IFRS AND GAP CONVERGENCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IFRS AND GAP CONVERGENCE - Essay Example GAAP stands for General accepted accounting principles and are the set of standards developed by US, keeping their needs in mind. On the other hand, IFRS stands for international financial reporting standards are standards developed by UK. In the past financial statements were relevant to these respective countries only but globalization has called for the need of one set of standards. Convergence of international accounting refers to the goal and the path taken to reach one set of standards that are followed throughout the world. The goal is to eliminate the differences and to improve the standards. Various accounting textbooks now feature a mixture of both standards, by presenting financial statements in both formats. The aim is to inform students about the difference in language and presentation so that they apply the relevant standards in future. Currently both organizations aim to converge GAAP of US and IFRS of UK and later they plan to develop one set of standards for the worl d. ... This is because these companies often have to prepare two sets of financial statements to satisfy different stakeholders. The convergence process has helped improved standards to a large extent but there are various differences that have not yet been eliminated. DIFFERENCES Revenue recognition Under the US GAAP the revenue is recognized according to fixed prices or prices that are determinable therefore the results are not recorded as revenue until the contingency is resolved. Under IFRS however depends on the ability of the entity to measure the revenue that is being considered and the economic benefits associated with the revenue. This often results in a difference in â€Å"revenue recognition† as the revenue is recognized earlier under IFRS and later under GAAP. Sale of goods- continuous transfer Another major difference is that GAAP does not allow cost to cost revenue recognition and the revenue under GAAP the revenue transaction is usually deferred if the revenue cannot b e measured on a reliable basis. IFRS on the other hand only defers revenue in instances only when an act is more significant than others. The level of significance depends on the situation in hand. Barter transactions Under GAAP the fair value of goods and services is used when the value surrendered is not clearly evident under the barter transaction. Under IFRS the fair value of goods and services is used only when the value is not determinable. SIMILARITIES Barter transactions In both IFRS and GAAP companies are required to use the fair value of goods and services as the starting point when measuring a barter transaction Accounting policy: The prior and comparative years are restated in both sets of

Gender Inequality Essay Example for Free

Gender Inequality Essay Gender inqualities often stem from social structures that have instiutionalized conceptions of gender differences. Gender inequality has been around for centuries. In many family homes, their lives evolve around gender roles. The responibilties in the family are allocated to their sex (gender). There are certain tasks which are usually allocated to males and females. Some see this division as biologolical differences between the sexes and others see it happening in cultural backgrounds. There are sociological theories that have tended to see gender roles as natural and inevitable. Talcott Parsons, suggested that within the modern nuclear family it was essential that one parent, (the father) performed the instrumental role of the leader and provider whilst the mother performed the expressive role of giving psychological support and taking responsibilty for socialising children. This made sense because women give birth to and nurse their children. It’s a typical sterotype, that is engrained in both men and women. Gender is seen closely related to the roles and behaviour assigned to women and men based on their sexual differences. As children we learn and adapt to specific gender roles, and as we grow they become more evident and more important to our role in a society. There is more married women that work outside of the home and some men spend more time at home with their families. Martial roles have become increasingly similar. Historians of the family have made it show how gender roles in the family are socially constructed. The roles pllayed by men and women in any history poont may seem natural and inevitable. When you look back to the past, you see how much its changed according to the reguirements of society and the needs of families at particular times. During the latter of the 20th century the views began to change but still stained ideologies from the past they still exist ath the brink of the 21st century. 82% of women (wives and girlfriends) still do the housework according to a new study in Britain, but when it comes to housework, we are back in the 50s. For the females of today we can pretty much do anything we like, join the army, be a prime misiter, run a company or be a stay at home mum. As the new century, today, we see a greatly altered family landscape in which dual-income and single parents families outnumber the ascendant two-parent, one-earner in the household. There is more single parent families nowadays. So they would be taking on the roles as the breadwinner and home maker. But its not just women doing this, there is a lot of men as single parents and broken families that have to take on these roles. So a lot has changed over the years. And there is more and more working parents. Gender role and inquality is not just geared towards women but also men. As much as women face inqualities, ther are many aspects about the world that’s is unfair towards men. The question remains, â€Å"will men and women ever be found equal? † My answer, no. Men and women are simply too different to be considered be treated the same. Yes, I do believe that men and women should be paid the same, and given equal and all opportunity, but as far as the biological sense goes men and women have two completely different biological makeup. It is scientifically true that women are more nurturing whereas men are found to be much more competitive and aggressive. That is not to say that those traits can not be mixed upon the two genders, but there is still too much that keeps gender separate. In some culturals, gender inequality will never change for most. The women are to stay at home, raise the family and do the household chores. In some of theses culturals domestic violence accurs and the women keep quiet about it because they cant leave because its discrimmination to their society and most culutrals don’t allow women to get a divorce. Many developing countries including India have displayed gender inequalit in education, employment and health. It is common to find girls and women suffering from high mortality rates. India has witnessed gender inquality from its early history due to its socio-ecnomic and religious practices that resulted in a wide gap between the position of men and women in the society. Gender inquality has an adverse impact on development goals and reduces ecnomic groth. It hampers the overall well being, because blocking women from participation in social polical and ecnomic activties can adversely affect th whole society. Discrimination also plays out with networking and in preferential treatment within the economic market. Men typically occupy positions of power within the job economy. Due to taste or preference for other men because they share similar characteristics, men in these positions of power are more likely to hire or promote other men, thus discriminating against women. Discrimination against men in the workplace is rarer but does occur, particularly in health care professions. Only an estimated 0. 4% of midwives in the UK are male and according to cbs only 1% of all trainee nurses and only 2% of Secretaries are male. Women have increasingly been finding their place in a male driven environment whether it be in the office, politics, or in the cut throat world business and CEO’s, women have become more and more powerful in a man’s world. Needless to say, women have not reached the level of power that a man would have, but seeing as where woman stood forty years ago it is a step in the right direction. Over the years, gender role has clearly played a big part in the way that women are treated, whether it be being confined to the kitchen, or rendered to emotional to run for office, it seems as though society has built two completely different species of human to live amongst each other. It may sound drastic, but if men and women were to be more similar, there would be more chance for equal treatment. As unfortunate as it is, it seems as though society is at a stand still on where to go with gender inequality, and if there is no way to convince an entire generation to change they way they treat each other, then it might as well stay that way. Unfortunately society is way too stubborn to be able to change its ways about said subject. All that being said, we have come a great deal over the years, and maybe one day we can point that everyone can agree on.

The Life and Political Career of James Madison Essay -- American Ameri

The Life and Political Career of James Madison James Madison is most widely known as the father of the Constitution. It is a title â€Å"deeply deserved on many accounts† (Wills 37). Although his many achievements at times are overshadowed by his work on the Constitution, Madison’s life reflects a legislative talent (Wills 3). Through his interest in politics, he was able to shape the forming nation. Education, illness, and religion dominated the beginning of James Madison’s life; the experiences enabled Madison to write the Constitution as well as a number of influential essays in response to his views on the incompetent confederacy. Madison challenged the ideas of the Anti-federalists through his strong arguments and rhetoric, while leaving behind a balance between central government and individual rights, as well as the idea of being an American. Madison’s education revolved around his bad health, which often dictated where he studied. Madison believed he would â€Å" have a short life due to the illness he believed was epilepsy and actively tried to monitor and control breakdowns† (Wills 7). As a child, Madison was â€Å"frequently confined to the sick bed† and he â€Å"formed studious habits, developing an early love of scholarly investigation and contemplation† (Sheldon 3). While the young Madison stayed at home, his religious grandmother took on his education by using books from his father’s library and purchasing the British magazine, Spectator (Sheldon 3-4). After learning valuable lessons through her teaching, he moved on to attend school for five years at the King and Queen County Anglican School, later returning home in order to monitor his health (Wills 15). Madison’s desire for knowledge led him to study at P... ...Inaugural Address. New York: The Library of America. 1999. Madison’s address to the country, informing the people of his goals while in office. Madison, James. Speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention of Ratification and Amendments. New York: The Library of America. 1999. A speech aimed at convincing the state of Virginia to give the ninth vote for ratification. Peterson, Merrill D. ed. The Founding Fathers: James Madison A Biography in His Own Words. Vol. 1. New York: Newsweek, inc. 1974. A biography of Madison’s life. Sheldon, Garrett Ward. The Political Philosophy of James Madison. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. 2001. An analysis on the factors in Madison’s life that shaped his ideals. Wills, Garry. James Madison. New York: Times Books. 2002. A biography focusing on Madison’s Presidential years. The Life and Political Career of James Madison Essay -- American Ameri The Life and Political Career of James Madison James Madison is most widely known as the father of the Constitution. It is a title â€Å"deeply deserved on many accounts† (Wills 37). Although his many achievements at times are overshadowed by his work on the Constitution, Madison’s life reflects a legislative talent (Wills 3). Through his interest in politics, he was able to shape the forming nation. Education, illness, and religion dominated the beginning of James Madison’s life; the experiences enabled Madison to write the Constitution as well as a number of influential essays in response to his views on the incompetent confederacy. Madison challenged the ideas of the Anti-federalists through his strong arguments and rhetoric, while leaving behind a balance between central government and individual rights, as well as the idea of being an American. Madison’s education revolved around his bad health, which often dictated where he studied. Madison believed he would â€Å" have a short life due to the illness he believed was epilepsy and actively tried to monitor and control breakdowns† (Wills 7). As a child, Madison was â€Å"frequently confined to the sick bed† and he â€Å"formed studious habits, developing an early love of scholarly investigation and contemplation† (Sheldon 3). While the young Madison stayed at home, his religious grandmother took on his education by using books from his father’s library and purchasing the British magazine, Spectator (Sheldon 3-4). After learning valuable lessons through her teaching, he moved on to attend school for five years at the King and Queen County Anglican School, later returning home in order to monitor his health (Wills 15). Madison’s desire for knowledge led him to study at P... ...Inaugural Address. New York: The Library of America. 1999. Madison’s address to the country, informing the people of his goals while in office. Madison, James. Speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention of Ratification and Amendments. New York: The Library of America. 1999. A speech aimed at convincing the state of Virginia to give the ninth vote for ratification. Peterson, Merrill D. ed. The Founding Fathers: James Madison A Biography in His Own Words. Vol. 1. New York: Newsweek, inc. 1974. A biography of Madison’s life. Sheldon, Garrett Ward. The Political Philosophy of James Madison. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. 2001. An analysis on the factors in Madison’s life that shaped his ideals. Wills, Garry. James Madison. New York: Times Books. 2002. A biography focusing on Madison’s Presidential years.

