Effective Persuasion Week Six Assignment

The author did a magnificent Job to persuade my thinking toward health care system in the United States that health care should be considered as a fundamental right to all U. S. Citizens. The author's essay was easy to follow, well constructed, and straight-forward to his topic sentence. Writer had a strong introduction, supportive points, and a conclusion. The author provided enough facts to support his [her argument regarding health insurance should be accepted as basic right for all theU. S. Citizens Just like education. Health care converges are very expensive that a normal person cannot effort. I like the fact he presented in his/ her writing that even citizens with health insurance will still end up paying out of their pocket. Insurance companies more concerns about their profits than providing health coverage. There is always a waiting list or have to wait in line to see a doctor even if you are covered by insurance. The entire U. S citizens have to stand up and fight for thei r rights.I also legalized that the author did not use any I statements, which means the author is not bias. That is true that having health care system to the U. S. Citizens will save many lives and courage the health of all Americans. I will be using feedback from Written to make my persuasive essay more effective. Wrestling's feedback helps to fix some of the common grammar errors such as leaving out commas, right words choices; using awkward construction such as â€Å"his/her†, spelling check, and much more can help me to make my persuasive essay more effective.Written also recommend avoiding using first and second person such as I and You in sentences. With the help of Written my essay will be grammar error free, which will sound much better when the reader will be reading it. My essay will persuade my audience every effectively. I will make sure my essay is error free and well constructed. I will be using all sorts of sentences types in my essay to ensure my audiences do not get bored or lose his/her interest while reading my essay. I will be providing strong facts and examples to support my topic sentence.To make sure my essay is not bias I will ensure not to use gender pronouns such as â€Å"he,† â€Å"she,† â€Å"him/her,† or any of these substitutions. Use of gender pronouns is awkward in academic writing and can divert the audiences from the point you are trying to make. To fix this dilemma I will be using plural nouns such â€Å"their† or â€Å"they. † I will ensure not to use â€Å"l† statement sentences such as â€Å"l think† or â€Å"l believe† to make my essay sound opinionated and ensure to provide both side of the stories so the audience do not think the my essay is biased. By Sizing

Deprivation as a Result of Poverty Essay

Slums in Mumbai are only a reflection of many facets of poverty. The movie Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle is an ideal portrayal of the harsh lives of children on the wrong side of India who experience the bitterness of poverty. Despite the unjust peculiarities and sorrows created by poverty, people are still hopeful on their future and still have lust for life. Dharavi is a perfect example of slum area. Slum area is generally defined as informal and low class settlements often found in the cities. â€Å"Dharavi is a sprawling, chaotic place of precariously-built brick houses, bamboo and corrugated iron-roofed huts, milky cess pits, greasy fried food stalls and noisy, dusty workshops† with unreasonably many number of population (â€Å"Slum in Mumbai† 2009). Their illegal settlements deprived them of public services such as water sewage and medical assistance. Moreover, their massive population encourages fornication, street gangs or other forms of violence, health problems, homelessness and thus poverty. The level of poverty experienced in the Slums of Mumbai is not only manifested in the shortest of common or basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water. But poverty also deprived them of many opportunities such as the education, high paying careers and updated modernity. Children and youth under the state of poverty instead of participating in community and social services for their individual growth and learning will be forced to work at a very early age to provide for their family. Thus spiritual, emotional and intellectual growth is relatively slower compared to those youngsters expose to different learning communities/ activities. People who live in poverty often perceive themselves as hopeless individuals and unconsciously see themselves as victims of capitalism. They often have a bad impression towards government and social institutions believing that their services are unfairly distributed for the people like them. As a result, they are the one prone to rebellious activities against the government. They are often putted into a situation where they make impulsive decisions for the sake of survival that will only serve to further complicate their lives. This may include considering crime as an acceptable or justifiable alternative for physical survival. Ultimately, their value system and moral standard will be greatly affected. Poverty may cause disunity inside the family and community as a whole. Example of this is the increasing number of single mothers and separated parents because couples can’t live by love alone. Poverty may lead to encountering many mental and psychological problems because and anxieties and different levels of depression. The effects of poverty all over the world especially on slum areas show inequalities and disparities between the rich and the poor. It is not only a reflection of their own wrongdoings but also a reflection of mismanagement in governance and unequal distribution of wealth and resources. Moreover, poverty especially in Asia is also a reflection of cultural causes which exercise their life in conformity to their tradition and religion. The United Nations and various social institutions though are working hand in hand to at least lessen poverty since everybody deserves a decent life. . (2009). â€Å"Slum in Mumbai†. The Star Online. Retrieved on February 17, 2009 from http://thestar. com. my/lifestyle/story. asp? file=/2009/2/16/lifefocus/3092984&sec=lifef

