Compare and Contrast___how technology is changing the way we live and Essay

Compare and Contrast___how technology is changing the way we live and the way we think - Essay Example Claudia Wallis in her article, â€Å"Gen M: The Multitasking Generation,† and Nicholas Carr’s â€Å"Is Google Making Us Stupid?† both argue against much of the way people interact and rely upon the technology both physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially in a few unpleasant ways. He focuses more on the intellectual laziness access to fast internet answers can breed and she focuses more on the social and interpersonal communicational perspective when people persistently interact and multitask with technology and how that can have a negative effects; both of these authors are absolutely right. Claudia Wallis discusses children are perpetually interacting with technology and that parents think there multitasking is a product and a credit to the presence of that technology and their minds, Unfortunately, that is little better than a â€Å"wives tale† that people may tells themselves to justify children’s excessive technological interactions. â€Å"Human beings have always had a capacity to attend to several things at once. Mothers have done it since the hunter-gatherer era--picking berries while suckling an infant, stirring the pot with one eye on the toddler† (Wallis p. 1). Many biologists and anthropologists would easily agree the things that defines us as human is our curiosity, ability to learn and adapt, and our ability to multitask and process multiple information at once; this did not evolve as a side effect of technological advancement. In truth, excessive interaction with technology leads to anti-social in face-to-face antisocial that belies th e communal and communicative nature of our species. The interactions online and the relationships we make are shallow and superficial, based on the shared likes and dislikes of other things posted on sites. There is also a misconception that the presence of all of this sophisticated

Analys of a needs assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analys of a needs assessment - Essay Example The hospital has a cardiovascular section including the Cardiac Cath Lab, the Electrophysiology lab, Echo lab and Angio Lab. The Cardiac Cath Lab employs registered nurses; however the VA facility employs registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants and nurse anesthetists. This report targets the nurses working in the Richmond VAMC Cardiac cath lab section. As the managing director of the cardiac cath lab of Richmond VAMC, I have observed some additional learning requirements for nurses in this sector. To verify this fact, I assessed a sample of the nurses in the form of questionnaires. This document is an analysis of the results of an assessment conducted to determine the educational needs of the nurses in the cardiac cath lab. The assessment was in the form of a questionnaire conducted on 10 staff members and containing 9 questions (Dept of Veteran Affairs, 2011). Description of a sample of assessed employees Mary A. Allan The above sta ted person has been working in this cardiac cath lab for five years. She previously worked at Utah Valley Regional Centre in its cardiac cath lab as a nurse for 4 years. She trained as a nurse at the Utah Valley University after where she got employed at the Blossoms Children Care. She currently holds a BSN and possesses adequate training in advanced cardiac life support and reading of EKGs. She is efficient, punctual, exceedingly skillful and addresses the patients adequately. Joan O, Kenney The above stated person has been working at the cardiac cath lab for 1 year. Prior to working here, she was a student at the Richmond Medical Training center for 3 years. She has no prior working experience as a cardiac cath lab nurse. She currently holds a BSN and possesses adequate training in advanced cardiac life support and reading of EKGs. Prior to working here, she was a student at the Richmond Medical Training center for 3 years. Catherine G. Williams The above stated person has worked in the cardiac cath lab for three years. Prior to working here, she was a student at the Richmond Medical Training center for 3 years. She possesses no prior experience as a cardiac cath lab nurse. However, she worked as an intern at the Richmond Clinic. She currently holds a BSN and possesses adequate training in advanced cardiac life support and reading of EKGs (Dept of Veteran Affairs, 2011). Analysis of assessment results Working experience In the questionnaire, questions 1 and 2 dealt with the external and internal work experience the nurses possessed in relation to a cardiac cath lab. About 40% of the workers responded to have working experience in this lab for three years and above. Also, 70% of the nurses responded to having worked in other cath labs for more than three years. We consider a nurse who has worked for three years and more in a cardiac cath lab to be adequately experienced in this field thus, more than 70% of them possess the reputation in this one. This data in dicates that about three quarters of the nurses have adequate cath lab experience. Orientation satisfaction This is an analysis of the response by the nurses towards the orientation. Questions 3, 4 and 6 covered issues concerning the orientation. A considerable number (40%) are under-oriented since they received less than four weeks

Where Have You Gone Essay Example for Free

Where Have You Gone Essay Often in life, it is the choices we make that shape our identity. Our behaviors, and actions determine the outcome; ultimately becoming a part of our character. In the poem â€Å"Where Have You Gone? † by Mari Evans the author reveals the consequences of a tragic ending to an overly reliant relationship. Evans suggests that when in a relationship, often one individual chooses to rely too much on the other without realizing; building a heavy dependency, causing the loss of their own identity. Like Evans poem, I personally had to learn the consequences of my decisions which led to detrimental effects between my relationship with my sister. Through Evans illuminating poem we are able to assess the devastating effects of a poor woman who has been abandoned by her lover. Evans choice to use the title â€Å"Where have you gone? † conveys her sense of loss and confusion. The entire poem centers over this nagging question. The repetition of the same inquiry amplifies the growing bewilderment and confusion inside her, tearing her apart. Initially, we are led to believe we are reading an ordinary love poem with the reference of a woman who misses his â€Å"confident walk with [his] crooked