The daughters of Edward Boit Essay Example For Students

The daughters of Edward Boit Essay Brazilian Sweet 15 Birthday PartyQuinceanera, which is Spanish for Sweet 15, is a very popular celebration in the Spanish community. This is a very special day to both the mother and the daughter. This day signifies the transformation from a little girl to a young lady. It is a way of introducing a new woman to society. Turning 15 is the most important birthday for Spanish communities. Quinceaneras tend to be a big and elegant celebration in which every family member and friends collaborate to give the birthday girl the best party she has ever had. To my understanding every Sweet 15 was celebrated the same in every Spanish country. But after attending my friends Brazilian Sweet 15 my opinion has changed for the better. My friend Stephane Rene and I were invited to a Sweet 15 a couple weeks ago. The birthday girl was related to one of our friend, Kim. At first, I did not even think of using this event to write my paper because I thought that I knew what a Sweet 15 was all about. I was primarily going to focus on the Brazilian culture because even though my friend is Brazilian I had never had the opportunity to share an event with Brazilians being the dominant group. But soon after the ceremony got started I found myself surprised and amused of what was in front of me. First, there is ceremony before the reception which is held at a church. The family is catholic therefore the ceremony was held at the catholic church of the town. After everybody was sitting down, Jennily walked down the aisle toward the front of the church. Here, the priest was waiting to give her the appropriated blessings. She was wearing a long gorgeous pink silky dress which represented her new status as a young woman. Jennily was also wearing soft pink slippers which she would change later into a more elaborate one. I was familiar with the ceremony at the church before the party because it is a way of blessing her and to appreciate her day of celebration which simultaneously represents her r ebirth as a woman. But I did not hesitate to ask one of the family members, what did it signify to them to be blessed by the priest the day of her birthday? To my surprise, thru their blessings they also pray for her future and her new start. Once the priest was done, her aunt and uncle stood up and recall her first fifteen years of life in a very sentimental and biographical speech. Throughout the speech they kept referring back to how fulfilled and thankful they are of her excitants. Following the speech, Jennily walked out and besides her were her 15 of her closest friends. There were fifteen friends, 7 boys and 7 girls and one male companion for the Quincenera adding up to 16. This was very interesting to me because in my culture the birthday girl gets to have 15 girls and 15 boys to escort her. According to Bruno, Jennilys cousin, this represents every year she was born plus one more year for good luck. After leaving the church the families proceed to go outside the church to c apture on film every moment of this one in a lifetime event. The Sweet 15 girl, Jennily, took pictures with everybody, this is a very important day and most be remember even by those who did not attend. While this is happening other relatives and friends leave to where the reception will be held so they can be there before the birthday girl arrived. The photo shoot also gives time for people to settle down at the location and to prepare Jennilys big entrance. When we arrived at the reception, almost everybody was already there. Everybody was well dressed, women were wearing long dresses and the men were wearing suit and tie. Everybody was behaving in a very calm and friendly matter. As I looked around to get familiar with the place and the people, I noticed the table of food. Of course food is one of the main things to Spanish people. The table was completed with the most delightful and most well-known Spanish dishes such as salad, lasagna, platanos (plantains), sopa de pollo (homem ade chicken soup), pernil (smoked pork), empanadas, and rice with beans, corn, and meat. As I was sitting down, the Disc Jockey stated playing music and everybody stood up applauding. The Disc Jockey introduced Jennily and all 15 of her friends. As the birthday girl made her entrance, her escorts also known as Damas y Caballeros, where around the chair that was made especially for her. She was greeted by her mother and father whom both looked thrill. After everybody sits back down, the Damas y Caballeros proceed to do the usual dance and it ends with the traditional dance of the Quincenera and her father. After the dance with the dad and daughter is over, the mother made a toast to congratulate her daughter for making her the proudest mom alive. Then, they moved on to the second part which was the changing of the shoes. Her father changed her slippers to dress shoes. According to one of the people that I interviewed, Bruno, said that the replacement of the shoes symbolizes the steps for a new beginning and her new status a woman and not a little girl. Bruno is Jennilys uncle that moved to the Unite States about five years ago. It was a little hard for me to communicate with people at this party because of the language. Luckily I became friends with Bruno and his wife. They guide me through the entire event and explain why everything was the way it was. Furthermore, something that was very new to me was the fact that after exchanging the shoes her aunt applied make-up on her which for the Brazilian culture symbolizes the adult that she is now becoming. The second person that I interview was the birthday girl. I asked her how she felt about the party, decorations and guest. She told me she was so thrill her parents were able to celebrate her dream birthday. She also told me that she was a little embarrassed at the beginning but soon realized that every woman goes through this moment in her life. Also, she was very grateful to be fortunate enough to have all of h er relatives and friends there with her. Jennilys Sweet 15 party was the most well-coordinate and elegant party that I have ever been too. Nothing at this party was by accident. From the make-up, the food, the dress, ceremony, toast, to the dance, everything symbolized their tradition and meant something culturally. Once I got past the language difference, I enjoyed the party to the fullest. At first, they were all looking at me as the out-group, the person that did not share the same background as them. I myself felt a little uncomfortable because I did not know exactly how to act or what to say. I was used to having merengue, salsa all night long. But they had their own Brazilian music and it was arranged from slow to the most upbeat and fast music. At the end of the party, no only did I learn how to dance to Brazilian music but I learned a little Portuguese as well. After having learned the different theories in which human behavior are based, the culture shock was not as severe. The theoretical framework that best interprets this event is interpretive anthropology. This theory says that human behavior tracks from the way people perceive and classify the world around them. I experience this first hand in the five hours that I spent with Jennilys family. As soon as I arrived to the party I placed some unconscious stereotypes to the way I thought they were going to behave. Even though, they proved me wrong in my conscious they were still doing what I expected them to do. On the other hand, I realized that I was not the only one that was placing this rules as to what I expected them to be like. They themselves have these norms that have been placed by their own culture that they followed. For example, everybody was expected to be dress extremely elegant and act a certain way. If done otherwise, they would be rudely criticized by members of the same group. Actually, they would be more penalized by they own people than an outsider because it would make no differ ence for me to see someone of their group acting a particular way. In actuality, it would be hard for me to notice that there is something a little odd. Regardless of the difference of culture, language and customs, I learned so much about the Brazilian culture in the United States. For example, they have huge families like Dominicans and they stay together as a community one hundred percent. In addition, I myself might incorporate some of their traditions onto mine, maybe not for myself but for my cousins and even for my future daughter. I like they way in which everything was very detailed and organized. Also, I liked how everything had a meaning and a reason for being there. This party has motivated me to go out there and explore all the different cultures that exist in the society that I live in. This event has also taught me a lesson about life, in order for us to find ourselves we need to identify with our ancestors and continue our traditions. There is nothing more pretty tha n being able to bring our beliefs and customs with us. 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Good Persuasive Speech Topics to Get Ideas for Writing