Emergent Corporate Strategy Essay

CORPORATE STRATEGY is the direction an organization takes with the objective of achieving business success in the long term. Recent approaches have focused on the need for companies to adapt to and anticipate changes in the business environment. The development of a corporate strategy involves establishing the purpose and scope of the organization’s activities and the nature of the business it is in, taking the environment in which it operates, its position in the marketplace, and the competition it faces into consideration. Strategic management is a relatively young subject. It has its roots in the economic and social theories of the 1930s and 1940s – perhaps even earlier. It only really began to emerge as a separate topic in the 1960s and 1970s. Even today, there is only partial agreement on the fundamental principles of strategic management with many views, ideas and concepts. Among the numerous early contributors, the most influential were Alfred Chandler, Philip Se lznick, Igor Ansoff and Peter Drucker. Alfred Chandler recognized the importance of coordinating management activity under an all-encompassing strategy. Interactions between functions were typically handled by managers who relayed information back and forth between departments. Chandler stressed the importance of taking a long term perspective when looking to the future. In his 1962 ground breaking work Strategy and Structure, Chandler showed that a long-term coordinated strategy was necessary to give a company structure, direction and focus. He says it concisely, â€Å"structure follows strategy.† Times change and concepts evolve so by the 1980s one can choose between two pathways when developing a strategy for a corporation, non-profit organization or an institution: the prescriptive and the emergent approach. Deliberate strategy is goal-orientated. It asks: what do we want to achieve? Emergent strategy is means-orientated. It asks: what is possible, with the means we have at our disposal? Already in 1985 Mintzberg and Waters were publishing: Ë ®Of strategies, Deliberate and EmergentË ® were they stated that deliberate str ategy is realized as intended whereas emergent strategy are patterns of consistence realized despite, or in the absence, of intention. There are 8 different types of strategy between the two poles of deliberate and emergent strategy: planned, entrepreneurial, ideological, umbrella, process, unconnected, consensus, imposed. Many authors have defined the two approachments in different ways. In Linch’s view a prescriptive thinking is one whose objectives are defined in advance and whose main elements have been developed before the strategy commences. Such an approach usually begins with an analysis of the outside environment and the resources of the company. The objectives of the organization are then developed from this. There then follows the generation of strategic options to achieve the objectives, from which one (or more) may be chosen. The chosen option is then implemented. This full range of activities is called the prescriptive strategy process. Henry Mintzberg, in his work, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, was a critic of the analytical approach arguing that label strategic planning should be dr opped because strategic planning has impeded strategic thinking and also because unpredictable events, such as the introduction of new regulations or technologies, will regularly act to force the original strategy off its course. From a contrary point of view Ansoff shows that firms in fast-paced, competitive environments who use a systematic process for strategic planning very often go on to dominate their marketplace. Their logical, analytical approach allows them to devise predictive and pre-emptive strategies from which they can meet new opportunities head on. For instance, in 1995 EasyJet used incredible foresight to introduce low cost flights allowing it to take advantage of a more cost-conscious European Market. The prescriptive approach regards strategy development as a systematized and deterministic process where analysis of the organisation, its performance and external environment leads to the formation of a rational, long-term plan. Senior management is in charge of defining the final objectives and the plan is then put into action through the successive layers of the organization. Managers who use the analytical method are usually those with a low appetite for risk and activate in a slow changing market. On the other hand, the emergent strategy is a pattern of action that develops over time in an organization in the absence of a specific mission and goals, or despite a mission and goals. Emergent strategy is sometimes called realized strategy. Mintzberg argues that strategy emerges over time as intentions collide with and accommodate a changing reality. Emergent strategy is a set of actions, or behavior, consistent over time, â€Å"a realized pattern [that] was not expressly intended† in the original planning of the strategy. When a deliberate strategy is realized, the result matches the intended course of action. An emergent strategy develops when an organization takes a series of actions that with time turn into a consistent pattern of behavior, regardless of specific intentions. â€Å"Deliberate strategies provide the organization with a sense of purposeful direction.† Emergent strategy implies that an organization is learning what works in practice. Mixing the deliberate and the emergent strategies in some way will help the organization to control its course while encouraging the learning process. â€Å"Organizations †¦[may] pursue †¦ umbrella strategies: the broad outlines are deliberate while the details are allowed to emerge within them† (from Mintzberg, H. 1994, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning). Linch defines emergent strategy as one that does not have the same fixed objectives as the prescriptive approach. The whole process is more experimental with various possible outcomes depending on how matters develop. To quote, ‘An emergent strategy is one whose final objective is unclear and whose elements are developed during the course of its life, as the strategy proceeds.’ Thus the early stages of emergent strategy may be similar to prescriptive strategy – analysis of the environment and resources. But then the process becomes more circular, learning and experimental. Formulation of strategy runs parallel to implementation and managers at multiple organizational levels have a key input into the actual strategies pursued by the organization. This model’s emphasis on learning underlies more recent theories which focus on the value of knowledge as a core organizational competence for gaining competitive advantage. Despite heaving a good, solid, prescriptive strategy with their low cost flights, Easy Jet embraces with success also the emergent approach by launching allocated seats on all flights, in order to get competitive advantage. Budget airline says it will make more money from seat allocation than speedy boarding scheme preferred by rival Ryanair. EasyJet is ending the desperate rush for prime seats on low-cost flights by launching allocated seating across its network. Having been eschewed by budget carriers in the past for impeding fast turnaround times, the Luton-based airline said seat allocation did not appear to slow down journeys an d is more lucrative than speedy boarding schemes. It expects 1a and 6a to be the prime picks on flights following trials on 6,000 flights this season. Allocated seating was be rolled out across easyJet’s network from November, with all passengers allocated a seat. Those wishing to change their seat will be charged  £12 for front row and over-wing seats,  £8 for berths in the four rows behind the front row, and  £3 to reserve a seat anywhere else on the plane. Passengers who don’t pay for a particular spot will be randomly allocated a seat as well when they check in, free of charge, although the chances of getting a seat up front will be diminished. â€Å"The majority of people will not have to pay for their seat,† said an EasyJet spokesman, adding that the airline would attempt to seat families together even if they don’t pay for specific seats. EasyJet has mulled allocated seating trials in the past but Carolyn McCall, EasyJet chief executive, has decided to push ahead after a trial scheme showed encouraging results. The trials found that on short-haul flights such as London to Glasgow, the  £3 window seat 6a was the most popular, while on longer routes such as London to Sharm-el-Sheikh the  £12 1a berth is the most sought-after due to the more substantial legroom. Predictably, seats in the middle and near the back found the fewest takers, with 16b the least desired on short haul and passengers avoiding 19b on long haul. â€Å"This is an example of EasyJet trying to do all it can to make travel easy and affordable for our passengers,† said McCall. â€Å"Our customers asked us to trial allocated seating and we are really pleased with the positive passenger feedback during the trial. As importantly, we have shown that we can do so while delivering strong on-time performance – the most important driver of passenger satisfaction.† EasyJet said that more than seven out of 10 passengers on trial routes preferred the system to speedy boarding, where passengers pay around  £10. 50 to board a flight first – a service also offered by Ryanair. Low-cost airlines have been characterized by their strategy of charging for as many services as possible, from inflight food to checking bags into the hold. However, some notions such as allocated seating have been ruled out by the likes of Ryanair because of their potential to clutter up planes, which would prevent low-cost carriers from executing the 25-minute turnaround times – the gap between a plane arriving at its gate and pushing off again – that allow them to run the busiest possible timetable. Andrew Lobbenberg, an analyst at HSBC, said the move would benefit EasyJet because it gives the airline the opportunity to make money from all seats on a flight rather than the 30 berths set aside for speedy boarding. â€Å"We would expect sales of pre-allocated seat selection and premium seat allocation in the front of cabin and exit rows to certainly exceed speedy boarding revenues. Speedy boarding was limited to 30 passengers per flight, but we imagine a higher share of passengers will opt to secure their seats in advance of travel.