Embryonic cells Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Embryonic cells - Essay Example stem cells was discovered, and it was thought that we just might be on the threshold of an age of miracles (Cobb,2013).â€Å"Physiological studies have shown that pluripotent stem cells or embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into any kind of cell. When an egg is fertilized and it reaches the blastocyst stage i.e. 4-5 days post fertilization, the embryonic cells are formed. During normal growth these cells would differentiate into different specialized and help the baby grow in the womb.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Stem cells are self-renewing, unspecialised cells that can give rise to multiple types all of specialized cells of the body† (Grier,2006) Stem cell technology involves the usage of this concept and derivation of stem cells from embryos such that the cells can be used for various therapeutic purposes and medical treatments. The procedure involves isolation of the embryonic cells from the blastocyst, artificial cell culturing using broth medium which allows cell growth to give rise to an embryonic cell line and finally stimulation of differentiation of these cells to form desired and specific cells and tissues as required. The myth is embryos are killed while harvestation of embryonic stems cells. Couples opting for IVF often have 2-3 extra embryos which they do not use and initially these embryos would end up as biomedical wastes. However, now these embryos are used for research purposes for extraction of embryonic cells which may be maintained as culture sunder laboratory conditions. Yes, it does mean that the embryo will be destroys but one needs to understand that the embryo is not a baby and is only a cluster of a few cells. It lacks organs or even lacks the human form.†Induced pluripotent embryo cells are not human organism† (Huarte & Suarez,2011) and hence ethical questions must not be raised. It rather looks like a ball than a human. Even if it was not harvested, the embryo would have to be thrown away anyways. Many have the opinion and in order

Summury and response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summury and response - Essay Example Only 87 students that were of Chinese descent graduated from the university 5 years ago, while 2224 will graduate from the same university this year. Enrollment of international students has grown tremendously in the last years by over 6 percent with china having the highest figures of over 20 percent that prefer the big public colleges. This figures help to give an insight into the metamorphosis of the public universities in America in a time when support from the state has reduced. There are about 25 campuses that have amplified international enrollment to more than 40 percent in the last five years according to data collected by the Institute of International Education except one public university. The enrollment in Indiana has gone over 6,000 to 15 percent of the students in the university while in Illinois it has reached 9,000 and consequently it has been ranked as the second in the country. These universities are perceived to put importance on having international students and the ideas that they bring since they pay all their fees and don’t need financial aid. The universities have discovered that the fees paid by the international students can enable them continue to offer scholarships to help the local students even after funding is cut. As at last year, there were over 700,000 international students in the campuses in the US most of them coming from China and the rest from India and South Korea. The number of students from Saudi Arabia is fast growing since their government has established a lucrative sponsorship program. These students bring in over 22 billion dollars to the economy and most of them remain behind after they graduate either to work or continue with their studies. Indiana prefers international students since the rate that they pay in fees is three times what the local ones pay though this denies the local students from getting chances that are offered in this

