What Is Conflict

What is Conflict? The simple meaning of conflict is basically a disagreement through which the person or people involved recognize a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. With how things are now in modern life conflicts are inevitable. Anyone can get into a conflict. Sometimes little arguments lead to an intense conflict. Also, sometimes people overcome their conflicts quickly. I believe that some conflicts can be easily resolved because it teaches people how to deal with situations like that, and leads people to think about the conflicts. It means that people learn from their mistakes.Also, if the person has enough experience about dealing with conflicts, he or she will be able to resolve it easily. For example if someone was speaking aloud and was interrupted instead of straight away starting an argument they could remind the person to respect other people when speaking. We can understand from this that because of his or her knowledge in dealing with conflicts, she was able to solve it quickly before it increase into serious fight. How we respond to conflict is in two ways, we have emotional responses which are the feelings we experience in conflict, reaching from anger and fear to depression and confusion.Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Therefore, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening. We also have physical responses to conflict which play an important role in our ability to meet our needs in the conflict. They include high stress levels, body tension, and increased sweat, shallow or accelerated breathing, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques used by many people.Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. These are important factors into our experience during conflict, because they often tell us more about what is the true source of threat that we notice; by understanding our thoughts, feelings and physical responses to conflict, we may get better insights into the best potential solutions to the situation. One key point to understanding conflicts is seeing that each person may have a different view onto any given situation.This could also be called the role of Perception. Some of these views would be one of which, gender and sexuality. Men and women often observe situations rather differently, based on both their experiences in the world. As a result, men and women will often approach conflictive situations with differing mind-sets about the desired outcomes from the situation, as well as the set of possible solutions that may exist. Another would be Knowledge (general and situational). People respond to given conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they may have about the issue at hand.This includes specific knowledge about the situation (i. e. , â€Å"Do I understand what is going on here? â€Å") and general knowledge (i. e. , â€Å"Have I experienced this type of situation before? â€Å"). Such information can influence the person's willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or deflating the person’s willingness to openly consider alternatives. This can decide the confidence of a person when they going into a conflict. Although it is usually best to have a minimal amount of conflicts it is useful in some place such as in organisations.In fact, conflict can be good for organizations because it encourages open-mindedness and helps avoid the trend toward group think that many organizations fall prey to. The key is learning how to manage conflict effectively so that it can serve as a catalyst, rather than a burden, to organizational improvement. Although it is often assumed that people avoid conflict, many pe ople actually enjoy conflict to a certain degree because it can be the motivation for new thinking. Considering a different point of view which represents conflict can open up new possibilities and help to generate new ideas that might otherwise have not been considered.It is like when you are in a race you will run faster when your second rather than first because you have that person in front of you pushing you to go faster. My final point about conflict is the reason why most people tend to avoid getting into conflict. Engaging in discussion and negotiation around conflict is something we normally approach with fear and hesitation, afraid that the conversation will go worse than the conflict has gone so far. In my opinion our responses, as said earlier, are likely to to include behaviours, feelings, thoughts and physical responses. If any of these responses shows tress factors that make us reluctant to talk things out, we are more inclined to follow the pathway of avoidance, basi cally because where scared. In addition, consider that our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation, people who aggressively pursue their needs, arguing rather than co-operating with a situation, are often satisfied by others who prefer to put up with this. Managers and leaders are often rewarded for their aggressive, controlling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs.I find this to be unfair but it is my opinion on it. To conclude I believe that Conflict can be easily initiated but also easily resolved if handled in the right way or if he or she has experience. There are different responses to conflict which can lead to different outcomes of the conflict. Different people have different view on situations causing controversy between them. There can be use of conflict in organisations by making it beneficial to the person or company. Finally how I believe society sees conflict and why it is normally avoided which in my opinion it should be.

Cloud Computing Essay

Is cloud computing a new rage, just a fad, a nebulous idea or a far-reaching trend? Cloud computing has become a buzz word in working and learning environments around the globe. Newsstands and Internet pages everywhere are inundated with articles, whitepapers and websites dedicated to defining the many facets of cloud computing such as hosting a website on the cloud, building a cloud infrastructure, cloud security, vulnerabilities, capabilities, pros and cons and cost. IEEE.org (IEEE CLOUD COMPUTING) has dedicated pages on their website to reference nothing but articles of interest and white papers surrounding cloud computing. The barrage of information can be daunting. Jon Oltsik (Oltsik) eloquently discusses industries’ bewilderment with cloud computing when he writes: When discussing cloud computing, I often think of Joni Mitchell’s haunting lyrics from the song,Both Sides Now (jonimitchell.com). In Mitchell’s world, clouds can be wonderful â€Å"ice cream castles in the air† or annoying disturbances that â€Å"only block the sun.† This duality prompts Mitchell to declare, â€Å"It’s clouds illusions I recall, I really don’t know clouds at all.† Joni’s cloud confusion mirrors current industry bewilderment over cloud computing. Like many other industry initiatives, cloud computing has a number of meanings.   Finally, industry confusion is no more. A guideline has been prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is responsible for developing standards and guidelines, for all agency operations and assets for use by Federal agencies. In the guideline entitled, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, cloud computing (Mell and Grance) is defined as follows: A model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models. In the guideline, NIST goes on to define the essential characteristics of cloud computing which include: On-demand self-service – where consumers access computing capabilities automatically without interaction with the cloud provider. Broad network access – where the ability to use common computing devices such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations over the network is easy and accessible. Resource pooling – the provider is able to dynamically meet the computing resource needs of the customers no matter the demand. Rapid elasticity – computing capabilities appear to be unlimited to the customer and can be appropriated in any quantity at any time. Measured service – metering capabilities automatically control and optimize resource use (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Monitoring, controls, and reporting are provided for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service. Microsoft offers a variety of cloud solutions for businesses and individuals. My favorite Microsoft solution is called One Drive (Microsoft), a solution to provide any user any time free online storage to share and store online pictures, video, documents in one place online. Simply create an online email account with Microsoft and through that account you can access all the tools you need to perform essential functions for work, home and play. One place for everything you need in your life. Google also offers a similar package called Google Drive (Google Drive). Google Drive’s slogan is – One safe place for all your stuff. Upload photos, videos and any documents that are important to you. Google Drive also offers free blog and wiki sites for any user, any time, any place. Use most any device with Internet access to create a place to share thoughts and ideas. Google Drive access begins just like Microsoft’s One Drive with the creation of a Google email account. Of course, one of the primary focuses is cloud computing for businesses. Hundreds upon hundreds of businesses are jumping on the band wagon to help businesses migrate from traditional networking to cloud computing. Is cloud computing here to stay? I would say, definitely, YES! Although cloud computing may not be for all businesses, it is available for both large scale and smaller businesses. I personally worked for a startup electrical business where I created cloud capabilities where technicians up and down the east coast could login remotely using a laptop or smartphone and enter time worked onto timesheets, collaborate with the home office, retrieve  technical documentation on the road and accept payment from customers on demand. Cloud computing seems to be a niche market at the moment and served well the small startup business from whom I worked. As for larger established enterprise networks, I believe they may not yet be ready to jump on the band wagon. I also worked for a lar ge corporation supporting a federal agency and they are not yet ready to migrate. It is a possibility cloud computing may be an answer in the future but as of today, the federal agency I supported, is not yet ready for cloud computing. Works Cited Google Drive. March 2014. 2 March 2014 . IEEE CLOUD COMPUTING. Cloud Computing Research Articles, Periodicals, & Technical Papers. December 2013. 28 Febraury 2014 . jonimitchell.com. Both Sides Now and The Circle Game. 21 January 1968. 2 March 2014 . Mell, Peter and Timothy Grance. The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing. September 2011. 25 February 2014 . Microsoft. One Drive. 2014. 28 February 2014 . Oltsik, Jon. Nebulous cloud computing. 17 December 2008. 28 February 2014 .

The process of developing and designing products

The process of developing and designing products has taken a sharp change in the last couple of years. Companies are being pushed by demanding global customers and are being challenged by rapid change of technology. Manufacturers have had to increase the speed of design cycles while at the same time cut the cost of development and manufacture. They must ensure the product takes full advantage of the latest and best technology. Leading companies have found that obstacles in the market today are far too rigorous to overcome on their own. This process of design and development of products has never been so competitive and daunting. However, it is more critical for future success. The Success of modern day companies is due to help from a resource that has been present since the early days of the company. The answer is suppliers. In some industries suppliers are taking on responsibility for designing parts, components, materials, assemblies, and even complete systems for automobiles, computers and other products. Leading manufacturers are using their supply bases as a key element of their product design strategies, and it’s paying off in a big way. In other words the old saw â€Å"Slow and sure wins the race† no longer holds. Speed is competitive edge today s business needs to succeed. Including suppliers in the manufacturing process adds to the clock-speed of a company. The Honda Motor Company is one such company that has recognized this need for speed and has thus adjusted its production to accommodate. The Honda Motor Company is one of the world s most well known producers of motor vehicles. The Company itself is based in Japan, but it had branches all over the world. From a simple start, Honda has grown to one of the world s most successful motoring companies, selling products in almost 200 countries. Honda has set new standards in vehicle production and design. From the Civic to ongoing participation in automotive racing, Honda s spirit of challenge and commitment forms the basis for every Honda project. Honda’s new â€Å"world platform† strategy will produce four variants of the new mid-size Accord platform. Honda s Research and development team found that the easiest way of producing their most popular make of car, the Accord, was to produce a world platform. This platform is an Accord chassis around which different accord bodies are built. For example; The Accord built for America will be larger than the one built in Japan because there is a market for larger cars. The one built in Europe will narrower so that it may compete with other cars on the European market. Essentially the Accord platform is universal. The car s appearance changes due to its location around the world. Accords will be produced in 11 and sold in 100 countries.

