W.L. Gore and Associates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

W.L. Gore and Associates - Essay Example The term, "employee" is not used at Gore, but associate. There are no bosses, directors or secretaries, but small teams where people know each others strengths and weaknesses. This can be a difficult situation to adjust to for new hires from traditional companies. When Diane Davidson was hired due to her fifteen years of experience a sales executive she did not know what to do without a boss dictating her actions. She was informed that her team was her boss because she would not want to let them down. Everyone is the boss and no one. (Deutschman, 2004). The philosophy is to nurture talents like Davidson's by allowing the natural abilities of people to emerge in an environment that encourages new ideas. The new hire is assigned a sponsor who is a mentor, not a supervisor. Leadership should develop naturally relative to each new project and leaders need to also be followers as necessary. This associate culture can take up to six months to learn and that is expected. The new hire might feel strange not contributing when the rest of the team is, but getting to know the other members is vital to this strategy. The representative of Gore's human resources team states that the power behind the associate culture is to encourage people to believe in their potential and in their contributions to the team effort (Moore, 2006). W.L.Gore manufactures a wide range of products that include the w... The company does not supervise the development of new inventions, but does encourage employees to spend 10% of their time on new, innovative ides-not variations on products already on the market. Self-motivation is a prime factor at Gore and the wide range of products requires the input of intelligent, creative people who must be able to work independently and with a group (Moore, 2006). As unusual as the Gore corporate structure is, the turnover rate is very low. The Sunday Times listed Gore as in the top 100 best companies for employment (McCall, 2004). Of the associates surveyed 92% said they believed that they made a valuable contribution to the company's success and 93% stated that they would miss working for Gore if they left (Doke, 2006). An important aspect of the associate culture is that it removes the cut throat type of competition generated in traditional hierarchy corporations. There one person's success often means the failure of another employee. This philosophy attracts the talent that Gore desires as it employs over 58,000 people in the United States, Britain, Scotland and Germany. The turn over rate is only 6% world wide with over 40% of associates being with Gore over five years (Dow, 2004). W.L. Gore and Associates states that they encourage hands-on innovation, involving those closest to a project in on the decision making (Gore 2006). Freedom and cooperation produce good results. Gore is willing to take risks when other companies will not leading to new and successful products like the Elixir guitar strings coated with thin plastic of protect the strings from the dirt and oil on human hands. The associate who first thought of the idea was engineer Dave Myers who designed plastic heart implants. He believed that a

Weaknesses that Wealth Creates According to the Stories of Ernest Hemingway Essay Example for Free

Weaknesses that Wealth Creates According to the Stories of Ernest Hemingway Essay Financial abundance is perhaps the most sought-after purpose of modern men. We spend a significant part of our lifetime doing jobs and chasing profits even if it is against our own will. In the context of the money driven world, we even have a notion that money would endow us a certain sense of strength—a resounding name in literature contests that notion. Ernest Hemingway, a household name for those who appreciate literature, had written several stories that depict material wealth as a source of weakness for humanity. Moreover, in Hemingway’s multiple depictions of wealth, multiple types of weaknesses had also surfaced. To be more specific, the stories that would be used to support this argument will be coming from the collection of short stories titled â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro. † The three stories would be â€Å"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber†, â€Å"Fifty Grand†, and a story of the same title as the collection, â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro. † The short story â€Å"The Short Life of Francis Macomber† is basically centrifugal to the relationship of Francis Macomber and his wife Margaret, who is also referred to as Margot. Francis Macomber was a wealthy man who is able to take his wife to a big-game hunt. Hemmingway had satisfyingly described the marriage of the characters â€Å"Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce and Macomber had too much money for Margot. † From the previous sentence alone, the type of weakness that wealth had generated is already surfaced. Hemmingway is seemingly suggesting that wealth could leave materially rich people poor—poor in terms of love. The situation of the main characters shows us that money could even corrupt a supposedly sacred concept such as marriage. In addition to that, this kind of wealth-inflicted weakness is inline with the popular notion that money can never buy love. In â€Å"Fifty Grand,† the title immediately talks about money giving the readers a hint as to what the story will be about money. The plot was revolved around the life of an aging boxer who is preparing for his last fight. The aging boxer is aware that there is no chance for him to win against his opponent who is seemingly on his prime. He had acknowledged his own weakness and attempted to turn the tables around. Interestingly, he had placed a bet for his own opponent. He was almost sure that through losing he would end up winning â€Å"I’m through after this fight†¦I got to take a beating why shouldn’t I make money on it? † Hemmingway complicates the plot by placing two shrewd gamblers as antagonists. The antagonists had come up with a brilliant plan of making the opponent of the protagonist to hit him below the belt, making him lose his fifty grand. In this particular story, the type of weakness that wealth could give an individual is a welcomed weakness. All the characters were willing to give up their pride, conscience, and even self-worth just to gain material wealth. In some respect, wealth could strip us the things we could never buy. The characters in â€Å"Fifty Grand† were all seemingly devoid of any self-worth, especially the protagonist. In addition to that, the protagonist sees doubling his life-savings as the only way he could live a happy pot-boxing life. In one of Hemingway’s best works, â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro†, he had written about how wealth could ruin a writer. Through this theme, readers would easily jump to the assumption that this particular story is quasi-autobiographical. The plot talks about a writer browsing through his memories while on a safari in Africa. He was infected through a wound that he got from a thorn. The protagonist collects his memories as he was awaiting a slow and seemingly inevitable death. He had realized that his life was full of wonderful memories. However, the tragedy was he was unable to write about those wonderful memories. Instead, he had focused much on the misery that his wealthy wife had inflicted to him. The weakness that â€Å"Snows of Kilimanjaro† had talked about is that wealth could kill an individual’s passion. The protagonist’s passion for writing was gradually killed by his adaptation to the lifestyle of his wealthy wife. The protagonist had become dependent to the wealth of his wife. He refers to his wife’s wealth as â€Å"†¦your damned money is my armour. † Unfortunately, his passion for writing was sacrificed—he had failed to write about the important things, instead he had spent most of time mingling with wealthy yet uninteresting people. All in all, these three stories reveal to us Hemingway’s distaste for material wealth. It is common in the three stories that things of priceless value like self-worth and passion are being neglected when pursuing wealth. Perhaps what Hemmingway may have wanted for us to realize is that material wealth should not be pursued at all. Instead, we should give more value to the things that could never be bought. And he is seemingly suggesting that being materially wealthy just means that we had lived our lives poorly.

