Wal Mart Hr Strategies

Abstract Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world. They have reached such success by offering everyday low prices to a generalized target market of middle to lower class, though anyone looking to save a buck can be attracted. What does Wal-Mart do to stay on tract, stay running with a diverse workforce, and continue to offer the best deals around? ? Wal-Mart has recently introduced a strategic approach that would help sustain their role as the largest retailer in the world, as well as keeping their customers happy and healthy.The initiative has been dubbed â€Å"Project Impact†, and was introduced in late 2009. The projects purpose is to improve the benefits to the consumer. There are three initiatives within the project which include; â€Å"Save Money, Live Better; Win, Play, Show; and Fast, Friendly, Clean† (Murray, 2013). With a declining economy, as well as a loss in consumers due to the likes of Target Co. and other competitors, Wal-Mart needed to make a chang e in order to keep their customers coming back. So they restricted their strategic approach.Wal-Mart has revamped its approach and internal design by widening isles, enhancing the use of signs within the store for product location, as well as adding natural light to offer a friendlier atmosphere to their customers (Murray, 2013). The first Initiative in their new approach is â€Å"save Money, Live Better. † As one can see by the title, Wal-Mart is continuing to obtain price leadership. Wal-Mart is known for their everyday low prices, but must continue to ward off attempts from rival organizations. They are able to do so with the help of their private labels.In a day and age when people are choosing to save money, they can choose a cheaper alternative choice in Wal-Mart’s own private labels such as Great Value (Murray, 2013). The next initiative is Win, Play, and Show. Wal-Mart wants to be the first in the market to be able to showcase new products; allowing them to lea d in pricing. They also want to make it where vendors will continuously market to Wal-Mart to maintain their positions on their shelves. And finally, with show, they don’t want to overwhelm the consumer with products, yet they do not want to lack a particular good.So say they have multiple brands of a particular product; they are now narrowing it down to the top market choices. With Fast, Friendly, and Clean, Wal-Mart wants to enhance the in store experience of the consumer. Merchandise flow plays a big part. â€Å"Wal-Mart has a merchandise replenishment cycle of no more than 48 hours. Wal-Mart has adopted efficient processes such as cross-docking which as reduced operating costs, increased throughput, reduces inventory levels and eliminates unnecessary handling and storage of product† (Murray, 2013).Wal-Mart has adopted a â€Å"green† policy. Sustainability is crucial in this effort. â€Å"The company is dedicated to maximize the efficiency from the raw mater ial phase to the manufacturing phase, from supplier to distribution center, from distribution center to store, stockroom to shelf, shelf to consumer, from store to home, from pantry to consumption with the ultimate goal of Zero Waste† (Murray, 2013). In order to make all these things attainable, Wal-Mart must maintain a well trained workforce.This workforce must be given all the tools necessary to complete the tasks at hand, as well as be equipped with a set guideline as to what must be done in order to continuously lead the industry. This lies heavily on Human Resources and Top Management alike. Wal-Mart has been in the headlines quite a few times in terms of what they â€Å"lack† as an organization. First off, Wal-Mart has been well known for their distaste towards unionization, and has even been known to shut down facilities that have successfully obtained a bargaining power (Capelli, 2006).This has been a highlight of top stories in the media, but other issues are v ery much among us. Health care is a recent issue that has poked its head out. It is becoming more apparent that Wal-Mart offers relatively little access to such benefits. Many states that offer health-care subsidies to low-income individuals and families have discovered a disproportionate number of participants employed at Wal-Mart (Capelli, 2006). Since this has come out, Wal-Mart has released that they will be expanding benefits to their employees, starting with opening health clinics within their own stores.Another issue is that Wal-Mart makes it as if they are there to help those who need financial assistance. An everyday low price is all they hear. Evidence has shown that Wal-Mart stores have a negative effect on the outlying areas in which they build. Opening up a big store will surely create jobs for that area, but it is actually the smaller businesses that are hiring the majority. Wal-Mart basically comes in and offers these low prices, and they mom and pop stores can no lon ger compete (Capelli, 2006).This attempt may also lower wages within a geographical area. You may have high pricing businesses that are being outsold now that Wal-Mart is in town. They cannot continue to pay their employees what they were because there is simply not enough coming in. All it takes is a simple marginal analysis to realize that they simply cannot compete. What this shows is that Wal-Marts so called beneficial, consumer friendly business strategies do not match up with how things are run internally.One cannot claim that they are for sustainability and responsible stewardship, and continue to knowingly undermine the backbone and driving force of the organization. It is as though Wal-Mart may have reached a point where they blindly follow a â€Å"Money-is-Happy† economical method. ? References Cappelli, P. (2006). Wal-Mart and the obligations of business. Retrieved from http://www. hreonline. com/HRE/view/story. jhtml? id=4615496 Murry, M. (2013). Wal-Mart’s strategic initiatives. Retrieved from http://logistics. about. com/od/industryfocus/a/Wal-Mart. htm

Public Sector Economics Essay

In describing the economic advantages and disadvantages of the proposed tax policy change the advantage is that revenues increase substantially from $9,134 billion to $184,807 billion. From a macroeconomic viewpoint, the more money in circulation, the more money the firms will receive. With a greater amount of funds in circulation the more that workers will have in their net income. This concept stimulates the economy as a hole in a revenue approach and cash in circulation. On the contrary, the disadvantage is that the proposed tax rate was increased by 0. 03 percent, the Finance sector was taxed and no one was zero rated besides Agriculture. In viewing the current law of products; the advantage is that the tax rate is slightly lower at 0. 07 percent and all products were exempted from taxes, and zero rated thus receiving money back in terms of a credit. Despite the low revenue there the current tax policy tends to be more efficient. Considering that there are no taxes and credits are being received in terms or revenues. Focusing on the Proposed Law, this would be bias and favorable to the federal government. The federal tax system relies on a number of different types of taxes to generate revenues. Therefore raising the tax rate 0. 03 percent to 0. 10 the federal government is able to have more in revenues. In discussing the Current Tax Law, this would be more favorable to the consumers because of the lower tax rate. As consumers we want to pay less in taxes; lower taxes in turn pushes out the overall demand curve as we demand more goods and services with higher disposable incomes. Supply side tax cuts are aimed to stimulate capital. If successful, the cuts will shift both aggregate supply and demand because the price level for a supply of goods will be reduced, then it leads to an increase in demand for those goods. To label this table horizontal or vertical equity, we would say that the table would be more supportive to vertical equity dependent on proposed or current law. By definition vertical equity, â€Å"is a method of collecting income tax in which the taxes paid increase with the amount of earned income. The driving principle behind vertical equity is the notion that those who are more able to pay taxes should contribute more than those who are not. † In reviewing the table we would agree that the Proposed Law would match well with the vertical approach and horizontal equity would be the explanation of the Current Law system, because there are more zero rated products that offer credits.

Journey Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journey Paper - Essay Example Due to RN-MSN program my behavior, attitude and practices have changed. For example, (1) my commitment has developed through a feeling that my work is meaningful. (2) I have taken nursing as a lifelong learning process guided by ethical values congruent with nursing practice (Oermann & Heinrich, 2007). Two-Year-Goals: currently, I am accountable for practice and participate fully in interdisciplinary activities as part of professional-practice. I am mindful and stop regularly to ascertain my mental state to stay connected to my thoughts and actions as a nurse (Peterson, 2006; American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2009). Two-year-goals are to (a) work as a specialist in educating communities and nursing staff about geriatric care, and (b) participate in opportunities for a continuous professional training by ensuring weekly, monthly, quarterly and year’s goals. The goals are achievable since (1) I strive for personal development, influence and leadership. And (2) I have learned to take responsibilities and commitment (Melnyk, 2014). Lifelong Learning: I have learned to take responsibilities and commitment having worked for over 28 years and promoted to be in charge of other nurses for many years. I have learnt that I am a creative builder and experience guide. I am moved by new ideas and following through with new interventions to the end. The RN-BSN program has empowered me with a broad spectrum of scientific, humanistic, critical-thinking, leadership skills and communication (Collins, 2006). For example, as a BSN prepared nurse have established professionalism and had more opportunities in career development and positive patient outcome (Oermann & Heinrich, 2007). I have achieved personal development, influence and leadership. Novice to Expert: From Novice to Expert offers a theory of proficiency acquisition to study the evolution of a novice nurse who mainly focused on job based

Human resurses Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human resurses - Case Study Example Human resource is an area confronted by many challenges. The most significant quandaries impacting small business include the issue of procuring and sustaining qualified personnel, leadership advancement, change administration, staff advancement among others. Additionally, small enterprises encounter quandaries with regard to tackling the crucial requirements of an assorted labor force. Despite all these quandaries, the significant issues for small enterprises include procuring and sustaining qualified personnel and personnel advancement. The intricacy of this personnel quandary is worsened by the fact that societies do not get adequate number of local applicants into an institution. There is also a lack of convenience due to restricted or non-existent transit alternatives. Small enterprises are also frequently restricted with regard to wage as well as benefit packages. This is usually as these enterprises compete with prominent businesses. These enterprises also lack improvement pos sibilities for existing personnel. This is mainly when there are no advancement opportunities, or the existing personnel lack the essential technical expertise or to occupy the posts when available. In addition, the transient characteristics of applicants with limited credentials might make it intricate to sustain them (Woodall, p.30). The human resources section has an extremely high level of duties, from creating reimbursements and benefit systems to addressing worker interactions matters in a fair and reasonable manner. The proficiency of human resources personnel is one of an institution’s most priceless resources. Varied, small enterprises want to share possession with workers but acquire the legal expenses and intricacies of varied common procedures discouraging. Many managers wanting to sell to their workers utilize an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) which has significant tax advantages. Business enterprises share