Case Study Development Team Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Development Team Project - Case Study Example Ong before started off the hotel chain was the founder of Club 21 which is luxury retail and manages all the top most fashion brands such as Giorgio Armani etc. The Halkin Hotel was the first that was established in London and the company than added on more properties in a span of few years. In the hospitality industry it is very important for any company to establish high quality standards of services so as to facilitate the travel experience of the guest. The intangible products are added value through the gesture and behavior of the people delivering the services. The aim of the COMO group is to produce an exceptional experience and a memorable stay at their hotels and resorts. The company thinks itself to be a part of the community in which ever location it selects to perform the business operations. One of the most exceptional qualities of the company is that it believes that creating memorable moments for the guest is very important for the companies in hospitality industry but it is equally important to support the environment, economies and the local cultures (Ross, Lashley 96). The company even aims at delivering the best of services to its guests in the form of the best quality foods served at its restaurants, quick room services, organizing some game for shows its guests, and even developing the best of infrastructure so that the guests staying at their hotels would have a homely as well as exotic experience. The qualities that the group possesses have made the company on many awards in the past few years for its beautiful properties, architectural designs, restaurants etc and even made the name of the company occur in may esteemed magazines. COMO hotels and resorts have incorporated some of the well known designers in its operation so that the guest can have a pleasant stay in their hotels both in the time of locations as well as properties. There is one more outstanding quality that the

Politics of the knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Politics of the knowledge - Essay Example It is important to understand that informed consent is always given, before the commencement of a medical or health care treatment. Normally, informed consent is always followed, for purposes of following ethics that regulate the profession under consideration. It is difficult to understand this concept of informed consent, without the analysis of various theoretical frameworks. Naturalism and constructivism are the best theoretical frameworks that can be used for purposes of analyzing this concept of informed consent. Naturalistic observation is normally used for purposes of studying the behavior of an individual in a natural set up. Under this type of observation, the parties to the research are not always aware that they are being observed or studies. Based on this fact, they cannot give their free and informed consent. Furthermore, this concept of naturalistic observation normally breaches the privacy of individuals, hence it is unethical practice2. Constructivism is a theoretical framework of knowledge. It explains that human beings are able to generate meaning and knowledge because of the interactions between their ideas and experiences. Based on these facts, when an individual seeks to give out an informed consent, then they are giving it, based on rationality, and knowledge. This means that they are well aware on the reasons they are giving out the permission, and the consequences that would arise, by giving out the permission. One of the major characteristic of naturalism is that it is scientific in nature. It emanates from the fact that anything which is real, must come from nature. Nature is viewed as actions, forces and objects which give up their secrets to an objective scientific inquiry3. The naturalistic view of mankind is depicted as that of animals, living in the natural world, and responding to internal stresses, environmental forces, and drives. Human beings cannot understand and control these natural forces. In any research

Dear Abby Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dear Abby - Research Paper Example They are exposed to and benefit from computer literacy in schools, some students attend school exclusively online, and then, of course, there are the games, chat rooms, and other social media, like Facebook. However, there is one thing that a very dangerous, hurtful, and serious threats to the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of adolescents and teenagers every single day for some children who visit the internet; this occurrence is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a cruel child of our modern technological age. There are a number of actions that qualify as fitting under the umbrella of cyberbullying, including: 1. Sending unkind or threatening messages through emails or messaging boards. 2. Intentionally spreading untrue rumors onto the internet or text messages. 3. Posting inappropriate, offensive, or insulting photographs of a person onto a site with the sole purpose than to criticize them. 4. Taking another’s internet information and use it to invade the accounts in order to be unkind or may pretend to be someone else that you already know. 5. Participating in the â€Å"forwarding† of such messages is perpetuating the problem (Hatch, 2011). It is, essentially, the same type of degradation, insults, humiliations, and intended embarrassments that children experience in the physical world accept adapted to attacks via the internet. Fortunately there are practical and applicable answers for those concerns. There are a long list of pros and cons related to children, teenagers, and the internet. It can improve classroom learning, helps children keep up with the changing technology, can increase visual reasoning, and can, in some case, widen ones social circle. However, there are also, all of the negative, or, potentially, negative aspects, like loss of privacy, sedentary lifestyle, and the potential for cyberbullying ( Hatch, 2011). Individual people react differently than the next. For some children, the internet becomes their solace from the stressors in their lives, and is beneficial. The trick in this case is moderation. Like with anything there is such a thing as â€Å"too much of a good thing.† When the time spent on the internet begins to supersede the living of their life, which causes them to shy away from all things that are not involving the computer, then there be an issue or problem that needs addressing. It is the responsibility of parents to understand the difference and take the time to be involved in the things your teens, and, especially, adolescents and pre-teens are doing when online. One such proposed negative effect is that excessive internet time, in fact, causes loneliness or depression. This is a rather broad statement. There are so many different factors that contribute to feelings of loneliness and in the case of depression, hereditary and genetic predisposition elements that have absolutely nothing to do with computer usage (Dean , 2010). There is, also, theories that too much internet can cause users to become addicted. Again, like with depression, there are so many factors to consider, like psychological predispositions and hereditary elements, that would contribute it solely to their computer use is a rather impractical argument (Siegel-Itzkovich, 2011). Therefore, for the most part, computers cannot be blamed directly, especially with limited data to support such theories. Cyberbullying is something that is happening every day, in every school, and in every state in the

Analysis of the Film Dr. Strangelove Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of the Film Dr. Strangelove - Essay Example In this essay I analyze the movie based on the various points of criticism that it faced. Mockery of nuclear warfare and its seriousness When analyzing a film it is important to take into account the content and the period, which brought the idea about. Despite strong criticism than Stanley Kubrick made a mockery out of nuclear warfare and over simplified the entire process of war and the politics of it. It is hard to ignore that the political climate at the time leaned dangerously towards the concept of â€Å"accidental war† which was the crux of Peter George’s novel. Though the actual scenario is far from the truth and not a possibility the concept did create doubts in the minds of people. America at the time of the release was going through conflicting times and the people were divided in their opinion of the Government policies. President Kennedy was in the process of signing a treaty with the Soviet Union premier Nikita Khrushchev that called for the ban of atmosph eric nuclear testing. It may be an obsolete thought now, but in 1964, the imagery, however, lighthearted of a power hungry Brigadier general who actually made a war happen seemed convincing. Was the issue of an imminent nuclear war really a laughing matter for Stanley Kubrick? I do not think so. One major factor that I will attribute to all of his films is the amount of research and thought that he put into the art of filmmaking. Stanley Kubrick was in no way in the industry for want of nothing better to do. His movies have always made an impact on people and had a clear-cut message to send across. The film was the result of an in-depth analysis of the nuclear war and its danger. He put this strong message across very effectively with the use of satire and his excellent casting. Peter sellers gave a stellar performance in all of his 3 roles as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Mirkin Muffley and, the paraplegic scientist Dr. Strangelove himself. Sterling Hayden, George C Scot t and Slim Pickens played the roles of General Jack D. Ripper, General Turgidson and the crazily lunatic power hungry Major Kong respectively, to perfection. Simplistic approach to a complex situation. There is nothing simple about the movie. The only thing that can be considered simplistic is the analysis hinted at. The movie blatantly points out that military and political powers used war as a tool to give vent to their personal repressions, very obviously hinting towards how men with sexual tensions in their personal life tend to use war as a tool to show their manliness. In this respect the film itself offers no solution to the situation. It is not clear whether Kubrick set out to expose the current climate or propose any solution to it. It was a very subjective and biased analysis of the nations’ foreign policies. If Kubrick’s intention was just to ridicule the situation and expose the callousness in which the powers treated the matter, he more than succeeded. And he did so by taking quite a few liberties and creative licenses. A classic example is the scene where the President intervenes in the scuffle between the Soviet ambassador and General Turgidson by saying "Gentlemen, no fighting in the War Room!† A classic attempt at fantastic comedy tinged with irony earmarked the concept behind the movie. It markedly pointed towards the unthinking and extremely detached view in which people in power viewed war as a whole. The movie no doubt is a gross exaggeration

Individual development project (O.B course) Essay

Individual development project (O.B course) - Essay Example The main issue with the company I worked for that it lacked an appropriate leadership style that would best fit the company. In the decade when the company was facing problems and crisis the main problem was that it lost a good relationship and a factor of trust between the employees, labor and the top management. A leader in true sense is someone who leads his followers along the way or path towards their goals and objectives (Blanchard, Hersey & Johnson 2008). Leadership is the characteristic that will enable a person to inspire group of people to realize common interest or goal. Analysis of the issue The base of any organization rests on the philosophy, vision, goals and values of the management. As a result this drives the culture of the organization that is made up of the formal, informal and social environment of the organization. Basically it is the culture of the organization that determines the leadership type, group dynamics and communication within that organization (Glidd on, 2006). The culture, the leadership style, the communication, group dynamics are the things on which the perception of the worker is based and these are the things that direct the motivation degree of the worker. So at the company I worked in the decade of crisis and low performance these factors were not being addressed according to the expectation of the workers and labor as in the previous and present times. Trust is an expectation that is positive that another does not and will not by words, decisions and actions act opportunistically. Trust is based on two things mainly that are familiarity and risk. Trust has a lot of dimensions mainly like integrity, competence, consistency, loyalty and openness etc. Integrity relates to things like truthfulness and honesty, competence means the interpersonal and technical knowledge and skills, consistency relates to predictability, good judgment and reliability under various situations, loyalty means the willingness to safeguard and prote ct face for any other person and openness relates to the reliance on someone else to provide you the truth in full. There are three types of trusts that employees in any company can experience. One is deterrence or fear of punishment based trust, the other is identification or trust based on mutual understanding, appreciation for other people’s desires and wants, and the knowledge based or behavioral predictability based trust that roots back to the interaction history. At the company I worked the basic issue was that the trust was deterrence based. It means that the employees feared punishment and were forced to trust the CEO whereas they dint not like his leadership style at all. Solution of the issue In the world today effective managers should develop trusting relationship with the ones they seek to be leading. As with the increasing competition in the world the managers who lack this factor are not taken to be an effective. Organizations nowadays are strictly in search o f transformational leaders (Kaiser, 2009). The transformational leaders are the ones with vision and are charismatic to carry that vision. True leadership effectiveness is the product of exhibiting of right behaviors at the right time. Leader should be someone who has a personality, verbally adept, smart and likeable. Good leaders and managers know how to keep the environment of the organization competitive and cooperative at the same time (Hofstede, Gert, and Michael, 2010). The greatness of the organizati

