Business Support System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Support System - Research Paper Example Marketers are able to communicate to their target market by use of appropriate, interesting and real ways that customers are elated about and also that entertain them thus persuading them to respond to the offer in the market. This way, promotional programs that are more appealing can be devised that ultimately elicit encouraging returns. This is the reason why marketers would go for augmented reality as it suits and allows smarter interaction with the immediate environment. Augmented reality has come in handy in real estate since by use of technology someone can locate a house for sale by the use of a phone. This is very practical and saves a lot of time since there is no need of searching for that information manually. Augmented reality has even some more applications in the real world. For example technology can be embraced to derive a way through which a customer can be permitted to visualize the contents of a product without having to actually open it. This will therefore motiva te customers who in turn will be tempted to try the product leading to possible impulse buying. Engineers can utilize augmented reality to have a taste of their products operation even before the actual launch something that will give room for more improvement on the product before the buyers use it. Case Study Two The general trend in the market seemed to nose dive leading to uncertainty in almost all other sectors the economy. The prevailing market conditions in 2010 triggered the downward trend of activities in the investment arena (Alison, 2008). The aspect of the debt that European held also had an immense influence on the way investors made their ultimate decision regarding their patterns of investing. The confidence of investors was also ruined by the fact that no one had the surety that Greece could be in a position to settle its debts something that everyone was looking up to. All these uncertainties led to the stagnation of the economy thus leading to the collapse of figur es of many industries that are the economic engines of the country. These events are the precedents of the flash crash that took place shortly after. The benefits of electronic trading are explicit in the market even today. These have far reaching advantages compared to brokers who are basically human. In the electronic trading for example, trading activities are done with accurate speed hence reliability and effectiveness is guaranteed. Moreover, brokers and other concerned agents tend to charge exorbitant fees to deliver on some activities something that may cripple the entire process. Therefore the electronic trading system comes in handy due to its reduced costs involved that help increase on the returns. The other hand efficiency is guaranteed by this system since buyers and sellers can be satisfactorily matched. There are some factors related to the electronic trading programs that contributed to the crash. This is a very unfortunate occurrence since a lot of utility was expec ted to be derived from these systems. There was a total imbalance and distortion of prices as their execution would be done with no regard to any price or time thus as selling continued prices dropped sharply. The effect of this is that what is there on offer to the market has to be sold aggressively to counteract bad prices that could bring huge losses. All these complicated processes frighten

Marketing and consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing and consumption - Essay Example 2012). This study will extensively expound on the marketing event that took place on September 10th 2013 by Apple Inc where it launched the lower-cost iPhone 5C which is ‘The most colorful iPhone Yet’ and the iPhone 5S which is dubbed as ‘The Most Forward-Thinking Smartphone in the World’ (CBCnews 2013). Apple Inc is one of the most famous information technology companies, and it is a multinational corporation whose headquarters are based in America, California. Apple Inc is a world renowned for its high-quality products, and it is involved in the sale, development and design of personal computers, computer software and consumer electronics. Apple’s popular hardware products include the iPod music player, the iPad tablet computer, the Mac computers and the iPhone Smartphone (Chazin 2013). September 10th 2013 was a very special day for the Apple Inc company since it was launching two phones that have never been seen in the world ever. iPhone 5C is a lo wer-cost iPhone since Apple has been known to produce very expensive products due to its market niche as well as a good reputation that has lasted many years since the creation of the company in 1976. Thus, its products have been known to be very expensive as compared to similar products that try to rival Apple’s products (Apple 2013). Not only is the iPhone 5C lower in cost but also the most colorful iPhone to be manufactured in the world. ... It is the first Smartphone with 64-bit technology that provides blazing-fast performance, especially when editing photos, launching apps or when playing graphic-intensive games. The iPhone 5s delivers desktop class architecture on the palm of the customer’s hand (iPhone(a) 2013). My selection is relevant to marketing since Apple Inc is a world-renowned company and, therefore, any marketing launch that it organizes has to be covered by all the media in the world due to its attraction of many customers. The chosen marketing event for this study is an excellent example of marketing since there are various lessons that can be learnt from the event. It is paramount to note that Apple had already conducted a marketing awareness program that it will be launching the two phones and there was a humongous response worldwide from many people who wanted to purchase the iPhones firsthand (AppleEvents 2013). The marketing event had attracted very prominent people from all corners of the wor ld since they wanted to know what other new-product Apple had created. It is worth noting that Apple Inc has a long history with its co-founder, the late Steve Jobs and therefore, after his demise, many people thought that the company would not survive in business for long. Therefore, this marketing event was an attraction since people wanted to get a grip of the two new products (TheGuardian 2013). The marketing event was conducted in a very organized and colorful manner that was valuable to any person with a passion for marketing since there were numerous concepts that could be learnt. From the invitation cards to the colorful event, all aspects had what an excellent marketing event should endeavor to practice (Apple 2013). The

