Nsa Spying Scandal Edward Snowden - 715 Words

â€Å"I think it’s ridiculous for a citizen of a country that views his government’s duty to protect me, protect all of us from evil, from harm, from terrorists, from foreign powers meaning ill — to classify a body of government that is designed to figure out what might hit us next and prevent it, throwing them into an evil bucket is just thoughtless,† Max Levchin, PayPal’s co-founder told the press regarding the NSA spying scandal1. Pandemonium struck once a man leaked to the world that the NSA was spying on people through their electronics. The people could only imagine what kind of information had been seen by the government. However, this was being done to protect them from terroristic threats. Honestly, there is no legitimate reason to be afraid of this. The NSA should be allowed to spy on the technology and social media of American citizens. The person who revealed the NSA spying scandal was Edward Snowden. Snowden was born in North Carolina and is 31 years old. Also, he is a high school dropout, has a GED, and spent a few months in army training. He is a former NSA contractor, but left and leaked this data, and is now considered a â€Å"whistleblower†2. In June 2013, he told the world what he had found while working for the NSA. He revealed that they were looking at people’s data in foreign countries and around the U.S. Amid all this, Edward Snowden is currently on the FBI’s most wanted list for doing this and he is hiding in Russia at the moment. Snowden also revealed whatShow MoreRelatedEthics of Edward Snowden Essay1006 Words   |  5 Pageswrong. For example Edward Snowden, a 30 year old man was born in North Carolina in 1983 (Edward snowden.biography, 2013, para. 1). Edward Snowden was a security guard that worked for the National Security Agency (NSA), after three months Edward Snowden sta rted to collect NSA files and fled to Hong Kong and leaked the files. China started to print out report of the files that Edward Snowden has leaked to China about the NSA spying on U.S citizens. The reason that Edward Snowden left the United StatesRead MoreThe Nsas Program Prism1687 Words   |  7 Pages The information Snowden leaked goes beyond your average Facebook or Yahoo phishing hack from a curious hacker behind his computer in his mom and dad’s basement. In the 2013 scandal, Snowden reveal that the NSA was collecting â€Å"the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans† (BBC News, 2014, para. 1). Additionally, BBC News (2014) reports that â€Å"the NSA tapped directly into the servers of nine internet firms, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, to track online communicationRead MoreEdward Snowden Film Review Essay1128 Words   |  5 PagesDrama Review: Snowden The drama film Snowden, released in 2016, is a very popular political drama film based on a real life character, Edward Snowden. In the Film, Edward Snowden, who worked for the FBI, and the NSA, releases controversial files incriminating the United States government to shady practices against US citizens and other countries. Snowden begins the three act structure by introducing Snowden in a hotel in Hong Kong where he begins to share his experience with two reporters. He goesRead MoreNSA Spying - What is Metadata and What Does the Law Say?1384 Words   |  6 PagesNSA Spying - What is Metadata and What Does the Law Say? Technology is in everything we do from using our home refrigerator, washer, cellular device, automobile, and or computer systems. When using certain devices you pass information to others pertaining to personal and private information. This information or metadata could be a bank account or credit card number, pin, and or password that we unconsciously share. We randomly give away this information at a dentist or doctor’s office, the localRead MoreNSA Wiretapping Essays1148 Words   |  5 Pages The NSA has been secretly ordered to eavesdrop by the Bush administration after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The base of where the NSA has been operating their wiretapping agenda is in Bluff Dale, Utah the building sprawls 1,500,000 square feet and possess the capacity to hold as much as five zeta bytes of data it has cost almost $2,000,000,000. The act of spying over the USA citizens even though they are suspicious is a threat to the people’s privacy and the privacy of other countries’ members areRead MoreThe Nsa s Prism Program Information Without Public Knowledge1079 Words   |  5 Pagesonly our nation, but others as well. This all started when Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance analyst, told the world that the NSA had a program that was using the servers of U.S internet companies to gather information. Snowden leaked a document, detailing his findings about the NSA’s PRISM program retrieving information from prominent tech co mpanies. (â€Å"What is the NSA Controversy and what did Edward Snowden leak?†) PRISM or Planning Tool for Resource IntegrationRead MoreThe United States National Security Agency1942 Words   |  8 Pagesforeign nations? Edward Snowden, a man who risked himself to bring details about the United States National Security Agency to light; the National Security Agency (NSA) is the government agency responsible for surveillance on foreign countries as well as the US itself. How do these two tie together? Or how did the NSA let Snowden, or others before him, get into through their security and publicize classified information? Snowden, the whistle-blower of the NSA that revealed thousands of NSA secrets, startedRead MoreThe Issue Of Privacy And Government Surveillance1348 Words   |  6 Pagescreated surveillance programs, like the NSA’s PRISM program, to manage this data collection and processing. Since the Edward Snowden scandal, these programs and policies are no longer a secret. A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is illegal or unethical within an private or public organization [7]. Within the above definition, Edward Snowden could be considered a whistleblower (though he is often attributed other labels like â€Å"patriot† or â€Å"traitor†). WhistleblowersRead MoreGlobal Cyber Risk: Edward Snowden1576 Words   |  7 Pagesmuch to overlook. The National Security Agency claims that it conducts its spying to find potential terrorists before they commit a crime but many citizens think they are just spying on the American citizens without a warrant breaking the fourth amendment in the process. Jody Westby CEO of Global Cyber Risk had this to say about the NSA in her online Forbes article â€Å"It is a Scandal That No One is Investigating the NSA†,† The NSA can obtain a treasure trove of information from a smartphone, includingRead MoreEssay on Is Big Brother Watching You?1669 Words   |   7 Pagessurveillance and wiretaps. In May 2013, Edward Snowden released information regarding NSA surveillance on the American people as well as other countries []. Snowden exposed several NSA programs that have until recently been kept in complete secrecy. GCHQ and the NSA Britain’s surveillance agency known as GCHQ, with aid from the NSA, intercepted and stored webcams images of millions of internet users who were not suspected of wrongdoing, according to various secret files Snowden released [3]. The GCHQ files

Analysis Of The Book Disgrace - 1108 Words

Analysis of Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee In J.M. Coetzee’s 1999 novel â€Å"Disgrace† we can see the life of a father and a daughter who both go through life changing events. While the father, David Lurie, is accused of rape because of sleeping with a student, his daughter Lucie Lurie is actually raped by three black men. The setting of this book is in post-apartheid South Africa, where we can see that the problem this setting faces is how blacks and white can live together. In this book there is the use of several literary devices to communicate the theme. David Lurie represents the old, white South Africa through out the entire book. Unlike Lucie, who gives a good representation of how is the new white South Africa. We can see how animals play an important part of the characters in this book and also how dogs are the most important ones mentioned. How is the use of literary devices important to communicate the theme in this book? â€Å"In Disgrace Lurie’s sens of quilt for his exploitative attitude towards women symbolically configures a sense of collective responsibility of oppressors generally - and of the white writer in particular - for a history of abuse.† David Lurie is a fifty two years old divorced professor who lives alone in a city, he likes reading books and teaching but he also likes the company of women. He used to spend time with a woman who he would pay her for her company but once the woman ended things with him, he started to notice one of his students. MelanieShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book Disgrace By J.m Coetzee968 Words   |  4 PagesJ.M Coetzee is a distinguished author who has written over sixteen novels and has even won a nobel prize for his inspiring work. Coetzee is best known for his controversial novel Disgrace. A story that captivates its readers and keeps them on their toes. The setting takes place in South Africa during the post apartheid era. A time where people were divided into races and whites held power over the minority. The protagonist David Lurie is a college professor who lives a promiscuous double life. SleepsRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Disgrace Byj.m Coetzee 1993 Words   |  8 PagesWhen one tries to relate the protagonists David Lurie from Disgrace, Changez from The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Offred from The Handmaiden’s Tale, they appear to be polar opposites from each other with no similar characteristics, motives or personality types. However, there are similarities on how the authors developed their principal characters of the books through the relationships that the protagonist have with other characters, primarily their love interests. Offred, David Lurie and ChangezRead MoreDisgrace by J.M Coetzee1300 Words   |  5 Pagesan active member of fighting for, human rights, animal rights and gender equality. J M Coetzee’s novel, Disgrace is published in 1999, which offers as explained by Paul Bailey â€Å" a subtle, multilayered story, as much concerned with politics as it is with the itch of male flesh.† Coetzee with this novel took a different academic approach of analyzing South African Politics, through using the book and the information within as a general metaphor pertaining to the paradigm shift of South African politicsRead MoreEssay on IRP Notes Package1670 Words   |  7 PagesDisgrace is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a â€Å"loss of reputation or respect as the result of a dishonourable action†. The word Disgrace has two subtly different meanings- it can either be used as a noun or a verb. A person can be in disgrace (noun) or person can disgrace themselves or others (verb). Either way it implies a dishonourable event occurred that casts a shadow over a person or a group of people. A dictionary definition cannot truly convey what the meaning of à ¢â‚¬Ëœdisgrace’ is. As withRead MorePsychology : Psychology And Legitimate Control872 Words   |  4 Pagesfor psychiatrics, they show proof proposing criticizing and being dealt with in a clinic is sketchy for individuals with clutters, for example, psychopathic or insane. Contingent upon the shame the patient gets amid treatment impacts the level of disgrace they feel in the healing facility in correlation criticisms in jail. Release approaches additionally turn into a weight in the part of being traditionalist and are all that much determined by security contemplations. Ultimately, new strategies andRead MoreEssay on IRP Notes Package: Allusion, Symbolism, and Motifs1464 Words   |  6 PagesThe following is an analysis of two of the more significant allusions. The youngest member of the trio of thieves that steal from the Luries and rape Lucy is named Pollux. This is likely an allusion to the Greek myth, Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux are half-brothers. Their myth involves in part the kidnapping and rape of the Leucippides, Phoebe and Hilaeira, who become pregnant as a result of the rapes. This aspect of the myth is very similar to the plotline of Disgrace as Lucy (note the phoneticRead MoreAnalysis Of The Central Asia Institute Three Cups Of Tea Scandal1713 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluences and efforts of the institute. â€Å"Three Cups of Tea† the non-fiction book co-written by David Oliver Relin and Mortenson, propelled the non-profit forward into shocking success as it lingered on the New York Times bestseller list for four years straight. The supposed true story of Mortenson’s life changing trip to a mountainous region in the Middle East created a published story that â€Å"motivated millions of people to buy his book and contribute nearly $60 million to his charity† (Court, Livelli, Read MoreExtended Formal Analysis: Biographical and Cultural Criticism on the Lords of Discipline634 Words   |  3 PagesExtended Formal Analysis: Biographical and Cultural Criticism on The Lords of Discipline Conroy displays his life through his novel, The Lords of Discipline, to give readers a visual demonstration of how life connections can transform the entity of a novel. Conroys attendance to the Citadel, his family, and the South helped influence his innovative writing style. A lifetime in a Southern family negated any possibility that he [Will/Conroy]Read MoreThe Problem With Pleasure By Laura Frost1244 Words   |  5 Pages In Laura Frost’s book, The Problem with Pleasure, she tackles the work of modernist Gertrude Stein. In the chapter labeled â€Å"Stein’s Tickle† Frost tries to help her readers understand and interpret Stein’s Tender Buttons, along with other works. She writes, â€Å"I want to suggest a new model for approaching Stein’s work that takes into account both the appeal and the difficulties of her texts: tickling (Frost 66).† Instead of focusing on Stein’s words and trying to explain what she means in her worksRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Disgrace960 Words   |  4 PagesDisgrace’s Literary essay The author of the novel Disgrace manages to offer a raw portrait of the awful political and social reality of South Africa, after the shameful apartheid has ended, almost a century of violence and fear has been left behind, apparently. He presented his characters as tough as the grey reality involving a whole nation, but at the same time, some hope is being given, brightening an inclusive future to the suffered population. Lurie, the main character, is shown as a