Regulatory Behavior Research Review

Regulatory Behavior Research Review People experience pride after an accomplishment, its experience can both encourage and discourage succeeding regulatory behavior. This conflicting influence can be accounted for by considering the information about the event that spawned the pride (i.e., appraisal information) and whether a self-regulatory goal is active. In the absence of a self-regulatory goal, appraisal information can be used to make positive assumptions about ones self-concept that reinforces further self-regulation. In the company of a self-regulatory goal, appraisal information concerning personal agency can be used to make positive inferences about a persons progress toward self-regulation that leads to indulgence. Pride is a positive self-conscious emotion that results from personal achievements. They investigated the matter by assessing how the experience of authentic pride effected regulatory behavior. They state that pride can be used to make inferences about ones self-concept or self-regulatory goal progress. Self-concept presumptions are a default response, whereas goal progress interpretations occur when a self-regulatory goal is active. Importantly, the extent of these inferences should depend on the nature of the appraisal information that led to the pride. Similarly, pride that is a consequence of personal agency should be more likely to achieve a goal progress inference than pride that is a aftereffect of another agency. The article is organized as follows, first provide an overview of appraisal-tendency theory. Next discuss the emotion-as-input perspective and its claim that the influence of emotions on behavior depends on  circumstantial factors. Then, the functionalist perspective of emotions to predict when pride will result in self-concept or goal progress will determine regulatory behavior. the type of inference that results from pride depends on the appraisal information that elicited the pride. And whether a self-regulatory goal is active or inactive. Finally, they look at the broader involvement framework for studying the effects of self-conscious emotions on behavior. Classic appraisal theories group discrete emotions based on differences, such as pleasantness, arousal, certainty, effort, agency, and novelty. The functionalist perspective builds on the appraisal-tendency. functionalist perspective assumes that emotions influence behavior as a function of a persons interaction to their environment. functionalist perspective explains how two different emotions can alter behavior, given the same response, and how two different response blueprint can change behavior, given the same emotion. through an appraisal theory lens of perspective, only appraisal information that changes the emotional experience from one emotion to another influence ensuing behavior. The researchers have come up with two supporting hypotheses (H1a, H1b) H1a H1a states in the absence of a self-regulatory goal, an experience of pride containing high effort (but not low effort) appraisal information will encourage inferences of self-discipline, inform the default response schema, and increase regulatory behavior. (SALERNO, A., LARAN, J., JANISZEWSKI, C. (2015). H1b In the presence of a self-regulatory goal, an experience of pride containing high effort appraisal. information will encourage inferences of goal progress, inform the goal-based response schema and decrease regulatory behavior. (SALERNO, A., LARAN, J., JANISZEWSKI, C. (2015). Consistent with the functionalist perspective, appraisal information will not influence all response schemata in the same way. It should be possible to employ appraisal information so the ramifications of this use are only observed when a certain response schema is available. In recognition to the default response consider appraisal information that arise. Method Participants and Design. A total of 182 undergraduate students (52% female, M age  =20.30) participated in exchange for course credit. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions in a (self-regulatory goal inactive vs. active) and (emotion: no-emotion, low effort pride, high-effort pride) between-subjects design. Procedure Participants were told that there were three studies in the session, unrelated and pooled together for convenience. The first study was intended to determine peoples verbal capabilities, but truthfully it was a lexical decision task that served as the goal manipulation. Participants were told to focus their attention on a fixation point on the computer screen that would be replaced by a letter string. They were told to press nine on the keyboard if the letter string was a word and one if it was not, and to respond as quickly as possible. After five practice trials, seven target trials varied by condition. Participants in the active self-regulatory goal condition were shown words regulate, health, persistence, willpower, strive, control, virtue; participants in the inactive self-regulatory goal condition were shown neutral words as computer, flower, refrigerator, notebook, picture, silk, next. Each participant saw the target words twice, along with five filler words, and 20 non-words. The trial order was random. The Study demonstrates that the influence of pride depends on appraisal information and self-regulatory goal activation. High-effort pride increased (decreased) regulatory behavior when a self-regulatory goal was not (was) active, but low effort pride did not have an influence on the amount of regulatory behavior. These effects occurred even though a pretest confirmed that low- and high-effort pride generated an equivalent level of pride. This shows us that the appraisal information that generated the pride informed inferences about the self-concept or goal progress. One issue I saw within the article was students were given class credit to participate in the study. Although it is not frowned upon. Many students could have knowledge of that they were looking for and manipulating responses and changing data. The adverse could also be said that participants didnt care about correct responses. If they made it through to the end to achieve their credit. In closing I do believe there is a significance to the field of psychology. Pride tends to be a necessary evil for many. We are raised to take pride in all we do, a prideful person can take their pride to far and it starts to border on arrogance. Further study to determine that level of pride or how much pride until it spills over to arrogance? Could it be that mass amounts of pride/ arrogance is just personal preception? (American Psychological Assoc.) References SALERNO, A., LARAN, J., JANISZEWSKI, C. (2015). Pride and Regulatory Behavior: The Influence of Appraisal Information and Self-Regulatory Goals. Journal Of Consumer Research, 42(3), 499-514. doi:10.1093/jcr/ucv037

New Economic Imperialism Essays -- Essays Papers