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) of Sainsburys

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) of Sainsburys Importance of Strategic Human Management in Sainsbury: Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is a proactive approach of identifying better support for employees in order to accelerate the performance or the actions they provide in accordance with Human resource management (cipd.co.uk). The responsibility of Human resource manager is recruitment to retirement process of the employees and two types of functions are Managerial and Operational. Managerial function includes Planning, Organising, Staffing, Budgeting, Coordinating, Controlling, and Implementing. And the operational function includes Planning, Recruitment, Selection Induction, Training, Performance Appraisal, Compensations, Promotions, Welfare to employees, Recreations to employees, retirement (allinterview.com). The role has intended to identify the potential skills on employees and to focus the performance they supply into development. The importance of performance management is to provide more effective personnel who will be able to increase product market competition, provide the opportunities to share organisations vision and that way they realize the vision, the opportunities for the line manager for the acceptance of accountability to make such decision. Able to understand the key decision which is down to the line manager and the supervision (Millmore, et,al 2007). The policies and practices of Human Resource Management must meet with strategy in order to adapt integrated competitive environment and with the immediate business conditions that meet in an organisation. The integrated strategic has three dimension approach to apply. which is means the relationship between Human resources management policies and practices with strategic management, importance of internalization of HRM on the part of line manager and the workforce into an organisation to foster commitment or an identity of interest with the strategic target (Beer at el., 1984). The importance, purpose and contribution of strategic HRM in an organisation or to the achievement of the organisational objectives are discussed hereafter. As a Human resource manager in Sainsbury I am defining my role in Strategic Human resource management. AC 1.2: Activities of Strategic Human Resource management in Sainsbury: Sainsbury as one of the biggest supermarket in the UK has its strategic human resource extended widely. It has very good policy of STRM. The processes of SHRM in Sainsbury are 1.2.1. Strategic recruitment application process: Sainsbury as big supermarket has its recruiting process online for reducing time frame. The recruitment and selection includes the application process of applicants name, address, postcode, date of birth with marital status, two references and their contact information, national insurance number, employment history, qualifications and cv. After the application process they use e-mail or telephone to contact the applicant about the process. Consider alternative position may be applicable for applicant. Sainsbury keep the information for the internal record. Fulfil the legal obligations. If the application becomes successful Sainsbury make a personal record for the applicant and contact the referees are provided by the applicant (Sainsbury.co.uk). 1.2.2. Training and development programme: Sainsbury has design its training and development programme very constructive way. They have segmented the programme in different steps. Step1. Induction training: The induction training programme is compulsory for everyone. It takes place during first two days. A basic introduction to Sainsbury about its value, legal and compliance rules includes health and safety and food safety. Step2. Foundation and training: It is compulsory for all colleagues to be skill at this. It takes place during first 12 weeks. An introduction to job roles description that includes all the basic is required to know how productively and safely the work is done in individual department. Step3. Intermediate training: The intermediate training is fundamental for everyone. It takes place once foundation level is signed off. It includes the timescales depend on the hours but it takes place during first 12 month. This is the stage of develop the job role and deliver the required performance standard. Step4. Advanced training: Advanced and training is for management and team leaders, the job experts who want to develop the next stage of the job. It takes place once intermediate level is signed off. This includes how to manage and supervise the role. It also signed off of the legal and compliance of the job in the first 12 weeks (sainsburys.co.uk). 1.2.3. Employment career programme: Sainsbury has designed and develop a standard employment and development programme very constructively for their staff according to the needs. Career and development programme includes Colleague discount card, Annual bonus scheme, Family friendly policies, Parental leave, childcare vouchers, Pensions, Life insurance, Save as you earn, Sainsbury share purchase plan, Career breaks, Sainsbury social association programme Award for long service (Sainsbury.co.uk) 1.2.4. Loyalty of employee: Loyalty of employee which is called a great place to work. Sainsburys Training and development and reward programme has made its employees to be loyal in the organisation. By performing the best of human resource, Sainsbury won CBI Human Capital Award on 12th of October in 2009. It has over  £80 million bonus payments for 127,000 colleagues to encourage and earn their loyalty (J Sainsbury plc.co.uk). 1.3. Contribution of strategic human resource management in Sainsbury: The contribution of SHRM in Sainsbury is very rich. Sainsbury as a developed supermarket has identified its Human resource management policy according to the objectives. Contribution of SHRM is mainly focuses the performance of Human resource management in Sainsbury. The contribution of Strategic Human resource includes 1.3.1. Company growth: Sainsbury has gradual opportunities to grow supermarket space. It has currently 16.1 percent market share in the UK as a whole. According to the developing plan, Sainsbury introduced 10 minutes drive to Sainsbury of 40 percent UK population by opening 38 new supermarket which almost three quarters are in the areas where they currently under performed(J Sainsbury plc.co.uk). 1.3.2. Increase of revenue: Sainsbury has its total sales (including vat, including fuel) up 5.1 percent to  £21421 million (2008/09:  £20383 million). Total sales(including vat, excluding fuel) up 6.7 percent. Underlying operating profit up 8.9 percent to  £671million (2008/09:  £616 million).J Sainsbury plc.co.uk 1.3.3. Satisfaction to the shareholders: Sainsbury has been able to focus on the perspective of its stakeholder interest. According to the integrity of stake holder involvement it has very successful achievement of stakeholder satisfaction. The achieve includes world leaders in Fairtrade (value of  £218 million), we are Green to the core, largest retailer of freedom food, Leader in HR and people management, Official partner of London 2012 Olympic games, Making a positive deference to our community ( £86 million for schools and clubs).J Sainsbury.co.uk Task 2 Task 2: Human Resource Planning in HSBC Bank 2.1: Analyse the business factors that underpin Human Resource planning in HSBC Bank Strategic HRM Strengths: The strength of strategic HRM in the HSBC bank is to identify the right people in the right place. Strategic HRM is to focus HR activities that HSBC practise in order to develop the organisation. The strengths of Strategic HRM is to apply in HSBC bank with great effort in order to bring the outcome satisfactory and make the company develop in HR practice. HSBC as world local bank has various factors that strength the Human Resource planning. Particularly in the economic down town HSBC has come with successful business factors which made it able to identify the sectors they were need to develop. As a Human resource Manager following the Business factors that I have underpin the Human resource plan is 2.1.1. Business Growth: The impact of Strategic HRM in the World giant bank of business growth is to practise the Strategic HR activities properly by the Managers, individual bankers, cahiers and by the customer service assistant. HSBC as world giant bank has newly opened a retail branch in Glasgow by spending  £2.1 million and creating 18 jobs across Scotland. HSBC regulatory committee has authorised a further investment of opening a new HSBC premium branch to open in Thailand in 2011(Enterprising news, 2011). 2.1.2. Locations of operation: HSBC as one of the giant local bank in the world has its Headquarter in London and it is appearing in 8000 locations in 80 countries and the territories are across Europe, North, Central and South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa. Particularly HSBC has 1500 branches across UK (HSBC, 2011). 2.1.3. Business change: HSBC as one of the world giant bank has gone through a radical business change by adapting online Banking system. Where consumer can do their business activities after the banking hours close. The online banking system has identified to make flexible and conducive service for customer. In online banking customer can easily transfer the money, apply for credit card, apply for loan, apply for mortgage and also can apply for job as well (HSBC, 2011). 2.2: Assessment of Human resource Requirements in given situation: HSBC bank has bought the Indian retail and commercial businesses of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) as the part nationalised UK bank it retreat from overseas markets. According to HSBC it would pay a premium of up to $95 million over the tangible net asset value(TNAV) of the business after the deal has completed probably in the fast half of the next (2011) year (reuters.com) 2.2.1. Government policy (Regional): Human resource management policies of HSBC bank in fact, Government polices about the employees of RBS in India over the Acquisitions has remained unchanged as the Royal bank of Scotland in India 83% is owned by the British Government (reuters.com) 2.2.3. Government policy (Education): To make more skilled and more productive employee in the organisation HSBC Strategic Human resource programme has started running online academies by what allows the personnel to make their personal development programme. The online academy provide self-assessment programme, exams to the users who will find out where the position of the employees in the organisation and match this against the skills of what position they can look for (personeltoday.com). 2.3: Develop a Human resource Plan for HSBC Bank: HSBC as one of the biggest Bank in the world has its Human Resource management is very rich. It has to develop a human resource plan for its Human resource performance. Here I am as a Human resource manager of HSBC bank creating a Human Resource plan. 2.3.1. Organisational Objectives: HSBC as world local bank its plan must be based on SMART (Specific, Achievable, Measurable, Realistic and Time based). In terms of supplying best service all staff must be concern with objectives. 2.3.2. Selection and Recruitment: Selection is the initial stage of identifying the right people need for the organisation. After the selection process recruitment process must be based on the organizational structure to avoid the unwanted position. 2.3.3. Employee Development: Employee development plays a major role in the organisation. In HSBC bank there is a need for regularly revising Training programme. In average HSBC spends  £600 per employee on training programme delivered in 16 training centre worldwide. Here in the United Kingdom about 173,000 learning days so far recorded with around 33,000 employees attending face to face training (Thinking made easy, 2009). 2.3.4. Retention: Retention planning gives the chance to keep the skilled personnel in the organisation for long period. Developing a promotion and career plan aspect must be taken in order to avoid potential recruitment in the organisation. 2.4: Critically evaluate how human resource plan can contribute to meet HSBC bank objectives: The contribution of Strategic Human resource plan is to increase human resource activities performance in the organisation. It plays a vital role of providing the effectiveness in its action in order to improve the business performance. It attempts the link between personnel management practices and such as hard outcomes as profit (Millmore et,al 2007). The stages of contribution kept by human resource plan are defined below. 2.4.1. Improve performance: The contribution of Human Resource Management in the HSBC bank is to improve HR activities in the organisation. It is to identify in what are need to be develop or need to improve in order to provide extreme performance. 2.4.2. Business case (cost): The contribution of strategic human resource management is to reducing the cost of unwanted expense in HR practice. Minimising the cost is one of the key element of practising extreme human resource activities in HSBC bank. 2.4.3. Succession planning: HSBC has one of the key objective of Managing Growth is a strategic plan of implement formal and friendly behave between staffs. By what they understand that they can have skilful and perspective people in the organisation (Thinking made easy, 2009). 3.1. Explain the purpose of Human resource management in HSBC Bank: The purpose of human resource management in HSBC bank is in very wide perspective. It has mainly to identify and reserve the Human Resource activities in the organisation. The policies of HR in HSBC bank are 3.1.1. Health and Safety: HSBC bank put great importance on Health and safety to make sure that a safe environment is exist in the organization the measure of risk may arise from possible terrorist attack, the environmental disaster to fire, accident and diseases.. HSBC has encouraged its employees to take health and safety as a part of their own responsibility (Thinking made easy, 2009). 3.1.2. Equity and diversity: In HSBC bank Equity and Diversity programme is practised with lots of integrity. To develop the best diversity practice HSBC introduced locally the strategy of diversity Toolkit programme in 2004 in Hong Kong. To enhance the consciousness of the issue and develop a database of cultural and business etiquette HSBC introduced an interactive diversity competition on the employees intranet in Hong Kong (Thinking made easy, 2009). 3.1.3. Bullying and Harassment: HSBC as the world local bank has put the individual specific employee policies are imposed by the legislation and the regional cultural norms. All personnel are accountable for behaving colleagues with respect and dignity for creating the atmosphere free from Discriminations, Harassments and Victimisations. Unable to be abided by the policy may be subject to disciplinary procedures (Thinking made easy, 2009). 3.1.4. Working time and time off: HSBC bank has statutory requirement working hours and leave. Most of the staffs are required to work maximum 48 hours average in the working week. Any agreements must be writing and signed by worker. The bank has made detailed regulation on maximum rest period. The employees are entitled to take maximum of 5.6 weeks paid leave a year. The employees are also entitled to take, paternity leave, maternity leave, parental leave, abortion leave and the leave for family reason (hsbc.co.uk). 3.2. Analyse the impact of regulatory requirements on Human Resource policies in HSBC bank: The impact of regulatory requirements on Human Resource policies in HSBC bank is very important and essential for proper practice of regulatory policies and abides by the rules. It has emphasised on exercising Employment legislation and legal and regulatory requirements including pay, discrimination, equality employment right and responsibilities. The impact of regulatory requirements policies in HSBC bank are discussed below. 3.2.1 Sex discrimination act: Under the sex discrimination act 1995/1997 it is illegal to discriminate against someone o grounds of their sex (including gender re-assignment) or marital status (including civil partnerships) or on grounds of their actual and perceived sexual orientation. No one can discriminate because of the pregnancy or maternity (hsbc.co.uk). Race relation act: Under the race relation act 1992 it is illegal to discriminate against someone on grounds of Race, Colour, Nationality or Ethnic minority origins or on the grounds of their religion or philosophical beliefs. Anyone become failure to be abided by the rules would be faced proper action of termination (hsbc.co.uk). Employment act: under the employment act 2008 HSBC has introduced the basic employment law to the staff. The recruitment law cover the discrimination on number of grounds is illegal for instance, race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation. Part time employees have the right to be treated with full respect as the full-timers have. Employees must deduct for NI and tax contribution from their wages, and pay them to Customs HM revenue under pay as you earn. Dismissing someone is automatically unfair and discriminatory if the dismissal is due to pregnancy or any reason to do with the childbirth (hsbc.co.uk). Task 3 Task 3: Review Human Resource Management in British Airways 4.1. Analyse the impact of organisational structure on the management of Human Resources According to Mintzberg (1979; Mintzberg et al 1998) there are two basic approaches to the formation of organisational structure, the contingency approach and configuration approach. The contingency approach of the structure of an organisation will depend on factors like the nature of the business and its strategy, its size, the geographical span of its activities, its age and history and the nature of the environment. He argues that rather than adapting the contingency approach it is sometimes better to base structure on configuration approach, factors like span of control, the need for formalization centralization and decentralization and planning system should be logically configured into internally consistent grouping (Stonehouse Campbell, 2004). Organisational structure is form of model which indicates the segmented management level and the imposed responsibilities belong to individuals. Impact of strategic HRM on the British Airways organisational structure is to set up a frame work in the favour of reducing unwanted vacancies, make positive and constructive formation in the organisation. Organisational structure of British Airways has given below. Geographical Impact: British airways as one of the biggest airline company in the world have great impact of its operation in all over the world. The organisational structure has big influence on running the Human resource in the company. Strategic HR and its function are involved with the company in order to make proper recruitment process to the promotion in that organisation and employ the right people in the right place. In terms of reducing the unprofitable routes and make the productive practice of Strategic Human Resource. Centralization impact: Centralization of British Airways organisational structure can put huge impact on its operation. British Airways business which is value adding activities can be highly impacted and effective by practising centralization of its organisational structure. The decision making process of centralized structural activities can produce the competitive market for British Airways. British Airways Organizational Structure (the official.com) 4.2 Analyse the impact of British airways organisational Culture on the management of human resources: Organisational culture: Organisation culture is the key element of management practice. In the aspect of organisational life culture keep a central and dimensional location in the organisation. Organisational culture sometimes perceived an explicit attention by how people think about the company, the value and the ideas how guided by the meaning and the belief of a cultural nature. Managing the organisational culture is important and the perception of it understand by the corporate world can develop the cultural practice and the performance (Alvesson, 2002). Organisational culture is the form of cognition and ideas, ideologies and the value of the organisation internal behaviour. This is kept in people mind when they work for British airways. Nurture the aspect of organisational culture in mind practise the responsibly is the progressive way of developing human resource in British airways. The relationship between culture and HRM functions: The relationship between culture and HRM function is very common and internally linked. HRM function includes Resourcing, Development, performance management, pay and conditions and employees relationship has the contingency approach to each others. The functions of HRM and the culture are practised at the same time to develop and exercise the Strategic Human resource management in the organisation. British airways can be idealised with this practice of cultural HRM functions to make en effective Human resource in the organisation. 4.3. Examining how the effectiveness of Human Resource management in British Airways: The effectiveness of Human resource management is to improve the existing business in BA. Human resource management strategy, human resource policies and Human resource operation is to provide the competitive advantages in the organisation. The contribution of HRM is to provide the achievement for organisation, help to acquire BA goals, reducing the cost, and increase the benefit by practising it. Organisational goal: Strategic human resource has identified the several field of effectiveness in BA. BA has the goal to develop customer focused and the performance of HRM that offer rewards for individual performance but also the recognition of different employee in the business has different demand in terms of benefit, Training and development (2009/2010 annual report) Human resources efficiency: Human resource efficiency means the activeness of the operation is provided by those people who are working for BA. British Airways has total manpower of 36832 across the operation which is the reduction of 3800 staff in the previous year (2009) all on voluntary terms. To improve the business BA has finished restructuring of the management in order to increase accountability of the business. It is now exploring the new way of boost the efficiency in staff to get better value for consumer by focusing the improvement of employees engagement (2009/2010 annual report). Performance Indicator: Performance indicator is a process of identifying the individual employees activity measurements. BA have the right Human resource leader of right support with motivation to create high performance HR culture, that means the managers may involve with the employees to get high class productivity. To measure the individual performance the surveys report will be introduced quarterly and include the engagement index by what managers can track and take the action (2009/2010 annual report). 4.4. Make justified recommendations to improve the effectiveness of Human Resource management in British Airways: British Airways is the UKs high profile and largest international scheduled airline. It flies the consumer at convenient times to the best located Airport around the globe. British Airways is the world leading global premium Airline with 144 Boeing, 84 Airbuses, 3 Avros and 7 Embraer E-jets. It has one of the world biggest structural and multicultural infrastructures around the world. Proper implementation of Human Resource practice can bring the effectiveness and the outstanding productivity in that organisation. This can help BA to achieve its target market and expected goals. Justified Recommendation: The effectiveness of strategic Human Resource management in BA is to perform the organisational performance of combination with strategic structure and the strategic cultural programme in order o provide better service to the customer. The effectiveness of the theory to adapt and implement existent structural and cultural exercises by utilising the resources it has to bring the improvement in the practice of human resource in the organisation. Regular monitoring programme, Reporting and Meetings could be very effective way to justify the performance of Human resource in British Airways in terms of improving the effectiveness. Benchmarking HR performance: Internal performance programme standard can be the effective way by looking at the comparative HR performance of others Airline Company of the same categorical or the look at the similar Airline Company that is providing the same service in the industry. British Airways can have in effect, the existence strategic HR groups by benchmarking against similar Airline Company rather than the individual. BA may be performing badly and loosing the competitiveness against others Airline organisations that can justify customers needs in different way.