Developing Competent Reader In Classroom Education Essay Free Essays

string(217) " reader can read a assortment of stuffs with easiness and involvement, can read for changing intents, and can read with comprehension even when the stuff is neither easy to understand nor per se interesting † \." The definitions of ‘read ‘ and ‘reading ‘ from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English are: â€Å" Read agencies to look at the written words and understand what they are average † . â€Å" Reading means the activity of understanding the written words † . There is a huge literature on the definition of reading. We will write a custom essay sample on Developing Competent Reader In Classroom Education Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Harmonizing to Spache and Spache ( 1969 ) there were a assortment of definitions of reading due to the complexness and consecutive phases of reading development. Reading can besides be described in a assortment of headers such as reading for accomplishment development, as a ocular act, as a perceptual act as a contemplation of cultural background and a thought procedure. On the other manus, Williams ( 1984 ) defined reading as a procedure in which a reader looks at a text and understands what has been written. He farther stated that reading does non intend a individual needs to understand everything he reads because people read for different grounds and intents. Reading by itself seems easy and simple but many surveies have been carried out to demo with scientific grounds that the act of reading is really a really complicated procedure. Harmonizing to Ponnusamy ( 1997 ) , the first of import description of reading and its procedure can be traced back every bit early as 1917 by Thorndike, a psychologist who coined reading as logical thinking. The procedure of reading can outdo be described in an analogy written by Thorndike ( 1917 ) as cited in Ponnusamy ( 1997: 21 ) in which he described the reading procedure as: â€Å" aˆÂ ¦understanding a paragraph is like work outing mathematics. It consists of choosing the right component of state of affairs and seting them together in the right dealingss, and besides within the right sum of weight or influence or force for each. The head is assailed as it was bothered by every word in the paragraph. It must choose, repress, soften, stress, correlate organize all under the influence of the right mental form or intent or demand. Therefore, it appears that reading an explanatory or argumentative paragraph involves the same kind of organisation and analytic action of thoughts as those that occur in believing purportedly higher kinds † . two ) Definition of Competent Reader: In response to this inquiry is how the term â€Å" competent † can technically hold somewhat different significances for different persons and households. The basic definition is that non merely reading on a regular footing, but picking up at least some of the implicit in message of what you ‘re reading. If you ‘re reading more for pleasance than work or school, so the key for competence is that you ‘re basking the narrative and feeling like you ‘re genuinely plunging into the existence of the narrative when reading it. But as I merely said, this term is one of those that is a unstable graduated table of significances, so this is all merely one point of position. In the English patterned advance maps, the competent reader is briefly characterized as being able to read between the lines, seeing significance that is n’t stated straight and to deploy a broad scope of active schemes to happen and read texts for different intents. Students who are going competent readers have secured sufficient reading schemes, such as phonics, contextual cues, word onslaught accomplishments and sense of grammar, to undertake new and unfamiliar texts, with assurance, on their ain. While they may still read hesitatingly on occasions, they possess sufficient self-help schemes to hear their mistakes and self correct when necessary. They non merely scan in front to undertake longer, complex sentences ; they are get downing to look beyond the sentence to paragraphs, chapters and whole text layout. Students at this phase read for significance and are willing participants in the inventive universe of the text, visualising, sympathizing, and doing opinions about what they read. 1. The Importance of Developing Competent Reader in Classroom ‘Reading is a wont to be developed by oneself and it can non be taught by instructors. Reading is an synergistic procedure between the readers and the text. Knowledge means a deep apprehension of subjects and the linguistic communication that the reader has acquired. The more the pupil reads the more are the opportunities of going a good reader. Teachers should implement assorted schemes in schools to convey persons with good reading accomplishments, for which he proposed extended reading of easy and interesting books that would make involvement in pupils to read and at the same time better vocabulary. In states such as Malaysia, the challenges for any pupil authors of English are so great. In add-on to holding to larn to compose ( and compose to larn ) to run into the conventions and demands of composing in the mark linguistic communication, they are expected to show a high degree of lingual competency to convey the intended message in their authorship. In other words, to go competent authors, non merely do they need to hold a clear thought of the macro or top-down characteristics that make the text cohere with other texts of the same discourse genre, they besides need to be able to pull upon the relevant lingual resources at the micro or bottom-up degree to do the peculiar piece of composing cohesive ( Celce-Murcia A ; Olshtain, 2000 ) . Within the literacy community, there are two distinguishable but complementary positions on reading development. The first position, prevalent in several good publicized paperss and federal statute law ( e.g. , Snow, Burns, A ; Griffin, 1998 ) , deals about entirely with the early period of reading development, what might be described as emergent literacy. This early period is unimpeachably a critical clip in reading development, and there are virtually libraries devoted to basic dimensions of reading acquisition, including phonological consciousness, vocabulary, and eloquence ( Adams, 1990 ) Yet, there is another position of reading development that extends good beyond the initial period of basic accomplishment and procedure acquisition. This perspective looks at reading as â€Å" a long-run developmental procedure, † at the terminal of which â€Å" the proficient grownup reader can read a assortment of stuffs with easiness and involvement, can read for changing intents, and can read with comprehension even when the stuff is neither easy to understand nor per se interesting † . You read "Developing Competent Reader In Classroom Education Essay" in category "Essay examples" This peculiar orientation does non dismiss the emergent literacy position, but subsumes it as a first measure in lifetime development. It is this 2nd position of reading development-one lupus erythematosus addressed in public and political rhetoric, statute law, and educational policies-that we examine here. Specifically, it is the end to look into how reading develops across the lifetime by constructing on the huge literatures in developmental psychological science, cognitive psychological science, expertness, motive, and domain-specific acquisition, every bit good as reading research. There are of import educational benefits accrued by sing reading within such a lifespan developmental model. For one, it helps us to see the alterations and challenges pupils and grownups face one time they journey beyond the early simple classs. Presently, there is an increased consciousness that more must be done to understand the nature of adolescent literacy ( Alvermann et al. , 1996 ; Moje, 2000 ) and grownup literacy ( Kruidenier, 2002 ; Nist A ; Holschuh, 2000 ) . The more we understand about striplings ‘ and grownups ‘ continued development as readers, the better we can supply for them. The attacks and intercessions suited for immature readers taking their first stairss toward reading competency are non likely to work for older kids, striplings, or grownups, even if they still struggle to do sense of print ( Alvermann, 2001 ) . Not merely hold these striplings and grownups changed cognitively, physically, and socially, but the in-classroom or at-work literacy dem ands they face have changed every bit good ( Nist A ; Simpson, 2000 ) . A lifespan developmental position would non halt in the early old ages or go to merely to those who have yet to get the most basic accomplishments or procedures. Rather, it would see reading from uterus to tomb ; that is, for all populations and for all stages of reading growing. If instructors understood the nature of alterations that should happen in readers as they progress toward competency, and if instructors had some thought of the jobs that might originate during that journey, so they could break formulate intercessions or trade educational stuffs that might besiege jobs or better their effects ( Pressley, 2001 ) . For illustration, pupils ‘ motives for reading are critical forces in prolonging their continued growing and development in the sphere of reading ( Guthrie A ; Wigfield, 2000 ) . Thus, educational plans intent on back uping pupils ‘ long-run reading development should give ample consideration to such motivational variables, including pupils ‘ involvements and ends. 2. The Competent Reading Framework This reading model is designed to stress on the active and synergistic nature of reading. The purpose of the COMPETENT reading model is to develop COMPETENT, independent readers. The content and public-service corporation of two theoretical accounts of reading comprehension trials, the basic accomplishments assessment theoretical account and the multiple pick cloze ( MCC ) theoretical account, are discussed. The basic reading competence theoretical account assesses the ability to read or deduce â€Å" basic † significances from a scope of written or symbolic communicating, as is necessary for day-to-day life in this society. This limited analysis of the basic competence theoretical account suggests some grade of positive practical impact of the trial ; applications of this theoretical account are illustrated. Criticisms of this theoretical account province that such a trial is non theoretically based, nor objectively consistent, nor does it give scores that provide detailed diagnostic counsel in the instructional procedure. The multiple pick cloze ( MCC ) technique was developed as one look of the actual comprehension concept, viewed as the basic accomplishment underlying the reader ‘s ability to deduce expressed significances from written linguistic communication. Items in the trial are objectively developed and derived from a theoretical model, therefore supplying guidelines for construing the resulting trial tonss. Current developments suggest that these trial consequences can be used to place the sorts of stuffs that readers can grok at the actual degree for specific intents. The trial besides appears to offer a diagnostic capableness with reasonably distinct instructional deductions 3. The Benefits of Competent Reading Framework. There are several cardinal facets of the Competent Reading Framework made it so effectual in assisting pupils to better their ain egos. Such as: – Comprehensive Schools come to set up two to three hours of day-to-day literacy direction across all content countries Schools utilize a model for turn toing four of import larning constituents: comprehension, eloquence, word cognition, and composing Professional development includes direction, lesson planning, and rating and appraisal of pupils Capacity Building Teachers become better prepared to be after and implement direction that addresses pupils ‘ strengths and demands Teachers learn to take research-based schemes that lead to increased pupil accomplishment Professional development extends to the disposal to guarantee support of instructors ‘ attempts to better literacy direction Flexible The Framework is non a written plan or commercial merchandise, so it can be shaped to local contexts to better run into the demands of pupils School forces can fit their ain manners, course of study, and stuffs to Framework guidelines All activities and staff development are designed collaboratively with each school Effective Adoption of the Framework has helped many schools accomplish singular additions in school reading accomplishment ( Preliminary Analysis of an Innovative Framework for School Reading, National Science Foundation, 2001 ) This undertaking was adopted system-wide in 2001 by the Chicago Board of Education and is now implemented in 600 Chicago schools, with 26,000 instructors, functioning 437,000 pupils yearly The Framework rules are consistent with recent determination of the National Reading Panel, and has been