Why do companies decide to invest overseas and to go multinational Assignment

Why do companies decide to invest overseas and to go multinational - Assignment Example Jepson (2002) explains the unprecedented flow of foreign direct investments during the last two decades has made spectacular contributions to the economic restoration of Europe and to the industrialization of many of the developing countries. Spectacular, too, have been the returns realized by the international corporations that undertook the investments. However, if we examine the conditions a host country must satisfy if it is to continue attracting foreign investments, quite distinct limits to a country's ability to keep its doors open to the foreign investor become apparent. A few basic facts will make the point. (McLaughlin Mitchell 2006). Barry (2002) defines that the most fundamental fact is this: A country's capacity to absorb foreign direct capital inflows is ultimately limited by its ability to service that capital, in terms of current account debits (e.g., dividends) and eventual repatriation of principal. In turn, a country's ability to service the stock of foreign-owned capital is tied to its ability to generate sufficiently large payments surpluses on other current account items. (Relying on a positive balance in the capital accounts is just putting off the day of reckoning.) These relationships are obviously more easily stated in the aggregate than conclusively sorted out in detail. The "current account" of a country's balance of payments has many components, and "foreign-exchange availabilities" come from many sources.

An Open Letter to Black Parents Essay Example for Free

An Open Letter to Black Parents Essay In renowned sports figure, Arthur Ashe’s, â€Å"An Open Letter to Black Parents: Send Your Children to Libraries,† he talks about the fact that a college education is more important than the perks of becoming a professional athlete. While attending UCLA, Ashe came to the conclusion that African Americans were more caught up in the hype of one day becoming a professional athlete, rather than obtaining a lasting college education/diploma. Ashe believes that African Americans should â€Å"re-write† their persona into one of profoundness and professionalism. Arthur Ashe states that the role models of the African American society are primarily composed of athletes. Therefore, the young children in that society tend to model themselves after those people. Instead, Ashe wants to have those role models spread a message that a college education is far more important than being a professional athlete. For example, Ashe has stated many times to high school students that, â€Å"For every hour you spend on the athletic field, spend two in the library.† These words are a very powerful message, especially to young adults still searching for their call in this world. In conclusion, although Arthur Ashe may be recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of his generation, his college diploma from UCLA is his proudest moment in life.   In Richard Rodriguez’s â€Å"Complexion† he talks about the racism he experienced as a child. Rodriguez places a lot of emphasis on rhetorical devices throughout his essay. The rhetorical devices that Rodriguez primarily uses is, description and symbolism. Through using these two rhetorical devices, Rodriguez is able to relate to the reader in a more personal level, in my opinion. Through description, Rodriguez is able to elaborate on certain details. Through using symbolism, he expresses the  emotions and feelings that he feels. Richard Rodriguez writes this essay in order to inform people of the racism that he has experienced. Since Rodriguez was the one experiencing the racism, his essay coincides nicely with the rhetorical devices that he chose. Rodriguez is of the Mexican culture and he recalls times when he was a kid where he was being discriminated. Rodriguez writes that as a young child he was insulted and name called for being of the Mexican culture. He writes how he would never retaliate with another insult back because he would be so embarrassed. The reason as to why Rodriguez was being discriminated was because of his â€Å"complexion.† Through reading this story, it is just another example of how ignorant people are. There are many stories about how people have been discriminated against just due to the fact that they are from a different culture. Richard Rodriguez did the right thing in not retaliating or doing something stupid, in order to not suffer any consequences. Summary: â€Å"Don’t let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments† In Robert Heilbroner’s, â€Å"Don’t let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments,† he talks about the affects of stereotyping. Heilbroner discusses that stereotyping is evident in just about everywhere we are. The affects that stereotyping has on a person, as stated by Heilbroner, is it makes us lazy thinkers, and is harmful to those whom we are stereotyping. Heilbroner’s suggests that people who stereotype, do it â€Å"because it helps make sense out of a highly confusing world† (Heilbroner 373). This makes sense because we try to come up with answers to things we do not understand. Another theory that Heilbroner suggests as to why people stereotype, is because we are raised with a certain mindset about people. In his story Heilbroner gives the reader three ways to get rid of stereotyping. His first suggestion is to â€Å"become aware of the standardized pictures in our heads, in other people’s heads, in the world around us† (Heilbroner 374). The second suggestion is that â€Å"we can become suspicious of all judgments that we allow exceptions to prove† (Heilbroner 374). And lastly Heilbroner  suggests that â€Å"we can learn to be chary of generalizations of people† (Heilbroner 375). After reading Robert Heilbroner’s essay, I became more aware to the large amounts of stereotyping that occurs in today’s society. Although I was already aware, stereotyping not only has a negative effect on the person stereotyping, but on the person that is being stereotyped. Through stereotyping, one opens up a path that encourages horrible things such as racism and ignorance.

Perceptions of Marriage in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales :: Canterbury Tales Essays Chaucer Papers

Perceptions of Marriage in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales      Ã‚  Ã‚   Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales demonstrate many different attitudes toward and perceptions of marriage.   Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that discussed in the Franklin's Tale, and others are more liberal such as the marriages portrayed in the Miller's and the Wife of Bath's Tales.   While several of these tales are rather comical, they do indeed give us a representation of the attitudes toward marriage at that time in history.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   D.W. Robertson, Jr. calls marriage "the solution to the problem of love, the force which directs the will which is in turn the source of moral action" (Andrew, 88).   Marriage in Chaucer's time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church (88).   The Canterbury Tales show many abuses of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For example, the Miller's Tale is a story of adultery in which a lecherous clerk, a vain clerk and an old husband, whose outcome shows the consequences of their abuses of marriage, including Nicholas' interest in astrology and Absalon's refusal to accept offerings from the ladies, as well as the behaviors of both with regards to Alison.   Still, Alison does what she wants, she takes Nicholas because she wants to, just as she ignores Absalon because she wants to. Lines 3290-5 of the Miller's Tale show Alison's blatant disrespect for her marriage to "Old John" and her planned deceit:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That she hir love hym graunted atte laste,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And swoor hir ooth, by seint Thomas of Kent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That she wol been at his comandement,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whan that she may hir leyser wel espie.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Myn housbonde is so ful of jalousie   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That but ye wayte wel and been privee..."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the contrary, Alison's husband loved her more than his own life, although he felt foolish for marrying her since she was so young and skittish. This led him to keep a close watch on her whenever possible.   The Miller's main point in his story is that if a man gets what he wants from God or from his wife, he won't ask questions or become jealous; he is after his own sexual pleasure

Big MAck :: essays research papers

Sunday Night Match – up: Big Mac vs. Whopper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By reading that comparison of the Big Mac and the Whopper, many pros and cons came to mind. For every good thing the Big Mac has, the Whopper doesn’t, and for every good thing the Whopper has, the Big Mac doesn’t. For instance, the Whopper has only one beef patty that is only slightly larger than one of the Big Mac’s 2 beef patties. Both of thee hamburgers are relatively the same price, yet both have different things to offer. The Big Mac’s beef patties are fried, and the Whoppers patties are broiled. The broiled beef patties are better for you healthwise then the fried patties are. The Big Mac still offers more to the customer for the same price though. Or does it? The Whopper only uses 2 slices of bread, while the Big Mac uses 3. The Whopper seems to be better for your health than the Big Mac. Even though it doesn’t offer as much food, the nutritional value would be better for the human consumption. The whopper has brolied beef, which is healthier than the Big Macs Fried beef. The slices of onion that are on top of the Whopper could very possibly add up to be more onion on top of the Big Mac, which would give the consumer more nutrition, and worse breath. Once again the Whopper offers 2-3 slices of tomato while the Big Mac offers lettuce. 2-3 slices of tomato is proven to have better nutrition than 1slice of lettuce. Both ketchup and Mayonnaise are used as toppings on the Whopper. While only â€Å"sauce† is used on the Big Mac. For all we know the Big Mac special sauce could be ground up rat meat

