Art project 11 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art project 11 - Term Paper Example Dreams consisted of a large segment of his life, because he would take siestas, or midday rests, in which he encounters more and more dreams. He considered the siesta as a state that is achieved at the moment that one forgets about one’s body or in psychoanalysis the state of the unconscious. Yet, his dreamlike style, combined with a variety of works with different themes dramatically changed the way the world viewed art. Salvador Dali, is one of the unconventional world renowned painters I truly admire. Dali’s artistic genius always has a shock factor when looking at his paintings. His paintings would easily capture not only your attention but also of your cognitive and aesthetic senses stimulating them to explore, rationalize and associate meanings to their symbolic details. Dali easily catches his viewers’ attention with the combination of light colors and the odd images in his paintings appearing seemingly to have no correlation at all. Dali’s The Persistence of Memory, a painting that earned him the hallmark of fame, is just an

Impact of Nitrogen on Carbon Stocks

Impact of Nitrogen on Carbon Stocks 2. Literature Review: This chapter will provide an overview of; the scientific basis behind why adding nitrogen will cause an increase in carbon stocks, the impacts of nitrogen deposition on tree carbon stocks documented in the current literature, the impacts of nitrogen deposition on soil carbon stocks documented in the current literature and information more specifically targeted at the UK and the South Downs. 2.1. The global nitrogen cycle The nitrogen cycle is strongly coupled with the carbon cycle, this dependence on one another and key feedbacks is illustrated in figure 2. 1. If the availability of one of these elements changes it will affect the biochemical cycle of the other element and eventually the functioning of the entire ecosystem (Gruber Galloway, 2008). Reactive nitrogen (Nr) is a requirement for the growth of plants and soil microorganisms, the processes of both play key roles in the global carbon cycle. The rise in anthropogenic CO2 has been observed to increase plant photosynthesis and therefore plant growth and carbon storage (Oren et al., 2001). This growth however can be limited by the levels of Nr available in soils (Vitousek and Howarth, 1991), hence in Nr poor ecosystems the potential carbon sink could be limited. In some regions it is conceivable that anthropogenic production of Nr could provide the nutrients necessary to reduce limitations on plant growth (Ciais et al., 1995). Prior to the industrial revolution reactive nitrogen, any form of nitrogen species other than N2, was only made available to the terrestrial ecosystem by natural processes, such as biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and lightening, since industrialisation a number of sources of Nr have become much more significant (Figure 2.2). BNF allows the terrestrial ecosystem to acquire essential nitrogen compounds a through a series of reactions that convert N2 into ammonia (Ciais et al., 2013). Initially there was an equilibrium between the input of Nr to the ecosystem and its loss through the process of denitrification, however since industrialisation this equilibrium no longer exists. Humans produce a quantity of Nr that is much greater than that produced naturally in ecosystems. This Nr is produced by humans in a number of wa ys: 1) it is produced industrially by the Haber-Bosch process, producing NH3 as a fertiliser for crops, this nitrogen is then spread through run off and emission into the atmosphere; 2) the growth of crops such as legumes that are associated with mycorrhizal fungi and higher levels of BNF (Hayman, 1986); and 3) the combustion of fossil fuels which converts N2 and fossil fuel nitrogen into nitrous oxides (NOx) which are emitted into the atmosphere and then deposited on terrestrial ecosystems and the ocean (Ciais et al., 2013). This undeniable evidence of the anthropogenic perturbation of the nitrogen cycle and the close relationship between the nitrogen cycle and the carbon cycle highlights the need to understand how additions of nitrogen will interact with the carbon cycle, and in what way this will impact carbon sinks and therefore feedback to the climate. The increased supply of Nr can be expected to increase terrestrial CO2 uptake by increasing NPP (net primary productivity) (chapter 2.2.1) or reducing the rate of organic matter breakdown (chapter 2.2.2). It must be noted however that additions of Nr will not exclusively increase CO2 uptake by the terrestrial biosphere: negative direction (in situations where it accelerates organic matter breakdown)-> ) O3 formed in the troposphere as a result of NOx and volatile organic compound emissions reduces plant productivity, and therefore reduces CO2 uptake from the atmosphere. On the global scale the net influence of the direct and indirect contributions of Nr on the radiative balance was estimated to be –0.24 W m–2 (with an uncertainty range of +0.2 to –0.5 W m–2)(Erisman et al., 2011). The balance between the directions will determine the potential. 2.2.1 Forest Carbon Uptake- Trees Various studies have assessed the possible impact of increased nitrogen on tree carbon stock and a variety of methods have been employed. One approach involves assessing the relationship between the spatial trends of carbon uptake, found by study of forest growth or net ecosystem production (NEP), and nitrogen deposition. In their 2007 study Magnani et al. employed a variation of this technique. Carbon stocks and their fluxes were measured in 5 representative chronosequences in Europe. In addition data from the literature, from a further 13 chronosequences and two uneven aged stands were used. Estimates of wet deposition of nitrogen were calculated from various data sets. The relationship between wet nitrogen deposition and NEP was then analysed graphically and statistically. Studies of the influence of nitrogen deposition at stand level have also been carried out, one example of this is a study by Solberg et al. (2009). The impact of nitrogen deposition was evaluated by using deposi tion values from the growth period (1993-2000). These values were then correlated with the values for relative volume which was calculated as actual increment in % of expected increment. In their study Magnani et al. (2007) found a strong relationship between C sequestration and wet N-deposition (Figure 2.3d) with an R2 value of 0.97. Though they found this relationship was largely obscured by age effects when individual stands were considered. Solberg et at. (2009) found that nitrogen deposition had a fertilising effect of slightly higher than 1% increase in volume increment per kg N ha-1 yr-1. The results of these papers can be converted into nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUE) in order to make them comparable, where NUE is the response of carbon sequestration to nitrogen deposition in kg C/kg N (de Vries et al., 2009). Thus it was calculated that Magnani et al. (2007) found an NUEeco value of approximately 475 kg C/ kg N (de Vries et al., 2009). Sutton et al. (2008) found this value to be unlikely and tested the data against more appropriate N-depostion values for the period suggested and produced results calculated by de Vries et al. (2009) to be between 91 and 177 kg/C/N. The NUE value for trees in the study by Solberg et al. (2009) were calculated to be equivalent to 19-38 kg C/ kg N. Another important area of research in this field is the evaluation of C-N stoichiometry of ecosystem compartments because it strongly influences the potential for carbon fixation to respond to nitrogen deposition (de Vries et al., 2009). Nitrogen entering the ecosystem can be traced by applying isotopically labelled nitrogen (15N) to the forest floor and tracking its movement. Melin et al. (1983) applied this techniques in nitrogen-limited Scots pine stand in Sweden, to study the distribution and recovery of the labelled fertiliser. The application rate was 100kg of ammonium nitrate-N/ha. Nadelhoffer et al. (1999) carried out similar 15N tracer experiments in nine temperate forests for three years. Further to this de Vries et al. (2006) used the same methodology as Nadelhoffer et al. (1999) at over 6000 level I plots (From a large-scale forest condition monitoring scheme based on a 16 x 16 km gridnet across Europe). Site specific soil C/N ratios were utilised and the assumption of an increase of upto 0.1 of N retention fractions in stem wood that are influenced by N deposition. Melin et al. (1983) reported a value of between 12 and 28% of nitrogen applied recovered in trees. De Vries et al. (2009) used the C/N ratio of 500 for stem wood estimated by Nadelhoffer et al.(1999) to calculate a NUEtree of 30-70 kg C/kg N. A NUEtree of 25 kg C/kg N was calculated in the same way for the results presented by Nadelhoffer et al. (1999) which showed 5% of nitrogen applied to be recovered in woody biomass. The results of direct fertilisation experiment methodologies are important to consider for this research paper, low doses of N fertiliser are applied to selected sites for a long-term (8-30 years) study. Hyvonen et al. (2008) ran experiments in Sweden and Finland in Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris stands. 15 sites were selected for long-term experimentation that ranged from 14 to 30 years. Low (30-50 kg N ha-1 yr-1) or high (50-200 kg N ha-1) doses of N-fertiliser either alone or in combination with other nutrients were applied to plots no smaller than 30 x 30 m. Diameter at breast height (DBH), number of trees ha-1 and tree height (when available) at each plot on each occasion of measurement were utilised to calculate biomass. The amount of carbon at each site was estimated to be 0.5 of the biomass. Changes in the C-pool was calculated for each site and the effect of N-fertilisation was calculated as the difference between the fertilised plots and the control plots. Pregitzer et al . (2007) applied 30 kg N ha-1 yr-1 from 1994 to 2004 to four different hardwood forests in Michigan. Tree growth was measured yearly and compared with control sites. Hogberg et al. (2006) ran a 30 year experiment in unpolluted boreal forest. N fertiliser (ammonium nitrate) was applied to replicated (N=3) 0.09 ha plots. 3 doses were prescribed, 34, 68 and 108 kg N ha-1 yr-1. The highest level of application was cancelled after 20 years to allow recovery to be assessed in the subsequent decade. Hyvonen et al. (2008) presented their results as kg C/kg N and so no further calculations were necessary. They found that for the low dose application of N NUEtree was 25 kg C/kg N whereas for high dose it was 11 kg C/kg N. NPK addition produced values of 38 and 11 kg C/kg N for low and high doses respectively. Pregitzer at al. (2007) found an increase of 5000 kg C ha-1 in woody biomass, with a total application of N of 300 kg N ha-1 for the whole study period this equates to 17 kg C/kg N (de Vries et al, 2009). Hogberg et al. (2006) found an initial increase in tree growth at all doses of nitrogen treatment. However in the long-term the impact of fertilisation was found to be highly rate dependant. The high dose showed no gain, medium dose gave an increase of 50 m3 ha-1 and low dose a growth increase of 100 m3 ha-1 as compared to the control. In order to calculate NUEtree de Vries (2009) assumed a wood density of 500 kg m-3 and C content at 50% to calculate a net C gain of 25, 000 k g C the total N input was also calculated and net C gain was divided by this value to give 25 kg C/kg N for the lowest levels of N application. Model simulations have been used extensively in the literature. Levy et al. (2004) used three models (CENTURY, BCG and Hybrid) that employ a Monte Carlo approach, utilising conceptual algorithms that depend on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results. The models were applied to a coniferous forest in Sweden for a 100 year period. Simulated nitrogen deposition levels were from data by Schulze (2000) the current ambient nitrogen deposition of 12 kg N ha-1 year-1 or 10 Ãâ€" current ambient nitrogen deposition, 120 kg N ha-1 year-1. Sutton et al. (2008) used the same inputs as Levy et al. (2004) but calculated a smaller value of total N-deposition (6-26 kg N ha-1 yr-1). Milne and Van Oijen (2005) used a complex forest growth model (EFM) directly parameterised to 22 specific sites selected across Europe, because growing conditions such as soil nitrogen levels were available for the sites. Model simulations were run for an 80 year period, control runs maintained N-deposition v alues at their 1920 levels whereas environmental change scenarios ran observed values of change averaging 10.5  ± 5.2 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for the whole period.