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 55

English - Essay Example The article realizes that there were laws that regulated the use of internet from time immemorial. According to the article, control of internet contents was not formal because it did not display displeasing and indecent content. However, today things have changed and internet is a hub of pornography and soliciting of children sexually. Criminals plan and execute their activities through the internet. These activities include financial frauds, credit card fraud, copyright theft, and money laundering among others. This article points out that governments, internet providers, and politicians advocate for control of content of the internet. Dotson presents a survey in Broadband for America that indicates that people oppose the move to regulate internet. People feel that internet usage does not need any intervention mechanism because the content of internet satisfies them. Americans feel that internet is very important link the keeps people informed since it transcends borders of nations. According to this research, the people of United States assert that internet is a crucial resource, which does not need a monitoring body. Drissel article in Journal of Cambridge Review of International Affairs is concerned with the contents of internet. These include privacy issue, online theft, spamming, and terrorism. The author asserts that there is necessitate of monitoring materials of internet. David proposes that international and local stakeholders should work together to control internet usage. According to the article, all stakeholders should employ existing tools and processes. Kokswijk, the author of this book, looks at social and legal facets of internet. The author explores the ways in which code can control individuals and groups in virtual society. The book highlights close relation between code and commerce. Jacob cautions that regulators of internet should learn fro cases of telephone and

Espionage Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Espionage - Term Paper Example It is commonly regarded as spying that entails secretly gathering of information about a competing industry or a foreign government without the holder’s consent of the information. The term can be a reference to economic, political, or business decisions. However, espionage is common to government defensive and foreign policy. Espionage is intrinsically taken for granted, and in many cases punishable by law. Generally, many associates the term with state spying for military purpose that play a crucial role in planning combat phases. The term is an old ancient craft used throughout history in various instances such as in the Bible in the book of numbers when leaders sent spies to scrutinize a country. Still, the cold war relied on intense espionage activities that helped to establish the nuclear weapons secrets. Following this, one can affirm that large corporations and governments make use of espionage to varying degrees. This paper seeks to discuss the origins of Espionage, i ts’ famous cases, targets, and various agents and techniques used to collect this information. Espionage is one of the most known activities of treason. It categorized as political crime that involves transmitting and gathering information correlated to the intent of national defence. Espionage events are well acknowledged throughout history and recorded in ancient documents such as the Bible (Buckley, 2010). In the Bible, one can trace the term in the book of Numbers when Israelites secretly surveyed the country of the Canaanites. Moses dispatched some spies from each Israelites tribe to survey the land of Canaanites for forty days. The intended purpose was to gather information about agriculture and events of the country and efficiently use this information to conquer the land. This was the land promised by God to Abraham that he would posses for future generations, Isaac. Eventually, the

Visual Literacy in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Visual Literacy in Business - Essay Example When putting together a communication piece through the use of visuals, there are important steps to follow. The first step is organizing the data to present. There are two fundamental possibilities in the organization of data, and they are charts and tables. Neither of these possibilities is better than the other though each has its specific purposes and strengths. The most crucial point to consider before commencing the process of designing is the main point of the presentation. The second step is highlighting the data. When designing the charts, it is important to recall that the human brain intuitively recognizes the differences in size, shape, color, orientation, and hue and attach particular meanings to them (Apkon, 2013). The visual properties are known as pre-attentive variables since the process of perceiving them is immediate and automatic and does not need the involvement of conscious thought. The designer should use this knowledge for the purpose of intentionally highligh ting the most important information. The third and last step is showing the data. It is important to display only the content that is meaningful and leave the items that are extraneous. It is not advisable to decorate the data since it may hinder and distract the audience from perceiving what is irrelevant and what is important (Apkon, 2013). Failure to follow these steps will lead to distracting the audience who will not understand the main point of presenting the visual communication

Saddam Husseins Execution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Saddam Husseins Execution - Essay Example President of the United States, George Bush applied his doctrine of pre-emption and US forces entered Afghanistan. In pursuance of this policy, the Bush administration went a bit further and made an effort to win hearts and minds of the Muslims. Once again the old rivals of first Gulf war were confronting each other. But this time the objective was even bigger. The allied forces led by US troops, made a plan and showed determination to get rid of Saddam Hussain once and for all. This would have given two clear benefits namely support from the long suppressed Iraqi nation, who would welcome any positive change and secondly the permanent footings in the region of middle east that has enormous value because of its precious mineral resources (Mike Shuster 2006). The Arab world wanted freedom from the fearful and despotic rule of Saddam Hussein and US promised exactly that (Hasan Abu Nimah 2007). Although some of the analysts claim that the war was unjustified on the grounds that it did not have the backing of United Nations. Still others say that this was the only way to relieve the Iraqi nation of its miseries. This is the way that would pave well for the conducive environment for democracy. A democratic government in Iraq would be a basis for stability of the country and the region. But the incidents like the Abu Gharaib added to American problems, need to send more troops than pulling out and the rising death toll on daily basis aggravated the situation and changed the whole scenario. The Bush administration started losing its support of allied forces and among the American public. The insurgencies against the forces started rising tremendously and the Arab world lost confidence in the United States. The whole world began to doubt and started criticizing the policies and strategies of the American leadership. Thus, President Bush had to think of some way out to recover the messed up state of affairs. He therefore, decided to bring Saddam under trial and the Iraqi court sentenced him to death. Soon after his death the air is heavy with accusation as the implication of grotesquely botched lynching sink in. What should have been an act of justice following due process had the baying malice of an execution. A legal execution intended to show at last that the period of Saddam is over-threatened to have the conflicting effects. Whilst a tyrant of exceptional violence is publicized dying with pride and no slight valor at the hands of covered thugs. No doubt American officials are cleansing their hands of this whole shocking concern, and Tony Blair is saying no to make any remark from his Miami poolside. There is some fairness in American statements that it is the Iraqi PM, Nouri al-Maliki, who has to take the burden of blame for this fiasco. He outshined religious and legal reactions to rush the death sentence. The Iraqi constitution wants President Jalal Talabani and his two colleagues to sign a verdict of authorization for 'the death sentence'. Mr Maliki efficiently disregarded this obligation. Even more rabble-rousing to the extent that Iraq's Sunni minority is concerned was his breach of the Iraqi decree that executions should not occur during the Eid al-Adha, the Muslim's celebration day. For Sunnis, that

What challenges for the television does the internet pose How do these Essay

What challenges for the television does the internet pose How do these challenges impact the information society Discuss the strengths and weaknesses - Essay Example It is surprising that each of the above is still relevant and have their own following and preferences by people. The level of public interest in each of these has been constantly changing. In fact â€Å"The average person spends more time listening to the radio than watching TV, according to the latest figures.† (Radio More Popular Than TV. 2001). There is no real evidence that any of the above will become redundant in the near future even though the internet has grown in capability to such an extent that it can include all the other three into its fold. This paper is an attempt to study the threat of the internet on TV. In the process the paper will try to provide answers to the following questions Since both the above are closely related to the society, it will be studied with reference to one of the prominent social theories that have been introduced during the same timeline mentioned earlier. The theory that will be used in this instance is Marxism Karl Marx was unarguably one of the most influential thinkers of the modern history. (World Marx The Millennium’s ‘Greater Thinker’. 1999). Arguments may arise as to the positive or negative impact the theory propounded by the man, but no one can deny that it had an influence on social, political and economic aspects in the society. Revolutions took place in many part of the world, governments and monarchy were toppled and countries went to war over the issue. The Russian monarchy of the tsars disappeared because of the revolution. â€Å"For Russia just as for the other European countries, Marxism expected and urged the great Russian bourgeois revolution which would follow the path of the English and French revolutions, just as the one in 1848 which inflamed and shook all of Central Europe.† (Marxism and Russia: Russia Against Europe in the 19th Century. 1997, p.9-24). The United States fought alongside

The ethical issues faced by human resource professionals Research Paper

The ethical issues faced by human resource professionals - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that human resource management is an important part of any business. Since the inception of industrialization, corporations are hiring and recruiting employees, and therefore human resource professionals are not something new. Managing human resource also involves many ethical considerations. In today’s dynamic business realm the job of an HR manager has become extremely difficult because of the increasing diversity in the workplace and bad economic situation all over the world. The present research has identified that human resource professionals are business graduates who specialize in human resource management. They may also take counseling courses in order to take a position of human resource professionals. The license is not required to become a human resource professional because it is a common business-related function. A doctorate can also be pursued in the field. There is no specific code of ethics that governs human resourc e profession. Every organization is free to choose its own ethical standards. The author has rightly presented that there are general laws that restrict organizations to conduct discrimination when hiring employees. There are also harassment laws that are a part of all code of ethics. But there is no universal code of ethics for human resource professionals. The four ethical issues in human resource management pertain to hiring, promotion, firing, and privacy of employees.

