Most Played Online Games

Online Games 1 INTRODUCTION The youth of today no longer seem to spend their leisure activities like in the olden days; outdoor games or playing with toys, instead, they spend their free time in their homes, internet cafes or computer shops simply to satisfy their hunger; and that hunger is Online Gaming. Online gaming has such a profound impact on not only the young, but dynamically every age group as well. So far, virtually anyone is able to go on a computer and punch through the keys and mouse in order to get a high score, chat with players, get the rarest items, and level up as fast as possible.Yes, there seems to be no restriction as to whom, how or what online gaming can extend to. Almost half of college students who play video, computer or online games admit that it keeps them from studying â€Å"some† or a â€Å"lot,† according to the Pew study. About 9 percent said that gaming was a way to avoid studying. There are kids today that prefer to skip school and stay home to level up in a  MMORPG  game. The others that actually do attend school have trouble concentrating because they are distracted. They are distracted because they consistently think about the online game and the plans that they are going to do.Resulting of this they hardly participate and get into class discussions. Since they spend whatever extra time they have in an online game, they fail to meet the requirements of school. This distressing stuff caught the attention of the research, because of what’s happening to the youth. Why most of the students attract of the online games? Is because of the popular online games? What are the popular online games? Does it affect their academic performance? That’s the question that people want to surely ask.For this, the researchers want to know the reason behind this what the most teenagers most played online games, and also to know if it is Affecting their academic performance. Online Games 2 Review of Related Literatu re Top 10 Most Popular Online Games of 2007 During the first few years of their existence, people thought online games were doomed to be one hit wonders, but this has proven to be untrue. Online games are extremely popular and are devouring the gaming market. 1. Pangya Before â€Å"Pangya†, online gamers never really had anything to say about golf.After â€Å"Pangya†, online gamers around the world have this to say about golf: Super swing, Pangya! This offbeat yet highly entertaining online game brought golf to the attention of millions of online gamers worldwide, and the phenomenon never seems to let go. â€Å"Pangya: Season 3†, the latest expansion patch, brought the ever-popular Kaz the Samurai Warrior into the world of Pangya. Additional features from the new expansion patch includes several new golf courses, a revamped trading system where players may buy and sell in-game items, and, last but not the least, the much-awaited Overworld feature. 2.Ran Online D o you remember what it feels like to be the top student of your class? How about being the class bully, or being bullied? If so, then this online game is set to blow you away. â€Å"Ran Online† is a campus-based online game in the tradition of â€Å"Ragnarok Online†. The creators have created a rich school environment where players are allowed complete freedom of movement. So now you can bring your character to the next level while exploring the game’s rich campus settings. You can also try your luck battling it out with other players in player vs. player, or PVP mode. Online Games 3 3.Granado Espada Known as â€Å"The Sword of the New World† in the United States and other European countries, â€Å"Granada Espada† is the current trend setter in a competitive market. Available character classes include the fighter, the wizard, the musketeer, the Scout, and the Elementalist. The game developers, IMC Games, decided to do away with the popular fantasti cal formula. They, instead, took a notorious era in the history of mankind, the Age of Exploration, threw in a bunch of cool-looking characters, and created a game with tons of flare and personality. 4. RF Online Do you love magic and heavy machine guns?Then â€Å"RF Online† is for you. â€Å"RF Online† is the blockbuster online game from developer CCR. Set in the distant Novus system, a galaxy where high forms of sorcery and technology are at constant collision with one another, â€Å"RF Online†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s plot follows the three-way war between the Accretia clan, the Bellato clan, and the Cora clan. The game-play itself is unique when it comes to the use of race-specific abilities, something of a treat to look forward to in PVP. â€Å"RF Online† has recently become free to play in many countries around the world. 5. Perfect World â€Å"Perfect World† is a tale of soul and swords.The game’s developers, inspired by ancient Chinese mythology, ha ve succeeded in creating a world that defies all conventions. In â€Å"Perfect World†, beasts talk, gigantic birds rule the sky, and humans and elves fight together to bring down ferocious creatures. The game offers a plethora of interesting side-quests and features, including a territorial battle feature, a mount system, a marriage system, a crafting system, and a phone lock feature, specifically designed to combat the worsening crisis in account hacking. Online Games 4 6. Final Fantasy XI â€Å"Final Fantasy XI† is an online gamer and Final Fantasy fanatic’s dream come true.In this game, players assume the role of any of the five tribes that inhabit the world of Vana’diel: the Elvaan tribe, the Hume tribe, the Galka tribe, the Mithra tribe, and the Tarutaru tribe. The game has received a generous amount of critical applause since it initial release in 2002. 7. Fly for Fun â€Å"Fly for Fun† (sometimes called FlyFF) holds the record for being the first online game to offer complete freedom of movement in the air! In this game, players can use a broom or a skateboard to soar and fly off to different parts of the world in their pursuit of stronger monsters to slay.The game is at its ninth version as of writing. Version 10 is slated to come out soon. Available classes include mercenary (becomes Knight or Blade), magician (becomes Psykeeper or Elementor), assist (becomes Ringmaster or Billposter), and acrobat (becomes Ranger or Jester). 8. Ragnarok Online â€Å"Ragnarok Online† may be the epitome of online gaming. No other online game managed to attract the attention of millions of PC gamers around the world at a time when network games, like â€Å"Counter Strike† and â€Å"Starcraft† were primarily responsible for burnt crisp video cards and hard drives. Ragnarok† features an ensemble cast of fantasy character classes: the mercenary class (good with the sword), the thief class (adept at sneaking and c onfusion), the mage class (adept at magic and sorcery), the archer class (good at long-distance combat), the acolyte class (party healers and buffers), and the merchant class (your average traders). Online Games 5 9. Tantra Online â€Å"Tantra† many be a weird name, but it’s a great game. Set within an enigmatic universe where human summoners and ghastly monsters rule the land, â€Å"Tantra† is one of the most innovative online games of all time.All â€Å"Tantra† players are required to choose one of the three gods: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. The consequence of your chosen god becomes evident once you enter the game’s fantastic PVP arena. â€Å"Tantra†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s PVP mode is like no other; it is an assault on the senses. Depending on your chosen god, you will be transported to your god’s castle, and as a follower it is your duty to launch an invasion on the castles of the other two gods. When the three tribes collide, all hell breaks loo se, and that is when the game of â€Å"Tantra† reaches its finest hour. 10. World of WarcraftLegendary game developer, Blizzard took its award-winning fantasy world to new heights when it unleashed this mammoth online game. Available character classes include the druid, the hunter, the mage, the paladin, the priest, the rogue, the shaman, the warlock class and the warrior. Huge, breathing environments, a crafty roster of playable classes, a thrifty trading system and an addictive PVP system makes this game a blast to play. Top 10 Most Popular Online Games of 2007. (2007). http://crunkish. com/top-10-online-games-of-2007/ Online Games 6 Video game use and academic performanceAmong gamers and public, there are differing opinions about video games and how it affects children’s academic performance. Most gamers say it has a positive or no effect on their academic performance, most parents and teachers I heard state the opposite. As for academia, well this article isnâ€⠄¢t the first to look at video game use and academic performance. There are certainly others, but this was in my personal library. This study analyzes the correlation between video game usage and academic performance. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and grade-point average (GPA) scores were used to gauge academic performance.The amount of time a student spends playing video games has a negative correlation with students’ GPA and SAT scores. As video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease. A chi-squared analysis found a p value for video game usage and GPA was greater than a 95% confidence level (0. 005 < p < 0. 01). This finding suggests that dependence exists. SAT score and video game usage also returned a p value that was significant (0. 01 < p < 0. 05). Chi-squared results were not significant when comparing time spent studying and an individual’s SAT score.This research suggests that video games may have a detrimental effect on an individual’s GPA and possibly on SAT scores. Although these results show statistical dependence, proving cause and effect remains difficult, since SAT scores represent a single test on a given day. The effects of video games maybe be cumulative; however, drawing a conclusion is difficult because SAT scores represent a measure of general knowledge. GPA versus video games is more reliable because both involve a continuous measurement of engaged activity and performance.The connection remains difficult because of the complex nature of student life and academic performance. Also, video game usage may simply be a function of specific personality types and characteristics. Anand, V. (2007). A study of time management: The correlation between video game usage and academic performance markers. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(4), 552-559. Online Games 7 College students are avid gamers Video games aren’t just for kids. For American college students, games are as much a part of life as studying and part ying.A study from Pew Internet Research finds that 70 percent of college students play video games at least â€Å"once in a while. † The study, â€Å"Let The Games Begin: Gaming technology and entertainment among college students,† was conducted by Steve Jones, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The goal was to learn about the impact of video games on college student’s lives. The survey was given to college students at four-year and two-year public and private colleges and universities between March 2002 and October 2002. Video games have transformed pop culture.Sales of video games have bypassed Hollywood box office receipts in the last few years. But only recently have researchers started studying the pervasive impact of video games on young people’s lives. The Pew study comes on the heels of research from the University of Rochester that found college students who regularly play shoot-em-up video ga mes have sharper visual skills than those who don’t. The Pew study smashes a few gender stereotypes about avid gamers, finding that slightly more women (60 percent) than men (40 percent) reported playing computer and online games.About the same number of men and women play video games. Women prefer computer games over violent video games played on consoles partly because they don’t usually require the player to choose a character. Online games like Diamond Mine or Tetris are popular among women because gender isn’t an issue. Online Games 8 Men play for fun (45 percent); women play when they’re bored (33 percent). Video games are also a way guys bond with their buddies; 51 percent of men believing that gaming improved their friendship with friends.Only 34 percent of women believe video games help their friendships. Nearly two-thirds of the students said games were a good way to spend time when friends weren’t around, but they also said that video ga mes didn’t take time away from family or friends. Average video gamers in college aren’t the stereotypical alienated loners locked away in darkened, pizza box-filled dorm rooms. Most of the study’s participants had positive associations with video games, saying they felt pleasant (36 percent) when they played or that they were challenging (45 percent).In particular, students said playing video games were a way to spend more time with their friends, one of the key trends spotted by the researchers. Rather than separating leisure activities like video games from the rest of their lives, college students stole time between classes to play or as a brief distraction from writing papers. Multi-tasking is also big on campus with students gaming while instant messaging or even downloading music. Video games are also prime-time for up-all-night college students. About 41 percent of college gamers play after 9 p. m. ith only 8 percent reporting that they play before noon. Weaver, Jane. (2007). http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/3078424/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/college-studen Online Games 9 Synthesis It is clear from the literature that the effect of video games on the youth is both positive and negative. Video games can certainly lead to negative effects such as social isolation and increased aggression, but they are going to remain a part of college culture for the imaginable future. It is important to understand the positive and negative aspects of video games.Playing games socially as part of balanced lifestyle seems to have some positive effects. Playing violent games is linked to several negative problems. The description of women in video games can have a negative effect on the gender views of men and the identity and self-worth of women. Some research has shown that video games may be one way to engage students more in the learning process. This seems especially true in areas involving analytical skills. They can contribute another way o f learning in addition to the many other academic methods which are currently popular.There is ongoing research on how to best leverage games in education, if they should be used at all. Students and educators need to be aware of the dangers of excessive gaming. It can have academic, social, and spiritual consequences. Students have been known to completely disconnect from their friends and surroundings when playing games like World of Warcraft. As was shown by several statistics presented earlier a small percentage of students, especially men, spend a huge amount of time playing video games. Balance needs to be emphasized as an important part of the healthy Christian lifestyle, and video games are no exception.

