested, non judgmental curiosity to our experience†. (Silverston, pg. 2). We need to come to trust the felt sense that it will led us where we need to go. Sometimes along the way it may seem to be taking many detours. Sometimes it is trying to give us a broader understanding, showing various images or certain words. In some ways it is like being an investigator being excited or curious to find out what lies within. We are not taking sides, leaving one part shut out, not wanting something to be heard or acknowledged, we are not excluding any part of ourselves. We are listening to each part and gradually integrating each part of the self. â€Å"When we listen to a place inside that hurts, for instance, the quality of our presence is not the usual one of fixing or trying to make it feel better. Rather, we are willing to let it be exactly as it is†. (Wilson Van der Kooy, pg 1.) This attitude can be a huge relief for many, its okay to be as you are, allowing whatever is there to come up, to recognize and acknowledge it. As Gendlin (year?) said, â€Å"Every ‘bad’ feeling is potential energy toward a more right way of being, if you give it the space to move toward its rightness.† Enhancement of Self Awareness All of the above leads to greater self awareness. Coming to know what is going on inside of oneself. As many decisions need to be made in ones life, the building up of this awareness which can bring about greater confidence, is of huge benefit. I find in my own life if there is a lot happening around me I connect to that inner part which seems stable and able to help me keep centered. For those I have worked with there has been similar feed back, they are connecting to that inner part and making clearer judgements. This is an invaluable skill that can be used for myself in every day life, a skill that can be passed onto my clients, something that the therapist doesn’t control, people can learn this and then use it for the rest of their lives without having to go to the therapist all the time. Bibliography Cornell, Ann Weiser. Focusing In Safety And Trust. The Power of Focusing: A Practical Guide to Emotional Self-healing. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 1996. 18. Print.Cornell, Ann Weiser. What Is Focusing? The Power of Focusing: A Practical Guide to Emotional Self-healing. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 1996. 6. Print. Gendlin, Eugene T. The Crucial Bodily Attention. Focusing-oriented Psychotherapy: A Manual of the Experiential Method. New York: Guilford, 1996. 57 58. Print. Cornell, Ann Weiser. Focusing in Safety and Trust. The Power of Focusing: A Practical Guide to Emotional Self-healing. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 1996. 21. Print. Focusing as a doorway for spiritual growth. Wilson Van der Kooy, pg 1. Steve Silverton Page 2. How to think like a poet and make better decisions Question or Assessment Task: COP116 3000 Word Essay

Philosophy of the Pseudoabsolute :: Philosophical Philosophy Essays

Philosophy of the Pseudoabsolute ABSTRACT: Since human knowledge is relative, human beings consciously (or often unconsciously) dismiss the relative by creating the absolute. The absolute thus created is the psuedoabsolute which, by virtue of its human origins, is relative. However, it functions in both the practical and theoretical life of homo sapien as a genuine absolute. Hence, the psuedoabsolute is relatively absolutized by the human person. The psuedoabsolute is a dialectical unity of the absolute and relative and, as a "third reality," plays a great role in the spiritual life of humankind. 1. First of all, it is necessary to elucidate the meaning of concepts of the absolute and relative. "Absolute" means an "unconditional", which exists by virtue of the intrinsic necessity and therefore is completely independent, irrelative being. It is invariable, infinite, objective and eternal, everlasting. This is the ontological character of the absolute. But in the gnoseological sense the fundamental feature of the absolute is unambiguity. The absolute is unambiguous, it has always and everywhere only one meaning. Relative is, on the contrary, conditional, it exists only in reference to other beings; it is variable, unstable, it changes in various relations. That is the ontological status of the relative, which in gnoseological language means ambiguity, it has multimeaning. Relative is ambiguous. One of the most difficult problems of philosophy is the investigation of the role of the absolute and relative in human mental life. Our present paper, in which we state very briefly our theory of pseudoabsolute is dedicated to the investigation of this problem. 2. The reality, as a universal being, has ontological strata, which are arranged according to the degree of the profundity and community. The ontological structure of the reality (being) consists of three strata of levels: the world of phenomena, the world of special essences and the substantial essence or substance1. 3. All things and events in the world of phenomena, i.e. in the field of empirical reality are interdependent; that means that they are relative. And what is more, natural phenomena are not only interdependent, but also they depend on the special essences, because they are appearance of these essences. Relativity of the world of phenomena is well-founded in the modern natural science and in the philosophy of natural sciences. Not only the world of phenomena is relative, but also the world of special essences. They are special essences, i.e. essences of the definite field of the reality.

The Aircraft Collision Issues

On March 27, 1977 at 1706:52 G. M. T. A KLM 747 collided with a Pan Am 747 in dense fog on runway 30 at Los Rodeos Airport in the Spanish Canary Islands. KLM flight 4805 was a 747-206B with serial number PH-BUF. Pan Am flight 1736 was a 747-121 with serial number N736PA. Both aircraft were properly maintained and airworthy according to the regulations of the country of registration. All crew members of both aircraft were properly certified and current for their particular crew member positions on the Boeing 747. The KLM captain had 11,700 hrs. With 1,545 of those hours on the 747. The First officer had a total of 9,200 hours at the time of the accident with only 95 hours on the 747. The flight engineer had 17,031 hours with 543 hours on the 747. The Pan Am captain had 21,043 total with 584 hours on the 747. His co-pilot had 10,800 hours with 2,796 hours on the 747. The flight engineer had 15,210 hours total flight time with 559 hours on the 747. KLM 4805 was a charter flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Las Palmas, Canary Islands on behalf of Holland international Travel Group. Pan Am 1736 was also a charter flight to Las Palmas originating in Los Angeles, California the previous afternoon with a stop over and crew change at New York (JFK). The two aircraft involved in the accident were diverted to Los Rodeos because of a terrorist bomb explosion at Las Palmas Airport. There was a threat of another bomb so for security reasons no one could land there. Upon arrival at Los Rodeos several other diverted airliners were already on the ground waiting to go to Las Palmas. The Pan Am parked next to the KLM. The captain of the KLM was constantly on the radio trying to find out when the airport would reopen. He was concerned that he and his flight crew were going to run out of duty time. He decided to get fuel while he was waiting in order to avoid the servicing delay that would be awaiting them at Las Palmas. Las Palmas was reopened while the KLM was in the middle of refueling. The Pan Am was ready to depart but had to wait for the KLM to finish refueling because they couldn't taxi around them. Both aircraft were given instruction to use the active runway 30 as a taxiway because aircraft were parked on the paralleling taxiway. The KLM taxied to the end of the runway and made a 180 degree turn to align itself for takeoff. The Pan Am lagged behind because a blanket of fog surrounded them making it difficult to find their turn off. The Pan Am crew was unsure which taxiway they were to get on. The controller told the Pan Am to exit at the 3rd taxiway. This didn't make sense to them because they would have needed to make a 135 degree turn. The fourth taxiway was only 45 degrees. As the KLM 747 completed its turn and the pre-takeoff checklists were complete the captain started adding power for take off. The first officer noticed this and said, â€Å"Wait a minute, we don't have an ATC clearance. The captain held the brakes and said, â€Å"No†¦ I know that. Go ahead ask. † The KLM requested ATC clearance. The tower read them their departure clearance but did not clear them for takeoff. The KLM captain advanced the throttles again as the first officer read back the clearance. The KLM first officer told ATC they were, â€Å"at takeoff. † The Pan Am heard this and said that they will report when clear the runway. They understood â€Å"at takeoff† to mean at takeoff position. The KLM second officer questioned the captain, â€Å"Did he not clear the runway – that Pan American? The captain said, â€Å"Yes, he did. † Moments later the Pan Am first officer noticed the takeoff lights of the KLM approaching fast. He shouted, â€Å"Get off, Get off! † The captain put in full power and tried to drive the airplane into the grass. The pilots on the KLM noticed the Pan Am slewing across the runway after V1 was called. The captain knew that there wasn't enough room to stop so he over-rotated causing the tail of his aircraft to strike the runway in a shower of sparks. But lift the KLM did – just before reaching the Pan AM. The KLM smashed (with a nose up attitude) into the port side of the Pan Am 747. The KLM continued airborne down the runway another 450 meters past the point of collision where it crashed with full fuel and burned killing all 248 souls on board. The Pan Am was soon engulfed in flames. The impact tore off the top of the Pan Am 747 fuselage from the tail to the back of the cockpit. The Pan Am with its entire top fuselage having been carried away by the KLM, caught fire killing 326 of the 396 souls on board. No one in the tower saw the accident because of the fog. Other aircraft waiting on the taxiway saw a series of explosions and reported them to the tower. Emergency crews were immediately notified. The dense fog delayed the effort of the emergency crews to find the planes. The firemen didn't realize that there were two aircraft involved until they were at the wreckage of the KLM and the fog cleared a little bit to see the Pan AM on fire further down the runway. The main cause of this accident was that the KLM captain took off without clearance. The captain also failed to heed the towers instruction to â€Å"standby for takeoff. Finally, the captain did not abandon the takeoff when it became apparent that the Pan Am was still on the runway. He was obviously in a hurry due to the fact that he and his crew might run out of flight time. They had been flying for a long time and probably had get-homeitis. KLM 4805 was nearing the takeoff minimums perscribed for KLM because of the thick fog which put more pressure on the Captain to takeoff. He didn't want to have to leave the aircraft over night and wait for a change of crew because that would inconvienience everyone and cost money. It is also interesting to note that a procedure error took place. This experienced captain should know the difference between being given takeoff clearance and being given a route of flight clearance. The fact of the matter is that the captain had been spending most of his time for the past ten years as a training captain at Schiphol Airport. â€Å"This tended to reduce his day to day familiarity with route flying and its procedures†(Job 177). This idea then leads to the probability that there was a miscommunication between the tower and the KLM. The tower controller and the Pan Am transmitted over each other information that would have prevented the accident. The tower said, â€Å"OK†¦ standby for takeoff†¦ I will call you. † The Pan Am said, â€Å"We are still taxiing down the runway! † The KLM only heard the controller say, â€Å"OK. † The first officer on the KLM declined to take their clearance while they were taxiing because they were too busy doing their pre-takeoff checklists. They instead received their clearance as they lined up for takeoff. This led the captain to believe that the airway clearance they were given also counted as their clearance to takeoff. The first officer already told him once that they didn't have their clearance. He wasn't about to do it again out of fear because the first officer felt resignation. He thought that this captain gave him his 747 rating only 95 flight hours ago and he was in no place to second guess him. The crew of the KLM had poor situational awareness because they turned a deaf ear to the conversations between ATC and the Pan Am crew. They never heard the tower tell Pan Am to report when they were clear. This is proven by the emphatic response to the flight engineers query as to whether or not the Pan Am was cleared of the runway. The captain and first officer said, â€Å"Yes, he's cleared! † The Pan Am crew contributed to the accident by missing their assigned taxiway. If they had turned at the assigned taxiway they would have been off the runway in time. There are several contributing factors to the Tenerife disaster that could have been avoided. If any one of these mistakes didn't happen, the accident would have never happened. If the Pan Am crew had better charts and diagrams of the Los Rodeos Airport, they would have never missed their turn off. The Pan Am would have been off the runway in plenty of time. If the KLM crew was not in such a hurry, the captain would not have commenced takeoff roll before distinct clearance to takeoff. If KLM had Cockpit Resource Management training, the first officer would not have felt intimidated by the captain. He would have corrected the captain again for trying to takeoff without adequate clearance. The captain would have been trained to accept the input of his fellow crew members. If the Pan Am first officer and the tower had not stepped on eachother over the radio, the KLM would have heard both warnings that would have prevented the accident.

