Related Local and Foreign Literature Essay

Local Literature An article from The Philippine Star dated August 7, 2012 by Louella D. Desiderio entitled â€Å"Businesses urged to use Internet to push products†. It shows that businesses are advised to use the Internet for promoting their products and services as more consumers are going online to research before making purchases. Companies should consider using online advertisements for the products and services they offer as more and more people are using the Internet to research goods they plan to buy before making the purchase. It also states that in the Philippines, the study showed that around 70 percent of consumers first make a research of their purchases online even if they purchase offline. This trend shows the potential of growing the business by going online.It is related to the study because it informs businesses that online advertising is very effective. It also shows that whether small or big businesses, they can easily have the benefits of online advertisements of reaching users at a time of relevance anywhere Local Study A research study conducted by Jean Louisse Villanueva Concha and Jossa Kristine Cruz Soler from University of the Philippines Diliman on April 2012 entitled â€Å"The Rise of Online Advertising and its Impact on the Future of the Philippine Newspaper†. The researchers conclude that online activity has reached an unprecedented rise owing to the popularity of social networking sites and the easier accessibility to computers and the internet for more people. As such, and with more methods of interactive and efficient advertising available online. The rising online presence causes advertises to invest more online advertising rather than newspaper advertising and the dwindling of newspaper readership causes advertisers to flee from the newspaper as another advertising medium has taken place. It is related to the study because online advertising is really popular to business and to audience or customers because it’s more easy to spread online ads than newspaper which will be more helpful to businesses also. Foreign Literature An article from Web Designer magazine dated 2013 by Steve Jenkins entitled â€Å"Pay As You Go Advertising†. It shows that for most types of advertising, advertisers pay for people to see the ad. With Google Adwords, the advertiser only pays when someone clicks on the ad and visit the website of  the business. The advertiser have complete control of adjusting or customizing the ad campaigns like how much to spend, who sees the ad, and where and when the customers see it. It is related to the study because it tells about Google Adword which will be of much help to advertisers and the business itself. It also shows that it is easy for advertisers to make an ad campaign of the business because they have the complete control and also help the business to be popular. Foreign Study A research study conducted by Shuai Yuan, Ahmad Zainal Abidin, Marc Sloan and Jun Wang from Cornell University of Ithaca, New York on June 2012 entitled â€Å"An Interplay among Advertisers, Online Publishers, Ad Exchanges and Web Users†. The researchers conclude that Internet advertising is a fast growing business which has proved to be significantly important in digital economics. It is vitally important for both web search engines and online content providers and publishers because web advertising provides them with major source of revenue. Its presence is increasingly important for the whole media industry due to the influence of the web. For advertisers, it is a smarter alternative to traditional marketing media such as TVs and newspapers. As the web evolves and data collection continues, the design of methods for more targeted, interactive, and friendly advertising may have a major impact on the way our digital economy evolves, and to aid societal development. It is related to the study because Google online advertising is one of the internet advertising in which it helps lots of businesses. Since Internet advertising is a fast growing business, it also help the economy. Local Literature An article from Adobo Magazine dated February 3, 2013 by Sanserif, Inc. entitled â€Å"Online Advertising to Surpass Print and TV in 2013†. It shows that online advertising has continued to grow, achieving 10% year on year growth recording $813.25 million for the three months ending September 2012. The results of the Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) by IAB Australia, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), show that while the general advertising market is softening, online advertising is on track to surpass both newspaper and TV advertising in 2013. It is related to the  study because it shows how effective is online advertising to businesses that it became on track to surpass both newspaper and TV advertising in 2013. It also shows that online advertising is continuously growing and becoming more effective to advertisers and businesses. Foreign Literature An article from HBS Working Knowledge dated August 17, 2009 by John Quelch entitled â€Å"Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet†. It shows that Businesses around the advertising-supported Internet have incredible multiplier effects throughout the economy and society. Ironically, online advertising and the commercialization of the Web achieved important goals of the resisters mostly to preserve the Web as a medium for free publishing and communications. The Advertising-Supported Internet also helps the economy by fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity. It is related to the study because it represents the impact of advertising in the economy by stressing how effective is online advertising and how online advertising helps the economy. Advertising through internet also has given lots of benefits to businesses and also our economy. Foreign Study A research study conducted by Matthew Duncan from Elon University in North Carolina, United States on November 18, 2011 entitled â€Å"Identifying different types of web advertising and its impact on consumer buying behavior†. The researcher concludes that since the explosion of Internet, web companies have invested an abundant of money into online advertising. Other forms of advertising such as in-store ads, print ads, and television and radio ads are still important but online advertising is growing significantly. Even with this explosion of online advertising, there are many different forms of advertising that is used on the Internet. Increasingly innovative types of advertising are coming into existence as the Web matures. The major types of online advertising are banner ads; text ads, interstitials, pop-ups ads, opt in mailing, HTML ads, and rich media ads. It is related to the study because it represents that internet is rapidly growing instead of other forms of advertising. Because of online advertising, lots of companies or businesses have grown and became more popular since advertisements were advertised globally and can be seen by lots of people because of the web. A dissertation conducted by Bharat Vyas. Nanduru from University of Westminster in London, United Kingdom on August 30, 2012 entitled â€Å"Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Media Advertising†. The researcher concludes that Advertising resources assigned to internet media have grown dramatically over the past few years. This growth is suggestively driven by search and performance. Measuring online advertising effectiveness is a very intricate process particularly in an ever changing environment where new resources are constantly developed every passing day. It is related to the study because online advertising like Google Adword have grown and help businesses to deliver more information to the potential customer at a relatively low cost. A research study conducted by Minchul Kim from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, United States on August 2013 entitled â€Å"The Effects of Online Advertisements and News Images on News Reception†. The researcher concludes that in recent years, a growing number of people have considered the Internet to be their major source of news. In contrast, the number of subscribers to traditional newspapers have decreased drastically so has the advertising revenue for the newspaper industry. The decrease in adverting revenue for the industry increases the dependency of online news services on online advertising revenue which perpetuates the symbiotic relationship between the newspaper and advertising industries for audiences’ eyeballs in the era of the Internet. It is related to the study because online advertising is one way of attracting new customers and to spread advertisements easily. Google Online Advertising and other online advertising program became useful nowadays because a lot of people were using the internet. http://repositorio.ucp.pt/bitstream/10400.14/15268/1/Tom%C3%A1s%20Alves%20-%20Thesis.pdf local lit http://technology.inquirer.net/36111/three-important-truths-in-online-search-and-advertising http://business.inquirer.net/14495/se-asia-consumers-lead-in-online-ad-acceptance http://technology.inquirer.net/40582/targeting-why-online-ads-work

Thought and Owl

Snowy Owl After Midnight The connection between humans and animals is truly a special one as demonstrated in Tim Bowling's â€Å"Snowy Owl After Midnight. † The speaker in the short story feels closely connected to the owl as he walks in the forest at night. The speaker believes that the owl â€Å"waits for [him]† and that the owl's â€Å"blood stirs/ at [his] presence. † Also, the owl seems to understand the â€Å"heightened smell of joy and fear/ [the speaker's] bones give off.Since the night is â€Å"so quiet,† the speaker feels that he and the owl are the only two â€Å"awake,† Strengthening their bond even more. Both the owl and the hunter are on a search for food hence they feel a sense of connection with each other during the long dark night. As they travel together, the speaker remembers the â€Å"months† they've spent circling in â€Å"each other's silence. † The speaker has a sudden urge to break the silence and talk to the owl as a friend. He longs to express to the beautiful winged creature about his â€Å"boyish dream† that consisted of the â€Å"beating heart of a snowman. Furthermore, the speaker wishes to hear the thoughts of the owl about the â€Å"blood† that is on the earth and what the owl would think if he knew the deaths that could be caused by the â€Å"clipped, pale hands† of the hunter. In some ways, the hunter desires to be like the owl. As quoted anonymously, â€Å"A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird? â€Å"As the â€Å"dark and silent† night goes on, the hunter and the owl loyally remain by each others side.