† He added: â€Å"Moreover, we think the switch to allocated seating will make trave lling on EasyJet notably less stressful. It will be far better for families travelling together. It will also remove the hassle of boarding which we think has been a material deterrent for business travelers. It should also be helpful for relations with airports: as customers spend less time standing in queues for hours before the flight, they should be free to spend more time and money in airport stores.† An emergent approach leads to more creative and responsive strategy making which is well suited to the hyper-competitive and unpredictable environments of today. Interestingly, Hamel and Prahalad pointed out that the most successful firms in the world do not tie themselves down to mission, goals and objectives or the predetermined plan. One of these corporations is obviously Apple, which is in a never-ending development. Apple prides itself on its innovation. When reviewing the history of Apple, it is evident that this attitude permeated the company during its peaks of success. For instance, Apple pioneered the PDA market by introducing the Newton in 1993. Later, Apple introduced the easy-to-use iMac in 1998, and updates following 1998. It released a highly stable operating system in 1999, and updates following 1999. Apple had one of its critical points in history in 1999 when it introduced the iBook. This completed their â€Å"product matrix†, a simplified product mix strategy formulated by Jobs. This move allowed Apple to have a desktop and a portable computer in both the professional and the consumer segments. In 2001, Apple hit another important historical point by launching iTunes. This marked the beginning of Apple’s new strategy of making the Mac the hub for the â€Å"digital lifestyle†. Apple then opened its own stores, in spite of protests by independent Apple retailers voicing cannibalization concerns. Then Apple introduced the iPod, central to the â€Å"digital lifestyle† strategy. Philip W. Schiller, VP of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apple, stated, â€Å"iPod is going to change the way people listen to music.† He was right. Apple continued their innovative streak with advancements in flat-panel LCDs for desktops in 2002 and improved notebooks in 2003. In 2003, Apple released the iLife package, containing improved versions of iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, and iTunes. In reference to Apple’s recent advancements, Jobs said, â€Å"We are going to do for digital creation what Microsoft did for the office suite productivity.† That is indeed a bold statement. Time will tell whether that happens. Apple continued its digital lifestyle strategy by launching iTunes Music Store online in 2003, obtaining cooperation from â€Å"The Big 5† Music companies—BMG, EMI, Sony Entertainment, Universal, Warner. This allowed iTunes Music Store online to offer over 200,000 songs at introduction. In 2003, Apple released the world’s fastest PC (Mac G5), which had dual 2.0GHz PowerPC G5 processors. Product differentiation is a viable strategy, especially if the company exploits the conceptual distinctions for product differentiation. Those that are relevant to Apple are product features, product mix, links with other firms, and reputation. Apple established a reputation as an innovator by offering an array of easy-to-use products that cover a broad range of segments. However, its links with other firms have been limited, as we will discuss in the next section on strategic alliances. There is economic value in product differentiation, especially in the case of monopolistic competition. The primary economic value of product differentiation comes from reducing environmental threats. The cost of product differentiation acts as a barrier to entry, thus reducing the threat of new entrants. Not only does a company have to bear the cost of standard business, it also must bear the costs associated with overcoming the differentiation inherent in the incumbent. Since companies pursue niche markets, there is a reduced threat of rivalry among industry competitors. A company’s differentiated product will appear more attractive relative to substitutes, thus reducing the threat of substitutes. If suppliers increase their prices, a company with a differentiated product can pass that cost to its customers, thus reducing the threat of suppliers. Since a company with a differentiated product competes as a quasi-monopoly in its market segment, there is a reduced threat of buyers. With all of Porter’s Five Forces lower, a company may see economic value from a product differentiation strategy. A company attempts to make its strategy a sustained competitive advantage. For this to occur, a product differentiation strategy that is economically valuable must also be rare, difficult to imitate, and the company must have the organization to exploit this. If there are fewer firms differentiating than the number required for perfect competition d ynamics, the strategy is rare. If there is no direct, easy duplication and there are no easy substitutes, the strategy is difficult to imitate. There are four primary organizing dilemmas when considering product differentiation as a strategy: inter-functional collaboration, connection to the past, commitment to market vision and institutional control. To resolve these dilemmas, there must be an appropriate organization structure. A U-Form organization resolves the inter-functional collaboration dilemma if there are product development and product management teams. Combining the old with the new resolves the connection to the past dilemma. Having a policy of experimentation and a tolerance for failure resolves the commitment to market vision dilemma. Managerial freedom within broad decision-making guidelines will resolve the institutional control dilemma. Five leadership roles will facilitate the innovation process: Institutional Leader, Critic, Entrepreneur, Sponsor, and Mentor. The institutional leader creates the organizational infrastructure necessary for innovation. This role also resolves disputes, particularly among the other leaders. The critic challenges investments, goals, and progress. The entrepreneur manages the innovative unit(s). The sponsor procures, advocates, and champions. The mentor coaches, counsels, and advises. Apple had issues within its organization. In 1997, when Apple was seeking a CEO acceptable to Jobs, Jean-Louis Gassà ©e (then-CEO of Be, ex-Products President at Apple) commented, â€Å"Right now the job is so difficult, it would require a bisexual, blond Japanese who is 25 years old and has 15 years’ experience!† Charles Haggerty, then-CEO of Western Digital, said, â€Å"Apple is a company that still has opportunity written all over it. But you’d need to recruit God to get it done.† Michael Murphy, then-editor of California Technology Stock Letter, stated, â€Å"Apple desperately needs a great day-to-day manager, visionary, leader and politician. The only person who’s qualified to ru n this company was crucified 2,000 years ago.† Since Jobs took over as CEO in 1997, Apple seems to have resolved the innovation dilemmas, evidenced by their numerous innovations. To continue a product differentiation strategy, Apple must continue its appropriate management of innovation dilemmas and maintain the five leadership roles that facilitate the innovation process. In a few words emergent strategy does not mean chaos, but unintended order instead; does not mean that management is out of control, only that it is open, flexible and responsive as well as willing to learn; ultimately it implies learning what works. The purely prescriptive approach, where realized strategy is formed exactly as intended, and purely emergent strategy- order (consistency in actions over time) in absence of intention about it do both not exist in real life. The purely prescriptive and purely emergent strategy are two poles of a continuum of observable strategies in practice. Within the framework of an environment which is by and large unpredictable, many organizations are forced to become more flexible and adaptive to change. This supports the adoption of an emergent approach to strategy development which invokes a more intelligent capacity to respond to new opportunities. Nonetheless, such a strategy can preclude control over actions and may risk a lack of direction. A greater use of strategic planning tools for internal and external analysis would certainly facilitate improved organizational learning and enhance strategic thinking even while following an emergent approach. This recognition that the prescriptive and emergent processes, rather than being mutually exclusive, can be complementary approaches that reinforce each other is being highlighted in more recent theories such as the Logical Incrementalism approach proposed by Quinn. Although many management writers seem to seek one ‘best way’ to conduct strategy, these approaches are not necessarily incompatible. Different approaches may be suitable at different times, depending on the context or situation, and an organization may pursue a combination of approaches. For example, an organization can have a clear direction and an overall plan – which it expects to have a amend or adapt as events unfold. It may also encourage small-scale strategic initiatives or projects throughout the organization. They help the organization to develop new skills and retain flexibility; they also have the potential of spreading if conditions are appropriate. All in all, most viable strategies in today’s business world should have customized elements of prescriptive and emergent characteristics in order to manage the complexities of their business and still triumph over changing circumstances. The final conclusion is that â€Å"Strategy formation walks on two feet, one deliberate and one emergent.† (Mintzberg & Waters)

