Family movie review PowerPoint Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Family movie review - PowerPoint Presentation Example The family concept is highlighted by the main character Kevin Sorbo casted as Ben Walker. The family that Ben is meant to have is that which he marries Kristy Swanson, casted as Wendy, his girlfriend from college. However, Ben drifts from his course and is instead engaged to a beautiful, materialistic lady. A mechanical error with his car makes the story unfold. In the current life, Ben is casted as successful but yet not following the desired path. To be truly happy, Ben has to reconnect with Wendy and it is I this that the family concept of love is clearly brought out. His relationship to Wendy along with their two daughters does not have the fairy tale charm but yet displays resilience and understanding of each other’s emotions and caring for others well being. It is open that for a family to be successful, love has to abound, one which carries not only blood relations but also mutual working towards its success. Despite not having much, Ben actually becomes only a pastor in a small town in stark contrast to his life as a business magnate. The movie reflects that love supersedes all other desires, for wealth and prosperity, and in so doing, makes up for a happy family bound by trust and understanding. The message passed by the movie seems to be, marriage and love are eternal, material possessions are only

Sensation Perception and Attention Essay Example for Free

Sensation Perception and Attention Essay Sensation, perception, and attention are crucial when working in a learning team. What we sense, how we perceive, and how attentive we are to the task at hand are all extremely important. What we sense will not always be the same thing. How we perceive an assignment or how we perceive each other will differ. The attention that we pay to detail or to each other will also differ. Sensation, perception, and attention can either be our strengths or the reason we fail. In a learning team environment, it is important to communicate with each other so that these things do not interfere with the tasks at hand. This paper reflects on each team member’s threshold for auditory stimuli, dichotic listening, the cocktail party effect, divided attention, and problems within the group related to sensory perception. As a whole, our group has a low threshold for auditory stimuli. What does this really mean? The question â€Å"What is your threshold for auditory stimuli? † is answered differently when taking into consideration distractions, environmental factors, and personal factors. Sickness, hearing loss, and tiredness can affect personal auditory thresholds. Background noise and interruptions can also affect personal auditory thresholds. Upon analyzing the answers to the question â€Å"What is your auditory stimuli? † from the members of the group, we concluded that we each work well without background noise, free from interruptions, when we are feeling well, and are well rested. Dichotic listening is studying the auditory process of individuals. It allows one to see just how much they are receiving in each ear. A good example is having simultaneous conversations with more than one individual. According to Marciela and Tanisha, they have no problem with dichotic listening. This is due to the fact that they have incorporated motherhood in dichotic listening. They both have children and can divide attention between each individual conversation. For these two women, they are able to differentiate between the children, hear what each has to say or is requesting, and are able to effectively answer them, even though they are talking at the same time. Tanisha contributes her dichotic listening skills to being a police dispatcher. An occupation as such requires good skills to best concentrate on the importance of the call while collecting and recording key information needed in order to dispatch the call properly. Charleen, Kelley, and Candace have a more difficult time with dichotic istening. It is easier for them to hear one person at a time. Multi-tasking in conversation is more difficult for them because they are unable to separate the conversations being held in each ear. Important information can be missed when trying to hear more than one person. What is being processed tends to be translated into something else. When this occurs, what is thought to be heard may not actually be what was spoken at all. It follows with people coming up and speaking to one directly or in a lecture setting. In the lecture setting, one person talks while others take notes. It becomes a personal skill to figure out the best way to hear what is being said and to properly make sure all information is being recorded. As many already know, everyone learns differently but there are still many similarities that affect how people learn. An example of this is how dividing attention can facilitate or impede an individual’s learning. In our team learning group, all of us agreed that trying to divide our attention on more than one task at a time will impede on our learning. Some of us feel that we are able to multi-task well but the fact of the matter is that multi-tasking leaves room for mistakes. Some team members felt that divided attention can also impede with memory. â€Å"Other researchers have found that working memory as a whole does seem to have a limited capacity—people cannot do and remember too many things at the same time. † (Kowalski Westen, 2011) Sometimes it may seem that multi-tasking or focusing attention on more than one task at the same time is harmless and easy to do. What is actually happening is attention is not focused at all and information is not being adequately retained. For example, one team member thought it was a good idea to listen to music while studying. She later realized that it was not a good idea when she noticed that she had stopped reading to start listening to the words of the song. She understood that the progression to complete her reading assignment was delayed because of the distraction the music caused. As a majority, Learning Team D team members concluded that dividing attention is not a productive way to learn and could cause more damage than good. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli is solely based of an individual’s memory. Each individual within the team has a different sensory perception on how we work together in team form. Kelley sees a sensory perception problem in the way we can communicate with one another. She says, â€Å"The sensory problem I see within the team is that we are distracted by the inability to not communicate as a group in a group setting. We have to communicate within the forum and through email which creates the inability to concentrate at the actual task at hand. It diverts our focus not being able to be face-to-face. † Charleen agrees with Kelley and says, â€Å"Our sensory perception is lacking due to a failure to communicate properly. If we had better communication with one another then the group would be smooth sailing. Tanisha also feels, â€Å"There is no auditory processing taking place because we are not speaking to each other and all the communication is being read, which leaves each person to be responsible for understanding what all the other team members are trying to express. † Maricela recognizes that our team is filled with auditory learners. She states, â€Å"I believe that being able to elaborate on a subject as a group, and really being able to cover a subject thoroughly can help everyone understand what they must do to complete the assignment. Checking in daily can cancel out any misunderstandings about the assignments and can even help our teammates that are struggling. Candace feels like sensory perception is hard to explain because, â€Å"It is taking a lot to really break down to receive an understanding. When trying to identify the sensory perception, I came across the sensory adaptation. It’s a change in response to our stimulus. Our responses vary each time we switch over from one task to another. † Our sensory perception is like mental organization. As a team, we must work together and be on the same page to acquire positive and organized sensory perception. Everyone learns differently, whether they are auditory learners or sensation learns, even perception learners. Everyone has his or her own effective learning strategies. According to our team most of us are auditory learners meaning we need visual and auditory stimulation in order to understand the concept more effectively. Communication in the team forum allows the team members to ask questions and elaborate on the responsibilities of each individual in order to understand each assignment better. Checking into our learning teams daily helps to clear up misunderstandings about assignments and can even help our teammates that are struggling. Everyone has questions, and working as a team means we may have to answer those questions to clear up and prevent confusion. Team members can call one another if they need an answer to a question. The good thing about working in a team is we have several people to call. It is important that we each focus on what we are doing to contribute to each assignment. Each team member is responsible for a portion of each assignment and when they do not contribute their part, it hurts the team as a whole and the individual does not receive credit for the assignment. The most important rule in our team is to help our teammates by completing our portion of each assignment. Incorporating everyone’s learning requirements is easy but working as a team can be a change for everyone. Although we are individuals, we still share a common ground within our team setting. We are all auditory learners meaning we need visual and auditory learning situations. Our comfort level varies due to our perceptions being different from one another. Most of us can only focus on the task at hand and have trouble communicating in variations all at once. Through this, we were able to identify our sensory perception on how the team is facilitated. We have the same yet different views on our sensory perception, but, feel like we share a common understanding. Suggestions were implemented to give direction for the team and its assignments due. As a team, our goal is to check in daily to observe the group’s needs, ask and answer questions when needed, and do assignments in a timely manner. As a team, we are working together through our sensation, perception, and attention differences to bring to the table the best of our teamwork and assignments directed by the professor. ?

Microsoft vs. DOJ :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Microsoft vs. DOJ Arguments of the DoJ (the white paper) 1. Microsoft and it ´s Monopoly Power MS monopoly power is in personal computer operating systems. A PC operating system as you all know controls the interaction of the different parts of the computer. It creates files, organizes the computer ´s memory and creates a platform for applications. The operating system is indispensible to the computer for this reason. Maybe that changes as technology evolves but right now a computer without an OS is nothing but a box of inert hardware. MS today ships 97% of PC OS that are installed by computer manufacturers. Case law defines monopoly as beginning at about a 70% share of the market. But this alone isn ´t illegal in respect to superior products, service or mere luck. Nor does market share alone necessarily imply monopoly power. For example a manufacturer might make 100% of knickers on the market. But if there are other pants manufacturers who are able to turn their production into knickers, the one and only knickers producer wouldn ´t be able to charge more than a competitive price or exclude rivals from his market. Speaking of this little example it ´s now clear what monopoly power means: it is the power to control prices and exclude competition. MS has and still exercises, both form of monopoly power. It charges above competitive prices and use tactics that eliminate rivals. And not because MS are superior to others and more beneficial to the consumers. No, not at all, MS uses predatory tactics whose sole purpose is to destroy it ´s rivals. MS often has denied that it posesses monopoly power but their arguments are quite feeble. A MS spokesman stated that the market is highly dynamic and that there are only low barriers to enter the market, especially for fringe firms. But this is untrue for the means of competition. There might be a lot of new technology but the barriers MS deliberately put up made it impossible for new market entry. The result is that MS can charge higher than competitive prices without a loss of market share. Another argument of MS is that it ´s monopoly power is defeated by ist need to compete against it ´s own installed base meaning that MS has eg now to compete against win 95. But this is another partly untrue argument because most consumers think of a new OS only when they want to buy a new computer and replace their old one.