New Economic Imperialism Those in power define national interests as the preservation of the existing set of economic, social, and political relationships. Therefore, the national interest of the supranational capitalist society is the interests of the upper class, allied throughout the globe. The United States capitalist class has proposed to preserve and extend U.S. capitalism by a policy of empire building to satisfy the need for large export markets that could supply cheap inputs and guarantee consumption. The road to the current economic imperial structure prevalent in international affairs is a long and complicated one. During the twentieth century the capitalist elite began forming organizations in which to formulate and implement their policies on the supranational level, most of which were founded by John D. Rockefeller based on principles developed by Cecil Rhodes. These included the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and countless others scattered throughout the developed world. During the 1940s they began to create institutions with real power, sanctioned by nation-states, which would have the ability to implement policies on the international level, something they needed. These included the United Nations, the political arm, NATO, the military arm, and the two monetary funds created during the conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1944: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It was decided international monetary instit utions were needed to â€Å"stabilize currencies and to facilitate programs of capital investments for constructive undertakings in backward and underdeveloped regions.† (Sklar 148) Corporations would float bonds guaranteed by the ... ... Subsequently, a global imperialistic strategy has developed designed to keep developing countries in a position where the West wants them. Works Cited â€Å"IMF funding system unfair – Mugabe†. Mon, 04 Jun 2001. Mohan, Giles, et al. Structural Adjustment: Theory, Practice, and Impacts. New York: Routledge, 2000. Munoru, John. â€Å"Zimbabwe: IMF Applies More Pressure†. 1999. Onimode, Bade. The IMF, The World Bank and The African Debt: The Economic Impact. London ; Atlantic Highlands, N.J., USA : Zed Books, 1989. Shaoul, Jean. â€Å"IMF Tightens The Screws on Zimbabwe†. 18 August 1999. Sklar, Holly. Trilateralism and Elite Planning For World Management. Boston : South End Press, 1980.

Campus Couture

Essentially, this will work by Campus COUtUre purchasing pieces from designers and other local and international retailers, and offering it as a rental service to our clientele. Campus Couture allows its members to search dresses by new arrivals, size, color, style, or price. We aim to offer rental services for women to attend date nights, cocktail parties, and formal events idyllically for the Western Community. Campus Couture, Inc. Was incorporated in 201 2 and is based in London, Ontario (Exhibit 1). 1. Goals and Objectives: The initial goal of Campus Couture is to present our aggregate research and analysis to generate confidence in our business model and its feasibility. Establish a Presence Within the Campus Community: Establish a consistent base of users that rely on Campus Couture's site for their semi-formal and formal wear Establish ourselves are the forerunners in designer wear for the targeted consumers Minimize Start-Up Costs: From an operations standpoint, we strive to minimize start-up costs and maximize our customer-base in the first fiscal year, while generating a constant stream of profit in later periods.Promote Website Traffic: By increasing awareness about Campus Couture, we aim to capture 15% of Westerns female population to become active members of Campus Couture, Inc. By the end of our first year of operations (Exhibit 2) Financial: Usually negative cash from operations is risky, however sometimes is necessary to get the business afloat. Breakable by the end of 2nd fiscal year. Personal Goals: $1 5,000 in drawings by the Second Fiscal Year End (2013-2014) Drawings for Campus COUtUre Board of Directors at 70% Of net income by 3rd fiscal year-end Work part-time; between 5-8 hours per week 1. Key Success Factors: Successful Market Penetration: Initial market penetration is vital for our business to prosper. As a consequence of our generally unfamiliar business concept, our marketing practices must be well-planned and innovative in order to win over our customer base. Due to the influence of word-of-mouth and social media activity amongst our target demographic, we believe that once this initial base is established, we can expect a steady increase in customer base moving forward.Trendiest and Affordability: Trendiest and affordability are key determinants of Campus Couture's success, as today's youth wants to maintain a fashionable image without the substantial expenditures associated with purchasing an outfit. Campus Couture aims to keep its product offerings current and updated adhering to the latest fashion trends. Furthermore, each rental will be a fraction of the retail cost of the dress, meaning that Campus Couture will be a practical alternative. Affordability is the keystone to our business model, and it is imperative that it is maintained.Our price model is based off of the number of times we expect each dress to be rented, thus increasing the customer base and the number of rentals. We can expect to increase inventory, while driving down rental rates in the future. 1. 4 Corporate Capabilities: Strengths: Campus Couture adheres to a unique business model and can take definitive strides to provide our members a vast selection of dresses that cater to our students and young professionals. Campus Couture has skilled personnel that are capable of handling the daily operations and logistics involved with running a rental service.They have unrivaled insight into our target market as we are Western students representing other Western students. The use of social media technology has provided Campus Couture direct access to the target market, making us trendsetters for the rising trend in economical pending habits in this post-recession era. Weaknesses: Campus Couture has limited funds, inventory and connections to the fashion industry. This makes our company more vulnerable to our competitors who possess extensive fashion expertise and large capital allowances for advertising.Our business also h as the unique task of having to overcome the negative stigma attached to renting apparel. As well, the business's success is heavily reliant on keeping up with the latest trends and appealing to the young female's fashion needs/style. A strong marketing campaign and commitment to Campus Couture's business objectives will hopefully overcome these weaknesses, as well as increase traffic to our website. Seasonality will also impact our feasibility since a large portion of our target market attends Western University but leave for the summer months. . External Analysis: 2. 1 political: As of January 201 2, students across Ontario have begun receiving $1 ,600 annually from the provincial government, as part of an initiative to lower to tuition rates. This helps alleviate the financial stresses for students and also puts more disposable income back into their pockets, thus proving that female students will have increased means to rent dresses and purchase other novelties. Transmutes' are popularizing among environmental groups. These are individuals who value non-ownership for environmental and ethical reasons.The rhetoric behind this lies in the fact that â€Å"the more people share, the fewer goods need to be produced -? and fewer resources will be used up. † Therefore, dress rentals definitely cater to those consumers who will only use something when they truly need it. 2. 2 Economic: Due to rising university tuition rates, Western students on average have less disposable income and therefore increased pressure to spend their money wisely. Statistics Canada reported in 2008 that Canadian females between 16 ND 1 9 had an average income of $7,100 whereas females between 20 and 24 earned $15,100.If a student in either age cohort had to cover living and post- secondary expenses, they would have little or no money left for other expenditures. According to Western Statistics, approximately 681 9 bursaries, accounting for roughly $1 5 million were given to studen ts requiring financial assistance. These statistics imply that many Western students are looking to economize and curb their spending habits in order to offset their debt from student loans. The population of females at Western is currently 13,990 females that have gig demand for fashionable dresses due to the ongoing social scene in London.The price of clothing has escalated in as many years due partially to increased commodity, labor, and shipping costs, as well as markups associated with name brands. Consequently, consumers are finding it increasingly difficult to appear fashion forward at a reasonable price. On average, Western undergraduate students attend 6 to 8 major events per semester. 