smile† until Evans reveals him leaving with â€Å"the rent money in one pocket and [her] heart in another † This drastically changes the sense of superficiality in a relationship. For the woman this is not just heartbreak, but she has lost her sense of survival. It becomes apparent she is grieving when Evans states â€Å"with you went the sun. With the absence of sunlight, it leaves her in the darkness longing for his return. For his return will relieve her of distress and mourning. It is evident that she lost her sense of identity through her dependencies on him emotionally and financially. When I was a child, I looked up to my oldest sister. I wanted to look just like her. After entering junior high school, I made a new group of friends and changed the way I dressed and acted. I had begun copying my sister relentlessly. I made it my priority to sneak into her room and â€Å"borrow† her clothes. My decision to disrespect my sister’s belongings led to frequent arguments, and physical brawls. She began distancing herself from me and our once strong relationship vanished. Through this phase I lost the older sister I grew up with because of my obsession with merely wanting to fit in at school. Consequently, I became extremely lost as to who I was, unable to remember the person prior; leading me to live a life that was not mine. Eventually, I realized this contributed to the shattered bonds with my sister, and even resulted in losing my own identity. My experience suggests often individuals can become so caught up with others we lose sight of who we actually are. Mari Evans poem â€Å"Where Have You Gone? † is the after effects of having been abandoned by her lover. We witness the devastating effects of a woman who has been cripplingly reliant on another person. Sadly, situations like these happen when individuals choose to invest themselves too deeply into a relationship which causes an individual to lose their sense of self.

Marketing Analysis Of Social Networking Site Orkut Marketing Essay

Marketing Analysis Of Social Networking Site Orkut Marketing Essay Social Networking sites that allow individuals to construct a public profile, articulate with people they know by sharing their connection and view and traverse their connections and those made by people they know. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from sites to sites The leading social networks around the world are Orkut, Facebook, and My Space Twitter etc. The first social networking site that was Six Degrees.com launched in 1997 although it attracted millions of users but failed to sustain as it was considered to be ahead of its time and was closed in 2000.From 1997 to 2001 many community sites were launched but the next wave of these sites began in 2001 by the launch of Ryze.com. Friendster was launched in2002 as a complement to Ryze.com and had 300,000 users by the end of May 2003. By 2003 the social networking sites hi the mainstream. In 2003 the giant GOOGLE proposed to purchase Friendster but failed to do so. Google then internally commissioned Mr Orkut Bà ¼yà ¼kkà ¶kten to work on a competing independent project. And then Orkut was launched on 24th of Jan, 2004.By the end of September 2004 Orkuts membership surpasses 2 million accounts in spite of the fact that the membership was only on invitation. As of 2007, the service claimed 67 million users. Orkut became a huge success in the United States. Orkut spread like a virus in countries like Brazil and India. It also won the YOUTH ICON AWARD 2007 in India. Orkut members are offered various exclusive features. Members can create groups to join friends according to their wish. The can upload videos from You Tube etc. Orkut gives its member the choice to have restricted or unrestricted polls on these videos. Orkut has a competitive advantage of the privacy that it offers to its members. It allows anyone to visit anyones profile, unless a visitor is on the Ignore List Each member has a choice to customize their profile preferences and restrict they information according to their preferences. Gtalk has been integrated in Orkut so that the members can chat from their Orkut page. Orkut leads in countries like India, Pakistan and Brazil. It offers its members a distinct feature called THEMES, offering them a range of colourful themes in the library in which they can change their interface. Figure 1. Distribution of work task interruption The below mentioned figures represent the traffic of Orkut. These even show us that Orkut has been losing its market share in most of the western countries. Orkut has been tremendously successful in Asian countries. Traffic on Orkut by country Traffic of Orkut on March 31, 2004 Flag of the United States.svg United States Flag of Japan.svg Japan Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Other Traffic of Orkut on April 13, 2010[15] Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil Flag of India.svg India Flag of the United States.svg United States Flag of Japan.svg Japan Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan Other Source: http://en..wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkut#Features Orkut has started losing its market share in the global market. As shown in the above diagram there has been a drastic decrease in the traffic of Orkut in countries like United States, United Kingdom etc. This is because of the rising popularity of its competitors like Facebook, Twitter, My space etc. A study conducted by Nielsens in India show s that Facebook is ruling among the social networking sites. Source: http://www.indiasocial.in/nielsen-study SWOT ANALYSIS OF ORKUT: STRENGTHS: ORKUT is very user friendly due to its graphic user interface. One can view peoples profile and pictures regardless if the person is your friend or not. It is user friendly because navigation is easy, applications are minimal making it is easy for a person who is not a tech-savvy. It is mainly focussed on scrapping friends. It is integrated with GOOGLE CHAT. ORKUT gives more privacy and security compared to some of its competitors. Menus and other applications are arranged in a organised manner making it simpler for the user. ORKUT has a free feature PROMOTE THIS in which you make a message and circulate and reach other in the network. There is a feature in ORKUT that provides you relevant jobs. WEAKNESSES: GOOGLE INC. Treated ORKUT as just a sideline business, not giving it much attention that was required and hence creating a space for competition..The ORKUT account does not give you the freedom to navigate into different websites so in turn you have to go through the registration process. You cannot promote your business through ORKUT compared to that of its competitor