Kingdom of matthias

Kingdom of Matthias is one of the literary works that gives focus to an important part of American history, the great age of democratic revivals in the country. The book is an attempt to find meaning and relevance in the Kingdom of Matthias. The authors of the book, Paul Johnson and Sean Wiletnz assert that the Kingdom of Matthias cannot simply be called an evangelical movement for a closer analysis of the movement will reveal that Matthias’ religious vision does not run in parallel with the new evangelicals of the time. Instead, his religious movement ran largely in contrast and in opposition to the evangelicals of the First and Second Great Awakenings. The book is the authors’ attempt to tell the tale of the national scandal that grew out of the Kingdom of Matthias. The authors weave a tale that integrates the three elements that made the Kingdom of Matthias prominent in American history. That is salvation, sex, and murder. The said literary piece is enjoyable to read despite its gruesome and eerie topic for the authors were able to turn the story into a novel. By using the lives of several characters, Johnson and Wilentz were able to reveal the facets of the evangelical movement through the lives of the said characters. This was vital to the story for it prevented the book from being a mere historical account of events by giving it a personal touch. Recounting the personal tales of each of the characters enabled the authors to tell the events in a story-telling manner. The book must also be commended for its ability to relate the events of the past to those of the present. This is vital especially since the book is often times used by students who want to see the relevance of what they are reading to their lives today. However, there are certain cases when the authors were seemingly exhausting the story too much. By doing so, they were clouding the story with tedium to certain extents. For instance, I do not see the need to discuss and expound on the Matthew’s brothers involvement in the anti-masonic hysteria in Rochester. Since the focal point of the book is a evangelical movement, it should be expected that much of the discussion will be centered on the intricacies of the religion and the beliefs it tries to promulgate. However, the authors were not able to give that much focus on the religious beliefs. Instead, the discussion was centered on how the Kingdom of Matthias was at the edge of religious respectability and how its teachings led to the scandal it saw itself in. Finally, the community played a very relevant role in the novel for the authors defined the lives of the main characters based on how the community reacted to them. In each of the stories that were recounted, the community’s role was largely explored. From the denial of certain evangelical movements of the membership of certain characters, to the reactions of the community to the practices of the Kingdom of Matthias, the authors continuously discussed the role and relevance of the community to the story. Kingdom of Matthias is a historical novel that explores the scandal of the evangelical movement of the same name. It tackles the relevance of how radical evangelism helped shaped the country into what it is today.

My Decision to Enroll in College Essay

People have different reasons and point of views why it is important for them to enroll in college. Basically, achieving a degree is a stepping stone to reach one’s goals. For me, I enroll in college, definitely, because it is a given fact and expectation that after high school, I need to choose a course and to enroll in an institution where I want to obtain my degree. First, I figure out what I want, what I really want to do in life. Whatever my decision is, it is anchored to what I yearn to do and to achieve in life. Definitely, I do study hard in order for me to achieve high grades and to have flying colors during graduation. I want to satisfy my parents’ expectations on me so I certainly do my best in every subject. I make sure that I devote my time equally; however, it is not always applicable in my schedule because there are times when I find it arduous to understand some of the topics in some of my subjects so I give more time on the difficult ones. I believe that learning is an on-going process. The strategies of my professors in presenting the lessons each day have a great impact on me. Whatever the technique is, it may be visual aids like movies, slide shows, etc, it definitely helps me in comprehending the lessons very well. Professors, indeed, affect my moods and enthusiasm. I like creative and unconventional professors. The professors and their teaching techniques and strategies contribute to my enthusiasm and motivation to do very well in class. Nevertheless, if I do not like the professor due to his/her temperament and conventional ways of teaching, I still do my best to grasp every learning and knowledge that s/he bestows. Because there are a lot of ways to learn, I believe that it is not just confined to the four-corner rooms of the university. Outside or extracurricular activities such as fieldtrips, research or case study competitions, internships or on-the-job trainings will definitely help me realize my potentials and will definitely aid me to reach for my goal. Gaining experiences outside school’s four-corner rooms enable me to be more confident, more competitive and more competent. I have been brought up by my parents in an authoritative way. They are neither over-protective nor over-domineering. They make me speak and explain my side every time I commit a mistake; in return, they do listen and reprimand me accordingly. For me, they are the best paragons. Because of that, I yearn to do the same for my children. I will not be the authoritarian parent just like some of my friends’ and classmates’ parents. If it is already time for them to enroll in college, I will just let them choose what course they want to take. I will not intervene with what they want because definitely, intervention to a person’s likes and wants affect his/her enthusiasm to perform well. The drive and the motivation to reach for their goals will, indeed, slow down. Advices, motivations and anecdotes from my experiences in college will help my children in challenging them to excel higher. If I have made it, I believe that they, too, can. From the very start, I will condition them to manage their time properly but not intervening too much to what they really want to do because I might suffocate them. They will just probably yearn to be a bird, not the droopy one†¦ but the free bird that spreads its wings and soars high. Enrolling in college and obtaining a degree are the stepping stones to have a good future, a stable job and a career. It helps people in realizing their goals and visions in life. My current career and our status in life is the best evident that I can show them with regards to the benefits of pursuing a degree in college. They need not be bums or dependents for the rest of their lives. Graduating in college allows a person to stand on their own feet. Whatever course they want to take, it is important for them to know that it is a competitive world out there. If someone yearns to have a high paying job, s/he must choose the in-demand courses like those under Technology, Business, etc. Each one must be acquainted with marketing strategies such as knowing the appropriate advertisements. Or being aware of the latest technology, which is now evolving to be wireless.

Does the nuclear family benefit the bourgoisie?

The nuclear family can be taken to be two parents and their children. Is the nuclear family primarily to benefit the powerful rather than society as a whole can be perceived to be true. This point of view is associated with Marxism and the powerful are the ruling class or bourgeoisie. They own the means of production such as land, factories, machines and so on. Marxism is based on an exploitative and unequal relationship between two classes. The proletariats who are the workers are the majority and this is were the family comes in. The family is controlled by those who control the economy and they control the family and manipulate the family into benefiting them. In any society the economic aspect (that is, the productive process involving the creation of goods and services for distribution and exchange) is always the most basic, fundamental and ultimately most significant aspect because it is only through economic activity that people can produce the things they need for their physical survival. Marxists tend to see institutions like the family in terms of what they do to support the overall structure of capitalist society, their function within the limit of a particular form of economic production. Unlike Functionalist sociology, Conflict sociology tends to view these functions from more than one angle (for example, the family as an institution may serve useful purposes for upper class men, but not for working class women). Eli Zaretsky (â€Å"Capitalism, the Family and Personal Life†, 1976) a Marxists believes that the family is a prop to the capitalist society. The capitalist system is based upon the domestic labour of housewives who reproduce future generations of workers. He also believes that family has become a vital unit of consumption. The family consumes the products of capitalism and this allows the bourgeoisie to continue producing surplus value. In this respect, people are not simply being socialised into â€Å"society†, the socialisation process is directed towards the integration of people into a specific form of social relationship, one that reflects the fundamental, structural, inequalities of Capitalism. The ruling class ideology makes the family as an institution help to maintain and reproduce basic social inequalities by presenting them as â€Å"normal† and â€Å"natural† within the socialisation process. This creates a false class consciousness as they are not aware of their true identity as exploited workers. The family is a safety valve for people's frustrations whereas the vast majority of males are relatively powerless in Capitalist industry, the family structure serves the purpose of disguising this powerless condition. Males within the family have traditionally been powerful figures in relation the females. Marxists contend that this â€Å"illusion of power† within the family serves as a safety value for the build-up of tension and frustration at work. The feminist perspective on the family has tended to stress the following ideas. Men oppress women within the family, just as they oppress women within all other institutions in Capitalist society. Feminist have tended to dismiss ides of gender differences based upon supposed biological / genetic differences between males and females that serve to legitimate male domination over women. Women have a role forced upon them within the family. Women act as â€Å"unpaid servants† within the home. This idea is linked, by Marxist feminists, to the economic relationship between Capital and labour, in the sense that labour is exploited by Capital in the economic aspect just as women are exploited by men within the family. They see family benefiting the powerful who are the men, this is patriarchy. Functionalist sociology has tended to look towards the family as the cornerstone of social integration in any society by which is meant the idea that ways have to be found to make people feel that they belong to the society into which they were born – to feel and believe that they have something in common with the people around them. The family group represents the primary institution, in any society, for the initial socialisation of children. In this respect, any institution charged with this responsibility is going to play a significant part in the reproduction of cultural norms and values, therefore family benefits society as a whole. The family as a unit of stability, of equal importance to this socialisation function, the family also represents an institution that acts as a stabilising force in society. In this respect, the family is seen to be an institution that is charged with ensuring the maintenance of social order. The basic relationship of the family institution to the whole social structure in society that is proposed by Functionalists is the family is a vital social institution responsible with the basic functions of socialisation and system maintenance. Fletcher a functionalist thinker, identifies the main functions of the family as being: Procreation and Child-Rearing: The family structure provides a legitimate arena for the bearing and raising of children. Given the relative helplessness of children at birth, parental nurture and care is seen as vital – and the family provides a solid basis for such care and support in the early years of a child's social development. Regulation of Sexual Behaviour: In this respect, the family structure serves to limit and contain sexual jealousies and by defining the limits of sexual freedom, the family structure limits the chances of potentially damaging sexual relationships developing. Additionally, the family is a primary institution for the provision of love, care and emotional support for both children and adults. In short, it provides a sense of belonging and serves to clearly-define role relationships between men and women. Provision of a Home: This idea expresses the assumption that people find comfort and security within primary social and sexual relationships. The â€Å"home† not only provides physical shelter, it also serves as the focal point of family existence. I recognise that the family group serves some kind of purpose in any society. Where Marxists tend to disagree with thinkers working in other perspectives, however, is in relation to the nature of that purpose and, for Marxists, the relationship between the family and the social structure of any society is one of unequal dependence. Functionalists argue that social institutions develop out of the need to satisfy, fulfil and organise various human social needs. However I feel that the primary role of the family is not to benefit the powerful but in some societies it does to an extent conform to this idea. There are other functions of the family such as the socialisation of children also providing love and support for its members which does not always benefit the powerful.