1 Provided that we can offer our clientele high quality dresses at a reasonable price, we aspire to take advantage of this opportunity and create successful business model that aligns with the needs of price sensitive Western University female students. . 3 social: Online shopping has also re volutionized over the past decade. According to Statistics Canada, in 2007 about 8. 4 million Canadian individuals aged 16 years and older used the Internet to make almost $12. 8 billion in purchases. By 2010, 113. 8 million orders were made by 1 1 2 million Canadians with a value of $15. 3 billion. From 2007 to 2010, the percentage of online shoppers that used the Internet to purchase clothing, jewelry, and accessories rose from 29% to 36%.This positive correlation demonstrates an increasing trend of online consumers and an opportunity for Campus Couture to capture this market because a large age of these shoppers were females under the age of 30. Currently, 60% of Western students are female; this rising trend along with plans to for the University to admit larger first-year classes secures Campus Couture?s growing target audience. Overall, these conditions are very favorable for our company as there is clear evidence that our target market is steadily expanding, implying that Cam pus Couture will likely gain customers and increase profits over time. 2.Technological: Modern technological developments, like the Internet have increased the consumers access to information thus reducing time spent shopping and has made retail prices more competitive by shifting the power from suppliers to consumers. This transformation is forcing current businesses to review their current operations and marketing strategies to better accommodate consumer demands. Campus Couture believes that implementing modern information technology to target the budget-conscientious young female consumer and to fulfill their need for fashionable apparel can offer a competitive edge over our competitors. 3.Consumer Analysis: 3. 1 Market Research: In our survey (Exhibit 3, Exhibit), 63% of respondents were inclined to rent a dress while 32% indicated that the idea was not appealing to them. Many hesitated as they worried about cleanliness and unfamiliarity to the concept of dress rentals. Our res ults show that approximately 73% of respondents are either impartial, agree, or strongly agree to this concept. This indicates that if Campus Couture can successfully promote dress rentals as fashionable, economical, and sanitary to the masses, we will unleash potential for large sales volumes and high returns from this untapped market.In terms of pricing, 76% of females surveyed indicated that they would spend less than $1 00 and 55% would spend less than $70 on a dress for a special occasion, therefore implying that price is a determining factor for the typical consumer. Therefore, Campus Couture must rent out its dresses at competitive rates to appeal to a vast market In which some would prefer to purchase rather than rent. 3. 2 Target Market: Campus Couture targets young female students and professionals from the Western and London community, ages 1 8 to 25 years old, who are searching for fashionable higher-end formulae at affordable prices.Students are very social individuals, but they are also on a limited budget With pressure to dress well, they want to look great by wearing new dresses. Buying new dresses is extremely costly, which is why this demographic would be more inclined to rent. 4. Competitive Analysis: Although, there are no specific businesses that provide a similar service to either community, there are many direct and indirect competitors impeding on Campus Couture's growth potential. 4. 1 Direct: Forever XIX: With 480 locations and revenue grossing over $2. Billion, Forever XIX is extremely popular among teen and young adult females and caters to an array of different styles at great value. In terms of marketing and promotion, Forever XIX has truly capitalized with its e-commerce venture. With Forever XIX opening up at Nashville Place in March 2012, Campus Couture could foresee immense competition from this clothing retailer. Forever XIX has far greater financial means to purchase inventory and to market their product. They have the poten tial to capture a larger audience due to their variety of inventory and reasonable pricing.These factors could pose as a real threat to the success of Campus Couture. A drawback to their business model is that with lower pricing comes poorer quality. This brings out the traditional quantity versus quality debate, and Campus Couture would have to evaluate which is more important to the desired target market. Forever Xi's dresses lie in the same price range as renting from Campus COUtUre's designer ones, however online purchases incur corresponding shipping charges. SASS: SASS is a global fashion e-commerce website, located in the UK, which sells fashionable clothing and accessories internationally.With 7. 0 million registered users and 35,000 new products each season, SASS attracts a wide range of demographics, allowing the business to penetrate the global market. By offering free shipping worldwide, consumers are more likely to purchase, however there are a number of downfalls, Cana dian customers are required to pay both HAST and duties, increasing the overall cost to the consumer. This also makes international returns more difficult, as the consumer will have to pay freight for the item(s) to be returned, which could be costly.In addition, this may even hinder the company's potential for making sales, as skeptic consumers would be hesitant to order without previously seeing the quality of the clothing. The efficiency of the delivery service is essential to ensure that customers receive their products on time in order to maintain customer satisfaction. Campus Couture differs as we offer rentals for similar items, but with a limited inventory. Our inventory will focus on the needs of the London community, instead of the world market.With that said, we provide our Members the opportunity to have a personal fitting. In addition, Campus Couture will not have to bother with online payment security and delivery timings, as both will be handled in-store. And Ezra: Ou r market research relayed that H and Ezra were highly popular within our target market. Whereas, H has a flagship in London, Ezra, is only coated in Toronto. Many Western students are from the Toronto area and travel home frequently, thereby making Ezra a direct competitor. Both retailers have strong brand recognition and customer loyalty across Canada.H's business concept is to give the customer unbeatable value by offering style and quality at a reasonable price. Ezra in comparison, concentrates on quality, design, and rapid turnaround. H&M's dresses retail between $20 and $60 whereas Ezra retails its dresses for $80 based on current website pricing. One weakness both of these companies share is their lack of an online store, while Campus Couture provides its consumers with the ability to reserve dresses online and on your phone. Oftentimes, customers find an item online and by the time they get to the store, the size or color of dress may be sold out.Overall, retailers who transi tion their marketing strategy to reflect technological trends will be better equipped to handle the the needs Of the modern consumer. Boutiques along Richmond Row: Richmond Row is home to various local apparel retailers in downtown London. Regardless of our partnership with Elliot, a local boutique (Exhibit 5), they would still remain indirect competitors as similar items would be arrested to the same audience. Price is a huge factor as Elliot has sizeable profit margins for it sales, however with increased competition and lower prices for the similar goods may result in a price war. Ultimately, Campus Couture will be able to overcome this form of competition due to its offering of a fundamentally different service. 