Cross Cultural Pragmatic Perspective For Classroom Teaching

Cross Cultural Pragmatic Perspective For Classroom Teaching Introduction Cross-culture pragmatics, as a new subject of language study, is based on the developments of pragmatics theories. It hybrids Anthropology, Translation, Communication, Sociology and Pragmatics together and gets wide influence on future language study. Scholars from different countries are always focusing on the problems which language learners always made in their second language using to compare with their native language comprehension. Cross-culture pragmatics is the study of interrelationship communication between people who are from different culture backgrounds. So behind the language usage differences is the huge diversity of cultures which influence the actions and thinking of people. Core Definitions Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. It deals with particular utterance in particular discourse and situation and is especially concerned with the various ways in which many social contexts of language performance can influence interpretation. In other words, pragmatics is concerned with the way language is used to communicate rather than the way it is structured. Cross-culture pragmatics developed since 1950s in America when Chomsky ¼Ã‹â€ 1957 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° developed his grammar-based approach to language acquisition. Lado (1957) had published his book Linguistics Across Culture which can be considered as a milestone to cross-culture pragmatics. It shows the differences between this new subject and comparative linguistics. In his view, comparative linguistics should focus on the differences among languages especially give a systematic comparison of the target language, native language and their culture to get the relation from meaning and distribution. Individuals tend to transfer the forms and meanings and the distribution of forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture both productively and when attempting to speak the language and to act in the culture and receptively when attempting to grasp and understand the language and culture as practiced by natives. From then on, others like Charles Mor ris considered that the study of language should be parceled into syntax, semantics and pragmatics while certain researchers at least in the past have seen pragmatics as a fuzzy area, possibly not deserving of being categorized as a separate and main field. (Thomason,1973 ¼Ã… ¡162). Thomason (1973) thinks that the status of pragmatics is much less clear, if such a discipline exists at all, it is very under-developed . The definition of culture may be ambiguous with some considering it largely related to ethnicity while sociologists and others (Dash, P.2003) consistent to Stern (1992) may see it as inclusive of social groups, some of which may be independent of ethnic consideration ( Dash, P., 2004). Failure is an irreplaceable notion in cross-culture pragmatics from which linguists could get valuable evidences to investigate the language communication and analyze the reason of pragmatic failure. That which is related to cross-cultural failure is referred to as pragmalinguistic failure whereas that which has a non-cultural basis due to the social relationships and positions between individuals is referred to as sociolinguistic failure (Thomas, 1983 ¼Ã… ¡99). Leech (1983) analyzed the different importance of politeness applying into cultures and the informative intent or the sentence meaning, and the other the communicative intent or speaker meaning. The ability to comprehend and produce a communicative act is referred to as pragmatic competence which often includes ones knowledge about the social distance, social status between the speakers involved, the cultural knowledge such as politeness, and the linguistic knowledge explicit and implicit (Kasper, 1997). Foreign language learners are easily to put their own culture to the target language learning which constantly causes pragmatic failures and thus affects the effectiveness of trans-cultural communication. Thin (1984) writes in his book that, literal meaning has little, if any relevance to the use of spoken language in social life. Just (2001) further investigates, much of what we state about others, we have not derived from their statements but from their behaviour. From their point, interpreting pragmatic failure could not ignoring the cultural basis and social belief. Green (1996) especially demonstrated that the central notion is that pragmatics must include belief, intentions (or goal) plan and act. Differences in the way of speaking with different languages are profound and systematic, andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦reflect, and can be explained, in terms ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ differences in cultural traditions, cultural values, and cultural priorities( Wierzbicka 2003:21). It will lose its meaning when language learners use their language without their belief and innate cultural comprehension. The verbal expressions of the language will also fade and lose their vivacity. Cross-pragmatics communication failure It has be beard in mind for all the teachers of pragmatics in their classroom teaching that it is most important cross-cultural risk of pragmatic pitfalls for a certain group of learners who are really in it. For this concern, language teachers especially L2 teacher should be careful to explain the difference of pragmatic usage of communication to avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings. For example, Chinese put modesty as their primary politeness , for this reason , they would criticize themselves to others especially when they are praised by others. I remember an interesting conversation happened between a Chinese girl and an Aussie girl. A: I love your dress, it is amazing! C: No, no, it is only an ordinary dress. Then the conversation fell into ice. It is normal for westerner especially English speaker to say Thank you when their dress are appreciated by others. But in this case, the Chinese girl used her chi-English thinking and directly translated her native language thinking into English to say no. The Aussie girl may think her aesthetic taste being laughed. It is ironic that it is the culture difference causes the misunderstanding. Another example happened in students from Asian countries especially Japan, Korea and China. Teachers from western culture background may find that it is difficult to let those students to call their given name directly without using the title Mr, MS or Professor. These Asian countries are greatly influenced by Confucius and Mencius. Teachers and elders are respected and their authority must not be challenged. In daily conversation, this hierarchical difference would be more obvious, students or the young must use title or honorific pronouns to call the teachers or the elders. Or else they would be criticized by the public. Although they will get used to the western social manners, they still bear the cultural thinking. The idea of number is so universal in the sense that it is readily accessible to all human beings and it is expressed in the lexical structure of all languages. However, not all languages have a grammatical category of number. As we know, English recognizes a distinction between one and more that one ( singular and plural). This distinction has to be expressed morphologically, by assign a suffix to a noun or by changing its form in some other way to indicate whether it refers to one or more than one: boy/boys, box/boxes, man/men, and person/people. The form of a noun in Chinese does not normally indicate whether it is singular or plural. A: May is leaving Nanjing for Beijing tomorrow. B: Dont forget to take the two luggages with you. Of course, it is typically a chi-English conversation. In this communication, pragmatic failure has come out. Luggage is a collection noun and also an uncountable one. The plural form of the word luggage should be expressed as two pieces of luggage. So B should say: Dont forget to take the two pieces of luggage with you. In social cultural concerning, dead is a forbidden word in Chinese culture, Chinese people always use pass away or other word to replace the word DEAD. So in Arabic numbers , Chinese always avoid and unlike the figure 4. Because it shares the same pronunciation with the word dead in Chinese. It is just the same as westerners unlike number 13 and thinks it unlucky. Although both of them are superstitious, they are the part of the culture. As a ordinary language learners , he has to respect it and not to judge. Furthermore, privacy is not often be discussed in public in western countries, many English speakers may feel weird and uncomfortable when people ask them about it. Chinese people always talk about family, marriage and job. But no offense, they just treat them as normal topic to arise the conversation. However, if the English speaker refused harshly, the conversation will be placed on iceberg. Both of the speakers will feel awkward. In hip-pop and rap culture, as a popular music culture. The lyrics always include some abbreviation and jargons having hidden meaning which people hard to understand. Even the native English speaker cannot comprehend. Because it represents the typically Negro street culture in United States. This also can approves that within a big cultural circle, there always exists small cultural. For this sake , we could know cross-cultural could not only exists between countries but different ethnic groups or other groups. Another examples is the Japanese word Sumimasen Versus I am sorry. English speakers might think that Japanese apologize more frequently than they really do because Sumimasen is always be heard in daily life. Sumimasen can be translates as I am sorry and be uses for apology; however, it can also be used in other purposes. There seven functions of it (Ide, 1998:510). It can be used to convey sincere apologies, sumimasen was also used to express thanks, to convey a mixture of thanks and apologies, as a preliminary a request, as an attention-getter , as actual-taking device, and more ritualistically as advice to confirm what someone has sais or simply to acknowledge it. It carries pragmatic and ritualistic functions that extend beyond conveying the semantic meaning of regret or gratitude in actual discourse. So when English speakers hear Sumimasen as frequently as they say I am sorry they think the meaning of these two words are equivalent. Though it is unavoidable to make pragmatic failure during cross-cultural communication, we should consider how to improve the ability of cross-cultural communication since the target students are second language learners. We need to offer a few qualifications related to the issue of how to become a more competent communicator. First, the major cultural barriers to the cross-cultural communications, stereotyping and prejudice, misusing of power, culture shocks, and ethnocentrism, etc. Secondly, because communication is an activity that has a consequence, we must continually ask ourselves id we are behaving in a way that harms our communication partners. For example, do not shake your left hand with people come from India, because left hand symbolize dirt and bad luck. The most important way of how to improve the ability of the cross-cultural communication is following some basic advice such as knowing yourselves, considering the physical and human setting, seeking a shares code, devel oping empathy, encouraging feedback and learning about cultural adaptation, etc. All these can help improve cross-cultural communication. It has become necessary to us to improve the ability of cross-cultural communication. In my opinion, it is also a hard job for teacher themselves to improve their ability of cross-cultural communication. In classroom teaching, teachers hope the students from different cultural backgrounds to show their difference language usage or reactions towards the same things in front of the whole class. But students who notice the intention sometimes are not willing to take the chalks which may make them feel embarrassed like the animals in the zoo. As Thomas (1983) writes, ..speaking good English does not necessarily mean conforming to the norms of the culturally hegemoic strata. The teachers might well know different culture through their teaching, the key point is they shouldnt bear the discriminations to certain culture. If the teacher cannot keep his neutrality, students from certain cultural background may feel hurt and inferior. Mangubhai (1997) states, Nonetheless, it is possible to discern certain patterns of behavior, or primary tendencies within a cultural or sub-cultural group that permit one to address learners as a group. Grouping the students and respecting their own culture wou ld be the fundamental rule for all language teachers. Classroom Implications There are some implications for cross-cultural language teachers in their classroom teaching to eliminate the pragmatic failure and cultural misunderstanding. Foreign language teaching should be entered at all levels of linguistic knowledge words, sentences, discourse penetration pragmatic knowledge to enhance the ability to use language learners so that students understand the language reflected in the pragmatic rules, values and social ideas. Through the two cultures, two languages contrast, explore, and point out their differences in order to avoid linguistic pragmatic failure. Foreign or second language teachers when they are in the teaching process should pay special attention to the custom of a particular form of language-oriented; English speech act realization and understanding of differences in speech act. In vocabulary teaching, the students are supposed not only to understand the terms of intention, but also pay attention to their cultural meaning and proper use, in particular the taboo words. In oral practice and translation practice, different usage of words and expressions should be emphasized through certain discourse and contexts. Provide a lot of cross-cultural communication context to its recommend sources and materials relevant to the subject of the foreign cultures of extra-curricular books to enhance the learners understanding of foreign cultures and improve their practical application ability. To encourage the students to investigate the culture barrier themselves and let them to talk more with the native speaker of the target language will fasten the process of culture immersion. In communication, language is the basic unit of discourse. Thus, the ability to foster communicative discourse on the need to develop capacity. The so-called discourse capability refers to the students master the discourse on the basis of knowledge of the mechanisms of convergence can be quickly and accurately grasp the basic content of discourse and the central idea, in-depth understanding of the communicative value of text, students with strong reading ability and listening comprehension. Can be combined with the ability to read and write the language heard of synchronized and coordinated manner. The challenge for language teachers is to present information about culture in such a way that learners come to recognize, through nonjudgmental comparison, both the existence of their own system and that of the other language/culture. Language teachers must not only act as a good teaching instructors, administrators, evaluators, but also to act as lifelong learners and teaching the role of researchers. Pragmatic abilities as related to pragmatics, cross-cultural communication studies, second language acquisition research, foreign language teaching and other fields of inter-disciplinary issues, so the teacher must establish a life-long learning concept, lay a solid basic skills, and focus on their own knowledge structure updates. Language teachers in cross-cultural teaching background should expand the breadth and depth of their knowledge, and continuously develop their pragmatic competence in order to ensure the professional competence of adaptability, do a good job nurturing stude nts who pragmatic competence. Feedback plays a key role in learners progress in culture competence. A teacher can give feedback in the role of an L2 instructor who points out learners mistakes, presents correct models, or direct learners to self-correct. Alternatively, a teacher can provide feedback as one interlocutor in the interaction, who responds to the other interlocutors remarks and behaviors with natural conversational prompt for repetition, clarification, or self-correction (Noda, 1998). Performing a culture in each case should aim to create a memory focused on pleasing the subjects of the remembering so they will want to continue the conversing (Walker, 2000). The ability to discern others response and adjust ones behaviors accordingly is an important skill that contributes to learners overall competence in C2 communication. Therefore, when learners performance is culturally incorrect, responding as an interlocutor in the interaction is one option in giving feedback. Since this kind of feedback is implicit and time-consuming, when it causes confusion or is not applicable in classroom instruction, explicitly correcting learners can always be an alternative option. Kramsch (1991: 229) refers to it as cultural competence, and asserts that it can best be developed in a structured learning environment, here conscious parallels can be drawn, where language can be explicitly linked to its meaning in a particular sociocultural and historical context, where disparate linguistic or cultural phenomena can be brought together and attached to more abstract principles of both base (C1) and target (C2) language and culture. Teachers should continually deepen their understanding of both C1 and C2 by reading studies from a variety of sources that help identify and analyze cultural patterns in the series of isolated cultural facts which they experience or teach about. Conclusion As supported by the definitions by Mangubhai and Son (2003) and Hatch (1992) in respect to an utterance, its underlying meaning and intention derived from specific context represents pragmatics(Dash, 2004). Both Morris (in Thomason, 1973) and Green (1989) separate out pragmatics to semantics and it is this separation, which needs to be imparted in defining to teachers and students how to generate a real improvement in pragmatic competence. Well-organized role play and multi-media displaying authentic and successful pragmatics usage across different cultural against the examples of more frequent cross-cultural pragmatic failure may be a start to guide the students to successful pragmatic strategies . Culture changes through times, the materials language teachers use may be out of date, the teacher could ask the students to correct mistakes and discuss it through groups to clear the misunderstanding. In an attempt to explore the roles of cultural values and cultural themes curriculum, learners learn doing things in a culturally appropriate manner, which automatically results in a procedural knowledge of C2 cultural themes. L2 learners also develop descriptive knowledge on cultural themes and cultural values through explicitly learning information on the two. Culture has a distinct personality; the use of language must be followed. Culture rules, in other words, culture determines thinking, decision. In this sense, the difference in language use can not be avoided. It takes time to implant the pragmatic ability only in classroom teaching. It will be a long journey for both students and teachers to experience the cultural difference in their life and process of learning. However, study the culture of target language including manners, customs and cultural formation of the correct concept will have positive effect on pragmatic competence. (3214 words)

Human Nature :: essays papers

Human Nature In â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† , human nature is the same as it would be in just about any story that we would read or hear. Human nature is no different in Burma than anywhere else in the world. In this story we see different degrees of human nature, from completely normal to in some cases extreme. This essay is mainly focused on peer pressure. â€Å"Should I shoot the elephant or should I not?† or â€Å"Will I lose face with these people if I don’t shoot the elephant?† In this essay, I will discuss the traits of the different characters. Orwell was the kind of person that did not have a very high self-esteem. He did not have his ducks in a row, so to speak. I don’t think that Orwell was one to function under pressure. He would give in to what he thought the people of Burma wanted, not to what he wanted. But secretly inside he hated the environment in which he lived, he hated the imperialistic government in which resided in Burma. He hated the residents of Burma. He stated that he would love to stick his bayonette into the stomach of a Buddhist priest. He felt all of this hatred for the people around him, but yet he felt as if he had to go along with everything and everyone else just to live in harmony. As Orwell was summoned to the â€Å"tiny incident† as he called it, taking care of the elephant situation, he found that the residents of the village did not know exactly what was going on with the elephant until they found out that there could possibly be a shooting, or at least some excitement. For example, he asked some of the villagers if they had seen the elephant. Some said that the elephant went to the left and some said that the elephant went to the right and some did not even know about the elephant at all. The people seemed to be only out for themselves. They were not interested in the situation until they found out that they might be able to benefit from it. This is typical of people in any culture, especially in present times. In the last paragraph of Orwell’s essay, there had been two men that had feelings on the shooting of the elephant.