Ensuring Social Responsibility in Entreoreneurial Ventures Essay

Ensuring Social Responsibility in Entreoreneurial Ventures - Essay Example In fact, lately, the corporate world has been under so much pressure, criticism and scrutiny that being socially responsible, at least on paper, has become vital for the survival of almost all large and medium sized corporations. On the other hand, entrepreneurs who start a new company are less likely to have role models, well-defined principles, historical stories, and other such elements, which could help them, determine the ethical courses of action (Steyaert & Hjorth, 2004). It would be a huge mistake for the entrepreneur to assume that his or her social responsibility only is to maximize his or her own profits to the utmost level as dictated by Milton Freidman, Adam Smith and others. By focusing on the business, the entrepreneur would be able to produce more and sell more thus stimulating the local economy (Ziegler, 2011). The basic concepts of economics dictate that this will gradually increase the employment opportunities and any excess cash in the hands of the entrepreneur or its employees would be used for investment thus creating an upwards spiral of growth (Steyaert & Hjorth, 2006). ... The entire premise of entrepreneurial ventures is because entrepreneurs always find their window of opportunity when they fell that some stakeholder of the existing company is being exploited by the existing businesses (London & Morfopoulos, 2009; Ziegler, 2011). Therefore, the entrepreneur would decide to fill in gap to provide value and relief to those stakeholders and would make that particular aspect the competitive advantage of the business. The point here is that by having an unethical conduct or exploitation by the entrepreneur of any of the stakeholders of the business, whether its investors, suppliers, customers, distributors or others, the entrepreneur himself or herself will open up an opportunity for other risk takers to step up and fill that gap (Davidsson, 2005). For example, if an entrepreneur’s production and packaging of the product were harmful to the environment then it would be exploitation of the customers and the society. A bold risk taker who witnesses t he same will see this as on opportunity and jump in the business with the logo and mission of being more environmentally responsible and green (Steyaert & Hjorth, 2004). Obviously, he would charge a little premium for the same and take away all the customers, which are concerned with the environment thus putting a serious dent on the business of the first entrepreneur. Therefore, the point here is that any attempt towards being socially irresponsible or of the exploitation of the stakeholders will appear as an opportunity for other entrepreneurs who would quickly jump in and fill in the gap (Nicholls, 2006). As mentioned earlier that entrepreneurs usually operate under great stress and

Advancements to allow fast HPLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Advancements to allow fast HPLC - Essay Example One of the major domains of chemistry that promises lots of advancements due to extensive research is Analytical Chemistry. Analytical Chemistry is a branch of chemistry that deals with the analysis of the chemical nature of matter. Analysis of chemical composition of matter is the supporting pillar to the development of any new product or structure. The collective term used for the various laboratory procedures available to separate matter into its constituent compositions to analyze their chemical nature is known as Chromatography. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is a type of Column Chromatography, which is used to separate a mixture into its constituent components with the use of chemical interactions. A series of chemical interactions are used in between the substance of subject and the chromatography column.Although the concept of Liquid Chromatography dates back to 1940s, the path breaking research, in the field of HPLC is being carried out on a large scale even t oday. More samples of matter are being analyzed for their chemical behavior than ever before in the recent times. Chemists, researchers and pharmaceutical companies need to perform chromatography on large quantities of samples. The call of the day is to speed up the process of HPLC while at the same time not forsake its accuracy. The solution is to speed up the process of HPLC by a magnitude. This process known as Fast HPLC is a boon to all people and organizations concerned. The most common principle behind Fast HPLC is rapid analysis using short columns. The particles filled in the columns are also short. Various developments are taking place in the HPLC technology to aid Fast HPLC and in all cases it is observed that Fast HPLC operate nearly five times faster while at the same time not sacrificing performance, reliability and simplicity. This report aims to enumerate the various developments that are being carried out in the field of HPLC that aid Fast HPLC. The HPLC process is described with relevant terms. Several research works being carried out are explained with the intended purpose of the research. Particular topics covered in this report include advancements in monolithic columns, small particle columns and high pressure and high temperature modes and relevant developments in other methods. The report aims at understanding the advantages brought about by these advancements in the field of HPLC. Specific concentration of the report is the developments in the field of columns used in HPLC. An analysis is made as to how, advances in the columns speeds up the process of chromatography. The applications of these developments are enumerated and an analysis is provided as to how the modern developments have changed the way the process is conducted. [1][2][3] Etc. The Process The performance of HPLC is affected by a number of factors. The most important among the factors are 'Column Efficiency', 'Performance of Mobile Phase', 'Performance of Stationary Phase', 'Injectors', 'Pumps', 'Detectors', 'Columns and Column Packing' and 'Automation'. Advancements in several of these factors have led to the development of Fast HPLC. Advancements: Fast HPLC Monolithic columns: A method popularly used as a separation media for liquid chromatography has been that of monolithic stationary phases and columns. These have not taken much time to become popular however some of their features have yet to be clearly studied. Researchers comment that chromatographic behavior of these columns should be studied along with their physico-chemical and structural properties to attain progress in their design and production. Recently a technique known as fast high performance LC is becoming popular for laboratory. Here shorter columns that have higher flow rates are used thereby analysis time is

Deficiency in the Neo-Classical Labour Market Model and Possible Essay

Deficiency in the Neo-Classical Labour Market Model and Possible Solution - Essay Example Neo-Classical theorists argue that households are suppliers of labour, and that they are rational in seeking to maximize their usefulness in return for payment. In the Neo-Classical model this usefulness are determined by the choice of workers between work and leisure, which is also constrained by the available hours per day. The graph below gives indication of a workers choice of allocating time between work and leisure. Point A in graph 1 gives an indication of what a worker's usefulness may be with the choice he makes between work and leisure. However, this graph will be influenced by other variables as well, such as the wage rate and the cost of living. If for example the wage rate rises, workers will forgo more of their leisure time and increase working hours to earn more. On the graph point W1 shift to W2 when wages increase, and this leisure time decrease to point L2, as less time is available due to more time being spend at work. The marginal revenue product of labour can be used as the demand for labour curve for this firm in the short run. In competitive markets, a firm faces a perfectly elastic supply of labour which corresponds with the wage rate and the marginal resource cost of labour. In a inperfect market this curve will have to be adjusted to reflect the wage rate divided by marginal costs. Graph 3: Labour Market Demand Curve In a perfect world the supply and demand curve would have adjusted to the optimal equilibrium point through market influences alone. The amount of workers in the market would compete on the same level for the available jobs and the wages firms will be willing to pay for labour. But due to facts such as unions, automation, economical sentiment, the actual productivity of workers and continuous unemployment rate the Neo-Classical method is insufficient to predict how the labour market behaves in reality. Theorist argues that one of the reasons the Neo-Classical method is not working is due to the fact that employees already in the market are protected and those that is outside the market, the unemployed or those looking for alternative work cannot compete on the same level with the employed. This is called the inside/outside theory, and according to Blanchard and Summers (1986, 1987) when an employment shock takes place, and workers loose their jobs, they not only become un-employed but loose their protection from the real market, such as their union membership.1 This prevents the labour market's rapid return to pre-shock employment levels. This theory is supported by Lindbeck and Snower (1988, 2001) as they argue that the cost to Firms in replacing their employees with un-employed will dramatically increase their turn-over cost. Turn-over cost includes hiring, training and firing cost, making it unprofitable for firms to employ outsiders. They also continue by arguing that newly employed workers have to go through several stages before they are accepted as insiders. Layard et al (1991), identified that workers that became unemployed and stayed unemployed for long will