Starbucks Marketing.

Coffee houses In the urban area were very popular. The entry strategies for Shattuck across USA and Turkey that might account for the there success was major the Cataracts experience. The experience consist of highest quality coffee from control over the quality and processing of the beans, outstanding people that were recruited and trained on knowledge of coffee along with costumer service and the design of the stores to create a cozy atmosphere with help of there sanctuary Like ambiance with Its aroma, lighting, music and dcord. This basically, attracted people to socialize at Cataracts coffeehouse. ) The Core benefit from Cataracts Turkey is the deferent variety of the Coffee they serve. Actual benefits are the excellent customer service from high trained on the knowledge of coffee along with perfect cozy environment experience. Augmented benefit Is the Turkish coffee that they offer In Turkey. 3) Cataracts uses hybrid-marketing strategy in Turkey. I can claim this confidentially because along with more that 30 varieties of drinks, including espresso based coffee drinks, teas, iced coffees, made from up to 1 5 types of coffee beans, foodItems, and merchandise goods, they also offered Turkish Coffee on their menu in Turkey, which Is part there heritage. 4) Market Penetration strategy: To grow the current products In Turkey, Cataracts can do the following: C] ; Encourage current customers to buy more by providing a stamp system where customer will get 1 cup coffee drink free after every 5 cups. ; Attract competitor's customers: By providing half price offers on selected drinks.C] ; Get non-coffee drinkers to start coming by providing other local coffee substitute which will give hem opportunity to expose them to there core products. Market-Development Strategy: To launch Shattuck in new rural areas, there are three approaches that can be taken: 0 ; Perform advertisement before opening a new store to built anticipation In the surrounding people ; Prove TLS Dive rge Tree at ten new location Tort a couple of days to built potential customers ; Check demographic of the location and dcord the shop accordingly to attract customer by their interests.Product-Development Strategy: If a new product is launched in the current arrest follow strategies can be approached: ; The beverage should be made according to taste of the customers ; Shattuck also introduce some local products, which are preferred with coffee by the common local community like Huzzah ; Provide free Internet in their cafà ©s to attract professional and the student coward. Diversification: If they want to launch a new product for the new market, it's always good to keep following items in mind: ; That product should be exclusive for the locations community, which means that it should be according to their taste. Advertise the new product on large scale to make sure that community is aware of it. According to my understanding of the case, Shattuck has accomplished to penetrate the T urkish market in urban areas but there still growth potential, whereas expanding in the rural areas shouldn't be difficult task if they reduce there prices to some extend and follow some of the strategies mentioned above. 5) My recommendation for Cataracts Turkey to improve sales growth by little more localization while keeping hybrid strategy intact.They should introduce some more coal food items with coffee. Some of their local sweets and Hausa, which also is a long lasting heritage of Turkey and the rest of the Arab community. Like Turkish coffee is an opportunity to socialize similar smoking Hausa with friends is also very common activity in Turkish get together. This is will bring more customers to the coffee house to hang out and by multiple cups of coffee in a single visit. Also reduce price to some extend to make it affordable to a larger variety of coward as Turkey has a very uneven income distribution.

A Guide to Navigating in Spanish

A Guide to Navigating in Spanish There are few things more frustrating while traveling than getting lost  in a foreign place. Fortunately, if you are traveling in an area where Spanish is one of the languages spoken, this list of phrases and words below can help you quickly get to where you are going. Keep This Vocabulary List on Hand Combine the vocabulary listed below with basic grammar and you will be well on your way to getting the help you need. Even if you are not proficient in Spanish, in most places you travel you will find that people will appreciate your desire to use their language. Print out or write down the phrases below so you can communicate with the people around you during your travels.  Ã‚ ¡Buen viaje! (Have a great trip!) Basic Spanish Travel Phrases Where is...? Where are...? -  ¿Dà ³nde est...?  ¿Dà ³nde estn...?How do you go to...? -  ¿Por dà ³nde se va a...? Or,  ¿Cà ³mo puedo llegar a...?Where are we on the map? -  ¿Dà ³nde estamos aquà ­ en el mapa?Is it far away? Is it near here? -  ¿Est lejos?  ¿Est por aquà ­?Im looking for... - Busco...Im lost. - Estoy perdido (perdida if you are female). Where can I catch a taxi (a bus)? - Latin America:  ¿Dà ³nde puedo tomar un taxi (un autobà ºs)?  Spain:  ¿Dà ³nde puedo coger un taxi (un autobà ºs)? Note that other terms used regionally for bus include bus, colectivo, camià ³n, camioneta, gà ³ndola, guagua, micro, microbà ºs, and pullman. Be careful with the usage of the verb coger in parts of Latin America, because it can have an obscene meaning.Additional ways of travel could be on foot (a pie), by car (en coche), on a motorbike (la moto), by boat (el barco), and by plane (el avià ³n). More Spanish Speaking Terms When Traveling Write it down, please. - Escrà ­balo, por favor.Speak more slowly, please. - Hgame el favor de hablar ms despacio.I dont understand Spanish well. - No entiendo bien el espaà ±ol.Is there anyone who speaks English? -  ¿Hay alguien que hable inglà ©s?North, east, west, south - Norte, este or oriente, oeste or occidente, surKilometer, mile, meter - Kilà ³metro, milla, metroStreet, avenue, highway - Calle, avenida, camino, carrera, or carreteraCity block - Cuadra (Latin America) or manzana (Spain)Street corner - EsquinaAddress - Direccià ³n Two Tips for Conversation While Abroad Get specific. Use key terms for places you are going to in your conversations with others. You may want directions to a shopping mall (el centro comercial), general shops (las tiendas) or the grocery market (el mercado). All three can be summed up as shops, but they vary in the type of shop. If you want to explore tourist attractions, detail if you would like to see an art gallery (la galerà ­a de arte), a park (el parque), or a historic center (el casco antiguo).Be friendly. There is nothing that delights locals more than when tourists are courteous and ask for help with a smile. Include basic greetings along with your phrases such as hello (hola or buenas), how are you doing? ( ¿quà © tal?) and good day (good morning is ​buenos dà ­as,  good  afternoon  is buenas tardes, and good evening is buenas noches). Youll score extra points if you adopt to local variations, such as buen dà ­a used in some countries rather than the more common buenos dà ­as. Using Addresses You should be aware the structure of street addresses can vary widely from country to country. Consult a thorough tourist guide before you travel to become familiar with local practices. In many cases, understanding addresses will be easier than it might seem at first. For example, one of the most popular museums in Bogot, Colombia, is el Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) at Cra. 6 #15-88, which initially might seem like a jumble of characters. But Cra. 6 indicates that is on Carerra 6, which we might call 6th Avenue in English. The 15 is the street name (Calle 15), and the 88 indicates the distance from the intersection of that avenue and street. Unfortunately for the traveler, easy-to-understand addressing conventions arent used everywhere, and not all streets are named. In Costa Rica, for example, you may run across addresses such as 200 metros al oeste de la escuela Fernndez, indicating a location 200 meters west of the Fernandez school.

The 1920s essays

The 1920's essays The end of World War I brought about new political and sociological changes in America. Even more affected was America's way of conducting business. With the emergence of new technology came the need to market it, which brought these changes forward. Items such as the toaster, refrigerator and the ever-popular radio helped to shape the business industry. The demands for new technology also introduced buyer credit, which allowed the consumer to buy now and pay later. This was also known as the installment plan, a way of paying for a product over an extended period of time. Many economists were skeptical of this plan however, as it made it easy to purchase a large amount of goods and not have to pay thus lowering the purchaser's credit because of non-existent funds. Advertising also flourished due to the new products available to Americans. Advertisers hired psychologists to study what techniques were more effective on the consumer. They paid close attention to details such as colors and package size, how Americans perceived what youth and beauty were, and what could bring them greater wealth and better health. Slogans such as "Say it with flowers" and "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet" helped to boost product sales and familiarize people with brand names. The new attitude among consumers in America was "luxury is necessity" and it showed through their spending habits. This great flourish in business could only come to an end as Americans grew deeper in debt with the introduction of the installment plan. The prosperity of the 1920's was short lived however, as the stock market crash of 1929 and the ever-growing debt of Americans gave birth to the Great Depression. ...

Media language accelerates recovery - Emphasis

Media language accelerates recovery Media language accelerates recovery The increasing use of the word recovery in the press during the recent financial crisis may have contributed to the UKs eventual climb out of recession, new research from Emphasis has found. This unique project the second from the Emphasis Research Centre began as a positive alternative to The Economists R-word index, which predicts economic downturns by tracking the use of the word recession. The research charts the use of the term recovery (along with green shoots) in the British broadsheets during the recent recession and the months leading up to it. It reveals what appears to be a significant link between the number of press articles mentioning the word and climbs in both the FTSE 100 and Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index. The sudden increase in the use of recovery actually began long before any real sign of one existed. In fact, the UK was sliding further into recession and the markets were in freefall at the time. But the continued and ever-increasing reference to a tentative recovery may have helped precipitate a slight return to form, as both indexes began to rise slowly in February 2009. Other factors undeniably played a part in renewed faith in the markets. The stimulus package announced in November 2008, the start of quantitative easing the following March, and the G20 summit in April 2009 are all likely to have influenced confidence. And mentions of recovery, though regular, were often far from positive. Yet the apparent link between the rise in newspapers references to recovery and the fluctuations in both the FTSE 100 and Consumer Confidence Index during the most intense periods of the economic crisis seem significant. It could be that merely repeating the word recovery, like a mantra, somehow seeped into the subconscious of both the public and the market, says Rob Ashton, Chief Executive of Emphasis. This may be an example of journalists creating the news as well as reporting it. Download the full Recovery Watch research report here. Download the press release here.