Good Persuasive Speech Topics to Get Ideas for Writing Good Persuasive Speech Topics: Deliver a Brilliant Speech with Our Help 19 June, 2019 in default category name If you have the task to deliver a persuasive speech, one of the essential constituents of your success is to find good persuasive speech topics. Writing a speech is similar to writing an essay but the difference lies in the fact that you will have to present this essay to a large audience. As such, the core aim of a speech is to convey a specific message or idea in the words that are clear to the target audience. It is critical to make the message clear so that the audience could well comprehend it. How to Make a Speech? One of the fundamentals of making a persuasive speech successful is to come up with a list of good persuasive speech topics and then choose one of them that you are most interested in. Keep in mind that the topic should be interesting not only to you but also appealing and clear to the audience. Actually, in persuasive speech, there is nothing worse than when your audience does not understand what you are talking about or when it is so hard to comprehend the topic that some essential parts are left out by your listeners. In such cases, you will not be able to convince your audience of anything. Just at the beginning of writing, you need to make sure that you have conducted enough research on the topic. As such, be sure to consult only the most credible and trustworthy sources. Explore the topic from different perspectives and make sure you get a full picture of the issue. At this point, make sure you have found expert opinion to rely on. When you gather ideas for persuasive speech, keep in mind that the topics are controversial and they do not have one clear standpoint. Different people will have different opinions on the topic but your task here is to present your standpoint in the most vivid perspective. If you want to know how to write a persuasive speech, make sure that you pay attention to your target audience. This is a factor that influences your style of writing as well as your vocabulary choice. You should also investigate the preferences, interests, and educational background of your target audience in order to compose your presentation in the most appealing and interesting way. As such, first and foremost, please explore what your target audience already knows about the subject you intend to present. Consequently, you will know what aspects of the topic to emphasize, what to pay attention to, what should be better explained, etc. In other words, you will have a clear picture what concerns to address in your speech. What to Consider When Choosing Good Persuasive Speech Topics: the topic should be well-known to you; the topic should be interesting to you; there should be ample information on the topic to conduct a research on; it should be a topical issue that people care about; it should be a controversial topic. The Most Interesting Topic for a Persuasive Speech 1) Topics on Education: Would you vote for or against the abolishment of Greek life in college? Should it be allowed for high school students to leave the territory of college during the lunch break? How can schools tackle issues with bullying? Do you agree that cursive handwriting should be still taught in schools and other educational establishments? Should volunteering be an obligatory requirement for students to get enrolled in higher educational establishments? 2) Topics on Ethics: Should prisoners be granted the right to vote in elections? Do you agree that assault weapons should be claimed illegal? Should guns be banned on campus? Is it better for a couple to live together before marriage or wait? Should transgender serve in the army? 3) Topics on Governmental Issues: Who can be considered as the best American president in the history of the USA? Should voting during elections be made compulsory? Should the government cut the budget for the military? Should Scotland become independent from the UK? Whose face deserves to be on the new US currency? 4) Topics on Health: Should producers of soda, sugary drinks, and fast food pay more tax for the benefit of public health? Should free condoms be provided for students in high schools or colleges? Should the government legalize euthanasia in all countries? Should healthy people have an obligation to donate blood on a regular basis? Should the US health care be based on single payment? 5) Topics on Religion: Should different religious sects and organizations pay taxes? Should there be a legal right for some countries to give shelter to immigrants with specific religious beliefs? Should public prayer be an inseparable part of the studying process? Should women obtain the right to be priests? Should marriage be made ethically right and legal for priests? 6) Topics on Environment: Should genetically modified foods be allowed? / Be openly sold in supermarkets? What type of renewable energy has the most benefits? Should humans be legally cloned? Should they stop giving free plastic bags or even selling them in supermarkets and grocery stores? Should NASAs budget be increased? 7) Topics on Sports: Should sports teams in high schools and colleges receive more funding? Should boxing be banned from legal sports? Should children be allowed by their parents to play tackle football? Should cheerleading be accepted to the category of sports? Should all children be taught how to swim? 8) Topics on Technology: Should free access to electronic books replace libraries? Should net neutrality be favored or not? Should self-driven cars be made legal? Do social networking sites have more benefits or drawbacks: have they created a greater distance between people or, on the other hand, have helped to maintain connections between them? Should energy efficiency be implemented in all new buildings? Regardless of the topic of your paper, make sure you include only important and relevant information. You need to provide enough details in order to sound convincing. Make sure you make the discussion interesting both for you and for your target audience. Good luck with your persuasive speech.

The Romanesque churches And Gothic Cathedrals Period Essay

The Romanesque churches And Gothic Cathedrals Period - Essay Example In spite of the Gothic period coming after the Romanesque period, the two periods, however did not use similar elements in their architectural designs. The main ideology following the Romanesque churches and Gothic cathedral were the ideologies which were used in their construction. The age during the period was known as the middle ages and was synonymous with poverty. Due to the change in the way of life between these two periods, the architecture adopted also shared a number of similarities and differences. The ideology used in the construction of Romanesque architecture was based on centered on protection. An example is that during the period, monasteries served as shelters for relics and saints, hence the practices of the two groups serving as a basic purpose in the construction of different structures. On the contrary, architectural constructions adopted by the Gothic were big churches known as cathedrals. These buildings were designed with towers. The ideology behind such a des ign was to make the people believe further in a presence of an almighty being who were placed upwards towards divinity. The cathedral designed during the Gothic period was meant to symbolize the faith and dedication of the people towards their religion. Lastly, the spirituality practiced by individuals during the Gothic period was stronger as compared to individuals living during the Romanesque.The ideal majorly practiced during the middle ages period was one that was centered on classical background.

1. HR Task Overlap and the New World of Work 2. Relationships Matter Assignment

1. HR Task Overlap and the New World of Work 2. Relationships Matter - Assignment Example The headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina. To start with, Bank of America mission statement defines its marketing position in comparison to other banks. It focuses its members of staff on a precisely defined target market. This strategy is employed by other retail organizations too (Bank of America). Their mission statement is focused towards coming up with affordable products for their customers and it reads: On the other hand, Wells Fargo mission statement is different from that of the Bank of America. It is centered on profitability and getting the highest financial obligation and the highest amount of money from their customers this is in a similar fashion to all other retail businesses. The mission statement states: "We believe our customers can save more time and money if — after carefully shopping around and comparing choices — they bring all their financial services to one trusted provider." (Wells Fargo Bank). There are clear differences between the mission statements of the two companies. While the Bank of America’s mission statement focuses on helping low income earners, Wells Fargo mission statement concentrates on improving its profitability. It is clear that the Bank of America clearly defines its niche in the market showing that profitability is not its main area of focus. On the other hand, Wells Fargo has not clearly defined its niche (Ireland and Hoskisson, 2014). It is clear that the company targets customers from all walks of life owing to the fact that their main goal is on maximizing profitability. There are minimal similarities between the mission statements of the two entities that state however, it is clear that both are concerned about the welfare of their customer although it is in a different way. While the Bank of America offer affordable investment and lending products to their customers, Wells Fargo focuses

Balance Scorecard and Strategy Map of TESCO Coursework

Balance Scorecard and Strategy Map of TESCO - Coursework Example The areas where the implementation has been done and how the company has achieved the vision and the objectives have been analysed in this essay. The report has been concluded with a set of recommendations for the Tesco board of Directors and also an evaluation of the Balance scorecard and the strategy map as a management tool. Introduction The balanced scorecard strategy is one of the most accepted management and strategic planning tool. The balance scorecard is delivered in a structured format with different design methods as well as tools that would help the company in the decision making and strategy formulation. Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton has laid the foundation of this balanced scorecard method which takes into consideration not only the financial aspects but also the non financial strategies that are essential for the success of an organisation. Tesco plc is one of the leading grocery retailer based in Britain. In terms of profits the company is second largest in the world. As many as 6351 stores cater to the customers. Tesco has a global presence and has diversified into the financial services, telecommunication services as well as media and entertainment industry. The diversification was not only confined to product but was also done geographically. In order to achieve the success that the brand has got, various strategies had to be taken in the entire life of the brand. This report is an analysis of the different strategies that Tesco had taken in order to maintain it consistent growth and to maintain a competitive advantage among the other brands in the industry. Vision and Strategy The customers occupy a pivotal position in the formulation of the vision and the strategy of the company. The company aims at providing the high quality products and services for the customers. The vision of the company is to get the value for the customers so that the customers become loyal to the brand name of Tesco for their life time. Some of the goals of th e company which are ingrained in the minds of the employees include the ideal of doing the best and trying in the hardest way to deliver the services to the customers. Another important aspect of the ideal of Tesco is that the company treats the customer in a way in which the company itself would like to be treated (Tesco Plc, 2011, pp. 4-5). The company from time to time renews and reconstructs the vision. The vision of Tesco is to be the most superior valued company in the global scenario. This high value would not only be confined to the customers but also would be applicable for the employees as well as the communities which Tesco serves. The contentment of the shareholders is also another important point that the company takes care of. For achieving the goals and the vision Tesco implements various strategies that help the companies fulfil the ideals. The company applies the strategy of winning the share of each local market. This strategy is implemented throughout the globe to get a global dominance of the brand. In other words instead of an integrated unique strategy, each of the target markets are captured through taking various strategies in the different markets. The company believes that the retail businesses vary across the globe and a each of the markets have a different characteristic. Thus the local market of Europe would be different from the local market