Code Blue--Emergent Care Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Code Blue--Emergent Care - Assignment Example Emergency rooms offer significant medical benefits to relevant patients from the expertise of medical specialists in all Emergency rooms (Gindi et al, 2011). As a result, the nation’s emergency rooms treat millions of patients who visit the attention of the medical facility (Gindi et al, 2011). However, there have been various complaints against the services, organization, and management of the emergency rooms. As seen in this context, such complaints may relate to inadequate patient care, poor Emergency Room management, long wait times, and patients being sent away because of lack of space, staff, or physicians to provide appropriate care (Gindi et al, 2011). These complaints demean the effectiveness of the emergency rooms. Nevertheless, various hospitals and other primary care centers are putting significant efforts to address the problems which normally relate to the operations in emergency rooms. As a chief operating officer, this paper highlights my discussion on the comp laints, measures to overcome the complaints, the effects of the â€Å"Good Samaritan Law† in treating ER patients, and other dynamics that relate to Emergency Rooms. Diagnosis of the Root Causes of the Complaints about the Clinic The numerous complaints about the clinic which hosts the Emergency Room emanate from different patients who register their dissatisfaction in the operations of the emergency room. Indeed, the complaints had different patterns, overall incidences, causes, validity, and possible solutions. The complaints included inadequate patient care, poor Emergency Room management, long wait times, and patients being sent away because of lack of space, staff, or physicians to provide appropriate care. The complaints emanated from insufficient communication by the doctor, nurse, registration clerk, and health care assistants (Tam & Lau, n.y). This leads to the patients assumption of poor staff attitude which results to assumed inadequate patient care. In fact, poor communication provokes incorrect interpretation of Emergency Room staff attitude and explanation and hence the complaints. Indeed, where the hospital staff cannot master effective communication skills, the patients always complain against the health system. At the same time, misdiagnosis and disagreement on diagnosis by the doctors leads to ineffective treatment which reflects on the patient’s complaints of inadequate patient care or lack of appropriate care at the clinic (Tam & Lau, n.y). In addition, lack of proper management skills among the health care providers lead to inadequate management which generate complaints of poor Emergency Room management in the clinic. Actually, the hiring of inadequate managers derives these complaints in the long run. Moreover, the environment which incorporates poor design of the clinic will lead to complaints of insufficient space and insufficient number of lift in the facility as the management will have to send the patients away subject to the resultant constraints. Seasonal outbreaks, higher patient volumes, and inappropriate use of emergency departments by patients with comparatively minor illnesses also lead to such complaints. Moreover, the government’s inability or ignorance to finance the health sector leads to the hiring and retention of insufficient staff or physicians which consequently generates the patient’

Nonverbal Coommunication ( Anthony F. Grasha ) Essay

Nonverbal Coommunication ( Anthony F. Grasha ) - Essay Example The paper tells that people in the USA and China have different attitudes to their private space. People from the USA require others to respect their private space. They do not tend to be too touchy during conversations. Their private space is open to the closest people in their lives; they are represented by parents, relatives, best friends and beloved. If Americans want to show their friendliness, they tend to talk about it. Chinese people are very different from Americans in this way. First of all, people in China have a different definition of private space. Chinese families are very close to each other and they do not have the same need in private space. If they want to show their friendliness, they would rather resort to touching. It is especially common among young Chinese who belong to the same sex. Public and social distances in China are almost absent. Overcrowded public places only support this idea; strange people can accidentally touch each other or even push each other, violating their private, public and social spaces at once. People in China are collectivists; they pay almost no attention to private space because they almost never have it. In the western cultures, where people are individualists, private space is very important. If strangers stand too close to each other during their conversation in the USA, the conversation might fail. Chinese people have a different understanding of private space, and they can stand closer to their American friends than it is allowed. If a man from China is too touchy with his American male friend, American will never understand such a behavior.

Citrobacter freundii Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Citrobacter freundii - Lab Report Example The biosphere is characterized by the presence of microorganisms allover which invariably impacts on the environment they are growing. Microorganisms are present in the air, soil, plants and animals and their presence can be harmful, beneficial or inapparent with respect to human measure. Pathogenic microorganisms are known to cause diseases to the host animal while opportunistic microorganisms stay in a healthy host for longer period without causing illness the immune system of the host is suppressed. However some microorganisms are very beneficial as they are used in biotechnological processes, soil and to degrade waste. This paper focuses on experiment for isolation and identification of Citrobacter freundii bacterium. The bacterium Citrobacter freundii is an opportunistic pathogen belonging to the family of Enterobacteriaceae and was first identified by Gillen and Werkman in 1932 from soil extracts (Leboffe & Pierce, 2011). It is a long rod shaped facultative anaerobic gram-negative bacilli bacterium characterized by many long flagella to aid its movement though others are none motile. C. freundii is rod shaped between 1um diameter and 2-6um in length with optimum growth temperature of 370C and produces gas and acid as a result of carbohydrate catabolism (MicrobeWiki, 2011). The habitat for Citrobacter freundii includes food, water, soil, sewage and the intestinal tracts of both human and animals (MicrobeWiki, 2011). The diverse habitat upon which this bacterium can grow is mainly due to its ability to metabolize citrate and lactose as the main sources of carbon. Citrobacter freundii is characterized by various opportunistic infections including a variety of nosocomial infections of the respiratory tract, blood, urinary tract and other sterile sites in patients with suppressed immune system (MicrobeWiki, 2011). Research has revealed that C. freundii is responsible for over 29% of all the opportunistic infections (Leboffe & Pierce, 2011). It is therefore

Types of Conflict Essay Example for Free

Types of Conflict Essay Conflict in business meetings usually falls into two categories: 1. Real professional differences – Conflict can arise from very real differences in professional opinions. In many cases, these differences dont develop into open conflict. But conflict is more likely when the outcome is extremely important, when the decision being made is irreversible, or when the impact of making the wrong decision will reflect badly on those involved. When this type of conflict is left unresolved, it can rapidly spoil relationships. 2. Power struggles and personality issues – Conflict can arise when individuals or groups dislike one-another, or feel that their positions are being threatened. This type of conflict tends to be more about peoples personalities than about facts or decisions being made. The techniques well discuss below still apply, but you may also need to resolve the underlying problem. For more on this, see our articles on Conflict Resolution (in particular, Thomas and Kilmanns conflict styles) and on Resolving Team Conflict. Reducing the Opportunity for Conflict The best defenses against conflict often involve preparing thoroughly before the meeting, and chairing strongly during the meeting. If you develop a reputation for running tightly structured meetings, theres less chance that individuals who attend those meetings will try to pursue their own agendas. See Running Effective Meetings for practical tips on how to do this. Send out the agenda in advance, and when the meeting begins, ask the group to agree to it. Then follow your agenda closely, but dont be overly rigid. If a conflict arises, a good agenda makes it easier to recognize that the group is going off course. If people agree to the meetings goals, interruptions that lead to conflict arent as likely to occur. You should also be alert for meetings where the atmosphere and dynamics of the people involved make it more likely for conflict to arise. These include gatherings where known troublemakers – individuals or groups with a history of causing conflict – are present. They also include meetings of new teams that have reached the storming stage of their team development – when individuals begin to struggle for influence, but the team hasnt yet established effective ways of working. Read more about this in Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. In these situations, state the meeting rules in advance. For example, meeting rules might be as follows: †¢ Individuals will be allowed to speak after raising their hands – and only one person may speak at a time. †¢ The chair may summarize what has been said to make sure everyone understands. †¢ Everyone will be invited to contribute, so that one person cannot take over the discussion. As chair, you must be firm about managing and enforcing these rules! If the team needs to make decisions, you may also want to establish the decision making process, and ask all participants to agree to this. Gaining Benefits from Conflict Have you ever attended a meeting in which a conflict – probably the real professional disagreement type – was successfully resolved? If so, you can appreciate the benefits of working through your differences to a satisfactory conclusion. Conflict is not, therefore, something you need to avoid at all costs. In fact, conflict can sometimes be the quickest and best way to make creative progress. You certainly dont want everyone automatically to say yes to everything without proper discussion! Spotting Potential Conflicts Early One key to spotting the first signs of conflict is watching body language. If the conflict is mostly due to professional differences, rather than personality differences, the sooner you allow people to make their points, the better. Make sure that people have the opportunity to express disagreement as soon a possible, so that issues can be resolved and the discussion can proceed on a correct basis. How do you know if someone is frustrated? Look for these signs: †¢ Making facial expressions of amazement or disagreement, such as shaking the head or rolling the eyes. The person may also fidget, or move around in a restless or nervous manner. †¢ Looking at other people to see if anyone elses body language or facial expressions reveal their disagreement with the speaker. †¢ Whispering or writing notes to another person. This may indicate that the frustrated person is checking on his or her position or trying to gather support for a confrontation. This can apply to both types of conflict. †¢ Staring, possibly in an intimidating way, at the speaker or potential target of confrontation. When you spot the signs of conflict brewing, use the resolution approaches set out in the next section proactively rather than reactively. And nipping the problem in the bud is usually better, because then no one will have to live with the memory of what was said at THAT meeting. Resolving Conflict So, what if you follow these suggestions, and an unexpected conflict still occurs? What do you do then? Here are some approaches and techniques you can use. Depersonalization This involves wording issues so that they focus on what one party doesnt like rather than the person who is proposing the unpalatable option. How does this work in practice? Lets going back to our earlier example: Well, I can see your arguments for appointing Alison. But I just think James would be better, and youre not going to convince me otherwise. As a leader, you need to pick this up and rephrase the statement: So what youre saying is that while Alison clearly has strengths, James strengths may well be more important. From here, you can move the discussion into an objective analysis of the relative importance of different qualities. Questioning Another approach is to switch your teams focus from conflict to research. Encourage people to provide information, rather than state that theyre angry or disagree with something. To achieve this, use some carefully phrased questions. Dont just ask yes-or-no questions – try to clarify what people are thinking. Ask for specific examples, and perhaps suggestions for how the disagreeable idea would need to be changed to make it acceptable to them. In some cases, the alterations they want may be quite small. When a conflict arises in a meeting, you, as the chair need to take control. Dont let others start wading in to the conflict by interrupting you or the speakers. Remove or Reduce the Perceived Threat A key cause of anger or conflict is that people may perceive that they, or things they hold dear, are threatened. Perhaps they feel that something being discussed threatens their reputation, judgment, chances of leading a successful project, or chances of getting a bonus. Or perhaps they perceive a threat to a project theyve worked hard to promote, or believe in strongly. There are two parts to this: the perception of threat, and the threat itself. This is where you need to explore the issue and fully understand what it is. Its possible that the perception may be wrong – perhaps based on faulty or incomplete information. Here you need to supply the correct information. Or it may be that the perception is correct, and the person is right to feel threatened. Here you need to address the situation. Another thing you can do is make sure that you clear up unknowns, because the unknown is often treated as a threat. Going back again to our example of the Alison vs James hiring decision, you might ask the supporters of each to talk about what benefits their non-preferred candidate would bring to the team, and what areas for development theyd need to work on. Take Things Off Line There are times when you cant resolve a situation in a meeting: this is particularly the case where problems involve sensitive personal issues, which shouldnt be discussed in public. In this case, youll need to acknowledge the disagreement, and arrange a specific meeting to address the issue later on.