Marketing – Right Choices

| Off Campus & Assignment Handling Services Division of Information Services Nathan Campus GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY QLD 4111 | ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Open Universities Australia | Student details| Name| Gokhan Aykut| Course| B. Comm| Unit details| Unit code| MKT 103| Unit name| Introduction To Marketing| Unit tutor| Kieth| Assessment Item details| Marketing Report| Due date| 20/02/2012| Word count| 2500| Extension granted| v? No ? Yes| Extension date| | Is this a resubmission? v? No ? Yes| Resubmission date| | ACADEMIC INTEGRITY DECLARATION Breaches of academic integrity (cheating, plagiarism, falsification of data, collusion) seriously compromise student learning, as well as the University’s assessment of the effectiveness of that learning and the academic quality of the University’s awards. All breaches of academic integrity are taken seriously and could result in penalties including failure in the course and exclusion from the University.Students should be aware that the University uses text-matching software to safeguard the quality of student learning and that your assignment will be checked using this software. I acknowledge and agree that the examiner of this assessment item may, for the purpose of marking this assessment item: 1 reproduce this assessment item and provide a copy to another Griffith staff member; and/ 2 submit this assessment item to a text-matching service. This web-based service will retain a copy of this assessment item for checking the work of other students, but will not reproduce it in any form.Examiners will only award marks for work within this assignment that is your own original work. I, hereby certify that : 1 except where I have indicated, this assignment is my own work, based on my personal study and/or research. 2 I have acknowledged all materials and sources used in the preparation of this assignment whether they be books, articles, reports, lecture notes, or any other kind of document or personal communication. 3 I have not collaborated with another student or person in planning, eveloping and writing this assessment item. 4 this assignment has not been submitted for assessment in any other course or at any other time in the same course. 5 I have not copied in part or in whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students and/or other persons. 6 I haven’t made this piece of work available to another student. Providing this declaration falsely is considered a breach of academic integrity. I have retained a copy of this assessment item for my own records. Date: 09/01/2012. (Gokhan Aykut) | Executive SummaryThe following report is the marketing plan for the new Nokia Lumia 910G for the global market for the financial year of 2012-2013. After many years of unsuccessful handsets which have lead to a decline in growth, this handset is designed to regain the market share globally and for Nokia to lead into a new generation of developing low cost handsets with high end features with the added benefit of showing to the world that Nokia is environmentally conscious and a proud ambassador for protecting our very fragile planet. The company’s mission statement Everyone has a need to communicate and share. Nokia helps fulfill these needs and we help people feel close to what matters. We focus on consumers by providing very human technology† * Commitment to deliver outstanding and innovated products to our customers. We seek to become the number one electronics company throughout the world. * Focused to maintain outstanding relationship with all of customers and distribution partners globally. By maintaining our strong relationship our aim is to become once again the number one handset manufacture globally.The marketing plan will focus on the smartphone and the current line of smartphones that Nokia has introduced, it will outlined the detailed of the current promotion and marketing campaigns used and how it could further better those campaigns. The target market that this handset will be focused on is generation Z in particular, 15-22 year old males and females. This generation is the trend setters of today and are ‘digital natives’, it will also analyse relevant factors with the company including, competitors, customers and SWOT analysis.Table Of Contents Executive Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 Situation Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Macro Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Political Legal Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Technology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7-8 Competitor Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8-9 Consumer Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9-10 Internal Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Sales Market Share†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Brand Awareness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Promotional And Marketing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11-12 SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 13-14 Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 Target Market†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 16 Positioning Map†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 17 Marketing Mix Strategies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 18-20 Evaluation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 Implementation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 23 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 24 Introduction Nokia was first established in 1865 on the banks of Nokianvitra River in Finland by Fredrick Idestam.He would set up a wood pulp mill and produced paper, the original form of communication. It was later on were a merger took place with Finnish Rubber Works and Finnish Cable Works that gave birth to Nokia Corporation in 1965. The name of Nokia would be growing at a rapid rate, and eventually the company would be a major player for 31 network operators around the world. Nokia initially targeted low income people and first time mobile buyers, with the introduction of the 1100 series. Today the company has grown into the largest manufacturer and distributor of mobile phones.With the introduction of OVI (internet services for the Nokia Brand) in 2007, Nokia has now become a major player in the smart phone industry, and with its newly formed alliance with Microsoft Corporation and Windows Mobile, the sky is the limit for this iconic brand. Situational Analysis The major mobile handset suppliers in Australia now include brands such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Sonim, HTC, Palm, Blackberry, Garmin Asus, Alcatel and Apple iPhone. The cost has gone from over $5000 in 1981 (in car system) to Telstra’s cheapest model available today at $35.Mobile coverage, customers and functionality has changed dramatically over 30 years and together with the Internet, social media and affordability; mobil e communication has permanently changed the way in which people live and work. There are now an estimated 22 million mobile phone services in Australia as at 2011. (Budde. com, 2011). The mobile phone market in Australia is highly competitive in terms of both service and phone suppliers. In the area of service providers the dominant player is Telstra, although with a policy of competition, other organisations are developing strong competitive positions.Pre-paid and post paid plans also form a basis for competition between providers. The chart below provides an insight into both service providers and types of service in 2008. Item 3 on the chart includes â€Å"other† suppliers. Source: Mobility Magazine (2011) 10 (3). The Finnish Nokia Brand remains the world’s largest mobile phone producer; although its market share has dropped to 23. 9 percent (from 28. 2 percent last year), and Samsung, LG and Apple are showing strong growth. (IBT March 24 2011). Macroenvironment Eco nomic Environment Economic conditions affect the way in which consumers spend.They also affect the way in which companies spend on such things as product development, range and inventory of stock. The present world economic crisis in Europe has had an influence on both consumers and manufacturers. Global sales of all mobile phones showed a growth rate of 5. 6 percent in the third quarter (2011) compared to 16. 5 percent in the previous quarter. Global sales of Smartphones were also down from 74 percent growth to 42 percent in the third quarter whilst inventories have grown by 20 million phones during the same period. MobiThinking, 2011). Australia has shown better economic performance than that of most other countries, but this too is dependent on factors outside of its’ control. Given that the major manufacturers of mobile technology are multi-nationals, they will feel the effect of any economic downturn, which may also then be seen here. Consumers have shown reluctance worl dwide to purchase new phones during the European credit crisis, although this may be mitigated by consumers waiting for new flagship devices to be released. Gartner, 2011). Even if Australia is insulated from the full effects of a major economic downturn in the near future, it is likely to affect the purchasing intentions of the mobile phone market Political Legal Environment The telecommunications market is important to the domestic economy and as such is subject to political and legal constraints. Politics has led to opening the market to competition, and it is maintaining and strengthening competitive forces.In terms of service providers, they have to operate within a legal framework that is subject to political influence and overseen by such bodies as the Australian Competition and Consumer Council (ACCC) in accordance with Fair Trade and Trade Practices Acts. There is also protection of intellectual property, as well as trademark/design and brand protection in Australia that co mpanies have to consider when marketing their goods and services. Technology Technology has been an essential driver of the mobile phone market for both carriers and handset providers.The original AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) was launched in 1987 and provided an analogue or 1G service and by 1989 had 100,000 subscribers. In 1992, both Optus and Vodafone were licensed and the number of subscribers reached 500,000. In 1993 Telstra launched its new 2G network, and by 1996 there were over one million digital subscribers and 2. 5 million analogue users. Four years later the AMPS service ceased, however, by 2003 the first 3G network together with the Nokia e606 mobile phone allowed for both video calls and high-speed Internet access.By 2005 half the Australian population had a mobile phone, and at present (2011) there are more subscribers than people in Australia. (ActewAGL, 2009). In each stage of development carriers and phone manufacturers worked together to increase the range a nd variety of applications that could be performed by mobile devices, culminating with the issue of the Apple 4 iPhone in 2011. Ongoing development includes Apple’s new battery solution (Hydrogen Cell) that could power the iPhone for ‘weeks’ (AEDT, 2011).The different architecture or platforms used and being developed for the smartphone market will provide both marketing and technology-related opportunities. Operating Systems (OS) such as Palm and BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile, are all likely to increase competition and consumer choice in the market. Competitor Analysis: Both carriers and retailers/manufacturers operate in a dynamic and highly competitive market. There is a plethora of â€Å"deals† in the marketplace covering both service providers and retailers. Continual new product innovations have put pressure on companies to innovate or lose market share.For example, the Apple iPhone radically changed the product landscape realising phenomena l growth since its release in 2007. (Australian IT, 2011) The introduction of competing phones and platforms that offer advantages peculiar to an individual system is likely to fuel a continuation of the current technological â€Å"war†, which, combined with aggressive marketing from all the major suppliers, makes for an evolving and unpredictable mobile phone market. Mobile phone marketing strategies are aimed at both the business-to-business (B2B) market and the business to consumer market (B2C).Some of the strategies used include; multiple pricing (B2B) as in supplying all the phones for a specific company (eg. Origon Energy), bundling, where the phone and plan form the purchase and provide value for the bundle for both business and consumer markets, two for one deals, free talk time, (for a specified value above that which is paid for in the mobile phone plan), and many more. Customer/Consumer Analysis Customers can be classified in terms of business and non-business. The business sector is more rational, value driven and information hungry. Business customers will adopt a structured approach to analysing costs and, n the main, make choices based on full information. Consumers as individuals constitute a different market, with different needs and associated motivations. From the very beginning mobile phones were seen as status symbols, owning one increased one’s social standing and position. This still remains a key driver for innovators who will purchase new and improved phones as soon as they are available, and bask in their (perceived) increased social standing or â€Å"Street Cred†. Mobile phones have had a symbiotic relationship with social media such as Facebook and Twitter.One has supplied the other with the means to expand and capture a huge consumer audience. As such there has been considerable research conducted into other motivations, needs, and influences that affect the interface of mobile phones and social media. (Lenhart , 2009). For instance, Telstra has released consumer research showing how Australians use their mobiles to connect. It found:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   * 50 percent of Australians feel panic stricken within five minutes when they think they have lost their mobile phone; 25 percent panic after less than a minute. Nearly one third of Generation Y consumers check their mobile phones in the mornings before they use the bathroom, have breakfast, or go online. * Nearly half of Australians rank mobile phones as the innovation they value the most, more than the desktop computer to laptop and the oven to microwave. (SMH, 2011). Mobile phones are an integral part of a consumer’s life affecting the ways in which they conduct business and leisure activities. With the introduction of the Smart Phones, consumers now have the capacity to interact with one another in ways that have completely and radically changed the marketing landscape.Apart from using app lications for shopping online or as a means of supplementing high street purchases) they can now join communities and share opinions about goods and services that are really empowering them in the consumer decision-making process. Internal Environment Sales And Market Share The global mobile phone market is extremely competitive in terms of manufactures. In 2007 Nokia was number one handset manufacture, with a global market share of 38 percent, and estimated sales of â‚ ¬32 billion. Five years later, Nokia finds themselves losing their crown as number one handset anufacture to its long time completive rival, Samsung Electronics. Nokia’s market share has slumped to only 19. 