Free Essays on Typwriters

Typewriter patents date back to 1713, and the first typewriter proven to have worked was built by Pellegrino Turri in 1808 for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. Commercial production, however, began only with the â€Å"writing ball† of Danish pastor Malling Hansen (1870). This device looked rather like a pincushin. Nietzsche’s mother and sister once gave him one for Christmas. He hated it. More significant is the sholes and &Glidden Type Writer, which began production in late 1873an appeared on the American market in 1874: Christopher L. Sholes, a Milwaukee newspaperman, poet, and part-time inventor, was the main creator of this machine. The Sholes & Glidden typed only in capitol letters, and it introduced the QWERTY keyboard, which is very much with us today. The keyboard was probably designed to separate frequently- used pairs of typebars sop that the typebars would not clash and get stuck at the printing point. The S&G was a decorative machine, boasting painted flowers and decals .I looked rather like a sewing machine, as it was manufactured by the sewing machine department of the Remington arms company. For an in-depth look at this historic device , visit Darryl Rehr’s Web site â€Å" The First Typewriter.† The Sholes & Glidden had limited success, but its successor, the Remington, soon became a dominant presence in the industry. The Sholes & Glidden, like many early typewriters, is an understroke or â€Å"blind† writer: the typebars are arranged in a circular basket under the platen(the printing surface) and type on the bottem of the platen. This means that the typist( confusingly called a â€Å"typewriter† herself in the early days) has to lift up the carrige to see her work. Another example of a understroke typebar machine is the caligraph of the 1880,the second typewriter to appear on the American market. This Caligraph #3 has a â€Å"full† keyboard- separate keys for lower- and upper-case l... Free Essays on Typwriters Free Essays on Typwriters Typewriter patents date back to 1713, and the first typewriter proven to have worked was built by Pellegrino Turri in 1808 for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. Commercial production, however, began only with the â€Å"writing ball† of Danish pastor Malling Hansen (1870). This device looked rather like a pincushin. Nietzsche’s mother and sister once gave him one for Christmas. He hated it. More significant is the sholes and &Glidden Type Writer, which began production in late 1873an appeared on the American market in 1874: Christopher L. Sholes, a Milwaukee newspaperman, poet, and part-time inventor, was the main creator of this machine. The Sholes & Glidden typed only in capitol letters, and it introduced the QWERTY keyboard, which is very much with us today. The keyboard was probably designed to separate frequently- used pairs of typebars sop that the typebars would not clash and get stuck at the printing point. The S&G was a decorative machine, boasting painted flowers and decals .I looked rather like a sewing machine, as it was manufactured by the sewing machine department of the Remington arms company. For an in-depth look at this historic device , visit Darryl Rehr’s Web site â€Å" The First Typewriter.† The Sholes & Glidden had limited success, but its successor, the Remington, soon became a dominant presence in the industry. The Sholes & Glidden, like many early typewriters, is an understroke or â€Å"blind† writer: the typebars are arranged in a circular basket under the platen(the printing surface) and type on the bottem of the platen. This means that the typist( confusingly called a â€Å"typewriter† herself in the early days) has to lift up the carrige to see her work. Another example of a understroke typebar machine is the caligraph of the 1880,the second typewriter to appear on the American market. This Caligraph #3 has a â€Å"full† keyboard- separate keys for lower- and upper-case l...

Direct Democracy Pros and Cons

Direct Democracy Pros and Cons Direct democracy, sometimes called pure democracy, is a form of democracy in which all laws and policies imposed by governments are determined by the people themselves, rather than by representatives who are elected by the people. In a true direct democracy, all laws, bills and even court decisions are voted on by all citizens. Direct vs. Representative Democracy Direct democracy is the opposite of the more common representative democracy, under which the people elect representatives who are empowered to create laws and policies for them. Ideally, the laws and policies enacted by the elected representatives should closely reflect the will of the majority of the people. While the United States, with the protections of its federal system of â€Å"checks and balances,† practices representative democracy, as embodied in the U.S. Congress and the state legislatures, two forms of limited direct democracy are practiced at the state and local level: ballot initiatives and binding referendums, and recall of elected officials. Ballot initiatives and referendums allow citizens to place – by petition – laws or spending measures typically considered by state and local legislative bodies on statewide or local ballots. Through successful ballot initiatives and referendums, citizens can create, amend or repeal laws, as well as amend state constitutions and local charters. Examples of Direct Democracy: Athens and Switzerland Perhaps the best example of direct democracy existed in ancient Athens, Greece.  While it excluded women, slaves, and immigrants from voting, Athenian direct democracy required all citizens to vote on all major issues of government. Even the verdict of every court case was determined by a vote of all the people. In the most prominent example in modern society, Switzerland practices a modified form of direct democracy under which any law enacted by the nation’s elected legislative branch can be vetoed by a vote of the general public. In addition, citizens can vote to require the national legislature to consider amendments to the Swiss constitution. Pros and Cons of Direct Democracy While the idea of having the ultimate say-so over the affairs of government might sound tempting, there are some good – and bad – aspects of direct democracy that need to be considered: 3 Pros of Direct Democracy Full Government Transparency: Without a doubt, no other form of democracy ensures a greater degree of openness and transparency between the people and their government. Discussions and debates on major issues are held in public. In addition, all successes or failures of the society can be credited to – or blamed on – the people, rather than the government.  More Government Accountability: By offering the people a direct and unmistakable voice through their votes, direct democracy demands a great level of accountability on the part of the government. The government cannot claim it was unaware of or unclear on the will of the people. Interference in the legislative process from partisan political parties and special interest groups are largely eliminated.Greater Citizen Cooperation: In theory at least, people are more likely to happily comply with laws they create themselves. Moreover, people who know that their opinions will make a difference, they more eager to take p art in the processes of government. 3 Cons of Direct Democracy We Might Never Decide: If every American citizen were expected to vote on every issue considered at every level of government, we might never decide on anything. Between all of the issues considered by local, state and federal governments, citizens could literally spend all day, every single day voting.Public Involvement Would Drop: Direct democracy best serves the interest of the people when most people take part in it. As the time required for debating and voting increases, public interest, and participation in the process would quickly decrease, leading to decisions which did not truly reflect the will of the majority. In the end, small groups of people often with dangerous axes to grind, could control the government.One Tense Situation After Another: In any society as large and diverse as that in the United States, what is the chance of that everyone will ever happily agree with or at least peacefully accept decisions on major issues? As recent history has shown, not much.

Review of a Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Review of a Paper - Essay Example By the end of a 30 minutes presentation people already have lasting judgments about your character. The error in judgment made by the people listening to ideas often does not allow them to properly gauge a project. The author of the article did an extensive research of this topic in the television industry. He later applied what he witness in Hollywood to other industries and the results were the same. Potential investors are very interested in ensuring that the person pitching an idea has creativity. â€Å"People on the receiving end of pitches have no formal, verifiable, or objectives measures for assessing that elusive trait, creativity† (Elsback, 2003). According to the author of the article successful pitchers fall into three prototypes: showrunners, artists, and neophyte. Showrunners combine creative inspiration with production know how. Artist prefer the world of creative ideas to reality, while neophyte tend to be or act as if they are inexperience and naive in order to exploit that to their advantage. In general people believe that creative people have certain traits such as intuitiveness, sensitivity, passion, and youth. In general the article provided an interesting insight into what occurs in the decision making process to approve ideas or products in the marketplace. I generally believe that the author made some good arguments about what occurs when people pitch ideas to decision makers. Despite the fact that the author made good arguments he did not completely convince me of his theory. I believe that when a person is listening to an idea the idea itself supersedes whatever opinion that the listener had about the personality of the pitcher. My opinion goes against everything that the author wrote in his article. The author did not show any clear proof that his theory is