Why social network industry has no inventory and large cash in Essay

Why social network industry has no inventory and large cash in balacesheet - Essay Example Lack of need for inventory therefore explains absence of inventory from accounts of companies in the industry. The industry is also profitable, based on trend in technology that makes its products marketable and low costs. These lead to high proceeds and therefore high value of cash and cash equivalents and $ 3.323 million for Facebook in the year ended 2013 and $ 0.841 million for Twitter in the same period are examples. The industry is also oligopolistic, a factor that concentrates proceeds among few players. Consequently, cash and cash equivalents have to be high per player, compared to values in competitive industries in which many players share the markets’ proceeds (Albarran, 2013). The types of products that the industry offers, which do not require inventory for production, maintenance, or delivery explains lack of inventory while high profitability and oligopolistic nature of the industry explains the high value of cash and cash equivalents that firms report in the

Control room Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Control room - Movie Review Example Hassan Ibrahim, the former BBC reporter, has been assigned to cover Iraq’s tragedies in the war. He is accused of creating stories which are not there. America downplays the situation in the warfronts. The movie highlights the role of the media in the war, and the importance of its coverage which is only next to the strength of the war machines fighting the war. The documentary shows the predicament of Lieutenant Josh Rushing, American Marine in charge of press at Central Command. He is a balanced individual, philosophical and sober but as a true American Marine, he is thoroughly convinced about the merits of the war. He sees nothing wrong in the American version of the media coverage. Dema Khatib on the other hand, though swears by the nationalism propounded by Al Jazeera, wishes for a future for his children in America. Control Rom has succeeded in revealing the truth about the war in the fronts. It depicts how in the desperate situations of the war, objectivity of the press becomes the casualty, and how the news is constructed as per the demands of the situation. Vested interests are in politics and they have also infiltrated the press. The bombing of an Al Jazeera post by America, indicates how serious are the compulsions of the war to silence the pen, apart from destroying the

Support Children and Young People’s Positive Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Support Children and Young People’s Positive Behaviour Essay †¢ AC2.1 Describe the benefits of encouraging and rewarding positive behaviour It is important that the adult influences of the classroom recognise and praise the positive behaviour of individual pupils – especially those who struggle to maintain good behaviour and tend to be told off more than others. It is also essential to praise constant good behaviour (from pupils who never misbehave) to avoid the development inappropriate behaviour. Children respond to all kinds of positive praise. In my setting, the class teacher and LSA’s often add positive words like ‘fantastic’, ‘brilliant’ or ‘well done’ when acknowledging their input towards the class. We also use house tokens to reward good behaviour. Giving the pupils a physical reward makes them feel that the efforts they make in their positive behaviour is very appreciated. The more we praise good behaviour of individuals, the more likely the pupil is to continue the good behaviour and maintain a positive attitude towards school and learning. †¢ AC1.1 Describe what each policy/procedure says, and what its purpose is The primary school in which I work has many policies and procedures in place to ensure that all school rules are adhered to, at all times, by all staff and pupils. It is the duty of the schools staff (teachers, LSA’s etc.) to ensure that the pupils follow the school rules, and that we ourselves are always knowledgeable about existing and new policies and procedures, and enforce them where necessary. A hard copy of the schools policies and procedures must be available for all staff members and visitors to the organisation to read. The school’s behaviour policy is very important and must be understood by all teachers and LSA’s, to ensure that the pupils are given fair, consistent guidelines on behaviour. Policies and procedures are enforced to ensure that the pupils understand what is expected of them and the boundaries and restrictions to help them manage their behaviour. Enforcing such policies and procedures from an early age will help the children develop and understanding of how to behave, not just at school, but throughout day-to day life. If the schools behaviour policy is understood  and practiced by adults on a daily basis, the children will follow their example by displaying good behaviour, and should carry the skills of respect and good behaviour through to adulthood. In the contents of the behaviour policy of the school I attend, it states the sanctions to be followed where the school rules are broken. On the first and second occasion the pupil is given a warning. On the third occasion the pupil is given a yellow card. On the fourth occasion the pupil has to miss part of the next available playtime (5 minutes in which to reflect on their behaviour and how they can make it better – should the pupils behaviour improve after the third warning, the yellow card is to be disregarded). If poor behaviour persists the pupil’s parents are informed, and an appropriate strategy is to be agreed between the parents and teacher – whilst keeping the head teacher informed. Should the pupil continue to show bad or inappropriate behaviour, the pupil will be sent to the head teacher, who will then discuss the agreed strategy with parents and the pupil concerned. The behaviour policy also states that praise and rewards should be regular and consistent. We must offer positive verbal praise when possible. Class rewards will be used in each class to encourage peer reinforcement of appropriate behaviour. The behaviour policy also contains details of the school rules, the ‘VIP awards’, and the ‘star of the week award’. Children with examples of excellent behaviour or exceptional work will be sent to the head teacher for praise. †¢ AC1.2 Describe the importance of all staff being consistent and fair when applying each policy/procedure. In my setting, all staff members have read the schools policies and procedures, and are kept up-to-date of any amendments or changes. Staff members are expected to practice these policies and procedures at all times whilst monitoring the behaviour of pupils in all activities. We must report any inappropriate behaviour to the class teacher and take action where appropriate. We must be fair and consistent when applying the school  procedures to ensure that the pupils are treated equally. If pupils who behave badly are treated differently, or in their eyes unfairly, they will become confused of their boundaries and unsure of what is expected of them. Treating misbehaving children differently will have a negative impact on future behaviour. Recently, I witnessed a pupil at my setting using inappropriate language during a music lesson, where the class teacher was not present. I took the pupil to one side and bent to their level. I informed the pupil that the language they had used was both inappropriate and unacceptable. I told the pupil that I would be informing the class teacher of the incident and that should it happen again, I would be sending them straight to the head teacher’s office. Another child had overheard the inappropriate language and copied it. I took the same action with the second child, and then separated them, moving one child to the other side of the classroom. After the music lesson, I informed the class teacher of both incidents, who thanked me for my input and said that the pupils would need to be closely monitored for the rest of the day. †¢ AC3.2 Describe occasions when behaviour problems have been referred to others. Describe why the behaviour was referred to someone else, and explain why it was referred to that person. In a recent maths lesson, I was sat with a SENCO pupil offering lesson support. During the lesson the pupil started stabbing a school text book with a pencil. I told the pupil to stop, and informed them that they had caused deliberate damage to school property. I told the pupil that I was giving them their first warning and told them that I hoped it was their last warning. About 5 minutes later, while the pupil thought I wasn’t looking, they began stabbing the book again. I immediately removed the book from their desk and referred the situation to the class teacher. I informed her that the pupil had already received one warning, and had continued to cause damage. The class teacher was concerned that the pupil had continued to damage the text book even after having a warning. She decided to refer the pupil to the head teacher’s office, to help them understand the consequences  of their actions and the repercussions of damaging school property. During a morning break, I noticed that a child who was normally very sociable was sat on their own. I approached the child and sat next to them. I asked them if they were ok and whether they wanted to join in with the other pupils who were playing, to which they replied no, they wanted to sit alone. I asked if they wanted to sit me with me for a while and then maybe join in with the other children if they felt like it, to which they said yes. I asked them if they were feeling ok, or needed a drink perhaps, but they said no. The pupil sat with me, very quietly, for the whole break. I was concerned as this was a sudden change in behaviour. After break I approached the class teacher and asked to talk in private. I informed the class teacher that I was concerned about the pupil as they were normally very sociable but today they were very quiet and seemed troubled. The teacher thanked me for my input and informed me that the pupil was experiencing a difficult time at home. The teacher asked me to keep a close eye on the pupil and continue to offer support. The teacher also said that she would discuss the pupil’s change in behaviour with their parents, as the home life was having an effect on their school life. I referred the above mentioned incidents to the class teacher, as the class teacher has a greater knowledge of the individual pupils and their background. I felt that as a volunteer Learning support assistant I had offered all possible contributions towards the situation. I thought that the situations need to be taken further than my jurisdiction, so referred them to the class teacher. In both cases, the class teacher made a decision to refer the situations even further, to the parents or head teacher. I did not feel that it was appropriate for myself to make such a decision, so referred the situation to my immediate supervisor.