Dracula by Bram Stoker gender and sensuality Essay

Dracula by Bram Stoker gender and sensuality - Essay Example If an issue that engulfs the important fields like science, sociology and philosophy, it is sex and gender. It is extensively discussed and the viewpoints are similar as well as contradictory. In some areas in Dracula, they are simply confusing. One finds Stoker is also seized with similar problems and is unable to adhere to a fixed viewpoint. He challenges the popular view of the distinctness of gender boundaries and at other times, steadfastly supports them. Stocker subscribes to the commonly accepted view of the Victorian authors that the assigned status of the women is natural and correct and it is essential to maintain them for the success of gender relations and for overall welfare of the society. Those who transgressed the prescribed limits were considered as aberrant and degenerate. Victorians had a fair assessment of the roles of both the sexes. Since ages, and in Victorian times in particular, man’s power has been progressive, active and defensive and the power of woman is sweet, persuasive, orderly arrangement, astute in decision making and her sixth sense works well which makes her incapable of error. As said earlier, Stocker’s viewpoint on gender and sexuality is traditional, but gender blurring is depicted in Dracula by Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra. The male characters in the novel also follow suit and deviate from the prescribed path. To be specific, Jonathan Harker’s encounter with the female vampires! The sexual roles take an about--turn as for vampires in Dracula’s castle. ... Stoker writes about her arrogance, (1994, p.46) â€Å"How dare you touch him, any of you? †¦This man belongs to me! †¦Yes, I too can love†¦I promise you that when I am done with him you shall kiss him at your will.† More of feminism engulfs the men folk in Dracula. Dr. Van Helsing, while in carriage with Dr. Seward, after Lucy’s(first) death, goes hysterical, cries and laughs, "just as a woman does" (p. 186). The feminine characteristics attributed to a man are clearly depicted. Stoker does tight rope-walking to elucidate his views on gender and sexuality in Dracula. It is not possible for him to express his rigid views on the subject of human sexuality, and he goes by what he sees in the total cultural context prevailing in the society then. Sexuality in Dracula is intriguing going by the established standards, but support to the â€Å"wrong† ideals on sex, makes the story more interesting and popular. At a cursory glance, the story appears to rel ate to the horrifying tale of Count Dracula, but on detailed analysis, one sees the gender and sexuality issues of the era are embedded in the story. But the issues that catch the attention of the readers are the means adopted by women to counter female repression, the lead they take for sexual advances, and the submissiveness of the male characters like Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing and how Mina Murray is subjected to repression because of the aggressiveness and dominance of the male gender. The contradictions in the sexual roles make it tough for the even analysis and interpretation of Dracula. This is due to the â€Å"polyphonic† nature of Dracula. The scene in which Dracula makes, either through force or seduction, Mina to drink blood from his chest (p. 336)

U07d1 Three Reform Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U07d1 Three Reform Models - Essay Example RG or Diagnostic Relate Group was implemented in 1983 and was basically a system where the groups were formed based on diagnoses, age, sex, discharge status, medical complications and also procedures. This is the basis by which Medicare pays the hospitals and has been quite successful. This system makes it simpler for Medicare to correctly identify each group and base the possible demand for each group (The New England Journal of Medicine, 2010). This is an accurate mode of medical care and is helpful in ensuring clearer working processes. State Childrens Health Insurance Program: This program was developed with an intension to provide health care for children and families that were uninsured and with incomes that was low but enough to gain a Medicaid. This program had a number of arguments and there was a complete slow down in the program as President George Bush felt that the program was losing focus and was covering more of middle class children rather than the poor children. The program has however again been put back into track by President Obama and over four million children and pregnant women have been treated under the Childrens Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2010). Mental Health Parity Act: This act was introduced on January 2010 and aims at providing alignment for health and substance abuse benefits and also providing medical health benefits for companies with 50 or more employees. This however is not a group health plan of any sort (U.S. Department of Labor, 2008). As seen all these reforms have been developed with an intension to improve and address all the healthcare system issues. They are all very beneficial in terms of providing the assistance to the patients, however there is a clear issue where all the systems lack the availability of funds (Valueoptions, 2010). Also with the newer reforms coming up each day there is clearly a lack of enough money available to invest into the

How does social media affect human relationships Essay

How does social media affect human relationships - Essay Example of the effect has been directed towards interpersonal or human relationship, as most people are tending to use social media more than they engage in face-to-face conversations. This has resulted in both mental and psychological illness in society these days. While other scholars have maintained that there are traces of positive effects on human relationships, this is highly debatable through research. Therefore, although social media has improved communication, human relationships have been affected negatively. Scholars maintain that social media has created less actual society and redefined friendship. Stephen Marche, a novelist composed an article, â€Å"Is Facebook Making us Lonely† in which he maintained that Facebook has made a lonelier society in spite of the improved connectivity and the potential to communicate with people from different walks of life. Most people have become very lonely when staring at the computer screens and their smart phones waiting for a reply. The connections that social media allows have been embraced in place of conversation. This is because conversations should involve the physical touch of facial expressions and gestures, which are not present online. This is what one of my interviewees, Eric Markwardt, would miss because he favored social media for the mere fact that it became easier for him to make friends. Research also indicates that the modern society is living in a world filled with fast contradictions the more connected people become, the l onelier they get (Marche). Eric Markwardt’s case also fit in this scenario because the more that he makes use of social media, the lonelier that he becomes and might realize it when it is too late when he begins experiencing serious problems when interacting physically or becomes dormant in physical interactions. It is not advisable to over-rely on social media for interactions since one’s self-esteem may drop significantly without them noticing. This implies that their human

There are no circumstances under which child labour can ever be Essay

There are no circumstances under which child labour can ever be considered acceptable. To what extent can such a claim be justified Illustrate your answer with suitable evidence - Essay Example Child labour refers to the illegal practice of using children below a certain age for labour work. Despite of the fact that the legal and moral definition differs in some parts of the world but the basic idea is the same. Unfortunately, almost all the countries have been in the frontline to condemn and oppose child labor; however, very little has been done by these countries to actually prevent it and still today the numbers regarding child labour are alarming (Nangia, pp. 20-21, 1987). This paper is an attempt to look at the serious issue of child labor, and present some arguments, sufficient for opposing child labour under all possible circumstances. As mentioned in the introductory section of the paper as well that every child undergoes a process of emotional, physical, mental, social, and moral development under his introductory years of life. In fact, as psychology tells us that these years are crucial in determining the overall personality of that individual. Lessons learnt in these early years stay there forever and leave such significant impact that it becomes virtually impossible to separate a person from his or hr childhood influences. This explains why parents try their best to give their children an environment of understanding, comfort, mutual consensus, love, affection, care, consideration, devotion, and respect because they want them to learn and value all these things in their early childhood. The reason is that if they do it now, this would most probably stay with them until the rest of their lifetime (Gabalawi, pp. 54-55, 2009). Very common is to see a mother teaching his son the value of speaking truth and helpi ng others and a father telling her daughter the importance of unity and respecting their elders. More importantly, parents put in their maximum effort to keep their children out and away from any tough, stressful or

Orthodox Judaism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Orthodox Judaism - Research Paper Example An article published on patheos.com (2008-2011) established that Orthodox Judaism was originated through innovations in the Jewish practice introduced by the Reform movement in the mid 19th century in Central Europe. According to this said source, religious observances of Orthodox Jews include; daily worship, traditional prayers, the study of the Torah, dietary laws and gender segregation in the synagogue. In addition, the Hebrew language is essential in the Orthodox religious practices and they are very strict when observing the Sabbath. A number of Orthodox sects have risen from Orthodox Judaism over the years. One primary distinction within the Orthodox happens to be social engagement. Particular sects of Orthodox Judaism believe that; as people of God, they should live isolated from Gentiles whilst other sects believe that they can keep the Torah and live in a secular world at the same time. Basic Principles/Tenets of Orthodox Judaism Despite the multitude of Orthodox sects in Ju daism, all Jews share basic beliefs and principles which act as guidelines or rules which influences their actions or thoughts. These principles are grouped together as the Rambam’s â€Å"13 principles of faith†. ...Believe with perfect faith that God is one and there is no unity that is in anyway like his. Believe with perfect faith that God doesn’t have a body-physical concept don’t apply to him. Believe with perfect faith that God is first and last. Believe with perfect faith that it is only right to pray to God and no one else. Believe with perfect faith that the words of the prophets are true. Believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses is absolutely true-he is the chief of all prophets both before and after him. Believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is what was given to Moses. Believe with perfect faith that the Torah we now have will not be changed and there’ll never be another one given by God. Believe with perfect faith that God knows all of man’s deeds and thoughts. Believe with perfect faith that God rewards who keeps His commandments and punishes those who transgress Him. Believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. Believe with perfect faith that God will resurrect the dead†. Beliefs on Life and Death The Jewish laws acknowledge that the human soul exists long before it is born. But ‘life’ begins at the time of birth when the child is more than halfway emerged from the mother’s body. (Tracy R Rich, 1995-2011) Naturally, anything that has a beginning has an end-so when does ‘life’ end according to the Orthodox Judaism religion? Another article published by Tracy R Rich dictated that traditional Jews believe that death is not the end of the human existence.

Right Testicular Pain Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Right Testicular Pain - Case Study Example Just as Brown-Guttovz (2007) states, to eradicate chances for misdiagnosis, I may have to: observe the patient’s gait and resting position; the natural position of the testis in the scrotal sac when the patient is standing; the presence or absence of cremasteric reflex; determine whether the swelling is reducible; check and compare the palpitation of the scrotum, scrotal contents of the affected Hemi scrotum against the affected Hemi scrotum; and analyze palpitations in the lower abdomen and the inguinal and cord canals.Nevertheless, from the foregoing, the absence of the cremasteric reflex make it clear that the patient is suffering from testicular torsion and not any other testicular conditions that are also accompanied with pain, The evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of the patient is required and should be done very fast because if testicular torsion goes untreated for 6 hours, the affected testis may be lost. In this respect, blood tests will not be considered at this stage. Radionuclide scanning is very accurate but may not be applicable at this stage since time will be of the essence. In light of the recommendation put forth by Somani, Watson, and Townell (2010), Doppler tests may be used to identify the absence of the patient’s blood flow in the affected or twisted testicle. The Doppler ultrasound scan on the scrotum is 90% accurate in detecting testicular torsion and differentiating testicular torsion from other sources of testicular pain and complications such as epididymitis.