Issues in Caribbean Development

CARIBBEAN STUDIES MODULE TWO: ISSUES IN CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT TOPIC: THE INTEGRATION MOVEMENT 1. The evolution of: Federation, CARIFTA, CARICOM, OECS, ACS 2. The achievements and challenges of any THREE of the following: * Caribbean Community (Caricom) * University of the West Indies (UWI) * Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) * West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) * Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) * Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) * Regional Security System (RSS) A// The West Indian Federation (1958 – 1962) One of the first major attempts at regional integration was the formation of the West Indian Federation of 1958.Member States included: * Antigua * Barbados * British Guiana * Dominica * Jamaica * Montserrat * St kitts/Nevis/Anguilla * St Vincent * St lucia * Trinidad and Tobago The Federal government was headed by an Executive Governor-General, appointed by Britain and included: * A Prime Minister, elected from among and by the members of the House of Represe ntatives * A Cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister and ten other elected Members chosen by him * A Council of State presided over by the Governor General. The Council included the Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet as well as three senators and three civil servants.The senators and civil servants were chosen by the Governor General. (The Council of State was the principal policy (decision)-making body at the start of the Federation. In 1960 Britain agreed to abolish this Council and allow the Cabinet to take over the powers of the Council) * A forty five-member House of Representatives, with Members elected from among the Territories; and * A nineteen-member Senate, nominated by the Governor General following consultation with the Prime Minister The Governor General was Lord Hailes of Britain and the Prime Minister was Sir Grantley Adams, (Premier of Barbados).The Federal capital was located in Trinidad and Tobago. During its brief existence (1958-62), a number of fundamenta l issues were debated with a view to strengthening the Federation. Among these were direct taxation by the Federal Government, Central planning for development, Establishment of a Regional Customs Union and Reform of the Federal Constitution. The issue of direct taxation was particularly controversial. The Federation was not permitted to levy (impose) income tax for at least the first five years of its life.Added to this, were the greatly differing positions among the Territories with respect to how other federal taxes should be levied. In addition, the Federation began quickly to seek to establish federal institutions and supporting structures. It created a federal civil service; established the West Indies Shipping Service (in 1962) to operate two multipurpose ships – the Federal Maple and the Federal Palm – donated to it by the Government of Canada.It had embarked also on negotiations to acquire the subsidiary of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), name ly British West Indies Airways (BWIA). Cooperation in tertiary education was consolidated and expanded during this period. The then University College of the West Indies (UCWI), which was established in 1948 with one campus at Mona, Jamaica, opened its second campus at St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1960. The Federation however faced several problems.These included: the governance and administrative structures imposed by the British; disagreements among the territories over policies, particularly with respect to taxation and central planning; an unwillingness on the part of most Territorial Governments to give up power to the Federal Government; and the location of the Federal Capital. The decisive development, which led to the demise of the Federation was the withdrawal of Jamaica – the largest member – after conducting a national referendum in 1961 on its continued participation in the arrangement.The results of the referendum showed majority support in favour of withdrawing from the Federation. This was to lead to a movement within Jamaica for national independence from Britain. It also led to the now famous statement of Dr Eric Williams, the then Premier of Trinidad and Tobago that, one from ten leaves nought, referring to the withdrawal of Jamaica and signifying and justifying his decision to withdraw Trinidad and Tobago from the Federal arrangement a short while later. The Federation collapsed in January 1962.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To strengthen the movement for self government 2. To promote economic development 3. To safeguard the democratic system of government vis a vis dictatorship and communism ACHIEVEMENTS 1. Federation facilitated the movement from colonialism to independence through a united voice 2. The coming together of small states strengthened their effectiveness in dealing with international bodies such as the United Nations REASONS FOR FAILURE 1. The masses were not educated on the importance of Federation 2.Communica tion among the islands including shipping, telephone and postal services was inefficient 3. Envy and jealously among member states from their varying levels of economic prosperity 4. Distrust by the smaller states of the larger members (Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica) proposal to prematurely change the constitution of the Federation B//CARIFTA (1968 – 1973) The Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) was founded by Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago on 15 December 1965, with the signing of the Dickenson Bay Agreement (the Agreement establishing theCaribbean Free Trade Association). They were joined on 1 July, 1968 by Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines; and on 1 August, 1968 by Montserrat and Jamaica. In 1971 Belize (then British Honduras) joined the Association. These Caribbean countries had recently become independent, and CARIFTA was intended to unite their economies and to give them a joint presence on the international scene.Specifically, CARIFTA was intended to encourage balanced development of the Region by:   | †¢ increasing trade – buying and selling more goods among the Member States †¢ diversifying trade – expanding the variety of goods and services available for trade †¢ liberalising trade – removing tariffs and quotas on goods produced and traded within the area †¢ ensuring fair competition – setting up rules for all members to follow to protect the smaller enterprises| In addition to providing for free trade, the Agreement sought to:   | †¢ ensure that the benefits of free trade were equitably distributed †¢ promote industrial development in the LDCs promote the development of the coconut industry (through an Oils and Fats Agreement) which was significant in many of the LDCs †¢ rationalise agricultural production but in the interim, facilitate the marketing of selected agricultural products o f particular interest to the LDCs (through the Agricultural Marketing Protocol); and †¢ provide a longer period to phase out customs duty on certain products which were more important for the revenue of the LDCs| In 1972, Commonwealth Caribbean leaders at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference decided to transform the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community, of which the Common Market would be an integral part. The signing of the Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community, Chaguaramas, 4th July 1973, was a defining moment in the history of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Although a free-trade area had been established, CARIFTA did not provide for the free movement of labour and capital, or the coordination of agricultural, industrial and foreign policies.The objectives of the Community, identified in Article 6 of the Revised Treaty, are: to improve standards of living and work; the full employment of labour and othe r factors of production; accelerated, coordinated and sustained economic development and convergence; expansion of trade and economic relations with third States; enhanced levels of international competitiveness; organisation for increased production and productivity; achievement of a greater measure of economic leverage and effectiveness of Member States in dealing with third States, groups of States and entities of any description and the enhanced co-ordination of Member States’ foreign and foreign economic policies and enhanced functional co-operation. In 1973, CARIFTA became the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). C//CARICOM The agreement giving birth to the Caribbean Community and common Market (CARICOM) was signed on July 4, 1973 at Chaguaramas in Trinidad and Tobago. Effective operation of Caricom began on August 1, 1973. Main objectives include: 1.To improve the economic development of member states through the introduction of free trade. 2. Co operation among member count ries in the areas of: shipping, air transport, meteorological services, health, education, culture etc.. 3. To establish common policies in dealing with non-member states and transnational corporations D//OECS – Organization of Eastern Caribbean States The organization of Eastern Caribbean states (OECS) was established on June 18, 1981 with the signing of a treaty among the following countries: 1. Antigua and Barbuda 2. Dominica 3. Grenada 4. Montserrat 5. St Kitts/Nevis 6. St Lucia 7. St Vincent and the Grenadines Objectives: 1.To promote development by the formation of a common market among member states 2. To deal more effectively with international bodies by forming a common foreign policy 3. To assist each other in defending and maintaining political independence OECS member states have a common Eastern Caribbean Currency, they all belong to the Lesser Antilles, they are all small, independent states, share common strategies for development, a common Central Bank, a comm on High Court and a Joint Stock exchange. ACS: Association of Caribbean States The association of Caribbean States is an orgsanisation which at present consists of 25 Member states, 3 Associate members and 14 countries with observer status. Objectives:The ACS was inaugurated on July 02, 1995 with its administrative office in POS, Trinidad. The main objectives of the Association relate to cooperation, discussion and action leading to the sustainable development of the entire Caribbean region. These include: 1. Incorporating the collective human and physical resources of the Caribbean for economic, social, cultural and technological advancement 2. Maximizing the potential of the Caribbean Sea by working with member states and other organizations 3. To encourage increased trade and investment opportunities through cooperation 4. To provide new and improved measures to promote the cultural identities of its members.