Loons :: essays research papers

"The Loons" Piquette Tonnerre was daughter of Lazarus. She had long black hair and her broad coarse-featured face bore on expression Piqutte was thirteen years old. She was older than Vanessa, but they were together in the same grade. Piquette failed several grades, because her attendance had always been sporadic and her interest in schoolwork was negligible. She missed a lot of school because she had tuberculosis of the bone, and had once spent months in hospital Piquette's voice was hoarse and she was limping when she was walking. She wore grimy cotton dresses that were always miles too long. Jules Tonnerre built a small square cabin which was made of poplar poles and chinked with mud. He Built it about fifty years before, when he came back from Batoche with a bullet in his thigh. Jules had only intended to stay the winter in the Wachakwa Valley. The cottage on Diamond Lake had a sign on the roadway bore in austere letters name MacLead. It was a large cottage; it was on the lakefront. Everything around the cottage were ferns, and sharp-branched raspberry bushes, and moss that had grown over fallen tree trunks. Above the backdoor there was the broad moose antlers that hung there. Vanessa loved the summer at Diamond Lake because she loved to listen to the loons all night. She also loved because she would go swimming in the lake. Vanessa also loved to go there because she could spent more time with her father. For example; they would go at night to the lake to listen to the loons carefully because some day they can just disappear. She also loved it because she got to see her best friend Marvis. Piquette wasn't actually interested in the surrounding and the loons or the lake. Most of her time she spent on the cottage with Beth helping to do the dishes or with Roddie. Every time when Vanessa asked her about the nanter she sounded like she didn't care about it or she didn't that she didn't know anything about nature. Piquette reacted this way because she never used to go places like Diamond's Lake. She always had to do all the work at home; for example, she had to clean. Vanessa Piquette four years later, one Saturday night when Mavis and her were having Cokes in the Regal Cafe. Piquette was seventeen but Vanessa thought she looked like twenty.

