Problem Set 6, 7, and 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem Set 6, 7, and 8 - Assignment Example Thus it is a measure of the strength of relationship between the two variables. David states that when the two variables are continuous-level variables, the value is called Pearson correlation coefficient (David, 1997. Pg100). Suppose an economist wants to determine if higher oil prices increase the cost of shipping and the degree of the relation between the two, in this case, his main concern is the cost of shipping and how it is being affected by the changes in the oil prices; of which he wants to determine whether the shipping cost changes depend on the changes in the oil prices. Thus the dependent variable is the shipping cost while the independent variable is the oil prices. This is basically because the shipping cost depends on the oil prices. To answer his question, the economist can go ahead to collect historical data on the same and probably tabulate his results as below: To measure the strength and direction of relationship/association between two variables, Spearman rank-order correlation can be used. It is a nonparametric measure. David notes that before using Spearman rank-order correlation, it is vital to check the validity of the data (David, 1997. Pg230). This is because not all data is qualified to be analyzed by Spearman rank-order correlation. Thus to use the spearman rank-order correlation, data must meet the following prerequisites: Thus I selected this test to analyze the data based on these two conditions that have been met by the data. Suppose football analysts want to find out the order of the teams between two years in English premier league, Spearman rank-order correlation may be an option. The analyst has collected the following data: 1. Predicting unknown values of a variable from the value of several known variables (predictors) is done using multiple regression analysis. For example, we can predict the value of a dependent variable y so long as we are given the value of xi (x1, x2, x3, †¦xn) Suppose an

Teacher pay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teacher pay - Essay Example The thesis statement of this essay is that teachers should be paid more in order to improve their teaching craft, methods and techniques, which translates to improved student performance. Discussion This essay explores the effect of an increase in incentive for teachers in relation to their performance in terms of teaching methods, differentiated and individual instruction, teaching morale etc. In addition to this, the essay focuses on the alternatives that are available to boost teachers’ performance standards, most notably merit pay and its effects on teaching efficiency. The essay also discusses the implications of merit pay, both ethically and professionally, citing different opinions of whether merit pay is professional or not. Different citations guide the thesis of this essay on finding the best solution to the problem statement of this essay, which is whether teachers should or should not have an increase in pay. In a Times Magazine article titled â€Å"How to Make Gr eat Teachers,† Claudia Wallis notes that, the most important aspect of boosting student performance is neither the amount of materials they are exposed to, nor the amount of money invested in classrooms and the students, but rather, the investment made to improve the welfare of the teachers. Claudia supposes that a merit pay system should be implemented in schools to motivate teachers. To most people, this is ethical and justifiable. It makes sense that people should be paid based on their performance and excellence. Other schools of thought have suggested that teachers should be paid based on the performance of the students. This example shows that Wallis’ believes that teachers should be paid more, and that this increase should be on the basis of efficiency and results. In another article, ‘How To Make Great Teachers’, David West, Caitlin Abruzzi and James Raynor, seem to disagree with Wallis; according to them, the idea of merit pay may seem justified an d a motivation to educators, but there exists the problem of whether the ethical way is the professional way. Teachers should not want to better their teaching methods, skills, efforts and craft because of the promise of an increased pay; they should do so because their work is to help students improve and better their knowledge. West, Abruzzi and Raynor seek to inform that although the merit pay might seem like a better move, the assessment rubric for assessing teachers would be biased. Victor Lavy opposes West, Abbruzi and Raynor, and supports Wallis’ idea of merit pay. According to Lavy’s â€Å"Paying for performance: the effect of teachers' financial incentives on students' scholastic outcomes†, Lavy states that the lack of performance based pay leads to mediocrity in many academic institutions. Lavy draws his argument from an incentive experiment performed to determine the effect of increased pay on teachers’ performance. In this program, Hebrew, Eng lish and Math teachers were awarded cash bonuses, on the basis of improved class performance in exams (Lavy 6). The study was based on comparison groups and it employed three strategies; a regression discontinuity method, a natural experiment whose concept derives from measurement of error in the assignment variable, and a propensity score matching. The results were consistent in all three methods, showing that paying incentives to teachers based on merit improved the students’

The Rise Of Melaka

The Rise Of Melaka IN 1511,despite the brave efforts of its defenders the last defences of Malacca was overwhelmed in the face of a fierce and sustained Portuguese invasion.Sultan Mahmud and his remaining fighting men were finally forced to abandon the city and retreated to Pahang before moving to Johor where his descendents founded the Sultanate Of Johore which lasted into 1914 . The fall of Malacca to the Portuguese brought to an end more than a hundred years of Malay rule. At its height, the sultanate was one of the worlds busiest emporia, attracting ships from the Middle-East, India, China, the Ryukyu, and the surrounding islands of the Archipelago. During the period, Malay wealth and power dominated the region. It was also an influential Islamic centre.It was an international enterport of its day the same way Singapore is to us today. Scholars generally agree that the fall of the Malacca sultanate marked a turning point in Malaysian and world history. But they disagree as to the nature of that importance. Many Western writers portray the fall of Malacca as ushering in a new political and economic order in Malaysia and South-East Asia, one dominated by the West. Others, including Asian scholars, dispute this. They insist that the Portuguese Empire was really a commercial enterprise based on a series of strategically-located fortified posts. The Portuguese were never able to impose an influence in the way the Malacca sultanate once did. Within the sphere of power in the Straits of Malacca, the Portuguese were only one of them.And unlike the Malacca Empire did not expand its influence beyond the City of Malacca. From the Western perspective, the success of the Portuguese in Asia was of epoch making importance. The capture of Malacca was the highlight of nearly a hundred years of Portuguese exploration. Prior to this, Western traders had travelled overland to reach China. But it was only in 1498 that a Portuguese fleet under Vasco da Gama finally rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at the Malabar Coast of India. For the first time, a Western fleet from Europe had reached Asia. Adam Smith, in his classic Wealth of Nations, declared this as one of the two great events recorded in human history. The other, according to him, was the discovery of The New World(America) For a long time Europe had searched for a sea route to China and the East. But what motivated countries such as Portugal and Spain to undertake early explorations and to seek territorial expansion? Portugal was then only a small and poor country of about a estimated 1 million people. A mixture of motives such as scientific curiosity, adventure, profits, and religious zeal explains the support given by the state in the early Portuguese and Spanish explorations. One of the earliest patrons was Prince Henry of the Portuguese ruling house and he was keenly interested in science and geography. But perhaps the overriding factor was that there were profits to be made in the trade of spices. During the Crusades from the 11th to the 13th century, Christian knights and pilgrims had acquired the tastes of the Mediterranean, including spices. Spices then meant Eastern luxuries but pepper, nutmeg, clovers, and cinnamon were the more highly sought. These various spices soon became essential for food preservation and preparation in the pre-refrigeration era of Europe. But the spice trade was controlled by Arabs and Indian Muslims who dominated the Indian Ocean. Europe could only obtain pepper and cinnamon through the middlemen merchants of Genoa and Venice. Religious zeal was also behind the attempt to weaken Arab and Indian Muslim control of the spice trade. To this could be added the evangelical hope to bring the gospel to non-Christian lands. But the Portuguese had very little navigational knowledge to get to Asia. Furthermore, the Muslims controlled long stretches of the waters. Some explorers decided to try a different route. Hence, six years before Da Gamas voyage, Christopher Columbus sailed westward, believing this to be a shorter and easier way to Asia. Instead, he reached America. It took several exploratory voyages down the west coast of Africa before Da Gama finally made it to India. If immediate returns were to be measured, then the expedition had really little to show. The trip had lasted more than two years and, of the original crew of 170, only 54 survived. The glass beads, trinkets and textiles brought to Calicut, India, by the Portuguese found no demand. On its way back, Da Gamas mission resorted to seizing a cargo of spices from a small Muslim ship. From a wider view, Da Gamas expedition must also be seen as really a modest maritime feat compared to Arab seamen who had been circumnavigating Africa for centuries before him. Arabs traded over long distances stretching from ports of the Mediterranean through to India and to China. By the time of Chinas Tang dynasty, there was a large community of Muslim merchants in Guangzhou (Khanfu to the Arabs). Detailed Arab navigational manuals such as by Ibn Majid provided sailing information from Africa to China. Likewise, Chinese ships had by the 9th century been trading regularly at Quilon, a port just south of Calicut. The use of the compass and advances in ship technology helped Chinese overseas trade. More than a hundred years before Da Gama, Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho) led a Ming fleet of 62 large ships that called on rulers in the South-East Asian region. In the next few years, the Ming emperors sent out six more expeditions. One of these led by Admiral Zheng He reached the east African ports of Malindi and Mogadishu as well as Aden and Hormuz in the Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf area. For Western scholars, Da Gamas expedition defined the beginning of a new epoch in world history. For over a thousand years, Europe had been on the defensive, having to fight off the Islamic and then the Mongol threats. According to British historian Eric Hobsbawm, Europe after Vasco da Gama took a more assertive international role and over the next 500 years gained hegemonic influence over most parts of Asia. The Portuguese first, and then the Spaniards, the Dutch, the British, and the French carved out empires. It was under two viceroys, Francisco de Almeida (1505-09) and Afonso dAlbuquerque (1509-15) that Portugals Asian empire, the Estado da India, was created. DAlbuquerque personally led naval campaigns to seize strategic points along the major trade routes. Goa was captured in 1510, Malacca in 1511, and Hormuz at the entrance of the Persian Gulf in 1515. The Portuguese took over Malacca but the city never regained the prosperity and the power that was seen during the sultanate period. Once Malacca was no longer ruled by Malays, it lost the daulat, or legitimacy, to command tributes and trade from the surrounding states. Where there was one dominant emporium in the Straits of Malacca in the 15th century, by the turn of the 16th there were several. The Portuguese presence survived largely by allying itself with one or several of the local states. From the local historians point of view, the fall of Malacca had at least three other major impacts on the immediate course of South-East Asian history. Firstly, the shift of Muslims merchants from Malacca contributed to the rise of Aceh. New commercial prosperity and political power strengthened Acehs claim to being the new Islamic centre in the Straits. Aceh, at the height of its power in the 16th and 17th centuries, conquered most of north Sumatra and extended influence over the Peninsular west coast states. The Acheh push to the coast states were anyway interrupted by The Portuguese Empire The Johore Empire which after the fall of Malacca took control of most of the Malacca former Vassal states such as Pahang,Perak,Terengganu and Temasik(Singapore).The three powers continued to struggle with each other for control of the Malacca straits trade on into the 18th century. The Sultanate of Melaka or Malacca Sultanate (Malay: Kesultanan Melayu Melaka) was a Malay sultanatecentered in the nowadays state of Melaka, Malaysia. Traditional historical treatise marks circa 1400 as the founding year of the sultanate by a traitor Malay Raja of Singapura, Iskandar Shah, who was also known in certain accounts as Parameswara. The view however is being compete by a new historical contract that place the founding year in circa 1262. At the height of the sultanates influence in the 15th century, its capital grew into one of the most important entrepots of its time, with domain covering much of the Malay peninsula, Riau Islands and a significant portion of the east coast of Sumatra. As a noisy international trading harbor, Melaka appeared as a center for Islamic tutorial and dissemination, and encouraged the development of the Malay language, literature and arts. It heralded the golden age of Malay sultanates in the archipelago, in which Classical Malay became the lingua franca of the Maritime Southeast Asia and Jawi script became the primary medium for historical, religious and intellectual exchange. It is through these intellectual, spiritual and cultural developments, the Melakan era witnessed the enculturation of a Malay status, the Malayisation of the region and the subsequent formation of an Alam Melayu. In 1511, the capital of Melaka fell to the Portuguese Empire, forcing the last Sultan, Mahmud Shah (r. 1488-1511), to decline to the further reaches of his empire, where his progeny established new ruling dynasties, Johor and Perak. The legacy of the sultanate remained, with significance lies in its far-reaching political and cultural legacy, which, arguably, continues to be felt in modern times. For centuries, Melaka has been held up as an exemplar of Malay-Muslim civilization. It established systems of trade, diplomacy, and governance that persisted well into the 19th century, and introduced concepts such as daulat- a distinctly Malay notion of sovereignty that continues to shape of a new generation understanding of Malay kingship. Before the arrival of the first Sultan, Malacca was a fishing village to live by local Malays. Malacca was founded by Parameswara, also known as Iskandar Shah or Sri Majara, the last Raja of Singapura (present day Singapore) following a Majapahit attack in 1377. He found his way to Malacca around 1400 where he found a good port-it was accessible in all seasons and on the strategically located small point of the Malacca Straits. According to a popular legend, Parameswara was resting under a tree near a river while hunting, when one of his dogs cornered a mouse deer. In self-defence, the mouse deer pushed the dog into the river. Impressed by the courage of the deer, and taking it as a propitious omen of the weak overcoming the powerful, Parameswara decided on the spot to found an empire on that very spot. He named it Melaka after the tree under which he had taken shelter, the Melaka tree (Malay: Pokok Melaka). In collaboration with united countries from the sea-people (orang laut), the wandering proto-Malay privateers of the Straits, he established Malacca as an international port by compelling passing ships to call there, and establishing fair and secure facilities for warehousing and trade. Mass settlement of Chinese, mostly from the imperial and merchant fleet occurred during the dynasty of Parameswara in the nearby of Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill), which was perceived as having excellent Feng Shui. Palace of Malaccas Malay Sultanate came from its strategic location, Malacca was an important stopping point for Zheng Hes fleet. To enhance relations, Hang Li Po, according to local folklore a daughter of the Ming Emperor of China, arrived in Malacca, accompanied by 500 attendants, to marry Sultan Manshur Shah who reigned from 1456 until 1477. Her attendants married locals and settled mostly in Bukit China (Bukit Cina). (See Zheng He in Malacca). At the height of its power, the Sultanate of Malacca ruled over the southern Malay Peninsula and much of Sumatra. Its rise helped to hold off the Thais southward expansion, as well as hasten the decline of the rival Majapahit Empire of Java, which had been declining in power as Malacca rose. Malacca was also pivotal in the spread of Islam in the Malay Archipelago. After Vietnam (then known as Annam) destroyed Champa in the 1471 Vietnamese encroachment of Champa, they engaged in hostilities with Malacca with the intent of conquest. In the 9th month of the year 1481 envoys arrived with the Malacca again sent envoys to China in 1481 to inform the Chinese that, while Malaccan abassador were returning to Malacca from China in 1469, the Vietnamese attacked the Malaccans, killing some of them while castrating the young and enslaving them. The Malaccans reported that Vietnam was in control of Champa and also sought to conquer Malacca, but the Malaccans did not fight back, because they did not want to fight against another state that was a tributary to China without approval from the Chinese. They enquired to face the Vietnamese party to China which was in China at the time, but the Chinese inquire them since the disturbance was years old, they could do nothing about it, and the Emperor sent a letter to the Vietnamese ruler responsibility him for the incident. The Chinese Emperor also ordered the Malaccans to lift soldiers and fight back with violent force if the Vietnamese attacked them again.