8 percent in the handset market, which works out to be a 52. 1 percent decline from 2007. Nokia has just released its fiscal Q2 2012 financials. It’s reported â‚ ¬7. 5 billion in net sales, a slight increase from the â‚ ¬7. 4 billion last quarter. Net sales are down by five percent, and the operating loss is almost twice the value it was last quarter: â‚ ¬826 million compared to â‚ ¬487 million a year ago. Brand Awareness Nokia has built a reputation on being one of the world’s number one handset manufactures.Nokia initially targeted low income earners and first time mobile phone owners, but since has grown into a leading and innovating smart phone supplier to the world. The brand’s mission statement is heavily focused around communication. â€Å"Everyone has a need to communicate and share. Nokia helps fulfill these needs and we help people feel close to what matters. We focus on consumers by providing very human technology† Nokia’s brand is built around friendship, trust and customer loyalty. Building friendship and trust is at the heart of the brand, and this is visual communicated to customers by two hands shaking.Promotion And Marketing Currently Nokia is heavily promoting there Lumia family of Windows Phones on a massive global s cale. These include 4D projections and live music events. Along with Nokia pushing heavily the Lumia range, Microsoft has jumped on board and pushing hard with carries around the world to promote the Windows based handset, this is done with the â€Å"Smoked by Windows Phone† campaign. This camping was based around simply a bet where people would win a $100 if their non-Windows phones is quicker than the Lumia handset running the Windows Phone software.According to Nokia Australia's head of marketing, Jolaine Boyd, â€Å"This new brand proposition and campaign signals a new Nokia – a company that is thinking and doing things differently. Our aim is to fundamentally shift consumer perceptions and educate them about Nokia's new smartphone range. We want to put Nokia firmly in the consideration set and make the brand relevant again. † This current camping focuses, on Nokia’s global brand positioning and promoting â€Å"Amazing Everyday† which is heavil y focused around portraying the amazing thing we do as humans every day with a massive focus on social media and the youth of today.There are three core elements within this camping and they are, out of home, TV and digital. Boyd added, Australia has the highest smartphone penetration in the world at 37 per cent. The rise of smartphones is dramatically increasing the use of the internet overall in Australia. With this in mind the â€Å"Amazing Everyday† campaign, the current advertisement of the new Lumia range capitalises on these aspects, with bright and bold colours with simple statements. Some of these advertisements are below. SWOT Analysis Strengths Nokia incorporated has a rich history and a wealth of experience which spans well over a 100 years.The company has one of the largest networks of distribution and selling partners in the world. Currently Nokia has one of the largest R;D departments in the world, which has a strong financial backing with over 1. 4 billion USD which allows Nokia to keep producing new and revolutionary products for its customers. Nokia produces many different handsets for different people for their day to day use and pride themselves on building relationships and sustaining them. The build quality of Nokia handsets are at world class levels, which gives to a much higher resale value than its competitors.Weakness Nokia is a well-established company with many strengths, but is main strength has also turned out to be its biggest weakness. The handset giant unfortunately did not move along with the technological move that sweep through right after the turn of the millennium. With the introduction of the iPhone, the handset giant was consistently producing the same type of phone but with a different designs and still asking customer to pay premium prices. The handsets that were being produced were overpriced and customers wanted more from their Nokia’s.Customers became app crazy and with the introduction of social media on the go, Nokia was lagging behind. Bold moves by Nokia gave birth to the NGAGE, a portable gaming console. The handset was designed to make phone calls, send text and surf the web with the added advantage of being able to play your favorite â€Å"retro† on the go. The concept was great but unfortunately this radical all in one device was not accepted by the market, customers still prefer the iPhone. This then gave birth to the N97 a poorly created handset which was very clumsy and had outdated software. OpportunitiesThere are many opportunities at present for Nokia. One of these opportunities is for the company to enter new growing markets, such as the Indian market. â€Å"By entering a newly developing market it has an opportunity to increase its sales as well as the overall global market share. As the standard of living in India has increased so has the purchasing power of the people. By targeting the market at the right time Nokia can gain the most out of this situatio n†( Nokia SWOT Analysis). Nokia has been a leading the way for many years with its well-designed handsets, these designs have gave birth to other handsets such as the iPhone.With the addition of Cal Zeiss to the portfolio, Nokia now has outstanding cameras on their handsets as well. Threats Nokia has many competitors in the market that it must attach to maintain its position as the market leader. The threats are emerging handset manufactures in the market. Companies like Motorola, Sony, LG mobile, Apple and HTC. The manufactures are providing equal or better products and presenting to be tough competition for Nokia in the global market. These threats can be providing cheap phones, new features, new style/types, and premium after sales service.So the growing competition has created an uphill battle for Nokia. With global economic downfall Nokia has to produced premium quality handsets at competitive prices, if this issue is not tackled head on it could create greater problems f or Nokia in the future. Objectives Mission Statement â€Å"Everyone has a need to communicate and share. Nokia helps fulfill these needs and we help people feel close to what matters. We focus on consumers by providing very human technology† * Commitment to deliver outstanding and innovated products to our customers.We seek to become the number one electronics company throughout the world. * Focused to maintain outstanding relationship with all of customers and distribution partners globally. By maintaining our strong relationship our aim is to become once again the number one handset manufacture globally. Marketing Objectives * Increase sales by 10% within one year. Use innovative technologies, such as Nokia Kinetic a world first flexible LCD, the introduction of WP8 handsets, to increase our target audience's awareness to illustrate our competitive advantages. Refine current products. Improve current products to reach new markets based on unmet consumer needs. Sales Objecti ves * To achieve sales on 10,000 units per quarter across every carrier and to have net sales exceed $100,000 per month. * To gain 15 per cent of the total Australian market share with WP7 handsets and to achieve globally 30 per cent. Total marketing budget for WP7 handsets in 20 per cent. Target Market Primary Market 15-22 year old males and females, or better known as generation Z.Most members of this generation have spent their entire lives on the World Wide Web. Generation Z are a highly connected into technology – they are the trend setter. The generation has spent their whole lives around technology and new forms of communications, such as the World Wide Web, instant messaging, texting, iPods, mobile phones, Facebook, twitter and YouTube, giving them the new name of â€Å"digital natives†. These trend setters are no longer using the internet on their PC’s but rather it is on the go and carried in their pockets on their mobile phones.This generation is tren d setting however very lazy; they want something that is easy to use out of the box with no hassles. Market Positioning Nokia’s brand positioning should differentiate itself from the past. In the past Nokia handset was specially designed for low end users, while the N series was aimed at trend setters, it lacked substance and failed to capture the digital natives. With handsets that were out shadowed by the iPhone, Nokia quickly lost its majority market share. Nokia has to aggressively attack the smartphone market by specifically targeting the trend setters of today.The trend setters of today are driven by technology and want handsets that are easy to use, they are heavily driven by social media, and their social status is of the highest priority. The key strategy is to maintain its leadership and lower prices on smartphones while providing high end products for the masses. Positioning Map Innovation Samsung Samsung Nokia Nokia Future Positioning Future Positioning Apple Appl e Sony Sony Nokia Nokia Current Positioningnt Positioning Positioning Current Positioningnt Positioning Positioning High Price High Price Low Price Low Price LG Mobile LG MobileCompetitiveness Marketing Mix Strategies Product According to O’Connor ,B (2000) A well-thought-out marketing plan can give you the ability to exploit your competitors' weaknesses, adjust to any new competition, expand your service capabilities, strengthen customer relationships and minimize sales volume fluctuations. It will also help eliminate unproductive promotions and enable you to create and control the specific image you want to project. To have an impact on the market, Nokia needs a blockbuster – a single, stunning smartphone that puts the company back on the map alongside with Windows Phone.Windows Phone 8 has a lot of interest from various carriers, by taking advantage of all this, the company can get its groove back. The handset must be simple to use, jam packed with technology while upholding two key fundamental features – social media and easy to use. Nokia introduced a whole line accessories free of PVC, keeping in touch with this green aspect already adopted by Nokia, the Lumia 910G will have a specially designed solar panel will built into the back of the handset, as part of the battery cover.Ten minutes of sun exposure will get you three minutes of talk time and the phone's casing will be made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles. Other key features are, quad core processing power, 12 mega pixel camera with Carl Zies lens, Nokia flexible AMOLED screen. 4. 7 inch 4. 7 inch Solar Panel Solar Panel Recycled Materials Recycled Materials Place/Distribution Having already established a channel of distribution partners globally, the handset will be available through all major vendors globally as well as to be purchased through online vendors such amazon and Nokia online.The opportunity exists to expand through existing areas, but with heavy focus o n the Nokia online store. This channel present great opportunity as there is no overheads. Price Price for this handset is directly set against competitors like the Apple IPhone 4s and Samsung Galaxy S3. The handsets’ being manufactures offshore in China and allows entry into the market at $350 per unit. The pricing strategy is very aggressive, keeping in line with the market audience the handset is directed at.This handset will be the first smartphone with high end features for very low costs. Being of all recycled plastic design allows maximum build quality with minimum costs. Promotions The use of viral marketing is the quickest way to get the word out about the new handset, as the use of social networks will spread the message quicker. According to Berkowtiz, D (2010) blogs and social media can be useful for establishing direct communication between marketers and consumers, and they can contribute to establishing a larger share of voice in search engine results.One such e xample of this is the ‘Best job in the world campaign’ that involved getting a job in the topical islands of the great barrier reef. The campaign had generated so much interested that the publicity around it was worth well over $150 million and in the process highlighted Queensland as an ideally holiday destination. By heavily promoting the Smoked by Windows Phone† campaign, over social media sites, the word of the Lumia 910G will spread. Evaluation According to Harris, A (2010), there is a lack of strategy for using these new social media tools.It is often viewed as a technology issue, not a communications tool. Improving brand awareness and exposure involves creating an online presence, delivering key messages to a target audience and then building relationships with potential customers. Social media allows for these behaviors, as well as enhancing a company’s credibility. Social media is fairly new components to marketing, this type of marketing involve a company interested in increasing brand awareness and exposure to new and existing customers.By gaining the trust and respect of potential customers through frequent, but informal postings public relations teams may then assess the results of the marketing campaign. Although posting cannot be quantitatively measured, it can eventually lead to sales. According to Connor, A (2010) public relations professionals must develop creative strategies for linking online community participation to direct revenue. The interested fans having these conversations may be more inclined to purchase from their online friend than someone else.The will give an indication into measuring the sales volumes achieved through social media. From here, Nokia can determine if social medial marketing is worth the time that has been invested into. Implementation Conclusion This report sets out the marketing plan for the new Nokia Lumia 910G. The handset is made from recyclable plastic water bottles and sports a s olar panel on the back for additional power for the handset. It is a leading and innovating handset with superior features at the fraction of the price of its competitors.The handset is specifically aimed at the trend setters of today, the ‘digital natives’ The sales objectives is to achieve 10,000 units per quarter and to achieve a sales revenue of $100,000 per month. Back boning on the currently successful promotion ‘Smoked By A Windows Phone’ campaign and the use of social media the aim is to regain the majority of the globally market share and to become the number one handset manufacture in the world. Reference Berkowitz, David Social Marketing Advertising Age 81:8 (Feb 22,2010):54 Connor, Angela. Market With Social Media 21 Dec. 2009: Research Library, ProQuest.Web. 21 Feb. 2010. Harris, Angela. Does Social WORK? Measuring Community Effectiveness. EContent 1 Jan. 2010: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 22 Feb. 2010 O’Connor, Bob Motor 193. 3 (Mar 2000): p71-74 http://www. authorstream. com/Presentation/sanju152k-262736-nokia-final-education-ppt-powerpoint/ http://www. campaignbrief. com/2012/03/version10-starthtml0000000149-190. html http://www. informationweek. com/news/mobility/smart_phones/232901759 http://www. marketing91. com/swot-nokia/ http://www. moyeamedia. com/blog/? p=2361 http://techland. time. com/2012/07/20/lets-be-realistic-about-nokias-chances/