Heineken

[Tapez le nom de la societe] 11 HEINEKEN [Tapez le sous-titre du document] poste Introduction I. The presentation of the company: HEINEKEN 1. A brief look at the history of Heineken 2. Brewing beer 3. Heineken product’s II. The presentation of market 1. Nature of marketing 2. Nature of applied research 3. Situation analysis of Heineken 4. Heineken and advertising III. My project 1. Product development strategy 2. Concept development and testing 3. Suggestions Conclusion Introduction: Heineken has wide international presence through a global network of distributors and breweries. Heineken owns and manages one of the world’s leading portfolios of beer brands and is one of the world’s leading brewers in term of sales volume and profitability. I. The presentation of the company: HEINEKEN 1. A brief look at the history of Heineken: The Heineken family entered the beer business in 1864, when Gerard Adrian Heineken bought a brewery in the heart of Amsterdam. Over the past 140 years, three generations of the Heineken family have built and expanded the brand and the company in Europe and around the world. It is thanks to the leadership of Gerard, Henry and Alfred Heineken that Heineken is one of the world’s leading brewing groups. The Heineken company name stands for many things. It began as a family business; three generations of Heineken, each with their own approach to building the business. It became Europe`s favorite beer brand – successfully exporting to every corner of the world. The history of Heineken starts on December 16th  1863. It was Gerard Adrian Heineken who, in 1864, bought the Amsterdam brewery â€Å"The Haystack†, which dated from 1592. In doing so, he laid the foundation for the Heineken concern, which was to acquire widespread international fame as time went by. Within a few years Gerard Adrian Heineken succeeded in increasing sales so much that the brewery in Amsterdam soon became too small. In 1867 construction of a new brewery began just outside the old city. His legacy was a brewery which had grown into one of the biggest and most important in the Netherlands. At the end of the nineteenth century, the competition from other breweries increased. From the 1950s onwards under the leadership of Alfred Heineken, who was the chairman of the Executive Board of Heineken NV, Heineken expanded to become an International Company. He gave the Heineken label worldwide fame and gave it a unique image. It was Alfred Heineken who came to the conclusion that beer was not a local or regional product but that beer could travel. He laid the basis for the international structure and organization of the Heineken concern. Thanks to the initiative of the Heineken family and its response to the changes in the world beer market, Heineken has grown to become the world`s most international beer brand. In the old days deliveries would be made by horse-drawn cart, but nowadays lorries take care of this. Loaded into the huge container ships in the port of Rotterdam, Heineken beer finds its way across the whole world. The export of Heineken beer took off at an early date. In the period between the two world wars, Heineken was exported to Belgium, France, Britain, West Africa and Indonesia. In 1933 Heineken became the first foreign brewery to export beer to the United States after the prohibition. That turned out to be a great success. But there is more – apart from exporting beer, Heineken also acquired stakes in the local breweries all over the world. It has also built its own breweries. Today, Heineken is sold in around 170 countries in all parts of the world; the company also has ties with 116 productions units in 57 countries. Heineken has in recent years been drawing attention to the Heineken brand by making increasing use of sponsorship. Heineken has recently sponsored the Rugby World Cup in South Africa, the  US Open, the  Davis Cup Tennis Tournament, the  Heineken Classic Golf Tournament  and the  Saint Maarten Regatta  in the Caribbean. Sports sponsorship is only one of the ways that Heineken can contribute to the lives of their customers. The Heineken brand is also strongly associated with music. They sponsor –  The Montreux,  Puerto Rico  and Umbria Jazz Festivals. 2. Brewing beer: Brewing beer is a 100% natural process. Heineken got its start when its founder fundamentally improved the process by which beer was made in a brewery that had existed for 251 years. The basic recipe is still closely guarded, and the principles of its success have remained the same: quality ingredients and a perfectly controlled brewing process. Heineken ingredients Heineken beer is made from the purest ingredients. It use only water, malted barley,  hops and yeast. Barley Barley is the major raw material used in brewing beer. Before it can be used for brewing, the barley grain must be malted. Malting helps make the starch and protein (by its natural enzymes) in barley available for brewing by breaking down the natural ce ll wall that surrounds the starch. Starch will be converted to sugar, which will produce alcohol during fermentation. Malting also forms the colour and flavour that the barley will lend to the beer. Hops Hops is one of the flavour-makers of beer, and also contributes to its shelf life. The resin from the female hop flower cones is used to help balance the sweetness of the barley with a refreshing bitterness. Water Beer contains almost 95% water. Water plays an important part in giving beer its characteristic flavor, as different sources contribute to unique beer flavors. Clean, high quality water is essential not only to our beer, but also to life everywhere. We are actively working in the communities that we're a part of to protect clean water supplies. Yeast Yeast converts malt sugars into alcohol during fermentation. There are two types: bottom and top fermenting yeast. Beers fermented with bottom yeast are called lagers and those that use top-fermenting yeast are called ales. In 1886 in Amsterdam, Dr. Elion, a student of Dr. Louis Pasteur, discovered the famous Heineken A-yeast, a strain that is still used today only by Heineken. Gluten Beer contains gluten, which comes from the grain from which it is brewed. Only a fraction of the gluten that the grain contains gets into the beer. The proportion depends on the kind of grain that is used. The use of barley results only in traces of gluten in the beer whilst wheat contributes considerably more. It also depends on the brewing process. Generally speaking: the clearer and blonder the beer is, the less gluten it may contain. Some people are allergic to gluten and have to follow a diet that minimises or excludes their gluten intake. Whether beer can be part of such a diet or not, is dependent on the extent of the allergy and the beer type consumed. In many cases lager beers pose no problem for people who have a gluten allergy. However, it is up to the individual to assess his or her sensitivity. * How beer is made Heineken beers are brewed using solely water, barley, hops and yeast. The barley is malted (soaked to initiate a natural geminating process), ground, mixed with water and then heated. Step by step, the temperature increases so that the starch in the malted barley is converted into sugars. After the solids have been filtered out, the result is ‘wort' (malt sugars), which is then brought to the boil. During the boiling process the brewers add the hops. Using only the female flowers of the hops plant gives beer its characteristic bitter taste and improves its storability. After the wort has been boiled, the next step is fermentation. First, the wort has to be cooled down to 8 degrees Celsius. Yeast is added to the wort and the process of converting the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide can then begin. This takes place in special fermentation tanks, where the beer remains for 7 days. The result is ‘young beer' which, when cooled down to freezing point, is pumped into storage cellars for post-fermentation. One of the aims of this storage is to improve the beer's taste and clarity, and help it keep longer. Once storage is completed, the remaining step is filtration, after which a superb-tasting, bright and clear beer is filled into bottles, can or kegs. Filling and bottling are automatic processes to ensure completely hygienic conditions. 3. Heineken product’s The icon: Wherever we go, it’s always nice to see something we recognize; the green bottle, the red star and the smiling â€Å"e†, telling us instantly what’s inside: cold, fresh, quality Heineken enjoyed around the world since 1873. Aluminum bottle Heineken  launches aluminum bottle  reserved  to  the nightlife  and  trendy  bars. Designed  by  design studio  Ora  Ito,  this is  a  refined  vision  of the  Heineken  bottle,  which  transforms it  into a true  collector’s item. Heineken  Draught Keg Real  beer  now  invites itself  at home  or  outside  with  the  new keg  pressure  to  carry, easy  to share in  any occasion. Heineken  has created  the first  disposable pressure  was offering  a  true  quality beer  pressure  as well  as  the  ability to consume  beer  until  30 days  after opening. Convenient  and friendly, combining  proprietary technology  with  a  unique  and patented  integrated  pressure,  a  refined design,  the  Heineken was  to win  an Oscar  for  the  package. Heineken  15cl  small Heineken  dares  the 2006  launch of  the  15cl  bottle. Revolution in the  beer  department,  small  and practical,  its  mini size  target consumes  occasional  beer. It  is  ideal  as an aperitif  for  those  wishing to  enjoy  a  Heineken while  controlling their consumption. In  the  world  of  night,  four  years  after  the  success  of  the aluminum bottle,  its  designer,  Ora Ito  renews  its  collaboration with  Heineken. With  smoother  lines,  a  refined  and conical shape,  the  new  aluminum bottle  made the bottle very elegant. II. The presentation of market 1. Nature of Marketing Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. To efficiently accomplish their goals, ? rms today have adopted the marketing concept, which requires * A consumer orientation, * A goal orientation, * A systems orientation. A consumer orientation means that ? ms strive to identify the people (or ? rms) most likely to buy their product (the target market) and to produce a good or offer a service that will meet the needs of target customers most effectively in the face of competition. The second tenet of the marketing concept is goal orientation; that is, a firm must be consumer-oriented only to the extent that it also accomplishes corporate goals. The goa ls of profit-making firms usually center on financial criteria, such as a 15 percent return on investment. The third component of the marketing concept is a systems orientation. A system is an organized whole—or a group of diverse units that form an integrated whole— functioning or operating in unison. It is one thing for a ? rm to say it is consumer oriented and another actually to be consumer oriented. First, systems must be established to ? nd out what consumers want and to identify market opportunities. Identifying target market needs and ? nding market opportunities are the tasks of marketing research. Next, this information must be fed back to the ? rm. Without feedback from the marketplace, a ? rm is not truly consumer oriented. 2. Nature of Applied Research Marketing research studies can be classi? ed into three broad categories: programmatic, selective, and evaluative. Programmatic research is conducted to develop marketing options through market segmentation, market opportunity analysis, or consumer attitude and product usage studies. Selective research is used to test decision alternatives. Some examples are testing concepts for new products, advertising copy testing, and test marketing. Evaluative research is done to assess program performance; it includes tracking advertising recall, doing organizational image studies, and examining customer attitudes on a ? m’s quality of service. Programmatic research arises from management’s need to obtain a market overview periodically. For example, product management may be concerned that the existing market information base is inadequate or outdated for present decision making, or marketing plans may call for the introduction of new products, ad campaigns, or packaging. Typical programmatic research questions include the following: Has its target market changed? How? Does the market exhibit any new segmentation opportunities? Do some segments appear to be more likely candidates than others for the ? m’s marketing efforts? What new product or service opportunities lie in the various segments? 3. Situation Analysis of Heineken: Heineken is well-know, renowned brewery with essential strengths (Appendix-1) to be a global brand. However, at this moment, brand perception is different across the countries. Though Heineken had consistently been marketed as a premium brand, in the  US  and Hong Kong market, a distinct image was established for special occasion rather than for daily consumption while in  Latin America, Heineken is viewed as a European imported beer among others. The brand's good taste image is built on 5 core brand values: taste, premiumness, tradition, winning spirit and friendship. Heineken strategy is based on relating friendships and important relations which are built based on enjoyable, joyful, personal, luxury social conditions such as meeting people, fancy meals, savoring, elegant parties, intimate moments and place. The friendship value would be presented in several social conditions through â€Å"true friends† and â€Å"consumers can count on Heineken as a friend† expressions. The taste would be built on 5 brand values: taste experience, balanced taste, foam, advertising and packaging. Appendix-1: Strength and Weakness of Heineken Strengths| Weaknesses| * Beer of highest quality (superior quality) * Special Taste * Original formula * Traditions * Brands availability * Premium brand * Lighter Beer * Attractive packaging * Most heavily advertised Premium beer in  Europe  and Worldwide and use TV commercials  heavily| * No production base in some area * Inconsistent brand image with brand communication * TV commercials are just aired in larger markets * Lack f integrated marketing campaign * Lack of worldwide advertising campaign| Detailed recommendation to achieve the global brand * Introduce a number of innovations across liquid, packaging and format that will serve to further endorse international leadership credentials because innovation is the lifeblood of brand domain. * Heineken has a strong brand tradition. In order to flourish its  brand repu tation  across the world, convince the consumers that the brand is some way superior. Develop a relationship with customers, build  affinity  between brand and customers by sponsoring international rugby tournaments, and world soccer tournament such as -( the Champions Leagues, the UEFA Champions League,  world's premier club) where target audience of men from all over the world gather in one place. * Building the brand  recognition  for long-term  to differentiate the brand Heineken and be sure to add value to the product in order to get the brand loyalty. * Profile Heineken is one of the world's leading brewers in terms of sales volume and profitability and it has the widest presence of all international brewers through a global network of distributors and breweries. In volume terms, it has the largest brewer and beverage distributor in Europe, where it realizes more than half of its sales. It balances a strong position in stable and profitable markets such as Europe and North America with a growing presence in rapidly expanding beer markets such as China and Russia. It employs more than 60,000 people. The Heineken brand, available in almost every country on the planet, is the world's most valuable international premium beer brand. In addition, it owns and manages one of the world's leading portfolios of beer brands comprising other international premium, local and specialty brands. * Goal and market strategy Heineken's goal is to grow the business in a sustainable and consistent manner, while constantly improving profitability. The strategy to achieve this has four elements: †¢ Strive to reach a leading position in attractive markets. Focus on capturing an ever-growing share of the premium and specialty beer market segments. †¢ Work to improve efficiency and cut costs in operations. †¢ Grow through selective acquisitions, so long as they create shareholder value. * Brands Heineken owns and manages one of the world's leading portfolios of beer brands. Its principal international brands are Heineken and Amstel. Heineken is positioned as a premium brand, except for its home market in the Netherlands, and its appeal is growing in many markets. Heineken is the leading beer brand in Europe and Amstel is the third largest. In Europe, Amstel is positioned in the Mid-priced mainstream segment, the largest segment of the market, and is available in more than 90 countries around the world. Heineken also owns and manages a strong portfolio of more than 120 top-selling brands that includes Cruzcampo, Z. ywiec, Birra Moretti, Murphy's and Star. It has a limited presence in the low-priced segment of the market and its international and local brands include lagers, specialty beers, light beers (low-calorie beers) and alcohol-free beers. * Distribution Heineken is the largest beer and beverage distributor in Western Europe. In every market where it is active, it strives for comprehensive coverage through alliances with independent distributors or via its own beverage wholesalers. * Innovation Heineken works to continually meet consumers' changing needs. This can be seen in the area of marketing communication, packaging and dispense systems, where it is a recognized leader. It also works to further improve the quality, safety and cost structure of processes and products. This includes innovation in brewing technology and supply chain management, which reinforces the competitiveness of its global brand portfolio. Sustainability Heineken is committed to conducting business responsibly and ethically. It continuously takes its initiatives to combat alcohol abuse, misuse and focused resources and energy on setting even higher standards in the social and environmental areas of its business. 4. HEINEKEN and advertising: Heineken beer is a famous brand name in around the world and Ads plays the important role in the dissemination of Heineken. At the beginning, Heineken has appeared on mass media with advertisements and promotion programs very attractive, unique; use the words easy to understand. Heineken is not only a beer; Heineken is the moment comes with the image and inspiration to everyone, anytime, and anywhere. The Heineken Ads actually attracts viewers to the world of Heineken – a strange world – World of the passion. Therefore, when mention to Heineken, people immediately think about a new lifestyle has been confirmed with the events has made the impressive, such as: Heineken & Music, Heineken & Sports and Heineken & Movies. Besides Sport and Music, Heineken also sponsored to release the series of action films of Hollywood. Indeed, there were many companies chose movie is the part of the marketing plan. So what is the difference in the way of Heineken? The biggest difference is the investment, has demonstrated a long-term strategy. Starting in 2005 with the movie â€Å"Mr. & Ms. Smith†, Heineken wanted to announce that Heineken will provide viewers the excellent films. Nextly, in the summer of 2008, audiences once again be watched â€Å"Wanted† with the high technique screen and very impressive, never seen in any movie at Hollywood. in 2006, Heineken sponsored to release: † Casino Royal â€Å". Heineken, bring the passion of peak quality, the investment to the distribution system and the media attractive, has confirmed the top brand name of beer in the world. Heineken is respectfully support all of customers, who always discover and enjoy the best of life III. My project: 1. Product Development strategy Given the rapid changes in consumer tastes technology arid competition companies must develop a steady stream of new products and services. When an organization introduces a product into a market they must ask themselves some questions. . Who is interested by this kind of product? 2. What profits will they expect? 3. How to introduce the product in the market? 4. What differential advantage will the product offer over their competitors? The product should be viewed in three levels: Level 1: Core Product. What is the core benefit of your product offers? Customers who purchase a camera are buying more : they are purchasing memories. Level 2 : Actual Product: All the camera cap tures memories. The aim is to ensure that your potential customers purchases for you one. The strategy at this level involves organizations branding, adding features and benefits to ensure that their product offers a differential advantage from their competitors. Level 3: Augmented product: What additional non-tangible benefits can you offer? Competition at this level is based around after sales service, guaranties, delivery and so on. John Lewis a retail departmental store offers for free five years of guarantee on purchases of their Television sets, this gives their `customers the additional benefit of peace of mind over the five years. As they will be quiet if their purchase develop a technical problem. . Concept development and testing An attractive idea must be developed into a product concept. It is important to distinguish between a product idea, a product concept, and a product image. A product idea is an idea for a possible product that the company can see itself offering to the market. A product concept is a detailed version of the idea stated in meaningful cons umer terms. A product image is the way consumers perceive an actual or potential product. Who is the target market and who is the decision maker in the purchasing process? What product features must the product incorporate? What benefits will the product provide? How will the consumers react to the product? What will it cost to produce it? 3. Suggestions: In  today's consumer society, competition  is  increasingly  fierce. Consumers  are less  loyal  to brands  than before. Therefore  they must  remain  in  continuous innovation  in order  to  avoid  routine  and weariness  of the consumer. For  these  reasons,  the  brands are trying  to  find  new  ideas  to maintain  their  sales  and maintain  their visibility  and  attraction. 1st idea: The  creation  of  a  packaging  event  is a solution  that  strengthens the brand’s image  and  market positioning. This  type  of  packaging, launched  in  small quantities,  can  maintain  a sense  of  scarcity  of  the product. Indeed, creating a limited edition is an opportunity to do something different and to test consumer loyalty to the brand and transform it to a collector which will increase the turnover of the company. Besides, a unique and limited packaging may give the company a luxurious image because it reflects his constant search for innovation and thus seduced 2nd idea: I think that is a great idea to cover the cans by a protective film, in order o keep them hygienic and protect them against all forms of pollution. This protects  consumers  from  germs  that  can  accumulate over  the can especially that they are  in direct contact  with the  mouth. 3rd idea: Here are some facts about women and beer: * The sale of beer to women is a growing market. * Women currently account for 25 percent of beer consumption in the USA. * Women between t he ages of 21 and 30 are drinking more beer than women in other age groups. * Beer drinking among women in the 50-plus age group is on the increase, a fact that has not gone unnoticed among beer advertisers worldwide. Women beer drinkers are a discerning bunch. They demand more of their beer: more flavor, more complexity, more fruitiness, fewer calories and lower carbs. Above all, women want beer with more style and character. So, I propose to this target: women who enjoy beer; a light beer with lower alcohol content. This beer will package into new bottle with an exceptional shape which attract feminist target. 4th idea: Conversely to the can of NESCAFE I suggest a new system: It is a refrigerated can which cools when it is opening. This ensures the beer’s conservation and quality. The concept of this product is to permit the end user to consume fresh beer of very high quality. It can be consume all the time and never having to access a kitchen, refrigerator or even having to rely on an external cooling source. * All  these  ideas  will  be  developed  in a  second  report. It  will  explain why the  choice  of each  idea,  and the techniques  of achievement Conclusion: Marketing strategy allows us to generate a specific response from targeted groups of customers. It can help us to achieve the following key objectives: * increasing sales to existing customers * building customer loyalty re-establishing lapsed customer relationships * generating new business At  a broader level marketing offers significant benefits to society. These benefits include: * Developing products that satisfy needs, including products that enhance society’s quality of life * Creating a competitive environment that helps lower product prices * Devel oping product distribution systems that offer access to products to a large number of customers and many geographic regions * Offering techniques that have the ability to convey messages that change societal behavior in a positive way.