Gender Essay

For most of its history, western political theory has ignored women. Women have seldom appeared in its analyses of who should have power, when it finally decided to notice women it usually defended their exclusion from public affairs and their confinement to the home; only rarely have women been seen as political animals worthy of serious consideration. The inequalities that exist between men and women are seen as of little practical importance and theoretical interest. Feminist political theory however, sees women’s situation as central to political analysis, its focuses on why in most societies men appear to have more power and privilege than women and how can this be changed. The term feminist came into use during the 1880’s, indicating support for women’s equal legal, economic, social and political rights with men. (Bryson, 2003) Feminism reflects the varied needs and perceptions of women in different societies and situations. Feminists argue that all women have the right to education, employment, political participation and full legal equality. Although strongly opposed in the past, they are largely accepted in the west today. However, women still remain disadvantaged despite gaining legal rights. (Bryson, 2003) All feminist do not think alike. Depending on time, culture and country feminism around the world have sometimes had different causes and goals. The labels help mark the range of different approaches, perspectives and frameworks a variety have used to shape both their explanations for women’s oppression and their proposed solutions for its elimination. The three groups of feminist theories I will seek to analyse in order to assess their contributions against what is known about Caribbean women and their realities in this essay are Liberal, Radical and Black feminist perspectives. One thing we know about Caribbean women is that they have always worked. Women’s position in the Caribbean has been characterised by a dual work role, they engage in both household and extra household work, in order to provide for their families. Evidence has shown, that after slavery the tradition of female labour continued. Joycelin Massiah states that black women had no choice but to work, because the idea of man as the breadwinner was unrealistic and unattainable. Women were forced to take the major responsibility of their households because a large number of men had emigrated. Erna Brodber examined the role of women in some Caribbean countries. She states that despite the public image of womanhood which stressed on the abstention from physical work for elite woman, Caribbean women continued to seek work outside the household and support themselves. Brodber also states that images of white women portray them as â€Å"delicate† and â€Å"unassuming†, the black woman is portrayed as â€Å"hardworking to the point of being comical†. (Massiah, 1986) Work outside the household however did not free Caribbean women from their household responsibilities; these women still had to ensure their husbands were still taken care of. Men in the Caribbean societies felt that because of economic circumstances, females should be employed outside the home and should contribute to the expenses. They also believe that domestic duties should still remain the woman’s responsibility, even if she is employed. In the public domain, women defer widely to male authority and decision making, but in the domestic domain, she exercises power. (Massiah, 1986) Radical feminism claimed to go to the roots of women’s oppression, and it proclaimed itself as a theory of, by and for women; as such, it was based firmly in women’s own experiences and perceptions. Secondly, it saw the oppression of women as the most fundamental and universal form of domination, and its aim was to understand and develop strategies for the end of that oppression. Thirdly, women as a group had interests opposed to those of men; these interests united them in a common sisterhood that transcended the division of class and race, and meant that women should struggle together to achieve their own liberation. (Bryson, 2003) Radical feminism names all women as part of an oppressed group, stressing that no woman can walk down the street or even live in her home safely without fear of violation from men. French feminist Christine Delphy points out that like all oppressed people, many women do not like to accept that they are part of an oppressed group, developing various forms of denial in order to avoid identification. To the radical feminists, patriarchy is the oppressing structure of male domination. Radical feminism makes male control visible as it is exercised in every sphere of women’s lives, both public and private. It stresses that ‘emancipation’ or ‘equality’ on male terms is not enough. A total revolution of the social structures and the elimination of the processes of patriarchy are essential. (Rowland & Klein, 1991) Patriarchy is the domination of men over women. Kate Millet’s early work (1971) is a good example of the approach that ‘sex is a status category with political implications’. Patriarchy, dominates over class, religion, race and culture. Patriarchy is a system of structures and institutions created by men in order to sustain and recreate male power and female subordination. Institutional structures like the law, religion, the family, have ideologies which perpetuate the naturally inferior position of women; socialisation processes to ensure that women and men develop behaviour and belief systems appropriate to the powerful or powerless group to which they belong. These structures are dominated by men who ensure that they maintain these positions. Within the private domain of the family, men have structured a system whereby woman’s reproductive capacity leaves her vulnerable and powerless, domestically exploited, and entrapped in economic dependence. (Rowland & Klein, 1991) The family is maintained through the notion of romantic love between men and women, when in fact marriage contracts traditionally have an economic base. Women’s labour within the family, which has been unpaid and unacknowledged, is defined as ‘labour of love’. Women ‘by nature’ are said to be passive, submissive and willing to be led. Processes like socialisation of children encourage this situation to continue. Patriarchy has a material base in 2 senses. First, the economic systems are structured so that women have difficulty getting paid labour in society which values only paid labour and in which money is the currency of power. Women without economic independence cannot sustain themselves without a breadwinner. They cannot leave a brutal husband, cannot withdraw sexual, emotional and physical servicing from men, they cannot have equal say in decisions affecting their own lives. Radical feminists have therefore stressed the necessity for women to exercise economic power in their own lives. The second material base is the woman’s body. Women in marriage are seen to be ‘owned’ by their husbands and cannot bring a civil case of rape. Women’s bodies are advertised and pornography alike objectified and defined as ‘other’ and available for male use. Rowland & Klein, 1991) Radical feminists sees the oppression of women as universal, crossing race and cultural boundaries, as well as those of class and other structures like age and physical ability. One of the basic tenets of radical feminism is that any woman in the world has more in common with any other woman regardless of class, race, age, ethnicity, nationality, than any woman has with any man. In Sisterhood is Global (1984) Robin Morgan draws together contributions from feminists in seventy countries, the majority of which are third world countries. She begins with a quote about the global position of women in the report to the UN Commission on the states of women. ‘While women represent half the global population and one third of the labour force, they receive one tenth of the world income and own less than one percent of the world’s property. They are also responsible for two thirds of all working hours’. In the developing world women are responsible for more than fifty percent of all food production. In the industrial nations women are still paid only half to three quarters of men’s wages. Most of the world are starving are women and children. Women in all countries bear the double burden of unpaid housework in association with any paid work they do. Radical feminists thus hold that women are oppressed primarily and in the first instance as women. But because of differences in their lives created by, for example culture and class, women experience oppression differently. (Rowland & Klein, 1991) Black feminist theorising has made critical contributions to feminist epistemology. The theory comprises of a body of work by black feminist intellectuals reacting to the failure of existing feminist explanatory framework to adequately comprehend the realities of black women. Feminists like Sojourner Truth, Audre Lorde, Patricia Bell, Patricia Hill Collins as well as many others interrogated existing feminist theories and found them lacking, as they fully ignored or denied black women’s specific experiences. For instance Sojourner Truth’s powerful statement on racial inequalities ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ was a 19th Century deconstruction of the notion of a global, common womanhood and an insistence on inserting black womanhood in the concept of what it meant to be a woman. In her speech Truth argued that white women were placed on a pedestal and gave them certain privileges (mostly that of not working), this attitude was not extended to black women. Speaking of the U. S. A in the 1970’s Audre Lorde stated, â€Å"by and large, within the women’s movement today, white women focus upon their oppression as woman and ignore differences of race, sexual preference, class and age. (Barriteau, 2006) The work of black feminists reveals hierarchies of power within categories of race, class, gender, patriarchal relations, sexuality and sexual orientation. Black feminism demonstrates that white or other feminist theorising refuses or fails to recognise race as a social relation of domination within feminism and society. Radical, socialist and liberal feminist had examined other oppressive social relations but none had made race central to their analysis, black feminist theory exposes racism. They focus on difference in order to understand problems of oppression. Audre Lorde points out that white radical feminist Mary Daly images white women as Goddesses, with African women entering her analysis ‘only as victims and preyers upon each other’. Here Lorde exposes a key distortion that is similar to how early development discourses constructed women in the Caribbean. Women in the south, whether Caribbean, or African were seen as helpless victims in need of international development intervention. (Barriteau, 2006) This theory holds that the constructed invisibility if black women’s lives must be challenged. For example, much of the history of the West Indies was based on the activities of black men. Black feminist thinkers underline the importance of using lived experiences as a criterion for generating knowledge. Deborah King’s concept of multiple jeopardy or multiple consciousness shifted the conception of women’s oppression as confined within ethnic and racial boundaries. She was concerned with the invisibility of black women. She noted that class inequality compounded the problem of racism and sexism for black women and felt that class constituted a third jeopardy. She therefore defined multiple jeopardy as, a way to understand the ways in which various forms of oppression interact in ways that negatively affect the lives of black women. Much of feminist theory represents white ethnocentric feminist theorising and is therefore inadequate in not addressing the concerns of other women, especially black women. (Barriteau, 2006) Unlike radical feminism, black feminism goes on to demonstrate how racist relations follow black women into the private realm. Experiences of relations of oppression within households differ for black or minority women in a racist state. Central to black feminist theorising is the knowledge that patriarchal relations structure women’s lives very differently to their male peers. The ‘rule of the father’ enforces men’s power in the family and society. In the Caribbean, men have assumed the role of patriarchs. Black feminist theory reveals that there are other dimensions to black women’s experiences of the home that are not captured by other feminist theories, especially for those black women who for centuries have been obliged to work outside the home, whether in fields, factories or the homes of others. Many of these women instead of longing to be liberated from the home, they yearn for the opportunity to go home or stay at home. Hazel Carby noted that ideologies of black female domesticity and motherhood have been constructed through black women’s employment in chattel positions as domestic workers and surrogate mothers to white families rather than in relation to their own families. (Barriteau, 2006) In terms of sexuality, black women have been stereotyped as having wild and uncontrollable sexual urges. Black women were presented as either whorish or unsexed; they were either nanny or jezebel. Evelyn Hammond has argued that black women’s sexuality is constructed in opposition to that of white women. In the struggle for sexual liberation, many white women demanded reproductive technologies in order to say yes to sex, while black women wanted autonomy and freedom from a racist and intrusive state in order to say no. (Barriteau, 2006) Criticisms of black feminist theory are that sometimes there is the impression that all oppressions are equal, and it has been critiqued for assuming that black women have a superior standpoint in the world. There is also a sense in which persons of African descent are privileged in black feminist thought. (Bryson, 2003) The final theory I will analyse is the liberal feminist theory. Liberalism is based on the principle of individual liberty, in which every person should be allowed to exercise freedom of choice. Each individual should be given equal opportunities and civil rights, but that was conceived of as a privilege that should extend to European men. When it comes to state interventions in the private sphere, liberals agree that the less we see of Big brother in our homes the better. (Tong, 2009) Liberal feminist Mary Wollstonecraft has been very influential in her writing, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’. She wrote at a time when the economic and social position of European women was in decline. These women were left at home with little productive work to do, and they were married to relatively wealthy professional men. These women had no incentive to work outside the home or, if they had several servants inside it. (Tong, 2009) Middle class ladies were, in Wollstonecraft’s estimation, ‘kept’ women who sacrificed health, liberty and virtue for whatever prestige, pleasure and power their husbands could provide. She denied that women are, by nature, more pleasure seeking and pleasure giving than men. She reasoned that if men were confined to the same cages that trap women, men would develop the same flawed characters. She stated that women lacked the power of reason because they were encouraged to indulge themselves and please others. She believed that women should have the same access to education as men. She believed that women should experience full personhood. Other liberalists John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill believed women needed suffrage in order to become men’s equals. They claimed the vote gave people the power to express their own political views but also change those systems, structures, and attitudes that contribute to their own and others oppression. (Tong, 2009) Betty Friedan in the Feminist Mystique, studies the lives of white middle class housewives living in the suburbs. She described the dissatisfaction of these women as the problem with no name. She claimed that these women led unfulfilling lives in their traditional roles as mother and wives. She argued that a more meaningful course for these women was to have the opportunity of full time work in the public sphere. She believed that the absence from the home would make children and husbands more self sufficient. She felt that by limiting women to being wives and mothers was limiting their full human development. She also believed that women would always have to work harder than men. (Bryson, 2003) The main critique of liberal feminism is that of racism and classism, they focused primarily on white, middle class women. They also privileged so called male values. They also continue to distinguish between the private and public lives of people without understanding that the private and public sphere often intersect. In conclusion, feminist epistemology has transformed the world for many Caribbean women, as it questions women’s lived experiences and their roles in identity formation. Caribbean women in their roles have mostly preached a strong work ethic and promoted a strong social identity. The Caribbean has a legacy of race and colonial legacies, therefore the experiences and history of Caribbean women has been different. Unlike some the white middle class women in European societies that the liberal feminist talk about, Caribbean women have always had to work and frequently they have been the principal breadwinners in their households. But because of all the earlier groups of feminist theories about women, it paved a way for the new knowledge about Caribbean women and their realities.