My Life Essay Example for Free

My Life Essay Everyone seems to ask themselves what do they really want from their life? What are we all really striving for? While people should ask themselves what can they do to help others? When a person helps other they meet their physical and emotion need. Helping others also brings compassion and compassion equals a better society. From a person coming from a rich family they have more opportunities open to them to achieve what they want. While a person from a poor family doesnt have the easy life compared to the person from the rich family. A person coming from a poor family has to go through more obstacles, and struggles to achieve what they want. When you actually make that goal it feels you up with joy. My father works two jobs and is still struggling to pay the bills. One of my goals is to have a stable career so that neither my mother and father have to worry about paying the bills on time. I would like to be a major league baseball player or a successful entrepreneur in the music business. At the beginning of each goal you will always set unrealistic standards that you slowly but surely can adjust to become realistic. For now, my first major goal in high school is to recive a 3. 5 or higher. With that, good grades are necessary and I would, or rather, I will maintain As, and Bs in all of my classes. I believe with god grades I can accomplish much mre in life and have more opportunities. Followed up by that I would like to of course, graduate high school and set myself ready for whatever comes next in my life. And this would be entering a university of my choice such as Florida state university. I would like to be able to graduate high school with good grades and a high GPA to give me the opportunity to choose what university I would like to attend instead of having to settle for less. With major goals there also comes minor goals. My first minor goal is to be a good student. I would like to actually get along with my teachers and be able to comfortably communicate with them. With respect like if they were any other person. Throughout my years in school I’ve learned that teachers are not only there to teach but their here to help and id very much like to have the opportunity to be helped by people who care and who can help me stay on the right track. My goals are set and I plan on achieve them no matter what because I never give up on a plan that I set myself up and that I know that I will do well in. I Study whenever I get the chance to achieve my goal for a Gpa of 3. 5.  I also train everyday whether I’m at practice or not so I can have an advantage over the other players because I work harder and have more dedication to the sport that I love to play. I’ve dedicated my heart into baseball because I’ve been playing it since I was in elementary school I was raised to never give up on your goal and to fulfill it to the very end. I feel that I am the perfect man for the job and I would be very grateful if you gave me the opportunity to have this job. I am a hard worker I will stay on top of my work and do everything on time and will never slack off.