4. 2 Indirect: High-End Departmental Stores High-end department stores including Holt Renew, Anemia Marcus, and Nordstrom provide designer apparel at high costs. These department stores target an older and wealthier demographic than students, who can afford to ay high pr emiums for higher quality. While many of these high-end stores ship to Canada, the costs associated with shipping makes these pieces virtually impossible for the average student to afford.Online Flash Sales: Online Luxury Flash Sales websites such as Beyond the Rack, Net-a-Porter, and The Peacock Parade are an up-and-coming trend in today's technology- dependent world. Here, designers and retailers have their merchandise discounted between 50-70% of the original retail value. Sales are typically short (under 72 hours) and start at inconvenient times during the day. This sakes purchasing from these websites difficult and inconvenient for students with busy schedules. Flash sales have limited selection, so specific styles may not be available.Most of these websites have headquarters in the States, adding shipping costs to the original purchase price. 5. Four Up's 5. 1 Product: We offer a dress rental service in London Ontario, where consumers can browse our inventory online and reserv e dresses, then allowing them to come in before their event to try on the dress and pay for the rental. 5. 2 Placement: We chose to place our business in the North London borough because Of its rigidity to Western University and college population, who are looking for the latest trends and outfits to present themselves in.The area is known for student housing, and therefore is more convenient for them to walk to in comparison to either mall or the downtown core. We believe that being located in close proximity to campus is advantageous as there are no other clothing retailers in the area, unlike the competition we would have faced from retailers along Richmond Row or in Nashville. 5. 3 price: While finalizing our inventory, the costs associated were taken into account in order to set the rental fees.The rental price represents 30 to 35% of the original retail price, therefore we will be able to generate a return on our investment after three rentals. This value is reasonable enough that consumers would still be inclined to rent rather than purchase a dress from elsewhere. As a start-up, we did not want to take too big of a risk. Since the business concept is unfamiliar to a large portion of our demographic, high initial promotional costs are necessary to inform and penetrate the market. Afterwards, Campus Couture can rely on the social behavior of the demographic to steadily build our customer base in years to mom. . 4 Promotion: In order to reach out to our clientele, we aim to incorporate a pull strategy, using a variety of social media outlets, promotional events and incentives, and personal selling strategies in an attempt to build up consumer demand for high-end designer dress rentals. Promotional Campaign: Social Media (Exhibit 6) The 18 to 25 cohort represents the highest consumers of social networking and the Internet. Social media outlets including, Faceable has made girls more vigilant to keep up with fashion trends and to have an extensive wardrobe for every occasion.Nowadays, girls are self-conscious about rearing the same outfit repeatedly, fearful that someone might remember. Due to these societal pressures, females have resorted to online retail browsing and shopping for clothing and accessories. With Campus Couture on all major networking sites: Faceable, Twitter, and Pinsetters, we can inform our customers about the latest trends and what is new at Campus Couture, enabling our clientele to interact with us, and even see how other clients are wearing Campus Couture. This will positively influence our company's image, as one that cares about its clientà ¨le's needs before their special event.Mobile Application (Exhibit 7) Imagine Campus Couture, at your fingertips. Our mobile application can be downloaded onto your Blackberry, phone, or Android to see the latest in trends and new in-stock items, and book fittings. This will allow girls who wait until the eleventh hour to reserve a dress at any time. With that said, the mo bile application is expected to be of greatest utility to customers for those always on-the-go. It will also enhance accessibility to our catalogue and overall business, further inclining potential customers to use our service.Undoubtedly, the greatest asset we can gain by using the mobile application s ensuring Campus Couture's constant presence in customers' lives. Viral Youth Campaign With today's youth constantly viewing, posting, and sharing Youth videos all over the social media circuit, Campus Couture has the opportunity to be recognized quickly, without incurring the cost of airing pricey television commercials. By filming a video that highlights Campus Couture's brand power and competitive advantage, we can influence students to share the video.In turn, they will be personally selling Campus Couture to their social circles without even realizing that they are doing it. This will elevate inquiries, ND with proper sales training within the Campus Couture team, this will resul t in increased volumes of rentals, equating to higher gross revenue as well as a higher return on our initial investment. Print Advertising and Word of Mouth (Exhibit 8) Print advertising is a promising technique as it catches the attention of many students while walking around campus.With posters up in areas of high traffic, students will be able to familiarize themselves with Campus Couture. These advertisements will be concentrated in locations with the highest prevalence Of our target market in order to garner their attention. Launch Party: The executive of Campus Couture, Inc. Will be working closely with the George Boatswains, Resident DC of Cobra London to organize a launch party and Fashion Show on Friday September 14th, 2012. With upwards of 500 attendees, we hope to make our mark on the Western and London community by selling advance tickets to the event for $10.Advance ticket sales will be a key marketing strategy to spread word out about Campus Couture to all social circ les across the campus community. All revenues generated would be paid to Cobra London. The launch party will promote our business, while the Fashion Show will best exhibit Campus Couture's collection to the female demographic. This will be coordinated in part with Blackbirds Salon and Spas, who have donated their time and expertise into making this event a great success. Our team will be able to personally sell Campus Couture to our target market, while promoting to the masses. . Internal Analysis 6. 