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Plan - Essay Example He considered today’s emerging potential for retail business and the customer orientation towards buying a product after seeing, touching and try them. The firm has found potential huge for its product to sell. The main advantage is the down town city location that could fetch good customers for its product Buster initially has an objective to expand its business operations by starting one more new store after duly considering the cost of expansion, available labour, customers etc and to own a chain of 10-15 stores in downtown office building. It is planned to increase the sales by minimum 15 percent against the present sales of $1, 50,000 to $3, 00,000 and revenue by 20-25 percent. He has a plan of delivery of products at home points after three years of its operation in the new location to boost the sales and build the client base further. The expansion programme requires the new investment amounting to $20200. He is investing only $3000 out of his savings and rest of the investment is mobilized in the form of bank (long and short term credit), sundry creditors and finance creditors. The new store needs more inventories, computer, printer, Fax, and a Phone to make it more efficient and profitable. Jones employs two workers considering their professional outlook in managing retail stores, their qualification and their attitude for adjusting to the changing environment. Though there are big retail shops offering varied products in the location, but there is no threat for customers visiting Busters. There are few such small retail stores offering similar products in the vicinity posing competition. But he did not consider it seriously as competition since there is growth of retail business at a rapid pace. However this competition can be managed adapting to value based customer service and ensuring customer delight. Jone’s vast experience in doing this

Eu to Impose Anti-Dumping Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels. Essay Example for Free

Eu to Impose Anti-Dumping Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels. Essay Commentary: EU to impose anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese solar panels. Free trade versus protectionism is a topic of great debate in internal economics. The former takes place when there are no barriers to trade established by the government or international organizations. On the other hand, protectionism is the use of barriers to imports in a determined country and it is usually applied to protect domestic employment and firms. According to the article, China is being accused by the EU of dumping, defined as the selling by a country of large quantities of a commodity, at a price lower than its production cost, in another country. In the case the accusation was proved, the government is allowed, under international trade rules, to impose anti-dumping measures to reduce the damage to its domestic industry. The EU is already imposing a protectionist measure, tariffs. These are defined as a tax that is charged on imported goods and are considered as the most common type of anti-dumping measure. Before applying tariffs, the country consumed 0-Q2 Solar Panels at the price of the world (Pw), but domestic firms were producing only 0-Q1 and the rest (Q1-Q2) were imports. When the tariff is imposed, S (World) shifts upward by the quantity of the tariff to S (World)+Tariff. This produces prices to go up to Pw+T and the total quantity demanded of Solar Panels falls to 0-Q4. Because of the shift in the world’s supply curve, domestic producers now produce from 0-Q3 and their revenue increases from g to g+a+b+c+h. Foreign producers now supply Q3-Q4, but even when their products now have a higher price, they have to pay the amount of the tariff to the government and thus, their revenue falls from h+i+j+k to only i+j. As a result, the government receives tariff revenue of d+e. However, there are some issues that come with the application of this measure. First, is the dead-weight loss of welfare produced by the loss of consumer surplus, because even when consumers keep the amount â€Å"k† that they would have spent on Solar Panels, the new consumer surplus (equivalent to â€Å"f†) is not purchased. Secondly, now the EU would produce Q1-Q3 units of Solar Panels in a more inefficient way compared to China, and thus â€Å"c† represents the inefficiency of the domestic producers and a loss of world efficiency. Another issue with this measure is the creation of trade diversion with regards to Germany. As a member of a custom union the imposition of the tariffs to China are also compulsory for Germany, which is by far China’s greatest partner in the EU and, therefore, the production of Solar Panels for Germany would move from a low-cost producer outside the union to a high-cost producer inside the union. Before the EU imposed the tariff, Germany would produce 0-Q1 units of Solar Panels domestically and would import Q1-Q4 units of Solar Panels from China. Now with the new tariff, Chinese Solar Panels become more expensive than those produced in the EU. This would make Germany to produce 0-Q2 units of Solar Panels itself and import Q2-Q3 units from the EU. Now there is an overall fall in the quantity demanded of Solar Panels of Q3-Q4 units and so a loss of consumer surplus. Moreover, a misallocation of the world’s resources is produced since Q1-Q2 units of solar panels are now being produced by less efficient German producers and the production of Q2-Q3 units has transferred from efficient Chinese producers to relatively inefficient EU producers. It is true that, if the EU can prove that dumping has damaged its industries, they are allowed, under international trade rules, to impose anti-dumping measures. However, it is very difficult to prove whether or not a foreign industry has actually been guilty of dumping. Furthermore, the EU has the most subsidized economy in the world and it is arguable that when they subsidize a product, it is actually a case of dumping because the price doesn’t reflect the actual costs of the EU producers. This makes the issues about protectionism even greater, since (taking the previously mentioned assumption into account) the EU would not have the grounds to accuse China. There is now a high risk of retaliation from China leading to a possible  major tariff imposed by them to the EU and â€Å"Chinese and EU interests would be hurt if not properly handled† as mentioned by Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang. Clearly a better solution would have been a talk between governments, rather than any form of protectionism.

Computer Education Should Be Compulsory :: Argumentative Persuasive Technology Education

Students spend five years at high school learning many things, but how much of what they learn is really useful? For example, many students forget a lot of what they learn about history and calculus because they have no practical use for what they have learned. Computers, however, are now a part of our everyday lives. Therefore, students should be required to learn how to use computers because they will benefit in both their personal and professional life. In particular, learning about computers can help you to organize you finances better, to gather information easily, and to enjoy a variety of recreation activities. (103) For both personal and professional needs, a computer is of great help in taking care of financial matters. One way that computers help is in paying bills. Almost all bills, such as electric and telephone bills for the home, credit card payments, and installments on a car can be paid using a computer. Of course, one needs Internet access for this. Another financial convenience offered by computers is paying for purchases. In a similar way to paying bills, purchases can be ordered and paid for using the Internet and a credit card number. Then the item purchased can be delivered directly to your front door. Finally, a student at university, or someone who has graduated from high school, can take care of banking by computer over the Internet. In this case, one can transfer money from one bank account to another without going to the bank, sending a fax, or even making a telephone call. (155)