Evironmental Problems Facing Costa Rica Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evironmental Problems Facing Costa Rica - Essay Example This paper takes a look at the serious environmental problems caused due to water pollution and deforestation in Costa Rica (Donald Smith, Costa Rica Deals with Environmental Pressures, for National Geographic News, news.nationalgeographic.com December 14, 2000). The population of Costa Rica was 862,000 with a per capita water supply of 110,209 cubic meters in 1950. By 1995, population rose to 3,424,000 and water depleted to 27,745 cubic meters (Tom Gardner & Robert Engelman, Sustaining Water, Easing Scarcity: A Second Update, Country Profile: Costa Rica, ncseonline.org). Covering 19,560 square miles, Costa Rica boasts of almost five percent of all known species in the world. Dense rainforest, rare tropical dry forests, the montane cloud forest cloaking the slopes of volcanoes, the dry savanna, the soft white beaches, and the coral reefs make Cost Rica an environmentalist's favored destination. Costa Rica alone has as many plant species as the whole of Europe, and the number of insect species in a hectare of rainforest is so great that no successful count has been made. Biologist L.H. Holdridge said in 1847 that Costa Rica had 12 zones ranging from tidal mangrove swamps to subalpine param based on a system he devised to analyze temperature, rainfall, and seasonality (Christopher Baker, Flora, Ecosystems, www.photo.net). Biologists believe that deforestation and river contamination has imbalanced the eco system leading to premature extinction of species. Forests, grasslands, wetlands, and coral reefs continue to disappear as human ecological footprint continues unsparingly across the globe. Today the world is warmer by about 1F (0.6C) than it was a century ago. It may not sound alarming, but the fact that scientists have shown a lot of concern makes for introspection. The effect of earth warming has seen many species of seabirds failing to breed because of the sharp decline in sand eels, which these birds eat. Sand eels in turn are dwindling because the cold-water plankton on which they feed is replaced by plankton that thrives in warm water. Tens of thousands of seabirds like kittiwakes, terns, and guillemots that feed on sand eels have shown a distinct decline in breeding. Insects play an important role in pollination. Without pollination, fruits and vegetables will disappear. People fail to realize that insects are a part of the food cycle and play an important role in sustaining life on earth. Insects also eat other insects to control the population insects we call pests. The praying mantis is a supreme example of an insect that helps control the population of other insects. Insects have been around for over 400 million years. They have an exceptional ability to evolve into new species when faced with new environmental conditions, and they are quite resistant to extinction. 3.0 The Impact of Pesticides Use of pesticides to terminate harmful insects can endanger the helpful and immunize

Cellular Microbiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cellular Microbiology - Essay Example (Institute of Materials, Great Britain, P. 223) The importance is far reaching, from environmental O2 /CO2 balance to the synthesis of artificial herbicides that act on unwanted herbs by blocking some important steps in this energy producing process. The chlorophyll pigment alone has lead to new avenues for thoughts and research on the importance of photosynthetic processes and has paved the way for the synthesis of certain medicinal drugs exploiting its photoprotective mechanisms for preventing light induced damage of cells. The chlorophyll research has added to the significance of this novel energy yielding life process and has led to the foundation of drug therapy for treatment of tumors, carcinoma and related maladies. In fact the earliest forms of photosynthetic plants principally inhabited the water bodies, especially in the warm mineral rich pools, mainly due to the intense effect of ultraviolet radiation on the land due to the absence of the ozone layer. Instead of oxidizing, with a highly reducing nature of environment, principally due to the sparse oxygen count, the warm pools full of evolving life forms probably utilized the massive energy resource to convert the simple inorganic compounds to complex organic biomolecules, like, purines, pyrimidines, nucleosides, nucleotides, etc, paving the way for the synthesis of nucleic acids and complex proteins and enzymes. (Pearson, P. 10) This definitely potentiated the production of biomolecules required oxygen production. As the oxygen level in the atmosphere increased slowly with the passage of time, plants reached out and slowly colonized the lands progressively transforming their semi-aquatic habitats to terrestrial by nature. With the evolution of the earliest microbes that resembled cyanobacteria, algae and lichens till the further differentiated poikilohydric bryophytes evolved. About 25 million years ago, these non vascular bryophytes were soon followed with vascular homioihydric plants capable of maintaining their internal water content at an optimum level irrespective of the external environmental conditions. However before the origin of these photosynthesizing life forms the challengingly low levels of atmospheric oxygen as hypothesized by the geologists, required an explanation of unknown factors that increased the atmospheric oxygen count at a considerable extent. This unknown process of oxygen accumulation in the atmosphere through an unexplained time gap of hundred million years can be associated with a number of presumable theories each of which has its own investigational platform. "The red line shows the inferred level of atmospheric oxygen bounded by the constraints imposed by the proxy record of atmospheric oxygen variation over Earth's history. The signature of mass-independent sulphur-isotope behaviour sets an upper limit for oxygen levels before 2.45 billion years ago and a lower limit after that time. The record of oxidative weathering after 2.45 billion years ago sets a lower limit for oxygen levels at 1% of PAL, whereas an upper limit of 40% of PAL is inferred from the evidence for anoxic oceans during the Proterozoic. The tighter bounds on atmospheric oxygen from 420 million years ago to the present is set by the fairly continuous

Economic relations between South Korea and China Essay

Economic relations between South Korea and China - Essay Example It seemed like China would never catch up with the Western developed countries economically, but after the 1978 reform period, Deng Xiaoping, a hero of China, focused on market-oriented economic development and by the year 2000, output had quadrupled. The relations between Korea and China had ceased during The Cold War, but the reestablishment in 1992 of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, the same led spurred a surprisingly rapid growth of bilateral economic exchanges. Before the establishment of official diplomatic relations, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries was not significant. However, since official diplomatic relations were established, trade relations between the two countries have changed dramatically. Trade volumes have increased explosively, except for a temporary lag in the year 1998 when the Korean economy faced serious problems in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. Since then, the two countries have maintained relations of significant economic interdependence. From this data, it appears that Korea’s trade with China has increased since the year 1992. In the 1992-2003 time frame, exports of Korean goods to China increased at an annual rate of 26.5 percent, while Korea’s imports of Chinese goods increased at an annual rate of 17.5 percent. 1 The share of exports to China out of Korea’s total exports rose from 3.46 percent in 1992 to 18.11 percent by 2003; the share of imports of China rose from 4.56 percent of Korea’s total imports to 12.25 percent by 2003.2 In 2001, China became Korea’s second-largest export destination, overtaking Japan. The reasons for such successful bilateral economic exchanges are economically complementary structures, geographic proximity and cultural familiarity. 3 The recent brisk exports from Korea to China are due, at least partially, to the fact that the Chinese economy, because of China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), is

The Attributes Of The Nurse Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Attributes Of The Nurse Leadership - Essay Example I have grown with my self-knowledge and this growth emanated from m interaction with other people. As a nurse, there was always the need to mingle with other officers to work together and in some cases take instructions from them. As all these interactions took place, there were avenues through which I easily pointed to some of my weaknesses and strengths and these generally make up for my self-knowledge. The lessons and topics have also gone a long way to teach me about differences in personalities and this has spiced up my self-knowledge. The class sections have really helped in shaping my interpersonal relationship with others. Before, I was the type who believed so much in my personhood and thus had very little time to pay attention to who other people were and what they did. Today, I have come to accept the need for social integration and the basic requirements for this; which includes the need to open up to other people and give them the chance to also express themselves freely. This has however not defeated the need for me to continue to be an active communicator instead of a passive one. As the topic areas in this course of leadership proofs to be more and beneficial to my studies and career as a nurse, it is important that I seek an avenue to continue to learn more topics regarding leadership. In this direction, some key topics I have penned down include but not limited to The knowledge they say is not vested in the head of one person alone. For this reason, I constantly feel the need to learn from other people to equip what I already know and have. For this reason, I pay particular attention to the attributes of other nurses and learn a lot from them during interactions with them. I am never shy to ask questions for clarity and ask for my mistakes to be corrected. Through such means, I am hoping to be a perfect nurse in the nearest future.

The Media and the Role They Play in Suicide Research Paper

The Media and the Role They Play in Suicide - Research Paper Example ion, arrest, punishment, embarrassment, and pity Case study 3: â€Å"Father of a gang-raped teenage girl commits suicide 'in shame'† A father to a 16-year-old girl committed suicide by taking poison after a gang of eight men raped his daughter Media shame led to Krishan’s completed suicide Change of writing styles With the discussions provided by Lester, it is agreeable that the media through publicized books fosters suicidal behaviors particularly to readers seeking information regarding suicide Classical writers applied writing styles such as: a. Romantics b. Boffo c. Irresistible Current writing styles such as: a. Spare b. Crafty c. Lyric Suicide related books have changed for the worse Statistics on suicide Data brought forward by National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) document that people also commit suicide because of exposure to behaviours opined to suicide by media figures, family members, and peers Statistical figures showing the rate of suicide since year 1993 to 2010 After every 13.7 minutes, an individual dies through suicide in the US. Almost 1,000,000 individuals attempt to commit suicide every year. Ninety percent of those people who commit suicide have a treatable and diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Most people with mental illness do not commit suicide Medical costs amount to almost $100 million annually (2005). Conclusion The media, may it be publicized or viewed, play a crucial role in escalating the rate of completed, planned, attempted, and thought attempts especially among people undergoing certain challenges including diseases, depression, and disorders Recommendations People thinking of committing suicide should seek medical attention or counselling Researchers and doctors recommend specific forms of psychotherapy such as dialectical... This paper approves that The National Vital Statistics System of the United States reveals that, many people take their lives every year in this country. The research results point out that the risk of committing suicide is higher in some people than in others. According to the available data, the major causes of suicide in the US are depression, prior suicide attempt, suicide family history, and incarceration. Media plays a potential role in contributing to the suicidal behaviours of many Americans where firearms usage in movies and substance abuse take the largest percentage of deaths that occur due to suicide. This essay makes a conclusion that the media, may it be publicized or viewed, play a crucial role in escalating the rate of completed, planned, attempted, and thought attempts especially among people undergoing certain challenges including diseases, depression, and disorders. The market is flooding with movies where characters portrayed to have contracted killer diseases end up hanging themselves. This aspect affects people the third world countries, as their living costs are high. Television and the internet especially with the upsurge and accelerated use of social networks, live video coverage, and instant messaging are contributing to suicide behaviors every day. The discussed case studies show that the media facilitates death through suicide given that the antagonists of media’s role in suicide cases depicts that the involved people committed suicide due to the shame brought unto them by the media.

Customer service Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Customer service - Assignment Example Figure 1: Unremitted Growth of the Hotel Industry (Source: AIU, 2007) The project discusses about a hotel that is good in terms of locations and services, but some recent customer complaints forces the officials realize the importance of training employees about the extensive values of customer service policies. The economic success of an inn depends on how the customers view the quality and services of the hotel. Thus, it becomes highly rational for the officials of the hotel to reduce the variations of services rendered to the individuals and augment the overall customer service of the inn. Importance of customer service policies in our business The theory of service profit chain explains that economic growth, profit and loyalty are three interlinked concepts. The hotel would only succeed in generating economic surplus and grow, if it achieves customer’s loyalty. Again, the loyalty of the customers can only be achieved with the help of valuable customer services. Employees i n the hotel must be productive in their work for providing valued services to the customers. Motivation is the only key to enhance the productivity of the employees. There lies a great difference between ability to work and willingness to work. Motivation is the only fact that bridges the gap between the two concepts. Figure 2: The Service Profit Chain (Source: PPT) The workers in the hotel may be motivated if the officials organize special economic and non economic compensations for them on the basis of their performances. Moreover, the officials must conduct regular training and interactive sessions to upgrade the skills of the workers. Skilful workers would only be able to serve customers excellently and win over customer loyalty. Loyalty of the potential customers would ultimately render growth in profit of the hotel. A good customer service policy must be reliable, responsive, competent, credible, accessible, courteous, communicative, environmental friendly and understanding in nature (Ritzcarlton, 2013). Upgrading the Existing Customer Service Policies If the workers in the hotel are to be trained with the values of the customer service policies, the officials in the hotel must modify the existing policies of customer service. The officials must try to incorporate the best policies followed by the popular luxury hotels in the industry. Ritz and Hilton are the famous five star luxury hotels in Florida and Las Vegas respectively. These five star inns provide the best of services to its customers and following these policies would be the best improvement step made by the officials of the luxury hotel. There is a pool of different policies that these luxury hotels have introduced to check that they park the best of potential customers (Marriott, 2011). Service standards about staff training The existing team of staffs in the hotel must be trained to enhance the services rendered to the customers. The essay considers that the policy of lifetime relationship b uilding, of the Ritz and Hilton hotel is the best policy in which the officials of the concerned hotel must consider. The customers visiting the hotel must be treated as guests. The employees of the hotel should make sure that the individuals, who once visit the hotel, repeat their visits and consign others to visit the hotel. The service that the employees would render to the individuals would be a mark of excellence that would help to build a lifetime bonding with them. The