so effectual that it is now used by 100s of schools across the state Servicess for Helping Schools The Chicago Reading Framework Project offers schools a broad scope of possibilities to take from when make up one’s minding on services.A Schools can custom-make their professional development services by choosing from the following options: Ongoing Support School-wide support to implement the Reading Framework, concentrating direction on comprehension, eloquence, word cognition, and composing Consultations to help instructors in developing more chances for reading and composing within linguistic communication arts/reading and across the content countries Support for instructors in distinguishing their direction to run into the demands of heterogenous schoolrooms Follow-up coaching to instructors that includes schoolroom observations, support within the schoolroom, in-class mold of instructional schemes that support Framework guidelines, unwritten and/or written feedback, and co-planning to run into the demands of pupils Analysis of available pupil informations to place focussed, mensurable aims, every bit good as appropriate instructional schemes to run into those aims Engagement in grade degree meetings to present extra, grade-appropriate schemes and information Workshops Professional development that addresses the undermentioned key reading elements: phonemic consciousness, phonics, eloquence, vocabulary development, comprehension, and composing Workshops on a assortment of subjects such as appraisal and rating, motive, standards-based course of study, content country literacy, schoolroom direction, among others Full twenty-four hours or half twenty-four hours workshops, developed in concurrence with reading specializers to turn to school demands, are available for the whole module Combine sound theory and practical schoolroom application to assist instructors understand why and how to efficaciously use suggested thoughts and schemes Include mold, guided pattern, and comprehensive stuffs to assist instructors to the full grasp what they learned during workshops and use it in their ain schoolrooms Leadership Consulting with decision makers, reading specializers, and instructors to analyse school broad literacy attempts and find long- and short-run ends Reding the principal and administrative squad to guarantee consistent execution of the Reading Framework across class degrees Helping school leading with monitoring and support of instructors ‘ attempts Promoting instructors to back up one another and take more of a leading function themselves Collaborating with Reading Specialist and administrative squad sing techniques to turn to literacy betterment across the school Appraisal and Evaluation Evaluation of all facets of reading direction and do recommendations for alteration when necessary Analysis of standardised trial and other appraisal informations to steer programs for school betterment Periodic studies and checklists for instructors and decision makers to both assess the advancement made toward ends and to find hereafter techniques to run into school and schoolroom aims Training to help instructors in construing multiple appraisals to better turn to the instructional demands of pupils Regular schoolroom visits to join forces with instructors to analyse their usage of instructional clip and schemes for reading direction across the course of study. 4. The Challenges and Potential Problems in Developing Competent Reader Reading is a really of import accomplishment as it is recognized as a necessary portion of obtaining a better occupation and entree to literature and cognition. However, reading in a foreign linguistic communication such as English might be a job for some people. Snow, Burns and Griffin ( 2006 ) claim that there are three possible faltering blocks in reading viz. the trouble in understanding and utilizing the alphabetic rule, the failure to reassign the comprehension accomplishments of spoken linguistic communication to reading and the deficiency of motive and grasp for reading. They further add that kids who face early reading job deficiency anterior cognition and relevant accomplishments such as the ability to bring forth words, the ability to separate sounds, the ability to get the hang the mechanics of reading and the ability to place letters. This trouble leads to low motive and can be debatable for linguistic communication instructors as â€Å" the motive of necessitating to read is powerful † ( Nuttal, C, 1996: 3 ) . However in order to assist kids to read it is of import to acquire them to read extensively. Nuttal farther adds that the latter is the easiest and most effectual manner of bettering the reading accomplishments. During reading, pupils may hold trouble decryption, and so hold trouble reading the words of their texts accurately. In add-on, these pupils read excessively easy, or deficiency eloquence. As a consequence of their slow, laA ­bored reading, they frequently do non grok much of what they read, and the attending they have to give to calculating out the words keeps them from understanding the text. All excessively frequently these pupils lack sufficient background cognition about the subject of a text. They may hold problem linking the thoughts of a text. They frequently are non familiar with the vocabulary they encounter, and have problem finding word significances. Further, even when the pupils posA ­sess relevant background cognition, they often are non able to actiA ­vate it to assist them understand what they read. Some readers besides are incognizant of text organisation. They do non cognize plenty about the organisational construction of narrations or the variA ­ous organisational constructions of expositive texts to assist them read and unA ­derstand. After reading, these pupils typically do non believe about or reflect upon what they have read. They about ne’er seek out extra information about a subject. The cumulative consequence of these troubles is that they frequently lose assurance in their ability to read. Because reading is hard for them and they can non and make non read widely. As a consequence, they are exposed excessively much less text and so receive much less pattern reading. Further, the pattern they do have is frequently frustrating, because many of the texts they are asked to read are excessively hard for them. 5. The Ways to Instil More Interest in Reading among the Learners Theorists, psycholinguists and linguists have given many sentiments refering to reading and the procedure of reading. Many agree that reading is a complex country ( Ehri, 2001 ; Snow, Burns and Griffin, 2006 ) . In the procedure of reading, the reader constructs intending from written texts. In reading, readers go through certain procedures. These procedures are explained through the three reading theoretical accounts viz. bottom-up, top-down and synergistic theoretical accounts of reading. The bottom-up theoretical account emphasizes on print, wherein the readers decode the print in the signifier of letters and words into text, into phonological representations before building significance ( Nooreiny Maarof, 1998 ) . The top-down theoretical account suggests that the readers guess the significance in the text by doing anticipations about the print and building of intending with the counsel of anterior cognition ( Ibid, 1998 ) . The synergistic theoretical account, on the other manus, combines both the reading theoretical accounts mentioned earlier. Harmonizing to this theoretical account, our reading is said to happen at assorted degrees through the interaction of physical texts on the page and our mental constructs. This theoretical account of reading reflects the underlying theory that supports it, viz. the scheme theory. Schema Theory is really our background cognition at work in the procedure of linguistic communication comprehension ( Hadley, 2000 ) . ESL instructors can make a reading wont among scholars by choosing books which are gratifying to read. The standard for choosing texts must be readability ( ie. accommodating the lingual degree of the reader ) and suitableness of content ( ie. accommodating the rational demands of the reader ) . When books are appealing in coloring material and illustrations with small bullying in linguistic communication and content, there will be sufficient motive to run into any novice reader ‘s appetency to read. Besides this the instructor could besides hold a set of category library books which pupils can borrow. Some scholars, one time provided with reading stuffs will read rather merrily with no farther encouragement from the instructor, others will necessitate farther inducements . One manner the ESL instructor can assist is by puting undertakings after reading a book. This provides a utile feedback to the instructor as to who is reading the most books and which books are most popular. Undertakings include supplying a guided book reappraisal format that the reader has to make full upon completion of a book and a category reading chart naming all the rubrics of books read on the horizontal axis of the grid with names of pupils on the perpendicular axis ofthe grid. By plotting, the chart will bespeak the general advancement ofreading in the category. It will be a good thought to inquire the readers to associate a small ofwhat they read and possibly keep category treatments on the more popular books read. The texts that are given to pupils are simple and interesting and assist them in accommodating in literary texts. In the schoolroom we might hold a category of mix ability pupils and non ever all the pupils find the texts ‘simple ‘ per say. Teachers have to make their ‘extra ‘ prep to do the texts either simpler for the weaker pupils or more hard for the good pupils. Merely to do the texts interesting and stimulating are n’t plenty. Teachers need to be a good function theoretical account in advancing healthy reading wonts. When pupils see for themselves that the instructors read and are knowing automatically pupils would desire to be like them. In short, being a good function theoretical account is really critical in instructors ‘ profession. The texts besides must suitable for each degree but we ca n’t state that the linguistic communication or vocabulary is non excessively hard. Private reading can be a rewarding and self-sufficient activity for them, worthy of the clip and energy they invest in it. They see what reading has to offer them. Students who are firmly established as competent readers read with understanding at a actual degree and can besides read beyond the text and between the lines. They infer and deduce both concealed and implied significances and, even though their illations may non ever be firmly rooted in the text, they by and large make sense. Students at this degree deploy a scope of inventive responses to text, such as empathy, anticipation and guess. They may compare the universe of the text to their ain experiences and are able to do simple remarks about a author ‘s point of view every bit good as the consequence of the text on the reader. In both fiction and non-fiction texts, students are able to pick out relevant points, back uping them by some by and large relevant textual mention or citation every bit good as identifying and doing simple remarks about the author ‘s usage of linguistic communication and organisational characteristics. 