What Is the James-Lange Theory of Emotion

The James-Lange theory suggests that emotions are the result of physical changes in the body. According to James and Lange, our body’s responses to an emotional event—such as a racing heart rate or sweating, for example—are what make up our emotional experience. Key Takeaways: James-Lange Theory The James-Lange theory suggests that emotions have a physical basis in the body.When we see something emotional, changes occur in the body—and these changes make up our emotional experience.Although the James-Lange theory has been challenged by other theorists, it has been incredibly influential in the study of human emotions. Overview The James-Lange theory was developed in the late 1800s by William James and Carl Lange, who each separately published similar writings about the nature of emotion. According to James and Lange, emotions consist of the body’s physical responses to something in the environment. When you witness something emotional, this leads to changes in the body. For example, your heart rate or blood pressure might increase, you might start sweating, or you might start breathing more quickly. James famously explained the theory in his book The Principles of Psychology: he writes that â€Å"we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and not that we cry, strike, or tremble, because we are sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be.† In other words, our emotional reactions consist of our physical responses to potentially emotional events in the environment. James suggests that these physical reactions are key to our emotions and that, without them, our experiences would be â€Å"pale, colorless, [and] destitute of emotional warmth.† Examples To understand the James-Lange theory, consider the following example. Imagine you’re walking on a darkened road and you hear a rustling in the bushes nearby. Your heart starts racing and you feel ready to start running if need be. According to James, these bodily sensations would constitute an emotion—in this case, the feeling of fear. Importantly, our heart doesn’t start beating faster because we feel afraid; instead, these changes in our body comprise the emotion of fear. The theory seeks to explain not just negative states—like fear and anger—but positive ones as well. For example, the emotion of amusement is typically accompanied by laughter. Comparison to Related Theories The James-Lange theory has been somewhat controversial—when writing about his theory, James acknowledged that many other researchers took issue with aspects of his ideas. One of the most well-known critiques of the James-Lange theory is the Cannon-Bard theory, put forward by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard in the 1920s. According to this theory, many emotions produce similar physiological responses: for example, think about how both fear and excitement lead to a faster heart rate. Because of this, Cannon and Bard suggested that emotions can’t only consist of our physiological response to something in the environment. Instead, Cannon and Bard suggest, emotional and physiological responses both happen—but these are two separate processes. A later theory, the Schachter-Singer theory of emotion (also called the two-factor theory), suggests that emotion results from both physiological and cognitive processes. Essentially, something emotional will trigger changes in the body, and our brain then tries to interpret what these changes mean. For example, if you’re walking alone at night and hear a loud noise, you’ll become startled—and your brain will interpret this as fear. However, if you’re walking into your home and are suddenly started by your friends jumping out to greet you on your birthday, your brain will recognize that you’re at a surprise party and you’ll be more likely to feel excited. Like the James-Lange theory, the Schachter-Singer theory acknowledges the role of physiological changes in our emotions—but it suggests that cognitive factors also play a role in the emotions we experience. Research on the James-Lange Theory While newer theories of emotion have been developed since the James-Lange theory was first proposed, it has still been an influential theory in the field of psychology. Since the theory was developed, numerous researchers have sought to understand how different types of bodily responses relate to emotions. For example, research has looked at whether different emotions are associated with different types of responses by the body’s autonomic nervous system. In other words, the James-Lange theory has inspired a significant amount of research on the connections between our bodies and our emotions, a topic which is still an active area of research today. Sources and Additional Reading: Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"The Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion.† Verywell Mind (2019, May 4). https://www.verywellmind.com/the-two-factor-theory-of-emotion-2795718Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"Understanding the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion.† Verywell Mind (2018, Nov. 1). https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-cannon-bard-theory-2794965James, William. â€Å"Discussion: The Physical Basis of Emotion.†Ã‚  Psychological Review  1.5 (1894): 516-529. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-01676-004James, William. â€Å"The Emotions.† The Principles of Psychology, vol. 2., Henry Holt and Company, 1918, 442-485. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57628Keltner, Dacher, Keith Oatley, and Jennifer M. Jenkins. Understanding Emotions. 3rd ed., Wiley, 2013. https://books.google.com/books/about/Understanding_Emotions_3rd_Edition.html?idoS8cAAAAQBAJVandergriendt, Carly. â€Å"What Is the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion?† Healthline (2017, Dec. 12). https://www.health line.com/health/cannon-bard

Essay on desegregation historiography - 1258 Words

Equality and equal opportunity are two terms that have changed or have been redefined over the last 100 years in America. The fathers of our constitution wanted to establish justice and secure liberty for the people of the United States. They wrote about freedom and equality for men, but historically it has not been practiced. In the twentieth century large steps have been made to make the United States practice the ideals declared in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The major changes following Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat to a young white man and the Brown v. Board of Education trial in 1954. These Supreme Court rulings altered American society and began the desegregation and integration movements. In the 1950’s many†¦show more content†¦Desegregation would improve the performance of blacks without lowering that of whites. Friedman, Meltzer and Miller agree that the presence of improvement does not happen uniformly among integrated schools. While Ian M. Harris writes about the Coleman study in his Criteria for Evaluating School desegregation in Milwaukee, and believes that the improvement always takes place when schools are desegregated. According to Harris certain requirements that schools and policies should meet if they are to aid in integration. There must be equality in school desegregation for all races and the burden of responsibility falls on all races and not just one. Further, fairness must bee practiced when giving demands and benefits to students. For desegregation to be successful integration must be the result. One of Harris’s strong arguments is about the â€Å"forced voluntary† strategy for desegregation. This system to desegregate places the burden on black parents and children. There must be a racial balance in the system of administrators, teachers and role models for black students. When desegregating schools Harris says bussing is not the answer. Rather â€Å"forced voluntary† is the way of action. Allowing students to choose which schools they would like to attend instead of making them go to a specific school lets them feel like they had a choice in the matter. This leaves way for integration to occurShow MoreRelatedThe Poster, By Judith Giesberg1574 Words   |  7 Pagesdemarcation by replacing males in fields and arsenals, confronting state officials in acquiring resources, joining political activities on streets, or travelling to battlefields to retrieve their loved ones’ bodies (9-10). Challenging the established historiography assuming that only no rthern middle-class white had political influence and war protests or disruption of the authorities exclusively belonged to the lower class females in the Confederacy, Giesberg innovatively argued that despite spatially distantRead MoreCultural Marxist George Lipsitz In The Possessive Investment1698 Words   |  7 Pagesconception of racism history in the context of political changes in the Untied States. Lipsitz is not the first historian to analyze critical racism theory, but he is the first to extend the analysis into the late twentieth century. Traditional historiographies of whiteness in the United States emphasize the critical examination and reorganization of the persistent racial discrimination constructed from the problem of white identity. Lipsitz investigates the racialized structure of contemporary AmericaRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesmundane level, migration 14 †¢ CHAPTER 1 itself has become inseparable from the daily machinery of migration control and evasion. Indeed, borders have shaped our knowledge of migration as deeply as the process of migration itself. The historiography of migration is built and fragmented around nation-centered themes such as assimilation, push-pull, national identity, debates over national legislation, and diasporas with their attachment to home nations. Enormous and inconclusive social science

Training and Development for WSQ Framework - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theTraining and Development for WSQ Framework. Answer: Introduction The Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications or more commonly known as WSQ is a nationwide credential system which provides facilities such as training, development, assessing and recognizing to adult workers for competencies which they require staying employable in different fields. The VUCA is an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity which define the general situations and conditions of the market. This report will analyze the relationship between WSQ framework and VUCA environment. WSQ Framework As per Sung et al. (2013), WSQ framework is based on the standards that were validated and developed by Singapore Workforce Development Agency or WDA. WSQ frameworks perform its actions with the collaboration of Industry Skills and Training Councils (ISTCs). The primary objective of WSQ is to ensure that workers are acquiring skills and knowledge which is required by the employers. The employees can use the clear progression pathways of WSQ framework to upgrade their skills and expertise to plan their careers. The training and assessment are based on competency, not academic that means before their certification the workers are required demonstrating right competencies. In case of experienced workers, the WSQ certificate can be received without the requirement of training. The facilities of WSQ framework is available to every worker in Singapore since its entry criteria focus on skills and knowledge rather than formal qualifications (Kodiappan, 2011). VUCA Environment According to Shaffer and Zalewski (2011), the US government first introduced VUCA at the end of Cold War and in business sector experts started using it in the 1990s. The VUCA environment focuses on the behavior of individuals and groups in corporations, and it defines the behavioral and system failures which are the features of organizational failure. Volatility describes the lack of opportunity and stability which is liable for sudden and unpredictable change due to various aspects such as connectivity, digitization, trade liberalization and competition. Uncertainty defines the lack of predictability of future events and problems; it makes the process of decision-making significantly difficult due to lack of reliable data. Complexity indicates the difficulty of a situation, due to the issues that are increasing rapidly, which makes it near impossible to establish a connection with the results (Lawrence, 2013). Ambiguity defines as lack of clarity which makes it difficult to identify and codify the future risks and opportunities accurately. Relationship between WSQ framework and VUCA environment The WSQ framework is established by the government to ensure that employees can address various challenges of VUCA environment. The government has also established SkillsFuture Singapore Agency which focuses on providing education and training to the workers, whereas, the WSQ framework concentrates on employability and job issues. These initiatives focus on providing necessary education; skills, training, and knowledge to the workers which help them retain employment in the VUCA environment (Ee and Chang, 2015). The uncertain challenges of future can be addressed by proper training and skill development of the workers. The WSQ framework help in enhancing market flexibility and skills portability which aid in meeting the demand of growing Singapores market and it also faces complexities issues in various industries. The future conditions of the market are ambiguous and to ensure their development; the corporations can only rely on the performance of their workers, which can be improved by WSQ framework (Harris, 2016). Conclusion In conclusion, WSQ framework is introduced by the Singapore government to provide necessary training to the worker as per the changing marketing requirements. The essential training of the workers ensures that their abilities remained up to date as per the changes in the volatile situation, it gives training for updated knowledge and skills to workers as per change in market conditions. Therefore, WSQ frameworks assist workers and companies in VUCA environment to remain employed and profitable respectively. References Ee, J. and Chang, A. eds., 2015.Preparing youths for the workplace. World Scientific. Harris, C.W., 2016. Lifelong learning and earning: The changing landscape of higher education in Singapore.CAUTHE 2016: The Changing Landscape of Tourism and Hospitality: The Impact of Emerging Markets and Emerging Destinations, p.1151. Kodiappan, R. (2011). Challenges affecting the integration of competency-based training at the higher levels of the Singapore Workforce Skills QualificationsNational Qualifications Framework. InInternational Conference on Researching Work and Learning(p. 608). Lawrence, K., 2013. Developing leaders in a VUCA environment.UNC Exec Dev, pp.1-15. Shaffer, L.S. and Zalewski, J.M., 2011. Career advising in a VUCA environment.NACADA Journal,31(1), pp.64-74. Sung, J., Ng, M. C. M., Loke, F., Ramos, C. (2013). The nature of employability skills: empirical evidence from Singapore.International Journal of Training and Development,17(3), 176-193.