The secret of great teachers

Long ago, famous teachers did not go to monthly seminars before they can teach. They did not prepare lesson plans every night or prepare visual aids and powerpoint presentations and sophisticated audiovisual materials to accompany their talk. Yet they were regarded as great and influential teachers of our time. Why, you want to ask. Were they simply lucky to be good at public speaking? I’m talking about how Confucius teach, just one of the many teachers who made their names in our history not just for their teachings but for the way they reach to their audiences. All of these teachers used instructional method so that their followers can better understand and thus follow their teachings. Confucius, in particular, used presentation (or lecture) and demonstration when he teaches. Even today, these modes of instructions are still used. Confucius believes that for his disciples and followers to understand and adopt his teachings, he must live them and be an example. Demonstration is teaching by example, and this was what Confucius did. He also gave lectures, as this was the commonly used instructional method even before. Lectures serve well in sharing information to the audience, relaying history, theories and backgrounds and experiences. A lecture reaches a large number of people at one time. Although lectures are usually a one-way mode of communication, Confucius allows his followers to ask him questions. Through this answer-and-question portion, which Jesus also used when teaching, the followers can gain more insight and feedback from the teacher. Moreover, Confucius believes that through discussion he can reach to every individual he teaches. Aside from this, he knows that each person calls for different instructional approach to learn. Due to this, he used the educational approach in leading his followers towards the good life. Confucius, Jesus and Socrates, just to name a few, saw the importance of these methods for many reasons. Socrates believed in involving his students in a dialogue to argue a point. Jesus engaged his followers in question-and-answer sessions to give and share information. They used demonstration and presentation because they are very effective, evidenced by the many people who accepted their beliefs. These people further grasped their teachings by establishing churches and religions and keeping beliefs to honor their teachers. Just the number of their followers is enough evidence to show that they have maximized the potential of the instructional method they used. As for me, I think demonstration and presentation are very effective, whether in a classroom or domestic setting. Parents lecture their children about many things so that they learn, and they live as examples to their children by living what they preach. Even at school, these methods prove useful because students learn by what they see from their teachers. A survey of the most effective methods for instruction to address academic differences was conducted among teachers. The majority thinks that small group/cooperative learning is the most effective method. Modeling (demonstration) is ranked second, and question and answer, group discussion, individual instruction and lecture are ranked third. The teachers cited reasons why they think the methods are effective. First, learners have the chance to help and learn from each other throughout. This method refers to group discussions, experiments or projects. Then, teachers provide support and provide learning in different and multiple ways. They have the opportunity to share important ideas, give feedback and remediation, and help students to be on track by reinforcing structure and organization. REFERENCE Treat, Alena R., Ying Wang, Rajat Chadha and Michael Hart Dixon. (2006). Major Development in Instructional Technology: Prior to the 20th Century.