Personality In International Relations

Personality In International Relations This essay will explore the extent to which the personality traits of a decision maker impact upon his foreign policies. It will not argue that such idiosyncratic variables alone are the exclusive determinants, but that they have a significant role to play. As political scientist James Barber remarked, Every story of decision making is really two stories: an outer one in which a rational man calculates and an inner one in which an emotional man feels. The two are forever connected (quoted in Brewer, 1992, p.149). Foreign policy decision making is an outcome of how individuals with power perceive and analyse events. Political leaders are not beyond the reach of the human traits of assumptions, subjectivity, prejudices and biases. Their underlying beliefs and motivations will have a bearing upon the conclusions they reach. Culture, geography, history, ideology, and self-conceptions shape the thought process of a decision maker, forming what has been referred to as the psycho-socio mili eu of decision-making (Sprouts, 1965). The foreign policy decisions of Harry Truman, Saddam Hussein and Charles de Gaulle will be used as case studies to demonstrate how personality can affect the formulation and implementation of foreign policy, whilst also providing the opportunity to show the differing extents to which such traits have occasion to make an impact, due to situational factors such as in a crisis or in non-democratic regimes. This essay will conclude that the influence of individual personality traits is most evident in the foreign policies of persons in unrestricted positions of authority, and in crisis situations. In democracies, during non-critical times, the extent to which the leaders personality influences decision making varies according to his relative passive/aggressive nature. Dominant leaders will seek to reshape the international political system in accordance with their own personal vision, resulting in tenacious foreign policies through which they attem pt to advance a central idea, whilst maintenance of the status quo can be attributed more to low-dominance, introvert individuals, seeking to power-share and delegate decision making (Etheredge, 1978). The effects of personality on decision making are difficult to quantify. Interpersonal generalisation theory suggests that behavioural differences in interpersonal situations have some correlation to behavioural differences in international situations, for example, a relationship between self-assertiveness/dominance, and willingness to resort to military action (Etheredge, 1978). However, it would be naive and over-simplified to state that certain personality traits of a decision maker lead a country to war; instead they can be seen as tipping the balance towards or against a certain policy, because, put succinctly, some leaders are willing to gamble the destiny of their people in a war; others are not (Ali Musallam, 1996, p.5) It is also important to take into consideration the extent to which individual traits can be separated from role-playing. Decision makers may act how they perceive a leader in their society is expected to act, taking role-appropriate decisions which are not ne cessarily in line with their personal nature. No individual can know all the relevant factors when making a decision, thus each individuals perception of reality will be different from reality. This incongruence between the psychological and operational environments permits filters, such as the past experiences of leaders, to shape decision making. It has been argued that there is strong, robust evidence that most human choice is preconscious and strongly and quickly influenced by emotiondespite their expertise, foreign policy makers are no less biased than other people (Gross Stein, 2008, p.113). Core beliefs are held to be true even if they cannot be verified, providing the foundation of myths and ideologies; efforts to challenge them are met with hostility. The phenomenon of cognitive dissonance enables even the most intelligent of human minds to resist and deny important, uncomfortable aspects of reality. Human psychological make-up limits rationality, having a need for simplicity. In the processing and analysing of complex information, we break down information and choose how we want to interpret it. When analysing the influence of personality upon foreign policy, it is important to emphasise that the differing political environments surrounding leaders will naturally create highly variable boundaries within which they have the freedom to operate. It is a given that a dictator in an authoritarian regime has much greater, unconditional, unaccountable power to create policies suiting his personal interests, than the leader of a democracy. Within a democracy, the head of government is obliged, to some extent, to take into consideration the opinions of other authorities and experts, and must especially consult the Foreign Minister with regard to foreign policy. However, ultimately, the final decision does lie with the leader, and he does possess the power to override other opinion if he wishes. Leaders of governments can also have the advantage of hand-selecting those who they put into positions of power. A leader is likely to choose key advisors who share his core beliefs and he con siders to be generally cooperative, creating an environment in which groupthink has the potential to flourish. Political leaders in democracies should, theoretically, and sometimes in practise, reflect the attitudes and core values of their citizens. Having been through the same socialisation process and sharing the same core cultural values as his citizens, the democratic leader can be seen as an embodiment of societal character. Decision making is an institutionalised process, in which personality factors merge with cultural background factors and can often be explained in more generalisable group terms (Cerny, 1980, p.13). The mood of society sets broad boundaries around the theoretical foreign policy alternatives of decision makers. However, it has been alleged that, beyond academic elites in foreign affairs, there exists a lack of public interest in foreign policy; seemly too distant and irrelevant compared to domestic issues. It is argued that the general public is ill-informed and unstable, prone to changes in opinionat worst [they] possess non-attitudes with respect to international p olitics (Robinson, 2008, p.139). This gives the government greater freedom of movement than in formation and implementation of domestic policies, and hence greater scope for domination by significant personalities and ideologies. Nonetheless, it could also be argued that this apparent apathy is now declining due technological, transportation and communications revolutions which enable foreign affairs to be brought much closer to the daily lives of ordinary people. Personality can impact to differing extents on the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. Whilst a policy can be formulated, within the relative situational and bureaucratic restraints, to the particular personal liking of a leader and his colleagues, the implementation stage, translating foreign policy objectives into practise and desired outcomes, is more complex. Attempts to implement a policy can come into conflict with the objectives of other actors and the environment, as the boundary between decision makers and the outside world is crossed. It is true that orders may be easily issued, but that is only the beginning of the process of attempting to achieve ones goalsfor all kinds of statesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [because] leaders rely on sub-contracting to bureaucratic agents, some of whom may take the opportunity to slow down or undermine the policy, or even to run their own policies in competition (BrighiHill, 2008, pp.130-4). Foreign policy is not self-executing, and requi res resources, support or mobilisation of the public, and some political consensus, particularly in a democracy. The more charismatic, persuasive and motivational the leader, the greater his chances of overcoming such opposition. This task is made particularly easy in authoritarian regimes such as North Korea, where the media is subject to state control. A leader can gain public support for his policy through the strategic use of propaganda, promoting both his greatness as a decision maker, and that of the policy. President Truman provides an interesting example of a decision maker in a democracy acting under crisis conditions. In the turbulent international conditions of the closure of WWII, he was thrust into power, following the sudden death of President Roosevelt. It was President Truman who took the historical, controversial decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It would be difficult to argue that, under the power of a different presidential personality, the US would definitely not have taken this dramatic course of action. However, a number of factors related to Trumans personality and previous experiences can be linked to his ultimate decision to drop the bomb. The first Truman had heard of the atomic bomb came after his inauguration. This bomb changed the nature of warfare to a degree that is difficult to comprehend. With such little time to absorb such information, having fought as an artillery officer in WWI, it is possible that Truman may have thought about the atomic bomb as [simply] a largerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦explosive than the ones he fired in Europe (Strong, 2005, p.15). Its radical scale of destruction was close to incomprehensible. A self-confessed amateur in foreign policy, in the shadow of Roosevelt, he wanted to establish himself. He was an active decision maker, preferring to do something rather than nothing, who enjoyed his presidential powers, and preferred not to delegate authority, believing that the President makes foreign policy (Frankel, 1963, p.21). A direct, pragmatic character, he was willing to be accountable for his decisions, proud of the signà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦on his desk announcing that the buck stops here' (Strong, 2005, p.18). Truman