gender on the internet essays

gender on the internet essays The World Wide Web is notorious for being able to disguise people, places, and things. I logged on to America Online at home through my sisters account. The results and differences I received as a male and a female were exactly what I expected. America Online was one of my favorite pastimes a few summers ago, so I was quite familiar with its setup and the way things happen online. Many aspects of online are nice, but so many of them are unappealing and not worth my time. Online experiences are somewhat the same as experiences in real life. Girls get hit on and boys do not, for the most part. When I am walking down the street, with my roommate, if we walk in front of a frat house we will get hit on; guys will yell out to us. Online females get hit on a great deal more than males, I observed this when I went online as both a male and a female. Online is very different, though, because you cannot see the person you are talking to. Therefore, a person can impersonate anyone they want. This could be a positive outlet for somebody who does not feel like they are accepted, but the Internet is not what many would call a nurturing environment. For example if a teenager is a minority by social class or race they can feel a lot more accepted online because their minority is not seen online. Also if a person thinks they might be homosexual they could talk to other males or females without worry. For the most part the Internet is a place where people can do what they want and say what they want and not suffer any repercussions for their actions. Some of this is liberating, while some of this is oppressive. The liberating part is being able to talk to many different cultures and being able to say what I please. The oppressive part is the fact that anyone can put me down whenever they want, and it does happen. I encountered many different comments as a female and as a male. As a female in the various chat ...

