Mothers are Fathers

The Parenting styles of mothers and fathers are very different. While being the two most important people in any child’s life the parents can have a varying influence on their offspring. The difference can be suggested as being gender based or merely temperamental. Whatever, the case that the differences exist cannot be argued. The parenting style has an influence in every sphere of a child’s life. From the peers relationships they have to the self confidence they establish. The socialization of the child is largely dependent on the individual parenting styles.So what is so different between the father and the mother? Notably mothers are seen as more caring. This is the rule rather than the exception, though exceptions do exist. Mothers are more emotional and their interaction with the child is such that children usually take their discipline without much adversity. They are seen to be loving and open to communication. Fathers on the other hand are less openly affection ate, have more of an harshness to their tone are more firm in their discipline. Mothers are often more subjective in their judgments and thus more forgiving.They protect their child more easily and are hard pressed to admit failure within a child’s attempt. Fathers usually balance this out by playing roughly, being more objective and pushing the child to do more. While the home situation in the current society is changing the traditional homes had the father as the primary caretaker. He came home after a long days work and wanted nothing more than peace and quiet. This meant that he was stricter with the children and most of the time spent was in discipline rather than interacting openly.Communication was usually stilted and the main caretaker was the mother. Mothers acted as the go between as the father and child struggled to gain an understanding of each other. The father was seen as the quiet and loving man, who was harsh, not very indulgent and delved out the discipline. There has been a lot of criticism about the role of fathers. They are not emotional enough, they give their child too little support and they are at times to blunt in their dealings. Regardless, of these criticisms the fact is statistics suggest that fathers are extremely important to the family.There parenting style may be different but it helps balance out the style presented by the mother consider that a child in a fatherless home is 20 times more likely to end up in prison and 14 times more likely to commit rape and 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders. [Brandenburg, 2007] Fathers have a different physical interaction with their children. Being more physical in their play they ‘toughen’ up the kids and show them how to play rough without getting hurt. Mothers are not usually ready to take the risk with their child.Fathers will come home and throw their child in the air while the mother usually admonishes him to be careful. Fathers are the first love of any girl. The father serves as the role model for the daughter and a strong positive relationship with the father helps the girl have a better emotional relationship in the future. They also serve to control their son’s behavior in a better manner. Physically men are stronger than women and at a certain stage kids begin to understand this. That is why the mother loses control while the father acts as the barrier.All youth go through rebellion and a father is simply better equipped to physically curtail the child, not through physical abuse rather through sheer presence. [Fraenkel, 2006] Mothers are caring and provide the safety net. Children know that no matter what the mother will always be there for them. They are the soothers and the ones who help the child through emotional problems through their simple presence. That both parents are necessary cannot be argued but how important is it for both the parents to be present to make an effective family?Mothers in the past staye d at home and fathers went to work. The constant interaction with the child for the mother made her feel closer to the child. The mother associated her life with the child’s the world usually revolved around the child. Maybe that is why the parenting style of the mother was the way it was. Since fathers were away from the child’s daily routine they could be more objective and thus be seen as the authority figure. Today the scene has changed. The systematic breakdown of the traditional form of the family has changed the dynamics.Mothers are working outside the home, they are not able to give as much time to the child as they would have been if they were born two decades ago. The mother who was seen as the caretaker has switched roles. The mother is today a person who is stretched to have quality time with the child. Single parent families further aggravate the situation. From being tolerant and lenient mothers have changed into being at times as strict as the fathers. I n the past the mothers saw the world in respect to the kids but now they see the kids in contrast to the world.Where fathers were the blunt one’s preparing the kids for the real world, today mothers do the same. However, no matter how much things have changed, the differences remain. Mothers are still too soft for the good of the kids, at least in normal circumstances. Women are naturally more communicative and open about their emotions. They find it easy to tell their child they love him throughout the day. They feel no hesitation in giving hugs and kisses regardless of the child’s age. Fathers as men are more reluctant to be the same way.Though the ‘sensitive’ man is the phrase of the decade the fact is fathers are less likely to tell their adolescent child they love them. Physically and emotionally they distance themselves from the child naturally when the child reaches adolescences. That is where the main communication gap emerges. Women still reach ou t, men never force the issue. Mothers and fathers are naturally and genetically different, they respond to their child as man and woman and the difference between the two sexes can largely determine the difference between mothers and fathers. [Peters, Peterson et al, 2000]

Political Cartoon Analysis Essay

World War II was a time of great social turmoil in the United States, not only because of its active role in the war, but also because of the radical changes taking place in society. As an effect of the Jim Crow laws, people were beginning to speak up against segregation and demand equal rights. During this time, many activists and political reformists used different forms of social media in order to present their ideas regarding racism. In 1942, Dr. Seuss published this political cartoon in the New York PM newspaper as a way to address the issue of racial discrimination by urging change in the war industry. Because the war industry did not value the use of black labor in the war effort, the main idea presented in this cartoon is that both white and black labor are required to achieve real peace and equality in society. Seuss uses symbolism, his characters, and text in order to effectively portray his message to his audience, the people of the United States. Seuss uses Uncle Sam and the satirical character â€Å"War Industry† in order to represent the two conflicting viewpoints on the issue of racism. While Uncle Sam represents the democratic American ideals of equality, â€Å"War Industry† symbolizes the group of people, companies, and racial mindsets that support racial segregation. In this cartoon, Uncle Sam represents the goal of the American labor force: to incorporate the use of all men, regardless of race, in order to fight for the nation. However, the War Industry representative symbolizes a more prejudiced, racist mindset. His top hat and cigar reveal that he is of a wealthy class, which separates him from the common laborers and working class. He is seen to be playing only the white keys on the piano, which demonstrates the use of only white labor in the war efforts. His short hands represent his reluctance to incorporate black labor into the industry because of bigotry and racial stereotypes. Although Uncle Sam is not violent or imposing in this cartoon, his expression reflects sternness and forcefulness, showing his urgency to incorporate black labor into the war industry with a non-violent, practical approach. In addition to the use of his characters, Seuss uses text in order to convince his audience of his ideals regarding racism in the war efforts. The quote near the top of the cartoon states that â€Å"real harmony† can only be achieved by using both white and black labor in the war efforts. Not only does Uncle Sam advocate for equality, but he also wants to see the success of the war industry. He uses this appeal in order to address the desires of the wealthy class. By using the word â€Å"harmony†, he means both racial equality in society, as well as improvements in the war industry. The white keys on the piano are labelled â€Å"White Labor† which far outnumber the black keys. This represents the idea that black labor is seldom used in the war industry. Seuss wants to show his audience that, using both black and white labor force will improve the condition of society. Lastly, Seuss’s use of symbolism further demonstrates his message of racial equality in the war effort. The piano itself is a symbol for the distribution of work in the labor force amongst whites and blacks. In addition, the cobwebs on the black keys symbolize the rare use, or no use at all, of black labor during World War II. In addition, there is a uneven distribution of smoke coming out of the pipes of the piano. This shows that the instrument, or labor force, is not being used to its full extent. While some parts of the piano are stressed, others are seldom used and are neglected. This applies to the labor force in America. By not allowing blacks to work in the war industry, the full potential of America’s working class is not being used. In conclusion, Dr. Suess’s political cartoon addresses the issues of racial segregation within the American society. This political cartoon was widely controversial in its time because of its political stance and radical ideas that oppose the Jim Crow laws and the upper class of society. Although this cartoon did not directly cause a dramatic change in society, it advocated for a very important idea in American history, the issue of equality of all people.

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

Economic Development Objectives - Essay Example Structural transformations include â€Å"diversion of economic production away from agriculture, increase in the scale of productive units, shifts in organization and in the status of labor, and shifts in the structure of consumption† (Lundberg 445). Advanced technology increases the potential of an economy recording high economic growth rates. This therefore means that technological improvements are necessary conditions and not sufficient conditions since economic development is much wider than just economic growth (Kuznets, 419). There is therefore need to factor in the structural changes associated with improved technology since the net change might be negative or zero after including the costs of structural changes to quantifying economic development. Structural shifts and developing countries As much as everyone in developing countries wants economic developments, they should be aware of Kuznets and that with structural shifts long-term end results could be detrimental to the welfare of their less developed economies.

Surviving Employees after Job Termination Essay

Surviving Employees after Job Termination - Essay Example People's jobs are their livelihood, their sense of meaning, or, at the very least, a great way to occupy eight hours a day. The company needs to understand the ramifications of a workforce that has lost its job security, and should take special measures to make the process as painless as possible. Companies can be pro-active when faced with layoffs and help the surviving employees overcome low productivity, low morale, health problems, and an uncertain future. When an employee encounters the first rumors of an impending downsizing, their world is filled with uncertainty. The employee immediately loses the capacity to weigh the outcome of their actions, and creates questions about their future role with the company, opportunity for future advancement, and whether or not they will be ultimately fired (Paulsen et al., 2005, p.465). The situation where the workforce is notified by rumors presents an unwelcome situation for everyone involved. According to Cascio and Wynn (2004), "many employment downsizing efforts fail to involve employees in any decisions either about the process or the desired outcome. As a result, employees feel powerless and helpless, and there is massive uncertainty in the organization" (p.427). While manager or employee input may be able to smooth the process, they may see the decision as inevitable and be reluctant or unwilling to offer any input. This places the company in a position to act impersonally with aloofness and distance. It is in this scenario that the ill-advised e-mail used by Radio Shack becomes the corporate culture. Avoiding the pitfalls of the workforce being notified of looming terminations by rumor requires the company to be pro-active in their communication on the issue. To avert problems, either perceived or real, personal communication with the workforce needs to take place well in advance of the termination date (Brockner, 1992, p.11). Employees should be notified of the company's plans in an environment that generates trust. There is a risk that the period between alerting the workforce of the downsizing and the date of termination can be marred by a work slowdown or even sabotage. A meeting, or series of meetings at different levels, can be used to justify the reasons for the layoffs and assure the employees that it is a last resort alternative (Brockner, 1992, p.10). The corporate culture will also have a marked effect on this initial phase. A company that has practiced "honest, consistent, and regular communication efforts from the highest levels of executives on down" will be less pr one to the negative effects of rumors and speculation (Cascio & Wynn, 2004, p.427). Good communication before, during, and after the layoffs is essential to the effective management of downsizing. One of the biggest effects that downsizing has is the impact it has on the perception of job security among the survivors. In many cases, downsizing takes place in an environment where a company is struggling to make a profit and job security is already at a minimum. Job insecurity can affect an employee's productivity, creativity, innovation, decision making, and personal health (Probst, Stewart, Gruys, & Tierney, 2004; Alam, Robinson, & Pacher, 2006; Kivimki, Vahtera, Pentti, & Ferrie, 2000). In addition, the stress of job insecurity spills over into