Trader Joe’s

Economical, technological, demographics, economical, political, and socio-cultural trends taken into consideration by Trader Joe's and help lead to their continuing success. When it comes to economic factor, Trader Joe's has performed well in all economic conditions. The company performs well in a weak economy because they offer low prices. In strong economy the company offers unique products which help them perform well. Consumers are very price conscious, the are always looking for reasonable deals with healthier food. Trader Joe's carry quality products at reasonable prices which is rare. It has been seen that during economic downturn, people tend to shop more at grocery stores. When gas prices are high people have less disposable income but when gas prices are low they have more disposable income and are willing to try new items at grocery stores. Increase in income is resulting an increase in disbursal thus spending more on wide range of products which is helping Trader Joe's attract more customers. However, with the outstanding performances Trader Joe's adapted with the economic trends, they have shown slow progress in technological trends. The company is yet to adapt to new technologies trends. Trader Joe's does not utilize any social media platforms, applications, web based services, or loyalty programs. Since, self-checkout and advertising through mobile apps are getting more common the company has not taken these trends into considerations. Utilizing technological trends to advertise and connect with consumers may positively influence Trader Joe's. Demographic trends were taken into account in Trader Joe's strategy to note the population they are targeting. The population continues to grow and because the population is growing this means that it will have an impact on food consumption. Since, more and more immigrant move into the country it increases the population, and increase the needs and wants for food selection. Also, people in the current economy who are getting extra income chose to spend it on food that is organic, natural, and healthy for them. With competitive market, the trend is moving toward healthy products and low price options. The socio-cultural factors of health consciousness, population growth, and age all have an impact in the trends of food consumption, which directly affect the way Trader Joe's carries out business. The government not only makes sure food is safe but also if it is regulated properly. Legal and political trends have educated people about more sustainable lifestyles and healthier eating habits. The increasing consumer concern over the purity and safety of food has led to the demand for organic and natural food. Trader Joe's attracts consumers by offering quality products cheaper than its competitors. Trader Joe's has many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The company offers a unique shopping atmosphere will helps attract customers. The employees are seen wearing Hawaiian shirts and hand out samples of food and drinks to customers. Trader Joe's are known to have low turnover rates compared to their competitors because they offer good working conditions. The company prides itself when it comes to its employees. Trader Joe's employees help strengthen the brand and image. The company select employees who are positive, enthusiastic, and who help convey the company's image to its consumers. However, with incredible strengths that the company portrays, there are some weaknesses. The company's poor social media presence, lack of advertising, and limited product selection, has lead to concerns. Many opportunities can be implemented to overcome these weaknesses. Expanding advertising to social media outlets can help target new customers and potentially increase profits. Also, international expansion may be an opportunity for the company. Alongside opportunities that Trader Joe's can implement there are many threats that have surfaced. The company is faced with old and new competitors. One specific competitors of Trader Joe's being Whole Foods Market, who aim to have more accessible prices for their private label brands, target more price sensitive customers as well as health conscious customers. It is known that the Trader Joe's has been profitable. However, there is still some area of concerns. Using Porter's five forces Trader Joe's can better understand the competitiveness of their business environment. The five forces can help identify the company's potential profitability. The following will discuss Trader Joe's using the five forces model to determine how market forces may affect their company. Forces can help assist the companies to gain a broader picture of what affects the profitability of the organization and how to fix it. Also, by understanding the forces, Trader Joe's can shape these forces in their favor. Industry Rivalry – Competitive rivalry looks at number and strength of competitors. For Trader Joe's industry rivalry risk is medium to high since the number of competitors is growing. Several grocers have developed over the past years and having a low level of product diversity can also increase competition. Trader Joe's core competitors have large numbers of capital as well as economies of scale. Threat of New Entrants – Potential threat of new entrants is low to medium. Since there is extreme cost and capital requirements it is harder for other entrants to join. Finding cheap or health conscious suppliers would be difficult. Getting good quality food for cheaper price is hard to deliver but it is not impossible. However, a brand name like Trader Joe's which took many years to build, would be difficult for entrants. Also, given that Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store, makes the threat of new entrants lower and because the company uses absolute cost advantages in many aspects of its business operations. Threat of Substitutes – There is a medium to high threat of substitutes products from other industries in the market since customers have a variety of other places to shop at. Although, supermarkets are gaining market share and similar products are found elsewhere, Trader Joe's has an advantages since they have their own branded products. Power of Suppliers – The power of suppliers is determined by how easy it is for your suppliers to increase their prices. Trader Joe's power of suppliers is moderately low. There is high competition amongst suppliers. Trader Joe's have an advantage because of their non-disclosure which makes it undetectable to consumers if they changed their supplier. Trader Joe's never disclose their manufacturers or suppliers hence it allows them to get a better deal with respect to its competitors. Power of Buyers – The bargaining power of buyers the ability in which buyers can drive prices dow or the quality up. Buyer's power for Trader Joe's is moderately high because of the large number of customers who have control over the price and quality of the products. Buyers are looking for the best products available but at the lowest price possible which can put pressure on the company's profitability in the long run. The more powerful the buyers, the higher the bargaining power of the customers. In order to continue its success, Trader Joe's needs to consider the following alternative strategies regarding the concerns facing the company, such the lack of advertising, the minimal selection of products, and lack in social media presence. The clearest strategy to implement in order to offset the lack in advertising is to create a effective advertisement by knowing the audience, deciding on a target location, planning a budget, thinking about the message the ad will send, and highlighting competitive advantages. Advertising in magazines, radio stations, or even television programs would be a good place to start. This strategy formulation will not only help Trader Joe's reach a large audience, but will attract new customers. If done correctly, advertisement can be a key investment for businesses including Trader Joe's. The second concern that Trader Joe's faces is the little selection of products which can be overcomed by testing new products at certain stores across the country. This can be done by studying competition, targeting ideal customers, researching the market, proper pricing, and developing a list of potential buyers. Having diversity in products is a key concept in maximizing profits. For example, Trader Joe's can consider providing its customers with healthier food items. Since, government regulations and society's are pushing toward healthy diets to help fight the obesity rates, people are more likely to pursue a healthy diet. Lastly, a crucial strategy formulation for Trader Joe's to consider involve incorporating social media presence in the company that can help diversify themselves from competitors. Creating official pages on social media outlets, is inexpensive and mostly free. Trader Joe's can promote from within which will help them better connect with customers and will allow them to advertise. Absence in social media has prevented the company from realizing its benefits that would come from online shopping. Its competitors such as Walmart and Safeway provide customers the option of online shopping on their application and web page along with in-store outlets. The company can create an app with flyers of weekly store sales, promotions, and online check-out options. Having a presence online whether it be a webpage or an application, will help provide the convenience of shopping from home as well as attract from traffic. The popularity of social media is a perfect opportunity for Trader Joe's because it allows them to become more active at minimal cost. The value chain analysis, five forces, and swot analysis help provide Trader Joe's an insight of the supermarket industry. The company's competitive advantage and current opportunities and threats can either help or harm the company's competitive sustainability in the future. Additionally, Trader Joe's can set themselves apart from their competitors by developing social media outlets, by increasing advertisement, and innovating new products in their stores. The company has successfully created a brand for its company using various strategy compared to their competitors. However, to continue growth Trader Joe's needs to implement the following strategies which will ensure competitive advantages. Without these planned initiatives, other competitors can easily purloin these strategies and move ahead of Trader Joe's. Trader Joe’s Economical, technological, demographics, economical, political, and socio-cultural trends taken into consideration by Trader Joe's and help lead to their continuing success. When it comes to economic factor, Trader Joe's has performed well in all economic conditions. The company performs well in a weak economy because they offer low prices. In strong economy the company offers unique products which help them perform well. Consumers are very price conscious, the are always looking for reasonable deals with healthier food. Trader Joe's carry quality products at reasonable prices which is rare. It has been seen that during economic downturn, people tend to shop more at grocery stores. When gas prices are high people have less disposable income but when gas prices are low they have more disposable income and are willing to try new items at grocery stores. Increase in income is resulting an increase in disbursal thus spending more on wide range of products which is helping Trader Joe's attract more customers. However, with the outstanding performances Trader Joe's adapted with the economic trends, they have shown slow progress in technological trends. The company is yet to adapt to new technologies trends. Trader Joe's does not utilize any social media platforms, applications, web based services, or loyalty programs. Since, self-checkout and advertising through mobile apps are getting more common the company has not taken these trends into considerations. Utilizing technological trends to advertise and connect with consumers may positively influence Trader Joe's. Demographic trends were taken into account in Trader Joe's strategy to note the population they are targeting. The population continues to grow and because the population is growing this means that it will have an impact on food consumption. Since, more and more immigrant move into the country it increases the population, and increase the needs and wants for food selection. Also, people in the current economy who are getting extra income chose to spend it on food that is organic, natural, and healthy for them. With competitive market, the trend is moving toward healthy products and low price options. The socio-cultural factors of health consciousness, population growth, and age all have an impact in the trends of food consumption, which directly affect the way Trader Joe's carries out business. The government not only makes sure food is safe but also if it is regulated properly. Legal and political trends have educated people about more sustainable lifestyles and healthier eating habits. The increasing consumer concern over the purity and safety of food has led to the demand for organic and natural food. Trader Joe's attracts consumers by offering quality products cheaper than its competitors. Trader Joe's has many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The company offers a unique shopping atmosphere will helps attract customers. The employees are seen wearing Hawaiian shirts and hand out samples of food and drinks to customers. Trader Joe's are known to have low turnover rates compared to their competitors because they offer good working conditions. The company prides itself when it comes to its employees. Trader Joe's employees help strengthen the brand and image. The company select employees who are positive, enthusiastic, and who help convey the company's image to its consumers. However, with incredible strengths that the company portrays, there are some weaknesses. The company's poor social media presence, lack of advertising, and limited product selection, has lead to concerns. Many opportunities can be implemented to overcome these weaknesses. Expanding advertising to social media outlets can help target new customers and potentially increase profits. Also, international expansion may be an opportunity for the company. Alongside opportunities that Trader Joe's can implement there are many threats that have surfaced. The company is faced with old and new competitors. One specific competitors of Trader Joe's being Whole Foods Market, who aim to have more accessible prices for their private label brands, target more price sensitive customers as well as health conscious customers. It is known that the Trader Joe's has been profitable. However, there is still some area of concerns. Using Porter's five forces Trader Joe's can better understand the competitiveness of their business environment. The five forces can help identify the company's potential profitability. The following will discuss Trader Joe's using the five forces model to determine how market forces may affect their company. Forces can help assist the companies to gain a broader picture of what affects the profitability of the organization and how to fix it. Also, by understanding the forces, Trader Joe's can shape these forces in their favor. Industry Rivalry – Competitive rivalry looks at number and strength of competitors. For Trader Joe's industry rivalry risk is medium to high since the number of competitors is growing. Several grocers have developed over the past years and having a low level of product diversity can also increase competition. Trader Joe's core competitors have large numbers of capital as well as economies of scale. Threat of New Entrants – Potential threat of new entrants is low to medium. Since there is extreme cost and capital requirements it is harder for other entrants to join. Finding cheap or health conscious suppliers would be difficult. Getting good quality food for cheaper price is hard to deliver but it is not impossible. However, a brand name like Trader Joe's which took many years to build, would be difficult for entrants. Also, given that Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store, makes the threat of new entrants lower and because the company uses absolute cost advantages in many aspects of its business operations. Threat of Substitutes – There is a medium to high threat of substitutes products from other industries in the market since customers have a variety of other places to shop at. Although, supermarkets are gaining market share and similar products are found elsewhere, Trader Joe's has an advantages since they have their own branded products. Power of Suppliers – The power of suppliers is determined by how easy it is for your suppliers to increase their prices. Trader Joe's power of suppliers is moderately low. There is high competition amongst suppliers. Trader Joe's have an advantage because of their non-disclosure which makes it undetectable to consumers if they changed their supplier. Trader Joe's never disclose their manufacturers or suppliers hence it allows them to get a better deal with respect to its competitors. Power of Buyers – The bargaining power of buyers the ability in which buyers can drive prices dow or the quality up. Buyer's power for Trader Joe's is moderately high because of the large number of customers who have control over the price and quality of the products. Buyers are looking for the best products available but at the lowest price possible which can put pressure on the company's profitability in the long run. The more powerful the buyers, the higher the bargaining power of the customers. In order to continue its success, Trader Joe's needs to consider the following alternative strategies regarding the concerns facing the company, such the lack of advertising, the minimal selection of products, and lack in social media presence. The clearest strategy to implement in order to offset the lack in advertising is to create a effective advertisement by knowing the audience, deciding on a target location, planning a budget, thinking about the message the ad will send, and highlighting competitive advantages. Advertising in magazines, radio stations, or even television programs would be a good place to start. This strategy formulation will not only help Trader Joe's reach a large audience, but will attract new customers. If done correctly, advertisement can be a key investment for businesses including Trader Joe's. The second concern that Trader Joe's faces is the little selection of products which can be overcomed by testing new products at certain stores across the country. This can be done by studying competition, targeting ideal customers, researching the market, proper pricing, and developing a list of potential buyers. Having diversity in products is a key concept in maximizing profits. For example, Trader Joe's can consider providing its customers with healthier food items. Since, government regulations and society's are pushing toward healthy diets to help fight the obesity rates, people are more likely to pursue a healthy diet. Lastly, a crucial strategy formulation for Trader Joe's to consider involve incorporating social media presence in the company that can help diversify themselves from competitors. Creating official pages on social media outlets, is inexpensive and mostly free. Trader Joe's can promote from within which will help them better connect with customers and will allow them to advertise. Absence in social media has prevented the company from realizing its benefits that would come from online shopping. Its competitors such as Walmart and Safeway provide customers the option of online shopping on their application and web page along with in-store outlets. The company can create an app with flyers of weekly store sales, promotions, and online check-out options. Having a presence online whether it be a webpage or an application, will help provide the convenience of shopping from home as well as attract from traffic. The popularity of social media is a perfect opportunity for Trader Joe's because it allows them to become more active at minimal cost. The value chain analysis, five forces, and swot analysis help provide Trader Joe's an insight of the supermarket industry. The company's competitive advantage and current opportunities and threats can either help or harm the company's competitive sustainability in the future. Additionally, Trader Joe's can set themselves apart from their competitors by developing social media outlets, by increasing advertisement, and innovating new products in their stores. The company has successfully created a brand for its company using various strategy compared to their competitors. However, to continue growth Trader Joe's needs to implement the following strategies which will ensure competitive advantages. Without these planned initiatives, other competitors can easily purloin these strategies and move ahead of Trader Joe's.

Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners Classrooms Essay - 1

Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners Classrooms - Essay Example Various strategies to include the students' background into instruction and to build the students' vocabulary are also elaborated. Finally, some strategies to ensure that students stay engaged in the instruction are elaborated on. In an era of rapidly changing demographics, teachers have to cope with classrooms which have a diverse spectrum of students. The number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in mainstream schools is ever increasing. In the year 2000-2001, about 4.6 million ELLs attended school in the U.S. from the kindergarten to grade 12. This figure approximates nearly 9.3% of the total student enrollment in public schools. (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2003).Owing to this rising increase in ELL students in classrooms, it is more important than ever for teachers to be equipped to cope with the challenge of instructing a culturally and linguistically diverse group of students. There are certain instructional strategies that teachers have to employ in educating ELL students. Very often, the age and language group of learners play a role in the effective selection of instructional strategies. For example, a native speaker of Japanese may face more difficulties with English than a native speaker of France, because French is more closely related to English as compared to Japanese. The age group that the child belongs to also plays a role in the selection of instructional strategies. ... They are open to exploration and respond well to activities that spark their imagination. On the other hand, adolescents and older ELLs are more willing to engage in abstract thinking. They have certain life experiences which they can draw on and also may have formed or may be in the process of forming certain individual learning patterns. For such learners, instructors can discuss abstract issues, provoke intellectual activity by making them aware of contrasting ideas and concepts which they can reason and resolve on their own. It also helps if language learning is closely related to the students' own everyday interests. The choice of instructional strategies for ELLs also depends upon the specific stage of second language acquisition the learner is in. The four stages of language acquisition are "preproduction, early production, speech emergence, and intermediate fluency" (Facella, Rampino, & Shea, 2005, 212). Learners in the preproduction stage of language acquisition spend a large part of their time listening to their teachers and may respond non-verbally to the teachers' queries. Instructional strategies that teachers can incorporate for learners in this stage are using yes/no questions, pictures, props and hands-on activities focusing on active student involvement. Learners in the early production stage of language acquisition also spend a large part of their time listening to their teachers. They may also work out one or two-word responses. Instructional strategies that teachers can adapt for learners in this stage of language acquisition include role plays, completing sentences, answering who, what or where questions with one-word responses. Older ELL learners may also be asked to label objects.  

Review of Accounting Ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review of Accounting Ethics - Research Paper Example Current Business and Regulatory Environment-Conducive to Ethical Behavior In light of the continuing and current scandal related business environment people working in the corporate environment tend to indulge into unethical business practices. However, it is to be determined that the ethics whether qualitative or quantitative in nature have undergone a rise or decline in the conduct of the business of the respective organization. In reality the tension between the quantitative and the qualitative ethics are resulting in the increasing tensions and conflicting needs of the company. The company bears the responsibility of providing timely information to the shareholders that is relevant and easily understood by the shareholders of the company whereas the responsibility of the accountant of the company is with meeting assigned ethical duty. But mostly there lies a clash between the ethics and the economical status of the country in which the company is operating and unfortunately econo mies of the country turn the winner, making the regulatory environment conducive to the ethical behavior (Kushniroff, 2011, p.103). The Organization SNC-Lavalin is one of the largest construction and engineering company in Canada at Montreal. The company has come up with new inventions and innovations in the field of core engineering business so as to encourage the new activities and skill to meet the ever changing requirements of the markets and the clients. The company concentrates on reaching the sustainable growth in areas like world class products. The company also places the importance of ethics and quality of the product thus manufactured by the company for the achievement of the ongoing improvement of the company. Thus the company pays great importance to the achievement of the financial objective of the company in accordance with the code of ethics of the company. The Accounting Ethical Breach A complex ethical breach resulted in the accounting failure of the company. This was identified from a certain number of the executives of the company leading to the misallocation of the costs of the company in relation to payments to agents valuing a total sum of $ 56 million. The rationale behind this was irrespective the CFO of the company refusing to sign the transaction it was readily passed by the head of the company. Though the company accepted that weakness persisted in its internal controlling over the financial reporting of the company which occurred due to the management failing to comply with the code of ethics and policies on commercial agents; yet it was too late (Lemer, 2012). The impact on the organization related to ethical breach The breach in the accounting of the company resulted in the chief executive of the company resigning after the internal investigation taking place. The reason behind the resignation of the chief executive of the company was due to false payment to third party agents against the company’s code of ethics. The inte rvention of the media made the matter more gruesome leading to project the actual news being blown out of proportion. Detection of Organizational Ethical Issue As per the report of SNC it was found that Mr. Duhaime the chief executi

Report to the presentation 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report to the presentation 4 - Essay Example The major strengths of both groups are that their presentations are colorful and attractive. They are comprised of visuals that are used to illustrate the main points covered in the topics being presented. Essentially, an effective power point presentation should be attractive and it should appeal to the interests of the targeted audiences. However, the main weakness I have noticed in each group presentation is that they are too brief and they lack adequate details to address the questions. A presentation that is not clear and precise is often difficult to understand. The targeted audiences often find it a bit challenging to grasp what the presenter is trying to say and this is a major weakness when presenting a certain topic to a certain group of people. The other issue is that both presentations were characterised by grammatical errors. For instance, the following statement obtained from the presentation about women being deleted from Ikea catalogue is grammatically incorrect. â₠¬Å"They don’t really applauded with it because in the end they had to apologized.† You can hardly understand the meaning of this statement. The following statement; â€Å"Chocolate makers free to choice their partners,† is also difficult to understand. Poor sentence construction is the major weakness characterising both presentations. I have noted that the presentations by the two groups have been briefly summarised and they are very short. Indeed, it is important to summarise the main points in the presentation but this should be done in such a way that the targeted audiences can grasp the main points presented. In case of these two presentations, the main points are too short and often difficult to understand. I think the two groups should have expanded a bit their points so that they could be easily understood by the targeted audiences. A presentation of this

God called them to adopt and adopt and adopt ( Briefs writting) Article

God called them to adopt and adopt and adopt ( Briefs writting) - Article Example They take in neglected children into their custody despite their lean economic situation. The couple is faced with various hardships in helping children with disabilities. Another couple, Christian and Maureen have also adopted children. The primary issue in the article is child adoption and impact on families. Adoption, especially for a family has children, can be a devastating experience for children would have to share parenting. The situation calls for dedication and love for children. As Christians, the couples in question believe that children should have the best care that can be afforded, thus, they divide their time among all children. Adopting a child is perceived as a noble impression to Christians. However, the action requires much dedication and prayer. Apart from economic strain, adopting older children can be hectic in terms of discipline. This is depicted in Maureen case about the child, Ernesto and Misty’s case on Shon. Consequently, adopting children with disabilities proves to be a difficult task for Misty, who takes in two children, Raena and Olivia who have health problems. The article asserts that the duty to care for children is not based on the condition of the child, but due to the love of the child. The families help the children adopt a different life and fit in their new home. Often, children find it hard to move into a new family. The harmonious relationship between biological and adopted children is key or family stability. Here, the families under consideration trained their biological children on Christian values and their obligations to innocent children. Adoption is a tricky situation that calls for closer evaluation of personal attributes, economic attributes and social considerations. In this regard, the confusion between adopting and not adopting reigns each time they consider adopting another child. However, their opinions coincide when religion is referenced. Parents who neglect their children