Fixing the American Justice System Essay -- Criminal Justice Crime

Fixing American Justice In Lynn, a car pins a woman against a wall. The driver is charged with driving drunk for the third time. In Quincy, a pregnant mother is rushed to a hospital and her baby delivered by an emergency operation. Police say she was hit by a man already convicted of drunk driving four times. In Springfield a fifteen year old girl is crushed by a man who has been convicted of drunk driving almost a dozen times and has even served a prison term for it. She will never walk with her own legs again. This is only a small part of the small state of Massachusetts in our large country And sadly this is not just with drunk driving. Within less then 3 years, 5% of all convicted and released rapists will carry out another rape. Within the next 3 years 2% of all convicted murders will achieve another murder. The 272,111 offenders discharged in 1994 had accumulated 744,000 charges within 3 years of release. Criminals everywhere are stepping up as they find loopholes in our American justice system. Cali fornia has even instated a state wide repeat offender program. Why is the r...

Bowen Family Systems Therapy Essay

Abstract This paper was designed to fully describe Bowen’s Theory of Family Systems Therapy. The eight concepts that illustrate this theory will be thoroughly discussed and explained. References of professionals who have worked with and studied Bowen theory will be implemented and relied on in order to adequately understand and depict this theory. And finally, the second portion of this essay will include a case study. The case study will present a family profile, a treatment plan and goals, interventions and a projected outcome for the family’s recovery. Through this case study the reader will be able to identify Bowen techniques and get a more kinesthetic look on how Bowen’s Family System Therapy is applied. Introduction Bowen’s Family System Theory is based on the family as an emotional unit. The theory is based on the idea that the family is so emotionally integrated that the effect each member has on the other members can be overwhelming. Bowen’s Theory focuses on that emotional connectedness and assumes that the family can either promote cohesiveness and cooperation or tension and anxiety. Therefore, according to this theory, a change in one person’s attitude or actions will be followed by a reciprocal change in the functioning of the other members. When anxiety levels rise within the family unit the stress levels will also heighten. Therefore, when this happens one or members will end up feeling overwhelmed, isolated or out of control and then the family unit will be shaken as a whole. During this time of distress, the members who feel most out of control or  stressed will work extra hard to accommodate the other members. This is part of the reciprocal interaction. This member who absorbs most of the tension is most likely the member who will end up most susceptible to problems such as illness, alcoholism and affairs. Eight Concepts In order to implement this theory into a therapy session Bowen created eight interlocking concepts to assist the therapist in working with families. The concepts include triangles, differentiation of self, nuclear family emotional system, family projection process, multigenerational transmission process, sibling position, emotional cutoff and societal emotional process. However, it is important for any therapist to keep in mind that, according to Mike Nichols (1988), the core goal underlying the Bowenian model is differentiation of self, more specifically, the â€Å"ability to remain oneself in the face of group influences, especially the intense influence of family life†(p.2). Triangles The eight interlocking concepts are key to understanding Bowenian Family Therapy. To begin, triangles are a three person relationship system. Triangles are considered the building blocks of the larger emotional system. The reason being that the triangle is the smallest stable relationship system. Three people can take on much more tension than two people. Additionally, a triangle can contain a large amount of stress without bringing in a fourth person because the tension can shift around to all three relationships. However, just because a triangle can bear more tension does not make it healthier. Someone is almost always left out and nothing gets resolved in a triangle formation. Triangles and their undesirable effects on the family unit contribute greatly to the development of clinical problems. Within triangles, members are pushed from outsider to insider positions of conflict. Within this inside/ outside drama members will begin maneuvering and manipulating their positions within the group, thus causing fights and with that heavy strain on the relationships. Getting pushed from inside to outside positions can trigger depression and even a physical illness. For example, two parents focusing on what is wrong with a child can trigger serious rebellion within that child. While triangles may seem  comfortable and stable, they end up being a huge problem within the family unit. Differentiation of Self In opposition of triangles is Bowen’s idea of differentiation of self. According to Fritzland (1991, p. 1), the degree to which a differentiation of self occurs in an individual reflects the extent to which that person is able to distinguish between the intellectual process and the feeling process he or she is experiencing. Thus differentiation of self is related to the degree to which one is able to choose between having his or her actions, relationships and life guided by feelings or thoughts. Individuals with the most fusion between their emotions and thoughts and relationships are the lowest functioning people. These people get to a point where they cannot even tell what feelings and thoughts are their own and which are those of other people. Undifferentiated Family Ego Mass Bowen introduced the concept of the undifferentiated family ego mass. Undifferentiated family ego mass is the idea that there is a syndicated emotional oneness that exists in all levels of intensity. Goldenberg and Goldenberg (1991, p. 171) give a great example of this in the relationship between mother and child and child and father. They write, â€Å"The symbiotic relationship of interdependency between mother and child may represent the most intense version of this concept; a father’s detachment may be the least intense. The degree to which any one member is involved in the family from moment to moment depends on that person’s basic level of involvement in the family ego mass.† When the emotional closeness is too intense and possibly overbearing this may lead to an uncomfortable closeness within the family, closeness that will lead to mutual rejection between members. It may lead to fights that include intense yelling, slamming of doors and phone hang ups. Bowen insists that maturity and self-actualization demand that an individual become free of unresolved emotional attachments to his or her family of origin. Fritzlan (1991, p.4) notes that Bowen’s theory assumes that every human has an instinctive force inside them that propels the developing child to grow up to be an emotionally separate person, able to think, feel, and act as an individual. At the same time, Bowen proposes that a similar life force, also instinctively ingrained, thrusts the child and family to remain  emotionally connected. As a result of these counterbalancing forces, argues Bowen, no one ever achieves complete emotional separation from the family of origin. However, there are considerable differences in the amount of separation each of us accomplishes, as well as differences in the degree to which children from the same set of parents, emotionally separate from the family. Nuclear Family Emotional System The third concept builds on the idea of differentiation of self and is called nuclear family emotional system. The concept of the nuclear family emotional system describes four basic relationship patterns that govern where problems may develop in a family. Marital conflict, dysfunction in one spouse, impairment of one or more children and emotional distance are the patterns which will govern where problems will probably develop within the family. The more anxiety one person or one relationship sucks in, the less other people must absorb. This means that some family members maintain their functioning at the expense of others, which ends up causing a strenuous amount of tension on the people who must accommodate. People do not want to hurt each other, but when anxiety chronically dictates behavior, someone usually suffers because of it. The next concept that Bowen introduces gives the concept of the nuclear family emotional system more reason to it’s’ rhyme. Family Projection Process The family projection process touches on the different type of relationships that parents have with each of their children. When one child is focused on more than another child, the focused on child will typically be more fused with his or her parents than the unfocused on child. Goldenberg and Goldenberg (1990) say that â€Å"differences in parental behavior make for significant differences in how each child functions† (p.221). Furthermore, the child who is most focused on is most sensitive to disturbances and initial signs of instability within the family. Simply put, when the parents select the most infantile child of the family as the object of their attention, Bowen calls this the family projection process. Multigenerational Transmission Process The next key concept that Murray Bowen developed is multigenerational  transmission process. Multigenerational transmission processing describes how the entire family joins in the family projection process that was previously discussed. Bowen wrote that multigenerational transmission process provides a base from which to make predictions in the present generation and gives an overview of what to expect in coming generations. This process entails the way family emotional processes are transferred and maintained over the generations. In this theory Bowen contends that people choose mates with equivalent levels of differentiation to their own. Thus, the highly undifferentiated person will choose a mate that is similarly undifferentiated from their family and the differentiated person will find a mate who is also differentiated from their family of origin. Goldenberg and Goldenberg (1990, p. 198) say that it is probable that these poorly differentiated people, now a marital couple, will themselves become highly fused and will produce a family with the same characteristics. Furthermore, Bowen believes that the resulting nuclear family emotional system will be unstable and will seek various ways to reduce tension and maintain stability by over indulging in such things as alcohol, drugs, and getting involved in codependent relationship. This can affect a child psychologically as well and it can then perpetuate and become a cycle within the family. Goldenberg and Goldenberg (1990, p. 199) say that psychological impairment in a child is enabling to the parents as they will simply focus attention on the child and ignore or deny their own lack of differentiation. This will only further inhibit the child’s development of self as well as support the already dysfunctional marital relationship. Sibling Position Sibling position is a concept that Bowen stressed. He believes that each child has a place in the family hierarchy and therefore was more or less likely to fit certain projections. For example, the oldest sibling is more likely to be the mature, responsible one. Whereas the youngest child will more likely be the class clown, irresponsible and immature one. While this concept is well known and maybe even intrinsic to most people, Bowen believes this to be key when understanding differentiation and working within the family emotional system. Emotional Cutoff The seventh concept that Bowen developed for his theory is called emotional cutoff. Most people have experienced this concept or have at least heard of it. Goldenberg and Goldenberg (1990) write that emotional cutoff is a flight from unresolved emotional ties, and is not true emancipation from the family (p. 225). Emotional cutoffs do several things; they reflect a problem, such as underlying fusion between generations. They solve the problem by reducing the anxiety in the cutoff relationship. And finally, they create a problem by isolating people who might benefit from closer contact. Fritzlan (1991) notes that cutoffs most often occur in families where there is a high level of anxiety and emotional dependence. Bowen has suggested that when emotional cutoffs exist between parents and grandparents, then a cutoff between parents and children of the following generation increases in likelihood. It is easy to see how cutoffs can occur and how the other key concepts if not understood or resolved can cause an emotional cutoff in a family relationship. Societal Emotional Process Finally, the eighth key concept is societal emotional process. This process is in a way like the family projection process except scaled to a societal level. Families that deal with discrimination, prejudice and persecution will pass on to their children coping methods and ways to which they survived these factors. Basically, these are social expectations about racial and class groups, the behaviors or each gender and their effects on the family. Andreas Viklund (2009) noted that the family unit and society as a whole have the task of promoting the long term interest of individual members and the society as an entirety. Evaluation and Validity of Bowen’s Theory While Bowen is considered to be one of the most effective theorists in marriage and family arena of therapy, there are both strengths and weaknesses to his ideas. His eight key concepts are great tools for therapists to use as a guide for therapy, but it is important to note the validity of his theory and to review his theory in a more critical way. The main concept that Bowen teaches is differentiation of self. This is the founding idea for all of his concepts. Differentiation of self is very important, however Bowen did not leave a sufficient tool as a means to measure clients’ differentiation of self. Richard et al (2004) note that Bowen suggested that clinicians could use a differentiation-of-self scale ranging from 0 to 100; however, he provided few guidelines to help clinicians reliably and accurately assign an appropriate score. Indeed, he claimed that the concept was not quantifiable for researchers. Consequently, Bowen’s scale has been useful only as a theoretical tool. In the last decade there have been two scales, Haber’s Level of Differentiation of Self Scale and Kowron’s Differentiation of Self Inventory, that were developed as a means to measure differentiation. Richard et al (2004) researched the validity of these two scales with Bowen’s theory by having two experts in Bowen theory rate the relevance of the items in these scales. The first scale significantly correlated with chronic anxiety and psychological distress, which is consistent with Bowen theory and, thereby, demonstrates sufficient validity. The second scale was also consistent with Bowen theory, the Differentiation of Self Inventory correlated significantly with chronic anxiety, psychological distress, and marital satisfaction. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated psychometric support for the four subscales. Bowen theorized that people marry according to their same level of differentiation, this is called the multigenerational transmission process. Bowen simply stated, â€Å"People who marry have the same level of differentiation of self (Kerr & Bowen, 1988, p. 225). This is because each spouse has the â€Å"same need for emotional reinforcement from the relationship† (Kerr & Bowen, 1988, p. 171). This concept is probably one of Bowen’s weakest. There have been numerous studies, Richter (1998), Richards (1988) and Skowron (2000) just to name a few, that totally refute this idea of Bowen’s. While this does not necessarily knock down his entire theory it does poke some holes in it and force the common therapist to rethink their approach to working with married couples and their families. While the above concept is a fairly weak one, there is another aspect of multigenerational transmission process that proves to be stronger. There is a vast amount of research supporting a specific aspect of Bowen’s concept of multigenerational transmission process. The aspect that parents’ and children’s values and beliefs are highly correlated seems to have strong validity according to studies. Many of these studies were conducted in the field of social gerontology and date back to the early 1970s when research about the â€Å"generation gap† was conducted to examine continuity between generations (Troll & Bengtson, 1979). These studies have consistently found that parents’ and children’s values and beliefs are highly correlated, as assumed by Bowen. There is also a substantial amount of literature that gives evidence that levels of individual and relationship functioning are passed on from one generation to another. For example, Richard et al (2004) write that studies have revealed that there is a multigenerational transmission process for violence (Alexander, Moore, & Alexander, 1991), divorce (Amato, 1996), and marital quality (Feng, Giarrusso, Bengtson, & Frye, 1999). Richard at al (2004) also remarks that â€Å"research has also shown that eating disorders (Whitehouse & Harris, 1998), depressed affect (Whitbeck et al., 1992), and alcoholism (Sher, Gershuny, Peterson, & Raskin, 1997) are transmitted inter-generationally† (p. 9). Through many studies testing different aspects of Bowen’s theory there are and will continue to be weak points exposed. However, there proves to be a vast amount of validity to his theory as well. The weakest suggestion is definitely that people marry according to their own differentiation. In my own life Bowen’s idea proves to be untrue and while looking at different marriages around me I do not see any sort of pattern in this regard. If anything, I have observed people marrying opposite of their own differentiation level rather than finding a spouse who matches their level of differentiation. Even still, differentiation of self as a whole demonstrates to be the most valid and prominent idea in Bowen theory, both Biblically and psychologically. Biblical Integration and Evaluation I believe God was first to introduce the idea of differentiation of self, especially differentiation of self when entering into marriage. Genesis 2:24 says, â€Å"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.† According to this verse it seems that differentiation is shown by one’s ability to leave their parents before they can rightly cleave to their spouse. Since Bowen emphasizes the need for a person to be emotionally differentiated from parents in order to maintain healthy balances of individuality and togetherness in ensuing relationships, this seems to be paralleled with the command presented in Genesis. According to Bowen and Kerr (1988), only a differentiated person can be securely attached. Furthermore, this seems to be God’s stance on differentiation as well. It seems that God, being omnipotent and all knowing, designed marriages to work out best when spouses are healthily differentiated from their families of origin. In my opinion, differentiation of self is very important and seeing how the Bible supports this idea I feel even stronger about its’ significance. This is the main reason I chose to write about Bowen’s Theory to begin with. I appreciate Bowen’s eight concepts, as I believe they are great tools for therapists. The concepts help the therapist to work within this theory without feeling lost or overwhelmed by the new ideas or different facets they are implementing into the therapy session. Even more personally, I think that my own differentiation of self has been weak until the last year or so. This is another reason I chose to work with Bowen’s Theory. When I first got married I was very attached to my family and often chose them over my husband or even over myself. I know that this not only hurt my husband’s feelings, but also the quality of our marriage. When I finally understood that I was spending too much time with my parents and choosing their events over quality time with Elden (my husband), things drastically changed between us. Many problems we were having fixed themselves and he became significantly happier. Elden emphasized to me that he felt much more respected by me when I began deferring to him rather than my parents regarding issues. And in turn, I began to feel much more loved by him because he became mindful of the way he was treating me since it was  obvious I was making conscience decisions to be more attached to him and to my own independence than my family. While I still spend a good amount of time with my family, Elden is much more willing to spend time with them along with me because he knows and feels that he always comes first. Also, I take much more time for myself and the things I enjoy, which makes everyone happier. Looking back I wish that I would have truly understood differentiation of self before getting married, but I am so grateful that I did learn it early on as it will only help us for the rest of our lives together. Seeing how this very small aspect of a lack of self-differentiation played out on my own life drew me to Bowen’s Theory. I wanted to understand how great of a role this theory could play in everyday life. I see now that differentiation of self has a much larger role in familial success than I had thought. And I believe Bowen’s eight aspects only further make the point of this theory’s significance in family systems therapy. Case Study Looking at my own life would be a perfect case study for Bowen Theory. However, since Elden and I did not get any therapy for our issues it would be difficult to use. Keeping my previous story in mind, here is the profile of the case I have chosen to illustrate: The client family consists of three boys and a mother and father. Stan, the father, called in to make an appointment because his wife, Jen who is in her late 40’s, is having anxiety attacks and is overwhelmed by her three sons. She tends to yell at the boys and feels like she has not patience for them anymore. Stan says he has been out of a job for three years and Jen ‘s parents have been supporting their family for the last 6 months. The boys, Joel, Derek and Steve range in ages from pre adolescent to late teens, the eldest being Steve who is graduating from high school soon. Stan reports that they are very high energy, but well behaved and successful in their school and sports activities. Stan emphasizes that h e is most worried about â€Å"mom†, Jen, and thinks the boys are handling things just fine, as is he. After seeing the family as a whole once it is obvious that Jen is not the main problem, it is Stan. However, since Stan is out of work Jen is taking  on the stress of the family and it is more than she can bear. The three boys are very close to their parents and the youngest one, Joel, is totally fused with Jen. Joel sat on Jen’s lap during the session and acted very much like a baby when she was not able gives him her full attention. Stan seems to have come to terms with not having a job and the fact that Jen’s parents are supporting them, however he continues to call Jen â€Å"mom† and talk about how sensitive and delicate she is. There seems to be a lack of intimacy between Stan and Jen along with a lack of respect for one another. And finally, the only one of the children who does not call Jen â€Å"mommy† is Derek, the middle child. Goals, Treatment Plan and Interventions Before presenting the family’s treatment plan and prognosis it is important to understand what the goal of Bowen family systems therapy is. The goal is to increase the capacity of one or more members to adapt to and deal with the constant change and evolution of family life. Graefe (1955) describes the differentiation effort by using a metaphor from sailing: â€Å"you cannot change the velocity of the winds, but you can change the direction of the sales† (p.2). It is with this goal in mind that the treatment plan can be created. To begin, this family’s treatment plan will be to complete a genogram so that I can fully understand their families of origin. It is easy to see that in this family there is a lot of triangulation, mostly between the parents and Steve, the oldest son. At times Derek takes Steve’s place in the triangulation between Stan and Jen. However, he is mostly in an alliance with Stan and has picked up much of his father’s sexist attitudes. The genogram will allow me to see if there was any domestic violence or abuse in the family’s history and will also allow me to get a better idea of the attitudes men had towards women in Stan’s family of origin. Furthermore, the genogram will help indicate how differentiated Stan and Jen are from their own parents and how self-differentiation looks in their family’s past. The genogram will reveal many aspects of Jen and Stan’s family history, some more important than others, but all useful in understanding this couple. Once the genogram is completed I will be able to focus on generational issues. However, in order to help the family more immediately, decreasing the anxiety that Jen is feeling will be absolutely necessary. When anxiety  is decreased presenting symptoms will begin tomodify or decrease. Nevertheless, this will mean that Stan, Steve and Joel will need to learn to be more differentiated from Jen. Stan is interesting, because he has a very sexist attitude toward Jen, but totally relies on her and her parents for most things in life. He needs to recognize this in order to help Jen lessen her anxiety. One way in which I will help the boys become more differentiated from Jen is by, first of all, asking Stan to stop calling Jen â€Å"mom†. Since Stan sets the tone and attitude for his children, having him break this habit will be helpful. It might also create a more intimate attitude toward the couple. Furthermore, Joel will need to sit at least two chairs away from Jen for all futu re sessions. And finally, Jen will be asked to allow Joel to speak for himself so that he can find his own voice. Part of this family’s treatment plan will rely on my use of interventions. It will be very important that I am able to model to them what healthy parenting relationships may look like. I also will need to develop a functioning healthy triangle between Stan, Jen and myself. I believe that once the parent’s relationship is put into a more healthful place, the children will begin to differentiate themselves from their parents. A component of working on Jen and Stan’s relationship will include Stan having more communication with his own mother and with Jen’s parents. It will also include Jen and Stan taking some time out to research their own family history which will hopefully enlighten both of them on a few different levels. Finally, Jen’s major homework will be to take an hour out of each day where she is not available to her family in any capacity and she must journal about this process three times a week. This â€Å"homework† will expectantly allow her family to learn to differentiate themselves from her and reduce some anxiety in her immediate stage of life. Also, I believe this exercise will be very eye opening for Stan to see how much he actually relies on Jen. Stan and Jen’s family should continue therapy for a minimum of one year, as Bowen believes four years is a more reasonable prognosis schedule. If the children do not continue, Stan and Jen should follow through with couple therapy. I would imagine that couple therapy will be more beneficial in the  long run and that their sons will only need to be in family therapy initially. In fact, if I have done my job properly the children will want to discontinue therapy on their own accord. This will be a great indication of the differentiation they are achieving. However, once Joel, Derek and Steve terminate their role in therapy the reason why Stan and Jen will need to continue is so they can fully appreciate the generational transmission process and understand how their emotional projection onto their children is prohibiting growth and differentiation in their circle of five. Conclusion Bowen Family Systems Therapy is a therapy that focuses on emotional process rather than content. Murray Bowen’s eight concepts outline this idea of emotional process very clearly and make following a system and intervention plan easier for a therapist. While some of Bowen’s Theory and concepts are based on his own secular viewpoint, God shines through this theory in His own way. Biblically, many facets of Bowen’s theory are sound which only make a better case for the knowledge that the Bible has to offer the world. Since God is the Ultimate Counselor, it makes sense that differentiation would be mentioned in His Word first. In conclusion, looking at the case study, along with the treatment plan, interventions and prognosis one can get a much better idea of how Bowen Theory can be implemented into family therapy. The family depicted in the case study thought that the problem was the mother, Jen. But it turned out that she was not the only problem. In the treatment plan it was important to focus on the family’s emotional process rather than â€Å"fixing† Jen. All of the members of the family needed to learn to think on their own two feet and live parts of their lives without Jen’s approval. Once this happens, Jen should feel substantially less anxious and angry. Thus, this case was classic for employing Bowenian Therapy. However, Bowen Family Systems Therapy can be applied to any case and will always achieve satisfactory results as Bowen is a master at family therapy. References Fritzlan, L. (1991). How to Get Your Own Life and Not Get Overwhelmed by Your Family. Pacific Grove. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Goldenberg, I., Goldenberg, H.(1990). Family Therapy: An Overview. Pacific Grove, CA. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company Kerr, M., Bowen, M. (1988). Family Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory. New York, NY. W.W. Norton & Company. Miller, Richard B., et al. (2004). Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Family Systems Therapy: Is Bowen Theory Valid? A Review of Basic Research. Blackwell Publishing. http://www.interventions.net/BowenTheoryUpdated.pdf