Life and Work of John Bowlby

Bowlby was born in London to an upper-middle-class family. He was the fourth of six children and was brought up by a nanny in the British fashion of his class at that time. His father, Sir Anthony Bowlby, first Baronet, was surgeon to the King's Household, with a tragic history: at age five, Sir Anthony's own father (John's grandfather) was killed while serving as a war correspondent in the Opium Wars. Normally, Bowlby saw his mother only one hour a day after teatime, though during the summer she was more available. Like many other mothers of her social class, she considered that parental attention and affection would lead to dangerous spoiling of the children. Bowlby was lucky in that the nanny in his family was present throughout his childhood. [1] When Bowlby was almost four years old, his beloved nanny, who was actually his primary caretaker in his early years, left the family. Later, he was to describe this as tragic as the loss of a mother. At the age of seven, he was sent off to boarding school, as was common for boys of his social status. In his work Separation: Anxiety and Anger, he revealed that he regarded it as a terrible time for him. He later said, â€Å"I wouldn't send a dog away to boarding school at age seven†. [2] Because of such experiences as a child, he displayed a sensitivity to children’s suffering throughout his life. However, with his characteristic attentiveness to the effects of age differences, Bowlby did consider boarding schools appropriate for children aged eight and older, and wrote, â€Å"If the child is maladjusted, it may be useful for him to be away for part of the year from the tensions which produced his difficulties, and if the home is bad in other ways the same is true. The boarding school has the advantage of preserving the child's all-important home ties, even if in slightly attenuated form, and, since it forms part of the ordinary social pattern of most Western communities today [1951], the child who goes to boarding-school will not feel different from other children. Moreover, by relieving the parents of the children for part of the year, it will be possible for some of them to develop more favorable attitudes toward their children during the remainder. [3] He married Ursula Longstaff, herself the daughter of a surgeon, on April 16, 1938, and they had four children, including (Sir) Richard Bowlby, who succeeded his uncle as third Baronet. Bowlby died at his summer home on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Career Bowlby studied psychology and pre-clinical sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, winning prizes for outstanding intellectual performance. After Cambridge, he worked with maladjusted and delinquent children, then at the age of twenty-two enrolled at University College Hospital in London. At the age of twenty-six, he qualified in medicine. While still in medical school he enrolled himself in the Institute for Psychoanalysis. Following medical school, he trained in adult psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital. In 1937, aged 30, he qualified as a psychoanalyst. During World War II, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he was Deputy Director of the Tavistock Clinic, and from 1950, Mental Health Consultant to the World Health Organization. Because of his previous work with maladapted and delinquent children, he became interested in the development of children and began work at the Child Guidance Clinic in London. This interest was probably increased by a variety of wartime events involving separation of young children from familiar people; these included the rescue of Jewish children by the Kindertransport arrangements, the evacuation of children from London to keep them safe from air raids, and the use of group nurseries to allow mothers of young children to contribute to the war effort. [4] Bowlby was interested from the beginning of his career in the problem of separation and the wartime work of Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham on evacuees and Rene Spitz on orphans. By the late 1950s he had accumulated a body of observational and theoretical work to indicate the fundamental importance for human development of attachment from birth. [2] Bowlby was interested in finding out the actual patterns of family interaction involved in both healthy and pathological development. He focused on how attachment difficulties were transmitted from one generation to the next. In his development of attachment theory he propounded the idea that attachment behaviour was essentially an evolutionary survival strategy for protecting the infant from predators. Mary Ainsworth, a student of Bowlby’s, further extended and tested his ideas, and in fact played the primary role in suggesting that several attachment styles existed. The three most important experiences for Bowlby’s future work and the development of attachment theory were his work with: Maladapted and delinquent children. James Robertson (in 1952) in making the documentary film A Two-Year Old Goes to the Hospital, which was one of the films about †young children in brief separationâ€Å". The documentary illustrated the impact of loss and suffering experienced by young children separated from their primary caretakers. This film was instrumental in a campaign to alter hospital restrictions on visiting by parents. In 1952 when he and Robertson presented their film A Two Year Old Goes to Hospital to the British Psychoanalytical Society, psychoanalysts did not accept that a child would mourn or experience grief on separation but instead saw the child's distress as caused by elements of unconscious fantasies (in the film because the mother was pregnant). Melanie Klein during his psychoanalytic training. She was his supervisor; however they had different views about the role of the mother in the treatment of a three-year-old boy. Specifically and importantly, Klein stressed the role of the child's fantasies about his mother, but Bowlby emphasized the actual history of the relationship. Bowlby's views—that children were responding to real life events and not unconscious fantasies—were rejected by psychoanalysts, and Bowlby was effectively ostracized by the psychoanalytic community. He later expressed the view that his interest in real-life experiences and situations was â€Å"alien to the Kleinian outlook†. [2] Maternal deprivation Main article: Maternal deprivation In 1949, Bowlby's earlier work on delinquent and affectionless children and the effects of hospitalised and institutionalised care lead to his being commissioned to write the World Health Organization's report on the mental health of homeless children in post-war Europe. [5] The result was Maternal Care and Mental Health published in 1951. [6] Bowlby drew together such limited empirical evidence as existed at the time from across Europe and the USA. His main conclusions, that â€Å"the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment† and that not to do so may have significant and irreversible mental health consequences, were both controversial and influential. The 1951 WHO publication was highly influential in causing widespread changes in the practices and prevalence of institutional care for infants and children, and in changing practices relating to the visiting of infants and small children n hospitals by parents. The theoretical basis was controversial in many ways. He broke with psychoanalytic theories which saw infants' internal life as being determined by fantasy rather than real life events. Some critics profoundly disagreed with the necessity for maternal (or equivalent) love in order to function normally,[7] or that the formation of an ongoing relationship with a child was an important part of parenting. [8] Others questioned the extent to which his hypothesis was supported by the evidence. There was criticism of the confusion of the effects of privation (no primary attachment figure) and deprivation (loss of the primary attachment figure) and in particular, a failure to distinguish between the effects of the lack of a primary attachment figure and the other forms of deprivation and understimulation that may affect children in institutions. [9] The monograph was also used for political purposes to claim any separation from the mother was deleterious in order to discourage women from working and leaving their children in daycare by governments concerned about maximising employment for returned and returning servicemen. 9] In 1962 WHO published Deprivation of maternal care: A Reassessment of its Effects to which Mary Ainsworth, Bowlby's close colleague, contributed with his approval, to present the recent research and developments and to address misapprehensions. [10] This publication also attempted to address the previous lack of evidence on the effects of paternal deprivation. According to Rutter the importance of Bowlby's initial writings on ‘maternal deprivation' lay in his emphasis that children's experiences of interpersonal relationships were crucial to their psychological development. 8] Development of attachment theory Bowlby himself explained in his 1988 work â€Å"A Secure Base† that the data were not, at the time of the publication of Maternal Care and Mental Health, â€Å"accommodated by any theory then current and in the brief time of my employment by the World Health Organization there was no possibility of developing a new one†. He then went on to describe the subsequent development of attachment theory. 11] Because he was dissatisfied with traditional theories, Bowlby sought new understanding from such fields as evolutionary biology, ethology, developmental psychology, cognitive science and control systems theory and drew upon them to formulate the innovative proposition that the mechanisms underlying an infants tie emerged as a result of evolutionary pressure. [12] â€Å"Bowlby realised that he had to develop a new theory of motivation and behaviour control, built on up-to-date science rather than the outdated psychic energy model espoused by Freud. [5] Bowlby expressed himself as having made good the â€Å"deficiencies of the data and the lack of theory to link alleged cause and effect† in Maternal Care and Mental Health in his later work Attachment and Loss published in 1969. [13] Ethology and evolutionary concepts â€Å"From the 1950s Bowlby was in personal and scientific contact with leading European scientists in the field of ethology, namely Niko Tinbergen, Konrad Lorenz, and especially the rising star of ethology Robert Hinde. Using the viewpoints of this emerging science and reading extensively in the ethology literature, Bowlby developed new explanatory hypotheses for what is now known as human attachment behaviour. In particular, on the basis of ethological evidence he was able to reject the dominant Cupboard Love theory of attachment prevailing in psychoanalysis and learning theory of the 1940s and 1950s. He also introduced the concepts of environmentally stable or labile human behaviour allowing for the revolutionary combination of the idea of a species-specific genetic bias to become attached and the concept of individual differences in attachment security as environmentally labile strategies for adaptation to a specific childrearing niche. Alternately, Bowlby’s thinking about the nature and function of the caregiver-child relationship influenced ethological research, and inspired students of animal behaviour such as Tinbergen, Hinde, and Harry Harlow. Bowlby spurred Hinde to start his ground breaking work on attachment and separation in primates (monkeys and humans), and in general emphasized the importance of evolutionary thinking about human development that foreshadowed the new interdisciplinary approach of evolutionary psychology. Obviously, the encounter of ethology and attachment theory led to a genuine cross-fertilization† (Van der Horst, Van der Veer & Van IJzendoorn, 2007, p. 321). [14][15] The â€Å"Attachment and Loss† trilogy Main articles: Attachment theory and Attachment in children Before the publication of the trilogy in 1969, 1972 and 1980, the main tenets of attachment theory, building on concepts from ethology and developmental psychology, were presented to the British Psychoanalytical Society in London in three now classic papers: The Nature of the Child’s Tie to His Mother (1958), Separation Anxiety (1959), and Grief and Mourning in Infancy and Early Childhood (1960). Bowlby rejected psychoanalyst explanations for attachment, and in return, psychoanalysts rejected his theory. At about the same time, Bowlby's former colleague, Mary Ainsworth was completing extensive observational studies on the nature of infant attachments in Uganda with Bowlby's ethological theories in mind. Her results in this and other studies contributed greatly to the subsequent evidence base of attachment theory as presented in 1969 in Attachment the first volume of the Attachment and Loss trilogy. [16] The second and third volumes, Separation: Anxiety and Anger and Loss: Sadness and Depression followed in 1972 and 1980 respectively. Attachment was revised in 1982 to incorporate recent research. According to attachment theory, attachment in infants is primarily a process of proximity seeking to an identified attachment figure in situations of perceived distress or alarm for the purpose of survival. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some months during the period from about 6 months to two years of age. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment which in turn lead to ‘internal working models' which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts, and expectations in later relationships. [5] In Bowlby's approach, the human infant is considered to have a need for a secure relationship with adult caregivers, without which normal social and emotional development will not occur. As the toddler grows, it uses its attachment figure or figures as a â€Å"secure base† from which to explore. Mary Ainsworth used this feature plus â€Å"stranger wariness† and reunion behaviours, other features of attachment behaviour, to develop a research tool called the â€Å"Strange Situation Procedure† for developing and classifying different attachment styles. The attachment process is not gender specific as infants will form attachments to any consistent caregiver who is sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant. The quality of the social engagement appears to be more influential than amount of time spent. 16] Darwin biography Bowlby's last work, published posthumously, is a biography of Charles Darwin, which discusses Darwin's â€Å"mysterious illness† and whether it was psychosomatic. [17] Bowlby's legacy Main article: Attachment theory Although not without its critics, attachment theory has been described as the dominant approach to understanding early social development and to have given rise to a great surge of empirical research into the formation of children's close relationships. 18] As it is presently formulated and used for research purposes, Bowlby's attachment theory stresses the following important tenets:[19] 1) Children between 6 and about 30 months are very likely to form emotional attachments to familiar caregivers, especially if the adults are sensitive and responsive to child communications. 2) The emotional attachments of young children are shown behaviourally in their preferences for particular familiar people, their tendency to seek proximity to those people, especially in times of distress, and their ability to use the familiar adults as a secure base from which to explore the environment. ) The formation of emotional attachments contributes to the foundation of later emotional and personality development, and the type of behaviour toward familiar adults shown by toddlers has some continuity with the social behaviours they will show later in life. 4) Events that interfere with attachment, such as abrupt separation of the toddler from familiar people or the significant inability of carers to be sensitive, responsive or consistent in their interactions, have short-term and possible long-term negative impacts on the child's emotional and cognitive life.