Student Registration System Essay Example

Student Registration System Paper An Integrated ACLC Enlistment with Student Tracking and Printer Support CHAPTER 1 Introduction: .A computer is an electronic device that executes the instructions in a program. It is a device that accepts information and manipulates for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed. It is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem. An important class of computer operations on some computing platforms is the accepting of input from human operators and the output of results formatted for human consumption. The interface between the computer and the human operator is known as the user interface. The breakthrough of the computer was the great function of modernity for different software application to make work easier, more capable, and more adaptable for the people. It has brought a new level of knowledge that became the new standard in the industry. It made the school works more efficient for students and provided path to communicate to entire school. We will write a custom essay sample on Student Registration System specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Student Registration System specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Student Registration System specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer At the moment, computer based system is commonly used by every universities and colleges. Numerous universities and colleges tender an excellent education but it is undeniably noticeable that not all these universities or colleges provide a good enlistment system. Problems and difficulties take place from each enlistment process, hence leading to minor errors and inaccuracy. For example, the incorrect information of a student or as a whole the slow manual enlistment system that even staffs finds difficulties in managing it. Enlistment is more than just a word itself, because for many students and parents, it describes sacrifices, hunger, dilemma, and long hours of waiting, effort and money. The ACLC-Ormoc is one of the computer schools in Ormoc, which educate their students into a different type of studies that are correlated to computer. There are many courses that this school offers. Like HRS, ACT, BOAS, BSCS, and BSIT. In Ormoc city, ACLC is one of the famous schools that many newly high school graduates from all over the province of Leyte choose to take their chosen course. And every year, there is an increase of the number of student that enrolled on this school. ACLC-Ormoc is managed by the school director named Mr. Roger Lagarde; a hardworking man, friendly and strong-minded to extend his present way of lifestyle to a better one. Because of his hard work, he continues to run and manage their business and show his best to improve the school. Mr. Roger Lagarde loves to serve people and he is smoothly operating the school, and still moving towards worldwide competitiveness. Even this school is a computer school, almost all the transactions are done manually. Because of this, the job of the staffs and instructors will take hours, days, weeks, and even months to finish. So they took to much time to finish their jobs. And even they haven’t finished their work; a new task will be assign to them. So it will take so much time to finish a single job. The enlistment system here in ACLC is done manually. From the assigning of subjects of each course, from enlisting of subjects in the registration form, and from verifying of subjects are done manually. Because of this manual system the staff, instructors, and students take too long to finish those task. The manual assigning of schedules are prone to errors. The result of this error is the conflict in schedules. Where the student classes will be delay because of this error. In manual enlisting of subjects will also take time. In the registration form, students should fill up the four copies manually so it takes time. That sometimes it takes many hours to finish filling up the registration form, it depends on the speed of the student in writing. And in the verifying the student schedules it takes many hours, it depends on the numbers of students that are enrolling on the same day. The researcher decided to make An Integrated ACLC Enlistment with Student Tracking and Printer Support because it is a good example of a computer generated development. This can lessen the workload and provides accurate information needed of the school as a result; it will benefit not only the student but the administration as a whole. This system is the design system use to enlist students whether old or new student in ACLC-Ormoc. It is use in creating subjects, making schedules for student/s and assigning schedule for the instructors, and use to record the students profile or information. It can also track student information about their grades and it can provide Transcript of Record or TOR. It is intentional for the school with a small or medium sized of students population. It have objectives or purposes, first is that it helps the school to lessen the workload, both the student and the staff that has an authority to access the system. Second, it is use to provide accurate information of student as the enlistment primary need. Third, this system will avoid conflict of the student’s schedule and instructor’s schedule. Fourth, to create a system that is locally connected with in the network. Fifth, is to remove the manual writing of schedules and student information in the registration form. And lastly, is to be able to design and implement a validation paper after the students enlist, regarding their class and subject schedules. In this system we can avoid the errors and conflicts in schedules. Because the computer will test if the assign schedules are conflict with the other schedules that are already save in the database. Because of this system, start class will be started on time. And also human error will lessen or will be avoided. We can also lessen the workload of the staffs and the students. Students won’t take time to fill up the registration form anymore. Because after enlisting the subjects using the system, student will be given the printed copy of their registration form. With there printed registration form, their schedule are also printed with it. It won’t take hours to have a printed copy of the schedule. It only need a few minutes to finish printing there registration form. With these systems, students won’t waste their time to fill up their registration form and they won’t wait hours to verify their enlisted subjects because after paying in the cashier, the staff that is assigns to verify their schedule won’t take time to verify the schedules and also the student will also be given a validation paper. The various functions are separated into modules. In this study, the researcher used a PHP scripting language, running on a XAMPPLITE. It is a free and open source cross-platform web server solution stack package, consisting mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MySQL database, and interpreters for scripts written in the PHP and Perl programming languages. Also provides support for creating and manipulating databases in MySQL and SQLite among others. Theoretical or Conceptual Framework Statement of the Problem ACLC-Ormoc is using a manual system in almost all of their transaction. Just like in their Enlistment system they are using a manual system. From the creating of subjects and assigning the appropriate subjects for each course, from assigning of schedules for each subject, from enlisting of subjects in the registration form, and from verifying of subjects are done manually. Using a manual system just like in the ACLC-Ormoc is a shame for a computer school. So to make a stand for being a computer school, ACLC-Ormoc should use a computerize system so that other people could say that this school is a great school because of it’s computerize system that they are standing for its name as a computer school. And using a computerize system it can avoid problems that have been encountered for many years of existence of ACLC-Ormoc. ACLC-Ormoc encountered many problems in using a manual system. Assigning of the student number for each student has a possibility that the student number will be used by other student. Assigning of student number is also manually assigned by the registrar. Each student has its own unique student number. That his/her student number is for him/her for ever but because of many years that will pass, there is a possibility that the student number will be used after many years because it is manually made. Because of the manual system the staff, instructors, and students take their time to finish their task. The manual assigning of schedules are prone to errors. It is because the registrar can’t avoid making errors because of hundreds of schedules that are needed to assign. The result of this error is the conflict in schedules and conflict in the room available. Where the student classes will be delay because of this error. In writing the schedule of the students in the registration form is also a problem, it is because the students should fill up the four copies manually so it takes time. That sometimes it takes many hours to finish filling up the registration form, it depends on the speed of the student in writing. The student also has to stand in front of the bulletin board so that the student can copy his/her schedules that it can make the student uncomfortable of his/her condition. There is a possibility that a student can enroll subjects that he/she has not yet finish the prerequisite of the subjects that has a prerequisite. This is because the finish subjects of the student are manually imputed. So there is a high risk that the grade of the subject will not be properly imputed or it will not be imputed at all because of human error. For the enlisting of the subject of student will take time. It depends on the number of the student that will enroll in the same day. Because the staff that is assigned to enlist the subjects of the student should enlist the subjects one by one that sometimes it will takes forever to finish the enlisting of the subject of the student. There is a possibility that the schedule of the student will not be recorded because of human error. In tracking the record of the student will also be a problem because there is a time that the registrar has too much work to do that she can’t entertain student request. So because the registrar is the only one who can search the records of the student, he/she should wait for the time that the registrar will be free that he/she can entertain the student. Hypotheses of the Study A computerized system like the Integrated ACLC Enlistment with Student Tracking and Printer Support will be useful if it will be used in the future. This system will be the center of attraction in the future. All the staff, instructor, and student will be benefited with this system. A system like this is a big achievement for this school and for the researcher. This will be the stepping stone to a brighter future for this school. This system can help the school regarding in the speed of the transaction. That student won’t waste there whole day to enroll in this school. For the registrar that is benefited with this system it can help her to finish her job faster and she can assign a schedule that is more accurate and it can help to make the job of the staff faster and easier. This system can also help both the registrar and the student because the student won’t wait the time of the registrar where she will be free so that he/she can inquire about his/her records and the registrar can focus on her job because she will not be disturb by the student for the inquiry of their records. And ith this system it can help the student to make their enrolment time much easier and comfortable. As the contradiction of the proposed system, this system can’t help the student, registrar and staff of ACLC-Ormoc. This system will make the job of the registrar and other staff to more complicated and it will be a headache for those person mentioned earlier. This system is useless and good as junk. Basic Assumptions of the Study An Integrated ACLC Enlistment with Student Tracking and Printer Support are the proposed system of the researcher. This system will help the school to claim its name as a computer school. As a computer school, it is right to have a computerized system so that the school can attract new student to enroll in ACLC-Ormoc because when the student saw the computerized system he/she will be amazed about the system that he/she will bear on his/her mind that I want to make a system like this or a system that is greater than this. The student will think that I can make a system with the help of this school. With this system, student that is already enrolled in this school will be amazed that the school where he/she enrolled has already a computerized system just like the other universities in the Philippines. With this system the researcher would assume that the registrar will play her rule that she will give the researcher the exact data needed by the researcher. There will be no changes on the procedure of enlisting of subjects as the study is on going. This system will be used in the future. This system can give the expectations of the student, registrar, and staff. The researcher would like to assume that this system will make the task of the instructor, staff, registrar, and student easier and faster. The student of ACLC-Ormoc would like to use this system in the future. And the researcher would like to assume that for the first time of use of this system will confuse the specific user but as the time goes on it will be easier for them to use it. Scope and Limitations of the Study In making a system is so hard to accomplish. Many problems will encounter by the researcher. Each problem will be the basis in making of the system. But not all the problems can be use to be the basis in making a system it can also give a headache for the researcher. But to make a system that is not much complicated a scope and limitation will be implemented. So that it should not make the system so complicated that might confuse not only the researcher but also the future user of the system. This system will be implemented only in the ACLC-Ormoc campus. This is use within the local area network in the campus. Where there is a specific user that can use the system. And those people are the registrar, the specific staff, and student of ACLC-Ormoc. Each user can only use there specific module. Other users can’t use the module of other user. Because each module has its own use that is appropriate for each user. Just like for the registrar; she has the duty to produce or give an offered subject of the student for the present semester. She only has the authority to assign a schedule for each subject. She can also assign the schedule for the instructor. The registrar and the program head are the only one that can input grades of the student. They can give the next subject that the student should enroll. For the other staff, it can be any staff assigned in the admission office and the staff in the library. He can manage the student profile. He is the one that will accept the new enrolees and input their student information in the system. He is also the one that can print the student registration form and he can also print the validation paper. For the student, he can’t use other module rather than for student module. In the student module, he can only enlist his subjects. The student will be given a paper where his subjects for the current semester are listed. This is where he will base his subjects to be enlisted. The student can also search for his records so that he can’t disturb the registrar for asking of his records. He can only see his records but he can’t change anything about his records. In this system online enlistment of system is not included. This is because this system is design only within the local area of the campus of ACLC-Ormoc. This system will be used in the main building of the ACLC-Ormoc. Payments of the student are not included in this system. And also information in the library is not included in this system. This system is only for ACLC-Ormoc and only the staffs that are given permission by the school director will only use the system and the student that is enrolled in this school is the only one that can use this system. Significance of the Study Having a computerize system in a college school like ACLC-Ormoc is a plus. This is because many student will be encourage to enroll in this school and many student will be inspired to make their system that are greater with this system. But not only the student but also the instructors and staff will be encouraged to do their job. It is because with this system enlistment process will be much easier and faster. The instructor can start his class on the given schedule because this system will avoid the conflict in the schedule. With this system the registrar and the student will be the most benefited with this system. This is because almost all the transaction in this system is focused with them. The computerized enlistment system would greatly improve the impression of the school and also helps to lessen the time of processing enrolled students. With this system, student won’t take a day to be enrolled. This will help the student to be relaxed in enrolling in this school with the help of the system. Student will not be tired in writing the registration form and he won’t wait too long in enlisting and validating his subjects. It won’t take too much pressure to the student it is because with just a simple click of the mouse and waiting for just less than an hour for the printing of his registration form and for the validation paper, enrolment in ACLC-Ormoc is a piece of cake. The job of the registrar will be much easier and faster. She will not be pressured in assigning the schedule for the student and instructor. She can relax in assigning the schedule because she will not think too much in assigning a schedule that she will know if the assigned schedule is conflict or not. The student won’t bother her too much about their records because the student can easily search about his lacking requirements and subjects that should be enrolled. The student can easily complain about the problems of his records. With this system too much pressure will be avoided. Accomplishing the jobs will be easier and faster. Conflicts of schedule will be avoided. For all the users of this system can relax and will be thankful of the existence of this system. There will be accurate information and this system will lead the birth of systems that will be used in this school in the future. This will be the stepping stone for the computerized system for a computer school like ACLC-Ormoc. Definition of Terms