ITStrategy and Positioning for Volkswagen Financial Services (UK)

Introduction This assignment is constructed to consider a case study of an existing business and analyse its IT strategy and positioning for competitive advantage. A few hours were spent researching ideals into companies of interest to which I had to make sure it fitted in line with the assignment objective. The organisation that sparked my interest was Volkswagen Financial Services (UK). This was because they are a large organisation which is vastly growing year by year and have a major influence in them motor industry. I also got the privilege of working within their customer experience department as a customer service advisor. Background Volkswagen Financial Services is a financial services provider in the Volkswagen Group. The company deals in a broad spectrum of automotive products including financing dealers and customers through leasing, corporate financing, vehicle fleet management to banking and insurance products. According to the 2013 report, the company has experienced a rise in the number of contracts in their portfolio from just under-8 million to over 8.8 million, a 10.9 percent rise. The Management Board Chairman Frank Witter attributes this growth to a 5 percent increase in number of vehicles delivered to more than 9.7 million. The company was also able to attract more customers with their financial services. As a leading financial provider for all things automotive sales within the umbrella of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, the company has developed key strategies to ensure they achieve their mission, which is â€Å"to support the sales of all Volkswagen Group brands worldwide and increase customer loyalty in a sustainable manner along the entire automotive value chain† (VW FS Annual Report, 2013). Volkswagen strategy statement is based on â€Å"customer-focus†, â€Å"pioneering† and â€Å"getting things done†. To ensure sustainable growth, the company pursues its strategy in three fronts: brands, markets and products. That is, developing new brands for Volkswagen Group, establishing new markets, and developing new products in existing markets. Volkswagen Financial Services continue to adopt a consistent customer relationship management (CRM) strategy in its customer care. As such, structures of the company and its processes have been aligned with customer groups and their unique requirements (VW FS Annual Report, 2013). Johnson et al (2013, p.69) describes strategy as the â€Å"long-term direction of an organisation.† A leading strategy theorist Michael Porter would refer to this as a competitive strategy that seeks to be different from comp etition, by â€Å"deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value† to the intended consumers (Porter, 1996, p.31). The Volkswagen Financial Services strategy can be considered to be based on what Porter (1996) describes as variety-based and needs-based positioning. However, Volkswagen Financial Services continual pursuance of consistent CRM strategy in customer care led the company to rethink its organisation structure and customer groups as aligned by the customer requirements. In attempt to support this organisational restructuring, the organisation required an IT structure to allow the company have a standard of customer data, standard and continuous process support right from customer support to subsequent processing and transaction execution, integrating existing transaction-related banking system without any additional extensive conversions. In order to meet these requirements, a product and division-oriented IT environment was imple mented. Core applications and systems related to transaction-related banking systems where clients’ accounts and contracts could be managed were implemented. The implementations of these applications and systems isolated the various specific client data from each other making an integral view much more complicated and cumbersome. But the company solved this problem when they installed customer-oriented IT architecture in SAP CRM for a standard customer care and SAP NetWeaverTM as a system integration platform. Although Volkswagen Financial Services may have considered this a triumph in its efforts to strengthen their CRM-oriented strategy in customer service, it’s not a unique strategy that can strengthen their competitive advantage given its ease of adoption by competitors or new entrants. Le Pest C for Volkswagen Financials Services In order to comprehensively understand Volkswagen Financial Services strategic capabilities, it is significant to use the Le Pest C model (Brooks and Weatherston, 2002): LePestC Possible Issues at VW FS (UK) Legal Data security and privacy legislations and legal challenges Economic Low profitability due to decreased consumer spending power and inability to expand to emerging markets Political VW Financial Services AG, which inevitable controls its strategic decisions making process Environment/Ecologic Environmental pressure from regulatory authorities Social Change of consumer preferences, e.g. study shows that more consumers in Europe prefer to travel via train rather than personal cars Technological New technology that are likely to render the current ones obsolete and requires upgrade regularly Competitiveness Competition from financial companies and other auto dealers Legal: Data security and privacy have become serious challenges to many businesses, raising concerns with rise in big data and cloud computing initiatives. Auto suppliers like Volkswagen Financial Services Company collect and store highly confidential and sensitive customer data that may be at risk from data breaches. It must be noted that the company is networked not only internally but also externally through internet or other telecommunication connectivity. As such, the company needs to have a robust information security practices not only well documented in the form of information security policies but also ensure strict adherence to ethical standards to avoid legal suits. Moreover, the company needs to develop internal ethical standards in line with their business principles and treat it as part and parcel of the CRM strategies (Barreto, 2010). In case the company wants to use big data, it must strive to develop policy that informs the clients in advance to agree or disagree wit h such plans. Failure to develop such policies may attract legal suits from clients disputing the use of their personal data. The outcome of legal suits may be extremely costly to the company in terms of legal fees, unfavourable strict government regulations and reputation damage. Economic: Volkswagen Financial Services Company has experience the challenges associated with the economic financial crisis that started at the onset of 2008. Although the company considers rise in sales and number of client subscribed in the latest reports, the reduced disposable income is likely to affect the company negatively in the long run, given financial challenges affecting its major European market. Environmental/ Ecological: Auto suppliers like Volkswagen Financial Services face various challenges in maintaining extra-regulatory compliance with contractual clauses. Some of these clauses often require them to certify that the car parts of sale are free of asbestos, lead paint, chromium, and blood minerals among other banned elements (Mintzberg, et al., 2002). These regulatory compliance requirements are meant to ensure sustainability and protection of environment. Issues such as greenhouse gases that cause global warming, and waste management increases cost of production. Socio-cultural: Studies have shown that public transport in Europe is becoming more popular than passenger cars (Tyrinopoulos and Antoniou, 2013). This kind of finding may suggest that the change in trend is more associated with change in social preference. More significantly, the company has not managed to break into Chinese among other emerging markets with its financial services considering that Chinese consumers are cash-buyers rather than credit buyers, as noted by the company’s 2013 Annual Report. This cultural barrier has affected the company’s financial front in terms of sales return. Technological: there are technological challenges associated with auto and financial industries. The challenge with technology is that it changes every day, with new ideas propping up that may provide fast-moving competitors with better competitive advantage (Maritan and Brush, 2003). VW FS (UK) is one of the companies in this sector that suffers from the technological challenges. Competitive: competition from other auto suppliers is real. Although the company has gained competitive advantage with multi-brand CRM, there is likelihood that their major competitors will do the same. Strategic Capabilities of Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Strategic capabilities of a firm are those capabilities that lead to a competitive advantage. Mintzberg, et al. (2002) defines strategic Resources and competencies as the two components that define resource capability. Further, resources are those assets that an organisation own or can call upon to aid their progress. Competencies are the ability to deploy those resources effectively or to make use of the available resources to achieve a certain goal (Teece, 2007). In others words, resources are what is available and competencies are the ability to use these resources. Table: Representation of strategic capability of Volkswagen Financial Services Resources Competencies Machines, raw materials, products, patents, database, computer systems Physical The company has the means to achieve utilisation of plant, efficiency, productivity, flexibility, marketing Balance sheet, cash flow, revenue Financial That company has the means to raise funds and manage cash flow, debtors, creditors, etc. Managers, employees, partners, suppliers, customers Human The company has experience, skills, knowledge, and ability to build relationships, motivate others and innovate. However, it’s yet to exploit this ability to the maximum. (Brooks and Weatherston, 2002). If fully used, the above representation would lead to long term survival of VW FS, and subsequently strengthen their competitive advantage. Although the strategic capabilities should be dynamic enough, there is a clear indication that Volkswagen Financial Services’ is not as dynamic as required. The company should be able to recreate and renew its strategic capabilities according to the changing business environment. For example, while tangible assets, cost control, and quality maintenance are important capabilities that the company has embraced, there are more long term capabilities such as sensing, seizing and reconfiguring that are significant Using innovation to spur entrepreneurship Innovation and entrepreneurship is about creating the new- both new products and services and new business models and organisations (Johnson, et al., 2013). Creating value for firms and customers, innovation and entrepreneurship