continued his presidency from the aftermath of WWII into the beginnings of the Cold War. Under the heightened tension of possibly imminent nuclear war, presidential power and responsibility was great; the presidents finger was, indeed, on the nuclear trigger (Fraser Murray, 2002, p.5). His conviction in the superiority of capitalism, the benefits to be gained from its adoption in other parts of the world, and the dangers outlined by Domino Theory, lead him to take a foreign policy of containment with regards to communism. In line with his military background, Truman adopted a confrontational attitude to USSR, what came to be known as the Iron Fist approach, partly in reaction to the previous Western failure of appeasement to stop Nazi expansionism. He was sceptical of all totalitarian states, claiming I dont care what you call them Nazi, Communist or Fascist-à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦they are all alike (Gaddis, 1982, p.66). To follow through with the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, Truman needed the support of Congress and the public, which he won using his popular, persuasive, extroverted personality. A supporter of the UN, Truman was a convinced internationalist, conscious that the United States should not repeat the isolationist errors of the 1920s (Fraser Murray, 2002, p.9). This helps explain why he followed such an interventionist foreign policy during his presidency. He was willing to place himself as leader of the free world, protecting and expanding his core beliefs in democracy and capitalism. In a dictatorship, foreign policy decisions lie almost solely in the hands of the leader; his decisions can be made without the accountability, checks and balances which exist in a democracy. In 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein took the decision to invade neighbouring Kuwait. Arguably, the whole war [is] to be found in his psyche [and] insecurity (Hughes-Wilson, 1999, p.350). In the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq, the country was financially destitute. Recent acrimonious encounters with the West added to Husseins growing feeling of paranoia and desperation. Having bludgeoned his way to the top, Hussein was prepared to use any means possible to stay there (Ali Musallam, 1996, p.45). He had a need to live up to his own hard-line rhetoric, to avoid meeting the fate he had recently seen Romanian dictator Nicolae fall to. Saddam was devious, untrustworthy, greedy, ambitious[and] brokehis own people did have about three goes at assassinating him in the seven months before he invaded Kuwait, s o his paranoias of public rioting and coups were not unfounded (Hughes-Wilson, 1999, p.341). Saddam took Kuwaits refusal of a moratorium on its wartime loans, and refusal of other financial aid to Iraq, as a personal affront. Kuwait was incredibly rich in oil, and virtually defenceless, so to a personality like Saddam Hussein the temptation to solve his economic problems at a stroke must have been irresistible (Hughes-Wilson, 1999, p. 322). The invasion was symptomatic of the stereotypical qualities of a dictator. Aggressive, egotistical and unwilling to compromise, Hussein simply decided he would take what he wanted. His bloodthirsty, ruthless nature and readiness to resort to violence can be traced back to his childhood socialisation. Suffering the physical and psychological abuse of his stepfather, Hussein was raised in the hard world of the mountains, and mafia-like warlords and family clans that control them. Guns [were seen] as essential to a manit is alleged that Saddam had shot and killed his first man by the age of eleven (Hughes-Wilson, 1999, p. 314). This culture of casual violence influenced his beliefs in the harsh realities of the survival of the fittest. As a child, he would be sent to work in the fields whilst his stepbrothers would be allowed to go to school, aiding the development of his intense inferiority complex which would lead to his hunger for power and glory in later life (Ali Musallam, 1996). The former French President Charles de Gaulle was highly driven by his ideology and patriotism. He took a keen interest in foreign policy, and had the ultimate goal of restoring French historic cultural greatness on the international stage. De Gaulle came to power as a highly respected, charismatic military leader with great moral authority, often playing up to this image by making public appearances in military uniform. He obsessed over his legacy, wanting to be an inspiration for the generations of French citizens that would come after him; becoming a symbolic embodiment of how he perceived France. He was well aware of his own great personality and prestige, conscious of living his own biography, and often spoke of himself in the third person (Grosser, 1967, p.26). He assumed the role he believed a leader should take whilst in public, conforming to the perceived requirements of the title, whilst keeping his private life as detatched as possible. De Gaulles father, passionate about politics and history, was a professor who instilled his pride of France and her past into his son (de Gaulle, 1998). He considered all the actions he made by how they would mark history; less concerned with the criticisms made by those at the time of his action, and more by their judgement by future historians. Despite being a strong advocate of democracy, de Gaulle grew up in a royalist environment, and carried with him to adulthood its goals of continuity, leadership and an embodiment of the state, which were reflected in his politics. De Gaulles first Prime Minister was Michel Debrà ©, a devoted Gaullistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [who] could not refuse to do what his hero asked him to do (Thody, 1998, p.23). There was a certain unwillingness amongst de Gaulles advisors to disagree with their charismatic leader; he encouraged an environment of groupthink by surrounding himself with people of a similar view point. This was the perfect occasion for his perso nality to strongly influence the direction of French foreign policy. Possessing a certain distrust of diplomatic personnel, there is no doubt that it is General de Gaulle himself who makes the decisions on foreign policy issues (Grosser, 1967, p.13). A strong believer in intuition, if he felt a decision was right for France, he would take it. De Gaulles foreign policy was farsighted in that it was based upon his image of a post cold-war world, in which the mature nations of the old world and the newly independent states of the Third World would act to counterbalance theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦hegemony ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the US and the Soviet Union (Cerny, 1980, p.1). A born maverick, de Gaulle was not afraid to make his foreign policy disruptive of the world order. His self-perception was that of a guardian of national interest; he wanted to develop autonomy for his people by resisting the strength of the superpowers and exercising power inconsistent with his relatively limited resource capabilities, through manipulation of the international system; it would be fair to say that he had a taste for the impossible (Grosser, 1967, p.65). His policy of boycotting NATO and UN conferences was to oblige others to take greater account of France through absence than they do when she is obliged to join in decisions over which she can exert no decisive influence (Grosser, 1967, p.132). His doubts over the support of the US against Soviet invasion lead to his decision to develop a French nuclear deterrent, and to withdraw troops from NATO in 1966. He refused to accept that the two superpowers should be the sole possessors of nuclear power. De Gaulle strongly linked the notion of national security to independence, the intertwining of diplomatic and military strength, which can be explained by his military background. It would appear that the personal style of the General gives its special shape to a policy whichà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦corresponds to French desiresà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is a policy that dares to take risks, to gamble for high stakes, to court failure rather than resigning itself to mediocrity and timidity (Grosser, 1967, p.xi). De Gaulle symbolically rejected Britains entry into the ECC, fearing it would upset the Franco-German leadership. He saw Britain as a Trojan Horse for America to gain greater influence in Europe, a nd was so strong in his beliefs he dared to take a stance against the other five ECC members; it isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦unlikely that any French politician other than de Gaulle would have vetoed Great Britains attempt to join the ECC (Thody, 1998, p.29). This essay has shown that the role of personality in the formulation and implementation is variable. The more critical a situation is perceived to be, the fewer people will be directly involved in its management, and so there is a greater likeliness that their conclusions and actions will reflect their own personal beliefs, attitudes and interests. Despite institutional constraints, the political leader has a significant influence over decision making, particularly when national security is seen to be at stake, or when policy can be formed relatively secretly. Even in non-crisis situations, a political leader has the potential to exercise power and thereby impose his preferences on policy. The extent to which he does so depend[s] on his own values, beliefs, background and personality (Brewer, 1992, p.160). Every person in a position of power brings personal experiences, values, preconceptions and emotions to their decision making, although some will allow bureaucracy and the power-sh aring nature of democracy to counter and balance these idiosyncrasies. Ultimately, the personality of a leader has the most influence in unaccountable, dictatorial regimes, often due to the climate of fear surrounding their unlimited powers. However, even a dictator cannot continuously take whichever foreign policy actions he pleases without some eventual restraints posed by resources, the international community, uprising of his own people or a coup.