Monitoring The Technological Economic And Social Environments Marketing Essay

Monitoring The Technological Economic And Social Environments Marketing Essay Introduction In this day and age, the technological, economic and social environments are developing at a rapid pace, also it plays a crucial role in deciding consumption. The technological, economic and social environments belong to the marketing environment. According to Kotler (2004, p. 87) marketing environment can be defined as consisting of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect markers ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers. The marketing environment offers both opportunities and threats. Some assert that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. However, others consider that it is not the significant element for anticipating although it sometimes proves successful. This essay will attempt to demonstrate that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities and ward off threats. To demonstrate this, this essay will show in three aspects, the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments and how far they can anticipate customer requirements respectively. At the same time, the problems of the monitoring will be discussed. The monitoring of the technological environment The technological environment is perhaps one of the fastest changing factors in the marketing environment. Kotler (2004, p. 107) told about technology, as follow: Technology has released such wonders as penicillin, organ transplants, notebook computer and the Internet. It has also released such horrors as nuclear missiles, chemical weapons and assault rifles, and such mixed blessings as cars, televisions and credit cards. Some concede the significance of the technological environment but also propose that keeping pace with technological changes is becoming more challenging for companies today. For one thing, the technological life cycle is getting shorter. Take mobile phones as an example: 10 years ago, mobile phones were basically used to communicate, nowadays the functions of mobiles include Multimedia playback device, high-speed web browser, camera, Bluetooth and so on. The update pace of the technological environment is too fast to always track. For another thing, technology and innovations require heavy investment in research and development. For instance, the development of a drug is an enormously expensive process. According to the published average cost of drug development is approximately $800million (John and Ezekiel, 2005). The increasing cost of research and development makes it more difficult to master a wide range of technologies, even for big companies. However, it is a trend that technology develops faster and faster which means the development of society. Obviously, new technology would replace old technology which means that when old industries overlooked new technologies, their business declined. Hence, the companies must track technological trends and aware whether or not these changes will affect their products continued ability to satisfy customer needs. Also, there are some solutions for the high research and development budgets including collaborating with other companies to develop new products and technologies, acquiring smaller, innovative companies which cannot afford to develop and commercialise new products and technologies (Kotler, 2004, p. 108). Furthermore, the corporations may recover their expenses through charging a high price for the new products and innovation after monopolizing the market (John and Ezekiel, 2005). Consequently, it is essential for a company to stay ahead of others and update their own technology before it becomes outdated. Marketers need to understand the changing technological environment and how new technologies can satisfy customer needs. Example can be found in the case of Toyota Prius which are introduced in 2000 as their first hybrid car. As for the technologies used in Prius, Kotler wrote: The electric motor starts the car and operates at low speeds, using a nickel metal-hydride battery. At higher speeds, the Prius automatically switches to the internal combustion engine. Under normal motorway driving conditions, it should get 28 km per litre. (2004, p. 121) The Prius would get twice as many kilometres per litre of petrol, it costs about  £4,000 more than the Toyota Echo, although they are almost the same car. In spite of its high price, it has achieved great success after it was introduced. Kotler clearly highlighted the success: Between July and October 2000, Toyota sold 2,610 Priuses and had difficulty keeping up with demand. By the end of October 2000, the cars were waitlisted until January. (2004, p. 121) Toyota spend  £200 million on the whole marketing budget of the Prius in 2002, the reason why Toyota spend so much on it is competition and the new opportunities of new technology. Kotler (2004, p. 122) also pointed out that all car manufacturers have plans to move to hybrids to raise petrol mileage and lower emissions, including Ford, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. It is clear that there are many reasons why people may want a revolutionary car. Some enthusiasts are crazy about scientific and technological advances and want the newest products. Others rebel against fuel price increase and prefer less-fuel consuming cars with hi-tech. Toyota acquired what their customers want and how new technologies can serve customer needs, as a result, it obtained significant success in the campaign of hybrid cars. To summarize, the technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic element to decide our consumption which creates both threats and new opportunities, therefore, to anticipate the customer requirements, marketers should watch the following trends in technology and try to adapt to these changes. They must stay ahead of trends so that they can make new marketing strategies, rather than becoming outdated and suffering the business decline. The monitoring of the economic environment The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. It is manifest that consumer purchasing power is a vital factor in economic environment. Nowadays, the financial crisis still has detrimental impacts upon varies domains. Some studies have indicated that around 50% of businesses failed in the first three years of economic crisis, and a number of business closures have been the byproduct of an uncertain economy. However, several companies have withstood the test of time, such as Banco Popular, Ford Motor Co., Coca-Cola, Johnson Johnson and Sears (Caribbean Business, 2008). In this situation, how far the monitoring of economic environment can help to anticipate the customer requirements has become a heated topic. Examples would be mentioned as follow: One example is that according to Howard and Begun (2001), the economy crisis has made bargain-hunting rage, even high-end brands are trying to lower their prices, such as The May Conde Nast Traveler featured an unprecedented list of Cheap Chic hotels. Zagat also published its first Americas Best Meal Deals. And after dying out in the rich early 90s, the Blue Light Special is booming again at Kmart with a different image. It is as thrifty as before, but now it is also prevalent among the youth. Another example is that the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, which represent more than 1,000 thrift, resale and consignment shop members nationwide, conducted a survey which showed that fourth-quarter 2008 sales were up an average of 30 percent in more than 71 percent of the stores (Consumers Making the Shift to Thrift, 2009). All these successful cases demonstrate that the marketers should always monitor the major trends and shift their marketing strategies to satisfy their cus tomer needs. As we can see, when countries experience an economic collapse or an economic recession, consumer purchasing power would reduce which lead to consumers spending more carefully and seeking greater value in the products and services they buy. The successful companies notice this information and take swift steps to satisfy the customer needs which make they survive the economic recession, even create new opportunities for them. Moreover, customer spending pattern is also significant in the economic environment. Hence, marketers should also watch the changes of customer spending pattern. For example, to curb its greatly increasing population, the Chinese governments make laws to limit families to one child only. As a result, Chinese children tend to be over-spoiled and fussed as never before. Several studies show that parents in the average Beijing household spend about 40 percent of their income on their cherished only child. This trend has encouraged toy companies including Denmarks Lego Group, Japans Bandai Company (known for its Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and Americas Mattel to enter the Chinese market (Marketing: Chinas (only) children