Light-Induced Transformation of Amyloplasts Into Chloroplasts

Plant Physiol. (1984) 75, 142-145 0032-0889/84/75/0 142/04/$01. 00/0 Light-Induced Transformation of Amyloplasts into Chloroplasts in Potato Tubers' Received for publication November 9, 1983 and in revised form January 19, 1984 YU S. ZHU, DENISE L. MERKLE-LEHMAN, SHAIN D. KUNG* Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Catonsville, Maryland 21228 ABSTRACT The transformation of amyloplast into chloroplasts in potato (Solawum tuberosum L. ) tuber tissue can be induced by light.Excised potato tuber discs illuminated with white light of 3000 lux bepgn to synthesize chlorophyll after a lag period of 1 day, and continued to synthesize chlorophyll for 3 weeks. In this paper we present evidence, based on ultracentrifugal sedimentation and immunoprecipitation, that the lightmediated synthesis of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase began 1 day after illumination with white light. When illuminated the chloroplasts isolated from light-grown potato tuber tissue incorporated I3SImethionine into polypeptides, one of which has been idenified as the large subunit of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase.These chloroplasts are functional as determined by 02 evolution in the Hill reaction. A great deal of data is now available on the biochemistry of the development of chloroplasts from etioplasts (6). Much less is known about the development of chloroplasts from amyloplasts, a starch storing organeile, which exists in storage tissue, roots, and some callus. It is well known that potatoes turn green on exposure to light for several days.Not only does the study of the organelle transformation and light-regulated gene expression stimulate theoretical interest, but the greening of potato also has some practical importance, since the greening of the potato is accompanied by the formation of the poisonous alkaloid, solanine (5). The morphological and ultrastructural changes in the development of chloroplasts from amyloplasts were described in several electron microscopic studies (3, 11). In this communication we present some biochemical evidence to show the function of chloroplasts from potato tuber based on the biosynthesis of Chl, RuBPCase,2 and Hill activity. lates in sterile Petri dishes (9 cm), 40 discs per dish. The discs were illuminated at room temperature by fluorescent tubes with intensity of 3000 lux. Chlorophyll and RuBPCase Determination. Chl was determined according to Arnon (2). RuBPCase was detected with a Model E analytical ultracentrifuge, as previously described (9). Schlieren pictures were taken at 44,770 rpm, 10 min after attaining this speed. An Ouchterlony double diffusion test was employed to determine the RuBPCase specifically. The antiserum was prepared against RuBPCase from tobacco (15).Light-Driven Protein Synthesis in Choroplasts. Ten g of green potato tuber discs which had been exposed to white light for 7 d were homogenized in a Waring Blendor with cold isolation buffer (sucrose 0. 35 M, Hepes-NaC l 25 mm, EDTA 2 mM, isoascorbateNa 2 mm, pH 7. 6) and filtered through 2 layers of Miracloth. The resultant filtrate was centrifuged at 30g for 1 min to remove starch granules, and the supernatant was then centrifuged at 2500g for 1 min. The pellet was resuspended in 1 ml of KCI suspension (KCI 0. 2 M, Tricine-KOH 66 mm, MgCl2 6. 6 mM).The chloroplast suspension was transferred to a Petri dish (3 cm in diameter) and incubated with [135S]methionine (10 ,uCi) at room temperature under white light (4000 lux). During a 2 h incubation, the incorporation of [35S]methionine into proteins was measured. After the 2 h incubation the radioactive polypeptides were separated on an SDS-polyacrylamide gradient gel (815%), followed by fluorography as described by Blair and Ellis (4). 02 Evolution Assay. The ability of chloroplasts from potato tuber discs to evolve 02 was measured in the Hill reaction ccording to the procedure of Marsho et al. (12). The incubation system consisted of ferricyanide 1. 7 mm, methylamine 3 mm, glyceraldehyde 10 mm, and chloroplasts corresponding to 15 yg of Chl in a total volume of 0. 6 ml. The reaction was initiated by irradiation with red light (22. 4 mw/cm2). The 02 evolution was measured and recorded with a polarograph. RESULTS MATERIAILS AND METHODS Chlorophyll Synthesis in Light-Illuminated Potato Tuber. Our Preparation, Culture, and Light Treatment of Potato Tuber experiments showed that the greening of potato tuber depended Discs.Centennial and Katahdin, two varieties of potato tubers on varieties, storage temperature, light intensity, and wavelength supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture were of light. Out of more than ten varieties of potatoes tested, two used in this study. The tubers were peeled and sterilized with varieties, Centennial and Katahdin, which turn green more Amphyl (National Laboratories, Lehn and Fink Industrial Prod- quickly under light, were selected in this study. Storage of potato ucts Division of St erling Drug Inc. , New Jersey).Discs (10 x 2 tuber below 4 °C retarded or inhibited the transformation of mm) were made with a sterile cork borer and a gel slicer. These amyloplasts into chloroplasts. Blue light was most effective in discs, after washing in sterile water, were placed on 1% agar inducing greening of potato tubers. No red light stimulation was observed. Potato tuber discs illuminated with white light began to green ‘ Supported by National Institutes of Health grant CM22746-01 and with a lag period of about 1 d. The greening continued for 3 United States Department of Agriculture agreement 58-32044157. 2Abbreviations: RuBPCase, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase; weeks after culture (Fig. 1). After illumination for 3 weeks, the potato tuber tissue contained 10 Ag Chl/g of fresh tissue, about LS, large subunit. 142 TRANSFORMATION OF AMYLOPLASTS IN POTATO TUBERS 143 14 oct[L] 15 – a) 121 10 101 5 C-) 8 x 0 > ct [D] Days After Illumination FIG. 1. Time c ourse of the synthesis of chlorophyll in potato tuber discs during continuous illumination with white light. lAt [D] By 0 15 I †¦.. AAt [L] i _x- 60 120 90 Time (min) FIG. 3. Incorporation of [35S]methionine into proteins in the lightdriven chloroplast protein synthesis system. -M1 samples were added to 20% TCA containing 10 tg/ml unlabeled methionine. Proteins were precipitated with 5% TCA containing 10 Mg/ml unlabeled methionine, and counted with a Mark I scintillation counter. Ct, chloroplasts; At, amyloplasts (control); L, light-incubated; D, dark-incubated. FIG. 2. Biosynthesis of RuBPCase in potato tuber tissue as assayed by Ouchterlony double diffusion 0 h (1), 6 h (2), 12 h (3), 24 h (4), 48 h (5), and 72 h (6) after illumination. The central well contained antibody to LS. One g of potato tuber discs was homogenized with 0. 1 ml of Tris 80 mm, MgCl2 20 mm, KCI 40 mM, pH 8. . After centrifugation at 12,000g for 10 min, 20 Ml of the supernatant were used for assay of RuBP Case. hundredth of the Chl content in normal leaves. This is primarily due to fewer chloroplasts per cell. The chloroplasts were not distributed uniformly in discs and were probably linked to some specific ultrastructure in the cortex. Microscopic observation revealed that the amyloplasts were comprised of two types: large (55 x 80 Mm) and small (5-20 Mum). Most of them were stainable with I2-KI. Upon exposure of the discs to light the small amyloplasts only turned greenish.RuBPCase Biosynthesis in Potato Tuber during Greening. Since RuBPCase is the most abundant soluble protein in the chloroplasts (10), it can be used as an important biochemical marker of chloroplasts. The de novo synthesis of RuBPCase was clearly demonstrated by ultracentrifugal sedimentation (data not shown) and specific immunoprecipitation (Fig. 2). The Schlieren pattern of extracts from normal leaves consists of four peaks representing 80S cytoplasmic ribosomes, 70S chloroplast ribosomes, 18S Fraction I protein (RuBPCase), and 4 to 6S Fraction II proteins (8, 9).The extract from potato tuber stored in the dark lacked the peak of RuBPCase, whereas a small peak was observed in discs exposed to 3 d of light, indicating the light one initiated the synthesis of RuBPCase (data not shown). The biosynthesis of RuBPCase was also demonstrated by an Ouchterlony double diffusion assay (Fig. 2). The light-mediated synthesis of RuBPCase started at 1 d after illumination and increased during greening. The RuBPCase content was estimated to be -6 ,ug/g fresh potato tuber tissue, whereas the RuBPCase content of a typical green leaf is 5 to 10 mg/g fresh tissue (10).Further evidence for the de novo synthesis of RuBPCase in light-treated potato tuber was obtained from the experiment on light-driven protein synthesis in chloroplasts. The chloroplasts, isolated from potato tuber discs after illumination for 7 d, exhibited a higher activity of protein synthesis, as demonstrated by the incorporation of [35S]meth ionine into proteins (Fig. 3). In contrast to light-driven protein synthesis in chloroplasts, the chloroplasts in the dark and especially amyloplasts, either in the light or dark, exhibited a very low protein synthesis activity.A number of radioactive polypeptides synthesized in the chloroplasts in the light were recognized on SDS-polyacrylamide gels followed by fluorography (Fig. 4). It was observed that some chloroplast polypeptides (mol wt 39,000, 50,000, 52,000, 55,000, 94,000, 96,000) were synthesized more readily in the light than in the dark. One of these polypeptides co-migrated with purified unlabeled LS of RuBPCase (mol wt 52,000), and was identified as the LS, based on this and results presented in Figure 2.There is also one strongly light-initiated polypeptide (mol wt 64,000) which does not appear in the dark. 02 Evolution of Chloroplasts from Light-Induced Potato Tubers. Upon illumination with red light, the chloroplasts, isolated from light-treated potato tuber discs a fter 3 weeks of light treat- 144 Plant Physiol. Vol. 75, 1984 ZHU ET AL. sure to light, the amyloplasts are transformed into chloroplasts, which have a different function. The changes in ultrastructure of potato tuber amyloplasts during greening were investigated by electron microscope.It was shown that the main developmental features were elongation of vesicles into thylakoids, the differentiation of grana and the appearance of ribosomes in the stroma (3), although the ultrastructure is generally less well developed compared to that for normal leaves. On the other hand, there is very little information on biochemical alterations in potato tuber during greening. To confirm the transformation of amyloplasts into chloroplasts, this study provides some biochemical evidence: (a) the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, (b) the synthesis of RuBPCase and other proteins, and (c) Hill reaction activity.Before illumination the potato tubers contain no Chl or Pchl, but do contain carotenoid which increases during greening (1). Very low light intensity (400 lux) was required to initiate greening. The light may penetrate into the potato tuber discs and evoke the development of chloroplasts from amyloplasts. During the development of chloroplasts from amyloplasts, assembly of Chl into the newly synthesized membranes occurs. Cold storage may cause the breakage of membranes (13); however, some studies suggested that amyloplast membranes remain intact in cold storage (14).It was frequently observed that the chloroplasts were formed as streaks in the potato tuber discs, suggesting a special structure is linked to the chloroplast development. The Schlieren pattern of the extracts from light-induced potato tuber tissue as well as its immunoprecipitation reaction with antiserum to RuBPCase demonstrated that RuBPCase, an important enzyme in the photosynthetic carbon cycle, was de novo synthesized during greening. This result was further confirmed by the active light-dependent pro tein synthesis in the isolated chloroplasts.The biosynthesis of RuBPCase during greening suggests the involvement and operation of CO2 assimilation in the chloroplasts. Furthermore, the photosynthetic function of electron transport and 02 evolution in isolated chloroplasts from potato tuber was shown by the high Hill reaction activity. The transformation of amyloplasts into chloroplasts is absolutely light-dependent. The fact that red light did not stimulate this transformation indicates that phytochrome may not participate in this regulation. This coincides with the result that potato tuber does not have phytochrome (7).What is the photoreceptor in this light-induced organelle transformation? How does light turn on the genes for the development of chloroplasts, and turn off the genes for the development of amyloplasts? Undoubtedly, this system provides an attractive and challenging model for investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying the photoregulation of development and gene expression. FIG. 4. SDS-PAGE of light- (1) and dark- (d) initiated polypeptides synthesized in chloroplasts isolated from light-treated potato tuber discs. (R) photograph of stained gel. L) fluorograph of (R). Arrows indicate the mol wt of light-stimulated polypeptides and band corresponding to LS. Although the dark-incubated sample was more concentrated than the light-incubated sample (R), the fluorograph (L) indicates there was more incorporation of [35S]methionine into the light-induced polypeptides than into the dark-initiated polypeptides, demonstrating that more polypeptides were synthesized in the light than in the dark. The samples were incubated with [35S]methionine for 120 min. ment, evolved 02 using ferricyanide as an electron acceptor.This Hill reaction activity is comparably high (177 Amol 02/mg Chl h), indicating that an active electron transport reaction took place in this chloroplast preparation. DISCUSSION The cells of potato tuber contain a large number of amyloplasts, whose function is to accumulate and store starch in the form of reserve starch granules. It is of interest that upon expo- Acknowledgments-We thank Dr. Ray Webb of United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland for providing us with different varieties of potato, and F. J. Xi for her help in determination of Hill activity. LITERATURE CITEDDevelopment of chloroplasts from amyloplasts in potato tuber discs. New Phytol 72: 449-463 2. ARNON DI 1949 Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenoloxidase 1. ANSTIS PJP, DH NORTHCOTE 1973 in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiol 24: 1-15 3. BADENHUIZEN NP, R SALEMA 1976 Observations of the development of chloroamyloplasts. Rev Biol (Lisb) 6: 139-155 4. BLAIR GE, RJ ELLIS 1973 Protein synthesis in chloroplasts 1. Light-driven synthesis of the large subunit of fraction I protein by isolated pea chloroplasts. Biochim Biophys Acta 319: 223-234 5. FORSYTH AA 1954 British Poisonous Plants.Her Majesty's Stationery office, L ondon 6. KIRK JTO, RAE TILNEY-BASSErr 1978 The plastids. Growth and Differentiation of Plastids. Part I. Formation of the Chloroplast during Greening of the Enolated Plant. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp 720-773 7. KOUKKARI WL, WS HILLMAN 1966 Phytochrome levels assayed by in vivo spectrophotometry in modified underground stems and storage roots. Physiol Plant 19: 1073-1078 TRANSFORMATION OF AMYLOPLASTS IN POTATO TUBERS 8. KUNG SD 1977 Expression of chloroplast genomes in higher plants.Annu Rev Plant Physiol 28: 401-437 9. KUNG SD, PR RHODES 1981 Hormonal effects on the biosynthesis of tobacco RuBPCase in vitro. Beitr Tabakforsch Int I 1: 44-49 10. KUNG SD, TC Tso 1978 Tobacco as a potential food source and smoke material: soluble protein content, extraction, and amino acid composition. J Food Sci 43: 1844-1852 11. LoBov UP, PI BONDAR 1977 The RNA of potato tuber amyloplasts. Fiziol Rast 24: 318-322 12. MARSHO TV, PM SOKOLOVE, RB MACKAY 1980 Regulation of photosynthetic 145 electron transport in intact spinach chloloroplasts. Plant Physiol 65: 703-706 13.OHAD I, I FREIDBERG, Z NEEMAN, M S(CHRAMM 1971 Biogenesis and degradation of starch 1. The fate of the amyl,loplast membrane during maturation and storage of potato tubers. Plant Phyysiol 47: 465-477 14. WETZSTEIN HY, C STERLING 1978 Integri' ity of amyloplast membranes in stored potato tubers. Z Pflanzenphysiol Bd 90DS: 373-378 15. ZHU YS, PS LovErr, DM WILLIAMS, SID KUNG 1983 Nicotiana chloroplast genome 7 expression in E. coli and BB. subtilis of tobacco and Chlamydomonas chloroplast DNA sequences cooding for the large subunit of RuBP carboxylase. Theor Appl Genet 67: 3333-336