Religion, Spirituality, and Health Status in Geriatric Outpatients Essay

Daaleman, Perrera and Studenski wished to re-examine the effect of religiosity and spirituality on perceptions of older persons, operationalized as geriatric outpatients. The authors proceeded from two conceptual constructs.   The first is that self-reported health status is central to aging research.   The old know whereof they speak.   Self-ratings are valid because they correlate well with health status over time and, consequently, health service utilization.   The second construct is that, no matter how morally they lived as young adults, those in late middle age come to embrace religion and spirituality with more fervor. Prior research had scrutinized the relationship between religion and health perceptions.   Some results were inconclusive, an outcome that the authors attributed to failure to control for such covariates as spirituality. Definitions vary, the authors acknowledged, but they proposed defining â€Å"religiosity† as principally revolving on organized faith while â€Å"spirituality† has more to do with giving humans â€Å"meaning, purpose, or power either from within or from a transcendent source.†Ã‚   In turn, the dependent variable was measured by a single-item global health from the Years of Healthy Life (YOHL) scale, a self-assessment of general health (would you say your health in general is †¦) and a 5-item Likert response from excellent to poor. Fieldwork consisted of including a 5-item measure of religiosity15 and a 12-item spirituality instrument in a 36-month health service utilization, health status, and functional status study among 492 outpatients of a VA and HMO network, all residents of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The authors were remiss in not formally articulating their hypotheses for the study though one gleans that the alternative hypothesis could have stated, â€Å"Structured religion, a deep sense of spirituality, mental status and mobility, and personal and demographic variables materially influence measures of health status and physical functioning.† In the end, the data was subjected to univariate and multivariate best-fit statistics.   The key findings: Table 2. Predictors of Self-Reported Good Health          Status (N = 277)                Factor* Unadjusted OR (95% CL    Adjusted OR (95% CI)       Age 0.94 (0.89–0.99)†        Male 0.72 (0.41–1.25)†¡       White race 2.79 (1.51–5.17) § 3.32 (1.33–8.30) ¶ Grade school 0.1 (0.02–0.49) ¶       Some high school 0.28 (0.06–1.44)†¡       High school graduate 0.24 (0.05–1.14)†¡       Technical/business school 0.29 (0.06–1.43)†¡       Some college 0.31 (0.06–1.49)†¡       Not depressed (GDS) 32.4 (4.03–261) §       Physical functioning(SF36-PFI) 1.04 (1.03–1.05) § 1.03 (1.01–1.04) § Quality of life (EuroQol) 1.69 (1.41–2.01)†  1.36 (1.09–1.70)†  Religiosity (NORC) 0.93 (0.85–1.02)†¡       Spirituality (SIWB) 1.15 (1.10–1.21) § 1.09 (1.02–1.16)†  OR = odds ratio; CI = confi dence interval; GDS = Geriatric Depression Scale; SF36-PFI = Physical Functioning Index from SF-36; NORC = National Opinion Research Center; SIWB = Spirituality Index of Well-Being.          *Referent factors: age-1 year younger; female, nonwhite; college graduate; GDS score of 0-9; PFI-index of 1 less; EuroQol-score of 0.1 less; SIWB-score of 1 less. †  P = .01.                †¡ P = NS.                 § P

Explain the Main difference between Act and Rule Utilitarianism (it can also be used to explain the main difference between Bentham and Mill)

Explain the Main difference between Act and Rule Utilitarianism (it can also be used to explain the main difference between Bentham and Mill) Explain the main differences between Act and Rule UtilitarianismUtilitarianism is a theory, which first became widely acknowledge when it was adopted by its greatest advocate Jeremy Bentham. It is a theory that maintains that it is an action's total consequence that determines its moral correctness. It is a theory not concerned with the effects of the action on the individual carrying out the action, but instead the effect it has on everybody affected by the action. It also maintains that it is happiness that is key to life's conquest, and hence happiness that is the determination of right or wrong. Very simply if an actions consequence cause happiness, then the action is right, if it causes pain, or destroys happiness then the action is wrong. The main philosophy of the theory of Utilitarianism is to create the greatest happiness for the greatest number.Jeremy Bentham, and his disciple John Stuart Mill have become recognised as the two greatest sponsors of Utilitarianism.From http:/ /hypernews.ngdc.noaa.govBentham is known for his popularisation of the more traditional version of the theory, know as Act Utilitarianism. Although a student of Bentham, Mill could see problems in what he was being taught and so began to develop his own views on Utilitarianism, which are now known as Rule Utilitarianism.Bentham was a great traditionalist believer in the expression, "the greatest good for the greatest number." Bentham called this principle the principle of utility. With "utility" here referring to the tendency of an action to produce happiness, not its usefulness. It is the aim of Act Utilitarianism to fulfil to the greatest extent the principle of utility.Act Utilitarianism focuses solely on the consequences of the action. The motives and the reasons why actions are carried out are trivial in determining the moral rightness of the action;...

Citibank Review Essays - Citigroup, Payment Systems, Credit Cards

Citibank Review Essays - Citigroup, Payment Systems, Credit Cards Citibank Review CITIBANK Case Study This is a monumental assignment for any team of corporate and financial wizards, but for the purposes of this assignment I will keep it simple. This scenario suggests numerous barriers and hurdles that seem almost impossible to overcome. Choosing to enter these socially, politically and economically different markets will require ingenious marketing techniques and an unsecured commitment to achieving success where the possibility seems extremely dim. Given the data in the case, I would choose to enter this region and commence a blanket introduction of credit card sales. Having traveling extensively to this region, I can personally relate to the difficulties presented by many of these cultures. Taking the lessons Ive learned in the past few weeks, I believe there is an element of possibility utilizing marketing and advertising techniques already proven in this region. Rana Talwars closing comments about having to make this decision alone is completely correct. Several references in the case display the optimism and pessimism exhibited by several members of the Citibank team. Any decision will not be without criticism, but I believe he has all the required tools to succeed in this region. From the outset, there are a few markets and countries that are extremely attractive and will produce success in developing the credit card market. A few countries are extremely dangerous and would provide several dangerous hurdles to overcome. In the middle are a few markets that dont appear to be extremely lucrative, but reading between the lines, provide avenues for success. I chose to analyze each country separately and provide and finalized solution in summation. The values I extracted from the case for my analysis are as follows: $2 million for advertising in each country, $35 million each for infrastructure support for the initial 250,000 customers, $25 per customer for distribution, and I used income values for each company by taking the Competing Product Profile prices for each companys low-end credit card expenses (Exhibit 9). Australia Assessing this country doesnt take a degree in global economics. It is notoriously stable, with a Political/Economic rating of A. It possesses an annual GNP of $196.8 billion in 1998, with a fairly high 5-year inflation average of 7.1%. One of the attractive attributes of this country is that only 10.5% of the population carries a credit card already, and 80% of current card carriers reside in the upper three income categories. Each Australian has an average bank balance of $24,000 with a savings rate of 6.7%. With Australias already established banking industry and civilized society, I believe it possess great growth potential for introduction of the Citibank credit card. Break-Even Analysis: $2 mil + $35 mil = 740,000 new credit card customers $75 - $25 ** (An additional $10 million to $15 million for each additional 250,000 credit card customers) =Joining fee and annual fee from American Express Green (Exhibit 9) Hong Kong With an already established Credit Card business, the case suggests a few alternatives for Citibank to expand its customer base in Hong Kong. I agree with these comments, but I would be remiss if I did not interject a few comment s about the economy in Hong Kong and the influence of the impending transfer of power from the England back to the government of China at the end of the century (2000). The case does not mention the perplexity of the change over and any impact that would come from this political change, but I cant help but assume that it has to play a role in the decision made in 1989. I view these decisions as having to be immediate. I say this because the concept of cross-marketing Citibank products into other avenues of the financial arena is a fantastic idea, but any moves that are made must be implemented and solidified prior to the political changeover. Citibank must recognize that attempts to enter this market near or after the changeover in political power would result in additional barriers that may make these implementations impossible. The immediate (1989) possess a great opportunity for Citibank. India I am extremely skeptical about this market. This country probably possesses the greatest challenge in the entire region. Enticing is the vast population (797 million) and enormous GNP ($222.5 million, both surpassing every country in the case analysis. Perplexing is the high