The Media and the Role They Play in Suicide Research Paper

The Media and the Role They Play in Suicide - Research Paper Example ion, arrest, punishment, embarrassment, and pity Case study 3: â€Å"Father of a gang-raped teenage girl commits suicide 'in shame'† A father to a 16-year-old girl committed suicide by taking poison after a gang of eight men raped his daughter Media shame led to Krishan’s completed suicide Change of writing styles With the discussions provided by Lester, it is agreeable that the media through publicized books fosters suicidal behaviors particularly to readers seeking information regarding suicide Classical writers applied writing styles such as: a. Romantics b. Boffo c. Irresistible Current writing styles such as: a. Spare b. Crafty c. Lyric Suicide related books have changed for the worse Statistics on suicide Data brought forward by National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) document that people also commit suicide because of exposure to behaviours opined to suicide by media figures, family members, and peers Statistical figures showing the rate of suicide since year 1993 to 2010 After every 13.7 minutes, an individual dies through suicide in the US. Almost 1,000,000 individuals attempt to commit suicide every year. Ninety percent of those people who commit suicide have a treatable and diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Most people with mental illness do not commit suicide Medical costs amount to almost $100 million annually (2005). Conclusion The media, may it be publicized or viewed, play a crucial role in escalating the rate of completed, planned, attempted, and thought attempts especially among people undergoing certain challenges including diseases, depression, and disorders Recommendations People thinking of committing suicide should seek medical attention or counselling Researchers and doctors recommend specific forms of psychotherapy such as dialectical... This paper approves that The National Vital Statistics System of the United States reveals that, many people take their lives every year in this country. The research results point out that the risk of committing suicide is higher in some people than in others. According to the available data, the major causes of suicide in the US are depression, prior suicide attempt, suicide family history, and incarceration. Media plays a potential role in contributing to the suicidal behaviours of many Americans where firearms usage in movies and substance abuse take the largest percentage of deaths that occur due to suicide. This essay makes a conclusion that the media, may it be publicized or viewed, play a crucial role in escalating the rate of completed, planned, attempted, and thought attempts especially among people undergoing certain challenges including diseases, depression, and disorders. The market is flooding with movies where characters portrayed to have contracted killer diseases end up hanging themselves. This aspect affects people the third world countries, as their living costs are high. Television and the internet especially with the upsurge and accelerated use of social networks, live video coverage, and instant messaging are contributing to suicide behaviors every day. The discussed case studies show that the media facilitates death through suicide given that the antagonists of media’s role in suicide cases depicts that the involved people committed suicide due to the shame brought unto them by the media.

BHS 414 Cross-Cultural Health Perspectives Mod 4 SLP Essay

BHS 414 Cross-Cultural Health Perspectives Mod 4 SLP - Essay Example In the third dimension of the PEN 3 Model Nurtures are defined as â€Å"supportive and/or discouraging influences of families and friends including eating tradition, community and events, spirituality and soul, values of friends, marriage rules, expectations etc†. (Airhihenbuwa, 2004). There are several governmental and other organizational programs to improve practice of breast feeding in western countries. These programs provide free counseling and support to mothers promoting breastfeeding. In many developing countries paid maternity leave up to 6 months are allowed for female employees in both private and public sector. But western countries lack that kind of legislations. Therefore working mothers naturally tend to feed their child with bottle milk (Zareai, 2007). Free health care services are available in many developing countries. But many western countries do not have sufficient free health care facilities to support breastfeeding mothers to teach and practice correct methods of breastfeeding and overcome their problems (Zareai, 2007). Due to cultural perception breastfeeding in public places may be annoying for the western mothers. Therefore they may choose bottle feeding. However in many Asian countries breastfeeding in public places is a common practice and they really get the help of others. Barnes, J., Stein, A., Smith, T. and Pollock, J. I. (1997). Extreme attitudes to body shape, social and psychological factors and a reluctance to breast feed. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 1997 October; 90(10): 551–559. Zareai, M.,   Maxine, L., OBrien,    Fallon, A.B. (2007). Creating a breastfeeding culture: a comparison of breastfeeding practises in Australia and Iran. Breastfeeding Review. FindArticles.com. retrieved from

Nature And Extent Of Globalisation Economics Essay

Nature And Extent Of Globalisation Economics Essay Globalisation in layman term, is commonly understood as the spread and connectedness of production, communication and technologies across the world. The International Monetary Fund defines globalisation as the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, freer international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. Globalisation involves the exchange of culture, practices and technologies. It is more than internationalisation, thus has powerful economic, political, cultural and social dimensions. There are three main indicators of globalisation. These are international trade, the transfer of money capital and the movement of people between countries. Retail is the sale of goods and services from individuals or business to the end-user. Retailers are part of the supply chain. There are different types of retailers, such as department stores, discount stores, warehouse stores, convenience stores, hypermarkets, supermarket, malls and e-tailers. The retail industry can be divided into several strategic groups from small to super scale. Among all these strategic groups, Tesco, Carrefour, Wal Mart, Metro AG and Kroger are global top five retailers that have similar business models or similar combination of strategies. The aerospace industry includes authorities and companies involved in the manufacturing, operating and maintenance of aircraft, engines and aircraft equipments. There are different civil aviation stake holders, such as governments (Federal Aviation Administration, United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, Civil Aviation Administration of China), airlines (British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, United Airlines), maintenance repair organisations (Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company, Singapore Aircraft Engineering Company), manufacturers (Boeing, Airbus, Rolls Royce), and private aircraft owners. The aviation industry can also be divided into several strategic groups which cover a large scope of business. Among all these strategic groups, Pratt Whitney, General Electric, CFM International and Rolls Royce are global top four civil aero engine manufacturers that have similar business models or similar combination of strategies. PESTEL analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (Appendix Table 1). It is a tool to conduct a strategic analysis and provide an overview of the different macro environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration to formulate the company strategy. In this portfolio we will focus on China Political, Economic, Technological in the areas of retail business and civil aviation. China with a population of over 1.3 billion is the worlds most populous country. China is the second largest county in the world by land area. Its total area is around 9,600.000 square kilometer. Since the economic reforms in 1978, China has become the worlds fastest-growing major economy. In 2012, China becomes the worlds second-largest economy, after the United States. It is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a single party state governed by the Communist Party. In 2011, Chinas GDP is around RMB47.2 trillion (1GBP=9.86RMB) , GDP growth rate 9.5%, income per capita RMB33,777, labour force 815.3 million, unemployment rate 6.1% and inflation 3.2%. The official language of China is Mandarin. English is popular among the younger. The literacy rate is 92.8%. The number of internet users reaches 500 million. Tianhe-1A worlds fastest supercomputer was developed in 2011. China has been the one of the states capable of sending human to the space. In 2009 the total sales in Chinas top 100 supermarkets is RMB575.6 billion, with CAGR of 15.6% from 2006 to 2009. The total number of supermarket outlets is 23,814. The Foreign-funded supermarket enterprise entered into China market in 2004 after the Chinese government lifted the restrictions on foreign capitals entry into Chinas retail industry. In 2009, the eight foreign-funded supermarkets including Carrefour, Wal-Mart and RT-Mart recorded total sales of RMB175.71 billions, with a total of 785 stores (Appendix 1, Table 2). The 31 domestic supermarkets (Better-Life, New Huadu, Wu Mart and Lianhua) recorded total sales of RMB391.3 billions, with a total of 23,004 stores. In the civil aviation sector, according to the forecast of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China will have an increase of 4,583 civilian aeroplanes in the next 20 years. Chinese commercial aeroplane market will undoubtedly grow rapidly. To the year 2030, Chinas share of global aircraft fleet will increase from 9% to 15%. In addition, the business jet market has a huge growing capacity in the global industry. In the near future, China is still unable to produce its own commercial aero engine for its jets. All the civil aero engines are imported from overseas. The major players are Pratt Whitney, General Electric, CFM International and Rolls Royce. To help our clients understand the difference between United Kingdom and China Market in order to formalising their strategies, we apply the Ghemawats CAGE Distance Framework indentifying Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and Economic difference or distance between United Kingdom and China. Socio-cultural difference such as Religion and Values are important factors affecting the companies enter into China Market. Chinas traditional religions are Buddhism and Taoism while Christianity and Catholicism are two major religions in United Kingdom. Western and Chinese companies conduct business in a very different way. In traditional Chinese societies, personal contacts and relationship are built around kinship and local network especially in retail industry. English is United Kingdoms national language where in China Mandarin is the most spoken language. This difference affects more on high end civil aviation industry than the retail industry. Ghemawat says Political barriers will remain a part of the picture for those globalizing their operations. China adopted a closed door policies until the mid-1970, the liberalisation of China after 1978 has resulted in the political climate being less restrictive than before. China accession into World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 is an important milestone for the countrys economy. After entering into WTO, China started the reform to liberalise trading rights, eliminate no tariff barriers, improve market access to goods and services, reduce traffic rates and protect intellectual property rights. Although Chinese government try the best efforts to promote rule of law, systemic and endemic corruption, lack of transparency, inconsistently enforced laws and regulations, an unreliable legal system and weak intellectual property protection remain to be the barriers to business profitability in China. The level of state involvement in the economy through large number of state owned ente rprise remain high creating distortions in the market and protectionist measures for local and state enterprises continue to impede fair trade and competition. After the 2008 financial crises, there is a phenomenon that many private owned business were acquired by the state owned enterprise due to lack of liquidity. Chinas time zone is eight hours ahead of London and the flying time between two capitals is around ten hours. Ongoing structural reforms in China, export growth and investment has resulted in annually real GDP growth rates of around 10% over the past 4 years. Sustained high growth has reduced poverty and creating huge demand on consumer goods and air travel which generate business opportunity in both retail and aviation industry.

Shakespeare :: essays research papers fc

William Shakespeare was born in the year of 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. His exact birth date is unknown but it is traditionally celebrated on April 23. In England this day is known as the feast of St. George. He was the third of eight children born to John and Mary Arden Shakespeare. John Shakespeare was a tanner, and a glove maker. He served a term as the mayor of Stratford, a town council man, a justice of peace, and an ale-taster. Unfortunately John could not write. John Shakespeare died in 1601. Since William was his eldest son he received what little land his father owned. Little is known about his mother's life. It is known that she came from a wealthy family. Her family also paid her husband a handsome dowry. William Shakespeare went to a very good grammar school in Stratford-upon- Avon. Two of his instructors were Oxford graduates, Simon Hunt and Thomas Jenkins. William's studies were in Greek and Latin. He developed the ability of keen observation of both nature and mankind. It is said that his education ended here. On November 27, 1582, when William was 18 years old, he married Anne Hathaway. She was ten years older than him. Their first daughter, named Susanna, was born the next year on May 26, 1583. The couple also had twins, Hamnet and Judith, in 1585. Hamnet died at the age of eleven, but it is unknown how. Between the years of 1585 and 1592 no evidence of what happened in Shakespeare's life is known. These years are called "The Hidden Years". It is said that during this stretch of time, he ran away from the law or was the apprentice of a butcher, although a man named John Aubry was told by Christopher Beston that Shakespeare was a school teacher up until 1592 somewhere in London. Beginning in 1592, in London, he became known as an established playwright. In 1593 he found a patron, Henry Wriothsley, to sponsor him. William Shakespeare was also an actor, writer, director, and stockholder in "The King's Men" company. He acted for a company called "The King's Men". This company became the largest and most famous acting company simply because William was performing and working for them. Shakespeare wrote two long poems. His first, "Venus and Adonius", was written in the year 1593. Then a year later he wrote, "Rape of Lucrece".