1 Operations: Operations will commence on September 1st, 2012 with promotions, leading up to our launch party on September 14th, inaugurating the business. In order to use the site, a customer must make an account (Exhibit 9). Members can search through different dresses by style, color, size, or price. In addition, the calendar widget displays the availability of each dress. This calendar will mark off the dates that the dress has been booked for, the size, and the event she will be we aring it to, allowing other customers to skim through dresses efficiently.This also ensures that no two people will be renting out the same dress for the same event. Once the customer has decided on a dress, they will book a fitting appointment, where Campus Couture will hold onto two sizes of any one dress for the customer, ensuring a proper fit. Once they have been fitted, the client will choose whether to proceed with the rental. Our storefront provides them access to browse through other dresses. If they choose another dress, we would ensure that it was not previously on hold for another customer and that it was clean and undamaged.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia History of Dyslexia Dyslexia was initially termed by W. Pringle Morgan as ‘congenital word blindness’ in a medical literature in 1886. The phrase was however coined by German ophthalmologist named R. Berlin where dys is a Greek word referring to ‘difficult’ and lexus referring to ‘word’. Berlin applied the name to refer to particular difficulty in reading rather than due to visual interference.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Dyslexia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Later, James Hinshelwood implied dyslexia to be ‘congenital word blindness.’ He also detailed the condition in his 1917 monograph where he referred to the condition as â€Å"congenital deficiency of the visual memory of words† (Gilman, 2007 p.593). From his observation, the condition was more prevalent in males as compared to females although recent research has proven otherwise. In the cases described, there were lesions that were characterized by similar traits and concluded that the condition was a result of faulty development, leading to a declined processes of left angular as well as supramarginal gyri. Today, this has been asserted by current research which implicates the condition to the temporoparietal region. Additionally, the neurologist Samuel Orton examined children with difficulties to read, write or speak. He improved the idea of developmental reading disorder into â€Å"a graded series including all degrees of severity of the handicap† (Gilman, 2007 p.594). Orton appreciated the presence of comorbid developmental disorders such as speech delay, dysgraphia, repetitive language, stuttering, as well as difficulties with motor coordination. Besides, he described strephosymbolia or syllable reversals like confusing the word saw and was or d and b. he attributed strephosymbolia to deficiency in unilateral left hemisphere cerebral control for languag e rather than the traditional visual perceptual disorder. From current research, individuals with the condition apply extra bilateral cortex when reading as compared to normal ones (Richards, 1999). Definition of Dyslexia Dyslexia is defined as a â€Å"developmental disorder of the neurological system that results in a relatively selective impairment of an individual’s ability to learn to red. It is described as an unexpected difficulty in learning to red in an individual who otherwise possesses the intelligence, motivation and schooling considered necessary for accurate and fluent reading â€Å" (Gilman p. 593).Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is a learning disability, which is marked by difficulties in reading since the brain is unable to effectively recognize as well as process particular symbols. An individual’s fluency and comprehensiv eness is affected such that they have hardships while reading and spelling. Their reading standard is lower but varies with individuals. It could result from brain injury in adulthood or what is referred to as dementia. Some of the individual with dyslexia have a genetic predisposition and the condition is linked to particular genes, which predispose them. Dyslexia is managed by identifying the learning problems and teaching methods and learning conditions are changed so as to improve the symptoms that are associated with dyslexia (Leaner Kline, 2006). It is also referred to as Developmental Reading Disorder (DRD) that occurs as a result of difficulties in interpretation of language. Students with such a condition have normal intelligence and are able to understand complex tasks. Individuals with dyslexia could experience difficulties in phonology, pronunciation, and rhyming words which are essential in reading skills hence are unable to understand particular sentences. Dyslexia co uld have an impact on various functions such as visual and auditory where in the former there are difficulties with numbers and letters that could be reversed as well as difficulties in writing symbols sequentially. The latter is marked by difficulties with sounds where they are perceived incorrectly (Leaner Kline, 2006). Prevalence of dyslexia in school aged children is approximately 5 to 17 percent with differences in the sample population studied as well as criteria applied to diagnose. Prevalence is thought to be same irrespective of gender. From longitudinal studies, the condition traits shows difficulties even with improvement of reading skills. Compensatory physiological processes persist in adults who have had previous reading impairment. There are also environmental aspects like type and quantity of reading that has an effect on the results of individuals with dyslexia.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Dyslexia specifically for you for o nly $16.05 $11/page Learn More Specific language impairment (SLI) has been linked to dyslexia where in cohort of children 77 percent scored less on tests involving single word reading while 98 percent scored less on tests involving reading comprehension. Children with dyslexia are implicated with SLD in math and written expression although the highly notable cormobid is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Significantly, 20 to 25 percent of children with dyslexia have ADHD while 10-50 percent of children with ADHD have dyslexia (Gilman, 2007). Specific and systematic strategies could effectively manage the condition. Etiology and prevalence of the condition is implicated to people with particular genetic disorders like neurofibromatosis as well as klinefelter’s syndrome. Besides, it is prevalent in children with previous medical histories like prematurity, in-utero exposure to drugs, hydrocephalus, congenital illnesses as well as early neurological disorders like neonatal stroke. All the same, people with dyslexia possess none of the risk factors. It is also supposed to be genetic and those with the history of the condition are supposedly a 23-65 percent likelihood of having a child with dyslexia. However, 27 to 49 percent of children with dyslexia notably have a parent with the condition. Dyslexia prevalence in siblings of children with the condition is 40 percent having 84 to 100 percent concordance in monozygotic twins. All the same, genetic processes of the heritability are indicated as heterogeneous and complicated. Currently, research has indicated occurrence of genes liked with chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 15 as well as 18. (Gilman, 2007) Causes of Dyslexia Dyslexia could be caused by brain trauma in the part that regulates reading as well as writing but the condition is rare and this type is called trauma dyslexia. Injuries to the nervous system, which is meant to facilitate communication within the brain, could cause d yslexia. An injury could have resulted due to fever and concussion such that the brain fails to receive signals appropriately.