6. The Strategies to Foster the Reading Habit among Malayan Learners In position of this, something has to be done to cut down and if possible, to wholly eliminate illiteracy among pupils. Therefore, to get down with, instructors must be seen as function theoretical accounts for the pupils to emulate. Teachers must read a batch in order to maintain abreast with the fast-changing information age. Teachers should affect themselves in reading because harmonizing to Eskey ( 1986. p.21, cited in Renandya A ; Jacobs, 2002 ) : â€Å" ReadingaˆÂ ¦must be developed, and can merely be developed, by agencies of extended and continued pattern. Peoples learn to read, and read better by reading. † This position on extended reading as a reading wont is besides shared by Krashen ( 1993, p. 23, cited in Renandya A ; Jacobs, 2002 ) that through reading we â€Å" develop a good authorship manner, an equal vocabulary, advanced grammar and aˆÂ ¦ becomes good spellers † . Finnochiaro ( 1989 ) besides suggests that instructors need to read to assist ease their teaching-learning activity in the schoolroom as information obtained through their reading will assist them maintain in touch with current issues and to use them in their schoolroom treatment. An effectual instructor is a instructor who ever keeps abreast with alterations be it in learning or larning facets. In position of the above mentioned jobs, the research worker would wish to look into the reading wonts of instructors in the four schools. The hapless reading wonts among Malaysians can be seen in studies conducted by the Ministry of Education on National Literacy in 1982 and 1996 ( Kaur and Thiyagarajah, 1999 ) . In the earlier study, an mean Malayan citizen read a mere page or two a twelvemonth whilst the later revealed an norm of two books a twelvemonth. In position of this, the research looked into the reading wonts of instructors in four government-aided secondary schools ( Mission Schools ) in Kuching territory. The survey focused on the types of reading stuffs that they read, whether their instruction tonss inhibit their reading wonts, factors that influence their reading wonts, clip spent on reading and grounds for reading. Every one of us knows how to read, but how frequently we read and what sort of stuff we read? We can non deny that reading is a really good wont, We can get the general cognition by reading. That is why we are inculcated the reading wont by our parent and instructors since we are immature. But, Malaysians have hapless reading wont. Well, if you do n’t believe that, merely look into out the study done by the National Library in 2005 to find the profile of Malayan readers. More than half of the 65,000 respondents answered that they read less than seven pages a twenty-four hours and those 10 old ages and above merely read about two books a twelvemonth. Now, it is the clip to do the Malaysians realize the of import of reading and do it as their wont. There are many reading stuffs around us, for illustration, newspapers, magazines and all sort of books. Possibly people feel that reading the words on the paper is a deadening occupation in this engineering century, hence, a new sort of book is being created, that is, electronic book. The words are non lie on the documents any longer, but on the screen of computing machine and you can convey along it wherever you go. It is really convenience to the people today, you merely salvage the book you want to read in the computing machine, no affair how many of book you want to read, there is no the midst and heavy of the documents. Other than that, the authorities has already put attempt into the plans that encourage the people to read more. Many plans have been organized, such as reading festival, reading run and so on. Although the attempts did non derive many supports from the populace, we can non deny the attempts were really do an consequence. Many of the people who were take portion in those plans know the of import of reading and do reading as their new wont now. Besides, the reading wont should be inculcated among childs. To make that, the function of parents and early instruction is really of import. The parents must state the kids about the benefits of reading and do reading more interesting to pull their attending toward reading. Parents may read them a narrative before slumber and inquire the kid read the narrative in bend on the following twenty-four hours. In position of this job, Malaysian A Ministry of Education ( MoE ) attempts to implement more effectual and efficient readingA programsA which are executed consistently and continuouslyA A via a long termA plan known as NILAM Program ‘NP ‘ ( Nadi Ilmu Amalan Membaca ) or slackly translated as â€Å" reading is the pulsation of cognition. Government schools or schools under MoE in Malaysia instructed to put to death NP get downing from January 1999 in conformity to CircularA Num.13/1998A dated 22A May 1998. NILAM: Concept Guide Book and Implementation inA School published by Technology of Education Division, Ministry of Education of Malaysia ( 1998 ) . The Education Ministry is widening the range of the NilamA or Award to promote more studentsA from primary schools every bit good as secondary schools nationwideA to read. The Nilam Award is a reading programme initiated by the Education Ministry in 1999 to instill the reading wont. Students are recognized at primary and secondary school degrees harmonizing to the figure of books they have read. To be awarded the Nilam Award at primary school degree, pupils must read 360 books or more, while at secondary school degree, they have to read 288 books and supra. To measure up, pupils are required to enter their reading activities in reading records. In bend, instructors must attest these records. Recognition is later given to pupils based on the figure of books they have read and reading activities, such as storytelling, that they have carried out. Other extended reading programmes have besides been implemented over the old ages such as Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading ( USSR ) , ‘Drop Everything and Read ‘ ( DEAR ) and the Book Flood Approach ( Elley and Mangubahi, 1983 as cited in Renandya and Jacobs, 2002 ) . The intent of the programme is that readers read big measures of books and other stuffs in an environment that nurtures a womb-to-tomb reading wont. While much attempt has been put into reading runs and programmes, indicant is that more and more Malaysians are non interested in picking up the wont. Malayan pupils at the third degree have so shown our pupils ‘ hapless respects for reading ( Mohd Sallehudin 1994, as cited in Normah 2004 ) . The recent, Read-a-thon Read2009 was to instill a love for reading and charity among the immature. For the 2nd twelvemonth running, pupils throughout the state late participated in Malaysia ‘s biggest reading endurance contest. This event was organized by Scholastic, the universe ‘s largest publishing house and distributer of kids ‘s books. This twelvemonth ‘s read-a-thon, titled Read2009: One State Reading Together, was supported by the Education Ministry and held in concurrence with its 1Malaysia Reading Camp. Read2009 was a simple name with a large message. Students read recreationally for 2009 seconds ( 33 proceedingss 29 seconds ) . Reading recreationally means that pupils choose a book of their pick, alternatively of regular school text. Students can read independently or together with their schoolmates and instructors. The aim of Read2009 is to instill pupils with a love of reading. The programme emphasizes diversion reading because pupils must be able to tie in good feelings and pleasant memories with their reading experience ; otherwise, it becomes a job. Reading provides a valuable support of linguistic communication and constructions presented in the schoolroom. It besides provides scholars the chance to pattern deducing significances from the context where constructions and vocabulary are unfamiliar. In add-on, it enables the scholar to reproduce mentally and vocally looks and words present in any written signifier. Therefore, consciously or unconsciously the scholar begins to pass on efficaciously, utilizing the cognition acquired through reading. Extensive reading besides provides the scholar an chance to increase his reading velocity, a accomplishment seldom touched upon in the ESL schoolroom. As the pupil is reading for pleasance, opportunities are he will be eager to see what happens following and will therefore attempt to read faster. Furthermore, as the scholar is reading on subjects that involvements him, it increases his motive and gives him a more positive attitude towards the mark linguistic communication. â€Å" To get the wont of reading is to build for yourself a safety from about all the wretchednesss of life. † – W. Somerset Maugham Somewhere after â€Å" lose weight † , â€Å" halt procrastinating † , and â€Å" autumn in love † , â€Å" read more † is one of the top ends that many people set for themselves. And justly so: A good book can be enormously hearty, can learn you about things beyond your day-to-day skylines, and can make characters so vivid you feel as if you truly cognize them. The following are several ways to cultivate reading wont. Set times. Always carry a book. Make a list. Find a quiet topographic point. Reduce television/Internet. Keep a log. Travel to used book stores. Have a library twenty-four hours. Read merriment and compelling books.. Make it enjoyable. Blog it. Set a high end Have a reading hr or reading twenty-four hours Decision The undertaking of reading is accomplished through an interaction of top-down and bottom-up processing. A individual ‘s yesteryear cognition allows text deconstruction but is at the same time added to during the procedure by new information. Becoming a fluid reader involves happening connexions to one ‘s ain life and doing new information portion of one ‘s ain cognition. The development of principled flexible accomplishments that can be applied to different reading undertakings is one of the most effectual things from a reading category. Learners every bit good as instructors can break understand what messages are in a text by analyzing it with a figure of attacks. Schema theory offers insight on the manner cognition is constructed but is far from a complete unveiling of the cryptic procedure of reading. As instructors, it is of import to supply quality reading beginnings that are suitably leveled and of high involvement to kids. Research has shown that when kids are interested in what they read, comprehension improves. In this plan, we have included fiction, nonfiction, and readers ‘ theatre books, literacy centres, online readers, and synergistic reading experiences. We have addressed the edifice blocks of reading direction by supplying readers and related activities that reinforce phonemic consciousness and phonics, vocabulary development, eloquence, and comprehension. And, the stuffs provided to back up these edifice blocks are synergistic and actuating. It has to be said that doing scholars cognizant of the larning schemes they can use to assist them in their reading does look to hold its advantages. The scholars in the present survey by and large performed better after the consciousness raising session and this is apparent in the better sum-ups they provided of Text 2. Si nce this is merely an exploratory survey no far-reaching claims will be made until the scholars concluding tonss for the reading class are obtained. In any instance, the thought that there is an alternate to long-run scheme direction that does non incur much cost or schoolroom hours but can still heighten scholars scheme consciousness is an attractive option to see. Reading is an of import beginning of cognition for those seeking to accomplish eloquence and efficiency in a foreign linguistic communication. However, efficiency in reading is merely possible if the reader is equipped with the appropriate reading accomplishments. In the ESL categories, most of these accomplishments are taught during intensive reading lessons. Learners of the linguistic communication can shortly go efficient reading if they utilize the accomplishments taught to construe the author ‘s purposes and deductions when reading reliable stuffs. The ESL instructor can promote reading wonts among scholars by puting undertakings to complement the reading programme. Ultimately thought, the reader has to pull off on his ain. Motivation besides is one of the cardinal factors that determine the rate and success of scholars ‘ attainment. It provides the chief inducement to originate the acquisition of a foreign linguistic communication and subsequently the finding to con tinue and prolong the long hard acquisition procedure. Without sufficient motive, even persons with the best of abilities can non carry through long-run ends. As we have seen, a developmental model of reading can be forged from the extended research in expertness that chronicles the womb-to-tomb journey toward proficiency that begins with one ‘s first engages with written linguistic communication. We recognize that there are other powerful forces and events in the lives of readers, outside those considered here, that can assist find the destiny of developing readers. However, our focal point here has been on the factors addressed in the expertness literature, and peculiarly in the research on the Model of Domain Learning ( Alexander, 1997 ) . Those factors-knowledge, involvement, and strategies-should be elements of effectual reading plans and school course of study. Within instructor development, the committedness to this lifespan position would besides ensue in certain programmatic accents. For case, there would be expressed attending to the instruction of schemes that underlie reading public presentation. In that manner, instructors would be better able to help their pupils in the development of rich strategic repertories. Further, we would anticipate professional development to aim a scope of narrative and expositive reading stuffs of both a traditional ( e.g. , book ) and non-alternative ( e.g. , Web pages ) nature ; stuffs that pupils are likely to face in and out of school. In add-on, techniques for actuating readers and for integrating their involvements in reading direction would be an built-in portion of instructors ‘ professional development. Possibly most significantly, a concern for the fosterage of rea ding development would no longer be relegated to the early simple classs. Rather, the development of reading would be seen as a duty of all teachers-from preschool through high school. How to cite Developing Competent Reader In Classroom Education Essay, Essay examples