5 Ways Online Job Searching Can Waste Your Time

5 Ways Online Job Searching Can Waste Your Time The Internet has become a valuable tool for networking and hiring, but it has also paved the way for scams and traps and other time wasters. Here are five things to keep an eye out for in your online job search, to make sure you don’t derail yourself. After all, only about 1 in 5 online applicants end up getting an interview. Here’s what to avoid.Out-of-Date PostingsIf you keep running into a particular posting and it seems like it’s been out for a while, pay extra attention. It could be that they have rolling recruitment at that particular company and are hungry for talent at any time, but it could also be that this is an old posting someone forgot to take down- or worse, a recycled one.LinkedIn GluttonyYes, everyone who’s anyone is on LinkedIn. And yes, you’re probably six degrees or fewer from your biggest fish. But don’t just start connecting to people willy-nilly. And certainly don’t start spamming people you have never met- in pe rson or otherwise, or have no reasonable claim to know. Try making genuine connections with personal messages first, with people within your circle, or just beyond, and explain what you’re looking for. In most cases, you’ll get passed along to where you need to be without looking like you’re connecting for the sake of statistics, rather than genuine relationships.ScamsWe’ve all seen them. And we’ve all (probably, at one point or another) been desperate enough to fall for one. Even the best job search sites can sometimes fail to weed out a phony job posting. Keep your wits about you. If a job seems too good to be true (exorbitant pay, little to no experience needed), it probably is.Keyword CrazinessFormatting your resume with a ton of keywords to please the robots sifting through online applications will probably backfire. The technology is quite advanced and trained to look for contextualization. Stop treating your resume with SEO and address it, a nd your cover letter, as if a real person will be reading it. That might be the best way to ensure one actually will.Firing BlindIt may feel productive to blitz applications by the dozen, but chances are you’re not getting your materials in front of the right people. Do a bit of homework and find out who the hiring manager or supervisor is for your position, read up about them to the extent you can, then try and find a way to get your resume in front of that person- rather than their application bot.Taking time to avoid these pitfalls can really make a difference, not to mention minimize your job search time. Remember, work smart- not hard.5 Pitfalls Of Your Online Job Search

Ringling Museum essays

Ringling Museum essays The Ringling Museum of Art was worth the trip to Sarasota, Florida. At first I didnt know what to expect, I thought it would be a boring museum of prints or a limited collection on display for a period of time; however, this was not the case. At first I didnt put two and two together but upon arrival at the museum two plus two suddenly became four. John Ringling was co-founder and owner in 1884, along with his five brothers, of the Ringling Brothers Circus. Later in 1907 they acquired the Barnum Zan then in 1927 the Ringling Museum of Art and then later he added the winter quarters for the circus. Also during this time from about 1924 to 1931 John and his wife collected 600 pieces of various works of art including paintings, sculptures, and furniture for the museum. The various works of art spam from the 1500s through the Renaissance period to the 19th Century and include works from Francesco Salviati, Carlo Dolci, Paolo Veronese. John and Mable new of the importance of expo sing people to the artworks of the world and in 1930 the museum opened to the general public. Unfortunately six years after the opening of the museum John died in 1936 leaving this wonderful exhibit to the people of Florida. After ten years of turmoil over ownership the State of Florida in 1946 agreed to continue the legacy left by John and his wife. The Museum now comprises sixty-six acres including the new college...

5 More Tips for Cleaning Up Your Writing Right Now

5 More Tips for Cleaning Up Your Writing Right Now 5 More Tips for Cleaning Up Your Writing Right Now 5 More Tips for Cleaning Up Your Writing Right Now By Mark Nichol Last week, I offered some simple advice for immediately improving your prose, including suggestions having to do with punctuation, capitalization, and the like. Here are more recommendations, this time dealing with more qualitative issues: 1. Avoid cliches like the plague: You can’t omit them altogether and you shouldn’t try but take care when recasting a tired word or phrase into something fresh and new. When calling attention to hypocrisy, instead of reciting the cliche â€Å"This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black,† you could write, â€Å"Keywords: pot, kettle, black.† You can also play with words, referring to an especially distraught drama queen as a trauma queen. 2. Avoid filler phrases: Delete content-free wording like â€Å"be that as it may,† â€Å"to all intents and purposes,† and â€Å"in the final analysis.† These prolix protrusions pop up naturally in speech to bridge a gap between one thought and the next, but although you’re forgiven for including them in a first draft, there’s no excuse for letting them pass inspection when you review your writing or edit someone else’s. 3. Avoid verbosity: Watch for wordy phrases like â€Å"in order to,† unnecessary words and phrases like currently and â€Å"that is,† and smothered verbs (constructions in which a noun can be transformed into a verb, such as â€Å"offered an indication† when indicate will do.) 4. Avoid redundancies and repetition and saying the same thing twice: Take care to avoid doppleganger words in stock phrases common, like filler phrases, to spoken language but inimical to good writing like â€Å"actual fact† and â€Å"completely finished.† 5. Avoid repetitive sentence structure: Craft your prose in such a way that phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs flow smoothly (avoid a Dick-and-Jane style of writing reminiscent of text in primary-grade reading books) and consider the visual impact of your writing. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?3 Types of HeadingsConfusion of Subjective and Objective Pronouns

Governments and the arts week 9 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Governments and the arts week 9 - Assignment Example The programs were a good avenue for the citizens to be employed through displaying of their artistic skills. The average wage was roughly $75 per work. The Work projects Administration was a noble idea during the Great Depression. A number of writers were contracted by the government to record and document the historical moment. As a matter of fact, the Library Congress has got more than 2,900 articles from the Federal Writers’ Project and WPA. Through this project, 3,789 artists were hired thus reducing unemployment (Adler, 2009), something rare during a depression. The good thing with artists is, they actualize the real event as they happen. Through such projects, it was possible in improving the country’s language because it was the best avenue of sharing the vernacular speech. For instance the narrator of Invisible man used a series of philosophical questions thus providing a range option. The U.S. Government displays the artifacts in museums to make sure the culture is still evident to the current public. For instance, the use of graffiti on cars could not have been familiar in the present world if it was not displayed through art. President Franklin Roosevelt was a political and social star who came up with social programs that were of great benefit to the country’s citizens. While understanding the outrageous effect of racial discrimination at such times, the use of such programs helped in bringing equality since art expressed what each group wanted. In addition, it was a source of employment, which helped reduce the effect of the Great Depression. Adler Jerry. (2009, June). 1934: The Art of New Deal. Smithsonian magazine. Retrieved on 2nd Dec 2014 from:

Role of domestic concerns in us withdrawal from vietnam Essay

Role of domestic concerns in us withdrawal from vietnam - Essay Example After analyzing these questions, we can finally land on our ultimate target that was to investigate the extent to which the domestic concerns played their part in the withdrawal of the United States of America. As rightly quoted by Jose Padilla, war is not really something at the sole discretion of the president, rather it is the public power that should ultimately shape the foreign policy of a nation, or more precisely, the fate and destiny of the nation. This thought truly reflects in the US Vietnam war. This war proved that it's the public, the common man of the nation, who will decide the foreign policy of the nation. The history recorded that the people protesting on the roads of New York or the colleges of Ohio forced the think tanks at Pentagon and Whitehouse to change their policy and finally withdraw from the tiresome and simply lost battle of Vietnam, that proved to be the graveyard for the human and the monetary resources of American nation. Almost all the historians do agree to the fact that domestic concerns forced the US Think Tank to finally decide to withdraw from the battle at Vietnam. However, the perception of the extent to which the internal factors played their role in that historical decision is different for different historians. Furthermore, the recorded evidences also tell that the ratio of favour for the war also differed from time to time, even during the war period and age group to age group as well. 2 The Vietnam War, which lasted in 1975 is also known as Indochina war, the American war in Vietnam and the Vietnam Conflict. Why did the United States of America tried to involve in the Vietnam If looked from a narrow perspective, it seems that this was just a conflict between the communist and the non-communist factions of the Vietnamese nation. However, when we take into account the entire global scenario at that time, especially that of post-world war and cold war, we tend to realize that it was not an ordinary civil war, rather a contest between the two opposing super powers of the time, both the powers claiming to be the super power but propagating entirely different ideologies of economics, religion and state governance. Thus it was a war between the communism and the socialism, the United States of America, along with its capitalist allies and the South Vietnam on one side and the Soviet Union, its allies, the People's Republic of China, and North Vietnam on the other. Thus, withdrawing from war does not only mean the inability to handle some civil war, had it been the case, United States of America would have left the battle far earlier than it did, but this withdra wal would probably have been seen by the United States of America's policy makers as the surrender to the communist alliance. This may well be attributed to the reluctance of the United States' think tank to withdraw at an earlier stage. What approach for the involvement was there in the mind of the military and political leadership of the United States of America Since this was not too long that the Second World War had ended, those American and other nations, who had witnessed the disastrous effects of war were still alive. Any war in any part of the world is thus supposed to get a furious reaction of the public. Specially when it comes to the war in United States of