1997 Return of Hong Kong to China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

1997 Return of Hong Kong to China - Essay Example Thus, the then free wheeled capitalist territory was put under the control of the communists. A huge caesura in Great Britain concerning Hong Kong emerged in 1945 when the British said that it was not automatic that Hong Kong was going to revert to the status it enjoyed before their colonization by the British. The United States had equally preferred that Britain remains in Hong Kong for an extended period of time. In 1950s, Hong Kong growth was attributed to textile exports and growth in the manufacturing industries (Gragan, nd). At some point, Hong Kong acted as the hub of foreign investment in China. Several leaders from Britain helped the growth of Hong Kong during the British reign. One of them was Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth spearheaded the growth of health institutions in Hong Kong. Through the initiatives of the queen, Prince Margaret and Wales hospitals were constructed. The two health institutions improved the quality of health services that were being enjoyed by the i nhabitants of Hong Kong (Chan, 2014). The transfer of Hong Kong to china is an event that had been waited for by the Chinese for a long time based on earlier agreements with Britain in 1984. The agreement was that China was going to bring an end to the opium trade in Hong Kong. However, the British were reluctant about letting go Hong Kong because they were uncertain whether China would be able to gain control of the region for the next 50 years from 1997 (Lowe, 2014). The transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese people was supported by ordinary of people in the region. Hong Kong was voiceless on its own. In 1996, China through its preparatory committee of 150 people ensured that the Hong Kong government began on a strong note. The inhabitants of Hong Kong celebrated within the streets. The celebration was not because the British were going or that the Beijing masters were coming. Gargan (n.d)

Research Methods Quantitative Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Methods Quantitative - Assignment Example The methods will be designed to measure the connotative meaning of the impact of the air crafts noise on the wellbeing and health of the participants based on their attitudes towards aircraft noise. The respondents will be asked to choose where their position lies in regards to the annoyance caused by the aircraft noise. After taking their position, they will then be requested to rate their overall annoyance levels on the basis of an opinions scale between 0-10. In the opinion scaled used, zero will denote no annoyance at all while ten will show completely annoyed (Heise, 2010). 9. Data analysis: The researcher will use spreadsheets for the purpose of tabulating the results and coming up with the appropriate graphs which will be key analyzing the responses obtained from the sample population in the study. 10. Consent: The study will target communities which are exposed to aircraft noise by virtue of living or working near the source of the noise. Each respondent will be given a brief summary about the study and the reason why it is being done. The consent of the respondents will be sought by asking them if they can take part in the study to help obtain the data needed. The reasons why it will be imperative to do so is to ensure that the participants take part out of their own will so that the responses which they give are more valid and helpful to the achievement of the objectives of the research (Heise, 2010). The overall purpose of the research has changed from the environment impact of aviation to a more focused study on how the aircraft noise affects the health and wellbeing of the communities which are exposed to the noise. The questions to be used are therefore closed-ended to ensure that focused responses are obtained. It is however worth pointing out that the survey used in the quantitative research does not allow for the comprehensive conveyance of the opinion

Nestle Global Strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nestle Global Strategy - Research Paper Example All the more as of late, the organization has been one of the essential focuses of the worldwide development against the packaged water industry. The organization's hardline work relations practices in poor nations have made it a lowlife in the eyes of the worldwide union movement (Mattera, 2007). Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Strategy What is Transitional Strategy? It is the methodologies and mediations used to work with individuals who are making a move from a transient program towards a maintainable occupation. Settle receive the move method that holds the component of worldwide institutionalization procedure and confinement methodology to work its organization by the 21st century. By utilizing the transnational methodology, Nestle likes the ease through economies of scale and offers distinctive item to diverse advertises with high neighborhood responsiveness so as to safeguard its old showcases in the advanced markets and search for potential development in rising markets. Settle utilize this technique to operation its business in the improving scene in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America to improve parts and preparing engineering to neighborhood conditions and afterward utilizing a brand name reverberates mainly as the social propensities contrast in diverse countries. For example, Brief Case Study: Nestle has taken as much as 85 percent of the market in Mexico, 70 percent of the market for soups in Chile, 66 percent of the market for powdered milk in the Philippines. Besides, Nestle hired local singer to promote its goods in Nigeria, Planning of a delivery mechanism to increase efficiency in the China East, and the use of local material and majoring on local demand such as make ice cream in Dubai. Nestle focus on increasing profitability by customizing the firm' products so that it provides a good match to tastes and preference in different nation. Customization instead of globalization is the star to Nestle’s strategy in emerging markets. Modes of Entering Exporting What is Exporting? It is processing products in one nation and offering them in an alternate nation. This section alternative permits an organization to make the minimum number of progressions regarding its item, its association, and even its corporate objectives. Host nations normally don't like this practice in light of the fact that it gives less nearby job than under elective method of section. Indirect exporting is the point at which a firm offers its locally handled products in an outside nation through a middle person. It has the minimum measure of responsibility and danger yet will most likely furnish a proportional payback benefit. It is perfect for an organization that has no abroad contacts however needs to market abroad. Direct exporting is the point at which a firm offers its locally processed merchandise in an outside nation without go-betweens. Settle gets included in immediate exporting when they accept their volume of bargains will be sufficiently extensive and simple to acquire with the goal that they don't require mediators (Inking, 2013). An example is, the company will begin exporting Coffee Mate to markets beyond Asia this year, including South Africa, Turkey and West African countries such as the Ivory Coast (Campbell, 2013). Licens ing Under licensing, Nestle offers the right to a trademark, patent, exchange mystery, or other comparatively esteemed things of savvy property

Historical Account of Strategic Management Essay

Historical Account of Strategic Management - Essay Example Business strategies are quite analogous to military strategies wherein the strategic framework is used to provide a vision and direction to the company for its future. The origins of strategy can be found in the military war rooms where extensive planning and strategising are required for preparing themselves against their enemies so as to gain strategic advantage over their enemies. In the context of business organization strategy formulation essentially implies the fulfilment of similar set of objectives; however the only difference being the fact that the strategy formulation takes place inside business board rooms rather than war rooms and battlefields. Strategies are also essential as they help in generating better co-ordination among the team members within an organization. This is very crucial in order to gain competitive advantage in the turbulent and highly competitive business environment. Some of the characteristics of strategies include the aspect of importance, the range of commitment to the resources of the company and the fact that these strategic decisions are largely irreversible or difficult to revert. Authors have however pointed out that the difference of principles between the military and business organizations has perhaps led to the very absence of any general theory on strategy. The present study would try to analyse the basis of business strategy including analysing the origins and the historical background of business strategy. It would also include a comparison of various schools of thought on the aspect of strategic management that is being used by business organizations to gain organizational excellence and generate competitive advantage in the market. Historical Perspective of Strategic Management Strategic management has its roots based in strategy, this term ‘strategy’ has its origins in ancient Greece from the Greek word named ‘strategia’ that in general implies and means general ship. The aspect of str ategy comes from the aspect of ‘army’ and ‘leading’. The first recorded writing about strategy dates back to 500 BC to a work named the ‘Art of War’ written by Sun Tzu. The earlier research on strategy was limited to analysing military strategies. However with competition emerging immensely in the business markets, the aspect of strategy is business has gained prominence amongst researchers (Grant, 2005, p.14). However the aspect of business strategy gained populace among the researchers in the last 20 years where a number of strategic thoughts in business have come up widely. Authors like Porter, Mintzberg and some others have stated strategy as a top level decision making concept that is associated with the management of an entire organization. All these authors have essentially stated that strategy is a managerial aspect and involves the top management in an organization. These views have been severely criticised by authors like Camerer, Eve red, Keichel, Mitroff, Manson, Tinker and Lowe (1984). These authors have slammed the managerial orientation of the topic of strategy and have stated this school of thought as ‘atheoritical’. They have also stated that the views of Porter and others are largely jargon based and largely derived out of commonsense (Srivastava, 1986, p.363). Authors like Ackoff, Ansoff and others have stated that the present literature on strategic managem