The Behavioral Segmentation Examples Marketing Essay

The Behavioral Segmentation Examples Marketing Essay According to Philip Kotler Market segmentation is sub-dividing a market into distinct and homogeneous subgroups of customers, where any group can conceivably be selected as a target market to be met with distinct marketing mix. In other words, Market Segmentation is a method of dividing a market into smaller groupings of consumers or organizations in which each segment has a common characteristic such as needs or behavior. Finding the most revealing way to segment a market is more an art than a science Any useful segmentation scheme will be based around the needs of customers and should be effective in revealing new business opportunities. Peter Doyle All markets are heterogeneous. This is evident from observation and from the proliferation of popular books describing the heterogeneity of local and global markets. Consider, for example, The Nine Nations of North America (Garreau, 1982), Latitudes and Attitudes: An Atlas of American Tastes, Trends, Politics and Passions (Weiss, 1994) and Mastering Global Markets: Strategies for Todays Trade Globalist (Czinkotaet al., 2003). When reflecting on the nature of markets, consumer behavior and competitive activities, it is obvious that no product or service appeals to all consumers and even those who purchase the same product may do so for diverse reasons. Effective marketing and business strategy therefore requires a segmentation of the market into homogeneous segments, an understanding of the needs and wants of these segments, the design of products and services that meet those needs and development of marketing strategies, to effectively reach the target segments. Thus focusing on segments is at the core of organizations efforts to become customer driven; it is also the key to effective resource allocation and deployment. The level of segment aggregation is an increasingly important issue. In todays global economy, the ability to customize products and services often calls for the most micro of segments: the segment of one. Following and implementing a market segmentation strategy allows the firm to increase its profitability, as suggested by the classic price discrimination model, which provides the theoretical rationale for segmentation. The most common B2B segmentation techniques used by software companies are: SEGMENTING BY HORIZONTAL DISTINCTION A horizontal market is a market so diversified that its products and/or services are broad enough to meet the needs of multiple industries. The audience for horizontal markets shares characteristics across industries. Based on the scope of horizontal markets, the marketing efforts that support them must reach this spectrum of buyers and prospective buyers. Because horizontal markets are broad, marketers often segment them into subsets. These groups are typically based on demographic factors such as the prospects income, location or job title. Horizontal Segmentation Example To use telcos as an example they will even further segment their buyers and prospects to address specific needs. To increase sales of home Internet services, they can target a specific subgroup, such as senior citizens, low income users or parents with school-age children. SEGMENTING BY SIZE Because the demands of business-to-business customers are so polarized, a common tactic is to segment markets based on company size. Companies do this because the thinking and strategies behind a larger company is typically radically different from the approach of a smaller business. Larger businesses typically employ a more formal procurement process seeking the lowest bid possible. Small businesses tend to learn towards a more personal and inclusive type of business arrangement. Sometimes, leveraging basic information like the size of the company, its annual revenues, or the business own clientele roster will tell you how you may or may not work together. In some case you can be even more specific and count the number of installs of your software the company could potentially buy. Size Segmentation Examples   Targeting companies who see $500 million/year in revenue. Only targeting the largest companies in your region based on number of employees. I spent a long time in the contact center software space. We sold by number of agent seats. If a company had more than 500 agent seats they were enterprise and if they had less than 500 seats, they were mid-market. SEGMENTING BY VERTICAL If a product fulfills a common need thats widely seen across an industry then vertical segmenting is used. Ineffective for most consumer markets, vertical segmenting is an effective strategy when working with a niche product geared for a niche industry. Single industries like that and other industries commonly identified by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system are often identified as vertical segments. Determining the end function of business customer tells how and at what level in the supply chain a companys product will be used. And this knowledge drives how the company positions and marketsits product. Its a simple question how and by whom will my product be used? A hanger warehouse may only target companies in the retail industry, a graphic software firm may only target design departments or design houses, while a supply chain management developer may count freight companies among his prospects. Vertical Segmentation Examples   A navigation software vendor that only focus on the cruise or trucking industries. A gauge manufacturer that only services the automotive industry Selling exclusively to wholesalers in a vertical industry (combined segmenting) Identifying a department function within a larger corporation SEGMENTING BY GEOGRAPHY While geographic segmenting is often used to leverage characteristics shared by a population living in the same region, small businesses, those with capacity limitations, and consumer-driven companies often use geographic criteria to target prospects. As a Silicon Valley-based company, you may not be able to service prospects west of a designated time zone. Or even more specific, you may segment your prospects to a select number of surrounding zip codes. Very plainly, where are your customers concentrated? Once you understand this data, youll no longer want to focus on any other geographic information. These same criteria can (and should) be applied to other geographic factors including population growth rates, economic factors, and isolated spoken language. Geographical Segmentation Examples   Introducing a unique product for the same unique geographic segment. A promotional campaign targeting one region to increase sales. SEGMENTING BY BEHAVIOR Very simply, this segmenting targets prospect groups based on their buying behavior. How are your customers using your product, how often are they using it, and what is the challenge your prospects face? Those questions, coupled with the propensity of your prospect to actually pull the buy trigger, are the cornerstone of behavioral segmenting. Other behavioral segmenting rules may include brand loyalty, order sizes, and any purchase procedure requirements. Behavioral Segmentation Examples A software company that releases a product geared for early technology adopters. A travel agency targeting travelers who prefer vacationing during the Christmas holiday. Between 80 and 90% of software startups fail within the first three years, depending on how failure is defined. While they mostly run out of money, the root of the problem is often poor marketing, specifically poor segmenting and targeting. Most people think of marketing as promotion through events, advertising, social media, direct email, or viral methods. But those activities, correctly and collectively known as marketing communications, are the very last marketing activities that should be done. Marketing is better described as bringing the right product to the right market at the right price at the right place. If this function is executed poorly, nothing else matters and nothing else can be done to fix the problem. No amount of promotion or creative sales technique will save a company that practices poor segmenting and targeting. A common mistake, made by open source and proprietary software companies alike, is to create something and then look for a market that will buy it. The company that designs a product and then enters the market looking for a customer will struggle. The company that first asks potential customers about their most pressing problems and then designs a compelling product to solve one of these problems is far more likely to succeed, even more so if the problem is a priority to the customer. Unfortunately, software companies tend to have a technology bias rather than a market bias. Why do so many software companies get this wrong? And more importantly, what can they do to get it right, or at least as right as possible? There are a number of reasons why poor marketing is prevalent, including technology arrogance, lack of market information, indecision, and ignorance of segmenting and targeting. The latter is particularly common, and in open source and other software communities, it generally takes the form of creating differently priced product feature sets, licensing, and support packages for different target segments. That kind of segmenting only starts to be successful after a company becomes well established and has enough customers that meeting their differing needs becomes a priority. A new open source company trying to go to market for the first time should instead focus on developing a clear idea of who they are selling to, what their customers problems are and why the customers would use this product over any other. Pricing models should clearly serve t he needs and preferences of that single target. Ideally, a company should identify their target market and the value they bring to it before their product even enters the design stage. But that rarely happens. At a minimum, they should have a market in mind before they take the product to market. It is less important that the target market is the absolute right one than it is to have a target market that is more or less in the right direction. If there is no target to aim for, there is no way to measure progress or success. If there is no target market, it is impossible to build critical mass or penetration. And, trying to sell into multiple segments to see which one works the best usually fails as the company will run out of time and money before finding the answer. Segmentation Challenges In Business-To-Business Market Business-to-business markets are characterized in a number of ways that makes them very different to their consumer cousins. Below summarizedare the main differences between consumer and business-to-business markets, and set out the implications for segmentation: B2B markets have a more complex decision-making unit:  In most households, even the most complex and expensive of purchases are confined to the small family unit, while the purchase of items such as food, clothes and cigarettes usually involves just one person. Other than low-value, low-risk items such as paperclips, the decision-making unit in businesses is far more complicated. Segmenting a target audience that is at once multifaceted, complex, oblique and ephemeral is an extremely demanding task. Do we segment the companies in which these decision makers work, or do we segment the decision makers themselves? Do we identify one key decision maker per company, and segment the key decision makers. In short, who exactly is the target audience and whom should we be segmenting? B2B products are often more complex:  Just as the decision-making unit is often complex in business-to-business markets, so too are b2b products themselves. Even complex consumer purchases such as cars and stereos tend to be chosen on the basis of fairly simple criteria. Conversely, even the simplest of b2b products might have to be integrated into a larger system, making the involvement of a qualified expert necessary. Whereas consumer products are usually standardized, b2b purchases are frequently tailored. This raises the question as to whether segmentation is possible in such markets if every customer has complex and completely different needs, it could be argued that we have a separate segment for every single customer. In most business-to-business markets, a small number of key customers are so important that they rise above the segmentation and are regarded as segments in their own right, with a dedicated account manager. Beneath these key customers, however, lies an array of companies that have similar and modest enough requirements to be grouped into segments. B2B target audiences are smaller than consumer target audiences:  Almost all business-to-business markets exhibit a customer distribution that confirms the Pareto Principle or 80:20 rule. A small number of customers dominate the sales ledger. Nor are we talking thousands and millions of customers. It is not unusual, even in the largest business-to-business companies, to have 100 or fewer customers that really make a difference to sales. Personal relationships are more important in b2b markets:  A small customer base that buys regularly from the business-to-business supplier is relatively easy to talk to. Sales and technical representatives visit the customers. People are on first-name terms. Personal relationships and trust develop. It is not unusual for a business-to-business supplier to have customers that have been loyal and committed for many years. There are a number of segmentation implications here. First, while the degree of relationship focus may vary from one segmentation to another, most segments in most b2b markets demand a level of personal service. This raises an issue at the core of segmentation everyone may want a personal relationship, but who is willing to pay for it? This is where the supplier must make firm choices, deciding to offer a relationship only to those who will pay the appropriate premium for it. On a practical level, it also means that market research must be conducted to provide a full understanding of exactly what relationship comprises. To a premium segment, it may consist of regular face-to-face visits, whilst to a price-conscious segment a quarterly phone call may be adequate. B2B buyers are longer-term buyers:  Whilst consumers do buy items such as houses and cars, which are long-term purchases, these incidences are relatively rare. Long-term purchases or at least purchases, which are expected to be repeated over a long period of time are more common in business-to-business markets. In addition, the long-term products and services required by businesses are more likely to require service back up from the supplier than is the case in consumer markets. A computer network, a new item of machinery, a photocopier or a fleet of vehicles usually require far more extensive aftersales service than a house or the single vehicle purchased by a consumer. Businesses repeat purchases (machine parts, office consumables, for example) will also require ongoing expertise and services in terms of delivery, implementation/installation advice, etc that are less likely to be demanded by consumers. In one sense this makes life easier in terms of segmentation. Segments tend to be less subject to whim or rapid change, meaning that once an accurate segmentation has been established, it evolves relatively