Definition and Examples of Science Writing

Definition and Examples of Science Writing The term science writing refers to  writing about a scientific subject matter, often in a non-technical manner for an audience of non-scientists (a form of journalism or creative nonfiction). Also called popular science writing.  (Definition No. 1) Science writing may also refer to writing that reports scientific observations and results in a manner governed by specific conventions (a form of technical writing). More commonly known as scientific writing. (Definition No. 2) Examples and Observations Because science writing is intended to be entertaining  enough to capture the continued interest  of potential readers, its style is much less somber than the usual scientific writing [i.e., definition No. 2, above]. The use of slang, puns, and other word plays on the English language  are accepted and even encouraged. . . .Distinguishing between science writing and scientific writing is reasonable of Science Writing: Stripped for Parts:  Sustaining a dead body until its organs can be harvested is a tricky process requiring the latest in medical technology. But its also a distinct anachronism in an era when medicine is becoming less and less invasive. Fixing blocked coronary arteries, which not long ago required prying a patients chest open with a saw and spreader, can now be accomplished with a tiny stent delivered to the heart on a slender wire threaded up the leg. Exploratory surgery has given way to robot cameras and high-resolution imaging. Already, we are eyeing the tan talizing summit of gene therapy, where diseases are cured even before they do damage. Compared with such microscale cures, transplants- which consist of salvaging entire organs from a heart-beating cadaver and sewing them into a different body- seem crudely mechanical, even medieval. On Explaining Science The question is not should you explain a concept or process, but how can you do so in a way that is clear and so readable that it is simply part of the story? Use explanatory strategies such as ... - People who study what makes an explanation successful have found that while giving examples is helpful, giving nonexamples is even better.Nonexamples are examples of what something is not. Often, that kind of example will help clarify what the thing is. If you were trying to explain groundwater, for instance, you might say that, while the term seems to suggest an actual body of water, such as a lake or an underground river, that would be an inaccurate image. Groundwater is not a body of water in the traditional sense; rather, as Katherine Rowan, communications professor, points out, it is water moving slowly but relentlessly through cracks and crevices in the ground below us...Be acutely aware of your readers beliefs. You might write that chance is the best explanation of a disease cluster; but this could be counterproductive if your readers reject chance as an explanation for anything. If you are aware that readers beliefs may collide with an explanation you give, you may be able to write in a way that doesnt cause these readers to block their minds to the science you explain. The Lighter Side of Science Writing In this paragraph I will state the main claim that the research makes, making appropriate use of scare quotes to ensure that its clear that I have no opinion about this research whatsoever. In this paragraph, I will briefly (because no paragraph should be more than one line) state which existing scientific ideas this new research challenges. If the research is about a potential cure or a solution to a problem, this paragraph will describe how it will raise hopes for a group of sufferers or victims. This paragraph elaborates on the claim, adding weasel-words like the scientists say to shift responsibility for establishing the likely truth or accuracy of the research findings on to absolutely anybody else but me, the journalist. ... Sources (Janice R. Matthews and Robert W. Matthews,  Successful Scientific Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Biological and  Medical Sciences, 4th ed.  Cambridge University Press, 2014) (Jennifer Kahn, Stripped for Parts. Wired.  Ã‚  March 2003. Reprinted in The Best American Science Writing 2004, edited by Dava Sobel. HarperCollins, 2004) (Sharon Dunwoody, On Explaining Science. A Field Guide for Science Writers, 2nd ed., ed. by Deborah Blum, Mary Knudson, and Robin Marantz Henig. Oxford University  Press, 2006) (Martin Robbins, This Is a News Website Article About a Scientific Paper. The Guardian, September 27, 2010)

Avoir Le Cafard - French Expression Explained

Avoir Le Cafard - French Expression Explained The French expression Avoir le cafard means to feel low, to be down in the dumps, to be depressed. It literally translates to to have the cockroach and is pronounced [ah  vwar  leu  kah  far]. It has an informal register. Etymology The French word  cafard, which is probably from Arabic  kafr, miscreant, non-believer  (according to Le Grand Robert CD-ROM) has several meanings: a person who pretends to believe in Godtattletalecockroachmelancholy It was the  poet, Charles Baudelaire, in  Les Fleurs du mal, who first imbued  cafard  (and also  spleen, incidentally) with the fourth meaning. So the French expression  avoir  le cafard  isnt related to cockroaches at all (even though it kind of makes sense- who wouldnt feel bad about having cockroaches?) Example In order to use the phrase, you need to conjugate the verb avoir. Je ne peux pas me concentrer aujourdhui - jai le cafard.I cant concentrate today - Im depressed. Source Le Robert Staff. Le Grand Robert CD ROM. Edition 1, The Robert, 2004.

Answer following questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Answer following questions - Assignment Example Those who showed no slight interest in the human rights that it as largely purported that they were abusing. However, they carried themselves out with great discretion and prided itself in privacy (Barnett 143). In time the group soon became a dreaded entity that was only whispered about with nobody admitting full responsibility for the spread of the terror that the people felt. But within time given the effectiveness of the operations, the amount of illicit guns held by the civilians reduced immensely thereby reducing the levels of crimes in the country. A young man was later arrested and charged in court with the murdered of the president John F. Kennedy which were steps made in the right direction towards an effective justice system thanks to the act. Routine activity theory and differential association theory are all theory that try to explain why people behave in particular ways thereby committing crime. While differential association theory believes that criminal behavior is learnt, routine activity theory asserts that criminals have a tendency of committing crimes again well out of routine. Differential association theory states that criminal behavior is learned. As one stays with others that are of ill behavior, he gets acclimated to the weird lifestyle and what is wrong begins to seem right. He espouses to the principles of the new group and is willing to die protecting them. The first crime is normally as a test of the understanding of the lessons taught and its success determine what more is taught. On the contrary, the routine activity theory claims that the first crime normally hap[pens as an accidents and is normally unplanned. However, its success or failure will most definitely determine the future of the criminal. A successful first time crime results in the engagement of a series of a lot others while the failure may lead to an arrest which may also serve to change perception and the criminal may

Comparison Between Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Essay

Comparison Between Macroeconomic and Microeconomic - Essay Example Macroeconomics also analyses some sub aggregates like spending on consumptions and investments and their components. These are also treated to be the components of GDP or Gross Domestic Product. The effect of fiscal as well as monetary policy is under the purview of macroeconomics. It can be characterized as modeling of sectors on the basis of some micro components. The factors that can shed its impact on the long term growth prospects as well as can affect the level of national income fall under the domain of macroeconomics. The factors that have such kind of potential include modifications in technology, the rate of capital accumulation and augmentation of the labor force (Cencini, 2005, p. 2). The models of macroeconomics can be used to find out the trends in some specific sector and forecast or anticipate the future results. These forecasted results determined using those models are used by the government as well as for the large ownership corporations as this kind of analysis wi ll help them in their path of development and build new strategies of business that suites their purpose. Some of the famous macroeconomic models include Aggregate demand, the Aggregate supply model and the ISLM model. The once divided fields of monetary policy and the business cycles led to the emergence of macroeconomics. The contribution of J.M. Keynes to macroeconomics cannot be ignored. His book â€Å"General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money† depicts the key concepts of macroeconomics. He offered a modern theory of economics which dealt with the problem on why the market is not clear and eventually a school of economists evolved who seemed to follow the Keynesian theory (Andolfatto, 2005, p. 2). Microeconomics deals with the basic elements in the economy. The households and the firms are treated to be the agents involved in the circle of microeconomics.

Work shop activity .Words and Words formation Essay

Work shop activity .Words and Words formation - Essay Example For instance, some students find it tricky to retrieve single words especially nouns, adjectives, calendar dates, verbs and general numbers. For this reason, it is very difficult for them to respond comfortably to questions that require them to use facts in arguing their points out (Finch, 2000). This does not mean they lack information about the question but instead are not good at clearly distinguishing characters, places, numbers and other facts. In some cases commonly referred to as discourse retrieval contexts, students find it difficult to take part actively in discussions, which relate to some events or some experiences in life (Finegan et al, 1992). A lexeme is a language unit, which bears lexical meaning in that in whichever form they appear, they bear a common meaning. Lexeme derive its origin from language morphology because a lexeme word or phrase helps people understand a concept which links to that word even though they write and express it differently. Since a lexeme reduces a word, it makes it easy for people who have difficulties in word definition to get a basic meaning of such words. For instance, a word like water in simple terms is a noun. The same word can be a verb to mean the act of giving water to something for example plants. It makes it easy for a student to remember words and quickly fix them in their right context (Yule, 2010). Lexeme makes it easy for learners to understand and compare words. For instance, medical processing uses a series of scientific terms. Unless students are good at such terms, they cannot understand the medical products. The use of lexeme acts as a bridging factor since it reduces the differences of language representation (Schendi, 2003). Similarities that stem from perception have a hug role in learning especially during the early stages of language development in children because it enables them in grouping objects to a particular category thus supporting them in identifying the name

Chilhood obsity Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chilhood obsity - Research Proposal Example On course of the research, the researcher introduces a healthy child to the study population strata to act as a control variable for validating the tests. The researcher then compares the test results obtained from the obese children and the healthy child through a comprehensive and analytic process. If the obese children’s research proves positive for the health-associated benefits, then the researcher drafts a conclusion that obesity results in the benefits. The first instrument essential for this study is the heart rate distribution recorders in the clinical set-ups in Tampa, Florida. The instrument helps in the measurement of heart rate to ascertain the health associated benefits. The device is an eight-register integrator that is applied in recording the heart rate over a long duration usually 24 hours and over. The data recorded helps in assessing the daily physical activity in children who are the target group for this research. The instrument records the cardiac beat-to-beat interval in seven registers with a range of 40 to 225 H4 per minutes. The researcher tests for validity of the instrument through simultaneous evaluation of a manual acoustic monitoring system, an established system. Comparisons of the results from both the instruments should concur thereby validating the chosen instrument for the research. The next instruments are the weighing balance and tape measure to measure the weight against an individual’s height that is usable in calculating BMI. The instruments help in the classification and identification of the obese members of the population in Tampa, Florida. The researcher validates the instruments by taking measurements using the instruments and then ascertaining credibility by checking against accredited instruments by the state. Obesity is a leading cause of deaths in America. The government strives to design and research on the best preventive measures to adopt to reduce the

American government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American government - Essay Example Gerston (2004) notes that the public agenda changes as public priorities and values shift hence policy making is a continuous process. It involves identification of issues, policy formulation, implementation, evaluation and termination. Problem Identification Problems are identified through various ways. Organized interests play a major role in identifying problems. They act as source of information for formulation and advocacy of policy ideas (Gerston, 2004). The labor movements and unions are instrumental in helping to identify workers plight. They highlight the workers problems such as poor working conditions, unfair wages, basic work safety and fight against child labor. They influence the workers to strike hence making their problems known to the policy makers. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) managed to establish collective bargaining in American industries in the 20th century. Gershon (2004) acknowledges the fact that triggering mechanisms are the starting point for p ublic policy questions. These mechanisms are unpredictable and impact on peoples lives. For example the current welfare system of America was prompted by the great depression which left millions of people unemployed and without a source of income thereby prompting the president Roosevelt to declare entitlement to government assistance for those affected.