As Psychology Essay Example for Free

As Psychology Essay One of the key differences between the concepts of STM and LTM is duration. â€Å"Duration† refers to how long a memory lasts before it is no longer available. Short term memories don’t last very long. An example of STM in action would be trying to remember a seven-digit phone number that you have just been given. This is maintained in the short-term memory by REPETITION until the number is dialled, and then fades once the conversation starts. The way most people keep information in their STM for more than a few seconds is to rehearse it. So rehearsal is one way of keeping a memory active. The result of verbal rehearsal is that STM are held in the STM store and eventually become long term. Duration of LTM LTM refers to memories that last anywhere for 2 hours to 100 years plus, i. e. anything that isn’t short term. Some memories are very long lasting. For example Shepard (1967) tested duration of LTM. He showed participants 612 memorable pictures, one at a time. An hour later they were shown some of these pictures among a set of others and showed almost perfect recognition. Four months later they were still able to recognise 50% of photographs. The material to be remembered was more meaningful to the participants and therefore the duration of the LTM was better. Key study on duration of STM Lloyd and Margaret Peterson (1959) conducted a landmark study of the duration of STM. They enlisted the help of 24 students attending their university. The experimenter said a consonant syllable to the participant followed by a three-digit number (e. g. WRT 303 or SCX 591). The consonant syllable was selected to have no meaning. Immediately after hearing the syllable and number, the participants had to count backwards from this number in 3s or 4s until told to stop. Then the participants were asked to recall the nonsense syllable. The reason for counting backwards was to stop the participants rehearsing the syllable because rehearsal would aid recall. Each participant was given two practice trials followed by eight trials. On each trial the retention interval (time spent counting backwards) was different. They found that participants remembered about 90% when there was only a 3-second interval and about 2% when there was an 18-second interval. This suggests that, when rehearsal is prevented, STM lasts about 20 seconds at most. Evaluation The findings from the Peterson and Peterson study have been challenged. We might argue that, in this experiment, participants were relying on more than STM alone because they knew they were going to be asked to recall the items after an interval filled with a distracting activity. Other research such as Marsh et al, (1997) has suggested that when participants do not expect to be tested after this interval, forgetting may occur after just 2 seconds. This suggests that our understanding of the duration of STM may not be as clear-cut as first thought. In fact, more recent research even suggests that the duration of STM is not as short as Peterson and Peterson’s study would suggest. Nairne’s et al (1999) found that items could be recalled after as long as 96 seconds. In Nairne’s study, participants were asked to recall the same items across trials, whereas in the earlier study different items were used on each trial, which would have led to interference between items, decreasing recall. Capacity and Encoding Capacity is a measure of how much can be held in memory. It is measured in terms of bits of information such as number of digits. STM has a very limited capacity (less than 7 chunks of information) whereas LTM has potentially unlimited capacity. Increasing the capacity of STM The magic number 7+/-2 George Miller (1956) wrote a memorable article called â€Å"The magic number seven plus or minus two†. He reviewed psychological research and concluded that the span of immediate memory is 7; people can cope reasonably well with counting seven dots flashed onto a screen but not many more than this. Miller also found out that people can recall 5 words as well as they can recall 5 letters – we chunk things together and can then remember more. The size of the chunk matters Simon (1974) found that people had a shorter memory span for larger chunks, such as 8-word phrases, than smaller chunks, such as one-syllable words. Evaluation Cowan (2001) reviewed a variety of studies on the capacity of STM and concluded that STM is likely to be limited to above 4 chunks. This suggests that STM may not be as extensive as was first thought. Vogel et al, (2001) looked at the capacity of STM for visual information and also found that 4 items was about the limit. Encoding in STM and LTM PAGE 23 Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in memory. Information enters the brain via the senses. It is then stored in various forms such as visual codes (picture), acoustic forms (sounds), or a semantic form (the meaning of the experience). Information in the STM is mainly encoded acoustically (information is represented as sound); whereas information in LTM tends to be encoded semantically (information is represented by its meaning). Acoustic and semantic encoding We can compare the ways information is stored in STM and LTM in terms of encoding of the memory trace. Acoustic coding involved coding information in terms of the way it sounds The multi-store model of memory The multi-store model of memory (MSM) is an explanation of how memory processes work. The MSM was first described by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968. There is three stores/components in the MSM which are the sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Sensory memory The sensory memory is composed of several stores which are the eyes, ears, nose, etc, and the corresponding areas of the brain. If a person’s attention is focused on one of the sensory stores, then the data is transferred to STM. Attention is the first step in remembering something. Short-term memory Information held in STM is in a â€Å"fragile state†. It will disappear relatively quickly if rehearsal is prevented. Information will also disappear if new information enters STM pushing out the original information. This happens because STM has a limited capacity. Long-term memory The second step is moving information from STM to LTM. Atkinson and Shiffrin said that this also happens through rehearsal. The more something is rehearsed the more it will be remembered. This kind of rehearsal is referred to maintenance rehearsal. Evaluation The sensory store Sperling (1920) gave participants a grid of digits and letters for 50 milliseconds. They were either asked to write down all 12 items or they were told they would hear a tone immediately after the exposure and they should just write down that row. When asked to report the whole thing their recall was poorer (5 items recalled, about 42%) then when asked to give one row only (3 items recalled, 75%). This show that information decays rapidly in the sensory store. The serial position effect Glazer and Cunitz (1966) gave participants a list of 20 words, presented one at a time, and then asked to recall words they could remember. They tended to remember the words from the start of the list (primary effect) and from the end of the list (recency effect) but were less good at recalling words in the middle. The primary effects occur because the first words are best rehearsed and transferred to LTM. The recency effect occurs because these words are in the STM when people start recalling the list. Areas of the brain associated with STM and LTM One way to demonstrate the existence of separate stores in memory is to link STM and LTM to specific areas of the brain. Modern techniques of scanning the brain can be used to take images of the active brain and enable us to see what region is active when a person is undertaking particular tasks. Research (Beardsley, 1977) has found that the prefrontal cortex is active when individuals are working on a task in STM. The working memory model Baddeley and Hitch (1974) used the term ‘working memory’ to refer to that bit of memory that you are using when you are working on a complex task which requires you to store information as you go along. The components of the working memory Central executive This is the key component of the working memory. The function of the central executive is to direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how ‘resources’ are allocated to tasks. The central executive has a very limited capacity. Phonological loop This also has a limited capacity. The phonological loop deals with the auditory information and preserves the order of information. Baddeley (1986) further subdivided this loop into the phonological store and an articulatory process. The phonological store holds the words you hear, like an inner ear. The articulatory process is used for words that are heard or seen (inner voice). Visuo-spatial sketch pad The Visuo-spatial sketch pad is used when you have to plan a spatial task (like getting from one room to another). Visual and/or spatial information is temporary stored here. Visual information is what things looks like and spatial information is the relationship between things. Logie (1995) suggested that the Visuo-spatial sketchpad can be divided into a visual cache (store) and inner scribe which deals with spatial relations. Episodic buffer Baddeley (2000) added the episodic buffer because he realised the model needed a general store. The episodic buffer is an extra storage system that has a limited capacity. It integrates information from the central executive, the phonological loop and the Visuo-spatial sketchpad and also from the long-term memory. Evaluation Doing two tasks using the same or different components Hitch and Baddeley (1976) gave participants two tasks to do simultaneously. Task 1 occupied the central executive and task 2 either involved the articulatory loop or both the central executive and articulatory loop. Task 1 was slower when given a task involving both the central executive and articulatory loop. The speed on task 1 was the same whether using the articulatory loop or no extra task. This shows that doing two tasks that involve the same component causes difficulty. Evidence for the central executive Bunge et al. (2000) used an fmri to see which parts of the brain were most active when participants were doing two tasks (reading a sentence and recalling the final word in each sentence). The same brain areas were active in either dual- or single – task conditions but there was significantly more activation in the dual-task condition indicating that increased demands were reflected in brain activity. Evidence for the Visuo-spatial sketchpad Baddeley et al. (1975b) demonstrated the existence of thee Visuo-spatial sketch pad. Participants were given a visual tracking task (they had to track a moving light with a pointer). At the same time they were given kne of two other tasks: task 1 was to describe all the angles on the letter F, task 2 was to perform a verbal task. Task 1 was very difficult but not task 2. This is also evidence related to the effects of doing two tasks using the same or different components. Evidence for the episodic buffer Baddeley et al. (1987) found that, when participants were shown words and then asked for immediate recall, their performance was much better for sentences (related words) then for unrelated words. This supports the idea of an immediate memory store for itesms that are neither visual nor phonological. Accuracy of Eye Witness testimony Loftus and Palmer were interested in whether misleading interesting distorted the accuracy of an eyewitness’s immediate recall. What did they do? 45 students were shown seven films of different traffic accidents. After each film the participants were given a questionnaire which asked them to describe the accident and then answer a series of specific questions about it. There was one critical question. This question was about ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other? One group of participants were given this question whereas the other five groups were given the verbs smashed, collided, bumped or contacted in place of the word hit. What did they find? The group given the world ‘smashed’ estimated a higher speed that the other groups (about 41 mph). The group given the word ‘contacted’ estimated the lower speed (about 30 mph). Evaluation Supporting DO LATER (PAGE 33) Factors influencing the accuracy of eye witnessing testimony Many researchers have looked at the relationship between anxiety and accuracy in eyewitness testimony. Deffenbacher et al. 2004) carried out a meta-analysis of 18 studies published between 1974 and 1997, looking at the effects of heightening anxiety on accuracy of eyewitness recall. From these studies it was clear that there was considerable support for the hypothesis that high levels of stress negativity impacted on the accuracy of eyewitness memory. Anxiety enhances recall Christianson and Hubienet te (1993) found when they questioned 58 real witnesses to bank robberies. Those witnesses who were threatened in some way were more accurate in their recall and remembered more detail than those who had been onlookers. This continued to be true even 15 months later. The weapon focus effect Johnson and Scott (1976) identified the weapon-focus effect. In their initial experiment, Loftus et al. used two conditions, one involving a weapon and one not. In both conditions participants heard a discussion in an adjoining room. In condition 1 a man emerged holding a pen and with grease on his hands. In conditions 2 the discussion was rather more heated and a man emerged holding a paperknife covered in blood. When asked to identify the man from 50 photos, participants in condition 1 were 49% more accurate, compared with 33% accuracy in condition 2. This suggests that the weapon may have distracted attention from the person holding it and therefore explain why eyewitnesses sometimes have poor recall for certain details of violent crimes. Evaluation Explaining the apparent contradiction Deffenbacher suggests that this contradiction in research finding could best be explained with reference to the Yerkes-Dodson law, which states that performance improves with increase of arousal up to some optical point then declines with further increase. Many researchers believe that anxiety effects in eye-witness testimony are curvilinear. This means that small to medium increases in arousal may increase the accuracy of memory, but high levels interfere with accuracy. Those studies which had found improved memory accuracy were most likely dealing with increased arousal within the first part of the Yerkes-Dodson curve, whereas studies which showed that accuracy decreases with increased arousal were most likely operating in the second part of the curve. MORE EVALUATION!! The cognition interview Fisher and Geiselman (1992) developed an interviewing technique, the cognitive interview. The original cognitive interview technique could be characterised by four distinct components 1. Report everything (hypermnesia) 2. Mental reinstatement of context- the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate the environment and contacts from the original incident. 3. Changing the order- the interviewer may try alternative ways through the timeline of the incident, for example by reversing the order in which events occurred. 4. Changing the perspective- the interviewee is asked to recall the incident from multiple perspectives The first two components are based on the principle that if there is consistency between the actual incident and the recreated situation, there is an increased likeliness that witnesses will recall more detail therefore more accurate in their recall. The latter two components are based on the assumption that information that observed can be retrieved through a number of different routes into an individual’s memory. Evaluation Kohnken et al. , (1999) did a meta-analysis of 53 studies found, on average, an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information generated in the cognitive interview compared with standard interviewing techniques. Milne and Bull (2002) examined the relative effectiveness of each of the four components of the cognitive interview. Undergraduate students and children were interviewed using one of the components of the cognitive interview and compared to a control condition (where they were instructed to simply ‘try again’). When participants were interviewed using a combination of the components ‘mental reinstatement’ and ‘report everything’ their recall was significantly higher than in all other conditions.