Circuit Board Corporation free essay sample

Circuit Board Corporation creates and manufactures printed circuit boards. The founder, the late Dieter Adams had started Circuit Board Corporation in 1961, were the computer industry was in its introductory stages. The company started by designing and manufacturing PCB’s for minicomputer companies. Maggie Adams which was Dieter Adams beloved wife was employed as a part time employee and secretary of the board to CEO after her husband died. Circuit Board Corporation served three segments within the computer industry market. Low-End Segment for servicing simple applications requiring one to four layer boards, Mid-Range Segment for servicing more complex applications requiring 12 to 24 layer boards, and High-End Segment for servicing the most complex applications, requiring 30 to 50 layer boards. However the 30 million dollar company it had gone from making $1. 2 million pretax in 2000 to losing $614,000 in 2001 and has been facing turmoil economically since. Problem Recognition An unfit Maggie was now the CEO and in charge of the company, experiencing vast declines in the company financials, and is obtaining difficult and mixed advice. SWOT Analysis Strengths The company has a 4 decade long standing The company is established Family owned corporation COO Ben Cashman Shed unprofitable sectors of the business and focused on midrange The company efficiently downsized to 100 employees Decreased wage and operation expenses by operating one shift Recovery efforts to get paid faster Weakness Failure to improve the company processes Reduction in bookings from 2. 5M to 1. 8M in one year and continuing General and administrative expenses were high at 10% of sales Negative effects of the company cash flow Their Inventory levels were inefficient, only half were productive CBC had no original patents Opportunity Process and fabrication technology investments Smaller competitors had exited the market Potential lucrative investment in purchasing several board designer shops to execute an upstream design process Potentials from the diversification of their portfolio in adding new customers Threats Lawsuits due to their 4 million dollar debt to suppliers with extensive overdue periods The company sales were not making any improvement The company did not have a market competitive advantage and competitors are now leading Problem Definition Due to the death of Dieter Adams, Maggie Adams had gone from being a part time employee and secretary of the board to CEO. As a new and inexperienced person as it relates to managing, Maggie may not be an effective leader. The onus is on her to decide on the forward moving direction of Circuit Boards Corporation and the best interest for the family. Maggie Adams has been drawn between the advices of COO Ben Cashman who advised Maggie to be ready for a turnaround as the market would rebound in the second quarter of 2002, and the advice of Board members Dane Lombard, Will Tatelman Don Armour, urging Maggie to get out of business. In January 2001, the high-tech industry was negatively affected by the economy, as such the printed circuit board industry had reported between 50 percent and 75 percent declines in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year causing smaller competitors to exit the market. With this occurrence, Circuit Board Corporation had gone from achieving 1. 2M pretax in 2000 to losing 614. 000 in 2001. Alternatives Option 1: Attract investors to purchase Circuit Board Corporation Pro: Allows Circuit Board Corporation to acquire smaller competitors that are exiting market. Pro: Maggie can purchase the facility and create a rental agreement with investors. Con: Family will lose business as well as employment. Option 2: Maggie can file for Bankruptcy Pro: Bankruptcy will eliminate possible lawsuits from suppliers and other debtors. Pro: Anticipate the promised market turnaround foreseen by Ben Cashman Con: Auditors can audit and realize issues with total income Maggie and family have been receiving. Option 3: Sell Circuit Board Corporation Pro: Maggie can receive a sizable offer from potential buyers, making her and her family financially wealthy. Pro: The new owners of the business can save the reputation of the company and its existence. Pro: The market show no sign of bouncing back Con: Buyers may change the businesses existence or undermanage it to extinction. Con: The market is unattractive and may cause the corporation to sell for a very low fee. Recommendation Maggie should choose the board of directors’ advice and go with option 3, which is selling the business. Maggie needs to accept that she is not competent to manage the corporation. She should sell her shares as there is a strong possibility that the corporation CBC does not survive economic downturn. The potential for rent is not worth risk. Implementation Short Term: There will be potential setback such as finalizing a sale agreement due to the fact that the market is currently unattractive. Obtain a law team and a business investment analyst agent to value and bargain for the highest possible, emphasizing the anticipated market rebound sales price they can deal for as is with liabilities included. Long Term: After the business is sold, Maggie and family will be financially secure. The business under new management and ownership can be restructured strategically to start generating profits from new investments. The corporations’ reputation will be redeemed and as such Dieter’s business vision and legacy can continue.

Natural Equality And Civil Society Essays - Social Inequality

Natural Equality And Civil Society Natural Equality and Civil Society According to John Locke in his Second Treatise of Government, natural equality is an essential component of the state of nature; the ?state of nature' being one of peace, tranquility, and equality, where there is no common power guided by reason. However, the lack of common power also supplies an inconvenience for the state of nature? the aptitude to fall into a state of war with no means to escape it. To avoid this inconvenience, Locke finds it a necessity to form civil society ruled by a common authority of law. For a such government to preserve its legitimacy, the transition into civil society must maintain some degree of equality. The origination of property, the introduction of money, and furthermore the practice of slavery are three reasons certain aspects of natural equality are sacrificed in the conversion to civil society. To assess the extent of loss of natural equality, we must first come to understand what Locke's definition of equality is: A state of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection.. . . [pg.8] When one knows Locke's definition of equality, the mere existence of property subtracts from our natural equality. Let us examine the origins of property. Locke suggests the origin of property is of God, pointing to the 115th Psalm verse 16 of the Old Testament, . . .God, as king David says, ?. . .has given the earth to the children of men; given it to mankind in common. [pg.18] Even though God has given the earth to all humankind in common, Locke believes that humankind, bearing God given reason, has the right to use the earth to his/her best advantage of life, and convenience.[pg 18] Here lies the problem. If all human beings are to use the earth to their ?best advantage' and the earth is the common property of all, someone somewhere will have conflicting interests with another human being over the possession of some thing. The only remedy is to sacrifice his/her equality by consent (It is not likely that one would surrender equality to another) OR to enter a ?state of war.' The on ly protection against the state of war in John Locke's opinion is to enter into civil society governed by a common authority. By taking this measure, Locke insists humankind can better protect itself against war and preserve the right to enjoy what one possesses, . . . because no political society can be, nor subsist, without having in itself the power to preserve the property [pg. 18]. Entering civil society requires handing over one's executive rights and submitting to a common authority by law. So, according to Locke's definition of equality, giving up one's natural executive rights means natural equality is no longer truly existent. Though we are all still ?born to the same advantages of nature', and we still ?share the same faculties', and we still do not gain the right to ?subordinate' another human being, we consent to subordinate our personal freedoms and liberties to a common law for our own welfare. By consenting to this authority, we eliminate total natural equality, giving away the power over our own lives. In addition, true equality asserts that no man is superior to another. But, to legitimize possessions is to institute a means for subordination, in that an individual who is the sole possessor of a good or service has dominion over the use of that good or service. Under this system of possession, where one individual has dominion over one good, and a separate individual has possession over a separate but equally desirable good, the individuals must establish trade with one another to enjoy the exclusive property of the other. In the instance that we are without an equally desirable good, we must have some other medium of trade? currency? in order to obtain the ownership or use of a property possessed by another. The introduction of

Burn After Reading Essays

Burn After Reading Essays Burn After Reading Essay Burn After Reading Essay Burn After Reading is a black comedy directed, produced and written by the Coen brothers in 2008. It stars some major actors such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich and Francis McDormand. (Adams 40-42) In this film, all of the characters interweave with one another and they don’t necessarily know so. The film begins with John Malkovich as Osbourne Cox being fired from his position as a C. I. A. analyst. He then decides to begin writing his memoirs which eventually end up in the hands of two HardBodies Gym employees Francis McDormand as Linda Litzke and Brad Pitt as Chad. Chad assumes that Cox must be someone of importance and that the information on the disk is top secret. From there, he involves Linda in black mailing him because she is in desperate need for money to pay for the cosmetic surgeries she desires. Along side of that, Cox’s wife is planning on leaving his and taking off with Harry which is something he knows nothing of. Harry who is also married, and having an affair with Cox’s wife, is also meeting random women through an online dating service and eventually hooks up with Linda as well. Linda falls for Harry, especially since he’s told her that he doesn’t think these surgeries that she needs are necessary. This movie is basically a tangled web of lies, paranoia and false information, making it into one of the Coen brothers most baffling films. One major aspect of this movie is paranoia. What does the movie say about paranoia? Well, that’s a rather difficult answer to come up with considering a lot of this movie doesn’t make sense. Even the ending scene of the movie where Palmer and Gardner Chubb (both C. I. A. gents) are discussing this mess of events that has been going on say that they didn’t learn anything from this. Everyone in the movie seems to believe that someone is someone else leading to the characters to lash out with paranoid violence as if they’re left with no alternative. I think that the movie is probably trying to say about paranoia is that you can’t let it get to you because you will either end up cre ating scenarios leading to even worse paranoia, or you’ll end up dead. Two main focuses in the movie that seemed to harbor the most paranoia were Clooney’s character Harry and Pitt’s character Chad. Harry plays a US Marshall who never seems to actually work (Adams 40-42) and is constantly creating more and more sticky situations. Not only is he married, but he’s having an affair with Osbourne Cox’s wife and meeting women on the internet. Every day Harry goes out on run and begins to notice what looks like a government car following him. He seems like he doesn’t really know what to make of it and ignores it in the beginning. Once the situation becomes a little more suspicious, Harry takes action and goes out to the man’s car who’s been following him demanding answers. The man worked for a law firm and was hired by Harry’s wife to watch him to find proof that he was cheating on his wife. Little did Harry know, he wife was getting ready to file for a divorce. Harry is also paranoid about killing Chad earlier on in the movie at Osbourne Cox’s home. Him and Linda have been seeing each other and Linda eventually asks Harry if he can help her find her friend since he has no idea where he’s gone. Later in the park, Linda explains the situation a little further about what Chad was doing and where he was going and just like that Harry put the pieces together and finally found out who the person was that he killed. He then begins to ask Linda questions about who she is and who she was hired by, Linda innocent and not knowing what Harry is talking about truthfully tells him that she wasn’t hired by anyone and she’s not after anything. Harry then runs away from Linda never to see her again. Eventually, Harry decides to up and flee to Venezuela to escape from whoever he thinks might be after him. Pitt’s character Chad who seems rather dimwitted, is trying to find a way to black mail Osbourne Cox. Earlier on in the movie, McDormand finds his disk at HardBodies gym, Chad comes up with the brilliant idea to black mail him and Linda goes with the idea thinking that the money they receive from Cox will pay for her surgeries. He begins by making a late night phone call telling Cox that he has his disk and he demands money for the return of it. He later meets up with Cox, trying to look professional by wearing a tuxedo but riding a bike a carrying his helmet. Cox explains to Chad what could legally happen to him if he decided to try and blackmail him, then proceeds to punch Chad in the face and makes him get out of his car. Then they come up with the idea to take the disk to the Russians hoping that they’ll somehow get money out of it that way. Chad later tries breaking into Cox’s home to find more information on him. While Chad’s in the house, Harry walks in. Cox had previously been locked out of his home by his wife who was also getting ready to file for divorce, so Harry has been staying there temporarily while his wife is off for the release of her new children’s book. Once Chad realizes that he is no longer alone in the house, he quickly hides in the closet hoping to eventually escape unnoticed. After Harry gets out of the shower he walks over to the closet Chad is hiding in. He opens the doors and sees him thinking he’s some government spook and immediately shoots him in the head. The character of Osbourne Cox is also another example of paranoia in this film. After he’s fired from his job, gets blackmailed, and told by his wife that she’s divorcing him, he also gets kicked out of his home having to resort to living on their boat. Cox get’s fed up with it one day and decides to return home with a hatchet in hopes to find more liquor. What Cox ends up finding at his house is Ted. Ted also works at HardBodies gym and is Linda and Chad’s boss. He’s down in the basement looking through Cox’s computer to try and figure out what exactly Linda and Chad have been up to since they haven’t exactly told him anything. Cox, who’s in a paranoid state, angrily demands answers and quickly makes the connection between Ted, Linda amp; Chad. Infuriated, he chases Ted all the way out to the streets where he proceeds to kill him with the hatchet out of anger. (Doom 163-174) During the duration of the whole movie Francis McDormand’s character, Linda Litzke, struggles with her own self conscious paranoia’s. This makes Linda completely neglect what’s been in front of her face the whole time. While she’s busy obsessing over recapturing her youth, her boss Ted who obviously has feelings about her is discretely trying to let her know that. She openly speaks with him about the surgeries that’s she’s wanting to undergo and about how she’s meeting men on the internet. He explains to her that she doesn’t need the surgeries, and that online dating can be a very dangerous thing and she could end up with the wrong guy. Everything seems to go in one ear and out the other with her because she never took any of that into account. Poor Ted even end up dead in the end of the movie because he’s trying to figure out what it is that Linda and Chad have been up to and why they say it’s so ‘dangerous’. All in all, this has got to be one of the most bizarre spy films that I have ever seen. Unfortunately in the end the only person that seems to get what they want is Linda. If it wasn’t for her self consciousness, a lot of things wouldn’t have ever happened in the first place. Yes of course Chad being the quirky guy that he is, probably still would’ve tried to blackmail Cox, but maybe he wouldn’t have gone so far with it to the point of being shot point blank in the head. Also, nothing would’ve ever happened to Ted. All along all he was trying to do was figure out what it was that Chad and Linda were up to and once he got so involved, he also ended up dead. It seems to be that the most innocent characters of the movie, ended up getting the short straw in everything. On top of all the organized chaos that the movie entails, I find it rather bewildering that the movie is considered a form of comedy. Though black comedy is more so a darker kind, finding humor in death and despair. In conclusion, I think it’s safe to say that Burn After Reading is quite possibly one of the most meaningless movies I have ever seen. Though it is meaningless, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t entertaining and rather humorous. One thing that I did pick up on in the movie though is to steer clear from paranoia. It won’t get you anywhere but six feet under. At least unless the circumstances of this movie. Citations Doom, Ryan. THE BROTHERS COEN: Unique characters of violence. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2009. 163-174. eBook. Adams, Michael. Burn After Reading. 28th ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Cenage Learning, 2009. Print. Burn After Reading. Dir. Ethan and Joel Coen. Focus Features: 2008, DVD.

