Project Manager – Main Responsibilities

i) Project Manager – main responsibilities and desired traits Project manager has primary responsibilities for providing leadership in planning, organizing and controlling to the project team to accomplish the project objective in quality manner, within budget and on time as a cohesive group. [pic] Desired Traits Skills Effective project managers must posses a variety of skills in addition to general management skills.While certain necessary skills may be dependent upon the project, there are some skills that all project managers should possess. Leadership ability -create a vision an direction, inspiring the team, give empowerment, give motivations, appreciate and values the contribution by recognition, praise encouragement, establishing an environment of trust, high expectations and enjoyment.Ability to develop people – has a commitment to the training and development of people working on the project. Give the team an opportunity to add value from experience by gaining knowledge and more competent. Communication skills – the ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and regularly for the purpose of to have a good working relationship with the project team, customers and other stakeholders.Interpersonal skills- the ability to develop a relationship with each team member in order to know â€Å"what motivates them, how they think things are going, what concerns they have, and how they feel about things† Problem-Solving – the ability to anticipate problems, recognize them when they arise, and solve them quickly and efficiently Time Management – the ability to prioritize, delegate, and manage time effectively Ability to handle stress – the ability to handle stress that can arise from work situation.Negotiating Skills – able to interact with customers, sponsor, the project organization’s management, subcontractors, vendors and end user to arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement on an issue. Conclusi on The project manager responsibilities of planning, organizing, and controlling are general management responsibilities. In addition to these responsibilities, the effective project manager must possess a specific set of skills that can be used to manage projects successfully. ———————– PROJECT MANAGER

Difference Between Learning Degree & On Campus Degree

Over the past decade, increasing numbers of students of all ages and backgrounds have enrolled in distance learning degrees through the Internet. The two forms of college education, the traditional on-campus degree and this new distributed learning approach, differ in a number of ways. Yet they both offer specific advantages. The composition of the student population has changed significantly since the 1980s. A large number of today's college students are older and more heterogeneous. They also demonstrate varying levels of academic preparation. Many would-be students graduated high school a number of years ago and, due to various family and employment commitments, no longer have the flexibility of attending a traditional university setting. Further, some individuals live in remote geographical areas or do not have appropriate transportation opportunities. Distance learning offers them a much more expedient way to further their education. Distance learning offers such students the opportunity to learn online through their computers. Distributed learning programs are designed to enable individuals to achieve their educational and career goals in a way that is most convenient. They can arrange to study wherever they are and whenever they have the time arranged around their personal schedule. At the beginning of a distance learning class, the instructors normally transmit all information on assignments and lectures and provide or explain the study materials required. Throughout the course, students complete the work on their own, just as they would in an on-campus classroom setting. They use their computers to interact in discussions, ask questions and receive feedback from both the instructor and other students. When assignments come due, they send them to their instructors online, who grades and sends them back with comments. However, it is important for individuals to determine if distance education is the right avenue for them. It definitely is not for everyone. It requires a great deal of personal discipline and just as much, if not more, work and time commitment as a traditional classroom. If an individual is not self-motivated or has a tendency to put things off, it is very easy to get considerably behind the classroom schedule and not be able to catch up. With distributed learning, there is nothing stopping students from deciding to watch the latest reality show instead of turning on their computers. Also, would-be distance learning students need to be able to have an adequate understanding of computer technology and know how to read and study online course materials. Despite the many individuals who are taking advantage of online learning, there are still growing numbers of people who want the on-campus experience. Some individuals believe that the traditional setting offers students the best overall achievement opportunity. They state that the on- campus classroom offers more possibilities for personal interaction and communication in addition to building relationships in a mutually familiar environment. Students are able to meet face-to-face with professors as well as classmates. Both oral and nonverbal communication skills are enhanced. In face-to-face dialogues with others in the same room, facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice definitely play an essential role. Students also gain skills they will need in their future careers. In most cases, traditional college courses include team projects, where it is necessary to solve problems, set objectives and goals interactively with others. They are involved in a creative environment of active, participatory, exploratory learning. Sometimes, students actually help develop curriculum and class procedures. On-campus students also appreciate the other experiences they have. They personally meet people from all different backgrounds and countries and acquire skills on how to relate to others whose goals and values may very significantly. The colleges offer a variety of organizations, leadership and participatory involvement, and on-campus activities and special events. Being able to study directly in the campus library is very helpful. In addition to coursework, students can attend special lectures and seminars and enjoy school and community offerings such as movies, theater and museums. Lastly, an on-campus environment does not exclude technology and computer-based learning. Many students use their laptops and PCs to supplement their coursework, participate in chat groups, e-mail, and interact with the instructors. In many cases, the classes combine online and on-campus learning opportunities. Both distance and campus education can be advantageous. However, each student must decide which of these offer the most effective learning style based on personal traits and interests. For some individuals, Internet courses that let students learn at their own pace and review content until completely understood is the best method. Others learn best in an on-campus environment where they can be motivated by and involved with others in a traditional classroom setting.