Best Buy Co., Inc. Customer-Centricity Essay

The consumer electronics giant, Best Buy, was first established in 1966 with a single location and a staff of three in St. Paul, Minnesota, selling audio equipment targeted at 18-25 year old males. Initially Sound of Music/Best Buy grew through acquisition, expanding to nine locations in the Twin Cities area by 1978. The name, Best Buy, and expanded product line, ranging from audio and video equipment to large appliances, were a result of a â€Å"best buy† sale of damaged inventory at bargain prices in 1981. In the mid-1980s, Best Buy launched superstores similar to those of their main competitor, Circuit City and expanded by 15 stores between 1985-86. In 1989, Best Buy launched itself as a self-service, value-store staffed with a salaried sales force to provide a no-pressure shopping experience. This approach resulted in Best Buy becoming the second largest electronics retailer. By 1995, Best Buy was opening an average of 35 new stores annually and in 2000, the retailer respo nded to the market by launching BestBuy.com. Best Buy attributes some of their success to their SOP, standard operating platform, which is a 200 page â€Å"how to† manual for nearly every feasible store situation ranging from product sales and service to inventory management. The purpose of the SOP was to train the sales force and promote uniformity across the organization. In addition to the SOP, Best Buy’s skillful merchandising and marketing, along with their sales force (â€Å"Blue Shirts†) are credited with the success of the retailer. Blue Shirts received extensive training and enjoyed a unique and rewarding corporate culture, with part-time associates making $8.00 per hour and full-time employees earning $20.00. Sales associates often received public recognition for strong performance in addition to immediate rewards such as restaurant vouchers. Supervisors were also incentivized based on annual department and store performance. Starting store managers in mid-size stores were compensated with salaries between $50,000 and $150,000. The success resulting from these practices did not go unnoticed by competitors such as Wal-Mart and Dell, who imitated many of Best Buy’s strategies and stole well trained Blue Shirts. Best Buy continued their growth by opening new stores and through the acquisition of various competitors through the U.S. and reaching into Canada, with the acquisition of Future Shop Ltd. in 2002. By November 1995, Best Buy operated 796 Best Buy stores plus 20 Magnolia Audio Video stores in the U.S. and 162 Best Buy owned stores in Canada (978 stores, not including Geek Squad outlets). In contrast, Circuit City operated over 600 stores in the U.S. and Canada around the same time, however, Best Buy managed to double the sales per square foot of their main competitor. With nearly 1600 stores between the two main players in the electronics market, the market is nearing saturation and growth will have to be achieved by a means other than new store openings. Best Buy’s pre-centricity model was easy for competitors to imitate and encroach on Best Buy’s market share. Best buy borrowed the superstore concept from Circuit City and Circuit City mirrored Best Buy’s staffing model and merchandising decisions. Low prices and a wide selection are hardly inimitable characteristics. While wide selection and expansive product offerings at discount prices (due to volume purchases) may be difficult for new entrants to copy, it is a minor/temporary barrier to entry with the introduction of the internet. Best Buy’s CEO, Brad Anderson, joined the company in 1973 when he joined the staff of three at the then single, Sound of Music, location. A music buff addicted to sales, with his long tenure with company and in the industry seems like the logical choice to lead the company to even greater success as CEO. Prior to becoming CEO in 2002, Anderson had spent 11 years as President and COO of Best Buy. Like most industries, it seems electronics consumers were prone to change as products evolved, so did the end-users and their buying habits. Best Buy had a history of being able to adapt to the changing markets and their ability to do so contributed to their success (i.e. the vastly expanded product line, evolution to superstores, expansion, acquisition, converting from commission to salaried sales force.). The perception that customers were focusing less on the technical aspect of products and redirecting their attention to service and support, led to Anderson’s custom-centricity initiative. This transition and the rollout of 144 new â€Å"centricity† Best Buy stores was being blamed for the company missing third quarter earnings in 2005, resulting in a 12% decline in stock value and a loss of nearly $2B in market capitalization. Did Anderson perform the proper strategic market planning analysis before selecting and implementing the centricity initiative? Assess the need for a change in Best Buy’s strategy when Brand Anderson became CEO. If the centricity concept is being blamed for not meeting earnings and the decline in Best Buy’s stock price and market capitalization, the question becomes was there a need for this change to the company’s strategy, was the strategy poorly implemented, was there a delayed market response to the change, or was the launch an overly aggressive action of a newly appointed CEO? The Best Buy leadership team first needed to evaluate whether there truly was a need for a (drastic) change and if so, was centricity the appropriate response to the market. The electronics industry and retail in general is cyclical and while Best Buy needs to be proactive and receptive to market changes, it is not uncommon for the industry to experience temporary contractions that would not require (costly and risky) restructuring of the company’s value proposition. Granted, Best Buy’s one style fits all approach may have been too broad and unrealistic for the long-term. Ignoring the signs that the market was changing or a delayed reaction to those changes could be more costly or even fatal than centricity and the alleged result on earnings and stock price. There are several approaches for Best Buy to evaluate this situation, the most desirable of which might be the Structure-Conduct-Performance-Paradigm. I will provide somewhat of a Resource Based View (listing a few marketing resources) and mention some of their Dynamic Capabilities, as provided in the case. Best Buy should fist consider their resources and the strengths that have made them successful in the past. While the past is not always indicative of the future, a historical perspective will provide some insight as to not only what has worked in the past, but how the company was able to implement various strategies to learn from their successes and failures. Historically, Best Buy has utilized their knowledge resources well. Their rapid growth and success would imply a strong customer and competitor knowledge. Overall, the Best Buy reputation, as the place to get brand name electronics at discount prices with just the right amount of customer service, has proven to be a positive reputational resource. Blue Shirts are a (human) resource that should not be overlooked; retention is crucial, as training is costly. Blue Shirts are a valuable (informational) resource to gain insight into what customers â€Å"really want,† as sales associates have the most direct customer interaction. Extracting this information from sales associates is a cost effective approach to assess the market before implementing major changes, such as centricity. Best Buy’s unique culture and structure are organizational resources that distinguish the company from the competition and support (non-managerial) employee retention. While supplier relationships are clearly a solid relational resource, customer relationships are somewhat of a gray area for Best Buy, as many customers are not loyal and often buy through various channels. Best Buy has responded to trend by launching their Reward Zone program to incentivize return customers and as a source to gain customer knowledge. An obvious physical resource of Best Buy is its number of stores, which results in volume purchases, allowing the company to sell brand name merchandise to customers at discount prices. In contrast, an operation of this size with nearly 1000 stores and 120,000 employees incurs significant overhead costs (a potential weakness and often the first resources to be cut in an effort to reduce expenses). Many of the aforementioned resources are imitable in some way or another. For example, employees can be trained or Blue Shirts poached or the competition could open more stores and purchase more inventory, strengthening their relationships with suppliers and pass along the resulting volume discounts to customers. A resource based view would indicate that while these are valuable resources to Best Buy, they (along with many of the company’s resources and capabilities) are substitutable (i.e. suppliers can be interchanged) and imitable by the competition. In response, Best Buy strives to not only offer the customer similar products and attributes as the competition, but to find a way to do so that provides a sustainable advantage. What makes Best Buy superior to its rivals? This requires a constant assessment of Best Buy’s marketing capabilities and this need to differentiate might explain Anderson’s drastic centricity approach. Pricing management is a complicated marketing capability at Best Buy with new technology products being constantly introduced, while others are becoming obsolete. It seems Best Buy excels in the selling and channel management marketing capabilities, with their ability to attract and retain knowledgeable sales associates and to maintain ongoing relationships with key suppliers. The likely and often misused approach would be for the organization to perform a current SWOT analysis to consider their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I have already listed a few of Best Buy’s strengths (size, supplier relationships, Blue Shirts). Additionally, Best Buy has a history of evolving in response to the changing market and applying various innovative concepts in response. The ability to foresee or quickly assess and respond to market change seems to be a strength of the retailer. While extensive product offerings are a strength of Best Buy, having a significant inventory of products that rapidly become outdated is a necessary weakness of being an electronics retailer; finding a way to manage this would be a significant opportunity. Accordingly, keeping up with rapidly changing products and customer interests are a threat of Best Buy any technology retailer. Anderson is exploring the opportunities component of the analysis when he and his team identified and pursued the following initiatives: â€Å"customer centricity, efficient enterprise, win with service, and win in entertainment,† ultimately selecting on customer centricity. A few obvious threats to be considered are competitors such as Wal-Mart, Circuit City, and Amazon, as well as the ever changing electronics market. Not keeping up with the latest trend, product, or channel could be fatal and explains why Anderson and his team concluded the need to focus on customer centricity, which he felt was a proactive response to the shopping experience that customers were seeking going forward. What does the Customer-Centricity strategy imply and how is it different from a strategy of simply providing great service? The Customer-Centricity strategy implies that Best Buy knows their customers well and that only a few sub-segments are profitable enough to merit an increased level of service and attention. This increased focus on these target segments or fewer/more profitable clients and the assumption that catering to these customers will result in solution purchases is the foundation of Anderson’s initiative. The concept seems to do very little to increase sales to the groups outside of the target segment(s) and seemingly does not consider the untapped potential of these customers. This approach is in contrast to the concept of trying to be â€Å"everything to everyone† or â€Å"one style fits all.† Centricity was an effort to meet customer individual needs while still maintaining the chain’s broad focus. The idea of centricity was based on research that had found many of Best Buy’s customers were leaving dissatisfied and that roughly 20% of customer visits were unprofitable. It was an effort to revamp the store’s value proposition, which was a deviation from their previous winning formula and questionably a step a in a different direction from a core competency. Instead of the â€Å"one style fits all† approach which admittedly would leave some customers dissatisfied, while attempting to cater to the masses, Best Buy’s approach to centricity involved focusing on only one or two distinct customer segments at each store, which also required a new set of segment leaders. This approach was also a focus on Best Buy’s most profitable segments in an effort to deter their unprofitable shoppers. Best Buy could have expanded their customer service efforts, while still maintaining the â€Å"one style fits all† concept through a far less radical change than centricity required. This would seem to be the logical choice and would have relied more on the strengths that made Best Buy great. With the market nearing saturation due to the number of stores, the focus became to sell more to existing customers (versus adding stores to acquire new ones) based on a better understanding of customers’ requirements and â€Å"lavishing them with attention, service, and know how.† This would have been attainable by tweaking Best Buy’s current strategy. Both approaches would involve collecting and analyzing customer data and creating an appropriate action plan based on the findings. One aspect of the change was to â€Å"encourage employees to think and behave as owners and engage with customers to meet their unique needs.† This is one way to provide great service and obtainable outside of the centricity strategy. The objectives of building loyalty with profitable segments and leveraging the company’s existing assets, is not unique to centricity and could have been achieved by providing great customer service to all customers, while focusing on those that are more profitable. Both options involve customer research and additional training of sales associates; it would seem not implementing centricity, which required revamping the store format, new processes, and risked isolating some segments would be the more cost effective method to address the expected shift in the market. Best Buy assumed that their customers were comprised of 5 major segments, who combined accounted for 50%-90% of total revenue. These 5 segments were identified by shoppers’ demographics, behaviors, and attitudes, then assigned a name (Barry, Buzz, Jill, Ray, or BB4B (small businesses with less than 20 employees)) and assigned a segment leader focused on deeply understanding their segment’s shopping behavior and attitude. The case states â€Å"the idea behind customer-centricity was to become the customer’s â€Å"smart friend† and provide a â€Å"complete solution.