Graduation Speech: Who Are We? :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

We are the Class of 2012. But who are we really? In truth we are nothing but ourselves. We are the sons and daughters of baby-boomers, farmers, veterans, ex-hippies and civil righters. We have slid out of Generation X into our own. Appropriately coined Generation Y, we are the ones who ask for faster, longer, safer, fairer and better. Some of our questions include: Why are people starving when we have more than enough food? Why do we have nuclear weapons if we aren’t going to use them? Why is the smoking age 18 and the drinking age 21? Why are drive-through liquor stores legal when drinking and driving is not? Why don’t you like my music? Why can’t I have a faster computer? Why did the CIA put top secret information in a laptop anyway? And why does Mr. Sharples sing show tunes when he walks down the hall? These questions, and many others, will define not only ourselves, but the world from which we get the answers. Despite history’s trend of world conflict, my class has never known a war where military service was automatic. We now join the services for an education, not necessarily to fight. We have never felt the impact of widespread, deep-seated injustice and discontent. Oh, we may complain about the president, and hear individual cases of prejudice, but we don’t feel as if the problem is getting worse. We have never known the terror of possible nuclear war. The Cold War ended before we could understand what it was about. We have not suffered famine, global catastrophe or unpreventable, epidemic diseases. Even AIDS, which we have learned how to avoid, is being beaten back, slowly but surely. However, we are close enough to those in age who have experienced these trials. We are close enough through communication advances to see them happening in poorer countries around the world. Close enough to ask why it happened, and how we can prevent it from happening again. We are a diverse group, and accept that diversity whole-heartedly. We all have our own beliefs. We hail from the East Coast, the West Coast and all stops in-between infinity and beyond. We are actors, artists, writers and musicians. Some are mechanics, carpenters, engineers and programmers. We are runners, jumpers, hitters, throwers, kickers and catchers. And some are designers, cashiers, clerks and chefs. We are doctors, vets, entrepreneurs and therapists.

Challenges Faced by the Print Media Essay

Conventional wisdom in the media industry holds that existing, established forms of media adapt to new and emerging forms. For example, radio adapted to the emergence of television rather than simply fading away. The emergence of the Internet and the plethora of information available, however, have led many to question the conventional view. Media executives and scholars agree that newspapers, magazines and other forms of print media face serious challenges in terms of readers, revenue and even their existence. Declining Readership †¢Readership of many forms of print media, especially newspapers, has been declining for years, and the Internet may have only accelerated this trend. Further, newspapers have largely failed to reach the younger, technologically savvy generations. The Press Council of Australia, in its 2006 report on the State of the News Print Media, reported that people over the age of 50 comprise nearly half of the readers of Australia’s newspapers. In the United States, the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, a nationally known public opinion research firm, reported in 2008 that the Internet surpassed newspapers as a news source. Television, however, remained the most popular source of national and world news. Lost Revenues †¢As the print media lose readers, shrinking their circulation figures, it becomes increasingly difficult for newspapers, magazines and other print outlets to sell the advertising space that provides the bulk of their revenues. Media consultant Jack Myers, writing for the online Huffington Post, reported that newspaper ad revenues plunged an estimated 40 percent since 2001, based on projected revenues for 2010. Further, Myers reported that magazine advertising revenues fell between 12 and 15 percent in 2008. Even the â€Å"Yellow Pages† telephone directories are not immune from this trend, as Myers projected declines in their ad revenues, as well. Long-Term Survival †¢Declining advertising revenues have threatened the very existence of many print media outlets, especially newspapers. As revenues fall, many newspapers have slashed their editorial staffs and shuttered news bureaus. Some print media outlets have even ceased operations. The trend may continue, with more newspapers and other print publications going out of business. The Press Council of Australia cited a 2006 report by the London-based magazine â€Å"The Economist,† which predicted the extinction of at least some of the United Kingdom’s newspapers. The worrying trends and threats to their viability have many print media executives scrambling to develop news business models and methods to adapt to and prosper in this new media environment. Newspapers have increased their online presence, according to a survey of news media consumption by Pew Research; however, growth online has not offset newspapers’ losses in print readership.