slowly and is therefore a durable strategic tool. The risk of this is that business-to-business marketers can be complacent and pay inadequate attention to the changing needs and characteristics of customers over time. This can have grave consequences in terms of the profitability of a segment, as customers are faced with out-of-date messages or benefits that they are not paying for. B2B markets drive innovation less than consumer markets:  B2B companies that innovate usually do so as a response to an innovation that has happened further upstream. In contrast with FMCG companies, they have the comparative luxury of responding to trends rather than having to predict or even drive them. In other words, B2B companies have the time to continually re-evaluate their segments and CVPs and respond promptly to the evolving needs of their clients. B2B markets have fewer behavioral and needs-based segments:  The small number of segments typical to b2b markets is in itself a key distinguishing factor of business-to-business markets. A review of over 2,500 business-to-business studies shows that B2B markets typically have far fewer behavioral or needs-based segments than is the case with consumer markets. Whereas it is not uncommon for an FMCG market to boast 10, 12 or more segments, the average business-to-business study typically produces 3 or 4. Part of the reason for this is the smaller target audience in business-to-business markets. In a consumer market with tens of thousands of potential customers, it is practical and economical to divide the market into 10 or 12 distinguishable segments, even if several of the segments are only separated by small nuances of behavior or need. This is patently not the case when the target audience consists of a couple of hundred business buyers. The main reason for the smaller number of segments, however, is simply that a business audiences behavior or needs vary less than that of a (less rational) consumer audience. Whims, insecurities, indulgences and so on are far less likely to come to the buyers mind when the purchase is for a place of work rather than for oneself or a close family member. And the numerous colleagues who get involved in a B2B buying decision, and the workplace norms established over time, filter out many of the extremes of behavior that may otherwise manifest themselves if the decision were left to one person with no accountability to others. It is noticeable that the behavioral and needs-based segments that emerge in business-to-business markets are frequently similar across different industries. Needs-based segments in a typical business-to business market often resemble the following: A price-focused segment, which has a transactional outlook to doing business and does not seek any extras. Companies in this segment are often small, working to low margins and regard the product/service in question as of low strategic importance to their business. A quality and brand-focused segment, which wants the best possible product and is prepared to pay for it. Companies in this segment often work to high margins, are medium-sized or large, and regard the product/service as of high strategic importance. A service-focused segment, which has high requirements in terms of product quality and range, but also in terms of aftersales, delivery, etc. These companies tend to work in time-critical industries and can be small, medium or large. They are usually purchasing relatively high volumes. A partnership-focused segment usually consists of key accounts, which seeks trust and reliability and regards the supplier as a strategic partner. Such companies tend to be large, operate on relatively high margins, and regard the product or service in question as strategically important. Some Common Traps of Segmenting Customers Segmentation is the action not the objective Segmentation has to stem from clear objectives and strategy. All too many businesses are still picking through the leftovers of static, research-based segmentation projects based on little more than executive philosophy. With no financial modeling to back them up, no wonder these projects failed. The Smart Marketers Handbook (circa 1970) may well say segment or die but that doesnt mean segmentation works or that it has to be the same for every business. Too big to handle To make segmentation easy to grasp, its all too tempting to split the marketplace into a few simple customer segments. For instance, five to ten segments makes it all straightforward enough for a business to understand, and large enoughà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨to allow economies of scale in product development. However, its no help with customer management or value engineering. After all, for any large business, some of the segments could contain millions of consumers. Thats hardly getting close to the customer! The frozen state Another key requirement of most legacy segmentation approaches is stability. If an organization is going to create a few large segments and develop propositions for them, the last thing they want is a customer jumping from one segment to another. That means segments are designed to be static, or frozen. Businessesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨can then measure performance over time and be confident about returnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨on investment. But the awkward customers keep getting in the way. They will insist on changing: age, jobs, homes, marital status, parental status, consumption to name but a few. Fixed state segmentation fails to reflect the dynamic behavior of customers and becomes increasingly irrelevant in marketing campaigns. Problems with referencing Market research can be a wonderful thing, but when an individual focus is needed it becomes less helpful. Unfortunately, many companies rush into segmentation by starting with market research. Customers and prospective customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨are asked what they want, need and do, and the research project then builds segmentation models. However, once a company starts referencing these segments back to the existing and prospective customer databases it hits some serious problems: The only way to create references, within the rules of the Marketing Research Society on respondent anonymity, is to set up algorithms using common data and recreates the segments on the database. However, if you didnt start with the database itself, there will be very few common items to draw upon. The scoring process therefore becomes very unsophisticated and insensitive, and the chance of placing more than 50% of customers into the right segments with anything above 70% probability are quite slim. That means companies can spend years (and millions) picking up the pieces. The solution is to start with your own data, and any data from a third party, to build the segmentation upwards. Once youve identified the key variables, then you can do the market research. Differentiation or just different colored envelops? The best segmentation framework in the world will still not deliver a return if a business cannot conceive and execute worthwhile strategies. After all, whats the point in having segments if the customer experience is hardly different across each one? All too often organizations think the best use of segmentation is in creating different communications for different groups of people. Frankly, if thats the only reason for segmentation, its not worth the expense. It creates minimal difference, and wont justify the cost. At the end of the day segmentation can only pay for itself by delivering lower conversion costs, higher prices and improved margins. True segmentation means different propositions for different customer groups, not just different colored envelopes in their direct mail. Poor resource allocation and ROI assessment All too often organizations allocate resources by product or business function. Yet if you are serious about segmentation, you need to follow a scientific method to allocate resources and assess returns across different segments. One challenge to this is, of course, the fact that segments are not stable. How can you allocate suitable resources if customers shift segments? The answer for many organizations is to only segment at the macro level, for example: By geography By sector By consumer / B2B Segment bleed this sector is not for you Segmentation may look good on paper, but customers are forever breaking out of their segments. If someone from the Medium Size segment takes a shine to a proposition developed for Small Size Segment, you dont want to turn their business down. Yet this can ultimately damage a brand, particularly in a mature market. Segmentation isnt monotheism Segmentation is most powerful when it addresses a specific problem. Moreover, as most businesses face many problems, segmentation must be multi-dimensional. Value, needs, behavior, product, demographics, customer state, preference, credit segmentation can take any number of approaches, making your organization as flexible as possible to meet business challenges. One hurdle to overcome is the senior executives preference for simpler, easy to understand concepts. Todays marketer has to be able to explain and demonstrate the benefits of multi-dimensionality against seductively simpler segmentation. Some examples of failed products because of faulty segmentation: BPL Contributor Jim Lawless. The product BPL Batch Programming Language Interpreter. Why it was judged a commercial failure I sold about 10 copies. What went wrong I didnt really do enough research to find out if the target market was in existence. I was hoping that network admins and support staff members would find it easier to use than batch files and less complicated than any of the free scripting language options available. So, I just rushed to get the MVP  [1]  (Minimum Viable Product) out the door. I never did provide a compiler that would build a stand-alone EXE. I think that might have met with more success. I didnt do much as far as advertising the existence of the product. Time/money invested I only spent a few weeks coding and documenting it in my spare time. Support issues sometimes took a whole evening, but nothing major. It did not have any impact on my finances, as I had invested nothing but my time. Current product status I will still address support issues with this product for registered users, but I dont actively sell it. Ive open-sourced the program and it still really isnt seeing heavy use. Comments: Here the contributor does recognize that there was a need for a proper market analysis before investing time and efforts in developing the product. The product developed did not have a clear market to cater to and had some essential features missing which the segment to which it was marketed needed. Another reason for the failure of the product could be that it was focused on a very small niche. DRAMA Contributor Andy Brice. The product DRAMA (Design RAtionaleMAnagement) was a commercialization of a University prototype for recording the decision-making process during the design of complex and long-lived artifacts, for example nuclear reactors and chemical plants. By recording it in a structured database this information would still be available long after the original engineers had forgotten it, retired or been run over by buses. This information was believed to be incredibly valuable to later maintainers of the system, engineers creating similar designs and industry regulators. The development was part funded by 4 big process-engineering companies. Why it was judged a commercial failure Everyone told us what a great idea it was, but no one bought it. Despite some early funding from some big process engineering companies, none of them put it into use properly and we never sold any licenses to anyone else. What went wrong? Lack of support from the people who would actually have to use it. There are lots of social factors that work against engineers wanting to record their design rationale, including: The person taking the time to record the rationale probably isnt the person getting the benefit from it. Extra work for people who are already under a lot of time pressure. It might make it easier for others to question decisions and hold companies and engineers accountable for mistakes. Engineers may see giving away this knowledge as undermining their job security. Problems integrating with the other software tools that engineers spend most of their time in (e.g. CAD packages). This would probably be easier with modern web-based technology. It is difficult to capture the subtleties of the design process in a structured form. A bad hire. If you hire the wrong person, you should face up to it and get rid of them. Rather than keep moving them around in a vain attempt to find something they are good at. We took a phased approach, starting with a single-user proof of concept and then creating a client-server version. In hindsight it should have been obvious that not enough people were actively using the single-user system and we should have killed it then. Time/money invested At least 3 man-years of work went into this product, with me doing most of it. Thankfully I was a salaried employee. But the lack of success of this product contributed to the demise of the part of the company I was in. Current product status The product is long dead. Comments: In addition to what the entrepreneur mentioned about what went wrong with the product, we can see that the early adopters (4 companies) are not stable customers. From what the entrepreneur has mentioned, it does seem that the four big companies were approached without having a product. How do you measure the effectiveness of the segmentation process? Net Marketing Contribution Marketing profitability is based on an investment in marketing and sales required to achieve certain levels of sales and gross margins. Net marketing contribution is a financial measure of marketing profitability and is computed as shown below: Net Marketing Contribution = Segment Size x Market Share within Segment x Product Price x Product Margin Marketing Expenditure Net Marketing Contribution for Segment NMC for segment = Segment Size x Market Share within Segment x Product Price x Product Margin Marketing Expenditure Marketing Return on Sales for segment = NMC for segment/Sales for Segment Marketing ROI for Segment = NMC for Segment/ Marketing Expenditure for Segment How exactly are companies segmenting? The trends in the product development process of companies as per our survey results is shown below If we see the result according to the size of the respondent companies the small and medium companies show the below trend The large companies showed the below trend The two most important factors when deciding a segment for all the companies were the value proposition fit and then the revenue potential of the segment, the size of the segment in terms of importance came after the aforementioned factors. The general trend across companies shows that Vertical and Horizontal segmentation are the most important basis for targeting segments, the next most important basis is the size of the clients. However, there is a clear variation in this trend according to the size of the companies. For the large companies the most important basis for targeting segments is the business vertical, Horizontal distinction and size of the clients share the position of being sec