Disability Management Program Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Disability Management Program - Assignment Example Supervisors in any organization face various challenges regarding the size of the work unit, timely delivery of project and employee motivation. Illness and injuries are the most common reasons that an employee shows for absenteeism. The main challenge for an employer is to manage the absenteeism so that the departmental goal can be achieved timely and the cost of project execution can be minimized. The disability management program focuses on preventing the cause of absence due to illness, disability, and injury. Cooperation and respect need to be promoted among supervisors, employees and unions to create a successful disability management program. There are various steps to be followed to build a successful disability management program. These steps include building a team-based management; developing a framework, obtaining resources etc. Disability management program has an extended effect on various levels of the organization. It could be beneficial to the employers, employees, union and health care providers. Active participation of each and every team is necessary as it ensures the proper work execution in the workplace and it also ensures benefits for the employers and employees. Disability management program helps employers to manage cost and to improve benefits for employees by creating more cooperative, productive and safe workplace. This program also helps the employer to reduce the cost of recruitment and training and reduce the time and cost of employee turnover. A well-designed disability management program enables employers to reduce compensation cost of workers’ and it helps them to reduce accidents in the workplace. Disability management program helps employees to generate awareness about all the cost of injuries and sickness.

Mental Health Settings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mental Health Settings - Essay Example The quality of care management that a person with depression receives depends entirely on the policies and practices of the managing care individuals and organizations. Case management is integral responsibility of monitoring and active follow up of the condition of the patient. Case management also involves processes such as continual provision of care, systematic assessment, improved education and holistic approaches that can create awareness of the impacts of co-morbidity (Lockwood, & Michele, 1999). Subjects who are enrolled in impatient units are assigned to various treatment conditions. This includes brokers case management where the client’s needs are assessed and the health is monitored. Services are provided by multiple providers. Another case of management is assertive community treatment where the client is provided with comprehensive services for unlimited period. Lastly is assertive community treatment which supported by community workers (Cumming, 2005). Community nurses offers primary care to patients. They are involved in planning evidenced-based care and interventions of the personal decisions of the patient. Some of the interventions that primary care nurses make are development of the care pathway, assessment of the patients, assessing of risks and management of risk. All these practices are aimed at normalizing of the mental health problems. Nurses have the responsibility of monitoring and following the condition of the patient very actively. It includes systematic and accurate assessments of needs of the patient and provision of continued care to the patient. They assess the patient to understand what he or she requires in relation to care nursing. There are regular contact nurses in the community based treatment who are supposed to contact the patients regularly. As a person with severe depression, I expect the regular nurse to liaise with my family members who are concern with my health condition. The

Mill and pleasure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mill and pleasure - Essay Example According to Mill’s utilitarianism which presumes a hedonistic theory of value, only things of fundamental value are equated to happiness and they include pleasure and the lack of pain. He is of the view that as humans strives for individual happiness, so must they collectively struggle for the delight of the people. This view is supported by Plato whom according to, the society mirrors the soul of the individual first followed by the virtues of the society mirroring the virtues of the individual. Though he equates pleasure to happiness, he appreciates some pleasures being higher than others, â€Å"Not all pleasures have equal value.† Higher pleasures are more valuable than lower pleasures. For example Pleasures of the mind are ranked higher than those of the body or a pleasure that comes with helping a needy person is considered great as compared to the pleasure as a result of taking alcohol. Mill goes against the basic principle of ethics which presumes actions as bei ng right if they promote pleasure of the most number. The intuitive view that bases ethics on self-evident principles, according to him, is not workable for it does not apply to usefulness. He chooses the inductive outlook which supports principles on experiential facts. Through his empiricism as mentioned by Gensler (1998) He (Mill) claims that even a sum like two plus two which equals to four ( 2+2=4) is based on sense experience. The assertions by Mill that however great a sensual or lower pleasure may be it cannot be compared to an intellectual or higher pleasure however small it is and that mental pain is higher while physical pain is lower is biased and contradictory. Here, he does not establish the truth of his consequentialism view of utilitarianism which indicates that actions are to be judged right or wrong based on consequences. On the other hand, Hedonism principle demands that in assessing consequences what matters is the amount of happiness or unhappiness that is cause d. In the philosophical utilitarianism by Mill, it is clear that pleasure is good in itself, that is, it is intrinsically good. This means that other things such as money, health and virtues like generosity; integrity and many more others are goods as means to an end. But according to Aristotle, such virtues are not only as a means to the supreme end which is ‘eudainonia’ or happiness but also they are ends in themselves. This begs for a clear distinction between the two forms of a good, a good as a means and a good as an end, however, a good can have both intrinsic and instrumental values for example health. The difference between the two can be well explained by looking at the two non-deontological traditions of the good as embraced by Aristotle and Mill, Good - Intrinsic and Merely Instrumental Good Aristotle’s Teleological tradition construes the good in terms of its fulfillment of ends as natural or proper to a creature thus conceived as immanent. Millâ€⠄¢s consequentiality on the other hand holds that a good is quantitatively maximized, that is, it is as a result of our acts. Another differentiation is that teleological goes beyond