Caucasian American Race in My Community

Being a Caucasian American residing in Western Massachusetts I believe that my ancestors were native from the polish and Irish descendants. According to the research I conducted I found that under this population the white people are described as those people with an origin from Europe, Middle East or North Africa, the African –American or the popularly known as the â€Å"Blacks† are said to have originated from any black race of the Sub-Saharan Africa, the American Indians who are also referred to as the Alaska Native are those with an origin from any of the people of the North, Central and South America and are popularly known to be maintaining the affiliation of its tribe. The Asian Americans are the people originating from the Far East, South East Asia and the Indian sub-continent and lastly the Hispanics, these is the population that are said to be bi-racial. (Jessica and Claudette, 2002)In the city I find that there are more people from different origins who do no t look like my ethnic group and the majority of them are the African Americans who I find to be people originating from the native Sub-Saharan Africa, who were captives that were enslaved within the boundaries of the United States although some of them originated from the voluntary African Immigrants from Africa. Whereby, in the year 1860, 3.5 million Africans were enslaved in the Southern part of the United States while 500,000 lived free across the United States. (Jessica and Claudette, 2002)How Are The Caucasian Americans Different From The African American?According to research I therefore state that in areas resided by the Caucasian American population is highly developed, taking an example of Western Massachusetts where the Asian Americans are said to be well represented in several professional sectors through which they are said to be earning higher wages especially in the sectors that involve business and technology even though they are poorly represented in the higher manag ement levels. Under this I find that in the year 2002 the businesses for this ethnic group had recorded a number of over 1.1 million businesses where they employed more than 2million workers where they had revenue of above $326 billion.Leadership in My CommunityI find that inequality exist within the ethnic groups in my community, whereby according to a survey done I indicate that disparities exist among the ethnic groups under which it is said that this inequality is practiced where, higher incomes whites and Asians are discriminated from the Blacks the Native Americans.   I therefore say that in my community many leaders come from the rich who take the prerogative to solve problems in the city, solutions put forward by the rich have not worked at all, but have made much harsher the Caucasian American conditions for living where the problem of us the Caucasians get neglected, causing the inter-depended equations to get ever more lopsided and we are back to where we started from i n our normal problems, this shows that there are no solutions that work for the poor and that if there were, communities like mine would already be using them. (Lupton & Power 2002)Under leadership we find this racial discrimination has led to the following effects on the gender sensitivity in my community: Economic development under this, I find that women are said to be disadvantaged by the segregation in the distribution of income and consumption within the Western Massachusetts where the share of the national income shows that there is inequality between women and men in the society, where women are said to have a significantly lower share of national income than men in my city.Personal insecurity the racial discrimination is said to lead to gender segregation among the various ethnic groups in my community thus leading to the women to be at a risk from violence in Western Massachusetts, whereby practices such as the traditional believes where women are regarded as burdens rathe r than assets this is normally practiced in Western MassachusettsMedia Representation of Racism in Western MassachusettsThe need for dependency makes the people in my community to be looking upon the media to be given information about the events taking place and the products present in the market globally, so they have to tolerate the messages by the media so as they get the information about a particular event taking place. In this case we find that the people read, listen and interpret the message depending on their socio-economic class, gender, age, education and their ethnic backgrounds, in this manner we find that they are influenced by the media to carry out a particular action or even to copy the concepts of life shown in the message that is put across to them through advertisements. (Couldry and Curran, 2003)  Under this, I have found out that there is always some disinformation about my ethnic group whereby this practice is not only practiced by the business owners, but it is also used by various political leaders and the government, who influence the media organizations to disseminate certain information that is meant to undermine the Caucasian American community and their leaders in the government and through this, I find that many people are led to take an action depending on the message given to them by the media who are surely, aware that the information included in the advertisement is not true. (Couldry and Curran, 2003)Racial Discrimination in Western Massachusetts SchoolsThe term racial discrimination creates a distinction between one group of people from another, this is normally based on the skin colour, facial features and the hair texture, it normally vary depending on the culture, and social economic factors in my community   According to the secondary research that I conducted, I find that the this area is highly affected by racism in many sectors including schools where racism is practiced through   the separation of students by their colour; I find that many students who attend sub-urban schools are white, since the sub-urban schools are meant for those individuals who are claimed to be belonging to a higher social class this is because the schools are claimed to be of a higher quality compared to the other schools that are attended by the Caucasian   children. (Darnell, James and Downey, 1998)Effects of Racial Segregation in SchoolsI found out that, teachers in many schools are said to be practicing discipline on students depending on the race, gender and socio-economic factors, though many people including teachers, argue that the discipline and policy practices in schools are balanced and objective, there are still main causes that lead to an increase in the number of students of colour being send out of school, there are various causes of racial inequality in discipline implementation in many public schools in my community and   these include;Cultural Insensitivity And Misunderstanding; I find tha t this has been said to be the major factor leading to crisis in discipline systems both in students and the teaching staff that is believed to be leading to the distinction between racial and ethnic groups among students.Due to the growing urban population in my community, many suburban schools are growing, thus increasing the racial and language differences On contrary, the number of teachers decreases as a result of color and social differences in which I find that   many school Administrators employ teachers depending on the number of the colour of the students, this has probably led to a cultural variance through which a number of teachers lack knowledge with the cultural values, and belief systems of the particular students. Therefore due to lack of the teachers’ familiarity with the students’ cultural perspectives the teacher is not able to understand the behaviour of a particular student. (Darnell, James and Downey, 1998)Psychological Insinuation racial discr imination is said to be having psychological implication on various children in the society since the children are forced to participate in a particular culture at school which needs them to alter to their home cultures through this the students face a variety of conflicts giving rise to a psychological and identity problem.Socio-Economic Factors; this is normally experienced in many schools creating differences among the members in the learning institution. For example in a situation where we find a teacher living in a middle social class that has a uniform way of living and a lower income student living in an economically troubled society, this differences between the teacher and the student is said to complicate the relationship between the two groups. (Karl and Linda 1997)Alienation this normally occurs in children due to the assimilation policies that are imposed in schools which are normally meant to break the conversion of culture and language from an older generation to a yo unger generation this leads to the alienating of the native children from their society older to younger stimulating the identity crisis within their societies. This alienation can lead social isolation that might also lead to depression through stress anger and fatigue which normally happen to detract the student from performing in schools.I therefore argue that, racial discrimination in Western Massachusetts   schools has a diversified effects on the students which normally differ with the presence of many factors including those of self attitudes and the cultural and socio-economic backgrounds this factors target the performance of the students whereby a negative impact is brought that is when a school administration fails to address the needs of its students this may be done when the school administers in formulating its curricula that include the exclusion of minority cultures and languages which proves to lack relevance to the students thus making the students to loose inter est whereby they fail to attend school and some of them dropping out of schools due to the boredom caused by the school curricula this course may also lead to a low literacy rate among the members of the society.RecommendationI therefore conclude that, in most cases lack of motivation leads to, absenteeism, poor performance, lack of involvement in activities, and dropout cases in schools. Most students are said to be undergoing various challenges while at school, these problems may include: fear of failure, lack of academic success, social pressures, lack of confidence in themselves, misplacement of papers and books, frequent absenteeism, lack of motivation and quietness at school as a result of racial discrimination. I recommend teachers in Western Massachusetts to focus on the students’ problems culturally, linguistically and socially and at the same time, they should encourage the students to choose subjects that are of interest to them.The government plays a role of ensur ing that commitments to equal rights and opportunities are upheld and delivered, by setting an enabling environment for gender and racial equality at the country level and in the Western Massachusetts community through the formulation and implementation of conferences and international conformities. Therefore, I recommend that the governments should empower the poor Caucasian American community by improving the internal governance structures, finance management systems, skills knowledge and abilities. Promote linkages, learning and dialogue between the poor and support the formation of umbrella groups that can effectively negotiate member interests with outside activists.ReferenceCouldry N. and Curran, J. (2003) – Contesting Media Power, Alternative media in aNetworked world, Lanham & Oxford, Rowman & LittlefieldDarnell A. & Downey D. (1998):-Assessing the OppositionalCulture Explanation for Racial/Ethnic Differences in School Performance American Sociological Review 63: 536- 553.Jessica S. and Claudette E (2002)   The Asian Population: 2000. Census Bureau publication, c2kbr01-16Karl, A. and Linda, N. (1997): Children, Schools, and Inequality: Boulder, Co- WestviewLupton, R & Power A. (2002). â€Å"Social Exclusion and Neighbourhoods In UnderstandingSocial Exclusion† Hills J, Le Grand J. & Piachaud D. Edn pp. 118- 140. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Holistic Thinking in Management Essay Example