† While being a trusted advisor to customers and working to sell bundles of products is a logical response to the changing customer orientation, this could have been achieved by less drastic means than those used to implement Anderson’s centricity. This concept seems to center around Best Buy’s market orientation, specifically the increasing customer benefits component, as Be st Buy already cannot take much action to further decrease the buyer’s costs. The introduction of Reward Zone was a step in the right direction for the centricity initiative. The benefits of the reward program were multifaceted; providing additional customer data as well as incentivizing current customers to be repeat customers and to make additional purchases. This is one means by which to help Best Buy achieve a SCA, however, many competitors offered similar programs. It is unclear whether Best Buy directed much, if any attention on their competitor orientation. In addition to gathering and analyzing customer data, it is advisable for the company to consider the strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and capabilities of their competitors. Anderson’s centricity plan does not appear to consider competitor orientation and focuses solely on a few select target segments. Keeping with the market orientation research, Best Buy already uses low costs as a source of competitive advantage and they are hoping that centricity will be a source of differentiation, however, competitor orientation is critical to the success of such an initiative. Customer-Centricity has many similarities to simply providing an increased level of customer service. The most significant difference is the focus on the chain’s most profitable segments, specific to each store and complicated testing and implementation process that was chosen for the launch. Both concepts could be used to move toward solution selling and the â€Å"smart friend† concept. Centricity and improved customer service could involve empowering managers and encouraging employees to think and behave as owners. Centricity was a drastic way to improve customer service, which resulted in some pilot stores reporting double the performance gains of other U.S. locations. There were many benefits that resulted from Anderson’s strategy such as reward zone and Geek Squad, which complimented the goal of providing a solution by adding a service component that Best Buy did not previously provide. Geek Squad was also a means by which to suggest a solution sale as well as it placed the retailer in the customer’s home or business, further strengthening the relationship with customer and providing the opportunity for addition recommendations and referrals when the â€Å"Geek† was onsite. The scientific approach that was used in the implementation of centricity was unique to the strategy, but in many ways could have been applied to multiple approaches to improve the customer experience. Centricity was ultimately a differentiation strategy used in hopes of being difficult for competitors to imitate. When Anderson launched centricity, he clearly realized that long term survival is more important than short-term profits. If nothing else the st rategy is rare and difficult to imitate. How was the new Customer-Centricity strategy implemented? What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy’s implementation as described in the case? The Customer-Centricity strategy was first introduced in 12 laboratory stores, then 32 pilot stores (most of which were in California), then introduced to 110 addition stores after some pilot stores reported performance gains double some comparable U.S. stores. Deviating from the clearly defined SOP, associates were now trained to approach problems using a scientific method involving the creating of a hypothesis regarding the customer, testing it, and analyzing the results. If the hypothesis was substantiated, it could be tested in other stores, and ultimately become a general recommendation throughout the organization. This was concept of centricity that empowered associates and increased innovation from within, which is a strength of the new strategy. In contrast, the SOP was created to promote uniformity across the organization; this scientific component of centricity is a deviation from the uniform concept(s) that had been attributed to the company’s success. The resulting confusion in practices and procedures, while they may ultimately lead to a positive outcome and greater innovation, could be viewed as a weakness of the strategy (at least during the transition period). The additional responsibilities placed on managers and staff, were a struggle and weakness. Employees who had previously been given guidelines for most any issue were now being given the freedom to develop and test their own responses, however, they were held accountable for the resulting outcomes. It was now up to the store manager to execute the value proposition. GMs were expected to lead by example, in light of the increased responsibility. The new processes were stated to take â€Å"five times more time† and while the resulting innovation is good, the extra effort required resulting in a turnover rate of two-thirds among GMs and an expectation among associates to be compensated for their extra effort. However the ability for associates to tailor responses to individual customer situations, should ultimately improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased profits. The entire focus of centricity is to increase customer satisfaction and improve retention, as acquisition is becoming increasingly difficult. This realization and reaction is itself if a response to the changing market, which is a strength of the organization. The empowerment of employees will result in exceeding customer’s initial expectations, as they are not accustomed to individualized solutions. This is another strength of centricity and how it was implemented. I question why the majority of the initial 32 pilot stores were in California and why only top performing stores were selected for centricity conversion. It would seem focusing on a single geographic region would generate findings based on an isolated group of similar customers. Marketing studies suggest that in order to increase confidence, research must be replicated in diverse environments over time. This does not appear to be the approach with the testing of centricity at Best Buy and could be viewed as a weakness. I further question the decision to launch the concept in only top performing stores. It makes sense to test the strategy in some top performing stores to see if their performance improves further; it does not make sense to risk a large number of top performing locations with an unproven theory that could negatively impact their performance. It seems logical to use the profits from top performing sites to offset some of the potential losses that are typical with the ramp up period of any significant launch or change. If a store is a top performer, I would first analyze what contributing factors make those stores top performers, be it location, management, or customer interactions, etc. to see if these points of differentiation could be applied to other locations to improve the performance of lesser stores, before revamping how the most successful locations achieve their success. There are many strengths and weakness of centricity and how Best Buy chose to implement it, the reality is that it is a long-term approach, which typically result in short term struggles and reduced profits. How would you resolve the tension between the three parts of the organization (merchandizing, stores, and segments)? Is the notion of a three-legged stool viable? Can Best Buy sustain its competitiveness with P&L responsibilities residing with three different organizations? The new strategy forced collaboration among groups that had not previously collaborated. It increased responsibility and accountability, while taking away control from groups that were accustomed to being in power. Shifting focus from a wide segment to a particular customer’s needs was a new concept requiring different resources. Segment organizations were now held accountable to deliver incremental growth. As a result of all these changes, the various parts of the organization felt â€Å"completely handcuffed.† As the previous sections indicate, higher gross profit margins could not compensate for the conversion costs of the changes being implemented. While the goal may have been to â€Å"have everybody feel like they’re part of the same story,† making three parts of the organization responsible for their individualize P&L only added to the tension. I do not dispute that the organizations should monitory P&L and be held accountable, but when the success of the organization is the common goal, they should be working together to improve the overall P&L of the organization. This approach made it unclear which part owned customer insight and who should report to whom and how they should work together. Clarifying these gray areas of ownership and responsibility are the first step in resolving the tension among the groups. The current practices promote confusion and tension. A uniformed approach would be optimal. In a retail organization, such as Best Buy, merchandizing, stores, and segments, are all critical to success. In varying situations, one â€Å"leg of the stool† may receive greater attention or responsibility, but that is typically for the advancement of the organization as a whole or to offset some of the focus of another part of the organization. All three legs are necessary for Best Buy to properly deliver their value proposition and all three are necessary to help management implement the marketing strategy. Merchandizing, stores, and segments are all part of Best Buy’s marketing mix. Merchandising and segments contribute to stores, but all are intertwined. The individualized P&L structure and scorecard assessment add to the tension and switch the weight placed on each leg, but without a leg or if one leg gets too weak (not enough focus), the stool (entire organization) could collapse. As new products are suggested and tested, this changes the (buying and selling) processes, causing merchandising to be more reactionary than they were accustomed to being in the past, shifting the weight from one leg to another, but not reducing the importance of that organization. The absence of any one particular group or attribute could be detrimental to the organization as a whole. While each piece is interdependent and critical to the whole and policies should be designed accordingly. The realization that each piece contains and shapes the other will result in policies that help to reduce the tension between varying parts of the organization. While Best Buy is focusing on the customer and tailoring products and services to meet their needs a reflection on internal practices and satisfaction would be helpful and achieving those goals and should be considered, tested, and adjusted as well. It will difficult for Best Buy to sustain its competitiveness with P&L responsibilities residing with three different organizations. As mentioned in the prior to sections, this practices ad tension to the organization, which is not good toward long-term success, and causes undue competition among the various organizations. Merchandizing is encouraged to improve their P&L, this may come at the price of a negative impact on the store’s P&L. This is the result of collaboration and reduces the competitive advantage of the overall organization. Centricity involves significant and complex changes, which both help and hinder the marketing strategy implementation. The success of the change will require the cooperation of all groups within the organization, especially merchandizing, stores, and segments. Having policies and practices in place that discourage cooperation within the organization by holding complimentary groups accountable for separate measurements does not help Best Buy (or any organization) create synergies leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. The degree of alignment in itself is an implementation driver and contrasting accountability measures do not lead to alignment of goals. Best Buy experiences enough competitive rivalry in the marketplace without encouraging it internally among organizations. Best Buy is clearly a marketing organization and contributing factors of success are: â€Å"all the components of marketing organization fit together †¦ in a way that simultaneously fits with the requirements of the firm’s strategy †¦ while also matching the needs of the marketplace.† Centricity is Anderson’s strategy to match the needs of the marketplace; the changing strategy requires some changes in various aspects of the company (including merchandizing, stores, and segments), however, it is still a requirement that they fit together, like the legs of a stool. I question if the continuation of separate P&Ls are the optimal way to maintain the fit and cooperation that is necessary for the success of a marketing organization. This seems contradictory to fit and is obviously a source of tension. How long before this becomes apparent and reveals itself to the marketplace; what effect with this have on stock price and market capitalization? In order for centricity to be successful, Best Buy must alter their resource deployments to conform to their strategy changes to achieve the intended goal(s) vs. creating practices that foster tension without any long-term benefit. Granted, it is a tradeoff to fit the strategy to the structure or the structure to the strategy, which is complicated by the complexity of the organization. It is a requirement that they match their resources to their capabilities to their strategy and to market conditions. I hope that I have provided a few suggestions on how they could go about achieving this goal. While I have questioned many aspects of centricity and its implementation, it was obviously a success as unlike Circuit City; Best Buy still exists today (although they continue to struggle due to short product life cycle and the ever changing technology market).