13 Kick-Ass Tips for Writing Fantasy Fiction

13 Kick-Ass Tips for Writing Fantasy Fiction 13 Kick-Ass Tips For Writing Fantasy From Professional Fantasy Editors Has there ever been a better time to be writing fantasy? Where once it was a fringe genre, now fantasy is everywhere in pop culture, from Harry Potter to the memes surrounding Jon Snow.There’s also never been a more exciting time to write fantasy. The genre is changing daily, as authors such as Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, and Patrick Rothfuss continue to interpret, subvert, and stretch it to attain new pinnacles. What’s more, the public can't seem to get enough of it, proving that there is a market for fantasy - and it’s a big one.So, if you’re an author, where can you find a place for yourself in today’s talent-rich terrain?In our search for the finest writing tips in the realm, we spoke to seven of the top fantasy editors on our marketplace. They’ve worked with George R.R. Martin, James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, and many more of the brilliant authors who are re-defining the genre. Here’s what they said.1. Identify your marketIf y ou don’t know your market, you’ve already made a mistake, says Erin Young, an agent for Dystel Goderich Bourret, which represents authors such as James Dashner of Maze Runner fame.â€Å"Oh, my market is fantasy,† you might say, waving your monthly subscription of Imagination And Me. But is your story steampunk, urban, or grimdark fantasy? Is it for children or  young adults? Are there elves or tech? Is it set in the modern world, or is it a re-imagining of an alternate past? Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, for instance, doesn’t target Discworld’s readers, and no-one would instinctively group Harry Potter and Stephen King's The Dark Tower in the same category. Castle Ruins, art by Jeff Brown.â€Å"You’re absorbing ideas. You're absorbing grammar. You're absorbing sentence structure and rhythm and prose,† she says. â€Å"Read books with description or dialogue you admire. Read the books that are classics- they are classics for a reason- and read the books that are bestsellers and read the books that are award winners. Read and read and read, and you'll start to see your own writing improve.†To take specific action, Nieveen suggests picking the 10 books that you most admire. Then, it's just a matter of re-reading them and noting strengths in their plot, dialogue, characters, and scene structure.  Learn from the best - and then go forth and tilt the arena again yourself.What are your tips for writing fantasy? Leave them in the comments below. You can also check out our list of the 100 best fantasy series ever  for inspiration!

Common App 2017-18 How to Write a Great College Application Essay

Common App 2017-18 How to Write a Great College Application Essay After a year of stability, the Common Application essay prompts have changed again – I think for the better – based on surveys of 5000 teachers, students, counselors and colleges. This year brings some wording changes and a brand new prompt – and an old, previously discarded question that has been brought back to life. Significantly, the now â€Å"old† Common App prompts have not changed a lot – which makes sense since 90% of survey respondents reported that the prompts already worked well. Ideally, the new ones will work even better. Let’s take a look at the 2017-18 Common App prompts: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.  This prompt has not changed, and I think that’s a good thing. Many college applicants have some aspect of their lives that’s meaningful and important enough to share with the admissions committee. This question provides a welcome opportunity to do so. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced a challenge, setback or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Obstacles we encounter† and â€Å"a challenge, setback or failure† replaced the previous â€Å"failures† and â€Å"failure.†Ah, this prompt is so much less confronting, and so much more welcoming, to students who do not consider that they have â€Å"failed† but certainly have faced challenges in their lives. Not everyone is too evolved to see failure as an opportunity. And why require a failure to give students the opportunity to write about lessons learned? I like this change. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?â€Å"Questioned† was added to â€Å"challenged†; â€Å"prompted you to act† was replaced with â€Å"your thinking†: and â€Å"Would you make the same decision again?† was replaced by â€Å"What was the outcome?†I like this change because, while few youngsters have gone against the grain in a meaningful way, many of them have had thoughts that go against a belief or idea. The new prompt does not require students to have taken huge risks or to be activists. It just requires them to have opinions. Furthermore, they do not have to answer a yes or no question about whether they would take the same action in the future. Why require students to fortune tell like that? Instead, they can talk about what happened and naturally examine their role in that outcome. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.  This was a completely new prompt two years ago, and it provides an exciting opportunity for students to display their intellectual prowess or emotional intelligence. No changes for next year! Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization, that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. This is a fairly old prompt with a fresh take. Interestingly, I predicted that it would be deleted or changed significantly last time I wrote about the Common App prompts, as I saw the danger of clichà ©d answers talking about Bar Mitzvahs and Eagle Scout projects.Here’s what changed: The words â€Å"formal or informal† were deleted, and the word â€Å"realization† was added. Even more significantly, instead of asking about something that â€Å"marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family,† the prompt now asks for students to delve into their own growth and understanding of themselves, their relationships and the world.Both changes reveal admissions committees’ clear preference for introspection and self-understanding. I’ve been saying for years that the com mittees want to see self-awareness and a focus on personal growth, and this preference could not be clearer than from the changes in this essay question. Describe a topic, idea or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?  This brand new prompt is another opportunity for applicants to explain how their brains work, what makes them tick, and how they explore their intellectual interests. I believe it’s a way for the admissions committee to discover how engaged a student would be in both intellectual and extra-curricular pursuits. It will be a great option for any students with passion and curiosity! Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.  While there was a â€Å"topic of your choice† essay question in the past, it did not suggest submitting an essay the student has already written! This choice fascinates and scares me. With the emphasis in all the other questions on sharing so personally, why open things up to essays on Huckleberry Finn? Why give this easy out to students who can just slap an essay into the box that they wrote for an English class? I bet this question in its current form won’t last long.Also interestingly, when the â€Å"topic of your choice† question was eliminated, there was very little complaint. But after a couple of years, people want it back. We’ll see what the feedback is in the future. It doesn’t really seem necessary, as the instructions to the Common App encourage students to use the prompts to write about anything they want:â€Å"What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response.† As Scott Anderson, Senior Director for Access and Education at The Common Application, points out in The Common App Essay Prompts Are Changing. Here’s Why It Doesn’t Matter, there’s really only one question in the Common App Essay: â€Å"Write an essay on a topic of your choice.† The Common App Essay has provided you direction, and your job is to take it and create your story. If your child is applying to college and wants support on writing a great response to the Common Application Essay questions, contact The Essay Expert. Remember, approximately 26% of all college applicants hire an admissions consultant, and your child is in the same pool as they are. You might also enjoy some of my other articles about college essays and admissions.