Holistic Thinking in Management Essay Example Holistic Thinking in Management Essay Holistic Thinking in Management Essay Course No. : SMV 795 Systems Thinking Course Coordinator: Prof. Sushil Assignment No. 1 Title of Assignment: Take a sector and map the trends towards holistic thinking in management Date of submission: August 17, 2009 TITLE: Take a sector and map the trends towards holistic thinking in management 1 Introduction Numerous activities and processes must be managed within a company. In order to satisfy the customers and to be commercially successful in the business environment, these activities and processes must be optimally coordinated which involves various kinds of thinking. There are many different ways of thinking, namely, (i) Logical thinking; (ii) Casual thninking; and (iii) Holistic thinking, among others. Although most of these thinking ways can not be applied in isolation with the other thinking patterns, as a much generalized comparison it can be said that the Logic alone is inadequate to deal with complex situations because it deals with simple, timeless cause and effect links between statements. Causal thinking, on the contary, underlies much of science where the tendency is to look at simple cause and effects by isolating components or parts of a whole. However, in the morden management techniques, stress has been laid upon the overall perspective of the problems in order to explore a sytematic and sustainable solution for it. Systems thinking tries to look at the complicated pattern of multiple causes that make up a whole, and to simplify by taking multiple partial views or perspectives. Another method of comparison between the various cognitive style is (i) analytic style; and (ii) holistic styles. While, an analytic thinking involves understanding a system by thinking about its parts and how they work together to produce larger-scale effects; the holistic thinking involves understanding a system by sensing its large-scale patterns and reacting to them. The Holistic thinking is the pattern of thinking in which resources of a particular system are managed in whole units rather than as parts in isolation from their surroundings. Thus, Holistic thinking involves working with and for wholes rather than parts of the system at hand. Consequently, as a process, in order to have a clear description of what is being managed, holistic thinking involves: i) defining of the overall system as a whole, ii) listing of all the decision-makers involved in management and, iii) the resources allocated, or issue Objective of the present case stude is to select a sector and map the trends towards holistic thinking in management of its issues and problems. Methodology adopted In this assignment a sector is selected with a problem in it. The problem is then analysed holistically taking a wholesome view with respect to the problem. Finally, the trends of holistic management thinking are mapped in the sector. The sector selected for the analysis of trends of holistic management in it is the Real Estate construction in modern cities. The holistic view of the concern subject leads to the overall Housing, Construction and Urban plann ing and development which is studied here. Figure 1 presents a post-modern thinking process by emphasizing holistic thinking components that are abstract, in connection with those elements that are in concrete- seen, in the present. The main focus of the pyramid is to explore the Holistic Thinking Pyramid – a five-tier process of integration as a thinking process. [pic] 3 Holistic Management of Housing, Construction and Urban planning and development sector 3. 1 Level 1-Basic Thinking/Background of the Sector Urban planning  and development is the integration of the disciplines of  land use, its planning, and various issues relating to it and the realted ransport activities and explores a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities. In the modern cities the sustainable development  and  sustainability  have become important concepts for the urban planning, with the recognition that current consumption and living habits may be leading to problems such as the overuse of natural resources,  ecosystem  destruction,  urban heat islands,  pollution, growing  social inequality  and large-scale  climate change. Thus, the holistic management of housing, construction and urban planning and development sector revisits the synergy of the disciplines of urban planning, architecture, ecology, water management, environmental sciences, landscape architecture and sociology forces. 3. 2 Level 2-Critical Thinking/Problems and problem statement The holistic view requires an analysis of the problems associated with the Urban planning and development. The four major issues which impact the most sub important or local issues in urban planning are listed below: 1. Population Growth and migration to large towns. There is an increase in the population density world wide in the twentieth century. A distribution of the world population and its expected growth is shown in Fig. 2. [pic] Figure 2: World Poulation Increase in the Recent decades viz-a-viz previous centuries This led to emergence of the requirement of planned towns, to accommodate large number of people requirements (water, sanitary, movement , social aspects etc. ) , industrial requirements (factories, warehouses, mass goods movement etc. ) most important is these towns are now planned to cater projected growth requirements for future projections. Note that, with the urbanisation, industrialization and the consequent increase in the job opportunities in the cities there is a shift in the population distribution among the cities, villages and sub-urbs. This forms the basis data for the planning of a city wherein the expected population of the city is taken into account. Good planning uses  transit oriented development, which attempts to place higher densities of jobs or residents near high-volume transportation. For example, some cities permit commerce and multi-story apartment buildings only within one block of train stations and ultilane boulevards, and accept single-family dwellings and parks farther away. City authorities may try to encourage lower densities to reduce infrastructure costs, though some observers note that low densities may not accommodate enough population to provide adequate demand or funding for that infrastructure. In the UK, recent years have seen a concerted effort to increase the density of residenti al development in order to better achieve sustainable development. Increasing development density has the advantage of making mass transport systems, district heating and other community facilities (schools, health centres, etc) more viable. However recently, critics of this approach dub the densification of development as town cramming and claim that it lowers quality of life and restricts market-led choice. 2. Energy consumption A qualitative and quantitative study of the enegy consumption required for the construction and development is also eseential. The distribution of fuel and energy is one of the deciding parameters for the land usage and city construction. 3. Environmental issues and pollution: In the last a few decades the Environmental protection  and conservation have become the issues of utmost importance to many planning systems across the world. Not only are the specific effects of development to be mitigated, but attempts are made to minimize the overall effect of development on the local and global environment. This is commonly done through the assessment of  Sustainable urban infrastructure. More recently, the trend is that an urban planner uses a number of quantitative tools to forecast impacts of development on the environmental, including  roadway air dispersion models  to predict air quality impacts of urban highways and  roadway noise  models to predict  noise pollution  effects of urban highways. As early as the 1960s, noise pollution was addressed in the design of urban highways as well as  noise barriers. 4. Social and health issues Heavy urbanisation has put forth the problem of social and health issues because in the recent years basic infrastructure like power, water and sewerage are often severely compromised in urban planning and need to be evaluated to determine what can be salvaged for re-incorporation. The availability of freash water is fundamental decision making parameter for the urban planning. More recently, the trend is that an urban planner uses a number of quantitative tools to forecast impacts of development depending on the following: i. Water shortage related issues. ii. Global warming related issues. iii. Un-equality and human redundancy. 5. Transportation Transport within urbanized areas presents unique problems. The density of an urban environment can create significant levels of road traffic, which can impact businesses and increase pollution. Parking space is another concern, requiring the construction of large parking garages in high density areas which could be better used for other development. Problems can often occur at residential densities between about two and five. [citation needed]  These densities can cause traffic jams for  automobiles, yet are too low to be commercially served by  trains  or  light rail  systems. The conventional solution is to use  buses, but these and light rail systems may fail where automobiles and excess road network capacity are both available, achieving less than 1% ridership The problem statement The Urban planning is the process of analysis of various parameters, like, population density, demographic distribution, energy requirements, ecology and environmental issues, pollution constraints, transporatation and other related social and geographical factors, for the purpose of proper, sustainable and appropriate housing for a population in the area. 3. 3 Level 3-Reflective Thinking Housing, construction, urban planning and development as a field of applied study is composed of a set of ten axioms intended to guide the formulation of city plans and urban designs. They are intended to reconcile and integrate diverse urban planning and management concerns. These axioms include environmental sustainability, heritage conservation, appropriate technology, infrastructure efficiency, placemaking, Social Access, transit oriented development, regional integration, human scale, and institutional integrity. Thus, for example, the rapid expansion following the pattern of rural exodus has resulted in considerable rebuilding in the city centre and mushrooming suburban development elsewhere. . 4 Level 4 and 5-Creative Thinking and Interpretive Thinking The synergy of the various issues required in the Urban planning and development is done here varying upon from the strategic positioning. Since the literature on overall interpretive thinking on the building and housing dvelopment is massive, here a small example of the interpretive thinking on the energy requirements of a house based on the above procedure and listed problem statement are given in detail. Thus, to reduce the energy emissions from buildings, it is necessary to look at a building’s overall qualities, properties and functionality in terms of energy efficiency, healthy indoor climate and renewable energy. Together, these three key areas constitute the core of what is refered in literature as Sustainable Living – the ability to continue improving the quality of our homes and maintaining high living standards while reducing or eliminating energy emissions. Maximum energy efficiency and minimum wastage takes a holistic view of a building and produce a design that incorporates energy efficiency and, i. trategic placing of windows to make the most of heat from the sun’s rays, natural ventilation and daylight; ii. active use of intelligent building components that interact with their surroundings (externally and internally) and thus optimise the building’s overall energy-efficiency; iii. Visionary architecture combined with improved health, more huma n well-being and indoor comfort; iv. visionary architecture that takes into account both materials and surroundings in order to create healthy and comfortable conditions; v. aximum daylight and ventilation to ensure optimal indoor climate that will meet future standards; vi. fresh air and natural ventilation to ensure a healthy indoor climate and minimise the risk of allergies; vii. Sustainable energy sources, especially solar thermal energy; viii. sustainable energy should be an integral part of a building to ensure a future with less dependence on fossil fuels; ix. solar thermal energy for heating and cooling of the building; x. solar thermal energy for heating domestic hot water; 4 Conclusions A systematic and holistic approach to the sector of Housing, construction, urban planning and development is presented. First, the levels of critical and holistic approach are identified. Then the various levels of thinking in the holistic management approach are applied on the Urban development sector. The problems are identified and listed and from them a problem statement is formulated. Finally, through the various levels of holistic approach the interpretive thinking is applied to the problem atatement and as a small example a particular concern area of energy saving in housing development is presented. The advantages of the Holistic thinking are that it has as its focus to integrate those things that are abstract (unseen-past and/or future events) with those things that are in concrete (seen-in the present). Hence, the holistic thinking serves to carefully and expertly examine cultural and societal misunderstandings through introspection and verification. Figure 1: Levels in Holistic Thinking of a system

How to Save PHP Files in Mac TextEdit

How to Save PHP Files in Mac TextEdit TextEdit is a simple text editor that comes standard on every Apple Macintosh computer. By following a few simple steps, you can use the TextEdit program to create and save PHP files. PHP is a server-side programming language that is used in conjunction with HTML to enhance the features of a website. Open TextEdit ​If the icon for TextEdit is  located on the dock, as it is when the computer ships, just click the icon to launch TextEdit. Otherwise, Open a Finder window by clicking on the Finder icon in the dock.Choose Applications from the menu on the left.In the list of applications on the right side of the screen, find and double-click TextEdit. Change the TextEdit Preferences From the Format menu at the top of the screen, choose Make Plain Text. If you dont see this option, but see Make Rich Text, the document is already set for plain text.Select Preferences from the TextEdit menu at the top of the screen.Click the New Document tab and confirm the radio button next to Plain text is selected.Click the Open and Save tab and confirm the box next to Display HTML files as HTML code instead of formatted text is checked. Enter the Code Type the  PHP code into TextEdit. Save theFile Choose Save  from the File menu.Enter your_file_name.php into the Save As field, being sure to include the .php extension.Click the Save button. If a pop-up  asks you if you want to use .txt or .php as the file extension. Click the Use .php button. Testing You cannot test your PHP code in TextEdit. You can test it in PHP if you have it on your Mac, or you can download an emulator app from the Mac App Store- PHP Code Tester, PHP Runner and qPHP can all be used to test the accuracy of your code. Just copy it from the TextEdit File and paste it into the application screen.