are fundamental to today’s highly competitive economies. But the decision to innovate and pursue new market leads through innovation can be a hard choice for organisations as has been demonstrated by Volkswagen Financial Services’ attempts to enter Chinese market. The company ought to have asked various fundamental questions such as: Will it be appropriate if they too pioneer in new technologies or rather be a fast follower (timing and relationship)innovation dilemma How should they react to radical innovations that threaten to destroy its existing revenues? In such a highly competitive industry, entrepreneurship is a significant aspect of any business. In other words, entrepreneurship is fundamental aspect of any business that wants to keep up with the changing business environment. It’s entrepreneurship that drives innovation. Innovation dilemma However there are innovation dilemmas that may affect a firm’s decision-making process. Many corporations face strategic dilemma on whether to innovate or note. Johnson et al. (2013,p. 239) describes innovation as the process of converting new knowledge into a new product, process or service and the putting of this new product, process or service into actual use. Another aspect of innovation dilemma facing VW FS is whether to adopt open or closed innovation. Porter (1996) describes open innovation as the process of deliberate importation and exportation of knowledge by a firm in their attempt to speed up and intensify innovation. Open innovation advocates for open exchange of ideas for quick better products to keep ahead of competition. Closed innovation is based on a firms insistence on making every innovative ideas internal, keeping everything secret from outside people. Volkswagen Financial Services Company seems to focus on closed innovation, which inevitably limits their ability to source for ideas. There is likelihood that this limits their ability to attract external skills or innovative ideas. Technological or business model innovation Most successful and progressive innovative activities do not necessarily rely on the latest or new science or technology, but involve reorganizing into new business by combining every aspect of a business (Johnson et al., 2013). A business model describes how an organisation manages incomes and costs through the structural arrangements of its activities. For example, when Ryanair decided to adopt the ultra cheap airline tickets, its business model innovation involved the generation of revenues via direct sales through the internet, thereby cutting out intermediary travel agents, while also using cheap secondary airports. Cheap airports and internet sales proved more significant than technological innovation. There are various ways of analysing a business model innovation, including the use of value chain, value net or activity network frameworks (Johnson et al., 2013). Typically, these frameworks are meant to direct managers and entrepreneurs to two primary frameworks for potential i nnovations: The product – a new business model may redefine what the product or service is and how it is produced. This concerns technology in relation to the value chain. The selling – a new business model may change how an organisation generates its revenue, with implications for selling and distribution. In the perspective of Volkswagen FS, the company’s value chain in terms of emerging markets has not picked up as anticipated. The emerging markets, unlike the developed markets are generally cash buyers. The company may consider using instalments payment model to establish its value chain within the emerging markets like China and India, with attractive product packages targeting the growing middle class consumers in these countries. Innovators and followers There are those who choose to lead innovations and those who follow. Barreto (2010) argue that first-movers often start from a positive note where because they get easy and quick sales early, experience f ast growth and have the ability to establish the dominant positions. Examples of first-movers who have succeeded in this line are Coca Cola in soft drinks and Hoover in vacuum cleaners. However, there are many first-movers that have failed such as the powerful Microsoft which failed with its tablet computer launch in 2001. Nine years later, Apple swept the market with its iPad tablet computer. First-mover advantages and disadvantages First-movers are generally temporary monopolies. Their advantage exists where they appear better off than their competitors as a result of being first to market with a new product, process or service (Teece, 2009; Teece, 2007). There are five potentially more robust first-movers advantage: They can build on experience in a market and benefit from the accrued market knowledge and skills; They can scale faster and enjoy the early benefits; They have the opportunity for pre-emption of scarce resources; They can build early reputation, particularly because consumers have little ‘mind-space’ to recognise new brands that follows; They can exploit the buyer switching costs, by ensuring that their customers are locked with privileged or sticky relationships that later challengers may find too costly to adopt (Teece, 2009) However, Mintzberg (2002) observe that there are disadvantages for being first-movers as seen with Microsoft’s earlier failure with tablets. First is th e free-riding factor. Late movers may find it easy to imitate first mover’s technology and other innovations at less expense than originally incurred by pioneers. Research indicates that the costs of imitation are only 65% of the cost of innovation (Teece, 2009). In addition, late-movers have the ability to learn from the errors made by first-movers, picking on what worked well and avoiding what did not work for their pioneer competitor. In other words, they may not make so many mistakes and be able to get it right first time unlike their pioneer competitor. Should Volkswagen Financial Services be a first or second? Managers and entrepreneurs often find it hard to choose either to be a first-mover or a follower. However, London Business School’s Costas Markides and Paul Geroski argue that the most appropriate response to innovation, especially radical innovation, is often not to be a first mover but to be a ‘fast second’ (Mintzberg, 2002). A first second strategy involves being one of the first to imitate the original innovator. According to Porter (1996) there are three contextual factors to consider in choosing between innovating and imitating: Capacity for profit capture. If a follower can imitate faster and efficiently, it can capture good profits. It’s more effective where the pioneer is not able to define the boundaries for intellectual property; Complementary assets. An organisation in possession of the assets or resources have the ability to scale up the production and marketing of the innovation; Fast-moving arenas. In situations where markets or technologies are moving very fast, and especially where both are highly dynamic, first-movers are unlikely to establish a durable advantage. The incumbent can respond to new entrants into the market by adopting disruptive innovation. As has been shown earlier, disruptive innovation can create substantial growth by offering a new performance trajectory that, even if â€Å"initially inferior to the performance of existing technologies, has the potential to become markedly superior† Winter, 2003). Incumbents can follow two policies to help keep them responsive to potentially disruptive innovation: Develop a portfolio of real options and new venture units. References Barreto, I. (2010). Dynamic capabilities: a review of past research and an agenda for the future. Journal of Management, 36 (1): 256-80. Brooks, I. and Weatherston, J. (2002). The Business Environment: Challenges and Changes. NJ: Prentice Hall. Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D., and Regner, P. (2013). Exploring Strategy Text & Cases. NJ: Pearson Education. Maritan, C.A and Brush, T.H. (2003). Heterogeneity and transferring practices: implementing flow practices in multiple plants. Strategic Management Journal, 24 (10): 945-60. Mintzberg, H., Ghoshal, S., Lampel, J., and Quinn, J.B. (2002) â€Å"The Strategy Process: Concepts, Context, Cases†,4th Edition, Prentice Hall. Porter, M. (1996) â€Å"What is Strategy?†, Harvard Business Review, November- December: 61-78. Tyrinopoulos, Y. and Antoniou, C. (2013) Factors affecting modal choice in urban mobility. European Transport Research Review. 5 (1). pp. 27-39. Teece, D.J. (2009). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic management- organising for innovation and growth, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Teece, D.J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of sustainable enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28 (1): 1319-50. VW FS Annual Report (2013). Volkswagen Financial Services AG: The key to mobility. Winter, S.G. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 24 (10): 991-5.

The Marble Statue of Kouros essays

The Marble Statue of Kouros essays At the beginning of the Archaic Period of ancient Greece, circa 680 B.C.E., several bronze figures of male youths appeared on the artistic landscape and served as the forerunners of later and similar statues known as kouros, based on Egyptian and Mesopotamian figures which were essentially geometric, with a triangular torso, a narrow waist and bulging thighs without any concern for anatomical accuracy (Williams, 324). But with the Greek kouros, we find a naked and rather muscular male figure with long braided hair, a tall and slender body and broad shoulders and chest with the arms held tightly against the body and the hands clenched. The most important trait of this statue is its freestanding posture with one foot ahead of the other as if the figure is in the process of walking, known in art history as contrapposto (de la Croix Also, as compared to earlier kouros figures from Egypt and Mesopotamia which were composed of bronze, the Greek kouros figures are composed of marble and are finely-chiseled with much concern for detail and anatomical accuracy. There are two basic kouros figures from the Archaic Period of ancient Greece-the kouros from Tenea, circa 570 B.C.E. and approximately five feet tall, an  kouros are life size or larger, freestanding stone figures of unclothed young man striding forward. They are considered today to be one of the most distinctive products of the Archaic era, the period of ancient Greek history from roughly about 650 to 500 BCE. The statue's head, feet and hands all point rigidly straight forward emphasizing the frontal view. As a standing figure, the statue is taller than it is wide. Its vertical orientation is emphasized by a central axis running vertically between the legs, through the navel, the cleft of the chest and between the eye   First of all, in order to list the similarities and differences between these two sculptures, I considered that it is better to make ...