Mentoring Research Paper

Mentoring Research Paper The Rational Criteria for Success Mentorship is a personal developmental relationship between two individuals where one individual usually the mentor, offers guidance and advice through training, counseling and coaching to another individual who is usually less experienced and knowledgeable the mentee (Brounstein, 2000). The process of mentorship is continuous and involves the exchange of information between the mentor and mentee all in an effort to equip an individual with the capacity to perform better at his or her job or progress in her/his career. A good mentor knows where to start and has a deep understanding of the problem at hand based on his or her past experiences and the wealth of knowledge he has (Eigenmann, 2001). A good case scenario will be an individual who has been kicked out of university for failing to pass his university examination and failing twice. The most important question that a mentor asks is what is the problem? Could it be that the individual is not interested, is there an underlying problem like problems at home, peer pressure etc. The reason could be a combination of any of these factors or a single one of them. The role of a mentor is to offer relevant, practical advice and critical support to the mentee in order for him to overcome the problem (Fletcher, 2000). A good mentor sets a road map which consists of small and achievable targets that can be easily evaluated for progress and advice given (Harrington, Terry, 2008). The mentor has to predetermine the standards and benchmarks against which he or she evaluates for objectives achievement and effectiveness of the advice given. Again key performance indicators are predetermined and reevaluated every time the mentor feels that the mentee has achieved the set targets. A good success and rational criteria for evaluation consists of performance indicators, predetermined standards by which to assess whether objectives have been met and an array of benchmarks as a measure of effectiveness. Some of key performance indicators include: personal satisfaction by the mentee with what he has achieved, good academic performance, mentee starts to have future plans with his school work and career, engages the knowledge gained from school in real life situations, develops interest in his field and is aware of the current developments in his field of study. The effectiveness of the intervention will be evaluated by use of certain benchmarks that include: Self esteem of the mentee, his confidence levels, self perception of mentee, his perception towards school and his studies etc. In this case the benchmark will be an individual who has the capacity to talk to any person at any time with confidence and without fear. This individual has start up a conversation with anyone anytime is influential to other people. Objectives that are achievable can be set e.g. to enroll for a degree program he likes, to perform well during in his academics, to enroll in a university that is affordable, to improve self esteem and confidence, . Standards set will basically be evaluating whether this has been achieved. It is critical that all these key indicators, benchmarks and objectives be set because they form the framework for the evaluation of progress of the mentee and indicate when a next decision is to be made (Clutterbuck, Meginson, 2005). A report on Mentorship Process As any mentor worth his salt will tell you, you have to know the etiology of the problem before any form of action is taken. This kind of information is obtained from the mentee through a series of questions that may span several weeks or just in a single session aimed at making the mentee open up (Colley, 2003). In this case, a pre-existing good relationship between the mentor and the mentee was of great value as the mentee was comfortable with sharing information that he considered very personal. The mentor sought to know what the mentee thought was the cause of his inability to perform well in school that resulted in his expulsion from the school. The mentee cited a major lack of interest, too much work, unfriendly lecturers, and inability to adapt to the environment. The mentee sought to know whether there was any other problem by asking questions on family background, peer pressure and drug use. The mentee stated that the family was supportive of him and were never a problem. He also mentioned that he had never used drugs but had a problem with some of his peers. He mentioned that the peers looked down upon him for his poor performance in school and eventual expulsion from school. This made him find it very difficult to make friends in school and this frustrated him further. He felt that he was so stupid and lacked the ability to even face them especially in the school. This led to his continuous deterioration and poor performance. This continued poor performance and deterioration resulted in the loss of self esteem and confidence. It was by now clear what was ailing the mentee. The mentor then asks if he would like to go back to school, and what was his attitude towards school was. The mentee was affirmative that he wanted to go back to school. He also mentioned that he felt school wasn’t the place to be, but thought that he had no choice. That he just had to go to school because everyone around him expected him to and he did not want to let them d own. This was good progress for the first session. The mentor then sought to know what the mentee’s interests, talents, passion were. The mentee’s main interest was in nursing thought he mentioned that he also loves listening to music and swimming. The mentor sought to know whether if the mentee was a given a chance today join a university and start a fresh would he do it ? The mentee was reluctant to join the university but thought he might as well just do it. He was asked then if nursing was his preferred choice degree or if he had any other degree he would enroll in. The mentee mentioned that nursing was the only degree he thought that his brain could handle and that he has always been interested since his childhood to become a nurse. Then the mentor sought to know why he took another career direction. The Mentee mentioned that his parents insisted that he do a computer science course so that he could take over the parents business which was computer related. At this point he mentor noted a lack of support from the p arents of the mentee and an unwillingness to support the mentee achieve his dream of becoming a nurse. The mentor made arrangements to meet the mentees parents and give advice that would be in the interest of the mentee. The session ended after a period of one and a half hours with an agreement to search for universities that offered nursing, were affordable, gave awards or scholarships to students who perform well all in an effort to minimize the cost of education. The next meeting was scheduled for the next weekend and with the mentee’s parents present. On the next weekend, the mentee arrived in company of his parents and made a formal introduction. I informed the parents of the problem that their son had and gave them ample time to express their feelings in response. The mentee’s mother was moved by the son’s problem and mentioned that she was not aware that the son’s poor performance was related to being forced to take a degree program that he had no interest in and was under intense pressure to perform. The mentee’s father claimed that the mentee was his only son and was looking at who will take care of the family business when he can no longer be in charge. The mentor acknowledged these responses and informed the parents that their son lost his confidence and self esteem as a result of the poor performance he had in school and the challenges he faced arising from his peers who looked down upon him for failure to perform well in school and also being expelled from school. The mentor went ahead to infor m them that the only way their son could perform well in school and essentially recover his self esteem and confidence , was if he was allowed to make his choice regarding his career path and took a degree in something he had an interest in and allowed to pursue it. The mentee’s mother supported the idea and promised to support the son in whatever he chooses to do. The father was a bit skeptical but felt that he would support him any way, if whatever he chooses to do made him happy. The mentor then informed the parents that their son (mentee), was interested in becoming a nurse and that he has always wanted to become a nurse. The parents were happy to hear that and promised to support him in the best way possible. Although the parents supported the mentee, the father of the mentee was a bit reluctant and requested to be given time to think about it. The mentor agreed to his request but informed them that there was an objective set to identify a university that offered nursing degree and scholarships that may aid in the fee payment. The parents had no problem with that and the mentee was also happy for once his parents were going to allow him to do a degree course on something that he liked. The next meeting with the mentee was set for the next week and the mentee given the week to look for the most appropriate university. During the following weekend, the mentee arrived and was in a positive mood. The mentor could feel the energy in the mentee’s voice. He was walking straight and was generally happy. The mentor was concerned, why the sudden change. The mentee mentioned that he had identified a university that was willing to admit him to a nursing course. He went further to state that they could not offer him a scholarship but if he performed well in his studies, then he may be lucky to be awarded an annual fee waiver for being the best student. He also mentioned that he feared that the father might not support his decision but that morning he actually gave him his full support. The idea of breaking down large tasks into small tasks with easily achievable goals and objectives set, is a very useful approach of tackling large issues that may appear insurmountable (Hay, 1995). The mentor noted a positive change in the mentee’s self esteem and attitude. The mentor sought to know when the ment ee was going to start school. The mentee mentioned that in fact he was starting the next week and couldn’t wait. The mentor wanted to know if he was anxious and how he felt about being in school again. The mentee mentioned that he was happy to be able to go back to school but feared that there was going to be a repeat of what had happened previously. He feared that he may be unable to perform well resulting in his expulsion and or stigmatization by peers for poor performance. The mentor noted a need to assist improve the mentees attitude towards school and eliminate the performance anxiety. The mentor then asked if there any other problems that the mentee feared might arise with him being back in school. The mentee was optimistic that he may be okay and that he will know when he joins the school. At least by now the objectives to identify a suitable university and enrolling for the nursing program had been achieved and this gave a sense of satisfaction to both the mentor and the mentee. The mentor was concerned with the mentees anxiety and his self esteem and confidence levels. They were still rather low. He issued the mentee with a note book and told him to note down anything he f elt while at school, in class, interacting with other colleagues, anything he saw that reminded him of this past experience, how he felt to be in a learning institution, how he felt about the teachers. At this point addressing the mentees self esteem and confidence problem was of great importance. It would be the key to unlocking all his potential and recovering all his lost confidence, personality, self esteem and purpose in life. This session was not as long as the previous two it lasted an hour and the mentee was out to go and prepare for school. After a week in school, the next meeting the mentee had a lot of mixed reactions. The mentee was glad that he had met people who did not brush him of. He mentioned that although he felt that the new people were friendly towards him, he still feared a lot speaking out his mind and also feared that they were going to judge him. He mentioned that the university has also established a mentorship program and anyone was free to join. He mentioned that some teachers were a bit intimidating and that he was not sure how he felt about them. He was however happy that he was finally doing something that he has always wanted to do and that he was finally going to make his dream a reality. The mentor