11 Signs Your Boss Likes You Even If It Doesnt Seem Like It

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Human Genome Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Genome Project - Essay Example According to the essay "Human Genome Project" findings, the human genome comprises more than milliard of nucleotides, the elements, which form the structure of the genetic code of every human species. In 1990, Venter became a leader of his own private company â€Å"Celera Genomics†, which did it best to be the first in the genome decryption, it was competing with the federal program the â€Å"Human Genome Project†, which was getting its financing from the United States government. However, both sides acknowledged their draw in the year 2000 (Khoury et al, pp.17-18). After Dr. Venter has left the â€Å"Celera Genomics†, as he did not share the business strategy of the company, he uncovered the truth that more than half of the decrypted genes were his own. At present, he is the head of his own non-commercial scientific center in Rockville, Maryland. In addition, their last achievement was total decryption of Venter's genome. As a usual person, Dr. Venter has six mi lliard nucleotides, which form thousand of genes, subdivided into 46 chromosomes. The genes represent a manual that has the detailed description of the body function; they produce proteins that are responsible for nearly everything in our organism, i.e. for the height, or the eye color, the body shape, proportions, etc. The scientists from the Venter’s institute have a close approach to his full genome decryption. J. Craig Venter is planning to transform his genetic code in a form of a computer database. The D4 receptor in the Venter's genome shows us, that he has the risk to have a heart attack.

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

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The Problem of Moral Judgment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Company financial accounting and reporting is regulated by a variety Essay

Company financial accounting and reporting is regulated by a variety of sources - Essay Example All the listed companies were asked to follow these accounting standards for maintaining their accounting transaction and developing financial reports. These accounting standards were introduced to enhance credibility and reliability of the financial statement developed by the listed companies of a nation. These accounting standards assisted the accountants and auditors to resolve different controversies related to different accounting practices. Even the managers consider these accounting policies while developing various strategies and policies to be followed by the company. Like other developed nation, the accounting standards were formulated in UK in early 1980s. People identified the necessity of a well structured accounting standard that assures â€Å"relevance, reliability, comparability and understand-ability† in the financial report that is developed by the listed companies (Kirk, 2005, p.9). In UK, the accounting standards are popularly known as Financial Reporting Standards (FRS). These FRS were developed by Accounting Standards Boards (ASB) and all the listed companies are required to adhere to these standards so that a true and fair picture of the companies’ financial condition can be represented. Prior to 1990, the accounting standards were developed by Accounting Standards Committee (ASC) which was later replaced with Accounting Standards Boards (ASB). In the first meeting of ASB, it formally accepted all the accounting standards prevailing in UK GAAP. With time, this board introduced few new standards and modified many existing standards. In UK, the four main constituents responsible for development and maintenance of accounting standards are Financial Reporting council (FRC), The Accounting Standards Board (ASB), Urgent Issues Task Force (UITF) and The Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP). FRC is

The Description, Analysis, and Research of Tuscany, Italy, as a Essay

The Description, Analysis, and Research of Tuscany, Italy, as a Tourist Destination - Essay Example Brief history of Tuscany Indeed, Tuscany has a rich history dating back to 1100 B.C. when men lived in the iron and bronze error. The first Etruscans to settle brought a great deal of civilization to the area before the Romans finally brought peace and established their empire. It was during this time that Tuscany experienced renaissance. The romans also introduced new technology and all these, through inheritance, have projected Tuscany to her current popularity (Discover Tuscany). Physical description Since many tourists around the world prefer beautiful and extraordinary countryside with impressive views, Tuscany qualifies as one of the most favorable destinations in the Southern part of Europe (Howells 18). Howells states that Tuscany brings a combination of both extensive hills in the northern part of Lunigiana, to the beautiful valleys, down to the magnificent beaches of the Maremma at the coastal region (19). All these hills, valleys, and plains, wrapped up as a package, proje ct a remarkable sight. Any outgoing tourist who likes hiking and sightseeing will find their paradise in Tuscany, as they will never have enough time to traverse all the beautiful scenery (Howells 29). Tuscan has a large geographical area spanning 8.8 square miles, most of it being mountainous. This is especially great for mountain climbers, and bike riders, who flock every year for various competitions. This clearly shows that its general view gives it a competitive advantage over other tourist destinations not forgetting the long western coastline (Howells 16). Location and Topography Tuscany is located in Italy with its capital based in Florence, a major tourist attraction with prestigious hotels. Its strategic location makes it easier for many aspiring tourist from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia to connect at the shortest time possible due to the superb infrastructure in the cities and beyond. Chains of rolling, hilly landscape, with few proportions of agricultural land, characterize the topography of Tuscany. On its western side is along coastline with small islands off the sea, providing a special enjoyment opportunity for sand bathers and vocational travelers. This unique topography provides tourists with a classical landscape that most tourists crave (Howells 13). Cultural highlights It is no doubt that Tuscany has a rich cultural heritage. When one travels to major cities like Florence and Siena, they are likely to witness this endowment of artistic heritage in such places as art galleries, churches, and museums. The main language in Tuscany is Italia n, spoken by the majority of the citizens, although various local dialects like Tuscan exist. Though language diversity is good, this can pose a challenge especially in the tourism sector. Literature and music receive wide acknowledgement more so because they normally attract tourists through skilled entertainment. While some tourists visit Tuscany to learn fine arts, others come to experience the diversity and culture. Therefore, the only logical conclusion one can make is that Tuscany has strategically positioned herself culturally, for tourist attraction (Tourism and Holidays in Tuscany). Food and dining (wine) In Tuscan, most people prefer to be simple in matters concerning food. Cuisines in Tuscany include but not limited to vegetables, fresh fruits, mushrooms, Cheese, legumes, and bread. This rich menu provides

Democracies around the World Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Democracies around the World - Coursework Example & Nishikawa, 2006), a combination of the two can be used to create harmony between different sections of the society and represent a greater number of the people. Different sectors of the economy and the government have been proved to be dependent on each other through the complex processes that link a government to its governed (John & Cole, 2000). In a similar fashion, the different forms of the government are linked to each other. This can help in greater coordination between the different sectors of the governments and better distribution of responsibilities. With a greater number of people to look into affairs of the state, it would be possible for them to be dealt with in a better way. In the model of government that exists in South Africa, the parliament and the president have different sets of responsibilities. The parliament assumes the legislative function f the government and makes laws regarding the functioning of the state. It consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The legislature is thus, a bicameral one that provides representation to the different parts of South Africa (Chapter 4 – Parliament, 2009). The president and other members of the cabinet are members of the legislature and need to be elected members. The president is usually the leader of the party that is able to win a majority of the seats in the parliament. The importance of the election is thus, paramount. This reveals to one the democratic nature of the governments that have come up in South Africa after the era of apartheid was over. The president has the powers to ask of the parliament to reconsider certain decisions that it has made. He or she also possesses the power to implement the acts and the decisions that are made by the parliament and thus, the president assumes the executive power of the government. The president, along with the other members of the cabinet, is the connecting link between the executive and the legislative (Chapter 5 -

The Description, Analysis, and Research of Tuscany, Italy, as a Essay

The Description, Analysis, and Research of Tuscany, Italy, as a Tourist Destination - Essay Example Brief history of Tuscany Indeed, Tuscany has a rich history dating back to 1100 B.C. when men lived in the iron and bronze error. The first Etruscans to settle brought a great deal of civilization to the area before the Romans finally brought peace and established their empire. It was during this time that Tuscany experienced renaissance. The romans also introduced new technology and all these, through inheritance, have projected Tuscany to her current popularity (Discover Tuscany). Physical description Since many tourists around the world prefer beautiful and extraordinary countryside with impressive views, Tuscany qualifies as one of the most favorable destinations in the Southern part of Europe (Howells 18). Howells states that Tuscany brings a combination of both extensive hills in the northern part of Lunigiana, to the beautiful valleys, down to the magnificent beaches of the Maremma at the coastal region (19). All these hills, valleys, and plains, wrapped up as a package, proje ct a remarkable sight. Any outgoing tourist who likes hiking and sightseeing will find their paradise in Tuscany, as they will never have enough time to traverse all the beautiful scenery (Howells 29). Tuscan has a large geographical area spanning 8.8 square miles, most of it being mountainous. This is especially great for mountain climbers, and bike riders, who flock every year for various competitions. This clearly shows that its general view gives it a competitive advantage over other tourist destinations not forgetting the long western coastline (Howells 16). Location and Topography Tuscany is located in Italy with its capital based in Florence, a major tourist attraction with prestigious hotels. Its strategic location makes it easier for many aspiring tourist from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia to connect at the shortest time possible due to the superb infrastructure in the cities and beyond. Chains of rolling, hilly landscape, with few proportions of agricultural land, characterize the topography of Tuscany. On its western side is along coastline with small islands off the sea, providing a special enjoyment opportunity for sand bathers and vocational travelers. This unique topography provides tourists with a classical landscape that most tourists crave (Howells 13). Cultural highlights It is no doubt that Tuscany has a rich cultural heritage. When one travels to major cities like Florence and Siena, they are likely to witness this endowment of artistic heritage in such places as art galleries, churches, and museums. The main language in Tuscany is Italia n, spoken by the majority of the citizens, although various local dialects like Tuscan exist. Though language diversity is good, this can pose a challenge especially in the tourism sector. Literature and music receive wide acknowledgement more so because they normally attract tourists through skilled entertainment. While some tourists visit Tuscany to learn fine arts, others come to experience the diversity and culture. Therefore, the only logical conclusion one can make is that Tuscany has strategically positioned herself culturally, for tourist attraction (Tourism and Holidays in Tuscany). Food and dining (wine) In Tuscan, most people prefer to be simple in matters concerning food. Cuisines in Tuscany include but not limited to vegetables, fresh fruits, mushrooms, Cheese, legumes, and bread. This rich menu provides