Working with and Leading People Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Working with and Leading People - Assignment Example In the absence of effective leadership, companies suffer stagnation in growth and development because there becomes lack of focus for operational growth (Guo and Sanchez, 2005). It is not surprising therefore that Thomas Cook places so much emphasis on leadership and the management of its companies all across the globe. An important aspect of leadership has always been the kind of interpersonal relationship that exists between the leader and his subordinates and how the leader is able to influence subjects to buy into his visions and plans to join hands in the business growth agenda. Once this process takes place, it is said that the act of working with and leading people has been activated (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2010). The approaches different leaders use in working with and leading people are referred to as leadership styles. In the following answers some of the key leadership styles and other leadership related issues about Thomas Cook Group are dealt with into detail. 1. The skills and attributes that Thomas Cook values and cherishes are directly rooted into the collective culture and climate of business operations, practiced within the company. For instance for the fact that the company operates an overseas staffing system, it requires of its managers and leaders to possess the attitude and skill of adaptability to different culture and environments. This of course includes the ability of these leaders and managers to have an interpersonal relationship skill that will make them get along easily with international clients, stakeholders and customers. Apart from adaptability to different cultures and environments, and interpersonal relationship skills, the company also cherishes and values a sense of personal development skills within its managers and leaders. Generally, Thomas Cook has a vision that ensures that employees are able to gain self development and empowerment. So apart from the organized training and induction program for its new staff, the company ex pects that employees will have the self zeal to push themselves up to the ladder. Finally, given the volume of people that managers and leaders work with, the company requires organizational skills among all its leaders and managers. 2. The leadership style encouraged for practice at Thomas Cook is the democratic leadership style, which encourages the involvement of subjects in most decision making processes. Again, this leadership style is preferred and encouraged as part of the organizational culture of the company. It would be noted that Thomas Cook has a culture of giving so much freedom to its employee base into controlling some levels of business operations affair within the company. It is not surprising such events as massive as the organization of fund raisers can be left in the hands and care of employees. Democratic leadership is therefore the most effective style of leadership to ensure that subjects learn directly under their leaders, whiles having their actions and init iations totally checked (Guo and Sanchez, 2005). There are other leadership styles that allow subjects to take charge of decision making such as democratic leadership but this leadership style known as the laissez faire leadership style give too much freedom to subject, not making it ideal for new employees and others whose skills and knowledge have not been adequately tested. 3. The major different between leadership and management is directly linked to the tasks given to leaders and managers respectively. Whereas managers have been said to have the role of organization and coordination, leaders are said to be inspirers and motivators (Lutgen-Sandvik, 2010).

The Acropolis Essay Example for Free

The Acropolis Essay The Acropolis is the main part of the city of Athens located in 150m above sea level. Since ancient times, art flourished in his part of the city. Temple building had both a symbolic and economic objective. It glorified the gods and the city, which thereby succeeded in overawing the proprietary aristocratic cults that existed in the earlier foundations. In economic terms temple construction meant returning to circulation the money that otherwise would have accumulated in the coffers of the divinities concerned. Acropolis represents a flat-topped rock settled since Neolithic era (6 millennium BC). Further, Mycenaean population settled in this region. In two centuries, Acropolis was occupied by Kylon. For tribes henceforward all looked alike to Athens, set on that plains broad level between the mountains and the sea (Coulton 34). The splendid rock, the famous acropolis, afforded them a strong, capacious citadel; and under the rocks north slope sprang up the nucleus of what later was to be incomparably the largest of Greek towns. Political power was vested in the hands of a landowning aristocracy, the High-born or Eupatrids. From their ranks were yearly chosen the three Archons or executive officials, for civil administration, for religion, and for war. Plutarch, in his life of Pericles wrote of the great Classical buildings on the Acropolis that â€Å"they arose no less towering in their grandeur than inimitable in their grace of form, for the workmen eagerly strove to surpass one another in the beauty of their craftsmanship . . .† (Berve 56). This description shows that Acropolis had a great meaning and significance for Greece.   Acropolis art included literature and sculpture, buildings and painting. The most famous architectural constructions, temples, were located in Acropolis’ slopes. The most important temples were the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike. Temple sacred to Athena Polias’ was built around 6th century BC. There were two temples of Athene, an old and a new. Athenas new temple on the acropolis, and the great Portico which was raised at the entrance to the hill; out of it, too, came the gold and ivory statue of the goddess which stood within the shrine. Such a use of the allies money may seem inexcusable to us; but the ethics of imperialism are never very easy to define. Pericles believed that Athens had a mission to spread artistic culture by such means, and for this reason empire builders too have believed in their own mission and not always in a mission upon so lofty a plane (Berve 67). The temple of Athene had important meaning for Greeks because the climax of the Festival was a procession of ascent to the temple of Athena on the citadel. This temple dated from times long before the tyrant Gelon, there is excellent evidence that he embellished it, adding perhaps the pillars which ran round the shrines exterior, and the sculptured groups of marble figures which adorned its gable-ends. Nor were these the only monuments of his architectural passion (Coulton 76). Peisistratus and his sons rebuilt the Ancient Temple of Athena, with a peristyle of stone. Most unusual is the difference of material in the marble raking cornice, with its hawksbeak bed moulding and a crowning moulding which, though an ovolo, is also painted with a Doric leaf. The sima is likewise of marble, and on the pediments has the ovolo imitated from Corinthian terracotta simas, but on the flanks it retains the old Ionic vertical face with pipe-like spouts at intervals, while the water-spouts carved on the four angle acroterion bases were lion heads at one end, ram heads at the other (Berve 9). For the first time great pedimental groups were carved in marble, and consequently in the round rather than relief, for the technical reason that it was cheaper to construct the tympanium background separately in local limestone; the subjects were, at the east the battle of the gods and giants, and at the rear a combat of animals. The Erechtheum (421-407 BC) was constructed, near the north edge of the Acropolis, in the troubled period after Pericles death when the Peloponnesian War was going badly for Athens and funds were limited. Despite these handicaps, and the extraordinarily difficult architectural problems involved by the necessity of incorporating earlier shrines into the structure, the Erechtheum ranks as the finest of all Greek temples in the Ionic style. It later suffered badly from fires, from adaptation into a Church and then into a Turkish mansion, and from the carrying off of much of its materials for use in medieval and later buildings. This temple had â€Å"porch of maidens† consisted of six female figures as columns (Plommer 34). The greatest temple, the Parthenon (5th century BC) and popular monument, the Propylaea, were in the Dorian style, though they were in many respects different from the Dorian works elsewhere. Leader among the architects was Ictinus, the designer of the Parthenon, Ictinus was assisted in his work on the Parthenon by Callicrates, of whom less is known; and the name of Mnesicles has come down to us as that of the creator of the Propylaea, the Parthenon embrace both Doric and Ionic principles, as well as their distinctive features.   This temple was built on the place of the old temple of Athena. A huge platform of solid limestone masonry 252 feet long and 103 feet wide, attaining at one corner a height of 35 feet above bed rock, â€Å"formed the substructure of the temple; along the south flank it was intended to form a podium rising 7 ½ feet above the graded earth† (Berve 34). Leaving a portion of the platform to form a terrace on all four sides, the three-stepped temple was begun with stylobate dimensions of 77 feet 2 ½ inches by 219 feet 7 ½ inches; the lowest step was of pink Kara limestone, the middle step and stylobate of Pentelic marble. The temple was hexastyle, with sixteen columns on the flanks, all uniformly 6 feet 3 inches in lower diameter except those at the corners, which in accordance with a new system of emphasis were thickened by one-fortieth of the diameter. On the other hand, the archaic practice of reducing the flank spacing was retained. The inner building was tetrastyle prostyle (rather than in-antis) at both ends, the antae being of Ionic form lacking offsets but with base mouldings which were continued along the cella walls (Berve 56). The pronaos gave access to a long cella divided by two rows of interior columns, while through the opisthodomus could be entered what was probably a single large room, the prototype of the west chamber of the Periclean temple (Dinsmoor 48). The chief interest of this temple is that it initiated marble construction in Attica on a large scale, introduced the use of Ionic elements (Ionic frieze which runs around the walls) and the application of delicate refinements in upward curvature and column inclinations, and even contributed much of the material and many of the dimensions for the present Parthenon. When the Persians returned in 480 B.C. they completely destroyed it, the unfinished columns at this time having attained a height of only two to four drums above the stylobate. Also, â€Å"in high relief 92 metopes were carved† (Dinsmoor 48). East and west impediments depict scenes from Greek mythology. â€Å"The metopes of the Parthenon all represented various instances of the struggle between the forces of order and justice, on the one hand, and criminal chaos on the other† (The Parthenon, n.d.).   Pheidias was the maker of the celebrated gold and ivory Athena Parthenos that stood in the Parthenon. There are literary descriptions of this lost statue which inspire us with the belief that the great image was truly free in the Greek sense. There are also, unfortunately, copies of Roman date which can only mislead. When he made the Athena Parthenos in Athens, and later the seated Zeus at Olympia, both of gold and ivory and on the giant scale, he was fulfilling the highest ambition of Greek art which had begun, more than a thousand years before, to make works of ivory and gold (Coulton 74). Under the south-east side of the Acropolis he further planned the building of a magnificent temple to Olympian Zeus. This scheme he never lived to see completed; and before the roof was added, the Athenian people had regained their liberty. The gaunt columns of the arrested work were left simply as they stooda memorial, as it were, of the tyrants frustrated pride and a warning to others who in future days might be tempted to follow in his footsteps (Coulton 73). Similar plans were employed for the earlier temple of   Ã¢â‚¬Å"A† on the Athenian Acropolis. More elaborate was temple A on the Acropolis, with a tetrastyle in-antis faà §ade (Plommer 78-80). In these temples may be seen the characteristic Greek practice of using a different type of anta capital (with the Doric) from that of the column In the entablatures, while the mainland tendency was to leave the metopes uncarved, they were frequently accented by the use of thin slabs of white marble, contrasting with the dark blue or black of the triglyphs and the blues and reds of the taenia below and cornice above. The Hydra gable (belonging to an unknown building on the Acropolis) illustrates the growing Athenian tendency to use sculptured pediments, though here the amount of relief is only 1 inch (Plommer 78-80). Other Athenian temples of this period were the miniature temple E on the Acropolis, unknown as to location (possibly one of three treasuries, including temples B and C, west of the Hecatompedon) though its details obviously imitate those of the Peisistratid temple of Athena, and also its direct antithesis, the huge but frustrated beginning of the great Olympieum by the sons of Peisistratus, abandoned when Hippias was driven into exile in 510 B.C. (Plommer 78-80).. The two lower steps were actually built, as well as the foundations of the second or inner rows of columns, as well as the arrangement of the columns, the outer rows having eight on the fronts and twenty-one on the flanks, with a diameter of 7 feet 11 1/4 inches (Dinsmoor 48). The Acropolis and its temples embodied the best architectural constructions of Ancient Greece. The Acropolis temples represent a architectural importance because of the meticulously detailed representation of a building and unique combination of styles. Works Cited Berve H., Gruben G., Hirmer M. Greek Temples, Theatres and Shrines. Greenwood Press, 1963. Coulton J.J. Greek Architects at Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Dinsmoor W.B. The Architecture of Ancient Greece. London: Croom Helm, 1975. The Parthenon n.d. 09 Ma7 2007. http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Parthenon.html Plommer W.H. Ancient and Classical Architecture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Importance of Statistical Research in Medicine