Extended School Day Essay

Imagine you are a seven-year-old whose’s parents work until five each night. When you come home after school there is no one home with you. What could you get into? You might know right from wrong but you still might get yourself into some trouble. Just out of plain curiosity you might get into something or an accident could happen without you even being involved in it. But I say there is a way to stop this from ever happening. I think we should either keep schools open longer or introduce more after school programs. Many advantages would come from either of these ideas. For one the parents would not have to be in a state of worry about whether their child is safe at home or in trouble. Plus you always have that added guilt about not being able to help your kids with their homework. Now with either longer days or more after school programs a lot of stress could be taken away from your family. No more having to pay for sitters which could stress out a families finances. Also the dangers of the kids being home and getting into trouble would be cut down severely. And also with the longer days or more after school programs parents would be able to get home, at least one parent would be home, to pick their kids off the bus. I wanted to suggest some programs I feel would help out with the problem at hand. These programs would be a reading and math after school program. One program I would suggest is a reading after school program. It is said that today, too many children fail to read at a level we would expect for the grade they are in. In a study done in 1998, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that, thirty eight percent of our nation’s fourth graders failed to read at the basic level. That fact alone says we must enforce more after school programs. Now they also found that sixty-four percent of African American and sixty percent of Hispanic American fourth graders read below the basic level. This shows we need to not only put these programs in suburban schools but also city schools. Research has shown that students who are behind in reading can catch up to grade level with additional reading instruction and tutoring after school and in the summer. And that is what I am trying to put in effect. We all know that to succeed in school all students need good reading skills, and that’s just a fact. Another program that I think is good is a mathematics after school Program. I has been found that students who take rigorous mathematics courses are much more likely to go on to college and into promising careers than those who do not. And with technology becoming more prevalent in the workplace, the need for employees with mathematics backgrounds has greatly increased. In my research I have found that far too many students finish middle and junior high school without developing a solid foundation in algebra and geometry. Research done by the international comparative assessments said that U. S. student achievement in mathematics falls below the average in the middle grades. We need to help improve this. I think some other important facts help support my case for the longer school day and the after school programs in this little chart. Some reasons why the public supports after school programs: *Over 28 million school-age children have both parents or their only parent in the workforce. *At least 5 million children — and possibly as many as 15 million — are left alone at home each week. *Many children, especially low-income children, lose ground in reading if they are not engaged in organized learning over the summer. *Experts agree that school-age children who are unsupervised during the hours after school are more likely to receive poor grades and drop out of school than those who are involved in supervised, constructive activities. *Statistics show that most juvenile crime takes place between the hours of 2:00 and 8:00 pm, and that children are also at much greater risk of being the victims of crime during the hours after school. Here is another chart showing that after school programs enhance a child’s academic achievement. *Participants in after-school programs:* *Show increased interest and ability in reading *Develop new skills and interests *Show improved school attendance, increased engagement in school, and reduced dropout rate *Turn in more and better quality homework and can spend more time on task. *Are held back or placed in special education classes less frequently *Show higher aspirations for the future, including intention to complete high school and go to college. These facts are real. This is why I picked trying to make a longer day and more after school programs. And with these two programs the numbers will go up. I plan on adding more programs to what I have wrote in here. But I think implementing a longer school day and these after school programs should help not only the parents of these children but the children themselves.

Nike ERP Implementation

What are the failure factors for the first NIKE-12 ERP-SCM implementation? All ERP implementations have risks associated that can lead to failure situations. The complexity of ERP systems together with demanding business environment, represent big challenges for companies when implementing an ERP. In the case of Nike, the situation is even more challenging because of the worldwide ERP deployment, and the large and complex scope of the project.Inevitably, and like all ERP implementations, Nike-i2's project faced complications at the different stages of he implementation cycle but those complications could have been minimized if the so called â€Å"Critical Success Factors† (CSF)I had been planned and managed properly. Using the 5 stages structure proposed in the report â€Å"Drawing Competitive Advantage through Successful ERP Implementation Projects†2, the failure factors are analyzed in detail in the following sections.First stage of implementation (project preparation ): One of the failures in the Nike-i2 ERP implementation was the lack of Formalized project plan/schedule. Feeling the market pressures, Nike did not commit to a isciplined plan and rushed up ERRS implementation, by â€Å"began to input data for its forthcoming Spring 2001 line when the system was still to stabilize†3 , giving reason to the opinions that projects cannot be driven by external deadlines4.Industry experts also warned about the boomerang effect (tight and unrealistic deadlines would come back in low quality results in the future) but Nike felt â€Å"12 technology was smaller and therefore easier to implement†. The result was the project failure and a financial storm (reduced profits) in the following financial periods. The executive eam as the responsibility to define the mission and scope of the project by analyzing the project business benefits and goals, and aligning them with strategic business goals.It is clear that in this case, Nike's executives wer e too ambitious by trusting blindly in a forecast system that was not completely adequate to Nike's business model (model was order based and not demand forecast oriented). As stated in Cnet â€Å"12 had past success projects with big clients such as Boeing, Nortel Networks, Raytheon and WalMart.. proving that 12 software is not perfect, but if implementation s done correctly, with proper planning, investment and scheduling, it will work well. â€Å"5 Implementing software is not a goal by it itself, remaking the business with the help of software is.Nike business goal was to create an efficient global supply chain by reducing inventory and manufacturing cycle, and this was a large and complex goal, thus, the software implementation could not be taken as simple and easy as Nike's executives toke it, failing to give Sustained management support to the project. In the second stage of implementation (Business Blueprint) the failures were: Nike elied too much in the (supposed) power o f the forecasting technology and underestimated its impact on the business processes changes such as orders processing, raw materials purchasing, fabric production, and demand management.That impact also affected the way employees and partners used to work. Anytime companies changes employee's working habits, it can get difficult to them to adapt to the new reality, thus, an Effective organizational change management is critical. Nike tailed ensuring that this complex change got the right results by not integrating properly people, process and technology. Nike's business context was very complex (120000 SKUs, operations in all continents, four seasons product turn over and product life cycle very short), thus, a deep knowledge of this industry was critical when implementing new business processes and ERP systems.Despite previous supply chain applications were troublesome Nike hired 12 that was inexperienced in the footwear industry. This situation could have been avoided if Nike had appropriately used consultants by integrating third-party specialists with industry experience in the project's team. By not managing this factor, Nike took a big risk and ncreased the probabilities of failure. Nike's business requirements were too complex and over detailed (like footwear's forecasting for styles, colors, sizes).If Nike had appropriately used consultants and also had promoted User involvement and participation, those experts could had shared their know-how in the definition of business requirements more realistic and aligned with the real organizational needs. The failures in the third stage of implementation (Realization) were: â€Å"i2's software did not offer all the required functionalities†6. Usually, ERP systems do not provide all the functional requirements nd 12 system is not an exception. That's why, ERP vendors offer interfaces to communicate with third-party products.The problem with Nike implementation was that there was not an Critical Success F actors is a concept presented in the report â€Å"Drawing Competitive Advantage through Successful ERP Implementation Projects†, by Jos © Esteves – Instituto de Empresa (Spain) and Joan Pastor Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain) 2 ibid 3 SCM and ERP Software Implementation at Nike – From failure to success 4 http://www. cio. com/article/32335/Five_Lessons_Learned_from_Nike_s_i2_Debacle 5 ttp://news. cnet. om/i2-Nike-fallout-a-cautionary-tale/2100-1017_3-253829. html 6 SCM and ERP Software Implementation at Nike – From failure to success 1 adequate infrastructure and interfaces prepared in advance and tested before going live. The result was that the â€Å"Demand application and its planner did not integrate easily†¦ â€Å"7. Nike's demand for high customization was one of the main failures in this project. To Avoid ERP customization, Nike could have appropriately used consultants to reduce the need of very detail level forec asting (style, color, size).Consultants ould have brought also an experienced business vision, focus on ERP processes really needed to run Nike's business, alignment between Nike's requirements and ERP functionalities, and ERP best practices (including ‘2's recommendations and methodology) Forth stage (final preparation) is critically important to ensure the quality of the results, Nike's tailures were: To ensure that the ERP accomplishes the business requirements defined at the beginning of the project a Formalized testing plan is mandatory.In theory, this test plan should cover functional tests, data flow between ystems, user testing and performance tests. Nike did not perform any of those tests activities and the catastrophic results were: â€Å"System could not process large amounts of info. It was very slow and crashed†, â€Å"System could not handle thousands of variables to generate forecasts†, â€Å"Demand application and its planner did not integrate ea sily because different data formats. , â€Å"System sent inaccurate orders to manufactures and errors were not detected†8 In this phase, User involvement and participation, Adequate training program and Preventive troubleshooting are critical to guarantee that: the technical staff and end- sers know how to use the system; to prepare users to perform tests; and to prevent unexpected situations.These activities were not performed and under-evaluated by Nike as confirmed in the case: â€Å"it would work with requiring a pilot test†; â€Å"12 application was smaller†9; No communication between forecasting and inputs from sales and marketing; and no super users used in training. Data migration and data testing are crucial activities before system go-live because data is what really gives competitive advantage to a company and data is the core foundation for all business decisions, thus, an Adequate data migration process s essential. Analysts raised questions about a dequacy of information that Nike input into the system. â€Å"10, this means that Nike did not planned in advance the data activities (migration, conversion, cleaning, etc. ) and in the end the result was â€Å"Input data was estimated and didn't reflect the business reality, thus, forecasts could never be accurate†ll For the final stage (go live) Nike failed in: 0 Not giving sustained management support since â€Å"Executives did not hold review meetings, neither analyzed forecasting results†12.This transmitted a sense of no wnership and no own involvement to employees, resulting in no encouragement of system usage. From other point view, Nike also failed on the study of vendor's evaluation criteria: 0 According to the â€Å"six-stage model of the buying process for ERP software†13, one evaluation criteria is â€Å"Association with or the availability of third party vendor/ partners† and other criteria is â€Å"Qualifications, experience, and success i n delivering solutions to organizations of a similar size, complexity, and geographic scope†.It was clear that 12 did not had experience on the footwear industry and was not prepared or Nike's business complexity, so Nike should had decided for another vendor with industry knowledge or as an alternative to integrate 12 with a specialized third-party. 0 Nike seemed to desire the best-of-breed for each application area, ex: SAP for ERP, 12 for planning SCM, Siebel for CRM, etc. , which is not always the best option.As for 12, Nike knew that there were many disadvantages to choose this vendor, such as: 12 technology could not met all business requirements; data models were different between i2's demand and planner application raising integration problems with egacy systems; high effort was necessary to customization; there were 2 development and delivery cycles at the same time (one for 12 and other for SAP); and 12 had no experience in industry. A better option would have been t o integrate planning SCM with SAP from the very beginning, which turned out be what exactly happened atter the 12 Conclusion M project tailure.Nike-i2's ERP implementation failed in all stages of implementation on several CSF and also on the evaluation of the vendor. The failures were related mainly to project management and organizational factors proving that success is much related to eople and process and not Just technology. 7 SCM and ERP Software Implementation at Nike 10 11 12 13 – From failure to success ibid â€Å"A six-stage model of the buying process for ERP software† by Jacques Verville and Alannah Halingten 8 9 2.How do you evaluate the role of 12 in this process? Many factors which Nike failed to manage can also be applied for 12, resulting in a shared responsibility for the project failure. 0 12 did actually recommended Nike to â€Å"minimize customization to 10-15% of the software†14 but at the same â€Å"Nike and 12 worked together to incorpora te the desired hanges†. 1 5 This means, 12 agreed to do the changes when Nike insisted on high level of customization, thus, 12 also has responsibilities on the high customization failure.Responsibility could be different if the level of customization was written in the contract to be limited by 10%, and above that, 12 would not offer product guarantee. 0 The project did not have formal plan and no realistic deadlines. 12 as company, cannot be Just a software vendor, it must participate on the plan definition and monitoring. By accepting Nike's deadlines, 12 was also responsible for the delays nd for the low quality of the delivered software. 0 Nike began to input data while the system was not yet stable but 12 did not force Nike to stop this.A vendor must deliver his product when it is ready and according to negotiated deadlines. 0 12 did not have footwear industry knowledge but accepted to be part of the project, taking a big risk and being too ambitious like Nike was. The r esult was that 12 became overwhelmed with the business complexity and in the end the forecasts did not worked out as expected. 12 should had analyzed better Nike's business and industry, nd sub-contracted a third-party specialist in that industry. Nike did not use ‘2's implementation methodology; executives did not hold review meetings, neither analyzed forecasting results; there was no pilot test and no training. A vendor must also be part of the project management team to: define and negotiate formal deadlines, implementation phases, methodologies, tasks, roles, test plans, risk management plans, performance goals, etc. A vendor must assure that the contract is clear about: who owns the project; who is responsible for what; what resources will e available during the project; what are the expected benefits and results. 3.Describe the main problems associated with ERP software modification (short-term and long-term) Short-term 0 More time to implement a modified ERP compared w ith the time to implement an original ERP. 0 Higher costs during project's implementation to pay analysts to define customized business processes and to pay programmers to customize the new functionalities on the system. 0 Higher costs to run additional tests to guarantee customized functionalities work as expected and do not affect the original system apabilities. 0 Additional costs to train end-users on the customized functionalities.