Aging and Hearing Loss :: Cognitive Geriatrics Essays

Aging and Hearing Loss Hearing loss is often overlooked because our hearing is an invisible sense that is always expected to be in action. Yet, there are people everywhere that suffer from the effects of hearing loss. It is important to study and understand all aspects of the many different types and reasons for hearing loss. The loss of this particular sense can be socially debilitating. It can affect the communication skills of the person, not only in receiving information, but also in giving the correct response. This paper focuses primarily on hearing loss in the elderly. One thing that affects older individuals' communication is the difficulty they often experience when recognizing time compressed speech. Time compressed speech involves fast and unclear conversational speech. Many older listeners can detect the sound of the speech being spoken, but it is still unclear (Pichora-Fuller, 2000). In order to help with diagnosis and rehabilitation, we need to understand why speech is unclear even when it is audible. The answer to that question would also help in the development of hearing aids and other communication devices. Also, as we come to understand the reasoning behind this question and as we become more knowledgeable about what older adults can and cannot hear, we can better accommodate them in our day to day interactions. There are many approaches to the explanation of the elderly's difficulty with rapid speech. Researchers point to a decline in processing speed, a decline in processing brief acoustic cues (Gordon-Salant & Fitzgibbons, 2001), an age-related decline of temporal processing in general (Gordon-Salant & Fitzgibbons, 1999; Vaughan & Letowski, 1997), the fact that both visual and auditory perception change with age (Helfer, 1998), an interference of mechanical function of the ear, possible sensorineural hearing loss due to damage to receptors over time (Scheuerle, 2000), or a decline in the processing of sounds in midbrain (Ochert, 2000). Each one of these could be a possible explanation; however it is often a combination of several of these causing a perceptual difficulty in the individual. Helfer (1998) recognized the slowing of our temporal perceptual processes with increasing age. He suggested that this leads to auditory deformity, especially in the instance of time compressed speech. Speech comprehension requires rapid processing of stimuli that is not always completed in time-compressed speech because of the shortening of phonemes and a decrease in pauses. Helfer went a step further by taking into account that hearing is not just auditory but it is also visual, in that we use cues like looking at the person's mouth or facial expression while having a conversation.

Policing Culture Paper Essay

Throughout history the role of women and racial and ethnic minorities has been restrained. This causes the inability to move up in ranking and limiting the ability to perform in certain jobs. Being a woman or having a different racial background can also cause stereotypes. For example, a Hispanic officer may be given a Hispanic area to patrol, due to his background. The need for minorities and women in law enforcement is undoubtedly true. The culture, and gender diversity in police departments is not only helpful in today’s police departments, but it is a necessity. The larger police departments such as Detroit City police could not be a successful department without ethnic minorities, and women. One example of the need for women in the department would be that on a routine stop if there were a female that is suspected of a crime, or suspected to be in the possession of drugs she needs to be searched. A long time ago a male officer would simply search the woman, and arrest her if need be, or send her on her way. With all of the sexual harassment accusations against male police officers during the frisking it is easier on the department, as well as the women being frisked just to have a female officer do the task to avoid accusations, or even the loss of a case. Cities in the United states especially the large cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Miami, or Detroit is extremely ethnically diverse. This is where ethnic police officers are needed. If there was a call that police officers responded to there is a possibility that the person who is being interviewed at the scene would only want to talk with an ethnic police officer this will not only calm down the person being interviewed, but it will be a more effective interview. These are just a few examples of why women and ethnic minorities are a necessity to today’s police forces. That is also why men and women of today’s police forces are equal. Inside every police force is a manual that dictates guidelines for the officers to follow in times of question. This manual is usually known as the Policy and Procedures manual or P&P. These  mechanisms give officers clear guidelines on how to proceed with certain situations. These policies can only go so far in any department though. As each officer is out in his beat working his area, situations will dictate what he has to do in order to maintain his officer safety as well as the safety of the public and citizens of the area he is working. These manuals are given to instill base line knowledge of how an officer should handle himself and what his/her department feels is acceptable on how to handle calls and incidents. Policy is updated monthly if not weekly in order to stay current with case laws in order to keep the officer as sharp as possible to deal with the everyday citizens, jail house lawyers, or crim inally sophisticated individual who is well versed in dealing with law enforcement. Many experts have entertained the idea of the existence of a police subculture. Some would say that there are challenges and stress factors unique only to the job of policing. A study conducted on a police department by William Westly in Gary, Indiana discovered that two of the key factors leading to the creation of a police subculture were due to nature of the job and the individuals that the officers were most likely to come in contact with on a daily basis. He concluded that the majority of the people that officers came into contact with were those who already held resentment toward law enforcement officers. These interactions helped foster a police subculture, which emphasized violence, secrecy, and solidarity. Being a police officer can be very stressful. The demands of the job and the lack of control over workload can have a negative impact both physically and mentally. Personal relationships also suffer and the divorce rate is as high as 30 percent in some police departments. Police officers also have one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. It is apparent that police work is stressful. So what is the source of officer stress? Although many of the duties and responsibilities related to police work can create high levels of stress, there is not one single stressor that cannot be found in other occupations. The reality is that working in law enforcement can take a toll on an individual’s personal life. The challenge is trying to find a balance in order to alleviate these problems so that it does not affect the officer in the performance of their duties.

Development Stages

Child development studies is an interdisciplinary field, which studies the development of a child from conception to childhood through adolescence and emerging adulthood. Child development is divided into three broad domains – physical, cognitive, and emotional and social. Some experts state that child development is a continuous process while others argue that it follows discontinuous stages.Recent theories on child development include information processing, which views the mind as a complex computer; ethology, which emphasizes the evolutionary origins and adaptive behavior; Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory that focuses on understanding cultural influences; ecological systems theory where environment is believed to play a role in development; and dynamic systems perspective according to which changes in physical or social systems account for a child’s behavior (Chapter 1). The characteristics of each individual depend on their genotypes and environment.Chromosom es, which contain genes determine our hereditary characteristics. The child inherits two genes on each chromosome from its parents. The dominant gene is responsible for inherited characteristics. Chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down syndrome, occur due to errors at the time of meiosis. Genetic counseling helps parents avoid the risk of giving birth to children with genetic defects. The child’s family, economic status, neighborhood, school, and favorable public policies play an important influence in shaping his or her personality (Chapter 2).More couples are choosing to remain childless, using birth control measures, and delaying their birth ages today compared to previous times. Children with low birth weight are more prone to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes in adulthood and high birth weight are more prone to breast cancer in adulthood. Factors such as teratogens; usage of certain prescription drugs, such as thalidomide; illegal drugs; tobacco; alcohol; exposure to r adiation; environmental pollution, infectious diseases; nutrition; emotional stress; and maternal age shape prenatal development (Chapter 3).The Apgar score determines a newborn child’s physical condition at birth. Natural childbirth involves preparing an expectant mother about childbirth. Various medical interventions, such as fetal monitors, forceps, and cesarean delivery assist during childbirth complications. Complications at birth might cause conditions like cerebral palsy in a newborn. Brazelton's Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale is used to assess the behavior of the newborn (Chapter 4). References Chapter 1: History, Theory, and Research Strategies, pp. 1-76. Chapter 2: Biological and Environmental Foundations, pp. 1-67 Chapter 3: Prenatal Development, pp. 1-39. Chapter 4: Birth and the Newborn Baby, pp. 1-48.

Preparation and Reactivity of Sn1 2-Bromobutane

Preparation and SN1 Reactivity of 2-Bromobutane Paul DeJong Department of Chemistry, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4160 Submitted: April 4, 2013 Introduction The purpose of part 1 of the lab is to prepare 2-Bromobutane using SN1 reactions. The purpose of part 2 of the lab is to determine the relative reactivity of alkyl halides under SN1 conditions. Results and Discussion The Overall Reaction The Proposed Mechanism Experimental Procedure To prepare 2-bromobutane in part one of the lab, you have to set up a flask apparatus with a thermowell and a Claisen adapter.Attached to the Claisen adapter is a thermometer measuring the temperature in the flask and a vertical condenser for reflux. Add in the reactants to the flask, sulfuric acid, 2-butanol, and ammonium bromide. Heat to 95OC and then maintain temperature for 30 minutes. Then, water was added and simple distillation began. The aqueous layer of the distillate was removed leaving the product, 2-bromobutane. For part 2, two drops of each of the following were placed in 3 different test tubes: 2-bromobutane, 1-bromoutane and 2-bromo-2-methylpropane.In each of the tubes an even amount of silver nitrate is added. Observations of the reactions precipitate are recorded. Same process is done with 2-chlorobutane, 2-iodobutane, and 2-bromobutane. Experimental Stoichiometry Compound| Molecularweight| Quantity| Moles| 2-butanol| 74. 12 g| 7. 4 mL (6. 0 g)| 0. 081| Sulfuric acid| 98. 08 g| 20 mL (12M)| 0. 24| Ammonium bromide| 97. 94 g| 8. 0 g| 0. 082| The limiting reactant is 2-butanol. Yield Data 2-bromobutane| | Molecular Weight| 137. 02 g|Theoretical Yield (moles)| 0. 081 mol| Theoretical Yield (grams)| 11. 10 g| Actual Yield| 10. 11 g| NMR Table Signal| Chemical Shift| Multiplicity| Integration| A| 4. 11| Multiplet| 1H| B| 1. 85| Pentet| 2H| C| 1. 60| Doublet| 3H| D| 1. 08| Triplet| 3H| Reactivity of Alkyl Halides Compound| Observations at Room Temp| Observations upon Heating| 1-bromobutane| Clear| Very little change but some white ppt| 2-bromobutane| Clear| Moderately cloudy white ppt| 2-bromo-2-methylpropane| Brown tint| Very milky white ppt|Compound| Observations at Room temp| Observations upon heating| 2-chlorobutane| Clear| No ppt at all| 2-bromobutane| Clear| Moderately white and some yellow ppt| 2-iodobutane| Dark brown| Thick, milky white and yellow ppt| Conclusion Overall, the first part of the lab produced 2-bromobutane using SN1 reactions. This product was then used in the second part of the experiment to determine the relative reactivities of alkyl halides. Reactivity increases as follows 1O < 2O < 3O and Cl- < Br- < I –