get the royal treatment, 1995). The example shows the significance of monitoring of the customer spending pattern and reveals that marketers should determine how economic trends affect spending pattern and how they translate into marketing threats and opportunities for the companies. Nevertheless, some argue that the monitoring of economic environment cannot be always valid to anticipate the customer requirements. For instance, the luxury market is insulated from the economic decline, PwC partner Guy Gillon asserted that within the wider luxury sector, only 16% of consumers said that the economic crisis had resulted in a significant decline in their expense. PwC was commissioned by Abta to carry out exclusive researches to coincide with the inaugural Luxury Travel Forum, which attracts almost 100 delegates (Buyers rich and willing but getting more savvy, 2009). Consumers who have greatest purchasing power are likely to belong to the higher-income groups, whose higher-incomes mean that their spending patterns are less susceptible to economic changes than those of lower-income groups. Therefore, it seems that the monitoring of economic environment does not have great help in this situation. It is conceded that the monitoring of economic environment is not always effective, but it is still extremely important to anticipate customer requirements. Changes in major economic variables such as income, cost of living, spending pattern have a large impact on the market. Companies watch these variables by using economic forecasting. Companies do not have to be closed down in an economic downturn or in a boom. With proper warnings, they can take advantages of changes in the economic environment. The monitoring of the social environment Social environment in this essay refers to a host of domains including demographic, political and cultural environment. Kotler (2004, p. 91) clearly defined the demographic environment: Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation and other statistics. The demographic environment is of considerable interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets. Demographic changing greatly influences the market requirements, such as a growing population means growing customer needs to satisfy, and then marketers are able to anticipate customer needs for some products and services. Also, marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political environment. The political environment includes laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals, such as legislation regulating business, growth of public interest groups and increased emphasis on ethics and socially responsible actions (Kotler, 2004, p. 109). In addition, the cultural environment which is made up of institutions and other forces affects societys basic values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors. Individuals shape their basic beliefs and values when growing up in a certain society. The cultural environment plays a vital role in marketing decisions making, marketers must be aware of these cultural influenc es and how these influences might vary across societies (Kotler, 2004, p. 111). All of these elements have some impact on consumption, when marketers attempt to anticipate the customer needs, they should aware of all of these elements and how they influence the customer requirements, thereby making their marketing strategies appropriately. To demonstrate the importance of monitoring the social environment to anticipate customer needs, we take the monitoring of demographic environment as an example: According to Kotler (2004, p. 91), demographic environment refers to population size and growth trends, changing age structure of a population, the changing family, rising number of educated people and so on. Demographic shifts have important implications for marketing managers. For example, the rising ageing population will make a growing demand for healthcare products, pensions and services to cater to older consumer needs. According to Bentley and Ross (2006), the over-50s are becoming more comfortable with technology. An independent report conducted by Saga Holidays found that rather than keeping away from new media, over a quarter (27%) of the 1,000 people aged 50 and over questioned purchase goods online. The same analysis discovered that a third (37%) regularly send text messages. Meanwhile, a recent survey by Continental Research of the growth of the so-called silver surfer market revealed that in the last year, home Internet use among the over-55s has increased by more than 50%, growing from 2.9 million in 2004, to 4.4 million in 2005. The findings will remind travel companies to capture this fast-growing and affluent section of the holidaying public. Sagas website provides a good example of how travel retailers can target older travelers. At web design consultancy Foviance, director Catriona Campbell considered companies that want to capture older web users need to make their websites accessible and simple to use. To build on its brand as an over-50s specialist, Saga launched an online travel shop, SAGAtravelshop.com last month. The website makes consumers able to buy dynamically package trips as well as buy package holidays. The charity Help the Aged (Ageing Europe faces up to need for pension reform, 2003, p. 18) pointed out that now over-60s are more affluent and active, with lifestyles that are more similar to those of people in their 40s and 50s. Indeed, some companies, like Saga Holiday, are already aware of this demographic shift and adapting p roduct marketing and design to cater to older consumer demands. The changing family also plays a vital role in the demographic environment. The changing family which means the notion of the ideal family -mum, dad and two kids- has lately been changed. People are marrying later and having fewer children. Also, the number of working women is increasing including working mothers. This trend has boomed the child day-care business, cleaning and catering services, increased consumption of convenience foods, career-oriented womens clothing and many other business opportunities. For instance, Britain and America are around the top of both the convenience-food league and the working-woman league. The increasing of working women is pushing the time-saving trend and the consumption of time-saving products like convenience foods. Mark Price, who is the marketing director of Waitrose, Britains top-of-the-range supermarket, pointed out that the companys biggest item in meals at its Canary Wharf (London) branch is the ready-mixed Caesar salad in a box. It costs  £1 ($1.70) less if you buy all the ingredients and mix them yourself, however, people prefer the convenient but expensive one. Ready meals from supermarkets become increasingly popular in Britain. Ten years ago, the sector barely existed while now it is worth  £1.5 billion and is growing at 6% a year. These days, Tesco launches 1,200 new convenience products a year and the variety boosts consumption at the same time (Make it convenient, 2003). Also, it is difficult to monitoring the demographic, political and cultural environments at the same time, and it is complicated to analyze all elements to anticipate the customer requirements. Furthermore, similar to the economic environment, some cases prove that the monitoring of the social environment to anticipating customer requirements cannot be always valid, especially when some unpredictable affairs happens, Yang and Li (2008) showed that in the April of 2008, Carrefour which is a French retail firm encounter a sudden crisis in China. The crisis stems from the widely spreading posts on the BBS, with some political reasons the posts call on all Chinese people not to go shopping in Carrefour on 1st May. And this appeal achieved a huge number of netizens supports. The survey of whether or not boycott Carrefour conducted by Sina Finance showed that over 560,000 users asserted that they would not go to Carrefour in the whole month. It is not difficult to image that what a large l oss for Carrefour, however, it is cannot be monitored because Carrefour is extremely popular in China which have 73 hypermarkets, 8 supermarkets and 8 champions around the China. To conclude, although it is difficult to monitor the social environment and the monitoring is not always valid to anticipate customer requirements, there is no doubt that the monitoring of social environment greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. Therefore, the smart marketers know how to track the demographic trends and indicate what their target customers want, and then take swift actions to cater this situation. Conclusion In summary, this essay has attempted to demonstrate that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities and ward off threats. However, it is difficult to imagine a time when all the problems can be resolved, the situation is certainly hopeful and suggests real developments may be made in the future.

Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Essay

This paper seeks to defend the proposition that that there is a need for individual differences for humanity despite society’s expressed desire to attain equality. The communist and socialist ideologies may have theorized the what is an ideal society, one that is classless or egalitarian but there are simply unacceptable effects if there is all aspects of individualism is excluded. The need for individual differences could be best seen in the short story of ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Vonneguts, Jr. where the author revealed that a society created to equalize humanity does not always turn out to be the best for the people. Vonnegut did effectively utilized different means to convey his message in the short story. Most of the power of the means is the use of irony and symbolism. Irony has a distinct was of telling people that things could not just be contradicted because it will bring out the most absurd in human understanding. His use of symbolism also complemented his articulate presentation of the roles played by the different characters which the showed the powers and limitations in failing to address what was obvious. He was able to deliver the message the equality is the same as freedom since in the story there was indeed a resemblance of equality, which was made very clear at very first part of the story bur really the irony is that they are not free. Since the short story declares and portrays the equality of people, there was the need to control the tendency of some of the people who were borne with natural abilities and this has the effect of making these people as prisoners to the government. Harrison Bergeron was indeed the main character of the story. Thus as a result of his having an exceptional intelligence and beauty in addition to his good height and strength and beauty he would have to suffer some reduction to bring society to equality. This was therefore done by letting him to carry huge handicaps. The handicaps imposed consisted of having to suffer distracting noises which essentially put him into an individual who will lack focus in what he desired to do. In addition the was also given excess weight of about three hundred pounds, which was enough to almost make immobile as way of restraining his use of intelligence for the purpose of preventing the declared policy that everybody is equal. Because of his many natural gifts as illustrated earlier, it was still necessary to give him eyeglasses to cause him to headaches. Having headache would deprive of the faculties of thinking which could otherwise for productive use. But equality was a greater value than productivity; hence the rule must be enforced. To deprive Bergeron of his beauty he was also added cosmetic changes to make him ugly. What was awaited to the end the story was whether equality declared and implemented by those given the power, would now make things easier for everybody by the attainment of peace in the community since no one is above any body else. If viewed in term of socialism and communism, the society in the story could be viewed as classless or egalitarian. The events in the story metamorphosed into a situation where Bergeron was able to invade A TV station that allowed him to make a declaration for himself as emperor. The event happened despite the many deprivations that every imposed to him by government. Nothing could be more offensive to those guarding him not to shine as physical restraints which should created psychological restrain could have caused Bergeron to remain calm and silent in the name of equality. Perhaps in trying to celebrate his struggle with the deprivations that was imposed on him, story included an event where he had a dance with a ballerina, who had suffered also because of handicaps imposed and who Bergeron helped in discarding said restriction. This event prompted the person who is bound to enforce the law of equality and this resulted to Bergeron and the ballerina who he was dancing being shot by Handicapper General by the name of Diana Moon Glampers and who did not stop to monitor the actions of those who will violate the law of equality. This incident could indeed demonstrate the application of philosophical requirement of duty above everything else. Such misplace â€Å"dedication† to duty could only be the tenable explanation of what society that demands equality would have to attain the goals of society. But viewed in the context of what is human, the simple act of automatic killing without affording Bergeron the right to be heard after a trial could be only considered an act of brutality. Such was the price of attaining the goal of society. Everybody or at least someone will have to a be guard one’s outgrowing another in terms of skills, wealth and even good characteristics. The value of being equal is more important than the value of competition where the best could come out. There is therefore no best among people but every body is co-equal with everybody else. The question that must be answered now is whether the law of equality works for every body. What happened was that despite the handicaps, Bergeron wanted to set free. He wanted the government to be free these handicaps. He wanted to excel and to his potential despite all odds. For the enforcement of the rules, it was necessary to protect state secrets. Such policy also then deprived the right of Bergeron’s parents Hazel and George to know what truly happened to their son. Since the state must be at center of this kind of society, implementation of the strictly was paramount. This therefore gave Diana Moon Glampers to act with her authority to commit the dastardly act of killing Bergeron and the ballerina. Under such society, somebody will have to enforce its rules strictly but human freedom is necessarily sacrificed since the state’s survival was paramount. And to sustain the said principle the Diana Moon Glampers could have only be afraid of not fulfilling her duty for failure to do so could losing her power over the people which the state has bestowed on her. But again the irony of the story was her husband was also in handicapped by being required to wear a bag although such was also big puzzle for Diana Glampers since she knows that her husband was not competing to anybody. So what happened was a failure of the concept of a society where there is equality for almost every part of human endeavor. The system could hold people from to bring out the best in them. It cannot control what was inside the heart and minds of people despite the strict requirement of the law. Vonneguts’s portrayal of the life of Bergeron must also be viewed with symbolism. His being to discard the his own handicaps and that of the ballerina could only speak for releasing the human potentialities that could not be limited and controlled even by governments for such were inherent in human beings. Bergeron’s dance with ballerina also speaks of their freedom to go with the music or environment where men would have to live. Freedom has therefore its end of celebration to go with the limitless tunes of music or limitless opportunities that one could be in the absence of government restrictions. Given the nature of work that Kurt Vonnegut’s has done on â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, commentaries could not be avoided. In the author’s desire to deliver a point, Vonnegut has chosen to use iron the present the simple meaning of the false theory of equality. In this context, Hattenhauer cited that all commentaries on Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† in the latter are attempts to achieve equality as absurd. Hattenhauer, sounding to agree with Kurt Vonnegut, also concluded that believers of Bergeron as a model of freedom would fail to notice the fact that â€Å"he is a would–be dictator† with the latter’s declaration that he is the Emperor and wanting to select his Empress. One could therefore decipher a view that would in a sense endorse monarchy as a form of government. Hattenhauer believed that if such happens, then reversion to medieval monarchy would come out where serfs or the equivalent of slaves would be produced as a result. He therefore saw in addition to previous commentaries a satire not just on mistaken notion of equality but also â€Å"the American definition of freedom as the greatest good to the smallest number. † The fall of communism is a proof that society cannot be class. There is indeed the need to allow individual to rise to reach their full potentials. Walicki in discussing the fate of communism talked of rise of certain classes in a communist state said when he mentioned about Brezhnev regime having deliberately supported the interests of certain level in society’s structure by giving its representatives formal guarantees such as the right personal security and the right to occupy leading state posts. He saw therefore the â€Å"consolidation and emancipation of the nomenklatura as a sign of â€Å"the formation of a â€Å"new class† and the final betrayal of the proletariat that Trotsky had feared.† But viewed from the right of individuals to rise to power when opportunity allows, there are positive aspects of these events from in terms of the reduction in ideological pressure. This also has the effect of legitimizing the play of interests where large number of managers is involved. Another remarkable effect is limitation that may be approximately estimated on the â€Å"general unpredictability and uncertainty concerning the future. The separation of interests within the nomenklatura was also seen by Walicki to have caused the improved use of the methods of civil law to resolve conflicts and this has the effect of broadening their sphere of application. He also observed central planning having become a fiction, given the showground for the fight for group interests since individuals were now given special roles to play. Thus, the consequent failure the use the same planning as a rational way to control the fate of society. Having witnessed the communist experiment in Russia to have attained its complete cycle, Walicki now wanted to define the historical significance of the Lenin period, which he considered that as â€Å"the time when the sweep of the communist revolution on a world scale was at its peak†. His was basis was the seriousness of Russia trying to take upon itself the task to have all the solution to the majority of social problems, including the promise of giving answers to the most important questions of humanity. Walicki thus asserted that the â€Å"failure of this insanely bold attempt was sufficiently clear by 1921.† He therefore wants humanity to learn from inner defect of process that had to end in the complete failure of communism. What then is the ideal society? Is democracy then the answer to every problem that communism failed to attain? Soros proposed an open society. But his proposal needed some criticism on alternative systems. He cited Popper to have shown about the commonality of fascism and communism, which is using the state’s power to repress the freedom of the individual despite the fact even though one is extreme right while the other is the extreme left. Wanting to extend the argument, Soros contended that even his proposal of an open society is not safe because of the possible threat from the opposite direction. What he meant of course is the chance from excessive individualism that could be generating to much competition and too little cooperation. He feared this to possibly cause bring inequities and instability that could difficult to tolerate. Soros thus exposed also some risks with capitalism as an alternative which strongly believe in the capacity of the market place to solve many ills. He asserted that the doctrine of laissez-faire capitalism which holds that the uncommon good is best served by the unrestrained pursuit of self-interest, poses a great danger if not tempered by the recognition of a common interest. He thus saw an open society that is capable of breaking down if the self-interest is not regulated. In making a comparison of the systems, Soros argued that totalitarianism ideologies which are associated with communism and socialism, is opposed to open society with deliberation while laissez-faire policies under capitalism may just endanger it if there is inadvertence. He however saw more potent danger in capitalism than in communism and even socialism since the latter have already been thoroughly brought into disrepute . Despite what Soros had seen with capitalism, there is basis to consider it better than totalitarianism as proven in history. By his admission of danger, a remedy is still possible which role is assumed by the US constitution and several laws. By the weight of evidence presented, individualism needs to exist in society and it cannot be denied even by very structures of the communist state. It is better then to allow the same under an open society as proposed by Soros. In this context the short story of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut may have assumed a significant despite the commentary in exposing the fallacy of the law of equality. For this reason, Noise may be justified considering Kurt Vonnegut as one of the great humanists of his time . In seeing him as a proponent of humanism and therefore tool for building a better world, Noise took the chance to expose that fact that humanists are skeptical of religious claims, for the most part on claims of prophecy and revelation . He thus found that Vonnegut, like most humanists, had little use for speculation about supernatural realms and saw organized religions that attempted to do such speculation to be creating needless division in the world. Noise thus saw Vonnegut to have provided some guidance where there are differences among Jews, Christians, and Muslims on such issues eternal salvation . It may this be concluded that the proposition about the need to allow for individual differences for humanity despite society’s expressed desire to attain equality must be sustained based on argument and evidence presented.