An Analysis of the Evolution of the E-Business in America Essay Example for Free

An Analysis of the Evolution of the E-Business in America Essay Economic transactions have taken a toll of revolutions and evolutions from the most historic barter deals to currency minting to bank-to-bank transactions, and finally, electronic business. Undeniably, the phenomenal effect of information technology to the lives of common man has caught the complexities of all branches of science and economics in a single matrix. Similarly, it has extinguished spatial boundaries in the business arena. Upon the advent of the accessibility of the internet or the World Wide Web to the public in 2004, it has been deemed that e-commerce will shortly follow through. So thus soothsayers and journalists manifest into the world this forecast. Company websites and internet servers sprouted like wild mushrooms here and there, flooding the virtual world with what’s it’s’ people cannot usually find for themselves. A unique gadget which can be found nowhere at a shopping mall is now easy to find at Ebay or Amazon. om, or shopping for clothes can also be done via ordering online, and sending emails or conversing with another entity half an earth away through instant messengers now became a common activity to the technologically savvy. A worldwide acknowledgment of this phenomenon has now slowly shifted every human paradigm there is. This evolutionary way of business ‘anytime-anywhere scheme’ or transacting across the planet in only a matter of seconds has put leverage to the face of business vis-a-vis human technology. E-business or e-commerce, also known as EC, has now penetrated all elements of life, particularly the world of commerce and economics. Today, e-business is now the most preferred way of dealing with and between firms. In the fields of traveling, media, logistics, telecommunication, and manufacturing, as identified by Horsti, Tolonen and Brannback (2003) in their study of five electronic business models, it showed that operating a business backed by ecommerce and proper management of personnel skills and customer relationships is a critical success factor (CSF) and always has a direct correlation to business success. This gives light to the logic as to why bankers and corporations alike have resorted to sending orders and invoices via internet instead of sending messengers or bulky packages to each other and wait for days before the same arrives at each other’s doorstep. On an individual basis, transacting with another online instead of going to a bank and undergoing the tedious process of lining-up and filling out slips and various withdrawal or deposit forms has been the hip. Online credit card transactions has also been the trend nowadays especially to the technologically savvy. As Moslein (2001) would argue, the rise of ecommerce has extinguished traditional boundaries and spatial constraints of conducting business. So what really is it behind e-business and what makes everyone indubitably caught up with this intertwining net of transactions? In this paper, the aforementioned is put to a limelight along with a detailed analysis of the e-business phenomenon. A projection as to how e-business in America will perform in the short-run is also forecasted. Pros and cons of doing e-business as well as important dissections of it are also included herein. The first part of this paper shall serve as a guideline as to how discussion will flow and what models and methods were used in shedding light to the subject matter at hand. It also serves as briefer to the latter portions which delve deeper to the subject matter. The latter portions shall plainly consist of the author’s own views with regard to the topic, however, with sources to buttress proof of claims. The summary and conclusions are second to the last parts before providing a list of references used in this research. Statement of the Issues/Problems The dawning of the internet and the birth of ecommerce in which e-business arose forthwith has also given birth to online corporations and rebirth to traditional enterprises. However, the new age technology has also given birth to various risks and opportunities for misers to tamper with the gifts of technology to the disadvantage of those who are faithful in their dealings. In this regard, the primary thrust of this paper is to analyze the gradual paradigm shift of business in America to the modern e-business taking into consideration the management decisions of enterprises vis-a-vis the costs and risks in engaging into e-business. Further, this paper rests with the issue on how ecommerce evolved to what it is today. Given these matters, the ultimate question this paper aims to answer is: Why do businesses continue to prefer to do e-business despite online security threats and risks? Hypothesis E-business is a response of various industries to the market forces affecting it, and amidst costs and risks, the benefits of e-business to enterprises prove to shape corporate success, help industries maximize benefits and positively affect the entire business industry as a whole. Methodology This paper is a result of a collaboration, compilation, corroboration and interpretation from various sources of information gathered mostly through the internet. Various theories in economics and business management are also used to prove certain stands pertinent to the subject matter. The author has also included newspaper articles and opinions from renowned columnists all of which can also be accessed through the internet. The said sources were streamlined for this purpose of incorporating into this subject matter all indispensable elements of e-business. It is important to highlight that this paper is not to measure e-business per se because of the very volatility and fast speed of growth and advancement of the e-business itself. As stated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), measuring e-business and quantifying the elements of convenience and easy access to information is impossible given the current fast-changing nature of the market (OECD, 1998). Hence, this paper has enumerated the costs and benefits instead and weighed both in the light of the evolution of e-business to the stage. Degree of Reliance of Statistical Data/Literature Search The author has chosen only those sources which are strongly correlated and are very pertinent to e-business. For statistical data, there is an interim degree of reliance from high to medium degree, since statistics were conducted by professional research institutions and quoted from high grade literature. With regard to articles and sources, most of the studies consulted where products of doctorate and master’s degree holders who are expert in this field notwithstanding those who gave garnered distinctions (i. e. Nobel Prize, Pulitzer, etc. in the field of economics. Therefore, there is a high level of reliance on their studies. A Description of the Research Design This paper is purely research based and one which does not involve interpretation of raw statistical data. Due to the broad and constantly changing nature of e-business, a survey of the entire America is implausible. Thus, it is best to resort to data that have been gathered by reliable research institutions concentrating on the same subject matter. The literatures used herein are mostly second-hand ones and are retroactive in its nature such that theories used are identified as paradigms. Despite being cited and further cited in various citations, the theory is not eroded. Thus, citations of the same coming from other citations, or a chain of citations in one citation, are valid. It is also important to note that despite the varying nature of the sources used in this paper, the discussion shall not be deprived of important knowledge as regards the subject matter. Models Followed The paper follows three specific models in economics: the law on supply and demand, the model on cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the game theory. This is because these three easy-to-understand theories are also the primary considerations of CEOs in choosing management decisions and doing other management strategies. In accordance with the objectives of this paper, various researches shall also be inculcated herein to give various theories and conceptions an equal footing as regards the topic. As a clarification, there are no current researchers who have analyzed the nature of e-business extensively and collaboratively using the aforementioned theories. Therefore, literature reviews are primarily based on historical findings on the evolution of e-business, analyses of various researchers on the nature of economics vis-a-vis ecommerce and not on concurrent ecommerce theories. This is also because majority of ecommerce theories are offspring of the theories on economics. Moreover, ecommerce theories may be relevant to the subject matter but are not directly connected to the topic such that answers to the research questions as aforementioned were more founded by basic economic theories rather than the specialized ecommerce theories on web-hosting and online selling. An Analysis of the Evolution of the E-Business in America. (2017, Jan 27). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Compare & contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare & contrast - Essay Example Personality From the above brief description, my two friends have very distinct personalities. George is more outgoing and quite a ladies’ man given his athleticism. John on the other hand, is the geek; knows everything, very intelligent and creative but quite boring if you happen to meet him for the first time. At one point, he had interests in quantum physics and would explain in details, what the field of quantum physics entailed, something we did not like and would literally walk away once he started with the complex terminologies. His rich knowledge is however be of help when it comes to tests, as a matter of fact, John has been our private tutor since fourth grade. If it were not for his services to the group as a private tutor, George would have dropped out of high school because all he has maintained over the many years of our friendship has been the muscles and good looks, his grades have been on the floor. With John’s services however, we can today say that ou r handsome friend’s grades are average. His outgoing personality is conversely very useful when it comes to reaching out to the females. Beautiful girls ask to be around us thanks to the quarter back. How we would miss the invitations to parties if George was not our friend. He has literally transformed our social lives with his charms on the females. Family Backgrounds My two friends have unique and interesting family backgrounds. The geek; John, has both his parents not only rich, but also living together. A single mother on the other hand, has raised George the hunky, his father was an alcoholic and walked out of them when he was in the first grade. This makes our group very interesting because when we go visiting at John’s family home, where we often visit because of the bowling alley in their basement, everything seems to be in order unlike at George’s where important toys are not available. John’s father is an investment banker possibly enjoying hug e yearend bonuses; that bowling alley sure looks too expensive to put up without a bonus. What is interesting is that even with the diversity in our family backgrounds, we have over the years made such an enviable pack of three and the disparities in our backgrounds is never visible. The main reason why John declined the offer to go to a private high school was the ‘clique’. He feared the civility in these exclusive schools and was worried that he could be out of touch with the clique if he stayed away too long. This is one sacrifice that we appreciate because we have no idea how life would be if the private tutor left us, those tests would be impossible, or worse still, George would not be a quarter back because he would have dropped out years ago, how sad would that be? Conclusion My friends are very important people to me because each adds value in a unique way. From the brief comparison, it has clearly emerged that these are two very distinct people in terms of pers onality and upbringing yet we hold one common value; true friendship. The ‘clique’ as we like to call ourselves, is what it is because of the different values each one of us adds to the team. Over the years of friendship with George and John, I have come to appreciate that God has good intentions in creating us in unique images, and putting us in the respective families. Through this diversity, we grow to be unique and proceed to make

Japan Or Brazil Or Kenya post WWII development path Essay

Japan Or Brazil Or Kenya post WWII development path - Essay Example Second, the structural change models have a major shift from moments of subsistence-sector dominated economy to a capitalist-dominated economy. As a result of the structural change, Brazil has benefited immensely from increased investment and government revenue which have been directed towards infrastructural development in the country. In terms of the international dependence revolution, there was a goodness of fit for neocolonial dependence model and dualistic-development thesis because as a result of Brazil’s dependence on rich countries, it has recorded an ever increasing external debt to GDP ratio since 1945, which has resulted in the widening of developmental gap between Brazil and other rich countries like USA and Japan. There has however not been a fit for the false-paradigm model because Brazil’s focus for international relations has been largely centered on neighboring South American countries. Finally, the neoclassical counterrevolution model has explained re asons Brazil continues to be the major foreign investment destination in Latin America as the country has practiced a free market approach backed by a strong public choice approach and traditional neoclassical growth theory. The market-friendly approach has also been used as an avenue for expanding development of local business. After the industrial revolution in the period between 1760 and 1840, most countries had been set on a century long drive of national development, powered by strong industrial awaking till one world war came and then another. The World War II (WW II) thus became a major event that drew most countries aback in terms of development (Bacha & Klein, 1989). As a major panacea of the global economy, Brazil was also affected by events leading to, and after the WW II. Bahca & Klein (1989) however noted that the period after the WW II became a major test case for most countries to quickly recover from the economic setbacks and get back on

Are human beings fundamentally witnesses to or creators of reality Essay

Are human beings fundamentally witnesses to or creators of reality (Gay Science 301) - Essay Example ality, and his declaration that ‘God was Dead’ (Theory of Perspectivism, developed by Immanuel Kant), resulted in a lot of controversies and speculations over his works. Amongst many of his well known works, the book â€Å"The Gay Science† first published in 1882 was considered by the author to be the closest to his heart or the most personal. This article will examine closely the Book IV, aphorism #301, of â€Å"The Gay Science† and find out the underlying meaning, and study Nietzsche’s views on the topic â€Å"Are Human Beings Fundamentally Witnesses to or Creators of Reality?† The Gay Science was written during a very dark phase in the author’s life. Between 1876, when Untimely Meditations was published and 1882 when The Gay Science was published, Nietzsche had undergone terrible sickness and complete isolation, which gave him time for self introspection, and an overall development of his mental faculties, and a quest for the right path. Therefore it was almost inevitable that the book The Gay Science would reflect these dark times and thoughts, exploring the profundity of human psychological thoughts. However, by the time it was published his mood had invariably changed for the better, so the book also gives the readers a feeling of being alive and vigorous yet light, and to some extent of joyous happiness. At the end of Book I Nietzsche himself comments "Pardon me, my friends, I have ventured to paint my  happiness  on the wall† (Nietzsche, 2001, 65). Book IV, aphorism #301: The Book IV as a whole advocates on how to live well, and is a positive and heroic acceptance of life. It pays allegiance to the legend of Saint Januarius, and assumes the tone of a teacher giving advice. Aphorism 301 is extremely important as it speaks of further augmentation of the ‘higher being’, a state of existence developed by Nietzsche in the earlier parts, where he describes this ‘higher being’ as someone who is courageous and takes pleasure in a hard fight,

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 85

Assignment Example In order to accrue over my career, must the ability to influence others positively rather than power. The ability to contribute positively and nurture other rests on the ability to motivate and grow young journalist towards respected professionals, this is the greatest power that one can attain in the profession and career growth. In order to attain significant organizational, there should be absolute power given to the change agents. There are reasons for this; firstly organizational change is achieved through use of resources, authority and responsibility. The change agents also need to be entrusted with the responsibility to manipulate organizational resources, including human resource so that they are geared towards the desired change. Without the power to use resources, responsibility and authority bestowed on the change agents, there will be no significant organizational change. Power is the most critical recipe in achieving organizational change; power allows you to access necessary resources either financial or human resources necessary for the change process. Moreover, through power one can influence critical decisions needed in order to achieve change in the organizational structures. As a student, there have been a number of skills, attributes and abilities that have developed along the way that remain critical in my personal development. Firstly, self-confidence has been an important recipe in the decisions that have propelled me to this far. The virtue has enabled me to build a strong personality that has defined my unwavering conviction within and outside career. Secondly, honest is an important trait that has enabled me to grow and establish trust within my peers and others. As an important life trait, being honest enables you to win the trust of friends and strangers with ease. It allows you to navigate successful