My Favorite Band Essays

My Favorite Band Essays My Favorite Band Essay My Favorite Band Essay Task 1 Read the texts below. Match choices A-H to 1-5. There are three choices you do not need to use. It’s not Me, It’s My Hormones! 1 __________________ When you feel like you can’t even crack a smile, force yourself to do something fun. Hook up with a funny friend or watch a comedy movie or TV show and laugh till you cry! It might an act at first, but you’ll soon be giggling for real! 2 _________________ There’s nothing wrong with crying! If you feel yourself welling up and you’re in a quiet and private place, go for it! You’ll feel so much better. Just make sure you’ve got some tissues close by! 3 _________________ It really is true! Certain foods are great for making you happy. When you’re feeling low, reach for some good mood food – nuts, beans, fish, fruit will all put a smile on your face! 4 ________________ Get creative! Having a project to work on can take your mind off the stresses of growing up. You could work on a painting or drawing, take some cool photos or even make some clothes or customize the ones you’ve got! The feelings of pride and success you’ll get when you finish your project will be unbeatable! ________________ Keeping a diary or channeling your thoughts and feelings into a story, poem or article can really help get thoughts into perspective. You could even keep a blog – just be sure not to give any personal information away, like your name, age or address. Years from now, you can take a look at what you’ve written and remember, you can get through anything ! ALet it out! BYou Are What You Eat CLaugh DWrite Down Your Feelings ECommunicate and Relax FEat Something Tasty! GMake Something HExercise Every Day! Task 2 Read the text. For questions 6-10 choose the correct answer A, B. C or D. 16-year-old Australian Begins Her Solo Adventure A 16-year-old Australian girl sailed her yacht out of Sydney harbor today, beginning an attempt to become the youngest person to single-handedly navigate the globe unassisted, despite concerns over her age and expertise. If all goes to plan, Jessica Watson will spend the next eight months alone on board her 10-metre vessel, navigating 28. 000 miles through some of the world’s most dangerous seas. Around 100 boats gathered under grey skies in the harbor to see her off. Watson did not speak to reporters before she left, but her mother Julie, posted an update on the solo sailor’s blog. â€Å"I know you are all anxious to hear from Jess, but she is a little preoccupied on her first day, so she asked me to post a quick note to let everyone know that the departure went well this morning,† she wrote. While Watson’s family insists the teenager is a sufficiently skilled and experienced sailor, with expertise in navigation, electronics and maritime safety, her plan has sparked a debate in Australia about whether someone so young is ready for such a challenge. There was further worry after Watson’s yacht collided with a Chinese cargo ship last month. Some of Australia’s most experienced sailors, and the government of Watson’s home state, Queensland, have urged her not to go ahead with the voyage. Watson will be in contact with her family and support team via radio and email, as well as updating her blog. â€Å"I think a lot of Australians are nervous for Jessica. I’m nervous for her,† the country’s deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, told Nine Network TV. â€Å"Since she’s determined to go, I wish her the best of luck and urge her to keep safe. A British 17-year-old, Mike Perham, became the youngest solo round-the-world sailor in August following a nine-month voyage, although a stop for repairs ‘en route’ meant his trip did not count as unassisted. The youngest sailor to complete the voyage unassisted is another Australian, Jesse Martin, who was 18 when he completed it in 199 9. 6In paragraph 1 the author states that Jessica ___________. Ais the world record holder in solo sailing Bhas started on a risky round-the-world voyage Cplans to spend half a year in the open sea Dlacks the experience for a round-the-world trip According to the text, what happened the day of Jessica’s departure? AA lot of ships followed Jessica’a yacht. BJessica refused to talk to the journalists. CThe weather changed for the worse. DJulie informed the public of Jessica’s voyage. 8All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 3 EXCEPT ___________. AJessica’s parents are sure she has received enough training BJessica’s age has been a major concern for the public CJessica’s yacht has expensive equipment on board DJessica’s vessel has recently been hit in an accident 9Which of the following is TRUE according to paragraph 4? AJessica can get professional advice during her voyage. BThe state’s authorities assist in Jessica’s solo trip. CThe people of Australia are proud of their young heroine. DJessica’s voyage is covered on her parents’ webpage. 10The expression ‘en route’ in line 27 is closest in meaning to ___________ Awhile sailing Bwhile relaxing Cwhile daparting Dwhile training Task 3 Read the texts below. Match choices A-H to 11-16. There are two choices you do not need to use. 1112 Jack of the Wood 95 Patton Ave. A cozy cafe-restaurant. Features the best acoustic music and dancing in the evening. The menu includes international cuisine, vegetarian fare and barbecue. Coffee and cakes in the afternoon from 15. 00-17. 00 Whisky Tavern 81 Broadway St. The best new place to hang out in downtown Ashville. Come by and have national food, good spirits and a fun time. Live jazz every Monday and Tuesday nights. Open nightly year round or for lunch Saturday and Sunday during football season. 1314 Prir Frakkar Specialities: French seafood and Whale meat Open daily for lunch and dinner except Sat/Sun. for dinner only Reservation tel. 552 3939 Baldursgata 14 Welcome to Sjanghe Restaurant At our Chinese restaurant you will find not only fresh seafood and meat but we are also the only restaurant in Iceland with expert chefs from China. Our species are flown in directly from Asia. Wine and locally brewed beer available. We offer you various menus to choose from. 1516 VEGETERIAN A totally vegetarian restaurant specializing in international cuisine that features fresh local produce with mostly organic ingredients. Daily specials, fast food and take out. Tel. 552 2028 Open: 11. 30-21. 00 weekdays 16. 00-21. 00 Sat. /Sun/ HOTEL LOFTLEIDIDIR At our two restaurants we serve the freshest and tastiest veal and lamb you’ll find anywhere. Our chefs’ culinary skills, combined with the finest available ingredients, guarantee you a meal of the highest quality. We also offer an international selection of beers and wines. Open: Mon. -Thur. 9. 30-21. 00Fri. , Sat. , Sun. 10. 00-22. 00Tel. 5050 925 At this restaurant ______. Aoriental food and local beer are served Bthey mainly serve seafood Cunique and delicious meat courses are offered Dyou can make on-line reservations Eyou can enjoy live music twice a week Ftraditional cuisine and music are offered Gyou can eat in or take away Hmeat as well as vegetarian dishes is available Task 4 Read the text below and choose from A-H the one which best fits each space 17-22. There are two choices you do not need to use. Amazon Parrots Amazon parrots are native to the New World. Indeed, (17) ___________ that he brought back to Europe after his first voyage here. There are 27 species of Amazon parrots. Most parrot species are bred successfully in captivity and several types of Amazons are available from breeders and pet stores here in Canada. Prices generally range, depending on the species, from $800 to $1600, (18)____________________________. Amazon parrots are very good at talking and imitating sounds. One test subject, Alex – a parrot, can name about 40 objects, identify seven different colours, and say whether the two objects are same or different; and indisputably, (19) ____________________. Studies put the intelligence of these feathered chatterboxes on the same level as three-year-old humans, dolphins and monkeys. Amazons are actually very similar in personality to monkeys. Parrots are very energetic, playful, social creatures that crave lots of interaction with their human owners. The best pet birds are hand-raised and have bonded early with human companions. More than other parrot species, (20) ________________. They can be, at different times, loud, quiet, stubborn, silly, playfully aggressive of irritable. They will play and fight with their toys for hours on end (21) _________________________. Sometimes, an Amazon may temporarily become quite aggressive. Careless owners have had fingers or ears bitten. You really have to understand your bird’s mood and behaviours (22) ___________________. Amazon parrots are definitely not for all pet owners, they need much more love and attention than most people would expect. Owning an Amazon is very similar to owning a dog with wings. Awith a premium paid for the breeds that are considered to be better â€Å"talkers† Beven rolling over on their backs to juggle a ball or play with some string Cthe research has clearly shown that it is very intelligent and will speak in context Das the trickier aspect of owning an Amazon parrot Eand talking ability will vary from species to species and from bird to bird FChristopher Columbus himself apparently gave the name â€Å"Amazon† to the green. Short winged parrots Gthey also love being around people, and they are particularly good at speaking HAmazons are well known for their strong or often moody characters Task 5 Read the text below. For questions 23-32 choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D). Advertising Whether it is in print or on television, radio, or billboards, advertising profoundly (23) __________ our life. The ads we see, hear, and smell (in the case of open-and-sniff perfume inserts in magazines) (24) _____________ how we feel and what we think about a wide range of products. Companies pay a lot of money to persuade us that their products are the best. Advertising has a long history in North America. As early as the 1600s, ads were used to (25) _____________ English settlers to the Colonies. According to historian Daniel Boorstin, these brochures (26) _______ â€Å"hopeful overstatements, half-truths, and downright lies†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In the 1700s famous (27) ____ were involved in the advertising business, (28) _____ them Benjamin Franklin, who ran ads in his publications. And with the boom in mass-circulation magazines, the advertising became the powerful force it is today. Television arrived in the 1940s and (29) _______ a new, action-packed advertising medium. Creating a good ad isn’t as (30) __________ as it might seem. One key is to find the right spokes person. An effective approach is to have the company president speak. Still another option is to create (31) __________ characters, such as Speedy Alka-Seltzer fellow, or an animated parrot (Gillette). A memorable slogan is helpful as well: â€Å"I can’t (32) _________ I ate the whole thing†; â€Å"Where’s the beef? †; â€Å"You deserve a break today†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 23| A| influences| B| inherits| C| installs| D| introduces| 24| A| accept| B| infect| C| affect| D| protest| 25| A| win| B| attract| C| invade| D| involve| 26| A| contained| B| consisted| C| located| D| contributed| 27| A| numbers| B| members| C| peoples| D| figures| 28| A| along| B| among| C| between| D| through| 9| A| stayed| B| remained| C| created| D| resulted| 30| A| slight| B| easy| C| light| D| heavy| 31| A| undesirable| B| unforgivable| C| uninviting| D| unforgettable| 32| A| suppose| B| consider| C| hope| D| believe| Task 6 Read the text below. For questions 33-42 choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D). Planting the seeds of change The Green Wave projec t aims to help meet the goals of the United Nations Convention (33) ______ Biological Diversity by (34) __________ young people on the importance of biodiversity. In an ambitious program, students from schools all across the world (35) ____________ to mark the International Day for Biodiversity each year by planting a single tree of an inborn of locally important species. On May, 22, (36) ______ student groups will each plant their tree – uniting to send a ‘green wave’ from east to west around the planet. Promoting research and learning about nature, encouraging team-work and partnership across countries and continents, The Green Wave (37) _______ a positive step toward maintaining biodiversity all over the world. 33| A| about| B| on| C| for| D| of| 4| A| educate| B| educated| C| educating| D| educates| 35| A| have been invited| B| have been inviting| C| invite| D| have invited| 36| A| this| B| those| C| that| D| these| 37| A| take| B| is taking| C| taking| D| taken| A Skiing City Break in Austria Postcard-pretty Innsbruck is the ideal destination for everyone who wants (38) ______ a skiing holiday with a city break. The ca pital of the Habsburg Empire in the late middle ages, it has a charming old town with many ornate medieval buildings, together with natural baroque additions, (39) _________ the cathedral. The city is home to a wealth (40) ________________ museums, galleries, bars and restaurants, and (41) ______________ twice played host to the Winter Olympics, so it has plenty of winter-sports facilities, and – just a short train ride out of town – ski tracks to challenge the most (42) _____________ of skiers. 38. Do not write your own name, any dates, addresses or other personal information.

Human intelligence Essay Example

Human intelligence Essay Example Human intelligence Essay Human intelligence Essay Essay Topic: Left To Tell Cosmides (1989) has shown how human intelligence is specially adapted to deal with social problem solving. Grooming is an effective mechanism, because primates such as chimpanzees spend far more time than is necessary for purely hygienic purposes in picking through each other fur and removing bits of plant material, insects and scabs. It has therefore been suggested that grooming serves social ends such as strengthening alliances between individuals and bringing about reconciliation after a dispute. The hypothesis goes beyond grooming to see what other ways, which can help the individual benefit from group living. One of these ways is Theory of Mind, which is the ability to be self-aware and to appreciate others have self-awareness too. These can make heavy demands on cognitive skills because they have to recognize a number of other individuals, to remember who has given favours to whom, who has alliances with whom and most importantly how it would appear from someone elses perspective. The theory would predict that there is a strong association between the time spent grooming, possession of theory of mind and intelligence. There are however difficulties with testing these ideas, which are how an animals intelligence would be measured. In human intelligence it is difficult to measure because of the controversy of whether it is possible to construct a way of measuring intelligence, which is culture fair (i.e. not biased towards a particular culture). According the Ridley (1993) the evolution of human intelligence was the result of sexual competition between individuals of the same sex. The fact that the brain has tripled in size in three million years is very fast in evolutionary terms. One force that can bring such rapid change is sexual selection. Miller (2000) suggests that a similar process of which has left the peacock with a long tail has also shaped human brains. It has been proposed that humans will have considered cognitive abilities as well as other adaptive criteria such as health and fitness. Females chose males who were amusing, inventive and creative brains, and this shows that art, music and literature function as a courtship display. Female brain size has increased in order to decode and appreciate the males new abilities. Support for the sexiness of intelligence comes from research investigating what characteristics people seek in a partner and it was found that intelligence came consistently at the top of the list. In the EEA meat was an important source of saturated fat. Stanford believes that strategic sharing of meat paved the way for human intelligence, as it will have forged alliances, persuaded females to mate (i.e. meat for sex hypothesis). Strategic meat sharing requires considerable cognitive abilities because males would have to keep a running score of debts, credits and relationships. Evidence from the animal kingdom supports the meat for sex hypothesis, because male chimps use meat to entice females, often withholding it until mating and when begging for meat receptive females have more success than non-receptive. Evidence also comes from human societies, in terms of the Ache in Paraguay. Mitani and Watts (2001)showed that male chimps share with each other more than females due to alliances rather than sex. It can be concluded that intelligence is a key component in the adaptability of a species. Three main theories have been proposed for the evolution of intelligence, which are, ecological, social and sexual selection. At this time the social theory provides the more plausible explanation of intelligence. However all of these ideas are continuing to be researched, so that an even more reliable explanation of the evolution of intelligence can be produced in the near future.