Facebook that has a feature that through your Face book account you can go to different websites and post your adverts and add a backlink and this also gets activated on your Facebook profile allowing people in your network to know what you have done. To make friends in an ORKUT account you have to visit the persons profile and then send the friend request. ORKUT has a lot of spam. ORKUT was last redesigned in 2007. OPPORTUNITIES: ORKUT is very popular among Brazilians and Indians. ORKUT is a market leader in these countries so there is a lot of opportunity that ORKUT can bring to its favour in these countries.The increase in usage of broadband and wi-max technology is a big opportunity were innovations should be done. THREATS: ORKUT has a major threat from its arch rival Facebook as its market share is relatively increasing to that of ORKUT. The other competitors like hi5, Twitter, My Space etc.are also picking up the pace. ORKUT is being misused by people and facing major issues like Death Threats which is becoming a major concern..Some political groups demanding to ban ORKUT. ORKUT has been repeatedly facing issues on being medium of promotion for hatred by some religious communities, illegal drug deals and child pornography, kidnapping and murders etc . Posing a threat to the image of the brand. Fake profiles can be created. PESTL ANALYSIS OF ORKUT: POLITICAL: There been controversies around ORKUT by various hate groups and they have a lot of followers there. This has created an anti-national and anti-ethical environment. This has leaded a lot of criticism from political groups and leading to banning in some countries. ECONOMIC : This is quiet a relevant factor that is chasing people to promote their businesses on ORKUT, in this time of recession. This is resulting in positive impact as ORKUT has a feature through which people are able to find jobs and as business ideas. Due to the economic meltdown the prices of technology and gizmos have come down, hence people can avail laptops , multimedia handsets etc and use this kind of inexpensive media of communication to the fullest. SOCIO CULTURAL :- There have been a lot of controversies regarding the same in Islamic countries. In these countries the government banned ORKUT in order to preserve the national security and Islamic ethical issues. To overcome this situation Orkutproxy.com was created but subsequently this has become a challenge due to the government blockage as the https pages on all the anonymous sites were closed. There a lot of hate groups that are considered to be a major threat to countries as this created a anti-national environment affecting the lives of people on a day to day basis. TECHNOLOGICAL : Due to the continuous advancement in the tech gadgets and gizmos the social networking has been a lot more accessible and popular. The 3GS phones, instant messaging and majorly the wifi connectivity have helped to increase the users of social networking due to the anytime accessibility levels. This has helped the users to keep in touch with their friends and community members and get the updates on their accounts and groups at all times. LEGAL : Earlier people could view anyones accounts, videos, photos etc and tamper them. There have been huge legal implications regarding the privacy issues as people started to use the photos and videos and placing them on internet with fake details. Huge number of them were vulgar, especially that of women. In June 2006 some researches discovered a worm, MW.Orc, which steals users banking details, usernames and passwords by propagating through ORKUT. In 2007 a security advisory was published on Orkuts vulnerabilities related to the autheciation issues, leading to misuse of legitimate accounts. There were similar attacks that were repeatedly reported for e.g. in 2007 the W32/ Kut Wormer, in 2008 W32/ Scapkut worm affecting the Orkut users in large numbers. There have been a number of other legal issues like in 2006 the Bombay High Courts Aurangabad bench served a notice on GOOGLE for allowing a campaign against India that carried a picture of a burned Indian flag and anti-India content. Rec ently, the Pune police cracked a rave party filled with narcotics. There was a deliberate charge on ORKUT under the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 as it was believed to be a mode of communication for the same. Similar cases are reported in Brazil as well creating distrust among Orkut users. OBJECTIVE SETTING AT DIFFERENT STRATEGIC LEVELS: CORPORATE OBJECTIVE: To increase profitability by 30% worldwide by 2011 and to in increase the number of unique users to 20 million a day. BUISNESS S OBJECTIVE: To increase usage of ORKUT to 80% worldwide, primarily increase the traffic in Asia- Pacific countries by 2011. I have choosen Asia Pacific because as shown in the world stats one-third of the population of the internet users are people from Asia Pacific region. MARKETING OBJECTIVE: To attain 50% of the market share and become the top most among g the all the other social networking sites worldwide. Here I would primarily focus on capturing 30%of the Asia Pacific market. This is a specific, measurable and attainable figure as according to research report relaesed by Comscore 50.8 percent of the total online population in the Asia Pacific region visited social networking site in Feburay 2010, reaching a total of 240.3 million visitors. This report does not include the visitation from internet cafes and mobiles.The segmented market is the Youth aged 18-35. EXPANSION STRATEGY ACCORDING TO THE ANSOFF MATRIX: ORKUT has been a brand for the last six years. It has been one of the most successful social networking sites and the best known as well. As we see its brand image has gone through a lot of negative publicity considering the facts Orkut should focus on rejuvenating the brand image through market penetration. Orkut should also do product development as the consumers have become a lot demanding. The features that Orkut offers are not in accordance to that of competition, being more precise Orkut should be using innovation to add new features to make it more interesting to be a part of the same. Hence, the strategies that Orkut should follow are Market Penetration and Product Development. EXPANSION STRATEGY ACCORDING TO THE ANSOFF MATRIX: Market Penetration : ORKUT is already a well known brand. We need to rejuvenate the brand image in a positive way by aggressive marketing of the brand at the right places. This strategy will not only increase the market share in the prevelant countries but also in countries of Asia Pacific where social netwroking is on a tremedous growth. I am using market penetration for Orkut