Law Enforcement Essay Example for Free

Law Enforcement Essay Abstract This research paper shall discuss the duties, the responsibilities and requirements of becoming a Federal Bureau of Investigator. It will also discuss the foundation and accomplishment of the Federal Bureau Investigation. Becoming an FBI agent is probably hard for some people because it takes a lot of dedicated time and motivation to achieve. There are steps in this field that you should apply yourself to do in order to succeed. Once you are inside the field you will enjoy doing what you love to best which is saving and protecting American Citizens from harm. This field has to be something that you are willing to commit yourself to do at all time. Introduction What interested me about becoming an FBI agent is that it involves an extensive amount of traveling around the country, which allows me to visit different places; in addition to learning about different cultures and their government. Another thing that interests me about becoming an agent is that they investigate a variety of different cases from national security and federal law, criminal activity such as bank robberies , terrorism, missing children, organize crime and drug trafficking, which gives me a great deal of experience on investigating cases. Furthermore, becoming a FBI agent gives me the opportunity to gain knowledge about variety of different  sectors within the law enforcements field. Historical Overview Today in America people don’t understand the importance of the Federal Bureau of investigation and how much of a help they are. In 1892, most Americans who held positions within Law Enforcement didn’t take their job as serious as they do now, due to the fact that they were more worried about being known to the public rather than solving crimes. That later changed when Theodore Roosevelt became President. President Roosevelt along with appointed Attorney General Charles Bonaparte had put together and formed Bureau of Investigation special agent’s task force in 1908 (FBI). Once the Bureau of Investigation was established, they began investigating violation laws such as national banking, bankruptcy, naturalization, antitrust, peonage and fraud (FBI). By June 1910 the Bureau’s jurisdictions had its first major expansion, which was also the year when the White Slave act was passed; The White Slave act allows the federal government the right to investigate criminals who evaded state laws but had no other federal violations and it became a crime to transport females across the state line for morally wrong purposes (FBI). By the 1920’s new requirements were made. Prospective agents had to go through a training course, and agents had to be the age of twenty- five through thirty five (FBI). During the great depression in the United States crimes had gotten out of control, therefore the Department of Justice’s Investigator had issued their first Law Enforcement Bulletin, which later became the FBI Fugitives Wanted list (FBI). On July 1, 1932, the Bureau of Investigation was renamed the United States of Investigation; A year later in July of 1933 the Department of Justice’s Investigator was changed to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI carried out investigations of all threats when they felt it was a threat to the National Security. By the time 1940’s the FBI had stepped in on a Sabotage Investigation trying to capture four Germany men who placed explosive bombs on the beaches of Amagansett, Long Island and Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida (Wagner). They also were supposed to place explosive bombs in public for the next six weeks. George Dashch, one of the German agents who had turned himself in to the FBI and told the Germany’s plans of bombing some parts of U.S, because he was scared of going to prison for life in the  United States (Wagner). He helped the FBI capture eight Germany Saboteurs and their case became one of the biggest cases in history, because they stopped Germany’s Saboteurs from returning (Wagner). In the 1960’s the Civil Rights Act was passed and the FBI got involved to stop the violence with the Ku Klux Klan, the Black Panthers and other protesters (Wagner). They were to help solve murder cases that involved civil rights violations. Around the time in 1970 Director Kelley got involved to help the public trust in the FBI as well as in the law enforcement; he made numerous changes during his time and targeted the training and selection of FBI and the law enforcement leaders, the procedures of investigation intelligence collection and the prioritizing of criminal programs (FBI). During his term he made it a goal to have more women involved in the FBI. After Kelley resigned Judge William Webster took his place. While he was in office the FBI started to use laser technology to detect fingerprints on crimes scenes he also expanded the effort in the foreign counterintelligence, organized crime and white collar crime (FBI). In his time the FBI solved so many cases. FBI laboratory helped the FBI find their criminals fingerprints on a crime scene. For decades Federal Bureau Investigations has spent years trying to protect the United Stated from terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, they were committed to their values and core beliefs. P rimary Mission FBI Agents mission is to protect the United States citizen from terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to provide leadership and criminal justice service to the federal Government, the international agencies and partners (Wagner). Their mission is to bring Justice to those who break the laws in the United States. Diversity of Jobs The FBI is a very diverse field to work in, because the people they employ come from different educational and career backgrounds. Such as lawyers, doctor, accountants, photographers, police officers, etc and their diversity continue to grow. African Americans and Hispanics make up twenty- five percent of FBI employees and women make up forty-five percent. Jurisdictional Authority There are severely other important Federal Law Enforcement agencies, but the  Federal Bureau of Investigation is the best known agency in the Federal Level. The FBI is involved on seven different types of investigation such as counterterrorism, financial crimes, corruption investigation, and Civil Rights (Harmon). The FBI conducts investigation on groups that have hatred towards other races or genders, Foreign Counterintelligence, organized crime and narcotics, violent crimes like bank robbers and application for sensitive government positions. Hiring Requirements In order to become a Federal of Bureau Investigator there are several steps you have to go through. You must be a U.S citizen between the ages of twenty- three through thirty seven with a valid license, your eye sight must be 20/20 and 20/40 (Harmon). To get accepted in the FBI you have to pass the exam that’s given as well as do a background check. As far a resume and reference they have to talk to your past employers as well as talk to your family, friends, and colleagues, this can take up to four months for the process to finish (Harmon). If you are accepted you will do 600 hours in training in 15 weeks at the FBI Academy Quantico, Virginia (Harmon). Where you will learn how to gather evidence, case investigation, they study behavior science, master in certain computers science and learn self-defense technique (Harmon). Trainers will also learn how to recognize firearms as well use them and they must become good enough to hit a target 50 yards away (Harmon). After training you will be assigned your first case if you qualified. Top three Greatest Challenges One of the top challenges the FBI deals with is working long hour shifts by spending numerous hours at work or staking out in vehicles. They spend long shift hours on cases trying to figure the cause on why the incident happened or how can they stop the incident. Another challenge would be traveling all over the United States trying to gather information about your case and how you prevent it from happening. The last challenge would be dedicating all your time to your job and having to spend less time with your family, from being so involved with your case which takes up the majority of your time. Your Personal Critique I feel that the FBI would be a good field for me to help protect my country  from any harm. I feel that working for the FBI is a very demanding job, that you have to commit to and I’m a very dedicated and motivated person that likes challenges and love helping others. I feel that becoming an FBI agent would be a great field for me to work in because I can do what I love as well as protecting my country Conclusion In Conclusion by doing all this back ground research on Federal Bureau of Investigation I found that they are the number one Law Enforcement agency that is called upon to respond to terrorism and participation of bills that are being passed. They handle a number of different units around the world such as missing children, national security, banking fraud or violent crimes unlike police officers who just handles local crimes, their always involved in crimes to help protect the United States. References FBI. (n.d.). Retrieved from website: http://www.fbi.gov/ Harmon, E. D. (2001). The fbi (Crime, Justice and Punishment). Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. Wagner, H. (2007). The federal bureau of investigation. New York: Infobase Publishing.

Peter Paul and Mary - Blowin in the Wind Essay Example for Free

Peter Paul and Mary Blowin in the Wind Essay Peter, Paul, and Marys â€Å"Blowin in the Wind† is actually quite appealing to a mainstream audience, due to the simple arrangement and catchy hook. The accompaniment is easy to follow and understand, which makes it accessible to listeners that do not necessarily have a music education. Also, the tight vocal harmonies between two men and one woman are very interesting, because that sort of setting is not typical for popular music fare. Also, for being a folk song, the twang or accent is very subdued, which would possibly turn off some listeners who might be averse to folk tunes. Theres a good deal of vocal inflection in Marys voice, which pulls on the listener emotionally. For someone who does not particularly prefer folk music, the song is actually quite pleasant, and the strong lyrical content is definitely worth a second glance. Conversely, Bob Dylans version is more spoken, and contains a more rubato vocal performance. Also, the inclusion of the harmonica heightens the folk quality to the song. Moreover, Bob Dylans diction is much more â€Å"country,† with hard â€Å"Rs,† â€Å"jist† in the place of just, and â€Å"yesn† in the place of yes. Those minor shifts create a rustic feeling, where Peter, Paul, and Marys diction was more refined, for the folk style. These two different takes on one song make a lasting difference, in terms of the presentation of the material. Peter, Paul, and Marys version of the single sold a phenomenal three hundred thousand copies in the first week of release. So, perhaps it is safe to say that folk songs can be popular, they just have to be presented in such a way that appeals to a wide audience, while still staying true to the roots. It is not an easy task to fulfill, but Peter, Paul and Mary have proved that it can be accomplished.