Tesco Plc

Tesco Plc Strategic analysis: a case study of Tesco Plc with reference to Chinese market  · Introduction: This assignment is relating to strategic analysis of Tesco Plc. Main focus is given on global expansion of Tesco in Europe, Asia and U.S. it is difficult to sum up all strategies that has been adopted by Tesco PLC in different parts of the world therefore to be more effective emphasis will be given on strategic analysis of Tesco in China. Furthermore this assignment is focused on the reasons why Tesco has opted to go international. I will analyse certain aspects such as location advantage, to analyse that what was the reason that Tesco has chosen Asian market for it business operation and will include pull factors such as cheap labour, low production cost and increased population, ownership advantage i.e. Toscos reputation, name recognition and goodwill etc and Internalization that how Tesco handles it markets secrets (not to be copied by its competitors) by securing ownership control, as in Chinese market Tesco successfully entered with 51%-49% joint venture with a local company but to secure absolute ownership Tesco increased its shares to 91%. The assignment will also concentrate upon push factors that what were the reason in the UK market that compelled or instigated Tesco to expand its operation to overseas markets. These reasons include UK market saturation, overseas market size, increased economic growth in the home market that enables the company to invest in foreign market and less opportunities of financial growth in the local market because of high competition, exploiting resources etc I will also link different theories with Tesco global strategy i.e. (1) Strategic international expansion (2) Porters five forces (3) Porter diamond model (will be exhibited in appendix) (4) Swot analysis (will be exhibited in appendix) (5) Dunnings electric theory etc It will also analyse the role of Tesco club card loyalty scheme in gathering information from its customers in order to know customers behaviour and need. Furthermore the study also concentrates upon Toscos strategic initiatives i.e. customers focus, act local, maintain focus, use multi formats, developing capacity and build brand etc which is used by the company in its domestic market and overseas. The assignment also contains a COMPARISON OF Tesco with its market rivals i.e. Wal-Mart and Carrefour and their strategic approaches in overseas markets. Similarly the study will also look at Tescos strategy of sourcing to low cost producers and Tescos own brand i.e. Tescos value products etc.  · Company background: Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919. Since its inception the company has gone through different development stages and Tesco is now one of the UKs largest retailers and is one of the top three retailers in the world. Tesco is operating business activities in three main regions in the world i.e. Europe ( Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey and Poland) Asia ( China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and India) and U.S . The company has 3,799 stores located in Europe, Asia and U.S and has employed over 440,000 people around the world.[1] Tesco has adopted different strategies for gaining entry into foreign markets i.e. Acquisition of The Three Guys chain in Ireland in 1979, Acquisition of Catteau in France in 1992, Acquisition of 51 per cent of Global in Hungary in 1994, Acquisition of K-Mart business in Czech Republic/Slovakia in 1994, acquisition of Savia in Poland in 1995, acquisition of ABFs Irish food retailing business in 1997 Acquisition of 75 per cent share of Lotus in Thailand in 1998, Partnership with Samsung (81 per cent) and the acquisition of Homeplus in South Korea in 1999, Acquisition of one Makro store in Taiwan in 2000, Joint venture with Sime Darby Bhd (Tesco share 70 per cent) in Malaysia in 2001, Acquisition of HIT hypermarket from Dohle Gruppe in Poland in 2002, Acquisition of the C Two (C2) in Japan in 2003,[2] Joint Venture in China and wholly owned subsidiary in India. Strategic analysis of Tesco: The main driver of Tescos successful business is because of overseas expansion, moving to higher margin non-food merchandise and maintaining a strong UK core business. Its UK success has been built on low prices, cultivating customer loyalty, offering a range of different store concepts and expanding into retailing services, such as banking and insurance. Tescos focus on non-food items has led some to wonder whether it is fair to compare Tesco with the other grocery retailers at all as it seems to have become a consumer goods company.[3]  · Tesco long-term strategy: Tesco is growing with enormous speed. The company is following its long-term strategy based on five main initiatives, i.e. core UK business, international growth, Non-food, retailing services and community plan are the main objectives of achieving its long term success. Tesco has adopted an effective and constant growth strategy which has enabled the company to strengthen its core UK business and expand into new developed and developing markets around the world. The rationale for the strategy is to develop the scope of the business to enable the company to deliver strong, sustainable long-term growth and competitiveness by following the customer into large expanding markets at home and overseas by serving their needs through selling a wide range of products and services such as food products, financial services, non-food products and telecoms etc.[4] The strategy of diversification and global expansion of Tescos business operation was laid down in 1997 and has been the foundation of Tescos success in recent years. The new businesses which have been established and developed over the last decade are competitive and profitable and have enabled the company to lead largest market outside the UK.  § Core UK business: UK is the biggest market for Tesco and the company aims to provide all its customers with excellent value and choice. The company has developed a range of formats such as Tesco Express convenience stores, Tesco Metro stores, Tesco Super stores and Tesco Extra Hypermarkets.[5] The UK grocery retail market remains the largest source of revenue for Tesco, representing some 50% of last years (2008)  £59.4 billion of sales.[6]  § International growth: Tesco is expanding its presence across the world with main focus on customers need. For the purpose of better understanding of local customers and providing excellent services Tesco employees local staff which helped the company to achieve market leading position in Asia and across Europe. The company is giving more emphasis upon developing a range of local formats i.e. Express stores and Value stores in order to serve the needs of smaller communities. The companys overall performance of overseas businesses was very strong in 2009, particularly against the background of increasingly challenging trading conditions in international markets as the effects of the economic downturn on consumers have grown and spread around the world. [7]  § Non-food: In the beginning Tesco was popular as a food retailer but with the passage of time non-food remains an important part of Tescos strategy and the company continue to grow both sales and market share. Tesco has adopted the policy of differentiation and has now extended its policy to selling non-food items such as clothing, electrical goods, books etc.[8] Similarly Tescos online non-food business, Tesco Direct, continues to grow rapidly, increasing sales by more than 50% in 2009. The company is also planning to introduce an online clothing offer making fashionable, affordable clothes easier to buy for many more customers.[9]  § Retailing Services: Developing Retailing Services has been part of Tescos strategy for over a decade with the aim of bringing value and simplicity to customers through services such as telecoms and financial products. After ten years of success, we have given it a renewed focus and in July we announced that Andrew Higginson would relinquish his role as Group Finance Director to take on the role of Chief Executive of Retailing Services. He has assembled an experienced team to really drive forward this part of the strategy, which we believe has the potential to deliver  £1 billion of annual profit in the next few years.[10] With the rapid changing life style for satisfying customers needs Tesco provides new products and services like online shopping, personal finance and telecoms etc.  § Community plan: Tesco is also playing an active role to be a good neighbour in the communities where the company operates its business activities. We understand the importance of behaving responsibly in all our operations. Over the past year, we have worked even harder to be a good neighbour and have strengthened our contribution to the wider communities we serve.[11] All communities have their own individual concerns and priorities and so each of our countries has its own Community Plan. Whilst the goals and targets are tailored specifically to each country, each plan is underpinned by five core promises: actively supporting local communities; buying and selling our products responsibly; caring for the environment; giving customers healthy choices; and creating good jobs and careers.[12] Tesco believes that its success depends on listening to the customers, and responding to their feedback by giving them what they want. Often the most significant contributions the company can make to communities are at the truly local level and so over the past year the company have appointed over 250 Community Champions in stores and depots across six countries. These members of staff are dedicated to working with local schools, charities and services to support the causes that matter most of its customers.[13]  · Tesco in Europe:  · Tesco in Asia:  · Tesco in U.S:  · Tesco FDI: Foreign Direct Investment plays an important role in global economic growth and development. Due to global economic system competition increased and different governments are making strategies to reduce or remove trade barriers and encourage foreign companies for investment. Multinational companies are trying to enter new emerging economies to gain competitive advantage over their competitors.  · Tesco JV:  · sourcing: To ensure that we offer the best possible prices for customers we buy many products globally so that we benefit from our scale. We have an international sourcing office based in Hong Kong which is responsible for buying 100,000 non-food products for the Group. The international sourcing operation has seen rapid growth in the last few years and now sources 60% of our clothing in the UK and 40% of hardlines, including electricals, homewares, entertainment, toys and books. In Europe it provides over 25% of our hardlines and 85% of our clothing and we have recently started to source products for Asia. In the last year our international sourcing team shipped 72,000 containers from 54 ports.[14] We also have sourcing centres in China, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Turkey, with smaller offices in Thailand, Czech Republic and Italy. [15] We have invested in buying hubs where we have a critical mass of suppliers and shipment volumes. It helps to be close to our suppliers so that we can ensure great quality products, delivered from ethical sources, on time and at the best price.[16] Where possible we try to source products direct from factories rather than through agents or middlemen. This way we can ensure the lowest possible cost price as well as making sure that our products are sourced safely and fairly. We also manage to strip out more costs by consolidating freight volumes. This gives us the best shipping and transportation rates, which can be passed on to the customer in the form of lower prices.[17] Strategic analysis of Tescos expansion to china: to look at Tescos expansion strategy into Chinese market there are many factors involved. Reasons of Tesco global expansion: Tescos expansion was spatially characterised as being largely regional in nature and less global oriented. Cautiously, Tesco had decided to dominate the smaller central European markets that were unlikely to attract much attention from the large retail multinational peers such as Carrefour and Wal-Mart who preferred to focus on the larger markets. The company incrementally entered markets rather than entering several markets at the same time.[18] Tescos huge growth in this country is a hard act to follow. With the domestic market increasingly saturated, some UK supermarket chains, namely Tesco, Sainsbury (who have now sold their interests in the USA) and MS have looked to overseas markets to maintain their positions. This is a whole new ball game, bringing into play competition with large firms from other countries, such as US retailing giant Wal-Mart and French multinational Carrefour.[19] Main reasons for an organization to expand their business operation to overseas markets include saturated markets, growing economies and improving transportation systems and in some countries business environment seems more attractive than others. Most recently, Tesco has moved into China and the USA, and its rivals i.e. Carrefour has started pulling out of some eastern European countries while focusing on its Chinese strategy and Wal-Mart is also expanding business operation aggressively worldwide.[20] Determinants of foreign market entry modes: The choice of entry mode into a foreign market has a great impact on the success of a firms international operations, so consequently, related theories and critical determinants will be represented in the following section as to understand the relationships between MNEs and different factors. Mode of entry into foreign market: Tesco used a combination of multinational entry mode strategies within one country. As previously discussed, Tesco entered the central and eastern Europe by acquiring a relatively small chain of convenience stores in Hungary, a supermarket business in Poland and a department store chain in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (see Table II). It was certainly unusual for such a large public company to become involved in these operations, and even competitors at the time questioned the logic of their approach. However, the use of â€Å"seed acquisitions† with a view to develop knowledge of the market before expanding organically through store-by-store development allowed Tesco to minimise their own human and financial capital in the face of potential economic and political uncertainty.[21] There are a number of strategies that can be adopted by an organization as a mode of entering into foreign market i.e. foreign direct investment, wholly owned subsidiary, joint venture, franchising, licensing and contract manufacturing. Some of these strategies are associated with high risk such and needs high investment and management skills i.e. wholly owned subsidiary and direct acquisition and some of them are exposed to minimal risks from overseas markets i.e. licensing, franchising, contract manufacturing and joint venture. Joint venture is a lowest risk strategy that accompanies greater benefits for the organization such as gaining overseas market knowledge and knowing consumers behaviour from overseas partner, risk sharing and gaining quality management capability.[22] Tesco has opted joint venture in order to gain entry into Chinese market. The company has gained a substantial presence in China in 2004 by signing an agreement of 51%-49% joint venture with a host company Shanghai Hymall Commercial Retail Group which was subsequently increased to 90%-10% in 2007.[23] Market attractiveness: Reasons of global expansion: There are a number of push factors and pull factors that plays an important role in an organizations decision of expanding business operation to foreign markets. The following are the main factors that motivated Tesco to invest in China. Push Factors: Home market saturation: When a business organization decides to enter into a foreign market there are a number of push factors that instigates such organization to invest in foreign market. In the case of Tesco the main factor of its global expansion is home market saturation as there is no room for further expansion because of large number of retailers and high competition. Increased capital gain from home market: Another reason of business expansion to Chinese market could be increased capital and better performance of Tescos business in the UK market which has enabled the company to expand its business to more profitable regions i.e. china. Pull factors: Foreign market attraction: The existence of potentials and financial gains in overseas markets are important pull factors that attract foreign companies to invest in such markets. Chinese market is expanding with enormous speed and it has been predicted that the market will worth $596bn by 2010 which gives an insight to foreign companies i.e. Tesco and its rivals, to exploit the existing potentials in Chinese market.[24] High quality production at low cost: Similarly high quality production at lower cost and the availability of cheap labour is another pull factor that attracts foreign investment. To look at China labour is very cheap and the country is capable of producing high quality products at competitive cost, there for it is very advantageous for Tesco to invest in Chinese market. China is the prime location of sourcing for Tesco products within china and for its business in the rest of the world. Tesco club card loyalty scheme: Tesco is using club card loyalty scheme as a marketing tactics in order to know customers behaviour in purchasing products from Tesco[25] and in return this scheme leads to customers commitment to do business with the organisation, to purchase their goods and services repeatedly, and recommend the services and products to others.[26] Dunnings: To make an effective strategic analysis of Tesco in Chinese market it would be better to take into consideration the Dunnings Electric theory. This theory includes location advantage, ownership advantage and internalization. Motives of International Expansion Many companies expand their business internationally, and compete within the globe market. They know their domestic market better than abroad, and they may face the customs, language, tariff regulations, transport systems and volatile foreign currencies for international operation. This means they will have to face many new challenges, if they decide to enter into a new foreign market, but why do they do so? There are several motives for international expansion (Jobber, 2001). Saturated domestic markets: There are few opportunities for the company to expand in the domestic market with sales and profit pressure. This is one of the major drivers of international expansion. Many of the European supermarket chains were fuelled by the desire to take a proven retailing formula out of their saturated domestic market into overseas market. Small domestic markets: For some industries, survival means broadening scope beyond small national markets to the international arena. Companies cannot compete against with other strong global competitors. Therefore, internationalisation is the fundamental condition for them to survival. Low-growth domestic markets: when economy is in recession at home, companies want to seek new marketing opportunities in more buoyant overseas economies. Customer drivers: Customer expectation is also one of the factors, which affect the companys decision to go international. This is increasingly common in advertising, with clients requiring their agencies to coordinate international campaigns. Competitive forces: when the several companies in the same industry go abroad, this cause others to follow in order to keep the market share and growth rates. This is particular in oligopolistic industries. The attack of the foreign competitor entering into the domestic market is also another factor affecting a companys decision to go abroad. Cost factors: High national labour costs, shortages of skilled workers, and rising energy charges can raise domestic operation costs to uneconomic levels. These factors may stimulate the company to choose foreign direct investment in low costs areas, such as Asia, Central and Eastern Europe. Foreign market expansion can also reduce costs by gaining economies of scale through an enlarged customer base. Portfolio balance: Marketing in different regions provides the opportunity of achieving a portfolio balance, and each region may have different growth rates. By marketing in a selection of countries, the problems of recession in some countries can be balanced by the opportunities in more buoyant economies in other countries. First Buy successful companies abroad, not ones that need turning around:There followed a strong expansion overseas in the 1990s, with ever more significant movement into growing markets such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, Thailand and South Korea. Here Tesco was buying into successful companies, but also ensuring neighboring markets were targeted and that its expansion strategy included eventual market domination. Hence the second lesson for internationalization success: Second It is all about market synergies and market share: Internal strategic processes. One of the chief concerns for retail strategists is market selection. Tesco decided to enter into markets where local competition was soft, hence the initial forays into Eastern Europe and South East Asia, away from the harsh gaze of other expanding giants such as Wal-Mart. Tesco also adapted to opportunistic events, and decided on different entry modes in order to develop knowledge. Hence the next lesson: Third You will never learn anything until you open some kind of store somewhere: External strategic processes. Tesco were comparatively weak internationally compared to bigger, more experienced rivals, despite their increasing dominance in the UK, but it nevertheless decided on an aggressive, organic expansion strategy in its target markets that left some analysts wondering about its long-term prospects. However after sticking with the strategy, it has been paying off, with its vulnerable period seen as a necessity for long-term growth internationally. It also had problems over planning procedures in foreign countries, particularly Ireland, but negotiated with central government for mutual benefit. Also key were Tescos dealing with shareholders, who were initially wary of risking their investment abroad, and there were reports that the City held back expansion within European in the 1990s. However as initial forays such as Catteau became successful, however gradually, soon the debate surrounded the pace of expansion. Tesco initiated a ‘‘ What is apparent from the completed study is that despite concerns from analysts and shareholders about its internalization strategy, and despite negative local press and resources issues, Tesco got it right. public relations exercise to get shareholders more on board with their internationalization strategy, although this was seen through by many, and exerted debatable influence. Internal operation functions. Many international ventures founder on the failure to commit enough human capital to a project, and this constituted Tescos next lesson. Fourth Use strength and size at home to secure the best human resources overseas In order to compete with the likes of Carrefour in their own jardin, Tesco had to make sure it had the very best people on hand to drive its expansion. Experience with financial capital and marketing were also imperative, ensuring that the correct strategies and knowledge was on hand in foreign markets. This is particularly the case in the latter category, where expansion can be seen as an invasion by the home press. While Tesco almost inevitably suffered some bad press initially, the adoption of an intensive PR campaign once business success started to develop overseas highlighted the need for an evolutionary marketing strategy. [27] Factors underlying Tescos success An analysis of the UK online grocery market highlights five factors that have been critical to Tescos success profit model focus; smart mover entry; leveraging â€Å"reach†, â€Å"richness† and â€Å"affiliation† (Evans and Wurster, 1997); strategic positioning (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985; Hamel, 1997); and brand power. [28] The first ‘Fresh Easy Neighborhood Market opened in Hemet, 75 miles east of Los Angeles on 1st November 2007. As the Financial Times commented: ‘Tesco†¦has staked its fortunes on an innovative new store that is about a quarter of the size of a traditional US supermarket, building on the success in the UK and Europe of its Tesco Express local stores. Some elements of the Hemet store will be familiar to UK shoppers. But the store also includes a â€Å"kitchen table† where a staff member heats up samples of prepared foods such as pizza and chicken curry. In a further innovation, all the check-out registers require customers to scan their own goods with staff on hand to assist (Financial Times, 4 November 2007).  · Conclusion: [1] Tesco Introduction: cited at http://www.cn.tesco.com/en/aboutus/aboutus_history.htm [2] P. Mark (2005), Retail multinational learning: a case study of Tesco, Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management Vol. 33 No.1, 2005 pp. 23-48 Emerald Group Publishing Limited [3] Corporate Watch UK, Tesco: a Corporate Profile: Cited http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=252 [4] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [5] Tesco Introduction: Cited http://www.cn.tesco.com/en/aboutus/aboutus_enterprise.htm [6] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [7] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [8] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [9] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [10] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [11] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [12] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [13] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [14] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [15] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [16] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [17] Tesco p Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009 [18]International Journal of Retail Distribution Management Vol. 33 No. 1, 2005 pp. 23-48 Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0959-0552, p 30 [19] Corporate Watch UK, Tesco: a Corporate Profile: Cited http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=252#world [20] Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour do battle in the East, VOL. 24 NO. 2 2008, pp. 5-7, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543 [21] International Journal of Retail Distribution Management Vol. 33 No. 1, 2005 pp. 23-48 Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0959-0552, p 31 [22] Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour do battle in the East, VOL. 24 NO. 2 2008, pp. 5-7, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543 [23] Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour do battle in the East, VOL. 24 NO. 2 2008, pp. 5-7, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543 [24] Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour do battle in the East, VOL. 24 NO. 2 2008, pp. 5-7, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543 [25] Tesco American Dream, Doing it differently, Emerald insight, VOL. 24 NO. 2 2008, pp. 11-15, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543, p 13 [26]T. J. Jason. W. Karen (2006), University of Abertay, Dundee, UK, British Food Journal Vol. 108 No. 11, 2006 pp. 958-964 Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0007-070X (originally cited in (McIlroy and Barnett, 2000, p. 348). [27] The secrets of Tescos expansion success, How the UKs largest supermarket is creeping up on Carrefour and Wal-Mart: DOI 10.1108/02580540510630650 VOL. 21 NO. 11 2005, pp. 5-7, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543 [28] The UK grocery business: towards a sustainable model for virtual markets Ray Hackney Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, and Kevin Grant and Grete Birtwistle Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management Vol. 34 No. 4/5, 2006 pp. 354-368, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan Essay -- American Literature