Competing Apple Computers Inc management of innovation Assignment

Competing Apple Computers Inc management of innovation - Assignment Example The ability of a leader to identify strategies that can disrupt rivals’ innovative strategies is critical in organizations operating in highly competitive industries. For organizations trying to compete Apple, the challenges that need to be faced are many: Apple is popular for its emphasis on innovation, a fact that limits the chances for gaps in its strategic choices. Still, the literature published in this field shows that the promotion of innovation in businesses of different characteristics can be achieved in a range of ways, not necessarily related to rivals’ strategies. The business model and the strategies proposed below aim to show that even firms that are highly successful, such as Apple, may have gaps in their strategic framework; the identification of these gaps by rivals can increase competition in the industry reducing Apple’s hegemony in the global market. Apple has highly emphasized on research and development for the identification of unique products (Apple, Organizational website 2012). In fact, the firm’s strategy in regard to innovation seems to be based on the following three issues: a) the market for Apple’s i-products has still many prospects (Zeiler 2012), b) the firm highly emphasizes on advertising (Zeiler 2012) and c) new technologies, such as the i-TV, are continuously developed for enhancing the capabilities of the firm’s products. ... cation’ (Zeiler 2012), a technology that ‘transforms the i-Phone into a digital wallet’ (Zeiler 2012), is one of Apple’s latest strategies for securing its strategic position in the global market. 2.2 Gaps in Apple’s business model and product/ service strategy The current performance of Apple, as a key competitor in the global industry is significant, if taking into consideration Graph 1 (Appendix). Still, gaps can be identified in Apple’s strategies in regard to innovation: a) the products of the firm are rather expensive, if taking into consideration the financial status of the majority of people in the global market, b) the customer services schemes provided to customers are similar to those provided by other firms operating in the same industry, with no particular schemes for securing innovation in this business sector. 3. Competing Apple’s strategies and business model 3.1 Opportunities for disrupting innovation as promoted by App le In order to understand whether there are opportunities for disrupting Apple’s innovative strategies and business model, it would be necessary to explain primarily the key context of innovation, as related to business activities. According to Schermerhorn (2009) there are three modes of innovation: a) process innovation, which refers to the identification of effective techniques for developing business operations, in all their aspects, b) product innovation is related to the identification of unique products/ services and c) business model innovation focuses on the identification of ‘new ways to achieve profits’ (Schermerhorn 2009, p.188). This means that if a firm is interested in competing one or more of its rivals in regard to innovation, it has to focus on one, at least, of the above modes of innovation.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 10

Case Study Example Despite the fact that many retailers even close down during weak economic periods, Wal-Mart manages to maintain high profits due to huge volumes of sales it makes. It has succeeded due to its low cost strategy that attracts an array of consumers (Yang & Linowes, 2009). Significantly, this prompts it t enjoy cost advantage through controlling the market as the cost leaders. Despite its placement, it is therefore necessary to addresses the weaknesses and strengths Wal-Mart possess in order to maintain its position in market, which this case study will analyse the appropriate solutions to the weaknesses and enhancing its strengths. One major threat that Wal-Mart faces are varied pricey lawsuits filed against the company. Many employees and customers have complained of discrimination instances in the company. Due to these, the company has lost a lot of money as they pay off damages to those offended by the same. Approximately 815,000 employees of female gender and most often than not have experienced cases of unfair treatment (Reed, 2013). The unfairness is quite evident for they are sometimes underpaid compared to men whom they work together. It is quite ill-fated that the same females end up jobbing hard and for long to the extent of even surpassing the males but remain unrecognized (Reed, 2013). In addition, these women comprise the majority of employees but still do not get appear anywhere in assuming key positions meant for the enterprise’s managerial roles. As per 2010, most of its managers were men. Being the biggest retail company, this enterprise ought to set a pace for the smaller retail compan ies so that they embrace equality and not injustices. Evident from Duke Vs Wal-Mart case, 5 million females accused the enterprise of discrimination when it came to promotions as well as allocation of certain vital assignments (Reed, 2013). To add on, to date numerous people due to unfair experiences they have ever had are filling case suits with the intention

Business of film and television Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business of film and television - Essay Example The target and choice of the channel for the ‘revealed’ program is explained by the wide viewership that the channel receives especially by the locals interested in current matters as presented within the newscasts. The idea to the production of this program was informed by a series of informative telecast that is aired in a western African news reporter through the nation news corporation network. The production covers most current issues within the society and especially with political line of specialization. I have been keen to follow some past productions among which was an exposition of the internally organized malicious drug business that involved great political figures and which resulted to serial killings of all investigating teams in bid to conceal important information gotten through such investigations. The series ran in three parts and was broadcasted at the end of news coverage and showed how that government of the country impounded on lump sum drugs being shipped into the country for the local market from an oversea source. The confiscation of the cache at the seaport elicited heated discussions on which the owner(s) were and how the franchise would such a huge amount of drugs be shipped into the country with the customs authorities without knowing. ... eries, which revealed among other things the many deaths that occurred especially for investigating officers who established any crucial information in the matter. Assassinations had become regular and many to security agents were targets to specialized forces who were working for the government, which was directly involved in the drug business. In fact, the investigative series would reveal linked mysteries that the public had once experienced such as presence of some foreign drug specialists who had gotten into the country under cover and received state security only to be exposed as mercenaries hired by the government to ‘rescue’ the impounded drugs from some particular security agencies within the government. The shocking revelations from the series were how ‘inside the government’ deals resulted to great loses and deaths to innocent investigators and which would only be stage managed. Though the airing of the series by the television elicited great reac tions by the government officials interdicted along the chain of activities in such drug cases, the public through advocacy groups would rise to the rescue of the investigative teams and the public become more aware of the heinous activities that prevail under the coverage of the governments. Besides the drug menace exposure by the series, other major controversies within the nation were revealed to the amazement of the public. The main motive of the program was to empower the civilians in understanding the kind of institutional regimes under which they were governed. This would be instrumental in empowering the civilians in participation on democratic decisions such as in elections (Ferraz and Finan, 2007, p. 1-3). The African revelations are not the only of their kind in the world as is revealed by such

Fundamentals of molecular beam epitaxy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Fundamentals of molecular beam epitaxy - Essay Example Molecular beam epitaxy is a process to produce device grade epitaxial films and mutilayers. This is a very advanced and sophisticated process an have evolved gaining clear edge over competing processes like Liquid Phase Epitaxy, Vapor Phase Epitaxy (VPE) etc. This paper provides basic description of Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) process. Different theoretical concepts of this process and essential ingredients of a MBE system are also briefly discussed. Epitaxial growth refers to the situation in which the depositing layer extends the existing crystalline order of the substrate i.e. growth of the new layer does not cause any crystalline discontinuity on the interface between the substrate and the film. This occurs even during industrial processes like welding and cladding; where the initial mode of solidification is planer mode and the growth layer is essentially epitaxial growth of the existing grains. However, there are many grains on which this growth occurs an also this very soon d egenerates into cellular and cellular dendritic growth and thus disrupting the crystalline order of the substrate. However, it is the planer mode of solidification coupled with solute partitioning between liquid and solid phase which form the basic underlying principle of Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) [1- 3]. Similarly, epitaxial films can be grown by placing a substrate in a chamber filled with vapors of constituent atoms / molecules through a process known as Vapor Phase Epitaxy (VPE) [4 – 6]. ... Many thin film technologies such as LPE, VPE, Sputtering, vacuum deposition etc. were developed for producing high quality epitaxial thin films. However, the films produced by these techniques were structurally different from the substrate and hence not useful for device making. Differential vapor pressure of different constituents atoms / molecules was the main problem associated with VPE. GaAs is one such useful film for device making. IN this case vapor pressures of Ga and As differ by two orders of magnitude at about 600 oC. Therefore, these sources will have to be heated at different temperatures to achieve equal vapor pressure and the temperature will have to be controlled very accurately, which is very difficult. [7]. Attempts were made to use different temperatures for different sources [8] and by exploiting angular distribution of the atomic / molecular fluxes [9] for maintaining desired ratio of atomic fluxes. In 1960s it was not possible to perform online monitoring and ch aracterization of the film growth process and the film itself. Even the characterization of the substrate surface condition and vacuum quality level was also not possible. One had to rely on post deposition characterization of the deposited film for the feedback for the subsequent deposition experiments; which was indeed a very slow, laborious and tiring procedure. Development of small mass spectrometers, auger electron spectroscopy and compact electron diffraction instruments made it possible to characterize the films in-situ while it was getting deposited and Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) was discovered as a result of developing a process for surface characterization [10].In-situ characterization of MBE

Business of film and television Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business of film and television - Essay Example The target and choice of the channel for the ‘revealed’ program is explained by the wide viewership that the channel receives especially by the locals interested in current matters as presented within the newscasts. The idea to the production of this program was informed by a series of informative telecast that is aired in a western African news reporter through the nation news corporation network. The production covers most current issues within the society and especially with political line of specialization. I have been keen to follow some past productions among which was an exposition of the internally organized malicious drug business that involved great political figures and which resulted to serial killings of all investigating teams in bid to conceal important information gotten through such investigations. The series ran in three parts and was broadcasted at the end of news coverage and showed how that government of the country impounded on lump sum drugs being shipped into the country for the local market from an oversea source. The confiscation of the cache at the seaport elicited heated discussions on which the owner(s) were and how the franchise would such a huge amount of drugs be shipped into the country with the customs authorities without knowing. ... eries, which revealed among other things the many deaths that occurred especially for investigating officers who established any crucial information in the matter. Assassinations had become regular and many to security agents were targets to specialized forces who were working for the government, which was directly involved in the drug business. In fact, the investigative series would reveal linked mysteries that the public had once experienced such as presence of some foreign drug specialists who had gotten into the country under cover and received state security only to be exposed as mercenaries hired by the government to ‘rescue’ the impounded drugs from some particular security agencies within the government. The shocking revelations from the series were how ‘inside the government’ deals resulted to great loses and deaths to innocent investigators and which would only be stage managed. Though the airing of the series by the television elicited great reac tions by the government officials interdicted along the chain of activities in such drug cases, the public through advocacy groups would rise to the rescue of the investigative teams and the public become more aware of the heinous activities that prevail under the coverage of the governments. Besides the drug menace exposure by the series, other major controversies within the nation were revealed to the amazement of the public. The main motive of the program was to empower the civilians in understanding the kind of institutional regimes under which they were governed. This would be instrumental in empowering the civilians in participation on democratic decisions such as in elections (Ferraz and Finan, 2007, p. 1-3). The African revelations are not the only of their kind in the world as is revealed by such