The UK Voting System

The UK Voting System Should the United Kingdom general election voting system be reformed in order to give the electorate more choice and accountability, and increase turnout? We will answer the research problem presented in this dissertation in five distinct chapters. In the first chapter we will consider the nature of the problems in the current electoral systems and here we will also offer a general introduction to the dissertation, outlining the structure that will be used in answering the question. In the second chapter we will examine the current UK electoral system in detail, offering arguments for and against the current system. In the third chapter we will address some of the problems of the current system in terms of voter turnout before moving on to present the reforms toward alternative electoral systems currently on the table. In the fourth chapter we will assess the likelihood of the reforms coming into effect and the reluctance of major parties throughout history to accept electoral reform. In the fifth and final section we will offer a summary and conclusion of the evidence and findings presented within this dissertation as well as a brief discussion of the limitations of this study. Methodology The object of this dissertation is to ascertain whether electoral reform in the UK general election voting system would increase accountability, voter choice and voter turnout. In order to answer this question we will conduct an extensive literature review, providing a theoretical framework from which to assess the arguments in favour and against electoral reform. This theoretical framework will be re-enforced by the empirical evidence presented by studies from pressure groups such as the Electoral Reform Society and political scientists engaged in the study of this field. Extensive engagement with the literature of political scientists on electoral reform will provide us with the necessary conceptual dexterity in approaching this research question and the data presented will offer quantifiable yardsticks by which we can accurately measure the extent to which electoral reform would increase each one of the three factors outlined in the question, those of accountability, voter choice and voter turnout. This will allow us to offer a clear conclusion on whether electoral reform is needed in the UK general election voting system based on an appreciation of the scholarship and empirical evidence available in this field. Chapter 1 Introduction to problem The most recent UK general elections have seen the worst voter turnout since the end of the First World War. Whilst there are undoubtedly many reasons for this increase in voter apathy, the electoral system has been highlighted as an important contributory factor in undermining the accountability of representatives and in restricting voter choice. In this dissertation we will examine the current electoral system used at UK general elections and highlight the extent to which it restricts voter choice and hinders accountability. In order to do so it will be vital to clearly define the current electoral system and we will also outline the arguments for and against the present system. We will undertake this task in Chapter 2 and it will be seen that the present system fundamentally undermines the accountability of representatives because of the minimal levels of voter support needed in order to win seats to the House of Commons, often less than 40% of the total vote share. In addition to this, the current system wastes an enormous number of votes, because as soon as the winner is declared using the first-past-the-post system all the votes for other candidates count for nothing. It is clear, therefore that the minimal levels of public support necessary and the enormous number of wasted votes pose a direct challenge to ensuring that MPs are held accountable by their constituents. The current first-past-the-post system also severely restricts voter choice. We will see that the current system is designed to exaggerate the proportion of seats won by the dominant parties, thereby ensuring that the UK electoral system continues to encourage the formation of a two-party political system. Smaller political parties are therefore marginalized under the first-past-the-post system and this has a direct impact upon restricting voter choice. This dissertation we will focus upon measuring the accountability of representatives, the extent of voter choice and levels of voter turnout under different electoral systems. We can clearly measure the effect of different electoral systems upon accountability, voter choice and voter turnout. In this dissertation we will examine the current UK electoral system, the proposed reform by the government to the Alternative Vote (AV) system and the system advocated by electoral reformers, known as the Single Transferable Vote (STV), a system of proportional representation. We will outline the arguments in favour of reform of the current electoral system and directly measure the impact of such systems in other countries, which have moved from first-past-the-post to alternative systems. We will also highlight evidence from the Electoral Reform Society that analyses the 2005 UK general election and offers the election results under the Single Transferable Vote system. This will allow us to cle arly establish whether reform of the current electoral system would offer the electorate more choice and accountability and we will also examine evidence that suggests that such reforms lead to greater voter turnout in other countries. The proposed reforms currently on the table will be analysed in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 we will examine the extent to which reform of the current electoral system is likely to become reality. We will argue that the switch to the Alternative Vote system is very likely whilst the move towards a system of proportional representation is far less likely. We will also produce an analysis of the reasons why dominant political parties have historically been so reluctant to accept electoral change. In the fifth and final section we will offer a summary and conclusion on the evidence and findings presented in this dissertation and we will argue that the evidence clearly suggests that broad electoral reform is necessary in order to produce greater accountability , voter choice and voter turnout. We will also briefly examine some of the limitations of this study. Chapter 2 The present UK electoral system Under the current electoral voting system general elections are decided using the first-past-the-post system (FPTP) and Members of the House of Commons are elected in single-member constituencies. The first-past-the post system is renown for its simplicity, because under this system voters simply put a cross next to the box of one candidate on their voting forms and the candidate that accrues the most votes wins. Candidates, therefore, are elected by simple majority voting and such a majority constitutes more than half the votes cast in an election. However, under the first-past-the-post system very few candidates ever register more than half the votes cast, because in most cases there are more than two candidates and therefore some have described it as being a furthest-past-the-post rather than a first-past-the-post system. According to this interpretation it is more sensible to think of the post as a starting point rather than a finishing point (Electoral Reform Society). For this reason it is more apt to consider UK general elections to be determined by a relative majority rather than by an absolute majority. Under the FPTP system the highest polling candidate wins and the other votes cast count for nothing. This type of system is referred to as plurality voting and more broadly it falls under into the category of a majoritarian system. One feature of majoritarian systems that has been commonly noted is that they tend to work to the benefit of larger political parties, because larger parties often obtain far more seats than their share of the vote merits. As Heywood points out, majoritarian systems enable larger parties to win a significantly higher proportion of seats than the proportion of votes they gain in the election (Heywood 2000: 199). The result of this is that it increases the chances of a single party gaining a parliamentary majority and being able to govern on its own (Heywood 2000: 199). Let us now move to assess the arguments in favour and against the FPTP system. It has been argued that the first-past-the-post system provides accountability in UK general elections. According to Norton, there has been an assumption amongst many political scientists that elections are solely concerned with choosing a government. However, this view fails to take into account the extent to which UK general elections serve as a means of removing a government from office. In the UK, a government knows that it may be out in the cold after the next election. Consequently, it has to be sensitive to what electors want (Norton 1997: 84). Popper argues that the possibility of a removal from power at any given election is a powerful spur for political parties and that it fosters a self-critical attitude within political leaders that is beneficial for democracy as a whole. A democracy needs parties that are more sensitive and constantly on the alert. Only in this way can they be induced to be se lf-critical (Popper 1988: 28). Those proposing an account in favour of FPTP argue that two-party systems tend to produce single-party governments, which means that firstly voters can express a clear preference for the party of their choice and that secondly, the governing party does not need the support of other parties in order to pass legislation and effectively run the government. Indeed, Duvergers Law states that FPTP produces two-party systems. Duvergers law proposes that the simple-majority single-ballot system favours the two-party system. Duverger described this sentence by saying, of all the hypotheses in this book, this approaches most nearly perhaps to a true sociological law (Riker 1982: 754). Another argument put forward in favour of the first-past-the-post system is that it is easy to understand. As we have seen, the system is very simple in nature and it means that the candidate with the most votes wins. Such a concept is readily grasped by the electorate and it is fo r this reason that Norris argues, majoritarian systems are the oldest electoral system, dating back at least to the 12th Century, and also the simplest (Norris 1997: 298). Let us now turn to assess the arguments against the first-past-the-post system. Critics of the FPTP system argue that the system undermines the legitimacy of elected representatives, because MPs can be elected on the basis of minimal amounts of public support. The Electoral Reform Society shows, for example, that in 2005, George Galloway polled the votes of only 18.4 per cent of his constituents, yet ended up in the House of Commons (Electoral Reform Society). This lack of legitimacy is put into further focus when one considers that only three MPs elected in 2005 secured the votes of more than 40 per cent of their constituents (Electoral Reform Society). This lack of public legitimacy carries with it two fundamental problems. Firstly, it allows for the election of governments with minimal public support and in some cases such governments can have radical agendas that are at odds with the majority of public opinion. In Britain, in the 1980s, the first past the post system came to be i dentified with the re-election, twice, on a minority (barely more than 40%) of the popular vote, of a parliamentary majority used contentiously for the introduction of radical policy changes (Criddle 1992: 108). The second problem with the FPTP system is that it wastes an astonishing number of votes. Due to the fact that the only votes that count are those that lead to the election of the winning candidate and due to the fact that the winning candidate almost always polls below 40% of the total vote, this means that a majority of the total vote is actually wasted. These votes count for nothing and in 2005, 70 per cent of votes were wasted in this way thats over 19 million ballots (Electoral Reform Society). It could, therefore, be argued that the first-past-the-post system has led to unaccountability amongst governments, because political leaders are aware of the fact that they do not need an actual majority of over 50% to govern effectively. This can in turn lead to voter apathy a nd lower turnouts, further fuelling a downward spiral of electoral legitimacy. It has also been argued that FPTP restricts voter choice, because the preponderance of the two-party system leads to a situation in which the dominant two parties marginalize the smaller parties in the system. Norris shows that this is not an unintended consequence of the FPTP system, indeed it is engineered precisely in order to achieve this result and thus goes to the very heart of the first-past-the-post system. Its aim is to penalise minor parties, especially those whose support is spatially dispersed. In winner take all, the leading party boosts its legislative base, while the trailing parties get meagre rewards. The focus is effective governance, not representation of all minority views (Norris 1997: 299). The Liberals and Liberal Democrats have suffered particularly under the FPTP system and it is not surprising that they are the most enthusiastic proponents of proportional representation. However, Lijphart shows that electoral reform in this direction is unlikely because the dominant two parties have too much to gain from the status quo. Because plurality has greatly benefited the Conservatives and Labour, these two major parties have remained committed to the old disproportional method (Lijphart 1999: 15). The situation is even more desperate for new political parties, which stand little chance of succeeding under the current UK electoral system. Lucardie argues that a first-past-the-post electoral system offers few political opportunities to new parties, unless they cater to particular regional interests (Lucardie 2000: 182). Voter choice is, therefore, restricted because in many cases there is simply no point in voting for smaller parties, because the huge majorities of larger parties are virtually impossible to overturn. Chapter 3 The proposals on the table In this chapter we will begin by assessing the extent to which these problems create voter apathy and low turnouts in UK general elections. As we have already seen, majoritarian systems such as first-past-the-post encourage a two-party system and single-party governments. The expectation amongst voters that the electoral system will produce such an outcome has a clear and direct effect on their voting behaviour, especially in instances where no change of government is anticipated. The 2001 UK general election is a clear example of voter apathy and low turnout caused, at least to some extent, by the FPTP system. Harris points out that the turnout for the 2001 general election in Britain was the lowest ever after full adult suffrage (Harris 2005: 2). The first-past-the-post electoral system had a direct impact upon the election in 2001, because Labour was able to use the system in order to continue to dominate the UK political system despite the fact that support for the party and for the government had decreased. The extent of the electoral victory in 1997 was a key factor influencing the 2001 election. In 1997, the Labour Party achieved an electoral landslide, gifting it a Commons majority of 179, the largest in the partys history on 44.4 per cent of the votes cast (Chadwick 2003: 49). Due to the fact that the margin of victory for the Labour Party was so enormous in 1997, the electoral system had in-built advantages for the continued dominance of the Labour Party in future elections. The mechanisms of the first-past-the-post electoral system allowed the Labour Party to lose votes without losing seats (Harris 2005: 7). The FPTP system had the effect of producing an election result that was highly biased in favour of Labour and whilst that may have been good news for New Labour whether it is good for the health of Britains democracy is a far more debatable point (Harris 2005: 7). The nature of the electoral system meant that many people felt it pointless to go o ut and vote, because there was effectively no way of displacing the enormous Labour majority in place since 1997. This meant that turnout plummeted from 71.5% to 59.4% and four out of ten voters stayed at home (Norris 2001: 569) and according to the Electoral Commission this was surely the single most important aspect of the 2001 general election (Electoral Commission 2001: vii). It can be argued, therefore, that the first-past-the-post system directly led to voter apathy and low turnout in the 2001 election. Let us now move on to consider some of the proposals on the table for reform of the electoral system. The government has recently put a proposal before MPs in order to amend the electoral system and move it from a first-past-the-post to an alternative vote (AV) system. The government has received the backing of MPs to put a referendum on the alternative vote system before the general public in the form of a referendum in the autumn of 2011. Under an alternative vote electoral system, voters would mark the candidates on the ballot paper in order of preference instead of simply placing a cross next to their preferred candidate, as is currently the case under the FPTP system. This means that voters would place a 1 next to their first choice candidate, a 2 next to their second choice candidate and so on. If a candidate received more than 50% of the vote they would be elected in exactly the same way as the under the present system, but if a candidate received less than 50% then the second choice preferences would be redistributed and this process would be repeated until one candidate ascertains an absolute majority. However, despite the fact that the alternative vote system is different from the FPTP system, AV similarly falls under the category of majoritarian electoral systems. Prime Minister Gordon Brown advocated this reform on the basis that it offers the electorate more choice and gives candidates a stronger mandate whilst simultaneously retaining the link between an MP and their constituency. In short it offers a system where the British people can, if they so choose, be more confident that their MP truly represents them, while at the same time remaining directly accountable to them (BBC 2010). The Liberal Democrats, renown as keen supporters of electoral reform have labelled the alternative vote system as a small step in the right direction, but the most minimal change a Labour government could devise (Huhne 2010). Critics of the AV system argue that there is little difference between the alternative vote and first-past-the-post and indeed claim that AV often manages to undermine the electoral system further than FPTP. For example, in Australia the alternative vote system in place stipulates that voters must express a preference for every single candidate on the ballot paper. Theoretically, this should serve to give voters more choice and accountability and therefore increase voter turnout, but the reality of this system in operation can produce very different results. In Australia, it has opened the door for party machines to produce how to vote cards, which direct voters on how exactly to complete their preferences. Arguably it diminishes the whole point of preferential voting if the order of preferences is pretty much determined in advance by party strategists (Farrell 2001: 66). However, the most damning indictment of the AV system is that it does not deal with the problem of wasted votes. When Brown advocated the AV system it was on the basis that it offers voters greater choice and makes MPs more accountable, but the evidence from Australia suggests that there is little difference between the alterative vote and FPTP. There is still a large number of wasted votes under the Australian system: 49.7% of those who voted in the Hinkler division in 1998 did not support the winning candidate (Farrell 2001: 66). It is clear, therefore, that under the alternative vote system a large proportion of voters remain unrepresented and that it offers only minimal change when compared to the first-past-the-post system. Advocates of electoral reform argue that the electorate can only be given more choice and accountability if the UK electoral system is fundamentally reformed. Such reformers call for electoral systems to be based upon proportional representation (PR). Systems of proportional representation focus upon ensuring that the percentage of votes match the number of seats in any given election and, as we have seen, this is in total contrast to the disproportionate number of seats obtained by large parties under majoritarian systems. Therefore, if a party receives 20% of the share of the vote, they will receive 20% of the seats. Pitkin claims that it may be argued that the fundamental principle of proportional representation is the attempt to secure a representative assembly reflecting with more or less mathematical exactness the various divisions in the electorate' (Pitkin 1984: 61). The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is regarded as the most suitable reform to the UK electoral system. Under t his system, each constituency would elect a certain number of MPs depending on its size, usually between 3 and 5 MPs. Voters would rank candidates in the same manner as under the alterative vote system, but the critical difference between the two systems is that under the STV system if the first choice candidate does not need the vote, either because they have already won or has too few votes to win, then that vote is transferred to the second choice candidate of the voter and so on. This means that votes are almost always used positively in order to directly elect candidates and as a result far fewer votes are wasted. As Karp points out, where the outcome of an election is determined by proportional representation, rational voters are free to cast a sincere vote without fear of it being wasted (Karp 2002: 3). There are many arguments put forward in favour of reforming the UK electoral system to one based upon proportional representation (Electoral Reform Society). As we have seen with both AV and FPTP one perennial criticism is that both systems waste an enormous number of votes. The Single Transferable Vote wastes far fewer votes and this means that under STV candidates are far more accountable to their constituents, because they have been directly elected by the support of their voters. This means that most voters can identity a representative that they personally helped to elect. Such a link in turn increases a representatives accountability (Electoral Reform Society). It has also been noted above that the current UK electoral system places too much power in the hands of political parties, whereas under the STV system candidates need to be far more responsive to the electorate rather than to their party machines. As Horowitz points out, it is generally thought that electoral systems wh ich limit the power of central party leaders to choose candidates produce more responsive representatives (Horowitz 2003: 117). Advocates of proportional systems such as STV argue, therefore, that electoral reform would increase the accountability of candidates. In addition to this, they also argue that the STV system would offer the electorate more choice. Hallett argues that under the STV system the voter is saved from any worry about wasting his vote. His preferential vote is insurance against that. He can safely vote his real order of choice and therefore, voting will always be worthwhile (Hallett 1984: 119-120). Commons agrees with this assessment stating that, proportional representation promises, above all, the independence of the voter, and freedom from the rule of the party machine (Commons 2009: 143). Grofman analyses electoral patterns in Japan and Korea and concludes that STV systems offer voters greater choice and that such systems make possible ballot splitting to expr ess highly differentiated preferences (Grofman 1999: 1). All of these arguments about an expansion of voter choice agree on one key point, that the increase in voter choice would instil the belief amongst voters that their decision at the ballot box matters and makes a real difference. It increases competition amongst candidates, abolishes the necessity of tactical voting and abolishes the notion of safe seats. The increased accountability and voter choice has been shown to directly increase voter turnout in other countries. A study of voter turnout for 509 elections in 20 countries by Blais showed that voter turnout is 8% higher in proportional representation systems than in single-member plurality systems such as FPTP (Loenen 1997: 184). Another study undertaken by Lortie showed an increase in voter turnout of 11.4% (Loenen 1997: 184). Blais also points to evidence from several studies on advanced democracies and post-Communist countries to conclude that turnout is higher in proportional representation systems (Blais 2006: 113-114). It s eems clear therefore from the evidence of other countries that if UK general elections were reformed on the basis of the STV system voter turnout would increase and tactical voting would diminish. In addition to this, Lijphart points to evidence from PR elections to the Australian senate to show that the single-transferable vote in Australia, as in other countries increases the strength of smaller parties by changing the two-party into one of multi-partism. PR is generally associated with a change from two-party to multi-party systems or an increase in multi-partism. Australian Senate elections show a very clear trend toward multi-partism (Lijphart 1999: 319). He shows that the Australian elections before 1980 had produced two party-systems but that since 1980, the system has been more like a two-party-and-a-half party system (with between 2.40 and 2.68 effective parties) (Lijphart 1999: 319-320). There is also evidence that the European countries that changed from plurality to proportional representation changed from a two-party system to a multiple-party system (Riker 1982: 758). Even within the context of European elections within the UK the use of PR systems has shown a clear increase in the number of small parties gaining support. Whenever voters exercise their choices in proportional systems of voting they assign significant support to at least six parties, as in the 2004 European election when electors in the median British region supported 5.3 effective parties (Dunleavy 2005: 503). A report on the 2005 election by the Electoral Reform Society shows that if the 2005 election had been held along the lines of the STV system the results would have been radically different. The number of Labour seats would have decreased by 92 seats, the Conservatives would have gained 2 seats but the Liberal Democrats would have almost tripled their number of seats, gaining 85 extra seats in the House of Commons. There would also have been small increases for almost every other small party, such as the Green party, which would have gained 1 seat and the SNP, which would have gained 3 seats (Electoral Reform Society). It is clear, therefore that proportional systems produce a larger share of votes for smaller political parties, but this development is not seen as universally positive. Whilst those in favour of PR argue that giving small parties a larger share of the vote is fairer, Norton argues that it is not necessarily fairer to transfer disproportionate political power from the largest single party to the smallest political parties. Creating a system that facilitates a king-making role for the third party, for example, is not demonstrably a fair thing to do (Norton 1997: 86). However, despite these objections such a system is surely preferable to one in which small parties are marginalized to such an extent that they cannot realistically wield any effective power . We have seen that a preponderance of small parties offers the electorate more choice and that this is a factor that clearly increases voter turnout. It is for these reasons that a number of pressure groups and political parties have been calling for reform of the UK electoral system at general elections. The Electoral Reform Society represents people that believe passionately in reforming the electoral system and it seeks to influence the general public via measures such as lobbying politicians, publishing books and leaflets and via high-profile media campaigns. It has four stated aims, which are to ensure all votes have equal value, give effective representation to all significant points of view within the electorate, allow electors to vote for their preferred candidates without fear of wasting their votes and to ensure the accountability of individual representatives to their electorates (Electoral Reform Society). Another important pressure group is Unlock Democracy. This group is also in favour of switching to an electoral system based upon proportional representation and it calls for fair, open and honest elections, rights, freedoms and a written constitution, a stronger parliament and accountable government, bringing power closer to the people and a culture of informed political interest and responsibility (Unlock Democracy). Unlock Democracy is entirely owned by its members and similarly to the Electoral Reform Society seeks to provide an outlet for people passionate about electoral reform to campaign in the UK. The most important political party calling for reform along the lines of proportional representation in the UK is the Liberal Democrat Party. The Liberal Democrats have over 60 seats in the House of Commons and are the third largest party in the UK political system and are therefore the most powerful force in favour of proportional representation and the STV system. As Chris Huhne, the Shadow Home Secretary states only the Single Transferable Vote in multi-member seats would abolish MPs meal tickets for life, and we will fight to amend this proposal (to an AV system) to give people a real cho ice for a more significant change (Liberal Democrats). During the recent vote concerning a move towards the alternative vote system the Liberal Democrats put forward an amendment to hold a referendum earlier and on a different voting system, namely the Single Transferable Vote but this was amendment was defeated by 476 to 69 MPs. Chapter 4 Is reform ever going to happen? In this chapter we will examine whether the goal of electoral reform will ever realistically be put into practice. The reform of the UK electoral system to the alternative vote system is highly likely to come into practice for a number of reasons. Firstly, the bill, although it has not yet been made into law, has been approved by a majority of MPs in the House of Commons and a pledge has been made to bring the question of switching to the alternative vote to the general public in a referendum in the autumn of 2011. It was the size of the Commons majority more than any other factor that makes it likely that the AV voting system will become reality. As the Independent pointed out, Gordon Browns plan to hold a referendum next year on scrapping the first-past-the-post system for elections for Westminster won a convincing majority (Independent 2010). In addition to this, the fact that public opinion is largely in favour of electoral reform and the fact that AV is an improvement upon first -past-the-post make it highly likely that there will be a yes vote in the referendum. This will be a victory for the government, which believes that only a set of minor changes is needed in order to improve upon the present system, but that the present system should remain more or less intact. However, it is far less likely that the more broad and sweeping reforms advocated by various pressure groups and the Liberal Democrats will come into for