18 Steps That Will Help You Quit a Job That You Hate

18 Steps That Will Help You Quit a Job That You Hate Is your job awful? Or just profoundly unfulfilling, and not challenging or helping you to grow in the most important ways for your career? If you know you’re not really where you need to be but you’re plagued by the what ifs, consider taking these 18 steps to see whether it might be scarier to stay at your job than working up the courage to quit and moving on to another opportunity. 1.  Think long and hard about your life and your choices.Are you living the life you want, or used to dream of? Or are you letting your shots be called by what is expected of you, or what you perceive you should be doing? Take a step back and see where you stand. Are you working towards great things? Or are you mired in mediocrity? If you’re not living the life you desire, and you find yourself being passive in your choices, start taking active steps to change that. Live by design, not by default.2. Fear the â€Å"if only† more than the â€Å"what if.†As scary as it is to start over (at any point in your career), isn’t it scarier to think of yourself regretting having stayed put several years down the line? Regret rarely shows up until it’s too late. Try to fear failure less than dissatisfaction when your chances at another chance dry up.3. Think, What’s the worst that can happen?†Imagine the absolute worst case scenario. All your gravest what-ifs. What does that look like? Clearly define what your biggest fears coming true might look like. Then ask yourself, â€Å"So what?† Is it livable? Workable? Even, perhaps, preferable to your current situation?4. Trust your gut.If there’s a nagging little voice in you telling you to quit and go after something better? Chances are you’re right. Listen to yourself and act deliberately to affect the change you crave. Think of it as your inner GPS.5. Trust what you love.Have the confidence to know that you’ll be better off- and much happier- if you’ re doing what you love. Even if you’re doing something you just like more. If you can’t get to your dream job in one leap from your current one, try a stepping stone. Anything is better than stagnation, particularly when you aren’t happy where you are. Think of all the time and energy you’re putting into what you don’t love. Imagine how much better you could be and feel!6. Make decisions based on happiness.Studies actually suggest that happiness fuels success and good performance- rather than the other way around. Build a life and career around what makes you happy and the rest should follow, crazy as it sounds.7. Set a  good example for others.Visualize your little sister or your best friend’s kid in your shoes. Now imagine them copying your choices and your solutions. Does this make you cringe? Inspire future mentees by pursuing what you really want and need most out of life.8. Live in the current moment.It’s important to keep an eye on the future. But it’s just as important to stay grounded in reality. Be realistic about what you can and can’t accomplish from where you are right now. What can you actually do now? Start there.9. Don’t despair.You are not alone. What you feel is totally normal and human and a lot of people out there are going through the same exact thing. Take comfort in that fact.10. Get clear on your purpose.You want a change, but why? Get clear on why you are unhappy, why you are leaving, why you’re taking the risk. As long as you stay on message, you’ll stay focused and can trust that you’re moving in the right direction.11. Get to know your own gifts.We all have our own unique talents and strengths. Let your passions lead you to understand yours and then lead with that. Trust yourself and show the world what you have to offer.12. Build a web of support.Find people who support, inspire, and motivate you. Who think like you do and are open to the s ort of life you want to lead. Build a network of these people, both business and personal, in person and online.13. Realize you might have to take a risk to make a gain.A small risk now, or a small sacrifice even, can pay large dividends down the road. Bet on yourself and figure out how to be a winner when the chips are down.14. Aim to please†¦ yourself.Imagine yourself on your deathbed. Are you proud of current you? Try living in such a way that would put a smile on the face of your past selves. Make sure you end up fulfilled and content with what you’ve chosen.15. Remember timing can be everything.But that doesn’t mean you have to wait for the perfect conditions for a change or a leap of faith. Perfect conditions will never appear. You’ll never be 100% prepared to make a major switch. Align as many stars as you can, but remember that sometimes you have to accept that things may never be perfect. Neither can you. Do what you can in the moment that presents itself.16. Trust the path.You may not be able to see where all this leads, but if you’re following your gut and staying true to your purpose (and reality), you can trust that it will take you where you need to go. Focus only on the next step.17. Get comfy with uncomfortable.Change is scary and uncomfortable. New is hard and daunting. Make being uncomfortable your new comfortable. Make this part of your journey.18. Have faith, not fear.Both faith and fear are kinds of uncertainty. Focus on what you do want, rather than what you don’t. And take active steps to make that happen. Don’t just sit back and worry that it won’t be possible.You never have any guarantees of how anything will turn out. But if you listen to yourself and make mindful choices in your life, you won’t go too far wrong.

Organization Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Organization Development - Essay Example Therefore, it is indeed beneficial to understand the organization’s performance well in order to identify its most viable opportunities. The cosmetic organization has been in operation for the past three years, and over the years, it has managed to establish a steady graph of improved performance each year. Despite this success, the managers of the organization have identified that the organization still has the potential to perform much better. The marketing department of the organization has realized that most of the customers are requesting a variety of the cosmetic products. Therefore, this is one reason as to why the organization needs to undertake the process of organizational development. One other reason for organizational development is seeking to acquire current technology and diversify its operations according to the acquired technology. The management has also noted that the company has the potential to improve the quality of its products by changing its operational procedures. Therefore, organizational development will act as a key direction of acquiring the new operational procedures. Being an organization that deals with cosmetics, the company covers a wide variety of clients, ranging from young people to the aged, both male and female. Therefore, this implies that the process of organizational development will affect a large number of people. From the data collected in the markets covered by the organization, the customers expect that the organization will develop a new variety of products after the development process. The clients also expect that the organizational development will not lead to fluctuation or hiking of prices. It is also the expectation of buyers that the development process will be able to accommodate each and every user of the cosmetic products. Users of the old products also expect that the organization will still continue supplying them even

To do activity on arrow network plus a chart and small questions Essay

To do activity on arrow network plus a chart and small questions - Essay Example The rest remain unchanged. Where staff are not interchangeable or the project involves more than one type of resources, resource scheduling becomes complex. It becomes necessary to smooth, within the same schedule, each category of resources separately. Leveling would be very difficult and the decision on the optimum would depend on the judgment of the project manager. The minimum completion time for this project is 45 weeks. The critical paths involve activities BCE and BCG. Any delay on any of these activities would lead to a delay in the overall project. Activities A, D and F have float. There may be delays or expansions on the activities, to the extent of the floats, without affecting the finish time for the project. Apart from the finish-to-start dependencies, an activity-on-node also represents other dependencies. The dependencies include Start-to-Start dependencies, Finish-to-Finish dependencies as well as Start-to-Finish dependencies (Field and Keller, 2007, p.199). A Finish-to-Finish dependency requires that one activity has to finish for the second activity to finish. The two activities may finish simultaneously. The Start-to-Finish dependency requires that the first activity should start before the second activity can finish (Field and Keller, 2007, p.200). In a Start-to-Start dependency, the start of one activity depends on the start of another activity. The second activity cannot start is the first is yet to start. For example, painting a wall would require the cleaning of the wall first. Applying a first coat of paint on the wall cannot therefore start unless cleaning of the wall has taken place. The two activities may run simultaneously but after the cleaning has

Nelson Mandela, A great leader of our Time Term Paper

Nelson Mandela, A great leader of our Time - Term Paper Example South Africa’s Nelson Mandela is one such leader who has captivated the imagination of the entire world, transcending geographical and political boundaries. He is the recipient of numerous, richly deserved awards and accolades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the 1988 United Nations’ Human Rights Award, the 1998 US Congressional Gold Medal , the 2002 US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the British Order of Merit. A commemorative stamp in Mandela’s honor was issued by the USSR in 1998. Zimbabwe declared ‘Mandela Day’ as a national holiday in 1990, and his statue was erected in London’s Parliament Square in 2007(Biography.com, n.d.). Nelson Mandela personifies exemplary leadership. Mandela himself argues that "I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances." (Brink, 1998, p.1). A study of his life and works gives us manifold insights into the workings and personality of this great leader. The mark of a leader is evident in every stage of Mandela’s life: as a young man, during his long incarceration, and as a senior citizen of the world. Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July, 1918, at Mvezo. In 1927, after the death of his father, Nonqaphi Nosekeni, principal advisor to the Thembu Chief, Jongintaba Dalindyebo, Mandela was adopted into the Xhosa chieftain’s family. He was a close observer of the tribal meetings under the chieftain, where every man was free to express his opinion on perfect terms of equality. Mandela admits that â€Å"My later notions of leadership were profoundly influenced by observing the regent and his court† (1994, Part One). Mandela, by his own admission, adopted the chieftains’ axiom for leadership, â€Å"a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind† (M andela, 1994, Part One). He developed the habit of giving everyone a patient hearing before expressing his own stand and always strived for consensus. Mandela remained a staunch supporter of the institution of traditional tribal chiefs as an integral part of African culture. In this context, it can be argued that Mandela himself was ‘a great man,’ born with innate traits of a leader. Mandela’s boyhood was spent cattle-herding. At the local mission school, he was named ‘Nelson.’ He joined the protest movement against apartheid as an undergraduate at the University College of Fort Hare. He was elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC) in his second year. Endorsing the vote of the majority of the students to boycott, in their agitation for better food and more student representative power, Mandela resigned his position. The University expelled Mandela. (Brink, 1998, p. 2). Here, we see the first evidence of his leadership, and ability to gener ate support and cooperation from his followers. He completed his B.A. through correspondence, and enrolled for his LLB. In 1952, he founded the law firm Mandela and Tambo, providing free and low-cost legal counsel to unrepresented blacks, who acknowledged his transformational leadership. His full-fledged political career commenced in 1943, when he joined the African National Congress (ANC). In 1944, Mandela, showing the initiative of a leader, co-founded the

Goes around comes around Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Goes around comes around - Essay Example If we help somebody at some stages of our life, we will be rewarded for it in future. During my school days I often studied in schools far away from my home which forced me to stay in hostels. Once a strange fellow approached me and told me that his money was stolen by somebody while he was travelling in a train and asked me, 50 dollars to reach his home. Though I was suspicious, I gave him the money and have forgotten about that incident. After around 5 year time, the same thing has repeated in my life in another location in another train. This time the victim was I and the help was extended by a military personnel. â€Å"What goes around you comes around†. If we adopt false means to gain materialistic advantages, at some point of our life we will be a victim of same sort of actions from our surrounding. I have a friend in Dubai who is working as a sales manager in a printing company. Most of the other sales guys working in other similar companies were fed up with my friend because of the illegal methods, he adopted for grabbing business. My friend believed that any methods can be adopted in business especially in sales for getting business. Ethics and morality were unknown words for him. He quiet often showed high quality printing materials to the customers for taking the order and used cheaper materials in production. He has purchased a brand new television set of a famous brand from a shopping mall in Dubai, which offered high percentage of discount on every consumer goods purchasing. After the warranty period was over, he had some problems with the television set and the technician has informed him that the actual circuit board use d inside the TV was a cheaper, second hand, and repaired one. â€Å"What goes around you comes around†. Those who are taking the sword to kill innocent people will be killed by the same sword. Veluppillai Prabhakaran, the chief of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) has caught