Mens Rea An Enormous Aspect Of Criminal Law Philosophy Essay

Mens Rea An Enormous Aspect Of Criminal Law Philosophy Essay Mens Rea is an enormous aspect of criminal law. Is the mental element that beseeched by the definition of a circumstantial crime and it encompass three degrees: intention, recklessness and negligence. The most reprehensible form of mens rea is intention, as it is more censurable to cause harm premeditatedly and additionally is used in more crucial offences such as murder which demands intention to kill or to engender Grevious Bodily Harm. A part of analysts considered negligence as the third degree of mens rea, as it refers to a failure to acknowledge the dangers. Hence, it will be evaluated as a distinctive guideline of blame as it mentions to the absence of a state of mind. Notwithstanding, mens rea is engaged with the appellants state of mind at the time of the actus reus, which covers everything except of the defendants state of mind, as it often illustrates the guilty act. Conjointly, the doctrine of transferred malice, appoint liability to the defendant of an offence if he has the appropriate intention and accomplished the actus reus on a different person than the intended. 0n this wise, in Latimer  [1]  , the defendant attempted to blow at one person but he missed and crashed one other, thus the doctrine of transferred malice exists, as the mens rea is the same. Consequently, in order for a criminal liability to subsist, the actus reus and the mens rea must coincide. Obviously mens rea associates with serious crimes such as homicide, theft and burglary, which have a wide range of elements in order to recognise the intention of the defendant. Homicide is an enormous aspect of criminal law which includes all the unlawful killings. The main categories of them are murder and manslaughter. All the homicide offences have a common actus reus, the unlawful killing. If the defendant has the mens rea for the murder, then the prima facie liability for the murder starts to exist. At this stage the jury has to consider if the defendant has the defence of provocation or diminished responsibility. If he has so, then he is liable of voluntary manslaughter, but if he has not, then he is liable for murder. On the other hand, if the defendant does not have the appropriate intention for murder, then he is convicted with involuntary manslaughter. As reported to section 1 of the Homicide Act killing shall not amount to murder unless done with malice aforethought  [2]  , which was illustrated in Cunningham  [3]  , as express and implied malice. Express malice divided into two sections, direct and oblique malice. Direct malice, is an un interrupted intention to kill someone and oblique malice, is not the prime purpose of the defendant. He has no intention to cause death but nevertheless, as a result of his actions, the victim died. Hence, if the jury has satisfied that at the time when the defendant recognised that fatal consequences would be virtually certain to result from his actions, then there is an intention to kill even thought there is no actual desire to achieve that result. In Woolin  [4]  , the defendant had thrown his baby causing him to die. Woolin did not intent to kill his baby, but he could foresight that his actions was about to cause the death of the baby. Moreover, another aspect of malice aforethought is implied malice. This indicates that, the defendants main intention is to cause GBH but as a result of his actions, the victim dies. In consonance with section 8  [5]  , the jury has to consider all the evidence, before adjudicated that the defendant is guilty of murder, and not only if he intended or foresaw a result of actions as a natural and probable consequence. In other words, the jury has to consider only the appellants subjective state of mind. According to this section, a jury has the opportunity to conclude about the mental state of the accused from the objective view of the reasonable man and if they decided that a reasonable man would intended to cause death or serious injury, then they will be persuaded that the defendant did. In Moloney  [6]  , the jury could argue that the defendant foresaw the consequences of his actions as a natural consequence, so he is liable for the death of the victim even if he did not wish or desire to kill him. On the other hand, if the accused did not have the intention to kill or to cause serious injury, as happened in Hancock and Shankland  [7]  , then the co nvictions of murder overturned to those of manslaughter. This is able to happen only if death was not a natural consequence but a probability. As it was stated in Nedrick  [8]  , the evidence of foresight is intention evidence. The judges directed the jury to consider if the death was intended, as natural consequence becomes virtual certainty, as I mentioned above. Apparently, as the mens rea in murder is intention to kill or to cause GBH, under the Homicide Act  [9]  there are three defences which decrease liability from murder to voluntary manslaughter. These defences are provocation, diminished responsibility and suicide pact. If the appellant is liable for murder, meaning that he has the appropriate elements of actus reus and mens rea, and he can rely on one of the above defences, then he is liable for manslaughter. Under section 3  [10]  , a person who charged with murder, was provoked by things said or done or both, to lose his self-control. Pursuant to this the jury has to indentify if the defendant actually provoked to act and whether a reasonable person would be provoked to act as the defendant did. Section 2  [11]  , illustrates the defence of diminished responsibility, where a person cannot convicted of murder if he suffers from an abnormality of mind, as this disorder invalidated his mental responsibility of what he is d oing. Additionally, section 4  [12]  demonstrates the defence of suicide pacts. The defendant kills the victim if there is a common agreement between two or more parties and the object of that agreement is death. This indicate that if a person convicted with murder, then if he has the appropriate proof that he was acting under a suicide pact then he would be liable for manslaughter. In some cases manslaughter can be caused due to negligent actions of the defendant, as he has a duty of care towards the victim. If he failed to perform his duty then he is in a breach of duty and that may cause the death of the victim. In Adomako  [13]  , the breach of that duty caused the death of the victim. I think that people who have duty of care towards others, must be able to recognise if there is a possibility for a death and try to avoid it. Pursuant to the Theft Act 1968, a person is guilty of theft if he dishonest appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it  [14]  . Conspicuously, there are two essential features of mens rea in theft, dishonesty and the intention of permanently depriving. Dishonesty is the first element of the mens rea in theft and as it construes in section 2(1) of the Theft Act a person cannot be dishonest if he has the presumption that he has the right in law to deprive the other of the property. Additionally, he cannot be dishonest if the embezzlement accomplished in the belief that the others would acquiesce if they have the knowledge of the stealing and if there is an authentic belief that the owner of the property would not be able to detect it by taking reasonable steps. On the contrary, as it reported to section 2(2)  [15]  , a person can be found liable for dishonest if he misappropriates the property of someone else, in spite of his desire to pay for the property. In consonance with Feely  [16]  , the plaintiff apprehended that his action was dishonest and he said that he has the intention to repay for the stealing. Under those circumstances, the jury has to make a determination whether the facts of dishonesty coexist with the standards of the ordinary decent person. As a result, the Court of Appeal, in the case of Ghosh  [17]  , conceived a test so that to be able to recognise if the appellants behaviour considers as dishonest according to the standards of ordinary decent people. If it was not then he is not dishonest. Howbeit, if his behaviour was acknowledged to be dishonest, then the defendant is not dishonest unless he comprehended that people would regard him as dishonest. Although the crucial ambition of that test was to authorize that dishonestys appraisement could be based on objective and subjective archetypes, it does not abolish the capability between the juries to be inconsistence. Indubitably, if the defendant did not find dishonest, then there is no theft. Intention to permanently deprive is the second element of mens rea in theft. In agreement with section 6(1)  [18]  , if a person borrows property which belongs to someone else, then he is not liable for theft. Nevertheless, if he decides to keep the borrowed property, then this situation would be considered as theft, as it stated in Walkington  [19]  , in which the defendant took the property with the intention to decide later whether to keep it or not. In Easom  [20]  , the defendant had a conditional intention to steal if he found something precious. Besides, this was not adequate to adjudge him of theft. In Lloyd  [21]  , the defendant has the intention to treat the property of the true owner as it his own and to deprive the owner of his rights to his property. As Lord Lane stated a mere borrowing is never enough to constitute the necessary guilty mind unless the intention is to return t he thing in such a changed state that it can truly be said that all its goodness or virtue has gone  [22]  . Supplementary, burglary is a serious offence which encompasses mens rea. Under section 9(1)(a)  [23]  , a person is guilty of burglary if he enters into a building or part of it as an invader, with intention to steal, commit GBH or cause criminal damage. Moreover, section 9(1)(b), specific the offences. Keep in line with section 9(1)(a), the defendant at the time of entering into a building must have the appropriate constituent of mens rea, to have the knowledge that his entry is not permitted. In Cunningham  [24]  , in order to recognise if a defendant considered himself as a trespasser, a subjective test has been taken. On the contrary, if a person enters into a building with permission, then the doctrine of trespass ab initio takes effect. As the entry has to be unlawful, this principle does not match the offence of burglary. In Collins  [25]  , the defendants conviction for burglary, with intent to rape, was revoke as the Court of Appeal cannot be sure that the defend ant has the appropriate knowledge that his entrance is unlawful and as it stated, the entry has to be substantial and effective. Accompanying, in ulterior offences, the mens rea has to be acknowledged either in trespass with intention or in trespass which is caused recklessness. However, as Laing  [26]  validates, trespass is one of the features of burglary. In that case the defendant entered into a shop, after closing time, but he had not stolen anything and also he had no intention to do so. As is obvious, trespass is an element of burglary but in order for someone to be charged with burglary, he must have the other essential elements of the offence such as intention. The only thing that is required in order to convict someone of stealing is intention. Besides, in some cases the conditional intention is seated. Before 1979 as is illustrated in Husseyn  [27]  , conditional intention was not adequate, as the defendant did not have the intention to steal unless he found something precious. Afterwards, in consonance with Attorney Genarals References  [28]  , conditional intent will be satisfied, as the only thing that required is intention even if there is nothing worth in the building to steal.