What is the relevance of Marxism to critical theory Give examples of Essay

What is the relevance of Marxism to critical theory Give examples of practices - Essay Example According to Marxism, to understand the dialectical of history individuals should focus on the human agents which exist within relatively enduring social structures of which the agent reproduce or alter through their various actions. Moreover, it argues that the dialectical view of the society challenges the empiricist approaches used in the study of principles governing human and social life. In a much wider perspective, Marxism works to define politics in an expansive manner since politics is seen as struggle over the shaping of the kind of world we live and the identity of people we are (Rabaka, 2009). On the other hand, capitalism can be defined as a form of social life which is based on historically specific class relations between the class of people owning capital and those acting as wage laborers. In as much capitalism is considered to be productive but in away disabling, exploitative and undemocratic to those areas or sectors where it is being applied. Marxism further argues that capitalist accumulation is what drives major capitalist countries into colonial expansionism, creating the potential for inter-imperialist rivalry on a global scale. In making explanations for politics, Marxism and critical theory examines in details the structures of global capitalism and the ideologies and agents situated within the specific structures. It places emphasis on the capital driven nature of the state‘s action in the global capitalist systems and the need for states to maintain control of oil in order to maintain global capitalism in the world. An example is that from a Marxist c ritical theory, the war on terror should be understood in the context of ideology of economic security (Kellner, 1989). According to Karl Marx, socialist and dialectical theories Marxism, critical theory examines fictitious works as a manifestation of the societal foundations which plays a key role in their establishment (Pawling, 2013). Marxist views elements of

How can we understand power in politics Research Paper

How can we understand power in politics - Research Paper Example This brings a sharp contention between those who try to understand the sociology behind these behaviours and the political scientists who do not believe and recognize that power can be held. Power in politics is viewed as either held or diffuse and unpredictable. Power is something that is beyond just an aspect of being violent. It has a lot to do with the influence over the people compared to being violent and aggressive despite the two components prevailing in politics. According to Hannah Arendt in her essay ‘On Violence’, there is a clear distinction between the concept of power and violence. Most of the modern theorists have developed arguments that have linked violence with excessive demonstration of power, but Arendt dispels this notion by pointing out that two aspects are not comparable. In fact, she points out that they are directly opposed. The first point that comes out clearly from the arguments raised is that power emanates from the will of the majority and cannot be coerced or influenced by violence in achieving its results. What happens is that the voluntary decision by the people prevails. In case violence is used to capture power, the same shall prevail in losing the power. Bureaucratic regimes are potential sources of violence because they attempt to distance themselves from the people that placed them in the powerful dockets. The missing links with the people stirs up a revolution and the ultimate result is violence (Arendt 42- 46). Another point of view is that power is pervasive and dispersed. It has been argued by some quarters of theorists that the people or groups hold power. Contrary to this view, Michael Foucault, a postmodern theorist observes that power cannot be localized, it can come from anywhere and it is everywhere. He continues to argue that power in politics is constituted through certain aspects of knowledge that is obtained in some scientific truth. It is apparent that every society comes with its version of tru th that is shaped by the political and economic ideologies, the media and the education system that is in place. This means that despite the perception that some have taken power as oppressive, coercive and with negativity, there is positivity and productivity thereof. Foucault’s view agrees with that of Arendt by demonstrating that generalizing power in politics in the bad light of negativity, oppression, violence and coerciveness is not right (Foucault 777-790). Power is capable of presenting social discipline among the individuals and adherence to set regulations. It is not true that a subject will adhere to what is required of them just because power is exercised over them. At times, use of power demonstrates rebellion among the subjects. People have learnt how to behave rightly not because they are forced or coerced to do so. Power transcends politics and is more of a social issue; Foucault states that this is the reason why when revolutions occur they do not significant ly influence the social order. Politics have several closely related factors; these are power, influence, control and authority. These aspects are often confused but power presents a lot of ambiguity in its understanding. According to Andreas Hillgruber power has a lot to do with influence over people, he notes ‘

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 6

Human Resource Management - Essay Example However, this method has been reported to be ineffective because it deny trainees with an opportunity of interacting directly with their experts. Coaching /mentoring is a method that involves an expert in a particular field who is responsible for administering training. Case study method provides trainee with an opportunity to identify and discuss key issues in the work place to see the areas that may require some improvements. Simulation method entails imitation of the actual work experience where trainees are given a chance to try out and learn by performing the actual task. Finally, technology based training involve utilization of various technological devices to learn. Therefore, managers have been recommended to apply the above methods of training but more emphasis should be placed to coaching and technological based training methods because they have proved to be very effective. Further, managers should apply the four key steps of delivering a training program in order to meet trainees’ individual needs as discussed. Introduction Human resource manager play a significant role towards ensuring that training methods have brought success. Normally, human resource managers design various training programs and administer them to employees in order to increase their efficiency and achieve organisation goals/objectives. Human resource manager further employ a combination of group and individual methods to improve employees’ performance as well as to increase their efficiency. In above connection, human resource managers administer various training methods with an aim of increase organisation productivity. On the other hand, training methods being administered may be help to motivate employees to direct their efforts towards realization of organisation goals (Thompson, 2013). Further, training methods provide employees with growth opportunities whereby, employees can be in a position to execute their task more efficiently and effectively. Therefore, human resource manager should carry out an evaluation to see whether the various training methods administered were effective. However, if a training method was not effective, the manager may decide to make necessary improvements to ensure that training method has brought success. In addition, effective training methods may not only be beneficial to employees and organisation but also to the supervisor. This is because an effective training program minimizes the time that supervisor could have spent in supervising employees and hence, does not have to worry since employees are competent with their job (Bianca, 2013). Therefore, this study aims to provide a review of the training methods used to deliver training. Review the training methods used to deliver training Human resource manager is responsible for choosing the training method used to delivering training among his/her employees. However, various factors should be taken into consideration in order to ensure that the method of training utilized meets employee’s needs. Some of the factors that human resource manager should take into consideration when choosing a method of training to be applied include: manager should consider whether the available time will be adequate to cover all the training topics. Secondly, employee’s knowledge should be taken into consideration because not all methods of training can relevant. Some methods might be too technical to some employees while other may appear to be irrelevant. Therefore, the

Using Technology to Cheat Academically Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Using Technology to Cheat Academically - Essay Example g for the remote because changing the TV manually is unheard of, and student who want to cheat have a large number of technologically savvy devices to make their efforts successful. Teachers and principals claim that cheating isn’t more prevalent now, it’s just more sophisticated (Owen, 2008). Marty Wilkins, a 25-year veteran teacher at Milwaukie High School is quoted as saying, â€Å"Technology today does make it harder to keep on top of things† (Owen, 2008). Owen’s news article covered technology-based cheating in Oregonian classrooms. Teachers at Milwaukie and West Linn high schools have had enough, but are afraid that there isn’t much that can be done about it. They cite the reasons for cheating as trying to get higher grades, getting positive attention from parents, and trying to get into choice colleges. Still they have a message for cheaters: â€Å"Eventually, it will catch up with you,† Wilkins said (Owen, 2008). Technology-based cheating has taken on a life of its own. When teacher’s grades are done electronically, student hackers can actually access the school’s database, and change the grades unbeknownst to the teacher. Some students use the cameras built into their cell phones to take pictures of the test so that students taking the test later in the day can look up the answers. Others text messages answers to other students in the classroom with them. Even with all of this, administrators are reluctant to disallow the use of electronic devices in the classroom. â€Å"We want to give teachers tools to move to that next level and prepare students for a digital world,† Jennifer Nelson said (Relerford, 2007). Nelson is a technology coordinator at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota. Eden Prairie has gone digital, using materials like interactive white boards and video conferencing. Nelson and other school officials are trying to figure out how they can best use popula r kids’ devices like MP3 players and iPods. Mary Slinde, associate

Stages In The Decision Process Buyer Essay Example for Free

Stages In The Decision Process Buyer Essay There are two stimuli that can trigger needs, namely: a. Internal stimuli, when one persons normal needs-hunger, thirst, sex-occur at high enough levels. b. External Rangasangan. For example, an advertisement or a discussion with a friend can make you think of buying a new car. At this stage, marketers should research consumers to find what kind of needs or problems that arise, what causes it, and how the problem could steer consumers in this particular product. Look more:  the consumer buying process begins when essay 2 Sources of information Where consumers want to find more information, consumers may simply enlarge or actively searching information. As more and more information is acquired, consumer awareness and knowledge of the brand and the features available to increase. A company must design its marketing mix to make consumers aware of and know the brand. Companies must identify the source of consumer information and importance of each source carefully. 3. Evaluation of alternatives How consumers process information to arrive at brand choices. How do consumers evaluate alternatives depend on the personal consumer and situation specific purchase. In some cases, consumers use careful kalkusai adn logical thinking. At other times, the same consumers do evalusai Ganya little or even not evacuate; instead they buy on impulse and rely on intuition. Kadan-sometimes komsumen make their own purchasing decisions; sometimes they ask for advice from friends purchase, consumers guides, or salespeople. Marketers should study buyers to menmukan in how they actually  evaluate brand choice. If they know what is going evaluasia process, marketers can take steps to influence the buyers decision. 4. purchase decision Consumer purchase decisions is to buy the most preferred brand, but two factors could be between the purchase intention and the purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of others. If someone has significance for you to think that you should buy the cheapest car, then the chances of you to buy the most expensive car is reduced. The second factor is unexpected situational factors. Consumers may form a purchase intention based on factors such as income, prices, and the expected benefits of the product. However, unexpected events can change the purchase intention. 5. post-purchase Behavior After purchasing the product, the consumer will be satisfied not satisfied and look in the post-purchase behavior that must be considered by marketers. Which determine the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the buyer to a purchase lies in the relationship between consumer expectations and product performance assumptions. Why is customer satisfaction so important? customer satisfaction is the key to building a profitable relationship with the consumer-to maintain and grow the customer and collect customer lifetime value.