History and Political Science - Critical Summary Essay

History and Political Science - Critical Summary - Essay Example In other words, Canada’s existing electoral system sets an issue of injustice giving the majority of seats to parties that do not represent the will of the voters. The particular view seems fully justified, having in mind that the actual role of elections is to reflect the citizens’ view in regard to the practices of their government; in addition, through the elections citizens can promote their claims for the replacement of persons who have the responsibility for critical governmental decisions. At the next level, it is made clear that the MMP system is often preferred because of its ability to set a balance between the traditional and modern electoral systems (Charlton and Baker 233); this means that the particular system does not lead to radical, and unexpected, changes on a country’s electoral system. The specific characteristic of the MMP system is quite important, guaranteeing the lack of political and social turbulences in the countries that it is first es tablished. Two different views are analyzed. According to the first view, supported by Hiemstra and Jansen, democracy ensures that the government of a state, where democracy applies, represents the majority of people (Charlton & Baker 234). This means, according to the above researchers, that ‘each vote counts’ (Charlton & Baker 234); also, this means that the structure of the House of Commons is aligned with the will of the majority of voters; in the context of Canada’s existing electoral system, there is no such issue (Charlton & Baker 234). The representatives of parties in House of Commons have not, necessarily, attracted the majority of votes. Moreover, it is noted that the MMP system is used in most countries internationally; there would be no reason for Canada to be excluded. Another important disadvantage of the plurality system, the Canada’s existing electoral system, is the limitation of oppositions in a country’s parliamentary body; in th is way, the accountability of the government for its decisions can become unfeasible (Charlton & Baker 236). In general, the plurality system is considered as threatening the democracy (Charlton & Baker 236) and for this reason its replacement by MMP is suggested. There is also the opposite view, supported by N. Wiseman (University of Toronto); according to N. Wiseman, who is a professor of political science, the plurality system guarantees democracy; in fact, it is noted that Canada, due to its current electoral system, is considered as ‘part of an elite group of states that are full democracies’ (Charlton & Baker 248). At the next level, Wiseman notes that the change of Canada’s existing electoral system has been already discussed; it is noted that in 1920s the specific issue was brought before the Parliament for discussion; after a thorough examination of the potential advantages and disadvantages of a PR system, it was held that the country’s electoral system should remain the same (Charlton & Baker 248). Also, reference is made to Canada’s cultural characteristics; it is explained that specific parts of the population, as for example, aboriginals are not expected to participate in elections if these are organized at national level (Charlton & Baker 253). This means that many people in Canada who are loyal to their traditions

Self determination, Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia Essay

Self determination, Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia - Essay Example That these unitary states would be destroyed following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union was perhaps not as important as the manner by which these nation-states disintegrated. The process in Yugoslavia was extraordinarily violent, and notions of national self-determination and territorial sovereignty led to substantial conflict and bloodshed; on the other hand, the process of state disintegration in Czechoslovakia was much more moderate and civil, leading one commentator to characterize this period of Czech history as the period of the "Velvet Revolution to the Velvet Divorce" (Bakke, 2002: 92). This essay will argue that these differences were the result of different approaches to minority rights, different demographic realities which made a more peaceful secession much more difficult in Yugoslavia, and certain ingrained philosophies regarding the legitimacy of national self-determination. As a preliminary matter, before examining how Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia viewed secession, it is necessary to examine the common understanding of the terms used. The fundamental problem, as noted by Bakke, is that "The principle of national self-determination is as ambiguous as the nation concept itself. ... This ambiguity is particularly illustrative in the instant case; it is illustrative because some people view national self-determination as a civic nation encompassing a variety of ethnic and cultural groups whereas other people have interpreted national self-determination as the right of groups with distinct cultural and ethnic characteristics to have their own autonomous state. As history has demonstrated, the Czech people generally subscribed to the civic notion before relenting and recognizing the cultural and ethnic aspects of national self-determination; Yugoslavia, on the other hand, was torn by a stubborn Serbian adherence to the Roman natio interpretation. The Serbians held steadfast to the civic notion, demanding the preservation of the multiethnic unitary state, whereas Croatia and other regions relied on the cultural ethnic interpretation of national self-determination. A reconciliation of these ambiguous interpretations was resolved peacefully in Czechoslovakia, but unre conciled in Yugoslavia. One simply cannot engage in a comparative analysis of these two formerly unitary nation-states without understanding the role which ethnicity played. Following the First World War and decolonization, national self-determination tended to represent freedom and political and economic independence; later, however, as these newly formed unitary states evolved, people with their own unique cultural and ethnic characteristics often sought to incorporate notions of cultural sovereignty and territorial integrity into their articulation of national self-determination. Indeed, as stated by Hannum, Ethnic wars of secession highlight the inherent tension between "self-determination" and

Communicating Effectively Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Communicating Effectively - Research Paper Example In addition, the patterns depicted within the cross-sex communication frequently display the mean both men and female engage interpersonally. Regarding conflict conditions, the underlying contrasting behaviors amidst the prevailing sexes is extremely evident. Conflict is a common component of the entire associations and corresponding means of tackling crucially to the basic survival of the associations (Stone, 112). This paper discusses the conflict-handling styles in males and females and the implications of these techniques for supervisors. Communication is a procedure that entails sharing information amidst personalities via existing conventional system of the prevailing symbols and behavior. In addition, the mean through which populace frequently communicate relies on their gender (Robbins, Deenzo & Wolter, 50). Communication is an element of everyday life in which conflict is cumbersome to eliminate. Conflict is frequently developed when populace shares diverse beliefs concerning particular issues. Numerous factors determine what individuals believe, and they play an influential role in people’s opinions, consequently influencing their course of action. For this reason, there is a discernable difference between the conflict handling styles between males and females. Both genders communicate in diverse means by that making them initiate interpersonal communication in times of disputes. In the book, ‘Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus,’ John Gray (2004) says Men and women expect their men to feel, engage via communication to their actions. People forget that both genders are unique. Thus, their engagement is full of unnecessary misunderstanding and disagreements. The gender differences in conflict management originate from the gender-based tendencies that are rooted in a person’s childhood. Females depict a relational style of engagement, which entails expressing point of views, relations and offering a relatively larger proportion

Analysis of Democratization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Democratization - Research Paper Example Freedom of self-expression has a great relation to the freedom of speech, together of which enables individuals to air their views and criticize unethical proceedings in the given society. Freedom of self-expression is, in fact, the foundation of every other form of democracy (Camp 16). With self-expression, individuals are able to rebuke tyrannical leadership and rules that apply immense force in handling citizens’ affairs. Freedom to self-expression is an empowering tool to enable the individual citizens overcomes any form of discrimination that has a direct or indirect effect on their personal developments. Inglehart and Christian describe that with the freedom to self-expression, individuals can also raise alarm over economic inequalities that are particularly detriment to their individual developments and society as a whole (20). Freedom to self-expression enables individuals discloses any forms of corruption that occurring in a given society and threatening to corrode th e resources of the victim society. The developmental process of the individuals’ democracy also requires assurance of freedom of association. Freedom of association empowers individuals to decide and interrelate with groups of their individual choice. As illustrated by Camp, freedom of association helps individuals form strategic movements tasked with purposes of ensuring collective representation of ideas and views of a given group that feels underserved and unrecognized by the ruling authority in a given society (21). Furthermore, freedom of association as a tool towards democratization helps individuals with lower say in a given society team up and form groups capable of challenging a given repressive rule or leadership in a particular society. Individual democratization process that defines the whole democracy has to encompass and cover religious rights (Inglehart and Christian 24). Allowing individuals’ freedom of religion ensures the spiritual development of the given individuals in the most appropriate direction. Freedom of religion is a tributary to freedom of association as it advocates for allowing individuals to initiate and interrelate with groups of their personal choice. The democratization process also has to take into consideration the economic equality among individuals of a given country. Economic issues and gaps have been the epicenter of wars in various societies and particularly among individuals. Ensuring economic equality will empower individuals to have a say on the manner of handling a country’s resources for the best of developing the entire society or community. Institutional democratization stems and develops from individual democratization. Democracy in institutions starts with freedom of self-expression among constituent employees and parties. With self-expression, individuals within a given institution have the power to share their views and even spell out dissatisfaction with managerial techniques and proces ses (Krishna 16). Allowing freedom of self-expression to individuals, institutions are likely to benefit from innovation and creative ideas exhibited by individuals in a particular organization. Institutional democracy has to base on the freedom of association among the constituent employees and parties. Institutional democracy also needs to take into consideration gender issues. Many organizations have faced problems compounded by disparities in gender biases and inequality.

Job Satisfaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Job Satisfaction - Essay Example Many studies acknowledge this either explicitly, by using questionnaire data but taking it as indicative rather than accurate, or implicitly by focussing on more reliably observable data like reasons cited for leaving, and incidences of non-productive and counter-productive work. Interestingly, many studies conclude that pay is not generally a factor in job satisfaction, but job type, sex, age, being married and education do seem to be relevant factors. (Clark, 1996). In an older study from the mid-1970s, Katzell and Yankelovich concluded that job satisfaction and productivity â€Å"do not necessarily follow parallel paths† (1975, p. 12). What this means is that workers may be very committed, and very happy with their jobs, but they do not necessarily channel this into goals that the company wants to achieve. With the passage of time, and the focus more and more on hi-tech and knowledge-based industries, the need for every growing creativity and commitment in workers is evident, but the divergence between individual and company needs seems to be growing too. Added to this is the uncertainty and risk of free-market economics, and the fact that workers can no longer count on a fixed career plan, or a permanent position in any one company. It is very tempting to conclude that â€Å"the degree of relationship between job satisfaction and job performance is so tenuous and variable that, if there is a causal connection, it must either be intrins ically weak or conditioned by other circumstances in the work situation.† (Katsell and Yankelovich, 1975, p. 124). Later research has fortunately delved a little more deeply into those ill-defined â€Å"other circumstances in the work situation† and has begun to look beyond simple productivity at attributes like commitment and creativity which are increasingly required.

Why Effective Communication Is Important Essay Example for Free

Why Effective Communication Is Important Essay 1.1 Explain why effective communication is important in developing positive relationships with children, young people and adults. Communication is simply defined as the process of conveying information from one person to another. It can be verbal, no verbal, visual or written. Effective communication involves the ability to use these different methods of communication not just to pass on information but to also receive feedback or learn the other persons viewpoint. Therefore the goal of any communication is understanding. Hence, It is a social skill that is crucial for any relationship to succeed. Unfortunately, as easy as the definition of communication sounds, it is often the root cause of many problems in relationships. This is because effective communication involves much more than just talking to someone. It involves listening not just to what is said, but a whole lot of what is unsaid. Misunderstanding can occur when barriers to communication are not recognised and dealt with. Barriers, such as; Language differences Speech impairments Cultural differences Emotional state and attitude Prejudice Sensory impairments. In the area of supporting teaching and learning in schools, effective communication is vital as communication styles differ across the various kinds of individuals that one would have to develop relationships with in Schools. Children for instance think in black and white terms, young adults are starting to think more in grey terms and may have more emotional barriers to deal with. Adults on the other hand are more susceptible to cultural differences and sometimes prejudice. To use the same approach in communicating with these different types of individuals would result in misunderstanding and conflict.