Email and Letter Writing

Email and Letter Writing â€Å"Dear Sir or Madam, in reference to your letter of February 1st† this was the way hand written letters used to start. I was sixteen years old and my dad was asking me to send a letter to the company where I would have my internship. My dad taught me how to write a letter in the correct format and how to position the outgoing address. He said: â€Å"You should put the date in the top right-hand corner of the page. The signature should be also formal and the closing line should read ‘Yours Faithfully†. The Human Resources department at the company where I interned paid a fortune for the privilege of having an intern who could string a sentence together in legible, neat and hand written German. This company would go as far as canceling an internship or sending the intern to additional classes. There are many critics that say old fashioned mail is not fast enough and is more expensive. The old fashioned mail requires buying letters and paying for stamps. Email, on the other hand, is free. Most people forget about internet and computer costs. German companies dont have these problems, because every company in Germany has a contract with the post office. They pay a certain amount of money every month and can send as many letters as they wish. Email will be received at the location to which it is sent much faster than regular mail; however, both email and mail use addresses to which someone can send a letter or a message. Every other day I receive an email from my step mom in Germany. It keeps us in touch and in more constant communication than a letter could, because the I can receive her message almost immediately. In emails and letters a person writes thoughts down and sends it to another person. Both are used to communicate with another person; however, email in these days is a modern mode of communication. In fact, email makes the modern business world more efficient. I mostly receive only emails these days (and lots of them!). When I am on vacation for a couple days and come back to work, I am guaranteed to find more than a hundred emails. All these emails, excluding spam emails, need my response and attention. Subjects who were not on the agenda before can overnight take on the highest priority and the communication about it can go half way across the world. (Kleiner) These days, when I open my mail box, I am lucky to find anything other than bills and junk mail. Unfortunately these are the only regularly visitors inside my letter box. People do not consider old fashioned letter writing an effective form of communication. When a person takes the time to write a letter, they have mostly thought their comments through which makes it to my mind a more sincere mode of communication. If the same thought process and formal way of writing would be associated with traditional letter writing when one writes an email, it would not be as impersonal. People just lose the formal style writing an email. I received the following email from a co-worker the other day: â€Å"If we already have door made the old way / we dont have any in stock, make old door, if you can. Replace it with the new one and may add a note. The note in the attachment to make it clear.† This was the complete email and I was confused. This email, as are many others, is just not enough. It requires additional personal communication. Although most of the emails I receive are in a better writing style, almost none of them are formal. Emails suffice for most business purposes and mostly daily exchanges. They can also be very fast and practical. (Wilson) So, which is better: emails or old fashioned letter writing? I believe that that letter writing itself is an art form. A persons mood and personality can be sensed, just by examining how the tails of individual letters are swept or how hard the writer pressed upon the paper. In an email, this is not possible. It is obvious that old fashioned letter writing is very time consuming and therefore one can understand the need for faster communication in this busy world. Email is a more effective form of communication. Perhaps I am old fashioned; however, I do enjoy receiving hand written letters, even though the amount of old fashioned mail is almost zero, barring birthday letters and Christmas cards. A letter is handwritten; a person touched the paper and thought about another person. It is much more personal than an email could ever be and the old fashion letter has a value that cannot be replaced. (Wilson) Sources Kleiner, Kurt. Email and Letter Writing Share Fundamental Pattern. NewScientist. N.p., 26 Oct. 2005. Web. 15 Feb. 2010. . Wilson, Carole. The Difference Between an Ordinary Letter and an E-mail. Helium. N.p., 2002-2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. .

Causes Of The Civil War :: American America History

Causes Of The Civil War The South, which was known as the Confederate States of America, seceded from the North, which was also known as the Union, for many different reasons. The reason they wanted to succeed was because there was four decades of great sectional conflict between the two. Between the North and South there were deep economic, social, and political differences. The South wanted to become an independent nation. There were many reasons why the South wanted to succeed but the main reason had to do with the North's view on slavery. All of this was basically a different interpretation of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end all of these disagreements on both sides led to the Civil War, in which the North won. There were a few reasons other then the slavery issue, that the South disagreed on and that persuaded them to succeed from the Union. Basically the North favored a loose interpretation of the United States Constitution. They wanted to grant the federal government increased powers. The South wanted to reserve all undefined powers to the individual states. The North also wanted internal improvements sponsored by the federal government. This was more roads, railroads, and canals. The South, on the other hand, did not want these projects to be done at all. Also the North wanted to develop a tariff. With a high tariff, it protected the Northern manufacturer. It was bad for the South because a high tariff would not let the south trade its cotton for foreign goods. The North also wanted a good banking and currency system and federal subsidies for shipping and internal improvements. The South felt these were discriminatory and that they favored Northern commercial interests. Now the main reason for the South's secession was the Slavery issue. Basically the South wanted and needed it and the North did not want it at all. The South was going to do anything they could to keep it. This was the issue that overshadowed all others. At this time the labor force in the South had about 4 million slaves. These slaves were very valuable to the slaveholding planter class. They were a huge investment to Southerners and if taken away, could mean massive losses to everyone. Slaves were used in the South as helpers in the fields in the cultivation of tobacco, rice, and indigo, as well as many other jobs.

Educating Exceptionally Talented Students Essay -- Special Education

Concern for at-risk learners forces the education of high ability learners to take a backseat in traditional classroom. Standard instruction and curriculum based on a pacing and sequencing method does not always allow students to accelerate. By definition, the term â€Å"gifted† exemplifies exceptionality often regarding intellect, creativity and leadership. An identification of gifted suggests that an individual requires specialized services and curriculum that are not always addressed by traditional methods of education. High ability learners require a challenging curriculum and specialized educators to prosper academically. The negligence in discharging one’s exceptionality can often lead high-ability learners to foster resentment, boredom and frustration. Traditional instruction and curriculum is not always structured to benefit the needs of exceptional learners. Gifted education programs are essential in educating exceptionally talented students due to the indivi dualized approach toward a student’s unique learning-style. Self -contained gifted classrooms offer a structured environment that allow for social and intellectual growth opposed to the traditional classroom. The inherent flexibility within the gifted program facilitates gifted development of a high-ability learner through acceleration and enrichment. Self-contained gifted classrooms serve as a school within-a-school segregating exceptional learners from the traditional classroom and curriculum. This offers a more individualized approach towards learning and instruction required in adapting to the unique abilities and learning styles of a gifted student. Homogenous classrooms of gifted students allows for accommodations of content, instruction and environment creati... ...litate intellectual and social growth due to the inherent flexibility which adequately accommodates for diverse learning styles. High ability learners deserve the same amount monitoring and guidance as underachieving students. Gifted programs are targeted at rendering an affective curriculum that challenges high-ability learners where as some traditional classrooms exercise pacing and sequential methods. Through a self-contained gifted classroom one receives the individualized attention and guidance needed to reach full potential. Works Cited Refrences Acceleration. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=383 Delcourt, M.A.B., Cornell, D.G.,& Goldberg, M.D. (2007). Cognitive and affective learning outcomes of gifted elementary school students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51 (4), 359-381. from Research Library. (Document ID: 1390043111).

T.S. Eliots The Wasteland Essay -- Eliot Wasteland Essays

T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland Traditionally, authors begin their compositions at the beginning and then proceed to an end, creating a logical flow of information towards a conclusion. T.S. Eliot threw most traditional form out the window as he composed The Waste Land. The voice changes, the structure varies, his allusions are elusive, and the first section of the poem is entitled â€Å"The Burial of The Dead.† This of course does not speak to a beginning, but to the conclusion of what could be one or many lives. Even before this heading, the epigraph evokes the feeling of something, (a something that the reader must work to comprehend) almost eternal, reflecting on a lifetime (an ‘almost eternal’ lifetime) with a melancholic eye. The reader of the poem begins with reflections on a life, a universal life, and with this understanding we can begin to unpack some of the images and make sense of the major themes of the poem. Without reading the entire poem, one can not hope to catch the significance of the initial passage or the epigraph; conversely, one might not comprehend the poem as a cohesive unit without its opening lines. Unlike Eliot, let us start with the genesis of the poem; ‘The Burial of The Dead.’ A major difficulty of this poem is its apparent lack of a single speaker. If there is an identifiable or specific speaker, they are contained within a few lines and then disappear into the background of the poem. The first seven lines are second or third person, singular or plural is not made clear. We are not given any perspective for these lines; therefore, the reader has nothing with which to orient himself. The vertigo continues once the language is taken into consideration. What do we make of his confl... ...events from ancient to present, coming together in one piece to produce a single feeling. Eliot sums up this feeling with the title. At once everything is connected through the poem and yet disconnected by time, place, and experience. I mentioned that the poem’s epigraph implied a reflection on an almost eternal life, The Sibyl (as well as Tiresias later in the poem) mirrors civilization’s history and the poem itself. Where Sibyl will not die she is in the process of decay, where history has not stopped it has broken down to a waste land. By bringing together these ‘broken images,’ Eliot constructed a summation of thousands of years of history. Many voices all speaking at once, alienated from one another by different times, different thoughts, and different experiences but connected through society’s common sub-consciousness and brought together by The Waste Land.

Drugs Should Their Sale and Use Be Legalized

Running Head: SHOULD DRUGS BE LEGALIZED Comp II Drugs: Should Their Sale and Use Be Legalized Arnold Heningburg Palm Beach Atlantic University Instructor: Heather Patton Drugs: Should Their Sale and Use Be Legalized? In the last 50 plus years, the support of legalization of drugs has been a very hotly argued topic in the United States society and the world. Many believe that â€Å"street drugs† should be legal and everyone should have the choice of using them if they desire. After the introduction of these street drugs, (some that were legal for medicinal purposes), they had to be banned in society because people were abusing them.Many of these drugs now known as illegal substances were considered legal and were manufactured and created by chemists, and at some point were used for medical reasons. Unfortunately, due to many detrimental effects of prolonged use that caused human beings to become sick or die, these drugs were deemed dangerous and made illegal by the government. William Bennett's â€Å"Drugs: Should Their Sale and Use Be Legalized† goal was to tell the general American public or the communities know how important it was to uphold the countries current drug policy.The beginning of Bennett’s statement started by saying, â€Å"The issue I want to address is our national drug policy and the intellectuals† (Bennett, William). He was particularly addressing our nation about the danger of making these drugs legal. Bennett wanted everyone to know that he undoubtedly was on the side of keeping and imposing the ban on making narcotics illegal. Bennett’s article seems to be motivated by the desire to confirm his support for the current U. S. national and international policies regarding narcotics. .†Bennett’s purpose was to win over those individuals who were not sure and those who were opposing the nations drug policy, by sharing where he stood on the issue of the nations drug policy. In the article that was w ritten by Elliott Currie which was called â€Å"Toward a Policy on Drugs†, Currie maintained that illegal drugs are an deep-rooted problem for law enforcement agencies, therefore the only resolution that could aid in resolving the problem is by seeking the views or ideas of the public on how the police and the court would take action in reducing the impact of use and sale of illegal drugs in the community and society.Curie argued that by using the free sell approach it would advocate making laws less restrictive on drugs, as well the law being less discriminating of drug users. This would mean that the government ‘s ban on illegal imports would be downgraded, which would also cause the drug users not to be treated as criminals and not being punished for their illegal activities. Currie felt that this approach has been proven effective in some of the European countries like Netherlands, where they have legalized the use of small amounts of marijuana.He also argued that d ecriminalization and deregulation are not the definitive resolution to the deteriorating drug condition, but could significantly lessen the unscientific and cruel methods currently used to battle the use and sale of illegal drugs. Currie contended that it has proven and studied that there is a correlation between the prevention of drugs and the existence of crimes and violence in communities. His contention was that if illegal drugs would be made legal then it would be safe to assume that the incidence of drug-related crimes will decrease and eventually lead to the eradication of drug problems.Although, he did contend that people should not exclusively depend on this type of approach, since there are other factors and complication implicated that cannot be addressed by this approach. In my opinion, legalization of drugs will cause an increase in drug problems and in crime. The reason I state this is that while dealing research and reading the journals and articles I found that many experts agree that illicit drugs are addictive and dangerous.Those that want to legalize can admit this, but contend that if we legalized them we would have less of a problem because by making illegal drugs legal less people would consume them and therefore by legalizing it and making it accessible people would be less likely to become addicted because they would use drugs more moderately or some may just stop using drugs altogether, since it is available if they ever did want to use, comparing it to those that don’t use cigarettes or alcohol because it is legal to use.But as I read different research and journals I found that the message from history is that periods of careless controls are accompanied by increased drug abuse and that when there is strong drug control, there is less drug abuse. References Barnet, Sylvan, Bedau, Hugo, Contemporary & Classic Arguments, A Portable Anthology, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. Caulkins, Jonathan P. and Haijing Hao (2008). Modeli ng Drug Market Supply Reductions: Where Do All the Drugs Not Go? Journal of Policy Modeling. 30(2), pp. 251-270, DOI: 10. 1016/j. olmod. 2007. 04. 003. Hartnett, Edmund, Deputy Chief and Executive Officer, Narcotic Division, Drug Legalization: Why it Wouldn’t Work in the United States, New York City Police Department, New York [FN1] Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization, U. S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington, DC U. S. A. May 2003, www. DEA. gov; David Corcoran, Legalizing Drugs: Failures Spur Debate, New York Times, November 27, 1989; Morton M. Kondracke, Don’t Legalize Drugs, The New Republic, June 27, 1988