E-Commerce Cyber Marketing Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

E-Commerce Cyber Marketing Strategies - Essay Example Internet has become of the most phenomenon technological factor to most modern organizations, tapping the cost-effectiveness and affordability of the factor to achieve their objectives and goals (Krishnamurthy, 2006). As such, the internet has ingrained itself in the modern commerce and trade. Moreover, despite its rapid growth, analysts expect the internet to growth and advance further. The central goal of most organizations is to realize future threats and opportunities, and accordingly design a strategy. Commoditization of the internet has led to the development and evolution of electronic commerce, or E-commerce as commonly known (Hanson, 2000). Essentially, E-commerce refers to the concept of selling and buying services and products over computer networks or the internet. It incorporates technologies such as internet marketing, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, inventory management, systems, electronic data interchange, online transaction processing, and automatic data collection systems. E-commerce has led to the revolution of traditional marketing concepts, initiating strategies to enhance marketing strategies referred to as network marketing (Miletsky, 2000). This paper seeks to discuss and analyze four main E-commerce cyber marketing strategies: viral marketing, online advertising, permission electronic mail marketing, and search engine man agement and optimization. The paper also provides an analysis of their pros and cons, as well as a comprehensive comparison of the strategies. Lastly, the paper provides a decision-making criterion for selecting the best strategy. In marketing strategies, the most important factor to consider is to shorten the distance between consumption and production as well as reduce the lengthy circulation of commodities through numerous links. As such, the internet provides an ideal marketing platform, allowing consumers and producers to conclude their transaction in a click of a mouse button. This is the foundation of cyber marketing. Essentially, marketing is the communication between firms and customers with the intention of persuading the customer to purchase the goods and services of the firm. The increasing growth and popularity of the internet makes it an ideal target for marketing, supported by other significant factors such as cost effectiveness, reliability, speed, and accessibility (Bhusry, 2005). Consequently, marketers have come up with innovative strategies to tap the potential opportunity of E-commerce cyber marketing, including viral marketing, online advertising, permission electronic mail marketing, and search engine optimization. Viral Marketing Viral marketing essentially refers to the online word-of-mouth advertising. In this marketing concept, the firm provides something interesting that encourages others to spread marketing information about the product or service, cost effectively and quickly without much effort from the firm. Consequently, this potentially creates an exponential growth in the effect and visibility of the marketing message (Bhusry, 2005). In other words, the message spreads like a common cold virus form one person to the other. Cyber virus marketing is a very effective marketing strategy, and a successful campaign may present an opportunity of obtaining thousands of new every year. A prime example of a phenomenon viral marketing s trategy is Hotmail (http://www.hotmail.com), the first provider of free E-mail services (Krishnamurthy, 2006). The firm began offering free accounts, attaching a

Summery of key business arguments for and against diversity Essay

Summery of key business arguments for and against diversity - Essay Example This paper seeks to provide arguments for diversity in the workplace, in addition, to arguments against diversity. An organization can increase revenue by improving the diversity of its team, which in turn improves decision-making and problem solving. Diverse teams have a richer and broader base of experience, which they can draw on, to solve organizational issues and problems. The presence of views from the minority can create a higher level of critical analysis of implications and assumptions in decision-making (Thiederman 1). Additionally, it also provides for an increase of alternatives from which the team can choose. Problem resolution benefits from a diverse workforce with dependency on manager who is diversity-competent and utilizes key behaviors of diversity management. A properly trained and managed diverse team is more successful in resolving work-related difficulties than homogenous teams. However, diversity does not work out if this diversity is not utilized effectively (Thiederman 1). Diversity also increases the ability of an organization to be innovative and creative (Jackson 1). These skills are best used in quality improvement, process re-engineering, advertising, and introduction of new products. Diversity can also help where an organization is serving a diverse customer base. For example, if an organization is serving Hispanic and Black consumers, then a diverse workforce will be better equipped to handle them on a personal level. Allied Sinai is a perfect example of this as they successfully negotiated the sale of wheels to China East Airlines, with the success put down to the presence of Americans of Chinese origin on their sales team (Jackson 1). However, diversity does have its drawbacks. Diversity can act as an impediment to effective communication, which, in turn, can dampen the cohesiveness and productivity of small, work teams (Mayhew 1). Spending time together can act, as a gradual way of breaking down these barriers to