Human Nature and Social values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Nature and Social values - Essay Example - Custom represents the experiences of men of earlier times as to what they supposed useful and harmful - but the sense for custom (morality) applies, not to these experiences as such, but to the age, the sanctity, the indiscussability of the custom. And so this feeling is a hindrance to the acquisition of new experiences and the correction of customs: that is to say, morality is a hindrance to the development of new and better customs: it makes stupid†.(from Nietzsches Daybreak, s.19, R.J. Hollingdale transl.) 4. The crisis of family values. It is the phenomenon that spreads all over the world. The proof for this is the resolution of the World Family Congress in Prague that was held in 1997 and continues in Geneva in 1999. Here the family crisis was discussed. It is worth mentioning that family crisis is reflected on many spheres of life of any society. Family is the main social institute and guarantee for the moral values. It is a fact that many countries experienced Cultural Revolution, materialism and sexual revolution that caused the discrimination of some aesthetic morals. Then the hedonistic societies were formed. As a result such society gets extramarital relationships, abortions, and unwed mothers. (Smith, 1990) There is a tendency that many young people pay more attention to their work now and they are not family-oriented. Nevertheless it is very difficult to judge as it was mentioned above. Probably now, when people have a special way of life and have firm goals they will be more successful and will not have any historical mistakes in future. (Reamer, 1999) â€Å"What is new, however, is always evil, being that which wants to conquer and overthrow the old boundary markers and the old pieties; and only what is old is good. The good men are in all ages those who dig the old thoughts, digging deep and getting them to bear fruit - the farmers of the spirit. But eventually all land is depleted, and the ploughshare of evil must come

Poverty and Crimes Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poverty and Crimes - Annotated Bibliography Example It is useful because he used actual people who were involved as crimes as both a victim and one who created the crime. When looking at specific poverty areas and this article gives insights as to how it looks from the other side of victimization. Bausman and Goe discuss "economic marginalization" and how it has more to do with an environment that can perpetrate crime instead of only economics. They say that most researchers only look at the economics but there are many other factors that create crime. This article is interesting because it points out that people who are unemployed have a challenge because they have to meet their needs in some way. They state that unemployment is a large factor that can create more property crime and that unemployment can create more crime in any area. Since I am looking at the fact that poverty causes crimes this article shows a link between lack of employment as one of the factors in crime. It is important to find out what factors make juveniles commit crime. In order to create prevention programs these authors felt it important to identify characteristics and circumstances that make juveniles create crimes. The authors wanted to create a profile of what a juvenile would look like who creates crimes. Part of my paper will deal with what we can do to stop crime. Since there are problems that our society cannot fix it is important to identify what characteristics may lead an individual to commit a crime. This article gives some ideas of what this would be like and will fit into the last aspects of my paper. This is a discussion of how alcohol and drugs influence crime and which crimes are committed. The authors have created a scientific study of how drugs and crime work and they have given a thorough study. Chapter 5 details the drug and crime connection and how they work together to create problems in the community.

Cause and effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Cause and effect - Essay Example Some economists believe the crisis to be a result of economic cycles which are impossible to resist. There is, however, another theory, which considers the crisis to be a result of a new policy of credit accommodation. That is also the theory the paper focuses on. Most banks and mortgage lenders offered 100 percent financing of a price for a house (or even more). As a comparison, most world banks currently finance approximately 85 percent of a price. This was a really advantageous credit for borrowers – they received an opportunity not only to buy a house, but also to renovate it. However, such a loan was quite risky for lenders. A house could have been sold only for lower price in case a borrower failed to pay the loan back. Thus, the investment becomes lossmaking. However, the number of such deals was constantly increasing. As a result, both banks and estate agencies were financed by investment banks. Another factor was that mortgage rate was not stable. It was dependent on LIBOR, the average interest rate that the average leading bank would be charged if borrowing from other banks (Bischoff & McGagh, 2012). Benefits are obvious – borrowers expected their loan interest rate to decrease in case general situation is being improving. On the other hand, lenders expected it to grow together with the percentage. Thus, mortgage-lending system of the US in 2006-2008 was dependent on LIBOR index. It was acceptable when the index was a little bit increasing or slightly decreasing, though both parties were interested in its stability. However, LIBOR index turned to be quite changeable and instable in practice. It was about 6 percent by the end of 2007. What is more, it was continuously growing. As a result, borrowers were unable to pay back their loans. Investment banks bore thumping damages. That is how the US mortgage crisis appeared. Its effects may be felt even now. That is what set off chain reaction of

Simmons Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Simmons Case Study - Essay Example Other than one of it's plants, they were all run military style, turnover was high and it appeared to no one was very happy to be coming to work and even more important the managers had no sense of responsibility for their staff other then to drive them in their jobs. The economy had turned sour after 911 and their competitors were beginning to do somewhat better. To top it all, they had lost good contact with customers and with suppliers and had just instituted a bad set of foam that made their mattresses smell bad. In this atmosphere, their CEO wanted to institute a training program that was very expensive and very innovative. When money is tight, it is most difficult to think about pushing forward into something new, especially if you are at the helm, the CEO. On the average, during a recession the employees are at their lowest moral and the worth of an excellent leader becomes more important than ever. According to Leb (2009), there are many things that the leader must be able to do and certainly the ability to do and one of those is to inspire those who are employed by him. In support of innovation during hard times is a survey done by Bloomberg Business Week (2009), in which they surveyed CEO's that had put in place new and innovative programs during hard times in the economy and in their companies. ... It is easy for the leadership of an organization to throw up their hands, similar to the employees, and say "there is just nothing we can do right now" and ride it out. The biggest problem with that kind of attitude is the fact that someone will pull out of head while you are waiting. In evaluating whether this should happen, a couple of things came to mind. Simmons believes in CHOICES which is the caring, history, opportunity, innovation, customers, empowerment, and support. The culture of the company does not provide for this belief. Only one plant in the several has managed to accomplish this kind of atmosphere, therefore, they need to change their values and cultural beliefs or the way they do things. The other is ethical beliefs of fairness, respect, integrity, and fostering growth and development in others. Under the present organizations culture, none of these things are happening at the level of the employees as the present managerial group continues to run the company like a dictatorship and employees are generally very unhappy (Casciaro & Edmondson, 2007). The main objectives of GGOL were to help people understand what their full potential at work might be. Their philosophy was that "profitable organizational growth is a result of satisfied and loyal customers; a committed, cooperative, and creative organizational culture; and a leadership team that empowers and serves the workforce." After seeing the video, it became obvious that this is built from the individual up, not the other way. Employees must understand where they fit in and how to interact without fear and with trust, in order to improve the processes that would lead to