Attachment and Divorce

Attachment and Divorce: FAMILY CONSEQUENCES Bowlby's, Ainsworth's, and Shaver's research created the understanding that infant styles create a disposition for later behavioral traits. More current research has questioned the significance of how the disruption of the attachment structure (such as in divorce) can affect children's behaviors throughout life. The research on this topic is contradictory and somewhat inconclusive, with research asserting that either attachment style or external environment has been the main contributor to the behaviors seen in members of divorced families, while many sources stated that it is likely to be a combination of both influences. With either explanation, research concludes that children of divorced families have a disposition to these behaviors, but the end development of behavior and personality is in the hands of the individual and the external factors that are present. Abstract The attachment theory that was developed by Harlow, Bowlby, and Ainsworth, which states that attachment is a key aspect to determining personality and behavior throughout an individual's lifetime. Attachment can be defined as the strong bond that develops first between parent and child, and later in peer and romantic relationships (Bowlby, 1969). Research on divorce and separation of attachment figures has yielded conflicting results. It is often reported that children of divorce have trouble adapting to different stages of their lives because of their experience with broken or detached attachment bonds. These children are said to have no accurate template for successful relationships to replicate in their lives. Other research provided results that children of divorce adapt to life's situations and relationships within normal ranges when compared to their peers (Armistead, Forehand, Summers, & Tannenbaum, 1998). Taking this into account, these researchers looked to peer relations, socioeconomic status, general distress, or poor parenting skills to explain the appearance of troublesome behavior or poor grades. The study of all aspects of divorce and attachment is important to how parents, psychologists, and teachers approach and understand children of divorced families in order to help them reach their full potential as adults. Overview of Attachment Theory The attachment theory has a basis in three theoretical approaches and was first related to primate and infant-mother studies. The three approaches include a psychoanalytic approach, the social learning approach, and the ethological theory of attachment (Ainsworth, 1969). Childhood attachment styles are clearly based on the emotional bond between the parent and child, as opposed to a biological push to become attached. A study on adopted children shows that positively formed attachments heighten the chance for a well-adjusted life, regardless of the biological relation of the attachment figure (Juffer, Stams & van IJzendoorn, 2002). â€Å"Even in a biologically unrelated group of parents and their adopted children from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds, early child-parent relationship characteristics played a significant role in shaping children's adjustment in middle childhood† (Juffer et al. 2002, p. 814). Harlow (1958) experimented with infant rhesus monkeys by removing them from their mothers and offering them a choice between two surrogate mothers, one made of terrycloth, the other of wire. In the first group, the terrycloth mother provided no food while the wire mother did, in the form of an attached baby bottle containing milk. I n the second group, the terrycloth mother provided food; the wire mother did not. The young monkeys clung to the terrycloth mother regardless it provided them with food, and that the other young monkeys chose the wire surrogate only when it provided food. The monkeys in the terrycloth study fared better in many aspects of their lives compared to others who were provided with only a wire mother, and were more likely to be adjusted physically, psychologically, and socially compared to the monkeys raised by the wire mother. Harlow concluded from his research that the primates are better off in their lives when given more comfort, attention, and grooming when compared to those who were deprived of these elements (Harlow). Harlow (1958) also noted that the infant monkeys formed a close bond, or attachment to their surrogate cloth mothers. These surrogate mothers were often used as a secure base when opportunities to venture and explore were presented. This was done in order to see how the infants adapted to the surroundings. These infants used their emotional bond to ensure that they would not be harmed when encountering new objects. Also, when a threatening stimulus was presented in this lab experiment, the monkeys retreated to the cloth mothers for safety. This correlates with Ainsworth's (1967) finding that infants in Uganda use their mothers as a secure base to explore, occasionally leaving their sights, but periodically returning to ensure themselves that they are still there. Bowlby (1969) also conducted research on attachment, recognizing the undeniable bond between infants and their primary care givers. In a variety of cultures that have been studied, the majority of children ranging in age from nine months to one year old have exhibited strong attachment behavior towards their primary care giver. This trend continued until three to four years of age, where the attachment weakened slightly. Hopefully at this point, the child is secure enough to briefly venture from the mother, and begin to develop other interactions and attachments (Bowlby). The notion that attachment extends throughout the life of an individual is noted in sections of Ainsworth’s and Bowlby's literature. Bowlby (1969) stated that over time, the attachment that infants have for their parents is subtly weakened. The degree to which it is weakened depends on the temperament of the child, which in turn determines how readily new attachment bonds are sought out and formed. Bowlby also researched the effect that temporary loss of the mother had on human infants, and his findings were expanded upon by the development of the Strange Situation Procedure developed by Ainsworth. Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978) solidified Bowlby's research on infants and developed three main attachment styles. These styles are based on Ainsworth's (1978) studies of temporary loss of the main attachment figure within a controlled lab setting. This research was called the Strange Situation Procedure. The results showcased the distinct attachment characteristics for each style. Avoidant infants focus their attention mainly on toys that are found around the research room, not directly on the mother. The children appear to be independent and confidant, but there is intentional avoidance of the mother figure occurring. Once the mother is removed, these infants become detached and avoid the substitute caretaker. When returning, the infant continues to avoid the parent (Ainsworth et al. , 1978). Secure infants are genuinely social and explorative within the environment. They are friendly to the mother and caretaker, although can be wary of strangers. Secure infants show signs of anger and sadness when the mother is removed, but eventually adjust to the absence. These infants are generally excited upon the return of the mother (Ainsworth et al. , 1978). Lastly, the Anxious or Ambivalent pattern of behavior in infants shows signs of anxiety and hostility towards the parent. The Ambivalent infant is shows aggression toward the mother, but longs to be close to her at the same time. This behavior occurs both before and after the parent returns to the room (Ainsworth et al. , 1978). Hazan and Shaver (1987) continued this line of research and adapted the original attachment styles to patterns of attachment behavior in adult romantic relationships. The same three attachment styles remain true for adjustment and behavior in adult relationships (Hazan, & Shaver). The securely attached infants matured into adults that were more likely to experience balanced relationships of a desirable duration. The Avoidant infants grew up to have a few short relationships, if any at all. Ambivalent infants became adults who had frequent partners, but often to not allow themselves or their partner to establish the close bond that they would like to form. Separation From an Attachment Figure Spouse Marriage is a highly significant form of attachment bond that has negative consequences when broken. Bowlby realized and supported the notion that as we grow older, we form new attachments with multiple important figures throughout our lives (Bowlby, 1969). For infants, it is only natural to form attachments with the people who care for them most, in regards to their physiological and emotional needs. As people mature, the old attachments are only severed after great strain, and new attachments are made along the way. New attachments can be friends, co-workers or romantic interests (Bowlby, 1969). The effects of divorce on the adults who are engulfed in the situation tend to be as stressful as those found in the children. Weiss' (1976) work showed that the reaction of couples after divorce is similar to the core set of reactions of other examples where attachment is broken, including the reactions of children. Kobak (1999) refered to the Weiss study and stateed that the availability of an attachment figure in relationships is important to the strength of the bond. When this availability is broken, much like an enhanced Strange Situation Procedure for adults, the security of one spouse or the other is threatened. Berman (1988) noticed from his study of divorced couples, that there is often a strong sense of longing for the estranged partner, and a mourning of the loss is experienced. He also noted that there is a seemingly illogical mix of anger, resentment, and lingering positive feelings for the estranged spouse. Weiss (1976) explained this by stating; This persisting bond to the spouse resembles the attachment bond of children to parents described by Bowlby. Indeed it seems reasonable to surmise that the bond we observe to persist in unhappy marriages is an adult development of childhood attachment (p. 138). Although the distress caused by divorce is great for both partners, it is easier to see how adults cope with the broken attachment because of their life experiences, maturity, and alternate sources of support. In contrast, children rely mainly on few attachment figures and often lack the coping skills that adults have refined. Children Children usually lose a degree of contact with one of their very few attachment figures when a divorce occurs. It is a confusing and stressful time for children, regardless of whether the divorce was amicable or not. Booth, Clarke-Stewart, McCartney, Owen, & Vandell (2000) refer to various national studies when they stated that poor school performance, low self-esteem, behavior problems, distress, and adjustment difficulties are associated with divorce. In adolescents from divorced families they noted more instances of delinquent behavior, early sex activity, and continued academic issues. In contrast, there have also been comparable studies that detect no unusual behavior or emotional distress occurring from divorce (Armistead et al. , 1998). For example, one study involved extensive questionnaires and concluded that the average scores attained from the children were within normal ranges when compared to children of intact families (Armistead et al. ). There are many factors that may play into how children's attachments are altered after a divorce, gender and age being the two most documented variables. Children's adjustment and the factor of age. The behavioral reaction of a child to divorce has been shown to correlate with the age group when the divorce or separation occurs. In a controversial study of divorced families, Blakeslee & Wallerstein (1989) stated that most children have the same initial feelings. â€Å"When their family breaks up, children feel vulnerable, for they fear that their lifeline is in danger of being cut† (p. 12). They then went on to discuss the age differences and how the stage at which divorce occurs can impact what behaviors may take place. Blakeslee and Wallerstein (1989) observed, Little children often have difficulty falling asleep at bedtime or sleeping through the night. Older children may have trouble concentrating at school. Adolescents often act out and get into trouble. Men and women may become depressed or frenetic. Some throw themselves into sexual affairs or immerse themselves in work (p. xii). Booth et al. (2000) conducted wide sampling research and realized that the worst initial reactions and behaviors that occur close to the date of the divorce were by the youngest children. In a follow-up study 10 years after the divorce, however, the youngest children were adjusting to their new environments and interactions better than siblings who were older at the time of the divorce. Children's adjustment and the factor of sex. Gender difference between children in a divorce plays a very important role in how they adjust. This is true during the time of the divorce and has lasting effects in adult life. Multiple studies have agreed that boys and girls react differently to the reduced contact with a major attachment figure. Boys seem to have an especially difficult time with divorce, causing them to have trouble at school, withdraw from social interactions, or start fights with peers (Blakeslee & Wallerstein, 1989). However, Amato (2001) wrote a follow up study to his earlier meta-analysis findings. In this earlier study, behavior traits were ranked in children with divorced parents and observed negative behaviors. The current study emphasizes that differences are not unique to either boys or girls. Amato and Keith (1991) found that the deficit in social adjustment associated with marital disruption was greater for boys than for girls. In the 1990s, divorce was associated with greater conduct problems among boys than girls. But the more general conclusion–in the earlier meta-analysis as well as in the present one–is that most of the disadvantages associated with divorce are similar for boys and girls. These findings imply that the stress on the children is equal, although they may show it in differing ways. Amato's (2001) follow up study also went to great lengths to show that current trends in gender differences are not as severe as they were once thought to be. Children of Divorce: Outcomes Short-term outcomes for children from divorced families seem to be troubled, but the outcome becomes increasingly optimistic as the children age and mature (Blakeslee & Wallerstein, 1989). The individuals who were interviewed by Wallerstein (1989) showed a strong desire to fix what their parents could not within their own adult lives. They wanted to have stable families and relationships, although many viewed this dream as idealistic, not realistic. â€Å"They fear betrayal. They fear abandonment. They fear loss. They draw an inescapable conclusion: Relationships have a high likelihood of being untrustworthy; betrayal and infidelity are probable† (Blakeslee & Wallerstein, p. 55). Regardless of the long term effects on these particular interviewees, Amato and Keith (1991) concluded after their own assessment that children of highly conflicted families who are not divorced fare worse over time than children with divorced parents. This shows that distance from an attachment figure may be better than living in a troubled environment. Blakeslee and Wallerstein (1989) observed through their years of interviews with children of divorce an occurrence known as the Sleeper Effect. It is defined as, â€Å"a delayed reaction to an event that happened many years earlier† (Blakeslee & Wallerstein, p. 60). The Sleeper Effect is seen mostly in young women whose parents divorced while they were young children. As previously noted, boys are more likely to act out during the time of divorce, showing their aggression and anger at the situation (Amato and Keith, 1991). Girls on the other hand, seem to keep this frustration inside. This pent up emotion is theorized to show its effects later in the lives of these girls (Blakeslee & Wallerstein). Its effects are described as, â€Å"particularly dangerous because it occurs at the crucial time when many young women make decisions that have long-term implications for their lives. Suddenly overcome by fears and anxieties, they begin to make connections between these feelings and their parents' divorce† (Blakeslee & Wallerstein, p. 61). Most attachment and divorce literature claims attachment is an integral part of the outcomes seen in children from divorced families. However, many of these sources also mention the presence of secondary factors such as income, mother's employment status, or peer relationships. These factors can also play a key role in determining how a child deals with divorce. For example, Booth et al, (2000) summarized their results and said that during the early stages of life, it is perhaps most important that the available parent has good parenting skills. This, they say, is more important to the outcome of the child than the family structure, meaning that parenting practices have a greater effect on children than marital status. They mention that lack of education, depression, low income, and inadequate support from the mother leads to poor adjustment and behavior in young children. Many of these factors can be brought on by a divorce, such as lack of support or attention for children, depression, and economic status. The fading stigma of divorce is another universal factor that has been observed to change the well being of these children. Contrary to the past, divorce is not viewed as a degrading occurrence, which once brought social exclusion, shame, and the feeling of failure to family members. Similarly, the current volume has increased, and current divorces are not preceded by as much violence and anger as in the past (Amato, 2001). Conclusion The somewhat contrasting views provide a solid, yet inconclusive basis for our understanding of how divorce affects families. Different views have been discussed, including the attachment theory and the effects of family environments. The research has uncovered a wealth of knowledge about how adults and children deal with loss and feelings of abandonment and insecurity. There were many common reactions to divorce that have been observed over these situations, including sadness, anger, insecurity, and lack of trust, which can lead to depression, conduct issues, or unrealistic relationship views. Regardless of these common findings, many children of divorce eventually learn to accept the past and look toward their futures. There are still many avenues that can be taken in the research techniques and literature surrounding divorce and children, but the detrimental findings of the 1970's seem to have faded, along with (and possibly because of) the social stigmas that have been linked to divorce. References Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1967). Infancy in Uganda: Infant care and the growth of attachment. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1969). Object relations, attachment and dependency. Child Development, 40, 969-1025. Ainsworth, M. D. S. , Blehar, M. C. , Waters, E. , & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Amato, P. R. (2001). Children of divorce in the 1990s: An update of the Amato and Keith (1991) meta-analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 355-370. Amato, P. R. , & Keith, B. (1991). Parental divorce and adult well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 53, 43-58. Armistead, L. , Forehand, R. , Summers, P. , & Tannenbaum, L. (1998). Parental divorce during early adolescence in Caucasian families: The role of family process variables in predicting the long-term consequences for early adult psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 327-336. Berman, W. H. (1988). The role of attachment in the post-divorce experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 496-503. Blakeslee, S. , & Wallerstein, J. S. (1989). Second chances: Men, women and children a decade after divorce. New York: Ticknor & Fields. Booth, C. , Clarke-Stewart, K. A. , McCartney, K. , Owen, M. T. , & Vandell, D. L. (2000). Effects of parental separation and divorce on very young children. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 304-326. Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Attachment (Vol. 1). New York: Basic. Harlow, H. F. (1958). The nature of love. American Psychologist, 13, 573-585. Hazan, C. , & Shaver, P. R. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524. Juffer, F. , Stams, G. J. J. M. , & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2002). Maternal sensitivity, infant attachment, and temperament in early childhood predict adjustment in middle childhood: The case of adopted children and their biologically unrelated parents. Developmental Psychology, 38, 806-821. Kobak, R. (1999). The emotional dynamics of disruptions in attachment relationships. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds. , Handbook of attachment (pp. 21-43). New York: Guilford. Nakonezny, P. A. , Shull, R. D. , & Rodgers, J. L. (1995). Divorce rate across the 50 states and its relation to income, education, and religiosity. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 477-488. Waite, L. J. , & Gallagher, M. (2000). The case for marriage. New York: Doubleday. Warner, R. L. , & Seccombe, K. (2003). Marriage and families: Relationships in social context. To ronto, Canada: Wadsworth. Weiss, R. S. (1976). The emotional impact of marital separation. Journal of Social Issues, 32, 135-145.