Importance of Statistical Research in Medicine The Nepal Journal of Epidemiology is the first journal of its kind in Nepal. Our main objective in pioneering this journal is to attempt to provide a common platform for all researchers, particularly those doing epidemiological studies on prevailing public health problems in the community. We wish to make this journal one that follows standard criteria of scientific article writing with sound technical knowhow. We have introduced several initiatives to improve the quality, reporting, and transparency of research in general, and randomised trials in particular, by emphasising the importance of protocols. We offer to review protocols to improve trial quality and reduce publication bias. We consider submissions of randomised trials only if registered and accompanied by a protocol, which is sent with the manuscript to peer reviewers. All who use, receive, or pay for health-care interventions depend on guidance from reliable research findings and will want reassurance that medical researc h is credible. Essentially, Nepals research output is still small. More collaboration and partnerships between countries in different regions of Asia and externally must be fostered. Lack of investment in research should also be addressed by nations that are capable of investing more. Research in Nepal can and should flourish over the next decade. A brief review through almost any recently published medical journal will show that statistical methods play an increasingly important role in modern medical research. Many research papers quote at least one p-value to communicate their results while some present the results and the statistical analysis of medical data in relatively sophisticated and complex sets1-8. After extensive study of the available literature and from the personal experience in this domain, I would like to venture a few recommendations for the improvement of various aspects in medical research and its application. I believe that this brief discussion will be of great value to all professionals involved in medical research and its application. Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability, mused William Osler. Medical journals are a confluence of medicine, science and journalism-and are expected to have the values of all three. The science that underpins medicine is presented in journals, and most journals can point to landmark studies that changed medicine. Medical journals differ from scientific journals in that they are mainly read, not by scientists, but by practicing doctors. Medical journals will continue to be the main vehicle of scientific information for years to come, particularly where access to computer and internet facilities are relatively limited. Currently, the output-and rewards-of research are based almost entirely on published papers in scientific journals. Scientists in low-income and middle-income settings want an opportunity to analyze data for their populations according to their own priorities. They want to be in the frontlines of national and global conversations about their countr ys experiences. Evidence-based medicine provides several ways to quantify and communicate uncertainty, but does so from a probabilistic rather than a human perspective. We can divide Evidence based medicine/clinical epidemiology into two major methodological themes: statistical and implementation. The use and analysis of large trials, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, evidence hierarchies, cost-effectiveness analyses, and number needed to treat would come under the statistical while the improved access to evidence through literature searching, library and critical appraisal tools, guideline development, risk framing, etc. would be implementation. Researchers welcome clinical uncertainty as a source of knowledge gaps, whose answers will be meaningful to clinicians and patients. Clinical epidemiology bridges clinical practice and public health. Policies notwithstanding, despite suggestions to detect and eliminate research misconduct, training in research ethics, standards and responsible conduct is often minimal or absent in academia. The quality of medical journals depends on several factors involving three groups of people: namely the authors, the reviewers and the editors. Deciding who should be listed as an author is not simple, and too often the decision is made on the basis of power. The powerful are included, even when they have done nothing, and the weak are excluded, even though they have done most of the work. This unethical behaviour can become a major problem if the study proves to be fraudulent, as has happened many times. Sometimes journals receive coverage in the media that makes them squirm, particularly when they are exposed as having published research that is fraudulent. I worry that journals are being polluted by misconduct and that editors are not responding adequately. Scientific reading will enhance the quality of scientific writing. Critical reading and thinking will provide a relevant, interesting, feasible, ethical and novel research hypothesis. The author or researcher planning on a research study and publication should search in Medline, PubMed and other search engines for relevant reviews and literature of similar studies in world and national scenario. These studies must be examined for strengths and weaknesses, and the researcher must apply required modifications for new knowledge. It will help the author tremendously in the writing of the introduction, discussion and conclusion part of the manuscript. Before starting data collection, the researcher should decide upon the study design, target population, sample size and sampling method, inclusion exclusion criteria, study period, study variable, outcome measures and units of measurement, definition of all the terms and variables and their classification. After careful consideration, the methodology of data collection and the method of data analysis, including the computer packages and statistical methods, should be chosen. The instruments or questionnaire used to measure the variables should be described correctly and if others have developed them, referenced properly. A researcher should be well aware of the concepts of different types of data and variables, two types of errors (type I and type II errors), calculation of sample size, significance level, confidence interval, testing of hypothesis and power of the test1-11. Once these criteria are followed, the authors should allot paragraphs for each one of them in the material and methods part of the manuscript, thereby increasing the quality of the study. This meticulous planning and execution will be useful to new researchers in this area. The editorial management is a crucial part of the publishing process. The editors begin action with the receipt of the manuscript by directing the various steps of evaluation, correction and re-submission, until an editorial decision is taken to accept the paper as is, accept it after modification or reject it if it is unacceptable. They then make necessary text and layout editing. Due consideration is given to the statistical, multilingual and ethical aspects as well as to the overall uniformity of the terminology, nomenclature and style throughout the volume as a whole. Experts review plays a pivotal role on maintaining the quality of a medical journal. A reviewer is required to address a number of important aspects of the paper and to make recommendation concerning the acceptability of the paper. Findings of good research deserve to be presented well, and a good presentation is as much a part of the research as the painstaking collection and analysis of the data. Critical appraisal of 150 articles published in a reputed medical journal in Nepal reveals that in more than 70% articles experienced biostatisticians were not involved or substantially contributed (not co authored), more than 65% studies sample size calculation were wrong and 80% of the article with inadequate statistical details and wrong statistical tests. Critical reviewers of the biomedical literature have consistently found that more than half of the published articles (including scientific articles, published even in the best journals) that used statistical methods contained unacceptable errors 1-11. The term statistics here in this context, has a wider meaning and includes the methodology of research, study design, or epidemiological methodology etc 1-8. The major applications of biostatistics started in the middle of the 17th century in the analysis of vital statistics. After the early developments in vital statistics, the field of genetics was the next area that benefited most from the new statistical ideas emerging in the works of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Francis Galton (1822-1910), Karl Pearson (1857-1936), and Ronald A. Fisher (1890-1962). Now, the fields of application and areas of concern of biostatistics include evidence based medicine, bioassays, public health, health service research, nutrition, environmental health, demography, epidemiology, surveys of human populations, community diagnosis, bio-mathematical modelling, clinical trials, brain imaging, genomics and proteomics. Computer-based statistical packages have not yet been given expertise to decide the correct method although they sometimes generate a warning message when the data are not adequate. The user of the package decides the method9. The real solution to poor statistical reporting will come when authors learn more about the statistical methods in research design and when statisticians are able to convey the importance of the methods used in the study to authors, editors, and readers; when researchers begin to involve statisticians from the beginning of research, not at its end; when manuscript editors begin to understand and to apply statistical reporting and editing guidelines; when the journals are able to screen the articles containing statistical analyses more carefully; and when readers learn more about how to interpret statistics and begin to expect and demand, adequate statistical reporting7. A researcher should never hesitate to ask for professional assistance from a biostatistician to plan the study or experiment. There may be valuable research going on in developing and financially less-privileged countries, but it usually does not reach international visibility, in spite of a large number of scientific journals in these countries. Such journals are not only invisible but by perpetuating a vicious circle of inadequacy, may be directly damaging to the local science and research culture. Journals should prevent this by constructing an editorial board including qualified editors from developed and developing countries in the editorial board. I recommend biostatisticians to join as editors and reviewers in order to help formulate journal policy, audit the quality of statistics in published papers, help produce statistical guidelines or checklists for authors, educate editors, provide explanatory statistical comments on published papers, and write expository articles about statistical matters in journals.