because according to a research conducting by Neilsens Orkut has started losing its market share in countries like India and Brazil where it was a market leader. Hence it makes it very important that I revive the brand image to maintain the market sahre in the existing markets and also focus on the emerging markets like other regions of Asia Pacific. Product Development: I needs to rejuvenate the brand by doing a lot of innovation because Orkut was las t redesigned on 28 October 2009. As technology is changing in every minute we need to meet the pace . We re far behind in comparision to our competitors the features that we offer are not up to mark . We do not offer enough service s to the users that is diverting our users to shift their netwokrs to our competitors.Hence it becomes ver y necessary for us to work on innovation and add I PORTERS GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES: PORTERS GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES: I am going to use Focus and Differentiation for Orkut. FOCUS : I would majorily focus on the age groups between 15 to 44. According to a report by comscore the graph represents that in Asia Pacific the age group that uses the internet the most is the the people between 15 to 44. PORTERS GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES: The report realesed by Comscore in 2010 clearly state that the Social networking sites have had a ubiquitous growth in Asia Pacific region . Hence going by the facts of both the reports I am choosing Asia Pacific Region as the area of focus for Orkut to grow. DIFFERENTIATION: Social networks are very infutential, the network that we create online does not match our offline profile.People are increasingly using the web to get information they need from each other, rather than that from businesses.People know about products and brands throught friends.So in order to diffrentiate I would reccommend to add an embedded social features key on the user page. These networks are about pursuing relationships and fostering communities of consumers , hence it becomes important to understand the behaviour. People dont care much about technology rather they care about the communication that technology enables.Through thousand of years we have formed groups and strong and weak relationships. To become successful in the long term its important that we understand the motivation behind using a new technology before developing it.People are more comfortable with the people they have strong ties with. Studies on online gamers show that they most often play with people they have strong ties with. Hence, we need to give options the communication channels for the users like one to one or one to many at the right times. We need to design our user page supporting these interactions. Privacy is all aboutcontrolling how much other people know about you. Manintaining peoples privacy is a major concern. In order to help our users doing this we need to make our site less complex and more transparent. So people understand the consequences of their actions.I recommend to do so we develop trust amongst our user leading to repetitive usage and more users in the long term.These are the key differentiators. TACTICS: PRODUCT: I would recommend to use innovation to revive the brand image of ORKUT. In order to do so I would add different feature like a google search engine toolbar on the user page as I know the Asian Pacific users use the internet for navigation an d entertainment . The user page would have the famous entertainment sources like for youngster is would have the famous music, for middle aged people it would have navigation to different job sites, and old people would have religious programs and world news etc on the user pages. This would help in differentiate Orkut from its competitors. PRICE: Price does not have relevance as the users do not have to pay any price to use the service. I t is a virtual commodity and the revenue structure is based on the number of users.Hence, price does not hold any value. PLACE : This is the most important out of all the tactics for Orkut. It is already available on the electronic and portable medium .In order to achieve market penetration Orkut tag should be used on the most popular sites like Google Search Engine, Gmail etc.As portable medium like celluar phones etc. are the most preferabel medium of communication by the youth Orkut should have a tie-up with cellular manufacturers like Apple Blackberry etc to have an ingrained Orkut application in their handsets. PROMOTION: Orkut should use agressive marketing. As I realize that the major market segment for ORKUT is the youth. Alliances: Unique features like discounted tickets for movies and sports events should be introduced through alliances with the respective partners like a tie up with the Indian Premier League which is the most awaited event of the year to attract more users.Alliances with various blog to promote the Orkut tag . Press Releases: I propose that Orkut should realunch it self through press realeases emphasizing on the added features to create awareness and attract new users. To generate high awareness I reccomend Orkut to use the following mediums: Print Media: Orkut should be highlypromoted on with the differentiated features on youth and sports magazines sush as Sports Star. Outdoor: I recommend Orkut to be promoted with attractive hoardings in youth hang out areas like the cafes,colleges like Cafe coffee Day, Starbucks etc Mobile Media: I reccommend Orkut to be promoted on mobile mediums like buses , taxis and trains which are the essential medium of communication for the youth. New Media: Aggressive presence of Orkut Tags on the most visited websites like you tube , journals etc. PEOPLE: Goolge Inc has been known for its creative minds To rejuvinate Orut Google should introduce more creative minds to the tasks . In order to generate new ideas Google should use interactive worshops through which there can be a sharing of ideas. PROCESS: Google should continue using its Graphical User Interface in order to rejuvinate the website. The user interfcace is a competitive adavntage of Orkut , I recommend Orkut to continue to leverage it. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: Brand image is very important for Orkut , in order to do so I reccommend Orkut to delivers complimentary services like leisure and entertainment. In India Orkut had a theme of a famous reality series on the website. It was immensely successful.I reccommend Orkut ot use such proven strategies on the web page.The packaging in terms of the whole outlook of the website should be changed . It should have attractive things like gaming tags on the top. IDEA : The logo should be . Actions to followed tobe done to achieve the tactics: Google has the head office in London and all the activities are controlled here.All the major actions ar e undertaken here. As the marketing plan is all objective based so I reccommend Orkut to use the objective and task method to set my budgets regarding the same. The total budget for the promotional activities is $400 million . The allocated amount is divided into six activities. G A N T T C H A R T Total Budget is 300 Million: Marketing Activities Time (when action) Responsibility 2011 2010 J F M A M J J A S O N D Redesigning of the Website à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Programmers Advertisement à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Advertising Agency Press Releases à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ PR Executives and Marketing Executives Relaunch of Product à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Sales Executives Sponsorships à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Marketing Executives Alliances à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ PR Executives Total $ Million Gaining Control over the actions: Control and monitoring of the actions will be done in the following ways. The companys performance wil be analysinsed through monitoring with different key performance indicators. Auditing: Control will be exercised through time tot time audits by performing the Marketing Audits. As Google in a innovative company and sis in a highly competitive industry the control should be conducted by internal auditors. The performance gaps will be identified throught these audits .Hence forth, the corrective measures should be accordingly. The auditing process will allow GOOGLE to keep a close eye on the profitabiliy of ORKUT. Benchmarking: As ORKUT is not a market leader in the industry I propose to use benchmarking as Facebook who is the gives the most fierce competition does BEST PRACTICES in this industry, therefore I recommend Orkut to follow the same. Facebook bechmarks the industry in the applications like Gaming , Friend suggestions etc. CRITICAL REFLECTION: Orkut WHAT IS THAT?: Nowdays that is what everyone is asking. Orkut is a product from the giant of innovation GOOGLE INC, which is the the pioneer of search engine. I have taken Orkut as the product because in this world of globalization the social networking sites are having a huge im pact on the minds of the online population. This is the major reason for choosing Orkut as it has seen a huge success in the intital times but since a few years the brand has been overtaken by social networking sites which joined the race in the later years. I am amazed by the attitude Google has had towards Orkut and having a inquisisitve nature wanted to know the decline of the users.Orkut has been leading the market in India and their have been communities created by Indians and studies have shown that Indians love Orkut . Orkut has been the preferable social networking site of software developers in India.But in the recent times the popularity has significantly decreased. I have been in the professional environment for the last seven years. I have been working as a Business Development Manager and a Research Analsyst.These work profiles required a lot of networking and to suffice the purpose I had joined ORKUT. As ORKUT has a lot of communities and this helped me enhance my network through Orkut and inturn lead me to financial gains . Since the inception of social networking in India which is relatively new concept, Orkut has been seen as the synonym of such inception but recent reviews and statstics reveal huge decline in the popularity of Orkut. I have choosen Orkut because I have seen the hype about it in India and the way it had be modualted it lead into every persons day to day life. But since the last few days I have seen that Orkut ahs been loosing its presence in the market . People are switching to different networking sites due to the add- on features offered on the sites. Now it is becoming a question amongst the sgmented market the YOUTH. People have become skeptical on being on Orkut due to the limited features. Orkut was redesigned before two years and this has lead to losse in the value of users.The social networking is a very innovation driven industry and is promoted by its users thourgh word of mouth. Orkut has been neglecting innovation.Thus, its hold over the customer has lost because of the best practices carried by competition. Wisdom Outcomes of Marketing Modules: Rejuvination of ORKUT: Prior to starting of MBA marketing for me was just a synonym of sales.On completion of the module and especially after doing this particular assignment the entire preception of marketing has drastically tranformed. But now the conception is clear that marketing is not just sales but it goes beyond it and there are many factors that affect the same.This module has given me the in-depth view to the subject in terms of planning and implementation. The deep concepts have been simplified to by day to day examples that we come across in our daily lives.The analytical models like Mckinseys ,SWOT, Segmentation, Branding The 7 Ps etc. have been become very easy.Although being a layman, using these analysis some how or the other I have been impelementing these concepts but I was unaware of the terminology.Knowing the concepts in depth through the module has given me a clear picture of the concepts to help me in the future. The module has taught me that the every product goes through the product life cycle. And the stages are defined by the parameter of sales. The SOSTAC model that is a part of the module has given me the clear understanding of that how indepth analysis of the marketing can rejuvinate the brand image.I have used the same to carry out the analysis and have deep understaing ORKUT.This has revised my previous view that there are no amendments or solutions when the product is declining.The decline stage of the product can be identified when there is a decline in the sales. I have applied the same to ORKUT.Orkut has been a leader in the social networking industry . While applying the SOSTAC model, I have imbibed the fact that most of the management modules and principles are integrated, and marketing provides a common interface across all the different principles of management studies. Principles of finance, operations, human resource management are all utilised in the SOSTAC model. During my study I followed the following pathway: After deciding that orkut is going to be my subject of study, I first and foremost wanted to know what is the market scenario in which Orkut is operating. For this purpose, I started