"A Pair of Tickets" by Amy Tan In the story "A Pair of Tickets," by Amy Tan, a woman by the name of Jing-mei struggles with her identity as a Chinese female. Throughout her childhood, she "vigorously denied" (857) that she had any Chinese under her skin. Then her mother dies when Jing-Mei is in her 30's, and only three months after her father receives a letter from her twin daughters, Jing-Mei's half sisters. It is when Jing-mei hears her sisters are alive, that she and her dad take a trip overseas to meet her relatives and finally unites with her sisters. This story focuses on a woman's philosophical struggle to accept her true identity. The protagonist of the story is Jing-mei. She is a flat character who turns out to be dynamic. Throughout her life, she has been very stubborn about accepting her identity. An example of this is when she explains, "I was 15 and had a vigorously denied that I had any Chinese whatsoever under my skin" (857). She shows her dynamic characteristic at the end of the story when she finally does accept her heritage. The main conflict of this story is Jing-mei's struggle between accepting her identity based on her heritage and not on a personal image. There is no real order in which this conflict is clarified, because the climax and resolution come about at the same time. The conflict is internal due to the fact that she cannot accept her true identity. The climax comes when she finally meets her twin sisters and says, "I get beyond the gate, we run toward each other, all three of us embracing, all hesitations and expectations forgotten" (870). It is then that the resolution comes into play and "After all these years, it can finally be let go" (870). It is at that point, when she can finally a... ...Also an important quote is when she says, "But today I realize I've never really known what it means to be Chinese. I am thirty-six years old" (857). Even though she was in her 30's and still had that identity crisis, it was uplifting knowing that all it took for her to resolve that conflict was one meeting with her sisters. The story "A Pair of tickets" examines a woman who has grown up with American influence all her life and struggles to accept her true identity. Through the story you can see Jing-mei struggles with her identity for over 30 years, but it finally is resolved once she is able to meet her twin sisters that have been missing from her life for over 30 years. Works Cited Tan, Amy. â€Å"A Pair of Tickets.† The Longman Anthology of Short Fiction. Compact Edition. Ed. Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2001.

Terrorism - Using Social Security to Fight Bush’s War :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Using Social Security to Fight Bush’s War I have a rational fear: a fear that the September 11th attack has given the Bush administration a free hand in pursuing a conservative domestic agenda. This has so far been unspeakable in the media. But it must be said, lest it happen for sure. Where is the $40 billion for the war on terror coming from? Not from a rise in taxes and not from sacrifices to be made by the rich. Where then? The only available source I can think of is the Social Security "lockbox," which is now wide open. The conservatives have been trying to raid the Social Security fund for some time, and the Democrats had fought them off until now. Before September 11, the suggestion to take $40 billion from the Social Security "surplus" would have been indefensible. Has it now been done-with every Democratic senator voting for it and all but one of the Democrats in Congress? Think of it: Are your retirement contributions-and mine-are going to fight Bush's "war." No one dares to talk about it that way. It's just $40 billion, as if it came out of nowhere. No one says that $40 billion dollars comes from your retirement contributions. No one talks about increasing taxes. We should at least ask just where the money is coming from. If the money is coming from social security, then Bush has achieved a major goal of his partisan conservative agenda-without fanfare, without notice, and with the support of virtually all Democrats. Calling for war, instead of mere justice, has given the conservatives free rein. I fear it will only be a matter of time before they claim that we need to drill for oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge for national security reasons. If that most "pristine" place falls, they will use the national security excuse to drill and mine coal all over the country. The energy program will be pushed through as a matter of "national security." All social programs will be dismissed for lack of funds, which will be diverted to "national security." Cheney has said that this war may never be completed. Newt Gingrich estimates at least four or five years, certainly past the 2004 election. With no definition of victory and no exit strategy, we may be entering a state of perpetual war.

Child And Parent Behavior Observation Essay -- Sociology Child Psychol

Child And Parent Behavior Observation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am almost always surrounded by the interactions between children and their parents. I hear it at my work, I hear it in restaurants, but most of all I hear it at my house. My mother owns a daycare and every night I hear parents being hit by a barrage of questions. When children are being picked up they always have a couple of questions for their parents. Children are always asking about the meal for the night or whether they can go over to a friend?s house or have some body over. Every night I see 12 different children with twelve different parents and it seems that each parent acts differently then the next.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I thought of observing the children that attend my mothers daycare I decided that I should observe the interactions betwe...

The reigns of Justinian as the emperor of Byzantium during

The reigns of Justinian as the emperor of Byzantium during 527 to 565 BC and Romanus IV in 1068 to 1071 AD were two most important events in Byzantine. The former marked the stability and economic growth of the land and the former was known to start the end of the empire. Byzantine (Istanbul today), which was called as an extension of Roman Empire in eastern part, after it was captured and made it a province. Justinian known as ‘Justinian the Great’ according to Alexander A.Vasiliev â€Å"is the central figure of this entire period† (1954, 132) for invading Italy, pacifying Africa and controlling Persia from invading the land through his faithful and able generals named Belisarius and Mundo (Treadgold, 1997, 207). Romanus IV on the other hand had a strategy that did not work for him. Romanus IV gathered large army in troops enough to defeat the enemy, yet he lost the battle for he lost control of them due to disloyalty of his men.Justinian seldom joined the army, while Romanus was at the center of the battle. Justinian delivered direction and instruction to his trusted men, and Romanus IV if not misunderstood, was left alone by his warriors to seek refuge (Bradbury, 2004, 176). The challenges in the reign of Justinian were the uprising of the people and uncontrollable circumstances that weakened his control – the plagues and earthquakes that befell the land.Romanus IV’s challenges were much severe since he reigned at the time when Byzantine never had any recur but to drive away the Seljuk Turks to contain the territory at the midst of unfaithful generals and warriors. Justinian was just fortunate to have a wife and Belisarius who advised and obeyed his command. Romanus IV had a different case instead because he was caught unprepared despite a well-organized plan he made to win the battle.His greatest challenge was not the number of enemy but the sphere of his influence as a leader to execute commands. Romanus had no lawful men and he was unaware of that; besides, the empire was surrounded by men with greedy ambition. Bibliography Bradbury, J. 2004. The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare. USA: Routledge. Treadgold, W. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. USA: Stanford University Press. Vasiliev, A. 1954. History of the Byzantine Empire, 324-1453. USA: University of Wisconsin Press.