Financial Management Essay

Introduction In this assignment I will be researching and discussing how to manage my own personal finances. For this I will have to research sources of income and write about different types of employment and unemployment. The affect these have on salaries and wages will also be investigated. I have also been asked to research and summarise allowances and benefits. As part of the management of my personal finances I must produce a personal budget over a specific period of time, on completion of this I will pair with a partner and discuss my findings. Task 3 Why is it important for me to manage my personal finance? * To help not to run out of money * Help me with budgeting * Scarce resource * Savings * Paying bills * Living alone * Managing money is skill Task 4 Jobseekers allowance Jobseekers allowance would be paid to me if I am eligible for it and looking for (seeking) work. I also would have to be age 16 or over to be able to receive jobseekers allowance. This source of income is relevant for me because I am over the age of 16, living on my own and I am currently looking for work. Income support Income support provides financial help for people ages 16 and over, who have low income or no money coming in at all. This money is for people who are not currently seeking work. This money is to help people with day to day living. Income support is relevant to me because this is the situation I am currently living in and I also receive income support myself. Child benefit Child benefit is parents that have children under the age of 16 or children under 19 in full time education. Child benefit is no longer relevant to me because I do not live will my mother any more. Housing benefit Housing benefit helps towards paying my rent which would be my local authority, but they don’t cover all my housing costs. Housing benefit is eligible to people who are renting a room or living in a hostel of sum sort. I can apply for this by just going down to my local authority office and filling in a housing benefit form. Working families’ Tax Credit Working Tax Credit is for people who are employed or self-employed, over the aged of 16 and are working at least 16 hours a week. They also have to have at least one child. In couples, one person has to choose who receives the tax credits. The amount of tax credits they receive will depend on their annual income. Tax credits are not relevant for me because I am not responsible for any children and I am not currently working. Task 5 When preparing for employment the documents I would need: * CV * Covering letter * Application form * National insurance number * Bank details * Qualification certificates * P45 (maybe not for me yet) CV I would need a CV so that the employers get a brief summary of my qualifications and experience to-date. It would include the school and college I have attended. It will also include my past work experience. My CV will now include that I have recently worked at Superdrug. My CV will also have my references. References are very important as the employers may want to contact the referees to confirm I have the qualifications for the job, and if I am reliable and trustworthy enough for the job. Covering letter A covering letter is needed because it is a part of the formal requirement. It will show the employer where I heard about the advert and why I feel I would be right for the job. Application form Application forms are used to help the employer to separate the good candidates from the not so good candidates. They are also used to find out about information and candidates background. National Insurance No. Every one that has the right to work in the UK has the right to a national insurance number once they reach the age of 16. The national insurance number will show what national insurance contributions the worker pays over the course of his/her working life and also the contribution employers have made. Bank details Bank details are required in order for the employer to give you your wages. Wages are now paid by direct transfer from the employer to the bank account of the employee. Qualification certificates Proof of GCSE’s and past qualifications are important because the employer will expect me to have certain right qualification in order to have the job. Superdrug have specific qualifications that are required, these are called essential qualifications. Task 6 Types of employment Self employment Being self employed is when you do not work for anyone else you have your own business. For example owning your own sweets shop is self employment. The income of the sweets shop will come from the customers who purchase the sweets. The income may also come from the bank if you borrow money. Freelance Freelancers are a different type of self employment. Instead of owning their own business they sell their services by working for different businesses. For example a freelance hair dresser would not have their own hairdressing business they would get to all kinds of other businesses and do hairdressing. Employee Employees are people who work for someone who controls what work they do. The employer is in charge of the employee’s income and deducts national insurance from the employee’s wages or salary. As long as they is someone handling your wages before you get them you are an employee. Task 8 Key points of each job Job title Retail manager Tasks to be carried out Retail managers are responsible for day to day running of department stores, chain stores, supermarkets and independent shops. They look after staff management, including taking on and training new staff, maintaining a good standard of customer care and increasing sales and profitability. Their duties usually include: * Making sure premises and displays are well maintained * Organising stock checking and re-ordering as necessary, through computerised or manual systems * Making sure targets are reached and all opportunities are taken to increase sales and profitability * Organising sales promotions * Recruiting, interviewing and training staff * Dealing with queries or complaints from customers Skills required A retail manager should: * Know the company’s products and procedures well * Be committed to providing a high standard of customer service * Be able to lead and motivate a team * Have good knowledge of legal an d security issues * Have relevant commercial skills for business Qualifications required There are no set academic requirements to work in retail, although employers may prefer employees to have at list five GCSE’s grades A-C and have some working experience in retail. Useful qualifications would include: * BTEC national reward in retail * OCR certificate in retail * BTEC Higher National Diploma in retail management * Degree in retail management Individual qualities required * Be confident, energetic and quick thinking * Have excellent spoken English and written communication skills * Be able to take responsibility and make decisions * Have a smart appearance * Be organised * Be able to deal effectively with problems and complaints Wage/salary Starting salaries are usually from around à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12,000 Experienced managers may earn from around à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½15,000 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½26,000 Managers of large stores may earn up to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½65,000 or more. Job title Retail assistant Tasks to be carried out A retail assistant is responsible for making customers feel at ease when shopping and browsing around the store, directing them towards products and accepting payments. This job generally includes: * Restocking shelves and making sure merchandise is presented neatly * Greeting customers and answering enquiries about products * Operating computerised tills and barcode readers to scan items * Accepting payments for goods and wrapping them * Checking for stock items and ordering goods Skills required * To be accurate and thorough, even under pressure * To be trustworthy- they may be dealing with expensive products and large amounts of cash * To understand and follow company’s policies for health and safety and hygiene * Stamina, in order to serve on the shop floor for long periods Qualification required Employers set their own qualification requirements. But usually look for good communication skills, a pleasant personality and look for at least to two to four GCSE grades. Individual qualities required * Have an approachable, polite manner * Have good communication skills * Have a smart personal appearance * Enjoy providing a good level of customer service Wage/salary Starting salaries for a retail assistant is around à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½9,000 a year An experienced retail assistant may earn around à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½11,500 a year. Task 9 Why I think I am suitable for each job Retail assistant I think that I am suitable to work as a retail assistant because I have relevant experience within the retail industry. I have recently completed a 2 week work placement at Superdrug which is in the retail sector. During this period I was privileged to be responsible for replenishing stock, providing customer advice and keeping the shop floor tidy. This placement enabled me to develop vital skills such as team working, numeracy and customer service skills which are all needed in order to become a successful retail assistant. This work placement was a part of my BTEC introductory business coarse this qualification will also enable me to qualify to work as retail assistant. Retail manager I am qualified to work in the retail sector as a retail assistant but in order to qualify as a retail manager I would have to finish my BTEC introductory coarse and then go on to study for three more years to receive a BTEC national certificate in business. After this I would then need to go and study a degree in retail management in order to qualify for this job. I have good interpersonal and communication skills and while on my work experience I enjoyed providing good customer service these skills would help me with working toward becoming a retail manager. Retail managers are responsible for day to day running of department stores, chain stores, supermarkets and independent shops this may include Organising sales promotions and recruiting, interviewing and training staff. Task 10 Wage/salary deductions Gross pay Gross pay the amount of money an employee earns before any deductions are made such as tax or national insurance. Net pay Net pay is the money employees actually get for them to spend. National insurance contributions National insurance contributions is an amount of money that the employee has to pay towards there employers this is deducted by the employer from the employees wages. If you are self employed you also have to pay national insurance contribution, this is a small monthly payment and then a lump sum at the end of the year. National insurance code National insurance codes indicate an employee’s marital status and how long an employee has been working. Income tax There is a certain amount of money that every body is allowed to earn before they have to pay income tax, this is called personal tax allowances currently for people under the age of 65 this