Essay: Analysis of Sonnet 83 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 83 I never saw that you did painting did need, And therefore to your fair no painting set. I found, or thought I found, you did exceed The barren tender of a poet's debt. And therefore have I slept in your report, That you yourself, being extant, well might show How far a modern quill doth come too short Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow. This silence for my sin sis you impute, Which shall be muost my glory, being dumb, For I impair not being beauty being mute, When others would give life and bring a tomb. There lives more life in one of you fair eyes Than both you poets can in praise devise. In some of Shakespeare's Sonnets we the reader can see that he was against the use of cosmetics. Commonly referred to as "painting", we see this sonnet to prove his dislike for the use of beautifying agents. 1-2: 'I never thought, because of the way you appear to me, that you ever needed cosmetics, and therefore, you don't need a cosmetic kit to make you beautiful.' "Set" here can also be read as a verb, as in the drying of the make-up. (Make-up in Elizabethan England was quite different from today's, including some such elements as lead in the composition). 3-4: "Exceed" does refer to "the barren tender", but it wouldn't be inappropriate to infer that Shakespeare is reflecting upon an 'exceeding' amount of cosmetics applied. But better is the 'exceeding in the absent [or of no worth] payments (of flattery) of a poet's debt. "Debt" is taken to mean both the debt that poets have to beauty, as their duty to praise it, and also a pun on monetary deficiency. This then refers back to "ten der", meaning both soft and supple as well as currency. All of these words create a theme of finance, perhaps outlining the worth of the addressee. 5: "Report" meaning description. 6-8: 'Because your (still) existing self very well may show just how far a modern quill [writing instrument at the time] comes too short in speaking of your worth, the worth that grows in you'.