Topics in Information Technology Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Topics in Information Technology Ethics - Essay Example Of course, security reasons are not the only purposes for Internet surveillance; corporations also use surveillance for marketing purposes. Paul Mobbs, in the article â€Å"How and when organisations and the state can monitor your actions,† discusses the â€Å"potential threats to civil liberties posed by the use of electronic networks for the purposes of surveillance, by the state and private companies, and the potential damage of these for civil society in the long term.† Karen McCullagh, in response to the growing security concerns after 9/11, also states that the modern use if the Internet has provided companies ad states with opportunities of surveillance that were not open to them previously. As she sees it, privacy and security are interconnected issues: â€Å"It is submitted that privacy and security are necessarily interrelated and interdependent. Therefore neither principle should ever be applied to the exclusion of the other, as they are both essential tenet s of a liberal democratic society.† These are difficult issues, and there are no easy answers to them. It is necessary, though, for people to be aware of the extent to which they are or can be monitored. Security is a necessity, but no will could argue that civil liberties are not also a necessity. Mobbs splits surveillance into two different categories, indirect and directed. Under indirect surveillance, the practices of dataveillance and data profiling are the two most commonly used. These practices are used typically for the purposes of marketing, political lobbying, police investigations, and the protection of intellectual property. As most users of the Internet do not understand the technology behind the Internet, these users are particularly susceptible to invasions of privacy. This is not to say that people are not aware that their privacy has been violated, though it does mean that people might attempt to protect their privacy by means which could be

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, Essay - 6

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, and a short paragraph Evaluation of the text below - Essay Example w implementation in the American society by exposing the flaws in the present justice system, which is crucial for ensuring equality in law application in the future. Goodman and Gonzà ¡lez present a scenario in which the police in Ferguson, Missouri apply the law discriminatively. Critically dissecting the text, racial discrimination is perpetuated using the very justice system that is expected to protect all citizens of the United States. There is overt discrimination in the manner in which the police handle individuals of different racial backgrounds, with the blacks facing the wrath of the law. It is my belief that a just legal system should ensure that laws are applied equal to all people irrespective of their races or ethnicity. Assessing the presentation, several questions emerge. Are African Americans inherently inclined to crime? Is the police department practicing racism under the cover of law implementation? Nonetheless, the voices in the in the presentation offers a cred ible argument by citing the U.S. Justice Department confirmation discrimination in the police and city courts in Ferguson, Missour. The presentation is inspiring as it hints at a possibility of improving the law to ensure a better society devoid of racial discrimination in future. Goodman , Amy and Juan Gonzà ¡lez. Michelle Alexander: Ferguson Shows Why Criminal Justice System of "Racial Control" Should Be Undone. A daily independent global news hour, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Accessed March 12, 2015.

Hr Policies of Ibm by Bal Essay Example for Free

Hr Policies of Ibm by Bal Essay About ibm IBM is a global technology and innovation company that stands for progress. With operations in over 170 countries, IBMers around the world invent and integrate hardware, software and services to help forward-thinking enterprises, institutions and people everywhere succeed in building a smarter planet. IBM has been present in India since 1992. The diversity and breadth of the entire IBM portfolio of research, consulting, solutions, services, systems and software, uniquely distinguishes IBM India from other companies in the industry. IBM Indias solutions and services span all major industries including financial services, healthcare, government, automotive, telecommunications and education, among others. As a trusted partner with wide-ranging service capabilities, IBM helps clients transform and succeed in challenging circumstances. IBM has been expanding its footprint in India and has a presence in over 200 cities and towns across the country either directly or through its strong business partner network. IBM India has clearly established itself as one of the leaders in the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry and continues to transform itself to align with global markets and geographies to grow this leadership position. Widely recognised as an employer of choice, IBM holds numerous awards for its industry-leading employment practices and policies. IBM has one of the largest professional workforces in the world today. And what we bring to market is the expertise of our people, a workforce which is responsive to market requirements, with the skills and expertise to deliver value to clients, is resilient to market forces and delivers strong leadership. IBM has retained its position as one of the World’s Top Employers of Choice over these years because of its three-fold initiatives for the employees: * Capability: Rigorous and ongoing career/skills development programs * Climate: A challenging, empowering work environment, with world-class infrastructure * Culture: Sensitive to a global workforce The attributes that qualify these 3Cs are the Top Reasons that people come to work at IBM. IBM HR Policies 1. Global employment standards At IBM, we have always set high standards for the way we conduct business – in areas from corporate and social responsibility to sound business ethics, including compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. These Conduct Principles apply to all IBM employees. However, they are not meant to describe the full scope of IBM human resource policies or practices. More detailed statements of policies, procedures and practices are contained in documents such as the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines. Employees are required to comply with all IBM policies, procedures and practices at all times and are responsible for consulting their management if they have any questions. Our goal is to ensure full compliance with these principles by IBM managers and employees. A companion to this document, the IBM Supplier Conduct Principles, governs our relationships with and standards for IBM suppliers. . Forced or involuntary labor IBM will not use forced or involuntary labor of any type (e. g. , forced, bonded, indentured or involuntary prison labor); employment is voluntary. 3. Child labor IBM will not use child labor. The term child refers to any employed person under the age of 16, or under the age for completing compulsory education, or under the minimum age for employment in the country, whichever is greatest. We support the use of legitimate workplace apprenticeship, internship and other similar programs that comply with all laws and regulations applicable to such programs. 4. Wages and benefits IBM will, at a minimum, comply with all applicable wage and hour laws and regulations, including those relating to minimum wages, overtime hours, piece rates, nonexempt or exemption classification and other elements of compensation, and provide legally mandated benefits. 5. Working hours IBM will not exceed maximum hours of work prescribed by law and will appropriately compensate overtime. Employees will not be required to work more than 60 hours per week, including overtime, except in extraordinary business circumstances with their consent or where the nature of the position requires such work, as for exempt employees and employees in executive, managerial or professional positions. In countries where the maximum work week is shorter, that standard shall apply. Employees should be allowed at least one day off per seven-day week. 6. Nondiscrimination and harassment IBM will not discriminate in hiring, promotion, compensation of employees and employment practices on grounds of race, color, religion, age, nationality, social or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, political affiliation, disability or veteran status. IBM will create a work environment free of discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or veteran status. . Respect and dignity IBM will treat all employees with respect and dignity and will not use corporal punishment, threats of violence or other forms of physical coercion or harassment. 8. Freedom of association IBM will respect the legal rights of its employees to join or to refrain from joining worker organizations, including labor organizations or trade unions. IBM complies with legal requirements worldwide regarding employee and third-party involvement. IBM respects the rights of employees to organize, and makes managers at all levels aware of those rights. The companys long-standing belief is that the interests of IBM and its employees are best served through a favorable, collaborative work environment with direct communication between employees and management. IBM endeavors to establish such favorable employment conditions, to promote positive relationships between employees and managers, to facilitate employee communications, and to support employee development. 9. Health and safety IBM will provide its employees with a safe and healthy workplace in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Consistent with these obligations, IBM will have and will implement effective programs that encompass things such as life safety, incident investigation, chemical safety, ergonomics, and will provide safe standards of health and safety in any housing and transportation provided for our employees by the company. 10. Protection of the environment IBM is committed to worldwide leadership in environmental protection.