Othello †How it Ranks Essay -- Othello essays

Othello – How it Ranks  Ã‚         In the context of thousands of plays written by hundreds of dramatists since 500 years prior to the time of Christ, how does William Shakespeare’s play Othello rank? In this essay let us find the proper place for this play, and consider critical opinion in the process.    Othello would appear to have a beauty about it which is hard to match – thus ranking high. Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† touches on this beauty which enables this play to stand above the other tragedies of the Bard:    Among the tragedies of Shakespeare Othello is supreme in one quality: beauty. Much of its poetry, in imagery, perfection of phrase, and steadiness of rhythm, soaring yet firm, enchants the sensuous imagination. This kind of beauty Othello shares with Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra; it is a corollary of the theme which it shares with them. But Othello is also remarkable for another kind of beauty. Except for the trivial scene with the clown, all is immediately relevant to the central issue; no scene requires critical justification. The play has a rare intellectual beauty, satisfying the desire of the imagination for order and harmony between the parts and the whole. Finally, the play has intense moral beauty. It makes an immediate appeal to the moral imagination, in its presentation in the figure of Desdemona of a love which does not alter ‘when it alteration finds’, but ‘bears it out even to the edge of doom’. (139)    The play is so quotable; consider Desdemona’s opening lines before the Council of Venice: â€Å"My noble father, / I do perceive here a divided duty,† or Othello’s last words: â€Å"Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.† Could the continuing reputat... .... San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from â€Å"The Noble Moor.† British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"The Engaging Qualities of Othello.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.    Othello – How it Ranks Essay -- Othello essays Othello – How it Ranks  Ã‚         In the context of thousands of plays written by hundreds of dramatists since 500 years prior to the time of Christ, how does William Shakespeare’s play Othello rank? In this essay let us find the proper place for this play, and consider critical opinion in the process.    Othello would appear to have a beauty about it which is hard to match – thus ranking high. Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† touches on this beauty which enables this play to stand above the other tragedies of the Bard:    Among the tragedies of Shakespeare Othello is supreme in one quality: beauty. Much of its poetry, in imagery, perfection of phrase, and steadiness of rhythm, soaring yet firm, enchants the sensuous imagination. This kind of beauty Othello shares with Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra; it is a corollary of the theme which it shares with them. But Othello is also remarkable for another kind of beauty. Except for the trivial scene with the clown, all is immediately relevant to the central issue; no scene requires critical justification. The play has a rare intellectual beauty, satisfying the desire of the imagination for order and harmony between the parts and the whole. Finally, the play has intense moral beauty. It makes an immediate appeal to the moral imagination, in its presentation in the figure of Desdemona of a love which does not alter ‘when it alteration finds’, but ‘bears it out even to the edge of doom’. (139)    The play is so quotable; consider Desdemona’s opening lines before the Council of Venice: â€Å"My noble father, / I do perceive here a divided duty,† or Othello’s last words: â€Å"Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.† Could the continuing reputat... .... San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from â€Å"The Noble Moor.† British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"The Engaging Qualities of Othello.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.   

Rita M. Gross Feminism and Religion Essay -- Rita Gross Feminist Pape

In her book Feminism and Religion, Rita M. Gross provides readers with an introduction to the need for, and benefits of, androgynous scholarship in the field of religious studies. Gross strives to make readers aware of the dangers of androcentric, Eurocentric scholarship. Moreover, she advances the claim that, â€Å"properly pursued, the field of religious studies involves study of all major religions found in human history† and an equal representation of both men’s and women’s religious experiences (Gross 1-4). Because androcentrism has permeated both religion and scholarship for the greater part of history, Gross strives to correct and augment this perspective with illuminating examples of what she deems â€Å"proper† religious scholarship – scholarship that includes the experiences of women. Ultimately, Gross believes that â€Å"feminist scholarship requires the study of the actual lives and thoughts of women† (Gross 81) and that â₠¬Å"the diversity within feminist theology and spirituality is its strength† (Gross 49). The anthology Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions (Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young, Editors) is a glowing example of the type of religious scholarship Gross, and others like her, fought so tenaciously to bring into being. In the introduction to Her Voice, Her Faith, Young expresses a desire akin to Gross’: When both the male and female voice become of equal strength†¦ we may begin to see for the first time three-dimensional religious worlds — fully of the two genders (and multiple cultures) but also of the human dimension that transcends their particulars†¦ This goal, of stereophonic sound, I hope, will inform the religious voices of the future (Sharma 9). Sharma and Young deftly assembled the... ...of the â€Å"stereophonic sound† Young, Gross and other feminists yearn to hear, â€Å"informing the religious voices of the future† (Sharma 9). Bibliography Gross, Rita M. Feminism and Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996. Heschel, Susannah. â€Å"Judaism.† Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Ed. Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young. Boulder: Westview Press, 2003. 145-167. Narayanan, Vasudha. â€Å"Hinduism.† Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Ed. Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young. Boulder: Westview Press, 2003. 11-57. Sharma, Arvind and Katherine K. Young, Ed. Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Boulder: Westview Press, 2003. Wong, Eva. â€Å"Taoism.† Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Ed. Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young. Boulder: Westview Press, 2003. 119-143.

Frontier Expansion vs. the American Bison :: American America History

Frontier Expansion vs. the American Bison â€Å"The wilderness masters the colonist. It finds him a European in dress, industries, tools, modes of travel, and thought. It takes him from the railroad car and puts him in the birch canoe. It strips off the garments of civilization and arrays him in the hunting shirt and the moccasin. It puts him in the log cabin.... Before long he has gone to planting Indian corn and plowing with a sharp stick.... In short, at the frontier the environment is at first too strong for the man. He must accept the conditions which it furnishes, or perish, and so . . . little by little he transforms the wilderness, but the outcome is not the old Europe.... The fact is, that here is a new product that is American....† --Frederick Jackson Turner, 1893 The great westward expansion of European American pioneers is one of the most celebrated periods in our country’s history. We idealize its ruggedness, its characters, and the many sure dichotomies of the frontier: good versus evil, civilizations versus savagery, man versus the wilderness. The pioneers set out to create a new world, to push the boundaries of home, morality, and familiarity. In the process they irreversibly affected the established ecosystems and Native American dwellers. The challenges and harshness of the environment had their own effects upon the settlers, effects that have engrained themselves into our national consciousness. We celebrate â€Å"rugged individualism† while at the same time ignoring the price we pay for that stubbornness and strength of character. Westward expansion resulted in the extinction or endangerment of hundreds of native species of flora and fauna, altered entire ecosystems, such as the Great Plains, and impacted aquifers and w atersheds across the entire nation. One species famously affected by these pioneers and settlers was the American Bison, a relic of the last ice age. It is estimated that over 40 million of these great beasts roamed the American Plains in 1800. By 1883 the population was down to less than 6001. What happened? Why did those pioneers, so appreciative of the bounty that the â€Å"new† territory had given them, slaughter the bison throughout the 19th century? â€Å"They lived and moved as no other quadrupeds ever have, in great multitudes, like grand armies in review, covering scores of square miles at once. They were so numerous they frequently stopped boats in the rivers, threatened to overwhelm travelers on the plains, and in later years derailed locomotives and cars, until railway engineers learned by experience the wisdom of stopping their trains whenever there were buffaloes crossing the track.

Invention of the Laser Printer

The presentation Mr. Starkweather gave touched upon many points of entrepreneurship and perseverance. As we have learned, Mr. Starkweather’s major accomplishment was the invention of the laser printer. In today’s world this might not seem like that big of a deal, but there were many obstacles standing in the way of this invention. The idea of building a printer based on laser technology was foreign for the time period. When the idea was first proposed not one company wanted to put money towards the development.This rejection came with a great deal of defeat and a sense of hopelessness for Mr. Starkweather. Not only did he not let the critics drag him down, but he also had the determination to keep pushing the idea onto different printing companies. Kodak finally stepped up to the plate and offered a patent but no funding. Although the money wasn’t there, this was still a big step in the right direction. After much perseverance and experimentation the laser printe r was finally developed in 1959.Being able to prove all the companies that doubted the idea was an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment for Mr. Starkweather. This new technology was able to print original copies straight from your computer. This machine was ground breaking for the time period and was able to significantly improve the functionality of offices across America. After being able to reflect upon Mr. Starkweather’s presentation I realized that even though people might not accept your ideas at first it is important not to give up.The rejection you receive should only be an indication to further your research and prove how your idea can be practical and advantageous. By giving up on your own idea due to someone else’s reaction, we are falling into peer pressure and tricking ourselves into thinking we are failures. Mr. Starkweather not only risked his pride but he also risked his employment. Not only was he able to prove what was thought to be the impossible p ossible, but he was able to jump start a new way of life.In today’s world we are now able go to our local Wal-Mart and pick up one of these laser printers for under $100. It is very ironic how something we take for granted today, took so much time and rejection 50 plus years ago. This presentation was not only important for the business majors but it could have also done a great job at inspiring the rest of the school. After finding out how much rejection Mr. Starkweather endured and how much of a success his idea became, I was very impressed and caused me to reflect upon how I would act if I was put into a similar situation.