How Have Our Ideas of Heroes Changed over Time Essay

In the beginning of cinema heroes and heroines tended to stay within the mythic structure of heroes using binary pairs of opposite terms to simplify the complexity of events and reducing the players down to good guys and bad guys or more cinematic, white hats and black hats. That changed radically in the late 1960’s and early ’70’s when a series of films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, Midnight Cowboy and One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, literally turned mythic structure on its head and presented the cinematic anti-hero. Before this golden age of film an audience could rely on the belief that no matter how complicated events got for the hero in the end the hero would prevail and the villain would be brought to justice. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid asks its audience to redefine justice in order to root for our heroes who are in fact the villains and hiss the villains who are in fact the good guys. Bonnie and Clyde does the same, the Godfather does it so well that films influence is noticeable in prevailing attitudes about justice today. Midnight Cowboy and One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest don’t necessarily offer up villains as heroes, but our heroes are so flawed, so aimless in their pursuit that even if in the end they are brought down by their own hubris they are still weaker, less competent versions of the mythic hero who rather than ask there audience to be inspired by greatness they ask their audience to celebrate rebelliousness for the sake of rebellion and immorality as an acceptable form of happiness. The radical changes that took place in the films of the seventies still has heavy influence in film making and particularly in film criticism today. There are still and will always be plenty of films made that remain true to classical mythic structure where white hats prevail and black hats do not. Current examples of such mythic structure can be found in films such as Live Free Die Hard, Casino Royale, Mission Impossible, and almost any Harrison Ford film. In these films, no matter how complicated things get the white hats always prevail the black hats lose. These films do not do well with the film critics that find employment in the media. It’s not that critics don’t like action films as most heaped plenty of praise on such films as Children of Men, Pans Labyrinth, 3:10 to Yuma and I am Legend. The difference between these movies and the action films such as Live Free Die Hard or any Harrison Ford Film is that Harrison Fords heroes always live and in the films praised by critics the heroes always died. I am skeptical that Braveheart would have actually won the Oscar for best picture if William Wallace lived. This is the primary and perhaps the most important change in the depiction of heroes and heroines over the years in film. The abandonment of classical mythic structure in exchange for â€Å"realism† where â€Å"rational ideas† become notions that heroes aren’t heroes unless they die fighting the good fight and villains aren’t so bad once you really get to know them.