Needing to do A Few Things

Needing to do A Few Things Needing to do A Few Things Needing to do A Few Things By Maeve Maddox A reader writes: My son is driving me crazy!!!! He consistently says I need to do a few stuff.   I reply that he should properly say I need to do a few things or I need to do some stuff .   I know my options are fine, but my question is whether his version is also proper.   Please help us !! Before this reader’s question I was blissfully unaware of the expression â€Å"a few stuff.† I’ve tried to track it down. It brought up 2,070,000 Google hits, such things as: Even if I’m leaving my flat in one week, for the next two weeks, I shall buy a few stuff on saturday. Hi just need to rant about a few stuff†¦ I haven’t been able to trace a dialect origin for this nonstandard construction. The only uses of it I’ve found so far are in amateurish blogs and reader comments. I assume that it’s an example of teen slang intended to infuriate adult speakers. It certainly pinches my grammar nerve. As an uncountable noun, stuff originally referred to quilted material worn under chain mail. The meaning was extended to mean â€Å"material for working in a trade.† The very broad sense of matter of an unspecified kind dates from 1580. To the reader whose son insists on saying â€Å"a few stuff,† I can only say that this too shall passbut probably only if you stop letting your annoyance show. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs Past50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products25 Idioms About Bread and Dessert

English Arbitration Act 1996 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

English Arbitration Act 1996 - Essay Example This Act was formed for improvements accumulating from the former arbitration acts and case law following the structure and language of the Model Law without completely adopting it. The 1996 Act is characterized by many features, the most important being confirming the Principle Part Autonomy. Although it includes a number of mandatory provisions, the Act leaves a large number of issues up to the freedom of parties. Moreover, it limits the intervention of courts during the arbitral process except for assisting in its efficiency. Even after rendering the arbitral award, it limits the right of parties to appeal, balancing between the significance of the courts' interference to assist in achieving justice when the arbitral tribunal conducts wrongly and issues an unjust award and the fact that the arbitral award shall be final and binding and that the intervention of courts shall be limited. In addition, it is inclusive as it deals with most aspects of the arbitral process in details leaving some aspects up to the discretionary power of the court. In this chapter, the significant aspects of the arbitral process are addressed in the light of 1996 Act. ... proceedings,9 the national court's power in supporting the arbitral process,10securing the attendance of witnesses,11 and enforcing arbitration awards.12 3. Arbitration Agreement The English Arbitration Act provides a simple and at the same time broad definition for the arbitration agreement by defining it as "an agreement to submit to arbitration present or future disputes (whether they are contractual or not)."13 With this broad definition, the English Act recognizes both types of the arbitration agreement; arbitration clause and submission agreement. Moreover, based on Section 6, the reference within an agreement between parties to a written arbitration clause or a document that includes an arbitration clause is considered an arbitration agreement between those parties "if the reference is such as to make that clause part of the agreement."14 However, although the English Act does not stipulate the explicitly of this reference, the approach of the English case law confirms the nec essity of such reference to be in unambiguous and clear words.15 3.1 The Formal condition for the arbitration agreement Under the 1996 Act, the only formal condition for the arbitration agreement to be submitted to the provisions of this Act is the condition of being written.16 This Act gives a broad interpretation as for the existence of this condition. It deems that the arbitration agreement is in writing if it is made via exchanging written communications,17 or if it is written but not signed whether by one or all parties.18 Similarly, when this agreement "is evidenced in writing"19 or there has been an oral agreement to arbitration between parties by referring to written terms.20 In addition, the 1996 Act is sufficient with the existence of this requirement whenever the arbitration

CIS 333 discussions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CIS 333 discussions - Coursework Example One of the biggest attacks on mobile operating systems today as noted by researchers at Silicon Valley Security Company is the malware called WireLurker (Perlroth, 2014). It targets the Apple mobile and desktop users. The malware is designed in a way that unauthorized people can access the data from the devices. The security company confirmed that this is a malware affecting the Apple iOS mobile users in China (Perlroth, 2014). The devices become infected with the malware if they connect their devices to Macs through the USB wires and in cases where mobile users have altered their devices and installed software that Apple has not authorized. In china’s case of malware attack on Apple mobile devices it is important for the device users to avoid the risk by not using unauthorized software applications. Users should also prevent the transfer of the malware from the Macs to the mobile devices which occurs when using the USB wire. Users who have altered their devices by jailbreaking or those updating their devices from unknown sites should accept that it is a risk and the consequence is stolen information. Users of Apple mobiles can mitigate this risk by using the mentioned preventative measures. After the attack on Sony in November last year, the company had to face new attacks in December after the company computer systems were breached (Barnes & Perlroth, 2014). The latest breach exposed the company’s executive compensation documents and had more movies pirated (Barnes & Perlroth, 2014). If I was an IT security professional at Sony, I would join a team of other IT engineers at Sony to work with security encryption companies to ensure that more is done beyond having everyone with the same VPN passwords. Tang Yan, a former employee at NetEase and now the founder of Momo, a dating application in China was accused of lack of professional ethics

Analyse the role of the Israel lobby in the conflict between Israel Essay

Analyse the role of the Israel lobby in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians - Essay Example The truth as examined from a political, social and historical perspective strongly favors the former view: that the Lobby has pressured, through various channels and organisations, a position that favors Israel over the Palestinians and has thus thwarted for years the peace effort in the region. As Massing bluntly asserts: At its core is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is ranked second after the National Rifle Association (along with the AARP) in the National Journal‘s 2005 listing of Washington’s most powerful lobbies. AIPAC, they write, serves as â€Å"a de facto agent for a foreign government.† The , they say, is also associated with Christian evangelicals such as Tom DeLay, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson; neoconservatives both Jewish (Paul Wolfowitz, Bernard Lewis, and William Kristol) and gentile (John Bolton, William Bennett, and George Will); think tanks (the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the American Enterprise In stitute, the Hudson Institute); and critics of the press such as the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. (Massing, 2011: par. 1) The â€Å"Myth† of Influence It is important to realize that much of what has been currently published favors the notion that the Lobby, particularly in the United States, has controlled its foreign policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In light of this, it is important to present views that dismiss this notion before looking at the wealth of other information and opinions that do not. It is also important to remember that much of the defense comes from the Jewish community and government officials, just as some of the strongest in opposition comes from non-Jewish and Jewish alike, including a highly regarded social and political philosopher, Noam Chomsky. The reality of this may in itself reveal that opinions regarding the argument depend largely on the position of the interlocutor and whom or what he or she is strivin g to defend. It is interesting to note that former Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, George P. Schultz’s defense of Israel is surprisingly emotional, surreptitiously alluding to the Holocaust, tying criticism to an anti-Semitic â€Å"catalog of lies†: Defaming the Jews by disputing their rightful place among the peoples of the world has been a long-running, well-documented, and disgraceful series of episodes across history. Again and again a time has come when legitimate criticism slips across an invisible line into what might be called the "badlands," a place where those who should be regarded as worthy adversaries in debate are turned into scapegoats, targets, all-purpose objects of blame. (Schultz, 2007: par. 1-2) Schultz’s apology is also surprisingly incoherent in that he uses the unworkable analogy that if the U.S., as the largest consumer of oil, was on anyone’s side, it would on that of the Arabs, who have all of the oil. (Schultz, 2007). Th is argument for anyone who understands the business side of oil and the history of the conflict knows that no Arab country has ever truly stepped up to defend the Palestinian cause or threatened an oil embargo on either the US or Britain for not properly defending the Palestinians. Historically, this has always been the case and has eliminated concerns on the part of

Popular Culture-Villains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Popular Culture-Villains - Essay Example The source asserts that the movies where Lecter is not presented significantly i.e. Lambs and Manhunter are better in the series because more attention is deflected from the main character. The author rates other movies lowly due to the fact that Lecter is predominantly represented in the movies. The source even goes to extent of predicting the nature of the next movie in reference to the past trends. It is predicted that Lecter will still feature predominantly, â€Å"†¦the next Lecter film gets made (I’m quite certain it will, and probably sooner than later), it’s going to have to feature Lecter predominantly† (Lev 4). This is an assumption that the preceding movies in the series might be of low quality, which is not always the case. The first impression that the article presents to the reader is that the â€Å"totally overrated† status that is used to define Hannibal Lecter is due to the cheap price attached to the book (Lev 1). However, the low price of the material might not be necessarily because the product is of low quality. Other factors such as the economic stability of the readers could be at play. The source may dismiss the actor as overrated but the admission that the AFI named him the leading movie villain of all times. This creates doubts on the sincerity of the overrated claims. One of the source’s ratings of the main character is related to his role, â€Å"...guy with his tics and theatrical preening and eating people ...† (Lev 3). This is a personal confession of the author on the unpleasant things that the he identified after watching the movies. Although some character behaviors might not be attractive, the source should not have blamed all the weaknesses on the Lecter alon e because he serves to advance the theme of the film. Therefore, the failure to entertain should also be blamed on the general failure of thematic organization of the movie. The roles of the characters should be the same as that of the directors as they all work

External influences on career decision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