Human Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Development - Essay Example 3. Explain the relationship of language to memory. 4. What is theory of the mind and how does it develop? 5. How does moral development change from infancy through middle childhood? How does cognition develop from infancy through middle childhood? Cognition develops in infancy through active exploring using cognitive structures. Piaget’s cognitive theory explained that for the child to discover his surroundings has to develop his intelligence through organization and adaptation. Organization takes place when a child systematically combines existing structures with interrelated actions and ideas. Adaptation on the other hand is when a child adjusts to the demand of his surroundings employing assimilation and accommodation. A child is said to have assimilated experiences when it is interpreted in terms of cognitive structures. Existing cognitive structures are used to understand new events. While accommodation is the modification of what is learned from the earlier experiences. For example, as the child gazes an object, he tries to grasp to reach. However, as he ages, he recognizes primitive structures thus refined action is expected. The same holds true in the child’s knowledge of a dog. For his first encounter, he may give a definition of a dog to be a thing that barks. However, for successive exposures, he may look at the dog as an animal with four legs.

What Is Authenticity In The Era Of Digital Technology Research Paper

What Is Authenticity In The Era Of Digital Technology - Research Paper Example Communication in the present age also known as digital communication is not one by which information is shared between two people as it is only reflective of exchange of data. Cellular phones which were seldom seen only a few years back are now seen everywhere providing excellent means of facilitated communication between people and the Internet has also played a revolutionary role in helping people access anything in the world through only a few clicks. Research has repeatedly stressed that teen involvement in different types of electronic activities like chatting either via cellular phones or the internet has increased to such an extent that the youth presently has become extremely obsessive with using various communicative media. Burge’s research is worth mentioning here as it deals with highlighting how people in relationships engage in emotional communication via different media like the internet, cellular phones, and visual texts. This research is based on contemplating how technology influences the coordination between two people in a relationship. For this purpose, people’s behavior when they interact via communicative media is observed and later assessed with the help of their internal experiences. The purpose of this research paper is also to evaluate the relationship between technology and communication in an attempt to answer the bigger question of what is authenticity in the present digital age. Just like the Industrial revolution brought about an immense change in the lives of workers, the technology also in the present age has totally changed the way of communication. It has enormously changed the way people communicate with each other and even impacted their emotions. This is because â€Å"sociological, psycholinguistic, and interpersonal studies suggest that people have non-information related goals in moment to moment interaction† (Clark, cited in Burge). Non-information related goals refer to the desire to convey or communicate emotion which becomes especially important when people engage in close bonding. The researchers debating on the subject of authenticity in the present era of digital technology often carry research to find out if â€Å"current communication technologies support a full range of communication activities and purposes, most notably the communication of emotion?† (Burge). The need to realize the impact produced by different communicativ e media on the communication of emotions should be acknowledged by everyone. It is argued that authenticity is constrained by digital communication as this form of communication does not support a wide range of communication purposes like conveying emotions. This is because people increasingly fake their true identities when communicating via Internet mediums like Facebook or MySpace because they feel insecure about sharing their real feelings otherwise. Not only that teenagers have become addicted to using IMs to communicate with each other, research has it that â€Å"many companies have found that employees benefit from text-based interactions as a result of introducing instant messaging systems into the workplace† (Erickson and Kellogg, cited in Burge). Such changed pattern of communication thanks to the widespread use of mobile phones and the internet has led to the development of a new way of building relationships. The concept of online dating is just one product of thi s new pattern of technology influenced communication. People in the old age had to practically meet somewhere or write letters to each other to further relationship as a way of getting to know each other. This all changed with the advent of technology because now people enjoy the limitless freedom of communicating with each other though they may be separated by thousands of miles. There are limitless opportunities now available to

Telecommuting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Telecommuting - Essay Example This also leads to severe and counterproductive compromising on the time available for engaging in healthy and relaxing recreation, thus culminating in faulty lifestyles, health problems, workaholic routines and a plethora of other problems. With the real estate prices in the business centres around the world, skyrocketing, businesses are also realizing the futility of investing capital on the office space, hardware, furniture and other professional amenities. However, the things are no more going to be the same as they were in the days of the yore. The digital technology has literally revolutionized the way organizations and people work and has facilitated both the employers and the employees with a myriad options and possibilities. Telecommuting, also referred to as e-work, telework, e-commuting, working from home (WFH) or working at home (WAH) is a trend that is fast catching up with the business organizations and the workers all over the world. Telecommuting is increasingly becoming an accepted norm and lifestyle in the US and throughout the developed world. More and more companies are realizing the benefits of allowing the employees to avoid or shorten their commuting obligations by allowing them to work from home by using the latest gadgets and the technology to stay connected with their office administration and management. Even before the concept of telecommuting came into vogue, there do existed employees who were occasionally allowed to work from home by their employers. As per a recent survey conducted by Dieringer Research Group, it was found that in the year 2005, the

Types of Non-Verbal Communication Essay Example for Free

Types of Non-Verbal Communication Essay It is amazing that 93% of our means of communicating is non-verbal of which 55% are by hand gestures, body posture and facial expressions. Aside from the three mentioned, other non-verbal signals are: touch, eye contact, personal space or distance, tone of voice which is different from the actual speaking, and personal appearance which includes the clothes and the color and also the hairstyle as they give a clue on the mood of the person. With all these non-verbal forms of communication, it will not be surprising at all if one can conduct an entire meeting in non-verbal mode. When everyone is seated in a conference room, the Chair begins by calling the meeting to order. He can do so in a non-verbal way. With a tap on the table, a slight nod of his head, he directs his eyes on the secretary to read the Minutes of the last meeting. He maintains eye contact with all those present, especially the person speaking. This is to acknowledge and assure that person that he is listening and is interested in what he has to say. When the Chair’s tone is earnest and firm, he is telling the Body that the issue must be given top priority. It has been observed that two people engaged in conversation tended to mirror the other’s position. When the Chair matches the body posturing of a proponent, he is very likely to give his approval. When he sits back, plays with his pen, frowns or pouts his lips, he is having some reservations on the proposal. Occasional nodding of his head while maintaining eye contact with the people in the room is his way of keeping the discussion going. A slight raise of his brows and a brief nod at the direction of a person is an invitation for comment. At the end of the meeting, a slight tap on the shoulder is like saying â€Å"Nice job! † Scientific study notes that there are more nerves between the brain and the hands than anywhere else in the body. The activities of the arms, hands and fingers are largely because of the workings of the mind. Non-verbal signals are exactly what the mind wants to say. References Wagner, K. V.. (2008). Types of Non-Verbal Communication. About. Com:Psychology. Retrieved Frebruary 15, 2008, from http://psychology. about. com/od/nonverbalcommunication/a/nonverbaltypes. htm Riding, C. (2005). Establishing and Maintaining Relationships with Customers Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://www. rsc-necotland. ac. uk/ie/Relationships_with_Customers/Establishing%20and%20maintaining%20relationships%20with%20customers%20version%202-130. htm

Cause and Effect Analysis of Information Data

Cause and Effect Analysis of Information Data Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 1. Information contained in quarterly publish employee directory becomes out of date quickly 1. Companys rapid growth with new employees make quarterly publish directory constantly out of date. Lessen the impact on the administrator from 12 hours weekly to 1 or 2 hours Delete the micro system Enable e-mail system accessibility Dispose of hardcopy directory savings of $27,000 Engage employees to enter data in real time Maintain security of the system to prevent unauthorized access from all locations All computer desktops from all locations must be independently accessible to the system Reduce the redundancy of keying in employee information into the mirco and System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 2. Duplicate employee information in the micro and mainframe systems 1. Automation is non existent between the micro and mainframe systems user interface 2. Employees information is not centrally stored in one location Eliminate the need for the micro system Develop single source of entering employee information to eliminate duplicate keying information Maintain security of the system to prevent unauthorized access from all locations All computer desktops from all locations must be independently accessible to the system Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 3. Maintaining and operating Mainframe system cost are high Out of date technology of the system increases costs to maintain Transactions are source of high cost with constant reprocessing to correct discrepancies 1. Decrease operating cost to a more manageable   level goal of 50% reduction 1. None   noted Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 4. Employee data not current throughout current system Administrator has to key in information on each employee submitted form causing a delay in system accuracy Employee data is not available in real time Allow employees to enter their own information into the system Develop single point of entry to ensure employee data is in real time and made available to other legacy systems 1. Interfaces need to meet legacy specifications Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 5. Employee information processing done by HR department is costly 1. HR staff labor is very extensive thus driving cost upward because of having to interface with each employee to fix discrepancies and input their data into the system Eliminate the need for the micro system Allow employees to enter their own information into the system Develop single point of entry to ensure employee data is in real time and made available to other legacy systems Maintain security of the system to prevent unauthorized access from all locations All computer desktops from all locations must be independently accessible to the system Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 6. Employees information is stored in different databases across the system Employee data is not being stored in a single repository Databases for storing employee data are application specific 1. Develop a database that is single source for employee information storage Single source employee database will exceed the $225,000 budget when modifying the legacy application. Provide the appropriate interfaces in lieu of modifying legacy applications Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 7. Reports are not accessible when users need them Current system does not have the capability to submit a query or ad-hoc function Backlogs and priorities prohibit IS from responding on reporting requests 1. Provide a feature to enable the ad-hoc and query function to the users Maintain security of the system to prevent unauthorized access from all locations Cause and Effect Analysis System Improvement Objectives Problem or Opportunity Causes and Effects System Objective System Constraint 8. United Way lacking employee participation 1. No means to track employee contributions Provide management the means to monitor contributions and status by the use inquiries and reports Enable each employee the ability to make contributions online Maintain security of the system to prevent unauthorized access from all locations All computer desktops from all locations must be independently accessible to the system