noted that major invention was needed to be able to mitigate the anxiety that the mentee had and also to help him start to regain his confidence and self esteem. Confidence and self esteem are interrelated an increase in one often results in a concurrent increase in the other. Measures taken in order to increase one will often result in a concomitant increase in the other (Fanning, McKay, 2000). The mentor suggested a series of actions that were practical to the mentee and would yield the kind of self esteem and confidence that the mentee aspired to have. The mentor asked the mentee to list all the good qualities he possesses, abilities and talents. This activity took about ten minutes and the mentee was surprised that he could do so much. He realized that he could indeed do a lot and wondered why he often thought he was useless, stupid and lacked the ability to perform anything well. This mentor noted was the beginning of self realization and actualization of the mentee. The next task was to find out the activities among his list that he enjoyed doing or participating in. The mentee indentified nursing, swimming as the key activities that he loves participating in. The mentor then advised that the mentee be very enthusiastic about this activities and speak out in any forum that he can get. This was going to give him an opportunity to speak and be heard and because this are activities that he finds pleasure in doing he will most of the time find that people will listen to him because of the passion that he has and in the process his confidence and self esteem will rise. In time he will be able to speak to people on other aspects without fear. The mentor set targets for the mentee for the next week at school. The mentee was to participate in as many activities of the school that related to nursing and swimming. During these activities, he was to take an active role and in the process talk to five people about the event. The next activity was to identif y a role model that he had. The mentee had no role model. Then the mentor sought to know whether the mentee had any particular teacher at the university who had achieved something that he had always wanted or any particular nurse that he knows that he admires for the work that she does. The mentee could only remember of one nurse who had treated his dad while at hospital. The mentor advised the mentee that he could take that nurse to be his role model. The role model is a figure that he mentee looks at when evaluating his progress and the role model inspires him in his quest to become a nurse. This inspiration derived from the role model increases his confidence. The mentor felt that that was enough to work on for three weeks consecutively. This session was the longest so fat because it sought to find ways of increasing the mentee’s self esteem and confidence. The following weekend the mentee reported quite a few things that he felt, liked and disliked. The mentee found it difficult to face people and to talk to them. He gathered confidence to go talk to someone but felt worried that the person he was talking to was going to judge him. He kept trying and did not give up. He managed to speak to seven people on each event. He felt that some people were harsh to him and that really scared him. There were those that were friendly and were really interested in what he had to say. There are others who were indifferent. To begin with the mentor noted that the mentee had surpassed the target. He was also happy that the mentee was making an effort to improve. The mentor advised the mentee to be confident even when he did not feel like and that he should act in a confident manner. He can start by looking into the eyes of the people he is talking to, talking clearly and coherently and having an upright posture. The mentor went further and advised the mentee to take care of himself and to try and look good by eating healthy and correct exercise. This has an effect of putting an individual in a positive mind frame and boost’s his confidence. The mentee was also to be assertive while speaking. He should know what he wants to say and say it with confidence and people will listen. The mentee’s targets were reviewed and the forthcoming week he was to engage in the same activities but this time he was to speak to at least twenty people. He was to be confident and assertive while he spoke. He was also to identify other activities that he could participate in. He was also to start talking to his classmates concerning the course the teachers the new environment. The following session the mentee reported that he had better responses from the people that he talked to. He realized the importance of talking with confidence and being assertive. Speaking with confidence, being assertive and looking directly into the eye of the person you are talking to increases the overall appearance of the person talking and in most instances the listener is inclined to listen to the person talking (Hermann, 2004). The mentee stated that this time he had spoken to more than thirty people and was somehow happy with his progress. He felt that he was beginning to recover the old self that he used to be before he lost it all. At this point the mentee was still far from being the person who was confident and could start conversations with anyone and any person without fear. The intervention procedures were fruitful but it took time for the mentee to start showing positive growth. The mentor sought to know in general how he felt after talking with the people, were peo ple who scared him, was he facing any challenges, while interacting with new people, did he meet some people that he had talked to previously, and how different was the feeling of talking to a new person from that of talking to someone he met previously. The mentor also sought to know if he had made any friends in his class and how were they relating to him. The mentee stated that he was a bit scared initially as the crowds were large and with lots of activity going on, but when he saw how people were chatting and just dived in. He also started chatting not caring what anyone was going to say about him and that is what helped him beat the preset target of twenty people to chat with. He was happy that many people were good to him and paid attention to him as he spoke. The mentee was thrilled by the fact that some of the people that he had met in the previous week were happy to meet him again and were even inquiring on how his week has been and showed genuine interest in him. This really made him look forward to the university events. He noted that the more he talked he easier it became. When it came to his class work the mentee was a bit skeptical. He wasn’t sure what he felt and thought that it was mainly because of the setting in the class and the seriousness inside. The teachers were serious with what they were doing and it was difficult to find context of interacting. The classmates were social but he still feared what they would say about him. The Mentor reminded the mentee the importance of being assertive and talking to whoever he wanted with confidence. The mentor was satisfied with the progress of the mentee and went ahead and broadened the scope of the targets. This time the mentee was to engage in two activities that provided a forum for interaction. One of the activities was to be related directly to his academics and the other was to be a an ongoing session that would expose him to a totally new experience. Interestingly, the sessions were becoming more interesting with the mentee doing most of the speaking as the mentor did the evaluations and made new targets. The weekend that followed the mentee had a lot to say. Firstly he was very happy with his progress. One of the activities that he had joined was a nursing student’s mentorship program run by the faculty in an effort to mentor new students into the nursing profession. During this forum students were allowed to express their feelings about the course, they were to speak freely and exchange ideas as relates to the profession and the faculty. He was surprised that there were people who were finding it hard to adjust to the environment and that they needed guidance. They were all advised accordingly and for the first time he felt free to talk to his peers. He realized that they all faced similar problems. The mentee also joined a dance class. This was the second activity that was not related to his course. On that day he was assigned a dance partner who was a lady and was very friendly. In fact after the dance the lady took him around the campus and they shared a lot. The mentee fe lt that he had connected with a woman something that has never happened in his life. He actually considered it to be an important milestone in his life. The mentor was pleased with the mentees progress especially with the new girl in the picture. The mentor advised the mentee to continue being confident and assertive. He should speak out his mind and fear no one as he was entitled to his own opinion. This time the mentor gave the mentee more challenging targets. He was to engage in at least five different activities and interact, speak out his mind and make at least twenty friend s from each event. The mentee mentioned that there were many assignments that had been given by the different teachers and a forthcoming CAT (Continuous Assessment Test). He would find it hard to achieve all that. The mentor gave him three weeks and advised him that he had to plan his time well and be organized. He was to read hard and consult the teacher where he had difficulty. He was to prepare for the CAT and do the assignments with the utmost seriousness that was required. After the three weeks the mentee came in full of energy. He was so enthusiastic with his studies and was happy with his progress. He reported that the teacher scored the CAT that they had done and was the third best student. He was very happy about this performance. He could not believe that this was happening. He was also very happy that he was now able to interact with new people without fearing and was happy that they took him seriously. The mentee mentioned something about the girls that he had met. He was happy that the girl told him that she likes him because of his confidence. He had made other friends in the dance classes that he noticed that his girl did not like it. This to him was a very powerful thing, he could not believe that he had done it. He also mentioned that he had realized that the teachers were friendly unlike what he thought. From the many sessions that he had attended of the nursing students group, he made new friends who took him seriously and some thought he was great especially that he had a woman at freshman and was performing well in class. Having a session of peers and sharing information significantly improves the adaptability of a person and performance as these forums are highly educative and beneficial to the students who attend them (Roger, Susan, Trembley, Paul, 2003). The mentor noticed that the mentee was finally achieving the major objective and sole goal of recovering his confidence and self esteem. The mentee also mentioned that he had attended two parties. One organized by the nursing faculty for its freshmen and another organized by friends of his girlfriend. He noted that in both he made so many friends and now realizes that he has so many friends in campus. This was an indication that the mentee had performed well, he had succeeded in meeting our targets and primary objective which was to improve the self esteem and confidence of the mentee. The benchmark in this case was an individual who had the ability to approach anyone in campus and initiate a conversation leaving a lasting impression. The mentor’s intervention technique was effective as the mentee was able to recover his confidence and self esteem. The mentee was later in the semester selected for position of a student leader in the university. This opened up his world and was now in direct contact with so many people and was this further strengthened his confidence and self esteem. He performed well in his studies and won an scholarship for the next academic year. The parents of the mentee were forever grateful to the mentor for his role in enabling their son recover his confidence and self esteem and for the good performance that the mentee achieved to the extent of being warded with a scholarship. In conclusion mentorship is a powerful tool that can be employed by an individual or an organization such that they are able to inspire, guide their employees to perform better at work and even take career growth opportunities that arise within the organization (Hay, 1995).