Nisbett Summary Essay

Main Points: Evidence shows that there may be little or no direct introspective access to higher order cognitive processes. Subjects are sometimes (a.) unaware of the existence of a stimulus that importantly influenced a response, (b) unaware of the existence of the response and (c) unaware that the stimulus has affected the response. It is proposed that when people attempt to report on their cognitive processes, they do not do so based on any true introspection. Their reports are based on a priori, implicit casual theories or judgments about the extent to which a particular stimulus is a plausible cause of a given response. Although the evidence points that people are unable to use introspection in respect to cognitive processes, they may sometimes be able to report accurately about them. Accurate reports will occur when influential stimuli are salient and plausible causes of the responses they produce. Notes: * Social psychologists routinely ask subjects in their experiments why they behaved as they did (i.e., why did you choose that graduate school) * Mandler, Miller and Neisser proposed that people may have no direct access to higher order mental processes, such as used in evaluating judgment, problem solving and behavior * Problems with new anti-introspectivist view: (1) Mandler, Miller and Neisser never stated that people have no direct access to higher order mental processes. Instead, the speculation is not based on research on higher order processes, such as â€Å"thinking,† but rather research on more basic processes of perception and memory. There is no conscious awareness of perceptual and memorial processes. (2) People readily answer questions about the reasons for his behavior or evaluations. Subjects usually appear stumped when asked about perceptual or memorial processes, but are quite able to describe why they behaved in such a manner or why they dislike a person. The refore, it would appear like people have some introspective access to a memory or the process involved. (3) The anti-introspectivist view does not allow for the possibility that people are ever correct about their higher order mental processes (intuitively unlikely that such reports are ALWAYS inaccurate). * Much of the evidence that casts doubt on the ability of people to report on their cognitive processes comes from a consideration of what was not published in that literature. A review of the nonpublic research leads to three conclusions: (1) subjects frequently cannot report on the existence of the chief response that was produced by the manipulation (2) even if they can report the existence of the responses, they do not report that a change process (evaluational or attitudinal response underwent any alterations) occurred (3) subjects cannot correctly identify the stimuli that produced the response. * Insufficient justification or dissonance research states if the behavior is intrinsically undesirable will, when performed for inadequate extrinsic reasons, be seen as more attractive if done for adequate reasons. For example, if people have done something unpleasant without adequate justification, it becomes painful – therefore, people will revise his opinion about the behavior in order to avoid the psychic discomfort * Attribution theory – people strive to discover the causes of attitudinal, emotional and behavioral responses (their own and others) and the resulting casual attributions are a chief determinant of a host of additional attitudinal and behavioral effects. For example, if someone tells us that he likes a horror film, our acceptance of the opinion is based on our causal analysis of the persons’ reasons for the evaluation – does he like movies, does he normally like horror films, etc. Insufficient-justification studies and attribution studies where the subject makes inferences about himself have employed behavioral dependent variables. Two studies are discussed, one regarding painful electric shocks and the other with snake-phobic subjects. In the one with the electric shocks, patients were subject to shocks and asked to learn a task. Those with insufficient justification justified taking the shots, by deciding that they were not that painful, so their evaluation of the painfulness of the shots was lowered and their physiological and behavioral indicators reflected this indication. In the second study, subjects underwent the attribution paradigm in which snake-phobic subjects were exposed to slides of snakes and a second slide that stated â€Å"shock† in which they were electrically shocked. As a result, the subjects learned that they were frightened of the shock slide because of the electric shock that accompanied it, but not frightened of the snake slides and realized that they may not be as afraid of snakes as they thought. They were armed with a new self-attribution of snake fearlessness. * Verbal stimuli in the form of instructions from the experimenter can result in a changed evaluation of the relevant stimuli and an altered motivational state, which are reflected in subsequent physiological and behav ioral events. Stimuli => cognitive process => evaluative and motivational state change => behavior change * There is a problem with the assumption that the subject consciously decides how he feels about an object and this evaluation determines his behavior towards it. Typically, behavioral and physiological differences are obtained in the absence of verbally reported differences in evaluations or motive states. * Three generalizations made about the electric shock and snake-phobic studies are: * No significant verbal report differences were found at all. * The behavioral effects were in most cases stronger than the verbal report effects * The correlation between verbal report about motive state and behavioral measures of motive state was found to be zero. Negative/zero correlation are difficult to understand/interpret in terms of the cognitive process involved. * Results from studies confounded the assumption that conscious, verbal cognitive processes result in conscious, verbalizable changes in evaluations or motive states which then mediate changed behavior. * Author provides evidence that casts doubt on the studies that find differences in the verbal reports of experimental and control subjects. There is an important difference between awareness of the existence of an evaluation (does not imply true recognition of the process induced by insufficient justification and attribution manipulations – they are not aware that a change has taken place in consequence of such manipulations) and awareness of a changed evaluation or motive state. An experiment was done in which people had to write essays opposing their own views. Subjects who were coerced into writing essays showed no change in evaluation of the topic. Those who were given insufficient justification or manipulated shifted their evaluations in the direction of the position they originally opposed. However, those who were given insufficient justification or manipulation reported that their attitudes towards the subject were no different after the essay than they were one week prior-this suggests that they were unaware that the evaluation has changed. * Thought process – a study is described in which a control group was subjected to electric shocks while the experimental group was given a placebo pill that reportedly helped with the electric shocks. The experimental group was able to take more shock. After the study, 9 out of 12 subjects stated that the pill did not cause some physical effects and that they were only worried about the shock. * The explanations that subjects offer for their behavior in insufficient-justification and attribution experiments are so removed from the processes that investigators doubt there is direct access to higher level cognitive processes. * Results of insufficient justification experiments could never be obtained if subjects were aware of the critical role played by the social pressure from the experimenter. If subjects realized that their behavior was produced by this social pressure, they would not change their attitudes. If people were aware of position effects on their evaluations, they would attempt to overcome these effects or counteract the influence (i.e., see below about helping someone in distress with many people around – may be more willing to help someone knowing that naturally people are less likely to help others with more people around). * The theory that people can respond to a stimulus in the absence of the ability to verbally report on its existence is more widely accepted now than years before. The new acceptance is due to (1) methodological innovations in the form chiefly of signal detection techniques and dichotic listening procedures and (2) persuasive theoretical arguments in regards to deriving the subliminal perception phenomenon from the notion of selective attention and filtering. An experiment was done regarding playing tone sequences into an attended and unattended auditory channel while subjects tracked a human voice in the attended channel. Subjects reported hearing nothing at all in the unattended channel. Subjects were unable to discriminate new from old stimuli at a level exceeding change, but preferred tone sequences previously presented to the unattended channel over novel stimuli. The conclusion is that affective processes are triggered by information that is too weak to provide verbal recognition. * Many more stimuli are apprehended than can be stored in short-term or long-term memory. Subliminal perception (we perceive without perceiving) can be derived as a logical consequence of the principle of selective filtering. We can perceive without remembering. The subliminal perception hypothesis: some stimuli may affect ongoing mental processes, without being registered in short-term memory or long-term memory. It also suggests that people may sometimes be unable to report even the existence of influential stimuli and, as reported by creative people (see next bullet point), this may frequently be the case in problem-solving. * How creative people (artists, writers, mathematicians, scientists and philosophers) speak about the process of production and problem solving: they state they are the first to witness the fruits of a problem-solving process that is almost completely hidden from conscious view. For these people, the y have no idea what factors prompted the solution and the fact that a process is taking place is sometimes unknown to them prior to the point that a solution appears in consciousness. * People are increasingly less likely to help others in distress as the number of witnesses or bystanders increases. However, subjects always claim that their behavior was not influenced by other people around them. * The authors performed a series of small studies to fill in the gaps from the other studies, choosing cognitive processes that were used routinely with minimal deception. The results were not as expected: most of the stimuli the authors expected to influence subjects’ responses turned out to have no effect, and many of the stimuli