The various market entry strategies Essay Example for Free

The various market entry strategies Essay Research Objectives: This research is undertaken to identify, analyze and evaluate the various market entry strategies in global markets. Specifically, the research will examine exporting, franchising, acquisition, merger, wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures. Furthermore, the research will also analyze entry strategies implemented by a number of multinational corporations operating in different industries. Finally, the research will conclude with the factors that need to be examined and investigated before entering a global market. General Introduction: Multinational firms deciding how to enter or operate in a global market must carefully and precisely take into consideration many critical factors including the local business environment in addition to the firm’s own core competencies. An entry mode is defined by Wild Wild (2012) as â€Å"the institutional arrangement by which a firm gets its products, technologies, human skills, or other resources into a market.† (Wild Wild, 2012, p.358) Wheleen Hunger (2010) stated that research had indicated that growing globally is linked with the organization’s profitability. This means that firm’s who are looking for ways to increase their long-term profitability, are now looking for profitable and appropriate markets to offer their products and or services. A firm can select from a number of strategic options the most appropriate method for entering a global market or establishing production plans in another nation. Zekiri Angelova (2011) argued that Firms that want to internationalize must decide on a fitting mode of entry into a foreign market in order to make the best use of their resources. â€Å"The age of globalization has both facilitated and necessitated businesses to move towards the internationalization of organizations of all sizes.† (Wood and Robertson, as cited in Zekiri Angelova, 2011, p.573). There are many different modes of entering into foreign markets. Each mode has its strengths and weaknesses in general terms. However, Zekiri (2011) explained that each single multinational firm would be more attracted to a type mode depending on their backgrounds, nature of the company, strategic objectives as well as the resources. In many cases, there are many obstacles that companies have to meet while deciding to enter other markets, for example; safety, environmental, packaging, labeling, patents, trademarks and copyrights, are factors that businesses depend on being successful. Moreover, It should be stated that the local business environment in terms of political, technological, legal, environmental, and cultural factors should be deeply studied to assess the attractiveness of the target market. This argument is also supported by Zekiri Angelova (2011) as he stated â€Å"it is difficult to understand the business environment in a country without studying the current politic al system and institutions, government policies, and a variety of data and other information on the country’s economy.† (Zekiri, 2011, p.573) Kotler Armstrong (2008) as well as Chung Enderwich (2001) explained that some of the benefits associated with operating on international basis are the increased profits and sales growth, the chances of achieving both economies of scale and location economies. Zekiri Angelova (2011) also added that many firms are operating on international basis for better opportunities and profit potential in emerging markets such as (India, China, Brazil and Russia) As globalization now is fostering international operations as nations are being more open to trade and foreign investment opportunities. Global Market Entry Strategies: Advantages and Disadvantages Exporting: According to many researchers including Wheleen Hunger (2010), Kotler Armstrong (2009), and Chung Enderwich (2011) exporting is one of the most basic and simplest entry strategies as it minimizes the risk and experiment with a specific product. Shaver (2009) defined exporting as â€Å"the production of goods at home that are sold in foreign markets.† (Shaver, 2009, p.1047) in other words, products are shipped from the home country to other countries for marketing. Wheleen Hunger (2010) stated that the company could either choose to handle all critical functions itself or could contract these functions to export management companies. The main benefits of exporting are its simplicity and low cost of investment and risk. Consequently, exporting could be seen as the first entry method used by organizations in order to obtain knowledge of the foreign market. Other advantages of exporting are increased utilization of the domestic plant, thus using idle capacity and reducing unit costs through economies of scale. Exporting also helps in diversifying markets, which reduces the company’s exposure to domestic demand instability. On the other hand, the disadvantages of exporting include high transportation fees trade barriers, tariffs, quotas, and problems with local agents. In addition, exporters have lower control of distribution and local agents. Moreover, Shaver (2009) noted that companies engaging in exporting could face the potential risk of exchange rate fluctuations, and could be subject to custom duties and taxes in the importing counties. Zekiri Angelova (2011) although exporting costs are relatively low compared with the other entry methods, to enter and develop these markets exporters usually incur costs to gain exposure, set up sales and distribution networks, and attract customers. Furthermore, cultural barriers could forces companies to modify or redesign their products including labeling and packaging for the purpose of meeting consumers’ preferences/tastes and local requirements. From on own point of view, which was not discussed by any of the previous authors and researchers, is that exporting is hindering a firm’s ability to quickly respond to the changing needs of target consumers. Franchising: Franchising is one of the global entry modes that has been widely used as a quick method of global expansion, most notably by multinational fast food and retail chains such as (KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks). According to Wheleen Hunger (2010), under a franchising agreement, the franchiser offers rights to another party to open a retail store using the franchiser’s name and operating system. In other words, by the payment of a royalty fee, the franchisee will obtain the major business know-how via an agreement with the franchiser. Franchising is most commonly used in a number of American service industries, such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Starbucks etc. from an own point of view, franchisers are constantly demonstrating their ability to adapt and modify their product offering to suit local tastes and preferences. This is especially true in McDonald’s, which offers different menus in different nations. McDonald’s brand is still internationally consistent, but service staff and menu choices can be modified to local needs. According to Roland Berger Tata strategic management group (2009) McDonald’s in India was able to create localized products where it did not serve hamburger meals as some religions in India prohibits the consuming meat. Instead McDonald’s served vegetarian and chicken meals that gained the favorability of most Indian consumers. Holmes (2003) stated a major disadvantage associated with entering global markets via franchisee agreements. Firstly, he stated that franchisers might find it difficult to manage a large number of franchisees in a variety of national markets. The major issue in franchisee agreements is that product and service quality in addition to promotional messages among franchisees will not be consistent or similar from one market to another. Another major disadvantage discussed by Wild Wild (2012) is franchisees can experience a loss of organizational flexibility in franchising agreements. â€Å"Franchise contracts can restrict their strategic and tactical options and they may even be forced to promote products by the franchiser’s other division. Dahlstrom, Duncan, Ramsay, Amburgey (2004) explained that when PepsiCo used to own the global fast-food chains Pizza Hut and KFC, it used to force franchisees to sell its beverages to their consumers which gained the criticism of many franch isees worldwide. Acquisitions: As Wheleen Hunger (2010) explained a fast way used by heavy multinational corporations in different industries to operate into a desired and profitable global market is through â€Å"purchasing another company already operating in that area.† One of the benefits that he clearly discussed is the synergistic benefits could be acquired if the firm acquires another company having strong complementary product lines and a good distribution network. Lahovnik (2011) argued that acquisitions have been the most popular growth strategy for decades in the US economy. He explained that the 1990s and 2000s also featured a markedly increased volume of European mergers and acquisitions. Economic growth, deregulation and the development of the common European economy accelerated the acquisition process in EU countries. He also noted that the number of acquisitions has also risen in economies in transition. Horizontal acquisitions are the most popular and most frequently pursued acquisition type. From the strategic perspective, the key questions are whether and how an acquirer will restructure the company, and how this will contribute to the acquired company’s competitive advantage. For instance, According to UPI (2012) Boeing is continuing to advance its defense logistics support portfolio with the acquisition of California Company Miro Technologies, a Boeing supplier. UPI (2012) further explains that Miro was a privately held software company specializing in enterprise asset and supply chain management; maintenance, repair and overhaul services; and performance-based logistics management. It will become part of Boeings Global Services and Support business within Boeing Defense, Space and Security. Boeings services and logistics business has grown significantly in recent years and Miro has been a trusted technology partner during that time. (Parasida, as cited in UPI, 2012) Specifically, the acquisition expands GSS product offerings for linking and fusing data from existing systems to improve mission readiness and to reduce sustainment costs. Some of the major advantages that acquisitions provide to multi-national firms are the following. First, Riley (2012) stated that firms could have quick access to resources both physical and human as well as potential skills and competencies. Secondly, economies of scale could be achieved which helps spread the risk through wider range of products and greater geographical spread. However, from an own point of view, the main drawback of acquiring other companies from a different nation is the clash of cultures. From instance, when Wal-Mart decided to enter the European market through Germany it acquired two `German retailers however, the two acquired companies had a totally different corporate culture which prohibited Wal-Mart from integrating its corporate culture into the newly acquired companies. Therefore, from an own point of Wal-Mart’s entry in the German market through acquisition could have been more successful if Wal-Mart carefully studied the various German retailers and appropriately chose a profitable German retailer that is characterized with a culture that is not highly differentiated from Wal-Mart’s corporate culture and can be integrated easily into Wal-Mart’s. Also the acquired companies should have given Wal-Mart a unique opportunity to effectively compete with the aggressive competition in the Retailing industry and offer a unique and innovative value proposition that is not offered by others. Mergers: According to Investopedia (2010) In the pure sense of the term, a merger happens when two firms, often of about the same size, agree to go forward as a single new company rather than remain separately owned and operated. This kind of action is more precisely referred to as a merger of equals. Both companies stocks are surrendered and new company stock is issued in its place. For example, both Daimler-Benz and Chrysler ceased to exist when the two firms merged, and a new company, DaimlerChrysler, was created. Schamotter (2012) stated that the mergers could benefit both companies in various ways. Firstly, A merged company can reduce many of its expenses. Budgets for things like marketing might be shared, while the new, larger company enjoys greater purchasing power, which lowers the costs of raw materials and other necessities. More often than not, a merger results in staff layoffs as positions become redundant in the new single entity. Merged companies can also share office space and eliminate duplicate manufacturing facilities. Secondly, Schamattor (2012) explains that by merging, the new company is theoretically provided with access to more customers. This is true if the individual companies had been demonstrably successful in separate markets, as opposed to roughly equally competing in the same one. For example, according to the BBC, the merger of the German automaker Daimler Benz with the American automaker Chrysler Corp. allowed the new company, Daimler Benz, to access markets in both Europe and North America. Merged companies can offer a greater range of products and services. Because these may be complimentary, the merged company may be able to capture more consumers than they would as individual entities. Moreover, the research firmly believes that merged companies can access a diversified set of intellectual capital through different human skills and competencies that could be used as a platform from conti nuous innovation and new product development. On the contrary, mergers could harm both companies if a clash of culture does exist. Just like acquisitions, a firm merging with another firm from a different culture could lead to decline in the firm’s performance, unsatisfied employees, and more importantly loss of shareholder’s value and decline in the market performance. These arguments are supported by both Wild Wild (2012) and Chung Enderwich (2011) as they both argued that lack of cross-cultural competence is the barrier to an effective and long-term mergers. Joint Ventures: In some situations or circumstances, many multinational firms prefer to share ownership of an operation rather than complete ownership. Joint ventures differs from mergers in the sense that in joint ventures â€Å"a separate company is created and jointly owned by two or more independent entities to achieve a common business goal. The partners could be private firms, government agencies, or public companies (companies owned by the government). For example, BP was forced according to the law in Egypt to form a joint venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has made our joint venture, GUPCO, an industry leader and one of the largest oil and gas operations in the entire region. Moreover, BP Egypt has another joint venture with United Gas Derivatives Company (UGDC), owns and operates the largest natural gas liquids (NGL) plant in Egypt. Wild Wild (2012) discussed some of the advantages of joint ventures. First, they argued that companies do rely on joint ventures to reduce risk. In other words, a company can use a joint venture to learn about the local business environment before operating solely. Secondly, they argued that companies can use joint ventures to penetrate international markets that are other wise off limits. Some governments do design and implement laws that force foreign companies to share ownership with domestic firms. Finally, â€Å"a company can gain access to another company’s international distribution networks through the use of joint ventures.† (Worley Worley, 2012, p.374) Among the disadvantages of joint ventures, conflict of ownership might arise between the two parties. Also Worley Worley (2012) added that conflict can also arise from disagreements over how future investments and profits are to be shared. Secondly, they are stated that loss of control over a joint venture’s operations can also result when the local government is a partner in the venture. Where governments could decide to nationalize the company and takes full ownership of the venture. Conclusion: To conclude, the choice of the entry mode has many important strategic implications for a firm’s long-term operations. Firms do spend a large sum of money and devote much of their time in determining the most efficient and effective way to enter the desired global market. From an own point of view, which is also supported by the work of Worley Worley (2012), Zekiri Angelova (2011) and Kotler Armstrong (2008) one of the critical activities that needs to be conducted before the entry choice is to analyze and evaluate both the opportunities and threats present in the local business environment of the host country. The culture, which is the set of values, beliefs and norms greatly differ from one country to another and could negatively or positively influence the firm’s performance. Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany was the result of the lack of intercultural competence. The political and legal environment could serve as an opportunity or threat for a specific firm. For example, political instability in a target market increases the risk of investment. Certain import regulations such as high tariffs, or low quota limits can discourage a firm to export its products to this country. Also local content requirements by governments could force multinational corporations to use local resources which might not be meeting the quality standards. Bibliography: 1- Wild, J Wild, K. (2012). â€Å"International business: the challenges of globalization.† (6th ed.). London: Pearson Education 2- Wheleen, T. Hunger, D. (2010). â€Å"Strategic management and business policy†. (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education 3- Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. (2008). â€Å"Principles of marketing.† (12th ed.). New Jersey: Peasron Education 4- Shaver, J. (2011). The benefits of geographic sales diversification: how exporting facilitates capital investment. Strategic Management Journal, 1046-1060. Retrieved from Ebscohost research database. 5- Zekiri, J. Angelova, B. (2011). Factors that influence entry mode choice in foreign markets. European Journal of Social Science, 4(22), 572-584. Retrieved from Ebscohost research database. 6- Roland Berger Tata Strategic Management Group. (2009). India: opportunities challenges. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=2ved=0CDcQFjABurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rolandberger.de% 2Fmedia%2Fpdf%2FRoland_Berger_India_Opportunities_20090706.pdfei=dj2-ULGmGczFswbcuIG4Dgusg=AFQjCNEwgEyYvYOggC_So6o_Mfx5S_CooQsig2=yoLcEuhmRXeawISVMaXBEg 7- Lahovnik, M. (2011). Strategic fit between business strategies in the post-acquisition period and acquisition performance. Retrieved from 8- Dahlstrom, R. Ramsay, R. Duncan, J. Amburgey, T. (2004). Cases in strategic-systems auditing. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1ved=0CC8QFjAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbusiness.illinois.edu%2Fkpmg-uiuccases%2Fcases%2Ftricon%2FTricon.pdfei=mD6-UNzEKozAtAb-kYH4DQusg=AFQj