Comparing Terror in Franz Kafkas The Trial and The Man Who Disappeared :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Nature of Terror in Franz Kafka's The Trial and The Man Who Disappeared "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (Roosevelt 93). In Franz Kafka's The Trial and The Man Who Disappeared (Amerika), the nature of terror is exposed to the fullest extent. The main characters in both works, Josef K. and Karl Rossmann are both used as pawns in the chess game also known as society. The dramatic impact from the major turn of events would create a tremendous change in both characters. Josef K., who was arrested for no apparent reason would have his life totally dominated by the judicial system. The road that Josef K. is forced to journey on became a one-way street and he was never able to turn back. Karl Rossmann, who was also used as a scapegoat, was sent off to America for something that was not his fault. Because he was new to the country, people immediately took advantage of him and treated him as an outcast of society. The so-called "American Dream" that Karl often heard about became only an illusion. The terrifying situations that Josef K. and Karl hav e to go through brought the best and worse of the characters but most often weaknesses and flaws in the character are exposed. The nature of terror is based on reactions from human instinct and often cannot be controlled by mind or thought. Fear is a part of our being that exists in our mind. "It was fear that first made gods in the world" (Statius 94). No matter what Josef K. tried to do, the fate of his case had already been decided. The judicial system had taken a chokehold on Josef K. and he was never able to get out of it. Josef K. tried his best to fight off the case because that was what his instincts inclined him to do. However, to no avail, Josef K. is killed at the end. The arrest under no accusation caused Josef K. to fight back in anyway he could because the thought of being defeated and put away for no reason was an act of injustice. "Judgement does not come suddenly; the proceedings gradually merge into the judgement" (164). Unfortunately, the final judgement is death, the dead end of the one-way street. For Karl Rossmann, going to America was a big change. He had to adapt to the new way of life and be accepted by others and that unfortunately did not happen.

A few factors Essay

Investigation A few factors (the gradient/height of ramp, the mass of the object, friction, gravity, the energy act on the object or the length of object) can affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp. Planning I am going to do my investigation on ‘ mass of the object’ which I think it is one of the factors that will affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp because when gravitational potential energy equals to mass times gravity times height, so if mass is increased, the gravitational potential energy will increase in proportionally. I will do the experiment by adding weights on top of a wooden cart to increase the mass, and then I will time how long it takes to fall down from the ramp and calculate the final speed by: Diagram Weight add to the cart (grams) 0 100 200 300 400 Time (sec) 6’78 6’07 7’21 6’86 6’93 Weight add to the cart (grams) 500 600 700 800 900 Time (sec) 7’19 7’03 6’61 6’77 6’57 My experiment results are: According to the results, mass does not affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp. I think this is because when something is dropped, it will transfer from gravitational potential energy to kenetic energy So I am going to change my investigation on the height of the ramp. I think height of the ramp will affect the final speed of an object when height of the ramp is increased, the gravitational potential energy will increase proportionally due to: G. P. E. = mass x gravity x height Method of doing the experiment I am going to do it by using a ramp that I can increase the height. Then I will release the cart at the top of the ramp and time how long it will take for the cart to come down. I will increase the height by 5cm each time (5cm, 10cm, 15cm, 20cm, 25cm and 30cm). I will take down the time thrice to get the average time of it because it is more reliable. Then I will work out the average speed. I will divide the length of the ramp by the time taken and work out the final speed by doubling the average speed. The length of the ramp is one metre and the weight of the cart is 900 grams. I can make this a fair test by not pushing the cart, doing average on the time, and keeping the mass the same. Apparatus I will need. A clamp to hold the ramp, A ramp, A wooden cart as the object and A stopwatch for timing for the experiment. Safety features I will make sure it is safe by putting books at the end to stop the cart from bumping into others’ feet and I will make sure no one is standing near it. I will do the whole experiment on the ground because this can stop things from falling down the table and hit people’s feet. Diagram Evidence/results I have my experiment results after all of this and they are: Height(cm) 5 10 15 20 25 30 Average Time(sec) 4’09 2’31. 1’80 1’54 1’37 1’10 According to the results, there seems to be a trend. So, I think I will calculate the final speed. Height(cm) 5 10 15 20 25 30 Final speed(cm/s) 0. 489 0. 865 1. 111 1. 299 1. 46 1. 818 The trend is obvious now. It shows that whenever the height is increased, the time taken will decrease and the final speed of the cart will increase. From we calculate gravitational energy (mass x gravity/acceleration x height), height seems to be one of the main factors that can affect the G. P. E. because as height increases, the G. P. E.will be affected by it. Example: if an object with constant gravity (x), constant mass (y) but falls from changing heights (5 and 10), the outcome will be 5xy and 10xy and this also proved that when the height is increased, the G. P. E. will increase. The forces of gravity pulls down on all objects have on Earth. If objects are allowed to fall, they accelerate downwards. Therefore, if an object is allowed to fall from a higher place, the gravity will pulls down the object with a greater force and the object will accelerate faster as it comes down. If the object falls from a higher place, there will be more time for the object to accelerate, so the final speed of the object will be faster, and as the gravitational force is greater, the object is being pulled harder and quicker. Therefore, this explains why an object will have a faster final speed at the end of the ramp whenever the height of the ramp is increased. At first, I did an experiment on ‘mass of the object’ that the experiment doesn’t work. I have found out that mass doesn’t affect the final speed of an object. When an object is held at a certain point, gravitational potential energy is stored; when it is dropped, it will transfer gravitational potential energy to kenetic energy. So that means: Gravitational potential energy = kenetic energy Mass x gravity x height = 0. 5 x mass x velocity This shows that ‘mass’ exists on both sides of the equation, that means it can be cancel out to simplified the equation. So the equation will become: Gravity x height = 0. 5 x velocity That means ‘mass’ does not affect the ‘velocity’ on the right side of the equation. Graph I have also plotted a graph of height against final speed, and after that, I have drawn a line of best fit. The graph shows a straight line of best fit. The graph shows a straight line of best fit and this shows height and final speed are in direct proportion. This proves when the height of the ramp is increased, the final speed is increased and this means the object accelerates faster. Evaluations My results are quite accurate because on the graph, all of the results go very near the best-fit line. My results are quite reliable, as I do every height for three times and take the average of it. I can make the results more accurate by using a light sensor with the computer. This will be more accurate then using a stop watch because human need a time to react before their brain do what it is told to do which is the reaction time. I think my method of doing the experiment is quite good because I can get accurate results from it. I can improve it by putting the ramp more stable and firmer because the ramp keeps on sliding down the slide. I think the method of doing the experiment is quite good because it gives me a quite accurate result and it takes less than half an hour to finish the experiment. At first, I did an experiment on ‘mass of the object’ that takes about 45 minutes but I got results that are not appropriate for my experiment. So I quickly change the investigation on another topic. Although it wastes lots of time, I learn that mass of an object will not affect the final speed of a falling object.