Presentation notes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presentation notes - Essay Example In the cost method, depreciation is charged in the income statement against income as an expense, and the value of the asset after deducting depreciation is carried to the balance sheet. In the revaluation method, any increase in future value of the asset, is recorded in the balance sheet and is recognized directly in equity under the head revaluation surplus. If the future value of an asset decreases then the decrease is recorded in the income statement as an expense item. Accounting for the revaluation method is beneficial if the future value of the assets increase since the inclusion of revaluation surplus will increase revaluation reserve, which will increase the value of equity of a company. But if the future value is on the verge of decrease it is better to consider the cost method instead of the revaluation method for the purpose valuation of assets on a long-term basis. The reason to this can be explained with the help of a small example given below- Question: A building was purchased by a company on 1st January 2009 at a cost of $100million. The company estimates the life-time of the asset to be 50years, and thus the asset is to be depreciated over 50years. The company decides to use the revaluation for determining the value of the buildings at the end of 2015. The value of the building at the end of 31st December 2015 was $80 million, as determined by an efficient valuer. Answer: Using the revaluation method as opted by the company- Value of the building on 1st January 2009= $100million Value of the building on 31st December 2015= $80million Therefore, Accumulated Depreciation= $20million ($100million-$80million). Thus the value at which the asset is to be carried in the balance sheet on 31st December 2015 is $80million. If the company had opted for the cost method of depreciation, then- Value of the building on 1st January 2009= $100million Life of the asset= 50years Therefore, Accumulated depreciation at the end of 6years on 31st December 2015= $100 million/50years * 6Years = $12million. Thus the value at which the asset is to be carried in the balance sheet on 31st December 2015 is $88million. Thus, from the above example it can be concluded that due to the use of revaluation method, a revaluation loss of $8million was suffered which is adjusted against the existing revaluation reserve of the company. It also led to the increase in the value of depreciation and decreased the value of the asset in the balance sheet. Increase in depreciation will affect the income adversely, as it will lead to a decrease of net income by $8million which will have a consequent effect on the balance sheet and will also impact the shareholders. Considering the above illustration, it is advisable to use the cost method to record the value of land and building of Rabbit Limited. Though revaluation method is considered to provide a more accurate record in terms of part replacement and depreciation, yet it is criticized on the grounds that the amount o f depreciation charged on a particular asset differs year to year though the asset provides the same benefits, which make the accounting system complex and time consuming, and sometimes it is said to have chances of manipulation. So as stated by the director of Rabbit ltd. that the prices of the value of real estate are on the verge of decreasing, so it will be better to use the

Goes around comes around Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Goes around comes around - Essay Example If we help somebody at some stages of our life, we will be rewarded for it in future. During my school days I often studied in schools far away from my home which forced me to stay in hostels. Once a strange fellow approached me and told me that his money was stolen by somebody while he was travelling in a train and asked me, 50 dollars to reach his home. Though I was suspicious, I gave him the money and have forgotten about that incident. After around 5 year time, the same thing has repeated in my life in another location in another train. This time the victim was I and the help was extended by a military personnel. â€Å"What goes around you comes around†. If we adopt false means to gain materialistic advantages, at some point of our life we will be a victim of same sort of actions from our surrounding. I have a friend in Dubai who is working as a sales manager in a printing company. Most of the other sales guys working in other similar companies were fed up with my friend because of the illegal methods, he adopted for grabbing business. My friend believed that any methods can be adopted in business especially in sales for getting business. Ethics and morality were unknown words for him. He quiet often showed high quality printing materials to the customers for taking the order and used cheaper materials in production. He has purchased a brand new television set of a famous brand from a shopping mall in Dubai, which offered high percentage of discount on every consumer goods purchasing. After the warranty period was over, he had some problems with the television set and the technician has informed him that the actual circuit board use d inside the TV was a cheaper, second hand, and repaired one. â€Å"What goes around you comes around†. Those who are taking the sword to kill innocent people will be killed by the same sword. Veluppillai Prabhakaran, the chief of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) has caught

READING GUIDE FOR EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPORTUNITY AND THE CRITERION Assignment

READING GUIDE FOR EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPORTUNITY AND THE CRITERION OF EQUAL EDUCATIONAL WORTH - Assignment Example A. The question of equal access arises when viewed from the point of view of race and gender. In the formal structure of educational institutions, no bias exists in admission/imparting education on the basis of race and gender. Such institutions provide opportunity to all students and foster racial and gender equality. Legally sanctioned racial barriers are non-existent. B. The goal of equal educational opportunity needs to transcend the legal boundaries of equality. Equal access is not a self-contained stage. According to Howe â€Å"extraneous psychological and social factors† can impact a person’s educational opportunities. The author cites an example supporting his viewpoint: â€Å"For example, the educational opportunities that a monolingual Chinese-speaking child enjoys in a school that is conducted exclusively in English are hardly equal to those that a monolingual English-speaking child enjoys.†(Howe, 330) As such the system of equal educational opportunities is more important than the features of educational institutions. C. The characteristics that an individual brings to the institution should be utilized in such a manner so that it stands to benefit the other students and the institution as a whole. It should not be considered as a problem but should be converted into an opportunity. As such interaction between individuals and educational institutions assumes importance. Equality attains new dimensions. A. Treating differentially is inclusive of the concept of treating equal. The author substantiates this statement by stating, â€Å"In terms of the preceding example, showing equal respect for the needs, interests and capabilities of monolingual Chinese-speaking children requires that they be treated differently than English-speaking children.†(Howe, 330) B. Some of the characteristics that disadvantage people and need to be

Friedrich Froebels Ideas On the Role of Play In the Early Years Education Essay Example for Free

Friedrich Froebels Ideas On the Role of Play In the Early Years Education Essay Play is probably the very first thing that comes to our minds when we start thinking about our childhood. Certainly its hard to talk about early years without referring to play, as it is a part of childrens natural behaviour, embedded in their spontaneous day-to-day life. The fact that the play is enjoyable is generally agreed, but the value of play in school, however, has been in the centre of much debate in the past (and it seems like that debate is still going on today). The roots of contemporary understanding of the role of play in early childhood education extend clearly to Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who organized and systematized the methods of early childhood in accordance with the idea of the spontaneous, self-sustaining nature of children (E. Evans, 1971, p. 43). Froebel believed that every child had within him all he was to be at birth, and that the proper educational environment was to encourage the child to grow and develop in the most favourable manner. Young children are to be regarded and tended essentially like plants. Like these, if they were given the right conditions, they would grow and unfold and flower, by their own law, each according to its individual capacity and destiny. (E. Lawrence, 1969, p. 195) In his study of child-nature one of the most marked characteristics, which attracted Froebels attention, was the childs inborn desire for activity, which reveals itself in play. According to Froebel, play is the freest active manifestation of the childs inner self which springs from the need of that inner living consciousness to realize itself outwardly. (H. Bowen, 1907, p. 116) Froebel made a significant contribution to early childhood education by seeing play as a process in which children bring to realization their inner nature. He recognized that children began to learn as soon as they began to interact with the world, and he reasoned that since the interaction was mostly in the form of play, the way to educate a child was through play, as a means of awakening and developing the active and presentative side of his nature; wherefore none, not even the simplest gifts from a child, should ever be suffered to be neglected. (F. Froebel, 1901, p. 77) Froebels continuous studies of the function of play in a childs life came to fruition in the concept of the Kindergarten ? a place where children instruct and educate themselves and where they develop and integrate all their abilities through play. Froebel believed that play provided the means for a childs intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. Games were not just idle time wasting, but the most important steps in the childs development, and they were to be watched by teachers as clues to how the child is developing. It is through play that the child learns the use of his limbs, of all his bodily organs, and with this use gains health and strength. Through play he comes to know the external world, the physical qualities of the objects which surround him, their motions, action, and reaction upon each other, and the relation of these phenomena to himself, ? a knowledge that forms the basis of that which will be his permanent stock for life. (H. Bowen, 1907, p. 101) However, Froebel didnt think that the play of young children should be unprompted at all times. For him the skill of adults was in knowing how and when to intervene, how to support and extend childrens play to help them to grasp and to try out their learning in concrete ways. (T. Bruce, 1997, p. 23) To stimulate learning through well-directed play Froebel designed a series of instructional materials, which he called gifts and occupations.