Intuitions Role in the Giant Spectrum Essay -- its effect on everyday/w

A tingling sensation in the air erupts. The body stops mid stride as the physical alarm bell goes off, awareness about every little thing resonates as an operation plays out that doesn’t require any conscious thinking, it just happens. It is the feeling that sprouts up in the presence of someone or something that just does not feel right. That discrete nudge to the brain, that ignites a gut feeling. Intuition. With intuitional decision-making there is no need for conscious reasoning as intuition takes over ones judgment capabilities. It is then that the question of intuitions role in our everyday judgment, comes about. In a multitude of case studies involving the latter question, researchers inquire about the effect of intuition upon everyday judgment calls in life and the work field. â€Å"Think before acting!† From the time a child is born they are unknowingly told to think with their head before making a detrimental decision. â€Å"Our culture is replete with cognitive maxims like "look before you leap" and "think before you act" that suggest that one's impulses or intuitions tend to be deeply flawed† (Lieberman 109). There is this essential ideal that intuitional based thinking leads to â€Å"Suboptimal† decision making; of less than the highest standard or quality of thinking (Lieberman, 109). When this thinking process takes place there is a lack in the logical structure of informational processing in the neurological system. In terms of economics, there is no weighing of the cost and benefits of certain deliberations. Psychologists, Betsch and Glà ¶ckner, call this process â€Å"recognition heuristic† (Betsch and Glà ¶ckner 279). The idea, that people make decisions based upon recognition; when they are familiar with something they know, that o... ...d UP, 1998. Print. Betsch, Tilmann, and Andreas Glà ¶ckner. "Intuition in Judgment and Decision Making: Extensive Thinking Without Effort." Psychological Inquiry 21.4 (2010): 279-94. Web. Campbell, Elizabeth Rose. Intuitive Astrology: Follow Your Best Instincts to Become Who You Always Intended to Be. New York: Ballantine, 2003. Print. Hogarth, Robin M. "Chapter 6/On the Learning of Intuition." Educating Intuition. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2001. N. pag. Print. Klein, Gary A. Intuition at Work: Why Developing Your Gut Instincts Will Make You Better at What You Do. New York: Currency/Doubleday, 2003. Print. Lieberman, Matthew D. "Intuition: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Approach." Psychological Bulletin 126.1 (2000): 109-37. Web. Simon, H.A. (1987). Making management decisions: the role of intuition and emotion, Academy of Management Executive, 1: 57-64.