Chilhood obsity Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chilhood obsity - Research Proposal Example On course of the research, the researcher introduces a healthy child to the study population strata to act as a control variable for validating the tests. The researcher then compares the test results obtained from the obese children and the healthy child through a comprehensive and analytic process. If the obese children’s research proves positive for the health-associated benefits, then the researcher drafts a conclusion that obesity results in the benefits. The first instrument essential for this study is the heart rate distribution recorders in the clinical set-ups in Tampa, Florida. The instrument helps in the measurement of heart rate to ascertain the health associated benefits. The device is an eight-register integrator that is applied in recording the heart rate over a long duration usually 24 hours and over. The data recorded helps in assessing the daily physical activity in children who are the target group for this research. The instrument records the cardiac beat-to-beat interval in seven registers with a range of 40 to 225 H4 per minutes. The researcher tests for validity of the instrument through simultaneous evaluation of a manual acoustic monitoring system, an established system. Comparisons of the results from both the instruments should concur thereby validating the chosen instrument for the research. The next instruments are the weighing balance and tape measure to measure the weight against an individual’s height that is usable in calculating BMI. The instruments help in the classification and identification of the obese members of the population in Tampa, Florida. The researcher validates the instruments by taking measurements using the instruments and then ascertaining credibility by checking against accredited instruments by the state. Obesity is a leading cause of deaths in America. The government strives to design and research on the best preventive measures to adopt to reduce the

The marriage cure, inadequate solution of poverty Essay

The marriage cure, inadequate solution of poverty - Essay Example From ancient times a marriage supposed to be the effective tool to eliminate poverty. But is it an adequate solution today Literary critics express different views as for the Boo's article message. Some of them suppose that the research suggesting that governments and individuals tend to benefit from an increase in marriage rates is at this point very persuasive, and don't see much point in being coy about it. Marriage is probably the most cost-efficient antipoverty instrument a society possesses (Stewart, 2004). The author gives special detailed attention to the difficulty which can follow single women in marriage rush. The article describes the problems of two single women and the imperfection of the institution marriage at the beginning of the 21st century. In the article Boo describes the realities of a marriage promotion program and their outcomes for low-income woman. She wrote: "Still, the days now contained enough hours for a reasonable woman to fret about her future" (Boo, 2003). In one of her interview Boo argues that: "And if, inspired by that indoctrination, Kim, whose income was less than ten thousand dollars, manages to meet and marry a man who makes ten thousand dollars, their combined income would remove both of them... Boo criticizes the Bush's welfare reform to eliminate poverty by marriage and sees it as inadequate solution giving supported reasons. Some critics argue that success in the workforce may make women more independent and therefore more selective about the men they will consider marrying. In addition, more time at work means less time to pursue relationships, especially for single mothers whose time is already stretched thin (Stewart, 2004).. The important fact to note is that poverty is a complex problem which is difficult to solve in one day. Bear in mind the facts mentioned by Katherine Boo it is possible to say that if this problem of poverty can be solved by successful marriage, our society would not have poor creatures looking for better days. Race, gender, familial status, age, and place of residence are some but not all of the characteristics that enhance the risk of living in poverty. Boo gives a vivid examples contrasting with those "rosy dreams" proposed by Bush's administration. She describes that Kim's annual income was: "five thousand dollars, but, except for ten months when she and her husband first separated, she had not received welfare. The child support was supposed to have covered us, but when it stopped coming I couldn't afford a lawyer" (Boo, 2003). The marriage cure is nothing more than survival of time affected the mind of many single women. "Marriage promotion programs, therefore, must be viewed in the context of battered women's lives and how poverty and children affect their decision-making. Most moms I know will do anything for their children and this often includes putting up with years of violence and abuse. When you tell a woman who is desperately trying to keep a roof over her head, put food on

The Hull House and Other Achievements Essay Example for Free

The Hull House and Other Achievements Essay The Hull house was constructed in 1856 for Charles Hull. It originally had a factory, furniture store, and home for the elderly. Despite rumors that part of the house is haunted, Jane, together with her friend Ellen Starr, rented it â€Å"to provide a center for higher civic and social life, to institute and maintain education and philanthropic enterprises, and to investigate and improve the conditions in the individual districts of Chicago. † (Lundblad, 1995) In an aim to make the house a â€Å"place where idealism ran high† (Addams, 1910, p. 101) Addams devoted the place to educating lowly people—those who worked in factories, who essentially came from different cultural backgrounds. In the house, the teachers read Hawthorne, George Eliot, and other literary works. Additionally, they taught the neighborhood music and theater, so as to provide the workers an escape from the daily hardships encountered. Later on, the house included an employment bureau, and was designed to be a center not just for the poor but also for the rich to gather together. At first, Addams was mainly in charge of everything, but later on, she delegated the work to others in order to raise more funds. Because of her strong influence among the higher class, she gained the support of the three wealthy women in Chicago, who did not only believe in what she promoted, but also took interest in her projects. Thus, by 1910, about seventy people lived in the house and it was said that at a time, more than two thousand people came everyday. Even though Addams’ motives were primarily for the benefit of the people, there were those who criticized her for her strong belief in peace. She was considered a deviant during the World War I and was expelled from an organization called the Daughters of American Revolution because of her protest against war and America’s participation to it. In addition, she supported the American Union Against Militarism, and attended the Women’s Peace Party where she was elected as its national chairman. She also took part in International Woman’s Conference in Hague where she was chosen to head the commission that sought to put an end to war. In this undertaking, she met with ten leaders of other countries, and their effort was recognized as â€Å"the first international effort by women against war. † (Johnson, ed. , 1960, XI) In 1919, Addams was chosen as the American delegate for the second Women’s Peace Conference, from which the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom began. She was elected as the first president of this league, and served as its president until her death. Among other services she rendered was supplying food and other needs to the women and children of the opposing side—a work she wrote about in Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922). Moreover, she also worked for the welfare of the poor, fought for factory inspection, working hours for women workers, schooling for children, and establishment of labor unions. Furthermore, she also helped establish the juvenile court in 1899, thus by 1920, there were only three states which did not have juvenile courts.