Comparing different international HRM strategies

Comparing different international HRM strategies Human Resources Management is a planned approach to managing people effectively for performance. It aims to establish a more open, flexible management style so that staff will be motivated, developed and managed in a way that they can give their best to support departments missions. Good HRM practices are instrumental in helping departmental objectives and enhance productivity. For the purpose of sharing expeience and providing reference in launching HRM initiatives. HRM Good Practices Since launching HRM movement in 1994 in the civil service, Civil Service Bureau has sponsore and individual departments have introduce various HRM initiatives. In taking HRM forward, we need strategic and integrated approach in managing people effectively for performance. In taking a strategic and integrated approach, HRM is linked to the department strategic direction in a systematic way. Such an approach is often reflected in the following practices clarifying a department strategic direction by way of articulating its Vision, Mission and Values statement; establishing the strategic linkage and integrating HR programmes through a HRM Plan projecting its short to long term human resource need through a Manpower Plan. At the same time, all manager must adopt a more open, flexible and caring style in managing their staff. Such an approach is reflected in number of ways. The three most common practices are managing people effectively for performance through an open Performance Management System that call for individual objectives tied to departmental objectives, regular coaching, and developing staff on job; enhancing staff competencies to perform better through effectively training people to achieve departmental objective and results LITREATURE REVIEW 1)Similarities and Differences in Human Resource Management in the European Union Sources: Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 45(6) 729-755 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ November-December 2003  © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). European authors have acknowledged that HRM originally developed in the United States.. European writer; Hendry Pettigrew, have been critical of apply American HRM views to other countries, especially Europe.Such criticism is entirely valid. A theoretical or practice HR model developed in the cultural context of one country should not indiscrimiately applied to another country without testing the cultural biases of its assumption..While the U.S. influence in HRM has been criticized,there is also a particular fondness among some European HRM academic writers to compare and contrast European with U.S. HRM. Brewster and Bournois posed the following question as a point of departure to justify such a comparison, To what extent there is sufficient similarity in Europe to require us to question whether there may not be significant difference between HRM in Europe as a whole and the United States of America? The comparison point out that in Europe, HRM is less dependent,companies have less autonomy and freedom of action, trade unionism is more important, the social partners have more influence,legal regulations are more important, and there is a stronger tradition of employee involvement. Brewster and Hegewisch push the comparison between European and American HRM even further and justify the existence of a European HRM model based on these differences. They conclude that,There are identifiable difference between the way in which HRM is conducted in Europe and that of the United States, a difference which allows us to speak of a European form of HRM . Brewster and Bournois also speak of two paradoxical trends that run through HRM in Europe. On the one hand there are clear country difference that can be understood and explained in the context of each national culture and its manifestations in history, laws, institutions, and employee organizations. On the other hand, there is an difference between the ways in which HRM is conducted in Europe vs the United States Brewster has made important contribution in pioneering the notion that there is a European HRM tradition distinct from others.He must be credited with being the first to attempt to develop a European model of HRM distinct from existing U.S. model. His European HRM model locates organizational issues within sectorial and national influences. However, according to Clark and Mallory , Brewsters European model has four main problems. First, talking abut European HRM is an example of reductionism that fails to take into account the cultural diversity of the European nations. Second,Brewster overestimates the level of autonomy enjoyed by HR manager and organizations in the United States. Third, his model is potentially culturally conditioned and inherently ethnocentric. 2) Changes in HRM in Europe: A longitudinal comparative study among 18 European countries Sources: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ To examine HRM strategies and practices and HRM position within organizations in various cultural, economic and sociopolitical contexts from a longitudinal perspective. Findings The overall picture is that the 18 countries form two major clusters. Countries in Europe can be systematically clustered in a North/West-South/East distinction, regarding HRM practices. There is no indication of convergence between the major clusters. However, movement from one cluster to another was observed, with Italy and East Germany moving to the North-western cluster. Research limitations/implications The level of analysis, which is HR practice at a national) and regional level, is a methodological limitation of the present study. Analysis at this level conceals qualitative differences between countries, which are important in the contextual paradigm. Practical implications The issue of convergence in HR practices has important implications for HR managers in multinationals who operate in Europe and the transferability of HR practices. Originality/value This paper addresses the issue of whether over time there is an increasing Europeanisation (convergence) of HRM practices in Europe or not, by studying HR practices in 18 European countries. 3) Employers Find An Innovative Way To Escape The Growing Expense Of Providing References Sources:www.workpass.co.uk/calculator UK Unemployment is at its highest for over a decade and still rising fast. One unexpected impact of this trend has been to increase the administrative burden on Human Resource departments, whose staff are required to provide references for the rising number of former employee who are seeking jobs. Added to that is the growing scrutiny of landlord and lending organisation seeking to authenticate the salary detail of current employees, in the wake of recent scandals about irresponsible lending. It is all making managing references unacceptably time-consuming and costly for HR team, at a time when most businesses are seeking to find new efficiencies and save money. As a result, more and more employers are choosing to entrust reference management to the specialists at WorkPass. Using WorkPass is one of those rare things in business: a genuine no-brainer. Its an innovative, online solution thats able to handle all kinds of reference requests relating to both previous employees looking for work and current ones looking for, say, a bank loan or to rent a property. WorkPass is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verifile Ltd the UKs leading provider of pre-employment screening services. Its services are fully compliant with the Data Protection Act -which means that using WorkPass helps businesses pass the common compliance challenges associated with providing references over to WorkPass, thereby reducing their risks. Ben-Cohen continues: We take data protection very seriously. Thats why we make sure that each employee has control over who can access their data by letting them generate consent codes which provide controlled access to their details on our site. As well as effortlessly maintaining high levels of compliance, clients can provide a platinum service that enhances the good reputation of their organisation, while freeing up costly HR resource, helping them to deliver real and rapid cost savings. Uniquely on the market, WorkPass is offered as a free service to employers and employees. Reference-seekers instead pay a small access fee for the benefit of getting accurate and speedy responses to their online queries, often within seconds saving them time and money as well. Employers can offer a flexible choice of reference though WorkPass. These include providing basic references, confirming only dates of employment and position held; detailed references of the sort usually sought by financial institutions requiring confirmation of salary; and customised references, such as those required under compromise agreements. 4) The Human Resource Development function: the ambiguity of its status within the UK public service Source: http://ras.sagepub.com/cgi/content Improving performance thrugh better employee development practice is a recurrent theme within the UK public sector. Human Resource Development is seen as playing a pivotal role in this process. This article will review the role, structure and status of HRD with in the UK public service. It will consider the apparnt paradox that exists. On the one hand, the HRD function is reported to have a vital role in the developent of those working within public service organizatons. On the other hand, some hold the view that the reshaping the function is diminishing its status and influence. The article draws on the findings of the first phase of study examining the role, structure and status of the HRD function in UK public sector organization. Findings suggest that how the HRD function is presented and represented is problematic. 5) The Unique Recruiting and Human Resources Practices in Japan SOURCES:The Unique Recruiting and Human Resources Practices in Japan By Ames Gross and Larry Hewes Spring 1997 Published in International HR Journal EXECUTIVE SUMMARY à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Foreign firm attempting to enter the Japanese market must first acquaint themselves with Japans labor laws and human resource practices in order to be successful. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Although not required by statute, in Japan, workers generaly have lifetime employment with a single company. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In Japan, promotions and increaes in responsibility are usually based on seniority, rather than solely on merit, and the promotion of a younger employee over more senior co workers can cause discomfort in the workplace. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ While Japan does have a national health system, many foreign company enroll their workers in a private health insurance plan, which are offered by foreign insurance companies. As matter of background, the Japanese economy is now recovering from a long period of recession and stagnation. It is a huge economy in world term, second only in power and size to that of the United States. In many way, Japans economy is superior to that of the United States; for example, Japan is the worlds largest creditor nation while the United States is the largest debtor nation. Japan run a trade surplus while the United States has a deficit, and the savings rate of Japans citizens far that of the United States. Japan has a population of 130 millions people, and its society which has been for centuries, and even during several decades, closed is opening up more and more to foreign commerce. For example, there are many more foreign car in Japan now than there were just 10 years ago, and hundreds of U.S. and European company now do business in Japan. Given the size of its market and its economic power, it behaves almost any U.S. business to look seriously at doing business with Japan. For some companies those whose products are so unique or who simply do not have the resources to establish a physical presence in Japan purely exporting may work, however, setting up an office in Japan and, of course, recruiting and hiring staff are the best way to go. However, one cannot do this successfully without understanding what the human resources issues and labor laws in Japan are, and how the written and unwritten traditions governing business and employment operate in that country. The purpose of this article is to provide foreign employer with some guideline on this subject. Recruiting, hiring, firing, termination, out placement, salary, title, and other basic subjects are covered. 6) The transferability of Japanese HRM practices to Thailand Jun Onishi Hirosaki University, Aomori, Japan This research examined the transferability of Japanese human resource management to Thailand. Attitude toward life-time employment, seniority system, consensual decision-making, quality circle, and house unions were considered. The sample included 560 managers and staff of Japanese companie in Thailand. The results indicate that all five practice except seniority are transferable. The Thai employees have more positive attitudes toward consensual decision-making, quality circles and house unions than the Japanese managers in the Japanese manufacturers in Thailand. Some Japanese managers think that consensual decision-making and quality circle are not appropriate or accepted in Thailand. This belief may limit the implementation of these practices. Regarding seniority, both the Japanese manger and the Thai employees agreed that performance should be evaluated by achievement, but years of service should be part of evaluation criteria. OBJECTIVES 1.To study HRM practices in Europe 2. To study structures operating within international companies across Europe. 