My Experience and Understanding of Adventure-Based Counselling Essay Example for Free

My Experience and Understanding of Adventure-Based Counselling Essay According to Neill (2004), ‘Adventure therapy is the use of adventure-based activities and/or adventure-based theory to provide people with emotional and/or behavioral problems with experiences which lead to positive change in their lives.’ Adventure therapy is also â€Å"programming aimed at changing [specified] dysfunctional behavior patterns, using adventure experiences as forms of habilitation and rehabilitation† (Priest Grass, 2005). The underlying philosophy of adventure-based counseling (ABC) is experiential education and it stresses on one’s personal improvement through full value contract, adventure wave and challenge by choice (Schoel, Prouty Radcliffe, 1988). After several lectures, different skills were explained and even applied on ourselves. In this essay, these theories and experience will be discussed. Adventure-based counseling is part of the means of experiential learning. Educational psychologists usually define learning as â€Å"a change in the individual caused by experience† (Slavin, 1986, p.104). Through various experiences, people can learn from them and gain personal growth. Kolb (1984) suggested an experiential learning cycle, pointing out four essential elements of experiential learning, which are experience, review, conclusion and planning. Applying to Adventure-based counseling, experience means some challenging activities for groups or individuals. Review means encouraging individuals to reflect, describe, communicate and learn from the experience. Conclusion means concluding past and present experiences and planning means applying new learning in the future. There are several learning theories explaining how experiences can lead to learning, which means behavioral changes or cognitive developments. Operant conditioning proposed by Skinner states that successes, praise, positive feedbacks or rewards can act as positive reinforcers so that the subjects would be reinforced to act the same way again. Similarly, failures, punishments or negative comments would act as negative reinforcers which deter the subjects to act again (Skinner, 1968). In adventure-based counseling, participants would face some challenges and act. Some actions would lead to positive results, which would further reinforce participants to act in the same way when they face similar situations again. Some actions lead to negative results, which make them aware and change their behaviors next time. This can be applied also to changing of personalities and problem-solving skills. Undesirable personalities will be discouraged by failures or negative feedbacks while desirable personalities will be reinforced. Bandura suggested social learning theory that people can learn through observational learning and modeling (Bandura, 1986). Through observational learning, people would imitate others’ behaviors and learn from others’ successes or failures. In adventure-based counseling, when participants face the challenges individually, they would imitate what other participants do, or take others’ successes and failures in dealing with the challenges as example. So when they face the challenges, participants would improve along the sequence. When encountering group challenges, participants would imitate the socially desirable behaviors of their group mates or remind themselves not to behave socially undesirably after observing their group mates’ failures. This can enhance participants’ social skills. In cognitive aspect, James Coleman (1977) differentiates between the information assimilation process of the regular classroom and the experiential learning process. In traditional classrooms, knowledge is taught to students through direct instruction and they simply memorize the knowledge. Through information assimilation, the learners are expected to move from cognitive and symbol-processing sphere to the sphere of action through applying the general principles learned into novel situations. Experiential learning is in a reversed order, which involves actions sufficiently repeated that the learner is able to generalize from the experience. However, it is more etched into the brain as the learning can be associated with concrete actions and events, not just abstract symbols or general principles (Mllre, Priest, 1990). There are some important principles of adventure-based counseling, namely â€Å"Full Value Contract† and â€Å"Challenge by Choice† (Schoel, Prouty Radcliffe, 1988). â€Å"Full Value Contract† means an agreement among group members to value one’s own ideas and needs without ignoring or discounting others. â€Å"Challenge by Choice† means ‘individuals can choose their level of participation in any activity.’ (Neill, 2007) During our lectures, our lecturer Lau Sir has explained different theories by involving us to play games. After playing games, Lau Sir would explain how the games worked, the meaning of different procedures, and what can we learn throughout them. In the first lecture, a game ‘throwing the chicken’ was played. It is an ice-breaking game, aim at knowing the names of group members. Although it is a very easy game, it has lots of micro-skills included. At the beginning, Lau Sir has asked did anyone feel afraid of the chicken, which could show his caring to the participants, in order to build up the relationship between the leader and the participants. After one round of the game, Lau Sir required the participants to repeat the process, but with a faster speed, the participants would then move their chairs towards the center. This is using indirect intervention method, helping them to get closer and involve more into it, without directly telling them to sit closer or involve more. The other micro-skill ‘Challenge by Choice’ was also frequently used during lectures. For example, the ‘throwing the chicken’ game in the first lecture, the ‘trust ladder’ in the second lecture and different games during the overnight camp. All of these may only be just simply asking the participants that whether they want to play, but it was vital as it shows the respect to the participants. These skills were the easiest thing being omitted, but without it, the counseling work may be affected or even have some adverse effects. Although half of the lectures have passed, there is one more High-event Challenge Day and several lectures. I am looking forward to learn more different skills in counseling and leading games. Reference List Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social-cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Coleman, J. A. (1977). Differences between experiential and classroom learning. In M. T. Keeton (Ed.), Experiential learning: Rationale characteristics, and assessment, pp. 49-61. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Mllre, J. C. Priest, S. (1990). Adventure education. State College, DA: Adventure Publishing. Neill, J. (2004). Adventure therapy definitions. Retrieved from http://www.wilderdom.com/adventuretherapy/adventuretherapydefinitions.html Neill, J. (2007). Adventure-based counseling (ABC). Retrieved from http://wilderdom.com/ABC/ Priest, S., Gass, M. (2005). Effective leadership in adventure programming (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schoel, J., Prouty Radeliffe,P. (1988). Islands of healing. A guide to adventure based counseling. U.S.A: Project Adventure. Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Slavin, R. E. (1986). Educational psychology: theory into practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Business Analysis of Yoplait in Mauritius