The Driving Forces Behind Crowdfunding Management Essay

The Driving Forces Behind Crowdfunding Management Essay How can you raise over 10,000,000 in funding for a consumer product, that is not yet produced, without any help from banks, angel investors or venture capitalists. How can you make hundreds of people pay for a meal they just might receive in a distant future? How is it possible to turn thousands of committed customers to also become shareholders without the process of an IPO? The answer is crowdfunding, which is a financing method that has exploded in popularity the last few years and that is changing the way many individuals, start-ups and businesses seek funding (kà ¤lla Forbes). The basic idea of crowdfunding is to raise external finance from a large audience (the crowd), where each individual provides a very small amount, instead of soliciting a small group of sophisticated investors (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 1). The individuals, investors, customers or consumers that make up the crowd are called crowdfunders (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 4) and usually pool their money together via the Internet (kà ¤lla) An example of how powerful crowdfunding can be is the Pebble E-paper Watch, a smartwatch for iPhone and Android, which raised $10,266,845 in investments during roughly one and a half months on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter (Kickstarter. 2012c). Another example is the Swedish hamburger restaurant Flippin Burgers, which got hundreds of individuals paying for a hamburger before the restaurant even existed and simultaneously financed the start-up of their now immensely popular venue in Stockholm (kà ¤lla). example of equity crowdfunding The crowdfunding market has grown with 557 % in the last five years and crowdfunding platforms raised a total of almost $1.5 billion in 2011, exceeding one million successful projects (Massolution, 2012). This number is predicted to double in 2012 with the current growth rate, which indicates that this nascent method of financing definitely has the potential to make a substantial change in the way individuals, start-ups and businesses seek financing (kà ¤lla). The long-term potential of crowdfunding is hard to predict, but currently the phenomena of crowdfunding looks promising. With scarce research on the subject, there are many aspects of crowdfunding that are still unexplored and with the projected industry growth, a demand will likely arise for a foundation of which entrepreneurs and managers can make informed decisions when hosting crowdfunding projects. 1.1. Background The background chapter will firstly cover the consumers involvement over time and its implications on crowdfunding, then a definition of crowdfunding will follow and lastly three different types of crowdfunding will be presented. 1.1.1. The Consumers Involvement Consumers have traditionally been positioned at the end of a firms value chain, but last decades their role have changed from not only being a target for marketing activities, to actually being a part of the value creation of a firms products or services (Hunt, Geiger-Oneto Varca, 2012, p. 347). The consumers have subsequently become key information sources, co-producers, partners for innovation and, finally, co-creators of value in the related literature (Ordanini, Miceli, Pizzetti Parasuraman, 2011, p. 444). This shift of focus on the role of the consumer has led to frequent activities by many firms to involve consumers and unidentified individuals in the process of product development and value creation (Zheng, Li, and Hou, 2011, p. 57). Involving consumers as co-producers and co-creators also provides value for the consumers and the process has been positively correlated with the consumers product satisfaction (Hunt et al., 2012, p. 347). This evolution of the consumers role was made possible initially by the rise of the Internet and later by technological innovations associated with Web 2.0 (Kleemann, Voß and Rieder, 2008, p. 5). Web 2.0 is a expression coined in 2004 noting a set of principles and practices that had emerged on the Internet, such as users being co-developers of open source development practices (OReilly, 2007, p. 19 30). Recently, the consumers role has also expanded to include investment support. This phenomenon of collective efforts by consumers and individuals to pool their money together via the Internet to invest in different projects is called crowdfunding (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 444). Kleemann et al. (2008) argue that we are witnessing an emerge of a new consumer type called the working consumer. Ordanini et al. (2011) also describes the idea of crowdfunding, when consumers and individuals pay for producing and promoting a product instead of buying it, as a further step in the evolution of the consumers role. In association with these initiatives of involving the consumers as investors, there are several issues in the boundaries between marketing and finance, that are not yet fully explored and explained (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 444). Zheng et al. (2011) have shown that consumers get involved in similar kind of initiatives to a great extent because of their intrinsic motivations. However, the field of crowdfunding is still unexplored when it comes to why and how consumers contribute with monetary investments, the selection of initiatives and what implications these behaviors within crowdfunding should have for firms and managers engaging in these kind of activities (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 444). 1.1.2. A Definition of Crowdfunding Crowdfunding is defined as: an initiative undertaken to raise money for a new project proposed by someone, by collecting small to medium-size investments from several other people (i.e. a crowd) (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 444) The actors involved in crowdfunding are the people who propose projects to be funded, the crowdfunding organization and the crowd itself. The crowdfunding organization serves as a form of hub, bringing together those who may want to invest in crowdfunding initiatives and those who seek investments for their projects via crowdfunding (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 444-445). These crowdfunding organizations typically conduct their business via a website, (compare: http://www.indiegogo.com/, http://www.kickstarter.com/ and https://www.sellaband.com/) in which actors can advertise their crowdfunding initiatives to the crowd. The crowdfunding phenomena is much like regular investments, some efforts are successful and some are not. A popular crowdfunding site at the time of writing, Kickstarter, reports that 43.81 % of the crowdfunding projects at their website are successful   (Kickstarter. 2012d). They also report that they do not accept just any crowdfunding request and that about 25 % of submitted projects are not accepted to the site (Kickstarter. 2012b). This means, in practice, given that their numbers are correct, that about one third (0,75*0,4381à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€ 1/3) of the attempted crowdfunding projects at the website in question are successful. One example of such a successful crowdfunding project in 2012 is Pebble E-paper Watch, which in total raised $10,266,845 in investments during roughly one and a half months (Kickstarter. 2012c). This demonstrates that it is indeed possible to obtain large investments from crowdfunding. 1.1.3. Different Types of Crowdfunding Crowdfunding can be divided into three different types of crowdfunding initiatives: (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13) Donations asking for donations rather than offering some kind of financial or remunerative incentive in exchange of an investment (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13). Example: Raising money for a good cause, like surgery of a diseased child. Passive investments giving some form of incentive in exchange for investments, these incentives can take many forms. In general a higher investments yields a higher incentive. Most crowdfunding like this does not offer any kind of possibility for the investor to participate in the project. This is in other words a form of crowdfunding where the entrepreneurs raise money without giving up control or having the customers actively involved (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13). Example: Pre-ordering of a product (such as a music CD). Active investments offering an active role in the initiative in exchange for investments. This could include offering shares of the profit or voting rights for features of the product. As in the case of passive investments, a higher investment in active investments generally yields a higher incentive. The entrepreneurs can in this way gain insight in their markets and receive valuable information of how the market thinks the product should be customized (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13-14). This type of investment with involvement in co-production, increases product satisfaction (Hunt, Geiger-Oneto Varca, 2012, p. 354). Example: Offering shares of profit from a concert, in proportion to how much money is invested. 1.2. Problem Discussion and Previous Research As a new emerging phenomena, crowdfunding and its consequences for businesses and consumers are not fully understood. For instance: what drives the engagement of consumers to invest in crowdfunding initiatives? (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 444) One interesting way of approaching this question is stated by Ordanini, Miceli, Pizzetti and Parasuraman (2011, p. 446): Some extant literature streams are helpful in providing an appropriate backdrop for understanding crowd-funding, although insights from each stream only address some but not all aspects of this emerging phenomenon. This method provides an helpful framework for approaching the problem. The actors that invest in crowdfunding projects can be seen as both customers and investors (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13 Ordanini et al., 2011). This, in combination with the statement above, suggests that it is interesting to investigate why people participate and invest in crowdfunding projects both from a customer behavior perspective and an investment behavior perspective. Crowdfunding is as mentioned in 1.1.2 conducted online. If crowdfunders are seen as customers, the act of participating in crowdfunding can be compared to customer behavior in online shopping. Research in online customer behavior suggest that customers are motivated by extrinsic and intrinsic motivations when shopping online (Shang, Chen, Shen,   2005, p. 401). Since crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomena, the literature in the subject is far from extensive. To demonstrate this, examples of searches in Scopus and Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge as of the 25th of October 2012 will be presented below. Scopus and Web of Knowledge are extensive databases tracking citations with 47 million (SciVerse, 2012) and 49,4 million (Web of Knowledge, 2011) records respectively. A search for the term crowdfunding in Scopus rendered 5 results when limiting the results to articles. The same search in Web of Knowledge rendered 9 articles. Out of all these articles the oldest one was from 2011 (Ley Weaven, 2011), and the rest were published in 2012. This demonstrates that crowdfunding is indeed a new phenomena, and from these quick searches it can be concluded that the literature in crowdfunding is scarce. In a review of the literature found during the literature study which laid the foundation to this thesis (and included broader search terms than the above mentioned) it was found that it was only Ordanini, Miceli, Pizzetti Parasuraman (2011) who have studied how and why people engage in crowdfunding initiatives. The authors did this by conducting interviews with employees at three major crowdfunding platforms. Their findings revealed that crowdfunding participants motivations were very dependent on the type of project. Their study showed that the main motivation is patronage for music projects, monetary return for financial loaning and social participation for charity. However, their findings are based on interviews with informants from the crowdfunding intermediates without including any individual investors in their study. It appears to be a knowledge gap from an investor perspective, investigating the investors motivations to participate in crowdfunding initiatives. Since the actors engaging in crowdfunding initiatives can be seen as both customers and investors (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13 Ordanini et al., 2011), it is interesting to research why individuals get involved in crowdfunding both from a customer behavioral perspective and an investment behavioral perspective. To the extent of our knowledge, this has not been covered in the literature so far.   In summary, the literature on crowdfunding is scarce and while some aspects of crowdfunding has been studied, others remain unexplored. The purpose of this study is to attempt to fill the mentioned knowledge gap about motivations in the literature of crowdfunding and contribute to widening the research on crowdfunding. This thesis will examine the factors that motivate customers/investors to engage in passive crowdfunding projects. 1.3. Research Questions The problem description has resulted in the following research questions: 1. How do crowdfunders intrinsic and extrinsic motivations affect their size of investment in passive crowdfunding projects? 2. How important is the influence of other crowdfunders investments? 1.4. Purpose The purpose of this study is to research the relatively new phenomena of crowdfunding and examine the motivational factors that make people invest in crowdfunding projects. By examining why consumers invest in crowdfunding projects this study is intended to contribute to fill the knowledge gap identified in the problem description. The literature in general about crowdfunding is scarce and to our knowledge this type of study about crowdfunding has not been conducted before. Praktiska tillà ¤mpningar 1.5. Disposition The disposition of the thesis will be as follows, after this section a chapter about the theory used in this thesis will be presented, followed by a chapter about the research design and methods used. After that, the results of our surveys will be presented and a critical discussion about the results will follow. At the very end, the conclusions from the study will be presented and after that a list of references and appendixes will finalize this essay. 2. Theory This chapter will present the theory that lays the foundation to the thesis. First, customer behavior and relevant motivation theory will described and related to crowdfunding, including the important distinction made in this thesis between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Second, relevant investment behavior theory related to crowdfunding and an explanation of the phenomena of momentum in crowdfunding will be explained. 2.1 Customer Behavior As mentioned in the problem discussion, the individuals participating in crowdfunding projects can be seen as both customers and investors (Schwienbacher Larralde, 2010, p. 13 Ordanini et al., 2011). The first research question of this thesis is What motivates crowdfunders to invest in crowdfunding projects?, therefore motivation theories will be presented below. In general, motivation research   is directed to finding motives for peoples behavior (Sheth Mittal, 2004, p. 234). Within customer behavior, motivation research is aimed at finding out the conscious or subconscious reasons that motivate people to buy or not to buy a particular product, service or brand, or to patronize or avoid a store, or to accept or reject a marketing communication (ibid.). In this study, the research will be aimed at finding out the reasons why customers engage in crowdfunding initiatives, in other words, why they purchased the incentive offered at a given investment level. 