Government Intervention in Education and the Environment

Government Intervention in Education and the Environment Why do governments intervene? Illustrate your answer with reference to two of the following: health care, education, housing, the environment. Introduction The following paper will analyse the rationale behind government intervention in the areas of education and environment. Government intervention as the term signifies refers to the involvement of the government where it comes to the designing and implementing policies. Generally speaking government intervention takes the form of regulation. It might appear strange that in this competitive and privatised capitalist set up ‘government intervention’ is still a term which exists. Despite a negative tone attached to government intervention, it is imperative to have certain sectors regulated. This paper will evaluate government intervention in the areas of environment and education. At times government intervention is required to achieve economic efficiency. Economic efficiency is achieved when nobody can be made better off without someone else being made worse off. Such efficiency enhances prosperity by ensuring that resources are allocated and used in the most productive manner possible. One potential cause of inefficiency is where circumstances mean that the private returns which an individual or firm receives from carrying out a particular action differ from the returns to society as a whole. Market failureis a description of a situation where, for one reason or other, the market mechanism alone cannot achieve economic efficiency. Traditionally the goods and services provided by the public sector have been to make basic amenities available to the public. These have included health and medical services, education, law and order, transport. A recent estimate provided by Kable[1] suggested that a fifth of the public sector services could be delivered through outsourcing. Government Intervention in Education Government intervention in the education sector has been justified on various grounds. It has been argued that in the real world, there are many instances in which private markets fail to produce the socially optimal quantities of goods and services. Various forms of market failures can be identified when considering education, namely, Capital market imperfections: The private purchase of schooling, especially of higher education, is beyond the means of many poor families. Most credit markets do not provide an effective solution because of strong imperfections that reduce participation, particularly among very poor people. In principle, the budget constraints can be overcome by borrowing, given the high private returns to education. However, there are high risks for both borrowers and lenders in educational financing, and banks would not accept the promise of future earnings as collateral. Incomplete information: Market failure also relate to the problems of uncertainty and incomplete information. Households may not know the existence of services in education, or they may not be aware of the private returns to education, which have a long gestation period. As a result, they tend to under-invest in education. Externalities: Some of the benefits from education accrue not only to its direct recipients but also to society at large. Literacy, for example, lowers the transaction costs amongst individuals; womens education brings external benefits for fertility control and child health and nutrition. In deciding how much to purchase, individuals compare only the personal benefits and personal costs. Private provision, or full cost-recovery, would result in under-investment in education. Principle-agent: It is generally the case that in a household, parents are the relevant decision-making unit and not the child. For example, in education, the important issue is the perceived balance between the costs and benefits to the parents of sending their child to school. Since only some portion of the returns to schooling will accrue to parents, there may be rational (if regrettable) reasons for households to under-invest in schooling, notwithstanding its apparently high economic returns. According to a paper published by the World Bank, in the absence of market failures, there may also be a case for government intervention on grounds of equity and merit goods: Equity: Not all groups in society can afford the direct and indirect costs associated with investing in education. The government therefore plays a role in promoting equality of opportunity. If education was provided under market conditions, only those who could afford to pay would be able to enroll. Not only would there be under-investment from the social point of view, but income inequalities would be preserved from one generation to the next, since education is itself a determinant of lifetime income. Merit goods: Education is often considered a type of good with special merit that is not readily quantifiable and that might be under-supplied if left to the market. Basic education, for example, is an important channel through which governments advance nation building in addition to imparting basic literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills. From the late 1960s central government began to take more interest in the policies being carried out at the local level. In education as well, there was growing central government interest in standards2 and the curriculum, 3 as the debate moved from equality and selection to the performance of schools. The 1970s brought reforms which set the pattern of change for the future. The Labour government considered the introduction of a needs-based central grant in the 1977 green paper on local government finance. The advocates of interventionism or government interference with the market protest that they do not want socialism, but rather to retain private ownership of the material factors of production, free enterprise, and market exchange. But they assert that these institutions of the market economy could be easily misused, and are often misused, by the propertied classes for an unfair exploitation of the poorer strata of the population. To prevent such an outcome they want to restrain the discretion of the individuals by governmental orders and prohibitions. The government should interfere with all those actions of the businessmen which it considers as detrimental to the public interest; in other respects, however, it should leave the market alone. Government Intervention is essential for education and environment. Consider the scenario where education was fully privatized, it would result in an increase in illiteracy. Education would become competitive and the objective of organizations would be to make money rather than impart education. This would mean that economically poor people in the society would have fewer prospects to gain education. For instance the recent Skills for Life initiative have been devised to improve the literacy and numeracy levels of the people. This has only been possible to implement because the government has taken action. Had the education sector been completely privatized it would have become another money-making mechanism which would not have benefited the society. However, arguments against total government control are that the private sector can help the public sector to provide the services with the use of modern technology. Government Intervention and the Environment Usually regulation is needed where the good is classed as a public good. Government regulation is an alternative method of seeking to protect and preserve the quality of the environment. Regulation however does not always lead to ideal outcomes, and it can be enormously expensive. Regulation is not always based on market systems, so it is subject to all the problems associated with lack of information and lack of incentives that have plagued the socialist nations. For instance, in the case of global warming, emissions from carbon dioxide from efficient burning of all fuels case no harm where they are emitted. No one’s rights are being violated by the invasion of harmful pollutant, yet these emissions are building up in the atmosphere. Thus this may require that in the future regulations must take this into account. Consider the scenario where the environmental resources are left in the hands of the private sector. Needless to say the resources would be depleted much faster. If there wasn’t government control in terms of dumping waste and pollution the industrialized societies would have led to a faster depletion of the ozone layer in the pursuit of making profits. There are undoubtedly major benefits for governments to intervene in certain areas, however, public-private sector partnership is required to reach optimum level of success. Some argue that governments must just serve as watchdogs and ensure that environmental policy is adhered to and that companies are made responsible for their actions. Taking responsibility towards protecting the environment would achieve a lot more than the government intervening all the time. It is a general belief that profit-seekers and corporations are too greedy and self-interested, the thinking goes, to give much thought to preserving wildlife, forests and wilderness. It can be argued that no one likes pollution, but getting rid of pollution requires resources. The more resources society devotes to lessening pollution, the fewer resources are available for all other goods and services. If someone else ws prepared topay to get rid of the pollution then undoubtedly one would experience an increase in utility at no cost to oneself. On the whole, rich countries are less polluted than poor countries, not more. The reason is that wealth increases both the demand for a healthier environment and the means to bring it about. Environmental regulation has been necessary to achieve this, to be sure, because pollution is indeed an externality. But it is not true that the problem has been left unattended in the rich world that things are therefore getting worse, and that CSR initiatives have to rise to the challenge of dealing with this neglect. Strong environmental protection is already in place in Europe and the United States. In some cases, no doubt, it needs to be strengthened further. In some other cases, most likely, it is already too strong. Overall, the evidence fails to show systematic neglect, or any tendency, once government regulation is taken into account, for economic growth to make things worse. Government regulation is an alternative method of seeking to protect and preserve the quality of the environment. Regulation however does not always lead to ideal outcomes, and it can be enormously expensive. Regulation is not always based o market systems, so it is subject to all the problems associated with lack of information and lack of incentives that have plagued the socialist nations. For instance, in the case of global warming, emissions from carbon dioxide from efficient burning of all fuels case no harm where they are emitted. No one’s rights are being violated by the invasion of harmful pollutant, yet these emissions are building up in the atmosphere. Thus this may require that in the future regulations must take this into account. As a general rule, however, correcting market failures is best left to government. Businesses cannot be trusted to get it right, partly because they lack the wherewithal to frame intelligent policy in these areas. The right policy on global warming is not clear-cut even at the global level, to say nothing of the national level or the level of the individual firm or consumer. Devising such a policy, and sharing the costs equitably, is a political challenge of the first order. Settling such questions exceeds both the competence and the proper remit of private enterprise. Conclusion From the preceding paragraphs it can be concluded that the government plays an important role when it comes to decisions relating to public goods like health, safety education and environment. It can be seen that if the public goods are left completely in the hands of private sector it would not yield beneficial results. Profit being the main motive private sector would not care enough for the rate at which natural resources were getting depleted or the quality of education. Moreover, not all sections of the society will be privy to the same quality of education. Thus government intervention is vital in ensuring that economic development occurs uniformly and consistently in the country. Thus government intervention is essential when considering key goods like education and environment Even though arguments presented have suggested that governments tend to be bigger polluters than private sector companies, however, government has a duty towards the society to provide good quality educ ation and a cleaner environment. Thus government intervention is important; however the level can vary depending on the development levels. Thus in summary government could play a role of watchdog more to achieve economic efficiency. BIBLIOGRAPHY Goodstein, E.S., Economics and Environment, (2004), John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Gwartney, James D., Stroup, Richard L., and Sobel, Russell S., Economics Private and Public Choice, (2000), Ninth Edition, The Dryden Press. Hammer, Jeffrey S. 1996. The Public Economics of Education. Public Economics Division, Policy Research Department, World Bank (mimeo). Hoxby, Caroline M. 1994b. Does Competition between Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers? National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 4979. James, Estelle. 1984. Benefits and Costs of Privatized Public Services: Lessons from the Dutch Education System. Comparative Education Review 28(4): 605-624. 1 Footnotes [1] Kable (organisation) provides technological research and analysis on the UK government and public sector.