Amazon analysis Essay

1. Introduction Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce company. It was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 (Amazon, n.d.) and the website went online on July 16, 1995 (Webley, 2010). Amazon has its headquarter in Seattle, Washington and several offices on all continents. (Amazon, n.d.) At the beginning Amazon sold only books and after a period of development they expanded into a wider range of products such as multimedia products, household items, toys, clothing, jewellery, sporting goods and grocery (Amazon, n.d.). In the following the business strategy of Amazon is analysed in regard to a theoretical background. First of all, Amazon’s strategy is examined in terms of Porter’s Five Forces and Generic Strategies. Moreover, Amazon’s internationalisation strategy is examined including the obstacles they might face in their development process and how those can be overcome. Furthermore, economic theory is used to evaluate the aspects of market power and competition. 2. Analysis of Amazon 2.1. Amazon in Porter’s frameworks 2.1.1. Porter’s Five Forces It can be recommended to organisations to analyse the environment they operate in. This can be done on several levels such as the macro-environment, industry, competitors and the organisation itself. When analysing the industry the model of Porter’s Five Forces is an appropriate tool. It includes the five competitive forces threat of entry, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers and competitive rivalry. Figure 1: The five forces framework (Tanbots, n.d.) Threat of entry describes the level of barriers that need to be overcome by new entrants in an industry. The typical barriers are (Johnson, Whittington, & Scholes, 2011): Scale and experience Access to supply and distribution channels Expected retaliation Legislation or government action Differentiation In the case of Amazon the barrier scale and experience is the most significant. Amazon is the largest online retailer (Netonomy.NET, 2013). As a consequence they operate on a very large scale which results in economies of scale and other cost advantages. For a new entrant it would be very difficult to achieve this from scratch as this would requires large amounts of investment. As a new competitor in this sector does not have those cost advantages it is very likely that they have to charge higher prices. Amazon is in business for almost 18 years now which is comparable long for any online company. During this time they were able to build up a lot of valuable experience which is likely to be reflected in their cost curve as well. â€Å"A substitute performs the same or a similar function as an industry’s product by a different means.† (Porter, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, 2008) The threat of a substitute is high when it offers an attractive price-perf ormance ratio and when the buyer’s switching costs are low. (Porter, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, 2008) Switching costs are very low because it does not make a difference to the customer where they buy their books, music downloads or kitchen appliances just to name a few. The product is either the same or very  similar. So customers have the free choice where they want to purchase their products. However, there might be high emotional switching costs as customers built up a high loyalty in the past. Amazon makes use of this with their Kindle for example. There are many e-book readers available but when a customer purchases the Kindle they are also going to purchase their e-books from Amazon because then switching costs would be high as they would need a different e-book reader. This is a mean for Amazon to counteract the threat of substitutes. Suppliers can put pressure on companies by either reducing the quality of the good or service or by raising prices. The bargaining power of suppliers is high when one or more of several key elements are given such as the industry is dominated by only a few suppliers, the product is unique or differentiated and the industry is not an important customer of the supplier. (Porter, How competitive forces shape strategy, 1979) In the case of Amazon the bargaining po wer of suppliers is limited. On the one hand the power of suppliers is high because Amazon depends from their suppliers in the sense that books for example are usually not offered by a large number of different publishing companies. The same is true for the multimedia sector. So those suppliers could increase prices. On the other hand with Amazon being the largest online retailer it is a major customer of the industry. Publishing companies for example cannot risk to lose Amazon as a customer. Customers can pressure the companies to reduce prices, increase quality of the product or service and play competitors off against each other if they have a high bargaining power. (Porter, How competitive forces shape strategy, 1979) The key issue in the case of Amazon is that most of their products are standard and undifferentiated. As a lot of competitors in the online market as well as in the high street sector offer the same or very similar products customers can easily play competitors off against each other or demand lower prices. Due to those facts customers have a fairly high bargaining power. Rivalry among existing competitors is very high as Amazon has not only to compete with other online shops but also with high street retailers. Amazon offers a wide range of products and they are faced with different competitors across their product categories. There is only one factor that differentiates Amazon from the other retailers which is that Amazon offers such an immense range of products. 2.1.2. Generic Strategies Companies can develop a competitive advantage either in having lower costs than competitors or by product differentiation so that customers are willing to pay higher prices for that unique characteristic. The strategies that are developed to achieve this can either focus on the broad or narrow scope. (Johnson, Whittington, & Scholes, 2011) Figure 2: Generic Competitive Strategies (Burgeen, 2013) With Amazon being the largest online retailing company it is clear that they focus on the broad scale and try to target as many customers as possible. The two possible strategies to develop a competitive advantage are therefore cost leadership or differentiation. Most of the goods and services that are sold by Amazon are standardised and undifferentiated. As Amazon does not produce the goods they sell it is not possible to develop a competitive advantage in terms of a differentiation strategy. As Amazon operates on such a large scale which makes it possible to achieve economies of scale and with some degree of bargaining power towards their suppliers it is quite obvious that cost leadership most likely to be the strategy that Amazon pursues that the moment. However, Amazon is always seeking to develop something unique mostly in the area of customer service. At the moment, they are developing a drone that could deliver small packages to the customers in 30 minutes or less (Amazon, n.d.). This unique service is a mean of differentiation to other online stores for which customers are certainly willing to pay a higher price. This strategy of cost leadership and developing new unique features can ensure that Amazon maintains their competitive advantage. 2.2. Modes of entry The selection of transactional corporation of entry modes was impacted by a variety of integrated factors. These multinational firms have the advantages of technology, scale and fund to entry a new market and area (Chan et al., 1992), for the party to accept, these multinational companies not only promote the development of economic and technology, but also bring a lot of employment opportunities for these new market. And at the same time, for the party of multinational companies which will extend a new area, and scale for their business, fuse with the local technology habit and culture can also  make the company become more diversified, bring more benefit for the company. Like the Amazon, which include 3 subsidiary corporations respectively are Alexa Internet, A9 and Internet Movie Database, IMDB. And its development strategy is vigorously develop enterprise diversification, make it more competitive and better integrated into the international market. In the theory of entry model, there have several points which respectively are Licensing or franchising, Joint venture, and Wholly owned subsidiary. 2.2.1. Licensing or franchising For the part of licensing or franchising, which means the franchise owners in the form of the contract, franchisees are allowed to be paid for the use of its name, trademark, proprietary technology, operational and management experience to carry out commercial activities. Since Amazon as an E-commerce sale platform and already involved with a number of product areas, then which can cooperate with other product firms, especially when they entry a new country of market, collaborate with the local enterprise and brand which was known by native is the fastest way to fit in these market, and also these Products manufacturer named amazon’s name will lead to better development. But the barrier of licensing or franchising is also exists, for example, these franchise and franchisee business ideas and products form may not conform to the principle of amazon’s brand, then these differences about management idea may be will bring conflicts and contradictions to each other. Then in order to prevent problem like this happened, Amazon on the aspect of international development should make full of investigation and examination before cooperation when they prepare to into a new market of country to avoid these problems. 2.2.2. Joint venture At the part of Joint venture, when an enterprise prepare to entry a new market, shall make a research about the condition of this industry in this market, whether have the condition for the development or already over-saturated. So how to competition with local enterprise, how to be accepted by native and how to stand out are the most important problems that Amazon should be consider, and with the object of joint venture may also produce interest on the friction. But through joint venture will save lots of cost and time on the part of adjustment period, Amazon can use a certain  technology, experience and talent which come from the object of cooperation. Reduce the risk caused by the poor preparation, distribute respective benefits at the same time, and also can draw appropriate management experience and local development, lay the foundation for the next market. 2.2.3. Wholly owned subsidiary In addition to Licensing or franchising, Joint venture, there is a better way of freedom to control which is Wholly owned subsidiary. It refers to a subsidiary fully owned or controlled by only one parent company, and there are exist two ways to set up subsidiary: first is set up a new firm from the beginning and construct a new set of production equipment; second is purchase an existing firm and its equipment. So Amazon should also develop like the other transactional corporations, through after a long period of survey and investigation about the condition of development in this area, through the acquisition of local companies or set up a new subsidiary to complete the integration with the local market, for example, amazon used to announced a $75 million deal to buy â€Å"joyo.com†, will be for amazon joyo, under a wholly owned subsidiary in China(Wang, 2012), which rely on the strong platform and group advantage of Amazon, so in the management and operational funds aspects w ithout having worry. But the through this way will spent a huge of money, then Amazon should planning in this aspect prudently, comprehensive estimation its operating situation and development prospect. Establish a wholly owned subsidiary of the company also need to take a lot of resources, so the risk what faced by Amazon may be high. One of source of risk is the target market of political or social uncertain or instability, and some risks like these may cause harm on company material property and personal safety when it become more serious, as long as fully understand the targets market of customer before they entering, the parent company will decrease these risks. 3. Individualized Pricing 3.1. Analysis of individualized pricing With the advent of online retailers and comparison sites, product price becomes more transparent for consumers. In order to effectively promote products in sales, enterprises must develop effective strategies of pricing  for the market, such as individualized pricing. In the age of electronic commerce, production can be product personalized service. So the individualized pricing also appears. Individualized pricing let consumers to choose the individualized products they wanted and pay the price. Although personalized pricing can enhance profits largely, many companies still hesitate that customers will feel the individualized pricing is unfair. There is a case about ‘Amazon’, which is an online shopping company. In 2000, customers have found that Amazon charge different prices to different people. For the some one DVD, the price to new customer is lower than that to old customers by four dollars. Amazon’s explanation is that this is a random discount for differ ent customers. Based on customer’s response to discount, company re-measures the price of products for each customer. From the result, the customer feels that they buy more frequently, the price become lower. This makes regular customers satisfied. It is obvious that the company want to compete with other opponents by using the strategy of individualized pricing. Today, customers can compare the products from different stores. Then, they can buy the necessary goods online at a lower price. In recent years, the only way to ensure efficient pricing is to use a dynamic way such as the individualized pricing. This means that retailers need to understand the value of customers and how to obtain the loyalty of customers. By analysis the situation of market and customers, the companies can make the efficient price of products to absorb consumers. Due to most retailers heavily dependent on competitive prices, they try to keep the same price or slightly lower prices than that of competitors. The companies can obtain higher market share. But some companies abuse the market power, they dominate market by reducing product’s price. This behavior will be prohibited by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which is a non-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom. It enforces both consumer protection and competition law. Therefore the individualized pricing has both advantages and disadvantages. It depends on how the companies use this method. Appropriately using of individualized pricing can promote activeness of market. If individualized pricing is excessive, it will become the abuse of market power. The OFT acts as the UK’s economic regular. 3.2. Government’s role Government has played a leading role in maintaining fair competition in the internal market of retailing sector, which requires competitors competition of fair, just, open, equal and orderly with rivals, then which means to follow the principle of fair competition, and the principle of fair competition, so follow the survival of the fittest, for the country of internal aspect, the government always played the role to maintain market fair competition, the enterprise operation and so on. But also in some other special circumstances, like in order to protect domestic industries then form a monopoly to resist the invasion of foreign industry, using economic and legal means to create condition for the internal retail enterprise in market competition, at the same time, promoting its development abroad when it has sufficient capacity. Competition on the international market, when excessive foreign enterprise brand occupies a certain market share of the product, the government should implement the corresponding protection measures to cultivate the local retail brands, this can better promote the healthy development of domestic enterprises. Government can make laws or raise taxes in order to limit the foreign-owned enterprise to enter the local market, but in taking measures should be multi-faceted and carefully implemented. Excessive restrictions could cut competition consciousness between local businesses moreover can form local monopoly enterprises, but if the limit of foreign-owned enterprise is not enough, it may only effect the resource and product flow in the market environment. EU retail and wholesale industry annual output value accounted for 11% of EU GDP, providing nearly 30 million jobs, accounting for 15% of total EU employment. Enhance the competitiveness of the retail industry is essential to ensure the European Union’s economic growth and employment, so in addition to developing their own factors of each local enterprise, the government should vigorously developing its regulation function to balance the market competitiveness and create a good market environment for each of the retail enterprise’s development. 4. Conclusion Amazon as the one of most largest and popular e-commerce should select which way of entry modes cautiously when they development internalization strategy. Fully do the preparation before entry a new market, through  authorization, the establishment of joint ventures or subsidiaries gradually penetrated into new markets. The model of future business will be global. Amazon operates in a very competitive environment as there is a high level of rivalry among competitors such as other online stores and high street shops. Additionally, there is a high threat of substitutes as well as high bargaining power of buyers. However, Amazon recognized that being the cost leader does not ensure having a competitive advantage in the future. This is why they try to develop new features in the sector of online stores in order to be able to add something unique to their mainly standardized products. This is their mean to maintain their position as the world’s leading online store. Due to the price of products has a strong influence on customers, price has become the key to ensure business and customer loyalty. Individualized pricing becomes more popular. Undoubtedly, some retail providers can establish the customer loyalty and obtain more profit. But the using of individualized pricing still needs to be supervised. Otherwise, it will cause the abuse of market power. So this is the significance of OFT and government. The government should be regulated according to different market situations, creating a fair competitive environment for the retail market and avoid vicious competition which may arise. Bibliography Amazon. (n.d.). About Amazon. Retrieved 03 18, 2014, from http://www.amazon.com/b?node=239364011 Amazon. (n.d.). Amazon Prime Air. Retrieved 03 18, 2014, from http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011 Amazon. (n.d.). Global Locations. Retrieved 03 18, 2014, from http://www.amazon.com/b?node=239366011 Burgeen. (2013, 06 29). Porter’s Generic Strategies. Retrieved 03 18, 2014, from http://www.burgeen.com/main/porters-generic-strategies/ Chan, K. W., Peter, H. (1992) ‘Global Strategy and Multinationals’ Entry Mode Choice’, Journal of International Business Studies, 23(1), pp.29-53. Johnson, G., Whittington, R., & Scholes, K. (2011). Exploring Strategy. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Netonomy.NET. (2013, 01 30). TOP 5 Largest online retailers – Who are these companies and how did they make it to the top? Retrieved 03 18, 2014, from http://netonomy.net/2013/01/30/top-5-largest-online-retailers-who-companies-h