Business Analysis of Yoplait in Mauritius What is yogurt? Yogurt is a dairy product formed by the fermentation of milk from the action of two live bacteria; lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus. These are micro-organisms which transform the milk into the yogurt through a process by which they convert the lactose present in the milk into lactic acid, making the product digestible for people who are cannot ‘tolerate milk and maintaining the balance in the intestinal flora. The yogurt should contain 10 millions of lactic ferments per gram and must be alive to be designated as ‘yogurt. Yogurts are thus fresh products which should be kept frozen at most at 6à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ up to its expiry date in order to conserve all its nutritional benefits. History of Yoplait Yoplait was established in 1965 and was recognised as the first complete range of fresh daily products. Furthermore, Yoplait showed innovation as it was the first brand ever to offer refrigerated products to its customers in ‘throw-away packages whereas other products were still sold in jars. In 1967, Yoplait came with the concept of fruit yogurt and established itself on the French market before conquering the world. From its huge success, new products were consecutively launched; diet dairy products in 1972, the first drinking yogurt, Yop, in 1974, yogurt specially for kids in 1985, the fromage frais, Cà ¢lin, in 1987, a range of milk-based desserts in 1992 and Perle de Lait in 1996 (to cite the most famous ones). Yoplait also differentiates itself from other yogurt brands as it constantly shows originality by launching new products, improving them and working strongly on promotion around the world. Today, Yoplait is so successful that it is present in almost 50 countries through subsidiaries, joint ventures and franchisees. It is the number two worldwide (after Danone) and latest statistics show that more than 15,000 cartons of Yoplait are eaten every minute around the world. As the Chairman of Yoplait states, â€Å"We are determined to ensure that the little flower continues its growth and blossoms all over the world.† Yoplait in Mauritius The Yoplait brand established itself in Mauritius in 1976 through a franchise with Maurilait Productions Ltà ©e, a subsidiary of the Food and Allied Group of companies, established in 1966. Maurilait Productions Ltà ©e is today the producer of Yoplait, Candia and Miko products through franchise, technical partnerships and international branding. Marketing mix of Yoplait in Mauritius Product The presence of Yoplait in Mauritius is not only concerned with yogurts, but with a variety of other products. However, for the purpose of the study, it should be noted that the emphasis will be entirely made on yogurts. In this sense, Maurilait has segmented its yogurts into different categories; 1. Firm yogurts; comprising of Nature Sucrà ©, Nature, Silhouette Nature, and Ti-Yoplait. 2. Mixed yogurts; 3. Drinks It should also be noted there also exists different conditionings and groupings for Yoplaits yogurts, namely, tubs of 100g, 115g, 125g, 150g and 1kg. Price Different Yoplait goods have different production costs and therefore have different market prices. When these products are freshly manufactured at Maurilait Productions Ltà ©e, they have a lower price than when they are distributed by Panagora Marketing Ltd. This is so, because Panagora also has to gain a profit from their transactions. However in Mauritius, the outlets show differences in price of Yoplait yogurt products over the whole island. Since, there is no law pertaining that the manufacturer or distributor can impose a fix price for their products, retailers have the right to put their own prices irrespective of whether it is exaggerated or not. Thus, Maurilait and Panagora can only recommend prices for the products. (see Appendix) Place (Distribution) It is Panagora Marketing Ltd, another subsidiary of the Food and Allied Group of Companies, which is in charge of the distribution of all products manufactured at Maurilait Productions Ltà ©e. It ensures that all Yoplait products are accessible to everyone within the island. To do so, it was established that the distribution will be carried out according to three distinct groups: 1. CDP, that is, Commerce De Proximità ©. This category englobes all cornershops, cafetarias and other little businesses around the island. 2. GMS, that is, Grandes et Moyennes Surfaces. For this group, Panagora ensures that the distribution is adequately made to all supermarkets and hypermarkets in the country. 3. Food service, comprising the sale and distribution of Yoplait products in bulk, namely to hotels and restaurants. It should be noted that this system is in fact used for all products distributed by Panagora Marketing Ltd, in order to ensure that the specific needs and requirements of the different categories are met. Promotion All advertisements of Yoplait in Mauritius are designed and disseminated by one of the most famous advertising agencies in Mauritius, namely, Circus Advertising Company Ltd, which is again a member of the Food and Allied Group of Companies. Regarding sales promotion, feasibility studies are conducted by Maurilait Productions Ltà ©e in collaboration with Panagora Marketing Ltd. If the studies reveal that such promotion will be profitable for both organisations, it is again Circus which will be in charge of promoting the new offers. Literature Review Introduction This section will mainly investigate how customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty affect an organisation. But before going into the subject, an essential point should be considered; customer relationship. As will be demonstrated in details below, satisfaction is more likely to induce loyalty and hence profitability if relationships between customers and firms are effectively managed. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) deals with the management philosophy that enables a business to identify, attract and retain the most ‘profitable customers and at the same time build and manage strong relationships with them by delivering superior value and satisfaction. The different stages related to the creation of those relationships are illustrated below: The courtship stage is the one in which the company starts to ‘know the customer and so loyalty is very weak and nearly inexistent. The relationship phase is where the feeling of commitment towards the organisation starts to grow. A strong attachment to the firm is created and the customer is no more likely to switch to competitors. Finally the marriage stage is when a long lasting relationship is created. At this stage, the degree of loyalty is very high and the customers even get personally involved in the organisation. It should be noted that the customers should somehow not be taken for granted. The marriage stage is not an eternal one, and if ever the customer gets disappointed by the company repeatedly or if the relationship is not effectively managed, he may stop any contact with the company, that is, dissolute the relationship. From now on, this section of the study will focus on how these relationships are linked to the satisfaction rate of the customer and how it affects the whole organisation. Customer satisfaction In earlier decades, Hunt (1977) already identified customer satisfaction as the degree to which the customer is pleased by a product and how far he feels his needs and wants being met. More recently, Schiffman, et al. (2008) defined customer satisfaction as being ones perception of the performance of a product or service relative to ones expectations. As can be noticed, the dimensions of customer satisfaction have evolved and they are no longer restricted to simple terms like pleasure and needs fulfilment. Instead, thorough investigation was conducted to come with the essence of the customer satisfaction state; expectations and perceptions about the products and services offered. Kotler et al. (2005) also argued in the same sense, saying that â€Å"customer satisfaction depends on the products perceived performance relative to the buyers expectations.† Both definitions show that if the performance of a product is below the level of expectations, the customer will eventually be dissatisfied and if ever the expectations level matches that of the product performance, satisfaction occurs. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) illustrated this theory by using the confirmation and disconfirmation paradigm; This model conceptualises the occurrence of satisfaction and dissatisfaction states. For instance, consumers have expectations about the performance of a product. For example, a consumer has certain expectations before tasting a yogurt. If the level of expectations matches that of the performance, in this case the taste of the yogurt, there is confirmation of expectations and the customer is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. On the other hand, if the performance of the product goes beyond customers expectations, there is positive disconfirmation and the customer is satisfied. If ever the performance of the product is below the level of expectations, there will be negative disconfirmation and thus, dissatisfaction. Furthermore, it is also claimed that a customer is highly satisfied and even delighted if the performance experienced from the product exceeds the expectations level, meaning that both satisfaction and delight may occur from the positive disconfirmation stage. To come forward with this argument, Lovelock and Wirtz (2004) adapted a diagram of how factors influence the customers expectations based form Zeithaml et al. (1993) work. However, there is no ‘absolute definition of the term ‘customer satisfaction and over the past years, many authors tried to illustrate it but we can observe that the different definitions converge to the same broad ideas on the relationship between how the product performs and what the buyers expect from the good itself. During the last decades, organisations came to understand the growing importance of customer satisfaction and from there, the need for delivering value to customers and building relationships came into existence. Importance of customer satisfaction Even with the growing importance of customer satisfaction, some companies still underestimate its value. In the article Surveys value is underestimated (Anon, 2005) it was consequently argued that measuring customers satisfaction also involves the measurement of their dissatisfaction. The author firmly believed that the dissatisfied customers, together with prospects, hold valuable information contributing to the success of the company. Arussy, L (2005) even consolidates this argument by saying that customers and companies both demonstrate distinct ways of thinking, operating and decision-making. Companies fail to satisfy their customers as they assert that they understand them when in fact, they are just following their own rules. Behaving in such a manner ends up in creating the efficient relationship paradox, as illustrated below. In simple terms, the efficient relationship paradox relates to the way in which customers are taken for granted. Before the creation of any relationship with customers, that is, at the courtship stage, companies invest huge amounts of money in promotion and other marketing tools to attract them. When the customer enters in the relationship phase, that is, he starts to demonstrate financial and emotional interests, the firm drops the level of investment in order to maximise profits. In so doing, the customer does not feel valued and automatically defects, thus having the opposite result of firms prior expectations. This is illustrated as the gap in the above diagram, showing that there is a complete misunderstanding between the customers anticipations and the companys actions. Consequently, organisations must be able to understand that customers should not be treated as â€Å"one time acquisitions†. They should essentially be oriented towards valuing their customers and fulfilling their expectations in order to provide them with what they are waiting for and so, giving them satisfaction. Sà ¶derlund (1998) also points out that customer satisfaction generates a powerful tool of colossal importance for organisations; the word of mouth. As described by the cited author, it is â€Å"the extent to which the customer informs friends, relatives and colleagues about an event that has created a certain level of satisfaction†. Hart et al. (1990) went into more details by claiming that the level of the satisfaction may either positively or negatively affect the word of mouth. For instance, satisfying the customer creates positive word of mouth, that is, talking ‘good about the company, and dissatisfying the customer leads to negative word of mouth, that is, talking ‘bad about the firm. He added that â€Å"customers who have had bad experiences tell approximately 11 people about it; those with good experiences tell just 6†. This demonstrates that companies should be extremely careful in delivering value to their customers as failing to do so, may cost them a lot in terms of their reputation. Bad comments may be spread nearly twice faster than it would have been with positive comments. Subsequently, organisations should focus on providing satisfaction to their customers so as to enhance the building of a good reputation. To return on the efficient relationship paradox subject, firms should be conscious that maintaining such an unwise strategy will create a pool of frustrated and dissatisfied customers who will not hesitate to ‘bad-mouth† them and degrade their reputation, which would evidently imply extensive costs for the organisation to overcome this dilemma. Factors affecting customer satisfaction Many drivers of customer satisfaction have been identified through the numerous research conducted during the past decades. However, for the purpose of this study, factors influencing customer satisfaction in the service industry will not be considered since it will not be relevant with the actual research being performed. Consequently, some of the most important drivers of satisfaction are summarised below:- Total Quality Management (TQM) In this line, Rampersad (2001) argued that to attain satisfaction of customers, everyone in the organisation should consider that constant improvement in performance is of primary importance. In order to achieve this, there are fundamental questions that the firm should take into consideration: Which products/services the company provides The product/ service should be defined as more concretely as possible; the more specific the definition is, the better the customer needs are met. Who are the customers The company should know all its customers and examine their needs attentively. It should be noted that both internal and external customers should be considered, the internal ones being the employees. What are the wants and requirements of customers At this stage communication is crucial. Customers needs and desires should be investigated together with their feedback about the current offering. Which are the processes that need to be improved From all the data collected, the company becomes aware of whether they are able to fulfil their customers expectations, needs and wants. And the firm is also now able to improve areas in which all the above steps revealed failures. However, even if everything is respected, TQM