Applying Theories of Leadership, Organizations and Motivation

Applying Theories of Leadership, Organizations and Motivation Leadership is a social process through which a group or community delegate some power to someone or individual who influence the behavior of others without pressurizing or using any force for doing so but such leader/individual motivate the other. But on other hand leadership is the extra quality/ability of the management of an organization through which the management direct the subordinates to work for mutual goals of group with confidence. Leadership styles are different in different organization, industries and sectors because of their works styles, production capacity and working environment. Environment of all the organizations, industries and sectors is different than the environment of other because the nature of business and working capacity of different units of working is in accordance to its demands and necessities of business. Therefore, to direct the subordinates of a particular unit, the management of the same elect or select its leader through some process and delegate some powers to such leader and who utilize the powers delegated to him for the only purpose of the welfare or mutual benefits/goals of the group and as well as of the organization. Selection of leaders normally held in this way in bureaucratic organizations. 2. Leader A leader is someone who exercise influence over subordinate and other people without using threats or power for the only sake of the benefit or welfare of the community or groups so chosen or elected him/her as their leader. It would not be meaningless to say that a leader is someone who influences others through motivation and people likes to obey him or her willfully not in compulsion. A leader is person who represents the urges and requirements of his community or group and his all actions are only for the welfare and benefits of his groups. Generally leaders are of two kinds formal leaders and informal leaders. A leader who is appointed as leader and has been delegated some power under the shelter of a particular rank or position to perform the particular object. A formal leader is not a natural leader because such leaders are selected or elected in bureaucratic organization through some process for a particular time with the delegation of some particular powers to the extent of the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. An individual chosen by a group or community to which he belongs, without any election or selection is an informal leader and such leaders possess God gifted skills of communication and confidence. Such leaders do not possess authority as the formal leaders are delegated because they are not selected or elected and they are not leader of only an organization but they are leader of a group or community to with they belong and the represent the ideology, demands, requirements, necessities etc. of the groups or community. Informal leaders are natural leaders. 3. Requirements of Leadership for Meeting Present and Future Organizational Goals and Objectives Leaders are the heroes and assets of the organizations or communities to which they belongs and they have basic aim to achieve the task being set to him with the assistance of their groups with confidence and it is one of the duty and responsibility of the leader to communicate the task properly to the group and muster up their courage time to time in all the way required, take the suggestions of the group members to evaluate the attitude of the group members, coordinate the group to complete the task so given to them with the help of the group. Following skills are required to a leader to meet the organizational goals and objective to improve the efficiency of his group. 3.1 Communication of Task Knowledge to the Group Leader of an organization is a formal leader who has been given some authority to direct or influence his subordinates to work for the goals of organization. Formal leaders are part of bureaucratic organization and in this way a leader is given some tasks to be completed within a particular time with the connivance and co-ordination of his group. For getting effective work a leader is supposed to be such a person who possess the complete knowledge about the task in all respects and therefore, it is the first skill of a leader and the basic requirement of leadership to deliver/communicate the requisite knowledge about the task to the group at any stage to get the best of the group at all the times. He should communicate all the loops of the tasks to the group so that nothing should be remained doubtful about the task and the work should be started with confidence till the completion of the task. 3.2 Understanding Organizations Needs Leadership is the power of an organization through which it accumulate its strength in shape of confidence of the man power and high moral which lead the organization towards the prosperity and this is all possible only when the leaders or leadership of an organization remained informed with the demands of the organization needs. A task is a test of the organizations ability whether they have ability to work in any circumstances such as in crucial and difficult time by making right and useful decision in such situations. Co-ordination between the leadership and man power is the basic ingredient of organizations success and completion of difficult tasks. 3.3 Understanding Groups Need Labor/group is main power of an organization and they are fighters who fight for the success of organization because their success is a part of the organizations success. It is one of the main quality of leadership that it fully encourages the labor/groups and tries its level best to solve the problems and fulfill the needs of the groups because satisfaction of the group is composite and unrebutable requirement of a tasks completion. Good leadership works directly for the welfare of organization but indirectly it is fighting for the benefits of the group. Management of an organization by using the process of leadership not even control the groups in the organization but also by using leadership become able to improve the weakness of an organization man power into its strengths. 3.4 Arrangement for Training of Groups An organization is platform in which all fields/departments concerning to the nature of organizations work are combined such as purchase department, manufacturing department, marketing, finance and selling all departments are working together. Time to time new inventions are occurred which also needs to mould or adopt new techniques to improve the working conditions and skills for the gropes of different fields. It is the responsibility of the management of an organization that it should remained intact with the leadership of the groups to understand their needs and requirements for better working situations because by doing so the management through leadership can evaluate the weakness of the groups and can improve their skills by arranging training in the fields of stress. Through these training the management can either improve the skills of the labor but on the other hand also becomes able to evaluate the working capacity of the labor and these training vacations also highlight t he strength of relationship between the groups and leadership. 3.5 Evaluation of Weaknesses and Strengths A smooth working can only be perform if the organization know very well the fields of focus and stress and this could only be possible when an organization is able to understands its weaknesses and strengths. For making it possible, leadership plays the most important role such as a formal leader is indeed a leader from the organization who is selected by the organization through some process. Such leadership helps the organization in evaluating the weaknesses and strengths of the organization out from the groups of the organization because all the group members have good relations with the leaders and they also share their problems as well as about their extra skills with them and by polishing such extra skills through training an organization can not even improve its strengths but also covert its weaknesses into its strengths. A successful organization is such an organization which knows very well about its weaknesses and threats and by mustering the courage and moral of the groups the organization can get a rid of those weaknesses and threats and this is just possible because of good leadership. 3.6 Motivation of Groups of Organization It is the authority which is being delegated to the leaders that they have some powers through which then can direct and even can influence the subordinates and the subordinates obey the directions of the leaders happily because they believe in that all the actions of the leader are for the welfare of them and they are their representatives. Management of an organization can motivate the groups of the organization towards the goals and objectives of the organization just through leadership, Therefore, organizations should remain good and cordial relations with the leadership and should properly motivate to them so that they be able to motivate the groups properly and the best outcome could be expected and achieved. 3.7 Building Confidence All workers of an organization should be confident and confidence of workers is the key of success for organizations. All industries, organizations, sub-divisions and projects have different nature of work therefore, demands of all are different but the basic demand for all of them is the confidence of labor and confidence e of labor come in labor when they are satisfied with the organization management. A leader is intermediate person between the organization and its groups but he represent the groups because he belongs to them. Leadership of an organization can motivate the groups and can built confidence and for such confidence could be possible on the basis of given and taken, therefore, the organization has to some extent polite in favor of the groups and in the same way the groups have to remain polite to some extent in favor of the organization and this given and taken built long lasting confidence between the organization and groups which is the need and requirement of the le adership. Leadership plays the most unique role in the progress of the organizations, sub-divisions, industries and projects because just on the basis of financial resources and human resources no effective work could be done. Effective and useful work could be done only by the co-ordination between the concerns and groups of the concerns and this co-ordination and confidence is soughted only by the role of the leadership because business concerns can not fulfill the requirement of every single labor or member of labor of such concern. Therefore, by co-coordinating each other the organization can achieve its goals and the groups can also achieve their goals vested with the goals of the organization, industries, sub-divisions and projects. Nature of all the organizations, industries, sub-division and projects are different in the same way the attitude of the leaderships of them are different but the strategies for all of them are same because the labor wants priority to their needs and a bureau cratic leader is the person who can solve the problem of the concerns. 4 Modern Theories of Leadership All the times the element of leadership was available in the business activities and as the business working pace has changed in the same way the theories regarding the leadership are also sophisticated and comprehensive which deals in all the requisite aspects of the leadership out of which some modern theories of leadership are as follows: 4.1 Situational Theory of Hersey Blanchard Situational theory of Hersey Blanchard is based on quantum of direction towards the task, relationship between the leadership and groups and level of maturity of the task so governed by the leadership to the groups. In this theory the quantum of direction is supposed to task behavior while relationship between the leadership and groups is the relationship behavior. It is the ability of the leadership that how good relations and coordination it remains with the subordinates because management and leadership are not the actual power of industries, organizations, sub-divisions, and project, actual power is groups which are in numbers and keeps the ability to change the fate of vendor through its working skills. This theory is divided into three behaviors such as: Task Behavior: This behavior evolves around the leader and the groups in which the leader remains engage in splitting out the duties and responsibilities to the groups according to the task that what is the task, what is the work of the each group, how to do, when to do, who to do, where to do. In task behavior the leader of the groups remains in teaching the duties to the groups about the task and communicate the group in one way just about the task. Relationship Behavior: Relationship behavior is a two way communication behavior in which the leader remains engage in supporting the groups because he has to listen the problems, facilitating the groups for smooth and effective working and encouraging them for building confidence. In relationship behavior the leader remains a part of the task working and support the group in all the ways he possibly could. Level of Maturity: Level of maturity of every person is different and this is basically the consent and taking responsibility of a person to direct their personal behaviors. Every person possesses different level of maturity and in this way understanding and commanding power to the extent of their level of maturity is different. Accomplishment of a task depends upon the maturity level of leader and groups because it is up to the leader that in what way he directs and on the other hand in what way the groups understand. All the leaders possess different abilities and level of maturities but to determine the appropriate style it could be assessed from directions of different leaders in same situation and they way the facilitate and communicate to the groups about the task. Because when the level of maturity goes up the leader will reduce its task behavior and increase relationship behavior because in such situation the understanding of the groups has improved therefore, the leaders have need to facilitate the groups in solving their problems for the accomplishment of task and through this molding attitude the leader can evaluate the right level of maturity of the groups working. This theory is applicable to all industries, organizations, sub-divisions and projects working on long term strategies because with the change in the pace of inventions the skills of the groups/labor are not improving in the same ratio therefore, by communicating properly and training in the requisite fields the business orga nization can get the expected and favorable results with the help of effective leadership. Level of maturity when increase whether of leader or labor then he require facilities through which he can perform more effectively and with more pace than at initial stage, therefore, every business concern even of any level can get advantage of this theory because it is applicable to all level of organization, industries, sub-divisions and projects. 