The Art Of Beautiful Women

Proposal:I will attempt to display the comparison of the cultures that produce the Barbie doll and the cultures that produce the Venus de Willendorf. While talking about the two cultures, I will describe some interesting but common themes the Paleolithic cultures and the modern culture encounter: what our modern culture has embraced and those things that it has deserted of which the Paleolithic culture in high regards. Meanwhile through my discussions I will show how much of our world views have changed from an era of the Venus de Willendorf to the modern world view of what the ideal woman should look like and how the view of beauty should not be as two-dimensional as the modern culture makes it out to be.Outline:Introductiona.) â€Å"Only the eye beholder can see the art of beautiful women†, this observation can be proven by looking at different cultures throughout the history of our times. The art of beautiful women is much more that what she looks like, it is also what a wo man’s body can withstand as well as what her body can produce. Women’s bodies are only the expression of the women we allow to live inside them. Let that woman be free. Let her shine. And know that the house in which she lives will always be as beautiful as she believes it to be. Previous cultures show’s us what our modern culture tends to ignore. Body:b.) Common ideas between the Paleothic cultures’s view on beauty verses our modern society’s view.I.) A common idea on the views of beauty between the Paleothic culture and our modern society’s view is that both cultures tend to admire a woman’s beauty: each in their own way. c.) A bit of differences between the views of beauty of the Paleothic culture and the modern world.II.) The main difference between the culture of our past and today’s  society is that of size and shape of a woman. In the Paleothic culture, the ideal shape of a women is believed to have been rather a large size woman, she would be considered volumpsous. Although today‘s society dictates that women of this era should be thin, big breasted and well preserved. Conclusion:The main objective that was intended for discussion of this paper was to discuss the different women idols that are famous in today’s era as compared to the Paleothic era. The significance of women has changed with the passage of time along with the roles and responsibilities that were fulfilled by them previously. There is a major difference between the idealizations of art of beautiful of women in the Paleothic culture and the art of beautiful women that is referred to in today’s society.Some of the roles that women share from both era’s were that women were depicted as some sort of sex symbol, and important enough for being child bearing. The role that the Barbie play in today’s society will be researched in order to explore the societal, political implication of idols to identify th e similarities and differences between the earliest known civilization and the culture of today ‘s era.

Chemical and Physical Changes Lab Report

Also, be cautious as to not inhale the chemicals. Because the glassware is glass, they may break and as such must be handled gently. All glassware should be inspected for cracks before starting the lab. Ill. Pre-Lab Questions- 1 . Identify the following as either chemical or physical changes: A. Striking a match- Chemical B. Food Spoiling- Chemical C. Breaking a Glass- Physical D. Mowing the Grass- Physical E. Leaves Decaying- Chemical F. Boiling Water- Physical 2.In your own words, state the Law of Conservation of Mass: The Law of the Conservation of Matter says the matter can be neither created nor destroyed. 3. List he indicators of a chemical change: Chemical change can be illustrated in many forms such as rust, decay, light being produced, heat being given off or cold being given off, and color change. These are simply a few and are not all of them. 4. Identify each as an element, compound, or mixture: A. Alarm- Compound B. Sulfur- Element C. Hydrogen Gas- Element D. Salad- Mixt ure E.Water- Compound F. Sodium Bicarbonate- Compound G. Fruit Punch- Compound H. Sodium Chloride (table salt)- Compound ‘V. Procedure- Experiment 1- Combine a few iron filings along with sulfur powder on an unused piece of paper. Mix the samples well with a scoopful. Examine the mixture with a magnifying glass and record your observation. Next, move the magnet under the mixture and reexamine It with a magnifying glass once again and record the observations. Discard the sample. Experiment 2- Fill a small beaker half way with cold water.Obtain a test tube with warm bath water and add the warm bath water with the cold water in the water and placing it in the trash can and dump the water down the sink. Experiment 3- Place a piece of magnesium in a clean, dry test tube. Next, add 10 drops of MM HCI. Record observations. Carefully touch the bottom of the test tube to check for the change in temperatures. Flush contents down the sink with plenty of water. Experiment 4- Transfer smal l amounts of sodium bicarbonate into a clean, dry test tube.Add 10 drops of MM HCI individually. Touch the bottom of the test tube and record all observations. Wash all the leftovers down the sink. Experiment 5- Mix 10 drops of barium chloride solution in a test tube with sodium sulfate solution. Record all observations in the data table and then pour down the sink. Experiment 6- Mix a small scoop of sodium chloride with 2 ml of water in a test tube. Record all observations and wash down the sink. V. Data and Observations- Experiment # Mass and Observations Chemical or Physical?When the magnet was held under the piece of paper, the iron stood up and followed the magnet physical 2 The warm water became a solid when added to the cold water physical 3 When the MM HCI was added, the liquids began to bubble and heat up, which is exothermic chemical 4 When the MM HCI was added, the liquids began to bubble once again and the liquids lolled, which was endothermic chemical 5 When the barium chloride was added, the color changed and the consistency changed to a more milky consistency physical 6 When the small scoop of sodium chloride was added to the water, nothing could be observed as happening physical VI.Calculations- VI'. Post Lab Questions- 1. In which lab did you observe a precipitate? A precipitate was observed in experiment number 2. 2. In which did you observe energy change? An energy change was observed in experiment number 1 when potential energy changed to mechanical energy. . In which did you observe a color change? A color was observed in experiment was observed in experiment number 5 when it became a milky color. 4. In which did you observe the formation of a gas? Gases of any sort. VIII.Conclusion- The purpose of this lab was to identify what a chemical change and what a physical change is. A chemical change is when bonds are broken and new ones are forced to form. Some indicators are a change are exothermic (heats up), endothermic (cools of, precipitate (solid forms), and color change. In the first experiment when the agent was under the sheet of paper with the iron filings, the iron filings stood up on their end and followed the magnet around, changing from potential energy into mechanical energy.In the second experiment performed, a precipitate formed, a solid was formed out of the warm water when it was added to the cold water. In experiment three, an exothermic change occurred when the magnesium and MM HCI where combined, resulting in bubbling of the two and then the test tube heating up. Then in experiment four, an endothermic change occurred when the sodium carbonate and MM HCI were combined in the test tube and the test tube cooled down.In experiment five, there was a color change when the barium chlorine and sodium sulfate were combined resulting in a new milky color which also now had a milky consistency. In the sixth experiment, as far as I could tell, nothing happened in the sixth experiment. ‘X. Error Analysis- T he only possible error I can see is if my group made an error of some sort of error in experiment number 6 when nothing happened, and it Just seems like something should have happened in the experiment.