2.1.1. Motivation Ryan Deci describes to be motivated as the means to be moved to do something (2000a, p. 54). A person who is motivated is a person who is inspired, energized or activated to act, where as an unmotivated person, feels no drive, incentive or stimulus to act. Motivation can be measured in terms of the level of motivation and the orientation of the motivation. The level of motivation refers to how much motivation an individual has, for example when a potential customer is out shopping for a car, if the salesman who assists the customer get paid in terms of commission it could be expected that this salesman has a higher level of motivation to make the sale than if the same salesman would have a fixed salary and no commission. The orientation of motivation refers to the underlying motives, goals and attitudes of the motivation, in other words why someone is motivated. An example of orientation of motivation is that a student may do her homework because she finds it interesting and intrigu ing, or the student may do her homework because her teacher and parents require her to do it. The student in this example may have equal level of motivation in both cases, but the nature of the motivation is entirely different because of its origin (Ryan Deci, 2000a, p. 54-55). A basic distinction of orientations of motivation is the distinction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation: (Ryan Deci, 2000a, p. 55) 2.1.1.1. Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation is an orientation of motivation that origins in doing something for its inherent satisfactions rather than doing something to achieve an outcome. An intrinsically motivated person is a person who is motivated because an activity is fun, challenging, novel, interesting or simply put satisfying psychological needs (Ryan Deci, 2000a, p. 56-57). This can be compared to that children from the date of birth are active, curious and playful in despite of rewards being absent. It is a natural motivation that encourages assimilation, mastery, spontaneous interest and exploration that is so essential to cognitive and social development and that represents a principal source of enjoyment   and vitality throughout life (Ryan Deci, 2000b, p. 70). In crowdfunding, examples of intrinsic motivation could be to fund a technological project of a gadget because it is fun, or funding a project raising money for surgery of a child out of compassion. An important concept in the case of charity is warm-glove giving. Warm-glove giving means that donors are egoistically motivated by the act of giving and not only the altruism  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Andreoni, 1990, p. FIXA). 2.1.1.1. Extrinsic Motivation Extrinsic motivation is in contrast to intrinsic motivation when the origin of motivation lies in obtaining a separable outcome from performing an activity. Satisfying psychological needs is not necessarily related to extrinsic motivation, instead extrinsic motivation covers the continuum between amotivation and intrinsic motivation (Ryan Deci, 2000b, p. 71-72). An illustration of this is that a student may do her homework because she fears sanctions from her parents or because the student sincerely believe that doing the homework will be valuable for her future career. In the latter case intrinsic motivation and feeling of choice is present, while in the prior case external control and compliance is imminent. Even though both cases involves intentional behavior, the types of extrinsic motivation is different because they vary in autonomy. In crowdfunding, examples of extrinsic motivation could be to fund a technological project of a gadget because an incentive given is the actual gadget, or funding an artists concert for a share of the profit. 2.1.2 Shopping experience 2.2. Investment Behavior According to Ordanini et al. (2011), the emerging phenomena of crowdfunding has transformed consumers into investors. The consumers are contributing financially to other peoples or organizations projects and expect either a monetary or non-monetary incentive for their support. Thus, the characteristics of crowdfunding are very similar to financial investments and the behavior of crowdfunders can thereby resemble the investment behavior of individuals in financial markets   (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 450). Herding Behavior in Online Shopping A large group (a crowd or mob) is likely to show examples of group behaviour 2.2.1. Herding Behavior in Financial Markets Crowdfunding projects seem to follow similar patterns where the financing of the crowdfunders triggers a chain reaction and facilitates rapid growth at a certain point (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 457-458). This kind of snowball effect in the crowdfunders behavior, of something small building upon itself and becoming larger, can be found and be explained in several investment situations and can be both positive and negative. This investment behavior can be found as a negative effect in bank runs (Iyer Puri, 2012, p. 1414) and as a positive effect in rational herding in financial economics (Devenow Welch, 1996, p. 603). Bank runs are situations when bank customers withdraw their deposits from banks because they dont believe that the bank can keep them safe. This phenomenon has been a recurrent case in the history, from the Great Depression in the 1930s, to the financial crisis recently (Iyer Puri, 2012, p. 1414). The same pattern can be found in rational herding in the financial mark ets, when investors act based on other investors decisions rather than information about the investment itself (Masson, Gotur Lane, 2001, p. 100). Imitation and mimicry are two of the humans most basic instincts, which could partly explain why investors are influenced by the decisions of other investors in financial economics (Devenow Welch, 1996, p. 603). Rational herding occurs because of payoff externalities and information externalities. Payoff externalities is when investors benefit from other investors following their actions and information externalities is when investors gain useful information from observing previous investors decisions to a level where they consider it to be more reliable than their own information (Masson, Gotur Lane, 2001, p. 100). 2.2.2. Investment Momentum in Crowdfunding Ordanini et al. (2011) have found that a similar momentum in crowdfunding occurs at a recurrent stage of the crowdfunding process and they have identified three distinct phases in the investment process that are applicable to most crowdfunding projects. The first phase includes the investments reaching approximately half of the projects target capital and mostly consists of investments from people who are directly connected to the project or the network of the creator of the project. The emphasis in this phase is the involvement of people related to the project or the creator to accumulate a start funding underlying the rest of the crowdfunding process (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 457-458). The second stage usually slows down in investment growth and is considered to be the most delicate and important phase, since it typically determines if a project fails or succeeds. Motivating and involving people in this phase is crucial to trigger the crowding process and the inability to do so is a very common reason for failure (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 457-458). The third and last phase is when a project triggers a chain reaction that facilitates rapid growth to reach and, in some cases, exceed the investment target. The crowdfunders in this phase are primarily people without any original connection to the project and the investment process usually speeds up when it comes closer to the accumulated target investment. Ordanini et al. (2011) claim that the reason for this is that in many cases, the opportunity to invest will disappear as the project reaches its target investment. In this situation, the crowdfunders act very similar to investors in the financial markets and nobody want to miss the opportunity to invest and be a part of the project, which results in a chain reaction triggering more and more people to invest (Ordanini et al., 2011, p. 457-458). Crowdfunding momentum graph? (Ordanini) 3. Method This chapter will explain the method used in this thesis. Firstly a broad perspecitve of the method used will be presented, the Research approach and Research design. After that a more narrow view and thesis specific details will be presented; the Research strategy using surveys, the conduction of the survey and the data analysis. Finally the reliability, validity and replicability of this study and the presentation of data will be presented. 3.1. Research Approach As shown, crowdfunding is a subject on which there is little existing literature and scarce knowledge. Because of the insufficient prior research on the topic, it is simply not possible to define a theoretical framework for a hypothesis, which precludes a deductive research approach (Saunders et al., 2007, p. 127). The research questions emphasizes on why something is happening, rather than being able to describe what is happening, which implies that a more inductive approach would be appropriate (Saunders et al., 2007, p. 126). Although, an inductive approach involves drawing generalizable inferences out of observations (Bryman Bell, 2007, p. 14), which is not an accurate relationship between the theory and data in the study since the research questions are based on previous studies. The objective of the study is to discover new variables and relationships and to stress theory development, rather than theory generation or confirmation of existing theory. For such a study, Dubois G adde (2002) suggest an abductive approach which enables continuous interplay between theory and empirical observations. The abductive approach also allows the framework to be successively modified as a result of unanticipated findings and insights during the research process, which enables new conclusions when theoretical models and new concepts encounter the reality (Dubois Gadde, 2002, p. 559). 3.2. Research Design The research desigend is intended to generate evidence to answer the research questions that are established and to act as a framework for the research process (Bryman Bell, 2007, p. 39-40). The study entails data from several cases at a single point in time in order to collect quantifiable data to detect patterns of associations. Because of this, this study is based on a cross-sectional design, which is the study of a phenomena in a given point in time (Saunders, 2007, p. 155).   A cross-sectional design enables examining several variables to explore potential variations, which suits the research questions of identifying motivations and distinguishing differences between different categories in crowdfunding. In cross-sectional design research, the data is also collected simultaneously, in contrast to experimental design, and the data is quantifiable by a systematic method for measurement and benchmarking. However, with the cross-sectional design it is only possible to examine rel ationships without being certain of the casual influence, in contrast to an experimental design where variables are manipulated (Bryman Bell, 2007, p. 55). Although a cross-sectional research design is sufficiently adequate to serve as a foundation for drawing certain inferences (Bryman Bell, 2007, p. 56). 3.3. Sampling This study has been conducted on the following crowdfunding websites: http://www.rockthepost.com/ http://www.sponsume.com/ http://www.helpersunite.com/ http://peerbackers.com/ https://www.sellaband.com/ The reason for choosing the above mentioned crowdfunding websites is that they permit contacting the participants in their crowdfunding projects via the websites respective internal mail systems. There are a few more crowdfunding websites in which it is possible to contact investors, but some require that you have invested in the same project as the users that you want to contact and others have no compulsory contact information, meaning that the users manually would have to post their contact information in their description to be contactable through the website. Worth noting is that even in the websites chosen for this study, there are some users that can not be contacted because of the option of being anonymous when investing. The study is also, as mentioned in the research questions, limited to passive investments in crowdfunding. Within passive investments this thesis is also limited to only successful crowdfunding projects, because the crowdfunding websites appear to remove the unsuccessful projects as to not discourage potential clients. This makes it impossible to access information about unsuccessful crowdfunding projects without the owners of the websites collaboration. Collaborating with the crowdfunding websites themselves has though been judged to be out of the scope for this study due to time restrictions. A consequence of studying only successful crowdfunding projects is that the participants in our study are asked about their motivations retrospectively. This means that the participants investment motivations rather are their retrospective rationalization of their investments, than their decision making process prior to the investment. Therefore, it is impossible to determine to what degree the customers/investors were affected by any post-purchase rationalization or dissonance to justify their investments. In an attempt to counter this problem, only crowdfunders that have participated in crowdfunding projects that have recently ended has been contacted. The time frame chosen for this was one week. Within the crowdfunding projects chosen within the different categories of crowdfunding no sampling were made, instead all participants that were not anonymous were contacted. 3.4. Research Strategy: Surveys The research strategy chosen for this thesis is surveys in the form of Internet questionnaires. This research strategy has been chosen because it is common in business and management research and allow for collection of large amounts of data to a relatively small cost (Saunders, 2007, p. 144). Given the quota sampling and the internal mail systems provided by the crowdfunding sites, Internet surveys provided us with a simple solution of reaching out to all participants in selected crowdfunding projects, seeing as it was fairly easy to contact the crowdfunders via the internal mailing system. This allowed for generating findings that are representative for the entire population in the chosen crowdfunding projects. In comparison to interviews this is also a less time consuming strategy and seeing as this is a bachelor thesis, time is of the essence. Surveys allows for collecting large amounts of data for statistical analysis. The data collected from surveys could for example be used for suggesting possible relationships between variables and produce models for these relationships (Saunders, 2007, p. 144) (Bryman Bell, 2007, p. 56). This is much in line with our research questions.    3.4.1 Survey Design When designing a survey it is important to use standardized questions that will are likely to be interpreted in the same way by all respondents (Saunders, 2007, p. 393). The surveys sent out to the different crowdfunding projects where therefore identical. Language non native English speakers The questionnaire consists of XX questions in total, this because a questionnaire should not be longer than is necessary to meet the research objective and that it is generally believed that a shorter questionnaire has a higher response rate than a longer questionnaire (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2012, p. 436). Designing questions (Bryman Bell, 2007, p. 266-271)