Infancy and Early Childhood Development

Infancy and early childhood are referred to as those immature years of life and the stage at which most of a child’s development occurs. To strengthen the development of a child’s learning one must understand the physical and mental factors that affect a child’s development through observation and interaction. Development begins during the prenatal period on up to the early years and depends on the nutritional, medical, emotional, and intellectual support of parents, family members, caregivers, and teachers (Cherry, 2011). Parenting styles also play a role in what influences development as well as early childhood education programs. During the prenatal period when a child’s development begins, thus being aware of many factors that can damage the fetus and the development of a healthy child. In the early years the development of physical growth is through constant change. A key component in a child’s development is based on good nutrition as well as motor milestones needed for a child to succeed. Piaget and many other theorists refer to stages of specific age that defines the milestones reached. However, every child is different and so are there developmental successes (Berger, 2008). Infants develop skills based on their experiences in exploring the world around them. Physical play allows them to develop coordination as well as stronger muscles. Sensory skills are developed through taste, smell, touch, seeing, hearing, and from that perception is gained. Motor, sensory, and perceptual skills are supported by stimulation and a caring environment. Cognitive development occurs when a child becomes aware of physical sensations such as his or her mouth, hands, and feet. This is when an infant will explore and begin to understand what is around them (Berger, 2008). It is through early childhood that physical and neuropsychological changes help to increase coordination, control, manipulation, and movement through refining motor and perceptual skills. A good example of refining motor skills is through lacing and threading when tying their shoes as well as writing and drawing. It is these changes that create the milestones of such development. Environmental stimulus creates neurological development to control body functions to succeed in sports and other body-related skills. To enable such development to master such skills one must provide children with the opportunities of a challenging environment to learn and improve on such skills. The importance of childhood development is based on peer relationships, social play, and emotional development that help them build on self and moral values. As children engage in such play, he or she will begin to explore ways to solve problems as well as how they view other’s perspectives (Berger, 2008). It is through a stimulating and supportive environment that will allow a child to develop. The support of the parents, family members, and other individuals will help a child develop self-concept and self-esteem to learn and grow, and will be the foundation for building strong relationships with the ability to express emotion. Such a foundation will allow a child to develop by exploring new situations and being able to build on that to create healthy relationships (Berger, 2008). Parenting Styles and their Influence Family structure also affects both cognitive and emotional development of a child and is based on the size of the family and what order the child was born. However, a child’s performance is based on how safe and secure the child feels as well as an environment that provides warmth, consistency, and family communication. Family structure also leads to other factor that influences childhood development and the styles in which parents teach that may or may not be a supportive foundation. A clinical psychologist named Diane Baumrind discovered that there were four styles of parenting; however, three styles were displayed most. Her discovery came from a study that she had conducted on more than 100 children. This study of parenting and its effects on children displayed many aspects of parenting such as strategies of discipline, parental nurturance, styles of communication, and one’s level maturity and control. Observation from such dimensions created what is known as the four styles of parenting. Authoritarian Parenting Authoritarian parenting was a style of parenting that expected children to follow the rules and obey. Good behavior was rewarded; whereas, bad behavior was punished. This style of parenting felt as though they needed to give no eason other than â€Å"they said so. † Communication between parent and child was minimal with no response to child. Children who grew up from this type of parenting ranked lower in happiness, social competence, and self-esteem. Children are not allowed to make their own choices and given limited freedom. Authoritative Parenting Authoritative parenting is similar to that of authoritarian in terms of establishing rules and guidelines to follow, but much more democratic. However, this style of parenting is more responsive to their children. Though standards are set high there is room for decision-making. Parents are more willing to listen to their children and be more supportive rather than punitive. This style of parenting tends to result in happier children. These children tend to achieve higher grades in school, and have less social problems. Authoritative parenting helps children develop self-sufficiency and independence. This is the style of parenting I believe is most effective because it offers the most balanced approach to parenting. Parents enforce rules and limits, but do so to protect their children rather than stifle them. This style of parenting enforces rules when they need to but also allows their children to make mistakes and learn from them when the situation does not require strong discipline. Permissive Parenting Permissive parenting is what many refer to as understanding parents. They demand less and seldom discipline their children and create substandard assumptions of maturity level and self-control. Baumrind believes that indulgent parents are less demanding and more responsive. This parenting style would prefer to be a friend rather than a parent and can be a detriment because it teaches the child; rules do not need to be followed; thus, creating defiance of authority without worrying about the consequences of others. Children taught from this style of parenting tend to have low self-esteem, lack of self-control, and do poorly in school. These children will have difficulty in society associating with their peers and creating healthy relationships. Uninvolved parenting Uninvolved parenting ranks lowest of all life domains. This style of parenting makes few demands and communicates very little with little responsiveness. Uninvolved parents are detached from the lives of their children other than fulfilling basic needs and there are some instances in which the parents even neglect those. These children often feel rejected and lack in self-control, self-esteem, and rank less competent than the rest of their peers (Cherry, 2011). The way our children show respect, obedience, and discipline is created by the style a parent teaches his or her child. The nurturing support and love we provide is crucial to the development of our children and provide the means of our children being happy and healthy. Those children who learn better probably have a secure family life and supportive environment that will allow mistakes to be made from which children learn from without judgment being passed. By creating such a positive environment our children can explore, and we help to create those positive influences that allow children to succeed. Childhood Education and How it Influences Cognitive Development Childhood education is those activities and experiences created by educational programs and strategies intended to effect developmental changes in children. However, it begins in the home at an early age. As parents, we begin by being supportive of our child’s abilities while making sure that he or she is making all the necessary connections. Parents should be reading and singing as well as pointing out objects located in one’s environment and developing conversations with our children that builds on vocabulary. Allowing children to draw or color allows them to be expressive and gain that hand-eye coordination. Childcare givers also increase the benefits of our children’s development with giving them more conversation and interacting with other children. This type of setting allows them to try diverse activities and allows them to visit new places. In doing so, this will help to increase their thinking skills and teach them to follow directions. From this point, our children go into the pre-k programs and kindergarten. In general, children engage in much pretend play, thus building on cognitive skills by allowing the children to read others intentions, encouraging social interaction and helping them to distinguish between genuine and imaginary. This allows children to take on a social role representing reality through make believe. This stimulates the child’s ability to think for him or herself. Therefore, childhood play contributes to human development and allows the child to express by pretending social roles. Conclusion In conclusion, children continue to grow and learn as they move from infancy to toddler, and to school age. However, it is not just the physical aspects, but the cognitive aspects of thinking, imaginative play as well as language maturity. A child’s emotional, social, moral, and sexual factors are growing as well. In knowing those factors, one will obtain a better understanding about the importance of family influences, parenting styles, and childhood education. However, to understand these influences are not the only factors in the development of our children. The key is to apply practical everyday knowledge in how we care for our children and what it takes to meet their needs. Infancy and Early Childhood Development As a child develops families play a role in teaching the child. The first role is done through the five senses as a child’s brain develops. Parents are also responsible for making sure a child stays healthy. Piaget says that a child will learn through experiments in his or her world. Erickson and Freud also have ideas on family interaction in childhood development. Along with interaction a parent has different styles to bring up a child. These styles can help shape the child as he or she grows into adults. Early childhood education and cognitive development also play a role in childhood development also.Families affect development through interaction with a child, the parenting style used by the parent will also help shape the child as he or she grows, along with early education and cognitive development. Families play a role in infancy and early child development. Early childhood experience is in two categories; experience-dependent (cultural-bound) and experience-expectant ( universal) that aid in brain growth (Berger, 2008). As the brain grows senses and motor skills such as seeing, mobility progress, and hearing improve. The child’s environment helps with this as the brain will respond to different particulars in life.Also in the biosocial aspect of development is health, a child will grow at expected rates and have better survival rates when the parents or caregivers practice healthy habits for the child such as immunization and nutrition, and regular well child check-ups. Another view of family effects on development comes from cognitive views of Piaget. Piaget’s work on sensorimotor intelligence and information processing says that infants progress from knowing their world through experiments. The child is shown objects by the parent and the parent tells the child what he or she is seeing, such as a cup, ball, or bottle.This communication with the child is how the family helps the child with language development. According Berger (200 8), by one an infant can speak about two words, and by the age of two languages explodes, and at the toddler ages a child capable of speaking in short sentences. The last role from parents in the developing child comes from psychosocial theories. Emotions play a basic role in newborns two aspects of the role of emotions are from Erickson and Freud. Erickson’s theory is one of trust versus mistrust, and Freud’s theory is one of oral and anal stages. Both theories express the guidance given by parents to help raise their children.Parents and children play together, which helps develop social skills and attachment. Through attachment a child learns to explore and become independent in his or her world (Berger, 2008). Social play and attachment encourage social confidence. Besides play a parent must use a style to raise the child. Parenting styles vary the three most used styles consist of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. Authoritarian parents controls, evalua tes behavior, and attitudes of the child with standard rules of conduct. A child who fails to follow the set rules normally receives punishment with no explanation regarding why.According to Baumrind (1991), these parents are â€Å"status and obedience oriented, and expect rules to be followed without explanation. † The authoritative parent also sets rules for his or her child. Authoritative parenting styles also sets rules for a child but unlike the authoritarian parent the parent is much more democratic about it. This parenting style permits the parent to be more responsive to the child’s needs, and listen to questions and concerns the child may have. The child is not punished when he or she does not meet expectations of the parent as the parent is more nurturing, and forgiving.Discipline with the authoritative parent is more supportive than punitive, as the parent wants the child to be assertive, socially responsible, self-regulating, and cooperative (Baumrind, 1991 ). The last of the three parenting styles is permissive. The permissive parent consults with the child about decisions, gives reasons for rules, and makes few demands of the child. The permissive parent is more of a resource for the child to use, and is not active in shaping or altering the child. The permissive parent will try to manipulate the child to arrive at desired results but will not show power over the child (Baumrind, 1991).Of the three parenting stages authoritative parenting has the best balance. Authoritative parents want for the child, helps shape the child into an upstanding citizen while nurturing and firm in rules. This parenting style values the expressiveness of the child, and still setting standards for the child. The authoritative parent will also be objective, uses reason, power, and shapes and reinforces achievements and objective for the child, but does this with consensus of the child and the child’s desires (Baumrind, 1991). Besides parenting educat ion and cognitive development are important for a child.Early childhood education can began in the 1800s with private classes in a person’s home. Serious studies of cognition and early education began with Piaget’s work in defining stages of development. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are both famous for theories on cognition, and early learning of young children. Piaget whom began his career as a biologist teaching in a boy’s school found an interest in child development after helping design a test on intelligence. His theory was that a child could not perform tasks until he or she was psychologically mature enough (Berger, 2008).His second stage or preoperational stage works in the classroom with the child using language to define objects. Vygotsky theory on early childhood learning is more of a social one. Vygotsky theory is a basis of young children’s thinking being self-centered and at time magical. His theory was a second aspect of cognition; young ch ildren can be sensitive to other people’s emotions and wishes. Every aspect of child development is in social context, children are curious and observant. Vygotsky called this apprentice in thinking, as older children and adults are the teachers of society.Younger children are guided participates as they learn to think from their mentors. Vygotsky belief was that children could do anything with the assistance of others in their social network (Berger, 2008). In conclusion as the brain grows, the interaction from the parent helps the brain develop, along with parent keeping a healthy regimen. Parent and caregiver interacting with the child helps the child learn language. The three parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive help shape with rules and responsibilities.The well balanced parenting style is authoritative; allowing the child to understand why he or she is receives punishment, shapes and reinforces the child, and takes the child’s feeling in to consideration. Early childhood education began in the 1800s. Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that education was important. Piaget thought that a child learned he or she was psychologically mature enough. Vygotsky belief was that children learn from others and could do anything with the help from their mentors. Cognition is needed to help a child learn, develop, and grow. Infancy and Early Childhood Development Infancy and early childhood are referred to as those immature years of life and the stage at which most of a child’s development occurs. To strengthen the development of a child’s learning one must understand the physical and mental factors that affect a child’s development through observation and interaction. Development begins during the prenatal period on up to the early years and depends on the nutritional, medical, emotional, and intellectual support of parents, family members, caregivers, and teachers (Cherry, 2011). Parenting styles also play a role in what influences development as well as early childhood education programs. During the prenatal period when a child’s development begins, thus being aware of many factors that can damage the fetus and the development of a healthy child. In the early years the development of physical growth is through constant change. A key component in a child’s development is based on good nutrition as well as motor milestones needed for a child to succeed. Piaget and many other theorists refer to stages of specific age that defines the milestones reached. However, every child is different and so are there developmental successes (Berger, 2008). Infants develop skills based on their experiences in exploring the world around them. Physical play allows them to develop coordination as well as stronger muscles. Sensory skills are developed through taste, smell, touch, seeing, hearing, and from that perception is gained. Motor, sensory, and perceptual skills are supported by stimulation and a caring environment. Cognitive development occurs when a child becomes aware of physical sensations such as his or her mouth, hands, and feet. This is when an infant will explore and begin to understand what is around them (Berger, 2008). It is through early childhood that physical and neuropsychological changes help to increase coordination, control, manipulation, and movement through refining motor and perceptual skills. A good example of refining motor skills is through lacing and threading when tying their shoes as well as writing and drawing. It is these changes that create the milestones of such development. Environmental stimulus creates neurological development to control body functions to succeed in sports and other body-related skills. To enable such development to master such skills one must provide children with the opportunities of a challenging environment to learn and improve on such skills. The importance of childhood development is based on peer relationships, social play, and emotional development that help them build on self and moral values. As children engage in such play, he or she will begin to explore ways to solve problems as well as how they view other’s perspectives (Berger, 2008). It is through a stimulating and supportive environment that will allow a child to develop. The support of the parents, family members, and other individuals will help a child develop self-concept and self-esteem to learn and grow, and will be the foundation for building strong relationships with the ability to express emotion. Such a foundation will allow a child to develop by exploring new situations and being able to build on that to create healthy relationships (Berger, 2008). Parenting Styles and their Influence Family structure also affects both cognitive and emotional development of a child and is based on the size of the family and what order the child was born. However, a child’s performance is based on how safe and secure the child feels as well as an environment that provides warmth, consistency, and family communication. Family structure also leads to other factor that influences childhood development and the styles in which parents teach that may or may not be a supportive foundation. A clinical psychologist named Diane Baumrind discovered that there were four styles of parenting; however, three styles were displayed most. Her discovery came from a study that she had conducted on more than 100 children. This study of parenting and its effects on children displayed many aspects of parenting such as strategies of discipline, parental nurturance, styles of communication, and one’s level maturity and control. Observation from such dimensions created what is known as the four styles of parenting. Authoritarian Parenting Authoritarian parenting was a style of parenting that expected children to follow the rules and obey. Good behavior was rewarded; whereas, bad behavior was punished. This style of parenting felt as though they needed to give no eason other than â€Å"they said so. † Communication between parent and child was minimal with no response to child. Children who grew up from this type of parenting ranked lower in happiness, social competence, and self-esteem. Children are not allowed to make their own choices and given limited freedom. Authoritative Parenting Authoritative parenting is similar to that of authoritarian in terms of establishing rules and guidelines to follow, but much more democratic. However, this style of parenting is more responsive to their children. Though standards are set high there is room for decision-making. Parents are more willing to listen to their children and be more supportive rather than punitive. This style of parenting tends to result in happier children. These children tend to achieve higher grades in school, and have less social problems. Authoritative parenting helps children develop self-sufficiency and independence. This is the style of parenting I believe is most effective because it offers the most balanced approach to parenting. Parents enforce rules and limits, but do so to protect their children rather than stifle them. This style of parenting enforces rules when they need to but also allows their children to make mistakes and learn from them when the situation does not require strong discipline. Permissive Parenting Permissive parenting is what many refer to as understanding parents. They demand less and seldom discipline their children and create substandard assumptions of maturity level and self-control. Baumrind believes that indulgent parents are less demanding and more responsive. This parenting style would prefer to be a friend rather than a parent and can be a detriment because it teaches the child; rules do not need to be followed; thus, creating defiance of authority without worrying about the consequences of others. Children taught from this style of parenting tend to have low self-esteem, lack of self-control, and do poorly in school. These children will have difficulty in society associating with their peers and creating healthy relationships. Uninvolved parenting Uninvolved parenting ranks lowest of all life domains. This style of parenting makes few demands and communicates very little with little responsiveness. Uninvolved parents are detached from the lives of their children other than fulfilling basic needs and there are some instances in which the parents even neglect those. These children often feel rejected and lack in self-control, self-esteem, and rank less competent than the rest of their peers (Cherry, 2011). The way our children show respect, obedience, and discipline is created by the style a parent teaches his or her child. The nurturing support and love we provide is crucial to the development of our children and provide the means of our children being happy and healthy. Those children who learn better probably have a secure family life and supportive environment that will allow mistakes to be made from which children learn from without judgment being passed. By creating such a positive environment our children can explore, and we help to create those positive influences that allow children to succeed. Childhood Education and How it Influences Cognitive Development Childhood education is those activities and experiences created by educational programs and strategies intended to effect developmental changes in children. However, it begins in the home at an early age. As parents, we begin by being supportive of our child’s abilities while making sure that he or she is making all the necessary connections. Parents should be reading and singing as well as pointing out objects located in one’s environment and developing conversations with our children that builds on vocabulary. Allowing children to draw or color allows them to be expressive and gain that hand-eye coordination. Childcare givers also increase the benefits of our children’s development with giving them more conversation and interacting with other children. This type of setting allows them to try diverse activities and allows them to visit new places. In doing so, this will help to increase their thinking skills and teach them to follow directions. From this point, our children go into the pre-k programs and kindergarten. In general, children engage in much pretend play, thus building on cognitive skills by allowing the children to read others intentions, encouraging social interaction and helping them to distinguish between genuine and imaginary. This allows children to take on a social role representing reality through make believe. This stimulates the child’s ability to think for him or herself. Therefore, childhood play contributes to human development and allows the child to express by pretending social roles. Conclusion In conclusion, children continue to grow and learn as they move from infancy to toddler, and to school age. However, it is not just the physical aspects, but the cognitive aspects of thinking, imaginative play as well as language maturity. A child’s emotional, social, moral, and sexual factors are growing as well. In knowing those factors, one will obtain a better understanding about the importance of family influences, parenting styles, and childhood education. However, to understand these influences are not the only factors in the development of our children. The key is to apply practical everyday knowledge in how we care for our children and what it takes to meet their needs.