External influences on career decision - Essay Example A few years down the line, the child starts asking the same question, â€Å"When I grow up what will I be?† like the words of the famed song â€Å"Que Sera Sera.† Today a child sees a toy engine and wants to be an engine driver, tomorrow he sees the smart firemen on their shiny fire engines and he wants to be a firefighter, the next day he sees Superman on TV and wants to be him. Even when the child visits a doctor he immediately wants to be him. Every day he wants to be something new, something wonderful, something adventurous. Gradually, as he grows into a teenager, he wants to do something great like to become an astronaut flying into space, a scientist making the most important inventions, and so on. Then the time comes when he has to actually make the decision. What is he going to do? It is a very difficult question. Very few have an answer ready, though one has mulled over it a million times in the past. Let us consider these lucky ones or smart ones who have alre ady decided what they are going to do with their lives. Who are they? We can call them the lucky ones because they have recognized their innate ability, their talent. These are the ones who have been born with some extraordinary skill and have been able to identify this talent or skill either on their own or with the help of others. It could be a great voice, ear for music, a talent for dancing, sporting, mimicry, acting, painting, or sculpting. They are the geniuses. They know what they want to do with their life and that becomes their career choice, or more accurately their passion in life. This is more of an internal influence on career choice. There is no confusion. He simply aims to reach the pinnacle of excellence in that field. These are the extremely talented people who are lucky to have identified their talents. Hence, we can say that they fall into the category of the chosen few. The next category of people being those who are less talented but extremely interested in spec ific fields – these fields mostly include the arts like music, painting, etc., or any specific sporting activity. These people are passionate about their interests and don’t mind working really hard to groom themselves to acquire success in their field of interest. This again is an internal influence. So, an internal influence can be defined as â€Å"originating within the individual† and the main motivation here is individual satisfaction† (Duffy and Dik, 2009). External influences are those â€Å"which originate outside the individual† and the main motive is to satisfy this â€Å"external factor or criteria.† There are too many external influences on an individual’s career choice. It is not possible to list all of them. But in this research we will make an attempt to study the major ones. First of all the external influences are of two kinds – those that motivate and those that restrict. Motivating factors could be the people around you, your needs, and your inspirations. Constraints could be your belonging to a certain race or gender, living in a certain geographic location, the resources at your disposal (financial or otherwise). But, as we can see, though most of them are not within ones personal control, all these factors do play a major role in the choice of career. Family Most studies show that the family and the immediate social environment play a major role

Popular Culture-Villains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Popular Culture-Villains - Essay Example The source asserts that the movies where Lecter is not presented significantly i.e. Lambs and Manhunter are better in the series because more attention is deflected from the main character. The author rates other movies lowly due to the fact that Lecter is predominantly represented in the movies. The source even goes to extent of predicting the nature of the next movie in reference to the past trends. It is predicted that Lecter will still feature predominantly, â€Å"†¦the next Lecter film gets made (I’m quite certain it will, and probably sooner than later), it’s going to have to feature Lecter predominantly† (Lev 4). This is an assumption that the preceding movies in the series might be of low quality, which is not always the case. The first impression that the article presents to the reader is that the â€Å"totally overrated† status that is used to define Hannibal Lecter is due to the cheap price attached to the book (Lev 1). However, the low price of the material might not be necessarily because the product is of low quality. Other factors such as the economic stability of the readers could be at play. The source may dismiss the actor as overrated but the admission that the AFI named him the leading movie villain of all times. This creates doubts on the sincerity of the overrated claims. One of the source’s ratings of the main character is related to his role, â€Å"...guy with his tics and theatrical preening and eating people ...† (Lev 3). This is a personal confession of the author on the unpleasant things that the he identified after watching the movies. Although some character behaviors might not be attractive, the source should not have blamed all the weaknesses on the Lecter alon e because he serves to advance the theme of the film. Therefore, the failure to entertain should also be blamed on the general failure of thematic organization of the movie. The roles of the characters should be the same as that of the directors as they all work

Astronomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Astronomy - Essay Example If earth’s internal activities are related to solar energy, then other planets also should have such internal activities. â€Å"The earth grew from the accumulation of planetismals (meteorites and asteroids), over a period of 1-200 million years about 4.3 to about 4.5 billion years ago. All of the geological activity on the earth today is driven from this initial source of heat at the earths formation, aided and abetted by continued radioactive decay of elements in the earths interior.† (The Heat History of Earth) The construction of earth is not homogeneous and different parts of earth have different types of layers and even the materials are different at different locations on earth. For example the soil structure of India and that of America are entirely different. Earth is blessed with so many radioactive elements like Uranium, Radium, and Plutonium which are decaying continuously liberating huge amount of energy. More over these elements are not distributed uniformly on earth’s surface and even then earth’s internal activities are distributed evenly everywhere. So we can concl ude that the internal activity of earth is not because of radioactive decay of elements alone, but it was due to the initial source of heat at the earth’s formation also. It is an accepted fact that earth’s internal activity has risen in the recent past. It is evident from the increased number of earth quakes, and volcano eruption. Once the earth’s internal activities finished, there will be no more earth quakes, tidal waves and volcano eruption and the earth becomes cooled to alarming levels so that its biological activities will also be ended along with the geological activities. â€Å"There is much evidence that indicates geological vitality of a planet which has played a fundamental role in the development and evolution of life.† (Frias) It is evident from the fact that no other

Altruism among humans Essay Example for Free

Altruism among humans Essay This paper presents an examination of the phenomenon of altruism among humans. Altruism is defined as a behaviour that may be to ones advantage but is also to the advantage of others. The questions of why we behave this way or what motivates us to behave in this manner and the relevance to society today are the focus of this paper. Various research and theories has explained why altruistic behaviour is undertaken intentionally in the human world. Introduction We often read or hear about acts of generosity and courage, such as, fund raisers or concerts to  help homeless people, the fostering of a child and sponsoring his or her education, or of volunteers risking their lives to help victims in incidents like September 11 terrorist attack in the United States. We could have donated some money to orphanages or cared for a wounded dog. Such humane acts are defined by Psychologists as altruism (Moghaddam, 1998). Altruistic acts could be unselfish or done for personal gain or egoistic reasons. Indeed in a psychological paradigm, psychologists believe that true altruistic behaviour does not exist (Moghaddam, 1998). But how do we account for the behaviour of Mother Theresa or Mahatma Gandhi and many other unselfish acts of human endeavours? In order to explore this we have to understand the person variable and situational variable motivating the altruistic act (Simons, Kalichman Santrock, 1994). As we are aware behaviour is determined by personal and situational variables. A persons ability to empathise with the needy or to feel responsible for anothers welfare has great impact on altruistic behaviour. Situations influence the strength of the altruistic motivation. Reciprocity and exchange are important aspects of altruism (Simons, Kalichman Santrock, 1994). Humans give and receive from others everywhere. Reciprocity is the basic principle of every religion in the world for example, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam (Brosnahan, 2003). To act altruistically, requires consciousness and caring, and similarly, pet owners can often cite altruistic behaviour or at least conscious acts of kindness on the part of cats and dogs (Simons, Kalichman Santrock, 1994). Another good example would be the nursing,  profession founded on the notion of helping people, sometimes even at a cost to nurses themselves. There are many ways people show altruism. To explain why we do altruistic acts like volunteering, donating or raising funds, we need to distinguish between four different forms of altruism which are observed in humans that shown towards kin, a partner, a friend, and individual who does not fit into these categories (http://www. theunityofknowledge. org/the_evolution_of_altruism/introduction. htm, 2003) Of the several types of altruism a main focus has been on heroic altruism (Moghaddam, 1998). It is a short term intervention requiring physical action and tends to fit more the masculine gender. On the other hand Nurturant altruism requires more patience, listening and a caring attitude with long term involvement. This more closely fits the image of the traditional feminine gender (Moghaddam, 1998). The Bystander effect greatly influences helping behaviour, because of common ignorance of bystanders and assumptions about other bystanders actions. Each persons scope of responsibilities can decrease in the presence of others ( Moghaddam, 1998). In  order for Bystander to help he or she has to posses social skills to interpret the situation and take appropriate actions (Moghaddam, 1998). Initially from a theoretical perspective if a person knows how to overcome obstacles to he or she giving help, subsequently other people start questioning whether the helping behaviour was true altruism (Moghaddam, 1998). A later there was a theory of Daniel Batson empathy-altruism, believes that people help out of a genuine desire(Moghaddam, 1998). Other theories propose that altruistic behaviour is egoistic and put the hypothesis that helping behaviour is a way to  repair a helpers image (Moghaddam, 1998). Methodology An interview was conducted with a woman who volunteers her services with meals on wheels and has done nearly sixteen years. She is a retired school teacher living alone. I assumed that her altruistic behaviour had a self fulfilling motive. Therefore I chose her and I wanted to clarify or confirm my assumption. In order to facilitate my focus interviewee was given ten questions asking about her volunteering profile, and her motivating factors. This interview created awareness of other influencing factors motivating her altruistic behaviour.