Marketing Strategy Of Tony And Guy Salon

Marketing Strategy Of Tony And Guy Salon Tony and Guy salon is working marketing strategy that would enable the company regains the control of the hair treatments market globally. More so, the company is working towards reviving and rejuvenating operational the Dubai Branch that has not been performing well. The organization has set aside $ 1000000 for the processes in the marketing strategy. The conservative limited marketing budget will spread among such activities as marketing efforts renting showrooms in high traffic areas in cities where there will not only be more visibility of the Tony Guy products but also its professionally trained staff will offer hair treatment services at subsidized rates and show case the organizations product and services. Apart from the existing outlets, the activities will be conducted in selected well-traveled, popular malls located in high human traffic areas. Although, it will be costly to lease these locations temporarily, normally higher than normal rent, part of the high cost of rents will be offset of the sales made during the exercise. The other proceeds will go to marketing activities that are designed to increase visibility such as road-shows and other activities. Generally the marketing strategy is composed of the following activities: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advertisements: there will be Advertisements in country specific and international magazines, journals, newspapers and other publications. Those publications that have wide readerships among the women and youth will be give priority since these groups the biggest junk of the target market segments. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Since not all the target markets may be reached by advertisements in publications, alternatives means of reaching them will have to be decided. One way will be using large billboards in major roads feeding major world cities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In-store and Store Front Displays: These displays will be visible to the large walk- through traffic base. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Electronic mediums such Television Commercials, radio and internet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sponsored events and roads shows will be another marketing strategy to be used. 3.1 Mission The major objective of marketing strategies will be to inform the customers and those potentials customer that Tony and Guy products and Salon Services are not only available locally but also that the company is committed to providing reasonably priced, convenient hair styling and the organization exists to attract and maintain customers. When Tony and Guy adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place. Their services will meet or exceed the expectations of their customers and eventually result in secured and protected future markets. 3.2 Marketing Objectives à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The marketing strategies will increase repeat customers by at least 9% per quarter. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Product visibilities and awareness is to be boosted by 14% à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The strategies will decrease customer acquisition costs by 8% per year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Non performing branches such the as one Dubai is to maintain positive, steady growth each month. 3.3 Financial Objectives Ultimately, the marketing objectives of the marketing strategy must translate into sales. After the implementation of the marketing strategy, the following effects are anticipated or targeted sales: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 10% increase in the amount of retail products sold per year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Growth of the profit margin by 3% per year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Full recovery of sales and ultimately profitability in the Dubai branches and other branches initially performing poorly throughout the worlds; one year since the inception of marketing programs. Target Marketing, as part of the strategy will enable Tony and Guy; to reach different market segments: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Men: past statistics show that men at least 70%-75%of men use hair make up, thus implying significant clientele potentials. Relevant communicational tactical ads will to reach these groups will be used. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Upper-end and lower-end women markets: The biggest proportions (about 90%) of the revenues to the hair industry come from female customers. Women have generally been found to be fond of identifying themselves with classy and expensive and fashionable products and services. Although they can be discriminated by class and prices, the quality of services and the functionality of different brands of Tony and Guy brands will greatly influence this segment t of the market. There therefore great potential market in the women populations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Young Mothers with Children: Young children are an emerging market in the hair treatment industry. A typical family salon has facilities that allow the children to play while they are waiting and then will work with the parents in calming the children nerves when they are ready for treatment. Each of the three groups will be targeted separately. The Tony and Guy outlets and the new leased promotional centers will prepare its staff to offer quick and convenient services to the male customers. Outlets will close late at night 8 pm in high traffic centers and security services will be acquired from security companies. Through out the periods, no appointments will be required, and most of the salon services will be on first come first serve basis but quick, convenient and satisfactory to the customers. As for women, generally, researches have shown them to prefer the allure of classy salons, although practically not everyone can afford such luxury. For this reason, Tony and Guy will provide the different hair treatment services but strictly within the normal range prices. Tony and Guy will target these customers by emphasizing the sophisticated, ultra hype styling that Tony and Guy will offer at all their outlets all over the world during the promotion period or the time of implementing the marketing strategies. Entertainment will be offered. To reach both the high end and low end market at the time while appealing wit classy but affordable services and products, Tony and Guy advertisement will be made to appeal to all. The advertisement while communicating the classiness of the services and products will also emphasize of the affordability. Above all, advertisements will demonstrate that making up and treating ones hair with companys products and or services is a necessity, as bas ic as clothing. It will communicate that it not longer a secondary need but a basic need for every woman. With the latest finding confirming that there is an emerging market in the children for the hair industry, Tony and Guy cannot ignore the segment. To win the Children market, Tony and Guy, will focus its strategies towards mothers with children by offering kids toys to play with while they wait and child-friendly hair stylists. Additionally, children receive a special rate reflecting the fact that childrens hair grows so fast that it can be expensive to keep up with regular treatments as well as the recognition that it generally takes a lot less time to treat a childs hair so it should be inherently less expensive. The tactical advertisement will be tuned to appeal to this group while reaching other segment with the same message. 3.5 Positioning Tony and Guy Salon marketing strategies will position the organization in the industry strategically to be a one stop-shop convenient, full and affordable services and products. While reaching families a corporate entity, the salons also will appeals to individuals with all the outlets prepared to offer quality services and products at competitive rates even after the promotional periods. Tony and Guy will be offering one-stop services, building it competitive edge by striving to achieve its desired positioning through; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Excellent customer services through out all centers: Tony and Guys competitive edge will be based on superior customer service. The company recognizes that the hair treatment industry has crowded market with challenging situations id differentiating its products and services from those of the competitors. To stand out in the market, Tony and Guy, take advantage of its combined concerted efforts to sell the hair products while at the same time operating salons. The two activities not only give an opportunity to the customers to try the products and the services but also enables them experience the quality of services and the products the company offers. Tony and Guys have been trained in the London Academy in quality customers services. This will enable the company through out its branches spread across the globe to simultaneously offer or provide superior customer attention. The staff will be as much as possible be flexible to the needs of the customer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The staff will be incentivized to offer quality client services throughout. While Tony and Guy will invest time and money into training the employees, other concerted efforts will be arranged to ensure that clients receive the best experience possible making it is easier to turn them into a long-term customer and improve the companys and the its services and products reputations. Through the superior customer service, Tony and Guy will be able to effectively compete against and outlast larger chains and independent stores operating in the industry both locally and internationally. 3.6 Strategy Pyramids To fully overhaul, the old marketing strategies, with rejuvenated efforts, the single most apparent objective is to position Tony and Guy as the premier, full service, family salon in the internationally. The pyramids marketing strategy will seek to first create customer awareness regarding the services offered, then develop the customer base, and finally work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The message that Tony and Guy will seek to communicate is that the entire family can be served quickly, professionally, with superior customer service at reasonable rates. The message will be communicated through various methods. During and after the promotions, the messages will continue to be communicated through in-store and storefront displays through all the outlets and partnering retail salons. This will be a convenient and cost effective method to attract potential and existing customers that walk around the or near the outlets and retail centre. This will complement the other method of communication is advertisements in two local and international regular publications newspapers. Marketing Mix Tony and Guy marketing mix will carefully companied selectively to influence customer behavior in favor of the services and product of the company. Theoretically, a typical marketing mix model is comprised of the 4Ps of marketing namely: pricing, Place (distribution), Promotion and advertising, and Product. Pricing Tony and Guy Salon pricing system will be founded on a competitive pricing model that while making the services and products affordable, also remains competitive relative to competitors prices. This pricing strategy will be the most fundamental element that needs serious considerations in each and every market. Although the pricing of services and products by Tony and Guy will be guided by the current levels and those of the competitors, the company will strive to offer optimal prices, affordable and compelling to the customer, yet giving reasonable returns. During the promotions, the prices will be subsidized, but at minimum, the revenues must offset the promotional expenses. Thereafter the new set of optimal prices will be offered for the products. Each markets retail outlets will be issued with pricing guidelines. Tony and Guy acknowledge the difficulty in standardizing prizes in all the markets considering the variations in income and economic levels. For this reason each segment of economic separated by national boundaries and currency will have specific pricing model guidelines. Independent salons franchised to offer Tony and Guy products and services will be given discounts to together with customers identifies to have been loyal (Westwood, 2000). Price Policy While Tony and Guy Company Salon admit that pricing is the most important element that influences customer or rather buyer behavior and the same determine the profitability of any enterprise, the company intends to develop policies that would assist the managements and retailing outlets in setting optimum pricings that are enticing to customers. These prices will be so strategic that that it will affect the overall performances and the future competitiveness of Tony and Guy. Attracting new clients and keeping the customers, will be the key agenda in the pricing policies to be developed. Because of these affordably but competitive prices, Tony and Guy will use other strategies expand its market. The lower prices will be compensated by larger sales volumes. In this case the best method that the company sees as what will attract the customers and keep them. For the prices to be competitive and appealing to customers, the organization devises strategies and conducts feasibility analyses of customers experiences at different pricing scenarios. This requires some market research and testing to determine customer behavior at different selected rates. The Tony and Guy Hair products and hair treatment services will use the fixed price in specific regions with similar market segment description such demographic, cultural and economic situations. This policy involves determining the price for customers who are wiling to purchase the product with the same prices, given the same shared market conditions and environment. Though it sounds discriminatory in nature, the prices will be fixed in such a way that it will be very easy for the company to administer and in the long run be able to maintain a good will within the customers. This strategy will enable the company use the higher pricing in better economics markets to compensate the minimal rates charged in the markets whose economic and average income levels are lowers. This is one of the strategies often recommended for company multinationals operating in countries having different economic performances (Westwood, 2000). Place (Place of Distribution) Worldwide Marketing (Promotion) Tony and Guy Salon being an international company that deals with hair treatments products an services, has a strategic marketing plan program for its product and services with a world wide scope. Since the birth of the organization in United Kingdom, the company has always catered for the demand of its customers across the globe. Consistent with this global reach, the company has always been aware of its customer around the globe. In line with this element of the marketing mix and consistent to the marketing strategy, the strategy has always been to formulate and invent products that meets the needs of customers in different part of the world. With much investment in research and development of Tony and Guy salon products, the organization has already meet identified the specific needs required in most parts of the world including the strict Islamic Middle East. Following adaptation of its products to meet the specific hair needs of the customers in different part of the globe, Tony and Guy has earned high approval rating from clients. This explains the successive awards the company has won. For example, in 2006, it won the South West Hairdresser of the Year and it has won the London Hairdresser of the Year (11 times) consecutively. While sensitive to such social issues as racism and whiles making efforts not to conform to beauty concepts of each and every culture in the countries they are operating, Tony and Guy has taken into consideration, Tony and Guy take into consideration colors appreciated by its customers. The company gives its customers opportunities to embrace diversity amongst them selves while enhancing their personal features and aesthetics. Tony and Guy Salon employees are another lot of diversity. With majority of them being women and multi-colored, they are considered a minority implying an excellent team out of an affirmative action and a symbol of the target global market. To Tony and Guy Salon, embracing people cultures is the best method to reach and to serve the interest of the consumer wherever they are. Locating the store in a high traffic mall will significantly increase visibility. A targeted advertising campaign will also communicate Tony and Guy Salons desired messages. The company intends to use various media so as to reach its target market. Research will be made so that the right media is selected which is more efficient and more reliable. The promotional activities that the company intends to put in place include having a chain of distribution that is well coordinated and that which can provide the right channel to the market that is targeted. Some of the channels which are available in Kenya include use of mass media, newspapers, the internet and personal selling. Through these methods, the company is able to reach many people at the same time and establish a strong market in Kenya (Kirsch and Goldfarb, 2002). Product and services A practical marketing strategy is not complete without the product element of the marketing mix. One way Tony and Guy Salon have ensured appropriately blending its hair treatment products and services. Customer service is on strategy that has been used to deliver quality to customers worldwide. All the Tony and Guy Salon employees have been trained in exceptional customer service in the London Academy. The partnering retail salons have also been given strict guidelines on the quality of customer service. Tony and Guy is recognized for it commitment to continually pursue researches that ultimately improve the quality of the company products and service. One of the strategic plans has had has always been to take into account the best interests of the customers wherever they are. By giving a wider variety of products and services, the company has been able to offer customers a wider range that customers can chose from according to their needs and preferences. The products and services are prices in such a way that it caters for the needs of all the customers which though geographically separated are united by the Tony and Guy products and services. Regardless of age, whether affluent or poor, whether in Africa or in Asia, Tony and Guy offer product and services that suits the needs and are affordable to each of them. To remain reliant, the company keeps abreast of the latest trends in the industry. Tony and Guy continually update their brands and responding to the dynamics of the industry. To enhance these processed the company has a dedicated team that pursue research and product innovation. The major objective of all these efforts is to consolidate a stronger clientele base among diverse cultures around the globe. Since the emergence advertising and promotions, Tony and Guy, has commissioned several posters around the major cities to publicize the company products. Since the introduction advertising through movies in the 1950s, the company has engaged it also a medium of reaching customers. Tony and Guy has also sponsored major Soap Operas in Europe and Asia which are also transmitted or sold to other continents. Use of celebrity personalities in adverting has not escaped the company marketing strategies. The famous actresses and other personalities has enabled Tony and Guy relate the successful with personality lives to their corporate and brand images and subsequently boasting visibility and sales. Ethical Issues and CSR In any marketing program, ethical issues normally emerge. There is one major ethical issue that will be of great concern in this marketing plan for Tony and Guy salon. The ethical issue revolves around the conventional use of advertising using images of beautiful women. The hair treatment industry being just part of beauty and cosmetic industry, has conventionally been using images of women to advertise. This is because, the core target audient is the women populace and images of other popular or celebrity women can sell a message of advertisement to them. The underlying ethical issue in Tony and Guy marketing strategy is in the use of using advertisement that carry beautiful women. This has recently attracted criticism with critics claiming that use of images, more so explicit or very exposing women images not only degrades the stands of morals in the society but also lowers the dignity of women. In addition to these criticisms, the images are said to be offensive to conservative cultures. According to Blaire (1994), advertising using feminine messages whether visual or otherwise, delineates from the natural and local cultures principles and instead are forced to see herself through the eyes of another ideal woman in an ad image.