Eating Out: A Common Phenomenon Among Malaysians

Eating Out: A Common Phenomenon Among Malaysians Eating out is a common phenomenon among Malaysians. However, the selection of a restaurant is dependent on the restaurant variety, the consumer personality and the consumption context. With the increase in discretionary income and change in lifestyle, dining out has become a common experience among university students. People begin to have more experiences in dining that lead to customer expect more from the restaurants and are more difficult to satisfy. Restaurant consumption lifestyle is very related to food lifestyle. Kesic and Piri Rajh (1993) stated that food lifestyle can be desribed through behaviour of consumer as a function of individual characteristics and this can be create through the social interaction of psychological and also the past experience of consumer. Dine out is known as consumption of food and drink eaten outside the home which is not obtained from the households stocks. Dine out is easily accesible, as in expensive hawker centers, coffee shops, air-conditioned food courts and fast-food restaurants whereas consumers have the ability to choose types of food and price (Dittmer,2002) Restaurant consumption lifestyle among students depends on convenience of food and also restaurant itself, traditionality of food that they serve, concerning about health and nutrition, environment or atmosphere at the restaurant, the variety of menu that restaurants provided and also the price of food. Food-related lifestyle has five components fisrt is higher-order attributes of food products, second is consequences of using food product, third is shopping script, forth is meal preparation scripts and fifth is usage situations. The striking social, economic transformation, the increases in the types, the absolute number of retail venues and the greater variety of food products can influence the consumer purchasing behavior in restaurant consumption lifestyle. In the aspect of restaurant consumption lifestyle, the frequency that they dining outside of the home can give an idea what make them to dine out, with whom they usually go to dine out, where the location that they prefer and why they choose that place. Dine out is not an option for those who are only has a limited time, it is also has become the favorable choice for those who like to obtain new eating environmnet, changing of menu, and for people who want to spend time with friend, colleagues or family. In order to fulfill the needs, peoples will patronize foodservice establishment. People have certain evaluative foodservice establishment criteria in their mind, such as the quality of the food and service provided ambience and the price. 1.2 Problem Statement Restaurant consumption lifestyle is very general if we want to discuss among all types of consumers. However, in this research will try to understand about the restaurant consumption lifestyle between two major ethnic groups of university students. This research will come out what the motivation purchasing among two races in restaurant selection criteria. Besides that, this research will find out what type of trend nowadays consumers preferred to go to the restaurant, for example what the restaurant selection criteria of restaurant consumers more preferred, why they choose that restaurant, when usually they go there, what they expect when they go to the restaurant and with whom they usually go there. These studies have addressed issues such as the relationship between consumer behaviour, the demand pattern of restaurant consumption lifestyle and factors influencing consumer purchasing behavior. All of these issues are related with restaurant consumption lifestyle between two races of students because these issues are more to social science and behavior of consumers. 1.3 Objectives The objectives of this study are: To investigate the restaurant consumption lifestyle between two ethnic groups of university students. To examine the motivation purchasing in consuming their meal at restaurant. To determine the difference of restaurant selection criteria in normal and special dining out occasion. 1.4 Research Questions Specifically two basic research questions underline this study: Does the consumer behavior influence in the restaurant consumption lifestyle? Is it have differences between two ethnics group of university students in restaurant consumption lifestyle? What the motivation purchasing in restaurant consumption lifestyle between Malay and Chinese students? 1.5 Significance of the Study This paper consists of information on consumers consumption pattern and factors that influence consumers purchasing decision. Indirectly, can understand why university student select one restaurant over the other, the marketer can use marketing strategy effectively to gain market and profit. Besides that, managers also can understand the critical factors that influence customers behavior, loyalty and satisfaction in the food service industry and help them to improve in critical part or areas. All the factors that effect consumers eating out in food service establishment may also directly affect the profitability of the food service operations. Therefore, this study is important to investigate the factors contributing to overall customers satisfaction and repurchase behavior. A food service manager needs to understand this relationship in order to enhance their customers need and satisfaction. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Eating Out In this study, restaurant consumption lifestyle related with the contemporary patterns and the symbolic association of eating out and also related with patterns to social and demographic characteristics of households. Eating out has important implications for comprehensive understanding of nations diet. Eating out become famous trend in many peoples lives now (Koo et al, 1999). Eating out is familiar among single-parent household and also career woman (Elmont, 1995). According to Finkelstein (1989), eating out can give the leisure motive of what they seeing and being seen in public also it can give the entertained by others. Britain showed that consumers increasingly consume their food outside the home (Driver, 1983). As a proportion of food expanding, eating away from home has been increasing since 1950s. Food and its consumption can examine at several different levels and these will depend for ones purpose, whereas attention needs to focus of the following nutrients, ingredients, dishes, meals and cuisine. Eating out has both practical and symbolic significance. People eating out because sometimes out of their necessity and sometimes they eating out because of for pleasure. British Family Expenditure Survey had suggested that people eating out depends on their modes and could be expressed through food consumption (Warde Tomlinson, 1995). The recent official data in UK stated that difference in the social group will give the results difference in the frequency of eating out. The income, age, gender, region, class and household composition will influence consumer eating out. The major leisure motive of eating out can based on Mills belief which is relates to the psychological needs of human being (Mill, 2001). Eating out more than to preventing from suffering because of not enough food. In this research, results can support that people truly enjoy eating when psychologically as a part of leisure motive. In addition, the another aspect of motivation on what causes of behavior, Herzbergs two-factor theory such as hygiene factors and motivation can be apply in finding the results. Lack of concern about hygiene factors can cause of customer dissatisfaction. Eating out had its role in modern consumption (Warde and Martens (1998) and eating out also had its significant because eating out can increase the penetration of commodification and consumer culture in everyday life. Riley (1994) stated that in Britain there were no cultural and psychological factors because consumers tend to evaluate their meal experience at the restaurant they went to. Hygiene factor direct specialist to basic consumption on inexpensive food whereas, motivator give signal for self-identity will act to motivate the customer. People whos have different meal options for different motive will produce the relationship between different types of dining experiences. This is can emphasize that meal can influence the consumers choice of a restaurant meal (June and Smith, 1087). The frequency of eating out may vary, every age group, culture group, social class, and geographical community makes eating out an important from recreation. Eating out on a large scale is an interesting phenomenon of our changing society. Specifically, eating out is defined as patronize to any foodservice establishment by respondents of this study. In this modern society, people eating out for variety of reason, which included avoiding from boredom, to socialize, to have different type of food, taste and convenience ( Tom Powers. 2002). Lewis (1981) considered five factor for eating out which are food quality, menu variety, price, atmosphere and convenience factors. On the other hand, Jones (1996) identified six basic reasons as to why people eating out which are convenience, variety, labor, status, culture or tradition and impulse. Convenience This factor includes those people who are away from some reason, who are physically unable to return at home during normal time and out it conjunction with some other leisure activity. Variety Variety of food is an important factor to attract consumer to one food premise. People, who live in circumstances where the meal experiences are limited, such as in the hawkers stall, may choose to eat out for this reason. Labor The desire to have someone else to prepare food, cook, serve and wash up a meal most certainly influences some peoples decision to dine-out. Status Both for personal and business reasons people may choose to impress their guess by taking them out to a fashionable and expensive restaurant. Culture Eating can be described as a part of our culture heritage and a manifestation of kinship. For example, in Malaysia, celebration of special events such as anniversaries and birthday are often associated with eating out. Impulse This is rather like saying that sometimes people have to no particular reason for eating out, they do so on the spur of movement. However, impulse buying is very significant and that it contributes to sales in the food service industry. 2.2 A Theory of Motivation Consumption Values This theory will discuss about consumption values, explaining why consumer choose to buy or not to buy a specific product. Also discuss why consumers choose one product type over another and why consumers choose one brand over another. This theory consists of five consumption values that can influence consumer choice behavior. The five consumption values are functional value, social value, emotional value, epistemic value, and conditional value. In making a decision, any or all of the consumption values can influence of that. 2.2.1 Functional Value Functional value is defined as alternatives capacity for functional, profitable, or physical performance. An alternative receive the functional value through the utilitarian or profitable and also physical attitudes. Functional value can measured the profile of choice attributes. Generally, functional value is assumed to be the main driver of consumer choice. This assumption comes from Marshall (1890) and Stigler (1950), that strictly expressed in terms of rational economic man. Reliability, durability and price are characteristics that derived from alternatives functional value. For example, the decision to purchase food in the fine dining restaurant must based on their income and ability to buy it. 2.2.2 Social Value Social value is an alternatives association with one or more specific social groups and through positively and negatively stereotyped demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural- ethnic groups. The choice imagery can be measured in profile of social value. The choices involved tangible of highly products and also for goods or service need to be shared with others are often lead by social value. For example, consumer choose to eat at fine dining may be chosen more for social image than for their necessity. Hyman (1942) research about reference groups said that individual behavior is strongly can influence by their group membership. Rogers (1962) and Robertson (1967) also suggested that interpersonal communication and information dissemination can influence in consumer choice. 2.2.3 Emotional Value Emotional value is perceived from an alternatives capacity to arouse feelings or affective states. An alternatives get the emotional value when specific feelings continue those feelings. The feeling which associated with the alternative can be measured in profile of emotional value. Normally, goods and service are correlated with emotional responses and aesthetic alternatives. More tangible products have emotional value for example, some foods can rise the feeling of comfort through their correlated with childhood experiences. According to Dichter (1947) , carried out in motivation research that consumer choice may be lead by noncognitive and unconscious motives. A good and interesting of advertising and decoration of environment in marketing and promotion can enhance the emotional responses to marketed products (Martineau, 1958; Zajonc, 1968; Kotler, 1974; Holbrook, 1983; Park and Young, 1986). 2.2.4 Epistemic Value Epistemic value is an alternatives to enhance the curiosity, provide novelty, and satisfy a desire for knowledge. Epistemic value can get from questionnaire items referring to curiosity, novelty, and knowledge. Epistemic value usually provide the overall new experiences and the alternative can be chosen because consumer is already bored or satisfied with their current products or brand for example they want to try new type of coffee brand and they curious in visiting a new restaurant or they have desire to learn in experiencing another culture. According to (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955; Howard and Sheth, 1969; Hansen, 1972; Hirschman, 1980), concept of epistemic value has been influenced by theory of exploratory, novelty seeking, and variety of motives that suggested activating the product search, trial, and switching the behaviors. 2.2.5 Conditional Value Conditional value is a result by an alternative of the specific situation facing the choice maker. Conditional value presence of antecedent physical or social contingencies that can enhance its functional or social value. The choice contingencies are measuring profile of conditional value. The alternatives usually depend on the situation for example, some products of food only have when seasonal value or some of food only have once in a lifetime events. Many products of food have not more obvious conditional association. Hull (1963) and Howard (1969) recognized the importance of learning will take place a result of experience with a given situation. 