that the authors expected to have no effect turned out to be influential. Subjects were virtually never accurate in their reports – if the stimulus component had a significant effect on responses, subjects typically reported that it was noninfluential. * Erroneous reports about stimuli influencing associative behavior: 81 students in introductory psychology were asked to memorize a list of words that may target them towards a response. When asked if the words memorized affected them, they stated distinctive features of the product (Tide is the b est known detergent) rather than the words leading them to say Tide. They also did an awareness ratio for the target words – the results were that for some of the target words the subjects reported no influence and for others many more subjects reported an influence than were probably influenced. * Erroneous reports about the influence of an individual’s personality on reactions to his physical characteristics: A study, known as the halo effect, showed that the manipulated warmth or coldness of an individual’s personality had a large effect on rating of the attractiveness of his appearance, speech and mannerisms. Many subjects actually insisted that their feelings about the individual’s appearance, etc. had influenced their liking of him/her. * The studies discussed do not suffice that people could never be accurate about the processes involved. The studies indicate that introspective access as may exist is not sufficient to produce accurate reports about the role of critical stimuli in response to questions asked a few min utes or seconds after the stimuli have been processed or response produced. People often make assertions about mental events to which they may have no access and these assertions may bear little resemblance to the actual events. * Evidence indicates it may be misleading for social scientists to ask their subjects about the influences on their evaluations, choices or behavior – those reports may have little value. Observers who read reports from experiments reported similarly to how subjects themselves predicted how they would react to the stimulus situation (e.g., other people around would not affect their behavior) – therefore, since their reports are similar, it is unnecessary to assume that observers are drawing on â€Å"a fount of privileged knowledge† when they make their predictions on how they would act. * A Priori Casual theories may have any of several origins: * The culture of subculture may have explicit rules stating the relationship between a particular stimulus and a particular response (I came to a stop because the light changed) * The culture of subculture may supply implicit theories about causal relations (one particular stimulus may â€Å"psychologically imply† a particular response) – Jim gave flowers to Amy so she’s acting nice today. * An individual may hold a particular causal theory on the basis of empirical observation of covariation between stimuli of the general type and responses of the general type (I’m groggy today – I always get grouchy when I don’t break 100 in golf). However, it has been found that powerful covariations may go undetected when the individual lacks a theory leading him to suspect covariation and, conversely, that the individual may perceive covariation where there is none if he has a theory leading him to expect it. * In absence of a culturally supplied rule, implicit causal theory or assumption about covariation, people may be able to generate causal hypotheses linking even novel stimuli and novel responses. If the stimulus is connotatively similar to the response, then it may be reported as having influenced the response. * The authors state that they are not implying that a priori causal theories are wrong – verbal reports relying on such theories will typically be wrong because they are incorrectly applied in the particular instance. * Therefore, when subjects were asked about their cognitive processes, they may have done something that felt like introspection, but was only merely a simple judgment of the extent to which input was a representative or plausible cause of output. It seems like people, when interrogated about cognitive processes, resort to a pool of culturally supplied explanations for behavior or search through a network of connotative relations until they find an explan ation. * Criterion for awareness: should not be equated with â€Å"correct verbal report† but, instead, â€Å"verbal report which exceeds in accuracy that obtained from observers provided with a general description of the stimulus and response in question.† * Accuracy and inaccuracy in verbal explanations: Tversky and Kahneman proposed that a chief determinant of judgments about the frequency and probability of events is the availability in memory of the events at the time of judgment. Events are judged as frequent in proportion to their availability, and their availability is determined by such factors as the strength of the network of verbal associations that spontaneously call the events to mind. The representativeness and availability heuristics are undoubtedly intertwine in the appraisal of cause and effect relations. If a particular stimulus is not available, then it will not be adduced in explanation of a given effect, even thought it might be highly representative or plausible once called to mind. A second circumstance that decreases accuracy in self-report is a separation in time between the report of the actual occurrence of the process. If asked immediately after the occurrence about a cognitive process, the subjects are leas t aware of the existence of the effective stimuli at this point although here may be no direct access to process. Subjects have some chance of accurately reporting that a particular stimulus was influential. At a later point, the existence of the stimulus may be forgotten or the vagaries of memory may invent factors that were not there, and there would be little chance it would be correctly identified as influential. * Reports will be accurate when influential stimuli are (1) available and (2) plausible causes of the response and when (3) few or no plausible but noninfluential factors are available (if a stranger hits you, you respond afterwards that you do not like the person) * There is some evidence that when even relatively minor steps are taken to disguise the connection between stimulus and response, subjects will fail to report such a connection. * In general, people will be accurate in reports about the causes of their behavior and evaluations wherever the culture, or a subculture, specifies clearly what stimuli should produce which responses, and especially where there is continuing feedback from the culture or subculture concerning the extent to which the individual is following the prescribed rules for input and output. * It seems likely that there are regularities concerning the conditions that give rise to introspective certainty about cognitive processes. Confidence should be high when the causal candidates are (1) few in number, (2) perceptually or memorially salient, (3) highly plausible causes of the given outcome (especially where the basis of plausibility is an explicitly cultural rule) and (4) where the causes have been observed to be associated with the outcome in the past. * Confusion between content and process: an important source of the authors’ belief in introspective awareness is undoubtedly related to the fact that people do have direct access to a great storehouse of private knowledge. People do have access to a host of personal historical facts, they know the focus of their attention at any given point in time and have knowledge concerning his emotions, evaluations and plans superior to that of observers. Therefore, it is less surprising that people would persist in believing that they have direct access to their own cognitive processes. The only mystery lies in why people are so poor at telling the difference between private facts that can be known with near certainty and mental processes to which there may be no access at all. We are also often capable of describing intermediate results (or intermediate output) of a series of mental operations in a way that promotes the feeling that we are describing the operations themselves. For example, one psychology professor may state that they envisioned monkeys swinging from trees, which lead to finding a cord-swinging solution – however, it is scarcely reasonable to propose that such imagery was the process by which the problem was solved. * The authors argued that perceived covariation between stimuli and responses is determined more by causal theories than by actual covariation. There are probably some cases where individuals have idiosyncratic reactions to a particular stimulus that only have knowledge of. For example, a person may believe that he generally loathes strangers who slap him on the back and this belief may make him superior to observers in explaining his feelings in such a situation – however, the authors believe this situation is rare. * Occasionally, noninfluential stimuli may be more vivid and available to the individual than to an outside observer and thus the observer might sometimes be more accurate by virtue of disregarding noninfluential stimuli. * Another reason for the writers belief in introspective awareness stems from lack of feedback. Disconfirmation of hypotheses about the workings of our minds is hard to come by. If an insomniac believes that he is unable to get to sleep because of the stress of his life situation, he will always be able to find evidence supporting this view. * Final belief to sustain the writers’ belief in direct introspective awareness is motivational. It is naturally preferable for us to believe that we have access to the workings of our own mind. Conclusions: * People often cannot report accurately on the effects of particular stimuli on higher order, inference-based responses. Indeed, sometimes they cannot report on the existence of critical stimuli, sometimes cannot report on the existence of their responses, and sometimes cannot e even report that an inferential process of any kind has occurred. The accuracy of subjective reports is so poor as to suggest that any introspective access that may exist is not sufficient to produce generally reliable reports. * When people report on the effects of stimuli, they may base their reports on implicit, a priori theories about the casual connection between stimulus and response instead of discussing a memory of the cognitive process that operated on the stimuli. If the stimulus psychologically implies the response in some way or seems â€Å"representative† of the types of stimuli that influence the response, the stimulus is reported to have influenced the response. If the stimulus does not seem to be a plausible cause of the response, it is reported to be noninfluential. * Sometimes subjective reports about higher mental processes are correct, but these instances are not due to direct introspective awareness. Rather, they are due to the incdentially correct employment of a priori causal theories.