Analysis of Student Geometric Thinking and Age Differences

Analysis of Student Geometric Thinking and Age Differences Students Geometric Thinking 8 CHAPTER 1 Introduction In the last 20 years, the perception of learning as internalization of knowledge is criticized and problemized in mathematics education society (Lave Wenger, 1991; Sfard, 2000; Forman Ansell, 2001). Lave and Wenger (1991) describe learning as a process of â€Å"increasing participation in communities of practices† (p.49). Sfard (2000) also emphasized the new understanding of learning as â€Å"Today, rather than speaking about â€Å"acquisition of knowledge,† many people prefer to view learning as becoming a participant in a certain discourse† (p.160). This new perspective in the understanding of learning brings different views to mathematics teaching practice. While the structure of mathematics lessons is organized in the sequence of Initiation- Response-Evaluation (IRE) in the traditional mathematics classrooms, with the reform movement, participation of the students become the centre of the mathematics classrooms (O Connor, 1993; Steele, 2001). Initiating topic or problems, starting or enhancing discussions, providing explanations are the role of the teacher in the traditional classrooms but these roles become a part of students responsibilities in the reform mathematics classrooms (Forman, 1996). Turkey also tries to organize their mathematics curriculum according to these reform movements. With the new elementary mathematics curriculum, in addition to developing mathematical concepts, the goal of mathematics education is defined as enhancing students problem solving, communication and reasoning abilities. Doing mathematics is no more defined only as remembering basic mathematical facts and rules and following procedures, it also described as solving problems, discussing the ideas and solution strategies, explaining and defending own views, and relating mathematical concepts with other mathematical concepts and disciplines (MEB, 2006). Parallel to new understanding of learning, reform movements in mathematics education, and new Turkish elementary mathematics curriculum, students roles such as developing alternative solution strategies and sharing and discussing these strategies gain great importance in mathematics education. Mathematics teachers are advised to create classroom discourse in which students will be encouraged to use different approaches for solving problems and to justify their thinking. This means that some researches and new mathematics curriculum give so much importance to encourage students to develop alternative problem solving strategies and share them with others. (MEB, 2006; Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, Levi Empson, 1999; Reid, 1995). One of the aims of the new mathematics curriculum is that the students stated their mathematical thinking and their implications during the mathematical problem solving process (MEB, 2006). According to new curriculum, the students should have opportunity to solve the problems using different strategies and to explain their thinking related to problem solving to their friends and teacher. Moreover, the students should state their own mathematical thinking and implications during the problem solving process and they should develop problem solving strategies in mathematics classrooms (MEB, 2006). Fraivillig, Murphy and Fuson (1999) reported that creating this kind of classrooms requires that teacher has knowledge about students mathematical thinking. One of the most important studies related to childrens mathematical thinking is Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). The aim of this study is to help the teachers organize and expand their understanding of childrens thinking and to explore how to use this knowledge to make instructional decisions such as choice of problems, questions to ask children to acquire their understanding. The study was conducted from kindergarten through 3rd grade students. At the beginning of the study, researchers tried to explore students problem solving strategies related to content domains addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The findings from this investigation is that students solve the problems by using direct modeling strategies, counting strategies derived facts strategy and invented algorithms. In order to share their findings with teachers, they conducted workshops. With these workshops, the teachers realized that the students are able to solve the problems using a variety of stra tegies. After this realization, they started to listen to their students mathematical explanations, tried to elicit those strategies by asking questions, tried to understand childrens thinking and encouraged the use of multiple strategies to solve the problems in their classrooms (Franke, Kazemi, 2001, Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). At the end of the study, the students whose teachers encourage them to solve the questions with different strategies and spend more time for discussing these solutions showed higher performance (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, Levi, Jacobs, Empson, 1996). Similar finding is also observed the study of Hiebert and Wearne (1993). They concluded that when the students solve few problems, spend more time for each problem and explain their alternative solution strategies, they get higher performance. As indicated the new curriculum in Turkey (MEB,2006), the teacher should create a classroom in which students develop different problem solving strategies, share these with their classmates and their teacher and set a high value on different problem solving strategies during the problem solving process. Encouraging the students to solve the problems is important since while they are solving the problems, they have a chance to overview their own understanding and they take notice of their lack of understandings or misunderstandings (Chi Bassock, 1989, as cited in Webb, Nemer Ing, 2006). Moreover, Forman and Ansell (2001) stated that if the students develop their own problem solving strategies, their self confidence will be increase and they ca n build their mathematical informal knowledge. Not only mathematical thinking, but also geometrical thinking has very crucial role for developing mathematical thinking since National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in USA (2000) stated that â€Å"geometry offers an aspect of mathematical thinking that is different from, but connected to, the world of numbers† (p.97). While students are engaging in shapes, structures and transformations, they understand geometry and also mathematics since these concepts also help them improve their number skills. There are some studies which dealt with childrens thinking but a few of them examine childrens geometrical thinking especially two dimensional and three dimensional geometry. One of the most important studies related to geometrical thinking is van Hiele Theory. The theory categorizes childrens geometrical thinking in a hierarchical structure and there are five hierarchical levels (van Hiele, 1986). According to these levels, initially students recognize the shapes as a whole (Level 0), then they discover the properties of figures and recognize the relationship between the figures and their properties (level 1 and 2). Lastly the students differentiate axioms, definitions and theorems and they prove the theorems (level 3 and 4) (Fuys, Geddes, Tischler, 1988). Besides, there are some other studies which examined geometrical thinking in different point of view. For example, the study of Ng (1998) is related to students understanding in area and volume at grade 4 and 5. But, Battista and Clements (1996) and Ben-Chaim (1985) investigated students geometric thinking by describing students solution strategies and errors in 3-D cube arrays at grades 3, 4 and 5. On the other hand, Chang (1992) carried out a study to understand spatial and geometric reasoning abilities of college students. Besides of these studies, Seà §il (2000), Olkun (2001), Olkun, Toluk (2004), Ãâ€"zbellek (2003) and Okur (2006) have been conducted studies in Turkey. Generally, the studies are about students geometric problem solving strategies (Seà §il, 2000), the reason of failure in geometry and ways of solution (Okur, 2006), the misconceptions and missing understandings of the students related to the subject angles at grade 6 and 7 (Ãâ€"zbellek, 2003). In addition to t hese, studies has been done to investigate the difficulties of students related to calculating the volume of solids which are formed by the unit cubes (Olkun, 2001), number and geometry concepts and the effects of using materials on students geometric thinking (Olkun Toluk, 2004). When the studies are examined which has been done in Turkey, the number of studies related to spatial ability is limited. Spatial ability is described as â€Å"the ability to perceive the essential relationships among the elements of a given visual situation and the ability to mentally manipulate one or two elements and is logically related to learning geometry† (as cited in Moses, 1977, p.18). Some researchers claimed that it has an important role for mathematics education since spatial skills contribute an important way to the learning of mathematics (Fennema Sherman, 1978; Smith, 1964) and Anderson (2000) claimed that mathematical thinking or mathematical ability is strongly related with spatial ability. On the other hand, Moses (1977) and Battista (1990) found that geometric problem solving and achievement are positively correlated with spatial ability. So, developing students spatial ability will have benefit to improve students geometrical and also mathematical thinking and it may foster students interest in mathematics. Problem Statement Since spatial ability and geometric thinking are basis of mathematics achievement, then one of the problems for researchers may be to investigate students geometric thinking (NCTM, 2000; Anderson, 2000; Fennema Sherman, 1978; Smith, 1964). For this reason, generally this study will focus on students geometrical thinking. Particularly, it deals with how students think in three-dimensional and two-dimensional geometry, their solution strategies in order to solve three-dimensional and two-dimensional geometry problems, the difficulties which they confront with while they are solving them and the misconceptions related to geometry. Also, whether or not the students use their mathematics knowledge or daily life experiences while solving geometry questions are the main questions for this study. Purpose Statement The purpose of this study is to assess and describe students geometric thinking. Particularly, its purpose is to explain how the students approach to three-dimensional geometry, how they solve the questions related to three-dimensional geometry, what kind of solution strategies they develop, and what kind of difficulties they are confronted with when they are solving three-dimensional geometry problems. Also, the other purpose is to analyze how students associate their mathematics knowledge and daily life experience with geometry. The study attempt to answer the following questions: How do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade elementary students solve the questions related to three-dimensional geometry problems? What kind of solution strategies do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th elementary students develop in order to solve three-dimensional geometry problems? What kind of difficulties do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th elementary students face with while they are solving three-dimensional geometry problems? How do 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th elementary students associate their mathematics knowledge and daily life experience with geometry problems? Rationale Most of the countries have changed their educational program in order to make learning be more meaningful (NCTM, 2000; MEB, 2006). The development of Turkish curriculum from 2003 to up till now can be assessed the part of the international educational reform. Particularly, the aim of the changes in elementary mathematics education is to make the students give meaning to learning by concretizing in their mind and to make the learning be more meaningful (MEB, 2006). In order to make learning more meaningful, knowing how the students think is critically important. For this reason, this study will investigate students mathematical thinking especially geometrical thinking since geometry provides opportunity to encourage students mathematical thinking (NCTM,2006). The result of the international exams such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and national exams Secondary School Entrance Exam â€Å"Ortaà ¶Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸retim KurumlarÄ ± Ãâ€"ÄÅ ¸renci Seà §me SÄ ±navÄ ± (OKS)† show that the success of Turkish students in mathematics and especially in geometry is too low. Ministry of National Education in Turkey stated that although international average is 487 at TIMSS-1999, Turkish students mathematics average is 429. Moreover, they are 31st country among 38 countries. When the sub topics are analyzed, geometry has least average (EARGED, 2003). The similar result can be seen the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). According to result of PISA-2003, Turkish students are 28th county among 40 countries and Turkish students mathematics average is 423 but the international average is 489. When geometry average is co nsidered, it is not different from the result of TIMSS-1999 since international geometry average is 486 but the average of Turkey is 417 ((EARGED, 2005). As it can be realized from result of both TIMSS-1999 and PISA-2003, Turkish students average is significantly lower than the international average. Since in order to get higher mathematical performance, being aware of childrens mathematical thinking has crucial role (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, Levi, Jacobs, Empson, 1996). For this reason, knowing students geometric thinking, their solution strategies and their difficulties related to geometry problems will help to explore some of the reasons of Turkish students low geometry performance in international assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and in national assessment, Secondary School Entrance Exam â€Å"Ortaà ¶Ãƒâ€žÃ… ¸retim KurumlarÄ ± Ãâ€"ÄÅ ¸renci Seà §me SÄ ±navÄ ± (OKS).† As a result, when geometry and being aware of students problems solving strategies and their difficulties when they are solving geometry problems has important roles on mathematics achievement are taken into consideration, studies related to geometry and students geometric thinking are needed. Besides, Turkish students performance in international assessments is considered; it is not difficult to realize that there should be more studies related to geometry. For these reasons, the study will assist in Turkish education literature. Significance of the Study Teachers knowledge about childrens mathematical thinking effect their instructional method. They teach the subjects in the way of childrens thinking and they encourage students to think over the problems and to develop solution strategies. With such instructional method, classes are more successful (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). Geometry is one of the sub topic of mathematics (MEB,2006) and it has crucial role in representing and solving problems in other sub topics of mathematics. Besides, geometry has important contribution to develop childrens mathematical thinking. On the other hand, in order to understand geometry, spatial ability is useful tool (NCTM, 2000). Battista et al.