Britannia Industries Limited Is One Leading Bakers Marketing Essay

Britannia Industries Limited Is One Leading Bakers Marketing Essay Britannia Industries Limited is one of the leading players in the bakery segment in India. Its product portfolio includes various types of biscuits, breads and cakes. The company primarily operates in India. It is headquartered in Kolkata, India and employed about 2,358 people as on March 2008. The company recorded revenues of INR 26,177 million during the fiscal year ended March 2008, an increase of 13% over 2007. Top line of Britannia was driven by price increases by way of reduction in pack sizes and extension of excise exemption to biscuits with maximum retail price (MRP) below INR 100 per kilogram from INR 50 per kilogram earlier. The operating profit of the company was INR 2,723 million during fiscal year 2008, an increase of 80% compared with 2007. The PAT was INR 1,910 million in fiscal year 2008, an increase of 77.5% compared with 2007. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Britannia Industries Limited (Britannia) is engaged in producing and distributing bakery products including a variety of biscuits, breads, rusks, and cakes. The Wadia group of India along with Groupe Danone of France, are equal shareholders in ABIL, the UK which is a major shareholder in Britannia. The company operates through three broad product categories: biscuit and high protein food, bread and rusk, and cake. The biscuit products are marketed under the following brands: Tiger, Good Day, 50 50, Marie Gold, Treat, Milk Bikis, Nutri Choice, Time Pass, Pure Magic, Little Hearts, Nice Time, Vita Marie Gold and Greetings. Bread products are sold under the Premium Bakes, white sandwich bread brand. Cake products are sold under the Premium Bakes, Cakes and Rusks brands. The company also offers Cup Cakes in its cakes category. Britannias dairy operations are conducted through its subsidiary, Britannia New Zealand Foods Company Private Limited (BNZF). BNZF is a joint venture between Britannia and Fonterra Co-operative Group of New Zealand. The company exports its products to the US, Ghana, Seychelles, Singapore, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. HISTORY Britannia was established with an initial investment of INR295 in Kolkata in 1892. The operations of the company were mechanized with the advent of electricity in 1910. The company started using gas ovens in 1921. Britannia Biscuit Company took over biscuit distribution from Parrys in 1975. In 1978 the company became a publicly listed company. In the following year, the company was renamed as Britannia Industries Limited (Britannia). The companys executive office was relocated to Bangalore in 1989. In 1993 Wadia group acquired stake in ABIL, UK and became an equal partner with Groupe Danone in Britannia. Britannia introduced its new corporate identity Eat Healthy, Think Better; and launched Tiger Cashew Badam and Cheeker brands of biscuits in 1997. In 1998, the company introduced Milk Bikis and Nutri Choice brands; and Etnic Snacking. In 1999, the company issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2. During the same year, the company also introduced cheeselets. The company introduced biscuit brands GD Choco, Time Pass and Vita Marie Gold in 2000; Rourbon Pocket Packs, Maska Chaska and Vita Marie Gold in 2001. Britannia introduced many brands of biscuits in 2002 which include Time Pass Classic Salted, Jim Jam Pocket Packs, Chai Biskoot, Tiger Cream, GD Ginger Nut and Pure Magic. The company launched a joint venture with Fonterra, a dairy company; and started Britannia New Zealand Foods in 2002. The company launched, Treat Duet, a biscuit brand in 2003. In the following year, Britannias Good Day biscuit added Choconut, a new variety to its range of biscuits. The rebirth of Tiger biscuit was seen in 2005, with the tag line Swasth Khao, Tiger Ban Jao. In the same year Britannia launched Greetings range of premium assorted gift packs; and Britannia 50-50 Pepper Chakkar. In the same year, the company started its new plant in Uttaranchal. In July 2006, Britannia acquired Cafe Coffee Days 50% stake in Daily Bread, a Bangalore-based high-end food re tailer. In March 2007, Britannia formed a joint venture with the Khimji Ramdas Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in the Middle East. Britannia and its associates acquired 70% beneficial stake in Dubai-based Strategic Foods International and Oman-based Al Sallan Food Industries Co SAOG. In January 2008, Britannia was asked by the Calcutta High Court to pay back the INR12 crore, which it withdrew from the companys pension fund. MAJOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Britannia Industries Limited (Britannia) is a producer and distributor of bakery and dairy products. It manufactures, distributes and sells a range of branded products including: List of products: Biscuits Bread Rusk Cakes Cheese Butter Milk List of selected brands: 50:50 Deluca Good Day Little Hearts Milk Bikis MarieGold Maska Chaska NutriChoice Pure Magic Treat Tiger REVENUE ANALYSIS Britannia recorded revenues of INR 26,177 million during the fiscal year ended March 2008, an increase of 13% over 2007. The company generates revenues through three business divisions: biscuits and high protein foods (89% of the total revenues during fiscal year 2008), bread and rusk (7.4%), and cake (2.9%). Revenue by division During the fiscal year 2007, the biscuits and high protein food division recorded revenues of INR 23,299 million, an increase of 11.4% over 2007. The bread and rusk division recorded revenues of INR 1,956 million in fiscal year 2008, an increase of 36.3% over 2007. The cake division recorded revenues of INR 769 million in fiscal year 2008, an increase of 23.2% over 2007. The others (including scrap sales) division recorded revenues of INR 144 million in fiscal year 2008, a decrease of 28% over 2007. SWOT ANALYSIS Britannia is a producer and distributor of bread, snacks and dairy products. The company has a portfolio of top selling food brands. Britannia produces and distributes premium brands such as 50:50, Good Day, Little Hearts, Milk Bikis, MarieGold, Maska Chaska, NutriChoice, Pure Magic, Treat, and Tiger. An extensive portfolio of global brands facilitates customer recall and enhances Britannias market penetration capabilities. However, an impending litigation disputing the trademark of Britannias biscuit brand Tiger, with Danone, could adversely impact the companys brand image and its international expansion plans. Strengths Weaknesses Strong brand name Launch of innovative products and brand extensions Growth in operating segments High dependence on Indian market Fluctuating cash from operations Opportunities Threats Inorganic growth Strategic alliances Growing demand for health and convenience products Litigations Inflationary dairy product prices Outbreak of animal diseases Strengths Strong brand name The company has a strong portfolio of top selling food brands. Britannia produces and distributes premium brands such as 50:50, Good Day, Little Hearts, Milk Bikis, MarieGold, Maska Chaska, NutriChoice, Pure Magic, Treat, and Tiger. Each of the companys six pillar brands (Good Day, Tiger, 50:50, Treat, Milk Bikis, and Marie Gold) generate sales in excess of INR1 billion. Further, the company is entering new product lines like snacking and health products and thus capturing a larger market share. In 2007, most of the companys brands secured double digit growth rate. Additionally, Britannia was ranked second among FMCG companies in the Business Worlds Most Respected Company Survey 2006. With a wide portfolio of brands and choice of product category, the company is able to differentiate itself in the market, nurture customer loyalty, and reduce its business risk. As a dairy product company, Britannia enjoys strong brand equity, and its extensive portfolio of global brands has helped it to expand its market presence and visibility. A strong brand portfolio not only facilitates customer recall but also enhances Britannias market penetration opportunities. Launch of innovative products and brand extensions The company has a strong orientation towards product innovation. In 2007, the company demonstrated its ability to innovate and extend its brands and products. Britannia launched many innovative products in 2007. Through an innovative product lineup, the company plans to strengthen and sharpen its brands and transform them from existing formats and conventional archetypes. In this context, the company launched cream and coconut varieties in its Tiger brand range. Further, the Chota Tiger, which is an extension of Tiger brand, draws on the kids snacking habit presenting biscuits as small, pop-able, snacks in a pouch pack. Similarly, the company also launched added Fruit Rollz under