is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5,225 a year. If you earn any more than this you will have to pay income tax, how much you pay will depend on how much money you earn. Pensions/superannuation Pensions are long time investments that are designed to provide you with money in your old age when you are not able to work any more. The earlier you start your pension the more you get when you retire. Employees are usually offered a pension scheme when the start there job. The employer pays a contribution to your pension fund and so does the employee this is deducted out of the employee’s wages before it get to them. Union subscriptions A union is a large group of workers in a particular industry or profession. Unions provide benefits such as legal advice and can also provide support in cases of unfair treatment or dismissal. To subscribe employees would have to pay fees this is sometimes deducted from the employees wages before it is received or the employee can pay the fees themselves but it is not compulsory. Task 11 Allowances and Benefits Housing benefit Housing benefit helps towards paying my rent which would be my local authority, but they don’t cover all my housing costs. Housing benefit is eligible to people who are renting a room or living in a hostel of sum sort. I can apply for this by just going down to my local authority office and filling in a housing benefit form. This benefits me because its helps me to save money gives me more money to spend on more important things. Council tax Council tax is an amount of money you pay if you are renting out a council property or of you have you own property with a certain amount of people living in there. Council tax paid to pay the council for giving you their service of letting you live in their property and council tax also pay for things like people cleaning the streets. Interest from savings Interest from savings is when you put money into the bank or a financial institution and earn extra money on top. This is called interest. When you get interest you have to pay income tax on that interest, the bank usually deducts the tax before pay the interest. This benefits me because I regularly put savings into my bank account. Inherited money Most people decide to leave money to their relatives when they die, this is called inheritance. Inheritance could be a small or large amount of money and it may be necessary to pay inheritance tax on it. Borrowed money Borrowed money is anything from a loan to a bank overdraft. Money can also be borrowed from a relative or close friend in this case the money you have borrowed is the money you pay back. If you take out a loan or overdraft which is quit a large amount of money this usually involves paying back the money monthly and each month interest is added on top of the money that you are paying. This result in you paying more that you actually took in the first place, it is much wiser that you save your money for whatever you want to get therefore you will earn interest on your money rather that earning it. Working Families Tax Credit Working families’ tax credits is for people who have at least one child under the age of 16 or 19 in full time education and earn an income which is below a certain level. The person has to be working at least 16 hours a week and must have savings below à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8000. this does not apply to me as I am not eligible for this because I have no children. Task 14 Explanation of how I planned my personal finances Spend or save As soon as I receive my money I spend it on things that I need such as food shopping and rent. Any money left over would get spent on the gym and my mobile phone then the rest would get put aside as my savings. Gambling Gambling is when you pay money hoping for a chance of winning more money. Doing this is dangerous because you are not guaranteed your money. Gambling is very addictive and if done regularly this could put you into debt that why I choose not to go down this road. Spending habits When I receive my money on a weekly basis I try and spend as little as possible on food shopping so that I have money left over for myself to spend on small luxuries for example a meal out with my friends. I sometimes tend to spend too much on luxuries and this sometimes gets me into problems but I always have someone at hand to help me. Money and lifestyle At the moment the amount of money I receive doesn’t allow me to have the best of lifestyles but it is enough to put clothes on my back and to buy me shopping every week. To achieve the lifestyle I want I would need to find at least a part time job so I can earn more money than I’m getting now. My expectations of work and money As long as I have enough money to buy me some food and to pay the rent I am ok for the moment. But I would like a bit more than that for example going on holidays and buying the latest clothing. To do this I would need to find a job and also make sure that I handle my personal finances correctly and do some budgeting for these luxuries. Short term accounts Every week I receive my income support into my bank account. I am currently using a current account all my bills are paid out of this account and all my Ema payment come into this account. I also have a short term savings account which I put money into every week. I use this account when I run out of money or need to pay for something important e.g. phone bill. Long term accounts A long term savings account is an account that allows you to build up interest on money that you are saving over a number of years. An example could be an ISA, this is an individual savings account because it is tax free provided the amount saved each year doesn’t exceed à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3,000. The interest is cumulative which means the amount of interest plus capital will increase year on year. Another example of a long term account is a bank loan. A bank loan is usually drawn over a long period. This is a lump sum of money that I borrowed from the bank and paid off over a long period of time. For example a mortgage is paid over a period of 25 years. Cheque book A cheque is a promise to pay someone in place of cash. When you are writing a cheque you write down exactly how much you are going to pay the person. The person then takes the cheque to the bank and waits for it to clear this takes between 3-5 days. It is important to make sure that you have the right amount of money in your bank so you don’t go into debt. It is also important to keep a record of any cheques that have been written, this can be done by using stubs which are left in the cheque book after you tear it out to pay someone. The stubs are there so that you can note down the details of the cheque and will help keep track of your money. Credit cards A credit card is a card that you can use to pay for items of clothing or products. This card however gives you money on it but you have to pay it back you are also given a credit limit. To avoid spending more money than you actually have you should usually pay back the money within a month if the money is paid after this you will be charged interest. If you go over the limit that the company has given you interest will also be added. Also you can check how much money you are spending by checking a mini statement that you can get from a cash point. Debit cards Debit cards are cards that have your own money that you put on to the card. You can use this card to purchase virtually anything but instead of having a credit limit of borrowed money you are actually using your own money to purchase goods. A debit card allows you to take cash out of ATMs if you have enough money in your account. To see how much funds you have in your account through an ATM you are given a pin number by your bank to memorise this then allows you to draw cash from the machines and purchase items in shops. To check that no-one is stealing from you or to make sure you are not spending more money than your supposed to it is good to check your bank statement each month these are sent to you by your bank. The bank statement show how much money you had in your account originally, then show all payments that were taken out of that money. You can then check if there are any payments that you are unsure of or if any mistakes were made in you transactions. Paying bills Bills can be paid using direct debit or standing orders. This is when you money is taken out of you account and paid to a business for example, BT telephone company at the same time every month. This can help with budgeting, as you will know how much money is going out every month. To check that you are not paying out more than you’re supposed to you can check the phone bill you receive every month. Remaining in credit It is important to manage your account carefully to ensure you stay in credit. You must make sure that when you making payments such as cheques and debit cards you have enough money to make those payments. If not you account will go in to debt and you will be charged fines for doing this, it will also build up a bad credit rating which will make it hard for you to get a mortgage or a credit card in the future. Task 16 Summary of holiday budget activity Why do you think it is important to manage your personal finances? I think it is important for me to manage my finances because it helps me to pay all my bills on time without getting into to debt. It also allows me to put money aside for unexpected emergencies. Managing my personal finances is a very important skill. This skill is extremely important if I would like to start my own business or borrow money from a bank. Managing my money correctly will enable me to live quiet a prosperous life in the long run. Did you find it easy or difficult to manage the finances given in exercises? – give reasons I found managing finances quiet hard because you have to keep track of the money coming out of my income every week and there were a lot of different bills to pay and they were all different amounts. I also had to keep track of my spending at the same time to make sure that I didn’t get into debt this was really difficult because you can get carried away when your sending your money on luxuries. After all that I have to calculate the total regular expenditure and then work out if I had any money left over to put aside as savings, overall this task was very challenging but it taught me a lot about how to manage my own finances. What did you learn from the exercise on budgeting over a period of time? From doing the budgeting exercise I learnt that saving the little scraps of money here and there builds up into to something big. Also cutting down on luxuries also helps in the long run because the money you have saved enables you to get those luxuries if you just give time. This budgeting exercise also taught me how to calculate my net cash flow which I previously did not know how to do. I also learnt that budgeting is important for everyone because it stop many people from getting into to debt and also helps them to save considerable amount of money. Bibliography BTEC introduction business-published by Heinemann in 2005 Heinemann Educational Publishers Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8EJ ISBN 978 0 435401 21 4 John Ruskin college intranet site Unit 6 Financial Management