Free Essays on Who Are You To Judge

Who are you to judge? When I was in seventh grade, I went to Cascade Jr. High School, which is right next to Evergreen High School. One day my friend Jessica and I decided to walk over to Evergreen and try to find her sister who was a junior at the time. On our way, we ran into some cute boys who started talking to us. They were cute and we were â€Å"impressionable young girls† the next thing we knew we were smoking a strange cigarette and passing it around the circle. When we discovered we were smoking weed, it made the high even more exciting. Only the cool kids were brave enough to do an illegal drug and suddenly we felt cool. We had sat through all the D.A.R.E. classes and other lectures about the evils of drugs but none of that stuff worked for us. Marijuana should be legalized because the efforts to make it illegal are doomed to failure. Marijuana is a flowering bud off a bush, which grows naturally. People not make it in a chem. Lab; it does not contain rat poison or deadly substances. What is so wrong with law-abiding citizens occasionally smoking? Who is the government to judge what consenting adults put into their own bodies? The war on drugs is a waste of taxpayer’s money. According to Steven Duke, the United States spends 50 billion or more dollars on the prohibition of drugs (Para. 10). Despite all the money spent on the war on drugs it is not working; marijuana and other drugs are easily available to consumers including young children. I know from my own experiences that it is easier for minors to acquire marijuana then it is legal substances such as tobacco and alcohol. According to Cynthia Rowe 14, million people have admitted to using an illegal drug and almost ten percent of children twelve to seventeen have used an illegal drug in the past thirty days (Para. 1). Elizabeth Hovde asserts that half of all high school seniors in the U.S. have tried illegal drugs (Para. 1-10). These numbers alone prov... Free Essays on Who Are You To Judge Free Essays on Who Are You To Judge Who are you to judge? When I was in seventh grade, I went to Cascade Jr. High School, which is right next to Evergreen High School. One day my friend Jessica and I decided to walk over to Evergreen and try to find her sister who was a junior at the time. On our way, we ran into some cute boys who started talking to us. They were cute and we were â€Å"impressionable young girls† the next thing we knew we were smoking a strange cigarette and passing it around the circle. When we discovered we were smoking weed, it made the high even more exciting. Only the cool kids were brave enough to do an illegal drug and suddenly we felt cool. We had sat through all the D.A.R.E. classes and other lectures about the evils of drugs but none of that stuff worked for us. Marijuana should be legalized because the efforts to make it illegal are doomed to failure. Marijuana is a flowering bud off a bush, which grows naturally. People not make it in a chem. Lab; it does not contain rat poison or deadly substances. What is so wrong with law-abiding citizens occasionally smoking? Who is the government to judge what consenting adults put into their own bodies? The war on drugs is a waste of taxpayer’s money. According to Steven Duke, the United States spends 50 billion or more dollars on the prohibition of drugs (Para. 10). Despite all the money spent on the war on drugs it is not working; marijuana and other drugs are easily available to consumers including young children. I know from my own experiences that it is easier for minors to acquire marijuana then it is legal substances such as tobacco and alcohol. According to Cynthia Rowe 14, million people have admitted to using an illegal drug and almost ten percent of children twelve to seventeen have used an illegal drug in the past thirty days (Para. 1). Elizabeth Hovde asserts that half of all high school seniors in the U.S. have tried illegal drugs (Para. 1-10). These numbers alone prov...

French Exclamative Adverbs - Adverbes dexclamation

French Exclamative Adverbs - Adverbes dexclamation Exclamative adverbs are placed in front of clauses to indicate shock, disbelief, awe, or some other strong emotion felt by the speaker. There are five French exclamative adverbs: commequequest-ce quece quecombien Comme means how, though many English speakers are likely reword the sentence to use so instead:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comme il fait beau  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How nice the weather is! The weather is so nice!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comme cest difficile  !   Ã‚  Ã‚  How difficult it is! Its so difficult!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comme tu es grand  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How tall you are! Youre so tall!Que is more or less interchangeable with comme:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quil fait beau  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How beautiful the weather is!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Que cest difficile  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How difficult it is!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Que tu es grand  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How tall you are!Que de is used in front of nouns to stress so much or so many of something:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Que dargent  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  So much money!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Que de monde  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  So many people!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Que de difficultà ©s  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  So many problems!Que followed by a subjunctive clause creates an indirect command.Informally, quest-ce que and ce que can replace comme and que:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ques t-ce quil fait beau  ! Ce quil fait beau  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  The weather is so beautiful!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quest-ce que cest difficile  ! Ce que cest difficile  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  Its so difficult!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quest-ce que tu es grand  ! Ce que tu es grand  !   Ã‚  Ã‚  Youre so tall!Combien means how much or how many and must be followed by an adverb or by de noun:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Combien plus dà ©nergie que jai  ! Combien plus dà ©nergie ai-je  !   Ã‚  Ã‚  How much more energy I have! (I have so much more energy)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Combien dargent que tu dà ©penses  ! Combien dargent dà ©penses-tu  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How much money youre spending! (Youre spending so much money!Note: The clause that follows the modified noun requires either inversion or que.Combien means how much/many or so much/many and may be followed by a clause, an adverb, or de noun:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Combien il a changà ©Ã‚  !   Ã‚  Ã‚  How he has changed! (Hes changed so much!)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Combien en a-t-on vus  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How many we saw! (We saw so many!)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Combien de fois ne lui a-t-on pas rà ©pà ©tà ©Ã‚  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  How many times have we told him!  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mais combien plus noble si les hommes mouraient pour des idà ©es vraies  !  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Henri Louis Mencken, Extrait de Prà ©jugà ©s)  Ã‚  Ã‚  But how much more noble if men died for real ideas!

Assess the role of law, and determine its importance,compare key Essay - 1

Assess the role of law, and determine its importance,compare key arguements in the writting of thomass hobbes and john locke - Essay Example While such rules of conducts may be developed and applied differently by different societies, the objective is simply the same; to protect the fundamental rights of individuals within the society (Grant, 1987 p12). Therefore, this essay will argue on the role and importance of law, as advocated for by two different scholars, namely Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. The prime essence of law in the society is to regulate social behavior (Brown, 1965 p7). Without laws, it could be difficult to regulate the social behavior of individuals, since people vary depending on their natural abilities, social orientations, cultural foundations and generic makeup. Therefore, it is natural that some individuals in any society are weaker than others, and thus needs to be protected from exploitation by the other individuals who are dominant in various aspects (Tarcov, 1984 p11). However, according to Thomas Hobbes, who was a renowned English philosopher, the major problem that exists in the world is that of establishing political and social order (Dietz, 1990 p114). Therefore, the fundamental question regarding social interaction is on how people can live together, without the danger and fear of conflict. This forms the basis of his Moral and Political Philosophy, which postulates that to realize peaceful coexistence in the society full of undue danger and fea r of conflict, people should give their obedience to an unaccountable sovereign, which could take the form of an individual or a group that is vested with the powers of deciding on the political and social issues facing the society (Collins, 2005 p45). This point to the inevitable need for some form of law that is vested on certain social institutions, which have the powers to interpret and apply the laws for the common benefit of the society and al individuals, who have committed their obedience to such institutions. Thus according to Thomas Hobbes, the need for law in the society stems from the fact that

The LPN To Transition 2. APA Formating Transition into Scholarly Essay - 1

The LPN To Transition 2. APA Formating Transition into Scholarly Writing - Essay Example There are many differences in the roles of LPN and RN, as RNs has more authority and power than an LPN. Registered nurses have a larger role in the healthcare of patients. The duty of RN is deeply to analyze the issues pertaining to the health of a patient and to relate the condition of a patient with the health status of the patient. Licensed practical nurse does not have a wide scope, but they are more tasks oriented and the working criteria of LPN are less than that of RN (Weydt, 2009). The main role of RN is to perform an initial assessment of the patient as it an essential part of the duty. LPNs can perform assessments but not the initial assessment. As the criteria of work of an RN are much greater than an LPN, it has to perform more duties that include the formulating the diagnosis of a patient and to form a care plan for the patient. The primary role of LPN is to make sure that the formulated care plan made by RN is put into action. RNs have the authority to delegate the work to LPNs (Ebright, Patterson, Chalko, & Render, 2003). LPNs have no authority over RN, but they are only allowed to work on those tasks that lie in their scope as defined by their license of that state. At some workplaces, RN directly supervises the work of an LPN and make sure that the LPN performs his task in the provided manner. LPNs have no authority to make changes in the healthcare plan of the patient but if there in a need to do so, the LPN must call and report the issue to RN and get their approval, to do the needful changes. There are various advantages of an RN as compared to LPN in this field. Few strategies and suggestions can help in the transition of LPN to RN and become successful in the work. To transit from License practical nurse to Registered nurse, the applicant must either take an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a

Personal Point of View on Commanding Wife, Downfall Assignment

Personal Point of View on Commanding Wife, Downfall - Assignment Example As the author declares "every man wants a beautiful wife. I got one. Every man wants a brilliant and tough woman. I got one. Every man wants a woman that can stand up for herself. I got one. What else do I need? Twenty years later, she controls my thinking, she has modernized me, changed me from the cowboy man I used to be. I no longer wear my hats and boots like before. I am used to being in suits and matching ties. I am a different person. I am more responsible, and I have to consult her before making any decision. Do I fulfil the requirements of the men being masculine and domineering in the patriarchal society? What has become of me? Everyone keeps saying that I am being controlled like a small child? Is that so? [Pause] Has my life become well with my commanding wife or not? On a contrary thought, my commanding wife has helped me a lot. I was a wreck before, a drunkard, a useless bastard. I did very little to make my life better. All I did was sit†¦sit in the ranch and drink. Waste the whole day with friends in the motel†¦drinking and partying was the way of life. Look at me now, I have a job, I even built a house. I did not know I had so much potential. What was I waiting for? For my parents to push me around? No way†¦ they got tired of me a long time ago. See what my commanding wife, she took me as I am. I was a no one. I am now a living testimony of change. Why are people condemning her? I just do not understand how people think and behave. If I live a bachelor, they complain, if I marry, they say I am not man enough. I am tired. So tired [pause]. The good thing is that I love my wife. Whether commanding or not, she is my life, she is my support system. I admit that without her my life is useless. Actually, I do not know what I would d o if she left my world if she said she would live. I would surely die. My commanding wife, you are me, you are my life, and you are who that I dream of†¦ [Singing]. "