2.3 Restaurant Attributes Customers have their own reason to want to return to any restaurant. They are constantly seeking quality, value and desirable environment away from the pressures of daily life. Offering good food and good service is not enough to attract and retain customers. To gain a competitive advantage, restaurants need to offer good value in a favorable ambience. According to Autys study (1992), there are ten factors influencing restaurant selection decision which are food type, food quality, and value for money, image and atmosphere, location, speed of service, recommend, new experience, operating hour and facilities for children. However, image and atmosphere were found to be the final choice between restaurants which were similar, and food quality and food type were the most important factor of restaurant selection. 2.3.1 Food Quality Quality of food which contain the fresh ingredients has already been rated as the most important reason why customers return to the restaurant (Brumback, 1998). Technology plays an important function to maintain the quality of food. It means computer chips in refrigerators or fryers or ice-makers need to always maintain the temperature to avoid from any waste of foods. 2.3.2 Price The price is to paid for a service is known as the level of quality to be demanded (Davis and Vollman,1990). Therefore, dining out becomes an integral part of consumers lifestyle, experienced consumers due to their expectations with regard to quality, while seeking a better value for their budget (Cullen,1994). 2.3.3 Environment Ambience may give restaurants competitive edge and restaurants need to update their dà ©cor and concepts if they want to attract more customers and compete with others successfully. Belman said that: Today, the most important thing is design and concept. The owner of restaurant need to invest money to create a good of decoration. It can be a good enjoyable and a fun dinner for social able people. 2.3.4 Location Location plays the main important factor in consumer decision making. It is a critical location aspect of marketing strategy. As Hughes (1996) said that: Good location allow ready access, can attract large numbers of consumers and significantly alter consumer purchasing patterns. As restaurant with very similar food offerings proliferate, even slight differences in location decision represent long-term financial commitments and changing poor locations can be difficult and costly. In a study by Bitner (1992) also found that convenience location and low prices are the top-ranked determinants of patronage. 2.3.5 Service Quality Nowadays, customers have also been concerned about the quality of service. Service quality is viewed as an antecedent to satisfaction. Since the customers interaction with the service provider and the service-producing process have a significant impact on the customers perception of service quality and subsequently influence customers satisfaction, marketing concept, such as customer satisfaction should be incorporated into the managements operational decision making process. 2.4 Factor Affect Restaurant Attributes Consideration The importance of the restaurant attributes according to three main factors which are restaurant types, dining out occasion and occupation, age and income. 2.4.1 Restaurant Types According to Lewis (1981), importance of restaurant attributes varied according to the four types of restaurant, which are categorized as fine dining, family, theme and convenience. Fine dining restaurant are friendliness of waiting staff, quality of food and environment. While family restaurant has top four choice variables are location, cleanliness, cost of food and speed of service. The theme restaurants are ambience factors, prestige, quality of food and location. 2.4.2 Dining Out Occasion Restaurant chosen according to dining out occasion which are categorized as a celebration for instance birthday, a special occasion and business meal. The top three determinants variables for celebration occasion are quality of food, type of food and menu item variety. Whereas for special occasion are cleanliness, service and type of food. On the other hand, for business meal are quality of food, prestige and ambience factors (Kivela, 1997). 2.4.3 Occupation, Age and Income Kivela (1997) has suggested that the determinant choice variables also changes according to occupation, age, and income segments. Financial people make their final restaurant choice on the basis of cost of food because of limited budget, location due to convenience, speed of service and quality of food. 2.4 Consumer Behavior in Food Service Industry Consumers have potentially to deals with all ways people that may act in their role according to study about the consumer behavior ( Schiffman and Kanuk, 1991). In practice of consumer behavior there are more tends to focus upon behavior that related to searching, buying, used the products and also services. Normally, consumer will be assumed as groups and they will be identified through geo-demographic noticeable quality and they also will take as true to have common attitudes. Food service literature consist example of segmentation surveys for example demand for different types of restaurant to different socio-economic segments. It shows that different of demographic and income will give the effect less of demand in consuming of food compared with population density of metropolitan areas. In this study the purchase behavior is related to the act of consumers towards restaurant consumption lifestyle and according to Blackwell (1998), consumer behavior in food service industry always related with how people buy, when they buy, what they buy and why they buy. He also stated that consumer behavior in food service is a subcategory of marketing that combines all the elements from psychology, sociology, socio-psychology, anthropology and economics. However, Gordon (1980) was used the behavioral sciences specifically for social psychology and sociology to understand more what customers wants and needs. He mentioned that through consumers psychological backgrounds can investigate the consumers in order to establish the extent to which factors like attitudes, motives and personality traits affect buying behavior. Whereas, social can influence such as class, status and also family. These were contributed to the understanding of consumer decision making. Mattila et al. (2002) had mentioned that the purchasing of food is a complex phenomenon. This is because the food must be available when consumer wants it, always at an affordable price and quality of food is in acceptable level. All of these will arrange consumer to select the right kinds of restaurant in order to eat their food for overall well being as well as to meet nutritional requirement. Food service industry has characteristics in an apart of the service sector which is in financial and professional services. However, Campbell-Smith (1967), it is much related with food choice and quality but at the same time food service offer meal experience to which many factors. Some of the restaurants characteristic in finding the consumers are choice and quality of food and drink, the price or value, service, atmosphere, location and convenience. (Auty, 1992; Gregoire et al (1995). However, Pettijohn et al. (1997) found the three most important for consumer in selecting the restaurant are quality, cleanliness and value. Whereas, the atmosphere in the restaurant and also the variety of menu which offered in the restaurant were not relatively important. Many studies showed that quality of food was very importance and consumers just see the service as several factors that influenced in quality of restaurant offered. According to Kara et al. (1995), demographic of consumer will give the different expectations of the type of food served, location of restaurants and also the cost of the food they spent. Not only the attribute values concerned with consumer satisfaction, but the wide value also can concerned in consumer satisfaction for instance, the choice making in the individual at the time they purchase is very significant point that can affect in restaurant consumers satisfaction. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This research used the qualitative method which is individual interview. The information obtained from this research is beneficial to food service industry to understand what the consumers expect from them and can help food service industry to improve the satisfaction among consumers. In order to do so, methodology and procedure were designed to ensure high quality and standard of the study in obtaining reliable information. This study will include the location of the study, sampling procedure, data collection procedure, and research instrument and data analysis. 3.2 Location of the study This research need to compare the restaurant consumption lifestyle between student and working people, so the interview was conducted fully in Universiti Putra Malaysia. This place was used because there is a lot of Malay and Chinese students thus, reliable information can be obtained among the respondents. 3.3 Sampling Design The sampling method used in this study wwas convenience sampling. This sampling method is selected because it is convenience and relatively quick. The respondent will easy to get to do the interviewing. In this study, a total of respondents are 30. 3.4 Research Instrument In this study, the interview question was unstructured question and the answer will depends on the respondents. However, in this research there is still have question for the respondents. Respondents were asking about: Where and what kind of place or restaurant they eat most often. What type of food they eat often and why they choose that type. Respondents need to describe the food due to taste, colour and appearance. In what way the food is convenience for them. What the purpose or motivation factor they eating out? If they have special dish to eat, when they will go out, what they want to eat and why they want eat it. Did they will go only restaurant that sell of the food for example they will go Italian Restaurant or Pizza Hut if they want to eat Italy food. In one week, how many times they eating at the restaurant? What the criteria they will choose if they eating at the restaurant? Why? Price Quality Convenience Health 3.5 Data Analysis This research was analyzed through interview content. The data from interview need to transcribe carefully and then starting to analyze each of the respondent interview. The content analysis consists of reading and re-reading the transcripts looking for similarities and differences in order to find objective and to develop categories. DSLR or a Digital Camera? DSLR or a Digital Camera? The first mass use camera became available at the turn of the 20th century and can be traced back to the year 1900 and during the 20th century the pace of technology development in cameras and photography continued at an accelerated pace much like many other key technology developments, just like how a digital camera evolved into a DSLR. My question now is if you are willing to buy a camera, should you buy a DSLR or a Digital Camera? This is a question that you need to answer for yourself and this is why I am writing this essay, for you to decide. Let us now start with their picture quality, followed by their over-all performance, and finally their major differences. In DSLRs, one cannot always preview how a picture will be exposed; instead, metering and experience must be relied upon, unlike in digital cameras where in megapixel rating is the main thing to consider when determining a cameras quality. Digital cameras generally have small image sensors which mean that the quality that they produce is generally lower. This is slowly changing in some digital cameras but in comparison to DSLRs they still have a long way to go. Its worth saying however that if youre not planning on using your images for major enlargements or in professional applications that the quality of digital cameras can be more than enough for the average user, although based on the survey conducted a lot of people would rather prefer a DSLR than a digital camera regardless of their skills in photography. When it comes to over-all performance, a DSLR camera has a feature set that well suits both amateurs and more experienced photographers alike. Fast performance, incredibly detailed images, and a solid live view implementation making DSLRs an excellent choice for more experienced photographers. While DSLR cameras are perfect for professional photographers digital cameras on the other hand offers great ease of use for beginners for it packs long zooms, is compact and has a stylish body, and it is an excellent all around camera thats idea for travel and general purpose photography. Digital cameras are remarkably easy to use and produce great results when set to intelligent auto mode, but even though digital cameras seem to be easier, a majority of the people still prefers a DSLR. One of the major differences between a DSLR and a digital camera is what prevents people from buying a DSLR, its price. Even though DSLR prices have come down each and every year, they are still significantly more expensive than digital cameras considering that you might want to upgrade your lens or you may wish to add more lenses later and that this adds to the cost of a DSLR, but 19 out of 30 people still think that the DSLR is more cost efficient. Zoom is also one major difference, since all DSLR lenses can be removed from the camera body, the zoom mechanism are entirely manual. To change the view you have to twist a ring on the lens. This manual zoom actually results in a faster zoom. You dont have to wait for the motors to move the lens and out unlike that of the digital camera, you can just twist the zoom ring as fast or as slow as you like. You can clearly see the difference between a DSLR and a digital camera when it comes to size and weight because DSLRs are heavy and sizab le when you add a lens or two to your bag kit, you can end up with quite the load! Unlike in a digital camera, you are simply able to slip the camera in a pocket to the point of not even knowing youve got them with you! The strength of the conducted survey is that since a majority of the few people who answered the survey chose the DSLR as their best choice, it is possible that majority of the people will also choose DSLR as their choice since DSLRs are very popular to beginners and pros alike. The weakness of the survey on the other hand is that only a few people were able to answer it so we cannot fully investigate what the people really think about DSLRs and digital cameras. We cannot say that the DSLR is the best choice just because 30 people said so. Although the obvious choice for most is the DSLR but it is still best to ask individually rather than assuming that the DSLR is the best choice. If you want a portable camera that takes good enough pictures that youll mainly use for small prints, for uploading pictures on facebook, and one that youll mainly shoot in auto mode, Ill probably recommend a digital camera, but if youre after the image quality and youre desire is to use the manual settings, then I highly recommend a DSLR. I also recommend people to buy a digital camera first rather than jumping into a DSLR without even knowing the basic of taking pictures.