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, another type is primary dyslexia that emanates from dysfunction or harm on the cerebral cortex which never modify with age (Richards, 1999). Students with this form of dyslexia discontinues with schooling due to learning difficulties. This form of dyslexia is genetic and occurs more in males as compared to females. Finally, another form of dyslexia is termed as secondary dyslexia. It is also referred as developmental dyslexia and emanates from abnormalities in hormonal growth in early fetal development. It however improves with age and occurs more in boys. Of importance, the Cerebella theory maintains that an impaired cerebellum could lead to dyslexia. The cerebrum facilitates motor regulation in speech expression. The theory infers that expression difficulties could lead to phonological processing difficulties, which are implicated with dyslexia. Cerebellum also affects the automatisation of leant actions that involves learning and reading (Swarbrick Marshall, 2004). Another theory implicates dyslexia with problems in language processing referred to as phonological model. It asserts that the condition emanates from problems failure to break words into language units referred to phonemes e.g. ‘Cat’ has 3 phonemes named kuh, aah tuh (Goldish, 2001). Additionally, poor hearing could cause children with dyslexia to have difficulties in sounding words. This could be attributed to hearing impairment in childhood. Characteristics of Dyslexia There are other learning disabilities linked with dyslexia which are associated with neurological causes. To start with, dysgraphia is one such condition that depicts itself mainly through typing or writing. It also sometimes affects the coordination of eyes and hands orientation in undertaking tasks like tying knots or undertaking repetitive activities. Dysgraphia in individuals with dyslexia is caused by a number of factors as a result of difficulties with writing letters with ease, finger-motor or der impairment, organizational and intricate complexity as well as impaired visual word structure that impair visual picture retrieval needed in wording and spelling. Additionally, Dyscalculia is another neurological impairment marked by having issues with fundamental sense of numerals and quantity hence problems in solving mathematics. However, they comprehend complex math although they experience problems in retrieval of fundamental facts that involves adding and subtracting. Attention Deficit Disorder is yet another condition notable in dyslexia. This is however yet to be established scientifically. Finally, Cluttering is notable in individual with dyslexia. It is impairment of speech fluency that regulates speech pace and rhythms hence affecting speech clearness (Swarbrick Marshall, 2004). Teaching Strategies of Dyslexia Phonemic awareness should be prioritized in managing symptoms of dyslexia. One word has to be taught while disintegrating it into its component phonemes. Phone me or grapheme correspondence, follows where students with dyslexia are given letters and are shown the way to integrate them into one syllable word. The students are then shown how to use the six syllables, which are present in English language. On becoming aware of every syllable they are presented with, they are able to recognize the sound associated with the vowel. Besides, on hearing a vowel sound, students are able to spell it in the correct way. The student is subsequently trained on probability and set of laws in accordance to the language taught. Finally, the student is guided on roots, affixes and morphology, for them to enrich their vocabulary and comprehension in spelling strange words (Hall et al., 1998). To teach these concepts, various strategies have to be employed. To start with, simultaneous multisensory directives are essential for individuals with dyslexia when they apply their entire senses in learning since they have enhanced potential in storage and retrieval of information. The student could see a letter, name, sound and write it. In addition, strong directives followed by sufficient practice would help students with dyslexia to improve their learning skills. The instructions should be direct and explicit since students with dyslexia have difficulties with written information and must be taught explicitly about the rules on written language each at a time, up to the point they become conversant with them to read and spell in order to get into the next rule (Hall et al., 1998). Another strategy should involve being systematic and cumulative since the students have difficulties with written language. Therefore, they have to be initiated with a solid base in teaching logic of language each at a time followed by practice, to fluently spell and read where they have to be reminded every time. This should be done logically from the beginning to the end. Significantly, the teaching should be synthetic as well as analytic in recognizing each let ter/sound and add them to give a word (synthesis). Besides, they should be analytic in the sense that they could split a long word into various parts. Finally, diagnostic teaching is essential for teachers to assess the student’ potential to perceive as well as apply regulations without blindly memorizing a pattern and incase there are difficulties, they have to be re-taught (Hall et al., 1998). Accommodations for students with dyslexia Oral testing where tests have to be read to individuals with dyslexia while they respond orally. Besides, untimed tests help them to enhance their performance. When they are timed and pressured, they fail to do well. They also consume much time in reading questions and composing answers in order to write them down. Teachers should therefore aim at minimizing spelling errors by carrying out spelling tests in tutoring class rather than that of the classroom. They should not oblige these students on loud oral reading in class. When it’s ne eded entirely, students should be given prior notice and the texts they are supposed to read for them to practice. They should also have less homework since they take more time to complete it as compared to other students. They should be graded by content and not penalized on handwriting or spelling since it would be unfair for them. Teachers should recognize dictated work and avoid the students with dyslexia from copying work. In addition, they could be given alternative assignments, which are not written e.g. video presentations and debates. Besides, essay tests have to be minimized and multiple choice questions could be included (Hall et al., 1998). References Gilman, S. (2007). Neurobiology of Disease. London: Academic Press. Goldish, M. (2001). Everything You Need to Know about Dyslexia. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. Hall, S., Vail, P. and Lyon, R. (1998). Sharing the latest Research results with those who need to know. Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, Inc. Web. Leaner, J . Kline, F. (2006). Learning Disabilities and Related Disorders.10th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Richards, R. G. (1999). The Source for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. Moline, IL: Lingui Systems Swarbrick, J. Marshall, A. (2004). The Everything Parents Guide To Children With Dyslexia: All You Need To Ensure Your Childs Success. Avon, MA: F + W Publications, Inc.