The Carbonated Soft Drinks Industry And Pepsico Strategy Marketing Essay

The Carbonated Soft Drinks Industry And Pepsico Strategy Marketing Essay The chart below shows the dominant players in the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) industry according to Beverage Digest report issued on March 30, 2009. The results of this report are for the year 2008 (Sicher, 2009, p.2). Coca Cola has the largest market share accounting for 43%, followed by PepsiCo with 31% and Dr.Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (formerly Cadbury Schweppes) with 15% of the market. The remaining 11% is distributed amongst other CSD companies such as Cott Corp, National Beverage, Red Bull, Big Red, Rockstar, Private label and others. Moreover, the top 10 CSD brands in the U.S for the year 2008 were ranked by market share as follows (Sicher, 2009, p.2). Brands Company Market Share Coke Coca-Cola 17.3% Pepsi-Cola PepsiCo 10.3% Diet Coke Coca-Cola 10% Mountain Dew PepsiCo 6.8% Dr.Pepper Dr.Pepper Snapple Group(DPS) 6.1% Diet Pepsi PepsiCo 5.7% Sprite Coca-Cola 5.6% Fanta Coca-Cola 1.8% Diet Mountain Dew PepsiCo 1.8% Diet Dr.Pepper Dr.Pepper Snapple Group(DPS) 1.6% With regard to individual brands, Coke was ranked first with 17.3% market share and Pepsi-cola was in second place with a lower market share of 10.3%. Additionally, the total market share of all Coca-cola brands adds up to (34.7%) which still surpasses those of PepsiCo (24.6%). To be able to give an in-depth analysis and evaluation of the Soft Drink industry, the following factors should be considered: The relevant industry trends and the most noticeable changes in the industry. The strategic group map. The industry attractiveness using Michael Porter five forces model. A. Relevant industry trends Industry Growth The graph below shows the performance of the CSD market from 1990 up to 2008. It is observed that the industry faced a sharp decline in growth starting from 2005, where the percent volume change fell below zero. This was followed by a further decline in growth rates: -0.6% in 2006, then -2.3% in 2007 and -3% in 2008 (Sicher, 2009, p.1). Conversely, the energy drink companies were experiencing a positive growth. Hansen Natural, which has both soft drinks and energy drinks in its portfolio of products, witnessed a +3.3% CSD growth. Additionally, Red Bulls volume also increased +5.2%. Although Hansen Natural and Red Bull make up a small portion of the total market share pie, the increase in their growth rates indicates that PepsiCo has to pay attention to them. Political Factors: There are several political factors that influence the soft drinks industry: Obey food, Drug and cosmetic acts: the process of producing and distributing the soft drinks in the market is subjects to many federal laws such as the food, drug and cosmetics acts. It is also subject to American with disabilities acts. The presence of these laws helps create a healthy environment for the consumers. This will limit the potentials of new entrants in this industry. Environmental laws regulations: these laws enforce packaging, recycling, water and energy policies to make sure the CSD industry operates in a healthy environment. This leads to making the soft drink industry more attractive for consumers. Double Taxation: Another political factor is that companies operating in the industry are obligated to tax payments for the products they offer and distribute in each country they operate within. Hence, this leads to making the industry less attractive because operating firms are subject to double taxation policies. Economical Factors: Inflation in diesel prices: it is an important factor affecting the CSD industry. Since, the CSD relies on trucks to distribute its diverse end line products; trucks are subject to inflation in fuel prices. Since the consumption of fuel is the core activity, diesel prices are subject to inflation depending on the market conditions. Yet, the possibility of a market crisis rises. Foreign exchange rates fluctuations: Carbonated soft drinks firms revenues are affected by exchange rates fluctuations as well as profits and the cost of raw materials. Due to the weak economic growth the industry will suffer heavily by changes in exchange rates. Thus, profits and cost are going to be lower and higher respectively. Socio cultural Factors: Obesity: Dr. Gabe Mirkin says: A study from Harvard shows that of soft drinks may be responsible for the doubling of obesity in children over the last 15 years. (Gabe Mirkin, 2004) Recently, as the people are becoming more and more educated, the level of their health awareness is increasing. Obesity is becoming more and more apparent, leading to people taking good care of their health. Soft drinks are full with empty calories which cause obesity. The trend of obesity in children is rising since the soft drinks consumers are young and between the range of 14 and 30. In fact, studies done by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research shows that Adults who do drink one or more sodas or other sugar-sweetened beverages each day are 27% more likely to be overweight or obese. (16 Facts About Soft Drinks and Obesity, 2009) Change in life style consumer tastes: Nowadays the consumer of the carbonated soft drink industry are shifting their tastes toward drinking more healthier drinks such as water and fresh juices instead of carbonated soft drink full with sugar that will have a negative effect on the consumer health in the long run. People have become more health conscious for instance they are moving toward the consumption of healthier beverages such as water and fresh juices. Its estimated that the consumption of juices will increase up to 20 % within the coming three years. (Health Conscious Chileans Switching to Non-carbonated Drinks, 2009) Technological Factors: Introducing new technologies in the soft drink industry has helped in developing the process of manufacturing. For example: PDX technology: It is a shockwave technology that helps in mixing the ingredients in an efficient way. Pursuit Dynamics, the supplier, said that this technology is most useful for the soft drinks industry. This technology is believed to help in cutting the cleaning time up to 80%. Also, it will also increase the processing speed and save power. (New technology targets diet soft drinks makers, 2009) Other Noticeable trends: Merger and acquisition: It is very common in the soft drinks industry, it causes many firm to exit and then re-enter the industry. Many leaders in the soft drinks industry use acquisition in order to grow and increase their market share. For example, what PepsiCo did to expand into the energy drink sector, it acquired Quaker Oat, who already bought Gatorade. Hence, the competition on the products diversifications for a firm will increase. Using glass bottles instead of plastic bottles: Many soft drinks companies are moving toward using glass bottles because these bottles are more environmental friendly. According to G Karthikeyan, the manger of sales in Jabal Ali Container Glass, the demand for glass bottles has increased recently because some of the chemicals in the soft drinks can react with the plastic and caused serious diseases. Using glass bottles help that the soft drink bottle taste better and last for long time. (Sathish, 2010) Banning soft drinks in schools: The American beverage association has announced the removal of soft drinks from schools. It asked for the removal of full calorie drinks and the replacement will be the healthy, low calorie beverages. That decision has been made because the child obesity is increasing rapidly. The announcement said that in elementary schools, children can only have 100% fresh juices, low fat milk and water, while in high schools the students can have all types of diet beverages and sport drinks as well as the drinks available for the elementary schools.(FBD,2010) B. Strategic Group Map The strategic group map above shows the competitive positions of different competitors in the CSD industry. It consists of the five largest competitors in the industry. The axes represent two competitive characteristics: the product categories offered by each competitor and geographic coverage in terms of the number of countries. The size of the circles is proportional to the relative market share of the company. PepsiCo has offers the largest variety of product categories amounting to 10 categories, followed by Coca-cola which offers 7 categories. Dr.Pepper Snapple Group, Cott Corp and National beverage all offer 5 product categories, however these categories are differ slightly. Also, their geographic locations vary which explains why they are located on different points on the strategic group map. The strategic group map was constructed using the information in the table below: Geographic coverage Product Categories offered Coca cola 200 + (The coca-cola system, n.d.) 1.Soft drinks 2.Energy drinks 3.Juices / Juice Drinks 4.Sports drinks 5.Tea and coffee 6.water 7.other  [1]   Pepsi 150 (Our history, n.d.) 1.Soft drinks 2.Energy drinks 3.Juices / Juice Drinks 4.Sports drinks 5.Ready to drink tea 6.Ready to drink coffee 7.water 8.Dairy based drinks 9.Fruit flavored beverages 10.Frozen beverages  [2]   Dr.Pepper Snapple Group 81 (The best history on earth, n.d) 1.CSD 2.Juices 3.Ready to drink tea 4.Mixers 5.Other Premium beverages  [3]   Cott Corp 60 (About us, n.d.) 1.CSD 2.Energy Drinks 3.Juice Drinks 4.Tea 5.Water  [4]   National Beverage 13 (Overview, n.d.) 1.CSD 2.Energy Drinks 3.Water 4.Fortified powders and supplements 5.Functionally enhanced juices and waters  [5]   C. Michael Porter five forces model Industry is classified as the Carbonated Soft Drinks Industry Rivalry HIGH Rivalry in this market is very intense due to a number of factors such as the number of competitors, growth of the industry, product differentiation, switching costs and change in consumer tastes. There are a few large competitors that are roughly equal in size. These competitors are Coca-cola with a market share of 43% and Pepsi with 31%. The market shares of Coca-cola and PepsiCo combined makes up more than 70% of the whole market. Thus, it allows these major competitors to watch each other closely. However, there are many other competitors that compete with these two giants and intensify rivalry. These include other soft drink companies (e.g. Dr.Pepper Snapple Group and National Beverage) and energy drink companies (e.g. Red bull and Rockstar). As mentioned earlier, the CSD industry faced a 3% decline in growth in 2008. A declining growth rate indicated that the many competitors in the market will have to share the shrinking pie. Also, in an industry such as CSD, there is little opportunity for differentiation relative to other products (e.g. cars) which lowers switching costs for consumers. The change in lifestyles which caused consumers to shift away from carbonated to non-carbonated soft drinks increased the level of competition. As a result, companies such as PepsiCo and Coco-cola had to adapt to these changes in demand by focusing on marketing and innovation (Human sustainability, n.d.). Bargaining power of Buyers MODERATE to HIGH The buyers in this industry can be classified into two categories: Those that buy in large quantities (Matthews Knaus, 2006, p.2): Supermarkets (31%) Fountain outlets: e.g. restaurants (23%) Vending machines (14%) Mass merchandisers (6%) Convenience stores/ Gas stations (5%) Small grocers (4%) Other: gas stations, drug chains, gas stations/minimarts, airlines and other channels of distribution (17%) Those that buy in small quantities: Final consumer The first category of buyers has high bargaining power. Generally, in industries characterized with many suppliers and a few large buyers, the buyers capture a greater share of the profits. This is because they buy in bulk and they can easily switch between suppliers since the product is standard, lacks differentiation and is easily available in the market. Additionally, these buyers have the power to demand higher quality or more service because they buy in large quantities. An example of a buyer that buys in bulk is the large retail store, Walmart. The second category of buyers is the end consumers. The fragmented nature of the buyer group and the low quantities purchased by them lowers their bargaining power. However, the bargaining power is increased due to the presence of substitutes, low switching costs. Thus, the bargaining power of end consumers is considered to be moderate overall. Bargaining power of Suppliers- MODEATE to LOW Before looking at the supplier group, it is important to first consider the types of input or raw materials that are used in this industry. These are: sugar, bottles, cans, water, ink and plastic. The inputs used are homogeneous and not differentiated which makes them readily available in the market. The supplier group in this industry is not powerful and does not possess a high bargaining power. There are many suppliers which make the supplier group more fragmented than the industry it sells to. Also, the product or input is neither unique nor differentiated and the suppliers do not represent a high percentage of total costs in the industry. One factor that may increase the bargaining power of suppliers is that consumers are more becoming more health conscious. This gives suppliers that offer healthier ingredients more bargaining power since they are smaller in number. Nevertheless, this bargaining power can be mitigated by having a long term agreement with the suppliers. Threat of Substitutes: HIGH Again, substitutes are classified into two categories: (1) Substitutes that come from distant industries, and (2) substitutes that come from within the industry- internal substitution. Since we classified the industry as that of carbonated soft drinks, then the substitutes from distant industries will be non-carbonated soft drinks. These include juice, water, milk, tea, coffee and the like. On the other hand, substitutes from within the industry include CSD such as sodas and energy drinks. Both types of substitutes pose a high threat because consumers switching costs between substitutes are low. Additionally, since people are more health conscious, they are more willing to substitute CSD with healthier alternatives. Threat of New Entrants: Moderate to LOW The entry barriers in the CSD industry are of different types, each having a significant effect on the threat of potential new entrants, these include: Technical barriers: For instance, PepsiCo has an absolute cost advantage enabling it