with the SWOT analysis. Through SWOT I was able to map the external and the internal and the internal environment. After having done the SWOT, I decided to take a look at the macro environment. For this purpose I had applied the PESTLE analysis. The PESTLE gave me a closer insight of the business environment in which Orkut is operating. The objective setting section takes into consideration the mission and vision of the company. After having a look at these aspects, I developed my strategies on the basis of SMART objectives. All the strategies of the company are interelated with each other. The strategy setting of the company has taught me how to analyse the activities through which the company tries to achieve its competitive advantage. The difference in the strategic perspectives such as Ansoffs Matrix, BCG Matrix, GE McKinsies Matrix , and the Porters Generic Strategies were very well formulated in the module. This gave me an in depth way of understanding what would be the most appropriate strategy for Orkut.Thus I have taken Ansoffs Matrix and Porters Generic Strategies. While doing the Tactical recommendations, I came to understand the concepts of the 7Ps of marketing. I can now understand the the 7Ps involve all the different prospects of management. The working on promotional mix became much simpler because there were case studies on communication strategies of declining brands discussed in the class. The part of the action plan that involves the GNATT chart was very well taught in the lecturing sessions. Allocation of duties made me dig into concepts of Human Resource Management.The human resource pay a critical par tof allocating the promotional duties to the right person.The promotional activities are the most crucial part of brand awareness and this has taught me there is a lot of people management that goes into all these activities. The budget planning prompted me to have a look at the financial statements of the company. Final the part consisting of the control and monitoring helped me to inculcate concepts of operations management in my marketing plan. The concepts of benchmarking and best practices helped me to understand how a market follower often often follows the market leader to achieve operational effectiveness. Thus the marketing module not only teaches us the maketing concepts but also builts up a holistic approach towards MBA.In order to have a successful career in marketing it is not only important that I have in depth of the marketing theories and modules but every department of the organisation has a signififcant contribution towards it.The module has taught me that all the twigs of management comprising of marketing, finance, operations and strategy are all incorporated and interrelated. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: This module has taught me to enjoy the process of learning and have ingrained knowledge of the subject.The way in which the concepts have been taught have given depth to the them and made them interesting.The concepts have been linked with the real life examples of comapanies and products that we use on a day to day basis. The real life case studies and examples have taken the learning process to under level. These examples have taught to interlink what we do in our day to day lives and how it affects the nature of the companies and consumers. The module has taught us to use the day to day mediums of communications like the newspapers, taxis and view the promotional skills in the context of marketing communications and link the concepts with activities the companies carry out. Some examples like British Airways, Poundland, Motorola, Virgin Rails and many more have encouraged me to do extensive research about the companies and how they use the concept of marketing to enhance their image. I was not aware that the companies use dirty skills to market their products and what extent they go to to enhance the sales. The lectures have been highly interactive and they have made the process of the enjoyable.The high level of interaction in the lectures made me confident about

Sioux Indians Essay -- American History

Sioux Indians We're going to tell you about a tribe of Indians known as the Sioux Indians. The Sioux Indians lived on the great plains. The Sioux's tribe is partially and fully located in 7 states. The states are known as Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Their natural resources include deer, beans, wild rice, and buffalo. The Sioux nation was divided into 7 groups. They were known as the 7 council fires. Each council fire had its own leaders and own group of families that always camped together. The largest Council Fire lived on the western plains. It was so big it was divided into 7 groups. It was called the Teton Sioux. They spoke the Lakota dialect of the Sioux language. Two councils lived on the middle plains, they were called Yankton Sioux. The language they spoke was the Nakota dialect of the Sioux language. The other Council Fires lived on the plains in the east. The name that they called themselves was Santee Sioux. The dialect that they spoke was the Dakota dialect of the Sioux language. The councils lived far away from each other, but they could understand each other's dialect. The families in each council fire met once a year , during the summer. When they met they shared news and traded things they had gotten from other tribes. They gave gifts away at special feats that were c alled giveaways. They also played ball games and raced horses. It was time to give thanks for the past year , and ask for help in the new year. They did this by taking part in a Sun Dance. The Sioux never camped in one place for very long. They were nomads and moved their camps to follow the buffalo and to find fresh grass for their ponies. Because of this they lived i... ... The plate was sometimes made out of buffalo horn hair pipes. The Sioux were also excellent riders. They trained their horses well and fast. The horses allowed the men to move quickly in battle and out of danger. As time passed, the Sioux traded with Europeans for guns. They became excellent marksmen. Sitting Bull was a well respected medicine man, and later became a chief. He led the Sioux through many battles. One of the most famous was called the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Sitting Bull believed the Ghost Dance would unite the Sioux. He encouraged his people to perform the dance. The U.S. government banned the dance and Sitting Bull was arrested and then killed. The Sioux Indians had very interesting traits and still live on reservations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Minnesota. The reservations have about 106,500 members.