Love and Feelings - French Canadian Vocabulary

Love and Feelings - French Canadian Vocabulary Michel is French and Canadian. He lives in the gorgeous island of Belle-Isle in Brittany where he offers French immersion. He also taught at McGill in Montreal where he also spends a few months each year. Today, Michel is going to teach us typical Canadian French expressions to talk about love and feelings.   1 - Tomber en amour - to fall in love, Also Être en amour - to be in love. This structure is probably influenced by English syntax; in love. In France, wed say: tomber amoureux, à ªtre amoureux. A phrase which is very  «Ã‚  quà ©bà ©coise  Ã‚ »Ã‚  : Ils sont en amour par-dessus la tà ªte - theyre in love over their head. In France, one would rather say  : ils sont amoureux fous - they are crazy in love. 2 - Mon chum, ma blonde - Mon chum (my boy-friend) - Ma blonde (my girl-friend). This was once an expression used in France, such as a 18th century still famous song indicates it : Auprà ¨s de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon dormir Nowadays, a song by a very famous Quà ©bec singer, Diane Dufresne, would give you a good idea of the actual pronunciation of the word  «Ã‚  chum  Ã‚ » in quà ©bà ©cois:  «Ã‚  J’ai besoin j’ai besoin d’un chum J’ai besoin j’ai besoin d’un homme  Ã‚ » 3 - Cest un mà ©chant pà ©tard ! About some sexy girl (or some sexy boy), you will hear  : c’est un mà ©chant pà ©tard!  (he/she is a nasty firecracker!) 4 - Tes beau comme un ptit coeur! To your lover, you can say : â€Å"t’es beau/belle comme un p’tit coeur! (you are beautiful like a little heart) 5 - Donne-moi un bec Un bec (say the final c) in quà ©bà ©cois means a kiss (French people would say donne-moi un baiser, or un bisou. Un bec in France means a beak, like a birds beak) Another Anglicism used in quà ©bà ©cois : un French kiss. This is an expression which is not used in France at all! Quà ©bà ©cois have even built up a verb : â€Å"frencher quelqu’un†.   In France, wed say rouler un patin quelquun - its quite slang though. Now, lets practice your French kissing vocabulary in this realistic and fun learn French in context story - you will also learn how to avoid a HUGE faux-pas! For more articles about French in Quà ©bec and France, daily mini lessons and tips, I invite you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:- Dialogue in French Canadian ≠  Franà §ais de France English translation - My favorite French Canadian Expressions - 7 Best French Canadian Idioms You may also like: French Love VocabularyDialogue About Kissing - Easy Bilingual StoryHow To Say I love You in FrenchFrench Valentines Day Traditions and Vocabulary - Easy Bilingual Story

Nathanial Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown As An Anti-Parable essays

Nathanial Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown As An Anti-Parable essays The parable or morality tale is a literary genre that has transcended both culture and time. From Jesus biblical parables to fables and fairy tales told to children to Russian author Leo Tolstoys, How Much Land Does a Man Need, the genre provides a stereotypical characters, symbolic items and events, and a plot centered around the communication of a moral. Like these examples, Nathanial Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown has many of the characteristics of a parable. Even the name Young Goodman Brown suggests that the storys main character is intended to symbolize the plight and struggles of every young man. Similarly, Faith is obviously a symbol of the young womans similar plight in addition to a commentary on the characteristic espoused by her name, and the Devil, along with those Young Goodman brown meets on the way to his deep woods assembly are symbolic representations of those who are stereotypically most pious. The parable-like descriptions of these characters and plot were no t conceived by chance. In fact, Deins article regarding Hawthornes story, The Ministers Veil, suggests that the author was familiar with the terms of parables and even penned some whose universal applicability can be considered relevant today (179). Unlike, The Ministers Veil, however, all that seems to be missing in Young Goodman Brown is the moral ending. While many interpretations of the ending exist, none seem to satisfy the structure of a parable whose meaning suggests that avoiding the devil and sin is advantageous. By creating the parable-like condition of story coupled with the anit-parable ending, Hawthorne suggests that parables and morality stories are not relevant to the complex morality of human existence. Hawthornes stereotypical characters and metaphorical plot work together to create the parable-like feel...

Automotive Fair Price by Todd Low Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Automotive Fair Price by Todd Low - Essay Example The time in diagnosing the car is separate from the time used in fixing the car. Spending an hour on the car is more than enough to diagnose the problem. If I need extra time to find a fault, I will need to explain the customer in detail about the additional costs. My technician is appointed to diagnose the car; we are spending business hours in finding the fault with his car. That is an opportunity cost for us because we could be spending those hours fixing someone else’s car and earning money. If an arrangement is made with the customer where the technician drives the car to and from work, and driving during lunch breaks then this will be ethically more acceptable. The equipment, installed in the car, will record and diagnose the problem. The time my technician spends this way is not a burden on business hours. In this case, the total cost would come up for only two hours. The technician spent the first hour diagnosing the problem and did not find the fault. After that, the arrangement is made with the customer that my specialist will keep the car to find the problem. He will be driving the car to and from business and during lunch breaks. When he finds a fault, it will take probably less than an hour to fix it. So one hour for diagnosing and the other hour for fixing the problem would be charged from the customer. This method seems more professional than any of the other scenarios. What if you change every conceivable part that could cause this; would that be professional and ethical? If you cannot fix it, would it be more ethical to charge a nominal fee rather than what is due to you for services rendered? Changing every conceivable part is neither ethical nor professional. This way the customer will have to pay for the time consumed and the cost of new parts. Charging a nominal fee or for the services rendered will be an enormous burden on the client. The technician can use a 'trial and error' method, making educated guesses what the problem could be and then change that particular part.

The Temperance Movement in Victorian England Essay

The Temperance Movement in Victorian England - Essay Example Industrial Revolution, Agricultural Revolution and growth of imperial power of England made it unbeaten in the world. Developments in the fields of art and literature were comparable to the Elizabethan age. All these greatly influenced the social conditions and interactions of the different classes of contemporary English people and Temperance movement was one of the examples of it. In short, like the second half of the sixteenth century, there developed another ‘Golden Age.’ As part of their religious belief, in the eighteenth century, people from upper class and middle class societies would dish up and drank wine at their dinners. Gradually, moderate use of wine among the people became unrestrained status. Studies mention that â€Å"the earliest temperance associations were founded in Scotland in 1830, but the movement soon came South and similar groups were established in Preston and other industrial towns† (Hope UK, n.d.). Temperance Movement had kept an eye o n moderated use of alcohol and motivated people about the necessity of self control or moderation in drinking. Excessive use of alcohol seriously affected working class people and it paved the way for severe social inconvenience. Number of social organizations and welfare movements has emerged during the end of 17th century and worked aligned with the evil effects of alcohol consumption. In the beginning, Rev. John Edgar, Belfast professor of theology gave spiritual guidelines. Then Joseph Livesey made some remarkable progress in Temperance Movement. Temperance Movement is not only a political or religious movement, but also an artist’s propaganda against the evils of drinking. As a social reform movement against alcohol, Teetotal Movement registered its name through the concept of â€Å"total abstinence from alcohol.† Leaders of Temperance and Teetotal movements have caught the attention of eminent personalities from art, literature and religion. Victorian poet Tennys on, novelist Charles Dickens, George Cruickshank and William Hogarth marked their conscious effort in promoting awareness programs related with Temperance Movement. The evils of drinking had coined direct and indirect consequences in Victorian society. Members of working- class community have faced bitter consequences than middle-class and upper class people. Industrialization and related events contributed a new system in work field and service sector. Workers in large scale industries and factories often tend to follow drinking as an essential means of entertainment because of heavy workload and limited opportunities of amusement. Without a doubt, the main focus of the Temperance Movement was the elimination of drinking habits among the working-class people who lived in Victorian England. Historians have identified number of reasons which promoted physical backgrounds for the formation of the Temperance Movement. The study of Temperance Movement permits the reader to comprehend th e class struggles of Victorian society in which social status designed everything. Excessive drinking nature among the workers in factories made a payment to many other problems such as serious health issues, increased rate of criminal activities, problem of child labour and economic crisis.