The management approach of the Compstat model

The management approach of the Compstat model The police department of New York has integrated the Compstat model, which is a management approach that uses computer technology to follow up crime occurrences and help police officers identify the areas that are most vulnerable to criminal activities. At the same time, the model is useful in examining current crime patterns, and aims at maximizing resources available to the police officers in their fight against crime. According to Vito, Walsh, Kunselman (2004), Compstat (Computerized Statistics) is a goal orientated strategic management process that uses information technology, operational strategy, and managerial accountability to control crime and police neighborhoods, (p.1). There are four main principles of the Compstat model. The first one outlines the need for the police to obtain in good time, correct information on crime occurrences. In this case, police personnel perform crime analysis, that is, they identify the nature of the crime, the offender, the time of offense, and how the offender intends to carry it out. To achieve this, police personnel write reports on a weekly basis, giving statistical information on the arrests and summons they have made during the week, complaints they have received from the public concerning crime, crucial cases and the crime trends they have observed. The head of the Compstat Unit is in charge of receiving the weekly reports and saving them in a database. With the help of these reports, police officers can make comparisons between trends in crime and identify similarities as well as differences, and the most appropriate strategies to address these. The second element requires that the police employ workable strategies based on the intelligence they have, to prevent and solve crimes. In this instance, they identify which crimes and crime zones need quick intervention and make these their priority. At the same time, the police assess the available strategies in terms of their short and long-term effectiveness, as well as involve other groups, which are not necessarily police agencies. For instance, they involve religious, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, local government authorities and the community. The third element prescribes fast mobilization of material, financial and personnel resources to counter the crime patterns. This is because; the model can identify potential crime situations in an area, even before the residents alert the police on their suspicions. The fourth element demands progressive appraisal of police personnel, departments, and material resources in order to ensure that crime trends reduce. Performan ce appraisals are possible through reports that capture the profiles of each commander of police and these enable the other police officers to compare their own performance with that of their heads. With correct implementation, the Compstat approach can aid government authorities to assess police departments and check for the improper use of material and financial resources, as well as poor performance. The other two principles of the Compstat model require that the police operate on clear objectives in their fight against crime and each officer is responsible for the overall success of the police force in reducing crime rates. The members of the police force should be aware of the goals they intend to achieve and these must at the same time, be attainable within the stipulated period. Goals dictate the rating of the performance of police personnel, depending on whether they have achieved them. The chief as well as the commanders of various police agencies therefore have the responsibility of communicating clear and precise instructions to their subjects, in order to ensure that the latter achieve the desired performance. This explains why there is need for regular briefs among the police force in order to equip them with the necessary information on what their leaders expect of them. On a short-term basis, the Compstat model aims at reducing crime rates, while its long-term objective is to create a permanent change in the community and improve peoples lives by ensuring a safe environment. The measures to assess the effectiveness of the model on short-term basis would include examining weekly reports on the crimes occurring, in order to establish whether there are fewer or more offenses each day. Long-term effectiveness measures would involve the analysis of crime trends over a period such as a number of years, in order to establish whether the crime rates have gone down. At the same time, the weekly meetings to review crime reports provide forums to assess whether the police departments are making progress in reducing crime rates. These meetings on performance appraisal of police personnel serve both the immediate and long-term goals of the Compstat model. This is because if appraisals indicate that, some of the members of the force are not successful in reducing crime over a given period, the chief may take action such as re-training, retrenchment, or shifting to another department. The model is advantageous in that it promotes a consultative process in decision-making. It enhances intelligence sharing among the police officers and departments, accountability as well as coordination and a team spirit. This is possible through the meetings involving all levels of management. In addition, seeks to enable the police maximize the available resources in their fight against crime. Moreover, holding every member of the force accountable for its success in fighting crime ensures that each plays his or her role, and that there is no blame game when results are not forthcoming. In addition, ensuring timely and correct information on potential crime zones enables the police to act swiftly to prevent criminal activities. This is because; they are aware of what is happening on the ground. At the same time, they are able to develop the right strategies and response to the crime trends they have already identified. This increases their chances of success rather than in cases where they act after crisis. The Compstat approach to management promotes the belief that the police force is able to lower crime rates through employing the right strategies. Promoting continuous performance appraisal based on weekly reports enables the police force to establish its strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it allows police to involve the community and other stakeholders in the fight against crime. This shows that the police are not working alone and are committed to ensuring a safe environment for all. On the other hand, the Compstat model has some disadvantages. One limitation of this model is that it is difficult to assess its success. When crime rates reduce, it is hard for police officers to attribute this phenomenon only to the model. On the other hand, when the crime rates stagnate or increase, it is difficult to tell whether failure lies only in the implementation of the models principles. Moreover, the Compstat model is susceptible to manipulation by police officers. For instance, due to pressure to reduce crime rates, they may fail to keep reports of crimes in order to give a false impression of less crime occurrences in a given area. At the same time, police officers may use their subjective judgments to declare some crimes as minor, and therefore of less significance, in order to reduce the statistics on the major crimes. This sort of manipulation of statistics will therefore give a false impression of progress in reduction of significant crimes. Similarly, communities whose crime rate reports show that the police have made progress in averting crimes, will receive less financial, material and personnel resources than those where the crime rates are still high. In case these reports are false, this implies that such communities will suffer more from crime because the police will attend to them less. In addition, since evaluation of the performance of police personnel depends largely on the crime rate reports, members of the force are likely to manipulate these, in order to give a false impression of their success in fighting crime. Consequently, the performance appraisals will be faulty, given that their bases are not accurate. At the same time, there is a possibility of awarding ineffective police personnel, rather than those who deserve merit. This is because the ineffective members can manipulate c rime reports to favor them, and they will get acknowledgment. As part of the implementation of the Compstat model, the chief of police will have to take other measures. These include having the current police force undergo refresher courses on crime prevention and at the same time, recruit, and train new officers in order to have sufficient and qualified personnel to serve the community. Police officers will also require training on the Compstat model in order to understand its functioning and crime analysis so that they are able to filter intelligence in an accurate manner. In this case, the chief will need to seek budgetary support from the government and non-governmental organizations. Apart from monetary aid, the chief will require the government to see to it that unemployment rates reduce through the creation of jobs. This is because crime rates tend to increase with high unemployment rates, as people have to find ways to feed themselves and their families. If they do not have jobs, they are likely to engage in criminal behavior such as th eft and murder in order to earn a living. Another intervention required will be the integration of other police departments, such as traffic police, crime detectives, and forensic experts into the crime prevention department. This will assist in spreading crime prevention to other areas and increase the scope of operation of the model. At the same time, the chief will need to appoint commanders at different levels in order to ensure that there is decentralization of the decision-making process. He will also create meeting rooms to allow for roundtable discussion sessions, as these are more likely to enhance the participation of all the police personnel in decisions concerning strategies to fight crime. Moreover, the chief will have to lay down the protocols that his officers will follow in the convening of briefings and other meetings as well as reporting procedures. This will ensure that there is no conflict in the lines of command because the police officers will be aware of to whom they should report. Since the Compstat model requires the use of technology, the chief will need to see to it that the police department has sufficient computer equipment as well as the necessary software programs such as systems to aid in identifying crime-prone areas, and databases to record crime occurrences. At the same time, a police website may be necessary to enhance community policing. This will enable the flow of information on crime rates from the public to the police, as well as reports from the latter to the community. In addition, the chief will need to ensure that the police officers clear any pending warrants of arrest and make the community aware that the force will not tolerate even the minor crimes. In this case, the chief will need to organize the force to carry out awareness initiatives among themselves and in the community. In conclusion, the chief can still adopt the Compstat model and modify it to suit the needs of his police department. He does not have to copy the model of the New York police department, because the situational needs of his department and that of the former are likely to be different. This is because the approach outlines only the basic principles of management that the police force and other organizations need to follow to achieve the intended objectives. Its intent is to serve as a guide to managerial principles and not to provide a dogmatic approach to the running of organizations. The model is therefore flexible, and police personnel can adopt different strategies to fight crime, based on the needs of the community they are serving. According to the models principles, they will only need to ensure that they choose strategies that are efficient for the crimes they target. Consequently, the model is suitable and can work even in small law enforcement agencies.

Six Thinking Hats Essay -- essays research papers

Thinking with Hats Six Thinking Hats offers an original way to think. The author, Edward De Bono, has created an idiom to make decisions making, communication, and thinking more effective. De Bono believes thinking is the ultimate human resource and that we should want to improve upon it. He suggests that the main difficulty of thinking is confusion and that we try to do too much at once. In his book he puts forward a simple concept that allows a thinker to do one thing at a time. The concept is the Six Thinking Hats. Putting on one of these hats defines a certain type of thinking. It is in the convenience of the Six Thinking Hats that is the main value of the concept. The concept of the hats is that when you have one on you think in only that nature and then move on to the next hat. When you get to the last hat your answers or goal should be clear. Today, hats seem to define a role such as part of a uniform. De Bono believes that when you are in a defined role, or role playing, one can allow there ego to go beyond its normal restrictive self-image which can give someone the freedom to be foolish, wrong, or outsmarted without damage to their ego. The broad thinking hat role is broken down into six different character roles, represented by six differently colored thinking hats. When you change hats you have to change roles. De Bono describes a symbolism that one might picture the laying down of colors in layers when printing a map and at the end the colors come together to g...

Moral Doubt in Hamlets Soliloquy - To be or not to be... Essays

The Moral Question in Hamlet's Soliloquy - To be or not to be... "The major question in 'To be or not to be' cannot be suicide. If it were, as many have noted, it would be dramatically irrelevant. Hamlet is no longer sunk in the depths of melancholy, as he was in his first soliloquy. He has been roused to action and has just discovered how to test the Ghost's words. When we last saw him, only five minutes before, he was anticipating the night's performance, and in only a few moments we shall see him eagerly instructing the players and excitedly telling Horatio of his plan. To have him enter at this point debating whether or not to kill himself would be completely inconsistent with both the character and the movement of the plot. The metaphors all suggest that Hamlet's choice is betw...