Descriptive Paper About the Eiffel Tower Essay Example

Descriptive Paper About the Eiffel Tower Essay Example Descriptive Paper About the Eiffel Tower Essay Descriptive Paper About the Eiffel Tower Essay I slowly lay back in the grass. The sight in front of me is too much to take in while standing. The wetness of the grass sends a chill running down my spine and along my arms. My sweatshirt cannot warm me from this chill tonight. It is the infamous chill that one receives when something really touches them. When you hear a story and it makes you happy or sad or when someone tells you that they love you. It is a meaningful chill, one you will never forget. All of the lights begin to dim and the people stroll quietly underneath her. She is so beautiful. I had seen pictures and read all about her. I never dreamt I would meet her face to face. I have to admit that I am nervous. What if I do not like her? What if I wish I were somewhere else? These thoughts run in and out of my mind as I lay there. Finally it is our turn to venture up into this great monument. Our decision to take the elevator is a wise one, though I would be taking the stairs when I went down. We pack into the elevator. â€Å"We’re as tight as sardines†, exclaims a really loud lady from the back of the pack. The stench of body odor is almost too overwhelming. The French do not see the need to bath as regularly as us Americans. So once I reach the top, and the doors open, it is a mad dash to the doors. The first one out can breathe all the fresh air. Let’s just say I tied for first. A slight welcoming breeze rustles my hair as my gaze wanders from side to side. Everything looks so small from up here. This huge vastness makes me feel but of a tiny existence. Her beauty brings a bit of rosiness to my cheeks. The moon now smiles down on me when only moments ago it was the sun. How long have I been up here? Is my group looking for me? These questions only visit my mind for a second or so then they are gone like the wind. Perhaps they are carried away by the same wind that so sweetly caresses my skin. I do not mind the occasional bump I receive from a random passerby. This sight is big enough to share with many people. I allow my mind to relax, and the many different languages flow fluently from the mouths of others. Of course I do not understand what they are saying, though it still brings a smile to my face. It almost seems like Dean Martin should be standing beside me, serenading the crowd with his warm Italian words. The shuffling of feet drowns out the voices from the crowd. It is like white noise all around me. I can hear the people but it eventually grows into nothing but a faint whisper. The honking of vehicles and the blaring of sirens seems a million miles away. It is only me, the Eiffel Tower, and the moon standing there. Nothing else matters at that moment. The sight is breathtaking. I drag my hand along the railing. The texture is cold and rough. Many hands have also been drug along this same railing. The feeling of cold metal upon my hand helps to keep me in reality, because at this moment in time it is so easily to just slip off into a dream land. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the sky and the ground. It was almost too much at once. My camera couldn’t take pictures fast enough and I was worried I would drop it too! Which it didn’t matter if I dropped the camera anyways, I could never forget this image. The flashing lights from the cameras should be blinding to me, but they only adds an emphasis to the scene. The flashes appear to be like stars dancing around the moon. The sky is not black tonight, but more like a navy blue. The moon is a deep yellow color. The two colors appear to be made for each other. Almost like one would not be without the other. I tear my eyes away from the view to acknowledge my surroundings for the first time in hours, so it seems. Actually when I look at my phone only ten minutes has passed by. There are several people surrounding me now. Most of them are reacting the same way I did. They are totally perplexed by the Eiffel Tower and her beauty. As I am looking amongst the crowd, one certain couple catches my eye. They are fairly young and I can tell how in love they are. They are definitely in the right place for a romantic night. I can tell from the look on the young man’s face that he seems a little nervous. Of course the young lady doesn’t notice his awkward look because she is too busy looking around. Before I know it the young man gets down on one knee and the girl turns around surprised. A proposal! I have heard of this before but never thought I would get to see someone proposed to on the Eiffel. This clearly was a night to remember. Unfortunately I run into my group leader and he informs me that it is time to leave. My heart drops to my feet. â€Å"But we have only been here twenty minutes,† I told him. He looks at his watch and replies back that we have indeed been there for more than two hours. How quickly the time has flown by! I pucker out my bottom lip and obediently follow my group as we head out. Reluctantly I must leave. This time I do take the stairs. With every step my sadness begins to grow. When will I be back? Will she still be here? These are now the questions that run through my head. The stairs continue to wind downward forever and ever, never seeming to end. Then I see the last stretch of stairway, I walk so slowly. â€Å"We just met,† I proclaim. There was so much I did not get to ask her. I hit the last stair and linger just a minute. Slowly I turn around to gaze at her one last time. With that one last gaze is a promise that I will indeed be back and she will indeed be there when I get back. Only this time I will get to ask her as many questions as I want. â€Å"I will come back,† I promised her.