Analyse the movie <The TrueMan show> Essay

Analyse the movie - Essay Example Truman Burbank is the main character who has an ordinary and routine life, and he seems to have all what is needed – a steady job which doesn’t bring happiness but is enough for a normal life; a close childhood friend who is near at the pivotal moments; beautiful wife who is always smiling and artificially happy; kind neighbors and a vague dream about Fiji which makes him alive. The truth is that everything what he has and knows is an invented delusion for a show that ultimately wins attention of the entire world, but he became a super star without his wish for that. Sooner or later each program can glitch and it became a reason of Truman’s suspicions about everything what surrounds him. That is the moment when his life starts crashing and only two variants are left, either to stay in the comfort zone or to fight the fear facing life which has always been under the curtain. Such a key point of the movie teaches that only mortifying the fear a person becomes an in dividual. Who is a real victim of "The Truman Show†? At first sight, looking at Truman, people could call him a victim of the events predefined by Christof. Even though it took thirty years to suspect something wrong, by questioning his reality, he finds the truth and enough of courage to make a step into the world which is unknown and enigmatic, while people watching after him don’t ask any questions. The audience is an actual victim of the situation which is proved by the following: One point seven billions were there for his birth. 220 countries tuned in for his first step. The world stood still for that stolen kiss. And as he grew so did technology. An entire human life – recorded on an intricate network of hidden cameras and broadcasted live and uninterrupted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to an audience around the globe (The Truman Show). But among all of those people Christof was the most dependent on the show because, in hindsight, all his life was turning around

Assigment for Strategic management accounting Essay

Assigment for Strategic management accounting - Essay Example The business functions within Pear Ltd’s value chain encompass aspects such as research and development, design of products, services, and processes, production, marketing, distribution, and customer service. As such, cost management is critical component to the company’s operation in integrating and coordinating activities in all spheres of business function. Alternative Methods of Budgeting The traditional budgeting employs the incremental approach whereby the previous year’s budget is used a basis, subsequent to adjustments up and down, from that budget to mirror the changing assumptions for a new year. This incorporates employing the previous year’s budget, adjusted to accommodate known factors such as anticipated price inflation. Although, incremental budgets are crucial for planning, they may be less useful for control. The incremental approach to budgeting has the effect of incorporating last year’s inefficiencies into the present budget (Bhi mani and Bromwich, 2010). This necessitates the consideration of alternative methods of budgeting. Zero Based Budgeting Zero-based budgeting avails a better approach to dealing with the drawbacks associated with incremental budgeting. Unlike in incremental budgeting, zero-based approach does not necessarily start from the previous year’s budget level; instead, the existing operations remain evaluated and continuance of the operation or activity ought to be justified based on its utility and its need to the company (Bhattacharyya, 2011). Every plan in this case remain justified as per the total cost, and the total benefits and past performance are not in any way referred as a building block. Zero-based budgeting approach avails some distinctive advantages compared to traditional incremental budgeting such as it allocates financial resources based on planning requirements and results; and, in order to attain efficiency, zero-based approach encourages managers to search for alte rnative operation plans. However, the process can consume a lot of managerial time and may appear to be â€Å"too drastic a solution for the task at hand.† Moreover, short-term benefits may take precedence and obscure long-term planning and there may be annual conflicts over budget allocation (Bhattacharyya, 2011). In order to circumvent these drawbacks, especially concerning the managerial time required, one alternative may be to conduct a rolling budget every year and carry out zero-based budgeting perhaps three to five years, or in cases where a considerable modification that occurs within operations. This compromise may aid weeding out waste and inefficiency, especially within a period of intense competition and reengineering that is characteristic of the mobile phone industry (Bhattacharyya, 2011). The adoption of zero-based budgeting will aid Pear Ltd to save costs and exercise restraint in developing budgets, minimizing the entitlement mentality with regard to cost inc reases, and budget decisions to be more meaningful during review sessions. Zero-based budgeting approach is applicable to Pear Ltd in aiding the company to utilize the latest insights and business priorities that reveal fresh opportunities to minimize investments and costs in areas where Pear Ltd market share is lower than critical thresholds. Activity Based Budgeting

Riggs v.Palmer and Speluncean Explorers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Riggs v.Palmer and Speluncean Explorers - Essay Example Fearing that his grandfather might change his decision in respect of the will Elmer Palmer murdered his grandfather through poisoning. The plaintiffs presented the argument that the will would allow Elmer to profit from his heinous crime. Elmer would be punished under the statute for murder but his claim to the estate could not be invalidated under the terms of either probate law or criminal law (Dworkin). In sharp contrast, the Speluncean Explorers case is purely hypothetical in nature and was written by Lon Fuller for the Harvard Law Review in 1949. A team of five entrapped spelunkers is depicted in the Commonwealth of Newgarth who are able to establish radio contact with their rescue team. The spelunkers are told by the engineers that around 10 days would be required for their extraction (Suber) while the spelunkers relate the total food rations they have to the physicians in the rescue team which are deemed insufficient. Radio contact breaks down and resultantly the spelunkers decide to hold a lottery in order to murder one of their members so that others can consume him for survival. The losing member is executed and eaten up. After the rescue the spelunkers are all convicted for murder but there is debate as to the application of murder sentences to the rescued spelunkers (Fuller). For Riggs v Palmer the majority opinion clearly stated that the plaintiffs were justified in their claims and the eventual outcome reinforced Judge Robert Earl’s opinion. The decision declared that the tenets of universal laws and universal maxims would be violated if Elmer Palmer was allowed to profit from his crime. It was also related that the legislature could not reasonably be expected to foresee any contingencies when laws were being drafted and so such disdainful behavior ought to be punished. This is similar to the views of Justice Keen in the Speluncean Explorers case where he opines that the statutes of law must be upheld in any circumstances no matter what the

Assigment for Strategic management accounting Essay

Assigment for Strategic management accounting - Essay Example The business functions within Pear Ltd’s value chain encompass aspects such as research and development, design of products, services, and processes, production, marketing, distribution, and customer service. As such, cost management is critical component to the company’s operation in integrating and coordinating activities in all spheres of business function. Alternative Methods of Budgeting The traditional budgeting employs the incremental approach whereby the previous year’s budget is used a basis, subsequent to adjustments up and down, from that budget to mirror the changing assumptions for a new year. This incorporates employing the previous year’s budget, adjusted to accommodate known factors such as anticipated price inflation. Although, incremental budgets are crucial for planning, they may be less useful for control. The incremental approach to budgeting has the effect of incorporating last year’s inefficiencies into the present budget (Bhi mani and Bromwich, 2010). This necessitates the consideration of alternative methods of budgeting. Zero Based Budgeting Zero-based budgeting avails a better approach to dealing with the drawbacks associated with incremental budgeting. Unlike in incremental budgeting, zero-based approach does not necessarily start from the previous year’s budget level; instead, the existing operations remain evaluated and continuance of the operation or activity ought to be justified based on its utility and its need to the company (Bhattacharyya, 2011). Every plan in this case remain justified as per the total cost, and the total benefits and past performance are not in any way referred as a building block. Zero-based budgeting approach avails some distinctive advantages compared to traditional incremental budgeting such as it allocates financial resources based on planning requirements and results; and, in order to attain efficiency, zero-based approach encourages managers to search for alte rnative operation plans. However, the process can consume a lot of managerial time and may appear to be â€Å"too drastic a solution for the task at hand.† Moreover, short-term benefits may take precedence and obscure long-term planning and there may be annual conflicts over budget allocation (Bhattacharyya, 2011). In order to circumvent these drawbacks, especially concerning the managerial time required, one alternative may be to conduct a rolling budget every year and carry out zero-based budgeting perhaps three to five years, or in cases where a considerable modification that occurs within operations. This compromise may aid weeding out waste and inefficiency, especially within a period of intense competition and reengineering that is characteristic of the mobile phone industry (Bhattacharyya, 2011). The adoption of zero-based budgeting will aid Pear Ltd to save costs and exercise restraint in developing budgets, minimizing the entitlement mentality with regard to cost inc reases, and budget decisions to be more meaningful during review sessions. Zero-based budgeting approach is applicable to Pear Ltd in aiding the company to utilize the latest insights and business priorities that reveal fresh opportunities to minimize investments and costs in areas where Pear Ltd market share is lower than critical thresholds. Activity Based Budgeting

What are the advantages and disadvantages for society, when people Essay

What are the advantages and disadvantages for society, when people live longer lives - Essay Example This review will explicate the fact that when people live longer, it is both beneficial and detrimental to the societies in which they live. To start with, research has shown that contrary to the perception that when people live longer they are merely burden to society; there are actually some very significant benefits if people live longer. For instance, when people live longer lives, they are a valuable asset to society because of the vast amount of knowledge they have acquired about different issues throughout their lives. While old people may often be perceived as ancient and outdated, it is indisputable that the present-day advancements in most spheres of life were borne out of foundations that were set up when those who are in their old age today were younger (Johnson & De Souza, 2008, p. 24). As such, the opinions and expertise that can be attained from those who have lived long are invaluable to society. While the opinions of the elderly may not be given from a professional standpoint, the mere fact that they have spent more time alive makes their opinions worth seeking. For instance, in the current tough economic times, most people forget that there are people who have lived, and survived tougher economic times during the economic depressions that followed the two world wars. In this situation therefore, the opinion of someone who lived through both wars is clearly invaluable to society. Another advantage of people living longer is that they are able to pass on positive societal values to the younger generation. During recent decades, societies globally have been able to get rid of values that were detrimental to society. Such values include male chauvinism and racism. However, societies have also adopted some values that are of no benefit to them. In fact, the family unit which is the most basic unit of any society has been negatively affected by the current trend of doing away with any value that is considered ‘traditional’ irrespective of