Chinese Automobile Industry in Egypt Essay

Introduction There are many aspects regarding the Chinese automobile industry in Egypt regarding how it mirrors on customer satisfaction, despite common believes China has been producing cars before the Koreans for almost over 50 years. The very first Chinese car was a poor copy of what European, American and Japanese manufacturers produce. It wasn’t designed with the anxiety of comfort, security nor style; it was more like wheeled boxes made of light steel, with a primitive petrol engine. After 20 years, Chinese automobile industry has finally become one of largest market in automobile market. The major advantage that Chinese cars have is its low pricing compared to other cars from western auto giants such as Germany and France, which is a satisfactory advantage to most of the Egyptians. – Besides the fact that Chinese cars are of lower prices, there are other factors that consumers look for in a car; this research measures weather Chinese cars meets the customers perceived values of satisfaction regarding performance and design or not. Foreign car manufacturers may not think that china would create any threat to their automobile industry. However, the great prospective of the Chinese car maker cannot be taken lightly. It is the time for Chinese companies to support for more future challenges and take hold of a bigger share in the global market. Consumers in Egypt are very diverse; some base their perceptions regarding products on prior experience, delivering value expected and/or through overall performance. Those creates a huge conflict of interests between personal perceptions in the Egyptian market where some perceive Chinese cars as a low quality product with a cheap price tag, and others perceive them as economic high quality vehicles. – In 2004 China generated 5 million from car sales, coming third after America which generated 17 million and Japan with 5. 9 million. This shows that the Americans and the Japanese are considered to be of a high quality regarding safety, durability, resale price, and comfort which is what most Egyptian customers look for in a car. However, according to David Thomas [1] â€Å"China is going to become the second-largest market in the world sometime over the next two or three years,† [2] he also said â€Å"China is developing in very similar ways (to the developed markets), but doing it so much quicker,† [3] enunciating on the statement â€Å"so much quicker. †[4] Theoretical framework: 2. 1) Defining Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is an evaluation of how goods and services provided by an organization to meet or to exceed the customer’s expectation and it may be measured directly by survey and expressed as a percentage. Customer satisfaction is a vague and conceptual, and the tangible appearance of the state of satisfaction will differ from individual to individual and good or service to good and service. In a competitive market, where companies compete for customers, customer satisfaction is perceived as a key differentiator and increasingly become a key element of business strategy now days. 2. 1. 1) variables effecting Customer satisfaction is:- There are various elements effecting customer satisfaction starting with product quality to after sales services. This requires the organization and even third-party service firms to work as a whole to ensure that the customers are getting what they want and more â€Å"serving the customer†. Customer Satisfaction has backgrounds in two ideas about quality; gap-based view of quality, which has to do with delighting the customers rather than just satisfying them, and conformance to a standard or specification, which has to do with minimize production errors and monitoring the quality of delivery. The best method is to take a section of customers and to try to ask them about their experiences over a certain period of time; however, this only shows the regular view and will oversight any key limits that are important from operational view. Understanding the link between consumer’s information search behavior and customer satisfaction shows a better over view of what should be done to meet what the customers want. Findings suggest that the three types of consumer as defined by whether and how they search for information (passive, rational-active, and relational-dependent). [5]. Each type of customer has a different way of perceiving satisfaction. – Customer satisfaction is a key element in competitive advantage since that a satisfied customer means: 1- Long-term relationship (repeat sale). 2- Good advertising (word of mouth). 3- Customer loyalty. 4- Obtaining new customers (followers). 5- Increase in market share. The relationship marketing is one of the most important tends in the marketing due to the importance of repeat business. Relationship marketing mainly focuses on developing trust and loyalty between the customer and the supplier. Establishing and maintaining loyal base of customers is a major key to a fast growing organization. – Customer satisfaction and attractiveness are linked together. In order to accomplish customer satisfaction accurately; some variables should be recognized. There are several factors that are applicable to automobiles by which consumers look for which, product quality, services, engine performance, design, and accessories. On the other hand, most customers are keen to buy a car including all these features with reasonable pricing. However, it’s difficult to obtain high quality with low price, as it’s said, â€Å"Better price for better quality† [6], which indicates that the more the customer pays, the higher the quality. Another variable hovering over customer satisfaction is customer’s retention. This aim is achieved when the customer is convinced with the performance of the car brand he chose to the point of repurchase. No business can exist without any customers and it’s important for the business to work closely with the customers to make sure that they are satisfied and their needs are met. Companies form a close working relation with their clients; so customer relation is important. Measuring the customer satisfaction is obviously to measure the quality and the performance of the good or service that the company provides. The objective is to determine how well the good or the service to achieves the purpose or the need for which it is purchased. Understanding, meeting, and exceeding customer expectations are fundamental in creating customer satisfaction. The customer relationship is a distinctive aspect of the relationship marketing. – Through analyzing several articles, we’ve found a relation between the customer satisfactions, needs and perceived value with the quality and price of the car’s characteristics, expectations and the company’s relationship value. There is a weak relation between all the independent variables, when the customer expectations are not met when buying a car with low prices. – Thus, it varies from a car’s characteristics to meet the customer’s needs but still with high or moderate prices, also, there is a strong relation between customers’ perceived value and the company’s s relationship value. Where, if the company wants their customers to remain satisfied, they must do a direct relation with them, for an example, making more events, doing the customer’s evaluation from time to time, and create a bond between the customer with hisher car, where heshe can appreciate more the price she/he paid, besides, the relationship between the company and the customers can be sometimes deceiving, where the customer can pay no attention to the bad characteristics or quality in hisher, just because of the great relation and its service quality of the company. The customer satisfaction is a very important element to have a successful business and in order to maintain that companies have to be able to cope with the change in the environment around its business, which has to do with understanding customer preferences. Also expanding the business won’t be attainable if you don’t have a satisfied customer base and that the company must be customer oriented instead of being manufacturing oriented. In the automobile industry the purchase intentions are moving towards cars which have a low gasoline consumption rate, so the industry must take the buyers behavior in consideration. – There are a lot of fields which create and retain customer satisfaction; in order to retain customer satisfaction all the products/services offered to the costumers should be matching the customers’ perceived value. – There are also factors that affect customer satisfaction such as the economic performance, for example when the financial crisis occurred, customers started focusing on products and alternatives to brands they used to purchase with lower prices. This economic draw back affected sellers’ attitudes pessimistically which reflected negatively their relationship with the consumers; however, there were sellers who were trying to grab customer’s attention through creating a strong relationship with them. – Another point to know the importance of the customer satisfaction to maintain business excellence, a seller who creates a good relationship with his consumers and offer them more than they expect is always a seller who maintains and sustains his business excellence, because the more the customer is satisfied the more he buys and create a positive word of mouth. 2. 2) Defining the product performance: Associating between the observed and currant performance of a product, and its predicted use and efficiency has generally been the known definition for customer satisfaction. Lately companies of different fields have learned and understood the importance of such matters due to the fierce competition. Consumers have grown to be more sophisticated, more skeptics and are constantly looking for the most efficient, and the most convenient products that would satisfy their needs and wants. 2. 2. 1) Variables affecting the car’s performance: There are several variables that affect the car’s performance, beginning with the car’s engine performance, which is the main image of the car that varies in the gas consumption, how much fuel did the engine burn? Also sometimes customers’ satisfaction relies on the speed of the car, and how far can it speed up in no time. Moreover, there are several variables that represent each other in a way that the car’s quality stands for its stability, durability, and the safety features. Which are the most important variables that can affect the customer’s satisfaction that every person is looking for safety that represent the stability and low possibility of any accident accuracy? Furthermore, the design of the car is related to the stability by which, the more aero-dynamic is the design the less air force that face the front of the car, that lead to a less fuel consumption, more stability, and of course more speed. Finally, the car accessories are sometimes very expensive that can cause a low customer satisfaction, and lack in buying the car. 2. 2. 2) Defining personal experience: – Experience is being an active participant in an event or an activity which leads to a growth in one’s skills or knowledge. Where the customer can perceive a certain product wither it’s going to meet or exceed his expectations or not, through the interaction with similar products or services. 2. 2. 3) Personal experiences related to the Chinese automobile industry: – When a consumer purchases any car, a certain image or knowledge goes through his mind. This image and knowledge becomes a standard for the consumer while comparing his/her car to any other alternative, because this is his/her experience with the product so in order for him/her to know what’s best and what’s worse he/she compares the alternative’s features to his/her own product’s features such as: performance of the engine, safety features, durability and stability, car quality, fuel consumption, accessories and design of the car. – Consumers differ in their way of thinking and the bases behind their decisions, that is why Chinese car manufacturers should put in mind that a consumer who buys their product is driven to this purchase through his/her perception, and because not every consumer has the same perception about Chinese cars, Chinese car manufacturers should build a positive and strong perception with the automobile consumers about their products, as a consumer maybe more interested in the car’s safety features rather than the price or cost efficiency and vice versa. 2. 3) factors affecting the overall customer satisfaction through cars performance: – Chinese automobile manufacturer should consider their image according to the consumer’s personal experience where the consumer perceive and compare the coming alternative with their own previous experiences related to the car they owned or would like to buy. – In order to meet the customer satisfaction, car makers should provide many researches on the need and wants of the customer by which every customers’ needs change in a certain period of time. – Customers have their own perception in each car brand and its performance, where customers’ needs vary from one to the other regarding the characteristics they look for in a car, thus car manufacturers provide several models in order to meet each segment’s needs. – As Chinese automobile industry has enlarged its market share all over the world, they should put in mind that consumer will always compare their products in order to make the purchase decision, that can always be affected by the performance of their previous car, where the Chinese automakers should exceed or meet the consumer’s expectation in order to start a preferable image and reputation especially when it comes to the quality and durability of their product as it’s known as a poor product in these terms particularly compared with their competitors. Conclusion: – Studies have shown that the relation between product performance and post experience has an effect on the overall satisfaction factors. This study will further more elaborate where the Chinese car manufacturers stand in the Egyptian market regarding all aspects of performance, image, and price. This research will also cross reference the Chinese automobile industry with other automobile industries. This will show if there is any positive or negative relationship between the customer satisfactions versus car performance and previous experience concerning the Chinese automobile industry.