Freedom Essay -- essays research papers fc

Freedom is defined as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action. In An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs, Chief Joseph petitions for freedom. Martin Luther King’s â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech is a call for freedom. The texts written by Chief Joseph and King share many similar philosophies because the situations faced by two cultures, which are embodied in the texts, are similar. Chief Joseph represents a group of Native Americans who are restricted to land that they do not covet. Euro-Americans use lies and armed forces to press the Native Americans off desired territories and onto wastelands. King represents African-Americans who were neglected the rights and opportunity white people owned. King’s speech addresses the fact that African-Americans were held down with violence and segregation. Chief Joseph’s narrative focuses on the issue of broken promises by dominant Euro-Americans. In the end of these two proclamations, b oth the authors ask for the key to freedom, equality. Chief Joseph’s Narrative and Martin Luther King’s Speech share numerous ideals that all relate to the two culture’s struggles for freedom, while the two contrast because these movements are not completely the same. The Constitution and Declaration of Independence represent a: promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†¦[but] instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check (King 917). King is saying that African-Americans have been let down by the foundations of our nation. Throughout Chief Joseph’s narrative are various accounts of broken promises by Euro-Americans. Chief Joseph concentrates mainly on General Miles’ promise because the freedom to live where one wants is imperative to him. The two readings talk of the ideal that both of the cultures are constrained to their certain lands. This notion of being locked up was literal for Native Americans who were restrained to reservations and not allowed off without permission. Being locked up was a metaphor for African-Americans who were confined to certain areas due to discrimination and segregation. Frustration with the Euro-American’s attempt to satisfy the Native-Americans and African-Americans with simple answers is also apparent in the readings. Chief Joseph says, ... ...ency of the cries for equality in the readings shows the importance of being free to choose one’s life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Discrimination brings the ideals of the readings together because discrimination led to comparable challenges faced by either of the author’s cultures. The epidemic of broken promises by the white men is apparent in both readings. King does not falter by believing these promises, and he uses his increasing power to force the issues at hand. Chief Joseph did not comprehend the discrimination he faced at first, and he did not learn to demand his freedom until he had lost all of his power. The bellow for equality by King’s â€Å"Let freedom ring† segment is paralleled in Chief Joseph’s final paragraphs. Chief Joseph writes the answer both cultures are looking for when he states, â€Å"Whenever the white man treats the Indian [or African-American] as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars† (Chief Joseph 14). Works Cited King, Martin. â€Å"I Have a Dream.† New Worlds of Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty, and J. Paul Hunter. New York: Norton, 1994. 917-20. Joseph, Chief. â€Å"An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs.† Bel-Jean Packet. Athens: Bel- Jean, 2005. 7-16.

How to shear a sheep

As the time wore on, though, I became more and more worried about one bullet point- under â€Å"Items to Bring,† was listed â€Å"A body with the strength and willingness to learn to shear sheep. Willingness, I could handle, but I wasn't so sure about strength. Our classmates, whether farmers or not, would all be bigger and stronger than me- most people are, statistically speaking. Erin had been working out with hearing specifically in mind. I'd spent the three months since January Joking about needing to start, but, of course, never did. In the morning, when Erin and I walked up to the pre-class circle of would-be- shearers, our instructor was saying something about how, used to be, they advised you take the class only If you could bench-press 120 lbs.I assuaged my horrible sense of dread by thinking of when Emily learned to shear (never mind that she was 1 5 then, and I'm 23), thinking of everyone's encouraging tweets and emails, and swearing that, If I made It through with out serious embarrassment (cutting off an ear, very day (which, of course, has yet to happen). After a few shearing demonstrations and a rehearsal of the 5 positions of shearing, there really was nothing left to do but try it ourselves. â€Å"It's Just like learning to swim,† they told us, movie goat Jump in! â€Å".We all split up into groups of four, grabbed a sheep and a pair of clippers, and got to work. To begin with, you sit the sheep up in front of you- this is first position. Starting at the breastbone (we called it the brisket! ), start shearing off the belly wool. Since this is the wool that's dirtiest, it helps to go ahead and get it out of the way. It's important to shear wide enough to make sure that you're well-set-up for farther down the road. After you take off the belly wool, you lean over further and take the wool off the legs and crotch, sort of scooping the clippers up the right leg, across, and down the left leg.The big danger here is accidentally sheari ng off a ewe's teats, so you're supposed to cover them up with your left hand (â€Å"you sure won't shear ‘me off now! â€Å"). Emily helps me navigate a tricky spot. Once the belly, crotch, and legs are clean, you rotate about 90 degrees, change into second position, and start shearing her left hind leg (I'm using the feminine pronoun cause, well, most sheep are ewes). It's also in this second step that you clear the wool off from the tail area, and, since her head is easily accessible, shear off the topknot of fleece from the top of her head. I love how much Rein's smiling in this picture. Shearing is fun!After than, you swing your legs around your sheep and into third position. You're going to move your clippers up from the brisket along the neck, and end your stroke (or â€Å"blow,† as they're called) under the