Book Review of The Path of Prayer: Four Sermons on Prayer by St. Theophan the Recluse :: Saint Theophan the Recluse Literature Essays

Book Review of The Path of Prayer: Four Sermons on Prayer by St. Theophan the Recluse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is often said that there are no more heroes in today\\\'s world or even that this is an age of the anti-hero. Yet anyone who is blessed with the opportunity to observe children for any length of time will see that regard for those who exemplify certain ideals (heroes) is a spontaneous element in basic human psychology. The reported lack of heroes and the cult of the anti-hero are the fruit of a disillusioned Aadult@ mentality which has been lied to on this as well as other subjects and hence robbed of the natural inclination of a normal human being (a child) who is as yet untainted by the cynicism and Asophistication@ of a deeply troubled society. The more often the lie is repeated the more firmly it is held to be true. But, heroes do still exist -- it is rather that a society which values valuelessness no longer has eyes to see them and has lost the ability to produce them. For those who have eyes to see, one such hero is the author of the book under review here. St. Theophan of Vysha (+1894), better known as Theophan the Recluse, is one of the great 19th century Russian luminaries of the Orthodox Church whose light reaches even unto us in the present, heterodox West. Being virtually our contemporary, he was nevertheless steeped in the ancient Tradition of the Fathers. Having faced in his life existential and intellectual conditions very similar to our own, he is a bridge to authentic spiritual life in Christ, making the wisdom of the Christian Tradition easily accessible to us. This should not be particularly surprising, for as Christ himself tells us, a light is kindled not to be hidden under a basket but to be held aloft to shed light for all. One must stubbornly persist in blindness not to behold this Light Who has been providentially kindled in St. Theophan for our sake in these latter days. Like so many of the more recent saints of the Orthodox Church, very few of his writings are available in English. What is available is quickly gobbled up by seekers thirsting after a word of life from the Living Spring of Christ\\\'s Gospel. Unseen Warfare, his reworking of Lawrence Scupoli\\\'s Spiritual Combat (from the version already adapted by St.

Catcher in the Rye :: essays research papers

Catcher in the Rye Author Information :   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jerome David Salinger was born in New York City in 1919. He attended and graduated from a military acedemy, then shortly attended two colleges. He has written some of the most influencial American literature in the twentieth century. Some of his short stories originally appeared in the New Yorker magazine and were later published as in the book, Nine Stories. However, Salinger has not published anything since 1963. Analysis :   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have chosen to do symbolism. The symbols are clearly made evident by Holden’s constant repetition of their importance. The symbols are so important and their symbolism are directly related to the major themes of the novel. Allie, Holden’s young brother who died some years earlier, was a key symbol through out the story. When Holden remembers incidents from his past involving Allie, his attitude changes, like as when he writes the composition about Allie’s baseball glove or when Holden broke his hand after punching all of the windows after Allie died. He feels that Allie was one of the few people who were not phony in a world full of phonies. But more importantly, Allie represents the childhood that Holden strives to find through out his multi-day journey. In Holden’s opinion, Allie represents the purity that Holden looks for in the world. Holden admits that he admires Allie more than he admires Jesus. Allie is Holden’s role model, whom he judges the rest of the world to. When Allie dies, it creates heartache in Holden’s life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another symbol is when walking through New York City, Holden arrives at the Museum of Natural History. He remarks about the museum that he likes the glass cases that the museum officials place all of their exhibits in. He wishes he could place parts of his life in glass cases because they won’t change. In the end, he decides not to go into the museum. He likes the museum because he used to go there in his childhood, a time that he remembers with happiness. Since the glass cases inside the museum don’t allow anyone to change anything, it would be the one place for Holden to go if he wanted everything to be as it was during his childhood. However, he elects to remain outside because he is afraid that there is a chance that the museum might have changed. Jane Gallagher changed since his childhood and Holden thought that was unbelievable, so if Jane could change, perhaps