Young Goodman Brown Essay -- essays research papers

The main theme of the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, â€Å" Young Goodman Brown,† is the struggle between Goodman Brown’s faith, power to resist his own evil impulses and his own doubts within him. It is a story of Young Goodman Brown’s personal conflict over his inner desires and its greater meaning conflict between good and evil in the world. The characteristics of Young Goodman Brown are similar to the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne had his own doubts about his own Puritan life and beliefs. There are numerous examples in this story whereby Hawthorne clearly demonstrates to the reader Goodman Brown’s personal internal conflict between good and evil. Hawthorne’s knowledge of the historical background of Puritanism combined with the personal experience of his early life and the history of his own family merge into the actions that Young Goodman Brown takes. â€Å"Good men† in Hawthorne’s day were those who came from a â€Å"proper† family. The influence of Puritan religion, culture and education had a major role in how someone perceived themselves and their community around them. Goodman Brown claims that he is from a family of good men that have â€Å"never been into the forest on such an errand† to meet the devil; Hawthorne utilizes this information in order to show the reader how Goodman Brown’s ancestries played a vital role on how Goodman Brown thought of himself (as of good character). This view is quickly challenged by the devil himself when he states that all of his ancestors were with him as they tortured women in Salem or burned Indian villages to the ground, and afterwards the d evil and his ancestors would go for a friendly walk. Goodman response to this allegation was; â€Å"We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness.† Goodman disbelieves that his ancestors could do such wickedness. Hawthorne calls into question the chaste foundation of Young Goodman Brown's heritage, as well as the societal viewpoint of what is respectable, simply by pointing to a few facts. Given the existence and the importance of religion in the era of the early nineteenth century, Goodman Brown may be expressing a desire to break loose from a rigid puritan lifestyle. The puritan life style required their followers to doubt themselves and their community so much that a reality in which one could achieve Grace did not exist. It taught that one could not... ...lls for his Faith, he gets no answer. Brown only sees the pink ribbon fall, and his awareness of the conflict between good and evil is complete. He gives himself over to a new perspective. The pink button represents the pure innocents that has disappeared. This tears Goodman apart and creates so much doubt within him that it alters his perception about all the good people that are around him. We can never be sure if good or evil won the fight waged within Young Goodman Brown, but Hawthorne makes it abundantly clear that Brown was scared for his life due to his experience. This journey that Young Goodman Brown encounters could of been a dream or even a true event that is manifested by his own internal desires. Unable to accept that society is a mixture of both good and evil, Goodman Brown chooses his own damnation. In the forest Brown saw a mixture of religious and wicked people, and it was strange to see that "the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints." Brown ultimately decides to accept that everyone is evil, and he loses his chance at redemption when he makes the decision to completely isolate himself from society and even from his own wife.

Fraud in The Firm by John Grisham Essay -- The Firm John Grisham Liter

Fraud in The Firm by John Grisham John Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on February 8, 1955. In 1967 he lived in Southhaven, Mississippi. In 1977 he received an undergraduate degree in accounting. In 1981 he attended law school at the school at the University of Mississippi where he earned a degree. John set up a law practice in Southehaven, where he practiced both criminal law and civil law. In 1981 he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. In 1989 John published his first novel A Time to Kill. John Grisham has written many books, one of them is The Firm. Mitch McDeere is about to graduate in the top five percentile at the Harvard Law School. A representative from a highly prestigious tax law firm approaches Mitch telling him of a job at his company. After a long period of thinking Mitch and his wife Abby move to Memphis Tennessee where the firm is located. At this time Mitch and Abby had no idea that they were under close surveillance by Mr. DeVasher. Mitch also has yet to learn that the firm is a cleaver cover up for a Mafia controlled money laundering operation. Mitch later visits his brother Ray in jail, who refers him to a detective by the name of Eddie Lomax. Later Mitch goes to the Caimans on a business trip and was set up have sex with a hooker that appeared to be in distress. While Mitch was gone Eddie Lomax was killed. When Mitch returns, Tammy, Eddie’s secretary is waiting to meet him to let him know about what had happened....

Nursing Home And Law Essay

A report from the United Press International last December 19, 2007 reveals that between 2000 and 2006, there has been a significant increase in the number of serious reprimands for dangerous conditions among nursing homes in the United States. The report indicates that part of the reason to the increase is the rigorous enforcement of activities in handling patients. It has also been reported that citations of physical or sexual abuse of patients as well as insufficient medication have a significant role in the increase (Barbee, 1991). The issue of the increase in the number of serious reprimands has a strong relationship with the nature, sources and functions of the law. The increase in the number of causes for the serious reprimands have a large share in analyzing the legal measures relevant to the reprimands and preventive measures taken. If the number of causes are decreased or totally removed, then there is strong reason to believe that the reprimands will also be loosened as much as the situation requires. The known way for putting a decline to these reprimands is through the law. Apparently, the law does not only look after the serious reprimands; it also looks after the causes for these reprimands as we shall see (Barbee, 1991). Analysis In its entirety, the law seeks to provide security for the welfare of the people. It does not seek to promote an unfair advantage nor does it seek to jeopardize the lives of individuals regardless of age or gender. A large number of patients in nursing homes are the elderly who are nearing the dawn of their lives. Given their physical status, one cannot find it reasonable to handle the elderly with rashness or with rigorous enforcement of activities (Murtaugh, Kemper and Spillman, 1990). On the contrary, the elderly should receive TLC—tender, loving care. If there are no existing laws which specifically sanctions these behaviors, then it is about time that the legislative agenda of the nation include concerns for the elderly in nursing homes. Moreover, should the law zero-in on the issue pertaining to the handling of the elderly in nursing homes, the law should make clear any exclusion to the rule or other exceptions that may be granted. Otherwise, the legal sanctions may apply to cases which may not necessarily be attributed with the intention of causing more harm than doing any good to the elderly patient. For instance, the law should make it clear that there are cases where the family of the patient decides to give the employees or doctors of the nursing hospital full control of the situation of the patient (â€Å"Serious nursing home violations rise,† 2007). In certain extreme cases where the patient is unable to make rational decisions and where the family has very minimal or little knowledge on what best suits the patient, doctors are given the power to decide what is best for the patient. In this process, it is not impossible that the patient may be harmed. The law should also acknowledge the fact that there are also cases where the patients themselves are the cause of the harm that they experience. As hospital administrators, however, the employees and staff of the nursing hospitals have the responsibility to ascertain that the patients are safe from external harm and from harming themselves. Yet the probability of instances where patients cause harm to themselves is not far behind. For the law to address these possibilities, it should be narrow enough to pin down precise cases yet broad enough to encompass cases where negligence on the part of the hospital administrators can be charged and filed as a peripheral case (Barbee, 1991). Further, the law should also be clear in defining the terms involved, such as what counts as ‘rigorous enforcement of activities’ or what is to be classified as ‘proper nursing care for patients’. Although interpretation of the law, especially during court proceedings, has become integral in the due process of the law, it cannot be the case that there can be no coherent interpretation of what the law and its sanctions imply or the reasons why laws for nursing homes were or will be created. On the contrary, the very fact that a law is created indicates that it has its purpose, and legislators of such a law most likely know the purposes behind the legislation of these laws. Unless the very purpose of the law regarding the treatment patients receive in nursing homes become clearly defined or sufficiently explicated, several inconsistencies and vague pronouncements are most likely to follow (Murtaugh, Kemper and Spillman, 1990). Why is there the rigorous enforcement of activities in handling patients in nursing homes in the first place? There are many factors that can be considered. First, it can be the case that the staff of the nursing home may be new and unfamiliar with the ethics in professionally handling the needs and medications of the patients. Second, the employees may have a limited knowledge on the physical condition of the patient or on the sickness of the patient. Third, the records of the patients may have indicated that the patient needs certain types of activities without specifying the frequency of the activity. Lastly, the nursing home might be lacking in terms of advanced medical equipment and other medical machines. And to compensate for such a ‘lack’, the nursing home administrators may have reverted to increasing the amount of activities above normal (â€Å"Serious nursing home violations rise,† 2007). Why is there a need for laws which cover sanctions for certain ways of handling patients at nursing homes? Part of the reason to this is the observation that there are nursing home employees who take advantage of their patients in many ways; one having been reported is physical or sexual abuse. The laws provide a means not only to proscribe certain behaviors from nursing home employees but, more importantly, to draw the fine line between professionalism and abuse of work responsibilities. Conclusions and further remarks It is a fact that a number of laws are first proposed in the legislative body of the government. But even more basic to this is the fact that a number of these proposals come from the demands of the people such groups that as lobby for laws which can directly affect their cause (Barbee, 1991). Certain tends in the contemporary society can also prompt the legislative body of the government to create laws which address these trends. For instance, the massive boom of immigration in earlier times led numerous countries to pass laws which control immigration of individuals. As for the increase in the number of cases pertaining to the rigorous enforcement of activities in handling patients, it is no wonder that there has been a corresponding increase in the number of serious reprimands for dangerous conditions among nursing homes. The United Press International report divulges the critical increase in the number of serious reprimands for dangerous conditions among nursing homes in America (â€Å"Serious nursing home violations rise,† 2007). The rigorous enforcement of activities in handling patients has an undeniable contribution in the increase although what remains debatable is the question of whether the existing laws have enough coverage over the ways in which nursing home employees take care of their patients. The citations of physical or sexual abuse of patients as well as insufficient medication are clear indicators that the problem in nursing homes is real and requires attention from the legislative body of the government. The nature, sources and functions of the law have a role to fit in the case of the patients situated in many nursing homes in the country. The increasing number of patients in nursing homes is perhaps the strongest indicator that, while the nation may lack solid efforts in surmounting patient-related incidents of harm, the law is yet to efficiently and effectively be put into action. References Serious nursing home violations rise. (2007). Retrieved January 20, 2008, from http://www. upi. com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/19/serious_nursing_home_violations_rise/9034/ Barbee, G. C. (1991). The Nurse, the Nursing Home, and the Law. The American Journal of Nursing, 61(8), 84-86. Murtaugh, C. M. , Kemper, P. , & Spillman, B. C. (1990). The Risk of Nursing Home Use in Later Life. Medical Care, 28(10), 952-962.