Learning Plan Essay

The learning plan described in this paper is to have students debate a topic related to the Civil War. The debate topic is â€Å"Was the Emancipation Proclamation enacted for moral reasons or political reasons?† The main concept of this learning plan is to have students work collaboratively to research facts, and recall and use facts from the Civil War unit to incorporate into their arguments. (It should be noted that the learning plan described in this paper will take several classes to complete, however the learning plan procedures will only address the class where the debate will occur.) It is assumed that debate skills were taught in a previous class. The learning theory certainly incorporates constructivist aspects. They are constructing knowledge rather than absorbing it. This is constructivist approach is illustrated through the collaborative nature of the assignment, as well as through the research that students’ must produce. In terms of the use of technology a nd media; the students will be instructed to research one source of information, from the internet, related to their argument. They must submit a one-page analysis of the information in which they found along with a references page. This must be submitted to the teacher a week before the scheduled debate. The teacher will assess the content of the paper, but the references page will also be important. Teacher must evaluate the kinds of internet sources that the students have used. The credibility of the internet source, and the strength of student’s research will be analyzed by the teacher. The purpose is to assess student’s traditional literacy and critical analytical skills (assessed when evaluating the content), and information literacy/interpretation skills of online material (assessed by reviewing the reference page). Finally, the teacher will hand back papers to the students, and he/she will instruct each group to use at least two of their group members’ papers into their group’s arguments. Media and technology will also be incorporated with the use of social media. The teacher will tell students that their debates will be recorded and submitted to youtube or a private school website (if issues of privacy are raised). Others will be allowed to view the video to evaluate the strength of each team’s arguments. Based on the comments of public viewers, a winner will be chosen (by popular vote). This popular vote will be incorporated as a small percentage into the assessment. This is being done as to allow students to  participate in new media opportunities within an educational context. Learning Plan Context Setting The high needs school will be a High School in the Bay Area, either in San Francisco or Oakland. There will be 25-30 students in an individual classroom.  The lesson will take place the week after the Civil War unit is finished. It is anticipated that the unit will last about two weeks, therefore the debate class will occur during the third week. The actual debate class will take up one class period. The content area is US History/Politics. The grade level is Juniors (11th grade). In sum, the curriculum unit is 11th grade, US History/Politics, Civil War unit. Standards According to California standards for literacy in History/Social Studies in 6-12th grades. A student must be able to demonstrate analysis of primary and secondary sources, and connect these insights to the understanding of the whole text. This ability will be addressed and assessed when students must incorporate information learned from the textbook with information gained from the internet, and use both sources of information, into their debate. The student’s ability to undertake this task will be evaluated by the teacher with the submission of student’s sources, and also during the debate. (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf.) Also according to California standards, students must be able to evaluate various explanations for events and actions. Learning Objective Students will be able to collaboratively demonstrate their knowledge of Civil War policy, events and information, from the textbook and from online sources, by formulating arguments to be presented within a debate. Learning Theory Applications Constructivism is certainly at play in this lesson plan: The activity allows knowledge to be organized into schemas, concepts, and worldviews. This activity is emphasizing the use of authentic activities by constructing knowledge through interaction with the environments (internet and peers), and applying it to real-life situations (debate). The collaborative component certainly illustrates constuctivism; learners will help each other create conceptual connections. Finally, students are working autonomously with the help of the teacher as facilitator, supporter, and model (Ormrod, 2006). Learning Accommodations: Individualized Education Plan for Special Accomodations: In each team, all students will be assigned a role. For example, â€Å"speaker†, â€Å"writer†, â€Å"time-keeper†. A student’s IEP will be taken into consideration when assigning roles. A student with an IEP, will be assigned a role that best fits their IEP. For example, a student with ADD, may be best suited to be a time-keeper since their attention span is not as focused. They may be anxious to change the pace of the group’s discussions, and therefore they may be eager to keep track of the time. Language Development needs: When assigning the internet-based research; the teacher will give ELL students a website to navigate to, instead of having the students navigate the internet themselves. Teacher will give explicit instructions as to where to look on the website so students do not feel too overwhelmed with the English language. Teacher will ask the students to try to comprehend some of the information, however if this proves too difficult, then the teacher will ask the students to find 15-20 words from the website that the student did not understand. The student will then find the meanings of these words in their own language. They must write at least a paragraph about the Civil War unit incorporating five of the words that they found on the internet. Also,  at least two of these words must be incorporated into the arguments of their team. Gifted and Talented needs: This is a challenging component to consider because a gifted/talented student does not necessarily mean an academic-rigorous student. To really tailor the lesson to address the interests of a gifted/talented student, then the teacher will have to be familiar with the personality of that particular student. However, some situations will be addressed here. First of all, from the research, the lesson itself befits that of a gifted/talented studen t. Competition, which characterizes a debate, usually suits the nature of gifted/talented students. The first situation to consider is a student who is gifted/talented, but not academically rigorous. This student will be given a leadership role within his/her team. He/she may be assigned to organize/manage all the ideas of the students. He/she is the one who will be given the rubric for what the teacher is assessing when observing the team’s discussions and arguments. He/she is the manager, and he/she will be assessed on their ability to keep his/her team on task. In this way, this student isn’t necessarily doing more â€Å"academic† work, but he/she is being challenged in a rather difficult manner. A second situation to consider is to have a gifted/talented student who is academically rigorous. The teacher will give this student a second component to add to his/her research paper. The student must connect textbook material and internet material to the US politics o f today. This is increasing the cognitive process from analyze (which all students must do with their research papers) to evaluate (Anderson and Krathwol, 2001). The student can choose to incorporate this extra component into their team’s arguments. Resource Accommodations: Low tech: There are no computers, projector, or internet access in the classroom. If this is the case, teacher may have to allocate time in different lessons to use school facilities where computers are available. Computers must be used so that the teacher can show students the kinds of websites that are credible, as well as to use sites, like youtube, to show students examples of debates. Computer use is necessary so teacher may have to take time before or after school to meet with students (who are willing) to show them the above-mentioned websites. Mid tech: One computer connected  to a projector is available in the classroom. The teacher can use this computer to show examples of credible websites, as well as to show examples of debates online. High tech: Class is equipped with several computers. Teams can go online themselves to view videos of debates and start research for their paper. In this way, the collaborative nature of the lesson will start even earlier (in the pre-plan ning stage). Content-Based Literacy Skills In terms of text-based literacy; students must incorporate information from their textbook into their arguments Critical thinking, reflective thought, and text-supported thinking will be illustrated when students must draw connections between internet-based information and textbook information while doing their analysis/research paper. This connection will be evaluated when student’s cute their sources within their paper. (This explanation will also illustrate students’ information literacy.) New Media Literacy Skills Performance: This skill is illustrated when students view sample debates on the internet and use this as models of performance in their own debates. Collective Intelligence: This skill is done when students are within their respective teams and they must draw upon their own and others ideas, research, and knowledge to formulate strong arguments. Judgement: This skill is illustrated when students must judge which websites and information are to be included in their research/analysis paper. Networking: Once again, this skill is illustrated when students must search, connect, and analyze information on the internet for the purpose of their research/analysis paper (Jenkins, 2001). Learning Material: Textbook: Learners will need textbook so that they can recall information. Paper, pen: Leaners will need so that they can write down information. Rubric: Both the learner and teacher needs. Learners need it so that they are aware of what’s expected of them while working in teams and formulating their arguments. Teacher needs it so that he/she can refer to it when assessing the team’s progress. Notes: Learners will need them as a reference when formulating arguments. Stopwatch/watch: This will be given to  the student whose job is timekeeper. Video Camera: Used to record the debate Learning Plan Procedures Phase I: Motivation Activity Teacher will show a short clip of a very powerful, interesting debate. Possibly a presidential debate. The clip will only show the most poignant part (according to the teacher) of the debate. Hopefully the clip will be no longer than 5 minutes long. (if there’s no computer available, then teacher must bring in her/his own computer.) In a class of 30 chair/table. There will be 15 chairs/ tables on each side of the room. They will be facing eachother. Learners will enter the classroom and sit down immediately with their team. The teacher will then show the video as soon as the class is seated and quiet. This activity is being done to motivate, encourage, and remind students of what a good debate looks like so that the output of the students’ debates can match skills such as speaking (clear and concise) and eye-contact of the debaters within the video. Phase II: Input (Teacher Driven) Activity: During this class, the teacher will, serve only as facilitator, therefore not much activity will be driven by the teacher. However, after the video, the teacher will remind students of the rubric that was given to them, and tell students that she/he is only their to assist in the logistics of the debate (time, flow, managing emotions if this becomes a problem). The teacher will also instruct students to take notes on each other’s arguments because this assignment will be important for their homework assignment. She/he will also remind student that they will be recorded. Teacher will tell all students to take out their rubrics. She/He will go over some key point from the rubric as it relates to the debate. The teacher will tell students to make sure that they keep these key points in mind because these points will be assessed during the debate. The teacher will instruct students to have their rubrics out for the entire class so they can monitor their team’s progress by themselves. Teacher will formally go over key questions from the rubric that he/she hopes the teams have incorporated into the nature of the debate (clear speech, eye contact,  concise points, respectful behavior) as well as into the content of the debate. In term of the nature of the debate, questions might look like â€Å"Is my team being quiet/respectful as the other team presents their arguments?†, â€Å"Are my responses to the other’s teams arguments not insulting?† etc. In terms of the content of the debate, questions may look like, â€Å"Did my team incorporate facts from the textbook?†, â€Å"Did my team use at least two credible internet sources within the argument?†, â€Å"Did my team follow special instructions assigned by the teacher (e.g. incorporating ideas from IEP students, ELL student, gifted students)?.† This activity and these questions serve to remind students of the importance of the collaborative nature of the learning objective. They also serve to remind students that they must be able to demonstrate their understanding of the Civil War unit, as well as their understanding of outside sources within the context of an argument. Phase III: Output (Learner Driven) Activity Students will take part in a debate. The topic is â€Å"Was the Emancipation Proclamation enacted for moral reasons or political reasons?† This activity will illustrate the learning objective in several ways. First, the collaborative nature of the previous classes will finally be demonstrated. Second, the students must illustrate their knowledge of Civil War policies within their arguments. Third, both sides’ arguments must include information from outside sources. The teacher will select one team to present their arguments first. Recording will begin The speaker of that team will stand up and come to the front of the class. They will present their team’s argument. In the argument they must mention the sources in which they got their information. For example, if they got a particular piece of data from the textbook, then they must state â€Å"As is presented in the textbook†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . If they got a particular piece of data from the internet then they must state, â€Å"As is presented on so-called website, or by so-called author†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They must also explicitly state how they used the â€Å"special instructions† from the teacher. For example, â€Å"(ELL’s student’s name) found that ‘compromise’ was not a possible solution of the Civil War.† In this example, it is assumed that compromise was on a list of words that an ELL student did not understand. He/she presented these list of words to  his/her team. The team reviewed the list, and chose to use the word compromise as part of their argument. The student will finish the presentation of his/her argument. The teacher will tell the next team to present its argument. The team will follow the same procedure as above. The teacher will then stop recording of the debate. This debate will naturally lead to questions, comments from both the teacher and the students. Phase IV: Culmination  The teacher will ask the groups to clear up any misunderstandings or misinformation the teams may have had within their argument. This is to give other team members a chance to speak about the argument, which reinforces the collaborative effort of the lesson. The teacher will also ask students how their team’s or the other team’s information and debate skills differed and how these things were similar to the debate presented in the beginning of the class. As a smaller activity, the teacher will instruct all the students to come up with one question, comment, critique of the other team’s argument. This assignment will illustrate each student’s understanding of the Civil War Unit because it challenges students to relate, connect, or counter-argue their own knowledge of the unit. This question will be submitted to the teacher. Phase V: Exten sion For homework, students will write a one-page analysis of the opposing teams arguments. The student will address the opposing side’s arguments. He/she will evaluate the argument’s weaknesses, strengths; and why he/she disagreed or agreed with the points that were made. Learning Plan Analysis Formative assessments will include analyzing the collaborative efforts of the team, the behavior of each team during the presentation of the opposing team’s arguments, how well each team member took on their role within their team, and how well the team incorporated textbook information, outside information, and ‘†special instructions† from the teacher into their argument. A summative assessment will include the teacher’s evaluation of the internet analysis/research paper, the one-page analysis of opposing team’s argument, teacher’s evaluations of the strength of the arguments, and finally the â€Å"popular vote† (the results of youtube or school-based website). Weaknesses of this lesson plan include time constraints, and the many assessments involved. It may be difficult to accurately assess how well each team members took on their roles. Some students may still be taking on more work than others. Also, incorporating ELL/IEP students proved to be a difficult task.. Strength of the lesson is it fosters team work, analytical skills, and gives students more power in the direction and implementation of a lesson. The teacher will implement these varied assessments in its first year, and then will evaluate the effectiveness of these assessments for future classes. The learning theories applied in the first phase was Vygotzky’s Cognitive Process. Students are witnessing two adults debating and they are expected to try to learn/imitate the behaviors of those adults. In the second phase, social cognitive theory is at play. The teacher both models desired behaviors/outcomes, as well as emphasizes self-efficacy and self-regulation. In the third phase, constructivism is illustrated. The debate is student-driven because the students are demonstrating their constructed knowledge within the debate. The assessments have a behaviorist component. Negative reinforcement (decrease a behavior) is illustrated when the teacher warns students that if they are not respectful or a team member does not contribute meaningfully, then they may be marked down (Ormrod, 2008). References Anderson, L. W. , & Krathwol, D. R. (2001) . A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing, 28-31. California Department of Education. (2013) California Common Core State Standards. http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., and Weigel, M. (2006). â€Å"Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.† Chicago, IL: MacArthur Foundation. Ormrod, J. E. (2008). Educational Psychology Developing Learners, 8. 25-36. Teachers First. (2014) http://www.teachersfirst.com/gifted_strategies.cfm