Common, Mutual, and Reciprocal

Common, Mutual, and Reciprocal Common, Mutual, and Reciprocal Common, Mutual, and Reciprocal By Maeve Maddox A reader objects to the expression â€Å"a mutual friend†: I don’t care if Dickens did write a novel called Our Mutual Friend. Using â€Å"mutual† to describe a friend you didn’t know was also a friend of someone else is a misuse of the word. Mutual and reciprocal both mean, â€Å"directed toward each other.† For example, a â€Å"mutual admiration society† is a group of people who admire one another. â€Å"Mutual enemies† are people who hate one another. By the same token, â€Å"mutual friends† are people who reciprocate friendly feelings toward one another. Many speakers- perhaps most- use the phrase â€Å"mutual friend† in the following context: Sam is Joe’s friend. Sam is also Gloria’s friend. Joe and Gloria are friends, but they don’t know that Sam is a friend to both. One day, in speaking with Sam, Gloria learns that he just got back from a fishing trip with Joe. The next time that Gloria speaks to Joe, she exclaims, â€Å"Guess what! We have a mutual friend.† Purists would label this use as incorrect, arguing that the friendship between Joe and Gloria is mutual, but that Sam is â€Å"a friend in common.† One definition of common is â€Å"belonging equally to more than one.† We speak of â€Å"common sense,† â€Å"common beliefs,† â€Å"common interests,† and â€Å"common complaints.† Another meaning of common, perhaps more prevalent in British usage than American, is vulgar. Dickens could have named his book Our Common Friend, but he probably didn’t want the title to be interpreted to mean Our Vulgar Friend. The use of mutual might not have been strictly correct in the context, but its use eliminates misunderstanding. The Chicago Manual of Style includes a caveat against the use of mutual to describe a â€Å"third-party† friend: What is common is shared by two or more people: â€Å"borne by different mothers but having a common father.† What is mutual is reciprocal or directly exchanged by and toward each other: â€Å"mutual obligations.† Strictly, friend in common is better than mutual friend in reference to a third person who is a friend of two others. The OED has this to say about the use of â€Å"mutual friend† to mean â€Å"friend in common†: This use has in the past been censured as incorrect but it is nevertheless frequent. It has probably been used in preference to common on account of the ambiguity of the latter (which in many contexts could also mean ‘ordinary’, ‘mean’, or ‘vulgar’). In my view, objecting to the use of â€Å"mutual friend† in the sense of â€Å"a friend in common† is officious nitpicking. 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should KnowAwoken or Awakened?Mankind vs. Humankind

Samples of Expository Essay Topics

Samples of Expository Essay Topics The expository essay is the genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and make a statement concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. Generally,  expository essays  do not require a great deal of outside research, but they do require that a student has background knowledge of a topic. The expository essay generally begins with a hook to get the readers attention: A question or inquiry statement to draw the reader in,A quote related to the topic,An amazing fact that is unique or special,A statistic or fact related to the topic (a number, percent, ratio),An anecdote that illustrates the topic.   The thesis of the expository essay  should be based  on factual information that will be presented in the body of the  essay. The thesis should be clear and concise; it generally comes at the end of the introductory paragraph.   The expository essay may use different text structures to organize the evidence. It may use: A sequence that follows a timeline or order to give readers a chronological of events or a list of steps in a procedure,A comparison and contrast  to show the  similarities and differences between two or more people or things,A description to give the reader a mental picture,An example or illustration,  An example of cause and effect or the relationship between an event or concept and the events or concept that follows. An expository essay may integrate more than one text structure. For example, one body paragraph may use the text structure of description of evidence and the following paragraph may use the text structure of comparing the evidence. The conclusion of the expository essay is more than a restating of the thesis. The conclusion should elaborate or amplify the thesis and give the reader something to ponder. The conclusion responds to the readers question, So what? Student selected topics: Expository essay topics may be selected by a student as inquiry. The expository essay may ask for an opinion. Several of the following prompts are examples of inquiries that could be posed by a student: Popular films that feature superheroes cover a wide range of interests and themes, including history, human relationships, or social issues.One object from the twenty-first century to place in a time capsule (student choice or results of a poll) in order to help others understand our contemporary culture.Video games have changed  dramatically since the 1980s for several reasons.Friendship plays an important role in personal development.Investment in education results in both personal and societal rewards.Loyalty is an important part of family  culture.The Internet is the most important invention of all time.  If I had  the chance to talk to a famous person dead or alive, I would choose (student choice) n order to talk about (topic relevant to student choice).The news media shapes our society by influencing how people feel and act.Adversity  is what helps us overcome our weaknesses.Creativity  and originality are at the base of success.Objects around the home can define us .Do you agree or disagree with the saying, â€Å"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? Living in small towns can be very different from living in big cities.Participation in  after-school extracurricular activities is often more memorable than sitting in class.My favorite book from childhood is (student choice)   because (quality of book related to student choice).How is public education an important right?We can tell a lie with silence as well as with words.  Is it better for a leader to be loved or to be feared?Describe your favorite place to reflect and think.  Is learning a foreign language necessary in our global world?What is your plan in the event of a disaster?What is a serious public health concern that does not get enough funding?Are movie and/or TV rating  systems effective or useful?Is it a good use of funds to build a space station on the moon or Mars?   Standardized test topics: Many standardized tests require students to write expository essays. There is a procedure for answering these types of prompts which is usually included in the question. The following topics are expository prompts that are used in the Florida Writes Assessment.  The steps are provided for each. Music essay topic Many people listen to music on as they travel, work and play.Think about the ways music affects you.Now explain how music affects your life. Geography essay topic Many families move from one place to another.Think about the effects moving has upon teenagers.Now explain the effects moving from place to place has on teenagers. Health essay topic For some people, TV and junk foods seem as addictive as drugs and alcohol because they may feel at loss without them.Think about the things you and your friends do almost every day that could be considered addictive.Now describe some of the things all teenagers seem to need on a daily basis. Leadership essay topic Every country has heroes and heroines. They may be political, religious or military leaders, but they serve as moral leaders by whose examples we can follow in our quest to live lives of excellence.Think about someone you know who shows moral leadership.Now explain why this person should be regarded a moral leader. Languages essay topic When studying a foreign language, students often become aware of differences in the ways people in various countries think about values, manners, and relationships.Think about some of the differences in ways people in (town or country) think and behave differently than here in   (town or country).Now describe some of the differences in the ways people think and behave in (town or country)compared to the ways they think and behave in  (town or country). Math essay topic A friend has asked your advice about which math course would be most helpful in everyday life.Think about the times you have actually used mathematics you have learned in school in your daily life and decide which course had the most practical value.Now explain to your friend how a particular math course will be of practical assistance to him. Science essay topic Your friend in Arizona just emailed you asking if he can visit you in South Florida to try out his new surfboard. You dont want to hurt his feelings when you tell him that South Florida does not have big waves, so you decide to explain the reason.Think about what you have learned about wave action.Now explain why South Florida does not have high waves. Social studies essay topic People communicate with a variety of signals such as facial expressions, voice inflection, body postures in addition to the words. Sometimes the messages being sent seem contradictory.Think about a time when someone seemed to be sending a contradictory message.Now explain how people can send conflicting messages.