Significance Of Social Media Of Pepsi Marketing Essay

Significance Of Social Media Of Pepsi Marketing Essay Marketing has always been a challenge for firms since making the company, brand or product appealing to the customer with the intention of increasing sale volume. Companies therefore tend to come up with innovative marketing strategies to gain customers attention. Traditional marketing approaches such as TVCs, printed advertisements, telemarketing etc. have lost their charm due to bombardment of same old marketing techniques. Customers are now fed up of promotional activities and tend to get annoyed due to excessive marketing. Moreover customers are so much aware and knowledgeable now a day thanks to internet that they themselves pick out what marketing activities they need to see and what to block out. Moreover social networking communities on the internet have created the flow of information more dense and fast since positive peer reviews, marketing blogs and number of Likes on a companys page now make up the customer equity of a firm. This is why more companies are moving towards social media marketing as it is a rather inexpensive and easy way to reach a large audience with similar taste. We can say that the proverb Birds of the same feather flock together is the basis of notion for increasing interest in social media marketing. The major reason is that social networking websites have communities in which people loyal to a particular brand or users of a product or any specific taste or activity tend to get involved and interact. This interaction and engagement is what we call as Resonance in the brand resonance model which is the top most stage of brand development (Kevin Lane Keller, 2001). More and more companies are now adopting this strategy to directly communicate with the targeted customers while providing them with exactly what they need. Such marketing strategies also enhance the chances of positive word-of-mouth marketing which is the most influencing marketing strategy we know till now. This report will further determine how different companies im plement this marketing strategy along with the positive and negative aspects associated with this strategy. Pepsi Refresh Project Pepsi is one of the worlds largest companies and a leader in the beverage market with a tough competition from Coca Cola. In fact we can even state that both these companies tend to form a kind of Oligopolistic competition in the market and enjoy large market shares by strategically dividing the worlds region among them. Pepsi is well known for innovative TVCs and tend to spend a huge amount of capital in this marketing strategy. In 2010 however marketers at Pepsi got the idea of utilizing the social media marketing technique for enhancing the brand equity. They played a huge gamble by trading their Super bowl opening ad position with a social campaign worth $20 million. This was a huge risk for Pepsi since they initially did not have a large following on social networking websites like Twitter and facebook in contrast with more than 4 million facebook fans of Coke (Digital Buzz Blog , 2010). However Pepsi launched this marketing campaign in which grants were to be made to an innovat ive idea which impacts the community or environment and gets the highest number of votes on social networking websites namely Twitter and facebook. Pepsi very interestingly combined two marketing techniques in their strategy one was using social media and the other one was marketing for social good. Thus Pepsi was actually looking at mutual benefits and gaining free publicity for this strategy. This technique proved a great success for the firm since the mere number of visitors on their website increased by 800% (Moir, 2010) and their following on Twitter and facebook increased significantly too. Other companies say their success and tried to imitate as well since the successful execution of this viral marketing strategy was as living proof that social media is the future of marketing. Significance of Social Media As stated earlier and in several other sections of this report social media is gaining popularity day by day. According to statistics facebook has more than 800 million active users and 100 million active users of Twitter and growing. Thus we can see that these social networking websites are themselves a huge ground to market the company and create awareness with increased recognition and recall strategies. It is not only the mere number of user but there are several other features which allow the companies to interact with the customers in a rather innovative manner. For example companies can post their pictures, activities, information regarding products and about the company. Moreover the more significant aspect of social media is getting live on spot feedback from the customers. Companies can even measure their brand equity and build it through social media since it allows customers to engage with the company and other customers. Before the emergence of social media concept of co mmunities and brand engagement was not so popular so we can say that this marketing channel has a great impact on marketing strategies of today as well as tomorrow. Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing Even though social media marketing has gained popularity and companies claim that it has a significant influence on the profit of a company yet the relevance of number of followers on a social networking website with the actual sales is debatable as stated earlier. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages associated with this strategy. We will first look as the advantages Inexpensive marketing strategy as compared to traditional techniques Direct communication channel with the customers Innovative marketing techniques allows sharing the experiences and associations of consumers Ability to reach a large audience without any geographical boundary with no additional cost Encourages customers to engage with the brand community and other customers such creating brand resonance Even with all these advantages on hand there are some disadvantages associated with this marketing technique such as lack of expertise required to handle social media marketing (Sandilands, n.d.). If not executed properly which means updating statuses and posts on at least daily basis then this strategy can only become an additional cost for the company without any positive impact on the revenue. Moreover since social media is based on freedom of speech almost anyone can say anything therefore any negative comments might also trigger negative emotions over a large scale just like positive comments do. In the same way as positive viral marketing is healthy negative viral marketing by a competitors or any regular person may prove to be detrimental for the company. Impact of Social Media Marketing on Pepsi Pepsi gained huge advantage from implementation of this viral marketing strategy. However we might say that the correlation between the popularity of a social media marketing strategy with the actual increase in revenue is still a topic to be debated yet companies find a significant increase in their brand equity after successful implementation of social media marketing techniques such as Pepsi did. As a proof we can see that the number of followers of Pepsis facebook page in 2010 was around 25,000 however as of today the number has leaped to more than 9 million followers. This can be regarded as a huge success (even though it is still far behind Coca Cola with 55 million+ followers) since it is also a fact that only those companies enjoy a large following who have higher customer loyalty which is indirectly judged by the will to engage with the brand. The company tends to promote their brand by posting videos, pictures and updates regarding events organized by Pepsi. They encourage customers to upload their own photos regarding experiences with the product and ask random questions like Who hides their Pepsi in the fridge to connect and relate in a rather informal way with the customers. The company also boasts about the number of Tweets it gets per minute regarding a certain project. This strategy has proved to be quite beneficial for the company since more people following the page means more people talking about the product and more people talking about it means higher engagement with the brand which indirectly enhances the revenues of the company. The Chief Consumer Engagement Officer at Pepsi, Frank Cooper, states that at Pepsi they believe that social relationships are a foundation for the effectiveness of their marketing plan the customers tend to communicate with real life social networks about why they love the product and this word-of-mouth marketing influences revenue and profit (Silverstein, 2010). Social Media Marketing in Other Businesses As states above social media marketing and online presence has become a norm in the business sector. The main reason behind it is the growing number of internet users. People tend to Google products they want and read their specifications and reviews online before making a purchase. Therefore every other firm is adopting social media marketing strategy and integrating it as a formal marketing strategy in their business plans. We will discuss two other business which are implementing this marketing technique and enjoying its benefit. Samsung Samsung has its own page on facebook called Samsung Mobiles USA it is one of the several pages associated with the company. The page currently has more than 21 million users following it which makes this page a huge success. The customers interact with other users of the product, share their experiences, give reviews and even take part in contests arranged by the company. The company also uses this page to advertise the latest releases and informing customers about upcoming products. For example the recent post of Samsung Mobile USAs page is about the innovative features of Galaxy Note II which has around 40,000 Likes. By analyzing the data we can conclude that Samsung also rests on top of the Brand Resonance Model and enjoys great customer engagement thus strengthening its brand equity. Lamborghini Another example is of luxury cars manufacturing company Lamborghini which has official community on facebook and Twitter. The company has around 5 million followers on facebook alone which makes a huge fan following since this company tends to target a niche market. The company uses these social media channels to promote their cars along with additional products such as Lamborghini Original Accessories which lovers of this brand can buy even. The company also uploads videos regarding sneak peeks into the luxury cars and other specifications which might interest the customer. We can see that companies dealing in any business sector from beverages to cars to automobiles tend to utilize social media to communicate with the most precious asset of a company Customers. Impact of Social Media Over the Next Decade A major impact of Social Media over the next decade as stated by Asur, S., Huberman, B. A. (2010) will be that companies may be able to predict the success or failure of an offering without actually launching it. This will be done through social networking websites just like companies are doing right now however statistical models can be applied to check the success rate of a product/service. Moreover marketing gurus state the e-marketing will be the future of marketing since customers are no longer attracted to the traditional marketing techniques. What the customers now need is a rather customized and direct approach through which they are listened as much as companies communicate about themselves. To achieve this target companies will be using social media channels such as facebook and Twitter to form long-term relationships with the customers. We can even say that social media might become the next big thing for advertisement leaving TVCs and print media behind. The main reason is obviously the changing preferences of targeted customers which are mostly Generation X and Y who tend to be more tech savvy and internet users. Even the current statistics of facebook and Twitter show the road ahead as researches state that 55% users of facebook state that they are likely to recommend a brand after becoming its fan and 34% of the marketers have stated to generate their leads through Twitter (Digital Buzz Blog, 2012). With such statistics we can conclude that social media has a bright future ahead and over the next decade who knows we might be teaching the business students 4 Ps of Social Media Marketing Mix. Moreover this marketing channel will cause a paradigm shift a will change the face of marketing as we know it. Old marketing practices will be abolished and considered obsolete. The companies which will not move forwards and adapt this new strategy will be losing on a major competitive edge which companies highly active on social networking websites will gain . Conclusion Since social media marketing has itself become a viral marketing technique it has become a business norm for companies to mark their presence online or else they might be considered lacking in their marketing aspects. However such innovative marketing techniques since totally different from the traditional marketing techniques need to be implemented tactfully. Just like marketers were needed for developing a traditional marketing plan in the same way experts are needed for socializing on the social media with the public and making their pages meaningful, relevant and distinctive for the customer. The marketing campaigns should also include something customers can relate with since it is more like an informal interaction channel with the customer through which companies can communicate about them along with listening to what the customers have to say. This is why companies tend to encourage customers on social networking websites to share their feelings, associations and experiences w ith the product. Such sharing of information creates a healthy and long-term relationship between customer and the company. This marketing strategy allows the companies to disseminate information regarding any upcoming event, product or launch directly to the end user thus eliminating any intermediary cost which was incurred in traditional marketing approach. However as stated earlier that this strategy along with several advantage has some drawbacks to it as well but which strategy doesnt? Even if the pros are contrasted with the cons of social media strategy we will see that its benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore companies who need to build brand equity must get themselves socially involved with the public and build relationships with their customers just like Pepsi did. The proof of success of viral marketing through social media can be seen in numerous examples one of which is the new song Gangnam Style by PSY which gained millions of views in a matter of days thus s ocial media is the next big thing in marketing.