Advergames

Synopsis Advergames – Advertising into your subconsciousness Disposition This paper investigates how advergames and anti- advergames have made a ground in our culture. I will explore how the anti- advergame movement utilizes the procedural rhetoric in order to create awareness. Furthermore I will come to a conclusion about why or if we need the anti – advergame movement. What exactly is advergames? Advergames is a great way to reach out to the consumers in a subconscious manner. Advergames are video games which contains advertisement for a product, service, or company. – Advergames are created to fill out a purpose – often to promote the company or one of the products. These games are often distributed freely as the game is a marketing tool. – Advergames can also be less obvious in their advertisement with product placement in the game. The video games is an alternative form of advertising with some advantages: they are cheap, fast, and have an extr aordinary peer-to-peer marketing ability. Advertising within a video game allows for more exposures to the product than traditional ads because, according to Ellen Ratchye– Foster, a trend analyst for Fallon, â€Å"anyone who buys these games devotes weeks and weeks to getting through their levels. † This means that the consumer will see the advertisements over and over while they play, thus it may resonate with them. †1 Product placement – â€Å"Product placement in-game-advertising is most commonly found in sports titles and simulation games. For advertisers an add may be displayed multiple times and a game may provide an opportunity to ally a product's brand image with the image of the game. – Such examples include the use Sobe drink in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent – While product placement in film and television is fairly common, this type of in-game advertising has only recently become common in games. â€Å"2 1 http ://advergamingtoday. blogspot. com/2006/02/just-product-placement. html 2 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Advergaming What is anti – advergames? Anti- advergames are games that challenge players to rethink their relationship with consumption and encourage corporate critique. â€Å"Advertisers, governments and organizations mount huge campaigns to show us what they want us to see, and we want to expose what they're hiding,† 3 In order to create awareness for the consumer (or more precisely the player) molleindustria. org and others create anti – advergames. The video games satirize big companies and question corporate polices ranging from how cattle are raised (The McDonald’s Videogame) to low pay for workers (Disaffected! . â€Å"I've always had a complicated relationship with advertising,† Bogost said. â€Å"It's everywhere, and it's becoming more and more parasitic. Yet, because it's everywhere it has the power to influence people positively as well as negatively. † 4 When attempting to sell games as a persuasive medium, those in the business early on found it useful to refer to this class of games as serious games. Ian Bogost wrote the book †Persuasive games† where he analysed the rhetoric these games used in their attempt to share information. Persuasive games – Ian Bogost †A book about how videogames make arguments: rhetoric, computing, politics, advertising, learning. In Persuasive Games, Ian Bogost explains how companies with the video game as a medium can make arguments and influence players. The games represent how the real and artificial/imagined systems work, and the players are invited to an interaction with the system to form an opinion about them. Bogost analyses the unique functions of rhetoric in software and especially in videogames. He argues that videogames because of their representation of procedurality open a whole new domain for persuasion, a new form for rhetoric. 5 3 http://www. molleindustria. org/node/149 4 http://www. molleindustria. org/node/149 5 http://www. bogost. com/books/persuasive_games. shtml This new form is called â€Å"procedural rhetoric† and is a form of rhetoric that is tied to the core affordances of computers which is running processes an executing a rule-based symbolic manipulation. 6 Procedural rhetoric is the practice of authoring arguments through processes. Computer games are interesting in this regard because they are some of the most complex processes that exist. †Covering both commercial and non-commercial games from the earliest arcade games through contemporaty titles, I look at three areas in which videogame persuasion has already taken form and shows considerable potential: politics, advertising, and education. The book reflects both theoretical and game-design goals. †7 The McDonald’s Videogame example McDonald’s video game is a good example of procedural rhetoric. The game was designed to persuade you that McDonald’s business model is corrupt. The McDonald’s Videogame mounts a procedural rhetoric about the necessity of corruption in the global fast food business, and the overwhelming temptation of greed, which leads to more corruption. In order to succeed in the longterm, the player must use growth hormones, he must coerce banana republics, and he must mount PR and lobbying campaigns. â⠂¬ 8 The game makes a procedural argument about the inherent problems in the fast food industry, particularly the necessity of overstepping environmental and health-related boundaries. Critical Play – Mary Flanagan While Ian Bogost's procedural rhetoric explore the expressive processes in video games, Mary Flanagan examines the theories of critical play which considers how designing a play space in a 6 7 8 9 http://www. bogost. com/books/persuasive_games. shtml http://www. bogost. com/books/persuasive_games. shtml The Rhetoric of video games, Ian Bogost p. 127 The Rhetoric of video games, Ian Bogost p. 127 video game can be a kind of social activism. Definition of critical Play To Flanagan, critical play â€Å"means to create or occupy play environments and activities that represent one or more questions about aspects of human life,†10 and â€Å"is characterized by a careful examination of social, cultural, political, or even personal themes that function as alternates to popular play spaces. [†¦] Thus the goal in theorizing a critical game-design paradigm is as much about the creative person’s interest in critiquing the status quo as it is about using play for such a phase change†11. The connection that this process has with social activism is that the games that people play and how they play those games change in response to culture. The doll example A simple example of critical play in a natural setting is playing with dolls. They are often used to enforce gender roles and stereotypes, many young girls today and in the early days of the doll industry would use dolls to break down social roles. Violent fantasies, macabre funerals, and other forms of changing the way play worked with dolls provides a striking example of critical play in its natural form. 2 10 Critical Play: Radical game design, Mary Flanagan, p 6 11 Critical Play: Radical game design, Mary Flanagan, p 6 12 http://www. popmatters. com/pm/post/128966-mary-flanagans-critical-play Anti – advergames Ian Bogost is one of the founding fathers of anti- advergames and in his book Persuasive Games he describes how procedural rhetoric can be used to understand the problems in our culture. â€Å"Disa ffected! Does not purport to proceduralize a solution to Kinko's customer service or labour issues. But its procedural rhetoric of incompetence does underscore the problem of disaffection in contemporary culture, on both sides of the counter. We're dissatisfied or unwilling to support structures of authority, but we do scarcely little about it. We go to work at lousy jobs with poor benefits and ill treatment. We shrug off poor customer service and bad products, assuming that nothing can be done and ignoring the reasons why workers might feel disenfranchised in the first place. We take for granted that we can't reach people in authority. These problems extend far beyond copy stores. Disaffected has, like the McDonald’s video game, no solution to how we change the problem. The game attempts instead to inform and educate the users by using the procedural rhetoric, showing how the organisation/world through processes affect everyone. The question is, does anti – advergames really have the effekt that Bogost and other gamedesigners think it does? Its a question with more than one side. On one hand people do get a better understanding of the structure and the core of the message but how is that different form any other campaign? On the other hand we already know that Billion dollar companies may be a little rough around the edges and that morally the best thing (in a perfect world) would be to avoid the products and companies altogether. So why do we need anti – advergames to inform us about the dangers? The point is to create awareness. There arent any (easy) solution to the problems so the next best thing is to make people aware of how the system works so that we dont stand idly by. This does not mean that the anti- advergames are created in a belief that the user, by playing the video game, is fully enlightened on completion of the game. Often the player already has insight in how the system works as the people who aren't interested in the critique wont be interested in the game either. None the less designers like Ian Bogost and Paolo Pedercini (molleindustria. org) feel their work will have some effect. At the very least, they contend, players might start thinking about corporations in new ways. The games, Pedercini said, â€Å"can make people ask some questions, and for instance read a book or consider that there are a lot of motivations to change their lifestyles. â€Å"13 Brad Scott, director of digital branding at Landor Associates has an other opinion: â€Å"I don't know that they would have that negative effect on the brand,† Scott said. â€Å"You can almost use it as, ‘Boy, we've become such an icon as a brand that we're being mimicked by video games. † 14 I cant say which statement I think is correct but I think that advergames are a great way of advertising. There is an enormous amount of people who play video games, â€Å"according to the Interactive Digital Software Association, as many as 60% of Americans over age 6 play them. Putting that statistic together with the number of people using the internet, you have a phenomenal amount of people you ca n market to. â€Å"15 This great area of potential would of course be a great place for marketing, both commercial and non-commercial. It would be a waste not to utilize it especially if the people aren't as offended or as immune as to other of the more traditional methods of advertising. 13 http://www. molleindustria. org/node/149 14 http://www. molleindustria. org/node/149 15 http://advergamingtoday. blogspot. com/2006/02/just-product-placement. html 7 Digital Kultur Conclusion Advergames are becoming more and more popular as the availability to the internet increases. The video game is like any other media being used to the benefit of the marketing industry and why not? The anti – advergame movement with Ian Bogost criticise the marketing industry for being omnipresent and overpowering in its behaviour but is itself a game that has an agenda. Despite all, the anti – advergames are needed. The goal is not to come up with a solution, but to create awareness, and that is exactly what they do. We have an anti advertising forum in any other media, why not in the video games? 8 http://advergamingtoday. blogspot. com/2006/02/just-product-placement. html http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Advergaming http://www. molleindustria. rg/node/149 http://www. bogost. com/books/persuasive_games. shtml http://www. popmatters. com/pm/post/128966-mary-flanagans-critical-play http://www. molleindustria. org/node/149 Texts Ian Bogost, ‘The Rhetoric of video games, in The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning, Cambridge, MIT Press, 2008 Ian Bogost, ‘Procedural Rhetoric' [extract], in Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videoga mes, Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 2007 Mary Flanagan, ‘Introduction to Critical Play', in Critical Play: Radical Game Design, Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press 2009 9