Four Women in American Music History

American music history has grown an incredible amount in the last hundred years. Prior to that time, there were very few styles of music that originated in America. However, with the advent of jazz and related styles, American music culture was born. Blues is one of the early styles of music that is truly American, and there are many American artists who sang or performed in that style. In fact, blues is still popular today, although it has changed over time. Blues is an important and long-term American musical style, which has had many effects on musical culture from the early 1900s through today.Bessie Smith was an early blues singer. She was popular in the 1920s and 30s, and was known as much for her hard-drinking, rough life as much as her music. She sang about what she knew. Bessie was an African American woman who indulged in sex and alcohol, and had a strong temper. She never gave up without a fight, either in her music or her life. Getting into a fight with Bessie wasnâ€℠¢t something a person wanted to do, either, because she was over six feet tall and weighed about two hundred pounds. Bessie had a history of getting into fist fights with people, male or female.She also took off after her ex-husband with a gun when she found him cheating on her, after beating up his lover. However, Bessie herself was known for sleeping with a number of both men and women (Whitney). Musically, Bessie was not really trained. She could not read music, and relied on other musicians to write her songs down for her. She did write her own lyrics, though. She was a formidable presence on stage, able to sing loudly and strongly because of her size, and her tendency to sing in the range that was easiest for her.In writing her music, Bessie tended to modify existing melodies, and sometimes create new ones, so that they lay well in her â€Å"good† range (Whitney). Here is an example of Bessie’s lyrics, which show her feelings about life plainly: â€Å"I ain't no high yella, I'm a deep killer brown. /I ain't gonna marry, ain't gonna settle down. /I'm gonna drink good moonshine and rub these browns down. /See that long lonesome road, Lawd you know it's gonna end,/and I'm a good woman and I can get plenty men† (Whitney). Bessie was also known as something of a racist.While her fans were both black and white, she was rude to both whites and lighter-skinned blacks. Even at the height of her career, when she had enough money to live as she chose (even as a white person might, in the early 30s), she chose to stay on the streets and to live the life that was familiar to her. Her lyrics here show her thinking on this matter: â€Å"Mister rich man, rich man, open up your heart and mind,/Mister rich man, rich man, open up your heart and mind;/Give the poor man a chance, help stop these hard, hard times./While you're livin' in your mansion you don't know what hard times means, /While you're livin' in your mansion you don't know what hard times m eans; /Poor working man's wife is starving your wife is livin' like a queen† (Whitney). Ethel Waters is a blues singer who began performing later in Bessie’s career. While Bessie was primarily performing and well known during the 1920s, Ethel became better known in the 1930s (her career did officially begin in 1921, though). Ethel was specifically a different kind of blues singer than Bessie, and in fact was different from her in many ways.Ethel is also of African American decent, but she grew up in the North and was heavily influenced by white performers. When she began performing professionally, Ethel joined a group of blacks who called themselves â€Å"Cakewalk singers,† which was distinctly different from the more traditional blues singers, like Bessie (PBS). Ethel’s acceptance of whites can be traced to what was a very rough beginning for her. She was born when her mother was only 12. Her mother had been raped by a white man, John Waters. Ethel, then, is half-white, and carries her father’s surname.She was raised by her maternal grandmother in poverty, and began singing at age 5. Her beginnings are much more similar to Bessie’s, but what she did with herself later differs widely (Myers). Ethel worked with a number of famous jazz performers, including Duke Ellington. In addition to her singing career, Ethel was also an actress, an area of her life that eventually came to the forefront. Her singing style was not nearly as strong as Bessie’s, but she performed very theatrically and managed to capture the audience’s interest in all of her music.This came in handy, as she continued performing through the 1960s and 70s, working at that time with Billy Graham (PBS). Ultimately, Bessie’s influence on Ethel was very indirect. Both were jazz singers in a time when African Americans were first on the rise in popularity on the stage. Bessie’s grit may have given Ethel opportunities she might not hav e otherwise had. In many other ways, though, the two were very different; attitude, style, and more. Dinah Washington is another important singer in this chain of history.Her birth name was Ruth Jones, and she was born in 1924. She is significantly younger than both Ethel and Bessie, whose careers were near their peaks when she was born. Music was in Dinah’s family from the beginning. Her mother was a church pianist, and taught her to play at a young age. She was accompanying and touring by the time she was 16, and had already won prizes. However, although her initial roots were in the church, Dinah longed to work in secular music, namely jazz (Dahl).At age 19, Dinah got her big break, singing with Lionel Hampton’s Big Band, then one of the most popular music styles. By 1945, she was recording her own solo work for the Apollo label and Mercury records, and by 1948, she was on her way to major stardom. 1959 was her biggest year, when she sang â€Å"What a Dif’re nce a Day Makes† (Dahl). In her personal life, Dinah was similar to Bessie. She had many husbands, and she drank a lot. In fact, alcohol and drugs eventually killed her at the end of 1963 (Dahl). In addition, she also loved the finer things, including fur, clothes, and cars.Her personality was known as â€Å"feisty,† and she could be snapping one minute and generous the next (Cohodas). At first glance, Christina Aguilera doesn’t look much like the other stars. For one, she isn’t black. For another, she was born after all of the other singers had died. However, it is her roots and influences that she is similar to them. Like Dinah, she is biracial, with a mom who is Irish and a father who is Ecuadorian. Her father was in the military, which meant that Christina traveled a lot as a child (Biggest Stars).Also like the other singers, Christina was interested in singing and performing from the time she was a young girl. Her family was also musical, with her mot her performing on violin and piano professionally. Christina had a brief, two-year stint on The Mickey Mouse Club when she was a child, working with other singers who later became famous, like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake (Biggest Stars). Christina’s initial music was definitely pop, with her first number one single titled â€Å"Genie in a Bottle. † The single topped both the U. S. and UK charts in 1999.For awhile longer, Christina continued in the pop genre, recording for the movie Mulan, and singing a new version of â€Å"Lady Marmalade† with several other female pop stars (Biggest Stars). Christina’s work eventually began to seem less significant to her, and she decided to record her 2002 album â€Å"Stripped. † The album was the first that really showed her background and influences. Her comments about this album: â€Å"Coming off of the height of being a part of such a big pop-craze phenomenon, that imagery of that cookie-cutter sweet heart, without it being me, I just had to take it all down and get it away from me.And that is why I actually named the album Stripped, because it is about being emotionally stripped down and pretty bare to open my soul and heart. † This album used many different influences, including soul, R&B, rock, hip-hop and Latin (Biggest Stars). Aguilera’s influences were similar to the earlier stars mentioned. She looked to soul and R&B, both of which are styles typically recorded by African Americans. The blues aspect of R&B, in particular, is interesting to note. Aguilera was following in the footsteps of the other female jazz singers with this style.Also, similar to Dinah Washington, Aguilera sang pop (Dinah did pop in addition to her jazz roots). In general, all four of these women have things in common, and things that are different. Each grew up under similar circumstances, often with mostly maternal influences. Most had some kind of musical background at home. Most grew u p poor, and all had an early talent for music and singing. Most also had a taste for sex, drugs, and some rougher things in life, and had a hard time at one point or another. However, each was unique.Bessie was certainly the biggest and most blunt of the group, while Christina stood of the opposite end as the â€Å"sweetheart† of pop for awhile. Christina was also different in that she was not of African American decent in any way, although Ethel was also half-white. Some of the singers, namely Dinah, had their start in gospel music, while others went straight for jazz or pop. Overall, it is interesting how strikingly similar the artists are, even though there are also very big differences in their lives and styles.Their stories and backgrounds are surprisingly similar in some respects, but very different in others. These four women are just some of the amazing performers from the rich tapestry that is American music history. Sources Burns, Ken. â€Å"Ethel Waters. † J azz. Accessed on December 4, 2007. Website: http://www. pbs. org/jazz/biography/artist_id_waters_ethel. htm. â€Å"Christina Aguilera Biography. † Biggest Stars. Accessed December 4, 2007. Website: http://www. biggeststars. com/c/christina-aguilera-biography. html. Cohodas, Nadine (2004).Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington. Accessed December 4, 2007. Website: http://www. dinahthequeen. com/. Dahl, Bill. â€Å"Dinah Washington. † Accessed December 4, 2007. Website: http://www. vervemusicgroup. com/dinahwashington. Myers, Aaron. â€Å"Ethel Waters. † Accessed December 4, 2007. Website: http://www. wntb. com/blackachievers/ethlwaters/. Whitney, Ross (1995). â€Å"Reflections Of 1920's And 30's Street Life In The Music Of Bessie Smith. † Accessed December 4, 2007. Website: http://bluesnet. hub. org/readings/bessie. html.