Hybrid electric vehicle Essay Example for Free

Hybrid electric vehicle Essay Product: The #1 selling hybrid is the Toyota Prius Hybrid. Toyota is already on its third generation of the Prius. The gas/electric Prius hybrid retains its lock on this category for the fifth straight year. Despite lots of new hybrid models, the Toyota Prius 44 mpg (overall) is still the best in any five-passenger car. The interior is roomy and versatile, and the Prius has proven to be very reliable. Other Hybrid cars include the Honda Insight Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid; SUV’s include the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Chevrolet Equinox Hybrid. Luxury SUV’s included the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h. Current hybrid cars can get up to 60 miles to the gallon on the highway. In addition to fuel economy, they boast lower emissions and depreciation than gasoline-powered cars. Environmentalists embrace hybrid cars as a solution to todays pollution problems. Despite tough economic times and a shrinking US vehicle market, demand for hybrids continues to outpace the overall market. Price: The 2010 Toyota Hybrid price ranges from $22,800 $28,070. Toyota sold 271 of its $US38, 000 Prius cars in China last year. Overall passenger-car sales in the nation totaled 10. 3 million. Hybrid sales; as a percentage of all new car sales—are likely to remain flat from 2008 levels at about 2. 5 percent. But considering the overall car market is shrinking in 2009, the total number of hybrid sales will drop to about 250,000. The Toyota Prius the third-generation version that debuted in January; will continue to be the biggest seller. Compared to the Prius, the Honda Insight Hybrid price is $19,800 $23,100. And the Toyota Camry hybrid sells for $26,400. Demand for good is elastic: The Toyota Prius Hybrid would be very elastic because we dont have to buy that brand of car we have lots of substitutes such as the Honda Insight Hybrid or Ford Escape Hybrid. Determinants of Demand: 1. Substitutes (814,173 Toyota Prius units registered by December 2009) †¢Conventional cars, public transportation, trains †¢Only 7 percent of Americans take public transportation to work †¢Higher gas prices will help hybrid car sales †¢The 2009 Honda Insight, a compact which emphasizes affordability. The Honda Insight, billed as the cheapest gasoline-electric hybrid on the market, ranked as the top-selling vehicle in Japan for April 2009 2. Overseas Markets: The Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997, making it the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. It was subsequently introduced worldwide in 2001. The Prius is sold in more than 40 countries and regions, with its largest markets being those of Japan and North America. In May 2008, global cumulative Prius sales reached the milestone 1 million vehicle mark, and by early 2010, the Prius reached worldwide cumulative sales of 1. 6 million units. As the global top seller market, the U. S. made up more than half the Prius sold worldwide, with 814,173 units registered by December 2009. In Japan, it is reported that Toyota cut the price of Prius from 2. 331 million yen to 2. 05 million yen to compete with Honda Insight. Toyotas goal is to sell about 400,000 units annually around the globe and 180,000 units in the U. S. by 2010. 3. Income: Hybrid drivers have higher income, much higher than the average car buyer. In 2004, J. D. Power reported that hybrid owner incomes are $100,000 a year versus $85,000 a year for the average buyer. In a 2007 survey of 118 Prius drivers by Topline Strategy Group, 71 percent of respondents earned more than $100,000 per year. 4. Demographics: Hybrid drivers are a few years older than the average car buyer—closer to 50 rather than the average age of 40. J. D. Power’s 2007 review of auto industry marketing showed that only 2 percent of hybrid owners are 24 or younger; while 29 percent are between 45 and 54; and 33 percent are 55 and older. The 2007 Scarborough Research pegged the number of age 50+ hybrid drivers at 23 percent. 5. Consumer Preference: demand and gas prices for the most popular hybrid and best-known fuel-efficient compact car, the only U. S. model to exclusively offer every trim as a hybrid: the Toyota Prius. Prius leads the compact car segment in share of segment interest. The compact car segment has grown from 26% of the market in July of 2007 (peak summer gas prices) to over 33% today. 6. Convenience: Efficiency Hybrid cars are electrically operated and are thus able to function well and consistently at any motor speed. This is in contrast to conventional gas-powered engines, which tend to produce less power in low revolutions per minute episodes. Hybrid cars do not need to use transmissions to make their engines run at full capacity even at reduced speeds. Economy One of the advantages of hybrid cars is that the feature called regenerative braking. Since a hybrid car works using both electric power and fuel power, each can function by itself or conjunction, depending on which is stronger at the time of use. This means that both engines complement each other and do not simply bog one when one of them becomes weaker. Convenience Because hybrid cars are part battery powered, they do not create huge holes on the pocket, compares to users of traditional cars who feel the pain of the continuing oil price increases. Determinants of Supply: 1. Resource Prices: In 2008, when oil hit $147 a barrel and the price of gasoline exceeded $4 a gallon, US buyers made a massive shift away from large SUVs to small fuel-efficient cars and hybrids. But US consumers returned to larger vehicles, and driving more miles, when prices dropped. The return of triple-digit oil prices is expected to bring renewed interest in the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the market, such as hybrids and plug-in vehicles expected in late 2010. The percentage of hybrids COMPARED to auto sales is seen in the graph below. 2. Technological Changes: The varieties of hybrid electric designs can be differentiated by the structure of the hybrid vehicle drivetrain, the fuel type, and the mode of operation. In 2007, several automobile manufacturers announced that future vehicles will use aspects of hybrid electric technology to reduce fuel consumption without the use of the hybrid drivetrain. Regenerative braking can be used to recapture energy and stored to power electrical accessories, such as air conditioning. Shutting down the engine at idle can also be used to reduce fuel consumption and reduce emissions without the addition of a hybrid drivetrain. In both cases, some of the advantages of hybrid electric technology are gained while additional cost and weight may be limited to the addition of larger batteries and starter motors. 3. Labor Costs: Most experts agree a replacement hybrid car battery can range anywhere from $1,000 to more than $6,000, depending on the year and model of car, and without including dealership or independent labor costs. While this may seem like a big expense, car makers are set on reducing prices. Basically, car manufacturers want their products to succeed. Failures in performance hinder that success, so most hybrid car batteries are designed to last the lifetime of the automobile. The state of charge, temperature and longevity in each battery are carefully managed by automakers who know full well that any setback could throw a wrench into the growth of the still relatively nascent hybrid market. 4. Producer Expectations: Toyota Motor Corp. will invest in two U. S. plants to keep up with the growing demand for its eco-friendly stalwart. This is a major step for Toyota’s overall goal to reach 1 million hybrid vehicles annually for the global marketplace. It aims to hit this number within the next five to seven years. Honda has also ramped up its green car plans with an affordable small hybrid expected for next year. The carmaker forecasts annual global sales in the 200,000 unit range, with half of those sales coming from the United States. Honda is striving to elevate its total global hybrid output number to 500,000, a significant boost over the 55,000 cars it produced in 2007. If-Then 1. If the price of gasoline increases then the demand of hybrid cars will increase 2. If the Toyota Prius Hybrid remains at #1, then other Hybrid automakers like Honda and Ford will have a decrease in Hybrid sales. 3. If the price of Hybrid cars increases, the demand will decrease. 4. If U. S income increases, Hybrid sales may increase for better fuel efficiency. Elasticity Estimates: 1. As demand increases for hybrid cars, the technology should become more affordable, especially for subsequent model years. While it is unlikely that prices will decrease dramatically, prices probably will not increase either, as the cars will become more efficient to build. This will, in the long run, lead to more affordable hybrid cars. In the end, affordable hybrid vehicles could provide a big boost to the ailing automobile industry. 2. Higher production volumes may lead to lower hybrid vehicle costs and prices. Every little bit of supply will be needed with hybrids becoming hot sellers. In the past automakers had limited supply with the increase of demand, but since there are so many automakers who make hybrids, supply is no longer an issue. It is much easier now to find the Toyota Prius versus in 2007. Supply and Demand Curves Incomes increase The price of gasoline decreases The graph below demonstrates the Hybrid market, car market, petrol market and the oil market. Market Structure: The automobile industry in the United States is an oligopoly because only six firms (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan) account for almost 90% of U. S. Automobile sales. Barriers to Entry: The recent economic crisis has provided an impetus to a massive structural change in the auto industry, setting the stage for growth over the next decade. Given the high barriers to entry and the need for scale economies, the global auto industry landscape is expected to be ruled by global automakers and suppliers based in the six major auto markets – China, India, Japan, Korea, Western Europe and the U. S. Foreign Competition: In the world of hybrid cars, there is Toyota and everybody else when it comes to sales. Toyota sold 195,545 hybrids in the US in 2009, largely led by 139,682 Prius hybrid sales. Still, even without the Prius, Toyota still sold significantly more hybrids than did either Ford or Honda. The Toyota Prius II hybrid has the highest fuel economy of any comparable hybrid model. The Toyota Prius II hybrid gets 51 miles per gallon in the city and 48 miles per gallon on the highway. This far exceeds its competition, the Honda Insight, which gets 40/43 miles per gallon city and highway, and the Honda Civic hybrid, which gets 40/45 city and highway. The MSRP for the Toyota Prius II is $23,150, which is about a little more than $2,000 higher than the Honda Insight but about $1,000 lower than the Honda Civic hybrid. Government: The purchase of hybrid electric cars qualifies for a federal income tax credit up to $3,150 on the purchasers Federal income taxes. The tax credit is to be phased out two calendar quarters after the manufacturer reaches 60,000 new cars sold in the following manner: it will be reduced to 50% ($1700) if delivered in either the third or fourth quarter after the threshold is reached, to 25% ($850) in the fifth and sixth quarters, and 0% thereafter. Hybrid Tax Credit (bill): AB 174/SB 90 would create an income and franchise tax credit of up to $1,000 for the amount of sales and use tax paid on the purchase or lease of a hybrid vehicle that has an EPA rating of at least 40 mpg or an EPA rating that is at least 15 percent greater than the same non-hybrid model. The credit may be claimed for sales and use tax paid during the 2007 to 2011 taxable years. The senate bill would extend the credit to the purchase or lease of flex-fuel vehicles that are E85 capable. Introduced and referred to committee 03/12/07. Failed to pass before the end of the legislative session. Sources: http://online. wsj. com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales. html#autosalesD http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Toyota_Prius http://www. hybridcars. com/hybrid-drivers/profile-of-hybrid-drivers. html http://www. hybridcars. com/frontpage http://www. hybrid-car. org/ http://go. ucsusa. org/hybridcenter/incentives. cfm#WI http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hybrid_tax_credit http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hybrid_electric_vehicle.