Benetton Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Benetton - Speech or Presentation Example Their usage of technology and the media is the greatest, bearing in mind that Benetton’s main tool of advertisement is the media; it will be easy to sell the Group’s products to them. In order to maintain Benetton’s competitive edge, the company has to make important strategic positioning changes. Europe is Benetton’s biggest market, however, the cost of running business in Europe is quite high, and the profit margins are minimal. Thus, it would be wise to cut the expenses in Europe. The Asian market provides Benetton with a large population to which it can sell its products. In spite of the Asian countries providing varying characteristics and regulations, the market shows expansive development in the retail sector that Benetton can take advantage of and sell more of its products. (Suh & Howard, 2013). The developing aspect of the Asian market presents a favourable offering that Benetton can occupy with the help of the funds it saves from the spending reduction in Europe. Moreover, the competition in Asian markets is not as harsh as that in Europe where Benetton’s competitors have established themselves. The Benetton Group has to improve its standing with more utilisation of the green strategy. One thing for sure is that it has to develop products that are environmental friendly and show dedication to the green strategy. Thus, it has to remodel the strategy around its products by signing with recognised labels. These labels have to show the company’s eco-friendliness. As noted by Garcia (2015) there number of eco-labels globally stands at 437. Using recognised labels like Energy Star in the U.S. will help Benetton to improve believability to its advertisements especially the benefits its products have on the environment. Especially at such a time when people are more aware of the importance of the environment in their lives with the effects of global warming and climate change. With the continued digitalisation of nearly every aspect of day-to-day

Theory of knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Theory of knowledge - Essay Example The source of human knowledge have been attempted to be explained by philosophers. Due to this, there are two ways that have been used to explain the source of human knowledge in that on one side, rationalism explains that human knowledge is based on rationality or reason while on the other hand, empiricism states that human knowledge is based on experience or posteriori knowledge Many people have argued that human knowledge originate from experience but It is more sensible to argue that neither side can be neglected instead what need to be done is that both schools of thought that explain the source of human knowledge should be combined so that it makes more sense. Hence this can be classified as justified true belief. Knowledge is basically a belief or convection that someone has in something or a thing. However, knowledge can be enhanced by a combination of reason and experience. Plato Plato argued that in order to demarcate the difference between knowledge and opinion must be rea sonably or rationally justified. It is from this view that Plato stresses that knowledge is innate. This is because from his dialogues with Socrates, Plato presents the perception that soul existed before birth with the structure of perfect knowledge and good of everything. Therefore, when something is learned, it can be recalled. According to his argument, he made clear distinction between knowledge and mere opinion which he said is not certain. In order for human mind to make a belief that is dependable or reliable, there has to be substantive evidence on it. This, therefore, leads to justification of our beliefs. Justification is established by the distinction between believing that something is true and between knowing that something is what it is (Sosa...Therefore, it is important to make distinction between knowing that, how and acquaintance knowledge. Traditionally, there existed two methods to theory of knowledge. Empiricism which stresses that we get our knowledge via senso ry experiences while rationalism on the other hand which claims that people gain their knowledge through reasoning. The source of human knowledge have been attempted to be explained by philosophers. Due to this, there are two ways that have been used to explain the source of human knowledge in that on one side, rationalism explains that human knowledge is based on rationality or reason while on the other hand, empiricism states that human knowledge is based on experience or posteriori knowledge Many people have argued that human knowledge originate from experience but It is more sensible to argue that neither side can be neglected instead what need to be done is that both schools of thought that explain the source of human knowledge should be combined so that it makes more sense. Hence this can be classified as justified true belief. Knowledge is basically a belief or convection that someone has in something or a thing. However, knowledge can be enhanced by a combination of reason and experience. Plato argued that in order to demarcate the difference between knowledge and opinion must be reasonab ly or rationally justified. Truth is the capability of the information acquired being consistent with evident presented and truths about it.

Interpretation of Regression Results Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interpretation of Regression Results - Essay Example For the hypothesis to be true, the signs of the coefficients are expected to be positive. The positive coefficient signs would indicate the positive relationship between the independent variables (temperature, humidity, wind and dummy variables) and the dependent variable (bundled load). Coefficients: The signs of all coefficients of variables are positive whereas, that of intercept is negative. The negative value of coefficient of intercept means that the regression line intersects with Y-axis below zero. The positive signs and significant values of coefficients reflect a positive relation between the dependent and independent variables. The value of coefficient of temperature is 47.64. It means that if temperature or x1 variable increases by 1 degree Fahrenheit, the bundled load will increase by 47.64 Megawatt/hour provided all other variables are constant. If humidity increases by 1 percent, the bundled load will increase by 11.52 Megawatt/hour. Similarly, if wind speed increases by 1 mph, the bundled load will increase by 10.15 Megawatt/hour. Moreover, the coefficient of dummy1 is zero, showing no relation between the dummy1 and bundled load whereas; the coefficient of dummy2 is 49.73, showing a positive relation between dummy2 and bundled load. The standard error shows the amount of variability of the data points around the regression line and in this regression analysis, the standard errors for all the variables is very small. The small values of the standard errors show that the data points are closely distributed around the regression line. The value of p is greater than 0.05 for three independent variables including temperature, humidity and wind speed. However, for the dummy1, it is zero and for dummy2, it is less than 0.05. If the p-values for all the variables would have been equal or less than 0.0, then the null

The effect of economic crisis to the marketing strategy of Volkswagen Literature review - 2

The effect of economic crisis to the marketing strategy of Volkswagen in Asian market. The case of Vietnam - Literature review Example inancial crisis on the automotive industry in general and a special note on its impact on the automotive industry in Vietnam’s automotive sector have been included. Research Methodology: The study is about evaluating the effect of economic crisis to the marketing strategy of Volkswagen in Asian market. Now to accomplish the objectives of the study positivism approach has been chosen. In addition, the research design chosen for this study is cross-sectional design approach. Now based on the research questions and research design questionnaire has been selected as the data collection instrument. Findings and Analysis: The aim of the study was to uncover the impact of economic crisis to the marketing strategy of Volkswagen in Asian market. The study revealed that in the global perspective, the company has been able to increase its overall sales volume. In the year 2010 the company has been able to deliver, 7,139,472 cars, but in the year 2011, it increase to 8,160,154 resulting in a 14.3 % growth. In the Asia-Pacific region Volkswagen has been able to deliver 2,140,698 cars in 2010 and in 2011 the company has been able to sell 2,569,765 cars resulting in a staggering 20 % growth. Recommendation: In order to deal effectively with the ongoing issue of financial crisis, the company should reduce its operating cost and marketing cost. It is highly recommended to the company that they should try to integrate more features to their current product portfolio. To create a balance between the net revenue and net expenses, Volkswagen, Vietnam needs to carry out certain cost cutting activities. The company should consider outsourcing different segments of the business to third parties. The economic crisis has affected the automotive industry significantly. In the year 2007 the industry faced the heat of subprime meltdown due to issues related to valuation, in 2008 crisis resulted due to structural and solvency problems in the financial sectors, and in 2009 the disintegrate

Critical analysis on potential benefit of using CRM in organization Essay - 1

Critical analysis on potential benefit of using CRM in organization - Essay Example grating effective customer relationship management into business strategy, with a contextual focus and comparative analysis of the retail sector and tourism industry. The digitisation of business through the Internet has expedited novel business opportunities through the piecemeal development of e-commerce, thereby culminating in an unfamiliar business paradigm. However, the rapid pace of online business activity has led to ad hoc responsive retail strategy measures in an attempt to balance the interests and protection of consumers, whilst simultaneously facilitating market growth. Furthermore, a central business strategy mantra of conventional businesses is â€Å"location, location, location† as being imperative to profitability and commercial prosperity; however the e-commerce paradigm arguably renders physical location irrelevant (Lloyd, 2004). As such, the traditional emphasis on â€Å"location† has created an inherent contradiction, where â€Å"location returns very much to the forefront† (Lloyd, 2004). To this end, it has been argued that the common issues deriving from e-commerce are contractual jurisdiction, applicable law, tax and and consumer protection (Lloyd, 2004). This in itself highlights the multifarious complex issues pertaining to contemporary retail management strategy as a result of the e-commerce business model. For example, the internet business model reduces overheads and provides increased anonymity with regard to customer interaction as a result of globalisation. Indeed, Brah et al, further highlight the instantaneous nature of globalisation as highlighted by the increased internet usage and wide dissemination of information (Brah et al, 1999: 3). They further posit that a crucial element is movement of capital, commodities, cultural imaginations and practices (Brah et al, 1999:3). Moreover, Tomlinson posits that globalisation culturally impacts the contemporary social and cultural framework, arguably creating a fragmentation of the