relies on the principle that there is always room for improvement. Employee Skills and Satisfaction Rampersad (2001) also stated that â€Å"All employees determine the degree of customer satisfaction. Employees from within departments should be considered as customers of each other† For a customer to be satisfied, he should obtain a good service from the employees, and for the latter to deliver such a service, they should be satisfied with their job. Regular surveys Monitoring customers expectations and perceptions via regular research is an excellent tool for maintaining the standards of an organisation. When a firm is well informed about the expectations of a customer, it can easily deliver value according to those anticipations. Furthermore, it is also essential for a firm to be aware of how customers perceive it, together with the perceptions of the product or service offerings and performance. With these precious pieces of information, organisations are able to be proactive and thus know exactly how to satisfy and even delight its clientele. Technology According to McKinsey (2001), technology can be critical in leading to critical improvements in levels of customer satisfaction if it is properly used. West (unknown) also added that companies should compulsorily be up to date with technological advances or else be confronted to irreversible consequences. Technology can provide additional features to a product, enhancing better product quality. Technology can also improve productivity and thus be easily fulfilling increasing demand. Taking Yoplait in Mauritius as example, technology succeeded in increasing the yogurts lifetime from 28 to 30 days within only a few years. Reputation and Credibility Kuusik (2007) found in his research that it is of critical importance to match the image and values both from the companys and customers perspective. Also referred as trustworthiness, the level of credibility is critical to the behaviour of the customer. If the level of trustworthiness decreases, the customers will no longer be satisfied and will eventually start to look out for other alternatives. A company should always maintain a high reputation in order to keep its customers satisfied. Sales and Post-Sales Experience It is often the case that products are more likely to be sold by distributors rather than the manufacturers themselves. Therefore, an eye should be kept on the customer experience at the point of sale, since the satisfaction level of customers is inevitably linked to the service quality obtained there. As such, customer sales experience can leave â€Å"a good or bad taste†. If a customer obtains a great sales experience, it is most probable that he will be satisfied and stay with the organisation, whereas if the sales experience is poor, he is more likely to switch to competitors. In the same line, after sales is also a critical factor. The customer should be able to obtain the desired information and assistance about the products purchased. For example, a customer must be able to ask for exchange if ever he purchased an expired product. Customer loyalty Oliver (1999) suggests that loyalty is â€Å"a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronise a preferred product or service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same-brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviours.† However, the term customer loyalty may be found to be complex to define, and for this reason, many authors tried to categorise and segment customers with the aim of understanding the nature of their loyalty and thus take the most appropriate marketing actions. Rowley (2005) tried to illustrate it by asserting that customers may show loyalty in various ways; i) they can choose to continue to do business with a particular provider, ii) they may also increase the number of purchases or the frequency of those purchases or iii) they can become advocates of the firm. However, it should be noted that the categories above may eventually be overlapping, that is, a customer may show all three behaviours, or simply one or two of them. Taylor, Celuch and Goodwin (2004), came with the following research model Taking the definition of Bowen and Chen (2001), the behavioural approach considers the repeat and consistent purchase of products and services making the customer a loyal one. However, repeated purchase does not necessarily symbolise a form commitment to the company Attitudinal approach uses the emotional and psychological attachment felt towards the firm. It states that â€Å"the attitudinal measurements are about the sense of loyalty, engagement and allegiance.† After having questioned nearly 10,000 respondents in the United States of America about the real application of these variables on loyalty, these two authors reached to the following conclusions: Behavioural loyalty is mostly concerned with brand equity and trust while affect, resistance to change and value do contribute but to a lesser proportion. Concerning satisfaction, it seems that there exists no significant statistical relationship. Again, brand equity and trust have a major relationship with attitudinal loyalty whereas affect and satisfaction have a smaller contribution. In contrast with the results obtained with behavioural loyalty, no significant statistical connection seems to be present between attitudinal loyalty and value and resistance to change. Therefore, they asserted that all the variables present in the model have a contribution to the loyalty level of customers but they can vary across different settings and situations. Bowen and Chen (2001) in addition to the behavioural and attitudinal approaches, illustrated another measurement of loyalty; the composite approach. It combines both the behavioural and attitudinal dimensions which states that loyal customers have positive attitudes towards the organisation, are committed to repeat purchase and recommend the product/service to others. Furthermore, Dick and Basu (1994) argued that loyalty is in fact the strength of the relationship between those behavioural and attitudinal behaviours (repeat patronage and relative attitude) and accordingly proposed four conditions of loyalty which are illustrated in the diagram below Rowley (2005) segments even more the loyalty dimension by suggesting four additional orientations: Captive are most of the time customers who continue to purchase and use a product or service because they have no other alternative. They have a positive attitude towards the brand but may easily be poached by competitors who offer alternative products and especially if the switching cost is reduced or facilitated. Convenience-seekers are routine buyers who purchase with low involvement and usually engage in repeat transactions associated with the brand. They do not show any particular attitude towards the brand and are susceptible to promotions offered by competitors which show more convenience than what they are actually having. Contented customers generally evaluate products based on their merits and attributes and the brand owner may use this opportunity to build relationship with those customers who already made transactions with the brand. They have a positive attitude towards the brand but may switch if they get better value elsewhere or if the product is lagging behind compared to others on the market Committed ones barely consider other brands and are prepared to be involved in the brand or firm. They have a positive attitude and deliver positive word of mouth comments. These customers may somehow be lost if the product fails repeatedly with no appropriate recovery and if competitors offer new products that deliver more value. Each level of the diagram can be defined as follows;  · Suspects: These include all the buyers of the product present in the marketplace who are either unaware of the product or have no intention of purchasing it  · Prospects: These are potential customers who are attracted by the businesss offerings but have not yet started any transaction.  · Customers: Buyers of the product who do not have any feeling of attachment towards the organisation.  · Clients: These are repeat customers who do have a feeling of attachment towards the company but whose contribution is more passive than active.  · Advocates: They are clients who support actively the organisation by recommending the product and service to people around them.  · Partners: This is the strongest form of customer-supplier relationship which is maintained as both parties perceive the relationship as being mutually advantageous. Relationship between customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability. Many companies tend to assume that the link between satisfaction and loyalty is simple and linear, that is, the higher the satisfaction level, the higher the loyalty rate. However, many studies showed that this believed link is neither simple, nor linear. In their study, Bowen and Chen (2001) found out that â€Å"customer satisfaction does not equal customer loyalty†. The resulting table below indicates the relationship between the overall satisfaction of the respondents and their intent to return and willingness to recommend the company. Score on overall satisfaction % Stating they would recommend the hotel % Stating they would return 7 62.6 65.0 6 29.8 24.6 5 and lower 7.6 10.4 Their research, making reference to that of Oliva et al. (1992), also revealed that when satisfaction has reached a certain level, there is a considerable increase in loyalty, and similarly, when satisfaction level declines to a certain point, loyalty drops radically. As the research of Bowen and Chen shows, only extremely satisfied customers would repeat purchases and spread positive comments on the firm. The authors Hill and Alexander (2006) also gave their opinion about this relationship. Based on the research of the Royal Bank of Scotland (n.d), they pointed out that there was a very close link between satisfaction and intended loyalty and customers could only be retained at the highest levels of satisfaction. On their part, Mittal and Lassar (1998) claimed that, while a dissatisfaction state was synonymous with a switching behaviour, a satisfaction one did not guarantee loyalty. They therefore asserted that, still, there was a correlation between satisfaction and loyalty, but that this relationship was rather asymmetrical. In this sense, Bennett and Rundle-Thiele (2004) concluded that managers should not entirely rely on sole fact that satisfaction ratings of customers are high are enough to predict future purchase. Hence, companies should realise that merely satisfying customers is not enough; instead they should concentrate their efforts to extremely satisfy and delight them. As Berman (2005) stated, organisations must do more than delivering on expectations of their customers. In this sense, Gee et al. (2008) added that customer delight can provide the stable loyalty that companies look for. The Kano (1984) model cited in Berman (2005) work distinguishes three levels that explain how customer delight can be reached. i) Must be requirements It is defined as the basic requirement that the customer expects from the product. If this requirement is not matched, the customer will eventually be dissatisfied. ii) Satisfier requirements This requirement has the ability to bring about satisfaction. The more of these are fulfilled, the higher the level of satisfaction. iii) Attractive requirements These are additional requirements that the customer neither expected nor expressed. It is believed that if these requirements are met, delight will be attained. Nevertheless, Gustaffson et al. (2005) also identified two other drivers of customer loyalty, namely, calculative commitment and affective commitment. The calculative commitment is the rational and economic decisions taken by the customer regarding costs and benefits implied, together with costs of switching to other brands, whereas the affective commitment is an emotional factor based on the value and trust offered to the customer. Subsequently, as argued, loyalty is essential to retain current customers. Reichheld (2002) suggested that if customer loyalty is obtained, profits will eventually follow. In his collaborative study with Sasser (1990) and cited in Lovelock and Wirtz (2007), four reasons why loyalty contributes to a firms profitability were identified; 1) Profit is derived from increased purchases When an organisation provides high-quality products and service, individuals may wish to purchase more with them. This may be due to an increase in family size or increase in affluence. It should be somehow noted that in whatever the cause, the loyal customer will continue to purchase with a single company. 2) Profit is derived from reduced operating costs Loyal customers cost less to serve because they know the product and attached procedures and thus require less information and assistance. 3) Profit from referrals of other customers Loyal customers provide free promotion to the company by spreading positive word of mouth, implying that the firm needs less investment in this domain. 4) Profit from price premium It often happens that new customers benefit from an introductory discounted price, whereas loyal customers are more likely to pay regular prices, and even higher ones during peak periods. Clark (1997) went in the same sense by saying that loyal customers will remain customers for a longer period, will purchase more, will be willing to pay more and will provide more business by means of referrals. However, organisations should understand that it is far better to ‘cultivate existing customers than to ‘hunt for new ones. Reichheld and Sasser (1990) even found that 5% increase in customer loyalty and retention is enough to generate a profit increase range of 25% to 125%. Still, companies should bear in mind that all their customers are profitable ones. Clark (1997) recognised that a firm should accurately choose and care for its most profitable customers and at the same time, deselecting the least profitable ones. To make the right decision, organisations can make use of Reinartz and Kumar (2002) model. Customers are segmented into four categories based on their forecasted lifetime duration and profitability. According to Noone et al. (2003) interpretation of Reinartz and Kumar (2002) work; * Butterflies are highly profitable short-term customers. They are always in search of best deals and avoid building relationships with organisations. * True friends are highly profitable long-term customers. These customers are believed to exhibit true loyalty and commitment to a single firm and efforts should be directed towards building relationships with them. * Strangers are low profitable short-term customers. It is with this kind of customers that firms should particularly avoid investing in building relationships with them. Gee et al. even states â€Å"Identify early and dont invest anything† * Barnacles are low profitable long-term customers. They are usually loyal but have a negative impact on profitability. Dear Sir/Madam, My name is Marie-Estelle Lebon and I am a student in Marketing Management Level III at the University of Mauritius. For the purpose of my final year project, I would like to have your opinions on the Yoplait yogurts specific range of products and I would be grateful if you could assist me in filling this questionnaire. Rest assured that all the information that you will provide is only for academic purposes and will rema