Effectiveness of Time and Financial Management Essay

The researchers chose 7 different scholars to conduct a survey about the chosen topic. Most of the respondents came from student assistant’s category and the others came from the category of academic scholars. These scholars were given scholarships from Ozanam Study Grant Program and Megaworld Foundation. On the range of their ages, 17-22 years old were the students who were given an opportunity they wanted to have. The scholars being interviewed have a daily allowance of more or less 150 pesos. On the Graph 1.1 being shown below are some of the expenses of the following students. Graph 1.1 A little number of respondents said that they stay in boarding houses that cost them Php 1,600 to Php 1,700. Literally, the cost was being solved by their parents. 3 out of 7 students said that both of their parents are self-employed. 1 respondent said that his/her parents run a business and another corresponds to unemployed parents. The rest of the students match up on other answers like their father/mother neither is an overseas Filipino worker, a tricycle driver, a plain housewife nor was deceased. Researchers proceed to the monthly income of their parents in able to measure the financial background of each and every respondent. Graph 1.2 illustrates the possible monthly income of the parents of these learners. Graph 1.2 As you can see, there is an equality of 14,000 and lower and 15,000-20,000 income. It is based on the survey being conducted by the researchers and from the occupation of their parents. On the part of their financial management, they spent the biggest part of their allowance for their food (50%) followed by their transportation and some other expenses. This shows that food is very important especially for the scholars like them. Food is an essential and they must not ignore because of the responsibilities they have in the university. The primary reason of the pupils asked in preferring themselves in being a scholar of Adamson University is that because they wanted to help their parents in decreasing the expenses. In this reason, an individual can determine that financial or money matters are the first basis in order for them to have financial management. Other reasons are for them to gain independency. The effectiveness of financial management is measured by proper usage of money and thinking a creative way of using up money. The researchers also find ways on evaluating time supervision of scholars. Because of a more number of student assistants being interviewed, most of their time is allotted on their duties. Here is Graph 1.3 that shows how long an ordinary scholar uses his /her time in the university. Graph 1.3 Take a look of the graph that has been illustrated by the researchers. Student D and F are academic scholars. According to the information gathered from the survey, these students are academic scholars. As academic scholars, their worlds are focused on studying. They usually spend time in resting, studying and even have a time for leisure. On the other hand, the remaining students (A, B , C and E) make use of their time in duties and offices. Equalizing time in each activity of a student like them is not easy to do. Like on the Graph 1.3, student assistants are divided in different opinions. Some of them were able to balance their time and others cannot. Same answer was derived by academic scholars. However, they also answered it depends on the situation. Situations are unpredictable and make equalization of time in different planned activities. Somehow, all of them have a time for rest and have a break after long hours from school. Lastly, as a scholar, grade is the most important or basis in acquiring scholarships. Grades of these scholars are not affected by activities being done in school. Therefore, these learners have a good strategic measures in managing their time and studies. Conclusion Based on the presented and interpreted data above, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. That most of the scholars spend their money more on food for it is an essential need. 2. That most of the scholars wanted to help their parents to reduce the number of expenses. 3. That most of the scholars allot their time to school by doing different duties but assures that grades of them will not be affected.

Increase of Patriotism in America essays

Increase of Patriotism in America essays Have you noticed all the red, white, and blue everywhere you look these days? Patriotism has infected the United States in a very big way. Since the September 11th tragedy more people than ever before have contributed to the American cause. I plan to discuss how patriotism has affected the people and the merchants of the US. I also want to show how some people are taking advantage of the increase of patriotism. The article by Lisa Girard, Anything that says American, she talks about all the different merchandise available now that in someway shows patriotism. The article by Mark Walsh, Bill Requiring Pledge, he talks about how the Pennsylvania House pass laws after September 11th. And in my third article by an anonymous author, A Run on Patriotism, they show basic trends of merchants. This trend seems to have started after the September 11th incident, but did it really start then or was it just at one of its lowest point it has ever been? The trend is definitely on an upward move. Many companies who are involved in make these products are reporting record incomes for the quarter. Many companies that made such goods havent had a boom like this since Desert Storm. The first article, A Run on Patriotism, shows that the most strained chain as of right now is the chain delivering US flag to distributors around the country and world. It says that K-Mart has sold more than 645,000 handheld flags. Another company sold 17,000 flags and 12,000 flag shirts both over the Internet. This retailer has ordered another half million flags to repenish its stock. They are saying sales are about five time the amount usually around Christmas. Sales are so high indeed that even the producers of dyes and textiles are running short on the supply lines. The second article by Lisa Girard talks about all the new items that are now on sale that proudly displays the flag in some ma...

Facts You Dont Know About Anne Frank and Her Diary

Facts You Don't Know About Anne Frank and Her Diary On June 12, 1941, Anne Franks 13th birthday, she received a red-and-white checkered diary as a gift. That very day, she wrote her first entry. Two years later, Anne Frank wrote her last entry, on August 1, 1944. Three days later,  Nazis  discovered the Secret Annex and all eight of its inhabitants, including Anne Frank, were sent to concentration camps. In March 1945, Anne Frank passed away from typhus. After World War II, Otto Frank was reunited with Annes diary and decided to publish it. Since then, it has become an international bestseller and an essential read for every teenager. But despite our familiarity with Anne Franks story, there are still some things you might not know about Anne Frank and her diary. Anne Frank Wrote Under a Pseudonym When Anne Frank readied her diary for eventual publication, she created pseudonyms for the people she wrote about in her diary. Although you are familiar with the pseudonyms of Albert Dussel (the real-life Freidrich Pfeffer) and Petronella van Daan (the real-life Auguste van Pels) because these pseudonyms appear in most published versions of the diary, do you know what pseudonym Anne chose for herself? Even though Anne had chosen pseudonyms for everyone hiding in the Annex, when it came time to publish the diary after the war, Otto Frank decided to keep the pseudonyms for the other four people in the Annex but to use the real names of his family. This is why we know Anne Frank by her real name rather than as Anne Aulis (her original choice of a pseudonym) or as Anne Robin (the name Anne later chose for herself). Anne chose the pseudonyms Betty Robin for Margot Frank, Frederik Robin for Otto Frank, and Nora Robin for Edith Frank. Not Every Entry Begins with "Dear Kitty" In nearly every published version of Anne Franks diary, each diary entry begins with Dear Kitty. However, this was not always true in Annes original written diary. In Annes first, red-and-white-checkered notebook, Anne sometimes wrote to other names such as Pop, Phien, Emmy, Marianne, Jetty, Loutje, Conny, and Jackie. These names appeared on entries dating from September 25, 1942, until November 13, 1942. It is believed that Anne took these names from characters found in a series of popular Dutch books written by Cissy van Marxveldt, which featured a strong-willed heroine (Joop ter Heul). Another character in these books, Kitty Francken, is believed to have been the inspiration for the Dear Kitty on most of Annes diary entries. Anne Rewrote Her Personal Diary for Publication When Anne first received the red-and-white-checkered notebook (which was an autograph album) for her 13th birthday, she immediately wanted to use it as a diary. As she wrote in her very first entry on June 12, 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support. From the beginning, Anne intended her diary to be written just for herself and hoped no one else was going to read it. This changed on March 28, 1944, when Anne heard a speech on the radio given by the Dutch Cabinet Minister Gerrit Bolkestein. Bolkestein stated: History cannot be written on the basis of official decisions and documents alone. If our descendants are to understand fully what we as a nation have had to endure and overcome during these years, then what we really need are ordinary documents a diary, letters from a worker in Germany, a collection of sermons given by a parson or priest. Not until we succeed in bringing together vast quantities of this simple, everyday material will the picture of our struggle for freedom be painted in its full depth and glory. Inspired to have her diary published after the war, Anne began to rewrite all of it on loose sheets of paper. In doing so, she shortened some entries while lengthening others, clarified some situations, uniformly addressed all of the entries to Kitty, and created a list of pseudonyms. Although she nearly finished this monumental task, Anne, unfortunately, didnt have time to rewrite the entire diary before her arrest on August 4, 1944. The last diary entry Anne rewrote was March 29, 1944. Anne Frank's 1943 Notebook is Missing The red-and-white-checkered autograph album has in many ways become the symbol of Annes diary. Perhaps because of this, many readers have the misconception that all of Annes diary entries lay within this single notebook. Although Anne began writing in the red-and-white-checkered notebook on June 12, 1942, she had filled it by the time she wrote her December 5, 1942, diary entry. Since Anne was a prolific writer, she had to use several notebooks to hold all of her diary entries. In addition to the red-and-white-checkered notebook, two other notebooks have been found. The first of these was an exercise book that contained Annes diary entries from December 22, 1943, to April 17, 1944. The second was another exercise book that covered from April 17, 1944, until right before her arrest. If you look carefully at the dates, you will notice that the notebook that must have contained Annes diary entries for most of 1943 is missing. Dont freak out, however, and think that you didnt notice a year-long gap in diary entries in your copy of Anne Franks Diary of a Young Girl. Since Annes rewrites for this period had been found, these were used to fill in for the lost original diary notebook. It is unclear exactly when or how this second notebook was lost. One can be reasonably certain that Anne had the notebook in hand when she created her rewrites in the summer of 1944, but we have no evidence of whether the notebook was lost before or after Annes arrest. Anne Frank Was Treated for Anxiety and Depression Those around Anne Frank saw her as a bubbly, vivacious, talkative, perky, funny girl and yet as her time in the Secret Annex lengthened; she became sullen, self-reproachful, and morose. The same girl who could write so beautifully about birthday poems, girlfriends, and royal genealogical charts, was the same one who described feelings of complete misery. On October 29, 1943, Anne wrote, Outside, you dont hear a single bird, and a deathly, oppressive silence hangs over the house and clings to me as if it were going to drag me into the deepest regions of the underworld.... I wander from room to room, climb up and down the stairs and feel like a songbird whose wings have been ripped off and who keeps hurling itself against the bars of its dark cage. Anne had become depressed. On September 16, 1943, Anne admitted that she has started taking drops of valerian for her anxiety and depression. The following month, Anne was still depressed and had lost her appetite. Anne says that her family has been plying me with dextrose, cod-liver oil, brewers yeast, and calcium. Unfortunately, the real cure for Annes depression was to be freed from her confinement - a treatment that was impossible to procure.