Cognitive psychology Essay

Cognitive psychology had in its early days concerned itself with the study of attention and consciousness as the main focus of psychological inquiry. Attention had been defined as the means by which the human mind can process a specific amount of information from all the other information present in the immediate environment and from memory (Sternberg, 2006). The most common experience that an individual may have that demonstrates the function of attention is the cocktail party problem; this demonstrates the ability of the mind to actively process single information at a given time and be able to disregard others. This is referred to as selective attention, if we pay attention to every stimulus that is presented to us, and then we would have a stimulus overload and hence would affect our understanding and experience of particular stimuli. In the Stroop effect it was demonstrated that it is very difficult to attend to the color of the ink and the word color at the same time. However, through practice and sensory adaptation, the brain has the ability to adapt to the different stimuli and hence do not give attention to its sensory modalities, for example, a person who work in a coffee bar would likely not pay attention to the aroma of the coffee beans than the customers who frequents it. A closely related concept to attention is consciousness. A person’s consciousness is the degree to which one is aware of his/her feelings and experiences and the awareness that he/she is feeling or behaving in a particular way. Consciousness is important because it enables the mind to actively process information, without consciousness there is no attention (Sternberg, 2006). Although some behaviors may become automatic and does not need to be attended like swimming or eating, in other instances priming which is the ability of the mind to supply missing information based on previous experiences or memory is demonstrated in the ability of the mind to recognize incomplete pictures of familiar objects. Attention is one of the most basic human ability, which is the precursor to learning, to effective communication, to decision-making and even intelligence and self-awareness. Attention is one of those concepts that is not given much thought but undoubtedly is the framework from which so many behaviors are manifested (Sternberg, 2006). Paying attention is one of the biggest problem that modern man have, due to the advanced technology and scientific knowledge that enabled man to create tools that would attend to the usual information that we encounter on a daily basis, our ability to attend to something has become limited. For example, our cars now have GPS which can help us reach our destinations faster than if we relied on our own attending skills, hence we do not pay attention to the landmarks, to sign posts or even to pedestrians because we have the GPS tell us where to go to. Another example is how we have embedded our watches with pulse monitors, we do not pay attention now to how we feel when we jog, but instead rely on the monitor to tell us if we are going faster or slower than our target rate. Even diets have become prepackaged to certain caloric amounts that we don’t pay attention to the amount of food we consume and whether our brain is sending us signals that we are already full. In this fast paced and disposable culture, attention is the least of our concerns, even with the fact that our ability to focus and attend to something is limited and almost always inaccurate if it goes beyond what our brains can process. Attention is also linked to intelligence and learning, an acute sense of awareness and excellent attending skills enable the individual to notice the smallest detail which aids in the processing of information. Perception Perception collectively refers to the means by which we recognize, organize and make sense of the stimuli that we receive from the environment through our different senses. Psychological research into perception had been the focus of the Gestalt theorists and from which they were the first to develop theoretical assumptions and explanations of different perceptual processes (Sternberg, 2006). Gestalt psychology says that the whole is more than the total of the sum of its parts, which meant that although it is important to breakdown perception into its components and structure, the perception of the whole is more important than its parts. Just like attention, the human brain can adapt to the different sensual stimuli that we encounter on a daily basis. Perceptual constancy says that our perception of a certain object becomes stable even if we are removed from the origin of the stimulus; an example is when how we can remember that a certain candy is sweet and sour even if we just look at it. A number of perceptual illusions mostly on visual perception had demonstrated the limited capacity of the human brain to perceive visual stimulus (Sternberg, 2006). The figure and ground principle shows that our perception of an ambiguous object may vary depending on what is perceived and processed first, whether the figure or its background. A sensory accommodating principle, the law of Pragnanz shows that when we are presented disparate and random stimulus, we tend to organize the information to form a coherent whole. Our ability to perceive objects and other stimulus is influenced by a number of factors such as depth, context effects, light and color, directionality and source of stimulus. At present there are other perception theories that propose different approaches to the study of perception. The top-down theories approach says that perception starts from pre-existing and prior knowledge of perceptual cues and processes. The bottom-up theories argue that perception is dependent on the stimulus and data that is to be processed. Perception is in the realm of cognitive psychology and is further studied using the experimental methods. Researches on perception were popular in the early days of psychology but interest waned with the surge of behaviorism. In the last decade however, with the resurgence of experimental and cognitive psychology and with the technological advancements of computers that would measure perception, new interest on perception and perceptual processes have resurged. Moreover, the process by which the human mind perceive the sensory stimuli has been used to model artificial intelligence and the studies of which is geared towards the development of more intelligent robots and machines (Sternberg, 2006). Our ability to perceive the various information present in our environment determines how effectively and accurate our perception of and understanding of the world around us. If for example we lose our sense of sight, life would be very difficult and if not dark, if we become deaf then we would not be able to hear and appreciate our own laughter. Losing one of our senses changes our life and sometimes it would take a long time for us to adjust to the inability to feel, to become aware of where we are and what we are doing. In as much as how limited our perceptual abilities are, what a normal person is endowed with is already enough than missing one of it. Our perception is also influenced by our consciousness and the attention we give to those information (Groome & Grant, 2005), we may be able to sense and perceive various sensory stimuli but if we do not attend to it or if we are not conscious of it, then we cannot attach meaning to what we perceive. Memory Memory is a cognitive process that is necessary for everyday functioning and which is based on the stored information and previous experiences. Memory is composed of three stages, the encoding, storage and retrieval process; encoding refers to how our brain process new information, storage is the means by which we store information and experience, which can either be long-term or short-term memory, the last process is retrieval which refers to the process by which we withdraw stored information. Memory has three information processing model, sensory memory, working memory and long-term memory. Sensory memory is the initial encoding of sensory information and provides very brief storage, iconic memory for visual stimuli and echoic memory for auditory stimuli. Short-term memory or working memory refer to the memory storage where information is temporary held and needs to be used immediately, auditory codes are more easily stored than visual information, the amount of information stored in working memory is very small but can be increased through chunking. Long-term memory is where information is stored for long periods of time or even for a life time. The information stored is usually very important and are used frequently, at present long –term memory can store an infinite number of information. Semantic memory is another form of memory which refers to the general world knowledge which is made up of interconnected networks of information called a semantic network which we use to be able to process new information, however semantic memory also facilitates stereotypes and schemas which affects how we perceive new information. Damages to the brain can cause memory loss such as amnesia, Alzheimer’s disease, and other more specific inabilities to process information. Information can be committed to long term memory through rehearsal, which is to consistently practice and work with the information needed to be remembered such as studying for exams or mastery of skills. Even if the information is stored in long term memory it is still subject to decay especially with the passage of time, if information is not used or retrieved, it will ultimately decay and be forgotten. Memory is one of the major concentrations of psychology in terms of how the brain functions, aside from perceiving sensory stimuli. The study of memory at present is now likened to how computers work and process data, the processes in memory even borrow terms from computer science such as encoding and retrieval. In a way, the brain processes information in much the same way as computers, but how it is encoded has not been adequately understood. Some theorists says that neural networking and the firing of neurons are the means by which information is encoded which is why any damage to the brain would result to memory loss (Baddeley, 1999). There are also conditions wherein memory loss is very specific like the inability to recognize faces that had been previously encountered. Memory serves many functions and which enables us to remember basic functions that are not physiologically automatic, for example, the mastery of reading skills, number skills and even the ability to dress oneself and to tie shoe laces. Our memory is the our storehouse of information and skills, when we go to school, all the things we need to learn is committed to memory and our previous experiences and stored information will help us process new information through accommodation and assimilation. As we age, and as our brain deteriorate, we experience memory loss which makes it impossible for us to live alone (Bredart, Brennen, Delchambre, McNeill & Burton, 2005). Recent research said that memory can still be enhanced even as we get older by continuously engaging in activities that would make use of our brain. Thinking Thinking is a collective term that refers to the process, by which we actively integrate new and previous information, it is also the process by which problem solving, decision-making and creativity is done. Thinking is a cognitive process that engages the mind, memory, learning and stored knowledge in arriving at a decision or a solution to the problem and the creation of new ideas. Thinking is a mental exercise that every person engages in as a means of applying the information and skills gained from learning and knowledge acquisition. There are different forms of thinking; namely productive, convergent and divergent thinking. Productive thinking is the process by which the mind finds a way to be able to produce a new idea, object or project. Convergent thinking is when the mind narrows down its evaluation of related knowledge to come up with a single best answer. Divergent thinking occurs when the object of the mental exercise is to generate as many theories and options for a single problem which is similar to brainstorming. Thinking as a process involves the analysis of related information or the contexts at which a certain problem exists, in analysis, the problem or idea is broken down into its component parts and then scrutinized under some perspective or framework of analysis. There are many ways in which we arrive at solutions to a problem or to decision-making strategies, one of which is insightful thinking. Insight refers to the point wherein a solution is identified after studying the problem, this happens when the individual gains an understanding of the interrelatedness of the information needed to solve the problem. There is also what is called as the use of available heuristics, with heuristics, there is not systematic way of thinking, it may lead to the solution to the problem by chance or it may not. Thinking is a diversified cognitive process, and at times it is very difficult to define when one is thinking, most of us refer to specific situations like problem-solving, decision-making or creativity to refer to different ways of manipulating information and data. However, these all involve the use of previous knowledge, to better understand the present information and to be able to present a comprehensive output using the old and new information. The study of thought process had been probably influenced by the delineation of abstract and concrete thinking as proposed by Piaget, and to some extent the concept of having to concrete examples and being able to think abstractly are very human traits (Eysenck & Keane, 2005). Some theories even say that thinking is the only ability that humans can do and animals cannot. When we think, we take out information relevant to the material we are working on and then evaluate the new information based on what we already know. For example, we know from mathematical principles of whole numbers that 1+1 is 2, when we work with a problem that asks us to do 1+1 then we know it is two, not because we have memorized the information but because we know that a whole number is added another whole number it will become 2 whole numbers, likewise we would know that 1+-1 would not equal to 2 because it has a negative sign. Thinking is probably the only exercise that has tremendous possibilities for generating bright, innovative, creative and excellent ideas (Eysenck & Keane, 2005). When asked to write an essay, I would probably thin first what I would write in it before actually putting it into paper. This refers to the act of identifying relevant information and using our mental faculties to come up with novel and new ways of presenting information and experiences. Language Language is one of the topics that have baffled scientists for the last part of history; the study of language in cognitive psychology is related to how language is acquired and how it is produced. Language refers to the process of attaching meaning to symbols in order to communicate with others. Language as used by man is different from those used by animals; we need mental representations of words in order to identify what it is and to use language as a means of expressing those symbols. For example, a red juicy tomato describes the color, firmness and taste of a round fruit which is used as a vegetable and eaten raw in most dishes. To the cognitive psychologist, language is directly related to the brain since damage to the Broca’s region would affect the speech ability of the individual. Psycholinguistics is the specific study of language as it relates to the human mind. Language is a complex process wherein the mind identifies the object, event, or feeling, and translates it into the existing language repertoire of the individual and then activates the body to produce the sounds that would verbalize the message and the idea. Language can be in written form or verbal, but psychologists are more interested in how verbal language is developed. There are several theories that attempts to explain language acquisition, one of which says that there is an innate biological mechanism that enables us to acquire, process and use language (Plomin & Dale, 2000). This would mean that language is something that we naturally do as a course of development, we are bale to acquire language in much the same way that we can walk or run or crawl. Another theory is hypothesis testing, which says that children develop language through a series of hypothesis testing which is to tentatively prove what they believe to be word relationships language patterns. For example, a 3 year old child may use language in the third person and when adults respond to his words indicating the he should own what he say, then he would know that he need not use the third person. Semantics refer to the study of meaning in a language and is often the focus of experimental research especially when a new word is developed and how a person attaches meaning to a particular word. At present one that is stressed by educators is the concept of metacognition, which is the ability to thin about what we are reading and writing even before we comprehend its entirety. Language is one of those fascinating subjects in psychology, although it is highly technical when it is broken down into its specific parts, it is also a very informative aspect of human existence. Language development and acquisition is often the means by which culture is transmitted and wherein socialization is handed from one generation to the next. Language also mirrors the culture of the society it develops from and this has been the focus of indigenous psychology and cross-cultural studies on the universality of psychological concepts in different languages (Esgate & Groome, 2004). Language is the main vehicle by which we interact and relate to other people, we are able to communicate with each other because we all use language, the inability to express our ideas and thoughts and feelings may leave the person handicapped and isolated from the rest of society. Languages disabilities may also hinder the education of children as learning basically occur in the context of communication and exchange of words and ideas. Language is said to be enhanced when the person has a large vocabulary, which means that the person has a large number of learned words which are available to him to aid him when he communicates with other people. At present the issue of English as a second language is prevalent in the educational system as more and more non-native English speakers are becoming a part of our society (Esgate & Groome, 2004). This has opened another field of study which is how a second language is acquired especially if it is very different in structure and form from the native language.