(1998), Fennema and Tartre (1985) and Moses (1977) emphasized that there is a relationship between spatial ability and achievement in geometry. Moreover, mathematical thinking and mathematical ability is positively correlated with spatial thinking (Anderson 2000). Since geometry, spatial ability and mathematical thinking are positively correlated, being successful in geometry will get higher mathematics achievement. To increase geometry achievement, the teachers should know students geometric thinking. Particularly, how students solve problems, what kind of strategies they develop, and what kind of difficulties they face with while t hey are solving the problems are important concepts in order to get idea about students thinking (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). With this study, the teachers will be informed how children think while they are solving geometry problems especially three-dimensional geometry problems, what kind of strategies they develop to solve them, what kind of difficulties they face with related to geometry problems. Furthermore, university instructors will benefit from this study to have knowledge about childrens geometric thinking and this knowledge may be valuable for them. Since they may inform pre-service teachers about childrens thinking and the importance of knowing childrens thinking while making instructional decisions. As a result, knowing students geometric thinking will benefit to increase their geometry achievement and also mathematical achievement, and consequently, this will help to raise the Turkish students success of the international exams CHAPTER 2 Literature Review Geometry can be considered as the part of mathematics and it provides opportunities to encourage students mathematical thinking. Also, geometry offers students an aspect of mathematical thinking since when students engage in geometry, they become familiar with shape, location and transformation, and they also understand other mathematics topics (NCTM, 2000). Therefore, understanding of students geometrical thinking, their geometry problem solving strategies and their difficulties in geometry become the base for their mathematical thinking. Also, since geometry is â€Å"a science of space as well as logical structure†, to understand students geometrical thinking requires knowledge of spatial ability and cognitive ability (NCTM, 1989, p.48). This chapter deals with some of the literature in four areas related to the problem of this study. The first section of this chapter is related to the van Hiele theory since van Hiele theory explains the level of childrens geometrical thinking (van Hiele, 1986). The second section of this chapter deals with the research studies related to students mathematical and geometrical thinking. The third section is devoted to research studies related to spatial ability. And the last section of this chapter reviews the research related to relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement. Section 1: The van Hiele Theory The van Hiele theory is related to childrens thinking especially their geometrical thinking since the theory categorizes childrens geometrical thinking in a hierarchical structure (van Hiele, 1986). According to theory of Pierre and Diana van Hiele, students learn the geometry subjects through levels of thought and they stated that the van Hiele Theory provided instructional direction to the learning and teaching of geometry. The van Hiele model has five hierarchical sequences. Van Hiele stated that each level has its own language because in each level, the connection of the terms, definitions, logic and symbol are different. The first level is visual level (level 0) (van Hiele, 1986). In this level, children recognize the figures according to their appearance. They might distinguish one figure to another but they do not consider the geometric properties of the figures. For instance, they do not consider the rectangle as a type of a parallelogram. The second level is descriptive leve l (level 1). In this level, students recognize the shapes by their properties. For instance, a student might think of a square which has four equal sides, four equal angles and equal diagonals. But they can not make relationships between these properties. For example, they can not grasp that equal diagonal can be deduced from equal sides and equal angles. The third level is theoretical level (level 3). The students can recognize the relationship between the figures and the properties. They discover properties of various shapes. For instance, some of the properties of the square satisfy the definition of the rectangle and they conclude that every square is a rectangle. The fourth level is formal logic level (level 4). The students realize the differences between axioms, definitions and theorems. Also, they prove the theorems and make relationships between the theorems. The fifth level is rigor level (level 4). In this level, students establish the theorems in different postulation sy stems (Fuys, Geddes, Tischler, 1988). As a result, the levels give information about students geometric thinking to the researchers and mathematics teachers. Mathematics teachers may guess whether the geometry problem will be solved by students or not and at which grade they will solve them. Section 2: Children thinking The van Hiele theory explains the students thinking level in geometry. The levels are important but how students think is as important as their thinking level. To ascertain how students think related to mathematics and especially geometry, a number of studies have been conducted (Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, 1996; Chang, 1992; Battista, Clements, 1995; Ãâ€"zbellek, 2003; Olkun, 2005; Ng, 1998; Okur, 2006). Some of these studies are related to mathematical thinking and some of them geometrical thinking. Carpenter et al. (1999) and Olkun (2005) studied childrens mathematical thinking and Chang (1992), Battista and Clements (1995), Ben-Chaim (1985), Olkun (2001), Ãâ€"zbellek (2003), Okur (2006) and Ng, (1998) carried out research studies related to childrens geometrical thinking. An important study related to mathematical thinking has been conduct by Carpenter, Fennema and Franke initiated over 15 years ago in USA and the name of this study is Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) which is described as the teacher development program. Cognitively Guided Instruction sought to bring together research on the development of childrens mathematical thinking and research on teaching (Franke, Kazemi, 2001). Carpenter, Fennema and Franke (1996) stated that Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) focuses on childrens understanding of specific mathematical concepts which provide a basis for teachers to develop their knowledge more broadly. The Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) Professional Development Program engages teachers in learning about the development of childrens mathematical thinking within particular content domains. (Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, Levi, Empson, 1999). These content domains include investigation of childrens thinking at different problem situat ions that characterize addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). In order to understand how the children categorize the problems, Carpenter et al. (1992) conducted a study. According to this study, Fennema, Carpenter, and Franke (1996) portrayed how basic concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division develop in children and how they can construct concepts of place value and multidigit computational procedures based on their intuitive mathematical knowledge. At the end of this study, with the help of childrens actions and relations in the problem, for addition and subtraction, four basic classes of problems can be identified: Join Separate, Part-Part-Whole, and Compare and Carpenter et all. (1999) reported that according to these problem types, children develop different strategies to solve them. The similar study has been carried out by Olkun et al (2005) in Turkey. The purpose of these two studies is the same but the s ubjects and the grade level are different. Olkun et al (2005) studied with the students from kindergarten to 5th grade but the students who participated in Carpenters study is from kindergarten through 3rd grade (Fennema, Carpenter, Franke, 1992). Furthermore, CGI is related to concepts addition, subtraction, multiplication and division but the content of the study done in Turkey is addition, multiplication, number and geometrical concepts (Olkun et al, 2005). Although the grade level and the subjects were different, for the same subjects, addition and multiplication, the solution strategies of the students in Olkuns study are almost the same as the students in CGI. But the students in the study of Carpenter used wider variety of strategies than the students in Turkey even if they are smaller than the students who participated in Olkuns study. This means that grade level or age is not important for developing problem solving strategies. On the other hand, there are some studies related to childrens geometrical thinking which are interested in different side of geometrical thinking. Ng (1998) had conducted a study related to students understanding in area and volume. There were seven participants at grade 4 and 5. For the study, she interviewed with all participants one by one and she presented her dialogues with students while they are solving the questions. She reported that students who participated in the study voluntarily have different understanding level for the concepts of area, and volume. She explained that when students pass from one level to another, 4th grade to 5th grade, their thinking becomes more integrated. With regard to its methodology and its geometry questions, it is valuable for my study. On the contrary to Ng, Chang (1992) chose his participants at different levels of thinking in three-dimensional geometry. These levels were determined by the Spatial Geometry test. According to this study, students at lower levels of thinking use more manipulative and less definitions and theorems to solve the problems than high level of thinking. On the other hand, the levels of two-dimensional geometry identified by the van Hiele theory. The results were the same as the three-dimensional geometry. In this case, Chang (1992) stated that the students at the lower levels of thinking request more apparatus and less definitions and theorems to solve the problems. Moreover, for both cases, the students at the higher levels of thinking want manipulative at the later times in the problem-solving process than the students at the lower level of students. The result of this study indicated that using manipulative require higher level of thinking. By providing necessary manipulative, I hope th e students use higher level of thinking and solve the problems with different strategy. Besides of these studies, Ben-Chaim et all. (1985) carried out the study to investigate errors in the three-dimensional geometry. They reported four types of errors on the problem related to determining the volume of the three-dimensional objects which are composed of the cubes. Particularly, they categorize these errors two major types which students made. These major types of errors defined as â€Å"dealing with two dimensional rather than three and not counting hidden cubes† (Ben-Chaim, 1985). The similar study was conducted by Olkun (2001). The aim of this study is to explain students difficulties which they faced with calculating the volume of the solids. He concluded that while students were finding the volume of the rectangular solids with the help of the unit cubes, most of the students were forced open to find the number of the unit cubes in the rectangular solids. Also, the students found the big prism complicated and they were forced open to give life to the organiz ation of the prism which was formed by the unit cubes based on the column, line and layers in their mind, i.e. they got stuck on to imagine the prism readily. (Olkun, 2001). The categorization of students difficulties will be base for me to analyze difficulties related to geometry problems of the students who are participant of my study. Besides of these studies, Battista and Clements (1996) conducted a study to understand students solution strategies and errors in the three-dimensional problems. The study of Battista and Clements (1996) was different from the study of Ben-Chaim (1985) and Olkun (2001) in some respect such as Battista and Clements categorized problem solving strategies but Ben-Chaim and Olkun defined students difficulties while reaching correct answer. Categorization of the students problem solving strategies in the study of Battista and Clements (1996) is like the following: â€Å"Category A: The students conceptualized the set of cubes as a 3-D rectangular array organized into layers. Category B: The students conceptualized the set of cubes as space filling, attempting to count all cubes in the interior and exterior. Category C: The students conceptualized the set of cubes in terms of its faces; he or she counted all or a subset of the visible faces of cubes. Category D: The students explicitly used the formula L x W x H, but with no indication that he or she understood the formula in terms of layers. Category E: Other. This category includes strategies such as multiplying the number of squares on one face times the number on other face.† (Battista Clements ,1996). At another study of Battista and Clements (1998), their categorization was nearly the same but their names were different than the study which has done in 1996. In this study, they categorized the strategies as seeing buildings as unstructured sets of cubes, seeing buildings as unstructured sets of cubes, seeing buildings as space filling, seeing buildings in terms of layer and use of formula. Battista and Clements (1996, 1998) concluded that spatial structuring is basic concept to understand students strategies for calculating the volume of the objects which are formed by the cubes. Students should establish the units, establish relationships between units and comprehend the relationship as a subset of the objects. Actually, these studies are important for my study since they gave some ideas about different solutions for solving these problems. Also, different categorization of students geometry problems strategies will help me about how I can categorize students strategies. Also, In addition to these studies, Seà §il (2000), Olkun (2001), Olkun, Toluk (2004), Ãâ€"zbellek (2003) and Okur (2006) have been conducted studies in Turkey. Seà §il (2000) has investigated students problem solving strategies in geometry and Okur (2006) have studied the reason of failure in geometry and ways of solution. In the study of Ãâ€"zbellek, the misconceptions and missing understandings of the students related to the subject angles at grade 6 and 7. Also, studies has been done to investigate the difficulties of students related to calculating the volume of solids which are formed by the unit cubes (Olkun, 2001) and the effects of using materials on students geometric thinking (Olkun Toluk, 2004). As a result, in order to understand children thinking, several studies has been conducted. Some of them were related to children mathematical thinking and some of them were interested in childrens geometrical thinking. These studies dealt with childrens thinking in different aspects and so their findings are not related to each other. But the common idea is that spatial ability and geometrical thinking are correlated positively. Since spatial reasoning is intellectual operation to construct an organization or form for objects and it has important role to for constructing students geometric knowledge (Battista, 1998). Section 3: Spatial Ability The USA National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000)explained that the spatial ability is useful tool to interpret, understand and appreciate our geometric world and it is logically related to mathematics (FennemaTartre, 1985). On the other hand, McGee (1979) describes spatial ability as â€Å"the ability to mentally manipulate, rotate, twist or invert a pictorially presented stimulus object†. Since spatial ability is important for childrens geometric thinking, the development of it has been investigated by several studies. First and foremost study has been carried by Pia