A Tribute to a Special Person Essay -- Personal Narrative

A Tribute to a Special Person In 1982, at the age of fifthteen Debb ie Martinez of the Bronx, found out she was pregnant and was forced to drop out of school and move in with her boyfriend. She had a baby girl she named Jasmine. With little education and no job, it wasn’t easy for her to raise her child. She stayed at home caring for her daughter while her boyfriend worked. Since it was his house she had little say about anything that happened. He did as he pleased and came home with money only when he wanted to. Less then two years later she found herself about to raise another child. She had a baby girl she named Jennifer. She struggled to care for her two babies without much help from the father. It was then that she realized she had to do something to better her life. She decided to move back in with her mother and go back to school. She found work that barely gave her enough to raise her children. With two babies to care for, it was impossible for her to go back to high school full time so she received her G.E.D. She always had hopes of becoming a nurse so she enrolled in community college. By this time she was working and had her own apartment. While going to college she found herself about to raise another baby girl. She continued to attend classes until the last possible moment. When Aurea was born, school was once again put on hold so she could care for her baby. As soon as Aurea was old enough to stay with a babysitter Debbie went back to work and school. She worked during the day and went to class at night. Being able to only take a class or two per semester made it harder for her to graduate. She never gave up. In 1997 she finally received enough credit and graduated with a degree in medical assistance. She ... ...bbie is living her life day by day. She never knows when her multiple sclerosis will completely rule her life. Some days she wakes up fine, but then the day comes when it’s hard for her to do anything. Even though she is sick, she still works hard to maintain her family. When she’s having a bad day physically, she takes her medicine and gets ready for work. When her family is worried and tells her it would be best for her to stay home and rest she assures them she is strong and will be fine. Debbie Martinez is a very special person. She worked hard all her life to accomplish her goals. She continued to go to school and work, while still being able to take care of her children and making sure they had everything they needed. No matter what was thrown in her way she could overcome it. Debbie has played many roles in her life, being my mother is just one of the many.

Online Education Essay

Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education. Distant learning could be any format from VHS videos, DVDs, or internet courses online. Online education has been legal since 1993 and is a new way of teaching students of all ages. Online education has been gaining popularity through out the years because of the ease of the internet. The internet has made it easier for people to stay connected and has provided people with unlimited resources on the World Wide Web. Many educators have mixed feelings about online educating because there are so many pros and cons to the issue. Mary Kassop, author of â€Å"Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning,† writes, â€Å"Can students learn as much and as well online as they do in F2F courses? Not only is the answer to these questions a resounding ? yes, ‘ but there are many ways that online courses may actually surpass traditional F2F classes in quality and rigor†(357). Kassop is a pro advocate of online education and she is correct on the issue because it can provide a good education to many people. Online courses provide a good teaching environment where the individual is on his or her own all in the comfort of their room. The convenience of online courses provide busy individuals a chance to get the equal amount of education as a student going to class and all that is needed to get started is a computer with internet access. One computer can open the gates to a whole new world of learning and excitement. To stimulate the experience there are many classes offered online by city and university colleges. Long Beach City College has a few to offer such as Psychology and Sociology which are equal to or even better then face to face classes. One example of a class that is better online rather than face to face is Sociology because they let the students observe human communication at public spaces without the teacher being there. The work that is done in the classes is also expected from someone who signs up for an online class. The online class materials are the same as the normal classes themselves, but the books used can be ordered from book stores online. Discussion on issues is done in chat rooms and forums where everybody writes their views on the issue. This is an advantage for foreigners who can not speak proper English correctly. Live video and sound can also be done with special equipment for a real time conversation with instructors and peers. Other features on the online courses are the learning aides that can be used while taking the course. Certain programs can be made such as flash cards and games which can increase the learning experience of the student. These learning aides can be done on the student’s time and does not require the teacher to be there. Time for a face to face class is very difficult if a person works 40 hours a week but an online course can put an ease on the time restriction because the person does the work at their own pace and time. It is also easier to sign up for an online class than a class at a college. Message boards are in use if the students need to leave a question or a comment about the subject their on. They also save time by not traveling to the college and trying to find a parking space. Rural areas where students have to travel a great distance to get to class can save time and money by doing online classes. For example, a child of a farmer can help the family out in the morning with the farming chores then go to an online class later on. Rural kids may also take additional educational classes online that their school does not provide. Children in the movie industry may also take online courses to keep up with their studies while on the road filming movies. Hillary Duff takes online course while she films. As the price of education continues to rise, the rate of students applying for online educational classes will continue to get greater. The price for a unit at Long Beach City College is $26 and the price per unit will continue to rise as long as there is a deficit in California’s budget. Online courses provide a cheaper alternative for schools that have a problem with their budget and actual classroom space. Teachers can also record themselves and the student can download the film if they miss the session. This gives a student the chance to catch up on a class session if he missed out on that day. In 2002, 12 of the 55 National Geographic Bees were homeschoolers meaning that courses than at home can provide a great teaching environment. Students do not have to put up with bad influences from regular schooling and help build their own identity without social pressures that traditional schooling may have. Some students may also earn their high school degree faster then their peers. While the pros are stated some cons are also involved with online classes such as the there is no real person to person interaction with an instructor. No face to face communication means there is no personal attention from an instructor. Some may also feel the accreditation from an online school is not the same as a real university classroom. Students do not get to feel the real situations of a traditional classroom or university causing them to be isolated or anti-social. There is no support from an instructor like a real class and everything is usually done by the student. Everything depends on his or her ability to understand the material and be ready for term papers and test. Some knowledge of computers is necessary if the student wants to be able to stay in the class as being computer illiterate is a big issue determining if the person will pass or fail because most of the work is done online. Many low-income students might be affected by the computer issue because desktops and laptops are expensive and many may not be able to afford such luxuries. Another problem is if a person always needs an extra push or reminder that a up coming report or test is coming because there is no instructor there to provide the push and it is all up to the student remind themselves. However, the cons stated above can also work to help the student become more responsive. The person to person interaction is not really needed because when they graduate some individuals will become office workers and they usually work in a cubical providing the same atmosphere that the online class provides. Also by the students doing everything by themselves in an online class they become more independent, teaching them that there is not always a person there to guide them in a problem, just like in life. As for the issue of the computer cost that some students can not afford they can use public resources to access the internet such as the library and so on. There are also loans, grants, and other forms of financial help they can get to provide them with the tools they need to get started in an online  class and with the computer training they must learn in an online class it can provide a leg up in the competitive job market. Online education could be the tool of the future to provide the young and the old with schooling and instruction. It provides a cheaper way of teaching while still giving the student the material necessary for the class. Students learn responsibility through online education and will give them a reason to work hard during the class. All in all online classes will help provide many students with the education they require.

History Dbq Essay

Despite the common English backgrounds, societies in the New England and Chesapeake regions of Colonial America had split off into two incredibly different cultures: A very religiously focused New England and the more economic-oriented Chesapeake. Because these regions were settled for different purposes, the development of these societies led to the distinctions between them. One of the major causes for emigration from England to North America was religious persecution. Religious tolerance in Britain for other Christian sects besides the Anglican church was virtually nonexistent, resulting in many members of other sects to seek religious haven in the colonies. The vast majority of immigrants coming to New England were followers of Puritanism who traveled to North America for strictly religious reasons. As shown by Document B, the first member listed (and therefore most prominent figure) on of one of the ships bound for New England was a minister, underlining the importance aspiring New Englanders placed on their Puritan beliefs. Consequently, the cities created by these pilgrims were built with Puritan customs in mind, establishing towns under strict guidelines conforming to things such as a religious town leader and how much real estate is distributed among the residents (Document D). Desire to achieve the ideal Puritan city stretched out across all of New England, as shown by Boston, Massachusetts who’s mayor John Winthrop wanted it to model the ideal Christian city, a â€Å"city upon a hill† that provided other Puritan towns a perfect example of what to be like (Document A). This overarching religious influence defined every aspect of New England society from blatantly patriarchal domestic life to the superstitious paranoia that led to the misguided hunting of witches. New England towns also put an emphasis on education, mostly so people could be able to read the bible. Harvard, in fact, was established to train members of the clergy rather than providing educations in philosophy and science. New England immigrants arrived in North America with religious intent, and so it was that their society was defined by their religious customs. Contrary to the pilgrims of New England, those who settled in the Chesapeake area colonized the region for more economic purposes. Many people who settled in the Chesapeake were down-on-their-luck English citizens living in swamps and slums hoping to stake it out in the New World, because it couldn’t be much worse than the conditions they faced back in England. Most received their tickets to America through indentured servitude, paying for their trip with a few years of free labor for a wealthy master. Document C is a roster of indentured servants bound for Virginia who are all set to work for the same master. Indentured servitude had long lasting effects on the colonies, the most impactful being Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 (Document H). This uprising was caused former indentured servants who had no land or property of their own once their work contracts expired. Because the land westward was populated by Natives and therefore almost impossible to acquire, the dissenters focused against the rich and powerful members of the colonies. The successful uprising led to reforms such as work regulations explained in Document E, as well a shift away from indentured servitude and towards slavery of blacks. Other settlers besides indentured servants were aspiring traders and gold-hunters mentioned in Document F. While traders had little success early on and treasure hunters definitely didn’t find their fields of gold, they did help establish a more economic focus in the Chesapeake region. One major result of this was the development of a merchant class that wasn’t seen in New England. These merchants were responsible for the large amounts of overseas trade done with Europe and the West Indies that occurred in the Chesapeake region. However with this trade-based society came boom & bust economy cycles and an attack on Virginia by Dutch pirates in 1673 (Document G). Education wasn’t nearly as important as it was up North since most young people learned a trade rather than going to school and learning to read scripture. Settlers in the Chesapeake area arrived with the intent of economic success, creating a more labor-based culture that made religion take a backseat to things like trade and property. Whereas the New England part of colonial America was settled by Puritans looking to model their cities after their religious beliefs, the Chesapeake area was populated by people looking out for their economic interests. The simple differences in intentions for immigration proved to be the reason for the formation of a fundamentalist society and a trading society.