to achieve lower average costs. That is, even if an individual or company was able to discover Pepsis recipe, they will not be able to achieve the low costs of PepsiCo. This is because PepsiCo is a large company that has economies of scale. Commercial Barriers: these barriers include brand name, reputation, access to distribution etc. In an industry like CSD, it is very difficult for a new entrant to compete effectively with the existing competitors that already have a large and loyal customer base. New entrants will have to put in a lot of marketing efforts and resources in order to convince customers to switch to their products. This will be time consuming and will also require a large amount of capital. Additionally, it is very difficult for new entrant to gain access to extensive distribution channels like those of Coca cola and PepsiCo. Financial Barriers: these barriers include capital requirement, access to financing etc. The bottling process requires a higher amount of capital than concentrate manufacturing since it is associated with higher fixed assets. For concentrate manufacturing, one plant which has the potential to serve a country as large as the United States costs $25 million. On the other hand, the bottling process needs 80 to 85 plants, each costing $30-50 million, to provide efficient distribution for a country the size of the US. Moreover, the bottling process is highly specific to both the type packaging and the bottling process. This, in return, makes it difficult to exit the market. (Cola wars, n.d., p.3) Retaliation: the more retaliation new entrants expect from existing competitors, the higher the entry barrier. In this industry, new entrants should expect sharp retaliation. The aforementioned barriers to entry lower the threat of new entrants. However, there is another factor that should be taken into consideration: private label brands. Cott Corp. holds the majority of private label brands in addition to few other smaller companies. Since private label brands are cheaper, retailers would find it more attractive to sell them, instead of Coca-cola or Pepsi, taking into consideration the higher profit associated with them. Thus, the threat of these private brands slightly increase the threat posed by new entrants. This makes the overall threat of new entrants moderate to low. (Pepsi, n.d., p.6) Conclusion The spider web below summarized the five forces (the 6th force is excluded). The more intense the forces are, the less attractive the market is. Most of the forces in the CSD industry are moderate to high which indicates that this industry is not attractive for new entrants. However, for those companies that are already in the industry, it is attractive. 2. Key Success Factors of Carbonated Soft Drinks industry 1. Size of Company (distribution and market share) The companies size is an important factor in such an industry. E.g. PepsiCo is the second leader in the industry as well as one with the largest market share. 2. Location (Convenience and Availability) Convenience for customers is also essential in a soft drink industry. Such that a company must make sure the soft drink is readily available everywhere in supermarket, grocery stores, vending machines, and restaurants. Brand Loyalty Due to the diverse soft drinks and the intense competition in the industry, brand loyalty plays an important success factor for a company. E.g. PepsiCos regular customers are devoted to Pepsi and they rarely switch to other brands. Loyalty creates inelastic price change. PepsiCo successfully adapts to customer taste. International market International presence is essential for the success of Soft Drinks industry. Going global is important for it helps the company enhance growth. E.g. the majority of PepsiCos profits come from US yet population growth in markets like India and china could lead to potential market growth. SWOT Analysis Strengths: Strong Brand Reputation Strong market Position PepsiCo is an early entrant which helped build market share. Its market share accounts for 31% of the market share of the carbonated soft drinks industry. Availability of large Free Cash Flow ( and Strong Revenue Growth) Solid revenue results in the second quarter of 2009 reflecting PepsiCos Product innovation, strong effective net pricing, and cost discipline showing a 5.5 percent increase in net revenue and an 8 percent increase in core EPS. PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Indra Nooyi said Our results this quarter reinforce the advantages of our balanced portfolio, as our food and international businesses delivered solid performance while we continued the transformation of our North American beverage business.(Nooyi, 2009) PepsiCo has large amount of free cash flow and lack of capital constraint creating strength for the company to improve its innovative capabilities, and create a strong distribution thus further strengthening its brand. Strong and creative advertisement Besides PepsiCos strong advertisement, it uses creative techniques. Such that PepsiCo created an add through a football field with most well known players (Kaka-Brazilian, Henry-France, Drogba-Godivoi, Messi-Argentine, Lumoard-England) . Extensive product list Pepsi offers various products besides the Pepsi cola. It offers beverages and snacks. Its also the number one maker of snacks (potato chips and corn chips). Weaknesses: Many Large existing Competitors Large existing competitors in the market create significant weakness for PepsiCo and thus create a need for stronger advertising, consequently requiring higher capital. Following are the strong competitors sharing a high market share in comparison to PepsiCo with 31% market share: Coca Cola has a market share of Æ’Â   43% Dr.Pepper Snapple Group Inc. Æ’Â  15% of the market Concentration PepsiCo is concentrated in North America (US, Canada, Mexico), where almost 70% of its revenues comes from. Opportunities: Acquisitions and Alliances: Due to the increased threat of rivalry and competition in the carbonated soft drink industry, acquisitions and alliances create an opportunity that reduces such threats. Through acquisition the market share rises and the revenue rises, though the high cost of doing it is a drawback to such a strategy. Acquisitions of rivals (e.g. RedBull) Increase Market Share Increase Advertisements Advertisements play a major role in Carbonated Industries. For example, for one to see Pepsis add on road while very thirsty would likely to stop by a petrol station or any convenient store who offers Pepsi to purchase it. Strengthen Brand names of N.A portfolio: Since coke dominates Western Europe and Latin America, PEPSI dominates Middle East and Southeast Asia. Threats: Change in customers taste: weakening demand in USA Æ’Â  new federal nutrition guidelines identified regular CSD as largest source of obesity-causing sugars in American diet (Pinto, 2006) Health care awareness Increased awareness of health campaigns cut down revenues of soft drink industries. Customers move to substitutes such as water, non-carbonated drinks and juices. These challenges are PepsiCos target to overcome, such as the figure below shows the peoples negative perception of PepsiCo. High Rivalry As Explained earlier, threat of rivalry is very intense due to the following factors: Large number of competitors, Decline in growth of the industry, Lack of differentiation in products, and low switching costs. Therefore there exists an intense competition for shelf space due to expanding array of products and packaging options Large company size, will demand a varied marketing program; Social, cultural, economic, political and governmental constrains. As a result, the company will incur more expenses and resources. Threat of substitutes is very high. People can easily substitute Pepsi with other drinks. Strategic recommendations to the firm based on your SWOT analysis Since PepsiCo has availability of high free cash flow (strength), I would recommend that PepsiCo opts for Acquisition and Alliance (Opportunity) to increase its market share thus to take over its rivalry (threat) Due to the threat of health campaigns (threat), PepsiCo should increase its product line (opportunity) I would recommend that PepsiCo increases its EPS and increase PepsiCos stock price, by: Increasing Income Decrease amount of outstanding stock B. Company strategy analysis 1. Mission Statement/Strategic intent/Vision Mission statement: Our mission is to be the worlds premier consumer products company focused on convenient foods and beverages. We seek to produce financial rewards to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees, our business partners and the communities in which we operate. And in everything we do, we strive for honesty, fairness and integrity (PepsiCo Inc., 2009) Reproduced Mission statement: PepsiCo aims to be the worlds number one foods and beverages producer. It mainly focuses on providing money for its investors as well as enhancing the market with jobs and opportunities for growth. PepsiCo try their best to be honest, fair and truthful in all of their operations. Critique: The mission statement relatively reflects the core values of PepsiCo. It specifically describes its goals and objectives. It also sets guidelines for the activities and operations that need to be accomplished in order to meet the company prospects aims. Vision: PepsiCos responsibility is to continually improve all aspects of the world in which we operate environment, social, economic creating a better tomorrow than today. Our vision is put into action through programs and a focus on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society, and a commitment to build shareholder value by making PepsiCo a truly sustainable company. (PepsiCo Inc., 2009) Reproduced Vision: Operate by creating a better future sustainable environment. Critique: A vision is a statement that states what the firm will be in the future. Pepsis vision aims toward creating a future healthier, sustainable friendly environment. PepsiCo vision should be more specific to its goals and objectives in order for PepsiCo to be more productive in the future. It should be more creative and easy to adapt to new trends. The vision can help PepsiCo in controlling the future market. PepsiCo Generic Strategy: According to Michael Porter, there are two types of competitive advantages a firm an posses: A firm can either make the same products that its competitors do, but with a lower cost. Æ’Â   Cost Strategy OR A firm can differentiate its products from those offered by its competitors, either by offering better and more expensive products or by offering lower quality cheaper products Æ’Â   Differentiation Strategy. To gain a competitive advantage in the market, PepsiCo looked in its position in the industry. It engaged in cost leadership competitive strategy: Since PepsiCo is a large corporation, it can keep the prices of its products low through the massive production and economies of scale. They also can buy from suppliers in bulk at a discount and make use of the technology to lower the prices of the final products. Not to forget that the extensive distribution channels and the global existence of the firm are considered as important factors to reduce the price. Allocating the cost among the brands carried by PepsiCo, the proficiency in the development and production help PepsiCo achieving its cost leadership strategy. PepsiCo also vertically integrated. It has merged with Pepsi bottling group in order to reduce the cost of distribution. Additionally, the types of input or raw materials that are used in this industry are: sugar, bottles, cans, water, ink and plastic. Since these raw materials are not differentiated and are easily available in the market, PepsiCo can achieve economies of scale. By looking at the graph above we can learn that by achieving economies of scale the firm will reduce its costs which will lead to lower prices of the final products. Although lower prices will result in having price war, which had already existed between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola and other firms in the CSD industry, it will still help the company in increasing its market share and to compete in the industry. Adapting the Cost leadership strategy had raised strong barriers for any new entrants to enter the market since it will be very hard to compete with a well-known brand that offers low prices. PepsiCos key resources that could lead to long term competitive: In order to stay ahead of the future and present competition, Pepsi has developed many attributes. It has constructed a business strategy that will allow it to outperform its competitors. Therefore PepsiCo has concentrated on few main resources that it believes will turn out as competitive advantages for the firm which will help it to goal superior performance in its industry. These competitive advantages are believed to be: Strong Brand Name Advertising: PepsiCo has the luxury to spend around 200 million dollars in this field, which allows it to reinforce the products. The strong advertising helps PepsiCo to introduce new products very quickly because it helps in improving the awareness level on the consumers about launching new products. PepsiCo logo/ being the 2nd leader of the market: PepsiCo is a very well-known brand not only because of products taste but also because of its logo and unique way of packaging. These all created what is called brand recognition. The unique blue and red symbol made PepsiCo very recognizable among people. Pepsi has spent 637 million dollar over the five past years on its marketing plan just to introduce the new rich deep blue packaging. This color represents the eternity of youthfulness and openness. Celebrity endorsement: Pepsi had used famous faces such as Britney Spears and Beyoncà © in advertising its products, which lead to attract more customers and increase the level of costumers preference. Although celebrity endorsement was a success but PepsiCo wont be using celebrities anymore as a step forward reducing its future cost. Extensive Distribution Channels / Location In Feb. 26, 2010 PepsiCo had merged with Pepsi Bottling group and PepsiAmerican which strengthening its distribution. It has local and global locations. PepsiCo has locations in 150 countries all around the world. Physical locations: PepsiCo soft drinks can be found in vending machines which are located in high traffic locations, schools, universities. PepsiCo reaches more consumers by also distributing its products to restaurants, department stores and grocery markets.