left side of her chin. This is, in my opinion, the most thrilling- I mean that in both senses- part of shearing. You're â€Å"unzipping† the elect a long the underside of the neck, and it definitely looks and feels the coolest, Because (obviously) the sheep is covered in wool, you can't tell where the wool ends and the sheep begins unless you have a very exact knowledge of her specific anatomy and musculature (more on this later).It's pretty terrifying to move a pair of clippers into the unknown- rather, unknown, except for the knowledge that, if you make a mistake, you could cut your sheep's neck pretty badly. If one end of the error spectrum are nicks and cuts, then the other end of the spectrum is second cuts, which are short pieces of fleece that weren't taken off with he first pass of the clippers. Second cuts cause all sorts of problems- if incorporated into yarn, they make it weaker, and cause it to pill more quickly- and so it's important to keep them to a minimum.In fact, our instructors told us that we must not be so afraid of cutting the sheep, because, otherwise, all we'd do is make second cuts. I wasn't so good at n ot being afraid (but, still, I nicked a few sheep). After you've opened up the fleece along the neck, you keep making parallel passes with your shears- up from the chest, along the left side of the neck, ending right under the eye; up the chest, along the neck, end under the ear.This is the part when it's easiest to take off an ear, so, Just like with the teats, you're supposed to find it, get hold of it, and make sure to keep it out of harm's way. Once the left side of the neck is clear, you start working on the left shoulder. Emily showed Erin and I a bit of weight-shifting footwork that helps get the sheep's shoulder in a better position to shear. The more you know about your sheep, the easier she'll be for you to shear- and since she's covered in wool, it can sometimes be hard to tell. If you know she's fat, it'll be, as Emily says, â€Å"Easy, like shearing a beach ball.If she's skinny, you're going to have to work a little harder to navigate around the bony hips, shoulders, a nd spinal processes. Does she have two teats, or are there four (ewes sometimes have an extra vestigial set) to watch out for? If she's a pinewood sheep with Merino heritage (hello, Corm), she's going to be covered in the wrinkles and extra skin that those breeds were bred to have (more skin = more hair follicles = more wool per sheep), and you're going to have to make sure not to nick those. If she's in good health, she should shear easily.If she's doing poorly, though, the lanolin (which usually melts a bit, and helps o lubricate the clippers) won't flow so freely, and instead stays thick, like wax, and gums up your clippers. I was continually amazed at the intimacy of it, and humbled by the amount of strength and knowledge required- I don't think Vive experienced anything like it in my every single inch of every single sheep, and then use that knowledge to navigate a potentially dangerous situation (those clippers are sharp), and end up with a valuable product (7 or 8 lbs of wool per sheep).That said, it's also hot, sweaty, greasy, difficult, dirty, exhausting, poppy, smelly, frustrating, and sometimes bloody. Dragging ourselves back to the hotel after the first day, I told Erin, â€Å"If anyone ever tells me shearing like a beautiful, graceful, athletic dance between the shearer and the sheep, I'm goanna punch ‘me in the face,† and there were plenty of Jokes about, â€Å"Any Job where your read end's goat be higher than your head- that's not a good Job! † So, back to business. Once the whole left side is clear, you slide the sheep down your shin and into fourth position.A big part of learning the positions is making sure the sheep is comfortable- the more comfortable she is, the less she'll struggle and fight, and the easier it is for he both of you. It's time for what's called the long blows, which are some of the easiest parts of shearing to learn (but hardest to master). They also look really cool. You move your clippers right across the body, tail to head. You keep making blows along the back, making sure to keep the comb of your clippers right along the curve of her back, until you're one blow past her spine.After that comes fifth position: swing your right leg around, pick up your sheep, and, holding her nose between your knees, start shearing down the right side- head, neck, and shoulder- rolling the sheep up towards you as you move down her body. Once you're past the shoulder, you start making diagonal passes down the right side- you're almost done! After making those diagonal passes down the sheep's right side, all there is left to do is clear off the right leg and hindquarter. See how Erin is using her left hand to put all her weight into the sheep's right flank?That serves two purposes- 1) it straightens out the right leg, so that it's easier to shear, and 2) it tightens up the skin, so that there's less risk of it getting caught in the clippers. Honestly, there's so much skin-tightening, head-holding, ear-grabbing, leg- threatening, and teat-saving done with the non-clipper-holding-hand, you might as well say that it did all the work! Nevertheless, both Erin and I had pretty sore right 1) vibrate and 2) are dripping with motor oil and lanolin. It's not easy. But, once you've cleaned off that last leg, you're done!Emily actually took videos of both Erin and me finishing our sheep- they're up on Faceable, if you'd like to see more. And so, here I am after my first-ever sheep, grinning like a goofball. She looks like a carpet after it's been vacuumed! But the Job's not over once the sheep's shorn! In their varying levels of wholeness- nagging from the gorgeous waterfalls of wool produced by some of the experienced shearers to the utterly destroyed scragglier produced by all of us beginners- the fleeces were taken to the skirting table and sorted.As someone who erred on the side of second cuts, I felt a little guilty! Erin and I came away from the weekend physically exhausted, but ot herwise wildly enthused about shearing- not only are we planning on tagging along with Emily when she's in Virginia next, but we're also thinking of going up to Maryland for the wool pool (can you imagine seeing a whole state worth of wool, all in one place!? ), and e definitely want to go to Maryland Sheep & Wool, too (anyone have a couch or a spare bedroom for us? ).