its Treat brand. Further, the company launched 50:50 Chutkule and NutriChoice Digestive and SugarOut. NutriChoice SugarOut is the first biscuit without added sugar, in the Indian market. Strong product innovation skills enable the company to stay ahead of the competition and create an edge in the market. Growth in operating segments Britannias operating segments has shown strong financial performance since 2005, which is evident from its revenue growth. Biscuit and high protein food segment revenue increased from INR14,926.9 million (approximately $330.8 million) in 2005 to INR20,910.8 million (approximately $463.4 million) in 2007, this representing compounded annual growth rate CAGR (2005-2007) of 18%. The bread and rusk segment also recorded increase in revenue from INR788.2 million (approximately $17.5 million) in 2005 to INR1,435.7 million (approximately $31.8 million) in 2007, this representing CAGR(2005-2007) growth of 35%. Further, the cake segment also recorded increase in revenue from INR355.7 million (approximately $7.9 million) in 2005 to INR624 million (approximately $13.8 million) in 2007, this representing CAGR(2005-2007) growth of 35%. Strong performance by the companys operating segment enhances its financial standing and strengthens its position against its competitors. Weaknesses High dependence on Indian market Though Britannia has made forays into other international markets, it is still dependent on the Indian market for a majority of its revenues. Though the company exports its products to many countries, the revenue contribution of regions other than India is too low to confer any significant geographical diversification benefit on the company. High dependence on India makes Britannia vulnerable to the market conditions in this region. Fluctuating cash from operations The company has not been able to generate consistent cash from its operations in recent times. The company has registered fluctuations in its cash from operations, registering a decline in every alternate year since 2004. Cash from operations decreased from INR1,961 million (approximately $43 million) in 2005 to INR649 million (approximately $14 million) in 2006. Again in 2007, it increased to INR871 million (approximately $19 million). Fluctuating cash from operation could upset the companys expansion plans. Opportunities Inorganic growth Britannia is aggressively pursuing inorganic growth model. In March 2007, Britannia concluded two acquisitions, including its first ever overseas partnership. In March 2007, Britannia formed a joint venture with the Khimji Ramdas Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in the Middle East. Britannia and its associates acquired 70% beneficial stake in Dubai-based Strategic Foods International LLC and Oman-based Al Sallan Food Industries Co SAOG. The two companies are major regional players in the biscuits and cookies segments in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) markets. Both the companies export to more than 40 countries across the globe including Africa, Australia and Japan, thereby giving Britannia access to many new markets. These two acquisitions are expected to allow Britannias portfolio to extend to those countries in which they have a presence. The joint venture could provide Britannia an opportunity to grow its international footprint by leveraging on the complementa ry strengths of the two partners. Strategic alliances Britannia entered into strategic alliance with Daily Bread Pvt. Ltd. (Daily Bread) to participate in premium bread and allied products market in India. In July 2006, Britannia acquired a strategic 50% stake in Daily Bread, a Bangalore-based company engaged in the manufacturing and retailing of premium breads, cakes, and ready-to-eat snacks. Daily Bread operates in both institutional and retail segments, and offers a wide range of international quality bakery products, including 50 varieties of specialty breads. Post-acquisition, Britannia holds the brand Deluca in India. Daily Breads business model includes a chain of own and franchised retail outlets, and catering to institutional customers. Daily Bread operates seven outlets in Bangalore and since its acquisition by Britannia; two large outlets have been added. Britannia is keen to scale up the outlet chain to 30-40 cities beginning Fiscal 2008. This acquisition marks Britannias entry in the high-end, freshly baked gourmet food. Th is alliance will help Britannia to scale up the bakery business in select markets with a range of gourmet products sold under its brand names. Growing demand for health and convenience products Consumers worldwide have become more health conscious in recent years. Increasing number of consumers are opting for natural, fat-free and healthy food products. Food items containing trans-fat are losing market share as they are linked to cardiovascular diseases. The primary drivers for this trend are changing lifestyles, late marriages, increase in single-parent households, increase in number of homes with two working parents, and increased working hours. Consumer expenditure on away-from-home dining is rising. According to the US Economic Research Service, spending on food-away-from-home is expected to increase by almost 10% per capita until 2025. The trend towards low fat, low sugar and low carbohydrate foods and drinks continues to drive the market. Britannia offers a range of low-fat and sugar free products. With a strong emphasis on healthy foods, the company is likely to benefit from the increasing health food market. The global nutritional market exhibited strong growth in 2 006, estimated at E127 billion ($159 billion), with half of this represented by the US market. The company is well positioned to exploit its focus on health and convenience platform to drive its future growth. Threats Litigations Britannia and Groupe Danone (Danone), a French dairy and beverages giant, are engaged in intellectual property rights battle, since many years. Wadia group and Danone have an equal stake in Associated Biscuits International Holdings (ABIH), which is a major shareholder in Britannia. Both the companies are disputing over the trademark of Britannias biscuit brand, Tiger. Britannia has accused Danone of registering the Tiger Trademark globally without its consent. Danone has already registered Tiger brand in nearly 35 countries and has applied for registration of the Tiger trademark in over 70 countries. In 2006, Britannia sued Danone in a Singapore court, seeking a speedy redressal of the Tiger brand issue. Danone has already registered Tiger trademark in Singapore, which will expire in November 2009. Britannia submitted its trademark application for Tiger in Singapore only in April 2007, which is still pending. An arbitration case between the two parties is also pending at the Bombay High Court. This long impending litigation (with Danone) could adversely impact Britannias brand equity and its international expansion plans. Inflationary dairy product prices Britannia, being a diary company, is exposed to general business risks faced by the global dairy market. Britannia is vulnerable to price fluctuations in the world market for raw materials such as flour, soya, maize and grain. In 2007, the industry witnessed an inordinate and simultaneous increase of approximately 20% 25% in the market prices of all key commodities like flour, refined palm oil, skimmed milk powder, etc. The companys top line growth of 28.4% was eroded by inflation in input costs, resulting in a gross margin decline of 6.7%.The global dairy market is marked by sharp fluctuations in the price of dairy products. Furthermore, sales prices are fixed with customers for relatively long periods in a number of markets, whereas the purchase prices of milk are subject to short-term fluctuations. In order to limit these risks, Britannia should try to minimize its operating costs by efficiently utilizing existing resources. Further increase in input cost could dampen the company s gross margin, which could result in declining top-line growth. Outbreak of animal diseases Britannia, as a diary product company, is dependent on constant supply and quality of the raw materials like milk. Any outbreak of animal diseases (especially Foot and Mouth Disease caused by a virus which is one of the most contagious and feared diseases), can cause heavy loss in susceptible cloven-hoofed animals world over. Britannia, which markets all dairy-based products like butter, cheese, and biscuits to different countries, may get affected by milk supplies and the production and sale of dairy products in case of diseases outbreak thus affecting its revenues. TOP COMPETITORS The following companies are the major competitors of Britannia Industries Ltd. Nestle India Ltd ITC Corporation Ltd. Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.