Can We Speak of a ‘Classless Society’

Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Stratification is a concept we are faced with on a daily basis, whether it is a conscious or subconscious element of our lives. Class has been a dominant form of stratification in traditional views of society, but man’s evolution in thought, behaviour, outlook, organization and culture has led to critical criticism questioning the very existence of class itself: Does class still exist? Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Analysing the role that class does or doesn’t play in modern society is interesting because we are our very own sources.Through first hand experiences of class we can determine the role it plays in our everyday lives. Class can be viewed both subjectively depending on how we think of ourselves, or objectively dealing with how we are structurally located in society. (Milner, 1999) Therefore, combining our subjective, micro-level understanding of class with a macro-level, objective analys is of class, we can determine the degree to which class persists in modern society. The idea of stratification and class will continuously persist as it provides a foundation for organization and identity in society.Although the word ‘class’ will never die, the traditional role class plays in society has certainly died. ‘Social Class’ is the class of today; it has followed the death of the rigid, traditional and intolerant class of yesterday. Today people are more empowered and can take control of their social standing, an idea supported with the current social mobility and emergence of the middle class. ‘Social class’ classifies people in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, age, culture etc. Naturally, economic class continues to play its role in society, but it does so in harmony with other aspects of ‘social class. Class is disintegrating because people are becoming more individualistic. What matters today is how people see themselves, a s opposed to how they are viewed by society. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). Traditionally, society consisted of inherited classifications between masters and slaves, and lords and peasants etc. , which constituted the ‘natural’ way of association. There are certain parts of the world where people still live by their inherited class. In India for example there is a Caste System, in which every individual is categorized into divisions (colour, ancestors, rank).There are four main castes with various sub-castes and each have a large amount sub castes within them, furthermore outside the caste system are the ‘Untouchables’ who are oppressed and viewed as impure all the time. The four main castes: Brahmins–priests Kshatryas–warriors Vaishyas–traders Shudras–laborers A significant classical view of class is that of Marx. His traditional view of class contained two distinct classes: Bourgeoisie or the capitalist class, who own their own mea ns of production, and the Proletariat or working class, who own their own labour. Marx, et al. , 1848) Exploitation between these two social groupings in the capitalist production process defined Marxist class (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). The Marxist view is ‘real’ and ‘objective, furthermore its concerned with the different strata as a whole rather than the individuals within them (Saunders, P. 1990). For Marx, social power was achieved purely through economic class. He viewed class as a rigid and positional aspect of society. Hence, his interpretations of class failed to account for the fluidity of modern class.Conversely, Weber’s view of class is much more synonymous with the role class plays in modern society. He looks at class in terms of the cultural and social roles it plays in society and focuses more on stratification through consumption rather than production. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996) He juxtaposes class as an economic relation with class as a soci al relation, unlike Marx who predominantly focused on economic class. Weber analysed class in terms of status and stratification in the light of: property, ownership, occupational skills, religion, legal rights, lifestyle and consumption.This view of class is still relevant in today’s society and therefore Weber’s view of class is not wholly classified under the ‘dead’ or dated outlook on class. Weber did also look at class in terms of economic relations and the possessions of economic goods, as well as market position. He believed that life chances are determined by how one is positioned in the market. (Weber, 1922) This relates to the Indian Caste systems where members of a high caste (Brahmans) enjoy more wealth and opportunities; members of a low caste (untouchables) perform unwanted menial jobs.The ‘Untouchables’ being the lowest stratum are regarded as underprivileged, demoralized and ‘backward’, hence given the jobs such as sweeping, garbage collector and regarded as impure individuals- the idea that once they touch another individual there needs to be a cleansing as the ‘untouchables’ are ‘dirty’. Individuals were relatively powerless, as they could not acquire wealth or status through changing position in a market place. Today, however, hard work and merit allows for social mobility and people have a stronger influence over their position in society. Milner, 1999) Having said that, some individuals do not get the opportunity of social mobility- due to the fact that they are either uneducated or the fact that they do not have the right social networks.Gandhi named the Untouchables â€Å"Harijians† (Children of God)- by doing this he tried upward mobility by trying to elevate their status through different means (befriending and eating with the impure). ‘Underclass’ in general tend to suffer multiple deprevisation, as they are dependent on state welfare (i f given) and have low levels of education hence making it harder for upward mobility (Saunders, P. 990) Social mobility and individual control over social standing has been greatly strengthened through the modern preoccupation with education. The increased priority given to exposing larger proportions of society to education has empowered individuals, allowing them to use their educations as a tool to overcome ‘class’ barriers. Overall, the ability to move up and down the social ladder in present day society makes class that is classified purely in an economic sense irrelevant. Economic’ class is no longer a steady, inherited, and ‘life-long’, concrete concept, as people can change their economic standing within their own life span or across generations. The concept of the ‘middle class’ has also arisen through the idea of social mobility and empowerment through education, and does not concur with Marx’s traditional view of class. Today, the ‘proletariat’ of traditional Marxism is being replaced by machinery as the advancement in technology has made some manual work redundant.Furthermore, the idea that many modern companies do not solely rely on legal ownership of a company, but instead hire people due to technical competence, gives people the opportunity to hold managerial positions that have a lot of power. This is the idea of recruitment via ‘meritocrality’ and hints at the death of classical conventions of class. Therefore, the idea of objective class being defined as the relationship between the ownership and non-ownership of productive resources has greatly dissolved (Lee, et al. , 1996).Having said that in India the opportunity of mobility is limited it all comes down to the status, power or class of the individual- this is due to the fact that India is still developing and full of politics, an individual would have to have the right connections in order to do or acquire anyt hing but most important factor in accomplishing anything in India would be money. Furthermore if an individual is a Shudras they would have less capital compared to the Brahmans, hence decreasing their chance of opportunities they can take.Within the Indian caste system most people remain in one caste their entire life and marry within their caste. Although class is viewed differently today, it does not necessarily mean that modern views of class are more ‘equitable. ’ In fact, there is still a strong lack of equity within the different classifications of gender, ethnicity, sexuality etc; furthermore there are parts of the world where class is a vital aspect in their everyday life and interaction. The difference being that in contemporary society people are more attached to individualist and consumerist forms of discrimination and inequality.It can be said that today consumption is more important than production, class is no longer a ‘lifetime experience’, but instead thought about as an ‘individual biography’, and exclusion from the labour market is the more appropriate way to think about poverty. Although the concept of class is ever-present, the objective and subjective role it plays in society has been greatly transformed within the western society, thereby accounting for the death of classical class theories.Having said that India could never be a classless society as people are not acting constructively to escape class divisions, this is due to the fact that most ‘underclass’ cannot undergo upward mobility, as they do not have the opportunity or resources. Class is a social relationship that invades each individual’s lives. There has been a death of traditional class within the western society as individuals are acting constructively to escape class divisions and go towards a classless society, however an evolved definition of class continues to dominate the 21st century.Bibliography Saunders, P. 1990. Social Class and Stratification, USA, Rutledge. Pakulski J and Malcolm W. (1996) The Death of Class. London: Sage. Milner, A. (1999) Class. London: Sage. Weber, M. [1922] ‘Class, Status and Party. ’ Extract from Economy and Society in W. G. Runciman [ed. ] (1978) Max Weber: Selections in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 43-56. Giddens, A. (1994) Beyond Left and Right. Cambridge: Polity. Pp. 139-48 Marx, K. and Engels, F. [1848] ‘Bourgeois and proletarians’, section 1 of The Communist Manifesto, in D. McLellan [ed. ] (1977) Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 222-231. Prandy, K. 2002. Ideal Types, Stereotypes and Class. The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 53 number 4, page14. Brahman. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 06, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/77093/Brahman â€Å"Harijans. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, S ixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved October 06, 2010 from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-Harijans. html