Apple and Lenovo’s Technology Stratagy

The Technology Strategy Comparison of Lenovo and Apple MG 8673 Technology strategy Professor: Oded Nov Xiaofei Li Table of Contents Company Profile 3 Company Vision and Misson 4 SWOT Analysis5 Porter’s Five Forces6 Product market matrix 7 Growth Share Matrix8 Technology operation of Lenovo and Apple9 First Mover/Dominant design 9 Government regulation10 Lock-in and Switching Cost10 Strategy operation of Lenovo and Apple11 Conclusion12 Company Profile Lenovo is a Chinese multinational computer hardware and electronics company.The company was formed in China and incorporated in HK and would grow to be the largest PC company in China. And in 2005 Lenovo acquired the former Personal Computer Division of IBM. Its products include personal computers, tablet computers, mobile phones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software and smart televisions. Today, Lenovo is a US$21 billion personal technology company and the world’s second-largest PC vend or1, it has more than 26,000 employees in more than 60 countries serving customers in more than 160 countries2.Apple is an American multinational corporation, incorporated on 1977. It engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. Apple sells a range of iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod compatible products, including a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings. It also sells and delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store.Also Apple is the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia3. As of November 2012, Apple has 394 retail stores in fourteen countries4. It is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of US$626 billion as of September 2012. It currently has 72,800 permanent full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide5. Lenovo Company’s vision and mission 1. Lenovo has a long-term goal of becoming the leading personal technology company in the world.It aspires to achieve this goal by leading in three key areas: Personal Computers: Lead in PCs and be respected for its product innovation and quality. Convergence: Lead the industry with an ecosystem of devices, services, applications and content for people to seamlessly connect to people and Web content. Culture: Become recognized as one of the best, most trusted and most well-respected companies to work for and do business with. 2 2. Lenovo is building a way of viewing the world and doing business—it introduces the newest products in China and then spread across the globe. Also Case Study will describe why Apple Inc. is a very successful company.Lenovo believes that the new way of expansion from East to West is the way of future 3. Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. The company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services for customers who want technology that does more. Apple Company’s vision and mission 1. Apple believes that they are on the face of the earth to make great products and that's not changing. They are constantly focusing on innovating.They believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where they can make a significant contribution. 6 2. Apple is committed to protecting the environment, health and safety of their employees, customers and the global communities where they operate. They re cognize that by integrating sound environmental, health and safety management practices into all aspects of their business, they can offer technologically innovative products and services while conserving and enhancing recourses for future generations.Apple strives for continuous improvement in the environmental, health and safety management systems and in the environmental quality of their products, processes and services. 7 Lenovo Company SWOT Analysis Strengths | Weaknesses| * Mass and strong relationship with domestic mainland Chinese customer * Mass Manufacturing and low production cost. * Excellent marketing and distribution strategy. * Merge with IMB Personal Computer | * Mundane Outlook * Relative weak Global Brand Perception * Relative weak Online Sales * Not qualifies After-sales Services * Limited knowledge of global market| Opportunities | Threats| Chinese Government Association * Fast growing Personal Computer market * The neighbor hood Indian is becoming the fastest gr owing PC market in the world * Signing of memorandum of understanding with USA * Specialty shops providing one stop platform for distribution| * Appreciation of RMB will increase product price outside of Chinese market * Competition threats from local and international competitor * Price war * International competitors forming alliance with local competitors. * Industry Reaching Maturity| Apple Company SWOT Analysis Strengths | Weaknesses| Large segment of loyal customer called â€Å" Apple fans† * Strong brand image. * Retail Stores provide the experience and eye –catching Apple product * Huge R&D Innovation | * Patent infringement. * Product recalls. * Failure of Mac Mini and Apple TV * The fast speed of changing product generation | Opportunities | Threats| * Strong growth in smartphone and personal computer industry. * Cooperation with other big company like Google coupled to create new innovation * Apple product lock in customer behavior| * Rising popularity of  Google Android. Market competition in PC and smartphone industry. * Dependence on specific suppliers. * The leadership after Steve Jobs| Porter's five forces for the companies industry New entrants, bargaining power of supplier, bargaining power of buyers, Substitute, Rivalry 1. Smartphone market share is basically covered by big cellphone manufacture company e. g. Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Blackberry. They have huge R;D innovation, large based and loyalty customer, excellent marketing and advertising strategy. The new entrants are limited in this market, and they are rarely to survive. . This case is the same in Tablet and PC industry. This entrants are also hard to get into this market, because the market share are occupied by those big company such as Apple, Lenovo, Netflix, Samsung, IBM, Dell, HP, Sony. 3. Lenovo and Apple make the product outsource to the supplier such Foxconn. But basically suppliers have relatively weak bargaining power with Lenovo and Apple, becau se Apple and Lenovo odder huge numbers of electronical products from the suppliers, they stand in a relative strong side in the bargaining table. 4.Even though the competition in the smartphone, Tablet and PC industry is toughly intense, those markets are fundamentally regulated. When a product is put onto market, the price is fixed. But customers have some bargaining power eg the old generation always cut down price for customer when new generation go in. to market. 5. Smartphone, Tablet and PC products all have substitute. 6. Lenovo and Apple face strong competition and they have so many rivals in each of their product line eg Microsoft, Sony, HTC, Samsung. Product market matrix Product| Present| New|Market| Present| Market Penetration| Product development| | New| MarketDevelopment| Diversification| In product market matrix, Lenovo and Apple product are both in a present market and their product are basically present, so the majority of their product are in the market penetration place. Meanwhile, for some product like when Steve Jobs launch the iPad in 2010, it was a breakthrough in the tablet PC industry. So in some cases some Lenovo and Apple products in some specific time are in the product development place. Growth share matrix Star| Question Mark| Cash Cow| Dog| High Share Low ShareHigh Growth Low Growth Because there is obvious potential growing trend in the smartphone, PC, notebook and tablet industries, meanwhile Lenovo and Apple both have high market share, so in the growth share matrix, they are both STAR companies. Technology Operation Products Comparison| Apple Product| Lenovo Product| PhoneIphone VSLephone| | | NotebookMacbook Pro VSThinkpad| | | Tablet Ipad VSIdeaTab| | | DesktopMacVSIdeaCenter| | | TVApple TVVSLeTV| | | NotebookMacbook Air VSIdeaPad| | | First Mover/Dominant Design For apple product, the first market dominant design is the iPod.Since October 2004, the iPod line has dominated digital music player sales in the United States, wi th over 90% of the market for hard drive-based players and over 70% of the market for all types of players. 8 The second Apple dominant design product is Ipad. When Steve Jobs released the Ipad on April3, 2010, Apple sold more than 15 million first-generation Ipad prior to the launch of the IPad 2—selling more than all other tablet PCs combined since the IPad's release, and reaching 75% of tablet PC sales at the end of 2010. 9 Meanwhile Lenovo is the dominant design in the computers supplier area in Mainland China, with a 28. % share of the Chinese market. It reported annual sales of $14. 9 billion for the fiscal year ending 2008/2009. 10 In October 2012, Lenovo ousts HP became the world's top supplier of personal computers. In the third quarter of 2013, Lenovo shipped 13. 77million units, giving it a 15. 7% share of the global market, compared with HP, which enjoyed a 15. 5% share with 13. 55 million units. 11 * Government regulation As far as now, there is no government reg ulation for Lenovo and Apple because the government thinks this market is relative fair of compete and regulate.Lock In and Switching Cost In lock in customer strategy, Apple is the master, It makes customer realize that once use the apple product, it is extremely hard to find the exit. Apple creates iTunes, App Store, iCloud and OS system to make this strategy into fully used. Simply speaking, you purchase music, movie in iTunes, purchase apps in App Store and restore/backup photos, music, documents, applications in iCloud. When apple launch a new generation iphone, the customer can simply use the iCloud and iTunes to restore everything from their last generation iphone.And when customer creates a reminder in the mac, it will automatically show on their Iphone and Ipad. Since the iCloud only works on Apple product, so this strategy will lock in customer on apple product, and deepen the switching cost if someone wants to change to another company product. Since apple’s inform ation technology products work in system, so switching any single product is costly. Also Lenovo is currently trying to lock in its customer launch the same storage technology called Lenovo Cloud, the user can back up and sync data from multiple Lenovo devices including LePhone, LePad, and LeTV using a 200 GB online storage.This strategy is to tie the Lenovo tablets and devices together and make the customers feel that switching away would cause too much hassle. Strategy Operation Lenovo For Lenovo their operation strategy is consolidate its market in China and expand its market out of China. Lenovo has its headquarter both in Beijing and in United States. They are the leader in China with more than 30 percent market share in PCs, and their product sales in China account for 46 percent of global sales.So with builds on its dominant position in China to grow globally, it plans to have rapid growth in emerging markets and a unique global footprint. In 2012, Lenovo partially moved prod uction of its ThinkPad line of computers to Japan. 12 In October 2012, Lenovo announced that it would start manufacturing computers in Whitsett, North Carolina. 13 In the marketing strategy, based on different levels of consumers, Lenovo developed different prices, by creating differentiated products to meet different consumer groups. And this strategy is Middle and High End Market Positioning.Take Lenovo’s personal computer as example, the market survey shows that its refrigerators mainly focus on middle and high end, Lenovo owns 70% market share in high end products, while the middle end count for 40—50% market share, the market share of low end product is lower than 10%. 14 As for the supermarket channel, Lenovo has designed relatively low prices of mid-level products, while high-end products on the electrical chain and retail sales channels. For the rural market, Lenovo designs and develops products that have relatively simple functions, relatively low prices to me et the need of the students market.Apple For Apple, people would doubt their operation strategy after the past of their hero leader Steve Jobs, who is the pioneer of Apple. But the new leader Cook operates the company quite well. In cook’s first 16 months on the job, Apple has released next-generation iPhones and iPads and seen its stock price rise 43 percent. 15 As is the same with Lenovo, Apple also put a lot of concentration in the Chinese market. With a population of 1. 3 billion, China is the world's largest mobile market and already Apple's second biggest market overall.Apple currently sells its iPhone exclusively through China Unicom with 196 million subscribers. The Apple current CEO Tim Cook visited Mainland China and its supplier Foxcoon In March 2012. And this is the first Apple CEO to visit China, as Apple is ramping up its investment in the world's most populous market. Also for Apple, their operation strategy is to make the greatest, most innovation and most sim ple product in the world, but Apple not only focus on the technology innovation, they focus on the global environment and human right. Apple reports environmental impact comprehensively.They care about the total carbon footprint in the manufacturing and transportation process, also in product use, recycling and facilities. Meanwhile Apple is committed to the highest standards of social responsibility across the worldwide supply chain. They provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes to the supplier such as Foxconn in China. 2 Conclusion To sum up, Lenovo and Apple operate in the same environment. They both focus on the smartphone, desktop, notebook, tablet and future TV industry.Since their backgrounds are different, they operation strategies are different. Lenovo is based on Chinese market and then spread its product around the world. The product has low prices of mid-level products, while high -end products on the electrical chain and retail sales channels. Meanwhile Lenovo plans to further explore its market in Japan and US. In the contrast, Apple has a huge US and global market, their price always lead the market. Right now it plans to further explore its business in China, for it is the world's most popular market.It is sure that Lenovo and Apple will have fierce competition in the future market. Reference 1http://www. marketwatch. com/story/lenovo-passes-dell-to-become-worlds-no-2-pc-maker-2011-10-13 2 http://www. lenovo. com/lenovo/us/en/our_company. html 3http://appleinsider. com/articles/08/10/21/apple_iphone_3g_sales_surpass_rims_blackberry. html 4 http://www. apple. com/retail/storelist/ 5http://www. sec. gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000119312512444068/d411355d10k. htm 6http://alvinalexander. com/blog/post/mac-os-x/apple-business-philosophy-mission-statement 7http://www. apple. com/environment/ http://www. apple. com/pr/library/2009/01/21Apple-Reports-First-Qua rter-Results. html 9http://www. economist. com/blogs/dailychart/2011/03/tablet_computers 10http://www. reuters. com/article/2012/02/09/markets-hongkong-stocks-preopen-idUSL4E8D87B720120209 11http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-19906119 12http://www. gizmochina. com/2012/08/29/lenovo-moves-thinkpad-production-to-japan/ 13 http://news. lenovo. com/article_display. cfm? article_id=1635 14 http://www. jgbm. org/page/19%20Wang%20Wen%20Cheng%20. pdf 15http://www. workingwider. com/strategic_innovation/apple-business-strategy-2012/