Data Management and Metadata Essay -- Computer Science

"Although fully searchable text could, in theory, be retrieved without much metadata in the future, it is hard to imagine how a complex or multimedia digital object that goes into storage of any kind could ever survive, let alone be discovered and used, if it were not accompanied by good metadata" (Abby Smith). Discuss Smith's assertion in the context of the contemporary information environment Introduction In the world of preservation and library science the common focus is on preserving content, ensuring its longevity, findability, and a stable consistent metadata and technology solution, However we live in an age where everyone is a publisher of some form, and more consistently the content they produce will be in a digital rather than analogue form. Within that content there will always be varying amounts of metadata, some will be populated with an immense detail and granularity, some content will have been created with no human intervention to add additional information to it. In fact much of the digital material produced will have been done so by people who have no concept of metadata, and no inclination to know about it or time to use it. The question raised by Smiths statement highlights many of the issues around data preservation and digital content, with metadata only being a part of those issues, but integral to the ongoing management of the massive influx of digital content being produced. Metadata Issues Lets begin with a potentially frightening piece of I.T. market research. â€Å" In 2010 the amount of digital information created and replicated worldwide was nearly 1,203 exabytes, (an exabyte is billion gigabytes or 1018 bytes)† IDC [1] With the amount of data growing exponentially year on year one could ask, ... ... 9. http://annotator.imense.com/info/ accessed 12-12-2010 10. http://www.virage.com/rich-media/index.htm accessed 12-12-2010 11. Board, Technology Strategy, Metadata production tools MAINSTREAM COLLABORATIVE R & D FUNDING Metadata production tools 2011 http://www.innovateuk.org/_assets/pdf/competition-documents/metadataproductiontoolscompetition.pdf accessed 02-01-2011 12. Bulterman, D.C.a., â€Å"Is it time for a moratorium on metadata?† IEEE Multimedia 11, no. 4 (October 2004): 10-17 (Bulterman, 2004) 13. Shah, Chirag. â€Å"ContextMiner: Supporting the Mining of Contextual Information for Ephemeral Digital Video Preservation.† International Journal of Digital Curation 4, no. 1 (2009): 175-192. http://ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/111. 14. http://tagger.steve.museum/ accessed 21/12/2010 15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/ accessed 21/12/2010 .

Structuralism and Functionalism

Structuralism VS. Functionalism Breanne Jagiello National University Structuralism VS. Functionalism â€Å"We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself. † –Brian Cox. Both structuralism and functionalism were intended to seek answers to questions of the conscious mind. The basis for scientific psychology began with structuralism and later attempted to model psychology on evolutionary theory (functionalism).Both sciences share some commonalties as well as many differences and are still used and relevant in modern psychology. Structuralism can be defined as â€Å"E. B Tichener’s system of psychology, which dealt with conscious experience as dependent on experiencing persons† (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 18). In this system mental processes are broken down into the most basic components. This science taught that all human knowledge had been derived from human experience, and that there is no other source of k nowledge.Following structuralism was functionalism â€Å"A system of psychology concerned with the mind as it is used in an organism’s adaptation to its environment† (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 18). Functionalism focused on how the mind operated, and sought to answer what mental processes accomplished. Both sciences are concerned with uncovering questions regarding the conscious self. The two sciences have been considered to be highly integrated and interrelated. What manifests itself as a function from one angle may be viewed as structure from another and vice versa; therefore, one cannot do justice to the evolution of economic theories by concentrating exclusively on either structuralism or functionalism—a synthesis of the two is essential† (Karsten, n. d. , p. 180). Functionalism and structuralism both relied on introspection as a method for research. Although flaws were found in introspection observation, it has still proven to be an essential bridge to unlocking psychological wisdom.Introspection relies on self-reports about personal thoughts or feelings, essentially experience. â€Å"Experience is a common starting point for all sciences, from physics to psychology, and each science must be permitted to use those explanatory principles† (Shook, n. d. , p. 348) While there were similarities between each science, there were many more differences. Functionalism can be thought of as a response to structuralism. With functionalism came a new beginning for the basis of psychology.Structuralism focused on what happened when an organism experienced an event, while functionalism focused on the how and why. â€Å"It did this first by abandoning key elements of Wundt’s effort to model scientific psychology on the physiological successes and instead attempted to model psychology on evolutionary theory†(Green, 2009, p. 75). Functionalist also differed in that; they believed breaking down the elements would deceive cons ciousness. Their ideas about consciousness were in terms of the whole, â€Å"mental life is a unity, a total experience that changes.Consciousness is a continuous flow, and any attempt to divide it into temporarily distinct phases can only distort it†(Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 137). Titchener, on the other hand, taught that consciousness was the sum of experiences as they happen at any given time. He focused on the parts while Wundt focused on the whole. Functionalists were not concerned with the structure of mental processes, researchers were more concerned with how these processes â€Å"lead to practical consequences in the real world†(Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 03) Structuralism was concerned with determining the structure and basic parts of consciousness. Leaders in functionalism and structuralism had very different perspectives of how the mind should be analyzed, both contributed to the development of psychology in very different ways. Structuralism clearly def ined conscious experience and, â€Å"their research methods were in the highest tradition of science†(Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 100). Functionalism also had an impact on psychology’s development. Animal behavior became an important area of study as a consequence to this the science.Research methods such as physiological research, mental tests, questionnaires, and objective descriptions were introduced with functionalism. Both sciences can be related to modern day psychology. Introspection is still used in some cases through self-reports based on experience. â€Å"Self-reports are still requested from people exposed to unusual environments, such as weightlessness for space flight. Introspective reports involving cognitive processes such as reasoning are frequently used in psychology today† (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 100).Also, today child psychology as introduced in functionalism is a widely used and studied branch of psychology today. These sciences gave us the basis for psychology as we know it today. References Green, C. D. (2009). Darwinian theory, functionalism, and the firstAmerican psychological revolution. Retrieved from http://nu. libguides. com/content. php? pid=159445&sid=1349149 Karsten, S. G. (n. d. ). Dialectics, functionalsim, and structuralism, in economic thoughts. Retrieved from http://ehis. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. nu. edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? id=c052e67a-2092-4c7f-9882-5fdc8d700d0f%40sessionmgr12&vid=1&hid=4 Schultz, D. P. , & Schultz, S. E. (2012). The study of the history of psychology. In J. Hague (Ed. ), The history of Modern Psychology (10th edition ed. , pp. 1-21). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Shook, J. R. (n. d. ). Wilhelm Wundt’s contribution to John Dewey’s functional psychology. Retrieved from http://ehis. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. nu. edu/ehost/search/basic? sid=bbb50993-231d-42d9-8885-881119aa7fd0%40sessionmgr15&vid=4&hid=22