Coaching Youth Soccer essays

Coaching Youth Soccer essays Coaching children at a young age is an extremely rewarding and challenging experience. Over the last two years I have had the privilege of organizing and coaching my sons soccer teams. These teams consisted of six, seven, and eight year old children, many of whom were playing soccer for the first time. Coaching inexperienced children is a unique challenge, and a good coach strives to give everyone a rewarding experience by establishing a positive foundation in soccer. Therefore, good coaches must be teachers, role models, and master communicators. When coaching children of this age it is important that three main teaching principles be maintained. First, fun. The players must have fun during practice and in the games. Their laughter and smiles will make them want to come back and continue to play the game over and over again. Second, participation. All players should be involved at all times. Long lines and long talks tend to create lapses in attention and draw focus away from the game or practice. Practice exercises must be designed so all players are actively involved and are not simply standing around. Third, success. It is essential that the players achieve a high level of success in the practices. Success is obtained by teaching the fundamentals of the game and nurturing a childs self-esteem. Players must not be forced to participate in difficult activities that cause frustration and resentment, but those that foster positive feedback and attainable goals. As a coach, I had to research and interpret the rules and strateg ies of soccer, then explain them to my team. Arming my players with the facts of the game sets them up for success in the actual competitions. A good coach sets an example for the youth on his team by looking the part, being organized and ready for practice, and exhibiting patients. An enthusiastic tone is important, along with plenty of positive feedback to the children. ...