3.To study the structure and operation of the European Union 4.To study the corporate culture in Europe RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research would be undertaken through secondary data.The data collected from 1.Journals 2.Magazines 3.Internet 4.Books HR PRACTICES IN EUROPE HR in perspective across Europe A brief look at the economic and social context of the fifteen longer-established EU member states. Austria joined the EU in 1995. It has benefited greatly from both physically and linguistically close to Germany and it holds key position on transalpine transport routes. This small, but highly efficient, central European state has well-developed system of labour relations, a high level of employee involvement and a welfare system that, although generous, nevertheles incorporates a sufficient incentive to remain in work. Denmark has driven up its wage level to be the highest in the world by heavily taxing employees and relying heavily on collective bargaining to regulate pay and employment condition. However, it has one of the most skilled workforce in Europe and has been a pioneer in flexible working methods. This has helped Denmark to achieve high, sustained productivity level in recent years. Finland joined the EU in 1995. It has few natural resources and a complex language that could easily have become a barriers to international trade. However, it has been able to take full advantages of EU and eurozone membership to achieve a low level of price inflation and invest in its human capital to produce a highly skilled workforce. The Finnish economy has also benefited by employers being able to tap into ready supply of labour from the Baltic states. France has low level of unionisaton, but highly militant trade unions. The official stance towards foreign-owned multinational enterpries has often been hostile and there has been a tendency to overreact to corporate restructuing by the application of penal sanctions. The 35-hour week has not been a success and the French govenment is now trying to unpick itself from many of its past policies. Germany is the biggest and by far the most succesful of the older EU states. During the last two decades it has achieve a difficult transition in its eastern states from a system of state-run monopolie to a modern market economy. Complete integration has not, however, been fully achieved and a 20% wage gap still exists between eastern and western states. Neither has Germany been able to significanly narrow the equal pay gap between male and female employees. Greece joined the EU in 1981. It continues to be a country with many small employers, generally poor labour relations and government that have frittered away much of the economic gain from EU accession through unprodutive public spending and early retirement schemes. Statutory work obligations are commonly flouted, paricularly in leading sectors such as construction. Government employment data is generally weak, out of date and uneliable. Greece relies very heavily upon its tourism and agricultural industries and has not been successful at attacting a sustained volume of major inward investment projects. Moreover, it has never fully expited its physical location close to major external markets in the Middle East. Ireland provides the best ex within the EU of a small country overcoming its lack of natural resources and peripheral geogaphical position to become a true tiger economy. This has largely been achiev through a low rate of corporation tax, a sustained inward investment strategy and an open-door policy towards immigants from central and eastern Europe. Ireland has not focused on being a low-wage location, but has concentrated on minimising bureaucratic burden and keeping overhead such as social security costs to a minimum. Italy has overcome many of its past economic and political instability problems, and its most recent reform have helped to encourage flexibility and open up the labour market. However, it has still not overcome its major north-south economic divide, reduced the bureaucratic burden that it continues to place on employer, or resolved the inconsistent application of its complex employment laws. Spain joined the European Union in 1986 and was at first country burdened by poor labour productivity, tight employment protection laws and wage indxation. Although these problems have not entirely disappeard Spain is now western Europes second tiger economy, with rapid economic expansion driven by a property boom and a plentiful supply of low cost labour frm north Africa. Sweden joined the EU in 1995. During the 70s and 80s, Sweden had to undertake a major economic restructuring exercise to deal with a decline in it forestry and iron ore mining sectors. Its highly sophisticted and extensive welfare system helped to make this exercise a success. Since accession, however, the Swedish economy has underperformed. This is primarily due to the high tax burden imposed on ordinary workers to sustain the generous welfare provisions, the creation of a dependency culture, and the narrownes of pay differentials. The United Kingdom operate a very different corporate and work culture from the European continent. It has virtualy abandoned sectoral collective bargaining and has been reluctant to embrace formalised systems of employee participation. It has tended to take a minimalist approach to all EU social and employment Directives and has refused to join the eurozone. Although this has helped to encourage the growth of new enterprises, much of the UK advantage in attracting inward investment has been gained through its cultural and linguitic links with the USA. Labour costs, however, remain high by EU standard and productivity is well below the level that this degree of economic freedom should have achievd. Comparison between employment characteristics in EU15 and new EU states (averages) Employment characteristic EU15 States New EU States Employee cannot change own working methods 29% 37% Employees working on shifts 12.1% 23% Employees working on Sunday 6.5% 11.7% Employees with fixed-term/temporary job 10.5% 8.7% Employees working at night 4.4% 5.4% Employees with a second job 1.8% 5.2% Length of time in present job 10.9 years 13.4 years Length of working week 38.2 hours 44.4 hours Language training in workplace (av/yr) 4 hours 11 hours Management training in workplace (av/yr) 12 hours 7 hours The HRM concept remains undeveloped in many of established EU member states such as France and Germany. This is largely due to over-reliance on administrative procedures and company rules, the codetrmination powers of works councils, the prevalence of sectoral collective bargaining, and widespread union resistance to workplace innovation. It therefore remains uncertain how far HRM method will become the norm for managing personnel issues in the new member states. European HR trends Europe accounts for one-tenth of the world population. Two-thirds of Europeans live in countries that are member of the economic federation known as the European Union (EU). The proportion of the population (aged 15-64) who are employed in the EU is just 66.0%, compaed to 69.3% in Japan and 71.5% in the USA. The average employee in the EU works for 38.5 hours per week, 18% of the EU working population works part-time, 14.8% are on temporary contract and 5.1% of employees started their job in the last 3 months. 12.9% of the population agd 15-64 have undergone tertiary education and almost 10% of the EU population aged 25-64 take part in lifelong learning activitie. EU citizens spend 12.2% of GDP on pension and their average retirement age is 59.9 years. HR policies and strategies checklist The focus HR strategy over the last decade has been to find an ever-widening range of methods to cut cost and improve operational performance. These tend to be carried out irrespective of the current stage of the economic cycle or a company relative competitive position. Options which were once regarded as either in or out of fashion are now being assessed purely on their merit, and are being swiftly adopted if they seems likely to succeed. We have entered an era of corporates perfectionism in which almost anything is possible. The prevailing aim of companie is not just to be more efficient and effective than their business rivals, but to be so good that it will be dangerou for competitors to try to emulate their achievements. Cost saving Reduction of operational costs: redundancy delayering pay cuts and freezes increasing variable pay as percentage of total pay , recruitment freezes outsourcing removing deputy posts gain sharing -,rationalising company car policies maximising grants or subsidies. Control of overheads: relocation to lower-cost centres ,use of teleworkers cutting benefits rationalising back-office functions expense account audits trimming expense budgets extending the working day. Limitation of future liabilities: changing from defined benefit to defined contribution pension schemes removing incremental pay scales curtailing grade creep. Pain sharing: board pay cuts, HQ downsizing single status facilities limiting top management severance packages ,utplacement counselling. Operational flexibility Job flexibility: job design flexible working hours annual hours contracts time off in lieu (TOIL) time banking ,part-time working ,fixed-term contracts ,multi-skilled work teams. Pay and benefit flexibility: profit sharing employee share ownership share options self -service benefits. Operational flexibility: time management , improving managerial leverage , the 24/7 workplace use of freelance and temporary staff suggestion schemes. Human capital Encouragement of lifelong learning: individual learning accounts , action learning elearning cpd mentoring. Retention of know-how: strategy for older workers staged retirement ,removing age barriers knowledge management developing knowledge banks. Promotion of equal opportunities: removing glass ceiling equality training equal opportunities monitoring diversity policies positive action. Promotion of health and fitness: in-house fitness centre discounts on external facilities stress counselling company sports teams regular medicals. Performance effectiveness Use of performance management methods: benchmarking process rengineering management by objectives employee appraisal upward feedback (360 degree feedback) decentralization empowerment delegation quality circle open door policies performance incentive supply chain management HR system integration data mining and warehousing. Improvement of recruitment process: student sponsorship on-line recruitment automated scanning background checks positive vetting verification of cv data University ratings personality/literacy testing assessment centres head-hunting succession planning. Reduction of absenteeism: attendance bonuses- wellness programmes surveillance of those on long-term absence motivational programmes. Prevention of fraud and theft: expense claim audits ctv scanning whistleblowing schemes amnesties forensic audits. Further important element in HR management are softer policy concerns and personnel administration, together with legal compliances and the avoidance of litigation. Increased board visibility and accountability have become areas of concern following recent exposures of corporate irregularitie such as the Enron affair. Data privacy and security are also becoming more significant issues and are making the application of HR policies a much more complex task. Corporate culture Family-friendly workplace: work/life balance childcare eldercare parental leave emergency leave term time working job sharing flexible working arrangements sabbaticals. Corporate governance: annual social and environmental reports remuneration committee independent reviews visibility and accountability of corporate boards. Localisation: support for local events service contracts with SMEs replacement of expatriates with local employee environmental improvement schemes. Employee welfare: Dutch-style arbo services hospital visits disability counselling company social functions attendance at funeral long service awards flowers on birth of employees children car-sharing initiative season ticket loans. Legal and ethical compliance Safety: statutory obligations codes of conduct safety training , health and safety audits joint committees safety signs emergency procedures alcohol and drugs testing. Employment: statutory obligation custom and practice codes of conduct disability quotas collective agreements works councils European work councils. Privacy and security: codes of practice data security standards international transfers of personal data email monitoring subject access procedures emergency planning workplace security zoning. Personnel accounting: tax compliance ,- payroll procedures IAS 19 remuneration committees. Community: corporate social responsibility (CSR) work experience student exchange sponsorship. Labour courts and court systems in Europe Belgium There are two levels of specialist labour court in Belgium: Labour tribunals: Courts of first instance dealing primariy with individual employment contract issues. Labour courts: These hear appeals referred by tribunals and seek to resolve significant collective disputes. Each tribunal retains a team of labour prosecutor who may be called upon to provide opinions to the court and are also responsible for instituting criminal proceeding against employers when health and safety laws have been seriously breached. Denmark Denmark operate a well established and highly complex array of courts, arbitration and conciliation machinery. Actions concerning individual employments contracts are heard by the general courts. The Labour Court Act governs the activities of the labour court that hear cases involving breaches of collective agreements. However, the starting point for dispute resolution is usually the set of standard rules that are common to almost all collective agreement. These define a number of steps to be followed as soon as a problem arises in the workplace. The parties are first obliged to negotiate, then to seek private arbitration if required and, finally, to go to court rather than resort to strike action or lock-outs. No individual employee can bring a case, or be the sole subject of a labour court actions. Germany Around 650,000 cases are heard by labour courts each year in Germany. Of these around 90% concern individuals rather than trade unions or works councils (as collective suits). Half of all cases are settled at an initial hearing before a lower labour court, but 1,000 cases a year eventually go through the full appeals process. Three levels of courts of appeal 1) Labour courts (Arbeitsgerichte) 2) Higher labour courts (Landersarbeitsgerichte) 3) The Federal Supreme Labour Court (Bubdesarbeitsgericht) final court of appeal These deal with private law disputes involving statutory rights such as wrongful dismissal, infringements of works council procedure, wage payment problems and the interpretation of collective agreement. Social security cases are heard by separate courts of social affairs. Conflicts of interest between works councis and employers are dealt with by ad hoc settlement committees Italy Labour court are an integrated element of the civil court system. They are composed of professional judges who deal with a wide range of social insurance and social welfare issues as well as internal civil service dispute and labour laws. There are three levels of labour court: 1) The court of first instance 2) The appeals court 3) The Cassazione All parties must be legally represented at every level of labour courts. Both individuals and collective bodies may seeks a decision by the court. However, unions may intervene in individual disputes if the case involves the interpretations of a collective agreement. Most cases that are heard by a court of first instance are permitted to go forward upon appeals. Spain Around 300,000 cases are heard by Spanish labour courts each year. However, only 40% of all cases relate to contracts of employment, with the balance being taken up by social security disputes. There are three levels of labour court: 1) The social courts at a provincial level. 2) The social chamber of the high courts at a regional level. 3) The social chamber of the Supreme Court in Mad