Meaning of Free-Enterprise System Essay

Free-enterprise is defined as the freedom of individuals or groups of individuals to engage in business ventures with the minimum intervention of the state (or its political apparatus, the government) (Smith 1776/1904). There are three parts in this definition. First, free-enterprise is defined as freedom of individuals; in classical economic theory, freedom to engage in economic activities is an extension of individual freedom. Added to that, this freedom to participate in economic activities is corollary to making personal choices, which unrestricted, constitute individual freedom (like other freedoms). The second part of this definition is the statement that individuals can engage in business ventures. This can be achieved so long as the individual has the capital to establish his business. In economic theory, capital is defined as the assets, in the form of money, technology, physical infrastructure, human skills, etc. that can have a possible rate of returns. Individuals can use this capital to accumulate wealth, that is, to create more capital and profit. Nevertheless, in a free-enterprise, capital however is dictated by the laws of supply and demand. Capital will only have a fruitful rate of return if it is utilized to producing goods demanded by the consumers. Capital utilized for producing products not demanded by the public will either have a lower rate of returns or push the business into exiting from the market. Lastly, the requisite for free-enterprise is what economists call â€Å"minimum intervention of the state. † In simple terms, in order for the laws of supply and demand to take effect, the government must not intervene in the economic activities of the country. The laws of supply and demand cannot work in a system wherein economic activities are either restricted or controlled by the state or government. Whenever the government restricts business activities, the natural mechanism of adjusting production and demand becomes blurred (policies), and thus may create an artificial shortage in the market. Added to that, Adam Smith (1776/1904) argued that if markets are left on its own, it will naturally supply the public its demand. The capitalists or businessmen, eyeing public demand as an opportunity for acquiring profit, utilize their capital for producing products that the public demands. The self-interests of both the businessmen and the consumers will naturally lead to prosperity. Smith (1776) noted however that the government’s roles in the free-market system are limited to the following: 1) military protection of the state, 2) creation of an amiable economic climate, and 3) construction of public works. However, in real life, it is impossible for government not to intervene in the market. Environmental disasters may create a shortage in the market, raising prices to multiple folds. The government then can institute some price mechanisms in order to protect the consuming public from unregulated and irresponsible business activities. Good and Bad Kinds of Markets in a Free-Enterprise System Because free-enterprise is defined as the freedom of individuals or group of individuals to engage in economic activities with the minimum intervention of the government or state, it is noteworthy that a loose classification of such had been made by different economists. These economists either favor a virtually unrestricted form of free-enterprise or a combination of command and free-market system. The first set of economists argued that free-enterprise system necessitates the establishment of an economy under perfect competition. These classical economists argued that if government will let the market do its natural function, relative adjustment in prices for certain products will cause a relative change in demand, and also a corresponding change in supply. In the supply side, because every firm in a perfectly competitive market has an equal share of market, a change in the price of one firm will cause a change in the price of other firms. In the end, the consuming public will benefit from this relationship because prices are well adjusted by market mechanisms. On the wage side, whenever a change in the production inputs occurs, a corresponding change in the wage side also occurs. Firms will adjust their wage schedules and a level of equilibrium is achieved which would benefit the general public. On the production side, classical economists argued that in a perfectly competitive market changes in prices of goods will have a corresponding change in the wage level; the price level described as flexible and the wage rate inflexible. Whenever a change in prices of goods occurs, all will follow, and thus the market will be in a state of equilibrium. In this condition, the supply and demand for goods are situated in one price (for a particular good). When equilibrium is reached in the market, both the aggregate demand and aggregate supply in the market becomes relatively equal. This will prevent the creation of an artificial shortage in the market. These conditions of free-enterprise however work in an ideal situation. In reality, the government can intervene in the market in at least three ways: 1) control the activities of monopolies and cartels, 2) set price controls for certain basic goods, and 3) control the supply of money. These functions may be classified as effective or necessary. It can be necessary because these activities and conditions will naturally affect the general welfare of the public. Effective because government interventions may take the form of a general welfare policy far removed from the rumblings of the political arena. Monopolies and cartels are perverted forms of the free-enterprise system. Monopolies usually control the larger portion of the market supply of a particular good. The implication is that these monopolies can dictate the price in the market at the expense of the general public. It is expected that the deadweight loss in this condition will be much larger than economies with imperfect market competition (economies differentiating products), precisely because the welfare surplus is converted into a certain rate of profit by the monopolies. They can do this by controlling the supply of goods in the market. Since they control most of the supply of a particular good, prices will be adjusted based on the profit schedule of the firm. Cartels function the same way as monopolies but differ in two ways. Monopolies usually involve one firm who controls most of the supply of a particular good in the market. Cartels are composed of firms producing the same product and have relatively equal share of the market pie of a particular good. These firms may corrode to control the price of a good in the market to achieve the expected level of profit, and of course to avoid competition. Welfare surplus in this case will still be large due to the corresponding fall of expected returns to the consumers. What I have outlined are the good and bad kinds of markets in a free-enterprise system. The perfectly competitive market is the ideal free-enterprise system. For theoretical purposes, the perfectly competitive market is itself the free-enterprise system since it well transcribes the characteristics of a laissez-faire system. However, because this is only an ideal type, perverted forms are well imbibed in the free-market system, that is, they are assumed to be part and parcel of this economic system. In a sense, the definition of free-enterprise that I presented is the definition that captures the postulates of classical economics. Classical economics classified good and bad forms of the so-called free-enterprise system, although it is wrong to argue that there is such thing as â€Å"bad free-enterprise† because theoretically it is an ideal type that strives for the good of the general public. This approach to the definition of a free-enterprise system is classical in nature and does not take into account some of the contemporary economic arrangements that are shaping the economies of many nations, poor and rich nations alike. Capitalism, Neo-Classical Economics, and Free-Enterprise In his book, Carson (2001) argued that the so-called free-enterprise system that classical economists are boasting is in fact transformed into the so-called capitalist system. The capitalist system provides the businessmen when the capacity of limiting the wages of the laborer. The state now, protects corporations (which are embodiments of the capitalist ordeals) through limited liability, laws on protection of assets, high interest rates, and of course low taxes. It seems that the free-enterprise system which was meant to be at the service of the general public is now an apparatus of the capitalists to expand their share of the market. Capitalism is not free-enterprise. Free-enterprise system is the contradiction of the capitalist system in its economic goals and assumptions. Keynes (1936) noted that in the era of modern economics, prices of goods in the market are inflexible in the short-run. Short-run adjustments of production schedules and wages will not be smooth since the overall inventory of the firm depends on the expected rate of demand of the public, the actual expenditure, and the price itself. The implication of this is the fact that free-enterprise can only be achieved partially in the long-run. In the short run, distortions in the market will create monopolies and cartels,; in the long-run these will be eliminated, thus the achievement of the so-called â€Å"free-enterprise† system.

Diversification Strategies Essay

Diversification is a form of corporate strategy to increase profitability of a company through greater sales volume obtained from new products and new markets. It occurs either at the business unit level or at the corporate level. It is a risk management technique that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. It attempts to smooth out unmethodical risk events in a group so that the positive performance of some investments will neutralize the negative performance of others. Companies may diversify for strategic objectives, expected outcomes, valuable comparison between strategy and expansion. Some companies diversify by conquering new positions through mergers and acquisitions whiles others diversify when there are not much growth opportunities for the market they are in. There are many reasons for pursuing a diversification strategy, but most pertain to management’s desire for the organization to grow. Companies must decide whether they want to diversify by going into related or unrelated businesses. They must then decide whether they want to expand by developing the new business or by buying an ongoing business. There are advantages to diversification, beyond simply expanding one’s product line. For example, a diversified company is potentially better insulated against a loss of revenue in one business tranche. Diversification strategies are used to expand firms’ operations by adding markets, products, services, or stages of production to the existing business. The purpose of diversification is to allow the company to enter new lines of business that are different from current operations. When the new venture is strategically related to the existing lines of business, it is called concentric diversification. On the other hand, when the new and the old businesses are unrelated it is classified as Conglomerate diversification which occurs when there is no common thread of strategic fit or relationship between the new and old lines of business, meaning the new and old businesses are unrelated. Compare and contrast the two businesses—core business, their size, financials, global presence, use of e-business (marketing, sales, etc. ). Johnson & Johnson Inc. – Successful  Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical company founded in 1886, manufacturing sterile surgical supplies. Its core business is the manufacturing of medical devices and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is listed among the Fortune 500. The corporation has grown to have more than 250 operating companies in 60 countries employing approximately 116,000 people, producing medicines and medical devices, as well as consumer products like sanitary goods, baby shampoo and dental floss. National Semiconductor Corporation – Unsuccessful National Semiconductor Company has an international reputation for semiconductors. The pioneering chip maker offers a variety of integrated circuits (ICs), especially analog and mixed-signal (blending analog and digital functions) chips. Its products focus on analog chips, which transform physical information – light, sound, pressure, even radio waves – into data that a computer can use. National Semi’s chips are used in wireless, networking, medical, solar, automotive, and industrial applications. It gets more than 75% of sales from customers outside the US, largely to contract manufacturers that serve its OEM customers. In the 1970s, the company tried to make electronic consumer products in addition to the semi-conductors that went inside them. Compare and contrast their outcomes (one successful, one unsuccessful) Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets products in three primary lines of business: Pharmaceuticals (41% of sales), Medical Devices and Diagnostics (35%) and Consumer Products. Since the 1900s, the company has pursued steady diversification. It added consumer products in the 1920s and created a separate division for surgical products in 1941 which became Ethicon Inc. It expanded into pharmaceuticals with the purchase of McNeil Laboratories Inc. , Cilag, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and into women’s sanitary products and toiletries in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, Johnson & Johnson has expanded into such diverse areas as biopharmaceuticals, orthopedic devices, and Internet publishing. Recently, Johnson & Johnson has purchased Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare department. The transition from Pfizer to Johnson and Johnson was completed December 18, 2006. National Semiconductor Corporation The company wasn’t suited for retail manufacturing, and was crushed by companies that were. By the time digital watches became popular in America; National had been driven from the marketplace, suffering losses that overshadowed its success in semiconductors. Analyze the three primary reasons for the different outcomes. First, Johnson & Johnson diversified into items that are strategically related to the company’s existing lines of business. Johnson & Johnson is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets products in three primary lines of business: pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics and Consumer Products. On the other hand, National Semiconductor Corporation entered into the production of unrelated products which is not common thread of strategic fit or relationship between the new and old lines of business, meaning the new and old businesses are unrelated. Second, Johnson & Johnson diversified through mergers and acquisitions of new companies. For instance, it expanded into pharmaceuticals with the purchase of McNeil Laboratories Inc. , Cilag, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and into women’s sanitary products and toiletries in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, Johnson & Johnson has expanded into such diverse areas as biopharmaceuticals, orthopedic devices, and Internet publishing. Recently, Johnson & Johnson has purchased Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare department. The transition from Pfizer to Johnson and Johnson was completed December 18, 2006. On the other hand, National Semiconductor Corporation entered into diversification to make electronic consumer products in addition to the semi-conductors that went inside them. They did not embark on growth strategy through acquisition and mergers. They had stiff opposition and were crushed by companies suited for retail manufacturing. Lastly, Johnson & Johnson diversification strategy is well matched to the strengths of its top management team members which are factored into the success of that strategy. On the other hand, National Semiconductor Company top executives did not manage diversification effectively. Recommend two actions the unsuccessful one could have made to make their diversification venture successful First is that National Semiconductor should ensure a diversification strategy which is well matched to the strengths of its top management team members and factored into the success of that strategy. Different diversification strategies require different skills on the part of a company’s top managers, and that factors should be taken into consideration before firms are joined. For instance, the success of a merger may not depend only on how integrated the joining firms become, but also on how well suited top executives are to manage that effort. Secondly National Semiconductor should diversify into related products where they can control the market. To conclude, I must say that if diversification strategy is done strategically to relate to the company’s existing line of business or diversified through mergers and acquisitions of new companies with the support of its top management team members, then its objective of growth and risk taking can be achieved.