Definition and Examples of Hendiadys in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Hendiadys in Rhetoric Hendiadys (pronounced  hen-DEE-eh-dis)  is a  figure of speech in which two words joined by and express an idea that is more commonly expressed by an adjective and a noun. Adjective: hendiadic. Also known as the figure of twins and pseudo coordination. Critic Frank Kermode described hendiadys as a way of making a single idea strange by splitting an expression in two (​Shakespeares Language, 2000). William Shakespeare used hendiadys almost compulsively in several of his plays (J. Shapiro, 2005). More than 60 instances of the figure appear in Hamlet alone (e.g., a fashion and a toy in blood, the perfume and suppliance of a minute). Pronunciation   hen-DEE-eh-dis Alternate Spellings   endiadis, hendiasys Etymology From the Greek, one by means of  two Examples and Observations [Hendiadys  is the] expression of an idea by two nouns connected by and instead of a noun and its qualifier: by length of time and siege for by a long siege. Puttenham offers an example: Not you, coy dame, your lowers and your looks, for your lowering looks. Peacham, ignoring the derivation of the term, defines it as the substituting, for an adjective, of a substantive with the same meaning: a man of great wisdom for a wise man. This redefinition would make it a kind of anthimeria. (Richard Lanham, A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms. University of California Press, 1991) Finally, my father said, Ill tell you what, Sharla. Just go and visit for a few hours; you dont have to spend the night, all right?†(Elizabeth Berg,  What We Keep. Random House, 1998)Penny waited until she knew her father had left the house before taking Kelly upstairs to give her a good wash and to  try and do  something to tidy her hair before taking her out.(Rosie Harris, Love or Duty. Severn House, 2014) The Hendiadic Formula We frequently join adjectives on the pattern of nice and warm, good and loud, big and fat, sick and tired, long and leggy. Each of these pairs represents a single concept in which the general idea contained in the first adjective is explained or specified or opened up by the second; and, insofar as such expressions may be continually invented, the pattern seems the closest thing to adjectival hendiadys in English. Formulaic phrases such as nice and and good and may be completed by virtually any adjective (or at least any pithy one) in the language. Being formulaic, however, they lack the elements of surprise, or improvisation, and of eccentric coordination that we find in classical hendiadys. (George T. Wright, Hendiadys and Hamlet. PMLA, March 1981) Rhetorical Effect of Hendiadys [H]endiadys has the effect of using language in order to slow down the rhythm of thought and perception, to break things down into more elementary units, and thereby to distort normative habits of thought and put them out of joint. Hendiadys is a kind of rhetorical double take, a disruptive slowing of the action so that, for example, we realize that the hatching of something is not identical with its disclosure (Hamlet 3.1.174), or that the expectation and rose of the fair state (Hamlet 3.1.152), rather than the merely expectant rose, define two distinctive aspects of Hamlets role as heir apparent. (Ned Lukacher, Time-Fetishes: The Secret History of Eternal Recurrence. Duke University Press, 1998) Pseudo-Coordination For present-day English, [Randolph] Quirk et al. [A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, 1985] comment on the similarity between expressions like come and see, go to visit, try to do. They remark that the semantic relation is alternatively realized by coordinated clauses, especially in rather informal usage. Quirk et al. (1985:987-88) return to the topic of hendiadys under the heading of pseudo-coordination, noting that Ill try and come tomorrow is roughly equivalent to Ill try to come tomorrow, and that they sat and talked about the good old times is similar in meaning to they sat talking about the good old times. . . . [H]endiadic verbal expressions cover a spectrum that extends from core examples like go and, come and, come along and, come up and, stand there and, sit around and, try and to a plethora of occasional types such as take a chance and, plunge in and, wake up and, go to work and, roll up ones sleeves and, and very many others that could be characterized as hendiadic in a broader sense. (Paul Hopper, Hendiadys and Auxiliation in English. Complex Sentences in Grammar and Discourse, ed. by Joan L. Bybee and Michael Noonan. John Benjamins, 2002) The Lighter Side of Hendiadys Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here? Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western. (Dan Aykroyd and Sheilah Wells in The Blues Brothers, 1980)

Stem cells is a scientific breakthrough that's revolutionizing Essay

Stem cells is a scientific breakthrough that's revolutionizing the health care industry - Essay Example Major breakthroughs in stem cell research include developing nervous tissue and dealing with spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke. In fact, stem cell research is a scientific breakthrough thats revolutionizing the health care industry. Since they are derived in the embryonic stages, these stem cells are often called as embryonic stem cells or just ES. The role played by ES in health care industry today is solely dependent on their cultures derived in laboratories. It is well known that stem cell cultures can be maintained and proliferated in the presence of bovine serum. The cultures allow blastomeres or ES cells to be subjected to differential treatment such as nuclear disintegration of cells, nuclear injection into de-nucleated blastomeres and so on to derive the desired tissue. It has been observed that by such differential treatments, the blastomeres differentiate into the tissue of the nucleus donor cells. Thus, any damaged organ of the body can be recreated through ES cultures and differentiation. The main applicability of ES cell research is the creation of fresh organ tissue that can be inserted in the damaged area in the human or animal body to replenish the organ and restore its functions. This has been successfully conducted in treating spinal cord injuries, strokes and functional diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Yet there is a long way to go. For starters, the biggest limitation of stem cell therapy is that it is restricted to creation of commonly occurring and specific tissue masses and cannot be used to replace or regenerate an entire organ. Therefore, through systematic stem cell culture, the endoderm, mesoderm or ectoderm can be recreated to be replaced in damaged organs, but in no way can an entire organ like a heart be constructed through regenerated tissue sets. Other

BRIEFING REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE Coursework - 2

BRIEFING REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE ON FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN THE PREPARATION OF A NEW ENERGY BILL FOR THE UK - Coursework Example The only problem is that, this perspective of price reduction fails to reach the extreme end that is expected by most people [1]. After the substantial falling of the wholesale gas prices in the course of the year 2014 as well as the oil prices in the time frame of just 6 months, they logically desired for a bigger drop with regards to their energy prices. When various suppliers however announced of the subsequent price cuts, all of them were almost at the single digit reductions. The bill prices often take time to fall to more appropriate prices due to various outstanding reasons. First and for most, the natural gas’s cost does not essentially have any link to the oil prices. The other factor is that, the gas’s wholesale price is part and parcel of the bill’s segment. For instance, the gas that most individuals are using up-to-date was probably not bought at the current wholesale prices. This is to mean that constant variations tend to occur when it comes to this matter of energy bills.   The secretary of state should also bear in mind that there are various undertakings or make ups when it comes to the aspect of energy bills (either electricity or gas bills). According to the British Gas, Around 42% of an individual’s bill is determined by the energy’s wholesale prices [3]. This is the entire gas and electricity cost that is mutually bought by the British Gas on wholesale unit.   It is also worth to bear that while gas prices falls by almost a third of the total value, electricity has rarely fallen. The next chunk of the gas bill that is approximated to be at around 27% encompasses the total network costs. They are the wires and pipes that bring the electricity and gas home. They are usually owned by a number of distribution companies including the National Grid, which often charge people a substantial amount for their usage. The charged fee is usually overseen by a body known as Ofgem, which is taken as the ultimate regulatory unit, and has