4.2 Charles Handys Theory of Best Fit Approach Theory of Handy is a flexible theory through which his emphasis is on the flexibility of style which is adequate according to the situation and circumstances of work whether the style is preferred by the leader or groups but the style should be competent to fulfill the requirements of the task. In this theory the style should be chosen according to the environment and task performance and it is immaterial that the style is preferred by whom, the leader or the groups. According to Handys best fit approach, a style which is fit in accordance of leader, groups, task and environment occur only when all the factors accept it and such style fulfill all the needs and requirement of the working and it makes the leader confident that all the other workings are in consonance of task and the task now could be completed as is expected. A best fit according to Handy occur only when all the first three factors are at one point and demands same style to be adopted for working and after adopting suc h style all the factor got moderate and perform more effectively then according to Handy this is the best fit approach. This theory is a moderate theory of leadership and can easily applicable to all kind of business of small level because multination companies or multiprojects are of such nature works which works on long term strategies and planning and in long term planning moderate theory is not applicable because such projects are involving huge financial resources of stakeholders and stakeholders never take such kind of risk just relying on leadership. In small company as the strategies are short terms and can be amended when required because it is not involved huge financial risk. Therefore, this approach of Charles Handy best fit is applicable only businesses other than industries, organizations, sub-divisions and multination companies because the said units strictly implement strategies so prepared because such strategies are prepared after considering all the effective factors which directly and indirectly effect the activities of the concern. 4.3 Style (Behavioral) Theories Approach under this theory fully concentrates what a leaders style, what a leader does and what is his behavior. Simply this theory revolves around the style, behavior and activities of a leader. It is very difficult to assess the behavior of a leader because as the previous theory of Charles Handy express the moderate behavior of a leader in this way the behavior of a leader could changed in accordance of circumstances and could never be remain same and therefore, it is difficult for someone to assess the attitude/behavior of a leader. In the same way a style is also difficult to measure because it changes with the changes in the working condition. Autocratic, democratic, bureaucratic and laisser-faire are the term which are used for to describe the general approached used for a leader. Style behavior approach is not a best and comprehensive theory according to me because it is revolving around the activities, behavior and style of a leader that what he does, his behavior and style of working. It is a limited approach and can only be applicable to small enterprises because in large unit or enterprises there is no concept of assumption and molding of style according to the wishes of the leader because large enterprises the strategies are being prepared after reviewing the strategies of last years along with the results. Strategy makers also account for all the factors might be caused in future by using the services of skilled and professionals just to avoid any uncertainty and ambiguity in the strategy. Therefore, this theory is not applicable to industries, organizations, sub-divisions and multination enterprises in no way because it is lacking a number of necessary factors to be account for and is not a comprehensive theory. 5. Leadership Models A leader is role model for his followers and the followers happily adopt the styles of their leader because in their view their leader is the best one in all. Following are leadership models:- 5.1 The Fiedler Contingency Model According to the Fred Fiedler Contingency Model, the best performance of a group is dependent on the proper match between the leaders style of directing his group and the level to which the circumstances allowed the leader to direct and influence to his group. Fred Fiedler is the developer of first contingency model of leadership. This model of leadership proposes that a groups best performances can only be achieved if the match between the style of the leader and follower is compatible because the degree of situation never remains the same but it is the behavioral interaction between the leader and the groups which make it possible to be achieved, therefore, to attain the best performance of a group it is primarily be evaluated that the compatibility between the style and interaction of the leader and group is in consonance or not. In this model it is proposed to be checked that whether a certain leadership style is effective in different situations because situation vary from time to time. This model highlight the leader member relations with the groups, task structure and position power of the leader because these all factors are interrelated to each other because sometimes the style of the leader does not properly match due to the stru cture of the task and sometimes because of the relations between the leader and group the style vary and does not match in such way necessary for the effective performance. 5.2 Leader Participation Model This model stress upon the leadership behavior and participation of leadership in decision making in different situations. According to this model the behavior of the leadership must adjust to reflect the task degree. This model was developed by the Victor Vroom and Phillip Yetton. In simple words, this model emphasis on the behavior of the leadership should be flexible which could be adjust to reflect the task structure. This model was got changed in early 1970s because research remained continue to find out the effective leadership style. A leadership should keep in mind the decision making contingencies while he is determining that what leadership style would be most effective in current situation. Team competence, leaders expertise, group expertise, group support, decision significance, importance of commitment and likelihood of commitment are the contingencies of decision making. 5.3 Path-Goal Model Path-Goal Model is developed by Robert House. This model clearly highlight the duty of the leader that it is the duty of the leader to assist his group in attaining the goals and give them proper direction as well as make it possible to provide them the support needed in attaining their goals and to ensure them that their goals are absolutely compatible with the organizational goals and objectives. This is a comprehensive model developed by the Robert House because it deals with the responsibilities and duties of a leader. The basic duty of a leader is to provide assistance to his group and make them able to attain their goals which are indeed compatible to the goals of organization. Through this model Robert House divided the behavior of the leaders in four categories such as: Directive Leaders: Such leaders who directs the followers that what is to be done, when to be done, and how they can accomplish the task so given. Supportive Leader: Supportive leader facilitate their groups for effective performance and remained friendly with them so to build their confidence which directly improve the performance of the followers. Participative Leader: A leader who participate in decision making and before making any decision consult with his followers and consider their suggestion in all respect if possible to consider. Achievement-Oriented Leader: A leader who believe in best performance all the time from his followers because such leader set the challenges and communicate the group member promptly and remained supportive and participative all the time. According to Fred Fiedler the leader should not change his style and should remained strict but on the other hand Robert House propose that the behavior of a leader should be flexible and should be molded in accordance with the situation and this is the symbol of effective leadership because a effective leader always handle the situations not personal ego. Thats why the Path- Goal Model is a comprehensive model which can be applicable to all sorts of organizations, enterprises, sub-divisions and projects because leadership remained committed with the organizational goals which are compatible to the goals of the followers. Advise on the Succession of Sir Alex Ferguson After observing the history of the Manchester United and the previous leader Matt Busby who guided the club since 1949 and retired in 1969 and proved him to be an effective and energetic leader of the club but after his retirement the club remained unfortunate because no manager of the club after him brought back the years of excellence and glory except Sir Alex Ferguson. But when we study the historical background of Sir Alex Ferguson then it is concluded that how difficult Sir Alex Ferguson achieved this position and become an aggressive and dominant leader after facing great difficulties in earlier of his life. All the requirements and skills required to a leader for meeting the challenges in present and future have been detailed hereinabove relying on the theories and model of leadership. Therefore, on the basis of above detailed studies it is suggested to Sir Alex Ferguson that succession should possess the following abilities and skills for effective leadership:- Should have experience of working in same situation as is in Manchester United; Should be diligent and hard working; Should be able to communicate the subordinates properly; Should possess the skill to evaluate the weakness and strengths of the club if any; Should possess the ability to motivate the sub-ordinates properly and get their best performance; Should possess the ability to build confidence of the followers; Should possess the ability to understand clubs needs and goals; Should possess the skill and ability to work under pressure; Should have good attitude towards the groups or followers; Should be able to understand the demands and needs of the groups and followers; Should be able to make right decision in different situations; Should be eligible to overcome the crucial and uncertain situations; Should possess good moral values; Should be supportive and participative towards followers or groups; Finally it is suggested that as Sir Alex Ferguson is available in the club till the next season and also know very well the abilities and skills of the sub-ordinates therefore, being a revolutionary and successful leader of the club, he is the person who can choose the succession of the Manchester United because he possess a very long and health experience of working effective leadership and being an effective leader he is the one who knows very well that which one would be the succession of him and what things are to be understand to the succession and now Sir Alex Ferguson has almost one season and it is sufficient time for him to get choose his succession and do the training of him if required and make him able in his presence to face the gravity of work and this would be most fruitful for Sir Alex and his succession because if under the supervision of Sir Alex his succession perform excellent then Sir Alex could believe him that he would perform good in his absence. Therefore, in my suggestion Sir Alex Ferguson should choose his succession in his presence because where the club is now is due to him therefore, he should have the right to choose his succession with his own will but keeping in view goals and destinations of the Manchester United.